Twisted Reflections: Reflection 1
Twisted Reflections Reflection 1 The Knight in Shining Armor
Warmth. That was the first thing the male fur felt as he awoke. When his eyes finally opened, he found himself wrapped in a blanket. As his blurred vision cleared further, he saw the ceiling of what appeared to be a cabin. He blinked in confusion; he didn't remember coming here. He didn't remember even going to a cabin. This was all wrong; he hadn't brought himself here. He tried to think back to where he had been prior to this. Then a feeling of dread filled his body. He couldn't remember anything. His past, who he was, his name, nothing. The closest thing to a memory he had at the moment was the memory of waking up wrapped in blankets and trying to remember his past. He calmed himself. Now was not the time to panic. Doing so wouldn't help anyone, least of all himself. Cautiously, he lifted his head and looked around. He froze as he spotted another individual in the room. He appeared dressed in casual attire. His back was turned to him, so he couldn't tell who he was, only that he had black fur. Looking at the long, slender tail, he guessed him to be feline. The stranger's ear twitched at the sound of movement, and he turned to face him. As he did, he felt the urge to set his head back on the pillow and feign unconsciousness. However, the feeling soon faded as he saw the pleasant expression on the confirmed feline's features. "Ah, finally up are we?" he said to him in a gentle voice, "I was beginning to worry that you wouldn't wake up. I'm glad I was wrong." He opened his mouth to speak, but he found difficulty in finding his voice. The stranger simply smiled, kneeling down beside him. "Do you remember anything that happened?" Reluctantly, he shook his head in response. "Oh dear... Well...I can't say I'm completely surprised..." At last, he found his voice and spoke up. "...What...happened to me?" His voice was light yet strong, and it stunned him for a minute. "Well..." the stranger sighed, scratching the back of his head, "I can't tell you what happened to you, primarily because I don't know. But I can tell you how I found you." He didn't say anything as he stared up at the stranger, who had paused as he thought over how to start. "My daughter and I were taking a stroll in the woods when we found you." The stranger gently placed a paw on his shoulder. "We found you...unconscious...at the bottom of a cliff." His heart nearly skipped a beat. What the hell had happened to him? "It appeared that you had fallen off of it," the stranger continued, "but I found it hard to believe considering the only injuries you had on you were a couple of bad bruises." The stranger chuckled slightly, probably to lighten the mood a bit. "I suppose those wings of yours weren't just for show, huh?" Wings? He looked down on himself, slowly raising the blanket off of his body with a paw. Once it was off, he was able to see the wings traced along his arms. He flicked his ears slightly, which were rather long and large for their size. He was a bat-morph. He added that to the barren list of things he knew about himself. "Well, either way," the stranger said, breaking the bat out of his thoughts, "you should consider yourself lucky. When we found you, you still had pretty much all of your belongings." With that thought in mind, the stranger moved off to the side, opening a shelf and rummaging through the various objects inside. When he returned, he held three things in his paws. The first thing he handed the bat was his wallet. "Don't worry, I left every bill and penny there, so no need to worry about me taking anything from there." He smiled again, still trying to keep a light mood between them. He gave a weak smile back before turning his gaze to the wallet. He opened it up and quickly found what appeared to be his driver's license. The first thing he noted was his picture. Yes, he was a bat, and yes, he was a male, both clearly printed on the plastic card. What he was interested most in though was the name printed on it. Ren Akiyama. Another item to add to his list of things he knew about himself. Yay. He glanced at some of the other info on the card. He was 18, apparently drove a motorcycle, lived in California, and his specific species was a fruit bat. He spotted an address too, but unfortunately, much like all of the info on the card, it didn't mean much to him. Nothing was ringing a bell. Despite the amount of info he had recently learned, he still couldn't remember a thing. "I was considering taking you to the address there," the stranger spoke up, "but I decided that we ought 'a care for you until you woke up. Thankfully, you've only been out since yesterday." The stranger's head tilted slightly. "Also, I kind of guessed that you lived alone, considering no one's been calling you on this." At that, he held up the second object, a smart phone. He gently handed it to Ren, and he took it in his paws as well. "I would've checked this as well for any info, but the dang thing's password protected, so my paws were tied..." With the screen off, the front appeared to be just a mirror. Upon closer inspection though, one could see that it was just the screen protector. Ren clicked the big button on the front and turned it on, quickly confirming the stranger's words. To make matters worse, well, on top of the fact that he didn't know the password among other things, the only photo displayed on the lock screen was what appeared to be a default photo for the device. No pictures of beloved friends or family to hint more at his background. Ren sighed. Well, it was a step forward. And if anyone ever did call him, he would be sure to answer. It wasn't as though he could take a step backwards. He was sure of it. But then he looked at the last object. The stranger glanced down at it before handing it to Ren. "I can't say that this'll help, but it was with you when we found you, so I figured that you'd want it anyways." Ren took it in his paws and looked over it. The thing was some sort of plastic...cartridge or whatever. It wasn't any bigger than his phone, and was painted entirely black aside from the strange insignia at the front of it, which was painted in gold. He shook it slightly, and he heard a slight rattle from within. Turning it sideways, he spotted an open slot at the shorter end of it. He reached in with his thumb and slid out a couple of intricately designed cards. At this point, the bat was entirely lost. The cards didn't have any words or numbers or any such thing, only pictures of weapons, one with the symbol from the cartridge, and the last one with a weird, monstrous bat creature. Oh gods, was he one of those people? He shuddered at the thought. Maybe he was beaten up for having such a childish thing in his possession. Maybe he was beaten up for the thing. He shook his head; he felt even more lost than he already was. The stranger smiled warmly. "Don't worry," he assured the bat, "I won't judge. I used to like those kind of things myself. Heck, I still enjoy them from time to time. But the life of a single father doesn't exactly leave much room for spare time." His head tilted slightly. "I'll tell ya though, the things you kids get these days... Makes me wish I had this kind of stuff as a kid." He sighed with a smile, once again trying to keep the bat's mind at ease. "You know, my daughter's into that kind of stuff as well. She was always more of a tomboy ya know." Ren faked a smile in return to his statement. He already didn't savor the idea of himself being some weirdo, and being told all of this wasn't exactly brightening his mood. Sighting internally, he slid the cards back into the cartridge. He had more questions he wished to be answered, but he at least answered some of the ones he wanted answered the most. A soft knock at the door interrupted his thoughts. The stranger looked up towards the door. He smiled again. "Speaking of my daughter," he cupped his paws around his muzzle, "come in sweetie." The door opened, and a girl that seemed around the age of 6 stepped into the room. "Is he up yet, papa?" the cub asked hesitantly, still clinging to the doorknob. The stranger nodded. "Yes he is, come and say hello." The girl smiled with glee and rushed over to her father's side. He laughed slightly and hooked an arm around her daughter. "Ren, this is my daughter, Angelica." The girl smiled and waved at him. "Angelica, this is Ren." "Hi Ren!" she greeted him, still waving with her paw, "Papa was really worried when he found you. He nearly fainted when he saw you." "Angelica," he said in a stern voice before lowering it into a whisper, "he didn't need to know that." He smiled slightly as Angelica giggled to herself. Ren smiled as well; no doubt he had intended for him to hear. At the very least, he was being set at ease. Sure, he woke up not knowing a single thing about himself, but he was thankful that he hadn't woken up in some weird guy's basement. These people seemed to genuinely care for him, and none of them seemed to wish to take advantage of him in any way. These panthers, as Ren realized they were, were genuinely nice people. It felt...in contrast... It almost reminded him of something...possibly someone...less caring. Less kind. More...bloodthirsty... "Well not that you're up," the stranger spoke up, snapping Ren out of his thoughts once more, "how about we fetch you something to eat, huh?" He patted his shoulder again before standing up and making for the door, his daughter following close behind. "Just come out when you feel you're ready, alright Ren?" At that, the panther left the room and closed the door behind him, leaving him to his thoughts. Now he had something to work with. His first memory. Though he hadn't actually remembered anyone specific, it was a memory none-the-less. There was someone out there that he needed to be wary of. Someone dangerous. Someone...he had to stop? Maybe that person was the one that had sent him to the bottom of the cliff. Maybe that person had knocked him unconscious, leaving him with the strong belief that he was dead. The thought gave him a frightening mix of relief and dread. This was definitely a step forward, but now he wasn't sure if he was okay with this step. He shook his head. No, this was still a step forward. It didn't matter if he liked it or not. Now set with that resolve, Ren gingerly sat up. A few sore muscles flared up with aches, but he eventually got himself up to his feet. He looked over himself briefly. He wore a black vest with several zippers, probably to allow room for his wings. The wings themselves reached down to his feet, which were bare at the moment. He looked around the room. It was fairly nice. Nothing fancy, and no computers or anything, at least in this room. He walked over to the window nearby and opened up the curtains. Wherever he was, it was set up on a hill, overlooking a huge expanse of trees. He turned slightly and saw what appeared to be a small town not too far off in the distance. He looked up at the sky. It seemed to be around morning time, with fog hovering over the area, and the sky having yet to turn from gray to blue. He turned away from the window and walked over to the door, opening it and stepping through. He walked into what appeared to be a makeshift dining room. Seated at the table was Angelica, and off to the side preparing breakfast was her father. He glanced over to Ren and smiled at him before getting back to work. "Go ahead and take a seat," he said to Ren, "I hope you like pancakes for breakfast, cuz that's what I'm whipping up at the moment." The bat looked over to the empty seat at the table, which was the only open seat. Ren looked back at the stranger in confusion. Despite the fact that he wasn't actually looking at him, the panther could tell that Ren hadn't moved from his spot. "Don't worry about me. I'm alright with standing." Ren glanced back and forth between him and the chair. Anjelica looked to him and patted the seat cheerily. Reluctantly, the bat went over and sat down beside her. The girl began to giggle to herself and swung her tail behind her. Ren returned his gaze to the father, whom he still had yet to learn his name. "Um..." Ren began, still a bit unused to his voice, "mister..." "Oh dear," the stranger said with a smile, "all of this and I haven't shared my name yet." Cheerily, he turned to the bat. "Just call me Arnold, or Mr. Arnold if you prefer to be formal." Ren nodded, and Arnold turned back to the stove. "And if you're going to ask about the chairs, as I said, don't worry. We're just not used to having visitors around the house, so we never really needed to get any more than we already have." He plopped one finished pancake onto the plate next to him and began cooking the next one. "It's not like we're poor or anything like that, but we are pretty...limited in funds." He looked up from his cooking to look at the table's occupants. "Heh, if you haven't already noticed, we don't really have much in terms of technology outside of the essentials. We've got our phones, sure, but not smart phones. We've got a computer, but it's mainly for work and can't handle anything beyond that, and the closest entertainment we have closest to a T.V. is the newspaper." Ren looked around. He was right; there really wasn't much here. There was furniture, there were lights, pretty much all of the essentials to the place were there. That was pretty much it though. No fancy décor, no televisions, and no fancy pottery or anything of the sort. "I'm not saying that we need those things though," Arnold continued, catching Ren's attention, "if anything, we've been fairly content with living without them. Besides, when you live next to the woods, it gets difficult to be completely bored around here." He gestured briefly to his daughter. "Of course, the little one deserves more, so every now and then, I take her to town and we have some fun. Movies, plays, you name it."
"I got to see the Power Fighters once," Angelica spoke up, smiling at Ren happily, "and papa says that I can see them again if I'm good." "That's right," Arnold nodded, turning back to work on the pancakes, "so you better keep those grades up, alright?" "Mmhm," Angelica replied, nodding her head almost furiously. Ren laughed a little. The cub leaned down from her chair and slipped out a newspaper, presumably their newest one. Her eyes scanned through the articles before stopping suddenly. She brought the paper closer to her face as she read through it. Once she was done, she shot her head back up and lowered the paper to her lap. "Hey papa!" she shouted, making the older panther turn, "Another one happened again." "Again?" he replied with a raised brow before making his way to her side of the table. The girl handed the paper to him, and he read through it carefully. "Huh...that's the third one so far. Ren tilted his head slightly, now rather curious as to what it was they were referring to. Arnold's ears perked and he turned to Ren. "Oh how rude of me. You're probably wondering what it is we're talking about, right?" Ren nodded, and the panther handed him the paper. "There's been reports of some people just suddenly gone missing," Arnold explained as he read the article he had pointed out. "And the strangest part was that those people had been seen by others only a couple of minutes before. It's a curious little event, really. I hope those people do get found eventually." Ren suddenly felt paws pat at his bare shoulder. He turned and saw Angelica making grabby paws at the paper. Being that he was done with it anyway, he gave it back to her and she eagerly flipped through the pages. Arnold laughed at this and looked back to Ren. "Heh, I guess we should be glad that whoever's responsible for this didn't get to you huh?" He nudged him lightly, laughing lightly. Ren faked another smile in response. Something about this story was...unsettling. More unsettling than he would have liked. And not because of the fact that people were disappearing. Because of the fact that it was familiar to him. Yet another feeling of recognition, and yet again, the feeling was anything but comforting. Why was it that he was only remembering things that did nothing but make him dread? Who the hell was he? "Papa?" Angelica spoke up, "Why do I smell smoke?" "Hm?" Arnold's head tilted. He took a sniff at the air before abruptly spinning around. "Oh the pancakes!"
"Going to to-own, go-ing to town," Angelica sang as Arnold drove the three of them...well, to town. Despite Ren having a motorcycle license, it seemed that he lacked the motorcycle itself. Arnold hadn't found one nearby at the time, and Ren hadn't had any keys on him when he had found him. "Hey Ren," Arnold spoke up, looking at the bat through the mirror, "just so you know, you're free to stay with the two of us while you get yourself back on your feet. I know that not remembering anything must be scary for you right now, and you're probably gonna need the support. If not, I'm perfectly alright with taking you back to your home." Ren nodded. "Thank you Mr. Arnold, I'll be sure to keep your offer in mind." Arnold smiled and nodded back, eyes facing the road again. "Papa?" said Angelica, pausing in her song, "can we go to the fun house today?" "Of course," her father replied, "but we've gotta pick up some groceries afterwards, okay." "Awww," she grumbled back, "okay..." The older panther chuckled. "Tell ya what," he said to her, "I'll get you some candy when we do, alright?" "Candy, yay!" she replied, instantly cheering up. The two males in the truck laughed, with the feline laughing louder. The rest of the ride was relatively quiet, aside from Angelica's song. Within a couple of minutes, they were parked and were unbuckling their seatbelts. The small cub looked up at her father excitedly. "Can I go in now, Papa? Can I can I can I can I can I?" "Go on ahead, sweetie," he finally replied, "Ren and I will catch up with you eventually." With a squeal of glee, the girl rushed into the building with a giant sign at the front reading "Biggin's Playhouse." Arnold turned to Ren with a smile. "Kids, huh? So full of energy now a days." Gesturing with his head, the panther lead them both inside the large building. Once the doors opened, the bat's sensitive ears were bombarded with the sounds of squealing children. He stepped back a bit as he was temporarily stunned. Arnold glanced at him and smiled at him, his own ears flattening against his head. "Yeah, sorry about that. Living in a quiet household like ours kinda makes you sensitive to loud sounds." Ren held back the urge to glare at the older male, instead deciding to try and find the quietest place to sit down. But before he could, a small paw took hold of his wrist. A quick look and he found it to be Angelica's. "Come on Ren!" she giggled excitedly, "Let's go to the mirror room!" Before he could protest, the girl tugged him along with surprising strength for her age. As he was pulled away, Ren looked to Arnold for some kind of support. But the older panther merely smiled and waved as he disappeared from view. A couple of seconds later, Ren found himself in a dark hallway with lights shining on the oddly shaped mirrors lining the walls. Angelica looked up at the bat with a smile. "C'mon," she said, "let's keep going." She tugged him along again, and he merely followed along. The good thing was that the place was marginally quieter than the other rooms, so he wouldn't have to worry about going deaf for a good while. He looked around; the place wasn't exactly empty, but there were less kids running around here. The few that were walking around here were mostly staring at the mirrors in front of them, making funny faces and moving around as the distorted reflections entertained them for the time being. He suddenly felt another tug at his wrist. "Hurry," Angelica said excitedly, "I wanna show you something!" Not really bothering to resist this time, Ren followed the cub until they reached an open doorway. At the top it read "Mirror maze." Once they stepped through, he was stunned to see a huge room filled with mirrors, each of which were placed immediately next to the other, creating an illusion of multiple pathways and walls. It took a moment for him to recover. He suddenly felt a tap at his hip, and one again found Angelica responsible. "Race you to the end!" she shouted before dashing off. Before he could so much as speak up, she was gone and he was left with a few other kids who were looking around the room in fascination. He took in a breath and let it out slowly. There was no point in getting mad. He might as well enjoy this trip while he was here. Tucking his wings in so that no one, including himself, would trip over them, he began to walk down the halls. It was a bit disorienting at first, having to try and differentiate what was a mirror and what was a passage, but he steadily made his way through. He briefly wondered how Angelica had been able to find her way through so quickly, but then he realized that she had probably gone through here multiple times. Using the floor to guide him, he progressed through the maze at an even pace. His mild fear of getting lost soon disappeared after realizing that it was a maze built specifically for kids. He eventually came across a large open room, much like the one he had come across when first entering the maze. There were a few more kids crowded around here, none of which were Angelica. Deciding to take his time, he looked around and took in the place. It was definitely stunning, with the mirrors giving off the illusion of the place being much larger than it actually was. He couldn't help but admit that it was pretty cool. With a bit of a smirk, he glanced around a bit more, spying himself amongst the crowd, along with several of the kids, and a-- He froze.No...it couldn't be. It had to be an illusion of the mirrors. The bat rubbed his eyes to make sure. And to his dismay, it was still there. Standing hidden amongst the crowd appeared to be some bizarre, armored...thing. It was hard to tell what it was, as it was distorted by the shape of some of the mirrors. Ren looked around and tried to find the beast, but all he saw was more kids hopping around, some accompanied by their parents. That couldn't be right. He whipped his head back to try and look at the reflection again...only to find nothing. Ren wasn't sure what to do. Run? Hide? Call for help? None of those options seemed right to him. Who would believe what he had seen anyways? But he needed to do something. He hadn't just seen that thing...right? He frantically reached into his pockets, trying to figure something out. He went through everything he had, his wallet, his phone, his...His paw touched the cartridge. Looking back, he wasn't exactly sure why he had brought it in the first place. He supposed that if it belonged to him, he might as well have kept it. But as he held it now, he felt a feeling that he hadn't experienced since waking up in Arnold's home. The feeling of comfort. The feeling of safety. It was strange, really. Even then, when it had been handed to him, he had felt calmer. But at the time, there was just a bit too much going on for him to notice. He didn't understand why. Maybe it had to do with what he was. Who he was. But who was he? And what the hell had he seen? Was he some sort of psychopath? Was he imagining things? Clearly no one else had seen it. He shook his head; far too many questions were filling his head, and he couldn't come up with an answer to any of them. For now, he'd keep this to himself. No point in sharing what hadn't really done anything. But even as he progressed through the maze, he held on to that cartridge, and nothing else. ***"There you are!" Arnold greeted Ren as he exited the maze, "Got lost at all?" Angelica giggled, hopping around beside her father. Ren only shrugged and left it at that. "Well, don't feel too bad. Angelica's gone through this course more times than I can remember. I don't doubt that she'd be able to run through it blind if she had to." He patted his daughter's head. "Anyways, we'll be staying here for about an hour, so go ahead and keep looking around if you want." For a split second, Ren considered going back to the maze. He quickly pushed the thought out of his head and went to sit down. Arnold shrugged and told his daughter to keep playing. But before she could run off, the sound of a worried voice caught the attention of the occupants of the room. "Has anyone seen my son?!" a worried collie mother asked, "He hasn't come out of the maze for almost half an hour!" Ren's heart skipped a beat. Panicked, he scanned the crowd, hoping that at least one person would answer. But, to his dismay, as well as the mother's no one did. They all looked amongst one another, exchanging worried glances and asking the other if they had seen the boy. Distressed, the mother rushed over to one of the employees. With a nod, she was led into the maze. Ren stood up, almost starting for the door himself. But instead of going, he stood frozen in place. Arnold noticed this and looked to him. "What's wrong Ren?" he asked the bat, "Do you think you saw him?" Ren didn't respond for a moment, mostly because he felt that he had just lost his voice. "I...I don't think so," he replied with a shake of his head, sitting back down, "I...must've been thinking of someone else..." "Oh...I see..." said Arnold. The older panther sighed. "I do hope that she finds her son. I'd hate to know that my own child might have been added to the number of missing people around here..." Angelica looked up at her father, clasping his paw tightly. Arnold rubbed his daughter's shoulder with the other paw and looked down to her. "Papa..." she said, "...I don't feel like playing anymore..." "You sure?" he replied in a soft tone, "Not even for a few more minutes?" Angelica shook her head. "Alright sweetie, we'll get going then." He then looked over to Ren and nodded to him before motioning to the door. Ren immediately stood up, all too eager to leave after what he had seen. Within moments, they were out the door and getting into the truck. As everyone buckled up, Arnold watched Ren in concern. "Hey Ren," he spoke up, "are you alright? You look like you've seen a ghost." Fuck's sake. "Sorry," he apologized, "I'm just...thinking..." Arnold frowned a bit at this, but dismissed it with a shrug. The ride to the store was a quiet one, but thankfully a short one as well. The place hadn't been far, but it was definitely farther than anyone in the group would have liked to walk. And soon enough, the group was walking down the aisles of the grocery store. Whilst Arnold went off to pick up some things, Ren stayed with Angelica as she browsed the candy aisle. All the while, Ren thought long and hard about what he thought he had seen. "Hey Ren," Angelica spoke up suddenly, "what's your favorite candy?" It took a bit of time before Ren even bothered to think of his response. "I...don't think I remember," he finally answered, earning a frown from the cub. "Right...I forgot. Sorry," she apologized sheepishly. Ren only shrugged and looked at the arrangement of sweets. "But...if I had to pick..." his eyes scanned the assortment, "...I...I think I would pick...jelly beans?" Sounded about right. Angelica giggled. "I like those too," she said before looking back to the candy. She looked through them carefully before picking out a chocolate bar as well as a bag of jelly beans. She held it up to her face. "You can have some too." Ren smiled lightly and thanked her with a silent bow. The little girl giggled incessantly before hurrying off to find her father. Ren took his time in following and eventually came across the both of them waiting in line for checkout. Once he came into view, Arnold smiled at him. "You don't need anything, do you?" he asked the bat, "I'm fine with waiting if you need to grab a few things for yourself." Ren shook his head and Arnold shrugged. "If you say so." As soon as they had checked out their items, Angelica was already halfway done with devouring her chocolate bar. After they had set their bags in the truck, Arnold looked to Ren. "Hey," he said to him, "what do ya say we...walk around for a bit? Just for like...ten minutes, ya know? I didn't get anything that needs refrigerating, so I don't really have to worry about that." Ren thought about it for a moment; he still wanted to get that...sight out of his head, but staying at a home he wasn't entirely familiar with probably wouldn't help his case. "That's fine," he finally answered.
Arnold smiled and turned to his daughter. "What about you, honey?" "Okay," she replied with a stuffed mouth, "but den I wanna gow to da touy shap." Arnold couldn't help but laugh and patted her shoulder. "If you swallow before you speak then maybe," he replied with amusement. Angelica followed his instructions and smiled, revealing her chocolate stained teeth. Once again, Arnold began to laugh. Even Ren couldn't help but smirk. "Okay, okay," Arnold continued, "come on then, let's go." "Yaaaaay!" the cub cheered in glee before rushing off. "Don't run too far off!" the older panther shouted out. "Okay!" Angelica shouted from afar, running in circles in a far too energetic manner. Arnold sighed. "Should've held on to that chocolate bar until we got back home, huh?" he said with a smile to Ren before gesturing with his head, "Come on then, can't let her run off on her own." After locking the truck up, the both of them walked off and eventually caught up to the sugar crazed cub, only for her to rush off again. "Well," Arnold said with a chuckle, "I guess now's a good time to talk one on one, seeing as the little one's intent on rushing off." Ren shrugged. "Hmm, not one for words, huh?" Again, Ren shrugged. "I probably used to," he replied, "but...who knows..." "Come on, don't be like that," Arnold patted the bat on the back, "Your memories will return to you eventually." "I guess..." Ren looked down, and Arnold frowned. "Man, you've been feeling down, haven't you?" Ren only nodded. "Well, can't exactly blame you. I'm sure this has been hard on you." More than you realize, Ren thought to himself. With some memory of someone dangerous on top of what he hoped to be a hallucination, he felt far too vulnerable everywhere he went. "Well like I said," Arnold continued, "you're welcome to stay with us for as long as you need to." Ren bowed slightly in silent appreciation, continuing to look down at his feet. He stuffed his paws into his pockets, idly fiddling with the plastic cartridge in his pocket. Suddenly, he felt a paw on his shoulder. He looked up and saw that it was Arnold's. "I'm serious Ren. You don't need to worry about overstaying your welcome." Ren blinked in surprise; that had come out of nowhere. Arnold laughed nervously. "Sorry if that was a bit sudden. I just couldn't help myself..." He let go of his shoulder. "Your face just now...it reminded me of how my daughter was when my wife left us..." Ren bit his lip; that had...sure explained things. Arnold turned away from him and faced forward, watching Angelica hop around. "You see...after she left...the two of us learned a thing or two about sticking together. We helped each other get through the hard times that came along, though sometimes I think she helped me far more than I helped her." He returned his gaze to the bat. "We may not know exactly what it's like to be you right now, but we're definitely familiar with what it feels like to be alone. And neither of us want you to feel that way. That's why I want you to know that you're not alone." Ren couldn't help but smile. He couldn't tell if it was because he was holding on to the cartridge, or if it was because of the panther's reassuring and kind voice, but he could definitely feel all of the tensions from today gradually fade away. "Thank you Mr. Arnold," Ren replied, "it...does make me feel better knowing that you've got my back." Arnold smiled back at him. "No problem Ren," he said with a light nudge to his shoulder, "Now come on, no need to feel mopey anymore. Let's just enjoy our time out today." The two males faced forward again, seeing Angelica jump around impatiently. Ren looked around a bit. The place was a bit odd. The walls were reflective to the point of being mirrors, and the same held true for the pillars in the middle of the area. He wondered what purpose the place would hold before realizing that they were walking by some artistic sculptures. "The stuff people call art now-a-days, huh?" Arnold said in amusement, "I could never understand those kind of artists." Ren nodded in agreement, smiling and looking more intently at the sculptures. But one he did, the smile he once wore was wiped off of his face as he caught site of what he had hoped he would never see again. The monster. He frantically glanced around, but no similar being walked in front of them. It was only in the reflection, and it was rushing towards Angelica. Without even thinking, Ren broke into a run in an attempt to beat the thing to her. But it was far faster than him and soon began to close in on the helpless girl. "Ren?!" said Arnold, "What's wrong?!" "ANGELICA! RUN!" he shouted at her desperately, waving his arms to get her attention. "Huh?" she said, pausing and turning to him, "Wha'cha mean ru--AAAAAA!" Closing the space between them, the monster suddenly burst out from one of the pillars and pounced on the cub, taking hold of her with its long, sharp claws. Ren slid to a stop, horrified at what he was seeing. "Angelica!" Arnold cried out in horror, running after Ren and catching up to him, "What in the blazes is that thing?!" Ren wasn't too sure himself. When he had first seen it, its image had been too distorted and misshaped to tell what it was for sure. But now that it was out in the open, he was able to get a better look. The thing was covered in a hard armor-like shell. It was a bizarre creature, very vaguely resembling a bipedal cheetah, but with far longer claws and long, saber-like teeth. It snarled and glared at the two males with glowing red eyes. As Angelica screamed and struggled, it tightened its grip on her, prompting cries of pain from her. "LET GO OF HER!" Arnold roared out before charging at the beast, Ren unable to react quick enough to try and stop him. The monster snarled threateningly, but Arnold didn't yield. He tackled it, but it barely budged an inch. He threw a right hook to its face, but as his fist connected, the only one to feel any pain was Arnold himself. Irritated by his invasion, the beast batted Arnold away with a free claw, sending Arnold flying backwards. He hit the ground hard several feet away, right back next to Ren. Arnold groaned but immediately scrambled to his feet, absolutely refusing to surrender his daughter to some...thing. "PAPA!" Angelica screamed out, tears streaming down her cheeks. "I'M COMING ANGELICA!" Arnold shouted back. Again, he charged forward, and again, the same result. All the while, Ren stood there frozen. His mind was reeling, he wasn't sure of what to do. His body wouldn't respond, his feet wouldn't move. Could he even do something against something like that? What would the Ren with his memories do if he were in this situation? Fight. The word echoed in his head. Fight? As he was now? How could he? But he still felt he had to. But he needed something, anything. Slowly, his paw slid down into his pocket and slipped out the plastic cartridge. He raised it up to his face. Yes, the feeling of comfort was returning to him, but as he held it in his paw, he began to feel something else. The urge to fight. The need to fight. The power to fight. He closed his eyes. It was coming back to him. All of his memories were returning to him, all flooding into his head at once. The sheer amount of them confused him at first, two things remained prominent, and he remembered them as easily as one remembered to breathe. An action, and a single word."Grk!" Arnold cried out as he hit the ground one more time, struggling to rise back. As he stood back up, he paused at the sight of Ren slowly walking forward, his plastic cartridge held in paw. Arnold watched him in confusion. He appeared so determined, so sure of himself. But what was he doing? Once he reached one of the reflective pillars, he stopped. Holding it in his left, insignia out in front, he thrust it out in front of him and towards the mirrored surface. A light flashed from his reflection, and a strange silver belt suddenly wrapped itself around the bat's waist. That was the action. Now there was only one thing left to do. Slowly, he walked forward, crossed his right arm in front of him, and uttered that one word. "HENSHIN!" At that, he swung his arm back and slotted the cartridge into the front of his belt. It responded and emitted a loud ring. A bright light shined out, blinding the beast as well as the two panthers. When it finally faded, the figure that remained left them in shock and amazement. Standing there was Ren, but not in the way that they had gotten to know him. This one wore a sleek, rubber-like under suit beneath his new armor which covered his shins, arms and torso. His wings were completely gone, leaving his body completely bare of anything that remotely resembled anything animalistic. Even the long ears he once had were gone, his entire head encased by a sturdy looking helmet. The visor at the front of it matched up with the insignia of his cartridge, which was still slotted in place at the front of his belt. His visor was slitted vertically, giving off a knight like appearance. Hilted at his left was a long, slender rapier, with a hilt design taking on the appearance of a bat. The way his new armor shined in the sunlight almost made him appear as if he were glowing. A knight in shining armor. Suddenly, Ren shot forward and closed the space between him and the monster. Before it could react, Ren punched it straight in the face, stunning it with enough force to cause it to loosen its grip on Angelica. He immediately took that opportunity to shove it back and slip the cub out of its grasp before backing up, keeping his arms around her in a protective manner. The beast hit the ground, making it growl out in fury and jerk about on the ground. Whilst it was scrambling to get back up, Ren knelt down to Angelica's level and placed his hands on her shoulders. "Are you alright?" he asked her, looking her in the eyes through his visor. Still in shock, she could barely manage a nod before she was finally able to respond. "Y-yes...I'm okay." "Good," Ren replied before standing back up and gently pushing her towards her father, "Now go! Get somewhere safe!" Angelica only continued to stare at Ren's armored form before she suddenly felt the strong arms of her father scoop her up. "Thank you Ren," the older panther said with gratitude, "but...what are you going to do?" Ren turned towards the beast, which was now back on its feet. "I'm going to finish what I started," Ren replied before drawing his rapier and charging forward. "HaaaaAAAAAAA!!!!!!" With a battle cry, he lunged at the beast, striking it in the chest and sending it careening backwards. Ren ran after it as it hit the ground, making sure that it never left arm's reach. Before it could stand back up, Ren hoisted it up. As it struggled to free itself from his grasp, he ran towards the reflective pillar. Just as they were about to collide with it, a bright light flashed out, and the both of them vanished from sight. Confused, Arnold looked closer and was surprised to see the two of them still there, only as a reflection. It was almost as though the mirrors...were a window. On the other side of the mirror, Ren and the monster fought viciously. Claws met armor, and blade met shell. None of them were holding back, and none of them would. "Ha!" Ren cried out with an upwards swing, knocking the cheetah beast high in the air. As it fell, a blue blur shot by and struck the beast again and again, sending sparks flying everywhere. It was only when the monster hit the ground again did the blur finally stop. Circling around and flapping at Ren's side was a strange, monstrous feral bat, far larger than any feral bat could ever be and far more armored than one would. Ren smirked under his helmet. It was the bat on one of his cards. "Sorry for being absent, professor," Ren said to the bat, which only continued to eye the other monster, "You're probably hungry after all of that waiting." It screeched in response and shot forward, striking the cheetah again as it tried to rise. As it kept the beast occupied, Ren sheathed his sword and slipped a card out from his belt. He checked it before opening up the hilt of his blade, causing the bat on it to open up its wings and reveal a hidden compartment, sized perfectly for the card that he slotted in. He closed it up, and it responded. « SWORD VENT »The giant bat wheeled around again, swooping towards Ren before dropping something off, a large lance that he immediately grabbed out of the air. With the large weapon now in hand, Ren charged at the beast and lunged at it again, striking it in the shoulder and making it cry out in pain. Ren continued his assault, spinning around and swinging at it with the side of his lance. The attack connected, and the cheetah was once again sent flying into the air. It stood back up and began to back off, clearly this wasn't a winning battle. It would have to find prey elsewhere. With that in mind, it turned tail and ran in the other direction, dashing off at blinding speeds. Sighing, Ren turned to the giant bat and gestured towards where it had run off. Without even having to utter a word, the bat shot off and trailed the beast. Ren tossed the lance aside and folded his arms. Any minute now, is ride would catch up to them and...The sound of a powerful engine cut off his thoughts. He turned to see a large pod-like motorcycle swerve to a stop just in front of him. The cockpit at the front opened up, and the seat raised and allowed him access. Nodding to himself, Ren boarded the vehicle and strapped in. Once he was properly seated, the pod began to close up and the seat lowered back into the cycle. Once it was back down, he wasted no time in taking hold of the controls and shooting off at top speed after the monster, using the giant bat as a guide. It was mere moments before he caught up to the monster. Seeing that Ren had caught up, the bat swept down and struck the cheetah until it slowed enough for him to ram into it. It slammed into a nearby wall as Ren screeched to a stop. He clicked on one of the buttons on his controls and the pod popped open. He quickly stepped out of his vehicle and drew out his rapier. The monster snarled as it got back up to its feet. Then its body began to twitch randomly before tensing up. A moment passed, and two other creatures similar to it ripped themselves out of its body. Ren tilted his head slightly. "Neat trick," he said in amusement, slipping a card out of his belt and opening up his blade's hilt, "but I can do that too." He closed up the compartment, and it responded. « TRICK VENT » He felt a slight tingle wash over his body as two of his own doubles stepped out of his body. The doubles charged and rushed the monster's copies. As they fought, one of Ren's doubles was struck down and faded away. However, this didn't concern him in the slightest, as two more came out of his body to take its place. Ren simply stood there and watched as his doubles combatted with the monster's copies. It took two of his own to strike down the monster's one, however it too merely summoned more to take its place. Ren clenched his fist; he knew that he had a limit to eight doubles, but he didn't know if the monster had a limit as well. He decided not to take the chance and slipped another card out of his belt. He opened up his sword's hilt and slipped the card inside. He slammed it closed, and it responded. « NASTY VENT » Suddenly, Ren's monstrous bat shot forward and opened its maw. It stopped just in front of the horde of battling copies and let out a loud, high pitched screech. The sonic attack was strong enough to shatter all of the copies and reduce them all to dust. The real monster snarled in anger and confusion, swiping at the air and backing away slowly. Just as it turned to run again, Ren loaded in another card. « ADVENT » The bat moved in again, moving at incredible speeds and striking the cheetah long enough to subdue it and keep it in place. This gave him enough time to slip another card out of his belt, his last one. Once again, he opened up the hilt of his blade and loaded it in. « FINAL VENT » Ren's giant bat swept away from the cheetah for a moment, allowing it to collapse to the ground weakly. As it did, Ren's lance shot out from the sky and landed next to him. He grabbed it up and charged. As he neared the beast, his bat wheeled around and latched on to his shoulders, its wings flowing behind him almost like a cape. Just as he was about to reach it, the bat's wings flapped once and lifted him off of the ground. He flew upwards in an arc, stopping in a half circle before he shot downwards, aiming his spear down at the beast as his bat's wings whirled around him in a cone like cocoon. "HAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!" Ren drilled right through the beast, causing it to shatter into pieces before erupting into a neon green cloud of smoke. The smoke eventually cleared to reveal Ren standing there, his spear still stabbed into the ground. He stepped off of his lance and his bat detached itself from his back. He slung his lance over his shoulder and let out a satisfied sigh. Suddenly, a bright orb of light rose out of the remains of the beast and began to float up into the air. He glanced over to his bat. "Well?" he said to it, "eat up professor. Before someone else takes it." It didn't need any more instruction. It swept forward and snatched the orb out of the air before stuffing it into its maw. Ren nodded to himself. "There ya go..." Trailing off, he glanced down at his hand. Looking closely, he could see tiny particles begin to drift off of him. He clicked his tongue. "Looks like I've overstayed my welcome..." He quickly sheathed his rapier and rushed to his bike. He hopped in and shot off, driving back to where he had originally entered the strange, empty realm.
"Papa?" Angelica spoke up, still held in her father's arms, "Do you think Ren's gonna be okay?" Arnold looked at her daughter, meeting her worried eyes. The cub had finally stopped trembling, but the feeling of fear still hadn't left her. Arnold squeezed her shoulder gently, trying to comfort his daughter. "I'm...sure he'll be alright," he replied, unsure whether he even believed himself or not, "You saw what he could do, didn't you?" Angelica nodded and turned back towards one of the pillars. Arnold looked back as well, eyes darting from reflective surface to reflective surface. A small crowd had come by earlier to find out what all the noise had been about, but after finding nothing of concern, the crowd dispersed and went about their day. He understood why they had left, but he couldn't understand why he himself hadn't left with his daughter. Maybe because he didn't like the idea of not knowing where the monster had gone. Maybe because it was difficult to feel safe knowing such a creature like that could exist. Maybe because he still cared for Ren. Sure, he was surprised at seeing him transform and vanish into the reflection, almost frightened by it. However, it was still Ren, and he had rescued Angelica from that...thing. Just as Ren had trusted Arnold, he had to trust Ren. Suddenly, he caught sight of something reflected off of the pillar. Immediately, he recognized the man in the strange suit. His reflection came closer and closer until he practically stepped out of the sculpture. Angelica smiled with glee and rushed off to meet him, followed closely by her father. As they approached, Ren removed the cartridge from his belt, causing his armor to fade and his body to return to normal. "That was so cool Ren!" Angelica said as she hugged him, "How did you do that?!" Ren smiled, hugging her back lightly. "Can you do it again? Please, please, please, please, please?" He looked up and met the watery eyes of Arnold. "Ren..." he began after a moment, "you have no idea how grateful I am. I'll never be able to thank you enough for saving my daughter." Ren smiled at him and nodded. "But...please tell us...just what was that thing?" Ren let out a small sigh. "A mirror monster," he answered, "They're monsters that live within reflections, or what I call the mirror world." "The...mirror world?" Arnold said slowly, taking the info in. Again, Ren nodded. "They can't be seen by the naked eye. They're invisible to others unless they come into contact with something from that world. In most cases, that would be when the monster reaches them, when it's too late." "But...that thing never touched me, at least I think," Arnold replied, scratching his head, "How come I was able to see it when it came out?" Ren held up his cartridge. "Because you touched this," he told the panther, "I guess you didn't notice it initially, but you were definitely able to see them once you picked it up." Arnold put a paw to his chin thoughtfully. "How long have these things been running around? And how many are there?" "From what I've seen," Ren began, "there doesn't seem to be many. Probably because they preyed on each other to survive up until they started coming out. But as for how long they've been around, I can't say for sure, but there's a possibility that they've been around for just as long as we have." Arnold's maw fell open in shock. "So...what are we supposed to do to defend ourselves against them?!" he exclaimed, "And why hasn't anyone else been told of this?!" "Because there's no need to make people worry about something that can't be helped," Ren answered, "If the public knew about this, then there would be mass panic. It's best if they just leave it to us to deal with them." "Us?" Arnold said in confusion, "So...there are more like you then?" Ren nodded. "You shouldn't have to worry about any more of them attacking here," he continued, "It was the only one I found. At least before you found me the way I was." "Well...that's good to hear I guess," Arnold's eyes suddenly widened, "Wait, so do you remember why you were there then?!" Again, Ren nodded. "I do. And that's why I need to go."
Angelica gasped and looked up, giving him a sad look. "You're...leaving?" "I'm afraid so," he answered, squeezing her shoulder gently, "There's someone out there that I need to put a stop to. If I don't, a lot of people are gonna get hurt." "Do you need a ride then?" Arnold asked, "I can still drive you if you need." Ren shook his head. "You've already done enough. Besides, I don't want to endanger you anymore than you've been already." "But will we see you again?" Angelica asked worriedly, tugging at his shirt. The bat sighed. "I...can't say for sure..." The cub's ears began to lower. "But...that doesn't mean I won't try to." At that, her eyes lighted up, and she smiled broadly. She held on to him for a few more moments, but eventually let him go. He stepped back a few steps and bowed politely to the two again. "Ren," said Arnold, "please...be careful. Alright?" "I will," Ren replied, "Don't worry." At that, he turned and walked the other way, slipping his paws into his pockets. "Wait!" Angelica suddenly shouted out, running after him. Ren turned back and the cub stopped in front of him. She reached into her pockets and pulled out the bag of jelly beans before holding it out to him. "Take these with you. You like them, right?" Ren couldn't hold back his smile. With a nod of thanks, he took the bag from her paws and pocketed it. Angelica giggled as she ran back to her father and jumped into her arms. The two panthers smiled to him and waved, and he waved back. With that done, he turned away one final time and walked away.
Ren tossed the bag of jelly beans up in the air lightly before catching it. He did this again and again as he walked down the road. A smile was still spread across his muzzle. He tossed it up one more time before catching it and opening it up. He picked out a bean and tossed it in his mouth. He chewed it lightly. Figures; he actually hated jelly beans. But today, he didn't hate them as much. His thoughts were interrupted as his phone began to ring. He fished it out of his pockets and checked the caller ID, reading Abyss. He smirked and answered. "Hello? ...Yeah it's me... Yeah I'm alright. No need to worry about me hun... The monster? Took care of it... Uh-huh...alright. Meet you there then." He hung up, causing the screen to blank out and the mirror like cover to come up. He blinked and saw the large bat fluttering just behind his reflection. Ren smirked again and pocketed his phone. "Well professor," he said aloud, "I think it's time we got back to work..."