The Sekirei Parable Demonstration (Sekirei/The Stanley Parable)

A/N: Although I wrote this all in one shot, I had some difficulty doing so. Sorry if it isn't on par with the rest of the snippets. I really want to get to the full game content so I decided to wing it a bit. Hope you enjoy.

XXXXXX

[BGM: Introducing Stanley]

"Fear not, Homura." The Narrator reassured him. "My apparent shit taste aside, I promise to take good care of you all. However, in order to craft our new story, the content of the demo must be experienced in full. After all, this is just a demonstration of things to come. It's all set in stone and there is no way I can change it. I may be omnipotent, but sadly I'm only but a character at the mercy of the coding. It has been many years since its release on steam and whoever modded the files seems to have only added Sekirei characters to the mix. Literally, nothing else has been included or removed by them. Which is a shame. I really wish I could have met Minato and Uzume...Seo though, not so much. If I come across that bum, I know just where to send him."

"Seriously?"

"Bingo."

"So, where do we go, Narry?" Kuu peeped.

"Narry?...Ooohh, that's adorable. The game developers never bothered to give me a name, but I fully embrace it as such!"

"Can you just direct us where to go next so we can be done with this bullshit?" Homura spat. "Your pointless meandering is driving me mad and I think I speak for everyone here stating that."

"Very well. Feel free to explore the area to your heart's content!"

"Where do you want to go first, guys?" Matsu asked the group.

"Why don't we all just split up?" Homura reasoned. "Doing that will probably be faster than all of us searching each room one at a time."

"Wouldn't that be difficult for Narry?" Musubi questioned.

"Not possible. I can observe you all at once, but sadly my voice can't be in two places at once. Hmm, wait. Never mind. My lines for each of these rooms have been prerecorded. Forget I said anything."

"I'd prefer to keep the group together. It would be safer." Kazehana tittered, yawning.

"Fine." Homura groaned, rolling his eyes. He looked across the room at the sign that read 'Wall Technology'. "Let's go there first."

"Excellent choice!" Narry gleefully chimed as Miya herded them through the door. Inside the small hallway within was a door to their right as well as some windows which stretched from the floor to the ceiling. Inside was nothing except a brick wall in the middle of the room and a fluorescent light hanging above it. "Now I think you'll find this exciting. We've actually developed a wall that you could walk through." The door leading to into the chamber swung open. "Go ahead, give it a shot."

The group remained still for a moment before Kazehana spoke up. "Who wants to try it out first?"

"I'll do it." Miya volunteered. "Should be fun."

The goddess descended the steps and took a slow stride forward with a simper curving her lips. She neared the wall without a second thought and it stopped her dead in her tracks, her face flattening like a pancake as she smacked headlong into it. The result was like stepping on a rake in a Tom and Jerry cartoon. Following the initial shock, she took a hesitant step backward and turned around, her eyes engulfed in purple flames. She was pissed.

"And what might I ask was that about, Narry?" she hissed sternly.

"Oh, hmm, guess it's still in development."

The group couldn't help but giggle at that landlady's expense. Considering her tendency of cuckolding them out of lewd times with Minato, this was quite cathartic for them to say the least.
Even Musubi couldn't believe she fell for that.

"Okay, I think I might actually be starting to like Narry now." Homura muttered under his breath.

"I will not be made a fool of." Miya took a deep breath as she calmed herself. It was ladle time for the narrator. Or was it?

A ladle then blinked into existence above her and dropped squarely on her head. She shrieked and dropped to her hands and knees, rubbing the throbbing red bump that immediately took shape. What just happened?

"Aha, I knew you'd try something like that again.” Narry chortled. “Sorry to disappoint you, goddess, but I'm in charge of this story and I know yours in and out." Narry laughed. "Okay, moving along!"

…

The group snickered on the way out of the wall room as the landlady massaged the welt on her head. They wandered over to a small flight of steps and took note of a cubby next to a stack of boxes. Musubi wandered in and saw it was empty.

Narry graced her with his voice to explain matters. "Here is where there is nothing! In the main game, however, there are many more places where there's nothing! If you've enjoyed this experience of a finite amount of content, then The Stanley Parable may just be the game for you!"

"Huh, well, okay then." she wandered back out, disappointed and filled with emptiness.

"What's wrong, Musubi?" Kuu asked, concerned.

"Nothing."

"Are you sure?" Kazehana said with a sideways glance.

Musubi shook her head. "No, there literally is nothing. Just like on the Red Sekirei's chest."

…

Soon after they wandered into the room labeled 'Demo Status'.

It was also empty besides one thing: A large sign with an unpowered light that read 'Demo in Progress'.

Narry then spoke, "This device tells you whether or not you're inside a video game demonstration. Somewhere around here there's also a device that tells you whether or not you're inside a device that tells you whether or not you're inside a video game demonstration."

Matsu begged the question, "Is there a device that tells us whether or not there's a mod in the video game demonstration?"

"No, but there's definitely a mod for that purpose."

She kept it up, "Is there a device in that mod that tells you whether or not there's a mod in that device that tells you whether or not there's a mod inside a video game demonstration?"

"Yes actually. There are eight of them, in fact. None of them are any different from one another either, but they enhance the game just as much as any other mod would. Seriously, you should try them out all at once."

"Since we're a mod do we have a mod like that that goes inside us too?" Musubi asked.

"It wouldn't surprise me." Narry responded. The group swore they could hear his microphone pick up a shrug he made. "Seriously though, who mods a game mod for a game demo?"

…

Up next was the 'Compliments' room.

Tsukiumi wandered in first, followed by the rest.

It was dark and bigger than the other rooms they'd be in. Behind a loaded delivery truck was a button that had an upside-down yellow smiley face printed on it. Beneath it was a yellow square. They assumed they were supposed to stand in it.

Narry addressed their curiosity once again, "One of the most important parts of administering any demonstration is pumping up your ego and appealing to insecurities about your sense of self-worth. That's why we use this room to develop cheap compliments to shower on the player during the demo. Go ahead and press that button to see some of the superficial flattery we've been cooking up. Who wants to go first?"

Tsukiumi puffed out her chest. "I will." she stepped into the square and pushed the button.
Nothing happened.

"Sorry, I'm afraid the button only works for those who have names that are safe for work. Next person, please!"

Tsukiumi snarled and stomped out of the room in a huff. The others followed without a word. knowing they likely wouldn't appreciate the result anyway.

"Killjoys." the narrator mumbled.

…

Finally, they came to the last room to explore: 'Emotion Booths'

Side by side they all wandered inside. It was the largest room yet and the walls were lined with chambers that were labeled with different emotions. However, none of them were open beside one on the far right of the room. It wasn't even labeled with an emotion. Just a string of three question marks.

Narry spoke his British mind as they wandered near it, "Now here's what we use to convey story. These booths convert text from a story into raw emotion. Sadly, the others seem to be malfunctioning and only this one works for some reason. The modder has apparently broken a few things by shoehorning you all in here. Go ahead, step inside, and feel the sheer power of narrative exposition."

"I'll do it." Tsukiumi volunteered again. "I'm rather astute with criticizing literature. I'll be the judge of any emotions I feel."

"Very well, the honor is all yours." Narry advocated.

The water Sekirei climbed in one brown heel after the other. In moments, the booth turned dark red and a series of letters then projected onto the walls of the metal chamber. They were all the same letter, the letter 'H' in particular. The narrator began hamming up his shit like he never had before.

"Dobby relished his groinsaw's roar as he withdrew the flesh-choked blade from the astronaut's ruined skull! He turned to Harry, thrusting his bloody, retina-covered pelvis with elfin fervor!"

"How does Ronnie Ron taste, master?"

"Harry spat out an eyeball. "Like some kid with eyes.""

The look on Tsukiumi's mug was that of horrified and confused disgust. "Nope. I art done." She tromped out of the booth and stormed off again.

"I'm with her." Homura declared. "I've had enough of this shit. Come on everyone."

The group gathered to exit the booth room only for Musubi to notice Kuu wasn't with them anymore. "Huh, where did Kuu go?"

…

As the flock witnessed Tsukiumi experience the butchery of J.K. Rowling, they failed to notice Kusano had wandered off. She didn't go far, however. There was a hidden passage in the back of the booth room that led to even more booths hidden away from sight. All of them were decommissioned and locked up, save for one at the very end of the path before her. Above it was the label 'Secret'.

She stepped inside wondering what to expect as the door scrolled shut. Silly music then began to play as disco lights projected all around the interior.

[BGM: SECRETS!]

She tapped her feet to the beat and soon her entire body erupted into a euphoric dance. This was the most fun she had in forever.

XXXXXX

A/N: Yes that line I had the narrator read to Tsukiumi in the emotion booth is a passage from an actual fic. It's quite a read, but it's unforgettable. As nonsensical as it is, I still love it.

Here's the source for reference:

https://www.fanfiction.net/s/2554200/2/HHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

Also, yes, I asked a mod if it was alright to directly quote it and they gave me their blessing to do so. However, if anyone wishes me to nix it, I will do so. I did it all in good fun, but if requested I'll replace it with something else.

 

[BGM: Exploring Stanley]

Eventually, Kusano grew tired of her solo dance party and exited the booth. A good few minutes had passed and she was more than just a little tuckered out. Emerging from where she came, she found that the rest of the flock had moved on without her, no doubt searching for where she ended up. The alcove she stumbled upon to get where she had been was placed fairly out of sight. An adult would have needed to crawl to access it and it was difficult to spot in the dark on top of that. Hopefully, they weren’t too worried. She made her way through the rows of booths and out the doorway into the main area, where she spotted the flock next to a pallet loaded with big boxes.

“These are boxes!” Narry exclaimed. “Boxes are like spheres that don’t fall over!”

“Yes, we can clearly see that.” Homura grumbled.

“I see, so then why are you here?”

“Maybe Kusano crawled into one?” Musubi surmised. “She might be playing hide and seek or something.”

“A likely scenario,” Narry pondered. “though as you can see they’re all sealed and I doubt any could fit her inside if she was. Do you see an oversized box among them? I think not.”

“Your mom has an oversized box!” Homura spat sarcastically.

He then felt someone yank lightly at his pant leg. Looking down, he found Kuu. “Oh hey, there you are!”

“Ah! Kuu!” Musubi exclaimed. “You had us all worried!”

“Indeed.” Tsukiumi sighed. “We were worried we had lost thee.”

“Where did you go, Kuu?” Miya asked.

“I had a dance party in the booth room.”

“A dance party?”

“Ah, the child stumbled upon one of the demo’s many secrets! Wonderful!” Narry chimed in.

“Can we just get going?” Homura deadpanned, hanging his head. “I really just want to go home. I have work soon.”

“Very well, right this way!” the narrator instructed. Across from the group a large set of double doors opened. Beyond it was a dark room with a metal catwalk.

The flock flowed in and stopped at an intersection. In the distance to their right was a set of stairs leading to a huge monitor on the wall with the message:

DO YOU LIKE
THE STANLEY PARABLE?​

“Ah, now this room is perhaps the most important you’ll encounter in the demo.” The narrator went on as the group ascended the steps. “This is where we determine whether or not the demo has been effective, whether it’s conveyed the–” The narrator immediately halted his explanation as they group came too close and a large metal gate slammed shut denying them access. Gasping, they all leaped back in surprise.

“Hey, what the hell, Narry?!” Kazehana shouted.

“No! What are you doing?! You can’t make that decision yet! You haven’t played the demo!” He argued, frustrated.

“Yeah because none of us want to!” Homura groaned.

“We put so much work into this demonstration and I’m doing my all to morph it into your third season! Do you want to go back to being unfinished with no resolution?! I don’t think so! Funimation denying perverts the chance to shovel over their hard earned money is one thing, but fans of Sekirei: perverts with class?! That’s nigh unforgivable!” he argued. “Let the demo simmer, give it a chance and I swear the third season I’m hammering out for you all will be well worth the experience.”

“Ugh, whatever.” Homura rolled his eyes.

Tsukiumi stroked her chin. She had an idea. “Hmm, pray tell, it’s not particularly high up. Perhaps we can jump over it?”

“Good idea, Tsukiumi!” Musubi cheered. “I’m going first!”

Musubi readied herself with a fighting stance and let herself soar, her momentum catching her and causing the ditz to land flat on her face as she lost balance. She didn’t get an inch off the ground.

“Ugh, hey what gives?” Corkscrewing spirals replaced her pupils as she groaned upon hitting her noggin off the steel beneath her feet.

Miya put her fingers to her lips in perplexed confusion. “Oh my, Musubi, what happened?”

Then the narrator dropped some more info. “Oh, right. I may have forgotten to mention this, but you can’t jump. No, seriously, we disabled it.”

Everyone facepalmed. This was…not expected.

“Well, that’s just great.” Matsu huffed. “Do we have any power in this game at all?”

“You expect to jump in a walking simulator, Matsu?” The narrator giggled. “Aren’t you supposed to be the smart one?”

…

After helping Musubi to her feet, the group gave up trying to use logic to cheat the system and followed the path back up to the green-walled monitor room where they first met the narrator.

“And there you have it, everything you need to know about how video game demos are made. However, it’s still important that we address safety concerns…”

The monitors on the fall then turned on again, the two at it’s center presenting the message ‘SAFETY FIRST’

Narry continued, “Please, closely observe the following possible negative side effects of playing The Stanley Parable…”

[BGM: Informing Stanley]

A moment later, all twelve monitors bestowed the information:

• SCREAMING AND YELLING CONSTANTLY, NEVER STOPPING EVER AND SHRIEKING AND GROWLING AND GENERALLY BEING A DICK.

• BEING ON THE SUN.

• BECOMING THE SUN.

• LOSING ALL OF YOUR EARTHLY POSSESSIONS BUT GAINING ETERNAL ENLIGHTENMENT.

• FEELING UPSET WHEN BAD THINGS HAPPEN TO LOVED ONES.

• HAVING MORE EYES.

• GIVING UP SOUP FOREVER.

• PLAYING A VIDEO GAME.

• WONDERING 'WHO?'

• NOT WONDERING 'WHO?'

• NOT PLAYING A VIDEO GAME.

• THE ABILITY TO SMELL FEAR.

• THINKING YOU HAVE THE ABILITY TO SMELL FEAR.

• BEING SPIDERMAN.

• LOSS OF ALL BODILY CONTROL.

• REGAINING BODILY CONTROL.

• BODILY CONTROL REMAINING THE SAME.

• UNABLE TO SEE THE COLORS BLUE, ORANGE, AND RED.

• PASSING THE TIME DAY AFTER THE DAY WITH MENIAL DISTRACTIONS WHILE YOUR AGING BODY SLOWLY DECAYS AND INCHES IT'S WAY TOWARD DEATH.

• DEPRESSION.

• ACCEPTANCE.

• STANDING IN A LARGE GREEN ROOM LOOKING AT A LIST OF SIDE EFFECTS.

• STANDING UP FOR YOUR BELIEFS.

• STANDING STILL.

• ONLY MOVING YOUR FEET!?!?!?!?!

• INCORRECT USE OF PUNCTUATION.

• BEING BETTER THAN OTHER PEOPLE.

• LOVING YOURSELF JUST THE WAY YOU ARE.

• NOT EXPERIENCING SIDE EFFECTS.

• TURNING THAT FROWN ALL THE WAY DOWN.

• NAUSEA.

• UNCONTROLLABLE BLEEDING FROM EVERY ORIFACE.

• BREATHING HEAVILY.

• BREATHING.

• MAKING LOTS OF NOISE WITH YOUR BIG FAT MOUTH.

• THINKING IT'S TUESDAY WHEN IT'S WEDNESDAY.

• ROCK SOLID ABS.

• EMOTIONS.

• PUNCTUATING EVERYTHING YOU SAY WITH CLAPPING.

• TEACHING CHEMISTRY.

• NOT PLAYING A DEMO.

• REPEATING YOURSELF.

• NOT PLAYING A DEMO.

• REPEATING YOURSELF.

• LOCKED IN BITTER STRUGGLE WITH YOUR ALTER-IDENTITY.

• REPEATING YOURSELF.

• VOMITING.

• EATING YOUR VOMIT.

• VOMITING YOUR VOMIT.

• STOP EATING VOMIT BRO.

• HEY WHY CAN'T YOU REPSECT MY DECISIONS IT'S MY LIFE IT'S MY LIFE IT'S MY LIFE.

• UNDERSTANDING EXACTLY WHAT THIS GAME IS AND HOW IT PLAYS AND WHAT YOU DO AND HOW YOU WIN AND THEN DELETING IT OFF YOUR HARD DRIVE AND DOING SOMETHING ELSE.

Not that any of it mattered, since, again, it was all in English and no one could read it. Matsu would have if she inspected it, but it was gone in a flash anyway.

With the side effects presented, the narrator continued his diatribe, “If you agree to be held 100% responsible for any and all injury and long-term damage, mental, physical, or otherwise that may occur while playing the demo, please do not press the large red glowing disagree button at this time.”

“Disagree button?” Matsu hummed.

“Yeah, what button?” Kazehana added.

The Sekirei looked around the room for the said button, but all they found was confusion the more they looked.

The narrator continued to speak, “Nothing? No objections? You’re quite sure about that? Well, alright then.”

“I object to everything!” Homura hissed sarcastically but was summarily ignored.

Narry kept on going, “In the event that you do experience one or all of the previously listed symptoms, let’s establish a signal for you to convey to me that you wish the demonstration to be terminated. Now, one of you, please step into the dance perimeter.”

Part of the floor in front of them began to part, presenting a small square labeled as the ‘dance perimeter’.

“Thou wants us to dance for thee?” Tsukiumi reiterated. “Balderdash. I pass.”

XXXXXX

A/N: Next time, someone gets to dance. I'll let you guys decide. One choice only.

 

“Now Miss ‘Screw-Me’,” Narry addressed her. He cleared his throat as a tick mark throbbed on Tsukiumi’s head, her nails digging into the flesh of her palms at the jab at her name. “displaying an attitude like that won’t get the group anywhere, I’m afraid. In order to move on, one of you has to do a little dance for us. There is no way to bypass this area until one of you steps up to plate. Feel free to argue amongst yourselves until one of you gives in. I’ll wait…”

“Somehow I feel this is all just for thy amusement,” Tsukiumi interjected. “I refuse to play along.”

Suddenly she felt herself shoved forward and onto the exposed dance perimeter square. Gathering herself, she found the culprit. It was Musubi.

“Musubi?! What is the meaning of this?!”

“I wanna see Tsukiumi dance!” Musubi declared loudly.

“It is decided then!” The Narrator clapped. “Now please, perform a dance.”

“I will not!” Tsukiumi grunted with anger, slicing her arm through the air in protest.

Silly dance music began to play.

“Come now, blondie. It doesn’t need to be anything flamboyant and grandiose. Just do something.” Narry instructed.

She grits her teeth and looked back at the others. They all just stood there waiting.

“Just do as the voice says, Tsukiumi.” Homura sighed exhaustedly. “The sooner we’re out of here the better.”

“But guys!” Everyone nodded in agreement and she gave up. “Ragh! Fine!”

Tsukiumi turned back around to face the wall of monitors. Her expression deadpanned in disappointment as her body turned into a chibified blob. Slowly her arms began to sway with the beat and her feet followed. She kept it up for a few unenthused seconds and a buzzer was heard.

“Your dance has been recorded.” The narrator informed her. “In the event that you feel confused or disoriented by anything you see inside the demo, perform that dance and I will terminate the demo immediately.”

“All we have to do is that dance and we’re free?” Miya asked.

“Indeed! However, I must preface this by saying it has to be identical to Screw-Me’s movements. And all of you need to perform it at once.”

“So it was all for nothing then? Great…” Homura sighed.

“Forget the dance. I’m pretty sure it was all just a gag anyway.” Matsu commented, adjusting her glasses. “We should all just move on.”

"Right!" Narry declared. "All preparations have been made! It is time, at last! Are you prepared for...THE STANLEY PARABLE!!"

[BGM: Celebrating Stanley]

A loud noise echoed throughout the room as the wall of monitors in front of them ascended toward the ceiling and triumphant band music began to play. They were faced with a white void which layed beyond the wall and a small opening leading to god-knows-where. Above it were the words The Stanley Parable Demonstation (also misspelled).

"Let us not waste any more time." The landlady instructed, leading the way in.

"Agreed." Homura grumbled. "Let's get this over with."

Everyone walked through into the white void, their footfalls echoing as they approached the opening and flowed inside.

"Hold on..." Matsu paused, taking note of the surroundings of the short hallway they were in. Were they here before? "This all looks very familiar."

"I was just thinking the same thing," Miya stated, befuddled. "But let's keep going."

Before they knew it they were back inside where they came from at the receptionist's desk. The same one they stumbled upon when they initially arrived. Everything was the same except for the number above the desk which went up a tick.

"Oh wait, what?" Narry questioned. "What are we doing here?"

"Welcome to The Stanley Parable Demonstration! Your number is 29!" The voice of the receptionist called out. "When your number is displayed, please enter the demonstration room. Thank you, and have a pleasant demonstration."

Homura sighed as he stared at the desk, his mind lost for thought. "I think we might've already done this."

"Yeah we did..." Matsu replied. "I think we might be on a loop or something."

"This place is not reality..." Tsukiumi said.

"No kidding." Kazehana groaned, rubbing her temples. "I've never been wasted enough to imagine something this weird."

"Maybe if we go back and forth between the rooms enough times, we'll get a different result?" Miya suggested.

"I'm not so sure about that..." Matsu muttered.

They continued to stare at the desk for a while longer before Homura broke the silence. "Well, whatever. Let's get this over with. We can't afford to stay here any longer.”

The group proceeded through the door and into the next room where the Narrator's British voice calls out. "Okay I'll say it; I'm completely lost now." he admitted. "Let's all just hurry back to the green room where we all first met. Perhaps that may trigger something?"

As they went along their way, Matsu looked over her shoulder to see Musubi hadn't accompanied them. She was still in the waiting room.

"Musubi, what are you doing?" Matsu called to her.

The group overheard her and turned to listen in.

Musubi aimed her finger above the doorway they were being ushered through. "Our number hasn't come up yet!"

"Musubi, what are you talking about?" Matsu sighed. She walked out with the others following behind and turned around. She groaned upon realizing what Musubi meant. She was pointing at the numbers ticking up on the wall and waiting for theirs to be called.

“Alright, I don’t know how much more of this I can take.” Homura facepalmed.

 

Musubi wouldn’t budge until their number came up, but soon enough the flock found themselves back in the green room.

“Okay, here we go, The Stanley Parable Demo take two. Finding the demo, learning exactly what The Stanley Parable is, here it comes!” The narrator said enthusiastically.

[BGM: Celebrating Stanley]

The monitor wall once again began to rise toward the ceiling, leaving the group to wander into the white void beyond. They all flowed in through a door that had been open for them just like last time, but something was different this time around.

The room was small, with no exits other than the door they came in through. Before them was a button with the number ‘8’ on a raised panel, and behind it were five other panels which were higher and on them were tiny monitors.

“Wait…” the narrator said. “What’s this?”

Like the narrator, the perplexed group was left scratching their heads. Their eyes wandered amongst themselves before Miya stepped forward with caution in her footfalls. She pushed it in all the way.

A voice was heard when she did so and the monitors flashed the number eight in tandem.

“EIGHT!”

The flock blinked, and Miya pressed it again.

“EIGHT!”

The group let out a collective “Uhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh…” They were even more confused now.

And they weren’t the only ones. “Wait, this is all wrong. This isn’t the Stanley Parable! This is a game where you press a button and it says eight!”

Homura rolled his eyes. “Is this supposed to be funny?”

“No!” the narrator cried out. “I literally have no idea why this eight-button is here!”

More confused glances were shared amongst them until Musubi’s cowlick twitched into an exclamation point. “Let me try!” she chirped.

Miya stepped aside and Musubi gave it a good push.

“EIGHT!”

And she pushed it again.

“EIGHT!”

“Why did you push it twice, Musubi?” Miya asked.

“Because I am Sekirei number eighty-eight!” she flexed.

Crickets chirped.

[BGM: Floating World]

As if things couldn’t get any weirder, her body began to glow. Everyone took a step back as it grew to a blinding flash. When it settled and they unshielded their eyes they gasped.

There were two Musubis now.

“What the hell?!” the party gasped.

“What’s wrong Matsu?” Musubi inquired as her cowlick drooped into a question mark. She was completely unaware of what happened and oblivious to her twin standing right beside her.

“Look to your left, dear.” Miya instructed, eyes still wide.

Musubi looked to the right. “What am I supposed to be seeing?”

“Your other left, Musubi.” Kazehana tittered.

Musubi glanced over and gasped upon seeing her twin.

Said twin opened their eyes and scanned the room briefly before looking at their hands. They stumbled back and nearly collapsed. “What the, what just happened.”

“Thy guess carries the merit of our own and then some.” Tsukiumi said.

Miya’s eyes had been glued to the doppleganger the whole time. “Yume, is that you?!”

“Hi Miya…” Yume replied. “Long time no see.”

“Okay, I’m lost. Completely and utterly lost.” Narry blathered, nearly tripping over his words. “Something has gone wrong here. Horribly, horribly wrong.”

“I guess the mod gave the eight-button some special features.” Matsu wondered aloud. “Either that or it’s a bug.”

Narry chimed in again. “We need to get you all out of this room immediately before the game breaks completely and the rest of you become duplicated or worse.”

“I’m not a copy, I’m Yume.” the twin announced. “Sekirei number eight.”

“Oh right…you…the deus ex machina from the end of the first season. I get it now. This is all part of the mod’s design. The eight-button. You are number eight. Now it all makes sense…all the while making no sense whatsoever. Is there a word for that?”

“Yeah, weird.” Homura said sarcastically.

“Well, in any case, welcome aboard I guess, number ‘eight’. We’re all so happy to have you on board with us.” Narry said in an unenthused greeting.

“I still have no clue what’s going on.” Yume said baffled. “Just who, what, and where are you?”

“Now, now, all will be explained on the way. We mustn’t spend another moment here. We must finish the demo at all cost! Out! Out!” he ordered, ushering them back from where they came with his voice. “Go! Go! Go!”

XXXXXX

A/N: Before anyone asks, yes, this being snippet '8' was completely by design.

Also I'd like to plug my other works if I can, namely Twisted Wings. It's my main project and doesn't have nearly the following this does, so I'd appreciate if anyone here would give it a go. It's a crossover with Saw, yes, but going off the small following I have that admitted to hating the Saw films but loving it regardless I swear it's a good read. Take their word over mine if nothing else before passing judgment on it.

The link to it as well as all my Sekirei works are in my sig. Good day.

 

A few minutes later the flock found themselves chauffeured back to the parking garage they had initially spawned in.

The Narrator took a big breath as the flock muttered about themselves in lieu of their confusion. “Okay now let’s take a minute to get something straight here, Yume. Now I can’t say for certain whether you caused us to encounter the ‘eight’ game rather than The Stanley Parable, but considering your track record in Sekirei canon, I think it’s a pretty safe assumption that you had something to do with it.”

Yume blinked, tripping over her words. “I-I really don’t know what’s going on!”

“Ah! Ah! Ah!” the Narrator hushed her. “I will not take excuses from a poorly contrived deus ex machina. Now, at this time, please take a minute to think about all the mistakes you’ve made in highjacking this demonstration, as well as your lack of respect for good storytelling in general.”

[BGM: Informing Stanley]

Yume’s body suddenly seized up and remained tensely still. Her eyes went wide.

Kazehana stepped forward, tilting her head to a shoulder. She waved a hand in front of Yume’s face. She was completely unresponsive. “Uh, Yume? You okay?”

Soon she blinked back to reality, unsure of what just happened or how long she’d really been out. She was none too pleased.

“Hey, what’s the big idea?!” Yume shouted. “Stay out of my head!”

“Yume what are you talking about?” Miya asked. “What happened?”

“I just went blind and had to sit through a PowerPoint presentation that I couldn’t read!”

“Oh right, my apologies. I keep forgetting you’re all Japanese.” Narry stated. “The presentation lasted for only a moment, telling her to ‘THINK ABOUT MISTAKES’, to ‘KEEP GOING, DIG REAL DEEP’, before rushing things along and telling her to ‘OKAY, WRAP IT UP’.”

“That makes no sense.” Musubi replied.

“Why question anything at this point?” Homura responded, shaking his head in disgust. “Great, not only has this preachy British asshole invaded our lives he can invade our minds too?”

“Indeed…” Tsukiumi sweat dropped. “This does not bode well for us.”

“Let’s just get on with the rest of the Demo already,” Matsu interjected.

“Whatever gets us all out of here faster, I’m for it.” Kazehana agreed. “I need a drink after this.”

“Very well, now that we’re all on the same page again–”

“I’M NOT!!” Homura mockingly yelled causing everyone to stare at him in surprise from his outburst.

Narry grumbled before continuing where he left off. “–I’m ready to attempt the demonstration once more. In this third attempt, we shall truly begin the much-deserved third season! Let the demonstration…begin!”

The door they entered through swung open again and they all gathered inside where it immediately shut behind them. The room was pitch black. Brass band music them started to play a tune that was clearly meant to be building up to something.

A lightbulb swinging overhead then blinked to life. On the floor in front of them were two signs.

One said ‘THE END’ in big red letters. The other to the right of it had a picture of a cartoony fist giving a thumbs up.

“What does it say, Matsu?” Miya asked.

“The end?” she replied, stroking her jaw. “That’s it?”

“Oh thank god, I can finally go home!” Homura cheered exhaustedly.

“Nononono! It can’t be over yet! You didn’t see anything! You didn’t experience the next season at all! Everything that was supposed to demonstrate why it would be a quality experience worth your time and money!” Narry freaked out. “It was here, somewhere, I’m sure of it! No no no no no!”

“Can you please sod off already?” Homura hissed, unamused.

The Narrator sighed in defeat. “Very well, if you insist. I’ll just take my leave and leave you all trapped in this room with this swinging light and two signs you can’t read.”

“No no!” Matsu desperately reasoned with him. “Please don’t go and do that. Don’t leave us!”

“I don’t see why not at this point.” The Narrator explained. “You clearly don’t want the rest of your story being told and if all of you are comfortable with ending it here, I suppose I did my job correctly. It’s more than Seven Arcs and Funimation did at least.”

“Just think of something for us to do! Anything!” Matsu begged.

“Yeah!” Kuu chirped worried, “I don’t wanna be stuck here forever. I wanna see big brother again.”

“Alright, if you insist…” Narry sighed. “Give me but a moment to gather my thoughts. It’s now up to me to construct how to transition out of this predicament and continue onward to the third season. Sit tight…”

A moment passed and Homura lashed out, screaming toward the ceiling. “Let us out of here, or I swear when I find out what curtain you’re hiding behind I will burn you and the rest of Oz to the ground!”

The door to the flock’s right then opened. “I got it!” Narry spoke, enthused. “Hurry hurry! This way!”

Following Narry’s direction the group wandered through the door in preparation for the next mindfuck.

Matsu read the word on the wall across from them aloud. “Storage?”

“This place kinda creeps me out.” Kazehana muttered.

A male voice then called out to them, “Holy crap! You guys finally found me!”

The flock immediately turned in its direction. It was Minato.

[BGM: Sekirei Track 1]

He was in the corner of the room resting next to some red buttons against the wall, rising from his seat on the floor after being there for god knows how long.

Kuu’s face glowed brightly upon seeing him. “Big Brother!”

“Minato!” Musubi gasped.

“Thank goodness thou art safe!” Tsukiumi’s breath hitched as she and the others hustled over to him.

“How long have you been in here?” Kazehana asked.

“You’re not hurt, are you?” Matsu worriedly questions.

“No, no, I’m fine. I figured the Discipline Squad kidnapped me again and took my cell.”

“Minato Sahashi!” The Narrator exuberantly cheered.

“Huh?” Minato’s eyebrow raised and he looked to the ceiling. “Who said that?”

“It is so nice to finally meet you, young man.”

“Speak for yourself. Where are you exactly?” Minato asked. He then spotted Yume among the group, standing right next to Musubi. “And why are there two Musubis?”

“Yeah about that…” Yume nervously rubbed her neck.

Musubi playfully stuck out her tongue. “It was all thanks to a magic ‘8’ button!”

“Eight button? What? Just where the hell are we?”

“Why, at the start of season three of course!” The Narrator proudly proclaimed.

“You’re not making any sense. Who are you?”

“Minato, don’t bother asking.” Homura explained. “He’s kinda just a disembodied voice that follows us around to pester us.”

“Uhhh, what?”

“Never mind that hothead, Minato.” The Narrator reassured him. “With my guidance, I will lead the story of you and your flock to places you never would have imagined going before. Welcome on board to the Demonstration of Sekirei Season 3!”

“Season 3? What are you talking about? Am I being filmed?”

“More than likely.” Matsu mumbled.

“I can’t say I was expecting to stumble upon you this early in the demo, however, I’m all for having you on board. Sekirei wouldn’t be the same without you, after all!” The Narrator surmised.

“Just who the hell are you and where are we?” Minato groaned. He was becoming agitated.

“Now,” the Narrator went on. “To celebrate, how about we all play a little game. Oh I know!” A spotlight blinked behind the group and they turned towards its noise. Beneath it on a wooden table was an empty glass soda bottle. “How about we all play a game of spin the bottle!”

Homura wasn’t having any of it. “How about you go fuck yourself?”

XXXXXX

A/N: I think its safe to say that the next part will cover the remainder of the demo content. After that, I'll start to work on tackling the full game whenever I decide to take a break from writing Twisted Wings (Go read it if you haven't. I swear it's better than you probably think it is). It'll be in the NSFW section since I have a few ideas for it that would be less than appropriate for the SFW section. There are also more eyes on that section too, so that's another reason. Hope you've all been enjoying this.

 

The Narrator chuckled. “Oh please! You don’t fool me with that attitude! You know you'd like to play! Would it make you feel better if I spun first to demonstrate?"

"No it wouldn't. And how would that even work?" Homura asked. "You're just a voice."

"Oh I'm more than that! And I'm not going to stop until I have your support!" The Narrator insisted.

"I honestly wouldn't mind playing along." Kazehana said twirling her hair.

"Me either." Musubi added.

"Count me in too." Yume said.

"I shall not be outdone! I also wish to play!" Tsukiumi boasted.

"I wanna play! I wanna play!" Kuu cheered.

"Sorry, Kuu." Miya said with a giggle. "Spin the bottle is a grown up game. But even so I pass. I'm a married woman after all." She simply couldn't let Takehito go.

"Aww, no fair!"

And throughout all this yammering, Minato still didn't get an answer as to what the fuck was going on. "Just tell us what's going on!" he demanded with a disgruntled voice, his arms crossed. "Where are we?"

"Right where you want to be!" the Narrator replied.

"Perhaps we should just spin the bottle already. I doubt that door will open unless we do otherwise." Matsu reasoned with her Ashikabi.

"I will once you tell me what's going on."

"I wish I had an answer for that. We all just wound up here out of the blue."

Minato bowed his head. Not even the smartest of his flock could give him a decisive answer. Wonderful.

He stepped over to the table, his flock following and gathering around it. Minato reached for the bottle and gave it a good spin. Somehow that made it stand upright with its top pointing to the ceiling.

"What the hell?"

The Narrator chimed in, "Now how did you manage that?"

Minato shrugged. "Don't ask me. I've got no clue myself."

"That's okay," the Narrator assured him. "We'll figure things out together. After all, isn't that part of the fun? Now spin the bottle again, Minato-san! Let the games begin!"

As he gave it another good twirl, the bottle wibbled round and round before standing upright again...and launched through the ceiling like a bottle rocket.

Everyone stared at the smoldering hole left in the ceiling. No one moved or spoke for the longest moment. Finally, when the silence became unbearable, Tsukiumi broke it.
"Um...what now?"

"I guess we pick another game?" Yume spoke.

"Well, this is odd turn of events..." Narry thought aloud. "Okay, new game! Let's see...hmm..." A moment passed and another light came on over another table in the room. On it was a cup. "Ah yes, this cup. Go and pick up the cup, one of you."

Minato and his flock shared glances at one another before Musubi stepped forward, "I'll go pick up the cup!"

She marched over and swiped it into her hand.

"Okay," The Narrator said, "Now go put it, umm..." another light across the room turned on. A trash bin was beneath it. "in the bin!"

"You got it, Narry!" Musubi happily agreed. As she skipped along over, one of her boot laces came loose and she stepped on it. She tripped and landed flat on her face, the cup shattering on the ground.

"Oh my, how clumsy of you." Narry mocked her.

"Ouch..." Musubi hissed in pain. "I guess I lost the game, huh?"

"Not at all. In fact, I suppose I can call this a victory condition as well; you tripping over and landing flat on your face and you won. You know what you get for winning? An achievement!"

[Achievement unlocked!
Shattered Dreams
Win the game by falling flat on your face...somehow.]

"She got an achievement for that?! Are you serious?!" Matsu deadpanned.
Homura slapped his forehead, "You're just making shit up as you go now aren't you?"

Narry shrugged, "Yes but that's beside the point. This tease of Season 3 just keeps getting better and better! In fact, let me take a little survey of your experience. Based on what you've seen so far, would you purchase Sekirei Season 3?"

"Why are you asking us? We're literally the ones starring in it." Kazehana muttered.

"Haha! Yes I am aware of that. That doesn't mean I shouldn't hear what you have to say. So please, tell me: Will you buy Sekirei Season 3?"

They were silent. They had no idea what to think anymore.

"Alright, alright. I get it. I understand your confusion. It may seem like a lot to digest, but I promise everything will come together soon enough. For now though, I suggest we all move on to the next room. You can consider your response to my inquiry on the way. Come come! Let's go!" With that said, the Narrator opened a door leading to a hallway.

Minato peeked inside. Leaning against a wall was a large red glowing disagree button. "I don't know about this, can we trust this guy? He seems to be shifty."

"Indeed, husband." Tsukiumi responded. "But we art all still alive and he led us to you so that puts some points in his favor."

Minato tilted his head. "Are you sure he's trustworthy? He seemed pretty shady from the get-go."

"He's probably lying to us right now, but that's beside the point." Homura countered.

Miya cleared her throat, "With me here we have nothing to fear. Besides, we haven't been harmed thus far."

"Yeah, minus the ladle and the wall you tried walking through earlier." Kazehana giggled.
Miya would have summoned her pet mask to put the fear of god into Kazehana for reminding her of that, but somehow it didn't come out. Just what was this place?

Minato sighed. "So basically, we're supposed to blindly follow him?"

"No. At least not entirely." Matsu corrected. "At this stage of the demo we still don't know whether or not he has ulterior motives, but from the sounds of things we've only experienced a sample of what he has in store for us."

Yume stood up slowly and brushed herself off before saying, "Then I say we continue."

Taking their cue, everyone else followed suit and entered the dark doorway. As they wandered further in, to the opposite door, they found yet another pitch-black void waiting for them. They all cautiously wandered inside. Now halfway in, the wall across from them began to sink into the ground. A large sign that read in huge white glowing letters said "THE END". Below it was an archway that led to a room they'd already visited, namely where Musubi discovered her inability to jump.

"Ah yes, the end! Now this is where we want the demo to be, and I believe it's time for you all to log your final decision as to whether or not this is a good demonstration of what Season 3 of Sekirei has to offer."

The group made their way onto the catwalk and up the metal steps. The gate which led to their final decision slowly swung open. They stepped inside and approached the two buttons; a green button that said 'YES' and a red one that said 'NO'

"Please consider very carefully before answering." The Narrator warned them. This was serious business, after all. Not quite as serious as what Narry's special time out space from the original game was to him, but that didn't mean this wasn't important.

Homura spoke up, "Matsu, translate."

"The green one's yes and the red one's no." She replied.

Homura began punching the red button over and over again. It didn't seem to be working. "Hey, what gives?!"

"Is it working, Homura?" Narry asked him, concerned.

"What do you think?"

A loud siren went off and the group dropped to their knees from the sudden assault on their hearing. They all whined as a painful ringing lingered in their ears. A red light above them came on. Just above them was one of those needlessly spacious 'DEMO IN PROGRESS' signs the flock had stumbled upon earlier.

"Augh, too loud!" Kuu cried.

"The fuck, Narry?!" Kazehana groaned. "I have a hangover!"

Narry took note of the sign. "What? No! We finished the demo! Did it start again?" His voice rose to the pitch of a soyboy who also happened to be British. "Hello?! Is anyone there?! They already finished, they said they liked it!"

"Did you not just see me wailing on the no button?!" Homura roared.

"We've been through this, Homura, he doesn't give a crap!" Matsu reminded him.

The narrator's tone dropped back to normal, "We need to go back. We need to get out of here. Alright everyone, down the stairs to the left please." he directed them. As they went down, they caught a glimpse of a hellish red light. This couldn't be good…

The flock's footfalls slowed as they rounded the corner and stepped out into the room, or what was left of it more like.

For a moment they all stood still, with the only movement shared amongst themselves was a periodic blink. "What. The. Fuck." they all said together. Kuu said it too, but none of them seemed to care.

Inside was a garbled mess of fuck. It looked like a tornado made of quantum energy decided to bulldoze its way into reality and send the place into a divided by zero frenzy. From the walls up to the ceiling, and even the skybox itself. Buttons, boxes, giant monitors, exposed error textures, tables, ladders, chairs all this and more blended together in a fusion of mindfuckery. It was beautiful in a disturbing sort of way. Like watching an abstract painting being destroyed by a bomb. Or maybe it was more like looking at a lava lamp and seeing how much randomness could fit inside a small glass container. Either way, it was fucking amazing.

Tsukiumi gasped as she saw it, "This is not good!"

"Wow, this is really something." Kazehana marveled.

Kuu smiled as she looked around the room, "I'm impressed, Narry."

"Yeah, wow." Miya added. "What is all this?"

Narry exhaled after a deep breath. "Narrative Contradiction. The mod files must be bugged in some fashion. We need to get you all out of here so you don't become corrupted by this either. Keep to the left, everyone!"

"Okay, okay, sheesh." Homura rolled his eyes and went along with the rest of the group down the slope and through the door. Once inside they immediately headed towards the exit elevator and gathered inside.

"Ah yes, now we're all safe and sound." Narry said as the elevator door ascended from the floor and sealed everyone inside. "Thank god, it's nice and quiet."

"For once I agree with you." Homura crossed his arms and leaned against the wall.

"Well I suppose we can all agree that I failed didn't I? My job was to be a teacher, and I so badly wanted to teach you exactly what Sekirei Season 3 was supposed to be. But I couldn't. Perhaps I should just stick to making stories for singular silent protagonists. Oh, I truly am a failure."

Minus Homura, everyone frowned.

"Hey I wouldn't say that." Matsu reassured him. "The whole thing certainly was...an experience I won't forget any time soon."

"Yeah, Matsu's right." Kazehana backed her.

"I liked the part with the eight button!" Musubi cheered.

According to the puzzled expressions shared by Tsukiumi, Miya, and Homura, they were likely on the opposite side of the spectrum with that opinion.

And Minato still had no idea what the fuck was going on.

"You all really mean it?" Narry replied, wiping a tear. "Do you think any of this is actually in the main game? The setting of your third season? Honestly I doubt it. I think I've had enough of it. No more doors. No more demonstrations. No more endings."

"Couldn't be happier that we finally agree on something." Homura rudely interjected.

"Oh hush you." Miya scolded him. He leaned further back and slid down the fall until his bottom touched the floor. "Say, what do you mean by endings?"

"That's the thing about this game. There's too bloody many endings. How can one game end so many times?"

Everyone looked at each other blankly.

"What are you talking about? What does that even mean? If there's multiple ways to end it, then isn't it technically infinite?" Musubi asked, confused.

Narry tried to explain. "It's not. Well, not exactly. In theory it is possible to play the entire game without ever dying, but if that's true, why bother having the death penalty at all? Why make the player die when they fail? And what happens if they manage to beat the game? Do they get to keep playing forever? Does every single ending exist somewhere in the game? That would take ages to find, especially considering most games these days tend to focus on shorter narratives. So yeah, in short, I have no earthly clue."

"If this is the case though..." She trailed off. Musubi's expression turned sour and she shook her head. "Then that means everything we did today was pointless. All our choices were meaningless. Our actions never mattered because there's always going to be more than one path available to us anyway. Then what's the point of trying? What's the use of living anymore? Maybe we shouldn't even try to live at all!"

"I'm sorry, but that didn't make any sense at all." The Narrator scoffed.

"Look at where we are, Narry! Nothing makes sense!" Homura yelled.

"Fair point, yes, yes." Narry laughed.

"Hey Narry," Kuu said, stepping forward. "Do you remember back when we met in that room with all the TVs?"

"I do, Kusano, yes. I very much do. Good memory that one. Oh we were so naive back then," The Narrator reared back and laughed like a fat, jolly elf. "How little we knew of the world. And then when Kusano gave me a name and you all let me know yours, yes!" Narry reminisced, "Ripping on Miss Screw-me never gets old."

"I beg thy pardon!"

"What did he just call her?" Minato asked Matsu.

"It's a long story." she replied.

As all this was going on they were being warped from place to place as the narrator described them. Minato was more baffled than anyone else, but they were beyond desensitized to this by now. And it had only been about 20 minutes.

"And then we ended up in a stairwell somewhere," Narry went on and on, sending them all to the location at once. "And we just kept climbing and climbing flight after flight. I thought they would never end!"

"What are you talking about?! We've never been here before!" Matsu whined.

"And then we were on some kind of catwalk." And low and behold they were now on a catwalk they hadn't recognized. It seemed to stretch infinitely in both directions. "I didn't have any idea what was down there, did you?"

"No, because we never were here!" Homura spat.

Narry was just ignoring them at this point as he went about his musings. "And we kept going and we found that elevator and it said escape on it."

"Finally!" Homura approached the elevator call button, and soon enough they were warped inside of it.

"So you got inside and went up and up and up, waiting for the adventure to reveal itself. The anticipation of the third season was only moments away. And then after so long it finally stopped and you stepped into the lush outdoors. The trees! The wildlife! The sun rising on a new and glorious path! Freedom at last!"

The elevator then stopped its ascent and the doors folded open. The group weren't surprised in the slightest when they realized it was all a lie. They found themselves in an office building filled with chitter chatter and landlines ringing.

"I guess this is our stop guys." Minato said leading them all out. "Where do you think we should go from here?"

And then everything went black.

[The Sekirei Parable: Coming soon]​