infinite_reflection | The Terminal Show (May 1st)

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The Terminal Show (May 1st)

April 22nd, 2012

After the events of April 19th, it had been decided that a meeting of sorts needed to be held between those that had been to the 'Mirror World'. Seiya, Ren, Kota, Gregory and Miho had gathered – three out of the five equipped with a strange new power called 'Persona'. It'd been a rainy day, with a tense and disquieting atmosphere. The meeting itself was confusing, given the small amount of information they had. The Mirror World was linked to the crimes and heavy atmosphere that had infected their city – normal and seemingly rational people were being driven to murder. For whatever reason, the three of them had faced themselves, and gained a new power. Perhaps a power to fight whatever was happening in their city? That was the consensus.

The Academy Defense Squad (A.D.S.) was thusly formed, and from that day forward they were going to try their best to fight an unknown enemy.

April 23rd, 2012, early morning

Miho jerked awake with a start, heart hammering like wild in her chest, and her skin covered in a thin layer of cold sweat. “W-what a nightmare, jeez...” She fumbled quickly for her oversized glasses on her bedside table so she could squint at the time. Late! Late! She was never late! This would surely go on her personal record! A quick glance outside (pouring rain again, sigh) and the girl wiped her thoughts of nightmares and monsters from her mind.

In her rush to get ready for school, she failed to notice the flicker of movement from her closet mirror.

April 25th, 2012, early morning

It was another rainy morning. A light mist seemed to hang about the city – it was the type of weather an umbrella wouldn't save you from. Somehow, Miho's foot falls felt heavy against the pavement. The last two nights had been horrible. She'd had all sorts of nightmares, and gotten very little sleep. Heck, she hadn't even done any of her homework for the past two days, or taken any notes in class... Or even studied. With an inhale she let her shoulders slump.

“What's even the point of going to class today...?” Truth be told, she really didn't feel well. It was probably the rain. The rain always made her feel suffocated, and made her think too hard. At least it was supposed to be sunny soon, though! The weather forecast called for one more day of rain. Miho forced herself to class, and tried her best to smile throughout the day.

April 27th, 2012, afternoon

Sunlight filtered in through the window, lighting the bathroom up and illuminating the figure standing before the counter. Miho hadn't gone to class yesterday. She wasn't able to force herself out of bed. Everything was fuzzy and distorted, as if she were somewhere else – floating in the air, watching her body lie there. Calls and texts went unanswered. And now here she was, standing in her Pjs in front of her bathroom mirror.

The girl, eyes wide, raised a hand. The mirror rippled with her touch like the surface of a lake. Tears were starting to form at the corners of Miho's eyes. What was happening? I don't want to die! But she couldn't stop herself. With little effort she climbed the counter and placed her palms against the cool (cold! It was cold like ice) surface. Her breath came out in a chilly puff of mist. She leaned in to easily push herself through, and then stopped at the last second. “W-what--”

A hand shoved outwards, grabbing her by the collar of her oversized t-shirt and dragging her in.

“SEIYYAAAA!”

That afternoon, at class, Kota would be hit with a pang, and then a nagging feeling that would gnaw at the back of his mind. This feeling would last for several days, until one morning...

May 1st, 2012

Miho had been missing for several days now. Her mother was frightened, the police had been called. There were no leads! No leads, that is, until during the morning while getting ready for school, Kota would suddenly be assailed with an image appearing on his bathroom mirror. The surface rippled and then, as if it were playing a movie, showed Miho being yanked into the Mirror World. It rippled again, this time displaying the image of an old and run down theater house surrounded by ice. On the 'Now Playing' were the words:

'The Terminal Show'

((Sorry about the length of that! This is going to be a little bit different, because I plan to lead y'all through a short little dungeon. You'll be fightan shadows and stuff! I might even throw in asking for some dice rolls for little random things to happen – if it works out, it should be pretty fun!))

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He didn't need his arms to protect his face from glass, but at least it stopped him from landing on his face. Small victories, even though those would definitely bruise.

"That's it!" Kota said when he pulled himself off the ground. "That's the theater I saw!" It was impossible to miss, with its flickering lights in the dim area (another unpleasant reminder he would've been okay with skipping, thank you very much). He let his eyes skim over those dark red shards per his new 'no thinking' policy, but despite the ominous backdrop there was at least one piece of good news:

"She's definitely in there. But-" there's always a but, and Kota hesitated slightly as he tried to interpret the signals he was getting. "I don't think this is going to be as easy as last time. You guys came in right after me, but this time it's had days to prepare. I don't think this was here before."

Meaning the theater was specifically made for Miho. Meaning that the Terminal Show was also meant for her, and that seemed a very, very bad sign.

Beyond the buttery-good smell of popcorn wafting toward them, the slight breeze also seemed to carry voices. It was like a very muffled murmur of a crowd – as if just beyond the cavernous walls, there was a crowd of cheering and happy people here to watch the show. There were no formations of smoke and shadows anywhere yet! How lucky! Miho was definitely in there, Kota would be able to sense that much very clearly. But where?

The walk to the theatre itself would pass uneventfully enough, with the murmur of the crowd following them. Every once and awhile the crowd would laugh or jeer, but it really wasn't very audible. The theater itself was massive, but the large double doors would open easily to reveal a long red carpeted corridor. At the end of the corridor were two doors. One with a smiling mask, and one with a frowning mask. Hmm!

Ren shuddered to think what might have happened to them if they had been stuck in the mirror world for this long. Would places like this have manifested for them too?... No, this wasn't the time to worry about them, it was the time to worry about Miho - and more importantly, to get her out.

She looked at Kota and pointed at the pair of doors. "Can you feel anything?"

Following the carpet path before them, Seiya clenched her fists. The barely audible crowd caused a tingle up her spine, and it wasn't all too pleasant.

Pausing at the end of the corridor, she glanced from one mask to the other. Good end, bad end? She'd wait for Kota's analysis.

"Yeah, but..." He was chewing on his lip again. This couldn't possibly be right, could it? He quickly summoned his Persona, but it only confirmed what he already sensed.

"She's...behind both doors - it's like there's two of her. I get a slightly stronger reading from this one," he pointed to the door decorated by a frowning face, "but there's definitely a response from the other one too."

Kota hesitated slightly, then remained silent. The only answer he could think of was that one was Miho and the other her Shadow, but he couldn't distinguish between the two presences he felt. He didn't want to guess and end up leading them right to the Shadow. If that's even what he was sensing.

The two distinct presences he felt were both definitely Miho, and the presence behind the frowning door was stronger, but… Beyond that there wasn’t any way to tell what was what, and it seemed that the two doors were the only way to proceed. The murmur of the crowd, still sounding as if it were just beyond the walls, started to grow restless. Faintly, and with a slight echo to it, they’d be able to make out some distinct voices. It sounded like an older woman with a deep voice.

“Wow, Mi-chan, your friends are so great!”
“Why don’t you invite them over more often?”
“That Ren’s like a pro-athlete, like your brother! Why can’t you be more like her?”
“Seiya-chan’s so pretty, why don’t you take care of yourself like she does?

There was a pause and some silence. The door with the frown on it creaked open, just an inch.

“Why can’t they be my daughters?”

At the sound of those words, Ren's jaw slackened, leaving her mouth slightly agape. Was that Miho's mother? Did... did she really say those things? Lowering her bat slightly, she gave Seiya a look.

As the words filtered through the doorway, Seiya's expression changed from worry to shock. Stepping forward, she eased the frowning door open.

"Mi-chan...?"

Despite everything, there was a brief second where Kota was a little miffed that he hadn't been mentioned. Then came along the sensible part of his brain that pointed out that he had never met Miho's mother, wasn't a girl, and OH YEAH THEY WERE BUSY TRYING TO SAVE SOMEONE'S LIFE.

Kota remained within the glow of Dagr's torch as he readied his bat, just in case. He figured he'd be of more use by giving them as much information as possible, but he didn't want to be caught off guard.

The hallway beyond was rather normal. It was well lit, with an old red carpet lining the floor. It was also somewhat musty, as if that door hadn’t been opened in awhile. All in all it wasn’t completely unpleasant, but it could be considered faintly… eerie. Lining the walls down the hall, spaced a few feet from one another were individual painted portraits. They looked related, presumably family members? Each plaque was labeled ‘Tanaka’, so it was safe to assume!

Each portrait was also utterly gorgeous and painted to make each subject look completely super-star like. At the other end of the hall (although it may have been too far to see clearly), nailed to the door, was a portrait of Miho. Unlike the other pictures she looked rather plain, and not at all done up.

When they all had entered the door snapped shut behind them with a hollow thud. The female voice rang out again.

“Why can’t you get into soccer like your brother? Or even modeling? Sitting at home all the time isn’t healthy. Let’s go shopping, you need a new wardrobe..!”

While she was talking, an odd shadowing mist had begun to pour out from the cracks in the floorboard under the red carpet. Wispy tendrils curled along the floor, and from the ceiling. Out of no where they’d hear a cackling laugh, and then suddenly Ren would find herself suspended mid-air by marionette strings!
Two marionette shadows had formed, one above them, now holding Ren, and another from the ground.

"Whoa-AHHH-AH-?!" Suddenly hoisted up in midair, Ren let out a rather unfortunate yelp. Her brain ordered her muscles to react, to struggle away from the strings and get back down to the ground, but all she could move was her head. Not even her fingers would twitch; it was like command to the rest of her body was severed.

"Hey, what the hell?!"

"Ren-chan!!" Seiya called out to her friend, as if by magic it would free her. Of course, no such luck. As the marionette shadows formed, dancing like creatures straight out of a horror flick, Seiya palmed her mirror. Punching the glass, she wasted no time summoning Hlin.

The Goddess sprung forth in a dim green light, diving at the marionette responsible for Ren's entrapment. Meanwhile, Seiya ran for the one on the ground, bat raised.

"Ren-san!" Kota's cry was similarly useless, which pretty much described how he felt as he watched Seiya spring into action. She was taking care of the one on the grond, he couldn't reach the marionette that Hlin was attacking, and Dagr-

Dagr was telling him something new, cutting off Kota's thoughts as his attention snapped back to the Shadows. "Fire," he shouted. "They're vulnerable to fire! Do we have anything-?!"

The marionette that had taken shape closer to the ground cackled madly, as the one in the air swerved out of the way of Hlin! Ren was dragged backward with it… and would most likely notice her arm being lifted by one of the strings! What in the hell?! The doll above her, smiling serenely, was using it’s own strings to control the highschooler like a doll. Down she went, away from Hlin, right to intercept Seiya on her way to the second shadow! If those strings weren’t taken care of soon, Ren and Seiya’s bats would collide!

The shadow Seiya had been on the way to attack had turned to face Kota, smiling ear to ear. Apparently it disagreed with it’s weaknesses being potentially exploited! It flew toward him, intended to swipe at his face.

Ren let out a yelp as her body was manhandled around by the shadow, and she clenched her teeth when she was made to fly for Seiya. "Shitshitshit-- senpai, block!"

Hlin, having missed entirely, hit the ceiling of the theater. Meanwhile, as Seiya lunged for the marionette on the ground, she was once again duped. Bats colliding, Seiya hit the ground with a thud.

"S-Shit!!" Seeing Hlin's target dive for Kota made her expression grow sour. This wasn't how it was supposed to go!

Kota retreated a couple of steps in a panic before making himself stop. He could hardly abandon the other two, especially in this situation. Having a madly grinning marionette flying at him focused his concentration wonderfully, and he gritted his teeth as he raised his bat. Just an oversized, differently colored, REALLY SCARY baseball, he told himself. Fire or not, he could sense that they weren't that tough - if he could just get a few good hits in...

"Hokuto Jūhazan!" he yelled as he swung hard, turning his face aside at the last possible moment. Just as he felt his bat slam into the shadow, a searing pain raked down the side of his head and across his left temple as they traded blows.

Fortunately for all of them, Kota’s assessment of ‘not that strong’ was incredibly accurate. These things seemed awful agile, but that was about it! His bat collidied with the marionette, and there was a sickening crunch as it was sent flying to the side (strings and all). With a small shriek the thing burst into a puff of mist, and then disintegrated! One down, one to go, and the one left alive was still puppeting poor Ren around.

With a sinister giggle the marionette floated Ren to the floor, jerking her arms up. Strings around her fingers would tighten her grip on her bat, and then she’d find herself suddenly swinging for the downed Seiya…! Oh no!

Oh, shit. Would Kota be able to hit the Shadow controlling her in time? Would Seiya be able to roll out of the way? These thoughts snapped through her mind quickly, but she didn't have the time to formulate them out loud. Instead, as the marionette brought her bat up for the strike, she let out: "WATCH OUT!"

Unfortunately, Seiya's reaction time was a bit too slow. She'd moved enough to deter the blow, but it did collide with her shoulder. Groaning, the girl clutched her arm, cursing under her breath. "Hlin!!"

The persona arched forward, aiming a cleave attack at the marionette left standing.

They all paid for his prior retreat - he'd gotten hit anyway and Kota was too far away to block the attack aimed at Seiya, despite lunging forward, his head swimming with the sudden motion.

Half-hearing, half-sensing that Seiya was summoning her Persona, Kota acted on instinct. Instead of trying to directly attack the shadow binding Ren, he wrapped his arms around Ren's legs. That way (so he hoped) maybe the shadow wouldn't be able to dodge like before. Or might release Ren in order to escape. Either way, he hung on grimly, trying not to bleed on his teammate.

Crack! Hlin's attack collidied with the marionette, thanks to Seiya's quick summoning and Kota's sudden hug-hold around Ren's legs. The thing shrieked, trying to drag Ren away, but a series of splinters and cracks was forming along it's head where the bat had made contact! With another loud, ear piercing wail the shadow collapsed and then burst into smoke and vanished. Victory! Level uuup!

With the Shadow collapsing and releasing her and Kota's grip around her legs, Ren had nothing else to hold her up, and so she lost her balance and crashed on the floor, bat clattering and rolling a couple of feet away. Shaking her head slowly, she groaned.

"That sucked."

"Sorry!" Seiya huffed, dropping her own bat to the ground. As the smoke cleared, panicked eyes scanned the room for signs of the next wave. For now, they were safe. Going over to her teammate's sides, she produced little medicine bottles from her pockets. Apparently her "in mirror inventory" had rolled over from last time!

"Drink these. Whatever's up next must be a lot worse."

Though he released Ren's legs automatically when she started to fall, Kota still staggered, going to one knee himself. "Sorry," he echoed. "I couldn't think of anything else."

He took the vial from Seiya with a nod of thanks, quickly drinking the medicine. The gashes on his head healed over, though - as he discovered with a grimace as he ran his hand over his head - his hair was still tacky with blood. "Wonderful," he muttered, "I really would've been okay with things getting easier." It was more resignation than true complaint, as he was already looking back towards Dagr, extending his senses outward as he tried to scout ahead.

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eh, screw it. going with the japanese phrase because it feels less silly (it's silly anyway)

HEH I thought it sounded cool

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