Fandom Distorted Mirror [IC]

[MidwayLives]

"HEY NO WHAT ARE YOU DOING STAHP!" Her fierce and sudden drunken scrambling to keep him from getting the bottle only ended with him definitely getting it and her absolutely faceplanting into the sidewalk.​

"No! No good!"

Aurora hoped that when she eventually sobered up, she didn't take his words to be too patronizing. He just couldn't stand to see someone so clearly down on their luck. It was such a distressing sight. If she remembered any of this at all.

Oh and down she went.

"Are you okay??!"

Quickly moving to help Vernal back up to her feet, Aurora shook his head from side to side.

"That settles it! You're not getting this back!"
​

"Too late fer that."​

That brought a frown to the boy's face.

It hadn't just been the sudden eating of shit Vernal had just done with that faceplant. If he was being honest, she looked like absolute trash. Her hair from what he could see looked scruffy and really needed a trim. Not to mention the blatant drinking out in public. It had to have all been smaller signs connecting to a bigger issue.

She was hurting and clearly had no one to help her.
​

"Gots a motel room. Somewhere. Not that onesh."

You didn't get the level of trust and pull that Aurora had with one of Mistral's strongest players by being a total scumbag.

Those kinds of people played too rough and more often than not got smacked down for it.

It was part of the reason why the gang had a "Community Team' that was meant to help out those in need/felt they couldn't go to the police for one reason or another.

But Aurora's role was bigger than that. He had the Boss's ear, something not too many people could say.

"A motel huh..."

The motels around here sucked. Or maybe his time in the relative lap of luxury thanks to the Boss's good graces had spoiled him. He wouldn't be ashamed to admit the latter. It was a sign of how influential and powerful the Boss had become and by extension the Ashes too. He'd just met this woman and he couldn't imagine the Boss would have any use for her. He didn't even know if she had a semblance. But what was the alternative? Walk away and let her drink til she ended up as just another body on Mistral's list, a cadaver in a ditch. The Bound Ashes were working under the Boss's hand to reach out and mold Mistral into a better tomorrow.

Better tomorrows didn't have people like this.

"Would you...um...Like to stay somewhere nicer? You didn't say if you knew anybody but If it's not too much trouble on your part, I could talk my Boss into working something out..??"​

 

[MidwayLives]

The motel address Masque had been given took her all the way to the outskirts of Atlas, where even the floating city's opulence and technological majesty largely gave way to bargain motels and seedy hotel-casinos—the types of places a well-off business executive might spend a weekend after telling his wife he was going on a business trip to Vacuo. They were venues that catered to the illicit, those looking to fly under the radar for whatever reasons they might have had to do so; for a measly fee, no questions were asked, no judgment given. The recent whispers of war and armed insurgency in Mantle had plenty of those corporate types extremely on edge, and while the city's subsequent travel restrictions meant lavish hotels like the one Yang Xiao Long of Remnant One found herself staying in were practically ghost towns, business in the type of venue her current reality's counterpart had booked was doing just fine. Nobody cared who you were or what you were doing in the rooms. It was easy to remain discreet, lowkey, to fly below the radar. Perfect for figures of notoriety like them.

This place was a total dump if the Masque was being truthful.

Insulting people was a waste of breath but the people who ran the establishment should have been ashamed.

...But then she supposed her Yang was exactly their kind of clientele.
​

That was definitely, totally the only reason she picked it.

The exact nature of some of the muted noises Ruby heard coming through the door during her obscenely long wait for it to be opened might've given her a different impression, though. One of the voices she heard getting its money's worth was definitely Yang's, though the high-pitched squeal of the second was unfamiliar to her despite the fact that it somehow managed to hit even louder notes than her fellow acolyte's, if a bit more muffled. After a few minutes all noises of that nature mercifully stopped, giving way to the faint noises of somebody getting dressed in time with what sounded like an unfathomably one-sided conversation.

​

"-and all my friends were like Neon, noooooooo WAY you're gonna get that chick to look at you twice, but I was like Flynt sweetie shut up and watch mama work okay I know when the prettiest girl on the dancefloor's been checking me out—Oh, Flynt's my friend from school, it's ok that I'm still in school right because I promise I'm legal and Atlas Academy threw out the academic year anyway, which was great for my social life but also sucks cuz my team JUST did suuuuuuuper great in the Vytal Festival tournament before it got all weird, like we pretty much won the whole entire thing basically, weeeeell, we made it to the quarterfinals but we took a fluky loss to this couple of total dweebs 'cause my friend Flynt TOTALLY messed up, he's a cool guy though, he did cream this one really dorky virgin guy who used to go to our school but he got kicked out cuz no one liked him but until that happened I was totally kicking his friend's butt and he was really big-"

Well, putting aside her visible annoyance with not even having been asked if she wanted anything, the Masque couldn't roll her eyes any harder.

What a dime store floozy.

Sounded about right for her Yang though.
​

The door was wrenched open with downright violent enthusiasm, giving Masque an immediate eyeful of a Yang who'd only bothered throwing on a pair of macho boxers to cover her modesty with, matching the layers of boxing tape that fully encased her right arm. It all hung bare otherwise, Yang's feet spread at shoulder width and arms folded over her chest in a total alpha posture without even the slightest regard for who saw her that way as she leaned up against the doorway and leveled Ruby with a dark, malevolent stare. It was difficult to say if all the irritation and aggression quite clearly bubbling just beneath her adoptive sister's surface was provoked by the mere sight of her, or if at least some was already being drummed up by the babbling motormouth of a pink-haired, hastily-dressed faunus whose kitty tail swished as she skated and chattered circles around the shameless blonde, but all that rage most definitely coalesced into the withering glare she shot the Masque the moment their eyes met.

"I can see your boobs."

Wasn't a complaint.

Just a fact.
​

"Ohmigosh, AWESOME! I go to Pavillion in the Cloud District every Monday-Tuesday-Friday, Gizmo Club on Beryllium Boulevard Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday after 2, and on the weekends just call me! I go crrrrrrrrrAZY on the weekends! You will call me, right?? I mean, I don't wanna sound lame and say you're the best I ever had or anything, but holy crap you're like a total ANIMAL you were just so THOROUGH! And you let me do whatever I wanted once you were done! That was soooooo generous! Hey, was I good too???? I hope I was good tbklmmphgng-"

The Masque's feelings about those around her were complicated, those around her Yang even more so.

They weren't helped by this girl going on and on and on.

it wasn't often that the Masque had a reason to snap on somebody. Didn't get to talk too much in jail and she'd just got done speaking with one of the nicest people she knew.

Just as the Masque opened her mouth to shut this chatterbox down, Yang stepped in.
​

It was a sudden, predatory pounce that saw Yang tackle the faunus into the doorframe hard enough that her aura shimmered around the point of contact with her back, something carnal in the way she lifted the other girl by her thighs and hungrily mashed their lips together to silence her. Her confused, muffled squeak slowly gave way to an accepting moan, and the sheer length of the kiss had the faunus gasping for breath by the time Yang broke it off, totally poised and collected in comparison. Whatever frustration she felt rising inside her had apparently worked itself out in the sheer domineering aggression of the act, a cool smirk on her face as she slowly let the clubber slide back down the doorframe to her feet.

"Like I said, I'll find you."

She winked, and the faunus's heady flush had her too dazed to do anything more in response than giggle and swat the brawler's shoulder. "You are such a FREAK, blondie!"

The Masque said nothing.

But if one could smelly jealously and anger, she reeked of it.
​

But her grin was excited as she pushed away, and a genuine, melodious hum conveyed the mystery raver's bliss as she slid her headphones on and skated off gracefully down the hall for the stairs, tail still swishing happily. She completely avoided Ruby, because yuck. Family. Awkward.

Okay, that tore it.

"Yeah! Why not come back and have some more fun! Better yet, why don't you just stick around?? You bright pink stupid-"

Whatever words escaped the Masque's lips weren't suitable enough to post here. Mostly because the writer didn't feel comfortable!

"Oh hey, some free advice too!"

Spoiler: 'In a Row???'

Whatever, she had those headphones on so wasn't like she heard any of it anyway! She didn't liked being mean but oh man.
​

Yang leaned her head out the door to watch a very particular part of her go the whole way until she was out of sight, then continued more or less completely ignoring the Masque as she turned on a dime and sauntered away, leaving the door ajar. It wasn't until she crossed all the way over to the mess of clothes at the foot of the bed, picked one such article up, and started sliding on a black tank top that she actually said anything.

The Masque grumbled something under her breath and walked into the room.

"Was she good at least?"
​

"So where the fuck have you been, you little abortion?"

"Talked to the other you, played some Go Fish, y'know."
​

The janitor certainly had no idea how to respond to what he saw as he walked past. It was only after a few moments of intense confusion that he got his wits back, firmly averted his eyes and HURRIEDLY pushed his cart of cleaning supplies onward to the next room as he skipped Yang's entirely. "Youth these days...so open..." is what he tried to say to himself, but it came out more as a practically incomprehensible and somewhat senile series of mumbles.

The coy wink let him know he was free to come back later provided it was all still in working order where it mattered. She didn't discriminate.

"GRRRRR!!!"

She used her semblance to move back over to the door and slammed it shut.
​

Thankfully dirty minds weren't among the things he had to clean.​

She opened the door again just a crack.

"Thank you."

it was shut soon after.

"She was very nice that other you. A lot nicer..." The Masque said her attention fully back to her partner.

​

 

[MidwayLives]

Tyrian, unfortunately, was neither one of the pair of terrifying illusionists that had offed Mistral's most dangerous information brokers on a whim, nor the son of one of Remnant's most infamous assassins, so he had been given one(1) pillow and placed unceremoniously on the floor, which probably hadn't helped his hangover at all.

Tyrian kicked the pillow.

"No wonder my back's killing me...urgh...."

He'd made such a mistake.

Maybe not in coming here, it'd been nice to see Mercury and co.

But he'd gotten completely wasted!! How was he going to fight Fox like this?!
​

Mercury immediately ran to the bathroom and threw up, which he'd been doing on and off for several hours.

Tyrian didn't throw up but he wished he did.

This place's service sucked!

"Stupid...dealership....'
​

Neo herself was seemingly still asleep. Probably, Tyrian could only she a few tufts of pink hair poking out from her side of the late Miss Malachite's bed.

Tyrian staggered his way over to the bed and grumbled.

"Sure! Jip me with an outrageous price and then give these guys a bed and I get a pillow..."

Now that his mind was a bit more clear, he looked over at the illusionist and sighed.

He'd been so caught up in his anger and then drinking that he'd never bothered to ask how she was. How she'd been doing ever since...

They'd lost Roman back in Haven...

Maybe before he'd left, he could...

"Neo...?"


​

 

[MyrtenRose]

"No! No good!"

Aurora hoped that when she eventually sobered up, she didn't take his words to be too patronizing. He just couldn't stand to see someone so clearly down on their luck. It was such a distressing sight. If she remembered any of this at all.

Oh and down she went.

"Are you okay??!"

Quickly moving to help Vernal back up to her feet, Aurora shook his head from side to side.

"That settles it! You're not getting this back!"


That brought a frown to the boy's face.

It hadn't just been the sudden eating of shit Vernal had just done with that faceplant. If he was being honest, she looked like absolute trash. Her hair from what he could see looked scruffy and really needed a trim. Not to mention the blatant drinking out in public. It had to have all been smaller signs connecting to a bigger issue.

She was hurting and clearly had no one to help her.

You didn't get the level of trust and pull that Aurora had with one of Mistral's strongest players by being a total scumbag.

Those kinds of people played too rough and more often than not got smacked down for it.

It was part of the reason why the gang had a "Community Team' that was meant to help out those in need/felt they couldn't go to the police for one reason or another.

But Aurora's role was bigger than that. He had the Boss's ear, something not too many people could say.

"A motel huh..."

The motels around here sucked. Or maybe his time in the relative lap of luxury thanks to the Boss's good graces had spoiled him. He wouldn't be ashamed to admit the latter. It was a sign of how influential and powerful the Boss had become and by extension the Ashes too. He'd just met this woman and he couldn't imagine the Boss would have any use for her. He didn't even know if she had a semblance. But what was the alternative? Walk away and let her drink til she ended up as just another body on Mistral's list, a cadaver in a ditch. The Bound Ashes were working under the Boss's hand to reach out and mold Mistral into a better tomorrow.

Better tomorrows didn't have people like this.

"Would you...um...Like to stay somewhere nicer? You didn't say if you knew anybody but If it's not too much trouble on your part, I could talk my Boss into working something out..??"​

She didn’t bother answering any of it this time. When he reached out to pull her up after her faceplant, that was when she made her move. A closed fist swung for his face to disorient him, followed near instantly by both open palms going for a heavy push to knock the kid over and finally one hand swiping out before he could fall to take the bottle back.

If that went as she hoped, she immediately turned after and began to sprint off. If you could call that sad display a sprint.​

 

[Indolent]

"Is it weird that I wish I could have been there for that?" Robyn asked, only a tiny bit sarcastically. "That sounds like one hell of a joyride to me." She snickered along with the sheep faunus, though when Fiona grew more serious, she did as well. "Yeah, well, knowing her she'll be right as rain in no time. We'll figure out how to handle the case of the missing people, I'm sure of it." Robyn gave her friend an earnest smile.​

"You joke but if you were there, you'd probably want out asap. I know I did, screamed it even, but it fell on deaf ears... Penny was really excited to be chatting with Cinder." The exaggeration was self evident as she shrugged, moving right along as she crossed her arms, eyes settling on the back of the huge kid she recruited alongside Penny as he was dragged by his sister towards the mess hall.

"The newbies, I dunno what to think of them beyond their eagerness to do what's right. What I could suss out from them. Apparently, the two of them, the siblings, were right there in the middle of Argus when that attack went down and pulled their friend out. They definitely have a fiery spirit to them but that's what worries me. They're still kids and they're being thrown into the grinder. It's even worse considering the one's a maiden too, heavy is the head that wears the crown and all that. Least she's with us but still."

She rambled on, realized that fact, cut herself off with a sharp intake of breath, and leveled herself out with a bright smile, her doe eyes hopeful in their glimmer.

"But we'll manage, won't we? We'll kick Councilwoman Schnee's butt, set things straight, and get to work fixing the world after we've tended our own garden! We have to!"

 

[Indolent]

"W-what?"

It still felt somewhat weird to be looking at the face and recognizing that it was a friendly one, just as it was with that younger smaller Cinder, but for the most part Nora put that behind her. She had no idea what could have prompted that look in Hazel.

​

Hazel quickly stifled the precursor of what would have become a gawp, his features set askance at the sight standing before him. A little shorter, less built, and sporting a far more colorful attire typical of a teenager but it was the face that was difficult to look past. Even though it brimmed with a natural kindness that radiated from her eyes that was absent in the Nora Valkyrie he'd done battle with. Even her countenance was markedly different.

It was hard to divorce the two when he could see the crime lord's form standing there, a transparent silhouette of the dead Valkyrie overlaying the living one interspersed at random, her attire shifting in his mind's eye to match the former's and back.

He shook his head, a tired sigh forced through grit teeth with his eyes lidded shut. A nod followed, complete with a wary smile. It was going to take some getting used to, after all, interacting with the selfsame face that nearly killed him the night that Beacon could have fallen. Unbeknownst to him, she had dealt with a similar experience of her own.



"... Nothing. Just remind me of someone else. Let's eat?" He answered and suggested in one, gesticulating with a short gesture of the arm to accentuate the suggestion.

 

[MyrtenRose]

"You joke but if you were there, you'd probably want out asap. I know I did, screamed it even, but it fell on deaf ears... Penny was really excited to be chatting with Cinder." The exaggeration was self evident as she shrugged, moving right along as she crossed her arms, eyes settling on the back of the huge kid she recruited alongside Penny as he was dragged by his sister towards the mess hall.

"The newbies, I dunno what to think of them beyond their eagerness to do what's right. What I could suss out from them. Apparently, the two of them, the siblings, were right there in the middle of Argus when that attack went down and pulled their friend out. They definitely have a fiery spirit to them but that's what worries me. They're still kids and they're being thrown into the grinder. It's even worse considering the one's a maiden too, heavy is the head that wears the crown and all that. Least she's with us but still."

She rambled on, realized that fact, cut herself off with a sharp intake of breath, and leveled herself out with a bright smile, her doe eyes hopeful in their glimmer.

"But we'll manage, won't we? We'll kick Councilwoman Schnee's butt, set things straight, and get to work fixing the world after we've tended our own garden! We have to!"

"Guess we'll never know for sure." She responded playfully, leaving it at that. "...Yeah. They got spunk, that's for sure. Especially the maiden...but yes. They're stubborn, possibly foolish, and definitely too young for a lot of the stuff they're up against. Don't think the enemies we're up against will give them much choice in the matter though." Robyn shrugged in a what can you do manner. "Best we can do is stand with them, try to keep the worst of it from getting to them. So, in a word, yes. Yes we'll manage." She agreed with a soft smile at Fiona's enthusiasm. It was truly appreciated.​

 

[MyrtenRose]

"... Nothing. Just remind me of someone else. Let's eat?" He answered and suggested in one, gesticulating with a short gesture of the arm to accentuate the suggestion.

"You know it! Bet I could finish five plates before you even get done with one!" ​

 

[Indolent]

"You know it! Bet I could finish five plates before you even get done with one!" ​

"No way, this fatass can eat twice that before you're halfway through your first!"



"Gretchen... please."

 

[MyrtenRose]

"No way, this fatass can eat twice that before you're halfway through your first!"

View attachment 716206

"Gretchen... please."

Nora, without any warning, took a few sniffs as she kept pace with the others. Her face was scrunched up with concentration as she tried to identify the mystery aroma in the air of the abandoned dust site. "Hey, do you guys notice that? It smells like-"

"-A CHALLENGE!"

She was definitely ready for any new contenders for the throne of ultimate food devourer. It wasn't like she'd lose! She was practically a sentient black hole with how much stuff she could put away, defeat just wasn't in the cards! Nora, seemingly ignoring Hazel's objections, pointed straight at the big guy. "You heard her. I, Nora Valkyrie, accept the issued challenge! On this day, much food will be consumed! Dishwashers will be overwhelmed! Toilets will break! But as sure as any of that, I will still be the queen of eating!"

This wouldn't be like Haven. On this field of battle, she would beat Hazel.​

 

[Indolent]

No later than a second after those small glowing eyes locked onto the pair, Gwen's earpiece received a signal burst from the unit. A signal that informed her, as well as the rest of Omega Squad, that the targets had been re-acquired. Those lengthy legs started forth in an eerie looking stride to close the distance between itself and Emerald/Neo. Yet before long, it shifted into a quicker but no less eerie dash, making clear its intent to engage the two in combat. Its right arm rippled and shifted in a similar manner as Gwen's weapon Malware had done earlier. Where its hand had just been, something that looked far more like pincers rested in its place. Pincers that, once the robot was in range, moved in an attempt to clutch Emerald on both sides of her person and slam her down into the ground below.

Non-lethal subduing of the targets were the active mission parameters.



"Found them." Gwen commented, though it was probably unnecessary given that she assumed the other two soldiers were tuned into the same frequency on their respective earpieces. "Come on then!" She called out over her shoulder as she began to run, making her way through the streets to get to where Emerald and Neo were. Jennings and the one remaining 200 series machine followed instantly after. "This way!" She yelled out to Paradise a moment later, to give the hanger-on a more specific direction to follow instead of his own route. The other AK-200s were much quicker to emerge onto the scene than Gwen was.

There was barely a second or two of them analyzing the scene, before they all in complete unison turned their rifles to aim at Neo and fired multiple times, stun blasts meant to shock the smaller woman.​

"Oh that's. New. New and uglyyyyyyyyy." Emerald grimaced before displaying shock in her features, realizing the intentions of the super robot with its pincer as it bore down on her, provoking a natural reaction in a display of acrobatic athleticism.



Deftly avoiding the grappling attention with the addendum of widening the distance between herself and it, Emerald caught wind of the encroaching AK-200s and stepped towards in a dash, intuitively understanding their intention of disturbing her fellow illusionist's semblance. Though as it may seem, she certainly did not ignore the fifteen foot tall automaton that looked like it better served as an industrial grade cheese grater, tracking its position relative to her six-o-clock as she lashed out in a spinning cascade of slashes with the sickles extended, half moons of emerald hue shimmering in the air as they bit into the 200s flanks.



"Neo!" She'd have cried out insistently, bidding her to move and facilitate their escape towards what she deduced to be a more populous section of the area they'd wandered into.

 

[Indolent]

Nora, without any warning, took a few sniffs as she kept pace with the others. Her face was scrunched up with concentration as she tried to identify the mystery aroma in the air of the abandoned dust site. "Hey, do you guys notice that? It smells like-"

"-A CHALLENGE!"

She was definitely ready for any new contenders for the throne of ultimate food devourer. It wasn't like she'd lose! She was practically a sentient black hole with how much stuff she could put away, defeat just wasn't in the cards! Nora, seemingly ignoring Hazel's objections, pointed straight at the big guy. "You heard her. I, Nora Valkyrie, accept the issued challenge! On this day, much food will be consumed! Dishwashers will be overwhelmed! Toilets will break! But as sure as any of that, I will still be the queen of eating!"

This wouldn't be like Haven. On this field of battle, she would beat Hazel.​

"I'd rather just have a normal mea--"

Hazel was shoved out the way, the comparatively diminutive of the two claiming the forefront for herself as she boldly did declare. "That's right, it's a challenge. Issued by the heavens, from beyond the shattered moon, a challenge beyond your ken!" The lighting inexplicably flickered, dimming before flashing off with a single bulb coincidentally illuminating only the position Gretchen stood now, her right arm vertically parallel to her chest as she looked on with her eyes closed in her proclamation.

Spoiler

"Even you were to accomplish the impossible, the improbable, to seize victory against all odds, Hazel would not be the loser here. No! He'd walk away from this legendary duel of gastronomic epicness the winner. To have friends is to win at life and he's already won, he's made a friend this day! He is the winner regardless of the outcome and you know what!?! Hazel is not your inferior, your subordinate, insignificant compared to you when it comes to the art of the gastronome, the capacity of their belly and their ravenous drive to consume all that they can!"

A glint in her eyes seemed as if it'd illuminate beyond the bulb's scope, before she oriented so her flank facing Nora as both hands migrated towards her stomach in an outline of a protruding gut. "His is the greatest stomach to ever exist, the most magnificent of the Rainart clan, and by George, it dwarfs even Nora Valkyrie's stomach, her belly, her appetite, her gutso and penchant for the eating!" She repeated the maneuver once more for emphasis following pantomiming the stoic behavior of her brother complete with the single most serious expression she could muster.

"This day, the queen of eating shall be deposed from the throne proper!" A swivel of her dominant arm completed the arc of the clock, terminating at 12 o clock position with her pointer finger indicating for the aforementioned heavens.

"So. Let's. Eat!!!"

And to accentuate it all stood atop the highest point of Gretchen's head, a stoat stretched for the heavens with his forelimbs splayed in a v with his head stretched back as if he clamored for the light.

At that moment, the lights all flickered back to life with a worker of the resistance's words echoing throughout the facility his profound apologies for the bizarre fluctuation in the power systems.



"I... I don't even know you anymore."

 

[Gus Gungus]

"I can see your boobs."

Wasn't a complaint.

Just a fact.

"Get me a microscope and maybe I'll help find yours."

If it had been her double, Ilia, or just about anybody else standing at the door those words would've been an enticing purr, her walk away tinged with a promise of all kinds of fun if they dared come close enough to touch.

For this worthless little waste of a load, they carried only a bitter, spiteful venom, one that promised only pain if she stepped a foot out of line beyond her usual creepy hovering. And her arrogant, unconcerned gait at being so exposed in front of someone who once made her feel vulnerable just by looking at her made it perfectly clear who she regarded as the apex in the room now.

The Masque grumbled something under her breath and walked into the room.

"Was she good at least?"

"Fuck would you know about whether someone's good or not?" Came her genuinely couldn't-care-less growl, one that almost seemed to have an echo rattle from under her arm tape as the dragon tied her hair back into a bushy ponytail. "She was enough. Couldn't have been much louder if she tried, though, even when I found her mouth all kinds of better uses. But underneath all the bullshit she was a good, obedient little kitty. Didn't complain when I got rough and flipped over every time I told her to. Now shut the fuck up and save the dirty thoughts for your next shower, you lonely little perv. Fuck knows when that'll be."

She opened the door again just a crack.

"Thank you."

it was shut soon after.

"She was very nice that other you. A lot nicer..." The Masque said her attention fully back to her partner.

Her voice might've been the same, even if this one carried a little more of a husky, weathered edge, but the laugh this Yang gave was worlds away from the gentle mirth of her doppelganger's, a harshly mocking bark as she tossed herself onto the disheveled bed and started swiping through her scroll with head incredulously shaking. "Holy shit are you a worthless little tire fire. Are you that pathetic and desperate that the first dyke who smiles at you a certain way makes your resolve completely fall to pieces? Let me guess, she got you to do something for her, right? Give her something? Hate to break it to ya, runt, but she played you for the dusty little twat you are. I'll bet she even rigged the deck so you couldn't win!~ You realize Ozpin's gonna be sooooo disappointed when I tell him about this, right? Say, how's it feel to be so unthreatening the enemy I rattled all the way down to her bones invited you for a game of cards?"

Her follow-up laugh was a more genuine snort, still bitter but one that actually seemed to derive real humor from the thought; for as much as it did also make her feel legitimately sick. She rolled her eyes. "Guess it checks out that it'd take some beta mirror image of me who came all the way from another universe to actually give a shit about you, though. Haha, oh man, I bet she prolly thinks she can save you or some bullshit. Boy is she in for a rude awakening. I mean, I knew she was a bimbo, but that's just worrying levels of retardation! I can't believe they let her walk around all on her own. Whatever; You do know the only reason I even sent you on that wild goose chase was cuz I hate looking at your stupid face and wanted you to shoo for a while, right? I didn't expect you to fuck off for three entire days. But hey, thanks for giving me the room though!"

She threw her an extremely sarcastic thumbs up, but the very instant Masque opened her mouth to give any kind of a reply she found herself cut across by a merciless warning snarl.

"Shut up. I don't care, you understand me? I've never cared, and I never will. Whatever fake-as-hell imitation of sentimental feelings she knocked loose inside that fucked up little head of yours, I'm in a good mood, and I DON'T need your miserable 'pity-me' vibes bringing me down. So keep. Your mouth. Shut, or I'll shut it for you. Here."

She picked up the rumpled pillow she'd had that chirpy little pixie bite down on and launched it at Ruby's face, not even so much as a glance up from her scroll to accompany the act. Pinpoint accurate, though. No blanket, either; Obviously Yang had only booked the room with one bed, and she didn't plan on letting anyone she didn't invite get anywhere near it.

"Pick the corner of the room farthest away from me and go the fuck to sleep. I don't wanna hear another word from you unless I speak to you first, you got that? And trust me, I won't."​

 

[Gus Gungus]

"Wow. Ah ain't got a darn tootin' rootin' galootin' idea what's goin' on around here all of a sudden! Sure does make me miss m'school years, though! And eatin' solids!" Cobalt commented shrewdly, sucking up a nutritionally high puree through a straw feeding through a hole in their rebreather as they leaned over to the one sharing their table with a knowing squint.

"Cobalt... No one asked."

"Well, gawrsh!"​

 

[MyrtenRose]

"I'd rather just have a normal mea--"

Hazel was shoved out the way, the comparatively diminutive of the two claiming the forefront for herself as she boldly did declare. "That's right, it's a challenge. Issued by the heavens, from beyond the shattered moon, a challenge beyond your ken!" The lighting inexplicably flickered, dimming before flashing off with a single bulb coincidentally illuminating only the position Gretchen stood now, her right arm vertically parallel to her chest as she looked on with her eyes closed in her proclamation.

Spoiler

"Even you were to accomplish the impossible, the improbable, to seize victory against all odds, Hazel would not be the loser here. No! He'd walk away from this legendary duel of gastronomic epicness the winner. To have friends is to win at life and he's already won, he's made a friend this day! He is the winner regardless of the outcome and you know what!?! Hazel is not your inferior, your subordinate, insignificant compared to you when it comes to the art of the gastronome, the capacity of their belly and their ravenous drive to consume all that they can!"

A glint in her eyes seemed as if it'd illuminate beyond the bulb's scope, before she oriented so her flank facing Nora as both hands migrated towards her stomach in an outline of a protruding gut. "His is the greatest stomach to ever exist, the most magnificent of the Rainart clan, and by George, it dwarfs even Nora Valkyrie's stomach, her belly, her appetite, her gutso and penchant for the eating!" She repeated the maneuver once more for emphasis following pantomiming the stoic behavior of her brother complete with the single most serious expression she could muster.

"This day, the queen of eating shall be deposed from the throne proper!" A swivel of her dominant arm completed the arc of the clock, terminating at 12 o clock position with her pointer finger indicating for the aforementioned heavens.

"So. Let's. Eat!!!"

And to accentuate it all stood atop the highest point of Gretchen's head, a stoat stretched for the heavens with his forelimbs splayed in a v with his head stretched back as if he clamored for the light.

At that moment, the lights all flickered back to life with a worker of the resistance's words echoing throughout the facility his profound apologies for the bizarre fluctuation in the power systems.

View attachment 716246

"I... I don't even know you anymore."

Even in the wake of such words, the full weight of the coming conflict outlined so magnificently by the smaller Rainart, words that Nora Valkyrie would not let stand, there was just something so inherently majestic about that display that it spoke to the hammer wielding ginger on a primal, instinctual level. It communicated with her very soul. So it was that before she countered any of Gretchen's words with a reply on that front, Nora first leaned over to say something else on her mind.

That out of the way, Nora abused her close proximity to dramatically point a finger at Gretchen's face, hovering in the air mere inches away from her nose. "NO, I am afraid that is where YOU are WRONG! For you see, while he may have gained a friend this day, he shall not gain a VICTORY! Behold as I outline it thusly!" One of the empty tables suddenly got the heel of her boot pressing down on the edge of it, forcing it to stand upright like it was an easel and not somewhere for people to eat. A piece of chalk was pulled out and the tiny Valkyrie began to draw on the table's surface. Crude outlines of two people were drawn, and though they lacked most of their distinct features, the size difference made it clear who the two were. Nora jabbed a finger at the much bigger of the two first. "Observe! Yes, this guy is the larger of the two, and proportionally speaking that means his stomach must be bigger as well! HOWEVER-" Nora started, not letting that apparent size difference bring down her mood in the slightest. "-His size is also a disadvantage as well!!" Her finger slid across the table to the smaller drawing of herself. "I may be smaller but that gives me an advantage all my own! Smaller but QUICKER! And as you must well know, any proper food challenge is not only a test of how much can be eaten but how FAST it can be eaten! So, you see, the only clear cut winner on this day?" She bounced in eager anticipation of the challenge to come and the delicious food she would devour.

"IT SHALL BE NONE OTHER THAN ME!"​

 

[Gus Gungus]

"NOW HERE'S THE THING THOUGH, LI'L MISSIES!"

Came Cobalt's sudden, triumphant declaration as the gunslinger hopped up onto their own desk all the way across the canteen with a loud thunk, prompting Winter to simply stare flatly at their spurs for a few seconds before she picked up her meal and walked away.

On some level Cobalt knew this was a little impulsive, but this looked so fun and they just really wanted to be involved right now!

A cold wind whistled through the gaps in the facility ceiling, gently ruffling their cloak and shawl in the breeze. They were completely still save for the hand twitching and flexing near their hip, as if itching to draw on the two young upstarts tossing all sorts of big words around their territories.

"Some mighty fine talk ah'm hearin'... Heh, mighty fine. But it's just that: talk. There ain't a doubt in my mind that ah, none other'n Cassidy Cobalt, 'kin consume more square inches'a calorific content per second than any hoss you're willin' to name, hype, or back... provided it's blended up into a dense, finely processed paste easily passable through my mask."

Their mechanical eyes swiveled from Nora, to the twins, then back to Nora again. There they were; The good, the bad, and the ugly.

Cobalt knew how these games were played. It all came down to who blinked first.

And they literally. Couldn't. Blink.

"So whaddaya reckon, then, ladies and big fellers? Still feelin' bold?"​

 

[MidwayLives]

"Get me a microscope and maybe I'll help find yours."

"Stop it."
​

"Fuck would you know about whether someone's good or not?" Came her genuinely couldn't-care-less growl, one that almost seemed to have an echo rattle from under her arm tape as the dragon tied her hair back into a bushy ponytail. "She was enough. Couldn't have been much louder if she tried, though, even when I found her mouth all kinds of better uses. But underneath all the bullshit she was a good, obedient little kitty. Didn't complain when I got rough and flipped over every time I told her to. Now shut the fuck up and save the dirty thoughts for your next shower, you lonely little perv. Fuck knows when that'll be."

"Stop it..."
​

Her voice might've been the same, even if this one carried a little more of a husky, weathered edge, but the laugh this Yang gave was worlds away from the gentle mirth of her doppelganger's, a harshly mocking bark as she tossed herself onto the disheveled bed and started swiping through her scroll with head incredulously shaking. "Holy shit are you a worthless little tire fire. Are you that pathetic and desperate that the first dyke who smiles at you a certain way makes your resolve completely fall to pieces? Let me guess, she got you to do something for her, right? Give her something? Hate to break it to ya, runt, but she played you for the dusty little twat you are. I'll bet she even rigged the deck so you couldn't win!~ You realize Ozpin's gonna be sooooo disappointed when I tell him about this, right? Say, how's it feel to be so unthreatening the enemy I rattled all the way down to her bones invited you for a game of cards?"

Ozpin...being disappointed in her....?



"You're pushing your luck....Don't talk about him..."
​

Her follow-up laugh was a more genuine snort, still bitter but one that actually seemed to derive real humor from the thought; for as much as it did also make her feel legitimately sick. She rolled her eyes. "Guess it checks out that it'd take some beta mirror image of me who came all the way from another universe to actually give a shit about you, though. Haha, oh man, I bet she prolly thinks she can save you or some bullshit. Boy is she in for a rude awakening. I mean, I knew she was a bimbo, but that's just worrying levels of retardation! I can't believe they let her walk around all on her own. Whatever; You do know the only reason I even sent you on that wild goose chase was cuz I hate looking at your stupid face and wanted you to shoo for a while, right? I didn't expect you to fuck off for three entire days. But hey, thanks for giving me the room though!"

"That's..."
​

"Shut up. I don't care, you understand me? I've never cared, and I never will. Whatever fake-as-hell imitation of sentimental feelings she knocked loose inside that fucked up little head of yours, I'm in a good mood, and I DON'T need your miserable 'pity-me' vibes bringing me down. So keep. Your mouth. Shut, or I'll shut it for you. Here."

She picked up the rumpled pillow she'd had that chirpy little pixie bite down on and launched it at Ruby's face, not even so much as a glance up from her scroll to accompany the act. Pinpoint accurate, though. No blanket, either; Obviously Yang had only booked the room with one bed, and she didn't plan on letting anyone she didn't invite get anywhere near it.

*flop*

The nasty pillow hit Masque square in the face and obscured it as it slid down and plopped onto the floor.
​

"Pick the corner of the room farthest away from me and go the fuck to sleep. I don't wanna hear another word from you unless I speak to you first, you got that? And trust me, I won't."

The second the pillow hit the floor was the moment it all turned to shit.

Real quick.

"ENOUGH!"

As a glow of light engulfed the room, the Masque pulled out what appeared to be some kind of length of rope.

Rushing forward, she knocked Yang's scroll from her hands and immediately tried to set to work tying her flesh and blood hand to the headboard of the bed. Once that was done, she sought to grab her sister dearest by the neck as Yang had so graciously done to her. The image of the young Rose straddling the dragon was primal in it's execution as the Masque's normally jovial face was twisted into a deep snarl with light emanating from both of her eyes. She knew her physical strength wasn't where she wanted it to be but the 'sister' she'd loved so much had stepped over the proverbial line and quite frankly? The Masque was sick of it.

Snarling and growling, the Masque continued to grip as hard as she could, minding the aura all the same.

"You sure talk an awful lot of trash for someone who's still so afraid of me..."

"You think I can't tell why you do this? You feel as though you've found your freedom, you've something to lord over me now. Something I...." The Masque's eyes narrowed and she swung her head down to smash it against Yang's. "I can never have!!! But you haven't changed despite what your muscles let you think. You're still that scared little girl back at our camp who did everything I told her because she knew what'd happened if she didn't. So you've bulked up and gotten some easy lays from street trash. Here's a fun fact for you, you miserable piece of shit."

The Masque's vicious animalistic grimace turned into a cocky smirk.

"The other Yang isn't scared of you. She thinks you're a joke, I think you're a joke, Ozpin thinks you're a joke. But don't worry Yang, I still love you..."

"AND THAT"S WHY I HAVE TO REMIND YOU ABOUT THE WAY THINGS GO!!!"

​

 

[Schnee Corp Lawyer]

“...Oh, er uhmmm....” She began to say back, not really sure how to take that. It hadn’t been what she had expected to hear from Yang after all that. Then again it wouldn’t be the first time she thought wrong in this world. “I suppose I could, but I don’t get why you would want me to do so.”​

" I mean, its both cool and harmless, which is the best intersection of things to try" she answered with an open handed shrug, before she planted them both back on her knees with a smaller smile.

"...Plus, maybe I could figure out if there's a way to beat it then. Or notice when it's being used, or something. I dunno, its just..." she huffed and glanced towards the window that she'd been 100% ready to jump through if Ilia really did make her race to Ruby.

"...I know we got off on the wrong foot and all, specifically my foot, putting you through a wall" she felt forced to clarify with a nervous twitch of her grin "but I get it, not wanting to put anyone in danger over something that's happening to you. Believe me, I get it. But no one should have to do this stuff alone." she said firmly as she brought her eyes back to Ilia. "This Remnant isn't like ours hun. Not that ours was a super safe place or anything, but this one's even more dangerous. Salem was enough of menace without these shadowfang goons or Literally The Atlas Military at her beck and call. Going it alone just isn't an option, not if we all wanna make it back home. So-" she said as her grin widened "-even if you've got evil Ilia eyes in your head, and even if I'm admittedly a little leery about just leading Weiss to all the people who really want to fight her and thus she probably wants at least a little bit dead, as long as we still wanna fight we're just gonna have to suck it up and trust that our allies are smart enough to figure out something we can't."

She planted her hands on the bed to push herself off and land with a thump on the floor next to Ilia and scooted herself over a bit to stare intently at her. "And you can start by letting me see if I can figure this whole semblance thing out. Hit me with it!"

 

[MidwayLives]

She didn’t bother answering any of it this time. When he reached out to pull her up after her faceplant, that was when she made her move. A closed fist swung for his face to disorient him, followed near instantly by both open palms going for a heavy push to knock the kid over and finally one hand swiping out before he could fall to take the bottle back.

"Ow!"

The bottle slipped from his hands as Aurora fell back.

Onto his rear once more.

"Wha-What is your deal?! I only wanted to help!!!"
​

If that went as she hoped, she immediately turned after and began to sprint off. If you could call that sad display a sprint.

Man, that really WAS sad to watch....

"Please! You don't have to run! I can get you a haircut, a shower, a warm bed to sleep in!" ​

 

[MyrtenRose]

"Ow!"

The bottle slipped from his hands as Aurora fell back.

Onto his rear once more.

"Wha-What is your deal?! I only wanted to help!!!"

Man, that really WAS sad to watch....

"Please! You don't have to run! I can get you a haircut, a shower, a warm bed to sleep in!" ​

She was still silent in answering anything he said but she had stopped running. Mostly because she had stumbled in her attempt about 20 feet away and hit the sidewalk again. Worse than that...the bottle had shattered!
​

 

[Schnee Corp Lawyer]

Tyrian kicked the pillow.

"No wonder my back's killing me...urgh...."

He'd made such a mistake.

Maybe not in coming here, it'd been nice to see Mercury and co.

But he'd gotten completely wasted!! How was he going to fight Fox like this?!


Tyrian didn't throw up but he wished he did.

This place's service sucked!

"Stupid...dealership....'


Tyrian staggered his way over to the bed and grumbled.

"Sure! Jip me with an outrageous price and then give these guys a bed and I get a pillow..."

Now that his mind was a bit more clear, he looked over at the illusionist and sighed.

He'd been so caught up in his anger and then drinking that he'd never bothered to ask how she was. How she'd been doing ever since...

They'd lost Roman back in Haven...

Maybe before he'd left, he could...

"Neo...?"


​

Initially there wasn't a response, but eventually the tuft of hair that signaled her presence rose out of the sea of pillows like the fin of a shark, revealing Neo proper in all her glory. Glory meaning an absolutely terrifying case of bedhead that left her looking more like a sheepdog than a human as she tried in vain to blow the errant bangs out of her face, achieved nothing, and let out a quiet mewl of irritation at having to put forth the effort to move a hand so she could brush them out of her face instead. She blinked as she saw Tyrian looming over her, and there was a brief flicker of fear in the expression before she shook her head then cocked it to the side in askance.

 

[MidwayLives]

She was still silent in answering anything he said but she had stopped running. Mostly because she had stumbled in her attempt about 20 feet away and hit the sidewalk again. Worse than that...the bottle had shattered!

Aurora peeked around the corner and watched Vernal eat shit again.

"Poor lady..."

Then as if out of nowhere-

"Oh no!!"

His eyes rolled upwards and he repeated himself.

"Bring, ring, ring, ring, ring!!!"

"My phone! I gotta answer my phone!"

Pulling his phone out of his pocket, he placed it against his ear.

"Hello, Hello, it's Aurora."

The reply was slow to arrive but when it did, it sent shiver down Aurora's back.

"Aurora...Why are you wasting your time with this drunkard?"

"I....I...It just looked like she needed help, Boss-"

"No. She's a waste. She'd take whatever kindness you'd give her and spit it back in your face. People like her are leeches, Aurora. You'd do well to remember that."

"But, Boss!! What if she-"

"Useful? I know certain members of the family have...underperformed as of late but I see little to no use for a drunken fool in my employ. Do as you will, Aurora. But don't put yourself in any danger. I can't protect you out in the open like this..."

"Don't worry, I'll be careful, Boss."

"Cliiiiiiiick!"

Aurora blinked as he looked at the soda pop bottle he'd been holding. "What the...? This isn't a phone...."

Giving a light shrug, he continued to make his way towards Vernal. "I'm not going to hurt you, Miss. I just want to help..."​

 

[MidwayLives]

She blinked as she saw Tyrian looming over her, and there was a brief flicker of fear in the expression before she shook her head

A frown appeared on Tyrian's face just as briefly.

He knew he wasn't mentally well. The others had seen his breakdowns as clear as day.

They'd even seen him...

He gently patted the scar that'd come from his self-stabbing.

'Maybe I am just a little bit scary....'
​

then cocked it to the side in askance.

"That was a pretty fun night, huh? Well...I...actually can't remember most of it. I remember fighting Mercury, hugging Mercury, and then the worst pain in my back." He gestured to the one pillow he'd been given. "I kind of put two and two together for that one though. How are you feeling...?"

The faunus groaned and clutched at his forehead.

"My head hurts sooooo badddddllllllly....." ​

 

[Gus Gungus]

"ENOUGH!"

As a glow of light engulfed the room, the Masque pulled out what appeared to be some kind of length of rope.

Rushing forward, she knocked Yang's scroll from her hands and immediately tried to set to work tying her flesh and blood hand to the headboard of the bed. Once that was done, she sought to grab her sister dearest by the neck as Yang had so graciously done to her. The image of the young Rose straddling the dragon was primal in it's execution as the Masque's normally jovial face was twisted into a deep snarl with light emanating from both of her eyes. She knew her physical strength wasn't where she wanted it to be but the 'sister' she'd loved so much had stepped over the proverbial line and quite frankly? The Masque was sick of it.

Snarling and growling, the Masque continued to grip as hard as she could, minding the aura all the same.

"You sure talk an awful lot of trash for someone who's still so afraid of me..."

"You think I can't tell why you do this? You feel as though you've found your freedom, you've something to lord over me now. Something I...." The Masque's eyes narrowed and she swung her head down to smash it against Yang's. "I can never have!!! But you haven't changed despite what your muscles let you think. You're still that scared little girl back at our camp who did everything I told her because she knew what'd happened if she didn't. So you've bulked up and gotten some easy lays from street trash. Here's a fun fact for you, you miserable piece of shit."

The Masque's vicious animalistic grimace turned into a cocky smirk.

"The other Yang isn't scared of you. She thinks you're a joke, I think you're a joke, Ozpin thinks you're a joke. But don't worry Yang, I still love you..."

"AND THAT"S WHY I HAVE TO REMIND YOU ABOUT THE WAY THINGS GO!!!"

She screamed.

Yang's prodigious lungs were no stranger to it, and it was something the Masque had heard her do in all sorts of contexts over the last couple of months or so since she embraced her new immoderate lifestyle. But not like this; not in a very, very long time. The Yang Xiao Long she had been reintroduced to after her years away from the Tribe had been a sight different from the terrorized, subservient little girl she remembered; she was a sullen, terrifying brute chiseled out of hatred and self-loathing, the time out from under her sister's psychopathic thumb finally letting her find the strength to unlock her semblance and carve herself into the picture of something sadistic, dark and vicious Ruby and the Branwen thugs always wanted her to be. The one they had hoped to awaken when they decided to subject her to a lifetime of being the prey, the victim, the butt of every cruel joke and one on the receiving end of every 'character building' beating around camp for her unforgivable sin of being an average little girl pawned off into a pack of bandits. Not even that; for trying to be Yang Xiao Long, the same exact scrappy, intrepid youngster too stubborn to know when to give in to something as the parallel world counterpart who spat in her face from the word go but continued to give little demons like the one straddling her every chance had herself once been. It would never have gotten as bad as it did if she just knew when to lay down. If she hadn't kept trying to be brave, if she had just sucked it up and embraced the message the one older girl who wasn't terrible kept trying to relate to her through less brutal methods in Vernal: The weak died, and the strong lived. Those were the rules.

But the soul inside her didn't want that, any more than the Raven from another world's daughter had ever found herself even slightly tempted by any of her dogma. It didn't matter that she was raised in that environment, didn't matter what she saw the grownups around her doing. She wasn't cut from that cloth. More of Taiyang's warm heart, desire to be a part of something and longing for affection characterized the core strand of Yang Xiao Long's being than the harsh survivalist brutality of the Branwens; Far more. In that respect, the soul of her and her counterpart had been born into their respective Remnants entirely identical.

There was simply only so much one soul could take.

On another world, Yang Xiao Long's feistiness and tenacity as a child had made her the terror of many a village bully and snotnosed punk who messed with her sister. The Tribe... weren't that. They were hardened, murderous criminals, and to them it made her hilarious. Every attempt at exercising defiance had led to a worse reprisal, a worse humiliation as each and every time the lessons failed to sink in they reverted to simply beating and tormenting their ways into her. And Ruby had been the worst of them all. Yang knew she never wanted her to become strong, though as the camp darling it had been easy for her to masquerade it as such. That much was evident in their current interactions, how she reacted now that Yang was the one who pushed her around and made her feel small.

She'd been doing it because she liked it. Because she developed some twisted little obsession with her after some early efforts to reach out in kindness, considered Yang her doll and played with her only the way warped little sociopaths played. There was no other reason.

It all took its toll. There was no way out. Qrow slipped too deep into the bottle, Vernal cared too much about her reputation around camp to really help, and her mother never looked back. She didn't have anything to anchor herself to the way the other Yang had her family. No one ever reached out to her. No one ever wanted her. No one had even given her a chance.

She snapped. Her soul was so strong, her stubbornness so potent, that it took an absurdly long time. But she did. All the rage her other self had to work hard to tame was still there, fueled by the gasoline of hate, of loneliness, of daily terror and self-loathing that all blended into a volatile poison that eroded the strength of Yang Xiao Long's spirit. What was left after the inevitable breakdown was something truly terrifying, and tragically far, far beyond salvation.

But even when she became strong, became ruthless, became cruel the way the bandits said doing would make all her pain go away, she still hadn't been happy. She still had no one. She still didn't feel good. And the thing on her arm, it had sensed all of that. The moment Ozpin bonded it to her severed stump, it had reached out toward the cracks in Yang's soul and filled them. A synthesis was achieved, something unlike any hybrid or corrupted soul that had come before it. Maria, a silver-eyed warrior, was a natural conduit for magic, something that had simply been hollowed out and occupied by the swarms of Grimm Ozpin had infused her with. The Cinder Fall of the other Remnant, she struggled against her arm, warred with it to keep her sense of self. Yang didn't care. She hated herself. When the mysterious Grimm reached out, when it numbed her pain and took her into its embrace the way nothing else ever had? She gave herself to it.

And it made all of it go away.

The time since had been the first in the dragon's life when she really felt strong. When she felt good. When she could have all the pleasure, all the thrills, all the genuine lust for life she had ever craved, and nobody was strong enough to take it away from her. Or so she thought.

So when Ruby's silver light petrified her arm and inflicted a searing pain Yang could feel all the way in the depths of her soul, all that newfound authority shattered like a surface layer of ice and she screamed in a way she hadn't since they were little girls, her attempts to kick Ruby off weak and ineffectual as her eyes flared wide with furious tears brimming. She shrieked, a mixture of hate, rage, pain and terror, the shattered ruin of a person hiding beneath it all far too paralyzed with one of them to resist.



"WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU DOING??? WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU?!??!?!?? R-RUBY, RUBY WAIT I'M SORRY!"​

 

[MyrtenRose]

" I mean, its both cool and harmless, which is the best intersection of things to try" she answered with an open handed shrug, before she planted them both back on her knees with a smaller smile.

"...Plus, maybe I could figure out if there's a way to beat it then. Or notice when it's being used, or something. I dunno, its just..." she huffed and glanced towards the window that she'd been 100% ready to jump through if Ilia really did make her race to Ruby.

"...I know we got off on the wrong foot and all, specifically my foot, putting you through a wall" she felt forced to clarify with a nervous twitch of her grin "but I get it, not wanting to put anyone in danger over something that's happening to you. Believe me, I get it. But no one should have to do this stuff alone." she said firmly as she brought her eyes back to Ilia. "This Remnant isn't like ours hun. Not that ours was a super safe place or anything, but this one's even more dangerous. Salem was enough of menace without these shadowfang goons or Literally The Atlas Military at her beck and call. Going it alone just isn't an option, not if we all wanna make it back home. So-" she said as her grin widened "-even if you've got evil Ilia eyes in your head, and even if I'm admittedly a little leery about just leading Weiss to all the people who really want to fight her and thus she probably wants at least a little bit dead, as long as we still wanna fight we're just gonna have to suck it up and trust that our allies are smart enough to figure out something we can't."

She planted her hands on the bed to push herself off and land with a thump on the floor next to Ilia and scooted herself over a bit to stare intently at her. "And you can start by letting me see if I can figure this whole semblance thing out. Hit me with it!"

"But..." On the one hand, she still saw the logical side of things. That it was better for the resistance to not have another issue to be concerned with, for Yang to be free from getting spied on, for Ilia to have all her intentions known only to her up until the moment she acted upon them. A time where it wouldn't matter that the other Ilia might be spying through her, for whatever she'd be doing would already be done by the time the Shadow Fang could do anything about it. From that point of view, it really would be best for everybody if she kept going as a lone wolf. On the other hand though, the emotional side, the toll it was taking...the toll that it would continue to take...

"...Okay." She agreed. Ilia had always been one to lean more into the emotional side of things and right now, with this Blake and Eve and everybody else...honestly it just felt so good to have somebody, anybody, in her corner. Even if it was somebody who'd kicked her through a wall like that. It would cost her being able to see through Snake's eyes but Ilia seemed to deem it worth that cost. Her concentration deepened, the chameleon willing the connection to form as she just stared at Yang in silence for a minute. To push a little bit of her aura through, and...

...prepare herself for the disorienting feeling of looking through someone else's eyes. Especially considering she was looking at herself, with her eyes having shifted to a lilac color.

"So, uh..." The chameleon faunus had no idea where to go from here.​