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Author Topic: ::Voices of Angels:: [Chapter Twenty: The "Training" Room, Part II]  (Read 41940 times)

Offline FeverInducedMadness

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« Reply #20 on: March 15, 2007, 05:13:42 AM »
@rmdmnwierd: Miki is so much fun to write. :D

@Sancho: Glad ya like it. ^-^ Hopefully I can KEEP it interesting.

@coachie: That was my favorite part of Chapter Three. haha

@jafeijai: lol, originally, it wasn't, but then I couldn't resist making Miki be all like... well... Miki. haha

Anyways... this chapter was extremely hard to pull out of my head. It was slightly boring to write, because it's mostly just backstory, but nevertheless it's important. lol I should be able to get rolling a little bit easier with the next chapter.

As always, enjoy. :heart:

Chapter Four: Past

The girls were now all seated back up against the walls, each digging in hungrily to a plate of warm whatever-it-was. Aika didn’t really know. It was the first food she had ever laid eyes on, and though during the past few hours she had been relying on whatever her pre-programmed instinct could tell her, she was unable to identify it.

Not that she cared much. Her stomach had been growling from the moment that Koharu had mentioned the idea of food, and neither the taste nor the smell could keep her from consuming every little bit.

Mari had practically inhaled what she had been given, and after some gentle urging, both she and Aika had managed to get Eri to eat a little bit as well. But… by “a little bit”, it meant that they had gotten her to eat a few bites before she shoved the plate away in disgust and that was the end of that.

The stranger was in the middle of the room, holding a small, metal circular device in one of his hands, and he cleared his throat to get everyone’s attention.

“Now listen up. The doc gave me this message for all of you before we left the facility. He said that it explains mostly everything about what’s goin’ on here. So all of you shut up and pay attention while I play it so we can get this over with. Don’t bother asking me questions afterwards, either. I don’t know anything more than any of you do.”

He pushed the button in the center of the device with his thumb, dropping it on the floor and stepping away. A tiny slot opened on the top of the circle, and light shone through it, projecting a life-sized hologram of the scientist Akira in the air.

Everyone was silent as they watched—even Miki, who had paused in her grumbling about her bruised hand in order to observe this phenomenon.

The image began to speak, the sound slightly obscured by crackling static.

“If you are listening to this message… then you are safe and hidden in the place that was prepared for you, and I am either dead or in the hands of the government. But it is very important for all of you to hear the words that I have to say, for I am sure that you have many questions that need to be answered. I will start off by telling you a story…

Almost half a century ago, this world was different. It wasn’t deprived of technology and music… but that all changed when a man, who went only by Shizuka, organized a series of unexpected and horrible murders. His first targets were in the idol group known as Morning Musume…”


Out of the corner of her eye, Aika could see movement coming from where Koharu sat, and when she turned her head to look, she noticed that the winged girl was twitching a bit, eyes closed tight. It lasted for only a moment, though, and soon she opened her eyes again, staring at the hologram as if nothing had happened.

"Strange…", she thought to herself.

“Shizuka’s followers had somehow managed to get into one of the group’s fan club events, slipping past security unnoticed. The girls were shot and killed, and the men who did it were never found. Over the weeks following such a tragedy, members of a younger Hello! Project group, Berryz Koubou, started to disappear one by one, abducted without a trace. When their bodies were found, it was too late.

The other members of Hello! Project were beginning to fear for their own safety, and many of them resigned at this point. Those that stayed adamantly expressed to the public that they would not let such terroristic acts interfere with what they loved to do.

Unfortunately, the killing did not stop. The duo W, soloists Matsuura Aya and Goto Maki, graduated Morning Musume members Yaguchi Mari and Yoshizawa Hitomi, the young members of the group C-ute, and the groups Biyuuden and Melon Kinenbi were all added to the list of fatalities.

The police were ever alert and tried their hardest to find the criminals responsible for such bloodshed, but Shizuka’s followers were always one step ahead, and eventually other notable Japanese singers turned up dead and missing at their hands. News began to spread of similar events happening across the world, and not only were the idols being targeted, as a handful of talented instrumentalists were slaughtered alongside them.

The music industry came to a screeching halt, and that’s when Shizuka and his group really caught the world by surprise. With his advanced technology and knowledge of human genetics, Shizuka managed to bring every nation to its’ knees, using his super-human army to gain control of everything.

Shizuka completely changed the world for the worst. He ordered that anything even remotely sophisticated be destroyed, and his army scoured the earth, ridding it of anything that threatened his superiority. Electricity was ripped away from the common man and preserved for him alone, and nearly every city on this earth went up in flames. Surrounded by ashes, the people could do nothing but start all over, returning to an oppressed, primitive way of life. Many people were killed during this ‘purification’ process, as they clung desperately to the things they felt that they could not live without.

He set up laws that prohibited any and all forms of music, and anyone caught producing or even listening to even the quietest or simplest of melodies could be punished by death. The law is still in effect today, and many children have never heard a single song in their entire life.”


The scientist paused here, looking around, almost as if his holographic form could actually see them all sitting there.

“And yet, none of this explains who any of you are, or what your purpose for being here is. Simply put… every single one of you is a clone.”

Most of the girls just blinked at these words, trying to comprehend what had been said. A strange feeling was twisting around in the pit of Aika’s stomach, and even though she did not know what the word clone meant… she sensed that something was wrong.

“You were formed from the DNA taken from certain idols in the Hello! Project that were killed so many years ago. This means that you are genetically identical to whoever’s DNA you share. These names are written on the tags each of you wears around your neck. …While you are not the people you were cloned from, I believe it is only proper for you to bear their names, should you choose to accept what I am about to ask of you...

I beg that you restore this world to what it used to be. You are the only ones capable of removing Shizuka and his men from power… The task will be extremely difficult, but I believe that you can bring us out of these dark times.

I’ve given you a few super-human advantages to make things easier. In addition to cloning all of you, I was also able to alter your genetic codes individually in order to give you extraordinary abilities. Each one of you possesses a different power, and unfortunately, I must leave it up to you to figure out what those powers are.”


Well. This was nice. It was the perfect cherry to put on top of her hot fudge sundae of a day. If the cherry was rotting somewhat, and if the sundae happened to be filled with worms, that is.

“The decision is up to each of you individually. You can choose to go on this adventure of sorts, or you can try to slip into this horrific society and live a normal life. But if you try and pick the latter, I can assure you that they will find you, and they will kill you. By now, I am almost positive that they are looking for you so that they can eliminate you, because of the potential threat that you pose. Not only that, but your powers will make blending in nearly impossible.

On the other hand, if you manage to destroy Shizuka, you earn not only freedom for the world, but also freedom for yourselves.

…The choice is yours.

I wish you all good luck.”


With that, the hologram disappeared, and the room was immediately filled with the sound of complete and total silence.
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Offline Estrea

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« Reply #21 on: March 15, 2007, 05:23:29 AM »
I foresee a split in opinion among the girls. *waits patiently for the arguments to start*

Good chapter, I like how you summarised how they got here and why in just that recorded holographic speech. *nods* Must be a shock to be a clone though. I hope you do let some of them have some angst over it or whatever. Haha.

Looking forward to the next chapter! :)

永遠に咲き続ける花なんていない、すべてはいずれ枯れて朽ち果てしまう。

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Offline ferrar1

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« Reply #22 on: March 15, 2007, 06:59:47 AM »
I'm waiting for a leader to rise among them.. hmm who could it be

4th Pic of Eri courtesy of t-motion's gallery ~ Sangokushi Taisen anyone ? http://sangokutaisen.blogspot.com/ ~ Lame attempt at a personal blog ~

Offline rndmnwierd

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« Reply #23 on: March 15, 2007, 08:42:40 AM »
I want to know how fucked up each of the girls are without the memories that shaped them into the idols that we know. Heh heh heh... *imagines*

Offline iacus

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« Reply #24 on: March 15, 2007, 10:25:01 AM »
Liking the fic so far, you seem to have set up the plot pretty well. Can't wait to see how it all pans out.

Offline FeverInducedMadness

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« Reply #25 on: March 18, 2007, 06:36:14 PM »
@Estrea: Oh yes. Most of them are none too happy about being clones. Now it's just a matter of who happens to be the angstiest about it. (haha, I invented a word.)

@ferrar1: That IS the question, isn't it... who will it beeeeee? :ONdunno: lol

@rndmnwierd: They're pretty screwed.

@iacus: Thanks! Glad to have another on board with this. :)

After a little delay with me having to go out of state yesterday, here's the next chapter. I'm not entirely sure if I'm completely happy with it, but at least at the end of it I get to leave you all in suspense. :P

Enjoy. :heart:

--------------

Chapter Five: Divided

Seven minutes had passed.

No one in the room had moved an inch, and no one had spoken either.

The stranger had left them sometime while they had been watching the transmission, but that didn’t matter much, as no one would have missed him.

They were too busy trying to wrap their minds around the story they had just been told.

Aika was undecided on the matter, but this was more or less because she had to digest so much all at once that it was a little hard to force herself to make a concrete choice either way.

Everyone was waiting for someone else to say something.

Anything.

And of course, that someone would obviously have to be…

“Well, I think this is a bunch of bullshit. That scientist guy and his buddy are obviously cracked or somethin’… Clones? No freakin’ way.”

…Miki.

“And what if you’re wrong?”  Another voice broke the silence. It was smooth and a little deep, and it came from one of the girls sitting next to the wall opposite of where Aika was. Though she was sitting, the female looked as though she was somewhat tall, and she had this presence about her that demanded complete attention. She was slender, and had short, dark, chin-length hair that gave her a sharp, boyish appearance. The girl had some big eyes, and they were focused calmly on Miki. “What if everything he said is true and we really don’t have much of a choice? Then what?”

The girl with the mechanical arm scowled in response, glaring at the one who spoke.

“And who the hell are you?”

“According to this tag… Yoshizawa Hitomi. Or, her clone. Whichever you prefer.”

“Well, Hitomi,” She started, stressing each syllable in a mocking sort of way, “What do you suggest we do? Shall we hide in the forest with the little woodland creatures for the rest of our lives? Or are you seriously considering the idea of becoming some sort of hero?”

“Yeah. I kind of am.”

Miki groaned, rolling her eyes and crossing her arms.

“Spare me… We don’t even know what we’re up against. And if all of this crap IS true, then whatever it is must be pretty damn strong if the guy was able to take over the earth and wipe out virtually any sign of technology… What do you think that YOU can do to make a difference…?”

Hitomi was silent. Miki smirked, and she looked around at the others as if to say, “See, I told you so.” Another female that had been hidden from view in one of the darker corners of the room stepped out into the dim light radiating from the rocks in the walls. She had long, light-brown hair that rested on her shoulders, and her eyes were a pale, golden-yellow color, having black slits for pupils.

The girl sported a pair of wolf ears on top of her head, and to match them, she also had a long, fluffy tail. If that wasn’t intimidating enough, Aika noticed sharp claws on the girl’s hands rather than fingernails, and she was pretty sure she could see the glint of a fang poking out over the female’s bottom lip.

“She can’t do anything. Not alone. I don’t think ANY of us are meant to be alone. Why else would we have all been created together?” There was a murmur of agreement that floated through the room, and for a moment, even Miki looked unsure. “I don’t think that any of this was an accident.”

One more girl stood. She was about Mari’s height, small and petit, and her hair was cut in a style similar to that of Hitomi’s. Little though she was, the girl exuded confidence all the way to her fingertips.

“Okay, but… even if all of what you’re saying is true… we were just ‘born’ today. We only know what we know. Nothing more. None of us have ever fought before. And then there’s the fact that we don’t know how long it might take to discover what our powers might be. Even if we’re lucky enough to stumble upon them soon, that brings up the issue of learning how to use them without killing ourselves and each other.”

“Maybe you’re all just…”
“…Thinking about it too much.”
“Exactly.”

A pair of girls sitting next to each other had spoken after the small female, creating a sentence together as if their minds were linked. They looked almost like twins, and Aika wondered for a moment if the scientist had cloned someone twice by mistake.

“Well, we’re not gonna get anything done by just sittin’ here.” The girl named Reina grumbled over in her corner, contributing to the conversation. The fireball that she had been holding disappeared with a puff of smoke, and she got up, walking towards the tunnel that everyone had entered through.

Hitomi called after the wonky-eyed teen.

“Where are you going?”

“To find a city or something—anything, I don’t care. I’m tired of sitting around and listening to you idiots talk about all of this. That Shizuka guy is probably looking for us, and I don’t want to be trapped in here when he comes.”

And with that, Reina disappeared from view.

“I second that.” Miki stated, and she strode briskly after the other girl and into the tunnel. The wolf girl also followed, muttering something under her breath, and the one called Hitomi wasn’t too far off behind them. And soon, only Aika, Mari, Eri, Koharu, the small girl, and two other females close to her, both of whom seemed to be frightened out of their minds, remained.

It appeared to Aika that they were the misfits of the group…

“Should we go with them?” Mari questioned, breaking the silence and voicing what was on everyone else’s minds. The blind girl beside Aika merely shuddered in response, and the small girl seemed to be thinking really hard.

“As much as I have a really bad feeling about this… I think we should… This isn’t exactly the kind of place I want to spend the night in.” There was an unspoken exchange between the clones that had been left behind, and though none of them were excited about the idea, they were all in agreement. “By the way… I’m Saki. This is Momoko…” The small girl nodded to a female that was clinging tightly to her arm, eyes wide with apprehension. Momoko was about the same size as Saki, but she did not hold the same confidence that the little leader possessed. “And this is Risako.”

The other girl didn’t appear to be quite as terrified as Momoko was, but she definitely looked a bit uneasy, and was standing behind Saki as if she thought the smaller female could protect her. She was very pretty, and looked out of place amongst the rest of them.

Aika and the others introduced themselves as well, and once all of that was out of the way, she stood up. She and Mari helped Eri to her feet, and the blind girl resorted to leaning on only the small blonde for support, as she was getting a little better at being upright and such.

The small group began to exit the cave, with Saki in the lead.

Koharu was still sitting there on the cave floor; she had seemed off ever since watching the transmission, and was now staring blankly up at the ceiling. The winged girl seemed to snap out of it, however, when she noticed that the others were starting to move, and she scrambled to her feet.

She rushed to catch up, heart and mind now weighted with a burden that she did not quite understand…

--------------

It was raining hard outside now, and the clones that had followed after Miki, Hitomi, and the wolf girl hadn’t made it that far from the cave due to this fact. That, and they had separated into smaller factions because they all seemed to have differing opinions of what was going on.

Miki’s group was moving rather slow; Reina seemed to be having immense trouble with the rain, and was lagging behind. The large female that had ‘suffered’ Miki’s barrage earlier on was with them as well, and she was helping another girl along who had tripped and hurt her ankle. The only one of the group that seemed to be able to keep up with the metal-armed woman was a clone named Matsuura Aya, who had followed along after them once they had left the cave.

Her presence there seemed to agitate Miki somewhat, but she said nothing about it.

After a little more struggle, Reina called to Miki out of the downpour, struggling to keep her voice from being drowned out.

“Miki, we’re going to have to stop soon! I can’t take much more of this, and Maasa and Miyabi are getting slower as we go on!”

Miki turned around to face the girl, and Aya was watching the three stragglers inquisitively, as if she couldn’t figure out why on earth they were unable to keep up.

“And where do you propose we do that? Shall we all crawl under a rock and hide until the rain passes? There isn’t anything else out here, dammit! We have to keep going!”

Reina was about to shout out a protest, when a chilling scream pierced her ears, coming from another area of the forest.

Coming from the direction of where the other group of clones had been.

All of them were quiet for a moment, and even Miki looked slightly disturbed by the noise. There was another sharp cry, and then an unearthly roar ripped through the air, causing all of them to jump in surprise.

“What the HELL was THAT?”
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Offline JFC

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« Reply #26 on: March 19, 2007, 12:06:09 AM »
Damn, and here I thought the "large" girl that Miki had argued with was Aya (large doesn't necessarily have to mean "fat", after all :twisted:). So if Aya isn't the "large" girl, who is she?

Wolf girl....Yuko?  Other girl who was about Mari's height...Asami (Country Musume)?

JPH!P :heart:'s kuro808, Fushigidane, ChrNo, Jab & marimari. Always.

Offline iacus

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« Reply #27 on: March 19, 2007, 12:47:16 AM »
Quote from: JFC;332518
Damn, and here I thought the "large" girl that Miki had argued with was Aya (large doesn't necessarily have to mean "fat", after all :twisted:). So if Aya isn't the "large" girl, who is she?


(Guessing randomly) Maasa?
Quote
Other girl who was about Mari's height...Asami (Country Musume)?


(Also guessing randomly) Saki?

Offline coachie

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« Reply #28 on: March 19, 2007, 12:50:36 AM »
I like where this is going
I have my bets on Maki for the wolf girl, don't know why XD

Offline Aioros

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« Reply #29 on: March 19, 2007, 02:13:37 AM »
I missed two chapters! Argh! :evil:

This Shizuka person is one crazy dude. But if he was able to pull off killing artists in plain sight, then he must be really powerful.

Yay for clone Berryz :yay: and furries :yay: wait...:o :P XD

WAR AKARI!!! Infernal Ninjutsu, Hidden Lore...Freedom of Opposites Technique!!! Rest in peace Kyle,Jab,Mom,Tita, ChrNo...

Offline Estrea

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« Reply #30 on: March 19, 2007, 02:22:33 AM »
Aha I knew they would split into factions! XD

Yossi and Miki arguing. How typical. XD Even as clones they retain some of their usual traits. ^__^

Mmm Aya irritating Miki just by being able to keep up with her. :) And the line where Aya wonders why the others couldn't keep up...I felt that was so typical of her. Basically it's the "if I can do it, why can't you?" thing that all self-confident *coughnarcissisticcough* people have. Haha.

Hmmm I wonder what's going to happen next. A monster? Are they going to get attacked? If so, yay for fight scenes? Lol.

Great story, keep it moving! ^__^

永遠に咲き続ける花なんていない、すべてはいずれ枯れて朽ち果てしまう。

Currently writing:
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Offline ferrar1

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« Reply #31 on: March 19, 2007, 02:32:16 AM »
Big girl = Iida

Wolf girl = Nacchi because i so want her in this fic

4th Pic of Eri courtesy of t-motion's gallery ~ Sangokushi Taisen anyone ? http://sangokutaisen.blogspot.com/ ~ Lame attempt at a personal blog ~

Offline rndmnwierd

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« Reply #32 on: March 19, 2007, 02:38:48 AM »
Quote
A pair of girls sitting next to each other had spoken after the small female, creating a sentence together as if their minds were linked. They looked almost like twins, and Aika wondered for a moment if the scientist had cloned someone twice by mistake.


ダブルユです!

Quote
“What the HELL was THAT?”


I second that!

Offline Ren

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« Reply #33 on: March 19, 2007, 07:28:11 AM »
If I was the scientist I would have clone each girl twice, and keep the second clones for myself :heart:.

Yay for Musume clones! :D

Offline FeverInducedMadness

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« Reply #34 on: March 20, 2007, 12:17:22 AM »
@JFC: I actually revealed who both of them were, if you look carefully. lol (Or below at my comment to iacus)

@iacus: +5 to you. (I'm not sure my points are worth anything, though. haha)

@coachie: You also get +5. :heart:

@wordsworth: Think of it of having more to read, rather than missing chapters. lol And yes, you will find that Shizuka is pretty much your stereotypical twisted madman. Yay for Berryz, period. :D

@ferrar1: Unfortunately, the wolf girl isn't Nacchi, but I will set your mind at ease by telling you that Nacchi WILL be in this fic.

@rndmnwierd: I have no idea what you said in the first part of your post there. XD

@Ren: I so totally would, too. But he's probably dead now. Probably.

And um, yay for new chapter? I'm not so great at writing battle scenes. Enjoy.

--------------

Chapter Six: Battle

As Saki’s small group made their way out of the cave and into the rain, a shriek echoed through the air, and it was all the little leader could do to keep Momoko from bolting right then and there. Eri began to tremble fitfully next to Mari, and she spoke for the very first time, startling Aika, who had begun to think the girl was mute as well as blind.

“There’s blood in the air… I can smell it…”

The tone in her voice was eerie, and it sent chills down Aika’s spine. Saki looked equally troubled, and as the shower beat down on them, she turned to look at all of them.

“That had to have been one of the others… It might not be anything big, but if one of them got hurt, we should probably go check it out, right…?”

Following the scream was a ferocious roar, a noise that none of them could register as being even remotely human. Koharu was terror-stricken at this point, and appeared to be frozen to the spot.

“You want to go TOWARDS whatever’s making that sound? I’d rather put a lot of distance in between it and us…”

The girls looked out towards the forest, the thick growth of trees not offering any hint as to what lay ahead. Aika closed her eyes, feeling the cold rain run down her face. There was another cry, and the roaring continued, louder this time. We can’t just stand here…

“What if it comes after us next…?” Risako asked, a quiver in her voice.

“Then I want to see what we’re up against before it sneaks up on us. Come on.” Saki began to run towards the source of the screaming, Momoko close behind her. Mari tugged Eri along after them, and even the reluctant Koharu followed, perhaps out of a morbid curiosity.

Risako made no move to continue onwards, and that left Aika to try and coax her along.

“What’s the matter?”

“It’s big… really big…”

“What is?”

“That thing…”

Aika was perplexed, and when she looked at the girl, she noticed that her eyes were glowing slightly. Perhaps she was tapping into her power somehow…

“Can you see it…?” She asked, eyes wide with realization.

The other female nodded. “Yes…” She answered, her whisper of a reply nearly obscured by the downpour. There was another loud roar. Whatever the other clones had encountered was getting really angry. As interesting as this was… Aika knew that they probably needed to catch up to the rest of the group.

“We should hurry, though…”

“Yeah.”

Risako seemed to snap out of it, and the two of them began to run like crazy after Saki and the others.

Towards what, however, only Risako knew…

--------------

Just the stench of the thing was enough to make her sick.

It reeked of death and decaying bodies and the powerful, coppery smell of blood.

Disgusting.

The beast was a giant, lizard-like creature, covered in scales and spikes and possessing four powerful arms equipped with five deadly talons each. It had a huge mouth, lined with rows of sharp teeth that she knew would be the end of one of them if they were unfortunate to get close enough.

It had a long, whip-like tail, which had four pointed barbs on it that were hooked—for extra rip and tear action, she could only assume.

Goto Maki liked to look on the bright side of things, after all.

The annoying, hyper clone known as Sayumi had alerted herself and the others to the beast’s presence by screaming her head off when she stumbled upon it. Unfortunately, that only attracted the thing to them, and now here they were, trying to fight something that was about ten times their size.

And while she had claws and fangs and a furry little tail, all of these were practically useless at the moment.

Hitomi had recklessly flung herself at the thing to start off, but that resulted in her getting hurled across the clearing, and her flight was ended when she slammed hard into a tree. The girl was now unconscious on the ground, and to make matters worse, Sayumi would just NOT stop bawling.

The creature lashed out at them, and it was all she could do to keep the group moving in order to avoid being lacerated or impaled. And it was quickly getting tired of playing with them.

Without warning, one of the clones shot forward like Hitomi had made the mistake of doing earlier, racing straight for the beast. Maki waited for the sickening thud that was to follow, when suddenly the girl leapt out of reach of the creature’s sharp claws, scrambling up it’s arm and onto it’s back. She was the other clone that had been infused with animal DNA, the panther hybrid called Takahashi Ai.

The beast began to growl angrily once it realized that it had missed, and tried to grab the girl off of it’s back, rearing up unsteadily on it’s hind legs. Deciding to use this as a distraction, another clone, a very tall girl named Yurina, began to focus hard on a rather large rock nearby. After a moment or so it slowly began to rise into the air. Using her mind, she lobbed the projectile at the lizard’s head, and it connected, hard.  

It let out a horrible wail, and the creature whipped its head back around to face them with a snarl. Though she applauded Yurina mentally for the effort, Maki really wished the girl hadn’t done that, because it only made the thing a lot angrier.

It started to thrash violently from side to side, knocking Ai off balance and to the ground. Before the cat girl could react and get away, the lizard grabbed her and brought her up to its’ face, causing the clone to let out a shriek. Those teeth were dangerously close, and she was mere moments away from being devoured whole, when a rapid succession of shots rang out through the air.

The little blasts of energy bounced harmlessly off of the lizard’s armor-like scales, but it turned nevertheless just in time to see Miki flying towards it’s face. And that was the last thing it saw out of that eye, as she planted a nice kick in the dead center of it.

As it writhed and bellowed in pain, Ai managed to slip out of the creature’s grasp, and when Miki landed on the ground, she immediately dragged the girl to her feet and back over to the others. Maki smirked at the metal-armed woman.

Now who’s playing the hero?”

“I only did it because where I come from it’s a crime to eat pretty girls like that.”

“You came from a test tube.”

“Shut up.” Miki returned, almost daring to stick her tongue out. Aya, Reina, and the rest of her group emerged from the forest, and as they joined the others, Miki gave the girl she had first tried to pick a fight with a good pat on the back. “Nice throw, Maasa.”
The female that had been gifted with super-human strength merely smiled in reply, shifting her attention to the monster.

“So how do we kill it?”

“Nothing’s worked so far. We’ve thrown big rocks at it, and shooting it doesn’t seem to do much… plus if you try to get too close, you end up like…” Maki nodded over towards Hitomi’s unconscious form. “Well… like that.”

Miki snorted, and looked as though she was about to utter a smart reply, when the beast whipped it’s tail around, aiming right for them. Everyone scrambled to get out of the way, save Maasa, who just gritted her teeth and braced herself.

The barbs on the thing’s tail slammed hard into her body, snapping as they came into contact with her diamond-hard skin. She skidded a little ways away from her original position from the impact, but was more or less unscathed. The lizard, however, was not, and Maki could smell the blood that oozed from the thing’s now broken tail.

Enraged, it charged at Maasa, snapping her up into its jaws with one fluid motion.

It was trying to slice her body up into smaller, swallow-able pieces that was the problem. The lizard’s teeth were unable to do any damage whatsoever, and a few of them actually broke during the process. Maasa was screaming various obscenities as all of this was going on, and the others seemed to be at a loss for what to do.

Fortunately, Saki’s group had finally arrived on the scene, an assortment of bewildered looks on their faces as they observed the sight before them. Apparently they had been expecting something a little more gruesome, and a little less… comical.

“What’s going on here?” The little leader asked, watching as the beast swung Maasa about in its’ powerful maw.

“She made it mad, so now it’s trying to eat her…” Maki replied, looking over the newcomers with dismay, as none of them looked as though they would be any help to the situation.

The beast was finally losing interest in the girl it had captured, and it spit her out once it was completely sure that she wasn’t edible. Maasa looked as though she was about to throw up as she trekked back towards the group, and she was covered in a slimy film of saliva, which smelled just as horrible as it looked. The ground shook as the monster stomped around, and it let out a loud snort before charging at the clones once more.

As everyone else fled, Saki was the one to hold her ground this time, and she raised her hands out in front of her body, eyes glowing a bright white-blue color. The air around her body hissed and crackled, and just as the creature was about to tear her to shreds, she delivered about 20,000 volts of pure electric current from her fingertips to its body.
There was a horrible wail of death as the beast was roasted from the inside-out, and the atmosphere was flooded with the scent of charred and burning flesh. With a snap, the small girl broke the current, and the creature fell to the ground, completely finished.

Silence enveloped the group as Saki turned to face them, her eyes returning to their normal color. Aika was both comforted and disturbed at such a display of power, and was only reassured by the knowledge that the female was on their side. And of course, the battle wouldn’t have been completely over without some words from Miki, who walked over to kick at the carcass after it had finished smoking.

“Damn. If it was that easy, we should have tried doing that in the first place.”
-sig is undah construction because it needs to be pimped out-

Offline Estrea

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« Reply #35 on: March 20, 2007, 02:42:24 AM »
Ooo fight scene!

Ahahaha the beast failing to eat Maasa....that cracked me up! Teeth broke! Haha!

Whoa, Saki sure has a nice power. XD Love how Miki is all blase about it.

I just woke up and am not in any position to speculate since me = groggy now. Haha. Nice chapter though! :)

永遠に咲き続ける花なんていない、すべてはいずれ枯れて朽ち果てしまう。

Currently writing:
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Offline FeverInducedMadness

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« Reply #36 on: March 20, 2007, 02:47:56 AM »
Oh, and I just realized that I forgot to reply to Estrea's comment in my rush to post the latest chapter. :ONsad: (Plus, I think there's something screwed up with the forums, as I can't see some of the posts. :evil: ) Terribly sorry about that. But yeah, I'm trying to have the clones be somewhat similar to their idol counterparts without being completely the same. And haha, writing that part about Aya was fun. She's full of herself even as a clone. :heart:

Also, to update the little list that jafeijai was making on the second page, just to help anyone who's confused about who's been revealed and whatnot:

Reina - controller of flame
Miki - robotic arm
Koharu - wings (avian hybrid)
Maasa - High-density body & strength
Eri - blind (Though, that's not really her power. If you think a little bit about what happens to people when they lose one of their senses, you can probably figure it out. :) )
Saki - able to create and manipulate high voltage electric currents
Maki - wolf hybrid
Ai (Takahashi) - panther hybrid
Yurina - telekinetic abilities

Mari - unknown
Aika - unknown
Momoko - unknown
Aya - unknown
Risako - unknown
Miyabi - unknown
Sayumi - unknown
Hitomi - unknown

"twin" females (But you probably know who they are. haha) - unknown, perhaps able to communicate telepathically with each other?

And there's another girl that's with the group that I haven't mentioned at all in the story, so I'm going to go ahead and tell you that Chinami's there as well. So the identity of the clones aren't really much of a mystery anymore.

It's all about the powers now.

And the bad guys. (Or, girls. There are other members of H!P besides these chosen 21, right? hahaha. I'll just let you think about that and wonder what on earth I'm plotting.)
-sig is undah construction because it needs to be pimped out-

Offline rndmnwierd

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« Reply #37 on: March 20, 2007, 02:49:57 AM »
Lol at Miki and yay for battles!

Maybe evil mastermind Yuko?

Offline JFC

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« Reply #38 on: March 20, 2007, 06:49:28 AM »
Quote
@JFC: I actually revealed who both of them were, if you look carefully. lol
:doh:

Quote
The beast was a giant, lizard-like creature, covered in scales and spikes and possessing four powerful arms equipped with five deadly talons each. It had a huge mouth, lined with rows of sharp teeth that she knew would be the end of one of them if they were unfortunate to get close enough.

It had a long, whip-like tail, which had four pointed barbs on it that were hooked—for extra rip and tear action, she could only assume.

Goto Maki liked to look on the bright side of things, after all.
THAT's looking at the bright side? o_o


Quote
The annoying, hyper clone known as Sayumi had alerted herself and the others to the beast’s presence by screaming her head off when she stumbled upon it. Unfortunately, that only attracted the thing to them, and now here they were, trying to fight something that was about ten times their size.
Smooth...real smooth.


Quote
The little blasts of energy bounced harmlessly off of the lizard’s armor-like scales, but it turned nevertheless just in time to see Miki flying towards it’s face. And that was the last thing it saw out of that eye, as she planted a nice kick in the dead center of it.
MIKI~~ KICK!!!


Quote
“Now who’s playing the hero?”

“I only did it because where I come from it’s a crime to eat pretty girls like that.”

“You came from a test tube.”

“Shut up.”
XD XD XD


Quote
As everyone else fled, Saki was the one to hold her ground this time, and she raised her hands out in front of her body, eyes glowing a bright white-blue color. The air around her body hissed and crackled, and just as the creature was about to tear her to shreds, she delivered about 20,000 volts of pure electric current from her fingertips to its body.
There was a horrible wail of death as the beast was roasted from the inside-out, and the atmosphere was flooded with the scent of charred and burning flesh. With a snap, the small girl broke the current, and the creature fell to the ground, completely finished.
Mmmmm...dinner. :P


Quote
Eri - blind (Though, that's not really her power. If you think a little bit about what happens to people when they lose one of their senses, you can probably figure it out.  :) )
Ah, the others will be enhanced. Niiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiice. :thumbsup

JPH!P :heart:'s kuro808, Fushigidane, ChrNo, Jab & marimari. Always.

Offline Ren

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« Reply #39 on: March 20, 2007, 12:52:06 PM »
Does Sayumi have the power to kill people with her singing voice? *kidding* :ONxD:

So wolf girl = Maki? While Aichan is a panther girl? Takitty! :ONwriggly:

I have a feeling that Eri has the power of communicating (like telepathy?) Just my guess though :ONdunno:

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