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Post by mugenginga on Sept 11, 2009 23:58:53 GMT -5
(OOC: So far, just me and FF are allowed)
It was a quiet night just inside the woods on the outskirts of Void City. A few crickets sang, an owl flew out of the trees after some hapless mouse on the ground, and the clear night sky could be seen through the trees. There was nothing out of the ordinary, and those that didn't know any better would have said it was any forest in any world rather than on the multiversal anomaly known as Dimension Island.
Well, until the fireball shot through the top of the trees, following an explosion with enough force to cause a small earthquake like tremor in the area. Anyone that had been unlucky enough to see its source would have sworn a solid rock had up and exploded, and wouldn't be alive to speak of it.
A skeletal machine-like entity smacked into the side of a tree, falling down limp like some kind of dead body. Its short black hair splayed in front of its large and lifeless eyes, resembling something like saucers rather than real eyes. Its jagged mouth was distorted and no expression was clear from it. As if it already didn't appear to be injured, its right arm was twisted in an unnatural looking manner. It appeared to be partially... melted, as well.
A groan with a small feminine lean to it came from the lifeless seeming body as it twitched. The eyes "opened", that is to say they gained a small dull gleam to them. Before they seemed merely like circles but now it seemed some sentience was staring out from them. Its jagged metal like white shoulder moved a bit, and continued to do so for a few moments before the figure slowly and painfully turned its head.
It wouldn't seem possible for its eyes to widen based on its general appearance, but that seems to be what it had done. Its left arm came up and its claw-like fingers held its head. It slowly looked around and its eyes settled on the damaged arm.
What... shut up and think, Tachi... the entity thought to itself. It had just finished a prototype medication for its race... then what? An explosion? The Doppelganger Headquarters were not known for being unstable. What then? Sabotage? Who among them would be idiotic to attempt that? Surely no one had figured out the headquarters' location?
It mumbled to itself, using its good arm to push itself into a wobbly standing position. A lost arm, and it was rather damaged. This would make it useless. Those among its race that were useless were fired. Literally...
It began to make its way towards the arm. Perhaps it wasn't as bad as it looked. If it could repair the limb, it could go back. It was then that a startling and terrifying thought occurred to it, one that it hadn't thought to even be possible...
Do I want to go back?
(OOC: Stopping to avoid the Great Wall of Text. If its unclear, it is almost to the arm)
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Post by Firebreath Fishslap on Sept 12, 2009 7:27:45 GMT -5
"What happened?!"
"An explosion?!"
"You don't think..."
Ms. Mirror ran on into the lab where her colleague had been working. There was nothing but the smoking remains of a once clean and pristine laboratory.
And there was no sign of Ms. Tachi.
Ms. Mirror turned to face three of the doppelgangers she commanded. "Ms. Replica-B, find Mrs. Xerox-Zero and inform her of what has happened! Mr. Act-Alike-Z, Mr. Repetition-V, gather up everyone else in the research division. Tell them to put all current experiments on hold so we can find Ms. Tachi-Zero.
"It's entirely possible we have a deserter. We can't have her getting away," Ms. Mirror said. The two doppelgangers nodded and ran as fast as they could.
"...Dammit! Damn those humans..." Ms. Mirror said through ground teeth. They must have known they were working on a cure for that, albeit rare, crippling allergy. Seeking to keep the steady flow of defectives going, most likely.
((OOC: Since it's impossible for every Doppelganger to have a unique name, Ms. Mirror typically addresses her colleague's using a prefix to denote which unique one they are. It's the same as calling someone John L., John A., etc. for Doppelgangers.))
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Post by mugenginga on Sept 12, 2009 14:18:57 GMT -5
The doppelganger known as Ms. Tachi kneeled down and picked up the arm, attempting to focus on it to dispel the frightening thoughts that were threatening to take over her mind. Run. Don't look back. Desert. Her pseudo-mechanical body seemed to shudder as she tried to dispel the thoughts with a shake of her head. She looked down at the arm and scowled, a rather frightening expression when one took in the way her race's face was formed.
It's too damaged. Even if I could reattach it, the functionality would be severely limited. Dammit! she thought to herself.
She glanced towards the general direction of the headquarters. As it was, they'd be looking for her. She'd been rather adamant about keeping the formulas for the medicine mostly in her head. Eidetic memory, they'd never be lost. Her racial trait of pride had prevented the thoughts of sabotage or terrorism from being applied. The scowl deepened. She would need to reattach it before going anywhere. Even though it would effect her other forms, one with a malformed arm would attract less attention than her true form.
She looked around and found a place she hope would work as cover, sliding down and using her good arm in conjunction with various natural formations to attempt to reattach the limb. It would be sloppy, but she had to work fast or risk getting caught.
As it is, I can't go back. I'd just be fired with this injury... but why am I happy about that? How am I "happy"? the doppelganger's eyes narrowed, How defective am I?
Defective. The thought had finally occured to her and it was terrifying. She had the memories of hating, ridiculing, and outright killing defectives, although the latter was a pleasurable rarity. She had enjoyed killing. Why did that suddenly seem wrong? She tried to push the thoughts out of her mind as she set to reattaching the arm.
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Post by Firebreath Fishslap on Sept 12, 2009 14:45:31 GMT -5
Ms. Mirror sifted through the wreckage, stepping with the utmost care. While one wasn't supposed to go through an area that had been burned and destroyed for at least 24 hours, in case it sparked any more fires, she needed to make sure. There had to be something left of Serum 150's research. A sample in a test tube, a list of ingredients, something. Even with her eidetic memory, she had to have written something down...
"Ms. Mirror-Zero--"
"Yes?!" Ms. Mirror asked in an annoyed tone uncharacteristic of her. She turned to face the doppelgangers assembled in the doorway of the room, the seven or so doppelgangers she commanded in the research division. She regained her composure. "Oh, yes. If Ms. Tachi-Zero was blown out of this room, then she is most likely in the woods near here. Find her. We need her. Bring her back alive if possible."
"And if we must fire her?" Ms. Replica asked.
"Then bring back her head. At least we can extract her memory of the formula and procedure to make it then," Ms. Mirror instructed. The group moved past her out into the woods, morphing into their human forms in order to look inconspicuous.
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Post by mugenginga on Sept 12, 2009 14:57:09 GMT -5
Tachi made a fist with her right hand. It responded, although the reaction was a touch more delayed than she would have liked. She tried to bend her elbow and frowned at the limited mobility. At best she had half the usual. She wouldn't be able to scratch the back of her neck with her right arm. But it was attached. Poorly, but under the circumstances it was the best she could do.
She heard a branch crunch about ten feet behind her and jerked her head to the side. With how little traffic this area received, it was only logical they had sent out a search party. With her arm as it was... she stood up, using the opportunity to test her right arm. It supported the weight, that was good. The angle was a bit awkward thanks to the now limited mobility, but at least it was functional.
Her race weren't known for being able to pick out their own kind when in bipedal form. This worked both for and against her. It meant if she took on a humanoid form, she'd be concealed. They didn't know about her arm. But it would mean if they took on any of their bipedal forms, very much SOP for her race, she wouldn't know them either...
Now wasn't the time to think about that. She quickly morphed into the human form she was most familiar with, a Japanese high school girl by the name Momoko Miyamoto. The original bearer of the form was long since dead, having been killed by Ms. Tachi as part of her absorption. As expected, the right arm was malformed, and she focused a little more to make it appear burnt. Aside from considering it the most "natural" appearing injury to cause the missing fingers and twisted arm, it held an ironic sense to her, considering being "fired" would likely be her fate if she were caught...
She fled through the trees. It was late, but Void City was known to have a night life. If she could just get there before being spotted, she'd at least temporarily be out of the water. Maybe she could go back if she could do a better repair job on her arms, but the thoughts that were running through her head were dangerous. Ms. Mirror-Zero was not known for being kind, let alone Ms. Xerox-Zero... She couldn't go back without full functionality and a clear head.
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Post by Firebreath Fishslap on Sept 12, 2009 15:13:54 GMT -5
The rustling of the leaves when Ms. Tachi fled was enough to catch Ms. Replica's attention.
"She went that way!" Ms. Replica yelled.
"After her!" Mr. Act-Alike said before running in the direction Ms. Tachi had gone. They were fast, even for people with more brain than muscle, but they were in human forms. They wouldn't beat someone loaded on adrenaline, something alien to non-defectives, though.
Ms. Mirror, however, was more focused on the remains of the lab. There was nothing. Not even bits of the chemicals used. It was all gone.
Not only that, but the blast hadn't come from one source. This was deliberate. There were three places the explosion had come from.
Three explosions that had made one large sized one. They went off simultaneously too.
This had been an extremely coordinated attack. Something not characteristic of the humans.
Someone on the inside had done this.
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Post by mugenginga on Sept 12, 2009 15:18:30 GMT -5
Tachi was a bit surprised at how well she was doing, almost as if she had a rush of energy going through her. She was smart enough to figure out why, but it only increased her worry and self-loathing. Adrenaline. An entirely all too human occurance. She was able to pretend to have a rush, but this was no pretense. And the fact it was likely the only thing that was keeping her ahead of those she heard pursuing her did not help the fact.
The sheer power of self-preservation was rather alien too. If she wasn't "broken", she would have handed herself in. A bitter scowl spread across her face. If she wasn't defective, she wouldn't even be in this situation. The edge of the city had come into view. She was almost there...
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Post by Firebreath Fishslap on Sept 12, 2009 15:35:32 GMT -5
Mr. Copycat was wandering around Void City that night, still lost on his way to a poker match. As it was, he was rather tired of all of the distractions, but he wasn't going to protest. It wasn't in his nature to complain.
However, he didn't expect to end up running smack dab into someone he used to know. Literally when it came to running into her; he ended up getting knocked to the ground, causing his cane to go flying.
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Post by mugenginga on Sept 12, 2009 15:41:48 GMT -5
Tachi had been far more concerned with her pursuers than with the area in front of her. Which had proved to be a mistake as her face collided with Mr. Copycat's chest due to the age difference in their current human forms. In a more human situation, it would have been awkward. Japanese high school girl landing on top of Asian man. And if it had been any "normal" Asian man, Tachi would have jumped up and ran off, not even bothering to apologize.
And she almost did, until her eyes focused on who she had impacted with, thanks in part to the cane that smacked into the side of the tree. The night had just gone from bad to worse. She jerked her head to the side, her pursuers had changed tactics. As it now was, they were pulling a technique similar to a pack of wolves, and appeared to have her surrounded. She wasn't good in battle formations or real world chase scenes. She backed against a tree, which by chance was the one his cane had impacted with.
"Thanks to you, we're both dead," she said to Mr. Copycat, coldly. While it was Momoko's voice, it held the coldness of the general doppelganger race. Which may have surprised him if he wasn't familiar with Tachi's most common human form. After all, only reason she knew his was how infamous he was at the HQ and his preference for it.
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Post by Firebreath Fishslap on Sept 12, 2009 15:59:26 GMT -5
Mr. Copycat looked around the area, though he was unable to flee in any way thanks to the seven doppelgangers having now surrounded him. He gave an awkward smile.
"I personally think you should have watched where you were going if you were trying to get away that badly," Mr. Copycat said. He glanced up at a Doppelganger whose human form he recognized.
"Mr. Look-Alike, is that you? It's been ages! Glad to see you've been doing alright," Mr. Copycat said. The doppelganger scowled.
"The only reason you're still alive right now is because you're a walking canary sensor," Mr. Look-Alike said coldly. "We only want Ms. Tachi to come back with us."
"Ms. Tachi?" Mr. Copycat looked back at the schoolgirl. "Oh! I had no idea you were defective now, Ms. Tachi. Or did you run away for some other reason?"
Mr. Look-Alike kept the same expression on his face, but on the inside, he was despising how much Mr. Copycat was acting like a sunny little human.
Interestingly enough, there wasn't the sound of any animals nearby. Mr. Copycat realized this, and did something he hadn't done in a while without his cane. He stood up on his own.
"Speaking of which, Ms. Tachi, could you hand me my cane?" Mr. Copycat asked.
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Post by mugenginga on Sept 12, 2009 16:04:49 GMT -5
Tachi scowled at the suggestion that she was defective. Not cause it was wrong, but quite the opposite. Because he was right. As it was she didn't have much to fight with and even with Mr. Copycat they were sorely outnumered. His prodding about watching where she was going didn't help either, nor did his characteristic stupid grin. She leaned down, having to work at grabbing the cane with her injured arm. She kept her eyes on as much as the opposition as she could as she tossed it towards Mr. Copycat. He was standing better than usual, meaning the area was rather vacant aside from their little "group".
"I'm not going back just to be fired," she stated, a level of... something, inherent in her voice. Fear seemed out of the question, although that was actually a large part of it. There was a heavy level of doubting there, as well. Almost as if she was questioning the decision as she made it.
If this degraded like she knew it would, she'd have to take her true form, injuries and all. Her clawed hands would be better to fight with than this form. Even if she had a bow on her, it'd be rather useless at this range.
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Post by Firebreath Fishslap on Sept 12, 2009 16:16:05 GMT -5
Mr. Copycat caught it with one hand, and held it for a few moments before pulling the cane apart to reveal a blade on the inside.
"I actually got this put in fairly recently," Mr. Copycat said. "It's fairly effective at cutting through doppelganger flesh, as it is."
Two doppelgangers lept at Mr. Copycat, who suddenly showed a ferocity he hadn't shown in a very, very long time, and sliced an arm off of Ms. Replica, causing her to back away. She wasn't bleeding, but it was clear she was in a lot of pain, by all the screaming she was giving.
"Ms. Tachi, if you weren't hurt too much to be unable to fight, please help!" Mr. Copycat called, dodging out of the way of an attack from Mr. Copy-and-Paste's claws.
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Post by mugenginga on Sept 12, 2009 16:22:30 GMT -5
I'd like to, you happy idiot, but showing my true form right now would put me at a disadvantage! I guess I'll make do with this...
Tachi suddenly took a rather aggressive stance and high kicked the nearest Doppelganger in the head with amazing flexibility. It wasn't actually a skill Momoko had possessed, but during the small amount of fieldwork she had done she had picked up some martial arts skills. And Momoko had been an honor student, meaning she was good in gym. It granted the body the ability to perfrom some of the movements.
However it was probably pretty clear by the way she was fighting she was avoiding using her right arm, even going so far as to put herself at a bit of a disadvantage to favor it. With the doppelgangers' abilities to pick out weaknesses, this wasn't the smartest course of action...
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Post by Firebreath Fishslap on Sept 12, 2009 16:33:50 GMT -5
Mr. Copycat slashed off Ms. Replica's head now, killing her for good. It was almost surreal, the happy idiot being splattered with blood, but at the moment, there were no canaries, weak or otherwise. He had to take this to his advantage.
Mr. Repetition was looking rather nervous. This was the Mr. Copycat from the Subjugation of Earth 986, not the happy, defective idiot. The Mr. Copycat from before his allergy became so severe.
Mr. Repetition was a smart "man." He knew better than to fight Mr. Copycat.
"Ignore Mr. Copycat-Zero!" Mr. Repetition ordered. "Go after Ms. Tachi-Zero!"
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Post by mugenginga on Sept 12, 2009 16:41:43 GMT -5
The mere fact that Mr. Copycat's expression frightened her a little was... well, frightening. She knew it, sure, but that was before this annoying nagging voice had developed in the back of her mind. What was to say he wouldn't turn on her next.
Then that became the least of her problems as the doppelgangers shifted their target. She tsked, realizing there was really no way around this. It left the only option being the death of those that pursued her. Kill or be killed. If they got back to Ms. Mirror-Zero with the data on her arm, it wouldn't bode well.
She shifted to full doppelganger form and used her left arm to impale the closest Doppelganger, a rather interesting feat considering their general construct. She turned her claws up as she twisted the arm out, leaving said attacked Doppelganger very dead. Of course, now her deformed arm was more than exposed. She didn't bother asking Copycat for help. He was in his old-fashioned "kill" mode, and the only thing talking to him would do now is make her a potential target.
She'd have to pursue any doppelgangers that fled...
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