Double Or Nothing: A Coin Flip Away

The Things That Reflect Us

Cynthia rubbed her shoulders with fiery hands, her presence causing beads of water to slide from nearby icicles. Keeping one eye on Shrap beside her, Cynthia's attention drifted to the fossilized remains of blurred creatures and statues buried behind the slick blue walls wrapping the cave in a pale blue mist. Her breath released in wisps of fog, clouding the goggles on her dragon scaled face. "Shrap," Cynthia muttered, "any guesses on what this place is?" Shrap's voice echoed in the icy chamber leading into an expanded opening. "Uh, that's your guess, Doc. I haven't the foggiest clue where we're at."

The lanky Sinner and shapeshifting scientist transitioned from the tunnel of rippling icy slopes into a much wider cave system, icy shards breaking apart a large ruinous structure in the center of the cave below. Shrap and Cynthia stopped at the ledge overlooking the ruined building. Cynthia sprouted talons from her sneakers while Shrap reached into his briefcase, removing a pair of spiked plates which he slid over his shoes. Tapping the sharpened blades on slick ice, Shrap beamed at his ingenuity, turning to Cynthia and extending his hand.

"Well since we're here, might as well poke around those ruins. Maybe this is what the Vizier meant with the rift's location?" Cynthia turned to a large, flowing fountain in the center of the abandoned ruins, planting her hands beside her hips. "I mean, that doesn't look like a rift, but I don't think you're far off." Shrap's mask tilted to a puzzled angle. "What? Then what does a rift look like?" Cynthia paused, her mouth open and her eyes shuffling around for an answer. "Well, it's-uh, I mean, well," she stammered. Shrap sighed, chuckling in clouded breath puffs. "Ah, relax, I'm goofing around. But really, we should investigate those ruins."

Cynthia tapped her talons on the icy ledge, grinning. "Be a shame not to." Both protagonists leapt from the ledge, soaring on wings of mutated Sinner genetics and fiery Demon scales, drifting toward the ruins and the shimmering black outline of the large, formless object in the heart of the ruins. As they soared toward the ruins, Shrap tilted his hat back. "Uh, hey Doc. Those wouldn't happen to be turrets, right?" Cynthia turned to a large, brazier-supported structure that seemed to be creaking with dust as it followed them through the air. "Uh, I think it is. Why is it-!" Cynthia cut off as large icicle blades screamed through the air in their direction.

"Following us?! No time to find out!" Shrap shouted, swerving toward the icy ruins below the turret's line of fire. Cynthia, however, balled her titanium gauntlets, watching another icicle blade soar through the air toward her. When the blade drew closer, Cynthia wound her fist back, slinging her arm forward and smashing the blade into icy shards, bouncing harmlessly against her flaming skin. Snapping her arm back to her side, Cynthia launched herself at the turret, curling her body into a winged ball of fire. Cynthia smashed through the turret in a shower of ice and muddied, frozen stone.

Shrap lifted his mask over the broken down ruins of a small building, tapping his fingertips on the frigid rock. "Or, y'know, you could've just led with that," he mumbled, taking flight toward the watchtower. Landing beside a bright red and steaming Cynthia, Shrap adjusted his hat in time to catch the outline of a hooded figure sprinting down the steps behind the turret's remains. "Hey! Where do you think you're going, mister?!" Shrap called, leaping past the ruins and jogging with his long, spindly legs after the robed assailant. Cynthia, catching her breath, waved her red hot gloves up and down before dashing after Shrap.

When Cynthia had rounded the corner, however, both Shrap and their attacker had disappeared. This bothered Cynthia such that she began to shiver under her fiery skin; in such close quarters it was impossible to lose a thirteen foot tall Sinner with wings. Tapping her foot on the ice shard covered floor, Cynthia lifted her bronze goggles to the opposite wall of ice and cut sandstone where she stopped, as motionless as the ice surrounding her. In the twisted reflection of the ice, Cynthia saw herself clad in chains and fiery red light, haloed by Hell as a Daemonic Ruler. Cynthia caught her frosty breath, taking a step back.

"Oh. My. God," Cynthia exhaled. She clutched her eyes, rubbing under her goggles to clear her head. When Cynthia opened her eyes again, the ice struck her with one final distorted reflection, a twisted, maniacal Cynthia, soaked in blood and organs with a smile stretched so far it began tearing her face apart. Shattered lenses gave way to bright gold eyes seated in sockets of diffracted red light, all warped by a geometrically altered icy prison. Cynthia screamed, throwing herself backward.

As Cynthia's heart pounded through her chest, arms reached out to catch her. "Hey hey! Doc, take it easy, it's me, Shrap!" Cynthia was back in the icy hallway, but now Shrap was beside her with their robed attacker strapped by zip ties. Shrap was shaking Cynthia by her arms and legs, his emotionless mask quivering with worry. "Whew! I never thought you'd wake up, you hit your head pretty-!" Shrap stopped as Cynthia lunged into the Sinner's arms, squeezing the stretched Sinner tight. Shrap tilted his mask down, too stunned to speak. All he could do was wrap his arms around Cynthia, gently rubbing out her shoulders.

"Cynthia? Hey, what's wrong, what did you see in this hallway?" Cynthia's eyes wavered with tears, unable to blink from fear. "The ice...the ice showed me..." Cynthia struggled to find the words. Shrap tilted his mask to the wall. As something in the ice seemed to sneer back at the Sinner, Shrap unclipped his mask and gazed hard. Something screamed and disappeared behind the layer of ice. Shrap exhaled, comforting Cynthia for a while, surrounded by mirrors.