Event: The Reveal Glass

[indigo_league]

Across the Pokémon world, characters may have spotted a falling star last night. Or at least, one would think that's what it was: a naturally occurring phenomenon, rather than a legendary artifact. Specifically, the Reveal Glass fell to earth during a fight among a group of legendaries started by the return of a long-lost family member. But it's probably best to leave them to handle all that themselves, while your characters deal with other consequences.

The Reveal Glass shattered upon impact, and the shards scattered throughout Kanto, Johto, and the Sevii Islands… And made their way into the hearts of your characters. But bleeding isn't the concern here. Instead, the impact will hit when a character first looks into any reflective service. An eerie feeling hits them as they're transported to the Mirror Dimension.

While this realm can be many different things for different characters, one thing is always true: It is a place of honesty, where true selves are revealed. Those struck by a shard will find themselves facing truths they are no longer able to hide, and now must accept. Fortunately enough, even those who haven't been struck will be able to enter the Mirror Dimension during this event via a reflective surface to offer help. By the end of the 29th, things will return to normal. Characters will be back in the usual Pokémon world and their hearts will be rid of the shards, but time is strange in the Mirror Dimension, and the experience may feel like it goes on far longer than a day. Or, maybe that's just the emotional exhaustion.

The Reveal Glass plot is here. You can swing by the event info post for additional details and FAQ, and play out your characters’ enforced therapy on this post. As with most VR events, this plot is entirely optional and your characters don't need to take part at all.

Comments

Shiro | OTA

[shiro2hero]

CWs: medical experimentation, forced combat, space horror

You're in a port, in a futuristic city. Ahead of you is a a door marked "BAGGAGE CLAIM". Behind that door is a man. Behind that door, is a windowless room.

You enter. Looking upward, you see two signs - neither one written in any recognizable language. There are no windows. The atmosphere is at once both frigid, and stifling. A long chute enters from the center of the ceiling, dropping down to the floor below, to the pile. The pile of luggage. Dozens of pieces of luggage, an airport's worth of suitcases, trunks, and crates.

Shiro is there. He's busily sorting trunks. Each one comically oversized, looking like they weigh a ton, and yet, Shiro is hefting them one by one, mechanically, from one side of the platform to the other. There does not seem to be any order to what Shiro is doing. One moment, he hauls a big metal crate to the left. The next, he's dragging it back to the right. He does not stop moving. There are dark circles under his eyes, his hair unkempt, exhaustion dragging lines in his features. Back and forth, he moves. But nothing ever changes. No one comes to pick up the bags, there are no carousels waiting to take them away to their owners.

He is here, he is alone, and he is constantly in motion.

Briefly, he leans against one of the suitcases, a duffel bag overstuffed, indiscernible writing all over its canvas surface, bracing himself. He is breathing hard. No sooner does he stop, no sooner does he take that small moment for himself, then one of the packages - this one an old medieval trunk in pale blue and red leather - creaks open. From that small opening, flowers begin to spill out, their petals dripping to the floor like water. Another one, this one more like a fish tank wrapped in layers of protective, cloudy tape, swirls with an unseen occupant - until yellow eyes appear, glowing through the fluid. All around, other suitcases begin to open, begin to release their contents.

Shiro jumps back to work. As fast as he can. A sudden blur of motion, throwing heavy boxes here and there - his expression abruptly shifting from exhaustion to terror. In the moment he moves, the boxes shut. The fluid clouds.

Everything goes back to normal.


((ooc: brackets or prose is totally fine! CWs are potentially going to come up in the threads, and I'll warn for any, but I wanted to be clear ahead of time!))

[soupguy]

Being uncomfortable isn't new to Boober Fraggle, he's felt that way for various reasons in all kinds of places, and sometimes it's just the place itself. But this has to be the worst case of he's ever experienced. Somehow, the room past the door strikes him as too neat. It's not something Boober ever thought possible, but as he creeps through - hoping to go unnoticed even though he's sure his more dull-clored fur (as fraggles go) must stand in stark contrast with this setting - that's how it feels. This room is bad in so many ways Boober never thought could be bad. Too clean, too plain, too stark... Too lonely.

There is one person here, and Boober recognizes him to a degree. He's seen him around. The big underground battle with Walking Wake, that island wedding Boober somehow also ended up at, with the ridiculous ice cream truck... He's not dangerous, but he does seem so tired, and busy. Although why is he even doing all this--

Boober freezes with a yelp when flowers start pouring out from a suitcase, and it seems to set off a chain reaction of chaos. Even once things return to normal - the creepy normal of this place, anyway - and he's no longer too startled to move, things feel more wrong than before.

He sees why all the work is being done, now. As pointless as it seems, it's what keeps the luggage closed-- And clearly that's crucial to do, because whatever just happened was far too much. But as admirable as the man's work is, there should be more people doing it if it's such a big deal! And though he knows he's too small to make a difference at this size, he doesn't see much choice. He moves further into the room and without a word to Shiro - though there are plenty of sounds of strain - starts pushing against a suitcase that's bigger than he is.

Of course, he was right, he can't move anything so heavy like this. But the other option was to watch and keep feel helpless as someone else did important work at their own expense. So what can he do but keep pushing?

[shiro2hero]

"It's fine."

He says it mechanically. He says it as if he hasn't even noticed the how startled and unsure his new companion is. As if the only thing that matters is Boober trying to help. He doesn't even look over too closely, just a brief glance, before he hefts up a plastic tote. This one covered in stickers that look at home in a hospital.

"It's fine - just leave it. I'll handle it."

But for all his constant motion, all the weariness in every movement, there's a sort of concern in what he says. Don't worry about me, unsaid and hanging in the spaces between the lines.

[soupguy]

Boober looks up at Shiro, taking note of the tone and detachment, but also the stickers on that tote. While no specific meaning is clear to him at a glance, he's done enough part-time work at Pokemon Centers - not to mention medical research about humans, on his own time - to recognize them as medical.

But while that kind of thing always catches his interest, he's too troubled by the stubborn refusal of help for his mind to linger very long. Frowning, he gives one more straining, fruitless attempt to push the suitcase for now. No good.

"You can't keep going, though... I get it. I don't like to stop important work either. But in the state you're in, you'll collapse soon." He looks around the room. Sure, he may be too small to help meaningfully, but surely there's other back-up. "You can't be the only... Someone else must be able to take over."

[shiro2hero]

"No."

This time, it's pleading. Don't make him bring in something else - someone else. Don't ask him to do that. "It's my problem. I can't - "

He can't ask someone to shoulder what he won't. How could he? He's supposed to be dependable, strong. It's supposed to be safer here. Better - he should be better by now. Over all of this.

But he just keeps moving. Keeps sorting the boxes over and over to make sure nothing comes back out. Setting down the medical trunk, he moves on to one plastered in photos. People, their faces slightly blurred. A man in a mask. A young man making fingerguns with another in a headband. Two people in glasses who could be identical. A teen holding a Voltorb over his head. And more. So many more.

[soupguy]

"It shouldn't be just yours, that doesn't make any sense! It can only work out that way for so long."

For all his fretting and fear, it doesn't take much for Boober's stubbornness to come out. And he's particularly stubborn about things that he doesn't see as making sense. But then one of the photos on that trunk, blurry though it is, catches his attention.

"Wait, that's Hunk."

Boober had never know him very well, but they'd talked on the network once or twice. He'd struck Boober as remarkably reasonable about things, more so than most others he knew here or back home, and it had left a very good impression. He hasn't seen him post anything in quite some time, though, and so simply assumed Hunk isn't here anymore.

[shiro2hero]

"I said, it's fine-"

Everything stops.

As if some deity hit the PAUSE button. Everything stops, and Shiro included. Though he does turn, he does still breathe, and his face creases in silent confusion. The statement has derailed what's happening here, and for the better.

"You knew Hunk?" he asks. The faintest note of hope sneaks into the question.

[soupguy]

Boober leans back as he looks up at Shiro, surprised by the sudden stillness. But after a moment's hesitation, he nods.

"Well, I mean, it's not like we were close. I don't remember ever meeting him in person, and I haven't seen him in a long time, so I figured he probably went home... But I like him a lot, I like that he's sensible and doesn't act like all crazy things are normal or not scary."

After a thoughtful pause, Boober adds, "I wish I did know him better, though. He really seemed to respect kitchens."

[shiro2hero]

"He... he does."

He has to stop himself from using the past tense. Hunk is fine - Hunk is fine. He knows that. Trusts people have promised him that.

And things begin to grind forward again. The air starts to circulate. The hesitation making things start to creak, slowly opening. Shiro's head whips around, as folders and x-rays begin to ooze out of the medical crate. As eyes glow in the dark cracks of suitcases.

Frantically, Shiro grabs the nearest box, moving once again.

"He's a teammate. A friend. He's - he's a genius."

[warriorworkhorse]

She doesn't know this man. She doesn't know these surroundings. What she does know, though, is that degree of panic. She's seen it before, and though she knows she didn't fix it in the person she'd seen wearing it before, she does know she helped.

So Pieck stepped up, pushing up the sleeves of a khaki jacket, wrinkling them up to where they stayed near her elbows, below a red armband marked with a white star that hugged her left arm. "Can I help?" she asked, tone cheerful and pleasant, not shrinking away from work.

She reached for one of these trunks, moving it in the same way that she'd seen him moving it before. It seemed pointless, but that didn't matter so much. It was something that, in his opinion, whether he voiced it or not, needed to happen. So she threw in beside him, mirroring his movements.

[shiro2hero]

"It's fine-"

It's categorically not fine. But the response is instantaneous. Immediate. Like some kind of instinct, making him speak no matter what he might want otherwise. What he might think otherwise.

"It's fine. I'm fine."

Saying the words, forcing them out, he seems to be dragged down further by the weight of the trunk. Anything she touched, then, feels as if it's gained ten more pounds. Or twenty, trying to pull the people holding them down to the floor.

[warriorworkhorse]

"I know," she answered, looking across at him. "You're fine. You can handle all of this. Because you're strong. And you never get tired."

But then, Pieck hazarded a guess. Whether it was right or not, she had no way to know. She knew one person it was right for. She knew how he never slept a full night and how his healing never quite acted the way it should. And she'd sat with him over these last few years, when she had time. Here, for some reason, it looked like she had time. "And if someone else does it," Pieck said, "they might do it wrong. So..."

Pieck let the trunk go.

"So why don't you tell me what it takes to do it right?"

Not show me how or teach me. He could demonstrate, sure. But this wasn't about her. Her own was...

....... different.

[shiro2hero]

"I can do it."

He has to say that. If he doesn't, if he says anything else, the boxes are going to open. They're going to crack and everything will come out. Come spilling out and take over the room. He has to shake his head, and shoulder up a trunk that looks far too large to be moved - carried on the side with his metal arm.

"Just - it's fine. I've got it."

He sets the trunk down. Plastered across its surface are photos. People, their faces slightly blurred. A man in a mask. A young man making fingerguns with another in a headband. Two people in glasses who could be identical. A teen holding a Voltorb over his head. And more. So many more.

"I have to."

[warriorworkhorse]

And that easily, she changed the subject. "You know Jean?"

She knew of him more than she knew him, but in her first trip to Paradis, she'd seen him. She'd seen him very clearly as he'd dove to tackle the scout commander out of her path. Impressive agility, all told. If she'd not explicitly been trying to grab Reiner, she might've been frustrated back them with how he escaped her teeth.

And then he'd almost killed her.

And then he'd saved her.

Curious person, Jean Kirstein.

[shiro2hero]

"- What?"

That's a surprise to hear. Enough to snap him out of the mirror's funk for a moment or two. He hasn't thought about Jean in... in too long.

"He was here. How did - how did you know?"

[warriorworkhorse]

Pieck's answer started with a smile that was a little wry and a glance to the trunk he'd just been handling. "I notice things. It's gotten me both into and out of a lot of bad situations." And, smoothly, she went on, asking, "Would you like to hear how he's doing? That picture of him is, as far as I can tell, a few years old."

Distraction. Kind, but distraction, because he's already stopped moving for a few seconds and nothing has happened. If she can keep him distracted for a few minutes, then she can use this as proof. Proof that shared burdens are easier to carry.

Something she'd never quite managed to beat into Reiner's thick skull. Something Porco kind of understood. Something she, herself, needed to take more seriously.

[shiro2hero]

The whole room has stopped. Everything. Even the subtle movements of air. All except Shiro - his surprise cutting through the rest of the nonsense going on.

"Notice...?"

He looks around. It's as if he doesn't even realize what he's holding. Or what is plastered all over the baggage in his grasp. Maybe he doesn't. Maybe that's what the room is doing.

"How do you know him?"

[heartofalioness]

Oh. Ohhhh yup. Allura's not surprised to see this at all, but... it's still heartbreaking to watch. A tentative step forward.

"Shiro?"

[shiro2hero]

"Yeah?"

He does not stop. He just keeps shifting trunks and bags around. The one in his hands now looks like it wouldn't be out of place in a pokemon center. Or, more likely, a hospital.

Though, he does glance at her, as if concerned. "Are you okay?"

[heartofalioness]

"I should be asking you that." She goes over and rests a hand on his shoulder. "How long have you been at this? Why don't we take a small break?"

Hopefully easing into it will make him more likely to listen. Please, Shiro?

[shiro2hero]

"No, it's - I'm fine. I've got this."

He has to say it. He has to say those words or else he'll pause. Stop moving and all the boxes will open again.

"I've got this. You can rest, it's okay."

Everyone else can take a break. Everyone else can relax, breathe, settle themselves. He has to do this.

[heartofalioness]

"Shiro." A squeeze to his shoulder. "I think you need the rest more than I do. What's the worst thing that could happen if you stopped?"

She has guesses, but... she thinks he needs to say it out loud more than she needs to hear it.

[shiro2hero]

"I don't need to. I'm fine."

But he hesitates. He pauses. Just long enough for the luggage to notice. His hesitation making things start to creak, slowly opening. Shiro's head whips around, as folders and x-rays begin to ooze out of a crate covered in medical symbols. Eyes glow in the dark cracks of suitcases. The box Shiro holds starts to drip photos - a man in a mask. A young man making fingerguns with another in a headband. Two people in glasses who could be identical. A teen holding a Voltorb over his head. And more. So many more.

He pulls away. Moving to set the box aside and reach for another. Everything withdraws. The room returns to normal.

[heartofalioness]

"Shiro." This time she moves in front of him to take his shoulders, eyes pleading. "Do you remember what I was like when I was first leading our team? When we were outrunning Zarkon and you forced me to rest?"

Constantly pushing herself to her limits physically and emotionally, ready to sacrifice whatever needed to be sacrificed to keep Voltron on the playing field of this war, not giving herself a moment to rest or grieve or everything would break down and she'd be useless.

"I think... you are in my position now. I wanted to give you--... no. I was afraid that if I confronted you about it, I would make you feel worse, or you would push me away. But now I am begging you. Please stop pushing everything down. You don't have to do this, and it's hurting you so much more more than it's helping us."

[shiningkindness]

Despite the familiarity of the baggage claim area, the port has Fluttershy quickly realizing that perhaps she's still in the strange world they'd all been dragged into, although where she currently is she isn't sure.

As she wanders farther in, she just manages to catch sight of someone familiar, just as the suitcases begin to open on their own and their contents start to spill out. It startles her a bit, but before she can rush over to try to help Shiro is moving again, and the suitcases seem to stop on their own.

"...Shiro?"