Manijure wrote:"You...," I seeth. "You.... YOU...."
My hologram moves his virtual body from Repeat's blade.
"You idiot."
I stare at Repeat with a smug look on my face.
"Who says holograms can't speak?" I say confidently. "Your overconfidence will do you in. Although you are a tough nut to crack..."
I then notice that Repeat and her two copies are shaking with strained looks on their faces.
"Perhaps you won't die like the cheap superhumans that you are. But poison is poison, and I can see it is taking a toll on you. No amount of copies can protect you. Already, your bodily functions have slowed, including your speed. In a minute, you'll be immobilized, along with any more copies you plan on conjuring."
I turn to JB, who is also shaking from the scratch from her chin.
"You, on the other hand, do not seem to be immortal. Even a mere scratch from my blade will kill you in a few hours. And at the moment, there is NO antidote. No form of healing or status recovery items can save you now."
Dissolving my holograms, I summon a stag beetle and climb atop it, still keeping my eyes on my enemies, mostly on Pete.
"I suggest you keep a watchful eye on your sister and enjoy your final moments with JB. Do not worry, I'll be back for you and Repeat... another day, once I find a way to bring even a superhuman to my knees."
With that, my stag beetle gallops me away.
"Wait," Repeat says. "Why is he running away? Doesn't he realize we can just as easily catch him?"
"I don't know, but that beetle is serious cool. Yo, Juice, you ayt?"
"Yeah, I'm good," I say, still shivering. "Pretty sure I'm gonna die, though. You mind gifting me Repeat's powers?"
"Yeah, sure. Transferring now."
"You do that," Repeat remarks. "I'll catch up with Beetleboy."
Manijure is still blatantly unaware of the full capacity of Pete and Repeat's powers--he never even knew that Pete was a Gifter, that he could give someone another person's powers. Pete touches his sister's forehead just as she takes speed, then just as easily touches mine.
"There," he says. "You can make replicants now. It won't last long, though, just two or so minutes, plus you can only make one."
I allow my newly found ability to envelope me, and, quickly, create a copy of myself right beside me.
"Damn, I'm
sooo hot," I bask at my replicant's tremendously gorgeous features. "So it works just like Repeat does, right? As long as one body lives, she can't die?"
"Yup."
"Ayt, so this one'll take over," I say, pointing to my replicant. She even has her own set of gauntlets with her. "Nice knowing y'all!"
And then, willingly, I collapse, evaporating slowly into glowing white dust as my remains float to the sky.
MEANWHILE...
Repeat casually runs at her normal pace of 120 kilometers per hour, and very easily catches up to Manijure, watching as he laughs maniacally.
"'Sup, dude!"
"WHAT," the Malevolent Wizard replies, still on his mount. "But you should be paralyzed completely by now! How--"
"I don't think you really get how it works, dude: every single copy I make is free of any wounds past copies have sustained. It's how I stay healthy!"
"Oh, that's... that's quite amazing, isn't it? If each copy is completely free of all past ailments, then theoretically you would never need to eat, just make a new copy as the old one dies. You would never have disease, as you can just allow your old body to wither while you stay free."
"Yup, basically how it works. Anyways, nice chitchat and all, but I sort of need to hurt you now."
"What? But we were just getting to know each other!--"
Repeat rams into Manijure, knocking him out of his mount, then stabs the giant beetle with her huge sword. The beast roars in pain, black blood squirting from its large wounds, and very slowly comes to a halt as life slowly seeps away from it.
"Now," Repeat says, casually getting off the beetle. "My friends'll be here any moment. Let's get back to this, shall we?"