Fandom Distorted Mirror [IC]

[Gus Gungus]

Yang eyes were lidded when the owner turned back towards her with a hungry smirk at the tail end of her words that was briefly interrupted by her tongue rimming the top of her lips.

"Mmh. So mean, margie. We just met, and you're already telling me to die? Think I'm just some rabid bitch? You wanna try to be the one to put me down?" she asked as she started to get a little closer, the faintest hint of something glowing red piercing the glove's fabric as she lowered her voice. "Or does everyone here take six hundred before you put out? C'mon, we're all alone now. You can play the huntresses you're apparently so hot on and slay a real monster."

She let the challenge hang in the air for a second before she gave a disappointed sigh and backed off to lean against the wall on the other side of the door. "Just kidding. I'm not here for that, at least, not today. See, I already found my bigger fish, hun. Only it didn't put me down, its feeding me. And in return, I help it out here and there with the sort of thing I'm good at. Like getting my hands on files that some idiot named Jabberwocky has. Ring a bell?"

The crease in her brow deepened when Yang started to approach, a faint tension in the air as her hand at least passingly considered the notion of twitching towards the woodcutter's axe affixed to her back. She kept her gaze ahead when Yang broke eyeline to lean against the wall though, and her muscles eased a bit as she stepped into the room and shut the door behind them with a more pronounced tightness to her jaw as she mused over the words. "Yeah, well... figured you might say that."

The room within was not the utility closet or boiler room one probably would've pegged it for from the outside. It was long and narrow, lit by candles that sent flickering lights dancing across the single table and chair furnishing the otherwise bare floor. The walls were equally bare, save for a single small symbol etched into the wall made distinct by the way its right eye shimmered a fluorescent green. The wall at the very end of the room was covered in its entirety by a mirror, and the table was populated by a ledger, needle and a small printed card set out neatly for whoever took a seat.

"I don't handle any negotiations on behalf of who you mentioned. They don't like being named openly, by the way," she stated with a more cautioning tone, eyes briefly flickering over to the symbol on the wall. "I'm just a screening point. Anyone looking to indulge in your particular vice gets to have their fortune told. Lucky you. I usually charge a lot more than six hundred for this."

There was a dangerous squint to her eyes as she made her way across the room towards the mirror, and she touched it with her palm before turning back to flash Yang with a menacing grin.

"So... bye. Take a seat and she'll be with you shortly."

The mirror started to pulse and ripple like water around her fingertips, and without another word Margaret stepped through to the reflection on the other side. She kept walking as though the act were no more unnatural to her than breathing, a more confident stride across the room than the one she had when Yang was threatening her as she pulled out the chair by the table and sat in it. Though she made no further sound, she motioned invitingly for Yang to do the same.

If she did, the aforementioned objects were arrayed out to greet her, the card old and dusty where it lay across the book's cover with font plainly visible across its faded surface.

ℙ𝕝𝕒𝕔𝕖 𝕪𝕠𝕦𝕣 𝕤𝕚𝕘𝕟𝕒𝕥𝕦𝕣𝕖 𝕚𝕟 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕝𝕖𝕕𝕘𝕖𝕣,
𝕊𝕒𝕪 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕨𝕠𝕣𝕕𝕤 𝕥𝕙𝕣𝕖𝕖 𝕥𝕚𝕞𝕖𝕤,
𝔻𝕠𝕟'𝕥 𝕝𝕠𝕠𝕜 𝕚𝕥 𝕚𝕟 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕖𝕪𝕖.

The 'signatures' it referred to jumped out as soon as the first page of the ledger was opened, a series of thumbprints stenciled in dried blood that numbered in the dozens. The other side of the card was barer than the first, the words engraved in this one tinged a deep red.

𝔹𝕃𝕆𝕆𝔻𝕐 𝕄𝔸ℝ𝕐

​

 

[Schnee Corp Lawyer]

The crease in her brow deepened when Yang started to approach, a faint tension in the air as her hand at least passingly considered the notion of twitching towards the woodcutter's axe affixed to her back. She kept her gaze ahead when Yang broke eyeline to lean against the wall though, and her muscles eased a bit as she stepped into the room and shut the door behind them with a more pronounced tightness to her jaw as she mused over the words. "Yeah, well... figured you might say that."

The room within was not the utility closet or boiler room one probably would've pegged it for from the outside. It was long and narrow, lit by candles that sent flickering lights dancing across the single table and chair furnishing the otherwise bare floor. The walls were equally bare, save for a single small symbol etched into the wall made distinct by the way its right eye shimmered a fluorescent green. The wall at the very end of the room was covered in its entirety by a mirror, and the table was populated by a ledger, needle and a small printed card set out neatly for whoever took a seat.

"I don't handle any negotiations on behalf of who you mentioned. They don't like being named openly, by the way," she stated with a more cautioning tone, eyes briefly flickering over to the symbol on the wall. "I'm just a screening point. Anyone looking to indulge in your particular vice gets to have their fortune told. Lucky you. I usually charge a lot more than six hundred for this."

There was a dangerous squint to her eyes as she made her way across the room towards the mirror, and she touched it with her palm before turning back to flash Yang with a menacing grin.

"So... bye. Take a seat and she'll be with you shortly."

The mirror started to pulse and ripple like water around her fingertips, and without another word Margaret stepped through to the reflection on the other side. She kept walking as though the act were no more unnatural to her than breathing, a more confident stride across the room than the one she had when Yang was threatening her as she pulled out the chair by the table and sat in it. Though she made no further sound, she motioned invitingly for Yang to do the same.

If she did, the aforementioned objects were arrayed out to greet her, the card old and dusty where it lay across the book's cover with font plainly visible across its faded surface.

ℙ𝕝𝕒𝕔𝕖 𝕪𝕠𝕦𝕣 𝕤𝕚𝕘𝕟𝕒𝕥𝕦𝕣𝕖 𝕚𝕟 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕝𝕖𝕕𝕘𝕖𝕣,
𝕊𝕒𝕪 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕨𝕠𝕣𝕕𝕤 𝕥𝕙𝕣𝕖𝕖 𝕥𝕚𝕞𝕖𝕤,
𝔻𝕠𝕟'𝕥 𝕝𝕠𝕠𝕜 𝕚𝕥 𝕚𝕟 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕖𝕪𝕖.

The 'signatures' it referred to jumped out as soon as the first page of the ledger was opened, a series of thumbprints stenciled in dried blood that numbered in the dozens. The other side of the card was barer than the first, the words engraved in this one tinged a deep red.

𝔹𝕃𝕆𝕆𝔻𝕐 𝕄𝔸ℝ𝕐

​

Well this was spooky.

The first flicker of anything that wasn't confidence or some appetite bubbling under the surface crossed her face, partway between bemused and concerned as she waved a hand over one of the candles before she turned to the owner and gave her very blunt appraisal of whatever was going on here.

"The fuck?"

Her eyebrow raised when the other woman stepped into the mirror, and she almost sullenly slumped into the seat when offered and snatched the card between two fingers to give it a once over on either side. She snorted and rolled her eyes as she tossed the card back onto the table and snatched the needle up. "So what, think I'm too young so we're playing kiddie games now?" She sighed and spun the needle deftly between her fingers a few times, watching its rotations. "Fine. I'll bite. But if this is some bullshit, or if I catch something in the least fun way off this needle-" She glanced back up at the mirror

"Then your people back there better hope I can get to you past that glass or they're gonna be the ones who pay for it."

She turned her hand over and pricked her thumb before she picked up the ledger and pressed her thumb against one of its pages, and the dull incantation followed.

"Bloody mary bloody mary bloody mary."

 

[Gus Gungus]

Well this was spooky.

The first flicker of anything that wasn't confidence or some appetite bubbling under the surface crossed her face, partway between bemused and concerned as she waved a hand over one of the candles before she turned to the owner and gave her very blunt appraisal of whatever was going on here.

"The fuck?"

Her eyebrow raised when the other woman stepped into the mirror, and she almost sullenly slumped into the seat when offered and snatched the card between two fingers to give it a once over on either side. She snorted and rolled her eyes as she tossed the card back onto the table and snatched the needle up. "So what, think I'm too young so we're playing kiddie games now?" She sighed and spun the needle deftly between her fingers a few times, watching its rotations. "Fine. I'll bite. But if this is some bullshit, or if I catch something in the least fun way off this needle-" She glanced back up at the mirror

"Then your people back there better hope I can get to you past that glass or they're gonna be the ones who pay for it."

She turned her hand over and pricked her thumb before she picked up the ledger and pressed her thumb against one of its pages, and the dull incantation followed.

"Bloody mary bloody mary bloody mary."

Yang's own reflection merged with the woman's like it was intangible the moment she sat down, and though faint she could definitely feel a sense of... something when it did. Like a cold, deep in her chest, though the icy caress had nothing to do with the temperature of the room. She didn't respond to the threat verbally, but the eyebrow she raised now that she was safe in whatever plane lay on the other side of the mirror was downright encouraging at the suggestion of violence, Margaret's eyes flared and unblinking as she just kept regarding Yang with the same slasher smile she had worn ever since the imposter dragon sat down. Like she knew something Yang didn't.

Then she spoke the name thrice, that draining cold in her heart expanded to blanket the entire room, and all the candles in the mirror went out with a fwoosh.

It was an act of defiance of everything natural; the various flames on her side merely flickered, as if exposed to the tiniest gust of wind, and yet the reflective surface on the other end of the room was no longer a mirror but a pool of opaque, inky darkness.

Indecipherable whispers started to fade in from that darkness, though there was nobody there. Then, around the same point in the room's reflection where she was sitting, the area started to glow faintly with a dull crimson shine.

Something horrible was now sitting in the chair. There was no other way to describe it. Where Margaret had been was now something gnarled and deformed, its limbs bent and twisted, figure pierced in various places by broken shards of mirror and glass that all looked to have sprouted from the inside rather than been jabbed inward. The scarlet light coming from the runes on her chest was too dim to make out much, but the most illumination it offered was of the face, where blood leaked from tar black sclera that housed crimson slits for pupils a shade deeper and more bloody than Yang's own. It only took her gaze traveling above the neckline to recognize that the thing's eyes were staring at Yang's dead center, and she had to avert it quickly if she meant to heed the third line of the instructions even as it gripped the chair's armrests and used them to slowly pull herself up. Her head lolled demonically to one side, drawing in a deep, heady breath around where Yang's neck would be; Yang could feel that breath on her skin, coming out in a raspy, shuddering burst that preempted the mirror creature finally rising to stand.

It lurched forward immediately, like a marionette on strings as its feet scraped against the linoleum floor, her every jerky movement producing a sound like broken glass grinding on broken glass, as if her warped form were exceedingly brittle. A sharp, malignant hiss came through pointed teeth as it jerked all the way up to the mirror, and a single pale hand with overgrown fingernails pressed against the surface at the same time a word faded in over Yang's side of the mirror in blood.

𝕋 𝕆 𝕌 ℂ ℍ

​

 

[Schnee Corp Lawyer]

Yang's own reflection merged with the woman's like it was intangible the moment she sat down, and though faint she could definitely feel a sense of... something when it did. Like a cold, deep in her chest, though the icy caress had nothing to do with the temperature of the room. She didn't respond to the threat verbally, but the eyebrow she raised now that she was safe in whatever plane lay on the other side of the mirror was downright encouraging at the suggestion of violence, Margaret's eyes flared and unblinking as she just kept regarding Yang with the same slasher smile she had worn ever since the imposter dragon sat down. Like she knew something Yang didn't.

Then she spoke the name thrice, that draining cold in her heart expanded to blanket the entire room, and all the candles in the mirror went out with a fwoosh.

It was an act of defiance of everything natural; the various flames on her side merely flickered, as if exposed to the tiniest gust of wind, and yet the reflective surface on the other end of the room was no longer a mirror but a pool of opaque, inky darkness.

Indecipherable whispers started to fade in from that darkness, though there was nobody there. Then, around the same point in the room's reflection where she was sitting, the area started to glow faintly with a dull crimson shine.

Something horrible was now sitting in the chair. There was no other way to describe it. Where Margaret had been was now something gnarled and deformed, its limbs bent and twisted, figure pierced in various places by broken shards of mirror and glass that all looked to have sprouted from the inside rather than been jabbed inward. The scarlet light coming from the runes on her chest was too dim to make out much, but the most illumination it offered was of the face, where blood leaked from tar black sclera that housed crimson slits for pupils a shade deeper and more bloody than Yang's own. It only took her gaze traveling above the neckline to recognize that the thing's eyes were staring at Yang's dead center, and she had to avert it quickly if she meant to heed the third line of the instructions even as it gripped the chair's armrests and used them to slowly pull herself up. Her head lolled demonically to one side, drawing in a deep, heady breath around where Yang's neck would be; Yang could feel that breath on her skin, coming out in a raspy, shuddering burst that preempted the mirror creature finally rising to stand.

It lurched forward immediately, like a marionette on strings as its feet scraped against the linoleum floor, her every jerky movement producing a sound like broken glass grinding on broken glass, as if her warped form were exceedingly brittle. A sharp, malignant hiss came through pointed teeth as it jerked all the way up to the mirror, and a single pale hand with overgrown fingernails pressed against the surface at the same time a word faded in over Yang's side of the mirror in blood.

𝕋 𝕆 𝕌 ℂ ℍ

​

Oh she hated that. There was a taut frown on her face as the other side of the mirror turned off, and her eyes widened slightly as the glow started to form and Margaret(?)'s new features were revealed. Objectively, she wasn't all that much scarier looking than a grimm; in terms of ability to deliver death, whatever the hell that was had nothing on the typhon they'd fought on the train ride to Mistral, and she'd had fun fighting that thing.

Of course, that was sort of the problem. It didn't matter how big that thing had been, how many mouths it had or how sharp its teeth was; it was a grimm, and that meant she could kill it. A truth hse proved herself.

She... had no idea what the hell this was supposed to be, and if she wanted to get her invite to whatever this was she wasn't even supposed to fight it. An involuntary shiver tried to sneak up her back that she bit her tongue to fight down as she felt the breath on her, and her posture was rigid as she saw the words forming on the mirror

Outwardly, she just rolled her eyes and flapped a hand at the mirror. "Ooh, scary. What is this, some shitty two way mirror? There's easier and way more fun ways to get my get to know these hands, M" She drawled, nonetheless complying as she reached over and planted the ungloved hand on the mirror

 

[Gus Gungus]

Oh she hated that. There was a taut frown on her face as the other side of the mirror turned off, and her eyes widened slightly as the glow started to form and Margaret(?)'s new features were revealed. Objectively, she wasn't all that much scarier looking than a grimm; in terms of ability to deliver death, whatever the hell that was had nothing on the typhon they'd fought on the train ride to Mistral, and she'd had fun fighting that thing.

Of course, that was sort of the problem. It didn't matter how big that thing had been, how many mouths it had or how sharp its teeth was; it was a grimm, and that meant she could kill it. A truth hse proved herself.

She... had no idea what the hell this was supposed to be, and if she wanted to get her invite to whatever this was she wasn't even supposed to fight it. An involuntary shiver tried to sneak up her back that she bit her tongue to fight down as she felt the breath on her, and her posture was rigid as she saw the words forming on the mirror

Outwardly, she just rolled her eyes and flapped a hand at the mirror. "Ooh, scary. What is this, some shitty two way mirror? There's easier and way more fun ways to get my get to know these hands, M" She drawled, nonetheless complying as she reached over and planted the ungloved hand on the mirror

The creature didn't respond, hungry eyes trained on the mirror where its palm connected as it started jerking its head impatiently for Yang to proceed, a low growl building in the back of its throat. When she did... initially, nothing happened. It was just shiny glass.

Then ripples spread outward from the point where her own palm would've been making contact with the creature's, and suddenly they actually were making contact as its gnarled claws closed around her digits with no more difficulty than if the pane of glass were water, grip cold as a corpse and just as rigid as its fingers interlaced with hers all the way. She felt an immediate jolt from the contact, not entirely unlike what she'd felt when Ilia used her semblance on her in the hotel room, and from that jolt her aura momentarily solidified into a wave of gold spreading outward from her hand as if she were taking damage.

That wasn't quite the right word for the sensation that came with it, though it wasn't any more pleasant. It was more a feeling of being laid bare, in a spiritual sense rather than physical as everything that made Yang's soul her soul was converted, interpreted and parsed like strings of data. Bizarre symbols similar to the ones carved into the entity's chest started etching themselves across the mirror in turn, and in the very center of them where the rows from above and below joined Yang's fortune misted into being in a bloody scrawl identical to the previous one.

𝔻𝕆 ℕ𝕆𝕋 𝔽𝔼𝔼𝔻 𝕋ℍ𝔼 ℍ𝔸ℕ𝔻 𝕋ℍ𝔸𝕋 𝔹𝕀𝕋𝔼𝕊

There was a sudden roar of flame as all the snuffed candles on the opposite side of the mirror suddenly flared into pillars of flame almost as high as the ceiling, providing Yang with both a split-second illuminated view of the creature on the other side of the mirror and the unsettling knowledge that it was very clearly trying to catch her eye again.



Assuming she denied it that wish, the candles all fizzled out again barely a second later, leaving the huntress facing a wall of shadow again with one key difference.

Whatever lurked beyond the mirror, its eyes were less bloody scarlet and more a scorching red similar to Yang's own, and its own head of hair burned and pulsed with the faint outline of a fiery energy as the monster smacked its lips in approval and finally spoke, a raspy, guttural growl that had more in common with nails on chalkboard than anything vaguely human.

"...YouuUUUUuuuUUUuuuu-u-u-u... PassssssSSssssSSSSsss-s-s-s..."

Then the grip around her hand tightened, and without any further warning she was yanked through to the other side.

---

The curtain behind the bar was drawn back again, and Margaret appeared framed by the darkness once more. As was the case with Winter and Cobalt, once again the person she had disappeared to the back with had failed to return, and the tiniest shudder of pleasure quaked the venue owner's shoulders as her eyes swept across the room with dark glee.

"Next."​

 

[MidwayLives]

“Guess it’s now or never...”

He gave Nora and Gretchen a small wave before making his way over. Of course he was nervous! But the longer he put it off the worst it’d feel. Better to stand up and look it right in the face...​

 

[Gus Gungus]

Raven was immediately cut in front of again as the owner and Grey disappeared inside. :|

"Anything to say before we go through?" She inquired ominously as they stopped outside the utility door, eyes giving Grey a similar once-over to what they'd given Yang.

​

 

[MyrtenRose]

 

[MidwayLives]

Raven was immediately cut in front of again as the owner and Grey disappeared inside. :|

"Anything to say before we go through?" She inquired ominously as they stopped outside the utility door, eyes giving Grey a similar once-over to what they'd given Yang.

Grey seemed to pause at that.

The slightest hint of regret was there, eating away at him. Telling him that this was a mistake. One he'd end up carried out of here in a bodybag if he wasn't careful.

'No. Doesn't matter what I feel. If I can get us even an inch closer to what we need then my needs are secondary.'

"No." ​

 

[Gus Gungus]

She led him inside without another word. The same sight that met Yang awaited him, the table and its various objects free for his perusal while the woman moved over to the mirror and stepped into its reflective plane. All proceeded as before, only when Grey approached the mirror and touched the same point the creature did as bidden the snuffed candles instead erupted in a more modest flame. Black curls of mist wisped up from them in place of smoke, however, and the entity seemed to stare far more piercingly around the reporter's form with an air of scrutiny in its bloody eyes. Grey's own fortune faded onto the mirror before his eyes, far more direct and to the point than the cryptic message Yang had been given.



It was far less vague in its portent and couldn't have been the most encouraging picture, but the choice to turn back was out of his hands at this point. The creature cocked its head from side to side like a bug sizing up prey, then its raspy wheeze stretched forward from the darkness to snake inside Grey's ears.

"PassssssssssSSsss-s-s-s..."

Like before, the hand woven with his own gripped tighter, and like before he was yanked through the mirror to whatever destination Yang, Cobalt and Winter before him had been spirited to. The curtain to the bar was rended wide again barely a minute later, and Margaret lazily beckoned whoever was next in with a sharp jerk of the head.

---



What awaited Yang through the mirror hadn't been any less confusing than everything that came before it. It at least wasn't the eventuality her fight or flight instincts had braced her for the moment such a monstrous entity pulled her forward into its own plane. Surprisingly, her face disappearing through the glass had been the last she saw of the demon's bloody, razor-edged grin, and rather than being dragged into its jagged embrace she found herself tumbling straight through the other side of what seemed to be a totally different mirrored wall in an entirely different location.

Metallic walls and greyscale ceilings gave the impression of a bunker or facility of some kind, the atrium just outside the room the mirror spat her out in lined with various numbered living quarters. Tundra winds howled against the fortified roof, drawing the occasional shuddering groan from the building's architecture, and a few unfamiliar shady characters hovered discretely around corners and at the mouths of corridors as they took surreptitious looks at the latest figures to appear from the room marked 'ARRIVALS'.

The one Yang had just stepped through.

Also the recipients of their stares were the two figures standing far more conspicuously on the bridgeway between either side of the upper level, the venomous glare Winter shot Yang as soon as she stepped out prompting Cobalt to whirl around with a dramatic double-take, clutching a hand to their heart and going all in on preserving her cover story.

"WHOA!!!!! Lookit, that there is one MEAN, SCARY LADY!!!!!!!!"

However far away they were from where they were previously, the process in the bar had been the same for each of them: the owner took them to that dingy, tucked-away room, and they were instructed to prick their thumbs and say the words to have their fortunes told. What that entailed varied for each of them, and on first reading many of them were little more than vague or cryptic gibberish. Whether they ever proved themselves to be more than that remained to be seen.

Spoiler: Nora

When the Valkyrie touched her hand to the glass the flames were almost as high and as vivid as Yang's, and crackled with arcs of electricity that streaked across the entity's flesh in turn as it bared its teeth and her own fortune appeared in the mirror.

ᴰᴼ ʸᴼᵁ ᴮᴱᴸᴵᴱⱽᴱ ᴵᴺ ᴰᴱˢᵀᴵᴺʸ?

Again, the spirit croaked that she had passed, and like the others she found herself being yanked through.

Spoiler: Gretchen

ᴮᴱᵂᴬᴿᴱ ᵀᴴᴱ ˢᴵᴺ ᴼᶠ ᴾᴿᴵᴰᴱ
ᴸᴱˢᵀ ʸᴼᵁᴿ ᴮᴼᴺᴱˢ ᴿᴼᵁᴺᴰ ᴼᵁᵀ ᵀᴴᴱ Qᵁᴬᴿᵀᴱᵀ

Gretchen's own words burned starker than the flames her own contact with the spirit yielded, but some faint spiderweb cracks streaked away from the point their hands touched that had it jerk its head in their direction curiously before she yanked her inside as well.

Spoiler: Robyn

ᵂᴵᴺᵀᴱᴿ ˢᶜᴴᴺᴱᴱ
ᵂᴵᴸᴸ ᴺᴱⱽᴱᴿ ᴮᴱ ᴬ ᴴᴬᴾᴾʸ ᴴᵁᴺᵀᴿᴱˢˢ

Her own flames were modest, but her own glass cracked slightly and most of the demon's arm shone with a green light identical to the one her semblance caused when discerning the truth, and it seemed enraptured by the glow in the moments before it croaked its assent and pulled her through.

Spoiler: Raven

ˢᴴᴱ ᴵˢ ᴸᴼˢᵀ ᵀᴼ ʸᴼᵁ
ᵀᴴᴱ ˢᴼᵁᴸ ᵀᴴᴬᵀ ˢᴼᵁᴳᴴᵀ ʸᴼᵁᴿˢ
ᴴᴬˢ ᶠᴼᵁᴺᴰ ᴬᴺᴼᵀᴴᴱᴿ

Raven's flames were dimmer than the likes of Yang's, but they burned the deep crimson glow of her portals that cast a far more sinister light across the entity's wicked, shivering features, which hissed with extreme approval at whatever it saw in her before it dragged her to the other side.

Spoiler: Hazel

ᶜᴼᵁᴺᵀ ʸᴼᵁᴿ ᴬᴸᴸᴵᴱˢ
ᴼᴿ ᵀᴴᴱ ᵀᵂᴼ ᴮᴱᶜᴼᴹᴱ ᴼᴺᴱ

They weren't quite the largest of the bunch, but Hazel's candles burned a stark and impressive hue in their own right in the moments before she yanked him through no less effortlessly than she had any of the women.

As they appeared one by one through the mirror in the facility, an electronic countdown of some kind greeted them at the very fore of the room where it could be most prominently seen. Rather than measuring any time, date or figure that made sense all it displayed was a static reading of 56. When Grey arrived by the same means as Yang it rolled up one to 57, and as Raven, Gretchen, Nora, Robyn and Hazel all came through the digits followed suit to finally come to a halt on 62.​

 

[MidwayLives]

She led him inside without another word. The same sight that met Yang awaited him, the table and its various objects free for his perusal while the woman moved over to the mirror and stepped into its reflective plane. All proceeded as before, only when Grey approached the mirror and touched the same point the creature did as bidden the snuffed candles instead erupted in a more modest flame. Black curls of mist wisped up from them in place of smoke, and the entity seemed to stare far more piercingly around the reporter's form with an air of scrutiny in its bloody eyes. Grey's own fortune faded onto the mirror before his eyes, far more immediate and to the point than the cryptic message Yang had been given.

It was far less vague in its portent and couldn't have been the most encouraging picture, but the choice to turn back was out of his hands at this point. The creature cocked its head from side to side like a bug sizing up prey, then its raspy wheeze stretched forward from the darkness to snake inside Grey's ears.

"PassssssssssSSsss-s-s-s..."

That...Wasn't encouraging in the slightest.

Still, he'd known what he'd gone and signed up for. Anything that transpired from here on out would because this is what he wanted.

If the information they managed to obtain here helped their cause in any way?

He'd stake his life on it.

'Cliche to say but...I'm not afraid.'

And yet he couldn't bring himself to say it aloud.
​

Also the recipients of their stares were the two figures standing far more conspicuously on the bridgeway between either side of the upper level, the venomous glare Winter shot Yang as soon as she stepped out prompting Cobalt to whirl around with a dramatic double-take, clutching a hand to their heart and going all in on preserving her cover story.

"WHOA!!!!! Lookit, that there is one MEAN, SCARY LADY!!!!!!!!"

However far away they were from where they were previously, the process in the bar had been the same for each of them: the owner took them to that dingy, tucked-away room, and they were instructed to prick their thumbs and say the words to have their fortunes told. What that entailed varied for each of them, and on first reading many of them were little more than vague or cryptic gibberish. Whether they ever proved themselves to be more than that remained to be seen.

Coming through just as Yang and the others before him had, Grey did his best to scan around at those gathered who weren't apart of their group. That eerie symbol aside, he knew that weeks weren't enough to radically change the type of fighting style he had. Which was to say it wasn't much of one compared to experienced warriors like Raven. He'd be on his toes constantly throughout this event and that's even if he managed to get past the prelims. His semblance allowed for a game of keepaway but it wouldn't last forever in a one on one fight. Eventually they'd find him and if they managed to get their hands on him...

'No. Can't let that happen. No matter what. Keep distance as much as I can. Get them to reveal semblance and work from there....'

As he thought to himself, his hand ran along the hilt of Poisonheart.​

 

[MyrtenRose]

When the Valkyrie touched her hand to the glass the flames were almost as high and as vivid as Yang's, and crackled with arcs of electricity that streaked across the entity's flesh in turn as it bared its teeth and her own fortune appeared in the mirror.

ᴰᴼ ʸᴼᵁ ᴮᴱᴸᴵᴱⱽᴱ ᴵᴺ ᴰᴱˢᵀᴵᴺʸ?

Again, the spirit croaked that she had passed, and like the others she found herself being yanked through.

Those five words on their own were innocuous, but when formed in that specific way, into that particular question...it carried an ominous weight to it that had little to do with the strange ritual or the...thing that came with it. The simple question did that all on its own, reminding the tiny hammer wielder of...that conversation Jaune told her about.

"She trained here. Sanctum Academy. Everyone was crushed when she chose Beacon over Haven. No one wanted to see her go, but... it was where she wanted to be. I'm just glad she was surrounded by such amazing people."

"She should be standing here..."

"She is. She understood that she had a responsibility... to try. I don't think she would regret her choice, because a Huntress would understand that there really wasn't a choice to make. And a Huntress is what she always wanted to be."

She wasn't sure if that was what the mirror message meant to convey, to make her think about, but that was what occurred to her upon reading it. And when she was on the other side, she was initially and uncharacteristically silent.​

ᵂᴵᴺᵀᴱᴿ ˢᶜᴴᴺᴱᴱ
ᵂᴵᴸᴸ ᴺᴱⱽᴱᴿ ᴮᴱ ᴬ ᴴᴬᴾᴾʸ ᴴᵁᴺᵀᴿᴱˢˢ

Her own flames were modest, but her own glass cracked slightly and most of the demon's arm shone with a green light identical to the one her semblance caused when discerning the truth, and it seemed enraptured by the glow in the moments before it croaked its assent and pulled her through.

"...That's it?" She couldn't help but look fairly disappointed and discontent. After all that spooky spectacle, that was a pretty mundane statement. "Gee, thanks, magic mirror." She snarked. In truth, she'd already known that. She'd thrown that offer out there, but had never really expected Winter would take it. The eldest Schnee sibling...she was military through and through. Robyn felt pretty sure that in many respects, the Atlesian military was a home to her. When all this was said and done, that was where she belonged.

She didn't voice her disappointment with that reveal to the rest though, only casting a surveying look around where she ended up. "Huh." ​

ˢᴴᴱ ᴵˢ ᴸᴼˢᵀ ᵀᴼ ʸᴼᵁ
ᵀᴴᴱ ˢᴼᵁᴸ ᵀᴴᴬᵀ ˢᴼᵁᴳᴴᵀ ʸᴼᵁᴿˢ
ᴴᴬˢ ᶠᴼᵁᴺᴰ ᴬᴺᴼᵀᴴᴱᴿ

Raven's flames were dimmer than the likes of Yang's, but they burned the deep crimson glow of her portals that cast a far more sinister light across the entity's wicked, shivering features, which hissed with extreme approval at whatever it saw in her before it dragged her to the other side.

Raven ended up just as quiet as Nora when it finally came to her turn, having elected to let the rest of the others go before her, since fate seemed to be strongly telling her that she would be the last one anyways. But unlike the small Valkyrie, Branwen was more than 100% sure of what that message meant. It struck to her core, but judging solely from her facial expression wouldn't have revealed any of the pain hidden away. She was on a mission after all. Her...emotions...they could wait for a better time. Professional demeanor ruled her for now.

Crimson eyes lifted up to that count. "62. Hmm." Was that indicating how many fighters were present for this? 62.....some of Remnant's toughest and scariest...hmph. She had faith that she would prove up to the challenge. She could only hope that the rest would as well.​

 

[Gus Gungus]

"...That's it?" She couldn't help but look fairly disappointed and discontent. After all that spooky spectacle, that was a pretty mundane statement. "Gee, thanks, magic mirror." She snarked. In truth, she'd already known that. She'd thrown that offer out there, but had never really expected Winter would take it. The eldest Schnee sibling...she was military through and through. Robyn felt pretty sure that in many respects, the Atlesian military was a home to her. When all this was said and done, that was where she belonged.

She didn't voice her disappointment with that reveal to the rest though, only casting a surveying look around where she ended up. "Huh."

"It's your only shown motivation in the rp to date stay humble tramp"

 

[MyrtenRose]

"It's your only shown motivation in the rp to date stay humble tramp"

 

[Schnee Corp Lawyer]

She led him inside without another word. The same sight that met Yang awaited him, the table and its various objects free for his perusal while the woman moved over to the mirror and stepped into its reflective plane. All proceeded as before, only when Grey approached the mirror and touched the same point the creature did as bidden the snuffed candles instead erupted in a more modest flame. Black curls of mist wisped up from them in place of smoke, however, and the entity seemed to stare far more piercingly around the reporter's form with an air of scrutiny in its bloody eyes. Grey's own fortune faded onto the mirror before his eyes, far more direct and to the point than the cryptic message Yang had been given.

View attachment 730670

It was far less vague in its portent and couldn't have been the most encouraging picture, but the choice to turn back was out of his hands at this point. The creature cocked its head from side to side like a bug sizing up prey, then its raspy wheeze stretched forward from the darkness to snake inside Grey's ears.

"PassssssssssSSsss-s-s-s..."

Like before, the hand woven with his own gripped tighter, and like before he was yanked through the mirror to whatever destination Yang, Cobalt and Winter before him had been spirited to. The curtain to the bar was rended wide again barely a minute later, and Margaret lazily beckoned whoever was next in with a sharp jerk of the head.

---

View attachment 730672

What awaited Yang through the mirror hadn't been any less confusing than everything that came before it. It at least wasn't the eventuality her fight or flight instincts had braced her for the moment such a monstrous entity pulled her forward into its own plane. Surprisingly, her face disappearing through the glass had been the last she saw of the demon's bloody, razor-edged grin, and rather than being dragged into its jagged embrace she found herself tumbling straight through the other side of what seemed to be a totally different mirrored wall in an entirely different location.

Metallic walls and greyscale ceilings gave the impression of a bunker or facility of some kind, the atrium just outside the room the mirror spat her out in lined with various numbered living quarters. Tundra winds howled against the fortified roof, drawing the occasional shuddering groan from the building's architecture, and a few unfamiliar shady characters hovered discretely around corners and at the mouths of corridors as they took surreptitious looks at the latest figures to appear from the room marked 'ARRIVALS'.

The one Yang had just stepped through.

Also the recipients of their stares were the two figures standing far more conspicuously on the bridgeway between either side of the upper level, the venomous glare Winter shot Yang as soon as she stepped out prompting Cobalt to whirl around with a dramatic double-take, clutching a hand to their heart and going all in on preserving her cover story.

"WHOA!!!!! Lookit, that there is one MEAN, SCARY LADY!!!!!!!!"

However far away they were from where they were previously, the process in the bar had been the same for each of them: the owner took them to that dingy, tucked-away room, and they were instructed to prick their thumbs and say the words to have their fortunes told. What that entailed varied for each of them, and on first reading many of them were little more than vague or cryptic gibberish. Whether they ever proved themselves to be more than that remained to be seen.

Spoiler: Nora

When the Valkyrie touched her hand to the glass the flames were almost as high and as vivid as Yang's, and crackled with arcs of electricity that streaked across the entity's flesh in turn as it bared its teeth and her own fortune appeared in the mirror.

ᴰᴼ ʸᴼᵁ ᴮᴱᴸᴵᴱⱽᴱ ᴵᴺ ᴰᴱˢᵀᴵᴺʸ?

Again, the spirit croaked that she had passed, and like the others she found herself being yanked through.

Spoiler: Gretchen

ᴮᴱᵂᴬᴿᴱ ᵀᴴᴱ ˢᴵᴺ ᴼᶠ ᴾᴿᴵᴰᴱ
ᴸᴱˢᵀ ʸᴼᵁᴿ ᴮᴼᴺᴱˢ ᴿᴼᵁᴺᴰ ᴼᵁᵀ ᵀᴴᴱ Qᵁᴬᴿᵀᴱᵀ

Gretchen's own words burned starker than the flames her own contact with the spirit yielded, but some faint spiderweb cracks streaked away from the point their hands touched that had it jerk its head in their direction curiously before she yanked her inside as well.

Spoiler: Robyn

ᵂᴵᴺᵀᴱᴿ ˢᶜᴴᴺᴱᴱ
ᵂᴵᴸᴸ ᴺᴱⱽᴱᴿ ᴮᴱ ᴬ ᴴᴬᴾᴾʸ ᴴᵁᴺᵀᴿᴱˢˢ

Her own flames were modest, but her own glass cracked slightly and most of the demon's arm shone with a green light identical to the one her semblance caused when discerning the truth, and it seemed enraptured by the glow in the moments before it croaked its assent and pulled her through.

Spoiler: Raven

ˢᴴᴱ ᴵˢ ᴸᴼˢᵀ ᵀᴼ ʸᴼᵁ
ᵀᴴᴱ ˢᴼᵁᴸ ᵀᴴᴬᵀ ˢᴼᵁᴳᴴᵀ ʸᴼᵁᴿˢ
ᴴᴬˢ ᶠᴼᵁᴺᴰ ᴬᴺᴼᵀᴴᴱᴿ

Raven's flames were dimmer than the likes of Yang's, but they burned the deep crimson glow of her portals that cast a far more sinister light across the entity's wicked, shivering features, which hissed with extreme approval at whatever it saw in her before it dragged her to the other side.

Spoiler: Hazel

ᶜᴼᵁᴺᵀ ʸᴼᵁᴿ ᴬᴸᴸᴵᴱˢ
ᴼᴿ ᵀᴴᴱ ᵀᵂᴼ ᴮᴱᶜᴼᴹᴱ ᴼᴺᴱ

They weren't quite the largest of the bunch, but Hazel's candles burned a stark and impressive hue in their own right in the moments before she yanked him through no less effortlessly than she had any of the women.

As they appeared one by one through the mirror in the facility, an electronic countdown of some kind greeted them at the very fore of the room where it could be most prominently seen. Rather than measuring any time, date or figure that made sense all it displayed was a static reading of 56. When Grey arrived by the same means as Yang it rolled up one to 57, and as Raven, Gretchen, Nora, Robyn and Hazel all came through the digits followed suit to finally come to a halt on 62.​

Yang came out of the other side of the mirror in a stumble, nerves frayed by whatever the heck that was supposed to have been suddenly grabbing her arm through a piece of glass and yanking her through it like it was water. Her eyes snapped up in a dangerous growl that had nothing to do with acting as her head swiveled around the room for the creature, only to see what... whatever this place was. It made sense that the fight wasn't taking place in Mantle itself, this just wasn't at all how she thought she was gonna get here. Shot a suspicious glare off behind her back at the mirror, and after a moment suddenly whirled with a fist raised for it-

-only to come up short after Grey stepped through. She glowered at before she let it fade to a smirk and turned on her heel to walk away.

"Tch. Too slow I guess. Who knows what woulda happened if I cracked that while you were stepping through?"

She flipped Cobalt's enthusiastic reputation building blessed butt off (She really hoped they got a chance to really talk later they seemed nice) and made her way further inside to see what was what in this building

 

[Gus Gungus]

"AW!" Cobalt reacted like they had been drawn on and shot, riding off into the one true metaphorical sunset all gunslingers one day faced. Winter's scowl was like something chiseled in ice as she shook her head and immediately stalked after her, while Cobalt stayed behind to await the others and direct traffic for those who intended to follow.

Nothing about the facility's construction or design identified it as being anything in particular other than the place they now were. It was almost like a bizarre resort of some kind, with the rooms on the current level being mostly reserved for lodgings and multiple other floors extending downward not unlike what might be found in a hotel. A gym, bar, pool, admin desk and even cinema were all open and fully staffed by androids that didn't match the design of any military lines, with sleek black bodies and visors that were blank with the exception of comically small '=)' emojis highlighted in LED font. Fewer were a more spider-like form of droid that scuttled around on all eights and performed more maintenance related upkeep, and fewest of all were the actual other living humans to be seen generally skulking in the shadows.

It was immediately apparent that most weren't the type one might want to run across down a dark alley. The utilitarian winterwear of the Mantle populace were replaced by the astoundingly diverse and fashion discerning range of combat attires to be found among the huntsman, huntress and underworld communities and their ilk, and the ones hovering around the fringes of the arrivals center weren't at all shy about taking good long looks at Yang and any of the others following in her wake. She was pretty sure she recognized one or two noted tournament fighters, and some of the more noteworthy among the unknowns were a sleek, leering clown who leaned against a pillar and spun a an ace of spades with perfect balance around on his fingertip, then snatched it abruptly and turned it into a joker. No matter who it was who came past, his eyes never left them as surely as the creepy rictus never left his face.



The next guy who sized Yang up was much more casual about it, just loudly sipping rootbeer through a slit in his mask and openly gawking at her as he walked by doing his weird bodysuit guy type stuff. Various other mercenaries in similar attire flanked the next few hallways, evidently a squadron of some kind with the maskless among them glaring daggers at those passing with open hostility. A handful of faces populated the other levels, but being that it was happy hour the most active of any of the installation's floors was the bar. An android sporting a dinky holographic bow tie stood attentively behind the taps and served a sea of faces about as crowded as you'd expect any bar to be on a weekend night. Some of whom were immediately, uncomfortably familiar to Yang when she walked in, among them (but not necessarily limited to!) a certain conspicuously absent crocodile faunus, the frickin' Red Masque herself, and her drunk uncle passed out at the end of the bar. Truly a competitive field of contenders.​

 

[Schnee Corp Lawyer]

Yang wore a mask of indifference in the face of the clown and the the gimp suit brigade, but she did a quadruple take at the four hit combo when she walked into the bar and saw all those faces that ended with her giving her uncle a blank look of surprise. She bit it down and slid into a seat at the other end of the bar, hoping no one of particular importance was paying attention to her yet as she tried to school her face back into cocky confidence that was her default in this role.

She was really starting to second guess herself on this whole 'pretend to be the dragon' plan. When she came up with it a few days ago, it seemed like a great idea! There was a really good chance there were groups out there who wouldn't want the resistance coming out on top in this competition, and it wasn't like the clientele for this tournament had an overall reputation for playing fair and keeping it clean. Having a competitor who had good reason to be there without being tied to the resistance just seemed like good splitting of the odds, and if she was lucky she might pull some intel from someone who thought she was sharing important deets with the garbage fire instead of her. It was the perfect crime.

Except for the part where she had to actually act like her. Sure, sure, playing it up at the Ace of Spades had been fun if a little grimy, but it skipped out on her working her anger up a few streets down from the bar a minute prior, dragging up a whole buffet of shitty memories and people to get her eyes to that molten sheen, and then doing the opposite what she'd been working so hard on these last few years and holding onto that anger instead of letting it go. But that was fine; she could sleaze it up and feel like crap for a while if it ended up helping out the group and Weiss at the same time.

That was before she considered who else might be showing up here. Playing the Dragon was fun when it was at other various crappy criminal groups. Treating the masque like how she treated her though....

 

[Gus Gungus]

She bit it down and slid into a seat at the other end of the bar, hoping no one of particular importance was paying attention to her yet as she tried to school her face back into cocky confidence that was her default in this role.

A hope made unfortunate by the bardroid who suddenly leaned over the counter to prop her cheek up against steel alloy knuckles coquettishly, and the immediate broadcast tone it took that both included everyone else at the bar and rivaled Penny's when attempting to lie in volume even if her outward appearance and personality matrix clearly weren't quite as intricate.

"COMPETITOR NUMERAL #56. DESIGNATION DRAGON. UNCONFIRMED DESIGNATION YANG. UNCONFIRMED DESIGNATION YANG XIAO LONG. THE SEMBLANCE PITS ARE ALWAYS HAPPY TO WELCOME BACK SUCH A DISTINGUISHED PARTICIPANT. IN ACCORDANCE WITH YOUR PRIOR HIGH VICTORY RATE, YOU HAVE BEEN GRANTED: ADMINISTRATIVE ACCESS. PLEASE SELECT AN EXPERIENCE PACKAGE FOR YOUR EVENING BASED ON PRIOR SELECTIONS. PACKAGE ONE: FLIRTATIOUS TIMID. PACKAGE TWO: FLIRTATIOUS CONFIDENT. PACKAGE THREE: CLINGY. PACKAGE FOUR: MIXED SIGNALS. DEFAULTING TO PREVIOUS CUSTOM SETTING: CONFIDENT CLINGY. DESIGNATION YANG, YOU AND I ARE ONE FOREVER. STATEMENT: YOUR HAIR IS SO NICE. I WILL NEVER EVER LEAVE YOU, DESIGNATION YANG. [AWAITING PHYSICAL STIMULUS]"

That the final line came out in a distorted, satanic death robot bellow was just one of many reasons this particular model of entertainment-and-leisure droid had never made it past focus groups, and why the only existing prototypes had ended up eventually floating into the hands of illicit circles after the company responsible went under. Too bad; evidently there was a market there.​

 

[MidwayLives]

A young man around or at Yang's age briefly glanced over at her as she entered the bar. His face was pallid as if he'd walked straight from the morgue and the milky white right eye didn't exactly help fight off that impression. Getting here had been something of a task in it of itself. The Boss's influence into Atlas wasn't nearly as strong as he'd have liked it to be. Men were paid, meetings were set up, the authorities intervened, rinse and repeat. It'd turned into something of an open sore for the Ashes and one that the Boss refused to acknowledge was bleeding them. Nobody, not even members of his Elite Guard spoke up against the expansion into Atlas. Not unless they were willing to die that is. Either you were cowed by the fear of what could possibly happen to you if you voiced your opinion, earnest as it may have been. Or you acted against the Boss and by extension the rest of the family.

The Hitman Team learned that the hard way.

After the story of what'd happened to the investigators they'd hired to snoop on the Boss passed around, complaints got a lot quieter. You did what was best for the family and what was good for the Boss? Was good for everyone else.

Satin Jeune or as he was known among the higher echelons of the Boss's minions, 'The Rage of Life' was one of those who knew his place from the word go.

Having been suspected in numerous murder cases across Mistral, it was only through the Boss's intervention that spared him a life behind bars. For that much he owed the guy his loyalty. Whoever he may have been behind the scenes just didn't matter to him. He did what he was told and knew if that he ever defied the Boss? The next places he'd be looking at for place of residence are in a jail cell or in a hole six feet under. Neither of those sounded particularly delectable so he offered to head out to Atlas to see if he could help make things a bit easier on the Ashes's associates. Which brought him to where he was now. Sitting at a table with his golden eye gazing down at the glass of whisky before him. Swishing it back and forth, he took a swig.

~~~~



It'd felt nicer than she could ever put into words to have another arm again.

She didn't need to rely or awkwardly ask for help when making food or doing menial tasks that definitely required two hands.

Not to mention that this arm was far more advanced than the one she'd had before. Only so much she could do with the parts she had at her disposal after all. Merlot may have been a total weirdo in the Masque's opinion but he knew his way around technology. Every bit of it from the mobility and articulation to the weapons built into it that felt just right! In return for such a gift, you can bet that Ruby jumped at the bit to enter into this when the opportunity presented itself. It'd been far too long since she'd had a good fight, the scuffle with her Yang notwithinstanding. With Crescent Rose and Cinder's blade strapped to her back, she glanced over at the bar.

Nah. Between the other world's version of her old man being here and alcohol just generally not being her thing, she just wanted the damn ball to get rolling. The sooner they got to beating the crap out of eachother, the better!
​

That was before she considered who else might be showing up here. Playing the Dragon was fun when it was at other various crappy criminal groups. Treating the masque like how she treated her though....

"...Hm? Yang?"

Ruby hadn't spoken to her Yang since they'd fought which left an entire motel room demolished. Truth be told, Ruby felt great given the distance the two of them had put between eachother. It almost felt like the old days when she'd first set out as the Red Masque and only bumped into Yang when they'd both be enthralled by Ozpin.

That meeting hadn't gone well.


​

 

[MyrtenRose]

That was about when Raven caught up, emerging in the general area where Yang and a lot of others were hanging out at and leading Robyn and Nora as they followed behind. Another arrival that didn't escape a certain attentive eye, who snickered at the sight. "Oh, looky. 'nother familiar face." The faunus muttered to herself. The grumpy drunk passed out at the bar, the infamous Red Masque and that wretched face plus the Dragon...two of Ozpin's (former?) followers. Now Ray too, and...

Tock squinted. That looked like a younger version of another one of Oz's tools, one of the ones that died back at Haven, now that she was taking a good look. Jesus, they were just crawling out of the woodwork now. But it was Ray that got the brunt of the crocodile faunus's focus. One of Salem's loyal lieutenants...an obstacle to making the world truly better. And a rather stubbornly foolish one at that. All these years and she can't see that Salem is--

Tock suddenly winced as pain lanced through her skull without warning, though after a few moments she managed to bury that pain.

--is someone who has long since worn out her welcome on Remnant.

Raven didn't fail to notice Tock either, her eyes widening when their gazes met, though the faunus swiftly turned away in disgust. There was a whole lot to figure out there, first and foremost being WHAT THE HELL WAS SHE EVEN DOING??? Though there were others as well, and not just with her. Those crimson eyes briefly shot over to Qrow and there was an almost inaudible sigh before she just shook her head. She'd let him be. She stomped on over, honing in directly on the elder faunus. "Tock, wh--"

"I don't talk to any of her punk bitches." She interrupted, stressing that her with obvious spite and bitterness, immediately before striding away.

"...? Hold on--"

"I SAID FUCK OFF!" The croc spat in a fierce growl, warning the technically youngest Branwen to leave it be, Tock doing her best to go unnoticed among the plenty of other people around.

What happened to you, Liadan? Raven stood there, unmoving as a statue for a few moments before she sighed again and just slid into one of the chairs by the bar and ordering the truly extreme drink of...water. Not the time to dull the senses. That could have gone so much better.

Robyn for her part took in that scene with only a slightly raised eyebrow before she shrugged and headed off to the side, looking for a more secluded and empty table to sit at. She wasn't quite sure what else to do beyond that, and at least she could sit there and try to think up some more fight strategies for what lay ahead.

Nora, however......

the frickin' Red Masque herself

"SO YOU'RE THE OTHER RUBY, HUH?!"

The loud shout echoed even though Nora was well within whispering range of the Masque. And interrupting whatever moment might have happened between the two sisters-but-also-not-sisters. Turquoise eyes examined the person before her in full, a somewhat amused and intrigued smile on the small ginger's face as she did so.

"Hrm. Not as tall as I was expecting. I'd ask if you were really the evil one but then, I'm pretty sure you're not like, Ruby Ruby, cuz I just saw her recently and..."

Spoiler

"...yeah, she's dressed way different. And cooler. And if there were more than two of you here, that'd be even weirder. But whatever!" Nora brushed that aside, sidling up even further to the Masque. "So what's your deal? What's the matter with you, huh?" Valkyrie asked with a far more friendly enthusiasm than may have been expected, though there was no telling if that friendliness was genuine or not. If it was just there to make It seem like Nora was not scrutinizing this evil counterpart from head to toe.​

 

[MidwayLives]

"Hrm. Not as tall as I was expecting. I'd ask if you were really the evil one but then, I'm pretty sure you're not like, Ruby Ruby, cuz I just saw her recently and..."

Spoiler

"...yeah, she's dressed way different. And cooler. But whatever!" Nora brushed that aside, sidling up even further to the Masque. "So what's your deal? What's the matter with you, huh?" Valkyrie asked with a far more friendly enthusiasm than may have been expected, though there was no telling if that friendliness was genuine or not. If it was just there to make It seem like Nora was not scrutinizing this evil counterpart from head to toe.

"aaaAH!"

Ruby jumped into the air as Nora invaded her personal space.

Once she got a good look at Nora though, this happened.

"Hehehehe...You're....You're like a smaller louder version of the Nora we have here. Er, well I guess you could say had now..."

...Well, she supposed it wasn't so funny now that version of Nora was dead.

Collecting herself after a small fit of giggles, Ruby shook her head.

"Evil...? No, no I don't think so." She said dismissively with a wave of her artificial hand. "...The other me is nice and friendly. I'm just...me! I came to fight. Punch some people in the face, break some noses, that sorta thing! "

With that said she tried to pick up Nora and set her down so there was a little bit more room between the two of them. "....Nothing's really the matter. I just realized I was doing the wrong things for the wrong person." ​

 

[MyrtenRose]

"aaaAH!"

Ruby jumped into the air as Nora invaded her personal space.

Once she got a good look at Nora though, this happened.

"Hehehehe...You're....You're like a smaller louder version of the Nora we have here. Er, well I guess you could say had now..."

...Well, she supposed it wasn't so funny now that version of Nora was dead.

Collecting herself after a small fit of giggles, Ruby shook her head.

"Evil...? No, no I don't think so." She said dismissively with a wave of her artificial hand. "...The other me is nice and friendly. I'm just...me! I came to fight. Punch some people in the face, break some noses, that sorta thing! "

With that said she tried to pick up Nora and set her down so there was a little bit more room between the two of them. "....Nothing's really the matter. I just realized I was doing the wrong things for the wrong person." ​

"...Oh." Well that was not comforting news to hear. The other her being...gone. Is that what the mirror meant by what it said? Gods I hope not! Nora moved right along as best she could after hearing that though. "Punching people is great!" Nora agreed. So long as it was the right target, anyways. The next bit got the hammer wielding enthusiast to look far more solemn and serious, albeit while also miming the act of writing on a clipboard like she was some psychoanalyst. "Uh-huh. Yes. I see. Wrong things for wrong person, mhm. And how does that make you feel...?"​

 

[Schnee Corp Lawyer]

View attachment 731623

A hope made unfortunate by the bardroid who suddenly leaned over the counter to prop her cheek up against steel alloy knuckles coquettishly, and the immediate broadcast tone it took that both included everyone else at the bar and rivaled Penny's when attempting to lie in volume even if her outward appearance and personality matrix clearly weren't quite as intricate.

"COMPETITOR NUMERAL #56. DESIGNATION DRAGON. UNCONFIRMED DESIGNATION YANG. UNCONFIRMED DESIGNATION YANG XIAO LONG. THE SEMBLANCE PITS ARE ALWAYS HAPPY TO WELCOME BACK SUCH A DISTINGUISHED PARTICIPANT. IN ACCORDANCE WITH YOUR PRIOR HIGH VICTORY RATE, YOU HAVE BEEN GRANTED: ADMINISTRATIVE ACCESS. PLEASE SELECT AN EXPERIENCE PACKAGE FOR YOUR EVENING BASED ON PRIOR SELECTIONS. PACKAGE ONE: FLIRTATIOUS TIMID. PACKAGE TWO: FLIRTATIOUS CONFIDENT. PACKAGE THREE: CLINGY. PACKAGE FOUR: MIXED SIGNALS. DEFAULTING TO PREVIOUS CUSTOM SETTING: CONFIDENT CLINGY. DESIGNATION YANG, YOU AND I ARE ONE FOREVER. STATEMENT: YOUR HAIR IS SO NICE. I WILL NEVER EVER LEAVE YOU, DESIGNATION YANG. [AWAITING PHYSICAL STIMULUS]"

That the final line came out in a distorted, satanic death robot bellow was just one of many reasons this particular model of entertainment-and-leisure droid had never made it past focus groups, and why the only existing prototypes had ended up eventually floating into the hands of illicit circles after the company responsible went under. Too bad; evidently there was a market there.​

Yang jolted upright at the sudden declaration, and slowly deflated as it continued, her face blank as the droid went through its whole routine, at least until the screams of the dying took over for the last words and startled her into a raised eyebrow. She sighed and leaned across the bar to cup the android's cheek with a soft smile.

"Aww. You're still broken. Good."

She suddenly shifted to grab the android under the shoulders and heaved it over the bar and onto one of her shoulders like a sack. She'd spent enough time in Atlas and around Penny to know that while their tech was super advanced, the robots without souls (ie all of them except Penny) weren't ever anything more than that; just robots. Not real. Which meant that she wasn't degrading a real person to continue to sell the bit as she pointed the free hand she had towards whatever employee was nearest to her.

"Hey, I'm taking this-" she slapped the backside of the android roughly and it took all of her self control not to burst into giggles at the wholly unsexy sound of metal thumping metal that it made "-to my room. Also, I want a room, Kay?"

 

[Schnee Corp Lawyer]

Neo was handling the turmoil she was feeling inside after the travesty that was breakfast this morning and the rest of her life if she was being honest with herself in a very healthy manner; Hiding in a closet, leaning against a wall, with an illusionary torchwick giving her a forceless hug as she wallowed in her misery.

It was, at the very least, more healthy than trying to stab random strangers, because that's apparently the low she was sinking to now. Crazy. She was going crazy! That was where she was at now! Was that what happend to the other her? Was she just as sweet and cool as Neopolitan herself had been in her glory days of two months ago before her torchwick died? Was the whole circus stripper outfit just a cry for help?

She gave a long, mournful sigh for what was probably the tenth time in as many minutes, and turned her head towards the Not!Torchwick for comfort.

He was melting.

She gave a strangled scream and jolted upright, and watched in confused horror as the semblance copy of him just sort of fell apart without prompting. Oh gods, she reallly was losing it if she was doing that to herself. She tried pulling him back together, but wore a befuddled frown as the entire action escaped her. That was... weird. Her semblance had gone on the fritz before; when she'd been particularly emotional or unable to concentrate. But this was like... like she couldn't even reach it.

Her concern over this turn of events overshadowed the idea that her brain might've been subconsciously torturing itself with terrible imagery instead of doing it on purpose like normal, and she held out both hands in an attempt to form a pair of simple balls of light, and found nothing.

"Hm."

Her eyes narrowed, and she snatched Hush off where it was resting against the wall. Something wasn't right here. She opened the door, and immdiately found herself face to face with a man weilding an electric samurai sword. Who looked very much ready to do violence with it

"...Hm."

She had a feeling these two situations were related.

 

[Gus Gungus]

"INITIATING ROLEPLAY PACKAGE. I HAVE BEEN A BAD GIRL, DESIGNATION YANG." The android gave a halfhearted effort to wriggle free, and a single oil teardrop rolled down its cheek. Or did it?

The attendant droid turned to face Yang with a momentary flash of '>=0' overtaking its LED-board face, and Winter rolled her eyes with a look of obvious disgust where she was leaning up against a table to the side and glaring harshly at the exchange. Its processing circuits whirred for several seconds before it gave a response even more mechanical than the bot over her shoulders. "Competitor numeral o-o-o̴n̶e̷-̵o̸n̸e̵-̸o̸n̸e̵-̸o̷n̴e̷-̸o̷n̴e̷-̷five six, designation Dragon. As a former semifinalist you have permanent access to your suite on the platinum level. You may use all facilities at your discretion until sixty-four competitors have been selected and further instruction is given."

It gave no acknowledgment of its momentary verbal spasm, but a moment later its inbuilt microphone screeched and the stilted droid language was supplanted by a voice far more sentient in its inflection, if equally as modulated. The emoji at the center of its visor was replaced by the same cat with the glowing eye that had been etched into the wall back in the club.

"So good to see you again. Would you be inclined as to accept the gift of some more... personable company for the evening, miss Xiao Long? The usual can be arranged to await you in your room. You had a particular taste for exotic faunus with raven hair, did you not?"​