Code:
dop·pel·gäng·er
/ˈdäpəlˌɡaNGər/
[i]noun[/i]
noun:[b] doppelgänger[/b]; plural noun: [b]doppelgängers[/b]
An apparition or double of a living person.
The stars whisper of fate’s grandeur. They mock us from a distance with all their mystery and wonder. The possibility of worlds beyond our own seem so far away. What if, though, they were right next door. Simply hidden from us by a thin veil meant to deceive your average civilian. What if, like next door neighbors, two worlds coexisted so close to each other, with no knowledge of each other’s presence. To untangle the strings of time, and tempt the will of fate, was a suicidal sin; It went against any and all things preordained by the natural law of the world, and yet here they were. The clamoring of heavy boots against a thin-parquetted rooftop announced their arrival only to the pigeons, scattering in a flock to dance along the wind. His comrade ventures forward a few steps, flirting with the roof’s edge while eyes of topaz watch both him and beyond, scouring the city for any significant details that would work to his benefit.
”Here we are… A new beginning once again.”
The formerly torn fabric of reality behind them folds and intertwines to stitch itself back together, closing the
door from wence they came. He takes the same amount of steps as Alexander, synonymous strides putting him shoulder-to-shoulder; or at least close to it as he towered over the man. The smaller male would feel a firm grip of his shoulder, digging in and shaking firmly with a reaffirming grip.
“Hopefully for a final time.”
In both of their voices one could hear exhaustion. From physical or spiritual exertion? From turmoil? Just what brought them here, and why had their journey seemed so perilous? The babbling storm of noise from the city below becomes overbearingly loud, in comparison. The honking of horns as traffic elevates to its peak, a million distant conversations combining to create one singular, agonizing echo. His head becomes a blur, as things move fluently through this world like any other, in which he perceives it all. The ant carrying the leaf, the rat cowering in the sewers beneath, the woman begging for help in the alleyway a couple dozen blocks south of their position; each time they moved a millimeter, they flashed through his visage in a web of color, golds and blues, like lights on the freeway.
”Wonderful, The Quincy are here and most are pure-blooded...”
“Good, perhaps we’ve finally found it, we sh-”
He pauses, looking to his left, tilting his neck to see the surprise on Alex’s face beneath the brim of his cap. The normally expressionless Quincy soldier was anything but at the moment, and clearly knew something he hadn’t yet shared.
“What is it?”
"Dominic and Blume. And another, friendly faces everywhere. We have lots of meetings to get to."
Dominic and Blume? That means.. His mind wanders to a multitude of places, sifting through what he knows to be real, and what
could be real here. A single image invades his mind, a memory, a sentiment to what that combination of names has created for him in a distant past.
If they were here, then he knew what he had to do, the path he had to take to establish this foothold, to make this place home. It meant only one thing, one unfortunate thing.
”I suppose it's time I check in and make myself at home.”
”If only Shinigami weren’t such a bother to deal with. It’s best to move with caution, no point in attracting unnecessary attention.”
“We don’t want the same trouble with them we’ve had in the past. I’ll find out what I can about how Captain Hyouzoku runs security here, if he’s here at all. If it’s anything like home, we’re in for a lot of work. Stay safe, I’ll contact you soon.”
He presses his forehead against the base of Alexander’s cap, his right hand grasping his shoulder before loosening his grip, the two are bound to go their separate ways to begin the initial steps of their mission. It had to be completed, by any means. Failure was not an optionVanishing into an alley, he walks towards the edge of it to seek out the entrance onto the street. A large open intersection reveals what part of the city he’s in. While it looks somewhat different, he is still vaguely familiar. In the distance, the scape of a few office buildings catch his eye, the tallest of the towers in particular ropes him in. The logo on its side tells him all he needs to know.
He retreats back into the alley for a moment to think. His hand cusps both his lips between his fingers while he paces back and forth. The smell of the dumpster is distracting, the smell of the homeless squatter next to it is even more repulsing. A frail voice speaks out and over Vali’s thoughts, committing the vilest of acts, interrupting him mid-thought. His disgusting hands even reach to tug at The Prince’s pant leg.
“Excuse me s-sir.. Do you have an-”
SPLAT
What was once white is stained in pink and crimson. Splatters of blood rain down on his alabaster garb. He pulls his foot back down to the ground, dislodging it from the man’s skull, his jaw separating at the hinges, hanging low while both eyes fall from their sockets. It was as if he quickly had succumbed to bloat, his head enlarged to nearly twice its original size, while the contents of his brains were spread evenly along Vali’s steel-toe boot and the dumpster that the beggar had undoubtedly called home.
“Can’t you see I’m thinking?”
One thing was already abundantly clear, the people here were far ruder. Just another thing to add to a long list of imperative changes. He swiped at the red stains on his pants, smearing them to create large blotches of red and a salmon-like color. A deep exhale was all he needed to recenter, straightening the collar of his jacket and deciding to walk out onto the street, DieTECH tower in his sights.Vali ignored the estranged looks he received for his appearance from the alley up until the point where he walked through a set of revolving doors. They only increased when he entered the building’s interior, murmurs and whispers from many of the staff soon consume the large lobby of the building. Walking to the receptionist’s desk, he spots a name tag just next to the phone that she’s surely responsible for answering and downloads what it says into his brain:
Mai. Casually leaning over the desk’s counter, he twiddles the phone cord between his fingers playfully before turning to the red-haired woman with an ingenuine smirk.
“M-Mr. Dietrich are- are you okay??”
“Hm? Oh this? It’s not mine. Don’t worry.”
He says in a somewhat nonchalant tone, gesturing at the blood all over his clothes. The woman does not seem to be appeased, though, but instead even more confused. Vali ignores her flabbergasted state and proceeds normally.
“Tell me, Mai. Where should I be right now?”
“W-well I was told you had an important call around this time s-so I thought you’d be in your office.. “
“Ah yes, thank you. You’ve been most helpful.”
The woman remains confused but dares not speak up. She resumes her duties as if nothing strange had occurred. Those who talked and whispered in the shadows would simply remain in the shadows, they wouldn’t dare question the man whose name was on the side of the building, would they? He grabs a crisp fuji apple from the bowl on the receptionist’s desk, before heading for an isolated elevator that seemed to require fingerprint recognition just to operate it. How convenient, how telling. His thumb is scanned intently before the screen flashes green and the doors separate. There was only a singular button to be pressed, so there wasn’t much room to be confused. The last floor, this no doubt had to be his private office. The ride upward was swift and silent, no pointless elevator music to add to the suspense of the act he was about to commit.
Ding
The doors opened to reveal a large office with floor-to-ceiling windows everywhere. A massive mahogany desk sits at its end, a single chair is turned with its back facing the new arrival, a man speaking loudly on the phone and peering off into the distance makes himself comfortable inside of it. Vali silently walks throughout the office, inspecting it while a business deal is seemingly made over the phone in the background. He fingerdusts the shelves with awards and pictures. Many of which are just the man shaking hands with a partner or two. In glass cases, there are experimental weapon models, probably firsts of their kind, reminders of his many accomplishments. Someone was clearly obsessed with themself. He reaches the desk, finally, the office more like a long hallway or museum celebrating this individual. He leans on the desk, or rather sits on it, his back facing the back of the spinning desk chair.
“Nice place you have here.”
Without being able to see the male Vali could simply feel the fear and surprise that consumed him when the deep and sinister voice echoed in a space in which he thought to have had to himself. He hears the phone call end immediately; good, he had his full attention. At the back of his blazer he could feel a shift in the air, a hand reaching out to grab him and perhaps turn him completely around to reveal himself.
“What the hell, who do you think you are?!”
Suddenly, feeling in the hand that he chose to touch Vali with fades, so too does it in his wrist, and then his entire arm. His eyes shift down to the desk, drenched in blood. The source of the crimson puddle is evident in the arm that was pulled from its socket, ripped from his person as easily as petals from a flower, resting on a bed of paperwork before the seated man.
GAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH
“W-Who are y-you..!”
Vali exhales, lifting himself from the desk to walk towards a closet-like area of the office, vanishing inside of it without showing his face, still. He undresses, his victim terrified to move doesn’t lift any of his five remaining fingers to bother him. The bloody clothes are discarded, replaced with a brand new suit. A Black blazer, black pants, a pale indigo shirt and a navy vest to tuck in a dark teal tie. Now he looked the part. Now he was capable of answering the man’s question. He walked back out to the office’s main area, this time his face is completely revealed, smiling from ear to ear as the injured man’s face is just the opposite. Shock, horror, words that don’t come close to explaining the expression that consumed his face. Vali walks closer, turning the embellished name tag around to face the man in the seat.
“Well isn’t it obvious? I’m you of course.”
The man is instantly skewered by a multitude of fluorescent blue arrows, piercing him at varying angles, ending his life instantaneously. There was nothing else left for him to say that would offer some entertainment, the process had dragged on long enough. The erasure of his clearly weaker self was necessary. Pure quincy blood was wasted, but it was only fair for it to be his own. The body disintegrates into spiritual particles and ascends through room’s ceiling, no evidence of the events remaining within the office outside of the blood. He’d have it cleaned eventually. How many people can say they’ve killed themselves and lived to tell the tale? Perhaps he was the first. A feat that few should reach to accomplish, but sacrifices were necessary for the grand scheme of it all, this was his home, for now and the foreseeable future. He takes his place in the office’s chair before kicking his feet onto the desk. The soles of his shoes hovered slightly over the puddle of blood that remained.
“Computer.”
A screen overlay immediately appears atop the desk, a voice reaching out from the sound system installed within the room.
Code:
[b]How may i help you?[/b]
“Where is my wife?”
The screen scans through a multitude of images, maps, numbers, and names until it flashes red repeatedly signifying an apparent error.
Code:
[b]You are not married.[/b]
“That’s impossible. I’m here.”
Code:
[b]I don’t make mistakes.[/b]
“Cross-Reference Blume Diamontae, Dominic Kaiser and Vali Dietrich.”
The screen begins scattering again, layering article after article atop of each other, stacking across the entirety of the screen. He doesn’t dare read every one of them, but the headlines are telling enough. ‘Wedding Canceled’ , ‘Trouble in Paradise’ , ‘Losing Diamonds’ , ‘Hans Dietrich dies leaving son as head of DieTECH ‘, ‘Kaiser Wins the Championship Again!’ ‘Prized fighter Dominic Kaiser Retires’. The articles go on endlessly. Vali swipes the screen away with a simple swat. Huffing under his breath as he conjoins his hands together, his fingers interlocking between each other as he spins the chair around the look at Karakura town in all of its glory. The sun peeking over the horizon as the DieTECH tower looks over everything like Karakura’s very own Mount Olympus.
“Time to get to work.”