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 Posted: Wed Nov 25, 2020 7:20 am
On the outside, Destiny City looked like the typical metropolis--big city, big tourism, big opportunities. Crime was swept under the rug, and every anomaly was explained in some way--so well and so quickly that it seemed like the city was prepared for them.
On the inside, Destiny City was a disaster, and there was a war brewing here that had managed to avoid the eyes of the rest of the world. There were monsters, and villains, and magic.
And people walking out of mirrors.
Discretely hidden, the mirror was covered in shadow and tilted in such a way that it only caught the shadows around it. To anyone not paying close attention, it might have looked like any ordinary panel--until the Dark Mirror Senshi stepped out of it. Arnica bore the rank of a super and seemed like he'd really gotten the hang of this mirrorwalking--when someone wasn't standing right in front of the mirror.
"Hey," he said instinctively; he couldn't just step back into the mirror mid walk without worrying about getting thrown in some weird, dark recess of Mirrorspace--he'd been warned to be careful and if his focus wasn't completely in the Mirrorwalk, he didn't even want to try.
He twisted his body so he could just barely avoid walking right into the Captain, but it involved an awkward move and a little hop to try and balance himself. "--Careful, don't stand so close to mirrors like that or someone's going to run you over, man."
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Posted: Wed Nov 25, 2020 7:29 am
“What the ********??” He didn’t think anyone could have blamed him for that reaction, There shouldn’t have been any way someone could have come from where the man did… and yet. “What sort of Through the Looking glass bullshit?!” He sputtered, glancing back and forth between the Mirror, that he’d thought casually was at best a sheet of glass. He had…no real idea what he was looking at. Not the white and crawling discomfort of the people who were so often trying to kill him, shoot him with magical arrows, or declaring him a jerk. But not the same ‘feeling’ as another office. “Did you, just… come through a MIRROR?” He blinked trying to wrap his head around that. Just how long had this fight been going on? Alice in Wonderland wasn’t a new book. He probably shouldn’t have been surprised, he’d talked to a cat, but really…
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Posted: Wed Nov 25, 2020 7:57 am
Arnica glanced from the Captain, to the mirror, and then back to the Captain again. "Um. Yeah. Dark Mirror Senshi. Sort of comes with the territory..."
He raised a brow. "--Wait, you're a Captain and you haven't...you don't..."
His head cocked to the side inquisitively, obviously surprised.
"Have you seriously not met a Dark Mirror Senshi before? What are they teaching you in the Negaverse?"
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Posted: Wed Nov 25, 2020 11:25 am
“Uh… don’t get strangled mostly, that's why they promoted me.” He shrugged. “Haven’t been doing this THAT long.” He glanced the man over again. “Dark Mirror? Odd, do you need them to be, like actually dark? Is that why this is here?” He pointed at the mirror legitimacy curious. Momentarily distracted from his other questions. Namely about anyone who might have thrown Priam off a roof. Maybe… if people were strange enough that they could step out of looking glasses - and it was all he could do not to say ‘curiouser and curiouser’, they might have seen or heard something. It was also not helping that most of the costume details on the man reminded him of the talking flowers in the garden from Alice in Wonderland.
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Posted: Wed Nov 25, 2020 12:56 pm
Arnica blinked, obviously not having expected that sort of response. "No. To be honest, I don't know where the 'Dark' comes from, just the 'mirror' bit. There's a whole world in there," he gestured to the mirrors. "I've been doing this for a while but still feel like I've got a lot to learn, myself. So I guess I can't be too hard."
He held out a hand.
"I'm Arnica. Sorry for jumping out. Didn't know you were there. The mirror only works if I can imagine where it is, but doesn't really do much to tell me if someone's out there already."
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Posted: Wed Nov 25, 2020 1:56 pm
“Huh…” He said, sounding bemused. “Bit…. through the looking glass? Only its Arnica through the Looking glass.” He chuckled softly. “I’m uh…” He sighed, clearly less than thrilled with what came next. “…Parisite.” He cleared his throat. “Not my idea.” He added. “Hey… You don’t happen to know if anyone was near the Hospital the other day, the big one where the accident happened? Some jackass apparently tossed a civ off a roof, and did it with my uh… name.” He made a face. “So I’m kinda taking that personally. I want to find them and have a few words.”
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Posted: Wed Nov 25, 2020 2:32 pm
Parisite? A weird name, but probably not the worst he'd ever heard.
He seemed a little amused given their introductions, but his smile faded when he mentioned the Hospital.
"...Oh," he said shortly, obviously surprised by this. Parisite seemed to be full of them, it seemed.
"To be honest, no. I did hear that someone jumped off of the roof the other day? But that's just the rumor mill, I couldn't dig up any extra information about it. Didn't really even seem worth digging for information about. Hospital was pretty tight lipped about all of it."
He paused and then explained, "I do journalism. Mostly like the weird stories in Destiny City. Hospital Suicide jumpers are sort of a weird thing, but." He shook his head. "I didn't hear about someone tossing anyone. I hadn't asked around too much," he admitted, "But your version of the story sounds a little more interesting. How'd you hear he was using your name?"
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Posted: Wed Nov 25, 2020 3:31 pm
He bristled despite himself at the idea people were saying Priam jumped. “I met the civ, in a round about way.” He said to try and keep Priam safe. “I was there at the hospital out of uniform, and overheard... I got enough of a headache from some of of the jackasses out there, I don’t need to be blamed for hurling civilians of roof tops by anyone. I’m pretty sure they’re calling it a jump because who the he’ll believes that costumed nutters like us are legit.”
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Posted: Wed Nov 25, 2020 3:45 pm
"True," Arnica agreed, stroking his chin contemplatively. "I didn't, before I got dragged into all of this. And I was researching it." He shrugged. "I think most people aren't equipped to deal with information like this. And the ones that are, well. Guaranteed that they'll wind up sent to some institution or and branded a lunatic."
He exhaled.
"Makes sense why it would have been kept hush-hush. I hadn't heard that he survived, though. Did you find anything else out about whoever threw him off the roof? --Or why?"
He tried not to sound excited at the thought of a mystery, but it was difficult to hide his natural curiosity.
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Posted: Wed Nov 25, 2020 4:00 pm
“Not yet, but I’d sure like to know that and who’s using my name. I haven’t even used it that much because it’s kinda weird.” He waved a hand. “If you get any clues, I’d appreciate it- I’ll give you whatever I learn too?” “Extra tip too... I don’t have his name but if you see anyone wearing a top hat in sort of an orangish uniform, find a damn mirror. Creeper tried to wring my neck.”
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Posted: Wed Nov 25, 2020 4:10 pm
Arnica nodded. "I appreciate the heads up. I'll watch my back. Do you have a phone number or something I can reach you at? PO Box? I'm pretty good at digging, but it won't do me any good if I can't get back to you."
There was always a little bit of weirdness when it came to trying to keep in touch; he wasn't sure he should be giving out personal information to people he'd just met, but the idea of a mystery...
He couldn't help himself.
"--If you haven't used your name," he said after a moment, "I haven't heard of a way for people to just know it. A cat knew my name. But I'm a Senshi. Someone had to give you yours, by choice, yeah? Did you know the civilian or--was it a threat or something? A warning?"
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Posted: Wed Nov 25, 2020 4:16 pm
“I’ve got a burner phone from a box store...” he admitted after a moment. “Not cause of anything special I just didn’t want a dumb contract.” He added hastily before offering the number. The questions though, those put him back on his heels. “.... just one person knew me at the time, I think.” He said carefully. Wouldn’t have been them on the roof unless she can drop her voice a lot.” Still, he frowned taking in the thought. “No one should... know me.” He said before he could catch himself.
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Posted: Wed Nov 25, 2020 4:31 pm
Arnica took the number quickly, scribbling it down on a card he pulled from his subspace--but he handed a card over to Parisite too. It had no name, only a phone number and an email address. "I've got a burner too," he shrugged. "...Sometimes when you're investigating someone or something, you don't want anyone to be able to track you down."
He looked at the phone number Parisite had given him thoughtfully, trying to suppose if there was some simple possibility they were missing.
"...You sure they weren't saying 'Parasite'? It's a weird name to give, but...Would make sense if it was some White Moon Senshi or Knight trying to impersonate the Negaverse. Make enough ripples and someone's bound to investigate. Drag an agent through the mud, that's a good way to get your name on the chopping block."
Still, there were a lot of holes in the idea.
"--The civilian. Is there some way to find out if he's involved in anything? If it was a random attack, this could all just be random chance. I mean, it's interesting that someone would use your name and give it to someone you could reach, someone you could talk to, but--I'm surprised that civilian didn't die in the fall. Or take brain damage enough to knock the thoughts right out of his head. Hard to tell a motive there when you've got more of a risk of killing someone than them living long enough to leave a message, you know?"
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Posted: Wed Nov 25, 2020 4:39 pm
“I’m not... positive he was meant to survive.” He said after a moment. “More that the gave the name in case he did. It could be a coincidence... but.” He shook his head “It feels off. It’s maybe me being paranoid but, it feels off.” “I’m... familiar enough with the man it feels more personal, but regardless, I want to find the ********. “ he signed and shrugged. “He threw him far enough to hit a car, I’m not sure it was on purpose but I think that’s the only reason he made it.”
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Posted: Wed Nov 25, 2020 5:00 pm
"Far enough to hit a car?" Arnica repeated. "...I mean, I'd have to go do some math and dig around a little more, but...I don't know how far he could drift on his own in a fall like that. If someone threw him out far enough for a parking spot...that's a lot of strength. That makes sense, that it would be someone powered up. Are there cameras up there on the roof? Any way to sneak in and see if you could get access to the tapes if there are?"
It was a reach; he wasn't completely sure.
"If not the hospital, other buildings in the area might have something. Have you checked that out?"
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