Doppelganger
Standard Apology. A one-shot fic. A businessman becomes slightly fixated (Not like that! Quit it, you sick-minded Slasherins!) with Agent Smith after an accidental meeting.
It was a cloudy but surprisingly not too gloomy day and Rick, a businessman who worked in the Mulpha building, wasn't thinking of anything in particular (except maybe lunch) as he made his way down the crowded streets of the City. As he ambled along the sidewalk, he gradually became aware of some sort of commotion up ahead. As he got closer to the source of the unrest he saw one of his friends, Bill, chatting on his cell phone, loudly and obnoxiously as usual. Rick was about to say hi when suddenly a man wearing what appeared to be black combat gear ran past Bill, grabbing the cell phone right out of his hand. As Bill yelled various obscenities at the strange running man, something very extraordinary happened: Rick blinked and suddenly a stranger was standing and gesturing where Bill stood.
For just a moment the two stared at each other. The stranger wore an olive- drab suit and a pair of dark brown sunglasses, and for a few seconds he continued to wave his arms the way Bill had been doing, but it wasn't the strangeness of his appearance nor suddenness of his appearance that was most shocking to Rick, it was the fact that, aside from the man's sunglasses, he looked exactly like him. The stranger then turned around, someone walked in front of Rick, blocking his view... and there was Bill again.
Bill appeared to be a little disoriented for a second, and then noticed his friend. "Oh, hey Rick! Did you see that? That guy took my phone! He just- Rick? Is something wrong?" Bill had noticed that Rick looked visibly shaken about something that did not appear to have anything to do with his phone. Suddenly, there were gunshots coming from an alley a block away, where there was a small farmer's market. "What the- Hey! Don't go in there, it might be danger- Rick? Rick!" But Rick had already dashed towards the sound of the shooting. "What is it with everything today? First my office is demolished by a crashing helicopter while I'm on a coffee break, then my phone's stolen, and now this!," muttered Bill as he observed the retreating figure of his friend. He looked back at the plume of black smoke that hung over his building. "That's it, I need a vacation..."
Rick ran towards the sound of the shooting. He didn't know why, but he had a feeling that the stranger with his face had something to do with it. When he arrived at the farmer's market, however, all he found was a scene of utter chaos: people running everywhere, a partially demolished vegetable stand, a few watermelons shot full of holes, and one little girl who was crying hysterically for her mommy, who had "turned into a guy and then ran after the other guy!" Rick dashed off in the general direction the child was pointing, but he didn't find anyone save for the little girl's mommy who was standing near a dilapidated apartment building with a very disoriented look on her face.
It was now almost two AM, but Rick could not sleep. What had happened to his friend that day? Who was the man in the olive-drab suit that looked like him (but with worse fashion sense)? Suddenly he remembered something: he had read about people seeing their doubles before, in one of his "Unexplainable Mysteries" books. He went to his bookshelf and found the right title, "Mysterious Disappearances... And Appearances." He read: "Another common phenomenon is for people to meet either physical or 'historical' (similar background) doubles of themselves, known as 'doppelgangers.' In some cultures, the appearances of these doubles are a sign of impending death or misfortune, while others feel that the experience is harmless...."
* * * * *
About a year later, Rick had all but forgotten his brief, strange meeting with his Doppelganger. Life had gone on in the City, though now many people, mostly children and teenagers, were disappearing at an almost epidemic rate. "This probably has something to do with those guys who crashed into my office," grumbled Bill, who now worked at Rick's office, as he read an article about yet another missing person, a teenaged boy who had leapt from the top of his school to escape some police officers and then disappeared somewhere between the second floor and the pavement below. Rick said nothing, as he was too busy looking at another, smaller article: "Mysterious 'Men in Black' Sighted at Park: Twenty-five residents of North Wekka Street reported to police yesterday that a large crowd of men dressed in business suits, and one guy who wasn't, who were gathered at the local park. Mr. Ross McFadden took this picture (left), which shows the strange concentration of identically dressed men. There were no reports of any filming being done in that area, and at press time we had not received comment from the government..."
Without reading the rest of the article (something about a huge brawl between the "Men in Black" and one unarmed yet extremely quick guy), Rick stared long and hard at the black-and-white picture, for there, multiplied by about 50, was the man who had the same face as he. Silently, as Bill was remarking about some sci-fi movie that was being reviewed in the entertainment section ("A visually stunning but ultimately pointless set of sequels, I say. I didn't even get the *first* movie..."), Rick stole out of his cubical and began wandering around the City. He wasn't quite sure where he was going, but he knew that soon he would find some answers, answers to questions that had suddenly started to nag on him. Like, what was going on with all these disappearances? Who (or what) the heck were all these "MIBs?" Most importantly, what sort of change, for good or ill, did his Doppelganger signify?
About half an hour later, Rick found himself at the same park he had read about in the paper. There was a man-sized hole in the glass windows of one apartment building, about 50 yards of yellow "caution" tape, several demolished benches, and bent tetherball pole that appeared to have been ripped out of the ground. As he surveyed the scene, Rick thought he caught a glance of an MIB lurking around the corner. As casually as possible, he moved towards the building but by that time the Doppelganger was gone. Glancing at his watch, Rick felt a wave of horror go through him: he had been AWOL from work for 45 minutes! He had just turned around to go back home when he saw the MIB again, this time not more then five yards away.
Rick had made up his mind to follow the possibly dangerous MIB when somebody tapped him on the shoulder. He spun around and met just about the strangest pair he had ever seen. The woman was at least 65 years old and wore a battered leather coat over an emerald green dress; her companion, an Asian man of indeterminate age, wore a pair of small, round sunglasses and a white Chinese shirt over a black outfit. The woman held up her hand before Rick could say anything. "I know who you are. I also know of the one you seek." The woman's voice was kind but tinged with a sort of sadness. "Right now I can only advise you not to go looking for him. Anyhow, I fear *he* may find *you* at any rate..." The Asian man whispered something to the woman, whom he appeared to be protecting. "I must go now, but promise me that you will not go looking for that man. In this case, a Doppelganger will only signify... death." Rick nodded, and the two walked away, entering a nearby apartment building. As he observed their departure, Rick felt that he was being watched, but saw no one. Looking at his watch again, he tore back to his office and made it just as lunch hour ended.
* * * * *
That night Rick, along with the rest of the City, sat staring at the TV as news filtered the images of the latest bizarre terrorist attack: a power plant and an enormous skyscraper had been demolished within an hour of each other. As he stared at the images of the firemen and police officers containing the situation around the exploded wreck of the tall building, Rick caught a glance of the elusive MIB. As the look-alike walked unnoticed behind a mailbox, there was suddenly *two* of him. A third "twin" joined the first two, and then they moved out of camera range. This really unnerved Rick; what did it mean when you saw *three* Doppelgangers? Would you die a very bad death, or were three people going to die along with you, or was the doom negated by the appearance of the other two "clones"? By this time Rick was getting a headache, so he turned off the TV and tried to get some sleep.
The alarm buzzed at 7 AM, but Rick didn't feel like getting up. The alarm disagreed and kept buzzing in his ear until Rick had no choice but to either get up or hurl the offending clock out the window and buy a new one with a snooze alarm. Erring to the side of frugality, Rick woke up and was about to go to the shower when he noticed something was wrong with the light: there wasn't any. It was as pitch dark as though it were still midnight outside. Rick grew very rattled as he looked out his window and saw that the sky looked... wrong. There just weren't any good terms to describe it: There were no ominous clouds overhead, but there weren't any stars either; it was as if the sky had been replaced by a black void. Strangely, he could still see the buildings outside though the sun wasn't visible at all in the black sky.
No knowing what else to do, Rick got dressed and went outside to see what was going on. He had not gone more then ten paces from his apartment building when he saw *them,* an entire army of "Men in Black," all with his face and wearing shades in spite of the oppressive darkness walking briskly down the street. "I fear he may find you, at any rate..." the old woman's voice rang in his head as Rick struggled to figure out what he should do next. As he watched, he noticed another man walking ahead of him to confront the advancing clone army. To Rick's horror, the man was instantly grabbed by the neck by the clone nearest to him. At first it seemed that the man was going to be choked to death, but then something very disturbing happened over the course of about three seconds: strange black "oil" started flowing from the "clone's" hand, then completely engulfed the hapless victim. Suddenly the "oil" vanished and where the first man had stood moments before was another "Man in Black," who unhesitatingly joined the eerie multitude that marched down the street.
Rick now knew that he was screwed. He knew that the man in front of him had been "killed" somehow, and that was the fate that awaited him once the army of MIB's caught up to him. Just as the clone/Doppelganger/MIB army had come perilously close to Rick's doorstep, it suddenly began to rain. Lightning flashed and thunder roared over the City, and the MIB army took this as some sort of signal. All of them made a quick about-face and headed off in the opposite direction... except for one, who had been at the head of the horde and was now at the end of the retreating throng; instead of immediately turning around like the others, he stood in place to stare at Rick for a second, and then quickly joined his "brothers."
Having been stunned into submission by the bizarre and disturbing scene that had just taken place, Rick just stood there, his clothes becoming sodden by the raindrops (which were unusually large, which was odd because there was still no sign of any clouds or any other atmospheric conditions overhead). Just as he had made up his mind to go back to bed and get back into the delightful dream he had been having which also made much more sense then this "reality," Rick noticed that the mass of black clad Doppelgangers had gone up only a few blocks and were now lined up in neat, Nazi-like rows along either side of the street. One of the clones (the apparent leader) was standing in the middle of the avenue, waiting for someone's arrival.
Curiosity overcame fear and Rick edged out of the shelter of the doorway to observe the army of "multi-me's." Who were they waiting for? The answer materialized in the form of a tall young man who suddenly appeared out of nowhere. The man (who Rick supposed was the man the MIB army had fought in the park the other day) and the lone MIB stood in the middle of the street and appeared to be talking to each other in spite of the drenching rain. Rick edged still closer. He said not a word as the two opponents charged at each other, moving at such speeds that at times he could not see their bodies at all, only mark their paths where the steady fall of rain, the ground, or nearby masonry was disturbed by the sudden movements and explosions of energy or the two combatants.
Rain poured, lightning flashed, and thunder rumbled.
The final fight had begun.
"I wonder who'll win."
[?END?]
------------------------------------------------
Author's notes: I wrote this all at once, with no planning other then the idea of "There's this guy. And he sees an Agent who looks like him." If you check the story, you'll notice that Rick doesn't actually speak except at the very end. There might be some sort of symbolism in that, exactly what I don't know. Since I don't know how the final fight ends (aside from the Spoiler version) I just left it there. Points to ponder: Who does Rick really want to win, and what would you do if you saw an army of ppl who looked like you behaving so badly?
Standard Apology. A one-shot fic. A businessman becomes slightly fixated (Not like that! Quit it, you sick-minded Slasherins!) with Agent Smith after an accidental meeting.
It was a cloudy but surprisingly not too gloomy day and Rick, a businessman who worked in the Mulpha building, wasn't thinking of anything in particular (except maybe lunch) as he made his way down the crowded streets of the City. As he ambled along the sidewalk, he gradually became aware of some sort of commotion up ahead. As he got closer to the source of the unrest he saw one of his friends, Bill, chatting on his cell phone, loudly and obnoxiously as usual. Rick was about to say hi when suddenly a man wearing what appeared to be black combat gear ran past Bill, grabbing the cell phone right out of his hand. As Bill yelled various obscenities at the strange running man, something very extraordinary happened: Rick blinked and suddenly a stranger was standing and gesturing where Bill stood.
For just a moment the two stared at each other. The stranger wore an olive- drab suit and a pair of dark brown sunglasses, and for a few seconds he continued to wave his arms the way Bill had been doing, but it wasn't the strangeness of his appearance nor suddenness of his appearance that was most shocking to Rick, it was the fact that, aside from the man's sunglasses, he looked exactly like him. The stranger then turned around, someone walked in front of Rick, blocking his view... and there was Bill again.
Bill appeared to be a little disoriented for a second, and then noticed his friend. "Oh, hey Rick! Did you see that? That guy took my phone! He just- Rick? Is something wrong?" Bill had noticed that Rick looked visibly shaken about something that did not appear to have anything to do with his phone. Suddenly, there were gunshots coming from an alley a block away, where there was a small farmer's market. "What the- Hey! Don't go in there, it might be danger- Rick? Rick!" But Rick had already dashed towards the sound of the shooting. "What is it with everything today? First my office is demolished by a crashing helicopter while I'm on a coffee break, then my phone's stolen, and now this!," muttered Bill as he observed the retreating figure of his friend. He looked back at the plume of black smoke that hung over his building. "That's it, I need a vacation..."
Rick ran towards the sound of the shooting. He didn't know why, but he had a feeling that the stranger with his face had something to do with it. When he arrived at the farmer's market, however, all he found was a scene of utter chaos: people running everywhere, a partially demolished vegetable stand, a few watermelons shot full of holes, and one little girl who was crying hysterically for her mommy, who had "turned into a guy and then ran after the other guy!" Rick dashed off in the general direction the child was pointing, but he didn't find anyone save for the little girl's mommy who was standing near a dilapidated apartment building with a very disoriented look on her face.
It was now almost two AM, but Rick could not sleep. What had happened to his friend that day? Who was the man in the olive-drab suit that looked like him (but with worse fashion sense)? Suddenly he remembered something: he had read about people seeing their doubles before, in one of his "Unexplainable Mysteries" books. He went to his bookshelf and found the right title, "Mysterious Disappearances... And Appearances." He read: "Another common phenomenon is for people to meet either physical or 'historical' (similar background) doubles of themselves, known as 'doppelgangers.' In some cultures, the appearances of these doubles are a sign of impending death or misfortune, while others feel that the experience is harmless...."
* * * * *
About a year later, Rick had all but forgotten his brief, strange meeting with his Doppelganger. Life had gone on in the City, though now many people, mostly children and teenagers, were disappearing at an almost epidemic rate. "This probably has something to do with those guys who crashed into my office," grumbled Bill, who now worked at Rick's office, as he read an article about yet another missing person, a teenaged boy who had leapt from the top of his school to escape some police officers and then disappeared somewhere between the second floor and the pavement below. Rick said nothing, as he was too busy looking at another, smaller article: "Mysterious 'Men in Black' Sighted at Park: Twenty-five residents of North Wekka Street reported to police yesterday that a large crowd of men dressed in business suits, and one guy who wasn't, who were gathered at the local park. Mr. Ross McFadden took this picture (left), which shows the strange concentration of identically dressed men. There were no reports of any filming being done in that area, and at press time we had not received comment from the government..."
Without reading the rest of the article (something about a huge brawl between the "Men in Black" and one unarmed yet extremely quick guy), Rick stared long and hard at the black-and-white picture, for there, multiplied by about 50, was the man who had the same face as he. Silently, as Bill was remarking about some sci-fi movie that was being reviewed in the entertainment section ("A visually stunning but ultimately pointless set of sequels, I say. I didn't even get the *first* movie..."), Rick stole out of his cubical and began wandering around the City. He wasn't quite sure where he was going, but he knew that soon he would find some answers, answers to questions that had suddenly started to nag on him. Like, what was going on with all these disappearances? Who (or what) the heck were all these "MIBs?" Most importantly, what sort of change, for good or ill, did his Doppelganger signify?
About half an hour later, Rick found himself at the same park he had read about in the paper. There was a man-sized hole in the glass windows of one apartment building, about 50 yards of yellow "caution" tape, several demolished benches, and bent tetherball pole that appeared to have been ripped out of the ground. As he surveyed the scene, Rick thought he caught a glance of an MIB lurking around the corner. As casually as possible, he moved towards the building but by that time the Doppelganger was gone. Glancing at his watch, Rick felt a wave of horror go through him: he had been AWOL from work for 45 minutes! He had just turned around to go back home when he saw the MIB again, this time not more then five yards away.
Rick had made up his mind to follow the possibly dangerous MIB when somebody tapped him on the shoulder. He spun around and met just about the strangest pair he had ever seen. The woman was at least 65 years old and wore a battered leather coat over an emerald green dress; her companion, an Asian man of indeterminate age, wore a pair of small, round sunglasses and a white Chinese shirt over a black outfit. The woman held up her hand before Rick could say anything. "I know who you are. I also know of the one you seek." The woman's voice was kind but tinged with a sort of sadness. "Right now I can only advise you not to go looking for him. Anyhow, I fear *he* may find *you* at any rate..." The Asian man whispered something to the woman, whom he appeared to be protecting. "I must go now, but promise me that you will not go looking for that man. In this case, a Doppelganger will only signify... death." Rick nodded, and the two walked away, entering a nearby apartment building. As he observed their departure, Rick felt that he was being watched, but saw no one. Looking at his watch again, he tore back to his office and made it just as lunch hour ended.
* * * * *
That night Rick, along with the rest of the City, sat staring at the TV as news filtered the images of the latest bizarre terrorist attack: a power plant and an enormous skyscraper had been demolished within an hour of each other. As he stared at the images of the firemen and police officers containing the situation around the exploded wreck of the tall building, Rick caught a glance of the elusive MIB. As the look-alike walked unnoticed behind a mailbox, there was suddenly *two* of him. A third "twin" joined the first two, and then they moved out of camera range. This really unnerved Rick; what did it mean when you saw *three* Doppelgangers? Would you die a very bad death, or were three people going to die along with you, or was the doom negated by the appearance of the other two "clones"? By this time Rick was getting a headache, so he turned off the TV and tried to get some sleep.
The alarm buzzed at 7 AM, but Rick didn't feel like getting up. The alarm disagreed and kept buzzing in his ear until Rick had no choice but to either get up or hurl the offending clock out the window and buy a new one with a snooze alarm. Erring to the side of frugality, Rick woke up and was about to go to the shower when he noticed something was wrong with the light: there wasn't any. It was as pitch dark as though it were still midnight outside. Rick grew very rattled as he looked out his window and saw that the sky looked... wrong. There just weren't any good terms to describe it: There were no ominous clouds overhead, but there weren't any stars either; it was as if the sky had been replaced by a black void. Strangely, he could still see the buildings outside though the sun wasn't visible at all in the black sky.
No knowing what else to do, Rick got dressed and went outside to see what was going on. He had not gone more then ten paces from his apartment building when he saw *them,* an entire army of "Men in Black," all with his face and wearing shades in spite of the oppressive darkness walking briskly down the street. "I fear he may find you, at any rate..." the old woman's voice rang in his head as Rick struggled to figure out what he should do next. As he watched, he noticed another man walking ahead of him to confront the advancing clone army. To Rick's horror, the man was instantly grabbed by the neck by the clone nearest to him. At first it seemed that the man was going to be choked to death, but then something very disturbing happened over the course of about three seconds: strange black "oil" started flowing from the "clone's" hand, then completely engulfed the hapless victim. Suddenly the "oil" vanished and where the first man had stood moments before was another "Man in Black," who unhesitatingly joined the eerie multitude that marched down the street.
Rick now knew that he was screwed. He knew that the man in front of him had been "killed" somehow, and that was the fate that awaited him once the army of MIB's caught up to him. Just as the clone/Doppelganger/MIB army had come perilously close to Rick's doorstep, it suddenly began to rain. Lightning flashed and thunder roared over the City, and the MIB army took this as some sort of signal. All of them made a quick about-face and headed off in the opposite direction... except for one, who had been at the head of the horde and was now at the end of the retreating throng; instead of immediately turning around like the others, he stood in place to stare at Rick for a second, and then quickly joined his "brothers."
Having been stunned into submission by the bizarre and disturbing scene that had just taken place, Rick just stood there, his clothes becoming sodden by the raindrops (which were unusually large, which was odd because there was still no sign of any clouds or any other atmospheric conditions overhead). Just as he had made up his mind to go back to bed and get back into the delightful dream he had been having which also made much more sense then this "reality," Rick noticed that the mass of black clad Doppelgangers had gone up only a few blocks and were now lined up in neat, Nazi-like rows along either side of the street. One of the clones (the apparent leader) was standing in the middle of the avenue, waiting for someone's arrival.
Curiosity overcame fear and Rick edged out of the shelter of the doorway to observe the army of "multi-me's." Who were they waiting for? The answer materialized in the form of a tall young man who suddenly appeared out of nowhere. The man (who Rick supposed was the man the MIB army had fought in the park the other day) and the lone MIB stood in the middle of the street and appeared to be talking to each other in spite of the drenching rain. Rick edged still closer. He said not a word as the two opponents charged at each other, moving at such speeds that at times he could not see their bodies at all, only mark their paths where the steady fall of rain, the ground, or nearby masonry was disturbed by the sudden movements and explosions of energy or the two combatants.
Rain poured, lightning flashed, and thunder rumbled.
The final fight had begun.
"I wonder who'll win."
[?END?]
------------------------------------------------
Author's notes: I wrote this all at once, with no planning other then the idea of "There's this guy. And he sees an Agent who looks like him." If you check the story, you'll notice that Rick doesn't actually speak except at the very end. There might be some sort of symbolism in that, exactly what I don't know. Since I don't know how the final fight ends (aside from the Spoiler version) I just left it there. Points to ponder: Who does Rick really want to win, and what would you do if you saw an army of ppl who looked like you behaving so badly?