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X-DREAMERS [mission 03: Shadows of an Island]

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[U and L - Mauna Kea - Beach]

 

Everything happens too fast. The second Stan held her close and said Amanda was alive, Lara wants to throw up. Had he been— what had he been doing? 

 

Stan-?” There comes one of the guests from the party, with a katana out, running to the beach. She raises both eyebrows, jaw dropping when she sees what follows him.

 

Oh God

 

Memories come back to her as the beast that killed her comrades over a year and a half ago comes crashing in. The chase, the bodies, the water filling the cave, Amanda’s terrified face as the rocks come caving in…. She does her best to keep the contents of her stomach down. 

 

Her heart rate accelerates. Stan throws a drawstring bag into her arms and she clutches it, quickly opening it to see what’s in it. Inside is a rather gorgeous looking Glock, ammo included, some stun grenades, and something wrapped in cloth. Looking at the cloth, she takes out what looks like one of her Heckler and Koch pistols… only polished, beautiful, and they appear to have been tinkered. She sees on one of them an engraved outline on the barrel- a couple of stars. It’s as if he tried to write something else on there but had no time. She doesn’t mind, all she can focus on is how nice her pistols are now. 

 

Oh, those are sexy.

 

...Stan had made such a giant show of everything. Coming late, the whole spectacle with the fireworks… The fact that the man on the boat was watching him with such intensity--- Ah! He didn’t have any more time to explain himself, but she starts catching on. From what she can tell, he teamed up with Amanda’s lackeys…. but it appears he’s been working as a double agent.

 

And judging by the looks Stan was being given, he isn’t trusted. Lara sighs. She has no idea if she should kiss him later or give him an earful.

 

Both?

 

Both.

 

Lara grabs the glock first, slinging the bag onto her shoulders. Loading the glock, she looks to see Stan putting his hand in his pocket and saying “Killer queen has already touched this party." Some sort of code, that’s all she knows. But knowing Stan…. Lara grabs from her purse the pair of sunglasses she always carries around, slipping them on. 

 

In multiple areas, there are explosions that throw sand around the beach. Once they’re finished, she pushes them up onto her head and shakes herself off. There’s sand in her heels, but she doesn’t care. She kicks them off and notices the waves of guys running onto the beach. Guests run to flee, and the monster seems to be making a beeline for her. She tosses her purse, with the revolver and the extra ammo, towards Stan. 

 

Keep that!” She quickly says as she aims Stan’s Glock towards the monster, firing several shots as soon as the man is out of the way. 

 

...Showtime.” 

 

Utakata is still extremely suspicious of Stan. The fact that he just came and crashed the party like that, all of his actions to this point. His eyes had remained narrow throughout their entire exchange. Somehow, although Lara seemed to have picked up on something he hadn’t, he can’t really trust her judgment here either. For all he knows, if Stan is a spy, what would stop Lara from abandoning XDRS to be with him?

 

He doesn’t know if Lara is that naive. He doesn’t even know how good of a fighter he is. But from what he’s seen of this organization, they need all the manpower they can get. All of the uncertainty…. It makes him all sorts of uncomfortable. 

 

Still, Stan hasn’t blatantly tried to kill him or anyone else. He doesn't know if they’ll be working for or against each other, but if it’s the former… Then fine. He’ll work with Stan, even if it means going against his better judgment. Stan seems just competent enough that he could easily come up with a distraction for them all to leave, worst comes to worst. 

 

But if it’s the latter, he’ll tear Stan apart. 

 

Still… Utakata can’t turn away from a good fight. 

 

SAIKEN!

 

What?

 

I need you.

 

Bah. Alright.

 

He doesn’t want to go too far into his forms, God forbid he loses control and messes everything up again. But he does allow a wave of chakra to emanate from his body. First tailed beast mode should be enough for now. His eyes narrow. 

 

Let’s do this, Saiken.

 

Will do.

 

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[A - Mauna Kea Beach]

 

Who knew XDRS had a knack for throwing five wrenches in the plan at once?

 

Actually, she's not sure if the man who attacked her was even affiliated with them. She'd seen in her own travels people traveling the multiverse as rogues, just as she had. Either way, she doesn't like any of this- nothing had prepared her for someone to find her like this. From what Stan was able to tell her... He hadn't told her anything about agents with sensor-type powers, or a guy with a lightning katana. 

 

He really hadn't told her much outside of what she already knew.... which worries her. 

 

Still, she believes that he didn't know himself what these new agents could do, which she's fine with. Perhaps he's incompetent enough that it can be somewhat excusable if one of the agents turns out to be more than she can handle. 

 

Still, is he incompetent enough to screw her over?

 

She hopes not. 

 

And then something explodes in her face. Screaming as she recoils, she feels two shots enter her beast form, which incites more screeches. As soon as Amanda recovers, she spots Lara with what looks to be a Glock. Now where the hell did she find one of those? Amanda doesn't recall her having that. Then again, for all she knew Lara could have had a whole new magazine of weapons in her arsenal. 

 

She lunges for Lara, managing to knock her down. Lara drops the Glock for a second, but Amanda had forgotten how quickly Lara could react. Lara grabs the Glock again and shoots the monster right in the abdomen. That just about does it for the beast, which fades away and leaves a rather frustrated Amanda. She meets eyes with Lara, who once she stands up widens her eyes. Now... Had Lara expected that?

Edited by Mikasa361

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Illidan Stormrage, Lord of the Illidari
<Status: Stable; worried>
<Location: Mauna Kea Beach - Hawaii>

 

 

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Temeraire Rhowa, Warrior of Light
<Status: Stable; shocked and confused>
<Location: Mauna Kea Beach - Hawaii>
<Current Class: Ninja>

 

<People: Stan | Lara | Amanda>

 

~~

 

Oh gods firesand explosions-- The fireworks were enough to startle Temeraire, while it prompted Illidan to turn towards the sound and sigh. If this was who he thought it was--

 

Yep. The voice just prior to the fireworks. Illidan buried his face in one of his hands.

 

"Goddess dammit, Stan."

 

Then, everything became a blur. Men storming the beach, and some sort of monster. From the sounds around him, a fight was breaking out, fast. Illidan loved a good fight, but right now, he knew there'd be an extremely startled horse from the fireworks (he knew animals didn't react well to sudden loud sounds). "You handle things here, Temeraire. I'm going to try to find Xander." He knew it shouldn't be too hard now that Xander's a demon, but still... Maybe if he found Sieghorse, he'd find the king himself.

 

"Wait, Illidan, I--" Too late. Illidan was gone. "Gods damn it all. Just when I need help." Time for a little dodging and weaving. Temeraire dodged attacks, watching her opponents, not yet drawing her daggers...

 

She turned to try to find the monster, but... there was no monster. Not anymore, anyway. Now there was just a blond Hyur woman, apparently having a stare-down with Lara.

 

"Whoa, what?!"

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二番隊

.

.

 

Everything happens rather quickly, and Kuu is left disappointed. 

 

The monster he is fighting seems to be more concerned with her specific targets than creating mass-destruction, and it makes him pause. The creatures of this universe were so strange -- what kind of Hollow held back in the slightest?


It only reminds him that his battles here are controlled, specific, and limited; that would not be a problem if someone as illustrious as his Captain was fighting, but it is frustrating to the young Shinigami. He wants to battle, test his limits in a way that confronts the extremities of his abilities, and nothing has pushed him to that edge -- yet. 

 

He stands, aloft in the air, watching as the man who had entered below on a boat and the woman with the gun shoot towards the not-Hollow, all of her attention turned to them suddenly. The explosion blows up waves of smoke and sand around their forms, and he dissipates it with a quick burst of Shunko, waving his yari around with the movements of the wind. Vision cleared, he inspects the scene before him, interested. 

 

She has returned to her human form, much to his surprise. So she was not dead -- and with that, he had no justification in the world of the living to take a life. He squints, trying to see if there is any chance of death floating around her being, but returns nothing. Not her time -- unless her companions decided it was so. 

 

"Retreat," he murmurs, feeling the brush of his yari against his fingers, the shimmering energy as his blade speaks to him. Then, the handle of his weapon crackles with a familiar energy, and it retreats to its Zanpakuto form, which Kuu sheaths. Still in the air, he turns to look around, no longer interested in the scene before him; ah, that's right -- he'd run off when he sensed the strange energy, leaving Dennis to deal with Rufus. Where are they now? 

 

He spots them easily enough -- it is quite easy to pick out a scantily-clad demon and someone dressed like the superheroes in the comics that Omaeda was so fond of -- and his face lights up instantly, taking a step forward as he flash-steps to their side. He disappears from the air and lands right next to them, in the space of a breath.

 

"Can't kill her," he declares, glaring at the scene before them, crossing his arms, with a certain childish annoyance to his tone, "I'd get written up again."

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The fireworks are still going. Pretty as they are, they’re so loud. Tien’s considering putting his hands over his ears again, to Damnation with looking weird because of it.

 

Then the beach explodes. Literally, explodes. Deafening explosions, bright lights, sand flying everywhere. People start to scream.

 

Tien’s ears are ringing. He doesn’t know what’s happening, and the rumble he feels in his bones is enough to drown out Fractal’s anchoring hum. Too bright, too loud, too much, too much, he needs OUT!

 

He thinks he might be crying. He’s not actually sure. The choked whining sound is definitely his, though. Even with the lack of blood, this is worse, far worse, than the chaos of the battlefields he’s delivered messages on.

 

He needs out. Out. Out. If he can get far enough away, somewhere safe, he can find a place to huddle until the chaos is over and he can calm down. He doesn't think about Yosuke, too overwhelmed by his storm of panic.

 

Disoriented by the sound and light, Tien doesn’t pay attention to which direction he bolts in.

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[Confrontation- Utakata, Lara Croft, Stanley Gulliver, Amanda Evert

 

Amanda raises her hand at her men, who all pause. A silence fills the air. 

 

Lara’s heart sinks as she watches Amanda approach her, brandishing a pistol from her side. Taking a step or two back, Lara keeps the Glock in her hands as her eyes widen further in fear. Her heart starts running at ten kilometers a minute as she backs up a little further. “A...Amanda…” 

 

Oh save your goddamn breath,” Amanda snaps, “Like hell you care that I’m alive.

 

Utakata raises his eyebrow. It’s interesting, the mix of emotions that seem to bounce around in Lara’s eyes. He can see fear, yes, but also relief, pain, and a feeling he’s only seen other people experience and never had the chance to truly feel for himself. It’s almost heartbreaking, really. Had he cared for Lara more, perhaps he would have felt bad.

 

Stan’s expression is much harder to read, partly due to the shaded glasses on his face. Where Lara is an open book, Stan is a blank sheet of paper. It’s frustrating, but at the same time it’s better for the mission if he doesn’t let anyone know what he’s thinking…. Or is it? He still doesn’t trust Stan in the slightest, but yet again Stan hasn’t given Utakata any reason to trust him.

 

Briefly, Utakata wonders why he isn’t doing anything. He could just take this woman out right now- her men are standing down, Utakata could easily tap into Saiken’s power and kill her. Honestly, if it were between this woman and Stan, Utakata would much rather take her out instead. Sure, he doesn’t want to suffer Lara’s wrath. But mostly he doesn’t like this woman’s attitude (seriously, who goes around crashing parties for some elaborate revenge scheme? Lame.). He stares at the blonde- Amanda- who shakes her head. 

 

A-Amanda, what are you talking about?” Lara’s voice trembles, her gun pointed but her hands wavering. 

 

You damn well know what I’m talking about,” Amanda hisses as she walks closer. “Lara, you left me in that goddamn cave to drown.” She gestures back to her choker. “If it weren’t for that mask I pulled out of the wall, I’d be dead.

 

It’s Utakata’s turn to roll his eyes as he quickly snags some shards from the bottle he broke, slipping one between each of his fingers. Oh, poor baby, life must be so hard for you. But a bang sounds and sand explodes near his feet. Tracing the source, Stan held a revolver in his hand which he clicked to the next chamber. It was aimed at him, and Stan's other hand signs for him to not interrupt.

 

Amanda’s head swings over at the sound of the shot, then looks around to try and figure out why the hell Stan has a gun out. It looks familiar, but she can’t seem to pinpoint where it’s from. When she sees the man in the red kimono take a few steps back, she realizes. “Don’t attack me…. I can take your ass down, you little twink,” she hisses at Utakata with a glare. She points the gun at Utakata’s head briefly. “Or I can just ruin that pretty little face of yours. Your choice.

 

Utakata’s annoyed, but he decides to take Stan’s gesture and stand down. Even the waves of chakra he emanated fizzle out into the air. “Yeah, yeah, fine.” Quietly, he puts his hands up until Amanda is no longer pointing her gun at his head, after which he puts them back down. He keeps his pipe at the ready, but leans against the bistro table to show that he won’t interrupt anymore. His eyes narrow. Oh, you have no idea what I’m capable of… That little beast of yours wouldn’t stand a water drop’s chance in Hell. His expression sour, he fiddles with the tassel on the pipe, keeping a close eye on Stan and that gun of his. 

 

Lara blinks a few times, barely able to register anything that’s going on. “Amanda, there was no physical way you could have survived that- you were trapped in there and if I went to get air and come to get you…..” Lara winces. 

 

Oh, you would have died too, what a goddamn tragedy,” Amanda spits. She straightens the arm holding the pistol. “You know what really stings? The fact that you never even bothered to…” She rolls her eyes, pretending to think, “Oh, what is it that archaeologists do again? Oh, right…. Dig.” Turning the safety off, Amanda shoots an icy glare at Lara.

 

Lara doesn’t know those eyes… Not anymore. Those aren’t the eyes of the woman she once loved… They were cold, lackluster, and vengeful. Amanda had died a year and a half ago…. And this was the husk that her soul left behind. Such a vibrant, wholesome, sweet young woman…. Is this what it looks like when someone succumbs to hatred?

 

I had a whole plan,” Amanda mockingly laments, “I was ready to take you somewhere when you were distracted, mess with you a little bit…. And maybe perhaps kill you afterwards. But it seems,” she huffs as she shoots a glare at Stan, “that either I was betrayed, or your boyfriend is just that incompetent. Or, by some chance, both.

 

Stan perks up when mentioned directly, but remains still. Amanda glances over at him for a second and smirks. “Lara, you really do have a type when it comes to men, don’t you…. 

 

Lara takes a step back. “...The devil do you mean? So what if I-

 

Let me break it down for you, Lara Rochelle.” Amanda’s voice lilts as she walks carefully, almost like a predator wanting to toy with its prey before jumping in to make the kill. But Amanda knows better than to kill her out right. No, she wants to see Lara suffer a little bit. “You only like green eyed men because you miss your dear mommy… Don’t you?

 

Stan finally points his gun away from Utakata's feet and slips his sunglasses onto his head, revealing the aforementioned eyes. Amanda was definitely just trying to get under both their skins with her words, and if that's what she wanted to do, he'd oblige. "The only green eyed monster I see here is you, missus Amanda."

 

Utakata lifts both his eyebrows. What Amanda said was cruel… and he had to admit, though reluctantly… Stan’s comeback was good.

 

Amanda chuckles from somewhere deep within her chest. “Oh, what are you implying, Gulliver? That I’m envious? Please, what have I to be jealous of… Lara? Trust me, I’ve dated her, she’s nothing special at the end of the day.” Her eyes narrow. “I’m just here to give her what she had coming.

 

Utakata gets his pipe ready. His eyes once again turn pale yellow as he readies himself for the inevitable scuffle. 

 

Lara freezes, taking it in. Amanda…. Just made the lowest dig Lara had ever seen a person do. Nobody, nobody who knew what was good for them, would ever bring up her mother like that. She snarls, her arm straightening and the grip on the Glock firm. “You’re not the Amanda I know…. She’s dead.” Lara’s finger carefully hovers over the trigger. “She died a long time ago.

 

That was all the confirmation Stan needed. He twists and shoots, aiming at the center out of trained reflex, not caring if he hit any of Amanda's vitals. It would have been fun to continue the banter... but if there was any time where Lara needed him the most, it was now. 

 

Besides, even if he got the blond lady straight through the heart, he was sure she would be vengeful enough to survive even that.

 

Amanda yells, feeling the shot in her abdomen. She hisses, holding up the gun to Lara and firing two shots. One grazes Lara’s shoulder while the other hits her in the abdomen as well. 

 

Lara yelps in pain, gripping at her stomach area. It’s only by luck that it misses anything particularly important. She doesn’t remember if she packed any medical supplies in her purse, and has no idea if Stan left a medipack in that drawstring bag of his. Feeling the pain rush through her, she drops the Glock and falls to her knees, a low whimper coming from her throat. She hadn’t expected Amanda to shoot her, and that was her mistake. While it’s a damn shame this dress was ruined, that is the least of her problems. If she can’t so much as cover the wound in her abdomen, she’ll bleed out.

 

Stan lunged forward to grab Lara and lay her down gently, properly. Revolvers were slower than other handguns and it was frustrating that he couldn't interrupt Amanda before she had fired. He remembered seeing in Lara's purse a small canvas bag with a red cross on it. But before he could stop the bleeding using the first aid kit, he had to distract Amanda, somehow.  "Utakata, cover us!"

 

Stanley…?” Lara’s voice is soft. His touch had been gentle… though this was the last circumstance in which she’d wanted to be laying in Stan’s arms. She winces, keeping her hand on the wound. God… This bloody hurts….

 

That’s enough for Utakata. “On it!” He does his best to stifle a shout of pain as he feels his skin begin to burn, as if he had jumped into a fire and kept on running. Feeling Saiken’s power take over, he feels his body transform into the familiar wild beast he was used to resorting to if someone was in danger. Letting out a screeching growl, the beast rushes towards Amanda and grabs her with a couple of tails. As she struggles, he attempts to allow acid to seep onto Amanda’s skin. Very little manages to make contact, but it causes Amanda to howl in pain. He manages to hold on for a while before Amanda grabs a glass bottle and whacks him with it. He lets out a screech as his tails give some slack. Amanda manages to break out of his loose grip and elbow him in the face, sending him back into his normal human mode. Utakata covers his nose, which he’s certain is bleeding. “Shoot,” he hisses. 

 

AUGH, ENOUGH OF THIS,” Amanda yells as she detaches the mask from her collar and her eyes yet again begin to glow. This is something Stan never told her, and she doesn’t give a damn if Stan knew or not. She’s pissed off now, and she’s ready to end this.

 

Utakata hadn’t taken into account that Amanda could easily change into this strange beast of hers- else he would have led her elsewhere and...

 

That thought is interrupted as the beast that appears once more scratches what seems to be a large hole into the air in front of the group. Before any of the three could react, she manages to get a grip on all three of them, and what feels like two others, dragging them somewhere that Utakata has no idea. 

 

His eyes widen as the rip they were shoved through closes and everything turns pitch…. black….

Edited by Mikasa361

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Illidan Stormrage, Lord of the Illidari
<Status: ???>
<Location: Mauna Kea Beach, Hawaii -> ???>
<People: Xander>

 

~~

 

Oh, thank Elune, Sieghorse was calm for the most part. Illidan was glad that he'd found Xander so quickly. "You can probably see it from here, but... Long story short, everything has gone to hell..."

 

Before Illidan could elaborate further, he heard gunshots ringing out and whipped around towards the direction they had come from.

 

Instead of a shootout, as he'd expected, he instead saw a portal made of dark magic.

 

OH HELL NO! He was not about to let anyone be kidnapped. Before Xander could even speak, Illidan had drawn his Warglaives and rushed into the portal as it closed.

 

It wasn't long before even his Spectal Sight went black.

 

~~

 

dd3hjow-314592c7-1003-4fb0-be90-c9ed8776

 

Temeraire Rhowa, Warrior of Light
<Status: Stable; panicking>
<Location: "Sapphire Avenue, Ul'dah">
<Current Class: Ninja>
<People: ???>

 

~~

 

When Temeraire next opened her eyes, she felt dazed. What kind of doozy just hit me...? One minute I'm dodgin' bullets at that party, then Lara and that other girl had been talkin', then there were gunshots, and then...

 

The next thing after that had been a blur.

 

Just... where am I...? Taking a look around, Temeraire found herself in...

 

Ul'dah...? Why am I in Sapphire Avenue? And where is everyone? She hadn't expected to be back home again. Looking at the sky, she saw that it was nighttime (or, at least, it looked like nighttime - it certainly didn't feel that way). The appearance of the place was almost surreal, though; Sapphire Avenue - the busiest market street in all of Ul'dah - was deserted, mostly destroyed, and littered with... stains?

 

No, not just any stains. Blood stains.

 

Oh gods, there's... so much blood. Temeraire - brave, reckless Temeraire - was starting to falter and tremble at the sight. There was blood everywhere: on the road, on the walls... hells, even on the tarps covering what few marketplace stalls hadn't been destroyed. Please no please no please no please no--

 

"Yo."

 

Temeraire spun on her heels, daggers drawn, to see...

 

Herself?

 

"What in the seven hells--?!" It was like staring in a mirror - everything from the facial markings, to the fluffy tail, to even her hairstyle, was identical except for the eye color. The eyes were a very unsettling yellow, and glowed slightly in the dim Ul'dahn moonlight.

 

And when she spoke, even her voice was identical. "Oh, don't look so surprised, Temeraire - if that even is your real name. Oh, wait, it's not."

 

"How do you know that?"

 

"I'm your shadow. Your true self. Duh."

 

Temeraire groaned. "Of course this had to be some stupid 'dark side of the soul' auroch s****."

 

"You call it that, but denying it ain't gonna make me go away."

 

"Then humor me: if you ain't s'posed to be some sick opposite of me, then what are you supposed to be?"

 

"The part of you that you tried to leave behind with the Vulture tribe. The part of you that gets sick to her stomach from killing people, and feels guilty from causing so much as a single bruise in a fight. You'd rather die yourself than have to kill another living person.

 

"You're still guilty about all those deaths that the Lord of the Inferno caused, whether it was through his Amalj'aa lackeys impaling Ul'dahn people on spears, through the Immortal Flames that died trying to protect their oh-so-precious crystal cargo, or through those poor refugees who had to die due to being tempered by you-know-who. You were powerless to help and you're guilty because of it. All those people died because of you, V'rasto Rhowa."

 

"No... No, you're wrong! That ain't me! THAT'S NOT ME!!" In a lot of ways, Temeraire was lying to herself - as much as she said otherwise, she was very guilty at having been unable to help all those who had died. With the tempered people, it had been inevitable as that had been the only way to free them from such a fate, but with the slaughtered civilians and the Immortal Flame caravan guards? The guilt ate her alive.

 

No sooner had Temeraire spoken the words, however, than the mirror Miqo'te was surrounded with a dark aura. She looked angry and a little sad. "...suit yourself, then - I'll kill you and take your place!"

 

And then the "other" Temeraire no longer resembled Temeraire, but now had the form of a giant flying monster. The beast vaguely looked like a bird, but had fangs instead of a beak and a body covered in fur instead of feathers.

 

Temeraire drew her daggers in a panic, trying to back away. "O-Oh gods--!! Someone, anyone, HELP!!"

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...Where am I?

 

Where’s Fractal? 

 

These are Tien’s first thoughts as he slowly reorients himself, tracing the edges of his memories to figure out what happened. He’d run, yes...picked the wrong direction to run in. Towards people rather than away. By the time he’d blinked the flash from his eyes, he was on the outskirts of a dramatic confrontation. Then...Fractal had given him the warning he’d asked for earlier--about an odd presence, letting him know that it had turned urgent--some kind of creature had appeared, and split the air, and…

 

And now Tien is here, at the outskirts of a military camp on a misty night. No. Not a military camp. Amaram’s military camp. They’ve moved before, but they generally keep the same setup. Tien’s lived in the army for four years--no, maybe it’s five now--would be five--at any rate, he’d recognize it anywhere.

 

Also, Fractal is gone. That’s worrying. And while Tien doesn’t mind misty nights--they can be soothing, in their own way--there’s something that’s just unsettling about this one. Tien turns in a slow circle, scanning for signs of life. 

 

He turns; and his breath catches in horror. 

 

Behind him is a battlefield, both utterly unfamiliar and somehow the gestalt of every battlefield he’s even been on, soaked so deeply in blood that the grass cannot emerge from the ground. Bile claws its way up Tien’s throat, and he claps a hand to his mouth to keep from retching, stumbling backwards as he squeezes his eyes shut.

 

Fractal would be telling him to breathe. Fractal would be helping him calm down. But Fractal isn’t here, and Tien stumbles off to the side to throw up before he can even think about trying to take deep breaths and recenter himself.

 

It...passes. Tien doesn’t know how long it takes. But he stands up, wipes his mouth, and wanders into the unnervingly pristine camp instead.

 

It’s hollow. The buildings are there, every item in its place, but there’s no people. Nobody at all. It’s just...still. He doesn’t even have Fractal to hum to him and keep him company. Almighty, he hadn’t realized how much he’d come to rely on her being there… 

 

Tien lets his feet carry him, and when he pays attention to his surroundings once again he realizes he’s come to a stop in front of Amaram’s command tent. He hesitates for longer than he’d like to admit before he finally decides to move the tent flap aside and go in.

 

“There you are,” his own voice says. “I was wondering when you’d finally show up.”

 

Tien freezes. In front of him, sitting in Amaram’s seat is--himself. Or, no, not himself. Not quite. There’s something wrong about him--it--this illusion. A kind of invisible darkness. And the eyes…the eyes are yellow. Not Telinar’s yellow, the bright gold Tien had chosen himself, but something pale and sickly.

 

“What in Damnation…?” Tien mutters under his breath. The--illusion?--stands up and circles around the desk in an uncannily fluid motion, a slinking tread that puts him in mind of some kind of predator. Tien backs up automatically.

 

“We’re going to have a talk, you and I,” his false mirror says, voice taking on a mocking tone. “Little Lightweaver Tien, redundant, pushed aside, always forgotten.”

 

Tien swallows hard. “That’s not tr--”

 

“Oh yes it is.” Not-him cuts off his protest before it can go anywhere. “You can’t lie to yourself forever, little Lightweaver. Our parents forgot us. It’s why we’re in the army, because it was always about Kaladin’s education, Kaladin’s safety, Kaladin Kaladin Kaladin. They forgot about us and thought Roshone would too. But he didn’t, did he.” 

 

Tien’s hands shake from a resentment that he’d thought had burnt out long ago. “Shut up.”

 

The corners of his--its--mouth curl up in a cruel smirk. “And then the army itself! Being forgotten would have been a good thing there, wouldn’t it? But they couldn’t do us the courtesy of that, either. No, they made us bait, shoved us to the front lines, got us nearly killed twice--oh, and let’s not forget we couldn’t save anyone there either, not even our golden boy brother--and then Amaram!”

 

“Amaram kept us--kept us safe,” Tien snaps back. “He kept us out of battle, he--”

 

“He used us!” Tien’s not-self snarls, face twisting into a mask of anger that Tien has never seen in a mirror. “That’s all he did! He used us as a tool in his power plays! Fractal knew it from the moment he picked us out as useful, and you were just too much of a coward to protest it! You wanted to be safe.” It spreads its arms. “Well, it didn’t save anybody else. You remember Keor.”

 

Tien flinches. “Shut up,” he says again, “shut up!”

 

“And let’s talk about Telinar!” It continues relentlessly. “Little Lightweaver finally deciding to take a stand! But we’re too much of a coward to try and do it with our own face, aren’t we? So we made a false face, a false name, and we tried to make up for our sins of complacence by keeping others safe, too little too late. It’s not enough, was it? It was never. Enough.” Its face twists further, into something almost animalistic. It does not make Tien’s face unrecognizable. With something like horror, Tien realizes that all it does it turn hauntingly familiar in its foreignness. 

 

He’s heartsick with the memories of his failures, trembling from a truth he’d been avoiding, burning from a resentment he’d tried to bury, and he doesn’t understand. “What do you want?!” Tien yells. “What’s the storming point of this?!”

 

“I want us to do something!” His yellow-eyed mirror yells back. “I want to stop hiding! We’re Radiant! We have a storming Shardblade! We have all the blackmail we ever collected for Amaram! We could use it, storm it! We know how to use power! I want to find everyone who ever hurt us and watch them crumble!” It stalks forwards to get in Tien’s face. “And if you’re too much of a coward to do that, then I will.”

 

What scares Tien isn’t the threats his mirror makes. It’s the way his own heart stirs in response to its words, the way he wants to do it. He knows it’s wrong. He can’t even get to the people who hurt him here in this other world. But Almighty, it would feel so good to take out a little of the emotion he’s been bottling up for years and years…

 

“What are you?” Tien whispers. 

 

“I am a shadow,” his other self hisses, “the true self.”

 

Suddenly, somehow, that makes it all click. 

 

“Oh,” Tien says softly. “Oh. Of course you are.”

 

His shadow blinks in surprise, expression untwisting from a snarl of rage into a much more familiar one of confusion. Tien gathers that this isn’t usually how it goes.

 

“You’re where my anger goes,” Tien whispers. It told him as much, but he needs to say it out loud, put the pieces together for himself. “You’re where my resentment goes, my rage, my hate. Everything I try to bury.” He steps forward, lifting a hand, and his shadow steps back in tandem. “I know you,” he says, voice rising to normal volume. “I know myself. I can’t...do that.”

 

“Why not?” 

 

“Because we’re a world away, and they’re not worth--”

 

“Don’t you lie to me,” his shadow snarls. “Little Lightweaver, you were doing so well. Our spren isn’t here; give me the Truth.”

 

“Because I’m scared,” Tien whispers. “I’m scared of retribution. I’m scared of responsibility without a mask to shoulder it. I’ve spent so long as a shadow that I’m scared of being known.” He closes his eyes. Takes a deep breath that sends a shudder through his body. “But I want to. Almighty, I want to.” He opens his eyes and stares his reflection in its sickly yellow eyes. “I think that scares me the most,” he admits to himself. “That you’re me, and that I can want to hurt people so badly.”

 

There is a flash of light, and his shadow is gone, replaced by an almost ghostly image of a masked woman with pale blue skin, dressed in flowing, entirely foreign clothes. Two much smaller girls peer over her shoulders, one violet, one green. A second flash, and the apparition vanishes into a shimmering card.

 

Tien reaches out and takes it, his breath catching. It depicts Roshar’s three moons arrayed in the sky over a river; violet Salas, green Mishim, pale blue Nomon. The largest moon, Nomon, is displayed front and center, the glyph for ‘moon’ etched in gold on its surface.

 

He’s not sure what just happened, exactly, beyond swearing a sort of Ideal. A Truth spoken, a power given. But not by Fractal. He still doesn’t know where she is.

 

Whatever just happened--a nervous twist in his gut, a directionless anger he can no longer bury--Tien needs to find Fractal.

 

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Edited by Pachimew

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Stan --  ???

[???] - [???] 

 

Stan struggled to regain consciousness. He attempted to grip the cold, smooth ground with his fingers before even trying to open his eyes because of the pounding in his skull. Even if he wanted to stay on the ground, he felt he couldn't rest. He had something important to take care of, and the warm body nestled tightly in his arm was proof of that promise.

 

He snapped his eyes open. Right. Unfinished business. Lara was still bleeding from the gunshot wound, but he had at least managed to bandage it during the few minutes before Amanda pulled her trump card. Out of necessity, he had to carefully cut through Lara's dress using his multi-tool while holding one end of the gauze in his mouth.  Despite not even being a healer, he lamented that he had been forced to fix up a lot of things in the past week. Then again, this week was abnormally eventful, even for the XDRS.

 

Stan breathed in shallow, cautious breaths, as if he risked waking up some unknown predator. The room carried the aroma of expensive cigars, and the last person he remembered that smell from was someone he'd rather not encounter again. Silently, he rose and slipped the revolver out of his pocket. He then took off his suit jacket and wrapped it around Lara in case she found it appropriate to complain about the indecency of her ripped clothing. However, he didn't see anyone around after a cursory glance. Weren't there several other people who also got caught within Amanda's grasp? The room they were in was small and empty of people, but was crowded with luxurious pieces of plush furniture. Instead of a ceiling there was an endless mass of swirling red and black clouds, casting a red glow over everything. He thought he knew everything the Force Monster could do, though in the end even Amanda's thorough documentation was lacking about this 'Shadow World' which the beast could travel to. What was most uncanny of all were the candid, secret photos plastered on the walls, all of them containing people familiar to him. Some were of women he hadn't thought about in ages; others were of XDRS agents, taken when they weren't looking. He tried to force his fear down, tried to clear his mind. What was this place? How did they get these -- borderline perverted -- photos?

 

The curtains suddenly parted with an audible noise. Stan whipped around and pointed his gun at what he assumed was a window at first, but instead turned out to be a concealed alcove featuring a large, round bed surrounded by two pairs of veiled but scantily clad female assistants. On the bed itself, Stan locked eyes with his organization's boss, Xander, who had his fingers tangled within the hair of a man who looked remarkably similar to himself -- right down to the mechanical parts. That man, in turn, had a blond boy with a face tattoo -- Duke?! -- curled on his lap.

 

Despite all his instincts telling him to stay alert, Stan's arm shook. He lowered his gun and grimaced. He was uncertain what emotions he was supposed to be feeling.

 

"Hey babe," his copy said when looking over, ignoring Stan and speaking to Lara. "Nice of you to join us. Why don't you come and take a seat? We've got a lot of catching up to do."

 

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Edited by TehUltimateMage

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[Lara Rochelle - Shadow World - Cigars and Blood]

 

She wakes up to the feeling of a rather heavy suit jacket being placed over her. Sitting up, Lara carefully wraps herself in it, taking note of the rip in her dress. Had she not been shot before, any tear in this dress would have been rather annoying... But perhaps she'd be able to have a dress like this custom made for her anyway, so it matters not. Stan must've given the jacket out of courtesy, although the number of times she'd been comfortable walking around in less is embarrassingly high. 

 

Something about this world is strange- she knows it's not home from the sky alone, which seems to cast a bloody glow on the entire room she's in. Lara closes her eyes and takes a few deep breaths, remembering the pistols she has in the drawstring bag. She may no longer have the Glock, but if needed... Opening her eyes again, Lara takes a look to observe some of the images on the walls- had she seen herself in those images? - with not only XDRS agents, but with women she had never met a day in her life. Quietly, she takes out one of her pistols (and admires just how bloody beautiful they are now), lowering it to her side as she keeps observing the room. On a normal occasion, the smell of the room would be enough to make her sick. It reminds her, vaguely, of places she was often dragged to by people she used to call friends in her first year of university, bringing back memories that she'd much rather repress. 

 

Like Stan, she points her gun as soon as she notices the curtain move. But what she sees... Is not only odd... But nauseating. 

 

On the bed that's exposed, the first thing she sees is not the assistants, not the two men all cozied up on the bed, but... Stan. She'd recognize that face anywhere...

 

But his eyes. His eyes glow a disgustingly yellow color, pale like Utakata's when he summons the power of whatever the hell it is... But also iridescent, so much so that had she found a light switch and shut it all off, those eyes would still be loud and clear in her vision. Lara keeps the safety on for now, taking a step forward. Her heels- which are much more durable than she had previously thought they would be- make loud clacking noises against the floor. Her blood is pounding in her ears... What kind of messed up dream is this?

 

Lara glances at Stan, her Stan, who grimaces at the sight. Finally, Creepy Piss-eyed Stan decides to address her, his smirk wicked and his voice dripping with honey-diluted poison, "Hey babe. Nice of you to join us. Why don't you come and take a seat? We've got a lot of catching up to do."

 

Lara glances behind her first, noticing Utakata face-down on the ground. How long had he been knocked out? Had something happened, or is that the effect of this world? ....She doesn't have time to figure it out. Quietly, she holds her gun up at this "Stan" as she walks to one of the couches directly in front of the alcove and takes a seat, crossing her legs at the ankle as she had been taught to do in dresses. She lowers her gun and places it across her lap, making direct eye contact with this familiar stranger. 

 

Ugh, mistake. This close, Stan's eyes are much more troublesome to look into. But she was taught to make eye contact as a girl, so she does such. Taking a few deep breaths to try to calm her nerves and stomach, she doesn't take her eyes off what is in front of her. Her hands lay over, one on top of the other, on the pistol. She has to be cool, collected, in control. 

 

"Catching up, you say." Casually, she leans back in the sofa and allows the jacket to roll down her shoulders. Her right leg crosses over her left knee and Lara relaxes, not once taking her eyes off of "Stan". She takes her pistol and once again holds it up, her thumb brushing against the safety. "I'd like an explanation first... You'd be willing to tell me a thing or two about this place, I take it?"

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"I'd like an explanation first... You'd be willing to tell me a thing or two about this place, I take it?"


"Of course, my dear. I'm a little disappointed that you won't come closer, but I'll oblige, just for you," Stan's shadow untangles himself from the other two men and rises from the bed. He reaches an arm out and one of the veiled servants helps him put on one sleeve of a fur-trimmed bathrobe, then another. He calls the bluff of her weapon, circling the bed slowly until he stands before Lara and her leveled gun. "This is the space of the unconscious. This is the hidden mirror of the real world... and like a mirror, this world shows the aspects of people that they can't normally see. No matter how painful, everything here is truth -- at least, the truth from the eyes of the king of this palace."

 

The shadow gestures to Stan, who suppressed his mounting irritation by holding in his breath at every word. "I'm your beloved's true form, darlin'. In other words, he and I are the same. Dangerous narcissists who always get what they want, rules be damned. You still know very little about either of us, right? Leaving the mark in the dark makes it easier to get what I need. A real shame, though, since I don't get to boast about my skill with women. Did you know, I sometimes used to get hired to do it?" His eyes drift towards the photos on the walls, enticing the guests to look over. "Tall ones, short ones, skinny ones, chunky ones, from the city, from the country... Even on different planets and settlements, there are always people desperate enough to be blinded by love. So much that they don't even notice that they've been robbed silly until long after us con-men have disappeared.

 

 

"Lara Croft... You're not the smoothest nor most elegant of the lovers I've met, but you're still mighty damn fine," he purrs. "Especially when you dress up. But, I do say, there's a certain je ne sais quoi to dirty women who roll around in the mud..."

Edited by TehUltimateMage

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[Lara Rochelle - Shadow World - A world of cognition]

 

Oh, those backhanded insults aren't getting him anywhere. She can feel it off of Stan behind her- he's definitely a hair's breadth from jumping forward and telling this other Stan off. Still, she closes her eyes and gives herself a moment to process. Lara knows she needs to remain level headed, calm, in control. She already looks weak with the blood on her clothing, any submissive body language would prove fatal were things to go awry. 

 

She's no stranger to manipulative tactics, even used a few herself to get out of a few situations. But she's not entirely sure what this Stan thinks he'll gain by coming after her confidence like that.

 

Two can play at that game. 

 

Lara relaxes back into the couch and raises her eyebrows, keeping her thumb over the safety of her gun and maintaining direct eye contact. "Mm, so what you're saying is that these are Stan's true feelings, is that right?" She looks up and down. "I'm impressed you have the gall to call me dirty, just looking at your raiment." The left corner of her mouth pulls up a little bit. She keeps her recessive arm rested on the top of the couch and keeps her breathing slow and steady. "Perhaps you're correct at how little I know of you. That goes both ways, doesn't it?

 

She hears a small whimper from behind her- Utakata. Is he waking up? It seems as if he's still  barely conscious, as she hears nothing else from him. Please, Utakata, do not interrupt this.

 

She lifts her feet a little bit so she can switch them around, and once they're crossed again at the ankle, she places them back on the ground. "As much as I'd love to pick you apart, I have more courtesy than that. If you're Stan's true inner thoughts... Then I will show as much respect as I possibly can." She pauses. "Although I suppose your extensive history with women explains quite a bit of the realm here, yeah?" Her left hand waves idly at the room and Shadow Stan's garb while her right thumb taps the safety button idly as she takes a pause. "Well then, Stanley Westley, I suppose I'm the same as all of the others, hm? A silly little girl, blinded by love, someone to be robbed and left broken? While you walk off with no remorse?" Her eyebrows raise again as she allows a small frown to cross her face. 

 

Sure, what this version of Stan said hurt. But she chooses not to continue a battle of insults at her own boyfriend unless necessary. After all, if these really are Stan's thoughts, then no matter how much it hurts her, she's not going to go for the jugular. She's going to play this little game and get what she needs to know to get the three of them out of here. If that means she learns how Stan truly feels about her?

 

So bloody be it. 

 

It's on her now.

Looks like we're in for a hell of a confrontation.

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The shadow puts his hands to his hips and laughs. A deep-hearty bellow. "Ya'll got some fight in you, darlin'. It's a shame he's treating you like this. You're pretty special, actually."

 

Lara wasn't phased by the revelation at all, and that brought a smirk to Stan's own face. This doppleganger was trying to sell the shock factor, but neither of them were buying it. They might have a chance yet. He takes a step forward. It's hard at first, but becomes easier. "Tell me something I don't know, bucko. I think about my ghosts every night. The dark thoughts, the perversions, the regrets... I'm not some immature kid anymore trying to raise hell in a world where nobody understands me."

 

"You're right," the shadow replies, eyes full of self-satisfaction. "You know you don't care. It's--"

 

"--safer that way," Stan completes at the same time. Damn... whatever this magic was, there was nothing he could hide. "You're every disgusting part of me, I agree. Everything is a game to me, and I'm the one who wants to sabotage my relationship."

 

He walks forward with tensed shoulders, confronting his mirror self, then turns back to Lara. "I'm sorry. I'll understand if you'll have nothing to do with me, because I... don't want to get too close to you."

 

The shadow brings a hand to his own chin, doing little more but observing, even if Stan had his teeth bared and fists clenched. "I see you're trying to move the conversation onto your own terms. Taking control of the situation by force and playing the selfless martyr. Can't you see she can handle herself?"

 

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[Lara Rochelle - Shadow World - Tell me something I don't know]

 

Lara raises her eyebrows, maintaining a straight face as she looks between Stan and his mirror self. Well, that’s some news, she thinks to herself. And yet she doesn’t find herself particularly shocked. Hurt, yes. But shocked? Not entirely. She knew what she was getting into when she chose to confront Stan that day. She knew that, no matter how close she got, there was always the risk of him turning tail and running, as Henry did.

 

They always run. Maybe Amanda was right- Lara does have a type. 

 

Even so, it’s imperative that she keep her head. This is not the situation to lose her voice. It’s not the situation to run, break down, cry, or any combination of the above. Focus, Lara Rochelle. Remember, level head. Keep poise, keep control. Do not let him see you hurt. Do not let him see your weakness. Whatever you do, do not let him win.

 

First, she turns to look at Stan- her Stan, the one she knew as an upbeat man who liked tinker with things. It seems that her suspicions a few days ago were correct- he did seem to hide a lot under that persona of his. She closes her eyes, relaxes the arm with the gun, and takes a deep breath. Once she opens her eyes, her gaze meets his, looking into the center of his eyes as if she would a target. 

 

Your mirror self is right about that, hotshot.” She pushes against her knees and stands up off the couch. “There’s no need to cover me here. I’ve been broken several times.” She turns her head to meet the gaze of the other Stan. “Today, at the age of twenty-two, and before that at the ages of nineteen, seventeen, and nine.” Lara pauses, placing her gun to her side and going back to the real Stan’s gaze. "If you think I’m going to cut you out of my life over this, you’re mistaken. I’ve kept people in my life despite worse.

 

Then she turns to face the shadow Stan yet again. “And if you think I’m just going to allow myself to be broken? At the revelation that Stan never really loved me?” She lifts up her right arm so that the pistol is facing the poorly dressed shadow. “Then you, good sir, are sorely mistaken.” Her head tilts to the side as she raised an eyebrow. “As to what you think you’ll gain from this…” Her eyes narrow. “I’d be quite interested to know.

 

Behind her, Utakata shifts just a little bit in his sleep. His hand starts grabbing at the ground. He lets out an audible exhale as his brain begins to wake up. He may not be awake yet, but the fluttering in his eyelids makes it clear that he's going to wake up in a rather odd and very tense situation. "Hnnnnh.......?" The softest noise emerges from his throat.
 

I'm not surprised
Not everything lasts
I've broken my heart so many times
I stopped keepin' track. 🎵

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[PHANTOM THIEVES - LET US START THE GAME]

 

She would still know,” Kuu replies, eyes wide at Rufus’ sudden violent tone. Perhaps the bounty hunter is displeased at the circumstances of their current situation, but the Shinigami is briefly confused by the anger in the blond demon’s voice.

 

Before he can think to ask, however, Rufus directs his attention to something else, and Kuu turns just in time to watch a fabric of black cloth fly off into the distance, stirred by the waterside winds. The voices that had been speaking only a second earlier -- and that he had droned out in his brief sulk -- now return in full force, as the waiter presents himself with brilliant red eyes and a booming speech, already prepared.

 

It is entertaining, and perhaps goes way over the Shinigami’s head. He is interested in only a couple things, to be realistic, and the idea of another dimension’s busy police does not sound entirely appealing.

 

No,” Kuu says, firmly, before he remembers his manners. “Thank you. Thievery is a crime.” 

 

Clockblocker shakes his head. Kuu always made decisions too quickly. In some cases, that trait was something he could respect, because Kuu never waffled. It was a refreshing change from dealing with bureaucracy at times. Now, though, it’s a pain. He didn’t say that we’d be stealing anything, Kuu, he implied we’d be fighting, he says. 

 

He doesn’t trust Joker. “Phantom Thieves” is a catchy name, and he always respects good names, but it and “Joker” hardly sound like the kind of names that heroes would use. His money’s on the standard “villain fights another villain to steal that villain’s power source” plot. Saying that out loud won’t help them, though, and the best thing to do now is stay close to the situation. I’m listening, he says. Hi Listening, I’m dad. My name’s Clockblocker. What’s your plan?” 

 

I’m glad you asked, Clockblocker!” Mona didn’t have the decency to stifle his snort of amusement. Joker gave him a cursory glance, briefly debating the merits and consequences of stuffing Mona’s mouth full of sand before he could blabber to Skull, then he turned back to the partygoers with a friendly smile. “You see, we are experts of this anomaly Amanda is using to keep the agents captive,” Joker continued. He effortless leaped off the table and landed gracefully onto the sand. “This anomaly I speak of goes by many different names and may be bound by varying universal laws. To our knowledge, Amanda referred to this world as the Shadow World so for convenience I’ll do the same.” Joker stuck a hand in his pocket as he paced around in front of the small crowd. Xander, who had recently arrived on the scene, dismounted Sieghorse and began listening intently. 

 

We’ve explored the Shadow World to some degree,” Joker said. “It follows a pattern we’re familiar with. People who are brought into the Shadow World unwillingly are trapped within small worlds that reflect the darkest parts of their mind. These worlds are inhabited by shadows of their hosts who not only share their appearance but also their greatest fears. The only way for someone to escape the Shadow World is for them to accept their Shadow as a part of them. If they refuse to do so then…” Joker halted in his tracks. “Their Shadow will manifest into a monster. So!” Clasping his hands together, Joker spun on his heel to face the crowd. “That’s where we—and hopefully you—come in! Rescue everyone who got dragged into the Shadow World, stop their Shadows if we have to, find Amanda, and then ‘convince’ her to keep in her lane.” Casually, Joker fiddled with the scissors poking out of the cusp of his jacket. “We have the means of entering the Shadow World and a general idea of how to locate everyone who was just dragged in. All we ask is you accompany us. Do you have any other questions?

 

So if we go in willingly we don’t need to worry about our own Shadows? Sounds pretty easy,Clockblocker said, trying to sound casual. It wouldn’t stop him if meeting these ‘Shadows’ was a possibility, but it was something he’d rather avoid. Whatever the ‘darkest parts of his mind’ was - he had enough issues and fears that he couldn’t pick out any one thing - he was sure that he didn’t want it to be exposed to everyone. It wasn’t a power, but the best he could compare the Shadow World to was a Master/Shaker, and Masters were the worst.

 

I’m pretty good at ‘convincing’ people to do things, he said. After a brief pause, he decided that the goodwill and synergy from telling Joker about his powers would likely be worth it. He wasn’t entirely happy about it, given how much of a benefit having one’s powers concealed could be, but he was used to his power being common knowledge and it would likely come out anyway. If I touch something, I can freeze it in time for thirty seconds to ten minutes. I can’t control how long it lasts or know when it’ll wear off. The short version would do. To demonstrate, he pulled a piece of paper from behind a panel in his armor, dropped it, and poked it with his toe about a foot from the ground, freezing it. He stepped onto the paper, balancing carefully to avoid falling off of the slightly angled surface. There were easier ways to show off, but what was the point if it wasn’t at least a little flashy? 

 

Eh, not exactly,” Joker said, rocking his hand back and forth in an “iffy” motion. “Us Phantom Thieves do have experience with this sort of world.” Joker lowered his hand. “You won’t have to worry about facing Shadows with us around.” 

 

Then that’s settled.” Xander stepped forward. Sieghorse, with his reigns wrapped neatly around his master’s wrist, followed a foot behind him. Hovering next to Sieghorse was Xander’s communicator—it remained unchanged from the previous mission with its white color and smiling red-text face. “I tried to track and call my fellow agents on my communicator, but the connection fell through.” The communicator made a small, digital whine. Xander ignored the cube and instead opted to turn towards the Phantom Thieves. “I’ll place my trust in you—For now. “—if it means rescuing everyone Amanda kidnapped. I hope that you honor that trust.” 

 

Rufus, with his arms stiffly crossed over his chest, let out an undignified huff. 

Don’t look at me like that, Dennis,” he said, turning his head away. “I’m not as stupidly obedient as Kuu, but I know a bad deal when I see one.” Rufus dropped his arms and glared at Joker. “Listen, I was willing to join XDRE for some cash, but this is starting to get above my paygrade. I like getting the job done nice and easy and this—” Rufus gestured vaguely at the surrounding area. “—isn’t what I signed up for.

 

Dennis worried his lip, suddenly regretting being so quick to lend his and for telling a stranger about his powers.

I might have been a bit quick to jump the gun. Sorry, but this is a bit sketchy. I’m not going to take my chances with it.

 

Kuu, the shinobi-looking fellow Joker assumed, had not yet answered but based on the look on his face it seemed like he agreed with the others.

 

Well, alright then.” Joker bowed down and made a waving motion with his hand. “The exit is that way.” The trio did not appear to appreciate Joker’s theatrics, but that didn’t matter to him. Quietly, they walked away from the table and waded through the crowd of party-goers. 

 

It’s a bit funny actually,” Joker said, straightened his back. “We came here expecting to team up with XDRE and yet we end up having to rescue all but one of them. But none of that matters!” Joker clapped his hands together looking as pleased as one could underneath a face mask. “Your agreement is all we need.” He turned to face Xander. One of our members, Oracle, has located where in the Shadow World all of Amanda’s captives ended up. According to her readings, there’s three different realms that formed in accordance to Amanda’s captives arriving in the Shadow World. There are other creatures that lurk in the Shadow World so we should split off into small groups of, ah, let’s say three or so to ensure we don’t attract the wrong attention. I’d want at least one Phantom Thief to go with each group as both a guide and to fill you in on the many things I’ve yet to mention and… hm.” The small crowd around him wasn’t really a crowd, was it? With the trio of strangers gone, there was only one other person besides Mona and himself. Earlier when they were pranking Rufus, Joker had counted a significantly higher number of XDRE agents and outworlders. Had Amanda really kidnapped the majority of outworlders at the party? How unlucky. 

 

We’re going to need some backup,” Joker said. With a quicky flourish, Joker pulled the scissors out of his sleeve, snapped them open, and cut a large, person-sized hole seemingly out of the air itself. As soon as Joker pulled his scissors away, a blue swirling portal opened where the air had been cut. From it four people stepped out onto the sand. As the last person exited, the portal slowly closed until it completely vanished from sight. 

 

These are some more Phantom Thieves,” Joker said, gesturing towards the four people. “They’ve been monitoring the Shadow World for some time now.” Holding his hands formally behind his back, Joker turned towards his fellow thieves. “Time is of the essence, so I assume you’re all caught up on what’s going on?

 

Yeah, I’m caught up on the fact that there was a party that you didn’t invite us to!” the blond hair man yelled. He pointed an accusatory finger at Joker who stared down at it smugly. “I didn’t come here to party,” Joker said slowly. “You’re aware of that.” 

Yeah, well…” The blond man deflated. He huffed to himself then pointedly turned away from Joker. “Staring at screens for hours is boring, man. Really boring. I’d prefer to be doing something else!” Joker hitched an eyebrow, but made no further comment. The blond man, suddenly realizing there were other people around, instantly perked up. 

 

Oh hey! You sir must be an XDRE agent!” he said. He proudly stabbed his thumb into his chest. “You can call me Skull. I’ll bash the heads of anyone who gets in our way, got it?” 

 

Very comforting,” Mona mumbled under his breath.


From behind Joker, a man in with a sleek fox mask slithered forward. 

You’re Xander,” he said flatly. He casually strolled up to the agent and began indiscreetly feeling up his armor. “You’re a king, aren’t you? I read about you in some of our files. Yes, you look very regal.” The man tried to grab Xander’s chin, but his hand was hastily slapped away. “Have you ever considered modeling?

 

Fox.” The single warning from Joker was enough to cause Fox to tilt his head in the direction of his leader’s voice. He glanced at Xander once more, fingers twitching, but he relented and took several steps backwards.

 

You’ll have to forgive him,” Joker said, shooting Fox a knowing look. “He’s not good with personal bubbles.

 

You can call me Oracle,” introduced a young girl with long tangerine locks reaching to her hips. Clearly used to Skull’s shenanigans, Oracle put her hands on her hips and nodded. “Last time I got a good scan, I detected three groups of activity in the Shadow World. First one,” she said as she held up her index finger, “it appears that the Shadow was already taken care of. There’s two people there, and something else that’s- weird, but I can’t describe it.” Oracle scanned her gaze across everyone she was addressing. Not seeing any questions so far, she turned to Joker and nodded.

 

Second,” she continued as she raised another finger, “we’ve got another small group in another realm- or rather…” She paused. “There’s one person in there, and it seems like they’re on the move. Something is going after them, I think the Shadow has already taken its real form.” Then Oracle crossed her arms over her chest. “We have one more group, and it’s big in comparison. We’ve got three people in there, it looks like there’s a Shadow already starting its little mind games… I detected another presence there, but if it’s a Shadow, it’s dormant. We’re going to need the most people there.

 

Oracle held up a finger, cocking her head to the side. “Hang on. I’ve got one more thing.” She gave a grin with this as she said, “Lucky for us, Amanda isn’t in any of these three realms. It looks like she also got separated! Although….” To this she frowned. “There’s another realm in there. Since it’s just Amanda in there, we just need to keep a close watch while we grab the others. As long as she stays put, we should be able to get everyone, kick some butt if we have to, apprehend Amanda and get out of there!” She grinned and gestured to her fellow thieves, “As Joker said, we’ve got your back. I’ll be taking the biggest group since it could get pret-ty messy in there.

 

Now hold on, Oracle.” Joker raised his hand. “There’s a small problem with your plan. The number of XDRE agents I reported being here earlier has decreased significantly. We don’t have the numbers to safely enter all three worlds.” Joker rubbed his chin thoughtfully and began pacing in the sand. “Perhaps we can split up into groups of three, enter two of the portals, and then converge later in the third portal. We’ll have a big enough group by then to deal with whatever is plaguing that world.” Joker shrugged his shoulders. “Maybe one of your fellow agents will get a persona. That’ll make the fight easier.” 

 

Persona?” Xander frowned. “I’m afraid I don’t know what that is.

 

Satisfied with the new plan, Joker turned on his heel and pointed finger guns at Oracle. “I’m going to open up two of the portals now. Oracle, you know the most about the Shadow worlds that were made and what’s in them so you should decide on the teams.” Joker pointed one of his finger guns at Xander. “Also, explain what a persona is to this fine gentleman here. If this mission is anything like normal, we’re going to be running into some personas.” With that said, Joker pulled out his scissors. Xander, still confused, turned to Oracle expectedly. 

 

Sure thing, Joker!” Oracle replied with a grin as Joker got to work. “Personas are what we’re going to be using to fight the Shadows that are in there. They’re not too far off from each other, really, but a Persona is what comes out as a result of accepting your Shadow as a part of you. Like a Shadow, it’s a person’s true inner thoughts and feelings, but it’s much tamer and easier to control.” She quietly fidgeted with a lock of her long amber mane as she looked to meet Xander’s eyes. “We are able to fight without them, but it’s a little trickier, since personas have more powers that we don’t. Hence why we’re here.” She smiled at Xander. “I hope that helps!

 

Xander nodded solemnly, quietly letting Oracle’s words sink in. Both she and Joker had already established that there were Shadows in the world along with the kidnapped agents and that they manifested from the kidnappee’s psyche. If the Shadows were based on a person’s inner thoughts and feelings, then…!

 

If I’m understanding correctly, you’re saying that these Shadows that are keeping my agents captives are the same Shadows that can turn into Personas?” Xander asked, frowning. “You said that Personas come from Shadows, but can the Shadows be beaten without them turning into Personas?” This wouldn’t be the first time one or more agents was affected by the magics of powers of another world and, unfortunately, it would likely not be the last. If it was possible to keep the agents from being afflicted with the powers of an outside world, Xander would like to take that option.

 

Oracle nodded in response. “Yes, that’s possible! The only time Shadows can turn into Personas is if the person whose Shadow it is accepts it. Most of the Shadows we fight don’t seem to have a person attached to them, so we just knock them out and they disappear. As for if the person still doesn’t accept their Shadow even after we fight it… Well…” She frowned. “In this case, it won’t kill them, but they won’t gain a persona either.” Then she shook her head. “Not sure if that was the answer you were hoping for… There’s also the chance of not meeting your Shadow at all.

 

I wasn’t worried about meeting my Shadow,” Xander said, shaking his head. “I was more worried about those who had been taken.” Oracle’s explanation did assuage some of Xander’s concerns. Oracle had confirmed that there were Shadows lurking in the worlds the agents had been taken too, but if there was a decent chance of no Personas forming then that was good news. The idea of some of the agents, especially the newer ones who had just entered the multiverse recently, having to face a manifestation of their own fears and feelings was unnerving to say at the least.

 

With his question answered, Xander idly tugged Sieghorse’s reins towards him. The horse inched forward, ears flicking with interest.

 

You said we were going in groups, yes?” Xander looked towards Oracle. “Where will we be heading?

 

Oracle took a second to think, and frowned. “Hm. It’s going to be a little tricky figuring out the teams, but… We’re going to want two groups, since we have fewer people than I expected. Those guys who left could’ve made a third group, but that’s okay! What we’re going to do is go to the smaller realms. The one with the most people should be okay for now, I do detect a presence there that doesn’t feel like a Shadow, but it seems to be a part of one of the hostages.” Oracle gave a nod of her head. “Let’s see, there’s six of us in total. Two of us, Mona and myself, can take care of navigating the Shadow fights, so we’re going to be in separate teams.” Then she scanned her gaze over Skull, Fox, Xander, and Joker. 

 

With that, she shifted her weight and looked at the group more closely. The one with the demon features seemed to have some sort of powers, but it was Fox, Skull, Mona and Joker whose powers she knew best. So…. “I’ll take Fox and Skull with me.” Oracle glanced at the two lads and nodded at them. Then she looked at the remaining two. “Joker, Xander, you’re going with Mona. Sound alright?

 

Hey, I ain’t going to complain about spending time around from Mr. Hairball over there.” Skull threw his arms around the back of his head, staring down cheekily at Mona. “Last time we were stationed together he bit my hand.

 

I did not!” Mona snapped, glaring at Skull as best as a cat could. Skull stuck his tongue out at Mona which prompted the cat to hiss at him, his fur standing on end.

 

Gentlemen.” 

The single word from their leader was enough to make both Phantom Thieves quiet down. Joker delicately tucked the dimensional scissors back into his jacket as he strolled towards the group. Behind him, there were two portals hovering an inch or so above the ground. Both of them were at least 6 feet tall and wide enough for a person, and even a horse, to pass through.  

 

Joker gave a cursory glance towards the group and then clapped his hands together loudly. 

We should be set then,” he said, then turned to face Xander specifically. “All of us Phantom Thieves have communicators to allow us to speak to each other no matter what dimension we’re in. We unfortunately do not have a spare, but you’ll be with two of us and Oracle is good at keeping track of where everyone goes.” Lifting his hand, Joker pointed towards the small cube still floating at Xander’s side. “You said your tracker failed before, but if you try it once we get into the Shadow World, it might give us some indication of where to go.” 

 

Of course,” Xander said with a single nod. “My communicator struggles to make connections with others of its kind across dimensions, but it works perfectly otherwise. If the other agents still have their own communicators then I believe I should be able to track them once we go through the portal.

An invaluable asset,” Joker mused to himself softly. “If that’s all, then we shouldn’t waste time.” Waving for the others to follow, Joker walked towards one of the two portals and took a step into it. His foot vanished the moment he stepped foot into the portal. He glanced over his shoulder, nodding his head towards the portal, before turning around and walking forward until his body disappeared completely. 

It’ll be a quick adventure!” Mona said, scurrying towards the portal as fast as his tiny cat legs let him. “We’ll be in and out in twenty minutes!” Xander raised an inquisitive eyebrow. “Thirty maybe,” Mona said, correcting himself. “Come on!” The cat leaped through the portal, disappearing instantly. Xander stared at the portal, pressing his lips into a thin line. Joker nor Oracle actually pinpointed which agents were where or what the contents of the Shadow Worlds were. It was unnerving to set off into the unknown; for missions Xander usually had a well-researched report to go off of, but he had no such support now. It somewhat reminded him of when he first went to Valla what with him teaming up with people who could very well be enemies off into unknown territory to face a threat he did not fully comprehend. The thought wasn’t comforting, far from that actually, but it did make the situation feel familiar. With a deep sigh, Xander pulled at Sieghorse’s reins and walked forward into the portal. 

Once Xander and his steed had disappeared, Skull let out a loud dramatic whine. 

Ugh, what are we even standing around for?” he asked. He kicked at the sand before violently stuffing his hands into his pockets. “Come on, let's go! I want to hit something! That Amanda lady has been a real piece of work.

You’re a brute,” Fox chided. He glared at Skull, but followed him towards the portal nevertheless. As he walked, he glanced at Oracle from the corner of his eye. “I must admit, I am not as informed about this mission as I’d like to be. Do you have any idea of what Amanda hopes to accomplish by using the Shadow World or does she really have no idea what she’s stumbled upon?

Good question, Inari,” Oracle said with a slight frown. “From what Joker said, she did some serious research on this whole place, but has little knowledge about the Shadow World itself.” She turned on her heel to face the two masked thieves directly. “So it’s very likely we have the advantage here. Gotta stay sharp!” With that, she nodded and addressed Fox and Skull. “Well, let’s go. We’ve got some agents to save.

If that’s okay with you, Skull,” she teased, playfully sticking her tongue out at him as she turned back to face the portal. 

“‘If that’s okay’?” Skull frowned “What are you going on about? Of course it’s okay!” He snorted aloud as he tilted his chin up. We’re going to beat up some Shadows and save some people! How is that not okay?” 

Without any warning, Skull grabbed both Oracle’s and Fox’s wrists and began dragging them towards the portal. 

 

Come on! We gotta get moving!” Skull said, ignoring Fox’s protests about him “grabbing him too hard”. With a wild grin, Skull slung his companions into the portal and then, with an excited whoop, jumped in after them. As soon as Skull disappeared from sight, both of the portals vanished without a trace. The lingering crowd of party-goers stared on, wondering if they had simply hallucinated what they saw or if this was some sort of elaborate production by the hostess they had yet to understand.

Edited by Mikasa361

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[PHANTOM THIEVES - CAMP]

 

 

Someone...or something...was talking. It started as an indistinct sound, more like the ringing of bells than anything, and filtered slowly into something comprehensible.

 

“I hope you’re planning on getting up,” the voice said. “This world doesn’t seem dangerous, and I have spent too long waiting on you.” 

 

Illidan felt something nudge his side.

 

Ugh, goddess, my head... Illidan sat up, his wings sore from having been lying on top of them for god-knows-how-long...

 

"WHAT THE ****?!" In moments, he was back on his hooves, Warglaives drawn, ready to defend himself if he needed to. What was this strange thing in front of him?!

 

Oh, good.” It drew itself up to its full height, folding its hands inside of too-stiff robes. “I am going to find my human. You are welcome to come along. It is probably safer that way.

 

Illidan grimaced a little before lowering the Warglaives to his sides (but keeping them out still - just in case). "...you know, scaring people like that is a good way to wind up in a grave." He cautiously followed the mysterious creature. The most he could tell from its aura was that it was not humanoid, but at least it didn't seem hostile.

 

I am spren. I cannot die.” It turned away from him and strode off in one direction with purpose in its step.

 

The way it said that so calmly was enough to put Illidan more on-edge. I just had to jump into the portal and try to play damn hero again. At least this time it was Xander rescuing him instead of the other--

 

Oh, goddess, Xander!! The king was probably worried sick about him! Yeah, now hindsight was coming back to bite him, hard, and Illidan began mentally kicking himself for being too quick to act.

 

You are worried as well,” the creature said without breaking stride. “It is in your language. Mm...the way you move. Body language, that is it. What is it about?

 

...does nothing escape this creature? He was unnerved, but Illidan saw no reason to lie.

 

"...someone I care about deeply. I fear I may have worried him." He paused. "...and I won't lie, I am worried about him, as well. I hope he's okay..."

 

Truth is good,” it said, its tone oddly pleased. “Lies have their place, but truth is what brings power. Understanding.” It paused briefly. “Xander, yes? The king with the world of Progression. Capable. Does he trust in your capability?

 

Illidan stammered for a good few seconds before shutting his mouth. He truthfully didn't know how to answer that, because even he didn't know the answer. In a sense, he felt like that was a question that only Xander knew the answer to.

 

The creature hummed, a sound like tapped glass, and paused at the crest of a hill. “Hm. Odd. Right, there is...a camp. The place where he would most likely be. Left...the battlefield continues. But there are people here now. Interesting.” It turned to him. “Which way?

 

That was... actually a good question. Camps were typically safe spots, but Illidan knew from personal experience that they could also be overtaken by enemy forces. Likewise, those present in the battlefield could be allies, but they could also be enemies that survived whatever had happened here. Illidan grimaced at that last thought - the stench of blood hit his nostrils still, and it was never a stench he could fully get used to.

 

He was not going to chance that camp. If those people were enemies, so be it. "I say left. If the people in the battlefield are allies, then they could be helpful against any enemies that show up."

 

The creature nodded. “Very well.

 

Away from the spren and the half-demon, within the heart of the abandoned battlefield, a portal opened. Three figures stepped out of the portal and onto the blood-stained ground. Joker, who was leading the trio, squinted his eyes as he tried to peer through the thick mist obscuring his vision. He could scarcely see anything in the distance save for the silhouettes of abandoned weapons stuck forcibly in the ground and torn battle flags still proudly waving in the wind. 

 

I’ve seen prettier Shadow Worlds,” Joker said. His nose scrunched instinctively as the scent of dried blood and decay hit him. The glowing portal shut behind the group just as Joker spun around towards his companions. 

 

Agent Xander, you said that your cube could lead us to your fellow agents,” Joker said. “How’s that going?” Xander sat on top of Sieghorse with his communicator floating in front of him. He tapped the cube’s surface, casually dragging his finger across the cube as he switched between screens. 

 

It seems like there's interference.” Xander frowned. “The tracker’s map is showing up, but the static is making it impossible to read.” With a sigh, Xander pressed a button to put the tracking on standby and waved the cube away. The map on the cube vanished and was soon replaced by the cube’s normal, smiling face as it hovered over towards Xander’s shoulder. “I’m afraid we might have to search for my agent the old fashioned way,” Xander said. He tugged at Sieghorse’s reins which stirred him out of his stupor. The horse lifted his head, ears flickering attentively. 

 

Is that so...” Joker hummed to himself. He rubbed his chin thoughtfully, unsure of how to proceed. “Mona?” Joker glanced over towards his fellow Phantom Thief. “You’re our eyes here. Do you have any idea which direction we should head towards first?

 

Mona nodded at Joker. “I’m gonna say we go right. I’m picking two beings in that direction.” His ears twitched a little. “Far enough I think out of the battlefield. Let’s get out of here.

 

Two, huh? That could be an agent and their Shadow, but it could also be something else entirely.” They had to be careful when it came to Shadow Worlds. There was no telling what sort of creatures they could run into especially considering the unpredictability of the multiverse. 

 

Ready yourselves,” Joker said. He brushed his fingers along the edge of his mask. “There’s no telling who’s up there. We must be prepared for a battle to break out at any moment.” Taking Joker’s words to heart, Xander held Sieghorse’s reins in one head so he could properly unsheathe Siegfried. The divine weapon burst to life, glowing a brilliant violet as white sparks eagerly danced on the blade’s surface. 

 

With a sharp flick of his hand, Joker motioned for the others to follow as he began walking towards the direction Mona pointed towards. “Agent Xander, do you know which agent this world would belong to?” Joker asked idly as they walked. “While we do have information about your organization, we spent more of our time researching Amanda than your people.” 

 

Xander shook his head. “We had a few newcomers attend this mission,” he admitted. “I don’t know enough about their backgrounds to make an educated guess, and the fog is too heavy to make out any distinguishing features.” 

 

That’s unfortunate,” Joker said, clicking his tongue. “Mona, I assume you and Oracle didn’t find anything that could explain who’s world this is, did you?” At the end of the day, they were probably going to figure out who’s Shadow World they had ended up in, but having a head’s up could prove useful should they have to help someone overcome their Shadow.

 

Mona nodded again. “Well, I do see a few things that tip me off. The boy- Telinar?- was wearing some sort of suit, right? Well check out that flag over there,” he said as his arm pointed in the direction of a flag on the battlefield. “The symbols on the flag over there match what’s on the jacket he was wearing.” He looked to the left a little. “There was a camp off this way, and we detected something there. Though the two I detected just now are a little closer to us.” 

 

I recognize that symbol.” Xander narrowed his eyes at the flag waving gently in the wind. It was dirty and tattered, making the symbol on it almost impossible to read; however. Xander could make out the pattern well enough to recognize it as the same one one Tien’s jacket. “You’re right.” Xander leaned back in his seat. “That symbol is on the jacket of one of my agents, but he’s still relatively new. I don’t believe we have a complete file on him yet, so I can’t tell you what to expect. 

 

Telinar was an agent? Joker expected as much, considering he had been hanging out with the other XDRS agents and that they were all terrible at hiding their powers, but the confirmation was helpful. He quietly filed the information away to the back of his mind. The people Mona had detected were visible now. Well, semi-visible. Amongst the mist, Joker could make out the silhouettes of what appeared to be two people. They clearly weren’t human if the giant wings and strange symbol-like head were any indication. If Joker had learned anything, those were clear indications of the two strangers being Shadows, and yet he did not attack. He and the other Phantom Thieves had ran into many strange characters since they entered the multiverse. Joker had to think twice before pulling out his Persona on just anyone he ran into. A more diplomatic approach would suffice for now.

 

Hey!” Joker raised a hand and waved it high in the air. “Are you two lost?” With his other hand, Joker discreetly lowered it down towards his hip where his gun was. Should the entities prove to he malicious, he’d be able to get a few shots in before calling in Arsene for backup.

 

Well that was subtle. Mona shook his head in dismay. Though he was willing to send out Zorro if these two got startled to the point of attacking, maybe he didn’t have to go yelling like that. Joker…. If they attack and it’s your fault, you’re going to bed extra early tonight.

 

Oh good, Yosuke,” the symbol-head said in a startlingly matter of fact tone. “Xander, and…” it cocked its head at Mona. “Milk Cream, was it? I thought there was something odd about you.
 

Illidan sighed in relief. "Xander, oh thank the goddess. Not going to lie, I, uh..." He groaned. "Jumping into that portal and trying to play damn hero again was not my brightest idea." He laughed nervously. "Still, I'm glad you're here."

 

No, it wasn’t. You should think before running head first into danger.” Xander’s words were harsh, but there was no heat behind them. “Still…” Xander sighed, then shook his head. “I am… it’s good that you’re unharmed.” Xander’s shoulders sagged with relief, and his hands silently fiddled with Sieghorse’s reins.

 

Above that, you’ve found someone else.” Joker removed his hand from the handle of his pistol and took a step forward. “Someone who hopefully isn’t a Shadow.” The strange’s being’s head wasn’t anything like Joker had seen on other Shadows. Shadows came any many forms, but this one was too friendly and had a too significant symbol on them for Joker to assume they were like any normal Shadow.

 

It seems like neither of us knew about each other,” Joker said folding his arms across his chest. The strange person only knew Joker’s alias from the party. It seemed like they had been there. “Who are you exactly?

 

I’m called Fractal.” It placed a hand on its chest and bowed ever-so-slightly. Its robes didn’t fold naturally as it moved--they almost seemed to be made of sheets of glass. “I am a Cryptic, a truthspren. You’re looking for my bonded human.

 

Mona. I’m not Milk Cream, that was an alias.” Mona replied as his tail stiffened. He looked up at the strange cloaked pattern. “I figured you weren’t a Shadow, but I did find you weird.” His tail continued to twist as his tiny arms crossed over his chest. “Bonded human… Telinar? And what exactly is a truthspren?” Looking at its cloak, and everything else…. Was this an effect of the distortion?

 

It was very, very odd.

 

Illidan smiled at hearing Xander's relief that he was okay. Now maybe they could focus on what to do here. "I'm not going to lie, I'm also curious as to what a 'truthspren' is." He glanced at Joker. "And I'm a little behind on the details, so... I'm assuming we're here to rescue somebody? Probably some fellow agents, considering what all happened before I decided to be an idiot."

 

You assumed correctly.” Joker uncrossed his arms and then placed his hand on his chest with importance. “We’re the Phantom Thieves and we’re here to help.. We’ve been chasing Amanda, the woman who kidnapped all your friends, for some time now. We came here to rescue one of your friends while another one of our team’s rescues someone else in another world. Once everyone is safe. Once everyone is safe, we plan to meet at a rendezvous point before going to confront Amanda directly.” 

 

Besides you, several other agents were captured,” Xander added helpfully. With it now confirmed that Fractal wasn’t hostile, Xander lowered his sword. As though it knew its master’s intentions, the red glow enveloping Siegfried dimmed down. “There’s another agent here that needs to be rescued, everyone else who attended the party with us needs to be rescued as well.” Xander tapped his fingers against the side of the saddle. “It seems I was the only one fortunate enough to not get trapped in one of these strange worlds.”

 

Speaking of which…” Clasping his hands behind his back, Joker spun on his heel towards Fractal. “I don’t know what a truthspren is, but if you’re not a Shadow then you’re an ally. The name’s Joker, by the way, Yosuke is the name I stole from a friend’s friend.

 

I am a sapient representation of the mathematical truths that govern the universe,” Fractal said matter-of-factly. “A cognitive being, like all spren. Drawn by truth and lies. A scholar. A traveller. And yes, Telinar is a name my human uses. From what I have gathered, this world is born of his fears, yes? It feels…” It--she? The voice emanating from the pattern-head sounded distinctly feminine--trailed off, humming in a considering tone. “It feels like him. Polluted and drenched in fear, but him. I do not believe I like it.” 

 

Fractal hummed in bell-like chimes for a moment longer before seeming to refocus. “Joker, Mona. More facets, I believe. Much like Telinar. I look forwards to allying with you. Now--” she pointed in one direction. “Can we find my human?

 

Mona nodded at Fractal’s response. “Yes, it is from his fears and his insecurities.” He paused to take one more look up and down. “Yeah. Let’s go get Telinar out of here. I’m not detecting any Shadows right now, but that doesn’t mean there won’t be any a few minutes from now. Let’s get going, everyone.” His tail once again stiffened as he started moving forward- he had a bad feeling, a feeling that this would be too easy.

 

He wondered how Oracle and her group were faring. At least he had the reassurance that if they managed to get through this area quickly, they could make it to the third world with no problems. 

 

Still, Mona didn’t like it.

 

Illidan couldn't help the smile at the name "Phantom Thieves". Still, they were here for a reason, and that reason was rescuing their fellow agent and getting the hell out of dodge before things got bad. And if his instinct was right, things would most definitely get bad. "I'm with Mona on this. The sooner we get Telinar and get the hell out of dodge, the better." There were still more kidnapped agents out there, and Illidan had the sinking feeling that they weren't having it as easily as everyone here was.

 

Right. The quicker we get out of here the quicker we can rescue the others and get to Amanda.” Joker pointed towards the direction Mona had initially lead them towards. Through the fog, Joker could make out the vague shapes of what appeared to either be some sort of building—or a wall or tent perhaps—standing proudly in the distance. 

 

The captured agent is over there.” Joker lowered his hand down to his side. “If we’re lucky, we won’t have to fight anyone. Well?” Joker motioned his head towards the direction of the silhouettes. “Shall we?

---

 

The destination, as it turned out to be, was a military camp, or rather the remements of what was once a military camp. It didn’t appear to have any modern facilities or equipment as far as Joker could see. It was hard to distinguish any details within the fog, but the camp reminded him of some of the sets he had seen on television or movies starring a fantasy, if the strange glowing lamps were any indication of mythical features, or medieval setting. The camp was devoid of Shadows or any other lifeforms as far as Joker could tell, but he knew better than to assume that they were safe.

 

Mona, do you know where we should head towards?” Joker asked, sparing a glance down at his partner. The sooner they found Telinar, the better.

 

Mona paused to scan the area. “Not too far, should be to the left. He’s close, I wonder if he’s hiding...” That last part he mused aloud. “Still no Shadows either.

 

The camp remind Illidan of those the Alliance and Horde used back home. "If he is hiding, it won't take long for me to find his aura." He loved his Spectral Sight for that reason. "Can't blame him if he wants to hide, though, considering this place is made of his deepest fears and all."

 

Fractal hovered a few steps ahead of the group, standing in the entrance of the camp. She was making a low, soft sound like the fading echo of a tolling bell. Then, abruptly, she spoke. “Found him.

 

She moved forwards in an action too fluid to be called a dash, but it certainly was a quick glide.

Tien’s directionless anger had faded into an odd, uncomfortable simmer. A too-familiar simmer, the kind of twisting feeling in his gut that he’d always gotten after Amaram had been particularly threatening in a meeting. It threw him off, just a little.

 

And he still hadn’t found Fractal, no matter how much he searched the camp. Maybe she was out on the battlefield.

 

Tien shuddered involuntarily. He storming hoped not, but if she was...he’d have to take it for her. For the sake of--

 

He rounded a corner and abruptly located his spren at the camp’s entryway. 

 

Fractal!” Tien blurted out, relieved, and ran forwards to meet his spren halfway. She pulled up short--full-bodied, this was the Cognitive Realm after all, that explained some things--and opened her arms to let him crash into her with a hug. “You’re okay!

 

I’m okay,” Fractal repeated, combing one hand through his hair. “I have found others. Look.

Tien pulled away and turned his gaze in the direction she pointed in. Oh, there was Xander with odd demon horns--was that just a thing that happened?--the winged demon guy he was pretty sure Xander liked, a creature that reminded him of Milk Cream--perhaps the cat had another Cognitive Form too?--and--

 

Yosuke,” Tien said without thinking, “what are you wearing?

 

Mona laughed at the use of Joker’s fake name. But he remained quiet as he watched the two interact.

 

They’re my work clothes,” Joker said easily. He splayed out his arms and twirled on the spot so Tien could get a better look at his outfit. “Everyone in my little organization has one. Even Mona to an extent.” Joker inclined his head towards his fellow Phantom Thief. 

 

You’re unharmed.” From behind Joker, Xander strood forward from on top of his stallion. “Good. That’s one last thing to worry about.” 

 

You’re unharmed for now.” Joker lowered his arms back down to his side. “There’s still a potential problem.” Joker’s tone grew more stern as he walked towards Tien. “You haven’t seen anyone who might look like yourself around here, have you?” Joker gave a cursory glance around the area, looking for any sign of Tien’s Shadow or any other potential Shadow that would attack on sight.

 

Tien blinked, jerking back in surprise. “You--you know about that? Is that normal here?” He paused for a beat, then reached into his jacket. “...But, yes, there was...it--he--it turned into this.” He brought a card out of some inner pocket and held it out so Joker could see.

 

He…. Telinar faced his Shadow on his own….?” Mona froze. “Did…. You didn’t fight it, did you…?” Sure, it wasn’t out of the realm of possibility…. But what kind of tank was this boy if he was able to--

 

Ah,” Tien blinked, startling again. “Right. I lied about my name, I’m Tien.” Fractal made a bell-like sound that he’d grown to recognize as her laugh, and he swatted her arm. “Um...I don’t think I fought it? Definitely not physically, at least.

 

Don’t worry about it,” Joker said with a dismissive wave of his hand. “Neither of us were being forthcoming with who we were. I only took that ‘all exposure no pay’ waiter gig as a coverup so I could keep an eye on the party and make sure this—” Joker gestured towards the camp. “—didn’t happen. Yosuke was a fake name.” Joker pressed a thumb squarely on his chest. “You can call me Joker. It’s the alias I go by as a Phantom Thief. If you’d like to know my actual name you’ll have to catch me after we get you out of here.” Joker cracked a small grin then winked.

Which actually might not be that long if you’ve already dealt with your Shadow,” Joker continued. He stared intently at the card Tien held between his fingers: card XVIII, the Moon. It was the same card Mishima had. Strange. Joker hummed to himself, tapping his chin contemplatively before glancing up at Tien. 

 

This world that we’re currently in is a reflection of your memories and feelings,” Joker explained. “Typically worlds like these are inhabited by beings known as Shadows. These Shadows are based on your own emotions and insecurities and will likely seek you out. Normally, Shadows have to be fought physically before you’re free from them, but if you’ve already accepted your Shadow as a part of you then a fight wouldn’t have had to happen and that’s…” Joker cocked his head to the side, raising a fist to his mouth as he stared at Tien inquisitively. “Well, I wouldn’t say it’s unheard of, but most people aren’t able to accept the darker parts of themselves so quickly.

 

Tien blinked again, several times in a row, as he processed that sudden flood of information. His instincts had been right about Yosuke--no, Joker--being a spy after all! He felt a small surge of pride that almost immediately transmuted into flustered embarrassment as the other man winked at him.

 

Inhabited by Shadows...Cognitive beings that sought you ought, drawn by emotions and feelings...It’s just like spren! This is like Shadesmar after all!

 

Shadows are based on your own emotions and insecurities.

 

And he was a Lightweaver. The order of the Knights Radiant that gained their powers from facing truths about themselves, things they avoided, things they didn’t want to admit.

Tien couldn’t help the smile that grew on his face, and he couldn’t stop the laugh that bubbled up in his throat until it burst out and he doubled over from the force of it.

 

Tien bursting into laughter startled Illidan, badly, causing him to leap backwards several feet. This time he managed to relax before drawing the Warglaives, but he was still none too happy about the sudden outburst. He let out an indignant growl, upset at having been spooked a second time.

 

If Mona had pronounced eyebrows, he would have raised one. “Is…. Is he okay?

 

Sieghorse’s ears flattened against his skull at the abrupt noise. Xander quickly rubbed the nape of the stallion’s neck and whispered a few, soothing words to calm him. “Tien?” Xander furrowed his eyebrows in worry. “Are you alright?

 

I didn’t think it was that funny,” Joker mumbled under his breath. He wasn’t even trying to live up to his namesake; he was just giving the exposition needed for Tien to understand the situation. Tien’s eyes didn’t have the telltale yellow glow of Shadows or anything of that sort, so it wasn’t like he was possessed or something. “Oi, Tien. You’re making everyone concerned. Are you alright?

 

I’m, I’m good,” Tien gasped out. “Sorry, hang--” another giggle erupted from him. “Hang on a moment.” He took a deep breath and let out a couple more snickers before finally seeming to calm down. “It’s--that’s just--it--” he waved a hand vaguely, losing the words, and glanced to Fractal.

 

“Lightweavers speak Truths,” she explained. “This was...mm…” She glanced back at Tien in turn. “Like swearing an Ideal?” 

 

He nodded rapidly. Exactly like that. This would make it…” he tilted his head consideringly, his gaze wandering back to the group. “Fourth Ideal, third truth, but it’s not an Ideal, so...well, long story short, I’ve faced the ugly parts of myself before.” He paused for a beat, then added, “Sorry for alarming you all.

 

After listening to the explanation, Illidan was glad that he hadn't faced his own dark side. He wasn't entirely sure if he could. He wasn't sure if anyone could. "So. Nothing to fight here, basically. Let's get out of here before that changes."

 

Well that’s a relief,” Joker sighed. He rubbed the nape of his neck, feeling the stress slowly melt away. If Tien had already handled his Shadow then that meant that they were effectively done in his Shadow World. Oracle and her group would undoubtedly had a much harder time with their mission, meaning Joker and his merry band would have to wait around until they were finished. Not a bad plan. Illidan was right, they were ready to go unless—

 

Tien,” Joker’s tone grew serious. “After your Shadow disappeared, did you hear a voice or see someone else? Besides us or Fractal, I mean.

 

Tien frowned slightly as he thought back. A flash of light...and yes, a ghostly image before another flash of light had swallowed it. He nodded. “Yes, I--a woman, I think, though not human. Accompanied by two smaller beings.” He looked at his card again, tracing the golden glyphs on the center moon. “...Nomon, Mishim, Salas…

 

Joker exchanged glances with Mona. He didn’t recognize the names given, but it certainly sounded like Tien encountered his Persona or another Shadow. Joker had known it was a possibility for the people taken to obtain Personas, but it hadn’t been a certainty. If there was even the slightest chance that Tien did have a Persona, he needed to be prepared.

 

This doesn’t always happen, but sometimes after someone beats their Shadow the Shadow takes a new form,” Joker said. “We call these new forms Personas and they—well. Perhaps it would be easier to just show you.” Joker took a few steps away from the group least he startle them. He grasped the side of his mask and, with a casual wink to Tien, yanked it off his face. Behind him, a column of blue flames burst from the ground and spiraled upward. Two black wings sprung from the pillar of fire as the flames began to collascend into a floating humanoid figure. Within seconds, the fire dissipated completely, revealing Joker’s Persona.

 

This is Arsene.” Joker gestured towards the winged-being behind him. Arsene stared down at the small group around him and bowed his head down respectfully. “Arsene, like all Personas, embodies my personality and feelings. Personas have abilities of their own, primarily for fighting or healing. They stick with you even if you leave your Shadow World. So if that woman you saw was your Persona, you’ll be seeing her again sometime in the future.

 

Mona sighed. “Always had a flair for the dramatic, didn’t he….” Then he sighed. “Exactly like Joker said, Personas are the embodiment of your true self. Each one has a different Arcana to it, mine being Magician.” He summoned his Persona in the same fashion Joker had, the caped figure appearing in a blue column of flame behind him. “Zorro!” 

 

Zorro moved towards Arsene and casually proceeded to punch it in the face. 

 

Personas can hit each other, fun fact,” Mona said with a chuckle. “They’re very similar to Shadows, just with more control.

 

Tien stared at the show of power with wide eyes, covering a laugh with one hand when Mona’s Persona moved to punch Joker’s. It was...well, it was certainly an interesting thought. He gave his card another considering look before finally tucking it back in his pocket. 

His other hand reached out to grab Fractal’s. Personas sounded a bit like spren, and he knew how those worked; or, at least, he knew how his worked. Fractal was his best friend and only confidant. She was his and he was hers, bonded at the soul. She could not die unless he killed her.

 

He wasn’t entirely sure how he felt about having another one of those.

 

He wasn’t totally sure what Arcana meant, either, but he could probably ask about that on the way. 

 

That’s good to know,” Tien nodded, squeezing Fractal’s hand for comfort. 

 

Illidan wasn't quite sure what to make of the entire "Persona" thing. To him, it sounded a lot like a demon hunter's inner demon, only... more controlled, in a sense. In a way, he was jealous. Still, he fidgeted a little, eager to get going.

 

It took a surprising amount of willpower to not spin around and punt Mona into a wall for that unnecessary display. As Joker rubbed his cheek, where Zorro had punched Arsene, he thought he could hear Xander mutter “Dear Naga, they’re children,” softly under his breath.

 

You can usually feel what happens to your Persona,” Joker said with as much grace as he could manage. Arsene flapped his wings indignantly but didn’t retaliate. With a glower, Arsene raised a hand and performed a rude gesture. “So I wouldn’t suggest putting them in dangerous situations. Still, we have bigger issues at hand.” Joker quietly reattached his mask to his face, causing Arsene to slowly fade into obscurity behind him. “If there’s no more issues here, then we can head to the rendezvous point in the biggest Shadow World. We’ll wait there until Oracle’s team has finished up their world and, hopefully, we’ll be able to deal with Amanda soon after.

 

I’ll contact Oracle and her team and check up on their status. If everything is good we should be heading to another Shadow World very soon.” Stuffing a hand into his pocket, Joker pulled out a pair of dimensional scissors. Ducking down, Joker snipped the air a few inches above the ground and allowed his scissors to glide upwards by several feet. When he closed the scissors, a glowing portal had formed from where he had cut. He skillfully twirled the handle of the scissors around his finger before nodding the group towards the portal. “After you.

 

Still laughing, Mona stepped forward and hopped through the portal.

 

Tien and Fractal cocked their heads in almost eerie unison, especially considering Fractal’s twisting pattern of a head. Tien unlaced his fingers from Fractal’s as she stepped forwards, circling around the portal with an air of intense interest before gliding thorough. 

 

Tien paused next to Joker before he stepped through the portal. “I have a lot of questions about several things. I...I hope we can talk about those later.

 

I’d love to chat later, once this has all been resolved,” Joker said softly. The way Tien and Fractal tilted their heads at the same time was oddly cute. Joker found himself strangely endeared by it. “I’m sure you have lots of questions that have yet to be answered.” 

 

Tien smiled at him, sudden and bright. “Yeah. Alright, then. See you on the other side.” He took a deep breath as though steeling himself and stepped lightly through the portal.

 

Behind him, Xander rode Sieghorse over towards where Illidan stood. 

Hopefully this next rescue will go better than last mission’s,” Xander said idly. Logic dictated that he hurry through the portal. After all, the sooner they rescued the other agents the sooner they could get to Amanda and put her in her place; yet, Xander paused for a moment. “You are okay, aren’t you?” Xander had assumed Illidan was uninjured when he first saw him, but, well, it didn’t hurt to check up on him.

 

"...yes, I'm fine. Nothing really attacked me; I just got startled a couple of times." Illidan averted his gaze a little - it felt nice to have someone actually concerned for him. "I'm glad nothing's popped up yet..." Though, knowing our luck, it's only a matter of time, he added in his thoughts. He gave a small smile to Xander. "The portal awaits. Shall we?"

 

Illidan’s smile was enough to elicit a soft chuckle out of Xander. “Of course. We have people waiting on us.” With Illidan’s safety secured, Xander pushed his concerns to the back of the reaches of his mind and ushered Sieghorse through the portal.

 

Not far behind Xander was Illidan. The half-demon stepped through the portal, as well.

 

Everyone was safely through the portal. Joker stopped swinging the scissors in his hands. It was tempting to try and pull out his phone to see how well Oracle and her team were doing, but Joker was well acquainted with how poorly communications were between worlds. At the very least, they would find Amanda soon and by finding her they’d finally put a stop to her using Shadow Worlds, the Metaverse, and everything else for her own selfish deeds. 

 

Joker stepped through the portal and it closed behind him, leaving Tien’s Shadow World behind.

 

Edited by Mikasa361

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Enterprise ~ A Ghostly Grey World

 

 

Blood.

 

Ash.

 

Screaming.

 

She smelled and heard them-

 

 

-- and then her eyes snapped open. The world was so very grey and empty. This wasn't where she'd been seconds ago, she realised.

 

She stood atop a roiling sea, tinted red. Blood. Enterprise sucked in a breath between gritted teeth. She looked up.

 

The sky, it was so - ethereal. Eerie. Unreal. It was a ghostly grey, like the skies she dreamt of. Not the wonderous skies of new lands; rather, the otherworldly grey of her worst... memories. Dreams. She knew she'd lived some of them, and some felt so real she woke up half-expecting ghostly grey.

 

And now here she was, atop a bloodstained sea with a ghostly port upon the horizon. There was nothing that she could see beyond it, as what lay beyond was obscured by a phantasmal mist. Enterprise glanced quickly over shoulder. She wished she hadn't; in the distance, too-familiar explosions rent the seas. Again.

 

Enterprise shuddered involuntarily. She started by skating across the water, before breaking into a run. Somehow, the port drew her forward. Horror welled up when she started to see the corpses.

 

There were humans and shipgirls alike, floating limply on the sea. She recognised many of the ships. She should. She had sunk them. And their lifeless eyes bored into her soul. She heard them screaming - remembered their dying breaths - she saw her Union sisters in arms falling - she couldn't she couldn't they were gone--

 

She fell again, tumbling onto the dock. The scents of smoke and blood were strong in the air. Enterprise's heart pounded as she staggered back to her feet. The carrier's eyes darted around, picking out blast and burn marks. More corpses. She couldn't - she tore her gaze away. She didn't recognise the humans, though a lot of them had attire resembling Sakura nationals. A halting laugh. Were her failures back to haunt her? Not all of the humans looked Sakura... and the lifeless ships at the dock were a mix.

 

And yet something called her deeper into the damaged, nigh-lifeless port. It urged her on. Screaming for her; crying her name.

Edited by DuskOfTheStars

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This ain't right, Stan was certain. C'mon, think!  His mind was still hazy from the sudden shift in scenery, but he forced himself to activate his eye implants and glance at some past photos. The blanks in his memory began to fill. The information he stole from Amanda... Most of her documentation was about the Force Monster, which was the last thing he remembered seeing before waking up in this room. The Force Monster she had acquired long before she discovered its ability to rip open rifts to the Shadow World (which was, he had noted earlier, before she caused a bunch of crimes in the multiverse), and Amanda's knowledge itself of the Shadow World was barren at best. The only things known about it were that it was a parallel universe teeming with monsters reflecting human emotions.

 

Nowhere in the instruction manual did it say that he'd be facing something wearing his face, knowing everything he was thinking. Still, Stan stood a little straighter while his doppelganger spoke with Lara. He looked over at her. Was she putting on a front, or was she really serious about overlooking his flaws? She was taking this all a lot better than he expected, even going as far as to acknowledge her intent to stay. 

 

"Well, there's more to the story. The truth is..." the shadow replied, "Lara Rochelle, I really do love you."

 

What?!

 

Lara raised her eyebrows when she looked between the two Stans. “You…. You do….?” Her tone remained calm, controlled, and flat. But internally, she did feel a warm flutter at the idea. If this was Stan’s true self, as this man claimed….

 

Lara Rochelle Croft. You don’t know if it’s the truth, he could be lying….

 

The shadow's voice lowered to a quivering whisper. "I used to have a love of my life, and you remind me so much of her I want to cry. Even what you just said... Willing to stick around even after you know all this..."

 

Stan raised his gun and pulled the hammer back with an audible click. It was just a Shadow World monster. You can't just say that after that whole speech about betrayal, dammit! You're making me sound like--

 

Lara leaned back against the couch and held the hand with her pistol straight. “Hm, interesting information,” she replied, her eyes narrowing further. “Rather interesting way you twist things around as well.

 

Nnnnnh…..” Utakata’s eyes opened as he sat up. As the haze in his mind started to clear, he looked around and his brain registered that he was in a place he did not want to be. A squeak emerged from his throat as he tried to crab-crawl backwards. “W-w-what the hell-?” And yet, as he tried to escape, something prevented him from doing so. 

 

Shadow Stan shook his head in the negative. "I know I sound like a narcissist trying to give you whiplash and I won't fault you for thinking that. The most insecure people are the ones who want to have power over how others feel. But it's true -- I'm struck by your eyes which have the look of someone who would face Hell head on. Not only do I like that, I didn't know I needed that until I met Chanel."


Chanel…? Lara thought to herself. They were similar? More importantly…. He also lost someone he loved that dearly…? How similar are we?
 

"I'm going to stop you right there, officer." It was so, so hard to muster the power to start talking, but once he did, his words poured out. "I can let you show off my kinks and step all over my insecure relationships, but I will not allow you to disrespect the dead. Don't talk about her while dressed like a stripper stroking your boy toy.

 

Again, the shadow laughed at his threat. Horns appeared to blossom from its head, shedding rose petals as they grew. The flowers were so red it almost reminded Stan of fresh blood.  "In the end, I guess I'm just an old man looking for cheap thrills, getting all nostalgic over photographs. Most of my life I drifted around the Sol system, adding things to my collections, then running away once the water got too hot. After I killed Chanel, I ran away like I always did."

 

Stan fired. One bang, its sound dampened by the velvet in the room. The bullet ricocheted off a horn, leaving a crack on impact. "I ran first to another planet, then into another universe where I settled with my new collection of friends at the XDRS, away from my past." The shadow didn't seem to notice the injury at all. It nodded to the figures of the other agents, who rose to meet him. He smiled so widely his eyes squinted shut. "Thank you for your understanding, Lara. If only this man, myself, could be equally as understanding."

 

Lara sat up much straighter in her couch. Her grip around the grip of the gun tightened. He… Killed her….? “The devil do you mean-” She regained her composure and shut her mouth, refusing to speak any further. Now was not the time to be blowing up. 

 

"Pretending you're me is just one sick joke, isn't it?" Stan began to mutter, more to convince himself than anything. "Getting cucked by myself... Even you admit you're not me -- and I'd rather be anyone else but you right now!"

 

 "Fine by me. I'll keep you here forever and add you to my collection of favorite toys!" The shadow snapped its eyes open, irises practically glowing yellow while dark energy flowed around its body, obscuring it. The swirling mass of darkness grew and grew until it threatened to get too big for the alcove, then solidified into a heavy mass that crashed back down, crushing the bed with its weight. Stan slowly backed away from the rising form. It was built like an old world bovine, with a heavy neck and chest, and harnessed in leather like one -- but everything below the bull's head (cracked horn and all) appeared to be muscular, furless, and human with the exception of steel hooves for feet and an exaggerated mechanical arm. Even crouched on all fours, it looked huge, and perched atop the back of the beast was a tiny doll-like monster resembling Xander. 

 

"I don't think we have much choice but to book it," Stan told Lara and Utakata, then scrambled right over the velvet couch. "Run!"

 

"You can't keep running away from your problems, Gulliver!" the shadow screeched. "I'll chase you through every dimension!"

 

 

 

 

Cuck cuck it's Cuckles, the knuckle thrower
Independent cuckold, magical cuckholder

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Edited by TehUltimateMage

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[Lara Rochelle and Utakata - No Running This Time]

 

A lot of the things Stan's shadow said hit a little too close to home. But what really hits Lara hardest isn't that Stan loves her, or the fact that he'd wanted to keep that love held at bay. No. It's the fact that he'd loved someone so hard only to have killed her. Is that really something Lara can relate to? To love so hard only to lose them at your hands.... Stanley, we may not be too far apart after all. 

 

Perhaps. If she'd let her mind wander, she would go back to her last love, Amanda Rose Evert, just two years ago. Had it been that long ago? Sometimes it feels as though that expedition were only yesterday, the day her heart broke for the second to last time. The day she swore never to let herself get too close to anyone like that ever again. 

 

And yet. 

 

She'd allowed herself to fall for Stan like she'd fallen for Amanda. She's not entirely sure how that's supposed to make her feel. 

 

Right now is not the time for the mind to wander. She notes that Utakata is awake, and briefly she glances at him before Stan denies his shadow for the final time. The beast that emerges does nothing but disturb Lara, causing her to jump to her feet and hold the gun forwards. "I don't think we have much choice but to book it," says to them both before jumping behind the couch. "Run!"

 

Lara turns her head to look at him. "Are you mad? Stanley, where the devil are we going to run to?" She tries her damnedest to hide her ever-rising panic at the realization of how small this place is. Any sort of rational thought has already slipped out of her left and right ears. "Even if we do find somewhere, this shadow of yours won't let us-"

 

"Then we fight it." Utakata says matter-of-factly as he stands up next to her. The discomfort of discovering his surroundings is, for now at least, gone.

 

Lara turns to face the older brunette. "Are you bloody mad????"

 

"Oh, maybe a little," Utakata replies, "but there's no other choice." This he says as he feels his skin start to burn, as if he'd jumped through a wall of fire. The familiar orange aura of his jinchūriki form start to take shape. He's not quite ready for Version 2 yet, but if he can give himself a boost... "Unless you want me to cover both your asses, in which case I guess you two will have to get out of here. Trust me, I'm more than ready to give it a shot."

 

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[PHANTOM THIEVES - DUNGEON]

 

Mona doesn't really like the feeling he gets when he leads the group through a series of little dungeon rooms. "Joker, doesn't this remind you of....?" He thinks aloud as the group approaches a door. His eyes widen as he detects the presence of a large Shadow behind it, as well as three other bodies. Whatever is happening, clearly the fight has already started. "Okay, we need to slip in carefully. The Shadow is back there, we don't know if rushing in will jeopardize their safety in there. Ready? Let's go." He hops up some decor and quietly opens the door. He beckons with his tail for the others to follow as he slips into the room. 

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[Enterprise & Shadow Enterprise] ~ A Shadow Upon the Port?

 

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As she got closer, the water became redder. She could taste the tang of blood now, mixed with the odour of seawater. It's a scent she knew too well -- no can't be can't can't be can't be WEAK --

 

With a gasp, she snaps back into a familiar, rigid position. She had let her guard down, and so she looked around. Yet the carrier saw nothing but a lifeless port filled with the corpses of her failures -- but she has to keep going, keep going. Something calls her. She hurries even more now, refusing to look up to the ghostly grey sky.

 

By the time she reached the docks, she couldn't see any more of the Sakura ships she'd slain. No, instead her fellow Eagle ships were there. All of the fallen. Every last one of them, bleeding and leaking like they'd taken their dying breath only moments before. Enterprise forced herself to tear her gaze away as her breathing quickened. But the walls weren't safe. The walls were spattered with blood and oil. Enterprise tensed up. Not now. Not now not now not now ---

 

She ran down the hallways, her footsteps loud in the otherwise-silent port hallway. 

 

Enterprise almost slammed into the door. She didn't by only a few inches. But the door was open. Unlike all the other doors. Enterprise peered inside, and instantly regretted doing so.

 

 

 

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Inside, a version of herself with yellow eyes was crouched over a familiar corpse. Two others lay nearby. Her sisters - Yorktown, Wasp, Hornet... they're all -- Enterprise can't --

 

"Oh... you're here. Come on, then. Unless you can't handle this~?" 

 

-- right. That other Enterprise with piercing yellow eyes. They're hard to look away from, now that she's made eye contact. And those eyes felt like they were gazing straight into her soul.... Enterprise tried to still her shuddering, and realised she'd taken a few steps into the room.

 

"Aw, look at you! You really think you can hide anything~?"

 

"Who... are you?" Enterprise ground out between stiff jaws.

 

The other her dropped Hornet's corpse like a rag-doll, before circling around to block Enterprise's exit. The move forced Enterprise to walk further into the room, and her yellow-eyed doppelgänger came closer. But she was still blocking the way out.

 

"I am you. You are me. But I... am the worthy self. The true self."

 

Enterprise growled and summoned her bow.

 

"So violent, hm~? Tsk, tsk. But you were never able to be rational, were you?" The other Enterprise narrowed her eyes. "Because we have... many things to discuss~"

 

Enterprise's blood ran cold.

 

"Hm. You and I. Weapons born to war, yes?" At Enterprise's slight nod, the other smiled nastily. "Yet... you set yourself up to fail. Protection? Ahah! Some protector you are, 'pride of the Eagle Union!' Let me see..." The Shadow paused, to count on her fingers. "Lexington. Hammann. Northampton. Yorktown. Wasp. Houston. Hornet. Chicago. Laffey. How many more should I list~? A protectoress can't protect the dead." The yellow-eyed Enterprise's lips curled. "But that ties back to your first mistake. A weapon. Not a guardian. And yet you lost yourself in your own little dream~"

 

Enterprise suddenly felt the other Enterprise grab her tie. She had no time to cry out before she was roughly yanked closer to the other Enterprise.

 

"Warships were never born to fail. They were born to succeed. The successful sail. The failures... sink~ So you tried to protect useless failures, hardly worth any self-respecting Navy's time?" A finger brushed a tear away from Enterprise's eyes. "Ah-ah. Mistake. Warships are not born to be so weak. And if you were born to fight, and sink - you very well shouldn't have had the urge to protect." A disgusted scoff. "But then, you never could be rational. Look at you cry because you can't accept the truth."

 

Enterprise struggled, but another harsh pull on the tie kept her close.

 

"No, we're not done. Not now. Let's see... your 'sisters.' You feel so close to them, don't you~?" Enterprise felt herself be shaken roughly. "You idiot child. Stop your crying!" This time, the other Enterprise slapped her hard across the face, but Enterprise's defensive shield of emotionlessness only crumbled further. "Crying will not get you out of here. Immaturity will not finish this chat faster, so listen to me. You were built to the same design as them - or, in Wasp's case, a similar design. And that was all it took? Really... such a weak girl, for one who claims to be so strong. You wanted to die when they died. You were a failure~ Again, a broken warship ought to sink. It ought to be scuttled. And that's exactly what happened. Yet you cannot accept that, hm~?"

 

"N... no... St-stop..."

 

"Silence!" The other Enterprise tapped her nose - before flicking her finger into Enterprise's lip at just the right angle to cause her teeth to wound her own lip as Enterprise struggled desperately to hold onto any control. "Now. Your tears. You call yourself a warship, yet... you feel. And you regret your duty? You shake in fear at something you should have forgotten long ago? Weak~ They may scream, but they simply have human bodies. They were not people. None of those you tried so hard to protect were people. They were all ships. Tools. A broken tool, a dysfunctional tool - those are to be thrown out. Wouldn't you agree~? After all... you aren't a person, either - just a tool for actual people~"

 

Enterprise was shaking and sobbing by now. She wanted to get out - she couldn't - couldn't couldn't couldn't - away away away out of this place -- trapped -- The shadow looked faintly disgusted.

 

"Since you can't be rational... how about a little analogy~? Imagine Subject A is a ship who's part of a two-ship class. Now, Subject A is moderately successful, as she should be. She doesn't have nightmares about girls she's sank - as this is her job. Her purpose. She does not scream for her sister. Her sister failed~ Her sister wasn't worth the equipment to drag back to port. Not worth repair efforts." Shadow Enterprise's eyes flashed. "Don't you remember? A broken bow should be scrapped~ The only things left of value are its components. But people nurtured your silly little notions~ And you were a fool to listen. You are not a person. So stop - crying. You are a decorated warship. Grow up. Let go of these... emotions and dreams." There was bile in the last words.

 

Enterprise was sobbing uncontrollably now. "No... no... let me - me ... leave me..." she whined in a soft, broken tone. The hand holding her tie dropped her, and she landed in a heap. The atmosphere changed.

 

And for one moment, Enterprise was left to sob. ... Until she heard a shout. She felt someone loom over her.

 

"Are you a baby?!"

 

 

Through the tears in her eyes and her own fractured sobs, Enterprise could make out that the yellow-eyed doppelgänger grew in size. Her rigging appeared - no -- it wasn't right. Her ship body -- but it pushed itself through her flesh, turning her into a grotesque mix of steel and woman. Tentacles, black with yellow eye markings where suckers should have been, oozed out of the monstrosity's hull.

 

 

And a tentacle grabbed Enterprise. She struggled and sobbed as it swiftly lifted her off the ground, taking her face-to-face with the monstrosity. The tentacle squeezed tighter and tighter as the monster observed her, becoming so tight she could barely gasp for breath. Her ribs seared with pain, and she could barely see anything through the haze of tears. The tip of the tentacle forcibly pulled her head upright.

 

"Such a useless little girl~" the monster that had formerly taken her shape sneered.

 

 

Edited by DuskOfTheStars

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Illidan Stormrage, Lord of the Illidari
<Status: Stable; Confused>
<Location: Stan's Shadow World>
<People: Xander, Tien, Stan, Lara, Utakata, Joker, Mona, Sieghorse>
<Enemy: Shadow Stan>

 

~~

 

Stepping out of the portal, Illidan immediately recognized the nervousness in the air, and was distinctly confused. "Why are you guys so uncomfortable? It's not like there's anything deadly in here--"

 

The aura of a large, vaguely bovine creature in his Spectral Sight changed that tune awfully fast. "...well, never mind that. Good thing I love a challenge." He drew the two Warglaives of Azzinoth, watching as Xander - once more - selflessly dove into the fray.

 

Then he watched and waited for an opening...

 

There!

 

...and dove straight at the bovine creature, whose features were all but lost on the blind Demon Hunter, both Warglaives aiming to slice it apart. Here was to hoping it worked...

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"Xander!" Stan gasped. For a moment he thought the knight on his horse was just another shadow world apparition, from the monstrous dark presence of Sieghorse and the horns on his head. Was this a theme of the area of some sort? He doesn't need to be told twice to stumble back almost as far as the door. The shadow swings its massive head from side to side, tearing into the walls with its horns as if it were paper. Moving impressively quick for its size -- though with little finesse -- it slams its face into the floor in an attempt to crush Utakata's annoying red aura. The ninja manages to get out of the way in time, and all the shadow does is manage to rip up a bunch of the hardwood flooring.

 

The shadow quickly forgets about him. Its  attention is pulled towards one of the bold newcomers, the biggest one in its sight. The minotaur charges Xander, twisting its head to be able flip the man and his horse with its horns, aiming to use the momentum to trample the others too. But--

 

Like a dart -- a massive, purple, winged dart -- a shape flew forward and pierced the bull right between the eyes. Illidan stabs right through it, appearing on the other side. Everything is silent for a second, then the bull-creature stumbles forward and crashes to the ground, leaking red and black smoke from its wound while it shrank like a deflating balloon.

 

Stan blinks a couple times at the anti-climatic resolution. He was actually, honestly, completely stunned at how easy that was, and in the awkward moment he lets out a laugh. It seemed like the shadow was like himself after all -- putting on an intimidating face but having little substance to back up that bravado.

 

Its bluff called, the shadow lays still on the ground. It was in human form once again, yellow eyes fixed on the mechanic. Stan didn't know what compelled him to approach, only that he instinctively knew he had to. He knew, on some level, that if he turned his back on the shadow, it would only grow more powerful. Sure, he was afraid (for many reasons, even, including pain both physical and psychological), but, it felt like everyone -- pictures included -- was looking at him, expecting him to do something.

 

His footsteps on the creaking floor are incredibly loud as he closed the distance and once he is close enough, he crouches down.

 

"Do you love her?" his double mutters to him.

 

"Yes," Stan admits, voice soft. "I do love her, from the depths of my heart."

 

"Damn cuck," the mostly naked man spits, although he was wearing a smile. "We're not even talking about the same person, are we?"

 

Stan snorts, then chuckles. "You're me, and so of course you see through my bull. There's people I care about, a lot, in this new world we're living in. Even though I try to keep my space, it doesn't change the fact that there really are people who care about me, too. Chanel taught me that it was possible for me to care, and Lara taught me to remember how it feels to be cared for."

 

The shadow closes his eyes and begins to breathe peacefully, satisfied with the answer.

 

"Nice horns, by the way," he adds, which prompts the shadow to snap its eyes open. Stan flinches back a little from the action.

 

"Thanks. You want 'em?"

 

"I think I'm good."


"Too bad. I'm you -- they're yours."

 

The last thing Stan sees is his own smug smile (a spitting image of what he sees in the mirror every morning) as his shadow self dissolves into light and leaps towards his heart. He cups a hand over the spark and soon he too is enveloped in a light almost too bright to look at. When it fades, Stan finds the shadow's furry cloak over his shoulders and a... card on his chest where his hand had been. He gingerly touches the protrusions on his head, then, in a panic, pats down his clothing to make sure the shadow didn't give him the... less tasteful gear as well.

 

The yellow of his eyes quickly fades back to a familiar green just as he turns to Lara. "I don't know how much of that you heard, but thank you."

Edited by TehUltimateMage

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Tien decides he doesn’t much like this Shadow Realm almost immediately. The dark, creepy ambiance reaches a level of unsettling he didn’t even realize he could get to when paired with the--paintings? Disturbingly skilled paintings, things that look like they had been created with someone with Memory skills on par with Tien’s--but not the kind of things Tien would ever want to make. He keeps his eyes fixed on the floor after the first couple he passes, his burning curiosity dampened by embarrassment. This is a really odd worst fear.

 

Fractal, nonhuman as she is, has no such problem. The few times Tien glances up again, she’s looking at one picture or another with innocent curiosity. Once or twice, she leans over and starts a couple of questions that make Tien bury his face in his hands and mumble “I don’t know and I don’t want to talk about it.” He barely even wants to think about it.

 

“The sooner we beat the Shadow the sooner this world disappears,” Joker announces. At this point, a Shadow would be a relief.

 

When they go into the next room, Tien’s immediate, reflexive thought is that he really doesn’t want to know what his Shadow would have looked like. Xander snaps the reins of his horse and charges forwards with a shout of “Keep behind me!” (Tien is all too happy to do so), drawing his sword in a crackle of energy. Tien’s breath catches; he Memorizes the image without thinking.

 

Next to him, Joker summons his Persona. Tien takes one step back into the hallway, two, three, thoughts racing.

 

He’s not sure what conclusion he’s coming to beyond oh, this is bad when Illidan divebombs straight through the creature and leaves it deflating in a blast of smoke, revealing...another Stan. Right. Shadows. Of course. Very odd worst fear considering what he’d thought Stan was like, but--that’s the point, isn’t it? It was what Tien thought of him. Not what he was actually like. 

 

He is very, very tempted to approach close enough to hear what Stan mutters to his double. That’s what he’s been taught to do, after all. But he doesn’t. He knows he wouldn’t have wanted anyone to overhear his conversation with his Shadow, and so he lets Stan keep his peace. 

 

A bright light, and--

 

Stan has horns.

 

Tien’s eyes dart between him and Xander. Apparently that is a normal thing around here, as he certainly doesn’t remember that happening with his Shadow. Someone would have told him if it had, right? Right. Fractal would have asked about it at the very least. 

 

Stan approaches Lara with a smile. Tien starts to breathe normally again.

 

“That was a lot smoother than these things normally go, isn’t it?” he comments softly to Joker, managing a smile. “Seems like we’ve been pretty lucky.”

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[Lara Rochelle - Shadow World - The Power of the Heart]

 

Lara watches in silence as Stan faces his shadow. The softness in his voice, the way he speaks to his other self.... Her heart warms. Lara watches with softened eyes as she listens to Stan's words- how he loves her, much to her surprise... Chanel taught me that it was possible for me to care, and Lara taught me to remember how it feels to be cared for. Lara places one hand to her heart as her lips curl upwards, just a little bit. 

 

He.... Loves me. 

 

Lara feels the pressure behind her eyes as she tries to fight back tears. While Chikako had given her minimal makeup, there had been enough mascara that Lara would be embarrassed to have it running down her face. It's already enough that the dress she just bought is bloody and ruined.... As well as Stan's poor jacket, it had been a rather nice one. 

 

Stan turns to her, the only unfamiliar feature on him being the horns on his head. But those eyes..... Those beautiful green irises that had enticed her from the moment they met. They sparkle brightly when he looks at her. "I don't know how much of that you heard, but thank you." Stan says this with more warmth than she'd heard in his voice... ever. 

 

That causes Lara to smile back at him, tears welling up but not falling. She closes the few steps of distance between them and snakes her arms around his waist, placing her chin on his shoulder. Lara turns her head to press her lips against his cheek, giving him a tight squeeze. "Stanley.... I heard every last word. And you never, ever cease to surprise me, hotshot." She presses her cheek to his, closing her eyes for a moment and taking some time to breathe. This whole thing had been an emotional rollercoaster, and to finally be able to take a break and get some catharsis... Wonderful. "Stanley... If anything...." I have you to thank. "I think you've taught me a thing or two, too." She lets out a deep breath and takes a step back, giving Stan a warm smile as she quietly uses a finger to catch the tears from her eyes. "Love, it means more than you know to hear everything you've said."

 

Then she looks at the blood that stains Stan's jacket. "Ah.... Your.... jacket...."

I could never love you more than I do right now.

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[Utakata - Shadow World - Does anyone hear that voice?]

 

Utakata seethes as his chakra wave fizzles out. The fact that Illidan just ****ing suplexed that shadow??? ONE PUNCH???? ONE GODDAMN PUNCH????? Utakata closes his eyes and lets out a breath through his nose, deciding it's not worth sending Saiken on anyone today. Instead, he turns to look at Lara and Stan, and his expression softens. He has to admit, as many grievances as he has with Lara.... He has to admit that it's nice seeing those two happy. 

 

Of course, that moment is cut short with a loud rumble as the floor gives out under Utakata, Lara, and Stan. Utakata yelps in surprise, but is unable to get out of there as the floor caves and collapses. 

 

He finds himself falling....

 

Falling.....

 

Until he lands flat on his hind end. He lets out a small "ouch" and looks around at his surroundings. It's eerily familiar, and he doesn't like it. What he sees reminds him of a rather twisted version of his village. It's empty, sure, but it's all there. Buildings, marketplace, all of it. In fact, what makes his heart stop is what's right in front of him.

 

The house he grew up in. His eyes widen as he bolts to his feet. It's the exact same as he remembers it, except the windows are covered. His mother never liked having the kitchen windows closed, if he remembers right....

 

"You finally showed up...."

 

Utakata looks around, his eyes wide with panic as he looks at Lara and Stan. "D-did you just.... hear that?"

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[SHADOW WORLD - AWAKENING OF THE HIEROPHANT]

 

The battle ended before it even began. 

A single slice through the beast’s stomach and it fell to the ground, poofing into smoke to reveal the battered form of Stan’s shadow. Siegfried’s glow dimmed as Xander slid it back into its sheath. He let out a sigh, idly watching Lara and Stan converse. Behind him, Joker clasped his hands behind his back and smoothly strolled up besides Tien.

 

Oh I wouldn’t say we’re in the clear just yet,” he said. He slyly glanced over at Tien. “Just wait a second. Nothing ever finishes this cleanly.”

 

Almost as though on cue, the flooring collapsed. Lara, Stan, and Utakata were standing right above the cracks in the flooring. The agents watched as their friends fell tumbling down in the darkness. The floor continued to crack, wood giving way as the hole on the other side of the room began slowly growing. Sieghorse let out a startled neigh. He backed up, hooves clicking against the ground. Xander glanced worriedly behind him, but the exit had seemingly disappeared, leaving everyone trapped in the room.

 

There’s no way out!” he called over his shoulder. He glanced around the room, checking to see how fast the hole was caving in. The hole was only getting closer.

 

Ah, Tien thought in a blank, half-detached way that was only marginally better than panicking. I see. I ruined it. Alright, what options did he have? No exit. Could he Soulcast an exit, or a more solid floor? This was the Cognitive Realm, after all, he’d done similar tricks before, if rarely. Let’s see. Hadn’t heard voices whispering, so Fractal needed to translate. How much closer was the hole? 

 

...Not much, surprisingly. His mind was working overtime. Tien opened his mouth and called for his spren. One heartbeat. Two heartbeats. The floor came closer. Three heartbeats, Fractal gripped his hand. Four heartbeats, she began to whisper the translated thoughts of the world around him. Five heartbeats, six heartbeats, seven heartbeats and Tien took a breath and glowed with Stormlight. Eight heartbeats, and he opened his mouth to convince the world to change. Nine heartbeats, halfway through a sentence--

 

Ten heartbeats. The floor gave out under him. His thoughts scattered. He fell.

 

No sooner had he heard Xander call it out that Illidan became airborne to avoid the hole. Good thing he had wings... but then there was the predicament of Xander being on horseback. Saving him in the bazaar had been one thing, but Illidan knew his limits and he knew he wouldn't be able to save both Xander and his steed.

 

Seeing Tien fall in as well only made the situation that much more dire.

 

Amongst the panicking agents, Joker stood idly. He shoved his hands into his pockets and very casually strode over towards the growing hole. 

If there’s one thing I learned about these Shadow Worlds in particular it’s that the only thing that can hurt you are Shadows, not the environment they dwell in,” Joker said. He kicked a small broken piece of the floor into the hole. He watched it silently as it fell down into the abyss. If it hit the ground, it made no sound once it did so. “I can’t say it’ll be painless, but we’re all getting out of here alive.” Joker spun around on his heel so he could face the remaining agents. “I’ll see you all on the other side!” With a wink, Joker backflipped into the hole and descended into the darkness with Arsene flying down after him. 

 

Xander was speechless.

The boy had jumped into a hole. Their guide just tried to be cheeky with them and then jumped into the dark abyss that swallowed the other agents whole. Of course, Stan’s little perverted dungeon was just a reflection of his thoughts and desires so it only made sense for everything in the dungeon, including the hole, to not be bound by normal logic. It made some sense in some strange way. Still, watching a teenager backflip into a hole was not something Xander ever thought he’d get used to seeing.

 

Gods…” Xander squeezed the bridge of his nose between his fingers. Strangely enough, this wouldn’t be the second time he jumped into a seemingly endless pit at the behest of someone else and even more strange that had happened before he knew about the multiverse. At least he had some experience with this. Sieghorse reared his head up, his ears flattening against his skull as the cracks in the ground crawled closer towards him. Xander mumbled a string of curses under his breath. His mind made up, Xander pulled at Sieghorse’s reins hard enough to redirect his attention. Sieghorse stilled almost immediately. His ears perked up instantly and curved towards Xander attentively. 

 

So be it,” Xander said softly under his breath. Mona likely already knew what to do, so Xander lifted his head up to where Illidan was anxiously hovering. “We don’t have any other options, so we might as well follow his lead.” Without skipping a beat, Xander yanked at Sieghorse’s reins and ordered him forward. The stallion’s training and trust in his owner was more than enough to overcome his instinctual fear. He galloped forward, jumping from broken stone to crack before leaping fearlessly headfirst into the waiting darkness.

 

Illidan couldn't help the sigh that escaped his lips, but if Xander was that confident that they'd survive the fall, then it couldn't be helped. He'd heard of adventurers from Azeroth that had survived worse. He dove down, confident that his wings would help break his own fall, at least.

 

~~~

 

No sooner had Lara let go of her embrace had the floor finally given way under her, Stan, and Utakata. Stan grabbed onto her again just as the wood snapped with a deafening crack and fell into the void, and for a couple seconds Stan found himself in freefall, first through darkness and then through a bright, wet mist.

 

He landed nearly flat on his back while protecting Lara, and while it was painful, it didn’t feel as deliberating as it should have been given the height. With a groan he rose from the ground, making sure that all his limbs worked, then dusted off his clothes — including his new cloak. Through the fog he could see the rounded shapes of concrete buildings, sort of like the rundown cities of Vespa, but dotted by overgrown trees instead of Venus’ oppressive sandscapes. In front of him stood Utakata and a thump behind him caused Stan to whip around and see Tien fall and another unfamiliar kid land lightly on his toes. It wasn’t long before the rest of the group from above landed a lot more gracefully than Stan himself did, including Xander’s beast of a war horse. 

 

Feels like we’re still in the Shadow World,” Stan cautioned Lara, if only to force himself to look away from Xander. “Does this look familiar to you in any way?

 

She’d winced when she saw Tien land. “...Oh Lord, is Tien alright? That looked like it hurt.” Then she paused, sighed, and turned back to her boyfriend. “No,” Lara replied, “But look…. Seems familiar to Utakata over here. See the panic?” 

 

Just as he did when they first landed in Valla, Sieghorse landed gently on the ground. His hooves clacked softly against the dirt. Xander peered down at his steed’s legs, checking for any possible injury. Sieghorse stood strongly on all four legs with not a limp in sight. Xander sighed with relief; a single leg injury, no matter how small, could be devastating for a horse. He leaned down to pat Sieghorse reassuringly on his flank. The stallion nickered in response, his tail flickering attentively.  

 

With Sieghorse’s health assured, Xander straightened himself upright.

Is everyone alright?” he asked. He quickly surveyed his surroundings, taking in the Hoshidan-like architecture and searching for familiar faces to make sure everyone was accounted for. Stan and Tien appeared to be staggering, likely because of the poor landing, but Lara, Illidan, Joker, Mona, and… no. Xander narrowed his eyes. Where was Utakata? 

 

Tien let out a groan, pain sending throbbing pulses up his arm. Oh, he’d landed badly on that...had he heard a crack? “Fractal?”

 

A presence at his side almost immediately. “Here. Human arms do not bend that way, yes?”

 

Tien looked over and winced. “No, they certainly don’t.” He held Fractal’s hand with his unhurt one. Had he released all his Stormlight in that fall? What a waste. Or maybe he’d just used it all up healing when he landed.

 

He wasn’t sure if that idea was worse.

 

Regardless, he took a breath of Light and watched the glow rise from his skin. He stretched out his arm, the pain numbing, being replaced with vibrant energy as flesh and bone knitted under his skin.

 

Shame about his jacket, though. He’d liked this jacket (it was one of his last links to the other world that was home, one of the last threads he had remaining of Roshar, and now now now--)

 

Tien shook the thought away and pulled himself to his feet with Fractal’s help. “I... is everyone okay? Joker? Stan, Lara, Xander…” Yes, yes, yes, yes, and, at the end of the line with panic growing on his face… “...Utakata?” 

 

Utakata drowned out whatever other noise he heard. His body had started to tremble as the knob of the door turned and the door opened. He looked in panic until he noticed a child walk out and smirk at him. There was a yell from inside, but the door closed before Utakata could pinpoint why it was familiar. Then he felt much, much more relaxed.

 

...Haha, no. 

 

Instead, the chills went up Utakata’s spine as he saw something that made him sick- the child had the same kimono Utakata wore at the age of five, the same waist-length hair, the same lotus hairclip. Utakata paled at this, taking two steps back. “Wh-what- what the hell are you?

 

His child self frowned in a mocking manner. “You know, sometimes you’re such a moron it hurts. Of course you know who I am. I’m you. Are you gonna face me this time? Or are you gonna run away again, just like you did six years ago?” 

 

Utakata’s eyes widened. “What….?” The child even had the same voice Utakata did as a kid.

 

You heard me, boy, I’m you.” The child took a few steps forward and smirked. “Probably surprising how small I am, isn’t it? And yet that look of panic on your face- you know.” 

 

Utakata took two more steps back. “Y-you’re lying…. Y-you’re-

 

The childhood you wish you had, is the correct response.” The child rolled his eyes- the color of a certain citrus- and stepped forward to shove Utakata to the ground. “But that’s not the biggest thing rattling around in that empty head of yours, isn’t it?” The child shifted to a young woman, with long wavy blonde hair. The irises remained the same pale yellow. “Of course, I could be the student you failed too, or anyone else in your life that you abandoned. Because let’s face it, you always do.

 

Shut…. shut up….” The panic in Utakata’s voice rose as he tried to scramble back. Hotaru…. No, it couldn’t be. Of course, as quickly as it shifted, it returned to child form. 

 

Hm. That got to you real good, didn’t ya?

 

Lara knit her eyebrows together. She was learning a lot about this man, and she didn’t even have to have a conversation with him.

 

Tien winced in silent sympathy, taking a step or two back in an attempt at offering privacy--and yanking Fractal with him by the back of her too-stiff robes when she tried to lean forwards instead. Storms, he was suddenly so glad his own confrontation with his Shadow had been mercifully private.

 

"Utakata!" Stan shouted, trying to inject some sense into the shinobi. "Your shadow's just trying to rile you up into rejecting it!"

 

Don’t let it intimidate you!” Joker briskly passed the agents with Arsene floating closely behind him. They had just arrived and already the Shadow was trying to goad its creator into rejecting his identity. Joker bit his lip. It was working far more quickly than expected. “Everything here is a part of you,” Joker said. He raised his arms and motioned towards the abandoned village they stood in. “All of this is just a reflection of your emotions and thoughts. Nothing here can hurt you unless you give it the power to.” Joker slowly took a step forward. “You’re speaking to a phantom, your phantom. Don’t trick yourself into rejecting it. You must find the resolve to accept it! That’s the only way to make this all go away!

 

Utakata couldn’t register what anyone else was saying- all that he heard was his own voice. All he felt was the panic rising in his chest, and all he could see was the child looming over him. His eyes widened as he attempted to scramble backwards, only to have the boy catch up with him, lean down, and cup his cheek with his hand. The boy pouted and cocked his head to the side mockingly. “Tsk-tsk, you should really listen to your friends there- if you can even call them that.” He smirked. “But you were never one to listen to people who didn’t have control over you, were you? Well… Isn’t that why you ran away after you killed Master Harusame? So you could no longer be the Mist’s little puppet?

 

Stop... Please, back away and leave me alone-” Utakata pleaded. 

 

But the child did not listen. “You know I’m right, Utakata, because you’re me. There’s a reason people being used as weapons gets under your skin- because ever since your tool of a father, you were to take on that damned beast. You were always meant to be that village’s weapon, and look around? We’re all alone here. Because you’re alone, and you will always be alone.” The hand on Utakata’s cheek moved slightly down the side of his face, making Utakata’s skin crawl. Then he felt a heavy SLAP across his face, causing him to yelp and collapse to the side. “Isn’t that why you had a master? To get that support you so craved. That’s why you took on Hotaru as a student in the end- for the validation you always wanted. So that you had someone you could control. You want to be the master, but you’re nothing more than a puppet!

 

Tien’s breath hitched. His own Shadow’s voice echoed in his mind. He used us!...I want to find everyone who ever hurt us and watch them crumble! He remembered...something like this. He knew what it felt like to be--to be--but not like this. It hurt to watch. It tugged at him. He wanted to help… he felt himself take an unconscious step forwards before Fractal gripped his hand. She held him back this time. What could he...what could he… 

 

For Stan, this was getting painful to watch. He nearly turned away from second-hand embarrassment. He could care less about what the shadow was saying about Utakata, and, now that it wasn't his own past getting laid bare, the whole thing felt needlessly melodramatic. Spinning the chambers of Lara's revolver and cocking back the hammer of the gun, he pointed it coldly at the child. By pulling the trigger and having the bang echo through the landscape, Stan wanted to cut to the end of this nonsense, or at least, give the ninja a beat to recover.

 

That fired Utakata up- humiliate him like this? In front of his teammates? How dare this brat. It was as if his mind snapped back into focus. He sat up, bringing himself to his feet, towering over the child and stomping his foot against the ground. “That’s enough! None of that is true, and if you were me as you so claim, you wouldn’t say such utter crap!” He’d lifted his left hand so he could smack the child across the face, but-

 

The child smirked. “Now I had been hoping you’d say that.” The child started to change in both voice and size as he changed into a grotesque monster. The thing was a large six-tailed snake, three of its tails chained to an almost lifeless clone of Utakata, which made Utakata’s stomach churn. But without warning, the snake’s tails twitched and it sent the clone forward, colliding with the real Utakata and sending him flying several meters back. Then the snake turned to face the others. “Now you’re next, I can’t wait to make puppets out of you!

 

Illidan bristled at seeing the monstrous beast. Why did he always get the freaky ones? No matter; it'd fall before his Warglaives either way. He drew the infamous green blades, still stained with the blood of one Shadow, and flew up to strike at the serpent before him. If all went well, this Shadow would fall just as fast.

 

The snake let out a loud cry as Illidan did so, falling limp. It needed some time to recover on that one. 

 

Lara took that opportunity to take out the guns Stan upgraded and fired a shot at the snake- which caused it to writhe in pain. She grinned and looked at Stan. “Oh baby, I like these,” she said to him. Then she glared at the snake. She fired another shot with the other gun, to her dismay not doing as much. Still, the damage had been done. 

 

"Thank me later, when we're done with pest control," Stan replied, but returned her smirk. With all the backup they had now, it looked like they were in a good place to turn the tides, even though when he looked down, he realized his chambers were empty. 

 

You're more resourceful than that, Stan told himself, though in a way it felt like the words weren't his own. I am thou, and thou art I...

 

Mona grinned as he sent out Zorro- about time he had a fight. Closing his eyes, he scanned the large snake, and he let out a wide grin when he did so. “ALRIGHT! I hope you guys have guns ready- because this thing is weak to ‘em!” He narrowed his eyes and took a second. “As well as Ice and…… Huh? Illidan?” He blinked. “Ooooookay.” 

 

He realized he couldn’t find his gun. “Rats! Let’s see- Zorro! Garula!” Zorro sent out the attack, but not only was it too far to the right, it doesn’t seem like it did much to the snake. “DRAT,” he spat. “Joker!

 

I hear you!” Joker yelled. Arsene didn’t have much range when it came to ice attacks. In fact, his abilities were exclusively physical and curse based meaning Joker was going to have to rely on himself. He quickly unflipped the latch to his holster pulled the model gun settled within it. He flipped the gun around his hands skillfully before clicking the hammer. “I got your back!

 

Siegfried was slowly drawn out of its sheath. It burst to life once more, a dangerous violet grow emitting from the blade. Sparks flew off from the blade, eager to lash out at whoever drew too near. Xander raised his hand slowly into the air and, as he did so, the ground began to raise. In the immediate vicinity, hard blocks of dirt and stone emerged from the ground. 

 

Take cover if you need to!” Xander called to the agents. The makeshift covers should provide protection if the Shadow attempted to lash out at whoever was hiding behind them, but the soil was weak and without strong foundation. Xander doubted the covers could last more than a single hit or so, but they were all he could work especially since the abandoned buildings around them looked equally frail.

 

Take a step back. Another. A third, fourth, fifth. Whatever you do, don’t break into a run. There is no safety to run to here, despite the cover. Tien’s breath came in shallow starts, eyes wide. Almighty, he was so, so glad he was used to facing truths about himself, that his Shadow was only another version of the Truths he’s sworn. This--this--he didn’t know what he would have done if he’d had to face something like this on his own.

 

He didn’t know what he was doing now, either. He wanted to run. He wanted to do something. He didn’t--he didn’t know what he could do. Soulcasting? Xander had seemed to do it easily enough…But this wasn’t Shadesmar, it was Utakata’s own warped fears. It was likely as not that if his Shadow thought to act, its will could override Xander’s and reset the landscape; or, more importantly, override Tien’s, leaving him with nothing but dun spheres. Not worth draining his Stormlight for unless things turned drastic.

 

Was this drastic?

 

He didn’t know. He didn’t-didn’t-didn’t know, and Fractal at his side could not hum in his chest like she did in the Physical Realm and the Cognitive Realm meant he didn’t have her weaponform, not as Blade nor staff nor life saving shield--

 

Tien wasn’t a fighter, storm it all!

 

“Tien…”

 

“I’m not a fighter,” Tien whispered out loud.

 

Little Lightweaver, did we not just have this talk?

 

Utakata opened his eyes and rolled onto his stomach as he helplessly watched. Physically he was fine, mentally he was recovering, but something in him told him to stay the hell down. “Dammit,” he wheezed, “my….pipe….” It was over near Stan’s foot, next to an empty container. He looked at it in dismay. “Shoot….

 

Stan heard Xander's warning and from the corner of his eye he saw the dirt walls rise. However, the acknowledgement from the masked kid that all of this was in someone's head, in addition to the calmness blanketing his mind, made him feel nearly invincible. The card pulsed in his breast pocket. He took a moment to pick up the pipe and the emptied soap container, unfazed by the chaos around him. He barely knew anything about Utakata, but the desire to run away... It was something that he could sympathize with. 

 

Against his desire to rush in and be the hero and the pulsing near his heart, he knelt down in front of the fallen ninja. "The rest of the team is busy snake-wrangling. Maybe you are a snake, and I don't really care. Maybe you can't stop thinking about the past, but in the end, nobody cares where you're from. You're with the X-Dreamers now." Stan, admitting to himself how brash he sounded, was never really good at giving pep-talks. But he could at least try and instill some of his carefree attitude in the other man. "It's what you are today that counts. The feelings exist in your heart, but the reality is that nobody is here to control you, and nobody here exists to be controlled. Be a kid. Be a teacher. Be our friend. Your choice." He took a breath. "Once that monster hits the ground, I want you to find your own truth.

 

That was enough validation. He managed to resist the tears putting pressure on his eyes. That didn’t stop the anxiety-induced tremble his body was caught in, however, and he closed his eyes to take a few solid, deep breaths. Be a kid. Be a teacher. Be our friend. Your choice. Those were the kindest words said by an almost stranger. Utakata didn’t want to believe the things his shadow had said, but… In a way, they were his truth- that of a past self he couldn’t help but wallow in every single day of those six years he wasted wandering about. 

 

It was time to make his own truth, something new. 

 

Wasn’t that something Ren had told him some time back? Take big changes as a chance to start fresh?

 

The corners of his lips tugged upwards a little and he looked up at Stan, making eye contact with his nose instead of his irises. “...Yeah. I… Um…. Damn, was I ever good at emotions? ...Thanks. I… Needed that.” While his hands still shook, just faintly, Stan’s words did ground him enough to knock him into reality. There was a fight going on, and it needed to be ended, right? “....Well? Time to go kick my ass.” He graciously took back his pipe and container, frowning in dismay that the tube was empty. “Ah- I’ll sit the rest of this out unless ya need me, don’t wanna go all beastie until I gotta.” 

 

The snake woke up and let out a roar of rage. Its tails holding the clone swung, sending the clone around the battlefield. Lara attempted to do a backflip, but before she could jump the clone smacked into her and sent her a few feet. She mentioned a few not-Countess-like words and laid there for a moment, thankful she put her guns in the holsters before she tried to dodge. Utakata winced- that looked painful.

 

"Lara!" Stan yelled in concern, but the chaotic movements of the shadow meant that one of the tails was heading his way. Standing protectively in front of Utakata, he raised his hands to protect his head from the hit. Somehow, he managed to hold his ground against the strike... even if he realized afterwards that his heels had been sunk a few centimeters into the dirt.

 

Mona managed to dodge, but using Garula again did nothing. It missed, and Mona cursed. 

 

Tien yelped and released Fractal’s hand to try and dive behind one of the covers. Didn’t make it in time. The clone hit him hard, at just the right angle against a rock to break his arm for the second storming time that day, and Tien let out a gasp of pain. Storms… he all but gasped for Stormlight, the cool energy working its way into his body. 

 

It reminded him of home. Not in a good way, either. Of battlefields, scrambling through a mesh of bodies and weapons and trying to stay at the fringes desperately, so desperately, so often failing, with the Light augmenting his speed, his stamina, keeping him on his feet by soothing away his injuries--there were so many things he had only lived through because of Stormlight.

 

And Fractal. Stormlight and Fractal.

 

Where was Fractal?

 

Tien scrambled to his feet, broken bones knitting together, and frantically scanned the landspace for the shape of his robed Cryptic. No, no no no--there, oh thank the Almighty--he scrambled towards her. 

 

Illidan tried to fly to dodge the tails. He managed to dodge the clone, but mistimed his movements and was sent flying by one of the tails themselves. That was going to leave a mark. Nonetheless, Illidan was back on his hooves and tried to shoot the Shadow with an Eye Beam.

 

And he cursed in a demonic language when it missed.

 

Xander didn’t bother dodging out of the way. As soon as he saw the snake wind itself up for an attack, he lifted his hand up once more. Another taller cover quickly expanded from the ground in front of him, completely obscuring him from the Shadow’s few. From the corner of his eye, Xander spotted Joker duck dive behind one of the covers just in time to dodge the attack. The barrier in front of Xander was sliced cleanly in half. The stone crumbled before him. The broken top slowly slid downward, plummeting to the ground in a cloud of dust. 

 

Xander reamined unphased even as the force of the impact drew up a gust of wind and rustled his hair. He yanked on Sieghorse’s reins, eliciting a whinny out of him as he galloped out from under the cover. He held Siegfried in an upright position in front of his chest. The sparks dancing along the blade turned to a deep crimson. They coalesced into a single line of electricity building at the base of the blade. Just as he was about to send the electricity flying, he saw movement as his allies were flung around like ragdolls why the serpent’s tail. Xander mumbled a curse under his breath and quickly pointed his sword away from its intended target. A bright, hot red laser soarded off of Xander’s blade and launched itself towards a building beside the monster. The tiles on the buildings roof hit by the impact were singed, stained black. Xander’s grip on Siegfried’s hilt tightened as he watched Joker miss several potshots in the beast’s direction. Should he have made more barriers, or were the sheer amount of them clogging up the battlefield?

 

The snake yelled and its tails spread, sending a rush of water over the battlefield.

 

The second attack was crueler than the first. It came too fast for Xander to dodge undercover. Harsh, cold water washed over him. Sieghorse buckled to his knees, and Xander was sent careening into his neck. The water drenched them to their very bones, leaving them shivering and immobile. Joker, who had attempted to exit cover right before the attack, was in a similar predicament, sprawled helplessly on the ground.

 

Lara whimpered as she was blasted with cold water. Mona failed to dodge as he too was drenched.

 

Illidan had bent down to start flying again, but the water was too fast and caught him, as well.

 

Tien reached out for Fractal and only barely brushed her hand before the water hit, tearing him away from her and sending him tumbling in a soaking-cold yelp.

 

The snake really didn't give them a chance, did it? Stan tried to defend against this attack as well, but the frigid waves seemed to paralyze him to his core and wash him away.

 

Utakata watched as everyone else was knocked down by freezing cold water. He had been lucky to not have it as bad, but he was terrified for everyone else. Were they going to be okay? Was he screwed? Were they screwed? What was he going to do?

 

Okay. That’s **** it. He stood up and cracked his knuckles. “Okay you six-tailed son of the Fourth Mizukage, you’re mine.” Utakata cracked his neck and prepared himself for what was about to come. “Saiken! Ok!

 

That feeling of his skin setting on fire once again came, but this time it felt as though someone was making that fire hotter and hotter. A loud yell arose from Utakata’s lungs as his form began to change, into the form he once promised to never use again. But he had to- he had to! If he wanted friends, he had to help! That kept him through the pain as Saiken took control.

 

Saiken hadn’t taken on the largest form, but he still met eye-stalks to eyes with the giant snake. Saiken let out a loud squelching noise as one of his tails lunged to grab one of the tails the snake used to keep the clone restrained and pulled at it. The snake screeched, but it couldn’t resist when Saiken pulled. The snake went flying over Saiken’s head and past everyone else. As he turned, the snake lunged to bite at Saiken….. only to get a mouthful of mucus. Saiken hissed and sent acid in its face, causing yet another screech of pain. 

 

Now, Utakata thought, all six of Saiken’s tails grabbed all six of the snake’s tails, and with one whip the snake was slammed against the ground. He did this not one, not two, but six times before the snake was down.

 

The snake started to dissipate as the child was left behind, face down on the ground. Utakata started to suppress Saiken as his form once again returned. “...Damn,” he whispered as he approached the child.

 

The child looked up, yellow eyes looking sunken and exhausted. 

 

Utakata looked down at him and sighed. “Get up.” Pause. “Now.”

 

The child moved to a sitting position and frowned. “Will you deny me again?

 

Utakata shook his head and went down to a knee, meeting his own eyes. “No. I won’t give you- myself- that power again. You’re right, how I feel about myself now is based on the past. I won’t ever able to get over it completely.” Then he shrugged. “But it’s time for a new truth, yeah? Stan was right- I need to stop worrying about what I was, none of that matters. So if it’s all the same to you, I’d like to move forward and be a better man, save the melodrama. Sound good?

 

The child nodded, and Utakata wrapped his arms around his form. In the child’s ear, he whispered, “Thank you. Please, let me forgive myself. Let me make my own truth,” It felt as if there were a lump in his throat when the child dissipated, leaving behind a card that fit in the palm of Utakata’s writing hand. He looked at it, it had some strange symbol on the bottom- his pipe in the top corners and…. Hotaru in the bottom corners. He pressed it close to his chest, and he mused, “so this is what it feels like to let go. Feels…. Good. Feels good.

 

Oh, hey, the snake was gone. That was...good? Yeah. That was good. Tien coughed up water and wiped at his face, unsure if there were tears starting to slide down his face or if it was just more water. He should probably be happy for Utakata. Probably encourage him. Something. But he was cold and damp and he needed an anchor

 

Tien reached out, mumbling weakly. Fractal…?”

 

Not quite.” The agents and Phantom Thieves were scattered across the village. Most were now coughing up mouthfuls of water or attempting to help one another regain their footing. The warm hand clutching Joker’s own was unexpected to say the least. Telinar, no, Tien appeared to be someone who mostly kept to himself or at least anxious around others if Joker was to go on his interactions with Tien on the beach. Tien was obviously looking for his friend, Fractal she called herself, for comfort. Joker couldn’t help but feel a twinge of guilt that Tien had blindly latched onto him instead of the one he was looking for. 

 

Tien blinked. Not Fractal, but someone. Fractal would, had to be fine--(“I cannot die unless you kill me”)--any anchor would do in the meantime. “Oh,” Tien said dazedly, registering who it was, “pretty boy.

 

...Storms, had he said that out loud

 

Can you sit up?” Joker asked kindly. Resisting the urge to cough, Joker sat himself up into an upright position. He gently tugged at Tien’s hand as an offer, not a command, to be helped up. Joker wasn’t sure if Tien was too distressed to accept help from someone he barely knew, but there was no harm in trying to make him comfortable.  

 

Well, at least he was kind enough to pretend he hadn’t heard. Tien let Joker help him to his feet. “I...yeah, I...thank you.” If he wasn’t letting go, Tien wasn’t about to either. He rubbed his face again with his other hand. “Shouldn’t have said anything earlier,” he mumbled. “Asking for trouble.

 

He still wished he’d done something to help. He still wanted to cry. More than that, he still wanted to go home. Thank you,” Tien repeated absently, starting to scan for Fractal. Something...he needed something. His hand tightened around Joker’s subconsciously. His rocks? Would a rock help? He dug into his pocket, his hand closing against one at random. Solid...solid, here, real and grounding…

 

...The other boy’s hand, warm against his own…

 

It was probably for the best that Tien was too exhausted to bother getting flustered about his feelings. Instead, he just leaned against Joker for support.

 

Tien pressing himself against Joker’s side was all the reassurance the Phantom Thief needed. He squeezed Tien’s hand reassuringly. 

 

You don’t need to apologize for anything,” Joker said. He pressed his back firmly against the stone wall behind it and immediately regretted it. The covers Xander had constructed were made of packed soil and rock. They were sufficient barriers against the worst of the snake’s attack, but they weren’t immune to being drenched. Joker could already feel the wet dirt sticking to the back of his jacket.  “You might not want to lean back,” Joker said, shivering involuntarily. Arsene rushed to its user’s side. It kneeled down beside the two boys and held out its hands, quietly waiting for Tien’s permission to lift him up.

 

Tien nodded to the Persona, shivering slightly--and not just from the cold. Before it completed its gesture, he caught sight of a flash of warm colors. “Ah--! Fractal!

 

His spren perked up and hurried over, managing to appear more haggard than Tien had ever seen her and still manage to move with her inhuman grace. “Tien! You are alright? You are not harmed? You--” she paused and seemed to notice the way he was pressed against Joker. Ah. You are forming bonds. This is good.

 

Heat rushed to his cheeks. “I--uh--mrm.” Tien coughed awkwardly and didn’t quite answer.

 

Nothing wrong with building a few social links,” Joker said with a shrug, In a show of good faith, Joker wrapped his arm around Tien’s shoulder and patted it lightly. “That and, you know, sharing body heat. We’re trying to warm up a little.” Arsene perked up. 

 

If you wish to warm yourself, I can call someone to assist,” Arsene said helpfully. Joker chuckled lightly. 

That’s okay. You don’t need to—

I can summon Queen.

What? Why? So she can run me over with Johanna?” Joker shook his head. “No, Arsene. Really, I’m okay—

I can summon Panther.

 

Don’t you dare!” Joker said, pointing an accusing finger at his Persona. “Ugh, she was the one who suggested I dress up as a waiter in the first place.” Joker, very professionally, blew a raspberry. He removed his arm from Tien’s shoulder and crossed it over his chest along with his other arm. “As annoying as it was, I suppose it wasn’t too bad. I got to meet some fine people.” Joker butted Tien with his elbow with a casual wink.

 

Tien’s cheeks flushed, and he grinned back unsteadily, resisting the urge to hide behind his hands. It seemed like interactions with...whatever you called them; Persona, spren, seraphs; were the same everywhere

 

Utakata looked behind him at everyone who was recovering. His eyes softened and he felt his jaw tense- I could have prevented this if I weren’t in such a panic…. But he closed his eyes and took a deep breath. No no, don’t be stupid. You reacted as normal, right? He wanted to go to people and help, but found himself awkwardly fiddling with the tassel on his pipe. What could he say to people? Thank you for helping? I’m sorry? I can’t heal but hope you’re okay? Those all sounded…. not good. Almost condescending, really.

 

He looked at Lara, who weakly adjusted herself so that she was sitting. “Are we bloody finished here?” She muttered under her breath.

 

Mona shook his head. “I have a feeling…. Everyone look out, it’ll be a bit windy.” He summoned Zorro to send a blast of wind at the soaking-wet crew. For the most part, this dried them off. He himself shook a few times, feeling much more refreshed. “Better?

 

Illidan sighed, then flew into a coughing fit. "Never thought I'd almost drown..." There was a scary thought.

 

Sieghorse did not appreciate anything that had happened in the last five minutes. Xander had unmounted him moments after the battle had ended. The stallion was standing with his legs sprawled apart. His fur was puffed and frizzled from Mona’s spell. His saddle had been drenched after the attack, and looking at it now Xander could tell it was still soggy to the touch. Xander realized drearily that he was likely going to have to unsaddle Sieghorse and ride him bareback for the rest of the mission.

 

Yes, thank you,” Xander called over to the Phantom Thief. Sieghorse raised his head towards Xander’s direction almost as though to challenge his claim. Xander shook his head as he lifted his hand and carded his fingers from his mostly dried hair. Gods, he needed a brush or a comb. As did everyone else, Xander realized upon looking over at his companions. They all looked winded save for, oddly enough, Utakata. “Is everyone safe? Any injuries we need to concern ourselves with?

 

Tien shivered against the blast of wind, flinching slightly. It did help, though; at least he wasn’t soaking anymore. “I’m alright. Thank you.” Thank the Almighty for Stormlight, more like… 

 

Lara shook her head. “No. I’m fine, I just need to sit down somewhere warm.” Utakata frowned and shook his head as well. He needed a place to be alone, but had a feeling that wasn’t going to happen for a little while. 

 

Mona waved off his own injuries. “We have a few healing items if anyone needs it. And frankly, we might all need a little something.”

 

"Any healing items for my pride?" Stan groaned while sitting up, holding his head, squeezing his eyes shut. Thankfully, he hadn't hit his head on anything during the flood, but the shock of the cold water gave him one heck of a headache. He snapped his eyes open, then gave his whole body a little shake. The cat-creature's wind spell did manage to blow off quite a bit of moisture from his clothes, but like Lara, he still felt quite cold. Taking one sharp breath in, he willed himself to hop to his feet in one fluid motion, no procrastination allowed. "Lady birthday is chilly," he stated, smirking at Lara, "and my own body's too cold to keep her warm." He winked.  "This could be a good time to set up camp and get our bearings. I don't know about you guys, but I'm positively exhausted."

 

Lara smirked back and made an exaggerated shivering gesture. “Brrrrr.

 

In true Stan fashion though, his words did not match his actions. He didn't appear tired at all as he strutted over to one of the abandoned houses and searched for some splintered wood that didn't seem too damp, and even less so when he made a small pile near the group. The older man knelt down and felt his breast pocket for his lighter, then cursed when he realized that both the kindling (well, papers of lesser importance) and the lighter itself were still too wet to work. The card in his pocket seemed to be pulsing again, trying to get his attention. When Stan took it out, he imagined for a split second tearing it into a bunch of pieces to start his fire for Lara. That plan was tossed pretty quickly, given that the tarot card didn't feel like paper at all in his hand. 

 

Stan swore it was almost asking him to call its name, so for once in his life, he obliged and followed the instruction. "I summon thee, King Minos."

 

Something seemed to break free from a glass barrier inside his mind. A shape materialized behind him much like it did for the masked kid, still aetherial but taking the silhouette of a man with horns and hooves, who appeared for three seconds then waved his hand towards the pile of wood. Immediately, it caught ablaze, and the spirit vanished. Agilao was the name of the skill. 

 

Tien stifled a yelp as the Persona appeared, almost clinging to Joker as he startled. Yes, he knew Stan had a persona now, but it was still--surprisingly. And it seemed like such a frivolous thing to use part of your soul on…

 

Fractal leaned over to him. “You,” she reminded him, “use my Bladeform to carve things.”

 

Hm. He did, didn’t he. Fair enough.

 

Utakata could feel the exhaustion when Stan mentioned everyone was tired. He himself wanted to go to a cave and cry, but to his dismay there were no caves. The homes around them were damaged, if not completely soaked. While he hadn’t been impacted by the water, his body trembled a little with the rising anxiety that started to return. With it came the embarrassment, the shame, and all else. But he kept his jaw set, refusing to allow any more of his emotions to come out today. 

 

Lara signed and looked down at her dress. “I’m freezing, but it seemed to do a damn good job cleaning out the blood. Not that it matters, this damned thing is ruined anyway.” She frowned. “Ah well, everyone made it out alright, so I can’t complain too much.” Before she could come up with anything else to say, however, she heard a low rumbling from some distance away. A few meters away, the ground caved in again, thankfully not near anyone in the group. 

 

When it seemed safe, Lara quickly walked to the edge of the hole and peered in. This time, the debris left a walkable slope, much to her relief. And yet to her dismay, it appeared that this world was all too familiar to her. She placed a hand to her stomach and took a few steps back. “Oi…” Then she stiffened her back and took a deep breath. “Looks like there’s caves down here. We should be able to find one and warm up. And with luck, a place to start a good fire.

 

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Edited by Mikasa361

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[Lara Rochelle - Shadow World - Ghosts of my past]

 

They'd taken a second to warm up in a cave next to the wreckage. Sitting next to Stan, Lara pokes at the fire, the feeling of warmth keeping her from wanting to run back into Utakata's dungeon. She cuddles up in Stan's now-dried jacket, noting Utakata returning to the fire. His eyes are rimmed with red, and her heart sinks. 

 

After all, she'd been the one to suggest having a group come to this bloody party with her. She'd been the one who dragged this entire group into her troubles, and now at least four people have had their secrets exposed, as far as she knows. Nobody else had really talked about their worlds much, and she doesn't blame them. Lara takes a deep breath and closes her eyes, trying to cover herself with the jacket. Part of her, however, can't help but think about what would've happened had she gone by herself. Would things have gone according to Amanda's plan? Would things have gotten to this? Would she have survived?

 

This she does not know. But it beats having the burden of feeling like it was all her fault. 

 

"You never have to be cold, my Lara, if you don't want to be."

 

Lara suddenly feels chills run up her spine. She immediately stands up, not paying attention to the reactions of the others. That voice.... She hadn't heard that voice in.... ten, no.... twel- fourteen years? "Mother?" Looking around, she doesn't see anything. There's no particular direction that the voice comes from either- it sounds as if it had been from everywhere and from herself all at once. She really... doesn't understand what's going on. 

 

"Anaya, I've gone and mucked it up again. You don't understand, everyone I fall for something disastrous happens. Everyone I get close to, something happens and someone gets hurt."

 

If Lara hadn't felt her hairs stand on end before, she certainly would feel it now. She looks around and tries again, without results, to find the source of the sound. None of this is right to her- had the others been hearing these things too? 

 

"Winston.... You're telling me... Father's dead?

 

I'm sorry, Lady Croft. They hadn't been able to find him. He's most likely passed."

 

Memories. They're all her memories. Lara's eyes widen as she turns towards a long cavern path. During her turn, she notices looks of concern, but she stomps her foot to the ground and picks up running, her heels flying off during her first couple of bounds. She can hear "LARA!" coming from Stan as she proceeds to run down the path. Somehow, it's not as cold as she'd thought it would be, but even then she keeps running. 

 

Forward, forward, forward, up some stairs... Until she reaches a monastery. All of this world reminds her of fourteen years ago, and she's not liking it. When she pushes a door and walks in, she notices something that makes her blood run cold. There's a taller woman, dressed in the same suit jacket and skirt that her mother had worn when she'd died. The figure turns around, with the same yellow eyes the previous shadows had worn. 

 

The figure smirks. "About bloody time. Welcome, Lara."

 

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[PHANTOM THIEVES - LARA'S SHADOW WORLD]

 

Oracle teleports her group into the world she'd detected. She walks with Skull, Fox, Temeraire, and Enterprise up a set of stairs and into some sort of monastery. Someone is already there, frozen in place as she sees the Shadow at the top of the stairs, into what seems to be a rather fragile looking floor. She faces the group and places a finger to her lips as she moves in the direction, moving into a small hallway so she can watch the scene unfold. 

 

 

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