ii. "Free the lions, close the gate!"

CAST: Storytelling (hesitantlyyours@aol.com, inkbynumbers@aol.com), Tucker North (hesitantlyyours@aol.com), William "Will" Byrne (inkbynumbers@aol.com), Alice Clare Donovan (wreckedships@aol.com), Andrei "Ash" Popov (eatltup@aol.com), Jade "Jaycee" Cooper (verdantclarity@aol.com), Jasper Cross (ofnoends@aol.com)
SUMMARY: Students gathered in Veitch Library for various reasons are attacked by shadowy doppelgangers who seem to know an awful lot about them, despite being very different versions of them. After a scuffle in which one of the doppelgangers loses a nose, they take refuge in the library's many mirrors. Tucker, Alice Clare and Jaycee decide that it's time Shepherd University's reclusive Headmaster takes an appointment.
TW: language, violence, slut-shaming

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[Storytelling] The evening was quiet, and kinda boring, and that was why all of your characters were going to the library, right? No, no. Whether you were looking for something in the stacks, trying to hit on the girl manning the front desk, or dozing on one of the couches like a certain blue-eyed cambion, there was a reason you were all here. The library had various mirrors interspersed along the walls at regular intervals.

[Tucker] Tucker wasn't looking in any of them, no. He was instead sitting on the couch with Jaycee Cooper, nursing the enormous to-go cup from Joe's he'd brought from his last shift and passing her a smaller one of her own--dirty chai. "It's a good start to bein' less hedgehoggy," he remarked, looking over her outfit and grinning. "Cheers, princess." He gently knocked his cup against hers. "You figure out what you're gonna do for that recital yet? I'm half tempted to just do a really...energetic rendition of Chopsticks, but I think Miss G would have my head, she would."

[Storytelling] There was really nothing out of the ordinary tonight, unless you decided to stare into one of the mirrors. And if you did...you might notice a shadow flitting behind you.

[Jaycee] Be less hedgehoggy, he said. It'll be fun, he said. Well, she had tried, and she'd even taken a damn picture of herself in the dirty mirror in her dorm. She'd had to clean it first, of course, but she'd managed to get one of those mirror selfies for an OotD post on her Twitter. Confident she was not, and she sort of did everything she could to keep her arms in front of her chest, but she sat on the couch with Tucker, glasses replaced with contacts, and a to-go cup in her hand. She gave him a little cheers, mentally noting that she needed to bring two mugs back to Joe's that were sitting in the quad's kitchen sink. She fidgeted in her seat, making a bit of a face. "I don't know about this, but it can't hurt, right? Unless it can, and we all go down in excrutiating flames."

[Alice Clare] Returning to the scene of unknown crimes, Alice had made a little study area out of a portion of the stacks where classic works of mostly modern literature lived. Researching a thesis yet determined, because there was far too many broad options in this major she had chosen. Bollocks to that. Was it too late at a graduate studies level to go undeclared? Probably. She'd been sitting for too long with her back to the shelves that now there was a bit of a tightness near the bottom of it there, and so Alice was creeping back into the main area of the library; nose still shoved in a copy of Kafka's The Metamorphois. Dirty white Converse's barely made a sound on the flooring, but they might announce her arrival to the couch the Cambion had taken a shine to for his naps, but wordlessly, Alice sat on the arm of it; turning a page of the book, and frowning a little within her expression. Not at all eavesdropping. Just dropping. .. In. Or something.

[Jasper] Begrudgingly the girl was there. Studying was perhaps the last thing Jaz never wanted to do. If she had thought about it she might even have considered paying someone else to do her assignments. Sadly someone would probably have noticed. Not at but atop one of the tables the girl sat, cross legged and with a book opened in her lap. It didn't matter what it was about, because she'd simply opened her sketchbook atop it and taken to sketching out various things instead of focusing on the actual subject she should have been giving attention. Ear buds in ears, a booted foot tapped lightly beneath her as she rubbed the heel of her palm against a tired eye. Her current 'subject'? Little Miss Alice perked as she was. Because she was pretty and aesthetically pleasing enough to fill half a page.

[Ash] Ash didn't need to specifically look in the mirror, because he was always looking in the mirror at his own damn reflection -- combing his hair back, making sure that there was enough conditioner (and product) in there to keep those platinum locks soft enough to run your fingers through. He'd fallen asleep in the library last time... then, he'd gotten carried off by T to the U to the C to the K to the E to the R, as if it were the gayest version of sleeping beauty to ever be put into production. ... of course, Tucker had snapped a pic of him first and sent it off, like the jerk he was, but, anywho! He was back -- back, and making attempt number two to see if he could figure out how to transcribe a song that was set in 5/4ths, time, while most songs were in 4/4, marches are in 2/2, and 3/4s were waltzes. Oh hey, it's Tucks himself. Yeah, that was weird, falling asleep on him. Didn't he mention something about fucking a teacher while they were there? Ash had to stand there and think about it for awhile.

[Tucker] "It ain't gonna hurt," Tucker reassured Jaycee. "Promise. Y'know, my mum used to tell me, when I was a surly little shit of a teenager, that the world would open its arms to me when I learned to open my arms to the world. You're what, sixteen?" He whistled through his teeth. "The world is yours. Walk right up and snag it. You'll fuck up and fall. We all do." When Alice came over to park onto the arm of the chair, he patted her on the shoulder lightly. "Evenin', Alice. Oooh, Metamorphosis? Hashtag just buggy things." His grin was infectious and probably moronic.

[Will] Almost any other subject and Will might have been face-down in the textbook splayed open on the table under his tattooed elbows, but apparently he gave more than half a fuck about developmental psychology. A rough hand raked back the dark, masterless curls atop his good-for-little-noggin and settled in at the back of his neck. It didn't do anything to help his forward slump... it may have even curled him over a little further, like an overcooked hotdog. A pair of silver wire-rimmed glasses sat on the bridge of his schnoz. Bet y'all didn't know he needed those.

[Jaycee] Jaycee fell rather silent when Alice came by to perch on the arm of the couch, and especially when, out of the corner of her eye, she saw a fluff of silky soft blonde hair. Sliiinnnkkkk. She slunk down into the couch, trying to become one with the cushion.

[Tucker] Well, maybe if she tried to get some. A smirk curled over Tucker's mouth when he caught Jaycee's gaze. "...Well well."

[Jaycee] "Shh, I'm trying to become the couch," she hissed at Tucker.

[Alice Clare] Aww, she was being drawn? Good thing she was mostly so still, reading that book. Tuckers greeting had blue eyes shifting his way, and she gave a wry smirk. "I think I should have grabbed the copy in German, honestly." Which was a damn good reason to snap it shut then, and turn a bit to face the North and the Cooper, dropping the book to her thigh, hands folded over it. Ash arrived, dropping on the couch too, so there's a party.

[Ash] "Did you really nail your lit teacher, Tucker?" Nice. Opening, Ash. (Say that as dryly as you can, viewers.) Soon enough, the boy was heading over toward the pair of them, wearing a black knit shirt, a pair of comfortable blue jeans, and some converse sneakers. Good job, Jaycee; she had successfully became the couch! Ash didn't even LOOK at her.

[Tucker] "You're cuter than the upholstry, princess," he drawled, sipping his coffee.

[Storytelling] The library seemed to be the utter picture of peace...until it suddenly wasn't. A bell chimed somewhere, the clock's bell, but it was ten minutes til the hour. The shadows flitted across mirrors--one danced right in front of Ash's nose, in fact, if he was looking at a mirror instead of at his music transcription. Heavy footsteps approached the couch where Tucker, Jaycee, Alice, and now Ash had gathered, from somewhere behind the blonde pretty boy.

[Tucker] Blues blinked up at Ash. "Yes, yes I did. So you weren't completely unconscious at that point. What, you think I'd have any bloody shame?"

[Storytelling] The figure that approached was swathed in a black robe with a hood, face hidden. Even the hands were covered in black gloves, and they were gripping something that was largely hidden. Rudely the figure shuffled forward, shouldered its way in front of Ash, and came to stand face to face with Tucker.

[Tucker] He peered up with a curious gaze. "Alright then?" the cambion asked. Only to be met with a silver crucifix held before him. If you ever wanted to see the guy get major air, he did so now, leaping over the back of the couch and hissing like a wet cat.

[Storytelling] From the mirrors, other shadows emerged. Inky things. They slunk towards the others, one by one. Not far behind the figure that approached Tucker with the crucifix was something that looked much more familiar. It was...Ash? But not the ridiculously primped, cocky Ash everyone was used to, oh no. Same face, almost-the-same hair. Oh, and the same bored sneer, of course, as he slunk in front of the real Ash and gave him a listless sort of shove. "So this is the fuck-up I'd become, is it?"

[Ash] What the berloody Hell was going on? First, he'd gotten shoulder checked by some asshole in a robe (YOU ARE NOT DEATH, STOP PRETENDING,) then apparently Tucker's cat had gotten back into his body, and now some guy was coming up to give him grief about -- oh. Oh. Hello, handsome. A single eyebrow cocked as Ash found himself staring at himself, and despite being relatively attracted to his own mirror image (shut up it's not weird,) he took the shove in stride. "...excuse you, but I am not a fuck-up, and how dare you make an inadvertant Evil Dead reference by existing

[Storytelling] The hooded figure spoke. "Aw, runnin' like a scared cat, you are," he said, in a rather familiar Cockney tenor. As he stepped around the arm of the couch, he pulled back his hood, and for all intents and purposes that was definitely Tucker North. Better groomed, by far. No artful stubble, hair much shorter, but the same jaw and the same mouth and the same blazing blues, now alight with fury. "Cast the beast out of you. Cast it out! You are better than this."

[Tucker] Tucker, for his part, still shied away from the crucifix that was being held out to him, and he bared a mouth full of needle-sharp fangs in another wordless hiss.

[Storytelling] The version of Will that stepped out of the nearest mirror didn't waste time with fancy overtures or stupid robes. No, he just strolled up to Will and parked himself down on the table at which he sat, and wasted no time in smacking him upside the back of the head. "Developmental psychology? A little fucking late for you, isn't it, you hopeless waste?"

[Will] What the fuck? Will's head jerked forward with the smacking, and without even looking up, both palms shot out to shove at... himself? Okay, look, the whole dark-haired, bearded hipster thing, it's popular, but this is just ridiculous. His eyebrows -- all of his face, really -- were incredulous, his brown eyes were wide. "It's never too late to develop," he snapped back. "Try it. Maybe with a little testosterone you'd have a few nuthairs."

[Storytelling] The doppelganger didn't even stumble. He just sneered. "Pussy." As for Jasper, she was...a little kinder, at least. She stepped out of the mirror with her phone to her ear. "No, no! I'll be home real soon, baby, I promise. I love you too! I just need to pick up the new read for the book club. Kisses!" She pocketed the phone and meandered up to her other, watching her draw. Sitting up beside her, staring at her art. "Oh! Oh, that's nice. What's this, though?" She plucked at whatever articles of clothing Jasper was wearing, which was very different from the pink and white oversized tunic sweater and black leggings she was wearing. "Oh, honey. No. No. This is just...why? You're so sweet, why do you dress like this?"

[Jasper] Oberon's big sweaty balls. Who the fuck was...that? Jasper had looked up from her sketches when the commotion started, but she'd never expected to see..herself. Was that serious her? Prismatic hazels just stared, jaw going slack for a moment. Until the clothing got touched. Bad move. The conversation at hand? It felt a little bit like Gwendolyn Cross going Stepford wives. Jasper did not fucking like it. The hand was slapped away and the girl hissed, dropping both books before standing up on the table, "Who and what the fuck are you?" And who was she calling baby? No wait. She didn't want to know.

[Storytelling] Ladies and gentlemen, meet Jaycee Cooper. Or rather, gentlemen, meet the other Jaycee Cooper. Now, our Jaycee was a meek little thing who liked to drown in sweaters that were too big. This version, however, was dressed very differently. The traditional Little Black Dress, a strappy thing with a low sweetheart neckline that bared entirely too much cleavage for a sixteen year old and clung to her curves and showed off long legs. She snuck up on Ash first, the real Ash, and brushed her hand over the small of his back, before confronting Jaycee. The dirty chai was snatched from her hand and sipped. "We could be glorious, you know. C'mon. Open up a little. Your thighs, mostly."

[Jaycee] It was true. Jaycee was more than a little bit of a prude when it came to hiding her bangin'figure. She had made an attempt today? But it was still not exactly form-fitting, and that LBD really left very little to the imagination. Jaycee had come up from the couch when Tucker went flying, and she looked around to see ... Oh, no. Two Ashes. And now? Now, there was some... Slutty Jaycee touching up on him and telling her to open her thighs. The color drained from the real Jaycee's face and her eyes went wide. "N-No! What the bloody hell! I..!" She made a weird sort of strangled sound that she was sure was going to preceed her sudden death-by-embarassment.

[Storytelling] And last but not least, Alice Clare Donovan. She was a puddle of inky shadow slipping formlessly along the floor until she was not. She was real and alive and she had her hand on Alice's throat. "Weak!" she screamed. "Pathetic! You think you know power? You think you know darkness?" And she made an attempt to throw the real Alice Clare onto the floor by the neck.

[Alice Clare] Last but not least, I suppose! Alice got to watch everyone get approached by their own faces -- and her eyes went wider and wider .. and wider. Will was there. Pushing himself. Jaycee was totally slutty, and motorboatable. And why did Jaz look like she should be pushing around some adorably chubby toddler?! So confusing. But then came her own. Out of the shadows and into form, screaming. Wider and wider, Alice even scrambling off the arm of the couch so that she was standing when the attack came. Why did hers have to come out already swinging?! Jeeeeez. On the defense, Alice threw her hands up in between them, and tried a lil' flick of the wrist to turn the water in the air between them into a solid form, to at least stop the neck throw. Ouch.

[Storytelling] Alice's water fizzled out, and her doppelganger got her pinned on the floor with a satisfied grunt. Ash's doppelganger had taken up residence on the couch where Tucker had just vacated when he took his flying leap against faith. He didn't make an attempt to attack Ash, at least. Maybe it was because they were both just way too pretty. "Oh, shut up, you reject. I can't even take you seriously. I can't believe you burned down your own dorm room. I mean, it's not enough that you're such a shit you can barely make friends, but you have to be a loose fire-cannon too?" Those cool blues looked at Ash with a complete lack of compassion or fuck-giving. "No wonder Daddy doesn't come around. I wouldn't either, if I had to pack a fire extinguisher every time I went to visit."

[Ash] Ash's attention drifted toward the woman behind him, before SNAPPING after her as she slunk away. Yes. Yes, he was into it. He was so very, VERY, into it! But more importantly, he now had his mirror image there to stare him down, which made him raise not one, but both eyebrows, with them crawling higher and higher up his forehead. Giving a little laugh that seemed like a mix between disbelief and desperate amusement, he turned to stare at himself. "You really think that THAT'S the reason why? Really." He laughed again! "Really. That's... I can't even respond to that. It's literally making my brain blank out with how stupid it is." Apparently, he couldn't even ruffle his own feathers! Or maybe that was the point. That the other guy wasn't as good as a pest as he was.

[Tucker] "Get that thing the fuck away from me!" Tucker's foot shot out. His boot was thick enough to connect with the crucifix without it burning him, and it went flying through the air and landed on the ground somewhere in the general vicinity of Jasper and Jasperer. Now he could sit up and look into his own eyes. "How the hell are you doin' that?" he asked, bluntly.

[Storytelling] His doppelganger's response was delivered in the sort of sneer that the cambion himself rarely possessed. "You learn a lot when you ain't spendin' your school fuckin' somethin' pretty. Could've found a way to tame the demon. Could've found a way to serve the Lord. Your true callin'." Hands shuffled under his robe, as though he was looking for something in its pockets.

[Tucker] Tucker cowered like a frightened animal when he caught sight of the religious medallions around his alter's neck.

[Storytelling] Will's doppelganger laughed, just as brash as the real one. "Oh yeah, like you'd know about being a man. You didn't even know how to be a boy. Maybe if you weren't such a piece of shit, you'd be wanted. Have a family. Maybe they would've kept you instead of pawning you off on the system." Again, he shoved Will. Harder this time. "C'mon. You going to keep being a little bitch about it, or do you have something to say? Just gonna bend over and take it?"

[Will] "What are you, one of Alistair's little fuckboys?" It was the only thing that could have even begun to explain his likeness, wasn't it? Same genes? "He send you around to try to win me over? Well..." Will's face contorted into a hot-headed expression that could have only meant that his goat had officially done been gotten. "You can tell daddy the same God damned thing that I told him; that the time for his fairytales was twenty years ago!" Somewhere under all that beard, his jaw clenched and his teeth grit as he pulled his right fist back and let it fly at his doppelganger's face.

[Storytelling] Will's punch missed, and his doppelganger got him down on the floor instead, much like Alice's. Well this had to be hot for somebody, right? Alterna-Jasper put up her finger politely. Her index finger. "Oh, hang on!" Because her phone was ringing again. She put it up to her ear and spoke. "Oh hi! Oh, I miss you too! I know we just talked but I miss you sooooo much! Just let me get that copy of Eat Pray Love, okay? Do you want Starbucks? I'm going to get one of the pumpkin spice. I love you too, Gideon! Bye-bye!" She smoothed her tunic over her knees. "Oh, where were we? Right! Those clothes. You're so sweet, and that outfit is putting off the wrong impression to everyone. Don't you want to be respected? You're more than a piece of...booty." Her perfect little nose wrinkled.

[Jasper] You ever see a pale girl like Jasper go paler? It was a rare phenomenon but it happened. She'd been about to say something when she'd been stopped. By a finger. The phone? Again? Jasper was just sort of glaring. Glaaaaring at the chick that...was supposed to be..who? Her? Eat Pray Love? Starbucks? PSL? That all could have been forgiven. But the name that left her mouth? Pardon the real Jasper Cross that finally launched at her other self once the clothing was once more addressed. "Booty? How about I just kick your ass!" And cue the cat fight. Harharhar.

[Storytelling] She just stepped back. "Oh! No, I can't fight!" She patted her belly with a conspiritorial smile. "Wouldn't want to upset little Brayden! Or Mikaeyla!" Moving away from Eat Pray Barf, Jaycee's doppelganger had sprawled lazily on the couch beside her, and she smiled when Ash snapped his teeth in her direction. "See?" she said to the girl. "He likes it. He likes this. He wants this. Give him this." Ring-dripping fingers started to reach for the buttons on real-Jaycee's blouse, popping the top two open to bare flesh. "Show him this. I bet you could get him. Tucker too." She breathed the words softly in the good little witch's ear. "Think about it. A night between the two of them. Don't pretend you wouldn't love it. Don't pretend it's not in your blood."

[Jaycee] FOR FUCKS SAKE, WHAT THE CHRIST. Jaycee was just... Appalled by what she was looking at. The Black Widow that was the epitome of the Cooper family line. Okay, so some of that stuff hurt? The fact that this slutty thing was using her body to attract her unrequited crush and it was working? She was pale, but her ears grew red with anger. NOT COOL. Her hands balled up into fists at her sides and her teeth clenched, but when she went for her buttons, Jaycee snapped. She reached up to shove her doppleganger away. By the face. By the eyes, more specifically. With a blinding flash of light from her palms directly towards the Slutty!Jaycee's retinas!

[Storytelling] It worked! She squeaked and hid her eyes. Even her squeak sounded like she was getting off, though. Alternate Alice had the real one pinned down beneath her, and she leaned down to murmur awful secrets. "Your connections make you weak and useless. Cut them. Cut them all. I cut them." Her smile was beyond unhinged. "Will has a smile on his face forever now. I made him a new one with a big sharp knife. Mira's pretty wings bled so much when I cut them off, but not as much as the rest of her did when I skinned her. She screams so pretty, too. Ophelia...oh, Ophelia, all those bubbles coming out of her pretty mouth and those big sad eyes when I drowned her." She was nose to nose with the real deal now. "And I won't even tell you what I did to Don."

[Alice Clare] Down to the ground she went, with the weight of her own body coming down on top of her; pinning her there while painting filthy picture in her head of what this version of her had done to those she called friends, her sister, and the match to her soul. She struggled beneath the hold, but it was really the last two that put Alice into real action. "Nobody .." grunt, "Drowns my sister but me." That's reassuring! Nose to nose, Alice could only hope that her doppleganger couldn't predict what she was gonna do, cause that would be real sucky, cause who would really guess it when Alice decided to bite her own nose off? Cause she did; probably headbutting her in the process. If you know. It worked. Please work.

[Storytelling] It worked. It actually worked and the alter-Alice was now missing her nose. She curled up on the floor, screaming unholy screeches and bleeding black blood that the janitor was going to have a hell of a time cleaning up. Ash's doppelganger just blew his words off. "Whatever." Apparently, like the real version, this version had a tendency to get BORED, and real Ash was just so BORING. What a BORING situation this was, and he was BORED, so he left to go find something less BORING. But he paused before he departed, and prodded him in the chest, just once. "Yeah, that's not why he doesn't come to see you. It's because you look just like her." He grinned. "You're the spitting image of your mother."

[Ash] "I..." pause. For once, Ash looked a little miffed at that, and answered in a tone that seemed a little less Ash, in that he was trying to be reasonable. When had he ever done that? When would he ever do that, again?! REASONABLE ASH, YOU GUYS. "Well, that's just not fair," he answered, surprisingly meek about his other half's jab. You leave his mum alone, you bully.

[Storytelling] Other Tucker -- Father North? -- smiled peacefully down at the frightened cambion. "There, there. You don't have to be afraid. You can purge the evil right outta you." His hand shot out, catching the real Tucker by the shoulder and roughly turning around. His shirt was pushed up along his back, baring his shoulders, and he pressed the cross of his rosary against Tucker's skin, between his shoulder blades, between his currently-hidden wings. Complete with some Latin murmurings, while Tucker struggled.

[Tucker] Tucker fought back. He ducked away, though he could feel the fire on his skin, and punched his alter in the stomach instead. "Fuckin' lunatic!"

[Storytelling] Alter-Will was fighting with the guy as best he could. "I'm gonna make your outside as ugly as your inside," he declared, before attempting to land an uppercut to Will's nose. "Now you'll really be an unlovable piece of trash. You could've been your daddy's golden boy, and instead you got dumped off on somebody else, to be somebody else's problem, because you were such a fucking burden."

[Will] The crash of Alice Clare on Alice Clare yanked Will's chin back so that he could see what was going on. His upper lip curled into a growl, though he couldn't hear what had been done to him in some other reality. An unsuccessful scramble to get out from underneath himself and get to Alice Clare proved unnecessary; looked like the little frowny-faced ray of sunshine could hold her own. So he threw an elbow back, hoping to connect with doppel-Will's face, again, and stun him silent. "You talk way too much fucking shit," he grumbled.

[Storytelling] Oh, Will. So close. But alter-Will got the best of him here. It wasn't a clean nose break like he had been gunning for, but it was certainly something that'd make his nose bleed. Her phone rang again. Alterna-Jasper looked at it and frowned. "Oh no, I have to go! I need to make sure I get home in time to make dinner for Gideon! I'm making his faaavorite!" she squeaked. "I really must be going. Bye, honey! And don't forget to cover up! You don't want to go around looking like you're asking for it, do you?" And she tried to run off towards the Crappy White Girl Lit section.

[Jasper] Fed up. Pissed off. And a whole lot of other things. Jasper glared at the woman as she went dashing off. But that wasn't all. The book she should have been studying? Snatched right up as she actually tried to peg the bitch in the back of the head. There was something about hitting even a pregnant dopple ganger monster thing that just didn't seem fair.

[Storytelling] "Owwwww!" And alter-Jasper burst into tears and ran off. Rubbing at her eyes, alter-Jaycee gently whacked real-Jaycee in the back of the head. "You're being so stupid," she said. "Do you even know what you're missing out on? Do you know how fucking good it feels? Of course you don't." She pointed at Will. Then she pointed at Tucker. "Both of them. Two nights, one after the other. Him?" She pointed at Ash. "Oh, you know exactly what I'm going to do with that one, don't you? He's so pretty, isn't he? He'll add such pretty eyes to the bloodline." She unbuttoned Jaycee's blouse a little more, until she was flashing bra, and then stood up to walk off. "Do what you were put on this planet to do, you dumbshit."

[Jaycee] Ohdeargod. Will and Tucker!? ... AND ASH!? No.. No, no... That was too much. She was doing everything she could to embarass her, and it wasn't fair. It just wasn't fair! If you thought she was a hedgehog before, then she was most certainly going to be a hermit crab now. Her shirt basically half-way unbuttoned and real Jaycee fuming, she pterodactyle screeched. "SHUT THE FUCK UP!" before she launched herself at the doppleganger to take her to the ground swinging.

[Storytelling] Jaycee succeeded! Her doppelganger was pinned underneath her, but you might want to stop. Like a female character in a video game, she just made vaguely orgasmic sounds when you hit her. Bad-Alice was left simply screaming in pain and rage. "Curse you! Curse you all! Curse this fucking school, I hope you all burn! No, I hope you all drown! No, I hope you all burn and then drown!" Her lovely face was distorted, missing a nose, and covered in black, black blood that dripped down her front. "Die, you little cunt! Die!" she shrieked as she lunged for the real Alice Clare once again.

[Alice Clare] Lunge all you like, wicked bitch, Alice was lunging back, claws out. "Shut up, shut up, shut up!" Time to see if she could fling around curses with a fist in her mouth. Or as many mouth punches as Alice could give her until she couldn't talk anymore. Did she really sound like that? Gross.

[Storytelling] Alter-Alice bit down hard on Alice Clare's hand, hard enough to draw blood. That black blood of her own was oozing everywhere. Oozing. Melting. They were all melting, all of the doppelgangers, melting into shadows that puddled and slithered away into the mirrors once more, as suddenly as they had arrived. The clock chimed again, this time about ten minutes past the hour, and all was silent. Save, of course, for the aftermath.

[Tucker] Tucker, right now, was utterly quiet save for heavy breathing behind the couch.

[Alice Clare] ".. Daughter of a witch," Alice gasped out, while her hand was bitten into by herself -- and then suddenly she felt really bad for Jaz's ass, since she'd done that to the girl not too long ago. Poor sweet non-basic ass. Clutching the injured hand to her chest with the other, Alice scooted back until she hit the couch, and then just rolled to her side; laying there face up -- in Tucker's view. "What the fuck was that?!"

[Jaycee] For what it was worth, Jaycee continued to wail on her dopple ganger with punches to her stupid face until she melted into a puddle. And then? She got up and continued to run after her and to the mirror from which she had disappeared into. Warm tears streaming down her face, Jaycee started to pound on the mirror with the side of her fist, managing to break it and cut her hand in the process.

[Ash] Ash seemed to be frowning to himself. Man, you shut up, Evil Ash, his Dad has a perfectly reasonable reason for not visiting. ... he thinks. The frown deepened.

[Tucker] Tucker was laying on his stomach, his shirt still shoved up over his shoulders to display the angry, cross-shaped mark that had formed between his shoulders. It wept blood, and his veins seemed dark and visible under pale skin in the vicinity of the wound. "Dunno," he mumbled, thick. "I dunno. You alright then? Is it over? Are they all gone?" He clawed his way into a sitting position, careful not to lean back against anything. "Fuck. Fuck, this is all gonna make me take up smokin' again at this rate. And drinkin'. And weed." The sound of a shattering mirror made him hiss again, teeth needle-sharp, but when he realized it was just poor Jaycee, he relaxed. He'd go after her in a moment.

[Alice Clare] "I think they're gone. They just .. melted." Alice was covered in the black blood that had come from her copy, staining around her mouth like she'd been a greedy vampire; all down her neck and on her shirt. Hearing too the sound of the glass, she forced herself to sit up, and really take a look at the others. Blue eyes darting between everyone, even as she spoke to Tucker. "Are you okay? What happened to your back?" Just kept going to her knees, but her attention went to Will, on the floor. "Will?" Status check, I suppose!

[Jasper] Stare. That was largely what she did for a long while. Eventually she moved, grabbing her sketch book with a shudder as if to shrug something off. They were all looked at while she held a sort of distant gaze in her eyes. Her free hand ran over the font of her torso as she frowned. "...I don't fucking know...but I don't fucking like it either..." It's okay, Alice. She didn't mind the bruise that bite had left. Ahs was the one she approached, peering at the frown which her own soon reflected. Arms moved about his waist with a wordless squeeze. Maybe for his benefit, maybe for her own.

[Ash] "I'm nothing like my mum," answered Ash, who seemed to be the least traumatized, yet the most troubled by what he heard. Isn't that just the way things go? Sure, a punch in the nose he could deal with, but oooh, you make fun of his mom, and THEN he was bothered. Words can hurt too, you know. He blinked, however, at the hand on his arm, and looked over in surprise. "... you alright, Maria?"

[Jasper] Hand? Psh! Arms around his waist!

[Ash] Oh damn girl. Nevermind, he didn't say anything to her, too busy feeling kinda warm and fuzzy 'cause apparently he's a sucker for hugs.

[Jaycee] Mirror broken and hand bleeding, Jaycee slunk to her knees so that she could try to button the buttons on her shirt. Fingers shaking and slippery from the blood, but she managed. And looked up to see Jasper hugging on Ash. Doppleganger Jaycee was right. Sniffling and snuffling, she shakily pushed herself up and disorientatedly tried to find the way to her exit.

[Tucker] "Cross. Holy object. Shovin' a rosary against a half-demon doesn't exactly end in sparkly glitter and puppy farts, y'know? You uh...fuck, you look like you've been givin' a squid a blowjob." It was said with a wry grin. "You go check on Will. I'll get..." And he watched Jaycee stumble towards the door. His brow furrowed, he glanced to Ash and Jasper, and he rose to follow the little witch. "Hey." His hand landed gently on her back. "C'mere." And let her fucking argue, because he was pulling the Cooper girl into a hug. "It's gonna be okay."

[Alice Clare] His comment had her frowning, gaze pulled back to Tucker, and she started to swipe at the goop about her mouth and chin. ".. Oh. Oh," she swallowed a little when she saw the black on her fingers. "I bit my own nose off." Saying it .. out loud .. was kind of surreal. Some of the black stuff was near the bite mark on her hand, creeping towards her own blood, and that freaked Alice out enough that she started to frantically rub the injury against her thigh, smearing the blood of both colors onto her jeans. "Don't get inside me, don't get inside me. What if I swallowed it?!" Things to have considered before biting noses off, but .. you know.

[Jasper] Prismatic hazels glanced up toward Ash. She wasn't her normal smiling self, nor grinning. A little shrug was given, head resting against his shoulder. It was.. a little grounding, really. "..You're however you want to be, y'know.." The whole image of a weird potential future just weirded the girl out. Gideon? A baby? Cooking? No way it was real. Even still it left her feeling a little lost and empty. "..You okay? I mean.." she did a little gesture, brows knitting. Were any of them? Another glance was given around. They were all such a mess. After the sweep her gaze returned to Ash.

[Jaycee] She really just wanted to get away. She'd sexually assaulted herself (wtf weird), and been called all sorts of names and shamed by this gorgeous version of herself. No, no. Screw that. Hermit crab with hedgehog spikes. Except for the fact that Tucker snatched her up into a hug. She would have grabbed a hold of his shirt, but there was no shirt to be had, so she just kinda... grabbed blindly at his chest (omigawd). And let out one hell of a pent-up sob. Stupid doppleganger preying on her insecurities.

[Will] Will had pulled himself up to his feet at some point during all the hysterics and was shrugging out of the red and yellow plaid button-up he'd been wearing over a faded Red Hot Chili Peppers teeshirt when he sidled up all red-faced and lock-jawed to report himself a survivor. "Fine. I'm fine, Al. You?" Wordless, because he didn't know her and because it looked like Tucker was already offering the girl some comfort, Will draped the aforementioned button-up across Jaycee's shoulders. "Ash? You okay, kid?"

[Tucker] Tucker was great at swallowing his troubles to help others, and he just stood there and tried to radiate his most zenniest zen for Jaycee. "C'mon now. It's alright," he said while she cried all over him. As Will passed by and dropped his button-down on Jaycee's shoulders, he began to navigate her back towards the group at large. "We gotta reconvene. That was...that wasn't right." Beast. Monster. A foul thing with a darkness that needed to be purged. That was what he was. He wasn't a good cambion and he wasn't a good human, so what was he good at being? Once he got Jaycee back to the main crowd, he gave Will a little smile over Jaycee's head, and held his hand out for a quick solidarity fist bump. "Look at us. We're all messes, we are."

[Alice Clare] "I think so," she murmured, .. but she was also licking a clean spot on the sleeve of her shirt, or more or less trying to use that to wipe down her tongue in case there was doppleganger blood on it. It didn't really taste any different than normal blood. But you never know! Blood wasn't something Alice took lightly! "There's so much blood on me," it came out in a hitch of a breath, mostly because she was trying not to panic. The not knowing? Alice didn't do well with the not knowing. Plus, she was starting to hear an echo of what evul Alice had been spouting like a sermon. Will, with a Glasgow smile. Mira, missing wings. Ophelia, drowned. Don? Maybe the school would really burn, but not from the fake. "Will, she didn't cut you, did she?" Pawing at her face again, this time with the hem of her shirt, Alice rose up to her feet, padding over to Will to get a close up look to make sure he didn't have those cuts. If he didn't, then it wasn't true, right?

[Jaycee] Oh... Oh, that was nice... And despite the fact that she wanted to disappear and never show her face again, she let Tucker take her back to the couch, and she curled herself up in the corner of it, away from everybody and pulling her knees up to her chest. Will's button-up was pulled tighter around her shoulders like a security blanket, and she did her best to try and calm herself down, though she did have a bit of a shaky quality to her quiet self.

[Ash] "Yeah. ... yeah, I'm alright." He reached down and patted Jaz' arms, before looking over the group itself -- a little more grounded than his usual, grinning, such-a-goddamn-pest-self. "I'm not hurt." Physically. [insert crying emoji here]! But, if there was one thing his evil self was right about, it was that he was somewhat his mother's son. His father's, too -- because he didn't get angry, he got defiant, which is why his parents had a dangerous, powder keg sort of romance, as sparked and fiery as a lit stick of dynamite. Sadface morphing into irritation, he straightened up his body (Jaz could feel that - boy had some fine posture muscles, despite being thin,) he looked toward the other, jaw clenched, those crystal eyes as sharp as shards of broken glass. "Messes? Pffft. Whatever the Hell that was, it was a load of bollocks, is what it was. Full of lies and nonsense and anything else to piss you, me, and everybody here off." He scoffed, and gave a little flick of his head (was his hair a little more fluffy? hm) to toss a stray lock of hair out of his eyes. "I'm not believin' a word it said, and nobody else should, if you ask me. Which you should! Since I'm pretty sure that lettin' it get the best of me would make me too damn miserable to function proper." Raw, raw, fight the powah.

[Jasper] The feline didn't seem ready to quite let got, but her gaze alone was moving for Alice. The girl looked a right mess. Ash's words were uplifting but didn't quite shake the pit she felt in her belly. It wasn't real but the seeds of 'what ifs' sure did prosper. Maybe not with the Cardigan Club and PSL, but some of the other things. Could she have been happy with some of that other stuff and people? She tried to shake the feelings and questions with Ash's words, but the nod offered was only half hearted. Finally releasing the handsome boy with his fluffy hair, she moved over toward her bag to rummage through it. A flask was withdrawn, polished to a shine as she glanced at her normal reflection. "...yeah." Still not quite the spirit to it. Boo. Instead she unscrewed the cap of her flask and moved to take a sip.

[Tucker] When Jaycee pulled away, he didn't fight her on it, but he did frown, just a touch. "We all ought to go get ourselves looked at, yeah? Ash, you seem alright. Physically at least. Jasper, you too. But the rest of us..." Tucker had pulled off his shirt so he didn't get it soaked in blood, and he remained standing to spare the couch, his hand on the arm of the couch to provide a little additional support. "Jaycee's gonna need stitches, Will ain't lookin' grand, Alice is a bit busted, and I just want a damn ice pack on my back." And a nap. And to feed both his human and his demon sides.

[Jaycee] "I'll be fine," she said, barely above a whisper. Lying, of course, because there were still pieces of glass embedded in her hand. Good times.

[Will] "Nah," he shook his head and scratched at his beard, fixing a stare down on the blue-eyed water-witch. "Nah, I'm not cut. Just got tossed around a little." Oh, there was a little more to it than that. It lurked just under the surface of his skin, barely contained; brown-black whirls of misty resentment and the violent rage it inspired. His posture was rigid, at best and communicated murder, at worst, but he pulled Alice Clare in for a quick squeeze and a too-hard pat on the back before he let her go. Gross. "Look, here... do the... water thing." And he was pulling the bottom hem of his teeshirt out in offering. "Do the water thing, wash the blood off on me so it can't get inside you." A bizarre fear to have, he figured, but fears were fears.

[Tucker] "You've got glass in your hand," he informed Jaycee, like he was telling her it was Sunday.

[Jaycee] She looked down at her hand. ... Saw a piece... Grabbed it with her thumb and forefinger of her other hand, and flicked it onto the ground. "I'll be fine."

[Ash] Ash... Ash was just... he was ragey. Mad. He was mad, bro! And instead of being an adult and helping, he dropped onto one of the couches and crossed his arms, looking furious as fuck.

[Will] A glance and a nod in Ash's direction implied that he agreed, though he'd been the very first into physical conflict, as usual. That happens when you grow up in foster care. You learn quick that throwing the first punch is the only way to give everyone else the idea that you aren't the right one for picking on, even if it sometimes means you become the one they pick on when they're itching for a fight. His doppelganger had known just which buttons to push. Curious.

[Tucker] "Knock it off, Jaycee. Those wounds ain't gonna magically fix themselves." Since it seemed like Tucker was the only one who was good at swallowing his angst temporarily, he looked about at the motley crew that had assembled. "Somebody's gotta do somethin' about this. Mirrors. Things are comin' out of mirrors. I don't know who I'm supposed to go to about this, one of the staff or somethin'?" Beth, of course, but she was just his personal brain trust and he always went to her when shit got weird. When Ash dropped onto the couch with Jaycee on it and Tucker hanging on to it--because why not right--he gave Jaycee a little meaningful glance and then turned back to the others. "In what fuckin' reality am I gonna go be some Jesus warrior? I can't even walk into a church without feelin' like I'm gonna throw up."

[Alice Clare] The water thing. Panic was a nasty thing, made one forget what one could do -- or maybe that was just Alice. She went a little rigid when he hugged her, but only a half second or so -- then she relaxed into him, just in time for him to let go and get thumpy. Wasn't expecting that, and she lurched forward a half step and shot a glare up at him. "Watch it, Hulk." But you best believe she was taking up the offer of his shirt, and the way he'd thumped on her had smacked her a bit out of it. So she did the water thing. Taking his shirt in between both hands and soaking it a little there at the bottom, until it was pink and gray with red and black blood.

[Jaycee] Okay, so maybe she did need to go get checked out, and she would. What was she going to do, fight off the cambion? Her and what army? "I don't... That wasn't... me... I wouldn't... I mean, it's not..." She looked between Tucker and Ash for that one. The alterna-Jaycee had really played off of them.

[Jasper] "...Could break the mirrors." All of them? No way. Moving over toward the couch, she flopped down while taking another swig. There was enough room, right? She offered Jaycee a little smile abliet somewhat unfamiliar. The flask was offered out to the others with another sigh. "An' I can't have the baby of a dead guy. Or cook.." So helpful, Jaz. But at least she agreed with Tucker.

[Ash] "Done and done." Ash. Ash, stop. Ash, sit down. Goddamnit Ash, put down that chair! Yes, ladies and gentlemen, Ash was going after that mirror, by golly, and he was going to MURDER it with extreme prejudice, if nobody stopped him ahead of time.

[Tucker] "Break the mirrors? That's like, what, seven hundred years bad luck or somethin', give or take? Ugh, fuck me. I need a cigarette--Ash! Fuck's sake!" And he went after the stupid boy to get him to put the chair down. "Don't!"

[Ash] "DON'T FIGHT ME, TUCKER. YOU AND I BOTH KNOW THAT THIS HAD TO HAPPEN." Awwwwwww yeahhhhhhh. Conflicted with the image of Ash raising a chair over his head in threat/keep-away, but still. Giggity.

[Jaycee] She'd already gone after one of the mirrors, and it had ended poorly for her. She didn't want Ash to end up bleeding as well. "Ash, no!" she yelled, actually getting up to a stand and holding out her hand in a 'stop' gesture. ... And then he was threatening Tucker. "Ash, stop!"

[Tucker] "Don't be stupid, Ash! Those mirrors have been here for ages without anythin' happenin'! Look, I didn't like it any more than you did!" He seized the chair in both hands, trying to pry it away from the boy like it was a murder weapon. "But smashin' the mirrors ain't the solution."

[Alice Clare] "Stop, stop," Alice's Will-glare went away as fast as it had come, and as she soaked his shirt with blood, magic, and water, she had no fears of the boy and his threats to Tucker with a chair. Moving his way, now clean palms up. "If there's magic in the mirrors that brought that out, you don't know what else could be in there, or what could come out if they're broken. You don't know," none of them did, but you can best bet someone was going to find out. A side glance was cast over to Jaycee -- more than just a perusal to make sure the girl wasn't too harmed by what had happened, but there was something else in that glance over to her counterpart.

[Jasper] It had been her half assed suggestion but she never expected Ash to jump on it. There were already a few frolks trying to stop the little fire starter, and thus she just took another swig from her flask. "Alice is right, Ash. Stop." She couldn't say she minded seeing those mirrors possibly smashed but it did seem like a bad idea now that she thought about it. "Do it, and I'll find that genie and make her body swap us again while I'm high.." Oooh, threat.

[Jaycee] When Alice spoke, Jaycee looked over to her and caught her glance for a moment. It was a bit of a worried look from the younger of the two, and she pursed her lips together. Not good. Not good at all. ... And she felt a little ashamed of herself for having already broken a mirror.

[Tucker] "We've already got one mirror broke. Look at poor Jaycee. Busted her hand all up and everythin'. We don't need more busted mirrors!" He scowled as he grappled with Ash, which...I mean, Tucker wasn't wearing a shirt. Enjoy.

[Will] "You watch it, Aquagirl. I just let you turn my favorite band tee pink." Because that's the end-all be-all of all the things, you know. Will turned his head to watch Ash go after a mirror with a chair and to watch Tucker go after Ash with Dad Voice. An eyebrow shot up into his forehead.

[Storytelling] The librarian rushed in from the restricted section and began shooing students out of the building upon the settling of wide eyes on broken glass and injured students. "Out, out; back to Turner Hall," she cawed, then gave Ash the narrow eye of a lifetime. "Everyone out. Standard procedure! Go on!" A gust floated between the bodies of those who had been assaulted, curiously lingering over wounds, enveloping those whose wounds weren't physical in icy calm. Whispers followed in its wake, coiling cold in inner ears. "Free the lions, close the gate," they cried. "Free the lions, close the gate!"

[Ash] "That's why I'm using a CHAIR. And possibly my shirt." Oh God, don't take your shirt off Ash. Really. ... really, Please Don't. He continued to grapple Tucker, pretty boy to pretty boy, sort of like the male version of the sexy girl vs sexy girl fights that movies seemed to had -- the sort that didn't have any major damage done during the fight because it was there to show off the ladies. It was, then, though that the librarian rushed in and gave him a nasty look, which he responded to by giving her a nasty look in return. THANKS FOR COMING IN LATE, MADAME LIBRARIAN.

[Storytelling] Look nasty all you want, Ash, she means business. Out.

[Tucker] Tucker did have a pretty stellar daddy voice, didn't he? Don't tell him that, though, not after what he had just been through. "We're goin', we're goin'," he muttered to the librarian. "We're goin', ma'am." He shuffled along with the crowd, and then he paused, feeling the cool breeze, hearing the words. "Did you guys hear somethin' just now?" Free the lions. Free the...free the... "Oh." Hm.

[Alice Clare] The librarian came rushing in, and while Tucker and Ash did some boy on boy, Alice shuffled some over to Jaycee, to get herself next to the youngest of our Chosen. It turned cold, and Alice's shoulders tightened against it, and the way it lingered along her hand. She clenched those fingers, and pushed through the chill until she stopped shoulder to shoulder with the light witch. Words were murmured, low enough for Jaycee to pick up -- though maybe not with cries that found their ears. "Probably gonna go find the Headmaster. Wanna come?" A glance was sent to Tucker as he gave voice to recongize what they were all hearing. "Sounds like we're going on lockdown, pal." Alice could only assume.

[Ash] Ash put down the chair, but started to shuffle out, while giving librarian-lady the sort of look that could kill pigeons mid-flight.

[Jaycee] So glad Ash didn't take off his shirt. She was about to go and grab him by the shoulders and yank him back away from Tucker, but that's when the librarian came swooshing in, and the cold breeze and the whispers comforted and shoo'd them away. She looked over to Alice and leaned in to hear what she had to say. She swallowed hard, looked back at Ash, then back to Alice with a little nod. Her hand could wait.

[Jasper] Wasn't nobody going to be rushing her out of the damn library. All this calamity wasn't addressed with more than a somber frown as the usually party-rific grinning cheshire rose to follow the rest. It was a slow mosey, given with a slight pause at the weird wind and whisper. "Huh.." Ash was given a bit of a side bump as they shuffled. "C'mon, Flicker.." New nick name? Sure.

[Tucker] "Free the lions. I...I should probably...lockdown?" He looked highly anxious, actually. But in the end, he just pulled his phone from his pocket and sent a text. Free the lions. Free the Lyons. You bet your ass he texted Beth to tell her to avoid mirrors. And he agreed: it was time for Headmaster to come out of hiding.