- TOH SHIN DEN II: Thicker Than Water -

a Battle Arena Toshinden 2 fanfiction by Athena Asamiya and Kasumi Todoh


CHAPTER EIGHT: Facsimile



Translations:
chotto matte - wait a second


***************


For Ellis, it was like looking into a mirror. The girl facing her was the same height, with the same short green hair and blue eyes. She was even wearing the exact same white-and-pink fighting costume that Ellis herself was!
"What's the matter?" the other Ellis taunted, revealing that her voice was also identical. "You look like you've seen a ghost."
"But...you...I...what...how...?" Then things started to rapidly click in Ellis's mind. Kayin had been attacked by an imposter of Eiji. This one had to be another imposter, no doubt sent by the Himitsu Kessha for the same purpose.
"I'm here to take my place as the rightful Ellis of the Toshinden tournament," the other Ellis said, as if she hadn't heard Ellis's question.
"The Himitsu Kessha must be getting desperate if they're sending phonys like you to finish off the combatants." Ellis almost surprised herself at how calm she suddenly sounded.
The other Ellis bristled. "Has it ever occured that you might be the phony?"
"Cut it out, okay? I know you're really from the Himitsu Kessha, and if you seriously think you can be me, you're sorely mistaken. There's only room for one Ellis at this tournament!"
"I quite agree, so I suggest we hold a match to determine who is the better Ellis, right here, right now. I can guarantee you, that 'one Ellis' is going to be me."
"You're on!"
The two girls squared off, circling each other in the small, makeshift arena of Ellis's cabin. As was her custom, Ellis bowed before pulling out her Dirks. The imposter was quick to copy, then took up her fighting pose, a pair of her own Dirks in each hand.
Ellis began by running forward and lashing out with a dagger to her opponent's chest. The other Ellis sidestepped and knocked her back with a Soar Wind. Ellis leapt up immediately after landing from the assault and managed to catch her double off-guard with a Lollipop, only to watch her get up even faster than she did. Ellis was quickly finding out that, for an imposter, this Ellis was quite good. She had all of her moves and strategies down cold, unfortunately, and managed to inflict a lot more damage than normal. Ellis realized that this girl was a lot stronger despite her tiny frame, and had more power to put into her attacks. Because of her increased strength, normal kicks and slashes didn't hurt her at all, so Ellis too had to concentrate on more powerful attacks.
She launched into an Arc Slash, only to be cut down by another Soar Wind. The dark Ellis came at her with a quick knee slide, but Ellis was able to block it in time. The other Ellis managed to hit home with a sharp kick to her opponent's shin, and while she was recovering from that, delivered a hard blow to Ellis's stomach. The girl doubled over, clutching her stomach and gasping for breath that didn't seem to come. Her double paused for a second to laugh at her.
"You see? You may be the original, but even you aren't strong enough to beat me. Why not surrender now and let a stronger, more improved version take over?"
Ellis's vision was growing hazy, and her body was wracked with pain and exhaustion. Still, she couldn't afford to give up. No telling what the imposter was going to do if she won the fight. Ellis summoned all her strength for a second try. The imposter was still laughing at her, and was taken completely by surprise when Ellis got up and immediately went into her Screw Dancing, an aerial flip kick that caught the other Ellis under the chin and lifted her almost to the ceiling. She crashed back to the floor, and this time found the real Ellis standing over her.
"You gloat too much," was Ellis's only reply.
The double glared at her and wiped a bit of blood from her chin. Then she started to climb back to her feet and the match was on again. Ellis jumped into the air and performed another Arc Slash at the same time her other did, shouting out the attack's name in one identical voice in unison. They both crashed into each other and fell to floor. The other Ellis the first standing up again. She threw a hip kick, but Ellis cartwheeled out of the way. Suddenly the other Ellis turned and struck her with a Lollipop. Ellis went down, but as she did, she grabbed the darker Ellis's hair and felt it come away easily. Ellis hit the ground and stared at what was in her hand. She was holding a wig! She quickly turned back to look at the other Ellis. Her 'double' now had short brown hair!
"Hey!"
"Well, it seems my secret's been discovered." With that, her costume immediately transformed. The chiffon skirt, sleeves and shoes changed from white to black, and the pink bow and remaining parts went from pink to blue. Her eyes, however, stayed the same, but colder, blue colour.
"This is by no means the end of this. We shall finish this match at another time." With that, she dove through the window and vanished into the woods and fading darkness.
The others were preparing to call it a night themselves after wrapping up their little meeting, when Ellis stormed into Eiji's cabin in front of them, still holding the wig.
"We're not dealing with one imposter anymore," she said, and tossed the wig to the floor at their feet. "Now we're dealing with two."

******************

"Well, this is certainly a fine bloody mess," Kayin muttered after Ellis had finished relating the events of the past few minutes. "As if we didn't have enough to worry about right now."
"She was practically identical," Ellis said. "I mean, her voice was the same, she used the same weapon, and she knew all my moves down cold. And even though her hair and costume colours were different, she still looked a lot like me. It was almost like I was seeing my dark side."
"Just like that Eiji imposter," Tracy mused. "Kinda different looks, but same in everythin' else."
Eiji was wondering the same thing himself, and then noticed that Sofia appeared even deeper in thought.
"What do you think, Sofi-san? You've been pretty quiet for a while."
"I was just thinking," Sofia began, "an imposter can be quite good, but even the best imposter is only human, so do you really think they could execute the exact same attacks, portraying voices and heights so perfectly?" She shook her head. "It is not too logical, I am afraid."
"Maybe it's some kind of sorcery?" Ellis suggested. The others looked at her. "Hey, it's not as unrealistic as it sounds."
"What else could it be?" Tracy asked Sofia, who sighed.
"Are any of you familiar with the process of cloning?"
There was a long silence, before Tracy spoke again. "I've read a couple of things on it. People were trying to clone farm animals and things like that. But I heard the process was still an experiment, and no one can REALLY do something like that."
"Well, I do know for a fact that the Himitsu Kessha has some very advanced technology."
"Chotto matte." Eiji stood up. "Are you saying that these imposters are really clones? That the Himitsu Kessha somehow cloned Ellis-chan and I?"
"Why not?" Sofia answered back. "We studied this kind of experiment briefly at the KGB. If they have the technology, all they would need from you is a sample of your DNA. Hair samples, blood samples, anything like that could been acquired easily after the last tournament."
"And that way they'd have their own versions of us," Ellis thought out loud. "Who'd be more than willing to work for the Himitsu."
"So let's just say that these ARE clones of Eiji and Ellis," Kayin finally said. "How are we supposed to deal with them?"
"I am honestly not sure," Sofia replied thoughtfully. "Since they're clones, they are mostly human and not invincible, so I suppose eventually we will have to confront them, fight them and hopefully destroy them."
Kayin groaned. "Why does something tell me that's not going to be as easy as it sounds?"
"Maybe we'll think more clearly in the morning," Eiji suggested. "We all need to get some sleep, especially you, Tracy, seeing as how you have to fight tomorrow."
Everyone nodded, then stood up, Tracy with a mile-wide grin on her face. "Damn, I don't see HOW I'm supposed to sleep tonight! I'm too excited about whuppin' some ass tomorrow!"
Ellis checked the daggers that she had brought with her. "Do you think they'll attack again?"
"I doubt the Himitsu Kessha would try two attacks in the same night," Eiji answered, "but just to on the safe side, eveyone watch their backs tonight."

*****************

Tracy's match against Rungo was right after breakfast the next morning. Before the match, the group held a quick meeting in Eiji's cabin. No one else experienced surprise visitors in their cabins the night before, and certainly not any that looked Eiji or Ellis.
"Now that the Himitsu had made their next move," Eiji suggested, "they're probably going to wait and see if we do anything about it."
"Or they could just be planning their next strategy," Tracy added.
"It might best not to do anything at the moment," Ellis said, "since they don't know that we're on to them, it might be best not to lose the element of surprise."
"It sounds fine to me," Sofia replied. Kayin was still brooding, if not more so than before, so it didn't look like he cared to answer. Sofia noticed this with her keen perception, and lay a hand on his shoulder. "Do not worry, Kayin. Tracy and I plan to investigate the Himitsu Kessha building for any known entrances, so there is a good chance we will find a way in to rescue your daughter. Everything will be fine."
Looking up at her smiling face, Kayin sighed, but grinned weakly. "Guess any guy should be lucky to get some praise outta you, Sofia."
Sofia smirked, straightening up. "So then, consider yourself lucky."
"For now it looks like we aren't going to have a chance to do anything until after the match is over," Eiji said solomnly. "So it would probably be best for all of us to wait until then."
"Are you ready for this fight, Tracy?" Ellis asked.
"You betcha!" Tracy responded, swinging her tonfas for emphasis. "I'm one of the only fighters here who hasn't gotten to fight anybody yet. And I'm just longin' to kick some ass!"
"So let's go, then."
The stated arena was only a short walk from the cabins. While Tracy went to meet her opponent, Eiji, Kayin, Ellis and Sofia were quick to find four seats that had a good view of the arena and the fight.
The first thing Tracy noticed was that Rungo Iron was a very muscular man. North American like she was, he had short blond hair and wore blue pants and a brown leather sleeveless jacket over a white muscle shirt. He carried a large iron club called a mace in one hand that looked like it must have weighed a ton, but Rungo didn't seem to have any trouble lifting it at all. In fact, the way he swung it around, it looked like it almost didn't weigh a thing.
Tracy wasn't a bit intimidated. The bigger they are, the harder they fall, she thought. Then she shouted, "I don't suppose you'd consider making this easy on both of us and just giving up now."
"And what makes you think I'd do a idiotic thing like that?" Rungo replied in a deep voice.
"Just a suggestion. I see you're just as ready to do this as I am."
"I don't think you really know what you're getting into. Get ready to be humiliated!"
"Yo, I love a good challenge. Bring it on, punk!"
"Bout One!" called the announcer, "FIGHT!!"
Rungo ran towards Tracy and effortlessly swung his mace at her, hitting her in the shoulder and sending her to the arena floor. Tracy didn't mind this too much, as it was her custom to let her opponent get the first hit. Now she could claim self-defense and fight back. Shouting "Jackpot!" Tracy leapt straight up, feet first, blades extending out of her boots. She nailed Rungo right in the face and sent him flying backwards. Tracy landed on her feet and resumed her fighting stance. Rungo got up, calling "Fire Wave!" and bashed his mace to the floor, sending up a long column of fire that knocked Tracy off her feet again. Once again she got up and this time moved in closer, and hit Rungo with her Chopper Strike, spinning upwards with her arms outstretched. Then she managed to land a few hard kicks and a beating with one of her tonfas, before finishing off with her Pale Slider, a giant double flip kick that knocked Rungo out.
"Bout Two! FIGHT!!"
Almost as soon as the second bout began, Tracy could see that this one wouldn't be so easy. Rungo immediately got her with another Fire Wave as she was running in to perform another Chopper Strike. Tracy then received a hard kick in the stomach, which caused her to stragger back, clutching her stomach. While she was still doubled over, Rungo proceeded to hit her with another Batter Up, the same move he first used at the beginning of Bout One. Tracy landed near the edge of the arena.
I gotta do something, and damn fast, Tracy thought to herself as she struggled to get up again. Rungo launched a Fire Strike at her, but Tracy dodged it. She took advantage and quickly counterattacked with a Honeymoon, a smaller, single flip kick. It hit Rungo in the back. He stood up again and turned around to face Tracy, only to get kicked in the face by another Jackpot, this time horizontally. Tracy also landed a combination of kicks and hits with her rods, but her offense King's Rave move caused her to be knocked out of the air by Rungo. Then Rungo decided to finish Tracy off with his Overdrive move, charging forward with a yell and swinging his club at her, before hurdling into the air. Tracy blocked, and though her strength was also weakened, she still managed to gather all the energy she had left and counterattacked with her most powerful move.
"Crazy PLANET!!"
Tracy's arms and legs became a blur as she flew into a series of swift-but-hard punches and kicks. Rungo had no time to block or do anything to defend himself from this attack. The barrage ended with one final flip kick, knocking Rungo unconscious and over the edge.
"Ring out. Minna-san, your winner--Tracy!!"
Afterwards, as Tracy was leaving the arena with the others, she was approached one last time by Rungo.
"Congratulations," he said to her. "That was a good match. You're a great fighter."
"Same to you," Tracy responded with a smile. They all headed back to the cabins, eager for what would come next.

****************

"Dark Ellis has failed," Master informed Vermilion in the office of the Himitsu Kessha. She sneered. "Those clones you created aren't living up my expectations. I thought you were capable of better than this."
"I am," Vermilion replied, unperturbed. "The clones may yet prove their worth, at some other time. Now it seems it's up to us."
"Indeed," Master agreed. "I think the time has come to put Eiji and Kayin to our 'test'."
"My thoughts exactly."

****************

A couple hours later, the group had all gathered in Kayin's cabin. Tracy was rested and recovered from her battle with Rungo, and now she and Sofia (the two most experienced in those sort of infiltrating abilities) were ready to check out the final building on the tournament property.
"Wish us luck," Tracy said.
"And hope we find what we are looking for," Sofia added.
As they opened the door to leave, they all noticed a note that had been tacked to the outside. Tracy pulled it off and scanned it. "It's for da Scot-boy."
She handed the paper to Kayin, who read it aloud. "Amoh-san: We have decided it is time to see you test your fighting skills. You will go up against Eiji Shinjo in a match to the death. You are to advance to your arena in one hour's time. Don't be late. Signed: The Himitsu Kessha."

**********