46th PSI

[a_gentle_boy]

[voice]
Oh, everyone...!  It looks like something strange is happening, after all.  I don't want to say I told you so, but... well, I did tell you so.  Be careful if you're going outside, alright?  Until we sort out what's happening, it'd probably be for the best if everyone kept to themselves.  After all... Wouldn't it be just like the town to trick us into hurting each other again?

[Lucas laughs, less nervous than such a laugh ought to be.  It's slightly unnerving.]

If, you know, the doubles are really the real people just acting different because the town has brainwashed them... Then, if we don't stop to think... Well, I don't want to think what might happen.  Nobody wants to hurt their friends, right?  We can't just believe the people in the pods because they're more... accurate.  It would be just like the the town to pull something so awful!

Anyway, if you're hurt at all, please call me!  I'll be right there to heal you.  That's what I do best...  Please, don't hesitate!

[action]
[And Lucas can be found in his garden, tending to his plants with a smile on his face.  ...He's ripping them out.  It was fall, after all.  They were dying.]

[action 2, first for Rainbow Dash, but open afterwards for anyone]
[Naturally, in the middle of his dead garden sits a small pod about the size of a child or a young teenager.]

[action 3]
PK Flash!

PSI Counter Alpha!

[The explosive green light reflects against the shimmering shield, bouncing back with enough speed to catch nearly anyone off-guard; Lucas, though, is intimately familiar with his own battling techniques.  A flick of his stick and the green light harmlessly diffuses into flashing sparks.]

You won't get away with this!

That's what I ought to say!  I'm the real one!

Liar!  You're nothing like me!

Because you're a fake!  You attacked first!

You ran at me with your stick!  Now stop pretending! 

[The two psychic boys continue to duke it out in the front yard.  Lucas doesn't fight too often, but it becomes clear from this battle that he is much more well-practiced than might have been expected.  PSI after PSI is flung back and forth and met with counter or shield; swings to the head are dodged easily; flying leaps result in evenly matched stand-offs as the boys bounce against each other again and again.  At one point, one of the Lucases backflips, collecting a massive amount of PSI power in his foot.  The drive downwards is met with an equally powerful blast of PSI upwards from the defending Lucas; the resulting explosion sends both of them flying.  ...This seems to be a signal for a brief respite.  One of the Lucases certainly could use some help.  His doppelganger was every bit his equal.]

Comments

[gezellighe.livejournal.com]

Then I'll know you're in a safe place.

[a-gentle-boy.livejournal.com]

[gezellighe.livejournal.com]

[He didn't want to do this, but he'll take the handgun from where he stayed at the small of his back, holding it up.]

He won't.

[a-gentle-boy.livejournal.com]

...umyesidontthinkiwill

[gezellighe.livejournal.com]

I'm never careless.

[No, he's too fastidious for that. He tugs the real Lucas along, just a little roughly.]

[a-gentle-boy.livejournal.com]

[And the clone will smile pleasantly as they exit.]

[gezellighe.livejournal.com]

[He'll tug Lucas along with him, not rough anymore. He doesn't say a word until the diner is out of sight.

And then he'll sigh, sitting heavily on a sidewalk bench, tired.]

[a-gentle-boy.livejournal.com]

...
...
...

Mr. Netherlands... I have to go back and subdue him. I can't let another me go running around all over town...

[gezellighe.livejournal.com]

You don't have a way to defeat him, do you?

I just want to keep you away from him.

[a-gentle-boy.livejournal.com]

But we can't just leave him...

[gezellighe.livejournal.com]

We can, and we should.

[No buts about it.]

[a-gentle-boy.livejournal.com]

...This is my evil clone, Mr. Netherlands. Isn't it my responsibility to make sure he doesn't hurt anyone?

[gezellighe.livejournal.com]

[No, it's your responsibility to stay with him and not do anything dangerous, Lucas.]

You can't let him hurt you, Lucas.

[a-gentle-boy.livejournal.com]

I'll be fine. The only way he's going to get through my shields is if he steals a gun from somewhere.

[...slightly awkward pause]

I mean, um.

Not that we should shoot him.

[gezellighe.livejournal.com]

. . . .

[And Netherlands is handing Lucas his handgun.]

[a-gentle-boy.livejournal.com]

I-I'm not going to shoot him, Mr. Netherlands.

[Lucas will gingerly push it back.]

I just need to... stop him. Incapacitate? Is that the right word?

[gezellighe.livejournal.com]

[What, Lucas. Why not. . .]

Do you have a plan? Some way that you think you can do that?

[a-gentle-boy.livejournal.com]

I can't just shoot him. It's not...

[Such an act of violence went against everything he had fought for. He had killed before, yes, but only out of necessity - his life or the enemy's. Worse, to take a life with future technology, of all things...]

...Well, I think I do. I'm going to need your help, though.

[gezellighe.livejournal.com]

You know that I'll do whatever it takes.

[He's keeping his gun out, though.]

[a-gentle-boy.livejournal.com]

OK.

...All you have to do is distract him for a few moments. Face him away from the door somehow and make sure he doesn't turn around, alright?

[gezellighe.livejournal.com]

I can do that. . .

[He checks the gun just a bit pointedly.]

Just . . . I won't let him do anything. It's not a person, I don't know what it is, but it's not you in any way.

[a-gentle-boy.livejournal.com]

...He's enough of a person that I'm not going to take that chance. I promise I'll have everything under control.

[gezellighe.livejournal.com]

[After a long look, he'll relent. It isn't as though he didn't learn anything from living with Belgium for ages; Lucas could make his own decisions and he, Holland, could make sure Lucas succeeded.]

It's your call.

[He'll stand up and give Lucas an awkward pat. He never did master those displays of affection.]

[a-gentle-boy.livejournal.com]

Thanks.

[And Lucas gives the Netherlands a hug in return.]

OK. ...You can go back in whenever you're ready.

[gezellighe.livejournal.com]

[He'll look sideways at Lucas as he gets up, starting the walk back to the diner. Once they get close, he'll check his weapon and head to the front entrance.]

You'll be fine.

[It's more to comfort himself than Lucas.]