[TheSpatialWeeg]

Back at a certain anniversary Mirage...

Rulue looked as the slip of paper suddenly had a change of words! “This is...” she said, but never finished the sentence. A restaurant deed now rest in her hands. Why did the Mirage gave this to her, she had no idea, but the mention of something in the basement got her attention. She smirked at the spirit in front of her.

“Well, do color me interested.”

---

And now, here she was.

The deed directed the Fighting Queen to a rather busy alley of Rainbow Square, specifically towards a closed, red building, seemingly decorated with golden exhaust pipes on its ceiling, alongside a couple of gold-and-black gears decorating some of the outer walls.

With the keys to the place dangling in one of her fingers, Rulue approached the large, mahogany wood doors and placed the key, twisting and turning until she heard the loud click, signaling to her the doors were now open.

With anticipation, Rulue quickly grabbed the door knob with her free hand and opened one of the two doors...only to be met by darkness. “Hmm. Let’s see...where’s the light switch…?” Rulue questioned herself as she began tapping her hand on the nearby wall. Soon enough however, she found a lever facing up. This must be it. she thought to herself before pushing the lever down.

Steam hiss followed shortly thereafter, followed by a more subdued sound of cogs turning. A lamp turned on, and then another, and then another, the darkness giving way to unveil…

A thematic restaurant!

Rulue tilted her head slightly as she closed the door behind her, taking in her surroundings. Well, she liked the color of the place, but she wasn’t entirely sold over its whole ‘cogs and gears’ theme. Hmm, she probably should have it be like this for a while, see if it grows on her. If not, she could always remodel, couldn’t she...?

The hissing from the place had died down significantly, only being relegated to background noise. Now, if there was something she caught on already, is that steam played a huge part on the restaurant. Most, if not all devices she had stolen a glance out of seemed to require the vapor in question. Heck, perhaps even the electricity of the place was provided by it (Given how Li was, she wouldn't be surprised).

Meandering over to a table, she swiped her finger on it to check how dusty was the place. “...Well, it’s gonna be a long day for sure.” she muttered weakly as she saw the amount of dust her finger swiped off of the table. “On the bright side, it doesn’t look like I’ll have to remove cobwebs...” she commented. Did this place have any cleaning utensils? Probably not. Well, whatever the case was, the cleaning was going to come a bit later.

She had a basement to look into, after all.

Rulue had looked around the restaurant until she noticed a red door near the mini stage. She moved toward it and unlocked it, coming across a small corridor leading to a trapdoor near its end after it opened. “Bingo.” she said to herself as she made her way to it.

She cracked her fingers and opened the trapdoor, coming across a basement that was actually consistent with the aesthetic of the restaurant as a whole. She slowly descended toward the basement, hoping to find something special. Judging by the implications of the spirit from the Mirage, something special's gotta be there.

But whatever could be that special thing…?

[Mari]

As Rulue searches, she eventually comes across a very ornate victorian era mirror. The mirror was beautiful enough on its own. However, there was something distinctly odd about it. The first thing she might notice was that it didn't show her in its reflection. As she inspected closer, she might notice that the reflection of the room was different. It was the same room, but things were moved around slightly or missing, and there were some crates that weren't in the room she was standing in. As she no doubt got closer to inspect it, she might even here... noise? A faint ghostly singing in the distance, the thumps of feet against wooden floors, the soft noise of a crowd chattering... But that singing voice, it might feel... familiar to Rulue. A slight warmth rolled over her body, and then...

A person walked into the room behind Rulue. They weren't actually behind her, which she could find out rather easily by turning around. However, they were in the mirror! What she might be interested in was who that person was...

The woman in the mirror began checking over the crates using a list in one hand to identify which crate she was looking at. After a few long moments of this, however, she seemed to take notice of Rulue watching her and her gaze snapped up to look out from within the mirror. She recoiled with fright and paled noticeably, just kind of freezing up and staring at Rulue as if she'd seen a ghost. And--well, wouldn't you if you saw a stranger in your mirror? Only, the woman didn't see a stranger. She saw herself.

After a moment she seemed to calm down a bit and hesitantly approached the mirror, standing before Rulue and giving her a good lookover. When she spoke, her voice had a soft echo to it and a magical reverb that gave it a somewhat smooth and soft feeling. She could be clearly understood at this distance, though she still sounded as if she were speaking from a good 20 feet away. So a bit quiet, but easily understood.

"...A bit behind the times, but if I needed any more proof that anything I put on becomes timeless, I have it now~"

She then reached out and very cautiously touched the surface of the mirror from within. It rippled as if she'd disturbed the surface of water. Rulue could observe that her hand passed through it slightly. However, she quickly withdrew it and cautiously inspected her hand.

[TheSpatialWeeg]

Rulue, taking notice of the beautiful mirror, made her way towards it to...take quick a look at herself, of course. Just a small check-up, and she'd be back to looking around the basement. Of course, upon closer inspection, it became apparent that the check-up was going to be at home, it seemed, because...well, this mirror wasn't reflecting her. In fact, the mirror wasn't really reflecting her restaurant's basement. Things were different over the world shown in the mirror. In fact, she could hear...noises coming from over there? Echoes of chattering customers, feet thumping on the wooden floors, that...familiar voice singing...could that singer be--?!

Before she could even finish that thought, the sound of someone entering her room briefly startled her. She spun around, fists ready to tango with an intruder, only to find...well, nothing. Was the sound coming from the world shown in the mirror? As she turned to face it again, she could reply to that question with a resounding 'yes', as a figure was now there, inspecting the boxes stored in the mirror room.

And that figure looked so much like...her.

"What the...?" Rulue muttered as she kept looking at the woman in the mirror sorting the items. What was she looking at? A confused look was plastered on her face, and it quickly fused with bewilderment as the woman turn around - and she saw her face. Now she knew without a doubt that the reflection was indeed her. A different version of her, obviously, but still very much her.

While the other Rulue was giving her a lookover, the Fighting Queen decided to do the same, taking in the clothing the other was wearing. She let out a cheeky little smirk once she heard the comment of her mirror self. “Ohoho~ Was there ever any doubt about that?” she questioned the other.

That brief moment was soon replaced by another shocking moment, as the other Rulue touched the mirror, only for her hand to phase through it and enter her world. After the other retracted her hand, Rulue would step a bit closer to the ‘mirror’. “Is this...a gate?” she questioned as she touched the mirror, like what the woman in the mirror did. Would it react the same as it did to her? Or was it just one-way only?

[Mari]

"Well, not from me anyway. O~hohoho!" the doppelganger replied. "...There are some who would pay my employees more mind, however..." she added somewhat distastefully with a wave of her hand, observing with mild shock as Rulue messed with the mirror. It reacted to her hand much in the way it had before. There was a resistance to her touch, but more of a... liquid resistance than a solid one. The surface rippled a second time and she could easily pass through it if she so desired. "...How curious. A world within a mirror. Perhaps if I ever need to move shop, I can see what it's like on the other side!" she remarked, gingerly tapping her cheek with one finger. "As it stands currently though, business is booming! I can't possibly leave to go explore a new world. Not for long, anyway. Buuut..." she continued after a moment, trailing off and giving Rulue a sly look. "...If you ever want to stop by, even just for a visit, having beautiful girls around is good for business~! Bring a friend or two if you want. I'm sure the gentlemen here will buy you all the free food and drinks you desire." the mirror Rulue suggested with a knowing wink.

She then hesitated a moment. "--Oh. Right. I almost forgot introductions. How rude of me? ...What are the odds we share the same name? Hum... My name is Rulue, and behind me is Steam City! Or more accurately, my restaurant. We serve food, good entertainment and--of course--fine spirits." she explained, gesturing up toward the stairs where the faint sound of a familiar voice's singing followed by hooting and hollering could be heard.

((A special adventure mode story has been unlocked: Steam City! In addition to normal Adventure Mode loot, unique items can be obtained by clearing it.))