Link Shadow – Second Atrocity

Link Shadow – Second Atrocity is the second part of the Link Shadow works.

Chapters
The work is split into several Chapters, most of which are split up into Acts. Getting 100% completion on all Acts in a Chapter will unlock a Secret Act, which is optional. Completing all Secret Acts will unlock the Secret Chapter.

Prologue
A year and a half has passed since the incident with the digital world. The friends who remember everything that had happened – Shane, Ellen, Julie, and Bloom – have managed to readjust to their lives, after what they have been through.

One evening, on a weekend, Shane heads off to Ellen's place to pick her up for a date, but there is no reply when he knocks on the door. He enters after finding it slightly ajar, only to find two dead bodies – those of Ellen's parents. He hurries to find Ellen in a full bondage suit, complete with gas mask and mittens, and tied up and gagged, completely helpless. And a bomb that is ticking down to zero. Shane carries Ellen out of the building in a hurry, just in time – the bomb goes off the moment they are a short distance away from the building.

After contacting the police and the ambulance, Ellen is taken to hospital. Shane tags along and falls asleep in the lobby. Ellen is given medication in order to sleep, though it did not appear that physical harm has befallen her.

Chapter 1
What is known is that this Chapter is presently inspired by the Chzo Mythos games. So, it gets gorily messy. There are five Acts.

Shane finds himself in a twisted version of the hospital lobby, with all sorts of creepy things going on, in Act 1.

Act 5 has a feminine figure in a full latex catsuit, complete with gas mask concealing any features, coming by. When a sword unexpectedly manifests in Shane's hand, he realizes that he and Ellen are back in the digital world, somehow. The figure confirms this, revealing that, after they had vanquished the Link Shadow, something in the survivors were altered – enabling her to bring them back in if necessary.

She introduces herself as the “Queen of Tristitia”, and says that the Link Shadow had a contingency plan should it be dealt with. A contingency plan that would infect the server that the website used to be on, enabling it to spread through the Internet until it has infected every device that is connected to the Internet. However, this plan would take time, and it was only recently that the Queen of Tristitia had learned of this plan in the first place. She suspects that the Link Shadow had an accomplice in the real world – otherwise, who would be responsible for the coding and hosting of the website? The Queen chose to act immediately by “importing” the surviving four back into the digital world, though something went wrong and they wound up separated. Shane and Ellen being so close to one another was lucky, but Bloom and Julie are likely elsewhere.

Chapter 2
What is known is that this Chapter, which has four Acts, is presently inspired by action RPGs such as the Kingdom Hearts o or some Phantasy Star games.

Chapter 3
What is known is that this six-Act Chapter is currently inspired by games like Mega Man, probably.

In Act 4, the true identity of the Queen of Tristitia is revealed – as a girl from Shane's class who, unlike every other person who had ended up trapped in the digital world a year and a half prior, was unable to leave for unknown reasons. But then Monique realized that she was meant to protect the real world from the Link Shadow and any threats it may have created. Monique adds that the Link Shadow feeds on the anguish of those in the real world, and as such, she had no choice other than to ensure that nobody would remember those trapped in the digital world, thus ensuring the Link Shadow could not get any stronger than it already was. She felt that erasing the memories of the surviving four as well would make it even harder to stop any plans the Link Shadow may have had.

Chapter 4
What is known is that this four-Act Chapter's inspired (at present) by Metroidvanias such as Castlevania again.

All acts share one version of a mysterious castle.

In Act 2, Julie and Bloom are found, possessed by dark forces. Attempting to kill Shane and Ellen, the duo barely manage to escape from them and decide to find some way to free their two fellow survivors from these nefarious forces.

Chapter 5
Inspired by games such as Disgaea, Final Fantasy Tactics, or Fire Emblem, this Chapter has six Acts.

In Act 4, the quartet discover that the true goal of the Link Shadow was to escape into the outside world - the real world - though for reasons still unknown.

Chapter 6
It's presently not clear what the inspiration is for this Chapter, which has six Acts again

At the end of Act 6, a massive quake will shake the world and everything will fall apart as darkness envelops the heroes.

Chapter 7
The idea for this Chapter, with its six Acts, is that it could be a mix of past Chapters' inspirations.

The first Act has the digital world once again stripped of its illusory form, revealing its true form. Shane, Ellen, Julie and Bloom work together with Monique to put a stop to the Link Shadow's dastardly plan before it's too late.

In Act 5, all of the bosses from the past are refought here in an area known as the Arena of Memories. Only those who can win can enter beyond the dark gate atop the stairs.

The final boss, the Viral Shadow, is fought in Act 6.

Epilogue
Depending on the player's choices, made as early as the very first Chapter, the Epilogue changes. While some details remain unchanged, all endings require the defeat of the Viral Shadow and escaping the digital world. No ending can otherwise be seen.

The start of the Epilogue
With the Viral Shadow destroyed, Monique offers her thanks, and informs them that she will contact them in the future, should she need their aid again.

Positive endings
These endings are the good endings. In all endings, the quartet are bestowed with special powers that they retain when in the real world, and returned to the real world where no time has passed.

Shane and Ellen have a telepathic link with one another, enabling them to read what the other is thinking.

Julie's senses are amplified fourfold.

Bloom gains the ability to understand any language instantly, though she still has to learn the language to properly speak it.

Best possible ending
One evening, the quartet receive a mysterious e-mail from an address that shouldn't exist - and with it, a link to a new website. The only one who follows this link is Shane, who finds an untitled video game… that appears eerily similar to their experiences…

Negative endings
These are the bad endings. Yeah.

Infection
Unfortunately, the Viral Shadow was not completely destroyed, and it infects Monique, turning her into an enemy. Before anyone can react, she brutally defeats the four survivors, but leaves them alive. While unconscious, they are taken to an unknown area, and made immortal by Monique, who possesses more power than ever before.

Shane, Ellen, Julie and Bloom are used as toys for the sick and twisted fantasies that Monique now has – be it gassing them with nerve gas, cutting them apart and watching them regenerate, or whatever crueler ideas she has… and worst still, her power is such that nobody can stop her.

The virus spreads, and infects everything connected to the Internet, further increasing her power to unreal heights. Enough that she can begin a new plan to create an artificial body for herself in the real world, that she may take it over and rule over it as the Eternal Queen of Despair.

Secret Chapter
This is unlocked by getting the best possible ending, in addition to having all Secret Acts completed.

This Chapter allows full exploration of all areas from past Chapters, and have additional optional content as well. And by using various save points, the digital world can be left or re-entered freely. Everyone, including those friends who perished in the digital world, can be used in this Chapter.

In addition, every area gets a secret, randomized dungeon, though every ten floors gets a strong boss. Every hundred floors after have a stronger version of a given boss. The final floor is floor 1000, though anyone crazy enough to go that far must have nothing better to do with their time, probably.