6/10 Issue: Double Trouble

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Slarti
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6/10 Issue: Double Trouble

Post by Slarti »

Timelined immediately after Funhouse of Horrors.

Jean: Jean was definitely more relaxed now, hand-in-hand with Jamie, even if he was a dupe and didn't know who the fuck he was beyond her boyfriend. "...I swear I've seen that clown before," she said, pointing with her free hand. "Did we make another circle?"

Jamie: "Um..." Jamie cocked his head at the clown and scrunched his eyes a bit. His bottom teeth scraped his upper lip and then he smacked his lips together. "Yep. How many is that now? I've lost count. Oh! Does that mean we can take a break?!" Jamie gave Jean some sexy side eye, "I like breaks.”

Jean: "I like breaks, too, and I like that you like breaks." Jean gave him a fond grin and squeezed his hand. "But maybe we shouldn't take another break just yet... until we, like... get out of this circle?" And find Jamie Prime.

Jamie: "I guess that's fair... Then we can take a celebration break!" He kissed the back of her hand and looked around again. "So... Maybe we need to retrace our steps. Maybe the way we're going needs to be reversed because we could be missing something that we can only see by going the other way?"

Jean: Jean gave him a long look, considering this with a tilted head. Jamie gonna Jamie. "Sure! May as well try it. I mean, you are a detective, so you're usually really good at this kind of stuff." The kiss made her smile.

Jamie: "I AM?! Sweeeeeeeet!" Jamie grinned from ear to ear, "I'm like .... um. That famous cartoon detective! With the hot girlfriend!" Not having his full memories sucked.

Jean: "Dick Tracy," she supplied with a laugh. "I'm your sexy sidekick." He looked so happy that Jean decided she wanted to reward him with a quick kiss.

Jamie: "No.... That doesn't sound right....." He frowned, but then there was a kiss and his grin came right back. "Okay, onward Bunny!" Jamie pulled her in the other direction and started trying to look for things he may have missed earlier.

Jean: Jean knew better than to ask, so instead she just let him drag her. "You named our dog Breathless Mahoney..." And she really, really hoped Breathless and the boys were okay...

Jamie: "...Who is that and why would I name an animal something so silly? Dogs aren't breathless. They pant in your face to prove it!" He ran his hand over what appeared to be a seam in a wall. And was in fact, a seam in the wall. And nothing else. Drat.

Jean: "She's, like, a femme fatale naughty girl in Dick Tracy comics..." Jean was game to babble what she knew about Dick Tracy, which was rather more than she would have suspected. "She's a beautiful white puppy." She watched him inspect the wall and moved to a similar seam to check.

Jamie: "The femme fatale in the comic book is a puppy?" That seemed ...bizarre. But she knew him best, right? "Well... I guess that makes sense..." Did it, though? Did it, really? ...no. Not a chance. Jamie tilted his head at an opening he hadn't seen before. Somebody could fit if the turned sideways. "Hey, Jeannie? Come see if you can fit in here."

Jean: "Well the character isn't a puppy, you named her for her..." Jean moved to see what he was looking at and dropped his hand to look into the dark, spooky space. "Uhhh, probably?"

Jamie: "Oh! Well that actually makes more sense. But, still not who I was thinking of. ...I don't think?" Jamie nodded, "Then we go in. I didn't want to leave you behind." He grinned at her and gave her ass a goose. "Into the unknown!"

Jean: "The question is if you fit," she said, giving him the once over and turning back just in time for the goose. She eeped, staggering forward into the dark.

Jamie: "I'm not the one with the boobs and the butt that make me horny." Had he really just said that out loud? Yep. Oh dear. Well, they'd already proved she liked his dick, so why not? Jamie slipped in after her and shuffled along the tiny corridor. "Where do you think it empties out?"

Jean: "I don't know..." His commentary made her laugh and she shook her ass, not that he could see it.

Jamie: "Well, hopefully it does empty out. Not that I'm complaining about what I'm following, though." Jamie reached down to give her another goose.

Jean: Jean jumped again, stopping so he'd run right into that butt he kept grabbing. "Who would complain?"

Jamie: Jamie did indeed run into the butt and he laughed, leaning at a weird angle to be able to nibble her ear. "Not anyone sane."

Jean: "That's right. My ass is perfect." Jean tilted her head to enjoy the attention and reached up to run her fingers through his hair.

Jamie: "We're never going to get out of here if you can't keep your hands off me, Bunny." He growled playfully. "Not that I mind."

Jean: "Bunny?!" That was a new one and reminded her he was a dupe, not Jamie Prime. She twisted to give him a quick kiss, then straightened up to keep going. "Oh, don't worry, not keeping our hands off each other is pretty routine." In fact, that was sort of what got them kidnapped. Huh.

Jamie: "Yeah! That's all I can remember from that show... Or movie... Or comic? I don't know..." He shrugged one shoulder and followed her the rest of the way. "Oh hey look! Light! Just a few more steps and we'll be home free, I think!"

Jean: There was indeed light, but Jean could only wish they were home free. She stepped out into... her. Mirrors! Everywhere. A dozen Jeans stared back at her, and OMG she looked terrible!

Jamie: Jamie shuffled out after her, grinning from ear-to-ear at his view until he looked up. He screamed and fell backwards. "What the actual hell is happening?!"

Jean: "What?! What happened?!" Jean saw him go down in the mirrors and spun around.

Jamie: "Are we being attacked by an army of ...Idon'tevenknowthepropertermforsomeonebirthingthatmanykidsatonce?!"

Jean: Oh wow, it was a good thing she'd had plenty of practice with Jamie Prime in his younger years. "Jamie... it's just a mirror. That's me, and you." She crouched and reached to hug him.

Jamie: "That's... that's me??" He peeked out from over her shoulder, but clung to her a bit. "I'm... hideous! How are you attracted to me?!"

Jean: "...you're... SO not hideous." Jean gave him pets and turned her head to see him staring at his own reflection.

Jamie: "This is so not what I thought I would look like. At all. I pictured someone .... Not like this. At all." He made a horrified expression at his reflection, which only made him wince at the amount of hims reflected back at him, so he shifted his gaze to Jean's reflection instead. "So, now what?"

Jean: "There is nothing wrong with you." Jean winced at his wince and gave him a quick kiss, pulling him to his feet. "You're gorgeous." Jean kept his hand and started studying the mirrors. "I guess... it's a maze?"

Jamie: "But I'm not... a big, beefy, stereotypical male model... Which is what I thought I was. Now I'm disappointed in myself." He did enjoy the kiss, though... Maybe a pout at her would earn him another? "A maze where I have to stare at a million of you? That's the best maze ever."

Jean: The pout absolutely worked and she rewarded him for it, giving him a kiss and reaching to give his ass a pinch as well. "You're perfect." Jean gave him a grin.

Jamie: Well, that was good to hear. Jamie grinned down at her and pulled her into a tight grip, both hands cupping her ass. "In bed," he finished for her.

Jean: "That too," she laughed, reaching up to ruffle his hair. Jean gave him a little wriggle and another quick kiss before trying to extricate herself. They had a maze to solve, apparently.

Jamie: He squeezed again and leaned down to nip her lower lip. "Mirrors can be fun, ya know..." Jamie wasn't ready to let her go, just yet... but he wasn't sure why. There was a little itch in his brain telling him that there was something about this that meant he couldn't keep her.

Jean: "Oh, I know... and you do, too." She quit trying to escape for the moment. Though he wasn't quite the right Jamie, he was still Jamie.

Jamie: Jamie's grin widened and he moved to hoist her up again, wrapping her legs around his waist with one hand, the other around her hips. "I had a feeling..."

Jean: Jean gave in and tilted her head to kiss him, closing her eyes and relaxing against him. Still, such a relief. He was warm, and alive, and hers. She reached for their link, forgetting it wasn't there. It took her out of the moment enough that she opened her eyes and spotted a handprint on the mirror behind him.

Jean: She frowned into the kiss and pulled back to point it out. A scream echoed across the maze - she knew that scream. "Oh shit!"

Jamie: Jamie frowned at the fact that she pulled back, then almost dropped her when there was a scream that sounded like his voice. "What was that?!"

Jean: She scrambled to hang onto him, clamping her legs around his hips so they didn't both fall over. "Jamie!"

Jamie: "What? Why are you yelling at me?!" He spread his stance a bit to keep balance while he set her down gently. "Why was someone screaming?!"

Jean: "Um... I was startled?" Jean winced as she found herself back on her feet, keeping her hands on his arms. "I don't know... but..." Jean thought for a second and then yelled. "Are you okay?"

Jamie: Jamie winced and leaned his head away from her as she yelled, but listened for a response. Just more screaming... That couldn't be good. "So, I would normally say we should follow the screams to help, or go in the opposite direction to save ourselves - I think - but in this place, I'm not sure which direction does which thing."

Jean: "Yeah... I don't either." She let go of his hands to move over to one of the mirrors and touched the prints and smear. One of the clearest was... where she'd had her own hand against her wall. "Jamie..." she whispered, setting her hand over the larger print. It had to be him. Jamie Prime.

Jamie: "I guess we should just pick a direction and hope it's the best way, then?" He moved to her and took her hand from the mirror to give it a kiss, pausing with the backs of her fingers just below his lips when his eyes fell on the handprint. "That can't be good.”

Jean: "Yeah, at least until we see a pattern or something. If, um, your brother found a way out of here, then we can too." She smiled at the kiss and squeezed his hand. So sweet.

Jamie: "My brother?! I have a brother?! Why didn't you say something? Is he stuck in here too?! What's happening?!" He put his hand up to the print on the mirror and tilted his head. It was identical to his. Weird.

Jean: "Yeah?" Sort of. "The guy I was talking to earlier?" Jean smiled a little at his reflection, her eyes flicking to his hand on the glass. "So he had to have been right here when we were on the other side."

Jamie: "Oh, the jealous guy? Damn. Must suck to be him, then, if he's got to watch us be together all the time." To emphasize his point, he leaned down and nipped gently at her neck.

Jean: Jean was entirely sure that much like Tom Cruise, this dupe could not handle the truth. "Mmmhmm," she agreed, tilting her head to enjoy the nibbles despite herself.

Jamie: "Well, let's go find him and rub it in his face then! Oh, also, probably help him if he's the one screaming in agony... Might be a good idea..."

Jean: That snapped Jean out of her Jamie-induced haze. "Yeah, we should find him." Like, now. She looked around and picked a direction, snagging his hand to drag him along.

Jamie: Jamie nearly fell over at the sudden dragging, but picked up the pace to stick with her. "Maybe if we find other smudges, we'll know which way he went? Since he can't seem to keep his hands off things."

Jean: "You guys are a lot alike there," she said, looking back to give him a grin. When she turned her attention back to the mirrors, she stopped short just before she crashed into one. "Fuck!"

Jamie: "Whoa!" Jamie pulled her backwards to put her back against his chest and met her eyes in the mirror. "Careful, Bunny, or you'll need a nose job." He took the moment they were stopped to slowly look around, then pointed in a direction where he saw a smudge, "That way!"

Jean: Jean twitched her nose and grinned, leaning back against him for a moment before she started moving again, this time following the clue. "Maybe I'll let you be the detective and I'll stay the sidekick." Made sense, right?

Jamie: "Um... Okay! Could be fun! Do I get big ol' ears, too? And giant shoes?" He turned to look at her with a grin and ran into smack into one of the mirrors. "OW! Fuck!" Jamie froze as he heard himself in surround sound, then slowly turned his head to see another him, and he screamed.

Jean: "Jamie!" Jean jumped, then screamed too. "Jamie!" His powers were working! She immediately tried the link, reaching for Jamie Prime. He wasn't the one screaming, she knew that much at least.

Jamie: Jamie flailed at the copy of himself, touching him on accident and sucking him back in. "What is happening?! What the actual fuck?!"

Jean: Jean was so close, but her power slipped away before she could do much more than touch Jamie's mind. And now this one - two? one! - was freaking out. Shit! "It's okay!" She reached for him. "Promise. You're fine."

Jamie: "B-but... what?! How?! I didn't..?!" Jamie took a step back from Jean, "Did you do that?! What just happened?!"

Jean: Shit! She held up her empty hand a bit her lip. "No, that wasn't me. It's you." Fucking hell! How?! "Um, babe, do you remember what mutants are?"

Jamie: "...the kind that come from ooze in 70s sci-fi flicks?" His heart was still racing, but he was standing still now. At least there was just one of him again... "Did someone spill ooze on me?!"

Jean: Clearly not. "Um... no..." She licked her lips and tried to touch him again and used her best not-bitchy voice. "We're born mutants. That's how we met... at a school for mutants. Your power is, um, making copies of yourself."

Jamie: "...." Jamie stared at her, silent for a long time. "That's the dumbest power ever."

Jean: Jean winced. "Nooo... like, you know how to do lots of things because you made your dupes learn stuff. When you, um, make them disappear again, you learn what they learned." She tried to lay her hand on his arm.

Jamie: Jamie twitched at her touch, but only a little. She said she wasn't the one who had made him become more than just him. "But, now I've forgotten it all." Then a thought occurred to him, "So, my 'brother'... isn't my brother is he? He's a copy of me?"

Jean: "You'll remember..." Fuck! Fucking fuck! Jean slid her hand up his arm and went up on her toes to pull him into a hug. "No, he's not your brother." She closed her eyes and scrunched her nose. Shiiiiit! "You, uh... are the... um..." Say it, Jean! "He's the original Jamie, but you're all the same man. I promise."

Jamie: "I'M NOT REAL?!" Jamie flailed again and whined, unintelligible noises came out instead of words as he tried to speak. Nothing made sense anymore!

Jean: "Noooo. Nononono. You're real." Jean hugged him tight. "You feel real to me. And I feel real to you, right? So, see, we're both real." Sure. Why not?

Jamie: "B... but you said..." He made another whining noise and fisted the jacket she was wearing, burying his face in her hair. "If he's... if... if he's the original, then I'm not reeeeeaaaaaaal!"

Jean: "It doesn't make you less real, Jamie. You're part of him, but you're you too." Jean closed her eyes and squeezed him, rubbing his back.

Jamie: "I don't understand... None of this makes any sense. It would have been easier to understand if someone had poured radioactive ooze on me..." He hiccuped and pulled back to look at her, then caught his reflection and looked away. Red, tear-stained eyes were not attractive.

Jean: "Your parents thought it was radiation, actually, because you were born with your power. I didn't get mine until I was older." Jean reached for his face and cupped his cheek, turning him to look at her and wiping the tears with her thumb. "You're real. I promise." Jean tried an encouraging smile.

Jamie: Jamie sniffed and met her eyes for a brief moment. "Earlier felt real enough, I guess..." His eyes suddenly grew wide and shifted back to hers, "What happens when we find the 'original?!' Am I gonna disappear like that one that just ..." Jamie flailed with his hands, unable to find the word for it, "outta me, then back in?!"

Jean: Shit. "You don't disappear, you continue to exist inside him." Jean sniffled on his behalf and stroked his cheek. "I love you, just like I love him. That won't change."

Jamie: "....you love someone else?!"

Jean: Wait, what? Jean blinked, still petting his cheek, but brought her other hand around to cup his face. "You. I love you. You're Jamie. He's Jamie," she said, nodding toward the maze and wherever the fuck Prime was. "The Jamie who popped out of you a minute ago? He's Jamie too. You're all the same guy, babe."

Jamie: "....right. You said that." He shook his head, gently, "Sorry. This is just... bizarre. Gut instinct doesn't work here, I guess." Jamie cleared his throat, "So, um," how to put this? "What happens if we find the 'original' but I suck him up instead? Oooooor.... I get rid of him?"

Jean: Jean lifted herself up to give him a quick kiss, but pulled back to yet again blink-blink. "He's... you. The first you." She swallowed. "You can't... um, get..." She couldn't even say it. "Do that."

Jamie: "Do that. Right. You want me to get rid of him so we can be together. I can do that." He gave her another quick kiss, then turned to try and find the path again. "C'mon, Bunny."

Jean: Wait, what? Jean gave him side eye when he turned, then rolled them. For fuck's sake. She was pretty sure Jamie had plenty of experience dealing with himself, but really?

Jamie: Jamie's eyes darted to and fro across the mirrors surfaces, but he wasn't seeing any smudges, so he stopped. "If I were me, which way would I go?" He stepped close to a mirror and gave himself a critical look, "Well? Which way, dummy?"

Jean: That... definitely sounded more like Jamie. Jean suppressed a smile and looked around. "Soooo, we came from theeeere," she mused, turning to look back and tracing their path. Jean let go of his hand to investigate a side hallway, full of more - surprise! - mirrors.

Jean: "Well, fuck," she whined, leaning against one. She screamed when it swung away from her.

Jamie: Jamie screamed when he heard her scream and turned just in time to watch her lose her balance. "Jeannie!" He reached out and snagged her wrists, pulling her in close. "Great job, Bunny! you found the door!" A quick kiss for her reward, then onward to slay his dragon! ...the dragon that kept screaming in pain? Or was that a different dragon? Yikes.

Jean: One thing she knew from her brief telepathic contact was that it wasn't Prime screaming, but... it was definitely another dupe. It made her wince, even as she smiled at this Jamie. "Thanks for the save." This hallway had a wonky floor, so more tripping was in order.

Jamie: Jamie grinned over his shoulder and caught her stumble, which made him decide to fall back and hold her hand. Walking beside her was nicer, anyway. "You saved me from a wall falling, so it seems only fair, right?" He looked up to assess their new path and frowned. Stairs that seemed pretty straightforward. Maybe?

Jean: The sounds from the other dupe were fading and she hoped that didn't mean what she thought it might.

Jean: Well, she'd dropped the wall on him before she'd saved him, but sure! Jean was happy to hold his hand again, however, and gave those stairs a look. "That looks too easy."

Jamie: "Well, if the person who is screaming came through here, then it is. If the the person screaming isn't who we're looking for, then it's not. Only one way to find out, though. Keep your eyes peeled and your tits safe." Dude. "I mean, I like them, please keep yourself in one piece."

Jean: Jean looked up at him for a long moment, then laughed. "I like them too." She took a deep breath and started up the sketchy stairs.

Jamie: Jamie gave her a weak grin, glad she didn't get mad at him, but feeling weird for having said it anyway. "Kiss for luck," he bent to kiss her soundly before she got too far up the stairs. "And now we head to our doom. Or not...?" So far, the stairs seemed fairly normal, if not weird looking and somewhat out of place.

Jean: "Let's hope not." Jean returned the kiss and turned, giving her ass a little shake for him before she kept going. Some steps were really high, some were really short, some were... sideways. It seemed to wind on forever, then leveled off, then went back down. "Oh, fuck me. Seriously?!"

Jamie: "Yes. ....oh. That wasn't a question." He looked at the path the stairs were taking and laughed, "You remind me of the babe?" Did he just remember something?! Score! That got him excited so he scooped her up and bounded down the stairs and around a corner. "Where's the worm thing?! I wanna pet it!"

Jamie: Jamie skidded to a halt at the scene in front of him and his face fell. He did not want to pet that.

Jean: All of that happened too fast for Jean to parse the reference until they rounded the corner. "Oh... fuck." Jean pushed on his chest a little, struggling to get down.

Jamie: His arms felt like noodles, so he let her down as gently as he could, still frozen in horror otherwise. That was... Him. He was... Oh fuck. Jamie turned and dry heaved, glad he apparently hadn't eaten lately.

Jean: Jean stumbled a little, then recovered to walk to him. So much blood... God. Was that... a bear trap?! WTF! She reached for the cardigan covering his face. "Shit, Anna..." Pulling it away, she saw what she already knew. Yet another piece of Jamie, gone forever. "I'm so sorry..."

Jamie: Even though nothing had come out, he wiped his mouth with the back of his hand, stood, and slowly turned to face his own dead body. "...does this mean I don't have to get rid of him then?"

Jean: She brushed his hair back, getting a good look at his face as she held the cardigan to her chest. His eye! Jean found herself gagging, dropping the sweater to press her hand against her stomach. She spun on the dupe. "He's you! Jesus Christ!"

Jamie: "...I know that." Kind of. "It's either joke or throw up stomach lining. You get what you get and you don't throw a fit." He swallowed hard and took a small step towards the bloody scene. "D-do you think that was the screaming person we heard?"

Jean: Jean blew out a long breath and tried to calm herself. "Yeah, it had to be him." She brushed his hair back again and kissed his forehead, then picked up the cardigan to cover his face again. When she turned back to this dupe, she was marginally calmer. "He's a dupe, like you."

Jamie: "....how do you know? He... he looks just like me." Minus the human-sized hunting gear and missing eyeball. "There's no real way to tell, is there?"

Jean: "He is just like you, but he's not Jamie Prime." Jean swallowed and met his eyes. "I can tell."

Jamie: Oh... so... that meant that she could tell that he wasn't really the man she wanted to be with. Great. Today was getting more depressing by the millisecond. "Wh-what do we do with him? ...me. The body." He was still about three feet back and felt like there was an invisible wall making it impossible for him to get any closer to the look-alike. Even if it was just because he reaaaaaally didn't want to see himself dead up close.

Jean: Jean caught the look in his eyes and felt bad for her blunt words. Sigh. She took a step toward him and went up on her toes to wrap her arms around his neck. "I don't know. There's... nothing we can do for him now."

Jamie: Jamie gladly wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her in close, clinging to her and closing his eyes, trying to let the smell of her erase the smell of the blood. His blood. "Then we say a prayer for him... me... and keep going."

Jean: She nodded, her own eyes already closed. It was still a relief to be with him, dupe or not, he was Jamie. "That... sounds like something he would say. You're just like him, even if you don't remember being him."

Jamie: "That's... oddly comforting. Because you love him. And I love you." Why did it feel like he'd never said that before? Was it wrong to say that for the first time while standing next to his dead body? Or was that just a cute rom-com type trope, so it was okay? "I'm sorry you had to see him like this."

Jean: "It's not the first time," she sighed, squeezing him tight. "And I love you, just like I love him."

Jamie: "Stop telling me you love someone else!" Jamie let out a sharp breath through his nostrils. "This day sucks enough as it is!" His body stilled when he remembered that someone else was also him... But not him. But it was him. He was getting a headache. "....oww.."

Jean: "It's not someone else! It's you! You're the only man I've ever loved. There are just... more than one of you." She pulled back to see his face.

Jamie: More than one. Right. Wait! "Wait! You said... this," he didn't want to look, so gestured vaguely in the direction of the mess, "wasn't the first time...." That meant... "I'VE DIED BEFORE?! HOW MANY TIMES?! WHAT HAPPENED?! HOW COME I DON'T REMEMBER?!"

Jean: She winced. "Um... I watched you die yesterday." Jean paused to swallow, looking down. "I-I was holding you..." She forced herself to breathe. "You've died... a lot. You don't even know how many times." She cleared her throat. "...you keep a list."

Jamie: "That's horrible, Jeannie. I'm so sorry!" He pulled her in to his chest and kissed the top of her head. "...did you say a list? There's a list?!"

Jean: Maybe she shouldn't have told him that part? "Um.... yeaaaah, there's a list, because of the cannibals..."

Jamie: He felt his eye start to twitch, but couldn't make it stop. "C-cannibals?" Surely not. Surely he misheard her. "C-cannabis?"

Jean: Jean wrinkled her nose. "Nooo, babe. Cannibals." That twitch looked familiar too, and she reached to brush her thumb beside his eye.

Jamie: "Bals. Canni. BALS. CANNIBALS?! I'VE BEEN EATEN?!" He was sure his face looked similar to the 'D:' face, but he couldn't force it to do anything else.

Jean: "Yeah, babe... you were kidnapped and rich crazies ate you... lots." Jean gave pets, realizing she'd probably made his head trauma into an aneurysm. "I saved you though! Soooo, heeey." She smiled, awkwardly.

Jamie: "Eheh..." Jamie finally forced his mouth closed, but his eye was still twitching. ".......lots? I'm not enough for 'lots' .... I'm barely enough for 'a few!'"

Jean: "Um... not when they made you duplicate and then killed and ate all the dupes..."

Jamie: Breathing wasn't a thing he could do anymore and Jamie suddenly saw nothing but white as he felt his knees buckle.

Jean: "Jamie!" Fuck. She caught him, but fucking hell he was heavy. At least she stopped his head from getting cracked again on their way down.
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