HIDEO

So... you enjoy leaving people voicemail, hmm?

Got something to say about the way I play Mantis?

Feel free to leave me any sort of comment, question, concern, critique, etc. Everything is screened and anonymous commenting is on so nobody has to know what you've been saying about me.

I realize that I'm playing him as more of a gag character, but that's mostly what he is in canon. He'll have a serious moment here and there occasionally, but that doesn't last very long.

Fool! You've neglected to set up your voicemail!

*The video is distorted at first. The black and white static on the screen snaps, crackles and pops as it slowly begins to form what can best be described as a fuzzy polar bear cub in a white tuxedo eating vanilla ice cream in a snowstorm. An occasional shower of black pixels rains down the length of the otherwise immaculate screen, soon accompanied by the pitiful moaning of a child.*

*And doesn't he look oh-so sweet and innocent now that the video is up? Though it shouldn't take a trained Jounin to note that the boy is covered in deep cuts and dark bruises all over. He continues to moan and whine, reaching for the screen as though crying out for help.*

*A voice calls out to Kakashi, its speaker unseen.*

So... you enjoy being a hero, don't you? Would you like to save this boy?

You have something which does not belong to you...

( Even I can't escape Kojima's everybody-had-a-traumatizing-childhood rule. )

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*As usual, creepy gas mask breathing is emitted from the Dreamberry. If the watcher is attentive, for a split second, they should notice that the eyes behind the goggles of the mask bear the exact same scars as the boy in the dream. They're faded... but still there.*

Blackout.

*The viewer's Dreamberry screen fades to black.*

Mantis hovered above the ground in a meditative pose, legs crossed. He was in some sort of blank enclosure, nothing but white behind him and to the sides. The illusion of infinity was carefully crafted to imply his confinement in this room. It looked lonely. Though he did have one thing to keep him company - words.

These words danced around him without rhythm or meter. At times they would flow uninterrupted, and Mantis could be at peace. Though far too often for his liking, this pattern would be interrupted. Letters would vanish, get taken back, disappear. Mantis silently scowled behind his mask at these disturbances. The blue bar hovering above him only served to him of where he was. He chose to ignore it.

Instead, Mantis chose to face the large glass window in front of him. Everything his world lacked, the world behind this window contained. Color, shape, form, depth, life...

Mantis stared intently at the blond girl sitting on the other side of this window, eating corn flakes and typing on a keyboard. Suddenly, the girl's pet kitten leaped onto her lap and began pawing at the keyboard.

"Nibbler, no!"

The string of words created on Mantis's side was instantly taken back as she sat there staring at Mantis, dumbfounded, trying to remember what she was going to type.

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Foolish girl.