[Matsu]

✧ The Dream World ✧

The Control Room

The man sitting behind the desk would slam his hands on the desk in frustration as he watched things unfold in the room before him. So far, no one has been able to figure out how to navigate his and his gang's quirks effectively to find their way out. Hell, it was the worst possible matchup for him. The previous electricity was messed with his control over the mirrors to such a degree that it could tank their entire operation. For all they knew, these changes were permanent, and with a good ransom on the people they had collected, they could get rich fast and then run when authorities caught on.

He'd hit a button on the console, and the group of three would hear him call out, "HEY, if you don't get a grip, this whole thing is gonna collapse, Sakanade!" he would let go of the button and hit an identical one next to it, this time the intercom would ring out in Rui's space "Utsusemi, get her!" and then would release the button again, falling silent as he watched the two rooms apprehensively.

—---------------------------------------------------------------------------

The 'Old' Hall of Mirrors

In the room with Khepri, Aiden, and Mushroom Man, the fake Rui would drop the 'facade' as her face would twist into a much more menacing stare. "Yeah, yeah, I got it. You there!" she would point a finger at Khepri. "Feeling okay?" Khepri would feel a burning sensation as if their brain was on fire, with the result being that all the functions of khepri's being would now be reversed. Up and down, left and right, as well as forward and backward, would be reversed, but it wasn't just the sense of direction that was changed; their eyesight, direction of incoming attacks, and injury locations were also inverted. The subsequent effect of this would be that the previous inverted speech and language barriers would be gone, leaving only Khepri to be the target of a much more potent effect.

Before any group could react to this, the mirror they were traveling towards would open, and if one peered inside, they could clearly see Rui cowering in front of the group of "clones." "Sure, you could go save your buddy, me, but what about you, Mushroom Man? I have your buddy~" and with that "Rui" would dash in the opposite direction, Mushroom Man hot on her tail as the inciting comments seemed to have worked. This would leave Aiden and Khepri to make a decision - would they go save Rui? or go help Mushroom Man?

—---------------------------------------------------------------------------

The 'New' Hall of Mirrors

The sound of the intercom caused the collection of clones to jump at Rui, attempting to subdue her. Assuming that she was too scared to fight back or that no one managed to help her, it was surely over for her.

But perhaps their was a spark of hope? Only time would tell.
—---------------------------------------------------------------------------

tl;dr
- Man angry drops the facade (no not Aiden)
- Fake Rui removes the reversing affect and goes all in on Khepri, taunts the group and runs with Mushroom Man following
- Black Mirror opens to show Rui about to be jumped by...you guys? them? us? Man, this is confusing.
- Decisions Decisions~

—---------------------------------------------------------------------------

OOC: Round 2 begins! Going forward, you are more than welcome to post more than once per round, but you are by no means obligated to do so! Just remember to make the required one post per week before the deadline!

Remember to include a TL;DR at the end of your post! <3

Additionally, if you want to plan a cool character moment ahead of time, like making a heroic sacrifice or setting up a team attack, but want to keep it a surprise to the other people in the thread until it happens, feel free to sneak into my DMs so we can plan out the details! This is not mandatory, but I want to make sure every character shines and looks their best during this thread!

tag: facade, Mafdet Khepri, Rui Matsui

[Rui Matsui]

Mortality.

So this was what it was like.

Rui had always hated bleeders ever since she was a child. They treated her differently. She had never been a part of the crowd. The kids in her village teased her and called her a demon, acted as if she was from another planet. She didn't miss those days. There was a reason she left her hometown and never looked back. Those men in black suits treated her differently too. They took her to blank, white rooms and let her train her quirk. At first it was small demonstrations. Healing a papercut, healing a mild cough. Then she was made to heal animals, revive insects. They treated her as if she had a gift. Of course she did, and that was why she hated bleeders. She was special, but they treated her like she was nothing. It wasn't even the fact that they bled and she didn't, it was that they seemed to understand something she didn't.

What is life?

What is mortality?

She had fought for everything her whole life. She was a no-good, lazy, selfish and arrogant jerk, but she had always stood up for herself and killed the people she wanted to kill. What if... This was the end of the line?

What if, just for once, she didn't fight?

She screamed. It was all she could do. Would anyone save her? Maybe her new quirk could save her, but the chances were slim. She didn't even know who Utsusemi was.

She was all but too ready to accept her fate, but just in case her quirk kicked in she might as well try to shock all the clones at once.

Matsu
Mafdet Khepri
facade

TL;DR: Rui screams, cries and accepts her fate. (tries to shock all the clones as a last ditch effort when they jump her)

[Mafdet Khepri]

Khepri was tasering away at the mirrors in French until Not-Rui addressed her. A feeling similar yet different to the one Khepri had felt 27 hours ago went through them again. This one was shorter but hurt far more. Fear overtook them. Last time they lost their exoskeleton, ears and tail while gaining two fingers, toes and different ears. 

They looked down and saw what's up. Then they looked up and saw only their own hair. They had no mouth but still screamed. It was a silent scream, one that twisted the catbug's expression but produced no sound. From the corner of their eye they saw Not-Rui run away from them and heard her taunts but they were far too busy freaking out to contemplate whether the blonde's words were still reversed.

Raising their left hand to check their face their breath hitched -causing them to exhale deeply instead- when they failed to see it appear in their line of sight and something simultaneously hit their left leg. Panicking at the sudden attack that sent lightning coursing through them Khepri went down flailing, unaware that opening their hand and trying to check their face had caused her other arm's fist to clench around the taser and hit it against their leg instead. 

The back of their head hitting the ground hurt their face. It would have made sense what with their line of sight making them believe they hit the ground face first but they can feel their nose hurt just as much as the rest around it. Had that hit the ground first it would have either broken completely or caused their head to tilt when it hit the floor. There was no way the pain was spread that evenly. Not without the very specific circumstances of the waffle batter incident of 2097.

Something was off.

Khepri went still. They focused entirely on that deduction to refrain from panicking any further, getting lost in their thoughts instead and staring at nothing through empty eyes. 

Their mind churned. Once they took a moment to think about everything it wasn't difficult to figure out what the cause was. This had to be another variant or evolution of the reversed words. It helped that they'd had a similar theory before. Their senses had been reversed. Had their actions been reversed too? Khepri brought her left hand down and raised it once more. Feeling the pain of their arm slamming into the ground provided the final piece of data that confirmed the theory.

Putting their new quirk to use to process all of the feedback they had to deal with and keep track of the necessary motions Khepri slowly pushed themself up. Behind them they could see where Mushroom Man had chased after Not-Rui moments ago, their memories combined with their new processing speed allowing them to deduce what happened and which direction they headed in. From the other sounds they heard they figured there were bigger problems to deal with however. 

It took time and several immediate, minute adjustments to get themself back upright but before long Khepri managed to regain some modicum of mobility. Not enough to be at full or even half efficiency but enough to defend themself in a pinch. Turning their waist and head so the back of it was facing where they were looking before they fell Khepri took in the disastrous scene taking place on the other side of the mirror. Their heart dropped and they froze in place once more. Was that them attacking Not-Rui alongside Mushroom Man and Masked Man? But Masked Man was right there and Mushroom Man and Not-Rui had ran off in the opposite direction? Was what they was now a reversed scene of the three of them leaving Not-Rui alone or was this truly happening?

There was far too much going on for them to both figure it out, make use of their quirk to parse their scrambled senses and actions as well as intervene in time. Their mind ran through all the steps it would take. While it did so Khepri stood frozen in place. Whether it was for a moment or an eternity Khepri had not the capacity to find out. All they knew was the longer it took them to figure out what to do the lower their chances of success became.

---

TL;DR:
Khepri's merry electrocuting is interrupted by their world getting turned upside down and they drop, taking a moment to figure out what is going on and straining to stand back up. When they do they spot what is going on, wonder whether it's real and freeze in place trying to figure out what to do about it.

Tags: Rui Matsui,Matsu,facade

[facade]

---

| facade | @freelance_facade
Location: Tokyo, Japan. | Current Status: what the fuck is going on
Now Playing: feeding|ear - Ignorance is Strength

---

There it is. As confident as he tried to seem, Aiden was paranoid behind the mask. Always waiting for the pin to drop. Waiting to be proven right about Quirkers, mostly. When Fake!Rui dropped the act, Aiden's fight-or-flight kicked in. He didn't wanna die here, and that was a real possibility right now. Lucky for him, things were about to get better for him and him alone. He felt something change, felt the tongue-tieing leave him. Just in time for that imposter fuck to start running their mouth. He didn't wanna hear it. His heart rate was rising, and Aiden's head pivoted just in time to see through the looking glass. Was that... RUI! Wait...he was there? Not reflected in a mirror, no, it wasn't anywhere near opposite to him and his surroundings didn't match at all. What was he doing with Rui right now? It wasn't right. Not real. Not real. NOT REAL. This was a trick, a facade. He cursed his naming sense for the irony.

What next? He heard a shock, and then turned to see the other girl fall. Hit her head, too. Ouch. Then, slowly, she rose. Adrenaline taking hold of his mind, he alluded to the only female philosopher he could think of. Seemed fitting, unknowingly so, given the shared Egyptian heritage. "Yo, Hypatia, you doing okay? Looks like she... they hit you with something pretty bad..." she was frozen, maybe she was in shock? That was a pretty bad head impact. "Should probably sit back down, I'll try and find-" Speaking of shock, he was about to receive one.
His eyes fixed on the scene through the mirror once more.

They were gonna hurt her, kill her!

His... his what? Employee, associate, ally, friend?

Bestie was probably the word Rui would've used, were she not cowering in fear. It didn't matter to Aiden right now, though.

She was in danger.

Nobody was helping. Nobody could help except him. No bystander effect or flashy hero to hide behind. No excuse.

As logical and cold as he tried to seem, Aiden was emotional beneath it all. Afraid. Fear, left unattended, will do one of three things. Fade away, crystallise into panic, or boil over into anger. Before he knew it, facade's body was moving. His fist was swinging through the air. "FUCKER! How dare you! How dare you take my mask! How dare you take it and use it to hurt Capricorn! My mask! My ally! FUCK YOU!" Before he knew it, Aiden's fist was headed straight for that fucker's stolen mask. The mirror man's glass mask. He hoped it shattered in his eyes, like real glass. Reeling from that, though, Aiden stood a little in front of Rui. Over her. He'd forgotten about her new Quirk, tunnel-visioned. "Fuck are you doing on the floor, Capricorn? You gonna let the tech guy beat you to the punch? How many pro heroes was it you killed again? The hell are these chucklefucks gonna do? Get up!" Was that the best speech? Fuck no, but it was the best he was gonna do while hyped up on self-preservation and outrage. Shit's intoxicating, he was starting to understand how Retsu got that way. But slowly it was drying up. He became aware of the postion he'd put himself in. Frontliner. Fuck.

tl;dr
- Stress Level: 80%
- I alone am the real facade
- You good? Mafdet Khepri
- Picks Rui, moving before his brain can catch up.
- Swings for the faker's glass mask. Matsu
- Gives Rui Matsui a little 50% pep speech, 50% taunt.

[Matsu]

✧ The Dream World ✧

The Control Room

Khepri's actions may not have shown any immediate results, but back in the control room, the man behind the console was panicking. The electricity was interfering with his control of the mirrors, and the feedback was causing him to lose his ability to control them remotely.

He would slam his hands against the console and then hit a button to turn the display off. "I'm gonna fucking kill that little bitch. This is all her fault!" with that he would place his hands together and extend them as if opening a window which opened up a mirror portal in front of him. Pulling a handgun from his waist, he would step through and-

—---------------------------------------------------------------------------

The 'New' Hall of Mirrors

The copies were so focused on subduing Rui that they failed to take the proper precautions against her new ability; the Facade copy would receive a shock and recoil, shaking out his arms in an attempt over to overcome aftershocks. It was due to this that when the real Facade swung he didn't notice until the fist was already making contact. The impact caused the clone to dissolve into a dark black muddy looking substance and fall to the ground, rendered completely useless. The two others, instead of focusing on Rui who was not defending herself, rose to their feet and readied themselves to strike out at Facade. Well, they would have, but...

-A gunshot rang out from behind Rui as a single bullet would lodge itself into her skull. There was no warning, no way to see it coming as a mirror opened from behind her, and a man who was disheveled with messy brown hair and a lab coat was the culprit. He growled in frustration as he aimed the gun at Facade and pulled the trigger. However nothing would happen as the gun had jammed. "GOD DAMN IT!" he screamed as he threw the gun on the ground "GET HIM! We're gonna start over I'm closing the other space! Sakanade get to the exit!" he'd yell to the open portal. In the room with Khepri the mirrors around them would begin to close one by one, folding in on themselves. It would only be a matter of time before the one to bring them home would close; would they make it?

The other two copies of Mushroom Man and Khepri would rush Facade. If Facade was perceptive enough, he would realize that they were much slower than the originals, clearly lesser in the grand scheme of things, but there was power in numbers!


—---------------------------------------------------------------------------

tl;dr
- Control Room man makes a portal and shuts down his console
- Fake Facade is shocked (literally) and then punched, turning into a pile of black mud
- Mirror opens behind Rui and a gunshot is fired into her skull.
- Control Room man tries to shoot Facade, gun jams and he gets angry and throws it.
- He starts to close the mirrors starting with the ones with Khepri.
- Fake Khepri and Fake Mushroom Man charge Facade.

—---------------------------------------------------------------------------

OOC: Round 2 begins! Going forward, you are more than welcome to post more than once per round, but you are by no means obligated to do so! Just remember to make the required one post per week before the deadline!

Remember to include a TL;DR at the end of your post! <3

Additionally, if you want to plan a cool character moment ahead of time, like making a heroic sacrifice or setting up a team attack, but want to keep it a surprise to the other people in the thread until it happens, feel free to sneak into my DMs so we can plan out the details! This is not mandatory, but I want to make sure every character shines and looks their best during this thread!

tag: facade,Mafdet Khepri,Rui Matsui

[Rui Matsui]

Her whole body trembled as she shocked her evil besties and herself too in the process. This was her worst day ever, easily beating out that one time at the ramen stand. She wasn't exactly sure what was going on. She had given up all hope and yet her body was still moving. Why? What was she hoping for? To beat them all and get out of here? She wasn't fast like Sho, she wasn't strong like Retsu and she wasn't smart like Facade. Without her quirk she was no one. Nothing.

''B-Bestie..'' She sobbed, holding a hand over her mouth when Facade came to her rescue. ''You came.'' She slowly found the strength to stand up on shaky legs.

Even without her quirk she was someone deserving of a friend. Who knew, maybe having her quirk taken away was a blessing in disguise. She could learn to relate to others and cherish life like any regular person. The way she acted would no longer upset people either, she could lead a completely normal and boring life and maybe she kind of wanted to. A life without the burden of being the villain she had become.

When the gun went off all she heard was a loud noise drowning everything out. Then something warm seeped out of her head and before she knew it she was laying on the ground, motionless.

In that moment, Rui died.

TL;DR: Rui gets her hopes up seeing Facade come to her rescue, but is promptly shot in the head and killed.

Matsu
Mafdet Khepri
facade

[Mafdet Khepri]

For the first time in their life Khepri had failed. Every single frame of what they saw was forever crystallized into their memory, their new quirk combined with the trauma of the situation reinforcing them in a feedback loop until there was no chance they would ever forget. At least that was how they felt. There was no way to know the future but Khepri would not be surprised if they saw these unfathomably fast yet infinitely long moments until the day they died. Perhaps all of a sudden without them being able to see it coming, through some gunman popping up behind them and-

It was unfortunate that the parallel thought capabilities of their new quirk meant Khepri had no way to shut the thought down before it reached its conclusion. Not with the level of practice they possessed with it.

Their body acted by itself when the mirrors began to close, almost causing Khepri to tumble to the ground once more when muscle memory warred with reversed reality. They found that it came rather easy to focus fully on taking manual control, their mind for once refraining from firing off trains of thought in all directions. Turning so they faced the mirror they sprinted through it and towards Rui as fast as they could. Khepri didn't need to turn around even once to check where she had fallen.

They remembered.

With one arm scooping up her shoulders and the other below her knees Khepri pulled them up, ignoring the wet sensation and heavy thump they felt against their back as they stood up. With the directions reversed it was easier to ignore what that was. They refused to think about it. 

Just one foot in front of the other. They kept their entire mind on making their way back to the mirror they'd entered from. Every step they had to adjust for the unfamiliar weight. The unfamiliar sway. It was only once you held someone like this that you noticed just how much living beings subconsciously leaned in when carried to prevent themselves from falling.

Khepri didn't have that cooperation.

Every step meant they almost toppled. They couldn't slow or they'd get trapped. Every mistaken motion was exasperated by the doll-like mass in their arms. They couldn't catch their breath or neither of their bodies would ever be found. Every single beat of their heart reminded them of the subtle difference. Of the fact that the person in their arms no longer had a heart beat.

They were several steps past the mirror before they realized they were out.

All strength drained out of Khepri the second they did. They collapsed onto their knees, eyes pressed shut and shaking all over. Someone laughed. It took them a while to recognize the voice. It was themself. Someone cried. That too took them a moment to recognize. Once more it was themself. Both sounds intermittently snuck out. Laughter amidst sobs and sniffles. Were their actions still reversed? Khepri didn't know. They couldn't tell. They simply broke down, too scared to open their eyes lest the memory would never leave them. 

---

TL;DR: 
Khepri rushes through the mirror, pulling Rui out of the pocket dimension before collapsing to their knees and breaking down.

Tags: facade,Rui Matsui,Matsu

[facade]

---

| facade | @freelance_facade
Location: Tokyo, Japan. | Current Status: what the fuck is going on
Now Playing: Shady Cicada - Burning Resolve

---

We must not be afraid, for fear leads to anger.

Adrenaline is one hell of a drug. It can enable one to perform almost superhuman feats in times of great need, from hysterical strength to a figurative infinite stamina glitch. It also has one hell of a drawback. Tunnel vision. Making contact with the head of the clone and splat-ing it across the floor was a great feeling. Aiden felt elation for just half a second. Then, with cruel suddenness, his attention was arrested. Too fast for him to think, too fast for even thoughtless action.

A voice.

A gunshot.

A yell.

T h u d . Click! Clatter.

A cacophony of noise, Lemony Snicket's Rube-Goldberg Machine of Unfortunate Events.

Wh...Rui! RUI! Aiden was still standing, so it had to be her! "Don't you fucking dare die on me! Rui!" She couldn't hear him. Turning, Aiden only saw red pooling from her forehead. That was enough. She shouldn't be bleeding. Shouldn't be hurt. Shouldn't be dead, god damn it! The invincible crackhead was lying there with her skull cracked open. That image stained Aiden's memory. The red stained his mind.

Anger leads to hate.

The gun. The gun! That fucker, that dumbass dropped his gun! Aiden, all out of attention to spare for the two clones still gunning for him, rushed to collect the discarded weapon. The other guy tried to fire at him, so Aiden figured there was at least one other bullet in here. So why'd he throw it?... Jammed, figures. Aiden was familiar with guns, at least. How the insides worked, how to fire them. Not his area of expertise, but unjamming the gun could be as simple as some percussive maintenance with the safety on. Pointing the murder weapon right back at Mirror Guy, Aiden lets his subconscious guide his speech as well. "Hey, Chekhov! You dropped this, but I'll make this shit count!" Rage. The emotion that fuelled Aiden in that moment was unrelenting. Aiden emptied the rest of the gun's clip into the man who killed his partner in crime. His friend. 5 bullets, 8, however many were left rained on the guy. Aiming for the head, but imprecise in where they hit on-target.

Hate leads to p a i n.

Resisting the urge to pistol whip the other man and finish the job for sure, Aiden fires the last shot off running. He's still in danger, after all. He couldn't let this guy get both of them. He had to live. Had to live for... where's Rui? There! He was too fuckin mad to question why he was following Khepri through the portal, how they knew the way. All he cared about was Rui...'s body. She got her out. With the final threshold crossed, he was alive? Alive! How had he lived there? The Quirkless one. The weak one. Always the eye in the sky, never the boots on the ground. How had he lived where the immortal Capricorn had died? It didn't make sense. None of this stupid, fucked up house of mirrors made any fucking sense! Were they really in the clear? Really at the end? The tears were making it hard to see clearly. Tears, of course!
Crying for his 'bestie', who died hopeful that he would save her. He couldn't save shit. Heroes saved people.

He was a villain, but fuck did he ever feel less like the mastermind. "We're outta here. Seeya, Hypatia." He had some records to strike off. Now, where the fuck was the exit?

tl;dr
- Stress Level: 200%
- A sudden, terrible moment of clarity.
- A powerless plea on deaf ears. Rui Matsui
- Chekhov's gun, shoot to kill. Matsu
- Still under threat from the SlowClones™️, uses last of his adrenaline to book it for the mirror.
- Nice breakdown, mind if I join? Mafdet Khepri

[Matsu]

✧ The Dream World ✧

The 'New' Hall of Mirrors

The Mirror Man's face turned to instant regret as his temper had gotten the best of him. Unlike the others he was teaming up with for this operation, he didn't have much offense, hence the gun. At least the girl causing the interference was down! He would dash to retrieve his gun only to get intercepted by Facade "Wait, wait wait!" he'd put his hands in the air "Let's just talk about th-"

Riddled with holes as Facade unloaded all the ammo, The Mirror Man would collapse, the last vestiges of his new quirk fading as the mirrors closed all around them locking him inside a prison of his own creation. The group was lucky enough to make it through the door, with the Khepri clone only getting partway through, resulting in their head being the only thing to make it through. It would fall to the ground and roll forward towards the real Khepri before turning into the same muddy substance as before.

"What"

"Where am I?"

"Amika, you okay?"

"I want to go hooooooome!"

"I told you this wasn't going to work!"

"I'll kill that son of a bitch! Why would he do this?"

Echoes from all around the trio duo could be heard. They were distant at first and got closer with each echo until people started popping into existence all around them. Dozens of people in this space as the color around them faded and the room began to shrink, resumed its normal size. Everyone, slightly confused, began to discuss what happened, with some people coming through intentionally and others happening to get caught in the crossfire.

Fake Rui was brought back to reality close to the group and knowing she was outnumbered and vastly outgunned she moved away as quietly as she could. With the real one dead she was definitely up to something...

But that was for another day.


—---------------------------------------------------------------------------

tl;dr
- oh he dead dead
- Everyone's back!
- Thread fin, great job all!

—---------------------------------------------------------------------------

OOC: Round 2 begins! Going forward, you are more than welcome to post more than once per round, but you are by no means obligated to do so! Just remember to make the required one post per week before the deadline!

Remember to include a TL;DR at the end of your post! <3

Additionally, if you want to plan a cool character moment ahead of time, like making a heroic sacrifice or setting up a team attack, but want to keep it a surprise to the other people in the thread until it happens, feel free to sneak into my DMs so we can plan out the details! This is not mandatory, but I want to make sure every character shines and looks their best during this thread!

tag: facade , Mafdet Khepri , Rui Matsui

[Rui Matsui]

With the room returning to normal, a sudden burst of electricity emanated from Rui's lifeless body, electrifying the blood that was pooling around her. Her body shook violently from the shock, before laying still once more. It wasn't until a few seconds later that she started to stand up, but it wasn't like Rui had just shrugged off the injury and gotten up like usual. She was guided by her head, as if she was a puppet with a string attached to her neck and someone was pulling her back onto her feet against her will.

Corpse Rui stood there for a moment, dead, glassy eyes staring into nothing with her shoulders slouched. Then she took a slow step forward, then another. Blood dripped from her hand as she walked, gunshot wound still very much spitting out red. Bursts of electricity coursed through her body causing her to twitch every now and then which might give someone the impression that she was alive, but she very much wasn't. She didn't acknowledge Aiden nor Khepri as she walked towards the exit and out onto the streets of Tokyo. Her body hijacked by her borrowed quirk as she shambled towards an unknown location like a zombie.

TL;DR: That's all folks!!

Matsu
Mafdet Khepri
facade

[Mafdet Khepri]

The muted sounds of people shouting reached Khepri, distorted as if through water due to the buzzing in their ears and the loud thumping of their own heart. Why were they still talking? They were all rambling questions and asking for answers. How did any of those matter when someone just died? Khepri could still feel it. The turn of the earth. The ground beneath their feet spinning at a thousand miles an hour and the entire planet hurtling around the sun at sixty seven thousand miles an hour. They could feel it, they were falling through space, all of them, both Khepri themself and everyone else in the room. Clinging to the skin of their tiny little world. Rui had let go. 

Why?

Logically she knew it was only natural that the world kept moving. Thousands of people died every day yet the planet was still spinning even after millennia of such tragic events. Emotionally putting one and one together was nearly impossible. The person in their arms wasn't moving. Their heart had stopped beating. Their memories were lost forever and a gap would be left in the lives of all who once knew them. How could the world still exist when reality was riddled in such gaping holes? Most importantly;

Why?

What was even the point? If something like this could happen. If something like this would just happen again. And again. And again and again and again, over and over until the end of time. Then why? She couldn't be brought back. Entropy was an inescapable truth. Once changed something could not be unchanged. Rui could never again be brought to her original state. Through the haze of tears the catbug could see something light up. Then a shock ran through them. Startled, Khepri opened her eyes and looked down at Rui. 

Dead eyes refused to stare back.

Frozen in place with their eyes wide open they watched as Rui stood back up and walked away, sniffling sobs still intermittently racking their form. They could tell she wasn't alive. Not truly. It was impossible. Their eyes honed in on the wound and bile rose in their throat. With a gulp they forced it back down, transfixed on the figure moving away like a puppet on a string. Khepri barely noticed themself getting to their feet, seeing it almost as an outside observer, their thoughts and actions remaining almost entirely disconnected.



Why weren't they stopping her? Why weren't they asking her what was going on? Whether they were alright, stupid as the question might be? Khepri didn't know. They scanned the area for any face they might recognize, grasping onto familiarity like a lifeline. Spotting the Masked Man they plodded after him, covered in blood and so pale they barely looked more alive than Rui. Idly a train of thought wondered what had happened to the Mushroom Man. Khepri hoped he was alright. Surely he was. They'd have known if something happened, right? Another sob wrenched its way out. They couldn't bear to think about it any more. Yet their new quirk would not let them abort the train of thought. Like a prisoner within their own mortal coil Khepri thought on, putting one foot in front of the other to keep going, hoping against all hope that this madness would end soon.

---

TL;DR: Utterly traumatized, Khepri watches Rui go and plods after Facade on autopilot.

Tags: facade ,Rui Matsui ,Matsu

[facade]

---

| facade | @freelance_facade
Location: Tokyo, Japan. | Current Status: what the fuck is going on
Now Playing: Bear Ghost - Necromancin Dancin

---

For the past... however many minutes, Aiden's heart and mind had been racing. As he returned to the 'real world', there was a brief lapse in this. Peace. He breathed in...

...and out.

Then, his awareness caught back up with his body with a gasp. Adrenaline, not yet clear of his bloodstream, forced Aiden back into that hypervigilant fight-or-flight state. There were so many people here, in a space where there should not be. Most importantly, that fucking mimic! She still dared to take the face of Rui, even now? Oh, how he wanted to break that false body. Break the real body beneath, until she couldn't look like herself if she tried. But... he couldn't. These people were in the way, and she ran. Fucker. He'd have to get his intel guys on tracking her down later. Just breathe. Breathe in-

"OW, FUCK!"
An involuntary response to being suddenly shocked, as Rui's body violently reanimated. Now, he'd seen her come back from 'fatal' injuries before. Injuries that'd kill anyone else, that was her Quirk after all. But not like this. She died. He saw her die. There was blood! There had never been blood before. So, already on a hair trigger, Aiden turned with reflex alone and brought up his hand as Rui rose from the floor.

Click!

The gun hadn't jammed this time. It was, however, out of ammo. Aiden looked on in terror, anticipating a deadly threat. Eyes wide and hands shaky, he watched as Rui said nothing and began to walk away. What if she'd survived? What if somehow her new Quirk had done something to that metal bullet and saved her? He... he would've shot. That wasn't the first thing on Aiden's mind right now, though. "HEY! Don't just fuck off! How are you walking away like any of this is normal?! How are you alive?! Say something, god damn it! ANSWER ME, MATSUI! H- hey!" He choked on his words, unable to keep up the tirade as Matsui Rui ignored him and left, left like some fucking zombie. What was happening? This couldn't be a dream, it felt far too vivid. Too real. He would've woken up at the gunshots, that's how dreams worked, right? Not to mention he hadn't been to sleep in 36+ hours. Had he been dreaming since yesterday?

facade began walking, steps slow and deliberate. He could think all this through later, but right now he needed to get out of here. He was still in danger, after all. Still Quirkless in a chaotic world of Quirkers, with nothing to defend himself. Nothing except the gun. He decided to keep it, as a memento mori if nothing else. He was rich and well-connected enough to get a way better weapon, but that wasn't the point. This one was special. This one killed the invincible Capricorn. Or did it? Either way, it was a reminder that nobody was above death. One bullet, in the right place at the right time. As he was thinking this over, facade noticed someone following him out of the store. It was that philosopher chick, following him like a lost kitten. Wait... a kitten? That's it! He knew that Khepri was somehow familiar, but only now did he figure it out. He'd seen her in the Underground Arena, but not looking like this. Man, he was awful at recognising mutants without their mutations.

Turning his head to face her, facade still did not reveal himself. The de-catbugged Khepri was met only by the kanji for 'follow', lighting up his mask. She looked exhausted, a step away from dead. He probably did too, honestly. Even recognising that technically this person was a hero and thus an enemy, he couldn't bring himself to harbour any ill will towards her right now. Just sympathy and recognition. Slowly, carefully, the duo made their way to one of Aiden's personal safe houses. As the adrenaline finally died down, Aiden found himself passed out on a sofa bed.

tl;dr
- Momentary sigh of relief.
- Stress Level: error
- anger at Fake!Rui, but can't do shit about it Matsu
- fear at Zombie!Rui, but gun's empty.
- more pleading to deaf ears, when will he learn? Rui Matsui
- sympathy for Khepri, leads her to a safehouse. Mafdet Khepri
- Great job, guys!

[Sol]

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[attr="class","likedotitle2"]Approved

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Man this was crazy! Who knows what's become of Mummy now?
Approved, amazing job everyone!

Rui Matsui - 250 tokens + 100 = 350 tokens
Mafdet Khepri - 10 tokens + 100 = 110 tokens
facade - 26,250 EXP + 10,000 = 36,250 EXP

PHARAOH LEAP.

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