Chapter 26: Mimic
Izaya had always been a man of quick reaction and even quicker assessment. Part of that was attributed to his experience, part to his intellect and a minor part caused by the adrenaline that put its halting hand on the wheels of time.
The whispers and voices he had heard before had suddenly withdrawn as if sitting on the sidelines to watch this newfound horror unfold.
Eyes of red met Izaya's as he turned his body agonizingly slow to look at the splitting image of his body, perfected down to the color of his eyes and the pendant around his neck.
Copying the action the impostor looked at Izaya with a surprisingly similar expression matching Izaya's to uncanny perfection.
"Shizuo, who is that?"
And Izaya froze.
Even the same voice.
And the way it asked-
Taking a cautious step back from what must be another abomination of hell Izaya looked towards his demon.
"Shizuo-" but words failed him. What was he supposed to say that didn't sound like it wasn't him?
They didn't know each other well enough.
Hell, Izaya didn't even know himself when it came down to it-
No wait.
A sudden thought struck Izaya and he unfroze.
"Raphael Montesquieu, I told you my name before so you should recognize it."
That was the line Izaya wanted to say- but it was the monster that had spoken.
Pointing at him, as though Izaya was the one trying to trick Shizuo, the demon's eyes shifted towards Izaya.
This was bad- this was bad in so many ways-
Body tense and anxiety high, Izaya looked at Shizuo. Did he have a way to tell who was who? With the same voice, the same appearance and the same memory?
What about scent?
No.
The answer came quicker and more crushing than expected as Izaya felt his guts drop upon Shizuo's lacking actions.
The simple fact of Shizuo not having ripped this monster apart immediately spoke volumes about their situation.
Shizuo was standing there, looking at both of them, his body tense and glare set straight, setting Izaya's conclusion in stone.
He had no idea who was who.
"Shizuo wait, that's not me- I don't know how he knows my new name, but-" Izaya started to explain, hoping that something in his mannerism or way of speech would give Shizuo the hint he needed, but as soon as he spoke the impostor moved backwards.
An expression of deep disgust sat on its expression as it spoke in a dire voice, perfectly mimicking Izaya's unwavering confidence layered upon all.
"What the hell- Is that supposed to be me?"
And Izaya shut up right there as his throat constricted.
Fuck-
No matter what he said this damned creature was smart, it would just keep mustering actions made to fool Shizuo.
Did it read his memories? His thoughts?
How? He didn't remember touching it nor even locking eyes with it.
The voices.
And suddenly the question Shizuo had asked held that much more meaning. Shizuo hadn't heard the voices.
Fuck.
Was that how it copied Izaya? How?
Slight movement to the front startled Izaya slightly as Shizuo spoke slowly.
"Calm down."
Funny.
The fact that he was addressing both of them was achieving the opposite of his request.
Izaya expected the creature to move and take down Izaya's head any second now without Shizuo being able to react.
But funnily enough the impostor didn't move.
"You aren't the target," Shizuo explained in a slow and steady voice and Izaya blinked in mild confusion. How was he not the target when it was his body that got copied specifically?
But the creature was quicker to ask in perfect sync to Shizuo's words.
"What do you mean?"
Knuckles cracked as Shizuo's body readied itself to fit the demon's steadily angering mood.
A glare was sent towards both and Shizuo's eyes narrowed.
"You have quite the guts to prey on me, mimic."
The words hallowed in the unnatural silence covering the forest and Izaya swallowed upon the threat that might as well end up being directed at him.
"On you?" he asked slightly confused and Shizuo's glance shifted to meet him.
"I forgot about them since I haven't exactly had decent company over the past century," Shizuo sighed and nodded towards both Izaya's. "They prey on power imbalances. Mostly groups, as that serves their abilities best. Take on the form of the weakest and try to get them to kill their comrade."
A smile, god knows where or why, slipped onto Izaya's expression as he grasped the idea of such a monstrosity.
How cruel. But also madly efficient.
Except right now.
Just looking at Shizuo caused his explanation to confuse Izaya.
"I couldn't kill you even if I tried," he argued, but the demon merely groaned.
"Not me. You. I will kill myself."
Had Shizuo said he could smell colors and see scents it would have made a lot more sense to Izaya than that statement. The irritation following was tremendous and apparently visible on Izaya's face as the demon elaborated.
"Mimics cast a curse upon their prey. If I rip out your heart, my own will suffer the same fate the second I pierce your chest."
Eyes growing wide Izaya realized the efficiency and fatal character of such an elaborate scheme.
It was good. Good considering the mimic itself wasn't going to harm Izaya in any way in order to not give away its disguise.
But at the same time it was horrifying- did this entire situation really come down to a fifty fifty chance of killing the right impostor?
Dozens of thoughts raced through Izaya's mind as he tried to think of a scheme that might tell Shizuo that it was him who was being copied and not the fake Izaya next to him-
But the impostor appeared similarly astonished at the news and suddenly the mimic turned to look at Izaya.
"What if I kill it?"
Fuck-
Time stopped right then and there for Izaya's mind as his body tensed.
A glance towards Shizuo was the last he managed as even more dangerous words traversed the distance between them.
"That would be an option."
Shizuo's eyes were resting on Izaya. The real Izaya. But his eyes held no mercy and his body tensed.
Too little was the amount of time given to react- too fast were Shizuo's movements as he suddenly rushed up close-
Towards Izaya in a single heartbeat.
The chuckling voices having accompanied Izaya's ears suddenly chimed in amusement as Izaya's eyes were locked on the threat.
Ah.
He would kill him.
Just as he warned him.
Shizuo had said so. He was strong. His issue had laid within the control he was lacking, but it seemed there were more ways than one to die at his hands.
It was funny.
Izaya would have expected to be afraid of death.
To be annoyed, pissed off, maybe even devastated to a certain degree.
He had struggled for so long, had already died once only to end up in this shithole of a timespan. He risked his life going to hell, he saw his own life flash before his eyes more times than he was able to count.
And yet, right now?
He felt surprisingly collected. Almost calm. The goddess was after him, various creatures as well, and Shizuo-
Out of them all he was at least going to give him the quickest death.
And so he readied himself for the unavoidable impact in the split second of time that was left, he readied himself to see his insides the second he died and for his conscience to reach a terrifying halt.
His heart.
He wondered if he really had one just as Shizuo told him and his gaze lingered in Shizuo's approaching eyes- murderous intent, incredulous rage and raw power filtered by nothing seethed inside them.
And suddenly they shifted.
Mere centimeters parted Izaya's face from Shizuo's death bringing force and yet suddenly he was gone-
Gone.
No-
To his right.
Standing still as though Izaya had been left behind by his mother with no orders given he couldn't even bring himself to react to the sudden unexpected motion as the voices around him screamed in agonizing horror.
Quite like a reverse lightning, Izaya perceived sound first before the image as his head turned much too slow to follow Shizuo's actions.
Faster than Izaya was able to turn his head he heard blood splash to the ground and his sight caught up-
It was a gruesome sight beyond anything Izaya would have ever wanted to see-
Shizuo had ripped the impostor's head off-
A silent scream contorted Izaya's copied expression into one Izaya had never seen before as he watched his perfectly mimicked body collapse on the ground.
Movements of the most disgusting kind immediately rippled through the mimicked skin and before Izaya knew it a second head featuring the true appearance of the mimic crawled forth from the sliced throat.
Eyes larger than bowling balls attached to a wormlike structure forced its way out of its fleshly shell. Millions of eyes attached to the entirety of the body made of something that reminded Izaya of human's veins.
The creature looked as though it wasn't meant to be alive and yet it was as it dug its way out of Izaya's fake body.
A single step backwards jerked Izaya's body into motion as the creature suddenly looked at him- but as fast as it had retracted from its mimicked shell, it withdrew into the shadows of the wood.
The head of the corpse was yanked away in an unceremonious fashion and suddenly Shizuo jumped to Izaya.
"Cover your ears."
Nothing of what had just happened made sense. Questions, too many to be asked, laid on the tip of Izaya's tongue, but Shizuo's words had been nothing short of an order and so he acted upon them without hesitation.
And so did Shizuo.
Quicker than expected Izaya found himself thrown across Shizuo's shoulder and the demon moved- jumped- no blinked? Izaya couldn't tell- all he knew was that his surroundings rushed by faster than humanly possible in short leaps of speed-
Once- twice- thrice-
The shadows around them grew darker and the air cooler the further they advanced.
It wasn't until after a good minute of moving at high speed that Shizuo finally stopped at a small clearing inside this cursed forest.
Izaya's palms had almost instantly left off his ears and automatically clutched the fabric thrown across Shizuo's shoulder as he had held on for dear life.
He realized his mistake only upon landing, but Shizuo seemed to take no offense in his slip up.
"Can you still hear them?"
Slight confusion, attributed to the anxiety levels in Izaya's brain, spread across his face.
"The voices," Shizuo quickly added and Izaya looked towards the path they had just so conveniently skipped in under a minute.
It was surely placebo, but Izaya felt looking into the direction would hinder him in locating the whispers and so he closed his eyes.
A soft breeze brushed across the landscape. The faint sound of insects similar to cicadas resounded in the distance and leaves sprinkled the quiet with an occasional rustle.
But apart from that there was nothing.
No sounds. No chuckling. No whispers.
"No," he replied truthfully and Shizuo sighed.
"Good," and with that he put Izaya down again. A sheepish expression marked the demon's face while Izaya was still busy catching up to what exactly just went down back there.
Shizuo had rushed towards him with the intent to kill. Nothing had been as sure as that. A fact. And yet he had turned at the last second in order to kill Izaya's copy.
"Sorry for the scare," Shizuo apologized, not exactly lifting Izaya's surprise.
"How did you know it was me?" he asked and Shizuo somehow couldn't help but show a faint smile.
"I told you, there aren't many creature's that don't fear me."
No fear?
Izaya frowned, "I doubt I didn't fear for my life when you came rushing to my face." Sure, he might have come to terms with the idea of dying at Shizuo's hands, but to call him entirely unaffected when Shizuo approached with the intent to kill was an overestimation.
"You did," Shizuo confirmed, only tripling Izaya's confusion, before continuing with the slightest hint of amusement. "But if what you felt was mildly unsettling, then that mimic shat his pants."
Ah.
So that's how.
The mimic feared Shizuo more.
Of course.
Shizuo had come rushing towards Izaya at the speed of light. The mimic must have been as startled as Izaya by the quick action unprecedented by even an attempt to uncover who was who.
It must have been a reflex of some sort. The spike of fear. The mimic possibly might have moved as well, just shortly, in a jump of horror.
And somehow that idea caused Izaya's expression to shift from confusion to amusement. At first it was just a smile, then a snort until it developed into full on laughter.
The idea of that creature being afraid as hell was funnier to him than it should be- was it the relief that he had not died in its stead? The unprecedented reasoning Shizuo had provided? He couldn't tell. All he knew was that at this moment, Shizuo's explanation simply served a burst of laughter.
"Shouldn't it have stayed away in the first place then?" he wheezed and it appeared his amusement was contagious as Shizuo snorted as well. A hand rose to his face as he tried to hide the chuckles that bubbled forth from his own chest.
Shizuo hadn't thought the mimic's reaction was that amusing, but seeing izaya laugh he somehow couldn't help but see the fun in it.
It was then that the faintest hint of a whisper grazed Izaya's ear like a maiden's silken veil and Izaya's laughter stopped immediately.
"Shizuo, I hear them again."
Almost as quickly Shizuo's own smile dropped and instead shifted to pure annoyance.
"Revenge? Really?" he groaned and looked towards the forest that laid ahead. It appeared to be even darker than the rest of it and for a second Izaya wondered whether Shizuo would suggest retreating into the direction they had come from.
But he didn't.
Instead it seemed he had a different approach to the matter and before Izaya knew it the demon had grasped his wrist.
"Come with me."
to be continued~