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 Posted: Fri Oct 18, 2013 6:47 pm
Pomona was out patrolling alone, as was normally the case, despite the fact that she always advised others against going solo. Halloween was coming up, and contrary to looking forward to it, Pomona was becoming increasingly restless and worried. Something always happened at Halloween, and it was almost always bad. She’d taken to patrolling even more frequently, spending a lot of time powered up.
Now Pomona was crossing a parking lot of a closed shopping center, only half paying attention to her surroundings as she frowned at the eclipse. The eclipse should’ve been over, they weren’t supposed to linger like that, what-
“ Ouch!”
Rather abruptly Pomona found herself on her feathered butt, wondering what the heck had happened. Squinting up, she found herself staring at… herself.
What. The. Hell.
She opened he mouth to ask what was going on, but recognizing her doppleganger’s stance, she squawked and scrambled to her feet, barely avoiding a kick to her head.
“ What the f-” she ducked to avoid a punch, “ What is going on?!”
Her clone summoned a large pepper, which Pomon arched an eyebrow at.
“ That doesn’t work on me. Us. Whatever. What are you doing?”
Soon a bemused Pomona found herself standing in a cloud of pepper gas. It didn’t have any affect on her, but the hand that reached through the smoke and yanked her out by her hair? Yeah, that hurt. Pomona found herself kicking and clawing her attacker by instinct, trying to get away.
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Posted: Fri Oct 18, 2013 7:13 pm
Certainly Ülane had heard all sorts of scary stories about the night, and about all sorts of 'powered' beings that either saved you at night, or wanted your soul, but that could never deter him from his route back from the school to his home. This pathway was dark, yes, but the silence away from larger roads nearby was quite peaceful, and the only thing that kept him from his home now was a quick jog across a parking of an empty shopping center. His own family's little craft shop was located not too far from here as well. If it weren't for the fact that he had to stay late at the University due to midterms, Ülane would have been home and cozy already. Nope, not tonight. But he didn't mind, after all, he'd only be doing this for so much longer. Once Spring came, He'd finally be a full teacher, and could start living in his own place down the street from the school. For now, it was long walks in the dark.
Something seemed off tonight though.. A burning scent.. Of Peppers? Ülane could not help himself but follow the faint scent that dispersed in the night air. It didn't take long for him to find the origin.. And to him, it seemed like two girls.. Twins were fighting, grappling with one another, pulling hair, kicking, clawing, just a general cat fight. The man couldn't allow this continue! Not in a public place! Not so indecently!
"You two, stop it!" He called out to them, scolding them as if he were a teacher breaking up a fight on a playground. Except this wasn't the playground, and these weren't elementary students, but full grown adults. That being the case, the man reached out, grabbing one of the girl's hands, prying it away from the other in a painful pull, forcing the thumb backwards enough that her grip should have come loose.
"What the heck do you two doing, fighting in public! Certainly such a spat could have waited until you two were home!"
Holy Blasphemy You can decide on which one he grabbed!
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Posted: Fri Oct 18, 2013 8:11 pm
Pomona – the good one, not the crazy one – winced as she pried away from her psycho duplicate. She was rapidly getting sick of the manhandling, and glanced at the crazy civilian that was holding her thumb hostage.
“ She’s evil and I need my thumb back.”
Not the clearest description, but she didn’t get time to expand, because she spied her clone sliding its foot back and inhaling, and with her free hand Pomona grabbed the civilian’s shirt and tried to pull him aside with her.
“ Fire coming, move!”
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Posted: Fri Oct 18, 2013 8:49 pm
"Evil..?" This sounded like a bad movie.. A very very bad movie. Seriously, when was the last time an 'evil twin' plot was even made into a film? He wouldn't be surprised if there was some sort of film crew hiding around here, hidden out of sight! How crazy would that be? He did, infact, let the girl's hand go, especially since she was atleast talking to him. The other didn't say a word, but.. Wait.. Wait wait wait, what was she doing with her mouth..? Was that FIRE?!
Ülane barely had time to move before the fire blast came at him! It was hot.. So very very hot! He thought he had moved out of the way fast enough! And yet this heat would not go away.. The scent of burning hair, unmistakable for anything else. He immediately dropped to the ground, rolling around like a mad man trying to smother the fire that was consuming his long, blonde hair. Dammit! The ONE time he actually tried to help a person out, and this goes and happens!!
Soon enough, his hair was out, and he scrambled back to his feet, thankful for the fact that the fire didn't reach his scalp. He couldn't fight fire, but he COULD pin the other girl down.. Atleast he could try to if she didn't attempt to set him on fire again. His stance slipped down into one more suited for quick attacks, and his bag of supplies was tossed off to the side, splattered about from when he put himself out.
"Okay, okay, I believe you, she's evil! You two must be one of those.. Powered people things.. But evil TWIN? What exactly is going on here?!"
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Posted: Fri Oct 18, 2013 9:34 pm
The civilian was on fire, and Pomona did not approve of this turn of events, but she also couldn’t help him at that second because she knew how her attack worked and knew she needed to take advantage of the opening it provided. She flung herself at evil-red-and-silent, tackling her to the grown and punching her freckled face.
“ The twin thing is new, but I’d guess Chaos is responsible. They usually are.”
Evil!Pomona took a moment’s distraction to bash her head into Pomona’s face, making Pomona clutch her nose. From the pain and the coppery taste in her mouth, she suspected her nose was broken. She tried to crawl away, but psycho grabbed her ankle, and she was forced to kick her.
“ Dis sucks. Rather fight youma.” She complained through her broken nose as she tried to get away.
‘ Youma don’t fight so well. How can she fight better than me if she is me?!’
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Posted: Fri Oct 18, 2013 9:44 pm
"Chaos.. Right." Watching as she flung herself at her double, and he couldn't help but slip out of his stance, looking bewildered at her.
"Haven't you seen any of those movies?! You DON'T do what you normally do, because your other self KNOWS what you're going to do! Do something unpredictable!" How could she be so casual about this?! It didn't make sense at all, but she was bleeding and caught in the other's grip.
Finding this an opportunity to aid her, Ülane rand up to the double, bringing his heel down hard on the double's elbow in a downwards ax kick, trying to make her release the supposed good version.
"Water beats fire, right?! Lead her over to the pond nearby and take her out!"
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Posted: Fri Oct 18, 2013 10:10 pm
“ Water beats- not that easy.”
His logic actually wasn’t bad, and he was a civilian, so Pomona didn’t want to insult him. Especially since he was helping her. His attack let her wiggle free again, but had the unfortunate side effect of attracting the clone’s ire, sick of the interruptions. Pomona turned in time to see an unnaturally large, orange pepper being lobbed at Ülane.
“ Watch out! Close your eyes!”
One fire breath, two peppers… the evil twin should be out of attack power, or just about. Pomona reached out and grabbed the other’s butt wings, throwing her as far as she could. It wasn’t exactly impressive, but it was further than a normal girl her size could manage.
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Posted: Fri Oct 18, 2013 10:37 pm
"Hey, hey, I don't know how any of this works!" He didn't know how this entire oddity worked! Maybe it was like Pokemon, water beats fire, fire beats grass or what not.
There was no time to actually respond to what the girl was telling him, not before the weird, glowing shaped thing was thrown at him, gassing the air around him.
"Kurat võtaks!" He cursed loudly, grasping at his eyes, choking on the fumes that filled his nostrils.
"What the hell did she just do!?" Ülane cried out to the girl who was supposedly good. Time seemed to slow down as he suffered through the pain. If he had only kept walking, he could have been home.. Enjoying a sandwich, and getting ready to take a shower..
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Posted: Sat Oct 19, 2013 7:17 pm
Between the attempts to kill her and the lack of concern for civilian lives, Pomona was well and truly fed up with the evil twin problem. As the darker duplicate fought to regain her balance after being thrown, Pomona bit out a hurried “PomonaFireBreath” and spewed fire and the copycat. Scoring a direct hit, the copycat shrieked before evaporating, presumably going back to wherever it came from.
Threat gone, Pomona trotted to Ülane's side and lightly touched his elbow.
“ It’s pepper spray. Er, gas. The effects shouldn’t last too long, but I’ll lead you to the pond if you want.”
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Posted: Sat Oct 19, 2013 7:30 pm
"Yes.. Yes, the pond would be spectacular.." There was no way in hell he was going to lead this... This powered woman back to his home, even if he lived only meters away.. IF she knew where he lived.. how'd he know she wouldn't come back to kill him. Or whatever it was these people did. Regardless.. He had to get this crap out of his eyes.
"She's gone now..? Oh gods, what did you do to her?"
Holy Blasphemy I'll be back to quick replyin' around 1:00 EST. I'm on a supernatural marathon! biggrin
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Posted: Sat Oct 19, 2013 9:43 pm
Pomona kept a light touch on his elbow as she steered him towards the pond. When they got there, she set to ripping two pieces of fabric off of her elaborate skirt, and offered one to Ülane.
“ The copycat thingy tried to roast us earlier, so I returned the favor. It’s gone now, and hopefully it won’t be coming back.”
Pomona dipped a hand in the water and carefully cleared the blood from around her nose and mouth. Then she held the spare piece of fabric she’d kept to her nose to try to stop the trickle of blood.
“ You fight pretty well for a civilian. Most run, or just throw rocks and bottles and stuff.” She paused, then looked had the grace to look sheepish. “ Actually, I still do that from time to time.”
It was interesting though. She assumed he took some sort of martial arts or self-defense class, but even then, not everyone that knew how to fight in theory could actually do so in practice. It was a commendable trait, especially in this city.
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Posted: Sat Oct 19, 2013 10:08 pm
As the touch on his elbow was gentle and abrasive, Ülane decided there would be no harm in following this girl. And it was wise to do so, for when he was at the water, he knelt down, cupping his hands to splash some against his hot, burning cheeks, the relief he felt was simply outstanding. The kind girl also offered him a rag, from where, he didn't know, but it certainly came in useful.
"That was insane.." He spoke softly, opening his eyes for the first time since the gas hit him. Having finally earned a moment to breath, he looked at the girl fully, giving her a smile for the compliment.
"Thanks, I guess.. I learned judo, I've been doing it since I was twelve.. But you, you just run? So there are times when you leave crazies like that out and about? That doesn't seem like a very.. I dunno, hero-like thing to do. Are you supposed to be a hero or something?"
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Posted: Sat Oct 19, 2013 10:56 pm
“ Mmm, there’s no easy answer to that.” Pomona’s hummed and considered the question.
“ I’m a high rank. That’s what these wings mean.” She waved at her butt wings. “ But I wasn’t always this rank. At my lower ranks, I had weaker attacks and less experience. And I didn’t exactly volunteer for this, I was just born with the potential. Someone woke my potential, but for awhile I was little better than a school girl trying to combat magical monsters with a can of pepper spray.”
“ Our main enemies are magical too. They don’t cast magic, but they have weapons, and they’re stronger, faster; not a fair fist fight. And their high rank fighters, they have the ability to... brainwash you, basically. Make fight for them. If I encountered them I could stay and get killed or worse, or I could run. So I’d run.” She shrugged. “ I don’t run as much now. I can hold my ground easier. But for all the things they’ve done, they’re human, and misguided, so…”
Pomona’s rambling explanation trailed off as she allowed the poor guy some time to try to chew through all the information she’d just thrown at him. It was pretty confusing, and she probably could have explained it better, but in the back of her mind she was still puzzling through the attack of her shadow copy and what it might mean.
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Posted: Sat Oct 19, 2013 11:04 pm
"They seem rather useless to me.. What good are wings if you can't fly? Can you maybe swim, like a penguin? Then again, you are fire based, so I suppose that wouldn't be all that effective now either, would it?" Part of him wanted to reach out, to tug on the wings to see if they were real or not, but something told him it wouldn't be that good of an idea.. Especially if this girl could go ahead and breath fire and throw smoke bombs like her twin.
"And there are ranks.. Okay, that makes sense.. But how do you determine who your leader is? Is there like.. A council or something you work for? Or maybe a president or something? How are you even organized And you have magical enemies with no magic, but weapons.. And you run because they can mind control you..? Not to be rude or anything, but.. Then how can you defeat an enemy like that? And If you run.. What about the people you're trying to protect? And I don't think that still quite explains the crazy clone girl of yours.. Is it perhaps more magic? Like a doppleganger sort of thing? Or maybe a monster like a Ditto. You know, from pokemon?"
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Posted: Sat Oct 19, 2013 11:30 pm
“ The wings are useless. Just decorations, and annoying ones at that. The magic chooses our outfits for us. Trust me, if I had any say in it, I wouldn’t be fighting evil while dressed like a contestant from ‘So You Think You Can Dance’.”
As harsh as Pomona’s words were, they were said with a resigned, vaguely fond exasperation. It was an age-old complaint, and yes, the outfit was entirely impractical, but as much as she hated fighting in it, she’d grown to like the outfit the rest of the time.
“ We have a handful of fighters that are stronger than the rest of us, and there are some small teams that have appointed their own leaders, but there’s not really any one person or group we report to. The number of enemies capable of brainwashing us are small – I didn’t know that at first – but the ones that can’t brainwash us can still kill us; we’re magical, not immortal. To defeat them… I don’t know. This is a very old war, and sometimes it feels like we’re lucky just to maintain the status quo.”
That was depressing, and Pomona didn’t want to appear depressed in front of civilian. What sort of message would that send? Thankfully he brought up another subject, one that finally grabbed her full attention.
“ That, that is a very interesting question. I don’t know. I’ve never encountered them before. They are almost certainly magic, but I don’t know where they came from. Considering the bloodthirsty-ness I’d want to say the Negaverse – our main enemies – sent them. But the timing with this eclipse makes me wonder if it’s not something else.”
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