Act VII: Naho Saenoki Arc
This Act begins with our grief-stricken and guilt-ridden otokonoko protagonist recalling the very first time he had hit on the late Naomi Nakashima. From this, we learn that Yuki Shinohara originally did this just to distract the tsundere tomboy in order for Miyu Shinohara to be able to go after Satoshi Mochida, whom Naomi-chan had a crush on in those days. While thinking Naomi-chan can still hear him, the heterosexual half of the Shinohara Twins of /tr/ admits to having had a crush on the very girl he previously thought murdered Seiko Shinohara in cold blood, and that he's "not worth it."
Despite the loss of the girl he once loved at his own hands (albeit indirectly), Yuki Shinohara reminds himself that he cannot take his own life yet. "I still have a mission to accomplish." is what trappy reminds himself--taking up his armament once more. This Act has the Lieutenant function normally for once, with no modifications to his shot damage output, stamina, or what-not and for this Arc, the wholesome crossdressing agent of Defense Intelligence HQ pretty much has free reign to deal with New Humanity forces patrolling all of Tenjin for him as he sees fit.
Eventually, the Lieutenant will encounter Naho Saenoki, who seems to be standing in front of a window and staring out of it with her arms crossed. Yuki expresses pleasure over meeting the bespectacled girl who helped him find Miyu's corpse, but Naho warns him to stay away. When asked why, Naho-chan will calmly reply "I don't want to hurt anyone anymore."
This leads into a conversation between the two that reveals the 17-year-old schoolgirl of Paulina Academy had caused her best friend, Sayaka Ooue to get murdered while relentlessly pursuing the truth behind the death of one she loved dearly. Her stoic nature beginning to crack, Naho begins to weep as she identifies this person as the famous paranormal novelist Kou Kibiki--believing that she was the one who strangled him to death. Yuki Shinohara apologizes for bringing up the subject and Naho regains her composure, forgiving him for having done so.
Yuki-kun gets ready to part ways with Naho on the latter's request, reminding her that he's ready to help her if she needs it. Before Naho can respond, she drops to her knees, screaming in pain as she holds the sides of her temples. This prompts our trappy protagonist to run back to her aid--Yuki hearing a malevolent voice that is curiously similar in tone to Miss Saenoki's.
Both the Lieutenant and the bespectacled schoolgirl fall through a hole that formed in the floor within a split-second. Upon landing, Yuki finds himself not in the floor below the room in question, but a large room that looks like it belongs in a military facility rather than a school. He finds Naho Saenoki slumped over on her knees as if in a trance, and floating behind her...
Boss Fight: Naho Saenoki (?)
Yuki Shinohara points his currently equipped gun at the floating figure behind Naho, who also introduces herself as Naho. Confused, Yuki asks why she took both the Naho that helped him, along with himself to their current location, in which she replies by mocking him. "You must be into ryona, you killer otokonoko you. Ryona and guro~!" are the words that anger the fem-boi Lieutenant, who passionately denies this. He then asks her who she really is, in which she replies "I already told you. I am Naho Saenoki." Yuki responds by threatening to kill her.
At first glance, the fight with the malevolent Naho Saenoki looks like any duel-type boss fight, such as the ones against Wolfe, Denel, and Thorne. There is the added factor of Malevolent Naho taking the trance-gripped Naho Saenoki we know as hostage, but eventually she begins to do crazy things, from referencing exactly how many people Yuki Shinohara has killed in Tenjin, forcing the Naho we know to either kill Yuki or herself (in which the Lieutenant must knock her out to prevent either from happening), and even causes hallucinatory Radio CALLs to pop up that must be answered. (HINT: I need scissors! 61!)
Upon defeating this malevolent entity resembling the bespectacled schoolgirl from Paulina Academy, the real Naho snaps out of her trance. She informs Yuki that the one he's fighting is indeed her, but from a different timeline. With her ally and her corrupted 'other self' at a stalemate, Miss Saenoki elaborates on this, revealing that the malevolent Naho is actually the one from the original Corpse Party timeline, who did indeed become corrupted by the Darkening and originally perished upon realizing she killed her timeline's counterpart to Kou Kibiki. Unable to accept this, her existence endured until she traveled to this timeline as a malevolent spirit.
Frustrated at how a malevolent paranormal entity was beaten to a stalemate by a crossdressing boy with conventional weaponry, Naho Saenoki from the original Corpse Party timeline dissolves herself in an attempt to merge with the Naho from this timeline (Corpse Party Musume and Corpse Party Solid), only for the ghost of someone very familiar and beloved to intervene.
Upon the intervention of his particular ghost, Yuki and Naho find themselves in the room below the one they were in before the previous boss fight. The bespectacled girl asks Yuki if he knew that ghost, and Yuki himself confirms this to be true. He replies, "That ghost was Naomi Nakashima--a girl I once loved...misunderstood...and then hated. Despite all that and having caused her to die, she...still loved me. This marks the third time she's saved me here in Tenjin and right now, I can only wish that she'd be able to hear how grateful I am for her mercy...and how sorry I am for having hunted her down up until her last, mortal moments." Naho remarks Yuki's story about Naomi feels alot like her own story in regards to the late Kou Kibiki. She also remarks that Yuki Shinohara is a strong person, asking if she can join in his travels to be like him. The Lieutenant, thinking back on the bespectacled girl from Paulina Academy's help from earlier on, agrees to this.
With that side plot taken care of, Yuki Shinohara resumes his quest to discover some way he can use to free The Boy In Red (Satoshi Mochida) from the Darkening without killing him. Naho Saenoki isn't sure about whether or not it's possible, her only advice being the suggestion to comb Tenjin for any notes her late mentor Kou had written. As such, this part of Act VII will have our current duo traveling around the whole of Tenjin Elementary, with Naho somehow being able to 'sense' these notes.
A comedic part of this segment is how the bespectacled schoolgirl suggests the use of a cardboard box to conceal the two from malevolent spirits. To her surprise, the otokonoko Lieutenant readily agrees to this, citing his experience of using it to infiltrate the facilities of various PMCs contracted to destroy New Humanity at the time.
Once all the notes are collected, Yuki will receive a CALL from Sachiko Two, whom will ask if our trappy protagonist is ready to return to her, Seiko, and Miyu yet. Yuki replies "We have a survivor here and something that may or may not tell us if we can free Satoshi-kun without killing him." Before the Lieutenant can ask where he and Naho should rendezvous with them, a hail of 20mm rounds will rip through the hallways, forcing our duo to dive out of the line of fire. Radio left on, the duo's attacker hears Sachiko Two call out to Yuki, who doesn't answer as he finds his blood boiling at the very sight of his attacker, former friend, and current enemy.
Boss Fight: Colonel Vincent Thorne (2nd Encounter)
Recalling how identical the Vulcan used by The Boy In Red looked to that of his enemy, Yuki Shinohara questions the trappy child revolutionary over his alleged involvement in The Boy In Red's activities. He begins to accuse Colonel Thorne of having encouraged Satoshi Mochida, under the influence of the Darkening, to kill Naomi Nakashima. Colonel Thorne 'accepts responsibility' for this, stating he used the elder Mochida's grief over his younger sister's death at an illusion of the now-deceased tomboy to have her eliminated. Yuki replies "If you wanted my attention, you got it. You also earned yourself a chance to die by my hands~!"
This fight is quite similar to the first encounter with trappy little Vince. What makes this time more difficult is Vince will have reinforcements converge on Yuki's position to limit his movement options. Fortunately, protecting Naho isn't too much of an issue as Yuki orders her to hide under the box. Other than that, it's pretty much not very different from last time around.
However, once the otokonoko child Colonel's HP and/or Stamina are dropped to 50%, Colonel Thorne will snap his right thumb against his right ring finger. Both Yuki and Naho will note Vince and his men pulling back, with Yuki attempting to pursue through their retreating gunfire. Naho tackles trappy to the ground as a hail of lead tears through the room's outside windows--stitching up trails of bullet holes in the walls opposite the outside. Our duo then take cover behind an overturned teacher's desk, finding themselves looking at...
Boss Fight: Hind-D (?)
Naho Saenoki notices absolutely no one in the cockpit of the Hind, questioning if it even is a Hind at all. Yuki responds by noting that it looks like the Darkening has the ability to influence materiel, but whether that can be confirmed or not, doesn't change the fact that it's attacking them and needs to be shot down.
Just like when Master Sergeant Erich Wolfe was commandeering an example of the Hind, this pilotless Hind fight also takes place in Tenjin. Since Yuki is well-stocked up on weapons that have Anti-Materiel capability at this point, he can defend himself and Naho Saenoki straight from the get-go. The attacks are the same as last time--gun strafing and multiple rocket launches and evasion of that by running from room to room still available as an option. Halfway into the fight, the location mysteriously transitions into a jungle-like, top-of-the-waterfall-like area, with the 'Malevolent Hind-D' hovering above the lake below--guns pointed at the duo.
At this point, Yuki and Naho are essentially re-creating the Hind A/D boss fight from MGS: Peace Walker. The only difference is that while fighting the attack heli, hordes of malevolent spirits will come out to attack as well and these spirits must be defeated lethally. The Hind must also be completely destroyed as well.
Upon the conclusion of this fight, the malevolent spirits will vanish while the Darkening leaves the Hind. Without anything to control it, in addition to extensive damage, the Hind-D plummets down the waterfall, crashes, and burns. Naho Saenoki looks over the ridge at the wreck down below, then at Yuki. Yuki Shinohara comments "Never thought the Darkening could affect materiel.", which illicits a response from a disembodied voice. "We didn't think so either but right now, we need to bring you two back."
Our duo are teleported back to Tenjin in the classroom left destroyed by a combination of Colonel Thorne's Vulcan fire and that of the Hind-D they just destroyed. They look around to find out who responded to Yuki's comment and find themselves being assisted by Miyu Zwei. The trappy cyborg ninja explains the Darkening had evolved yet again after exposure to military-grade combat in the halls of Tenjin, which disturbs Yuki-kun. Naho asks what it would take to stop the Darkening at this rate, in which Miyu Zwei replies "We don't know just yet."
Yuki Shinohara asks the cyborg ninja copy of Miyu Shinohara as to where Sayaka Shinohara is. He replies "That's why I made best speed to find you guys. She's been kidnapped."
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