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

[a-gentle-boy.livejournal.com]

[After Rainbow Dash had freed him, Lucas had lacked the foresight to realize that the goop could help identify him. It was only after taking a shower and changing clothes that he'd run into his doppelganger who had... attacked him on sight.

Oh, well.

The Netherlands will be treated to the sight of both boys panting in some exhaustion as they level flickering orbs of light at each other.]

If you stop now... I promise I won't hurt you!



Aaaaugh! This is so frustrating!

[gezellighe.livejournal.com]

[There just wasn't any way to tell which was real right now. . . All he can do is watch.]

[a-gentle-boy.livejournal.com]

[If the Netherlands watches closely enough, he'll see that one has a tiny badge clipped to the front of his shirt. Whether or not he's noticed it before will depend on if he paid some attention to what Lucas was wearing. This is the Franklin Badge, the only one of its kind in the world, and Lucas never took it off, pinning it even to his pajamas.

Sadly, it was usually hidden underneath something else so maybe it wasn't a very good sign.

While the Netherlands is watching, one of the Lucases rushes at the other with a stick.]



Shield Omega!

[They're locked once again, the attacking one putting all his weight against the shield thrown up by the defending one.]

[gezellighe.livejournal.com]

[Eventually, he rationalizes that if he does die, at least he'll either be home or come back after all this nonsense is over. So he'll stand on the sidewalk, hammer raised as if he's just not sure what to do with it.]

Lucas!

[a-gentle-boy.livejournal.com]

[They break away.]

Mr. Netherlands!



We're perfectly matched. I don't want to fight, but...!

[gezellighe.livejournal.com]

This-

[He'll just roll his eyes.]

This is stupid.

[The hand holding the hammer drops to his side.]

I'm going to the diner so you should both come.

[Boss boss.]

[a-gentle-boy.livejournal.com]

What?



H-He does! He... cares about both of us...?

[gezellighe.livejournal.com]

I said you should both come.

[He'll wait.]

[a-gentle-boy.livejournal.com]

.....

Okay. I'll trust you.



...He will.

[gezellighe.livejournal.com]

[Even though one of the Lucas . . es seemed dissatisfied, he still can't be too careful. Taking the real Lucas out with the hammer would be a pretty bad mistake.]

There's plenty of time to decide.

[He'll hold out his hand.]

Let's go.

[a-gentle-boy.livejournal.com]

[They both reach for the hand at the same time, and then simultaneously recoil. One of them will look a little annoyed and the other will smile cheerfully back in response.

They'll be walking as far from each other as possible.]

[gezellighe.livejournal.com]

[He drops his hand and leads the way then. Eventually they'll get to the diner, and Holland will order milkshakes for all of them from one of the drones.]

[a-gentle-boy.livejournal.com]

[This was so surreal. Lucas continues to eye his double doubtfully as it regards him cheerfully. Every now and then, it will 'accidentally' elbow him in the face whenever the Netherlands wasn't looking.]

[gezellighe.livejournal.com]

[It's only as he's sitting down and looking at them both that he notices the badge Lucas has on his shirt. Although he's never noticed it on Lucas before, it's strange how one boy has it and one doesn't. The happy way the double was looking at himself and at Lucas contributes, but it's the badge that makes him decide which Lucas he believes is real. ]

I know which one is fake.

[a-gentle-boy.livejournal.com]

Oh!



Shh! Let him talk!

[gezellighe.livejournal.com]

[Holland sighs. It was a good thing Lucas was a good kid; if he guessed one of the other nations wrong he'd probably never hear the end of it. Anyway, when he talks, he starts talking to who he is pretty confident is the real Lucas. ]

I know Lucas; you're not him. Lucas is always cheerful.

[He'll take Lucas by the hand and tug him just a bit roughly around the corner of the table, close, giving his hand an extra squeeze before looking at the fake.]

So what do we do with him?

[a-gentle-boy.livejournal.com]

W-W-What?!



[Lucas would be panicking if the Netherlands hadn't just squeezed his hand..... Still, he looks rather horrified.]

[gezellighe.livejournal.com]

We can't knock him out.

Canada's been taken too, and maybe he'll know where her plant is. [He switches to holding tightly to Lucas' arm as he stands up, tugging him along.]

You'll help me look, right? Don't try anything.

[Because his hammer is totally going to protect him from all Lucas' great powers, sure.]

[a-gentle-boy.livejournal.com]

I... Um.

[Lucas looks like a deer caught in the headlights.]

I guess I have to?

[gezellighe.livejournal.com]

[This was becoming more awkward by the second. He'll just tug real Lucas a bit further, heading towards the door.]

We can't waste any more time.

[a-gentle-boy.livejournal.com]

[Real!Lucas will stumble after, still looking mystified as the imposter follows after.]

[gezellighe.livejournal.com]

[He stops fake Lucas. It's really not very subtle at all.]

You need to stay here.

[a-gentle-boy.livejournal.com]

[gezellighe.livejournal.com]

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

[a-gentle-boy.livejournal.com]