Scene 1 — The Calm Before
SFX: drip… drip… drip…
Rain batters the tower windows.
Dante sits on the edge of a narrow bed, the dim light casting long shadows across his face. His bandaged hand trembles faintly as whispers echo inside his mind.
Shard (whisper): "Why do you deny what you are?"
Dante: "Because I'm not you."
He clenches his jaw. Ada walks in quietly, holding a small metal syringe filled with blue suppressant.
Ada: "Your link's getting stronger again. If this keeps up, you'll start losing time."
Dante (dryly): "I've already lost enough."
Ada kneels, gently pressing the injector to his neck.
SFX: pssshhhhh—click
His breathing slows, but the whisper doesn't fade.
Shard (softer): "Even now, you need me to fight it."
His reflection in the glass briefly shifts — showing his eyes glowing red instead of blue.
Ada (noticing): "It's speaking again, isn't it?"
Dante: "Yeah… and it's getting louder."
Scene 2 — The Mindscape
SFX: whooom—whoosh—!
Dante closes his eyes to steady himself — and when he opens them, the world has changed.
He's standing in a vast, cracked mirror field, shards floating in the void around him. Every shard reflects a twisted version of his own memories.
Each reflection whispers something different — "coward," "failure," "killer," "host."
He grips his head, staggering as echoes overlap.
SFX: shhhh—crkkk—
The largest shard flickers and reshapes — forming a shadowy silhouette with crimson eyes: The Shard's True Form.
Shard: "Do you know why you were chosen?"
Dante: "Because I survived."
Shard: "No. Because you feared surviving."
Dante's hand trembles as the void darkens around them.
Shard: "Every moment you hide behind jokes and arrogance… I see what you truly are. You wear fear like armor, but it's rotting you from the inside."
Dante (through gritted teeth): "You think you know me?"
Shard: "I am you. The piece that refused to die."
SFX: KRRRSHHH—!
The shard form lunges — merging halfway into him. Dante gasps, his body flickering between red and blue energy.
Shard (whisper, fading): "When the armor calls, I will answer. And you will follow…"
SFX: BOOOM—!
He jolts awake, back in the real world — Ada and Raen are shaking him.
Ada: "Dante! Snap out of it!"
Raen: "Your aura just spiked off the charts!"
Dante (panting): "It's coming. The shard… it's moving."
He stands, eyes faintly glowing, rain still streaking down the window.
Outside, lightning flashes — and for a brief second, the silhouette of the Redd Knight stands atop a distant skyscraper, staring directly at the tower.
SFX: THUM… THUM… THUM…
Raen (grim): "Well… looks like your shadow found you."
Dante (smirking slightly): "Good. Saves us the trip."
Scene 3 — The March to Battle
SFX: thunder rumbles, rain intensifies
Ada straps her holster; Raen checks her blade.
Dante tightens the gloves around his wrapped hands, then glances at the both of them.
Dante (low): "You two ready?"
Ada (smirks): "Born ready."
Raen: "Just don't die, dumbass."
They move out into the rain.
As they descend the tower's steps, lightning crashes across the skyline — and in the distance, the Redd Knight turns its head.
Its chest glows red, matching the rhythm of Dante's heartbeat.
SFX: THUM… THUM… THUM…
Narrator:
"When fear meets its echo, only one truth remains:
To face it… or become it."