Last time it was discovered that a virus was planted in the computers for the Magical Reality Chamber, a virus planted by Icy, Darcy and Stormy some time ago. Meanwhile several pieces of the puzzle fell into place and it was determined that an double of Bloom was waking about. On with the show!
Chapter 4: Searching
The duplicate Bloom had taken refuge in Stella's room when an announcement came over the school intercom. Faragonda's voice filled the school from the loud speakers; "Attention all students, the school is being placed on lockdown, due to the fact that there's an imposter walking the halls of Alfea. This imposter is identical to Bloom of Sparks in every physical detail. She is extremely dangerous. All freshmen and sophomores are to return to their dorms. All juniors and seniors will assist in the apprehension of this imposter. The search will be coordinated by the school staff and the real Bloom."
"You stupid old hag," said the duplicate, "I'm Bloom of Sparks! That other one is the imposter!" "The impostor is to be captured alive," said Faragonda over the intercom, "So use stunning spells only, I repeat, use stunning spells only. The imposter can be identified by a black eye on the left side of her face. Again, the imposter can be identified by a black eye on the left side of her face."
"I'm Bloom of Sparks!" raged the duplicate as she shot a fireball at the intercom, causing it to melt instantly. She then proceeded to ransack Stella's room, which didn't take much, considering how much the room was already a mess. "I'm Bloom damn it!" she yelled before catching her reflection in Stella's mirror. She saw that she did indeed have a large black eye on the left side of her face.
The duplicate used some of the makeup in front of the mirror to cover up the black eye. "They won't get me," she said in a slightly shaky voice, "I won't let them get me. I'm the real Bloom; it's the other one who's the imposter. I'm real, she's the fake. They won't get me, no, I'm real, I'm real, I'm real." When she finished, she couldn't tell that there was a black eye at all. Satisfied with her work, the duplicate left the dorm.
Fifteen minutes later…
"My room!" cried Stella as she surveyed the damaged caused by the duplicate of Bloom. "She sure did a number here," said Musa. "It's a good thing the fire detection system picked up the melted intercom," said Tecna, "Otherwise we wouldn't have gotten this far." "My bed!" exclaimed Stella, "My shoes! My original hand-made dresses! All ruined!" "It's okay Stella," said Bloom, "We can replace what was damaged."
"That no good, dirty, rotten clone," said Stella, "I'll bet she touched my makeup," she rushed over to her mirror, "She did! That lousy good-for-nothing copycat of my best friend!" She held up a small jar of blemish cover-up. "I'll bet she used that to conceal that black eye Sky gave her," said Flora.
"It's obvious that we're not dealing with just a clone," said Elise, she and Carmen were also in the room. "Elise may be on to something," said Layla, "A clone wouldn't be able to get into Stella's room so easily." "True," said Carmen, "One student can't get into another student's room without prior permission. The same applies to us back at Cloud Tower. No, this isn't a clone or a doppelganger. I'm convinced that bloom's duplicate has her memories and experiences to draw upon."
"Well that's just great," said Musa, "If that's the case, then the other Bloom also knows all the magic and spells that our Bloom knows." "And if the imposter is as evil as Professor Wizgiz said she was," said Tecna, "Then she's a danger to the whole Magical Universe if she escapes." "Then we can't let her escape," said Bloom.
"You don't sound alright," said Stella. "I'm just tired," said Bloom, "I guess having a copy of me both physically and mentally really takes it out of you." "Have a blast of this," said Elise as she handed Bloom a can of some sort of soda. "What is it?" asked Bloom. "You know that Earth drink 'Red Bull'? Well this stuff does the same thing only better and faster. I should know; I invented the stuff."
Bloom hesitated for a second before pulling the tab on the can and taking a sip. "It taste like lime soda!" said Bloom as she drank more. "It tastes like whatever you want it to be," said Elise, "That's the beauty of it." Blooms finished the can and then let out a long and loud belch. "'Scuse me," said an embarrassed Bloom.
"Now that you're energized," said Flora, "We still need to find the imposter before she hurts someone." "But where could she be?" asked Layla, "That's the question." "Let's think about this logically," said Tecna, "It's clear that the imposter has Bloom's memories and experiences, despite her polar opposite mind. Because the imposter thinks along the same lines as our Bloom, we may be able to out guess her and determine her next move."
"If you were the imposter," said Carmen to Bloom, "And you knew the layout of the school, where would you go to hide?" Bloom thought for a moment before answering, "Someplace that isn't normally visited by students and faculty. If I were in her state, I'd go somewhere that I'd be able to defend myself, yet in her mind, I wouldn't think about the possibility of being backed into a corner. I'd go to the basement."
The Alfea basement was huge. Not only did it house the school's boilers; it also served as storage for unused school supplies, and also held several power conduits for the many computers in the school.
"This place is huge," said Stella, "We'll never find her in here." "Never say never," said Carmen, "That's what my father always told me." Just then someone came down the stairs from the upper levels. It was Morgan Rogers, fellow classmate of Elise and Carmen; not to mention the biggest practical jokester to date in Cloud Tower. "Sorry I'm late," said Morgan, "I was in detention. Now what's this about an imposter that looks like Bloom?"
"It's true," said Carmen, "We have an above average doppelganger running around in here in the basement." "Well count me in," said Morgan, "I'm always up for a doppelganger hunt." "Just what were you in detention for this time?" asked Elise, "As if I didn't already know."
"All I did was put some shrinking potion in the faculty teapot," said Morgan, "Unfortunately I tried to do this just before a faculty meeting. You know how Miss Griffin is always preaching on not getting caught, well, I got caught. I spent the last three hours as a gecko." "They turn you into animals as detention over there?" asked a shocked Flora. "Yes," said Morgan, "But you do get better afterwards. Anyway I'm here now to help."
"That's that then," said Bloom, "We'll split up into groups of three: Flora, Tecna and Morgan would check the left part of the basement; Layla, Stella and Elise will check the right part; which leaves Musa, Carmen and me to check the center." With that Bloom and her friends transformed into their Fairy outfits. Carmen, Morgan and Elise didn't need to transform. The girls split into three groups and began to search the basement.
"I still find it hard to believe that they turn you into animals for detention at Cloud Tower," said Musa as she, Bloom and Carmen passed by the boilers. "It's rough," said Carmen, "But fulfilling most days." "I wouldn't find it fulfilling when all you do is cause mayhem and torment," said Musa.
"Being a witch isn't all about causing mischief and trouble," said Carmen, "It's about maintaining the balance of good vs. evil. You fairies are the good; we're the evil. But not all of us are really evil like Icy, Darcy and Stormy. Most of us are what we like to call 'awesomely bad.' It means that we can be as bad as we like to be, and can be good when the mood strikes us."
Unknown to Bloom, Musa and Carmen, the duplicate Bloom was perched up on top of the boiler they were walking past.
"How did you become a witch?" asked Bloom. "You don't simply become a witch," said Carmen, "You're either born a witch or something else, like a fairy or a mortal. It's different with me somewhat, all the women in my family are witches. I can trace my family back 29 generations of magic users, both male and female."
Just then something jumped down behind Musa. It was the duplicate, dressed in a fairy outfit similar to the real Blooms, but where the real Bloom was dressed in light blue, the duplicate's outfit was dark blue, almost black. Her wings were more sinister looking, like those of a bat, and her eyes had changed from light blue, like the real Bloom's, to yellow like a snake.
"Oh my god!" exclaimed Musa as the duplicate Bloom shot a fireball at her, knocking Musa against the boiler. "Reis!" exclaimed Carmen as she shot a dark blue energy sphere at the duplicate. She swatted it away like a fly, sending the energy sphere into a nearby power conduit. The duplicate Bloom then shot a fireball at Carmen, slamming her into a nearby wall.
The noise of the fighting had attracted the attention of Stella and the others. They arrived to see the two Blooms starring at each other. "Unbelievable," said Flora, "If they weren't dressed differently, I wouldn't be able to tell them apart."
Seeing that she was outnumbered, the duplicate began to retreat backwards. Stella, Elise and the others began to close in on the duplicate when the real Bloom stopped them. "Don't!" she exclaimed, "You're scaring her, I'll handle this." The real Bloom began to slowly follow her mirror image.
"Stay back!" snapped the duplicate Bloom as she kept moving backwards, "Stay away from me! I'll kill you!" "I'm not going to hurt you," said the real Bloom, "I don't want to fight you." "Don't come any closer!" snapped the duplicate, not realizing that she was backing herself into a corner, "I mean it! I'll kill you!"
"You don't want to hut me," said the real Bloom, "You can't kill me. Don't you understand, we're both part of each other. I'm part of you, you're part of me." "I won't warn you again!" snapped the duplicate, "Stay away from me or die!"
"You can't kill me," said Bloom again, "You need me." It was then that the duplicate realized that she had been backed into a corner. Behind her was nothing but stonewalls, in front of her was the real Bloom and behind her was Stella and the others. A look of cold fury grew on her face.
"I don't need you!" exclaimed the duplicate Bloom as she readied to attack, "I need no one!" Just then Morgan appeared behind the duplicate, grabbed her on the shoulder at the base of the neck and applied pressure. The effect was almost instant as the duplicate fell to the floor.
"What did you do?" asked Flora as the girls gathered around the unconscious duplicate. "My mom's a doctor," said Morgan with a small smug look on her face, "She specialized in acupressure. She taught me that little move if I were ever in a tight position."
"But how did you get behind her?" asked Stella. "Simple," said Morgan as she disappeared, then reappeared behind Stella a few seconds later, "Not only can I make objects invisible, I can make myself invisible for short periods."
Meanwhile Musa and Carmen had recovered and had caught up with the others. "I'm gonna be sore in the morning," said Carmen. "Did you get her?" asked Musa. "Bagged and tagged," said Stella.
The end of chapter 4. Next chapter, just when you thought it was over, things get even more complicated. See you next time!