Of Shroomers and Riches [Lui]

It would take about two rings before Lui could manage to answer. Just before Batilde called him, Lui was wrapping up the club after his newest one-shot arrival left satisfied with what they had seen. After taking a drink and realizing the number that was calling him was Batilde, he hurriedly answered it, panting a bit from his match earlier. His feelings on Batilde were settling since her disappearance for a few days, but hearing her voice again energized him a bit more. He cradled the phone between his shoulder and ear as he packed away his equipment.

"Oh, Batilde! Wonderful to hear from you again. It's been a while since I last heard from you. Doing alright? I just, uh, got finished with the club. Did you want to, well... hang out sometime?"

Making his way out of the clubroom and heading towards home, Lui carried the phone in his right hand with his bag slung over his left shoulder. Hearing that her silence was only to crack down on her studies relieved him a bit. She went quiet a while before he met Esra and Pendleton at their awakening, so she didn't know he was in the Playhouse already. Assuming she was capable of getting back into the Persona business, he'd be able to bring her into the ranks.

"That's comforting. I thought you were afraid of the whole "night training" business and wanted to cut ties. That or you forgot about me... But yeah, practice just wrapped up. I've been having a few interesting guests check out the club, and I'd say they'll be coming back. I guess that luck you wished me is coming in handy!"

Hearing Batilde wax her Shakespearean cry for freedom from her dungeon of literature, Lui was reminded of the scissor-mad hairdresser Nomine who spoke in a similar way. And like Nomine, Lui figured Batilde might get a kick out of him breaking his character to match her theatrics. Panting a bit as he changed into a fresh set of clothes and walked full speed to Batilde's house as per her request.

"I know of a diversion that will entertain my belle dame. There's a movie playing at the theater that has my interest. It's a... sci-fi sort of action movie called Shroomers. Reviews are mixed on it, but then again, so was The Spleen of Gary. I got a personal kick out of it, so maybe this one'll at least be a cult classic if it flops. I'll be paying as a treat for ya. So, ahem...

Fear not, lady Batilde! Sir Saito shall free you from your cage of characters, your prison of passages, and deliver you unto the theater house to banish thy boredom!"

And with that, Lui quickly made his way to Batilde's house, reapplying deodorant and grabbing two sizable rocks along the way, clicking them together like the clops of a running horse. Once at her house, he rang the doorbell and awaited her arrival.

Lui cracked an unseen smile at being called silly. Most of the time, he wanted to give off this serious and determined swordsmaster vibe, but when it came to close friends, it felt relaxing to not have to keep up appearances. Considering how he's opened to Batilde on topics he normally shuts up over, he could only hope that the less attractive features of his personality could be overlooked.

"Hehe, true. You're a smart girl, so I figured you had your reasons. But yeah, developments are certainly going on with my nightlife. But, uh, I'd prefer to talk face-to-face over that stuff. Speaking of which, I'm just approaching the house. See you in a bit!"

After tossing the rocks out into the field, their purpose falling on deaf ears but still entertaining him, he gave a genuine smile to Batilde's greeting and appearance. It had a been a while since they last met face-to-face, so Lui took in everything he could see.

"Ah, glad you could take time from your studies to join me, madame. As I promised, I'll be picking up the tab today. A movie and some snacks isn't going to take a big chunk out of my paycheck. Plus, if it means I can hang out with you after your little break, that's a plus for me and, hopefully, for you."

Taking a step away from the door and inviting Batilde to walk with him, Lui kept the conversation going, trying to describe the events she missed in her study break in a hushed voice so as not to let slip who they were. While one hand was settled in his pocket with his phone, the one closest to Batilde was hanging at his side. He debated with himself if it were a proper response to hold her hand while they walked. It could be seen as a gentlemanly gesture, but considering how Batilde wanted to avoid rumors of them being in a relationship, it could be inappropriate for their relationship as friends. So he left it floating at his side, watching to see if Batilde many any move to suggest it was fine where it was.

"So yeah, I actually helped two other people awaken. But there was this masked thief in the alley, and he was supporting the other two as they fought with me. The big Oni was weak to ice, so I kept pelting it! Blam! Crunch! Yeah, it went down easy. So the next night, I get instructions from Shiro and found my way into the Platinum Playhouse. It's kind of like a little bar place like the House of Cards, only less dance floors and more terrorists. They even have this little... goat? Sheep? Whatever it is, it's a little demon who runs the bar. So, if you're serious about getting back in the game, I'll come get you and bring you into the club. Word of warning, though; everyone there isn't giving away who they are in the outside world, so you're gonna need to mask up before stepping in, Notre Dame. You can call me Knight, got it?"

By this point, the two had made their way to the movie theater. Lui stepped to the counter and purchased their tickets, handing Bat her stub as they made their way into the lobby.

"Did you want anything from the snack counter? I was gonna get a popcorn to share and some drinks. Anything else you want I can cover."

So far, Lui was actually pretty impressed with the intro scene. It set up the scenario in a local community along with a transition to space centers across America expecting to collect materials from falling meteorites that would fall out of the shower. Then came an interesting twist; one of the meteors that zooms into the frame is shown to be containing the Shroomer materials is actually impacted by the shower rushing in its direction. The pieces break apart, colliding in different parts of the world. One happens to land near the community shown in the intro.

They don't manage to find the meteorite at first, considering its tiny size and how embedded into the ground it is... wait, where was all the organic material on it? It was only a charred piece of black rock at this point, no sign of mate. If the material burned up, how could the Shroomers arrive on Earth? That's when it zooms to show the flakes falling off the meteorite aren't just dust and burnt ash; there are actually spores among the material, invisible to the naked eye. The tiny particles settled into the ground, seemingly harmless... until, in the last second before the title drops, the mushrooms in the clearing start to subtly change color with the rising of the sun.

"Hmm, that's a good start. Not just generic aliens invading the planet; it's like an invasive species, only trying to grow in a new environment. This is probably a time I could say I see how the scientists could miss it. What do you think?" Lui whispered to Batilde

Trailblazers come across the impact site... and an unusual fungus growing nearby. What is this stuff?:

...How? It was doing so well, bringing together frightening visuals of brain-jacked zombie fungus creatures and a ragtag group of adventures that actually grabbed their attention. Both Lui and Bat were digging into the popcorn, drawn in to see what these folks could do when surrounded by the living dead shroom monsters. What would they do next? Lui was eagerly awaiting the answer... and he was groaning at their response.

Instead of trying to maintain a safe area in the town and alert the authorities, they thought they could solve the problem themselves. The supermodel wasn't being much help, only weakly kicking at the creatures with her heels. The gun-nut and police officer went to town on some of the shroom squirrels lurching towards them. Yeah, it hit them, but they kept crawling, only causing the spores in the monsters' bodies to spray out onto more of the plant life. And in true zombie fashion, those gunshots weren't silenced, so that only drew the horde towards them. They managed to make it out, sprinting full speed and hiding out inside the scientist's house.

The scientist got the "brilliant" idea to go out and collect a creature, one of the mutated spiders, in a plastic container to study. Considering how the top of the container couldn't be secured very well, Lui expected the worst. While the rest of the crew watched the broadcast that encouraged citizens to reach the quarantine zones and went out to secure the city border (with only the noisy guns, of course), the scientist nerd ran up to his room to run tests on his specimen.

In the darkened lab of the group's scientist, the specimen is missing from its container... Is the scientist safe from the shroom spider?:

Lui's comment:
"They... they aren't seriously leaving the guy in the dark lab on his own... are they?"

At first, Lui sighed with Batilde at the sight of the spider managing to break captivity and scuttle away into the ventilation without even harming a hair on the oblivious scientist's head. Yeah, he looked around frantically and ran out of the room in fear that the spider was hiding in wait for him, but it felt like the chance for an action-horror moment of fighting off this thing in close quarters was wasted. Eventually, the gunmen returned with a survivor, a suspiciously calm young kid in a black hoodie holding a cloth over his mouth and nose, while the baker prepares a flamethrower using a can of hair spray and a lighter. Considering that the foes are based on plant spores, it was actually a good idea to combat them.

Then Lui could feel the crowd jump with him as a loud *pop* sound blasts through the vents, much like a gunshot. Wait... the spider was in the vent! With the additional visual of green viscous goop dripping from the ceiling vent onto the supermodel, it became frighteningly clear; the spores were now flowing into the ventilation. If they didn't get moving, they'd get infected right away. If the director had used it as a push to continue the plot and head to quarantine, it wasn't the best set-up but still yielded a promising result. The party was running out of the house as the other survivors in the neighborhood followed them. They were running in fear, claiming that something blew up in their vents and was spreading the spores.

"Whoa, that's a good one. These things think like a hive mind, even strategizing a way to get everyone out of their houses."

Escape the approaching hordes! an they make it to the next town to find quarantine?:

The ride there certainly kept the suspense rolling as the baker's agonized grunts of pain rumbled in the background. While the scientist rolled through the hordes as fast as the hefty truck would allow and the gunman kept his window open for any shroomers fast enough to keep up, the model and officer tended to the baker as best they could, using the utensils in the car to wash his wound and wrap it up using the straps from the boy's mask to keep it tied together. Cleverly, the utensils were set up throughout the movie to be on each character's person, so it made sense each one would be present.

At last, the group was able to spot the quarantine area set up in the stadium downtown. White tents and barricades accompanied by military and hazmat-suited guards adorned the street as they all hustled to the checkpoint, shouting that they needed medical attention. The acting throughout the movie was very emotional, each actor knowing exactly what to convey in a scene and doing so with the right amount of realism and exaggeration. After the group was observed for infected wounds and found to be clean, a stretcher was called for the chef as he weakly wheezed through the numbing pain he was in.
"Wow... This guy deserves an award. He really looks like he's about to die
The stretcher trip from the checkpoint to the crowded medbay was shot facing the chef's sweating and pained face as the echoing voices of his friends and doctors discussed his condition. While his allies were telling him to stay with them, urging him to listen and focus on them, the camera pulled out to the bedridden chef with the crew looking on in convincing dismay. He wasn't dead yet, but he really could die at any point. The quick shot of the white-robed surgeons digging into his wound and injecting medical vials in a grotesque yet brief manner was certainly strong enough of a visual to indicate the damage these spores had done to his flesh.

In the last few scenes in the movie, the scene transitions to night as the crew discusses the baker's health and prayed he got better and looks back on the events they had gone through, sharing a touching group hug at the hope that everything would be better for the survivors. The boy shared the hug and went off down the hall, saying that he may have found his father among the survivors and wanted to let him know that he was safe. It looked like a touching departure as the boy wandered down the dimly lit hallway... into an empty room? Lui was confused at first until the kid silently looked around the room.

"Oh man, is his dad not here after all? That's a sad note to... oh no."

Lui could feel the audience gasp with him as the boy took his hood down and a green, viscous thread of goo that squirmed and moved like a worm dripped out of his nose. He looked down on the wriggling shroom worm with a creepy yet simple smile as he walked towards the camera, giving the last line of the movie in a sing-song chipper voice.

"It's time to feast, little friends. There's plenty to eat..."

The End...?

Lui grabbed the nearly empty bucket of popcorn and his empty drink and stood up, waiting for Batilde to get out of her seat to walk with him.
"Oh man, that ending had me creeped out. But it's a good pitch for the sequel for sure! How did you like it, Batilde? I'd say this tops the Spleen of Gary in a landslide. Here, I'll take your drink if you're done with it."

The Shroomer's Review: