If one were to describe the the atmosphere envelopping the librarians who stepped into what one would assume to be an alternate reality, it would certainly be "eerie", "oppressing" & "Depressing".

All around them, a scenery that would belong within a child's faded memories filled their vision. The partially destroyed room they found themselves in was decorated with a colored floor made of puzzle pieces. On the remaining walls keeping this place somewhat stable, faint drawings of red and white bunnies were there.

The ceiling was nothing more than rubbles on the floor of the room that could have belonged to a child in the past, allowing the workers sent by Angela to observe a monotone representation of the City beyond the limits of the barely held walls.

However, the trio paid no mind to the reality past the border they arrived in. After all, they weren't here for sightseeing. Their hands tightened around their weapons as they watched the Abnormality residing in this place.

...Which was soon followed by a look of mild shock shared by all of them.

Cereb: ...This can't be right.

The assistant mumbled to himself, attempting to find a possible answer to what they were witnessing. Sadly, the truth was evident and none of them could deny what their eyes showed them.

What caused such reaction?

The answer was pretty simple: the presence of the one trapped within the book they were in. What made THIS case different nonetheless was how it was presented to the group trying to rescue them.

The ex-employee, a girl who seemed much younger than the man assigned on Malkuth's floor as her assistant, was looking back at them. Her long, purple hair covered her eyes and only revealed a wide and creepy smile aimed at them. Her arms were turned into bear limbs, with each fingers turning into dangerously sharp claws.

Within her grasp, a smaller version of Happy Teddy Bear, the Abnormality they were tasked to suppress, was present. The final nail in the coffin for the librarians was how parts of her skin was replaced with grafted "skin" with colorful designs, going from red with white strips to gray with yellow stars.

Yet, despite the changes, she still held a wide grin that sent shivers to everyone who saw it. Angela's assistant even noted how the gaze he could feel reminded him of the one he got from a certain woman dressed in black.

Then, she spoke up, further hammering in that they were in for a tough ordeal.

"Crush them mister teddy, destroy these wicked dolls~!"

Malkuth: Be careful everyone, we'll have to defeat the both of them!

Cereb: ...I hope this isn't gonna become a recurring theme for this floor.

The man wearing a copy of Mars' page letting out a long sigh, knowing that he also was in this state when they first found him. The director's unwilling helper replied with a quick "don't beat yourself up over it" to calm down his worries.

A deep breath was shared as they prepared for the eventual battle, which arrived at a faster speed than the trio would have liked.

Both sides readied themselves but only half of the side opposing the Library charged at the front. The assistant librarians sent a confused glance towards the entranced employee as she raised one of her hands into the air, cheering on the Abnormality.

"Show no pity, I believe in you~!"

Malkuth, on the other hand, was too focused on the running teddy bear making its way towards her to heed what was said. However, this allowed her to see a sudden change in the entity's behaviour that was not perceived by her allies. Its carefree movements immediately dropped upon hearing the support from the trapped agent, leaving her to face a speeding projectile aimed at her.

Her eyes widened and her hands desperately tried to form a defensive posture to block the incoming hit. Alas, her efforts went to waste the very next moment. The large teddy bear covered the remaining distance between them and swung its arms in a brutish manner unlike the attitude it held a moment ago, shattering her guard easily.

She took a few steps back, barely dodging a second strike aiming in her direction. She repeated the same action a second time, allowing her to dodge 2 hits in total.

On the other side, the duo still targeting the rogue enchanted employee rushed in her direction and tried to land a hit that would potentially give them a window to go for a potential kill.

Despite the clear disadvantage she had when facing the duo, the grin she held remained stuck and soon enough, the reason why was apparent. Without any effort on her part, her feet swiftly moved along in response to their attacks, perfectly avoiding them in a way that did not allow them to graze her.

A drop of sweat formed on the AI's personal prisoner's face. Cereb, on the other hand, frowned at the sight of her movements. It looked so... unnatural, uncomfortable to observe. It sent shivers down his spine.

Once fully out of their grasp, ironic since they couldn't even lay a single scratch on her, the girl with purple hair tilted her head as she tightly held the smaller copy of Happy Teddy Bear in her hands.

"I don't need anyone else, nor any new toys. Mister teddy is all I need in this world~"

Y/N: ...

Cereb: ...How are we even supposed to hit her if she keeps dodging like that?

To them, it felt like any action they took was countered by her, it was unlike anything they had seen so far from both the guests and Abnormalities they had faced. The realization only made them more unsure of what to do.

Then, a loud crashing sound snapped them out of their thoughts. Malkuth was clashing for the second time against the main threat present but thankfully, without the indirect words of the captive employee, its mood soon returned to a more casual demeanor, allowing her to swing her sword and form a tear in its body.

Seeing this unfold before their eyes, the assistants switched targets and went for the large teddy bear. Reducing the number of opponents they had to face at once was so far the best strategy they could think of.

Luckily for them, the girl trapped within the book ignored their sudden change, content with simply observing the battle continue. In her eyes, they were nothing more than mere distraction, a group of feeble insects that she couldn't care less about.

"Keep going, tear them apart!"

A total of 5 words slipped from her mouth, which were enough to create a repeat of what occured a moment ago. Without any explanation, the animated plushie dropped any form of jolly movements and went back on the offensive.

The trio took note of how her order was enough to give it a boost of power and immediately shelved it in the back of their thoughts, they had a more urgent matter to deal with.

The assistant librarian assigned to no specific floor was the first one to reach the still struggling ex-Sephirah and raised his blade to form a makeshift barrier between them and the attacker.

To his surprise, his weapon exploded into golden pages before tranforming into a stretched out layer of dry skin that served as a shield. The opposition was enough to parry the attack and sent the Abnormality backward, directly in the range of the third fighter.

Cereb: That's what you deserve for strangling my coworkers!

The man with short red hair swung Mars' inconvenient weapon to the best of his abilities and tore the moving entity's right arm open with a downward slash, letting the stuffing fall onto the floor.

Following that, his sword performed a full rotation to smack the teddy bear in the face with the momentum he carried.

Cereb: You won't get any mercy out of me!

Not done with his target, Cereb pushed through the broken stance of their opponent and prepared a second attack that also acted as the cue for his allies to pick up the pace. The duo in the back soon joined them in hope of defeating it.

A flurry of swings was sent but despite that, the Abnormality remained strong. Of course, that didn't mean it came out of this completely unharmed, that would be delusional. However, it was enough to stagger it for a moment.

The sight gave hope to the trio, who were completely exhausted after spending everything they had on the foe in front of them.

A third moment of respite was granted for both sides who clearly needed it. On one side, the librarians were slightly roughed up but still standing strong. On the other, Happy Teddy Bear's stuffing was coming out of tears it got in the battle. By its side, the bewitched employee tightened her grip on her small plushie.

She stood still, her hidden eyes drilling holes into the mere dolls trying to ruin her paradise. Her grin was no more, replaced by a genuine scowl of hatred. Hatred soon gave birth to an exploding outburst that took the group on the Library's side by surprise.

"You are all nothing but disgusting mistakes. I won't let you take my best friend away from me! I'll kill you all!!"

...Said outburst ended with the woman with purple hair crushing the small copy of her "best friend". Its head exploded but not a single second of attention was given to it. Its owner soon let it drop on the floor as her eyes focused on those who dared harm her companion.

Said group could already tell that they messed up. Unfortunately, the deed was already done, the best they could do was struggle out of this predicament.

The first one to rush into battle was the one working on the same floor as Malkuth. Although he had a feeling that what he was doing would not lead to anything, he nonetheless held a defensive stance by using his massive sword as protection.

Behind him, the other boy was hoping to find an opportunity to slip past her and finish off Happy Teddy Bear, who seemed to be on the brink of death.

Yes, that was plan... or at least it was until the harsh realization of what they brought upon themselves landed on them.

In a singular second, the sound of an explosion deafened everyone who was unlucky enough to hear it. It was not caused by some sort of surprise attack, no, it was a side effect caused by the tremendous speed taken by the controlled employee. Her movement left behind a small detonation.

Once close enough, true fright set in as Cereb witnessed the arms of their opponent lengthen. Her sharp claws grew longer with each second passed and then, in the blink of an eye, judgement was given.

It only took a moment, a "blink and you'll miss it" scenario. One moment, everything was fine and the next, a fountain was born. The head that once belonged to the ex-Sephirah's assistant was nonexistent, replaced by fleshy matter crushed between the paws of the berserk worker.

The Patron librarian took a step back out of shock. She had seen her fair share of experience in the past when it came to the death of others. One would have expected her to remain unaffected but her heightened emotions caused by the battle made her breathing double in speed.

The last member of the group was speechless. The scene before his eyes gave him horrible flashbacks of Lobotomy Corporation and made his heart drop. His instincts were screaming, not wishing to remember what they had to endure to reach this point.

After a long period of time had passed in the eyes of the remaining librarians, the body of the deceased finally collapsed into golden pages.

"I won't let you touch mister teddy, you are nothing more than a waste of space!"

The remaining duo sprinted to the side in an attempt to dodge the following attack. Right behind them, where they once stood, a curtain of colorful pieces flew into the air. Time was running out for them and they realized this.

Y/N: ...

Without any hesitation, the ex-captain of the Central Command team shortened the distance between himself and the teddy bear standing in the back. Once close enough, the stress placed upon him acted as a catalyst to release a burst of flames from his sword.

The fire, without any guidance, immediately latched onto its prey and devoured its body made of burnable material. Normally, with a scene like this, one would assume that the victim would not survive. However, the sheer terror haunting the man forced him to keep swinging, once, twice and three times even. He gave it no chance of survival.

...And finally, as one might expect, the Abnormality turned into a collection of golden pages. The pressure building up in the assistant made him quickly turned to face the lone enemy.

"Playtime is over!!"

His action, fueled by what he thought to be the solution to make the rogue agent calm down, was instead rewarded by the sight of the Patron librarian being crushed by the massive arms of the last opponent.

The last thing he could see of her was her hand going limp before her body dissolved into pages.

Now, all alone, the last worker rose his blade. Even without looking at them, he could feel his hands tremble. Seeing his allies end up like how he saw them definitely made his confidence take a blow.

A blur soon formed in his vision, which lasted long enough for him to question whether what he was seeing was correct or simply a trick of his eyes. Unfortunately for him, the moment he understood who was said anomaly, his body was sent into a wall.

A groan of pain slipped through his gritted teeth.

Y/N: So close...

Angela's assistant mumbled to himself as a way to temporarily ignore his aching body. Luckily, his adrenaline made that job much easier. As he stood up, though, that wave of sudden energy came to an abrupt halt.

Unlike his legs, who followed his orders in a matter of seconds, a lack of sensation could be felt from both his upper limbs. His eyes widened as he lowered his attention, only to find mangled arms bent in horrible directions. The sight was enough to give him cold sweats.

Yet, he still felt no pain, all thanks to his brain removing his limiters upon sensing that it was in grave danger. Unfortunately, this boost of energy meant nothing now, he simply lacked the capability to fight.

The girl with long hair ran in his direction, emanating an aura of wrath as she raised one of her hands in the air to slam his skull into the ground and turn it into bone dust.

Now completely powerless, the lone librarian raised his head to face his imminent death. With each millisecond, the shadow over him grew stronger and his world grew hazier until the massive hand was right on top of his head.

Just as he was about to embrace death, a lone sound broke the reality around him. The snap of someone's fingers.

At that moment, the director's helper remembered how Angela clearly stated that she would put an end to everything if something went wrong after he convinced her with enough begging to be of help. A sad smile formed on his face as he realized that the one who should have stopped this a long time ago waited until he was about to meet his end to pull the plug.

...

...

Let's try again, shall we?

...

...

Y/N: Keep it busy!

Cereb: I-I'm trying, it's not giving up!

The duo exchanged a few words to each other as they tried to suppress their targets. Now that they had a vague idea of what to do, they could focus their ressources correctly... or at least focus on what they think is correct.

Both Malkuth & the man who begged to help during Abnormality suppressions were locked onto the entranced employee, who replied with simple movements that brought her out of harm's way.

The plan was simple: keep Happy Teddy Bear busy while the remaining duo dealt with the rampaging agent. Once they took care of her, dealing with the main threat would become much easier.

In addition, after remembering the behaviour the entity they were facing displayed during the days it spent inside Lobotomy Corporation, they made sure to alternate between who would deal with it, just to be sure.

Clash after clash, both sides continued to move alongside the flow of battle. Trapped in a solo duel, Cereb desperately tried to hold his ground in order to give his allies the opportunity to strike down the secondary danger.

The random encouragements from the woman with purple hair definitely didn't help him. Each time she would send a few words their way, the sentient plushie would suddenly gain a boost of aggressiveness and strength that took him by surprise without fail.

Still despite that, his defensive formation remained somewhat stable. It wasn't the best but it did the job it needed to do: buy them enough time to defeat the unstable employee.

"Give them the strength of your love mister teddy~!"

Cereb: ...Huh?

Slightly taken aback by the words that they haven't heard before, the man holding the massive sword glanced back at the bear. What he saw was its arms extended around him, giving him horrible flashbacks of what occured to him the previous time.

"Come over here and feel this fuzzy and warm feeling of love with my hug."

His face lost any colors it once had just in time before his bones shattered. His screams of pain trapped in his throat, his lungs pierced by his own ribcage. His oxygen was swiftly taken away from him, only allowing his hollow shell to collapse on the ground before turning into golden pages.

Y/N: Cereb!

His yell of panic was lost as soon as it left his mouth. Once more, he had to witness the death of his coworker.

Malkuth: Watch out-!

The Sephirah of the Control team raised her voice  as she watched the one they tried to rescue aim for him. Unfortunately, words simply couldn't match the speed she had whenever she went on the offensive. Her hands swung down to meet each other, the remaining assistant's face trapped in their path.

Realizing his mistake, the worker was forced to witness the attack go closer until everything turned to darkness. Once more, the world around him became no more and his existence was dragged out by the director.

Let's try again, shall we?

...

...

Cereb: No... no no no!

A voice of exasperation came from Malkuth's helper as he watched said girl turn into nothing more than a pile of golden pages, her killer standing still with a wide grin on her face.

The trio forced to repeat this encounter over and over again slowly went from taking this seriously to showing signs of losing faith. The Patron librarian, of course, desperately tried to keep her allies from completely dropping any form of hope they had but each time they had to witness was cumulating on their conscience.

It didn't matter to them if they could never truly die. To them, who were in this battle, it felt like a life or death scenario and each time one would fall, the stress would pile up. It almost gave the ex-employees a reaction close to a panic attack they had many times during the cycles of L Corp.

No matter what they did, nothing seemed to be working, the girl would simply counter everything they tried and soon after, one of them would die, leading to a slippery slope.

Attacking the girl led to nothing but staggering Happy Teddy Bear also led to her becoming enraged, their demise occuring soon after. Everything seemed to lead to a dead end.

This was not the third they did... the exact number would be their fifth. Each of them was a loop that they used to try to find an opening, only to be met with nothing of worth.

Soon after this small breakdown, the blood of the assistant covered the floor and the clothes of the remaining fighter, who fell to his knees.

The massive bear raised its hands and swung them down in his direction, causing the fake reality contained within the book to vanish yet again.

Let's try again, shall we?

...

...

This wasn't some time loop like the 50 days spent underground. Unlike back then, everyone was conscious of their failures and soon, the librarians assigned to the other floors came down to try and formulate some sort of ideas.

Dana: ...Maybe just go for her?

Yesod: The method has already been tried and no result has been shown.

Dana: R-Right...

Rin: What if we give her no chance to attack?

Hava: With the streak they have, you'd have a better chance hitting a jackpot than stop her once she goes to attack.

Cereb: We can't win! What are we supposed to do against this?!

The usually cheerful assistant was letting out his frustration as he leaned in his seat. He held his head in his head as he looked at the floor. Next to him, Angela's unwilling helper was staring at Netzach's first assistant, hoping to find some sort of epiphany in her words.

Y/N: What should we do?

Hava: ...

There was a reason why he was looking at her in particular. During the many trials they endured together, she always seemed to know what she was doing during battles and how to perfectly strike. With that in mind, he was praying that she could give him the wisdom needed to finally make a breakthrough.

She understood his silent demand and leaned into her own chair. Her smile briefly left during the time she took to ponder on the question but returned as soon as she found her solution.

Hava: Despite seeming repetitive, Dana's guess is the most correct.

Cereb: But we already tried-!

Hava: Not enough...

"Go all out, ignore the other threat. She is the true danger."

"Crush them mister tedd-!"

Without a single moment of hesitation, the trio immediately charged into battle the second their feet landed on the ground, swiftly cutting off the girl with a wide smile. They were tired and some of them annoyed by their fate, which left them with the simple desire of being done with this.

Of course, the Abnormality in control of this reality ran at them like always. However, its attempt at attacking was completely ignored by its targets. Once past its attack range, the librarians readied their weapons and released their emotions with each swings they sent in the direction of their target.

Like always, her reaction remained sharp, something that only made the assistants more annoyed. She at first avoided the relentless assault of Malkuth's weapon, followed by a perfect dodge against Cereb's attacks...

...This was when the director's doll unleashed his blade, now turned into a chain attached to Forsaken Murderer's metal head onto her. The metallic ball landed into her back and sent her forward, breaking her previously impenetrable guard.

The first phase of the plan was completed and soon, the second part became apparent during the second scene of the battle.

"You worthless-!"

The captivated employee let out a spiteful remark that reached no one's ears. Everyone present was too focused to even bother listening to a word that she said at this point. Right as they took the singular breath they allowed themselves to have between scenes, the group opposing the Abnormality went back to the offense.

To the surprise of no one anymore, she responded with a dodge, letting her crescent smile exposed to her foes.

...It was supposed to be yet another fruitless endeavor, just like the many times before but to the girl's surprise, the sensation of her grafted skin being cut open followed. Her previously quick movements were much slower than before, a change that was planned the moment the exhausted ex-captain brandished his weapon.

The second phase was done and now, the final part was upon them: kill.

"Brutal" would be an understatement. If one were to observe what soon followed, they probably would have to blink a few times out of shock at the sheer violence displayed by the trio that had lost their patience.

Swing after swing, hit after hit, stab after stab, everything was sent at her without any hesitation. It lacked any finesse, any reservation. Now that their one chance had shown itself, they were not about to let it slide so easily.

In fact, one of them could only see red as they let out their stress onto the source of it. Stagger soon followed but it wasn't enough, they would only calm down once it was all over and they were successfully retrieved by Angela. 

One moment, the girl that brought such torment to them was still standing and the next, at the end of the scene, nothing remained in that spot.

Happy Teddy Bear, forced to witness its hostage combust into nothingness, froze in place for a moment as it watched the trio slowly turn in its direction. Despite the distance between them, it could feel the emotions sent its way and none of them were good.

Third scene.

Y/N: ...

The fatigued worker led the charge as they ran towards the massive plushie. Without any guidance from its "best friend", the Abnormality reverted to a more childlike behaviour that was shattered by its many opponents.

A repeat of what happened a moment ago was the only thing noteworthy about the remainder of this battle. With no one to protect it when it was in a weakened state, the once threatening beast was nothing more than a nuisance...

...Quite ironic.

...

...

A long period of silence formed between the present librarians as they exchanged a long stare. The main team was formed of those who participated in the suppression of Happy Teddy Bear alongside the assistants that helped them reach their victory.

On the other side, the purple haired that caused the trio so much trouble was sitting in a chair, a book in her hands as she observed them.

Unlike the attitude she held during the battle they had, her current face was devoid of any emotion. Her hair was properly placed and allowed her eyes matching the color of her hair to look back at them.

She quietly closed the book she carried and carefully stood up on her feet before bowing in their direction.

"Before anything, I would like to thank you for rescuing me. The memories I have of when I was fighting you are brief but I know that I have inflicted much pain towards you. I apologize."

Cereb: ...That's an understatement.

Still slightly not over the ordeal they went through, Malkuth's first assistant averted his gaze as he mumbled to himself. His anger was mostly gone by now but a part of it remained, a part that he had doubts he would be able to lose for now.

The man next to him, however, tried his best to show a welcoming smile. His enervation was much more visible and the only thing on his mind right now was a good rest.

The new addition to the Library raised her head and finally began her introduction. She placed the book she carried to her side and closed her eyes.

"I am Patchouli Knowledge. I am many things from where I came from but here, I am nothing more than a librarian. A pleasure to meet all of you."

Y/N: Nice to meet you.

His reply showed many signs of genuine drowsiness, prompting Hava to take him by his arm before leading towards the exit.

Hava: We're gonna have to cut it short for today I'm afraid, don't want our captain here to collapse on the spot~

Dana: Yea, he looked like he was about to fall asleep at any second.

Cereb: Honestly, I'm in the same boat, I just want to lay down somewhere. I'll talk to you later, I promise...

The second member that fought to rescue her walked out after the previous duo. It seemed to be a general consensus shared by those who tried their best to help. Patchouli nodded in return, allowing them to take their leave.

Now all on her own, she returned to her seat and opened the book she was reading once more. Many thoughts crossed her mind, some minor but many were... more confusing to her to say the least.

Patchouli: ...I can't seem to find any traces of what was once... stuck with me. I feel fine... much better than before I ended up here.

The librarian whispered to herself as she noted these details about her own body. Her memories were still blurry in a few places, however, the ones who greeted her here seemed to be kind enough to let her do her own stuff.

Her eyes scanned the room she was in. As far as she could see, rows of books were present, simply waiting for someone to pick them up and peek at their content. A small smile formed her face as she watched the scene before her.

Patchouli: If that witch was here, she would have dropped on the floor out of shock.

It was a small comment that would have made no sense to everyone else except her. Soon after, her eyes returned to her reading, something she was very used to.

She didn't know how she got here, nor for what purpose but one thing was certain, there had to be a reason. Everyone here seemed nice enough, or at least didn't show outright hostility towards her presence.

Of course, if they asked her for assistance, she wouldn't refuse. After all, they took her in despite what she vaguely remembered doing. Just remembering these memories made some question marks float above her head.

As she finished the book she was holding, she wondered if she could find an explanation to what happened to her in one of the many books contained within this place. Her curiosity was renewed in this place and she was not going to be shy about wanting to learn as many things as she could.

...It was in her name after all.

Patchouli: If I had to take a guess, that woman with the power of boundaries is responsible for this, or at least partially.

With those final words, she stood up and reached for a new book. Normally, she would have asked her servant to go fetch them for her but with this new body of hers, she had all the energy in the world to go collect what she wanted herself.

"This certainly has its share of mysteries", she thought to herself as she peeked at the cover of the book she grabbed.

Happy Teddy Bear's suppression completed.

Y/N's existence has been stabilized.

???'s existence has been stabilized.

A new exclusive Combat Page has been added!

(There we go, we reached our first defeat for the Library. I hope you guys liked what I did for the Abnormality fight. If not then I'm sorry, like always...

With that said, which Abnormality do you think will lead to the next defeat on the side of the Library? Tell me your guesses if you feel like it, it's fun to share thoughts after all.)