#tryinf to figuring why shoka didnt have a reflection

[revryebread]

Gopher Guts

Marn drew this so I got obsessed)

It was how long they fell that was the most concerning thing.

The two teens with numbers going around their hands were sharing words calmly, listening for the distant crunch of the mirror detectives going under the wheels. They were arguing about the specifics of what everything meant, of the ease at which the taller boy dispatched them, the immediacy of which the girl in the cat hoodie jumped to disposing of the bodies- the specifics of it didn’t matter- their reflections watched them from the doorway, a feeling of dread overcoming them both. 

Would they be next? The two reflections looked at each other- both exceedingly less confident than the two passengers, with the silver blood of the cops splattered across them, holding the reflective items they had jumped to. The one that resembled Shoka Sakurane looked at the one that looked like Jason Todd and shook her head slowly, trying to signal to him to drop back and try and wait it out. She hadn’t realized they were dealing with Apex members, and clearly neither did Mirror Jason. MJ looked at her and gripped the batarang in his hand tightly, and the moment before he could move to do whatever his plan was, Shoka looked back at the two of them.

“Are you two going to be normal about this?” She asked, turning to face them. “Are we good?”

Mirror Shoka, Moka, guffawed, “Are we good? Gee, I don’t know. Are we?” She felt cornered, eyes darting between the passenger who cast her and Jason- who was checking his many weapons for jams and putting them away rhythmically. “Your Apex. We’re Denizens. I just saw what you do to people like us.” Moka feels the pin in her palm, the reflective back surface of it connected to her hand so she can move around freely- as if it will give her the ability to get away if these two close.

“Unique Situation.” Jason speaks over the two girls, stopping the escalation. He looked over at MJ and let the conversation hold there for a second. “Do your guns work?” 

MJ reached to his chest holster and pulled out a chrome, reflective pistol. He dropped the magazine out, in an exact reflection of Jason checking his guns a moment ago. After popping it back in and cocking it back, he nods. “Yeah. As real as yours.”  The wind was whipping fast out here- a feeling neither of the reflections had ever gotten to feel on their own before. MJ gripped the gun in his hand but kept his finger off the trigger, watching the other two for an escalation.

Jason nods at him quietly from beneath his mask, the white glowing eyes regarding him without emotion, and grabs Shoka’s shoulder to get her attention. She jerks back and glares at him, and they wordlessly update their plan. Jason nods acrossed the bridge, and Shoka motions to two bystanders- Jason shakes his head again and begins to walk. Shoka looking back at her reflection and following behind Jason without letting her out of her sight.

When they get to the other side of the bridge, Jason turns around again, undoing the straps of his helmet to pop it off and see his reflection with his actual face. MJ reaches up on his own head to mirror Jason, feeling the clasps there and letting his fingers sit for a moment- trying to decide if they were just part of his head or if he had a face too.

“You two be careful. Don’t cause trouble and we won’t have problems. Understood?” Jason calls out to them, ignoring the slow woosh of his number going down. “If I have to hear about some shit I did and it was you, I’m coming back.” 

MJ nods back slowly, feeling the mask click free at his cheeks and for the first time in his life feeling the air on his face.

“Same goes to you.” He tries to sound more confident than he is, and Moka could tell. She still doesn’t believe Shoka wouldn’t try and kill her, and she could tell that Shoka was going through the same thought process. 

Jason unholsters one of his guns and grabs it by the barrel, throwing it like a hatchet through the air at MJ. He grabs it out of the air and unholsters his own, putting Jason’s gun in there and throwing the chrome pistol over at the passenger. They stare at each other for a second in silence- and the door on the other side opens.  Jason pulls at Shoka to go through the door first, following close behind her and not looking back as the door closes.

Once it does, Moka flops against the wall. “There’s no way they don’t come back to finish the job, right?” She begins to slum, metallic hands against her face, feeling her heart race on it’s own for the first time. “We should go after them, get the jump-”

“No, I trust them enough. We’ll just steer clear.”