Tokyo It started as Mirra walked upstairs to go to the bathroom on the first floor. But, in a sense, it started way back in November. A sharp sensation. ----- Flashback --- November 2003 It happened in New King Penguin Park. For months a question loomed over the women who were once cards. They were human, and had a part of their powers -- but why were they human -- and where was the rest of their powers? The answer came the day Sakura’s class went to the aquarium, and she saw what she thought was Water’s power. That same day Water (Umi) ran into someone who should have angered her to the point of violence, yet she didn’t have it in her anymore. Her once intense emotions were dulled, her sharp rage rounded and blunt. She had lost her edge -- or to be more precise, her edge had taken a life of it’s own. She deduced that part of her persona, her “animus” if you will, had been separated from her when she became human. The part of her which craved being a “card”, which enjoyed the quiet solitude of being “sealed” in the subtle twilight of the “world” that existed for cards at rest. That part of her didn’t want to live in the waking world, it wanted to be what it was meant to be, a card. She wasn’t alone. After sealing Animus Watery, it became clear that other cards like it existed. Animus Woods, Animus Windy, Animus Light, Animus Dark -- but was there an Animus Mirror? It seemed unlikely. Mirror was still at full power, unlike the rest, so they assumed she had no Animus. But in the park that day, as Sakura fought Animus Windy, she learned she did have an Animus. And it’s name was Mimic. Confused and disoriented, it didn’t follow suit with others (wanting to be a card), instead it wanted to be what Mirra didn’t want to be --- it wanted to be powerful. Mimic used her power to slowly gain an illusion of strength, but more and more lost her way and ceased caring about being a card, or even being a powerful card, she now just wanted to be. To exist. To survive. To that end, with her now fragmented memories (which she never truly possessed in full being only a part of Mirror) she saw Mirror (Mirra) as a threat to her existence. Whipped into action by “memories” of a lost love, she filled in the gaps with her own growing prejudices and hates, and (being a flawed being) formed a flawed hatred of an innocent girl. Mirror, aka Mirra. While the other “cards” fell easily, with no real motivation to being free, Mimic wasn’t so easy to capture. She may had been, in the end, a flawed “creation” but she was still a cunning and dangerous creation nevertheless. However, it was on that day that she learned of her “birthing”, that she was only a piece of Mirror and not a unique being all her own. Records of her “past” she forged herself, creating her own alternate timeline by accident by the force of her desire to simply “be” someone unique. She rejected that straight away. In her fractured mind she couldn’t accept the truth that Mirra was proposing to her. It was too much to bear. She tried to attack an unsuspecting girl and use her as a bargaining chip against Mirra, but Mirra beat her to it. She simply thought hard on Mimic, and stabbed her own arm with a sharp object. As Mimic grabbed her potential “hostage” she felt a sharp searing pain in the place Mirra stabbed herself and stumbled (allowing the girl to escape). But that was then, this is now. End Flashback. ------ Back in the here and the now. In that instance Mimic knew that Mirra was telling the truth. And it broke her. She fled, crying hysterically, unable to come to terms with this knowledge. It took her over a month to come to grips with it, and then to use it to her advantage. Which she was doing at this very moment. Mirra almost fell down the stairs from the shock if Hikaru wasn’t there to catch her. It ripped through her from crotch to head and surged. But it was nothing she felt before. In her mind’s eye, Mimic held tight to her image of Mirra, and held it tight as her hatred shielded her from the pain that ripped through Mirra full force. Hikaru took her quickly upstairs, each moment sending a new shock through Mirra’s body. As she fell onto her bed she felt as if someone was groping her. “Mirra? What’s wrong??” “I don’t know! I---” Then it happened. She gripped the bed and screamed. Her eyes were wide open, body shivering with arms and lead spread out to brace herself as if she was afraid the room would flip end over end and flip her out to fall into nothing. At first it was piercing, then--- it began to hit her over and over again. “Agh!! NONONONO!!” she cried, her breath panting as it gripped her. “What’s wrong?!? MIRRA!!” “It’s--- it’s--- goddess--- AHH!!” Her body screamed and yet responded to her “attackers”, but that didn’t matter at all to Mimic. The pleasures coming from it came from the dark thoughts of how much Mirra was hurting now. To complete the cycle she used a celphone she stole to call her. Information easily gained from a few reliable sources. Hackers. They were easy enough to get to do the acquisition of all she needed to know to reach out and torment Mirra even in the safety of Daidouji Estates. Sex tends to pay the bills easily enough, and she didn’t care since they were all tools to her anyway. Humans, in general that is, she didn’t care. They were made to serve those more powerful than they were, which she most certainly was in her opinion. The phone rang. Hikaru, too intent on Mirra, didn’t notice at first, but it kept ringing and ringing. “I’M!!---goddess I CAN’T!! I CAN’T!!” “What? Wh--?” (she answers the phone) “NOT NOW!!” “---why--- not?” she heard the coy oily voice on the opposite end of the phone whisper. It took abit of effort to speak while she was being assaulted, but she didn‘t want to miss a single second of torturing the little human girl. Oh, no, she most definitely didn‘t want to miss that. “I told you--- pant pant--- I’d find--- pant--- a way---” Hikaru face faulted. “Mimic.” Suddenly Mirra jumped to a sitting position, grabbing tightly to Hikaru holding her, “MAKE IT STOP!! MAKE IT STOP!! I’M GOING TO---” Mimic screamed as she finally succumbed to the violence overwhelming her senses and Hikaru knew what was happening. She held Mirra tight as she screamed as well, shuddering violently as she came down from her forced moment. She laid shivering in Hikaru’s arms, crying, “---why?!? Why?!?” On the opposite end of the phone, Hikaru could hear Mimic panting. “You bitch.” she hissed. They knew their roles well. She knew they would act true to form. Men drunk out of their skulls, they didn‘t even give a damn she was having a conversation while they raped her. They were too far gone and too wasted to care. As long as she didn‘t hinder their “fun“ they didn‘t give a damn what she did. She watched the last one to assault her take the knife, and she braced herself muttering “I can’t die--- I can’t die--- I can’t die---” over and over again. “What? What are you---” Mimic looked up at her “attackers”, and smiled. One of them held her naked form down, knife raised. She held her teeth tightly shut, and closed her hands into fists. She wanted to hear it. She had to hear it. The knife fell, and Mirra screamed. The pain was intense, but through it all as she listened, Mimic did something that chilled even the blood of her “attackers”. She smiled. Several hits later she finally allowed herself to breath, her hard breaths ragged and pained. She then turned off the celphone, looked up, and whispered two words. “My turn.” The next screams to fill the air was theirs. As she finished she knew she couldn’t do that again for awhile. It took abit of effort and energy to do it all, and she needed to rest, but --- still --- it was fun. Knowing how much it hurt Mirra it was fun. She idly kicked aside one of the corpses and walked away, blood dripping from her nude form. “I’ll have to be sure to send Mirra my condolences and schedule another “funtime” soon for us.” ------ Mirra was in shock. Her eyes wide open. She could barely speak. All she could do way cry. Hikaru did not leave her side, she merely held onto her and cried her own tears. It took awhile, but she finally got help for Mirra when Tomoyo came in to check on them. Sakura took the news the hardest. She collapsed onto the floor of Mirra’s bedroom and cried bitterly as her daughter was taken out of the room to be treated by a doctor friend of Nina’s. All Tomoyo could do was comfort Sakura as she cried, knowing that rage would soon follow, then blame and self hatred. Hikaru was the bravest, which is what everyone said as she stood by Mirra and watched over her (giving her comforting presence to her friend as she was examined and treated). ‘They don’t know.’ she thought to herself, ‘They didn’t see me crying like a baby earlier. They didn’t see---’ She felt Mirra squeeze her hand, and looked down. She was still abit scared, but a thin smile was forming on her lips. She was trying to be brave, even now, and it gave Hikaru abit of encouragement. It was now 6:59PM, 11:59PM in Citadel City. It was almost time. ------ Where was everyone when it happened? Tomoyo was leading Sakura into the holochamber which was now set partially as a medico center to treat Mirra (Chief Medical Officer Adri Talbot being the doctor present). Sakura had gone through her cycle of rage/self-hate and grief, now all she wanted to do was help Mirra heal. Everyone else was there, watching Mirra (no longer watching the events in Citadel City). Mimic was wandering to her “lair”, stopping briefly to “dress” herself (using her power to ‘create’ a layer of clothes around her body using abit of her soul energy to make the material from nothing) as she watched the coverage of midnight fast approaching Citadel City being shown on a TV from an electronics store (located next to a clothing store). Fight sat cuddled up on the couch with her beloved, watching the events as she ate happily. Power, who felt a slight dread when Mirra was “attacked”, sat with her friends watching the events unfold across the Pacifica. In Citadel City itself eyes were turned upwards, but for some their attention wasn’t to the coming fireworks but to the coming of something more sinister. “Readings are going off the scale!” one of the monitors yelled out. “It’s time.” Admiral Nobringa whispered, as Midnight struck--- ---and everything seemed to stop. Midway through the report of the celebrations news stations kicked over back to the news desks as reports started to flood in. Something was happening in ElseSpace. Something big. All eyes either turned to the sky, or to vid screens, as the news unfolded. The portal, with one final push, opened wide and let the Dyson Sphere through. At first it didn’t seem big, but as more and more of the huge moon-like sphere appeared it soon became apparent that it was as big as a large planetary moon. Across it’s metallic surface was huge dome shaped crystals of various colors, the rest of the “moon” being comprised of a flawless metal with oval shaped “apertures” dotting it’s otherwise smooth surface denoting entry portals. No escort ships appeared, at least as of yet, as it completely entered into ElseSpace, it’s portal back shutting behind it. CLAMP School had come to the Realm of Dreams. The Command Center was abuzz with activity. Everyone was directing whatever sensor capabilities and satellites at their disposal towards the new “star” in the sky, and waited to see what the first batch of readings would reveal. Whatever it was, besides what Jack Lazarus revealed earlier? It was daunting to say the least. A real puzzle, and a real threat all in one. Several flights of fighters launched from one of the orbital stations to pace it at a far distance while assisting with the information gathering. It seemed peaceful enough though, from a distance. Like a slumbering giant. Though one best left sleeping it seemed if earlier attempts to “gauge” it’s potential in the form of unmanned probes were any indication of the threat it posed if “awaken”. Mirra felt abit of relief, all the attention shifting away from her so she could quietly converse with Hikaru. She seemed strong, but felt as if she was going to start crying again at any second. Mirra whispered soft words of encouragement as they held hands, smiling the whole time wanting only to be brave. In light of the threat above? She must have been the bravest person on the planet or so it seemed to those around them who stole brief peeks at this “private” moment between the two. She pulled Hikaru towards her, and cradled the now crying girl in her arms whispering softly. A few minutes ago her world was a hazy mist of pain, but now all she could think of was soothing away the pain her precious felt. “I’m useless--- so useless---” she whimpered softly, as Mirra held her tightly. At that moment she felt awful. She wanted to be strong for Mirra but she couldn’t. She felt so weak, unable to protect Mirra from danger that loomed so near yet out of reach, she felt useless. She thought ’If only I was more like Auntie Hikaru,’ (her namesake that Umi-mama named her for) ‘then i’d be strong for Mirra-chan. If only---’ It was just as well that everyone’s attention was focused away, Mirra thought to herself, she wanted to spare Hikaru from the prying eyes of the curious while she was at her lowest ebbs. The news coming in seemed to demand their attention, and for good reason. Something the size of a moon had just came into ElseSpace, and it loomed large over Terra and Lunaris as it did, purpose : unknown. Numbly Hikaru watched as Mirra fell into a sleep of sorts, the medication finally taking effect. As her hand slipped from Hikaru’s, she felt as if she had to do something. Then she remembered-- Flash of memory. Face down in Tokyo Tower as Mimic assaulted her. The significance of her dream was hard to grasp before. She didn’t know what to make of it. Did Mimic kidnap her to torment Mirra? Was she unlucky and ran into Mimic? What was happening? She didn’t know and the more she pondered her dream in secret the more confusing it got. The significance of dreams. To be more precise her dream. She didn’t understand it at first. But now she did. It all made sense now. She was there, at this time, not because Mimic wanted her, because she would force Mimic out into the open. She knew what she had to do. It was so simple. She went over to one of the tables where someone left their celphone, picked it up -- and closed her eyes. Once, when she was taking care of Mirra after Mimic first assaulted her, she became deathly afraid when she walked in on Mirra and she was having a convulsive fit in her sleep. It looked so painful that she couldn’t bear to watch, yet was held in place by her fear. Her hand quickly grabbed the nearby phone and dialed blindly. She heard a voice on the opposite end, “Ashitara Mini Mart.” She frantically asked if a Umi Ryuzaaki was there. The clerk, at first, was abit taken back, thinking it a prank, but Hikaru was frantic. She checked, and sure enough Umi was there. She calmed Hikaru and told her that Mirra was only having a nightmare, and that she had to comfort her. It took Hikaru awhile to realize, later, what she had done. Without knowing where her mother was she managed to reach her. On her first try. At a place she never been to before, let alone knew the number for. On her first try she reached her mother and yet she shouldn’t have. Why? Then it dawned on her. She was thinking of her at the time. In her panic her thoughts locked on her and her mind scrambled to ask “What would Umi-mama do if she was here?” She learned, after some “tests” of her own, that she had a small bit of precognitive sense. If she focused hard enough on somebody? She could find them without fail. In fact she could even call them without missing a beat. Once she tried this (calling Fuu) and failed several times, only to realize that she was hitting payphones along a stretch of road that Fuu was walking on at the time (Fuu said the phones kept ringing as she passed them, and she didn‘t know why). It worked best when she thought of Mirra. All she had to do was close her eyes, and think of her, and she could “sense” where she was. It took a little practice, but she later became able to track close family and friends (to a degree) simply by desiring their presence, wanting to be close to them, and letting her ability feel them out for her. Mimic was basically Mirra’s Animus, her primal side and yet a part of her which Mirra rejected. Something about her that she didn’t want to hold onto anymore, something negative. All that negativity flowed out of Mirra when she became human, and went into Mimic (including a part of Mirra’s powers). Why didn’t she know this happened? Because each regained power from a simple yet opposing feeling. For Mirra it was happiness, first from Tomoyo/Sakura, then from herself towards Mirra. For Mimic it was hatred, first of Sakura then to Mirra. But still, they were one in the same. She held an image of Mimic, and through her pain she quickly snapped open the phone and dialed blindly. Seconds passed as she waited, then--- “---” (nothing, but she knew Mimic was listening) “Tokyo Tower. One hour. Meet me.” (she then hung up). That’s it. Now all she had to do was go there, and finish it. The significance of her dream became clear. She was the same as Mirra. The exact same. ----- Hikaru’s Flashback She held onto Mirra tight, smiling down at her. “Your exhausted.” “I’m--- gasp gasp--- sorry! So little---” “You made me happy.” she admitted honestly, feeling her face glowing red from their dual shared moments of release. “Your perfect everytime.” “But it wiped--- me out--- gasp---” “Catch your breath and we’ll do it again.” Hikaru whispered. “Fingers and oral only? And I--- gasp--- I’m so weak.” “Your perfect.” she corrected, kissing her. ----- She blushed a little at the thought as she snuck out of the house, headed towards Nina’s shuttle parked in the back, holding up the shuttle’s keychip she “borrowed” from Nina’s jacket slung on a chair back in the holochamber. Mirra wore out after sex, and from the sound of Mimic over the phone? She wore out too. Plus she had suffered a great amount of “damage” being attacked, and probably expended energy to heal herself, and kill her attackers. That means her strength was at a low ebb right now. All she had to do was let Mimic win, rape her, and then when she was weak--- Punish her. She slips quietly into the shuttle, and uses it’s teleporter to take her to Tokyo Tower. All eyes were skywards, so nobody noticed the flash of lights from the darkened tower, or the fact that somebody turned on the lights in the Tower (shut down in observance of the New Year Holiday). ----- The situation had turned into a stalemate of sorts. With fighters and ships taking position between Terra and the Dyson Sphere, everything went silent as people waited for it to make the next move. Hours seem to pass, but as everyone in the room stared at the vid screen, it was Adri who first noted that Hikaru was gone. Everyone’s attention suddenly went from the vid screen to the room, noticing that she was indeed gone. “What the---” Keiko muttered, holding her phone up. “Somebody used this-- this isn’t a number I recognize at all.” (dials it, silence) “Hikaru?” Phone hangs up. “Mimic.” she rasps, looking at the phone in her hand. “Can’t be-- but still--” “Who else would Hikaru call out, after what she did.” Nina concluded, grabbing her jacket. “But how did she find Mimic’s number? She must have stole that celphone so it’s not like it has her name all--- over--- it??” “Nina, what’s wrong?” “My keychip’s gone!” Nina yelled, hands ruffling up her jacket in a frantic search. “IT’S GONE! GONE! My keychip’s GONE!” Keiko’s eyes widen. “Not the one for---” “YES THE ONE FOR THE SHUTTLE!! IT’S--- oh no.” (grabs commlink) “COMPUTER!! HAS ANYONE USED THE TELEPORTER?” “Affirmative.” “WHAT? WHERE??” “The Ryuuzaki Residence, Tokyo. Then she accessed the teleporter via commlink and set destination to Tokyo Tower.” Silence as everyone looks about, confused. ----- Hikaru sat crosslegged on the floor, eyes staring dimly out the huge windows overlooking Tokyo. Her heavy overcoat wrapped around her body to keep the cold out, and to hide her “secret”. She didn’t want to tip her hand to Mimic just yet. She had an ace up her sleeve. When she arrived at home she knew she didn’t have much time. She quickly, yet quietly, snuck into the huge museum like collection room and walked up to the three glass cases holding the armors and swords. Each a remembrance of what came before, one for Umi, Fuu, and Hikaru. Their armors, and swords, on display (with reverent hopes that they never have to be used again for any circumstances). Hikaru could open the cases easy enough. She liked to touch the smooth armors and feel the cool metal of the swords beneath her fingertips. She could touch, but never take the swords. She knew what could happen with each sword but right now she had to take one, she just hoped her blood would give her the “means” by which to take one of the three swords on display. She first went to Umi-mama’s. If there was one sword she felt in her heart she could take it was this one. Each sword levitated in a circular anti-grav “well” generated from the case itself. That way the sword hung freely for people to look at it, and also could be easily accessed by it’s owners in an emergency. Carefully, with slightly jittery hands, Hikaru reached into Umi’s case and grasped onto the sword’s handle. It felt smooth to the touch, and yet solid. “I can do it---” she whispered, pulling the sword towards her, only for it to fall apart and turn into a freefloating mass of water suspended in the anti-grav field. Confused by this Hikaru quickly yanked her hand free allowing the sword to reform again. “Why? I’m her daughter. Why can’t I--” Undaunted by her failure, she tried Auntie Fuu’s sword. She touched it, tugged it slightly to one side but quickly stopped, feeling the weight of the sword slowly increase as she edged it towards her. That sword wasn’t going with her either it seemed. Dejected she closed the case and turned her attention to the last sword remaining - Hikaru’s sword. She, of course, was named after it’s owner, and even resembled her. But resemblance in name and appearance didn’t make her the rightful wielder of said sword. And she knew that it would “burn” a person (to their soul) whoever tried to take it who wasn’t Hikaru. Still, as she opened the case and reached in, it was nothing compared to the pain she felt when she thought of what Mimic did to her precious. She grabbed the sword handle hard, yanked it free, and held it tight waiting for the searing pain. Pain which did not come. As she slowly opened her eyes she realized she was holding Hikaru’s sword as if she was always meant to wield said sword. She gave it a few test swings, and held it out to look at her reflection in the glass of the case. It was her, all right, holding the sword -- but how? She didn’t have time to ponder it. She took Umi-mama’s armor (if she couldn’t use her sword, she’d at least wear her armor) and slid Hikaru’s sword into Umi’s jewel glove to store it. She then make her connection to Tokyo Tower. But that was sometime ago. She was still waiting for her “nemesis” to arrive. As she waited it gave her time to reflect on what happened, and what was going to happen. In retrospect she didn’t like at all the path she was about to go down, but she knew in her heart it was the only way. As far as Mimic was concerned? Mirra was a “target” that she would never stop pursuing, never stop tormenting, insuring her precious would suffer endlessly in doubt and now pain from her tormentor unless someone put a stop to it. She knew that she had to be that someone, for Mirra and their friends & family who suffered whenever they suffered. She had to stop Mimic once and for all. Even if it meant killing her. She had to be stopped. That’s when she heard the footsteps. “Your early.” she whispered, getting up in a way to keep herself shielded from Mimic’s prying eyes with her coat. She didn’t want Mimic seeing her armor just yet. Mimic, entering the room slowly, looked at her with great disdain, “Your bossy.” she whispered, pacing slowly around her watching her closely, “Anyway I’m only 5 minutes early. So, now what?” “I want you to leave Mirra alone.” she responded, watching Mimic closely. It was as if she knew something was up, and was nervous about it with her pacing -- or maybe she just knew that her strength was low and she didn’t have enough energy to keep going before collapsing. “Leave her --” (a thin smile forms on her lips) “-- your kidding me! That’s it?” “Isn’t that enough?” “For you it’s more than enough.” Mimic tossed back, pacing about Hikaru like an enraged animal looking for an opening, yet keeping her distance. “But not for me. Why should I leave her be after what she did to me all those---” “Delusions. You know Mirra never--” “Delusions?!?” Mimic hissed, her rage building as she paced. “I know what she did!” As she paced about in circles, Hikaru kept a close eye on her, keeping her coat closed at all time to hide her armor, and since it was a long overcoat that covered from head to near foot she could keep her armor hidden. “Mirra would never have slept with Clow Reed. And if she did? It was YOUR doing that--” “ARE YOU STILL GOING ON ABOUT WE’RE THE SAME?” she screamed, edging closer and closer as she ranted, “I can feel her in my mind, and vice versa, and perhaps we ARE connected, but I am NOT the spawn of her body. I am NOT her! I am my own individual person! She didn’t make me.” “Your delusions made you.” Hikaru answered, eyes narrowing, “Your just bad memories that refuse to die.” “SHUT UP SLUT!!” Mimic screamed, eyes tearing up as she did, “YOU DON’T KNOW HER WELL ENOUGH TO SAY DIFFERENTLY!!” “I know her, and you, more than you want to admit.” At that Mimic froze, teeth grinding together. She was going to move. Hikaru knew this because she’s seen this look in Mirra’s eyes when she gets angry. Not at big things, or people, but at times she gets flustered over little things. Once, on the way home from school, she and Hikaru were harassed by a wild dog. It blocked their path and threatened to bite them. Mirra’s eyes narrowed, her teeth clenched, and her face turned red. They were going home to watch a favorite TV show, and she did NOT want to miss it. The next thing the dog knew, it was being charged at by an enraged young woman, her eyes glaring as she attacked it. It suddenly yelped and ran, not even bothering to take a bite. In truth? People shouldn’t do that, wild dogs aren’t normally scared that easily -- except when the girl’s eyes are glowing and shards of glass are flying everywhere around her as she charges. She felt bad about it later, but it showed Hikaru what Mirra -- and in a sense Mimic -- looked like before they went into attack mode. Mimic screamed one more time, an animalistic yell, before she charged straight out at Hikaru. Now was the time to act. Quickly she threw her robe at Mimic and drew her blade, slashing through Mimic as she passed, cloak over her head confusing her. As she stumbled past she grabbed her now bleeding side, breath ragged. “Animal.” Mimic’s eyes blazed as she pulled herself together. Her hands relaxing to her sides as she stood up shakingly, blood ceasing as her wound closed. “You -- bitch --” Hikaru jumped forward to slash her down again, only to meet with air as Mimic jumped aside, back pedaling quickly as she unleashed a torrent of glass shards at Hikaru. She quickly swept the air as she ran, deflecting “shots” as she ran, a few however hitting their marks. One scarred her face (cheek), three slashed her arm in an exposed spot, two went into her shoulder but vanished as immediately as they embedded, their “illusion” breaking when they snapped within her flesh. The pain was unbearable but she ran forward anyway, taking huge swings at the retreating Mimic. “BITCH!!” “Mistress -- never could -- master the cards!” Mimic taunted, staying out of range as she fired a fresh volley of shards. “Never figured out that she could combine cards for better results!” As the shards whacked the metal flooring like bullets Hikaru grabbed for her overcoat to use as a shield against the falling “rain” of bullet-shards. “I’m using THREE powers now. Shot, combined with my illusion shards makes for a deadly rain of “bullet glass”! Dash --” (before Hikaru knew it, Mimic was upon her lashing out with a kick that she could barely dodge) “-- for speed!! And --” (as Hikaru spun to attack she moved quickly out of the way again) “-- Power to keep Dash’s power at peak efficiently without losing the speed ability!” “Dammit---” Hikaru rasped, feeling her odds dimming as she watched Mimic stay clearly out of range of her sword with her superior speed. “Mistress never figured out that some cards could augment other cards! Like for instance how Power could be used to lift heavy objects -- or power cards maxing out their abilities past their normal limits!” Once again she got behind Hikaru, barely clipping her left arm as she kicked, knocking her sword aside and sending the girl flying into the observation windows from her one clip at her body. She screamed as she hit the glass, her impact breaking the window causing huge cracks to form in it, her left arm hurting like hell but still intact and in it’s socket. Mimic, however, was on a roll. “Dash alone can only go for short distances with super speed, but augmented with Power’s boundless energy and Dash’s power becomes an endless source of super speed!” she remarked casually, once again coming up behind Hikaru, this time to take her down with one hard slap. The speed enhanced blow didn’t connect, but the wind it generated knocked her off her feet and sent her crashing into the ground, screaming again in pain. Every nerve in her body was screaming, her pain was intense, yet Mimic was barely harmed. The significance of her dream became clear -- she tried to fight Mimic, and lost. Mimic, however, was still in a good mood. She reached over and rolled Hikaru on her stomach, pulling her up on all fours. “Still, if I really am like Mirra then I deserve to test the “merchandise”.” She numbly felt Mimic grasp her skirt, knowing fully well from her dream what was coming next. “Mirra-chan---” she rasped, tears flowing as she realized she was about to be raped, and it was all her fault. She failed Mirra, and herself. Suddenly silence. She heard nothing, then felt a cold wet splash of something on her exposed rear. She turned and saw an amazing sight. Mimic, frozen in place (apparently about to “augment” herself sexually) was impaled on Hikaru’s sword (through her heart), behind her was Hikaru in full armor and quite angry as she twisted the sword still shoved through Mimic’s body. In a cold, angry voice she spoke, her words a soft hush yet filled with rage. “Leave her alone you BITCH!!” At that Hikaru spun about, using her momentum to hurtle Mimic through the broken window that Hikaru shattered earlier, the glass breaking with a loud crash as Mimic’s body fell into the darkness of the night outside. She hurtled out into the air and fell -- but as she strained to listen, she didn’t hear a sound. Nothing. Not even an impact. She turned towards Hikaru, and for an instance she thought that her auntie was angry with her -- but instead she was crying, her face now filled with joy and concern at the same time. “I said a bad word.” “Auntie--- arggh!” Hikaru froze up, pain shooting through her body. She tried to jump up to her, but her body was wracked with too much pain to move. She crumpled into the ground sobbing as she felt the others surround her, hands prodding and trying to take care of her. She felt so awful at that moment. Such a disgrace. She stole her mother’s armor, her auntie’s sword, and nearly got herself killed. She must have looked like such a loser, her mind dimly reasoned in it’s pain, half dressed and bloodied. She felt two strong arms wrap around her lifting her into the air. She turned, look and saw the warmest eyes and most gentle features. She wasn’t in full control of her wits so as she slipped into unconsciousness she rested her head against her chest and whispered “---daddy---” Then she saw no more. Captain Jack Lazarus gulped nervously as everyone looked at him. “Uh--- not me -- I think.” ----- Nothing had happened of importance since Hikaru left. Starships from the Alliance and Dominion came to blockade the sphere, but as of yet it had not made a move or stirred in terms of comm chatter or ship movements from the sphere. For the time being it sat there and waited. It was now January 2nd, 2003. Hikaru found herself bedmate to Mirra as they healed from what happened. Hikaru tried to apologize for being so rash but Mirra only smiled and said “Just never do it again.” Jack was easily let off the hook when Umi explained that she knew who Hikaru’s father was. He decided to explain it to them in the holochamber, set to Tokyo Tower (rooftop) which now provided a good view of the small “sphere” in the sky which was the Dyson Sphere. “Ascot?” The entire room fell into silence as she talked. Jack joined in and helped, “One of Keiko’s unintentional accidents. It seems when she left with this Umi from one of the variant Cephiros she accidentally left a void that needed filling. Something had to be done to restore order so---” (shrugs) “---I took advantage of the situation and made a new Umi.” “You what?” Keiko sighed, looking at him. “And don’t tell me, let me guess -- it fell in love with Ascot and they got married?” “Not exactly.” “Not exactly? Not exactly?” Keiko stood up, eyes locked on Jack who was now backing away nervously, “What do you mean by “not exactly”? Come on, boss, spill!” Jack stops, hand raised in the air pointing at Keiko, “You know that you only call me boss when your really, really angry? And---” “JACK!!” “Sigh.” (Jack waves Keiko off) “Ask him yourself! Ask him yourself! He lives on the Central Hub teaching with his wife at the Academy. Care of Magical Creatures (if you can believe it)!” “His wife?” “You’ll see.” Keiko didn’t know if she wanted to “see” or not. Just then Tomoyo came into the room holding an envelope, “It’s for you Sakura.” She carefully opened it, and inside was -- “Animus Mirror?” Everyone turned their attention towards it, away from Jack (much to his overall relief), and looked. Sure enough it was the Animus Mirror card, the last of the six Animus cards. “But how---?” “Maybe Mimic is dead?” Umi, who had been sitting in the back listening Jack explain (glad she didn’t have to) said, “She’s dead, right? Hikaru impaled her on her sword and flung her through a window. She’s dead.” “I don’t think so.” It was Jack. Everyone turned to look at him, causing him to blush. “You all make me nervous when you do that!” “Jack.” Suddenly he became deathly serious, “I don’t think she’s dead. In fact, I think she might be on her way to reform.” “Reform?” Sakura whispered, holding the card up. “Maybe she can tell us that -- when we see her again. And I have a feeling that we will see her again. Sooner than we think.” ------ In a dimly lit Medico chamber she laid. The watery tank of healing liquids doing it’s work on her, putting her back together. Her heart had been rended in two, and her power was too weak to heal that and her broken body. Somebody else did that for her. But right now, in her tank, she didn’t think of that or healing. Her mind was occupied. In the harsh pain of her defeat she felt the last barrier in her mind open, and she knew why she was. Her deepest memories was of being called by Clow Reed. His hand touching her face softly, praising her. Taking her to bed. And then -- She gritted her teeth, and looked at her own reflection in the medico tank and snarled. She did have a purpose. One clear and solid purpose after all. After all she went through. She was where Mirra took all her bad memories of Clow Reed, what he did to her, and shoved it into a form to dispose of. As she came into being in the world as a human being a dark part of her didn’t want to take this pain with her, so it was all bundled up and discarded, like trash. Just like she was, in the end, trash. As she looked at herself she could feel Clow Reed’s touch in her mind. She was nothing more to him than a little girl that he created, and abused, and--- Her fist pounded silently into the glass, her eyes narrowed. She hated him. Hated Mirra for bringing her into this world. Hated Hikaru for showing her weakness. Hated that red haired woman who showed her pain. And, most of all, she hated herself. That’s when she heard a singing in her head, and turned to face her savior. She smiled and touched the glass, whispering to Mimic one thing. “What do you want more than anything in the world?” Mimic’s mind was a jumble, but her hatred focused her thoughts, “I want to die.” She smiled, and then she reached into Mimic’s mind and began to clear her thoughts, impressing a sense of calm. Still, Mimic held tight to her hatred of the one thing she loathed the most, and refused to forgive more than any of the others, she held fast to her hatred of herself. “No redemption?” “What if I just want to die.” “Follow me and I can give you redemption.” Mimic sighed inwardly, her resistance fading as she fell back asleep under her “touch” in her mind. “I just want to die.” “Follow me and I can give you that too.” Then, nothing.
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