016 ♪ video ♪ the battle of one

[chosenfake]

[The camera is lopsided and apparently on the ground outside Building 1. It catches two sets of identical shoes shuffling around each other, two sets of white coats (though one is stained with rainbow paint?), two voices raised against each other in argument. The first voice is slightly more shrill, but also more teasing, more desperate. It's Luke

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[Video/Action!]

[servidude]

[Guy saw that. And immediately he's marching outside to find Luke. Because this is what best friends do. He's concerned, yes, but Luke looked pretty physically okay.]

[He's more worried about the words and what he can guess from them. The fakes... They aren't exact copies but they aren't the opposite either. The more he's seen the more he believes they're like dark mirrors, reflecting the original.]

[So if that's a reflection of Luke, than Luke's issues are about as deep as he suspected or more so and Guy feels a little like a failure for not really putting it together.]

[So when he hops the rail down the last few stairs and slams out the door, it's to haul back and punch Luke in the face.]

[Video/Action]

[chosenfake]

[Luke is just beginning to pick himself up off the ground when out comes A PUNCH TO THE FACE. He yelps and goes down again! Level means nothing when you're suddenly socked by your best friend. He doesn't move immediately, instead just holds his cheek and gapes.]

Guy?!

[Seriously, what the hell did he say /this/ time?]

[Video/Action]

[servidude]

[Turn off your communicator Luke! But Guy is too busy being pissed to notice. He just, puts his hands on his hips, not offering Luke help up because he kind of wants to punch him again for being so stupid. And maybe himself for not noticing.]

[Okay, he should probably calm down. He looks away a moment, takes a breath and then right back at Luke, blue eyes meeting green.]

Were you ever planning on telling me what was bothering you?

[action]

[chosenfake]

[HEY, he just got punched in the face and last time that happened, he was trying to be an hero. So you know, he's got more important things to do than turn off the communicator right away.

But he does so now, realizing it's still heavy in his hands. He slips it into his pocket and avoids Guy's look.]

There's nothing bothering me. I'm happy right now, happier than I've been in a long time, so-

video;

[notflynn]

[He takes it all in, listens carefully. There's no judgment here, never from Yuri.]

Hey- are you okay?

video; HEE

[chosenfake]

[Thank God. Didn't Luke console Yuri over this once? They sure are a lot alike despite one being a troll and the other being trollbait.]

Y... yeah, I'm fine. [Just a little shaken. He doesn't even try to smile.] It's our fault these... replicas are here, right? Because we went down there.

video;

[4llth3just1c3]

[She's been watching the Network, so she has a pretty good idea what this is, and to be honest, she's worried about him. Just a little.]

Luke?

[She heard that murderer comment, and it makes her curious. Was the clone telling the truth? Who had Luke murdered? And why were all of her friends killing people?]

video;

[chosenfake]

Hey... Terezi. [The sound of scraping pavement. He cradles the communicator, which has seen so much abuse recently, and flops onto some steps. He could ask what she heard, but he kinda doesn't want to know.]

video;

[4llth3just1c3]

What happened?

video;

[chosenfake]

There are replicas of people running around. They were... attacking things underground before, but I guess they wanted to meet us really badly. [He runs a hand through his hair.] I have a bad feeling about all of this.

video;

[selenoscape]

[And, of course, Luke gets to deal with a worried Estelle.]

Oh, Luke... Are you alright?

video;

[chosenfake]

[Totally not who he wanted to see. Actually he didn't want to see anyone, but.]

Y-yeah, I'm fine.

[Forcing himself, but that's normal for him.]

Are you okay? I've heard those guys all across the network recently, so...

video;

[selenoscape]

Yes. I've been lucky. I haven't seen any clones.

[She hesitates.]

You aren't hurt, are you?

video;

[chosenfake]

Good. Make sure you ask for help if you see one.

[He shakes his head at her question.]

He didn't hurt me. [Not physically, anyway.]

[renegare]

Biding your time to kill it?

[chosenfake]

W-- Why would I want to kill my own replica?! [Not this argument again.]

[renegare]

Because it crowds.

[chosenfake]

It doesn't! Just because someone looks like me doesn't mean they have to die.

Anyway... I'm not sure those guys are really our replicas. Maybe they're something else. Like a mirror.

[That definitely wasn't Blankets.]