Chapter 11 - Through The Looking Mask
Chapter 11 - Through The Looking Mask is the eleventh chapter of Rejuvenation. The group finally arrives at Grand Dream City, ready to investigate the mystery of the petrification. However, a new face enters the stage, and their intentions are still unknown.
Chapter Summary
Exploring the Metropolis
The chapter begins with Ren and Neved doing some training at the Team Xen HQ, allowing Ren to finally understand what he is fighting for. Meanwhile, the group of Venam, Melia, Kanon, Erin, Rhodea and the Protagonist arrive in Grand Dream City. While Rhodea has to officialize everyone's arrival, the rest of the group is free to explore the city. While they do so, Madelis is brought into her new job, working for Cassandra, the mayor of the city. The group meets Risa Rider, local idol and singer, and eventually regroups at Rhodea's Penthouse. The Protagonist attempts to take a nap, but is interrupted in their dreams by a mysterious man who asks them some cryptic questions. After waking and regrouping with everyone else, they learn of the current plan: everyone will be split into two groups, one of each will investigate the Night Market, while the other will investigate Talon's house, the Gym Leader recently turned to stone. The player can decide whichever group they go with first, but the events are the same.
The Gang under the Market
At the Night Market, the Protagonist, Rhodea, Melia and Venam, as well as Risa who decided to help out, investigate the rumors of gang activity in the area. While doing so, Venam and the Protagonist have a battle to decide on a present for Melia. After solving some riddles and defeating some members, the group find the gang's base and storms it, discovering a large amount of illegal explosives and a mysterious paper with unreadable symbols. The situation is resolved, although it had nothing to do with the petrifications or the disappearing students. On the way out, a woman with the same name and appearance as the missing Valarie shows up as Risa's friend, but apparently does not recognize Venam, Melia or the Protagonist, leaving them confused.
Talon's Clues
At Talon's house, Huey, Lavender and the Protagonist find a clue: apparently, Talon was called to a local club by a fake letter pretending to be their mother. Moving there, the group meets a man who looks identical to the Adam the protagonist knew, but once again the doppelganger does not recognize anyone. After some problems with Lavender's Alakazam, the group doesn't end up finding anything, but a visiting Risa is revealed to actually be a mysterious woman transformed to look as her. Back at the penthouse, the only clues the groups got were the paper with strange symbols that Risa found in the gang's base and the fake letter sent to Talon, so everyone ends up calling it a day, with the Protagonist being visited and asked some questions by the mysterious man in their dreams once again.
Petrification Continues
Early in the morning, the Protagonist is woken up and called to the mall in the city: terrorists are claiming a bomb threat and they called specifically for the Protagonist. After being accompanied inside by the police, they find out the terrorists are in fact just a masquerading boy and girl, working for someone they call "Puppet Master". After defeating them in a battle and confirming there are no actual explosives, the two are arrested. However, Hazuki Blakeory suggests the two are sent to live with Rhodea, so she can learn what their intentions were.
Meanwhile, a scene shows where Venam and Lavender have been since the previous night: Venam watched Lavender leave the house late at night and followed her, finding her outside. Lavender reveals she also received a fake letter from her parents, and while the two girls read it and wonder what it could mean, they get attacked by an unknown entity. The next morning, a big crowd in the place they were last seen confirms it: Venam has been turned to stone, and Lavender is missing. Melia runs off in shock, and Rhodea asks Huey and the Protagonist to find the missing girl. Eventually, a mysterious girl informs the two that Lavender is fine and that they can retrieve her from an alley, which they promptly do, leaving her at the hospital.
Back at the penthouse, while trying to decide what to do, an unexpected visitor appears: Aelita, the same mysterious girl that rescued Lavender. She confirms that she was acting under orders from the Puppet Master as well, and seeing as how everything seems to tie back to him, the two decide to try and meet him. After learning from Alice and Allen that the Puppet Master can be visited in one's nightmare with the help of a Nightmare Medallion, the two decide to go to sleep.
The Nightmare City
With the help of the Medallion, Aelita and the Protagonist find themselves in the Nightmare Casino, a mysterious place where the people of Grand Dream City apparently end up while dreaming. They are welcomed by none other than Zetta, who explains that to meet the Puppet Master they must collect enough coins in the casino. After collecting the necessary coins by various means, one final test awaits: the Protagonist battles and defeats this version of Zetta.
Now in the Puppet Master's room, the Protagonist has to defeat Neon and Magenta, which appear to be extensions of the Puppet Master. Defeating them not only allows for an audition with the Puppet Master, but also rewards the Protagonist with a Gym Badge. The Puppet Master then explains that he was the one who rescued Alice and Allen from somewhere and brought Aelita back to the main group, supposedly in preparation for something big that is about to happen. After calling the Protagonist "The Interceptor", the Puppet Master fades away and the two wake up. The chapter ends with Aelita waking up in her room in Route 7, being visited by the Protagonist.
Locations Of Interest
Trivia
- The 13.5 update somewhat changed the layout of Grand Dream City and some plot elements of this chapter. For example, the Nightmare Medallion is now given to the player by Alice and Allen, and the city part of the Nightmare City is now absent from the nightmare sequence, with the Protagonist's bed leading directly to the entrance of the casino.
- This chapter presents many secrets to players not on their first run of the game, mostly related to the questions that Zetta asks the player when the Protagonist is asleep. If the player answers their questions correctly, they can watch a bonus scene, receive a special item for a later chapter, and even skip on having to farm the coins needed to meet the Puppet Master.
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