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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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.

The hall was still for now. Ahead of them Kota would still be able to sense the spark of Miho's presence! The door at the other end of the hall waited for them, the portrait of Miho, painted so less grandly than that of her family, stared them down in a manner all too ominous. They'd all be able to hear the faint melody of an orchestra, and a wild cheer from a crowd – was a show starting just beyond the door? If they chose to travel down the hallway once they were patched up a little, the noise level would grow.

It seemed like just beyond that door was the main theater room, and it sounded like there was a full audience for the show! A cello struck a deep chord that seemed to practically pulsate throughout the building, and the hum of the audience died down to a quiet murmur. When they wen through the door, as it would open easily, they'd be treated to the sight of a massive auditorium – completely empty and now completely quiet! On the grand stage, red velvet curtains drawn, was a lone figure.

Miho?!

Ah yes, the magical medicine. Since she hadn't been injured in the fight, Ren pocketed her vial for later use - though hopefully none of them would have to use it.

Clutching her bat firmly, Ren's eyes darted around vigilantly as they made their way into the auditorium. She barely lowered her bat at all when they spotted the figure on the stage. With only a split second to swallow a small knot in her throat, Ren was the first to call out.

"Mippon?"

Frowning apologetically to Kota, she shrugged. The look on his face must have been what hers looked like during the first trip into the mirror world.

Heading down the pathway, Seiya followed Ren on high alert. As the solo note shook her rib cage, the girl was surprised to find that just beyond the door, there was... nothing. Upon closer inspection, a figure stood in the center of the stage. Opening her mouth to speak, Ren beat her to the punch. Deciding to remain quiet, Seiya just stared ahead.

"It's her," Kota confirmed. His voice was subdued; either he was still feeling some of the effects of that head wound or he'd caught the anticipatory mood of the audience. His knuckles were white around the bat as he stared grimly at the stage. You'll forgive him if he doesn't want to go rushing up and draw attention to himself. "The show's about to start."

It was definitely her, but... At the same time not quite. A spotlight clicked on, centering on the figure on the stage. It revealed her, hair hanging over her shoulders in waves instead of the usual braids, glasses no where to be seen, make up, and a short but stylish black club dress. A deep purple feather boat draped across her shoulders and down her arms, and she was gazing at the three with an odd smile on her face. This seemed like the complete opposite of Miho Tanaka, honestly!

The sound of her high heels clicked against the wood of the stage as she walked forward. The spotlight followed. “My goodness, what an audience we have here tonight...!” A hand rose to her cheek to cup it, and she practically damn well fluttered her eyelashes. “The show is just about ready for you, boys and girls.. The main feature?!” The curtains snapped closed, revealing the same smiling drama mask that had been on the door opposite of the one they chose earlier.

“Me!” When they opened again, they revealed the proper Miho. She was still in her PJs, and suspended from marionette wire like Ren had been. Shadow Miho's gaze lingered on her friends in the audience, and her smile got a little wider. “You're all really very special, aren't you? So much more quality...”

Meanwhile the girl suspended by wires had begun to wiggle a little. “G-guys, aha- guys don't listen to her!”

Ren's jaw clenched. She knew it would come to this, even though she came in here hoping it wouldn't. After hearing the voices earlier, she had at least a basic idea of what that Shadow represented for Miho.

Don't listen to her? Ren had no intention of doing that. What she was worried about was whether or not Miho would listen to her, and how that would turn out. She adjusted the grip on her bat warily.

As the curtains revealed a marionette Miho, Seiya gritted her teeth. What did poor Miho Tanaka do to get dragged into all of this? Nothing, really. At least, nothing that came to this girl's mind.

Stepping forward slowly, she attempted something she hadn't before. Lowering her weapon, Seiya cautiously inched towards the edge of the stage. "Miho-san." Calling to the shadow, Seiya extended her hand. "Get down from there. Come on. Put Micchan down." Attempting to keep her voice even, the tiniest bit of fear shook her vocal chords.

Kota grimaced. No wonder he'd sensed two presences, but he still didn't like being tricked. Not wanting to do anything to wreck Seiya's gambit, Kota simply remained silent, focusing on both Mihos with Dagr and trying to look confident and reassuring. (Keeping his mouth shut definitely helped with that.)

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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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