Her mind was frozen. Locked in horrid fascination on the colorless version of herself, dripping flecks of floating dust in its wake. Watching the body that she was so familiar ( How could it not be? It was her own ) move with fluid grace from underneath the tree, an icy smile on its face.
It trailed its fingers along the leaves of a shrub, leaving a smear of gray behind, the clone never taking its eyes off of Disneya. She opened her mouth to say... Oh hell, she didn't know. Hello? Hows it going? Nice face ya got there? Something, anything, instead of just standing there like a dumbfounded rabbit stares at a snake. But before she could get anything out, the dopple's smile turned into a smirk, and it lunged.
Disneya squeaked, and just like her first ever experience with a senshi, the moth girl Lesath... She tripped. Her heel landing wrong on the rocks, sending her sprawling to the ground.
The clone paused, collected and silent, eyeing the senshi with what could only be considered a look of chilling hate. Her lunge had sent her swing right at what would have been disneya's face, her fingers curled and ridged.
Disneya gulped in a breath... Got to her feet.
AND RAN.
The doppleganger followed. Determined footsteps game the shade speed, but panic and horror gave disneya a pace that the gray duplicate just couldn't match, making it growl in frustration, a very unladylike sound.
Right... she had to do something, she had to... She had to attack! Attack herself! Still running, disneya collected thoughts and summoned a handful of what she could only describe as magic. The handful of sparkling ephemera with the intent to fling it at her clone, rending her mostly immobile. Only, she was running. And it was dust. The dust poofed out of her hand and hit herself, and disneya felt her feet lift off of the ground, her speed slowing.
" Oh god.. ' She said, tilting her head to look behind her, a look of fierce pleasure on the doppels face as it started to close int he distance between then " No.. I have to MOVE! " She said, her voice cracking in panic.
And to her utmost shock. She did. She started to zip forward, as if she were still running, floating higher and higher into the air. It had only been a second, but unburdened by gravel and park paths and high heels, she zipped ahead like a giant glittering firefly, hundreds of sparkles leaving a glowing trail behind her like something from a children's movie.
Posted: Fri Nov 08, 2013 12:19 pm
Tantalus had started to really despise those ******** shade clones. His own was dead, but not without a lot of damage to him - and he had bruising and scratches on his neck, marks on his back, and a barely healing concussion. But he was out and patrolling, because other people were still being dogged by these damn things, and if he could help someone else, then that would be that.
He saw the trail of sparkles before he realized who it belonged to - but who else could it be but the person who had gotten his scarf so glittery it had taken powering down to get the stuff out. (And he'd been surprised, even then.) He went running for the sparkle trail, eyes out for Disneya herself.
"Disneya!" If she was using her magic - and that had to be her magic - it must mean she was in trouble. And of course, he could never abandon a lady in distress.
Disneya was zipping as fast as she could, a hyperactive firefly trying to outdistance her monochrome double. And it was actually working, her shade had fallen behind so that when she started to zip across a fairly empty expanse of ground, the shade wasn't even yet visible.
And then she heard a voice, a familiar voice. " Tantalus?! Oh god, I dont know whats happening but YOU HAVE TO HELP! I JUST, I CANT, I DONT " She said, still zipping forward when he suddenly burst into view at a full run. He must have been following the glittering trail of sparkles.
She turned, arking her path to angle towards him, still moving at that fast pace, as faster then she could have been running.
Disneya then realized three things at once.
The first; She was losing altitude. She had been zooming along several feet off of the ground, and as she darted in the direction of the galant DMC senshi, her feet were nearing the ground.
The Second: Her doopleganger was catching up, now visible down the line of sight that was the sparkle trail, a gray flicker of image pelting towards them, now entering the open area they were currently in, a fierce and cold. And Murderous.
The Third: She... She didn't know how to stop.
All of this hit her brain simultaneously. She floated lower and lower, still speeding at him, the tips of her boots almost touching the ground, fewer and fewer sparkles floating from her until it was down to her normal amount.
Which also happened to be the exact moment when she collided with him, unable to curb her momentum. I JUST, I CANT, I DONT - BOOM
Die Fluegel der Freiheit
Posted: Tue Nov 12, 2013 9:54 pm
Tantalus's response was not to move out of the way, but instead to stop, and do his best to catch her, because someone needed to make sure she was alright. He caught a glimpse of the copy and no longer needed to ask what was going on, what she was running from, because he knew. He knew all too well.
At least Disneya was his level, which meant that he could send her evil twin running if that became necessary. So he stood still long enough to catch her as she fell.
Of course the end result was that although he did get his arms around the blonde Senshi, her momentum sent him tumbling over, but at least he hit the ground, not her.
"Are you alright?" He asked, releasing her. "That thing hasn't gotten to you yet, has it?"
He caught her, and they went down in a tangle of limbs and glitter, a sound that was half way between an oomph and a squeak escaping her upon impact. though the DMC did take the brunt of the impact. Because yes, handsome Menshi cushion was a lot more comforting then rocks, dirt, and anything else the poor lad landed on.
" I'm fine. No, it just grabbed at me, for my throat. And I tripped. But I ran, and, and, and... I don't even know what it is! " her voice cracked a little, the words coming out in a jumble, wide eyes a little shiny as if she were doing her damnedest not to cry. It was profoundly terrifying to be attacked by yourself. Like a nightmare, only she was quite certain she was indeed awake. It was probably horribly obvious to the other, that this particular senshi was not really a fighter at heart. At least not in the physical sense of the term.
And the thing was getting closer, pelting across the distance between them, at a terrifying rate, gray clumps of dust falling in its wake.
Posted: Tue Nov 12, 2013 10:24 pm
Tantalus stood up, putting himself between Disneya and her clone. He was no fighter either, but he could give them some time, at least. "These things do like to go for the neck, it seems," he mused aloud.
"Tease!" he said, summoning up the illusory apple and offering it to the clone, then throwing it far into the distance. Given the distraction, he turned back to her. "We have a little time, I think," he said, offering her a hand. "The short version is that they're some kind of clone of us. They want nothing more than to kill us, and they're very efficient at it." If Damocles hadn't rescued him from his own, he'd be dead. "That thing is your equal in every way, but there are two of us and one of it, and we can work together to take it down, alright?"
He had full confidence that this thing was going to die.
Parue
Tantalus's First Stage Attack
Sailor Tantalus holds out his hands and speaks the name of the attack, and an illusory apple forms in his hands. He offers it to one enemy, and then throws it. It will always roll away from Tantalus. Anyone who is a higher power level than Tantalus (so 2nd-4th stage if he's 1st, 3rd-4th if he's 2nd, 4th only if he's 3rd) can easily shrug it off, but those of his power level or lower find the compulsion to play fetch-the-apple almost...irresistible. They will never quite be able to actually catch the apple - if they get close, it will start rolling again. This compulsion lasts for twenty seconds, and Sailor Tantalus can use this attack twice per battle.
It was almost like one of those jokes about dog attention spans. Oh hey guys look-O A BALL. Only this time it was an apple, and a grayscale version of herself. In fact, the clone didnt even stopped running, just, slowly arked its pace, veering off to follow the apple, disappearing into the bushes for a moment.
If the thought of a duplicate of herself running around with the full intention of murdering her wasn't so all consuming, she would have found the sight hilarious.
Disneya turned to look at him with big blue eyes as the shade took off after the fruit " Well... that's not a comforting thought at all.. " her voice was quiet, a trembling whisper, but she didn't doubt his words one bit. " I'll try " She said, her voice a little firmer. In fact, Disneya had only ever been in one fight ever. And she wasn't even really sure it counted as a fight. It was basically the equivalent of two little girls smacking at each others forearms.
All she knew, is she was profoundly grateful that Tantalus had happened to find her. And then something occurred to her. " Oh god... we have to kill it dont we? " She was suddenly very very pale.
Die Fluegel der Freiheit
Posted: Tue Nov 12, 2013 10:52 pm
Tantalus let out a soft sigh of relief when that thing with Disneya's face turned and took off after his apple, so he had a little time to focuson comforting the original. He placed his hands on her cheeks.
"I know it sounds awful, but I've seen three go down." His own, Damocles's, and Natron's. "We'll have to kill it, yes, and it will be awful and messy, but remember, it's either it or you, and I certainly don't want it to be you." His voice was full of confidence, soothing, warm. He had to keep her as calm as possible, though he definitely remembered his own panic when his clone's hands were around his neck and Damocles was nowhere in sight.
He looked over at the direction the clone had gone, keeping an eye out for it. "That thing absolutely will not touch you if I have anything to say about it, alright?"
Her eyes were wide as she looked up at him, and she suddenly felt very young and under-prepared for the reality of being a senshi. Sure floating around and getting hit with teddy bears was one thing, but killing someone, well... something, was a different thing all together. The thought made her tremble, made her blood run cold.
She did though, take solace on the fact that he wasn't leaving her alone with a demented duplicate out to kill her. Her hands rose up, her fingers gripping slightly at his forearms, more for reassurance. She took a deep breath, and closed her eyes, as if steeling herself to the reality of the situation.
With a nod she opened her eyes, still pale and ashen " Ok. I know your supposed to be an enemy or something, but I believe you. And I trust you. " She gave him a small smile. And it was true. Aside from a conflicting powered aura, everything about him screamed good guy to her. So she was going to follow her feelings about this. " So... let's go get me. "
" .... exactly how do we do that? " She said, blinking, a small bit of color returning to her cheeks. Should she like... go grab a log or something. Dear god the news was right, she was a terrorist. She was seriously wracking her brain trying to figure out how to kill another living being. The fact that this living thing was a doppleganger who had stolen her face was another issue all together.
Was it still murder if you were killing a pod person?
And at that moment, the shade version of disneya poped out of the bushes. Seeing and rumpled, she glared at the two, a sound very akin to a snarl leaving her mouth, sticks protruding from her hair as if she had been crawling around the the shrubs looking for the apple.
Die Fluegel der Freiheit
Posted: Tue Nov 12, 2013 11:31 pm
Tantalus took a moment to pull her into a proper hug. "I know it's frightening," he said, "and if e had any other option, would be helping you find it, because I hate this. Violence, killing." He took a breath and released her, turning to glare back at the shade. He hated these damn things, after what his had tried to do. He could still feel its hands around is neck, and he'd woken up screaming and wishing more than anything that Lance was with him more than once.
Perhaps he ought to talk t his boyfriend about moving in together, though maybe a month in was a little soon for that.
"We kill it the same way we'd kill a person," Tantalus said. "Equal in every way, as I said, so anything that would kill a human will kill it." That was an awful thought, all things considered. "It isn't human, though," he said, as he turned completely to focus on the shade, "there's nothing in there but the desire to kill."
Disneya tucked herself into that hug, absorbing every drop of comfort it offered. She rested her head against his shoulder for a moment before she turned to look at the shade, stepping out of the warmth of Tantalus's hug with a sigh. The thing practically radiated waves of murderous intent " Yeah.. I kind got that... " Disneya gulped nervously.
The shade tilted its head, pale gray eyes flicking from from one senshi to the other. It smiled, almost as if charmed " Pretty pretty.. " The thing said, its tone was cold though. And then it was running at them with a speed that was startling. It was on them in a heart-beat.
The senshi gasped, and did the only thing she could think of. Something she had never done in real life because it was just so... common... to get in school-yard fights. She grabbed a handful of the shades hair as it lunged at her, wrenching its head to the side in an awkward movement.
Tantalus may have offered to protect her, but she wasn't blind. Her charming and gallant friend was bruised and scratched, and she certainly didn't want that thing clawing at him if it could be helped. Then again its focus DID seem to be on her, not him.
Die Fluegel der Freiheit
Posted: Tue Nov 12, 2013 11:57 pm
Tantalus shifted to drive his elbow into the shade's but, a move he'd learned from watching Damocles. He was beginning to believe he'd need to train far more in order to be anything approaching a competent fighter, but that could e taken care of later, when he didn't have someone to protect.
He swept his leg out in an attempt to take the shade off her feet and give them even more f an advantage. If he got it onto the ground, his weight would be enough to crush its windpipe under his boot - he hoped.
The Shade had given an animal like screech when Disneya pulled its hair, its dull gray iron like tiara sitting lopsided on its head, and grabbed the senshi's own hair in its hand. And then suddenly it was pitching backwards, its hair fisted into the blonde' senshi's locks, it dragged her down with it.
It was like a cat fight, hair being pulled, very unflattering high pitched noises piercing the air. Then suddenly with a sound of disgust, the shade let go of Disneya' hair, a wicked glint in its eye.
Held a hand in front of itself, laying flat on its back, disneya having fallen forward, wrenched by its hair. " PIXY DUST! PIXY DUST! " it sounded in rapid succession. One hand it simply pushed forward, contacting hard with disneya's chest, covering her brooch. So hard in fact, that she could have sworn she felt something crack. It was like when she had been bucked off a horse when she was younger, only the whole force of it was in one spot.
The other hand, she flung out simultaneously at the senshi, flinging a handful of dust at his legs.
" Oh... oh no " Disneya said, suddenly starting to float upwards again.
Die Fluegel der Freiheit
Posted: Wed Nov 13, 2013 12:14 am
Tantalus was not prepared to find his feet suddenly lifting off the ground. "Oh, you must be joking," he said, though he wasnt sure to whom. Possibly the universe, because this seemed like some sort of cosmic joke.
Except then, a thought hit him. "Disneya! How much control do you have like this? Do you think we could carry it up high, and then drop it?" A fall from a sufficient height would be a death sentence for anyone, and that was his best idea so far for how to kill it besides "crush it's windpipe." Quicker and more reliable, too.
" I - I don't really know, I mean I crashed into you - " and then suddenly the shade was grabbing at her neck again, scratching at her face, and doing her best to not get choked again. She grabbed at the shade-senshi and tried to fly upwards, holding the shade by the wrists as the thing shrieked in rage and tried to strike at her, even going so far as to snap its teeth.
" I need your help! ' She gasped, she had tried to fly straibght up, and had gotten to were the shade's feet were off of the ground, but she seemed able to go no higher. She made her decision and let go of one of the shade's hands, casing the thing to claw at her, ripping one of her gloves apart at the seems with its finger nails. " Grab a hold of her, and to me! '
She was hoping that her directing the two of them would be enough force to fly, as it was right now, she could seem to go no higher, carrying literally twice the weight.
Reply
