[So, it's official: Hanako absolutely hates this place.
The school building and the shadowy figures were bad enough, eliciting a shiver of ice down his back the moment he stepped through those massive doors. Even if it'd been a year now since his own Disturbance, the sight of the warped halls and the silhouetted students still shake loose a sick feeling that he had thought he had buried... or at least managed better since the last time he had dealt with one of these things. It was hard enough navigating through this place with constant inadvertent reminders of one of his lowest points all around him, but that wasn't even the worse thing about all of this.
No, the worse thing was that there was someone he cared for at the heart of this whole mess this time-- and he had completely missed the warning signs until it was much too late.
It was easy to stay detached and impersonal through the other Disturbances he had been through-- he barely knew each of the victims enough to get too distressed about their disappearances-- but... this was Junna. His trainee, his schoolmate... his friend. Hanako had no leg to stand on when it came to talking others out of their Disturbances, but even his cynical heart realized that this wasn't what she really wanted or needed. Not with the bright future she had ahead of her...
So with that in mind, he wastes no time carving a path through the halls, ignoring the shadowy figures' offers of paper entirely and opting just to cut through them instead-- literally. The more time he focuses on fighting, the less he can think about how much this all hurts, and the strategy works well enough...
... that is, until he finally reaches the freight elevator.
It would have been easy enough if the emerging silhouettes stayed in the form of students, simple and unimposing-- but what manifests is something else entirely. Large, muscular, with just a suggestion of an eyepatch upon it's face, it lunges towards Hanako, hand outstretched, crackling with electricity and aimed towards his head. With a loud SHRIEK, he scrambles towards the other edge of the platform, trying to get away from the figure, only to be met by another emerging right behind him.]
GYAAAAAA!!!
[It's almost a bit funny, seeing him scurry from corner to corner trying to dodge these beefy assailants like some sparkly cockroach, but... it might be good to help him, maybe? (Or at least distract the Shadow Zekes, anyway--)]
Behind The Scenes
[Finally, though, he reaches the backstage area, and the grim determination from before returns. Had this been another time, or even a Disturbance involving somebody else, he might have felt more inclined to check out the inner workings of the show-- after all, he's never really been part of this sort of thing at school, so this was all entirely new to him. It would have been fun to color in a set, or maybe even finagle some sort of prop...
But instead, he callously tosses aside the bucket of paint one of the figures pushes onto him as he enters the room, the bright red pigment splashing messily upon the racks of finished costumes to the side. There's a resounding hush from the silhouettes as they take in the damage, the dripping spatters of paint off of the delicately beaded dresses and jackets as the bucket rolls away--
And suddenly, the air vibrates with a furious, deafening SCREECH, the students' attention solely on Hanako as they converge upon him with their shadowy sharp claws. From the look upon his face, he doesn't look particularly bothered by this turn of events-- in fact, this may have been what he wanted the whole time, with the way his knife slices through one of them as he dodges their attacks. Still, it is four against one, and while he probably could take them out on his own eventually, the need to get to Junna and her Night Terror was leaving him more than a bit impatient. His Orby Boi SLAMS into a couple of the figures, sending them barreling in the direction of whomever was nearby.]
Take care of these two, will you?
[Hanako, you started this fiasco, don't be a dick???]
To Shine On (tw: multiple eyes + hole in face in linked image)
[Of course getting to the Main Stage wasn't going to be that easy, was it? After all of the Disturbances he's been through (and one he's made), he knows that there's no straight path to what's essentially the center of someone's heart.
But even so, it was frustrating-- dodging around the swarms of dolls and bursts of star shaped confetti and all of those stupid desks. And what was that song following him around, anyway?? Sure, he was named after a school mystery, but this was getting a bit ridiculous...
With his annoyance and desperation at max tilt, however, he doesn't even stop to think twice about the Torments he's slashing in front of him, eyes cold and expression merciless.]
Out of my way!
[It just so happens that some of these Torments were putting up more of a fight than others... but that just means he had to double down harder, didn't he?
Those who may happen to run into Hanako while under the illusion's grip, however, may come across a sight that's distinctly at odds with the musical theater theme all around them. The body looks somewhat humanoid, clad in the vague make-ups of a sopping wet Dreamer costume, but that's where the similarities end-- numerous tentacles, embedded with squirming eyes, writhe and lash from it's back, oozing with noxious black sludge. And the face? Well... there isn't one-- instead, there's a gaping black void, similarly writhing with toxic tendrils that try to parry and whip at any incoming attacks. For those who may have been in Amane's Disturbance, the eyes and sludge may look very familiar... but surely that's just a coincidence, right?]
Position Zero
[After what feels like an eternity, Hanako finds himself finally emerging from the maze, the edge of the staircase tantalizingly within reach. He can see the curtains pull away, revealing Junna at the very top, and for the first time in the past few days, he can feel some sort of hope stirring in his chest. All he needs to do is sprint up those stairs, grab her, and then--
Suddenly, a groaning creak echoes through the air from high up above, followed by an abrupt SNAP. An intricate crystal chandelier plummets from the ceiling, landing with an ear-splitting SMASH upon the stage, sending glass, dust and debris flying all around. With a bitten off curse, he tries to find some way around the wreckage, to get some way onto the steps so he can reach her, but in the end, it's too late. She's gone, lowered into the chasm of the platform, and he can't help but yell out:]
JUNNA-SAN!!
[But somehow, things only seem to get worse: out of the corner of his eye, he sees a flutter of green tipped hair, dashing the top of the steps, and before he can even process it, she leaps on in after Junna. He can only stare on in horror, and before he even realizes it, he screams, voice practically rasping:]
NO, YASHIRO--!!
[But then she, too, is gone, and he falls to his knees, the broken crystal and wood from the chandelier digging into his skin. He's vaguely aware of the swarm of Torments rushing in behind him, crawling around the wreckage and up the staircase, but at the moment, he can't summon the will to move. How did everything suddenly get so much worse...?]
Boulevard of Broken Dreams
[When the fighting gets to be too much (or when he's forced to resort to using the NPC Healers to patch him up), one can find Hanako sitting against one of the trees in school courtyard, knees tucked up and arms curled around himself. He seems to be checked out to the activity of the other Dreamers around him, staring listlessly into space as he broods. Almost to himself, he murmurs:]
How did it get this bad...?
[At least with the fighting, he could ignore his thoughts for a while. But here, in this space tinted with the red-orange glow of sunset... it can't help but creep back in.]
no subject
[So, it's official: Hanako absolutely hates this place.
The school building and the shadowy figures were bad enough, eliciting a shiver of ice down his back the moment he stepped through those massive doors. Even if it'd been a year now since his own Disturbance, the sight of the warped halls and the silhouetted students still shake loose a sick feeling that he had thought he had buried... or at least managed better since the last time he had dealt with one of these things. It was hard enough navigating through this place with constant inadvertent reminders of one of his lowest points all around him, but that wasn't even the worse thing about all of this.
No, the worse thing was that there was someone he cared for at the heart of this whole mess this time-- and he had completely missed the warning signs until it was much too late.
It was easy to stay detached and impersonal through the other Disturbances he had been through-- he barely knew each of the victims enough to get too distressed about their disappearances-- but... this was Junna. His trainee, his schoolmate... his friend. Hanako had no leg to stand on when it came to talking others out of their Disturbances, but even his cynical heart realized that this wasn't what she really wanted or needed. Not with the bright future she had ahead of her...
So with that in mind, he wastes no time carving a path through the halls, ignoring the shadowy figures' offers of paper entirely and opting just to cut through them instead-- literally. The more time he focuses on fighting, the less he can think about how much this all hurts, and the strategy works well enough...
... that is, until he finally reaches the freight elevator.
It would have been easy enough if the emerging silhouettes stayed in the form of students, simple and unimposing-- but what manifests is something else entirely. Large, muscular, with just a suggestion of an eyepatch upon it's face, it lunges towards Hanako, hand outstretched, crackling with electricity and aimed towards his head. With a loud SHRIEK, he scrambles towards the other edge of the platform, trying to get away from the figure, only to be met by another emerging right behind him.]
GYAAAAAA!!!
[It's almost a bit funny, seeing him scurry from corner to corner trying to dodge these beefy assailants like some sparkly cockroach, but... it might be good to help him, maybe? (Or at least distract the Shadow Zekes, anyway--)]
Behind The Scenes
[Finally, though, he reaches the backstage area, and the grim determination from before returns. Had this been another time, or even a Disturbance involving somebody else, he might have felt more inclined to check out the inner workings of the show-- after all, he's never really been part of this sort of thing at school, so this was all entirely new to him. It would have been fun to color in a set, or maybe even finagle some sort of prop...
But instead, he callously tosses aside the bucket of paint one of the figures pushes onto him as he enters the room, the bright red pigment splashing messily upon the racks of finished costumes to the side. There's a resounding hush from the silhouettes as they take in the damage, the dripping spatters of paint off of the delicately beaded dresses and jackets as the bucket rolls away--
And suddenly, the air vibrates with a furious, deafening SCREECH, the students' attention solely on Hanako as they converge upon him with their shadowy sharp claws. From the look upon his face, he doesn't look particularly bothered by this turn of events-- in fact, this may have been what he wanted the whole time, with the way his knife slices through one of them as he dodges their attacks. Still, it is four against one, and while he probably could take them out on his own eventually, the need to get to Junna and her Night Terror was leaving him more than a bit impatient. His Orby Boi SLAMS into a couple of the figures, sending them barreling in the direction of whomever was nearby.]
Take care of these two, will you?
[Hanako, you started this fiasco, don't be a dick???]
To Shine On (tw: multiple eyes + hole in face in linked image)
[Of course getting to the Main Stage wasn't going to be that easy, was it? After all of the Disturbances he's been through (and one he's made), he knows that there's no straight path to what's essentially the center of someone's heart.
But even so, it was frustrating-- dodging around the swarms of dolls and bursts of star shaped confetti and all of those stupid desks. And what was that song following him around, anyway?? Sure, he was named after a school mystery, but this was getting a bit ridiculous...
With his annoyance and desperation at max tilt, however, he doesn't even stop to think twice about the Torments he's slashing in front of him, eyes cold and expression merciless.]
Out of my way!
[It just so happens that some of these Torments were putting up more of a fight than others... but that just means he had to double down harder, didn't he?
Those who may happen to run into Hanako while under the illusion's grip, however, may come across a sight that's distinctly at odds with the musical theater theme all around them. The body looks somewhat humanoid, clad in the vague make-ups of a sopping wet Dreamer costume, but that's where the similarities end-- numerous tentacles, embedded with squirming eyes, writhe and lash from it's back, oozing with noxious black sludge. And the face? Well... there isn't one-- instead, there's a gaping black void, similarly writhing with toxic tendrils that try to parry and whip at any incoming attacks. For those who may have been in Amane's Disturbance, the eyes and sludge may look very familiar... but surely that's just a coincidence, right?]
Position Zero
[After what feels like an eternity, Hanako finds himself finally emerging from the maze, the edge of the staircase tantalizingly within reach. He can see the curtains pull away, revealing Junna at the very top, and for the first time in the past few days, he can feel some sort of hope stirring in his chest. All he needs to do is sprint up those stairs, grab her, and then--
Suddenly, a groaning creak echoes through the air from high up above, followed by an abrupt SNAP. An intricate crystal chandelier plummets from the ceiling, landing with an ear-splitting SMASH upon the stage, sending glass, dust and debris flying all around. With a bitten off curse, he tries to find some way around the wreckage, to get some way onto the steps so he can reach her, but in the end, it's too late. She's gone, lowered into the chasm of the platform, and he can't help but yell out:]
JUNNA-SAN!!
[But somehow, things only seem to get worse: out of the corner of his eye, he sees a flutter of green tipped hair, dashing the top of the steps, and before he can even process it, she leaps on in after Junna. He can only stare on in horror, and before he even realizes it, he screams, voice practically rasping:]
NO, YASHIRO--!!
[But then she, too, is gone, and he falls to his knees, the broken crystal and wood from the chandelier digging into his skin. He's vaguely aware of the swarm of Torments rushing in behind him, crawling around the wreckage and up the staircase, but at the moment, he can't summon the will to move. How did everything suddenly get so much worse...?]
Boulevard of Broken Dreams
[When the fighting gets to be too much (or when he's forced to resort to using the NPC Healers to patch him up), one can find Hanako sitting against one of the trees in school courtyard, knees tucked up and arms curled around himself. He seems to be checked out to the activity of the other Dreamers around him, staring listlessly into space as he broods. Almost to himself, he murmurs:]
How did it get this bad...?
[At least with the fighting, he could ignore his thoughts for a while. But here, in this space tinted with the red-orange glow of sunset... it can't help but creep back in.]