Max's Lament

***Note: This is an alternate ending***

*This ending corresponds with the Universe of Blood*.

Written by Pensplatter13

In this ending of DenNIM, there is a distinct focus upon the character of Max and his shift from passively obsessing over Dennim from afar to taking a more active role within the story. While he regularly flirts with Dennim and contemptuously ignores Mind in his initial portrayal, in this ending he decides to try and shift the tides in his own favor by invoking a Satanic ritual that will bind Dennim to himself.

However, because Dennim is a mental construct of Mind and an imaginary being, while Mind is real, Max accidentally ends up binding himself to her. The nature of the ritual makes it so that Max will always be present when Mind is in need, forcing him to see his "enemy" more often than he'd like.

Even though Max doesn’t understand what has gone wrong with the ritual, he decides to use the opportunity to try and drive Mind and Dennim apart. But Mind's naïvety creates little success. Thanks to being trapped for most of her life and not being accustomed to company outside of Dennim, she has no real knowledge of what is appropriate social behaviour. As a result of this, she ends up developing slightly romantic feelings towards Max after his botched attempts to insult and harm her.

This naturally drives Dennim mad with jealousy, but he knows he cannot kill Max outright without causing the smitten Mind great pain. As he doesn't know Max's real intentions and only knows he often comes to see her, Dennim plans to find a suitable substitute for him in order to have him abandon her.

Soon after having decided on his scheme, Dennim comes across a young woman named Winona and notices her similar hair and eye color to Mind. He decides to use the stranger for his plan and promotes Max to her by describing him as a man obsessed with her, but too shy to express his emotions due to their superficial differences. Winona becomes quite flattered and charmed by Dennim’s story and agrees to meet with her supposed admirer. Dennim leads her to Max and Mind, hanging out together as expected, and introduces him to Winona as a dear friend with many positive attributes.

Each of our four protagonists interprets Dennim’s words differently; with Winona believing Dennim is simply introducing her to her admirer, Max believing he has finally developed feelings for him, Dennim being assured he is diverting Max’s attention away from Mind, and Mind believing that her only two friends are finally getting along. In response to this, Mind gets an idea and excitedly proclaims that they should all go out together for dinner and a movie. Each member of the love square agrees, seeing it as an opportunity to get closer to the object of their desire. Mind is particularly excited, due to the fact she thinks to be spending an evening with friends for the first time, which is something she has deeply desired since her childhood.

The four arrive at the theatre, where they each awkwardly try to sit next to their potential love interest, with many seat changes occurring before they finally settle with a chair. Mind, Max, Winona, and Dennim sit from left to right, with neither men happy being separated from their respective love interest. After the movie, they head to a fancy restaurant where further shenanigans ensues, especially because Dennim's separations from Mind turned his attitude foul and he feels unmotivated to eat for the sake of being sociable. Eventually the dinner dissolves into chaos, with Mind leaving in tears and Dennim chasing after her. She wishes an explanation for his hostility, and he tries to argue they do not need a third and fourth wheel in their lives; meaning Max and Winona, and only need each other. Mind then slaps him and cries that she has dreamt of being surrounded by friends since she was able to speak, and while she had always found comfort in him, she hoped he would've been happy for her to meet and befriend people besides him. She then scolds Dennim for being a selfish friend and asks that he not see her for a while.

Meanwhile, at the restaurant, Winona is finally alone with Max and tries to reach out to him, mentioning how Dennim told her he was interested in her.

When Max hears this, he releases a sad chuckle, confusing Winona. He reveals that he has only ever been interested in Dennim, but despite everything he has done, he still doesn’t know about his feelings. Winona is at first somewhat sympathetic, if not embarrassed she has spent the evening wooing a homosexual man, however, when Max continues to reveal his various botched attempts to remove Mind in callous manner, Winona loses her sympathy towards him and becomes disgusted the more she hears him talk. She then asks him if he even knows Dennim, to which he dryly replies he has propositioned him multiple times. She responds that’s not the same as getting to know someone, and gives Max a reality check by explaining to him he never accomplished what he initially set out to do, which was to get closer to Dennim, as his crush is basically a stranger and he knows nothing about his likes and dislikes. She adds it’s best that Dennim nor Mind learn what kind of man he is, and is ensured that if they did, they would want nothing to do with him.

Afterwards she angrily leaves the restaurant, and Max goes on to reflect on Winona’s words; specifically that he never accomplished what he set out to do, while ignoring all other criticism.

Later that same night, we see Max waiting in a dim alleyway behind Mind’s apartment complex. Mind then arrives and approaches him, saying that she received his message. She reveals that she’s glad that he wanted to talk, for she feared that Dennim might have scared him off. Max offers no response to her worries, but Mind continues that although their night was not what she expected, she recalled how lonely she once was and those memories made her feel grateful for the fact that she has friends at all. She then tries to excuse Dennim’s antics at dinner, claiming that he may look and act strange at times, but still has been her closest companion since childhood and couldn’t imagine life without him. Max then opens his arms, which Mind interprets as him offering her a comforting hug.

While in his arms, she realizes what she's just told Max and regrets her outburst from earlier. She starts worrying about where Dennim is now, and secretly hopes he decides to ignore her harsh demand and come back for her. Max then quietly mutters that she said she could not imagine life without Dennim, but then ominously asks if she ever thought to ask if he could imagine life without her. Mind is confused by his query, but then suddenly feels a sharp pain in her back.

Her hands slowly reach towards her back, and she feels a knife lodged between her ribs. Her eyes rise to meet Max’s, while he coldly responds to Winona’s past lecture; saying he finally accomplished what he set out to do.

Mind’s eyes close as she crumples to the ground. Max’s eyes follow the path of the blood pouring out of her, and sees it reach a pair of familiar shoes. He looks up and is pleased to see Dennim before him, who was called by Mind’s subconscious desire to see him again before getting attacked. He is shocked by the scene and his failure to protect Mind leaves him momentarily petrified.

While the blood of his beloved begins pooling at his feet, his crimson eyes lock onto Max's, and he begins to transform, growing larger and evermore monstrous. Max is mesmerized by the transformation, and when Dennim finally reaches his full Demonic Lord form, a small smile appears upon Max’s face. He stares into Dennim’s hollow eyes and whispers “Beautiful…”; the last word he utters.

Dennim’s giant, gaping mouth descends with lightning-fast speed, devouring the boy as his first causality and preparing to punish all of humanity for his loss of Mind.