Lisa the Mournful AU

Premise: Terry awakens weeks after the ending of Painful and discovers that he is the sole survivor of Brad’s last stand. He witnessed the deaths of Nern and Olan by Brad’s hands, all of whom were his best friends. He still doesn’t know if Brad had spared him or mistook him for dead, but he convinces himself of the former.

He finds himself in a clean bed with needles stuck in his arms. A small cache of supplies sits on the bedside table. There is a note left for him: the rest of Brad’s gang have since disbanded and scattered. Some of them have become Joy mutants and are making large swaths of land uninhabitable. Terry decides that they are still his friends, so he must round up the old gang and face them!

Terry is too squeamish to pull out his own IVs, so the first available party member does it for him. He leaves a hint for the next person titled “Pulling Out Your IVs by Doctor Terry, MD” and embarks on his quest! A few old party members are recruitable, and they each tell Terry their accounts of what happened at the end of Painful. (Though, the truthfulness of their stories is questionable.) Of course, he also meets new friends along the way.

The journey would involve him finding and slaying his mutated former comrades. Each major battle brings him closer to remembering what happened at the end of Painful.

Since Buzzo and Yado are dead, Joy is no longer being produced and is difficult to obtain. This gives rise to wandering gangs that kill people for their Joy. Terry regularly clashes with mutants, Joy cultists, and squabbling drug lords. He can Joy his teammates for a boost in battle (which affects the ending), or the pills can be sold for a high price at a vendor. He refuses to take it himself.

A major plot point involves him finding out that the person who rescued him intends to use him to take down Buddy, the only warlord left in Olathe. She’s been kidnapping Joy addicts and amassing an army of mutants, presumably so she can use them to rule over humanity. Terry was to kill the remaining mutants so that she couldn’t capture them.

After a lengthy fight through waves of Buddy’s army, Terry and party eventually confront Buddy along with a mutated Brad. It turns out that she had been trying to tame and rehabilitate the mutants. She’s been keeping the kidnapped addicts at the Joy Lab to watch over them as she further develops the Joy vaccine with Yado’s notes. The realization causes him to despair.

Endings

In line with the rest of the Lisa series, Terry is forced to confront his personal failings. He spends the entire story convincing himself that Brad spared him despite mounting evidence proving otherwise. It made him feel special and like he had a duty to “save” his former companions. (Note: he ends up killing all of them when friendship doesn’t work.) He realizes that everything he’s done was for selfish reasons, and he’s been treating the people around him like side characters in his childish hero fantasy.

Ending A: “Friends Forever”, achieved if Terry doesn’t use Joy on his teammates. Buddy is killed during the initial battle, which causes Brad to mutate further and go on a rampage. Once again, Terry is the only person in his party who survives the massacre. He wakes up and finds both Brad and Buddy’s corpse missing. The news of Buddy’s death causes Olathe to deteriorate even further. The people trapped in the Joy Lab either starve to death or become mutants themselves. Terry is once again depressed, alone, and it’s implied that he’s starting to take Joy.

The ending cutscene is set during Painful, after Brad gives up his arm for Terry’s life. Nern and Olan are asleep, but Terry is awake. He asks Brad if his arm hurts, to which Brad replies that he’s fine and curtly tells him to go to sleep. Terry apologizes for causing him so much trouble, sharing that nobody has ever cared for him that much in his life. He promises that they’ll be friends forever.

Ending B: “Fairweather Friend”, achieved if Terry uses Joy on his teammates. During the final fight, Terry is once again forced to watch Brad murder his friends. Just as Brad is about to kill Terry, his dying teammates begin to mutate. The battle starts again, this time with the player controlling a heavily injured Terry and mutated party members. Brad and Terry’s gang succumb to their wounds. Even if she hates being treated gently, Buddy is held by Terry as they cry.

The ending cutscene shows Terry and Buddy in the Joy Lab. Terry helps the research team by cleaning the lab, tending to the prisoners, and keeping Buddy company. Buddy seems to trust him, as he treats her as a friend and leader (similarly to how he viewed Brad). The mutants who have taken the test vaccine appear to be falling apart, and the human test subjects are dying. She asks him to bring her more subjects. When he expresses reluctance, she bitterly questions if he truly is her friend. He confirms that he is.

Ending C: “Mournful”, achieved if Terry has no party members left. Devastated, Terry shuts down during the final battle, crying and stalling despite player input. When his health is low, the only command available is “Mourn”. Each time he uses it, the battle cuts to Terry by a campfire. He shares a quiet chat with the former friends that he has murdered, who appear to be unmutated. He apologizes for being unable to save them, but they coldly point out the ways he’s been selfish while blaming him for their deaths. When he finally speaks to his vision of Brad, he tearfully tells him that he still considers him his best friend.

When he wakes up, he finds Mutant Brad dead. Buddy is crying. It’s unclear who killed him. Terry shows her he means no harm by offering her a single white flower. She wipes her face and takes it, then tells him he should just kill her if he’s going to control her like the others. He promises that he won’t, and she demands he prove it.

The ending cutscene shows Buddy in the Joy Lab. As she plays Yado’s trumpet, the shadow of a large figure approaches.

galelululu-blog

THIS IS SO GOOD AUGH

wot

Lisa the Mournful AU

Just saying

OK

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