I really need you to see the potential in this Paragon self duplication thing.
“Again,” Harry encourages, nudging at her sternum with a palm that lacks the gentleness of amiable coaching. Deftly, he blocks her weakened onslaught of ice with a forearm radiating deterrent and takes a step back, wriggling with his fingers in a come hither motion, “Again.”
Arctick attempts to catch him off guard, throwing an underhand aimed for his family jewels, and white radiates from her palm — the expanse of the attack is stifled, instantly, and a pale hue of violet glows translucently ahead of his stature. Ice splinters into shards that fall in crystals.
“Ooh,” the man dips his chin, pivoting as his brows pinch and his strawberry mouth curls, “Sneaky aim. Low blow, sweetheart. That would’ve hurt.”
“Are you angry? Y’look angry,” the hero tells her on an open-mouthed beam, then juts at her with his chin, taking another casual step back over the mat, “That’s good — use that.”
“Are you angry? Y’look angry,” the hero tells her on an open-mouthed beam, then juts at her with his chin, taking another casual step back over the mat, “That’s good — use that.”
The young woman sends a flurry of chill spiraling, and as the man blocks the first onslaught, as expected, with an effortless burst of power from the tips of his fingers, a second wave erupts, this one aimed for his legs. Arctick can only grimace as Paragon smoothly bars the attempt — what a dickhead.
“You’re weak — you’re angry because you’re weak,” he goads, irises glinting, “You’re angry because I’m calling you weak. So use that. Show me I’m wrong,” he twists away from her and stretches his arms out — an invitation, his back, and the young woman makes a last ditch effort, her pent up rage rushing out in a torrent of ice aimed to pierce.
“Better,” Harry exclaims, enthusiasm interweaving the syllables, and he turns his chin, just a bit, over his shoulder. His forearm bends to emit a luminous glow that blocks what would have tagged flesh and muscle. She sees the corner of his mouth visibly twitch. “But not quite.”
“This is ridiculous — it’s not a fair fight,” Harry sees Arctick buzzing when he turns, an intrigued crease over his brow bone — she stands with her hands at her sides on the opposite side of the room, but every muscle in her body is tensed, like she physically aches to freeze him.
“No?” Harry cocks his head, venturing toward her on bare soles.
“This isn’t active combat,” she expands, letting the frustration leak into her tone, “You tell me to strike, and you expect it when I do.”
His mouth quirks, and there’s a lull, like he’s ruminating. Finally, he asks, “You want active combat?”
Arctick lifts her chin at him, expecting a vivid, violet current of electricity to hurl from his palm, to send her nerve endings on fire. She expects him to vanish, shard by shard, into invisibility that’ll leave her craning her neck and flitting her gaze about the room in apprehension. She expects him to twist and grapple for the weight rack, to fling it at her with superhuman strength.
“Then let’s make this—“
What she doesn’t expect is the crook of his lips, his figure stood ahead, and then the subsequent warm press of a palm over her stomach. It slinks from behind, and she feels his mirror press behind her as his original form illustrates a smirk from across the floor.
“A fair fight,” croons the voice behind her — the same inflection as the cadence ahead. She stiffens at the touch. It’s soft, unlike his prior ministrations. Her head twists over her shoulder, and irises ogle the reflection in the broad expanse of mirrors on the wall beside her. Paragon stands ahead of her, feet away, his arms crossed, and …Paragon stands behind her, his arm rippling with muscle as it flexes over her. He’s duplicated.
“Hm?” Harry hums against the shell of her ear. In his original form, he watches the display like a strange sort of voyeur — the whole experience is odd, and he can tell the showcase of ability has caught her off guard. It’s sort of a weird process — acting through different vessels, the coordination of it all. More than anything, it’s an interesting party trick beyond a single split. From there, he feels his powers weaken in their tether when divorced among a plethora of vessels.
“Get your hands off of me,” Arctick grits out, her own grappling over his forearm, and Paragon’s original form just keeps his arms crossed as the touch of his copy grows sturdier.
“Oh, but I can’t do that,” Harry says from across the floor.
“Active combat, remember?” his copy wrangles its arms over her own flailing limbs. The original Paragon nonchalantly watches a warm, glow zap between his fingertips, across the room. The young woman manages to dig an elbow back against the warm body behind her, and the motion incites the priorly steady buzz in his hand to falter. That fucking hurt.
“You don’t want to play nice?” the man’s head cocks from across the floor, and Arctick sees his duplication clasp over her, in the reflection, before she’s launched through the air with a grip over her wrist. The only thing that keeps her from catapulting against the back wall of brick is her own grip — she maintains it over the copy’s joint as she’s spun through the air. She lands on her feet.
Now, the copy faces her, and behind that, stands the true Paragon, just idling by like he’s watching a show.
“Alright,” the copy contends, mouth curling, “Then I won’t play nice.”
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Mirrors — story guide
⟶ Character | Jungkook x reader
⟶ Genre | Friends with benefits!au, Smut, Angst
⟶ Ratings & Warnings | +18 / M for Mature; appropriate warnings will be applied on each chapter whenever necessary.
— Read:
⟶ Mirrors | Part 01 ● 3,5k words — originally written & published on Dec 3rd, 2016
⟶ Summary | You thought you made the right choice to end things before it got too far, yet in the moment in need, he chose to call you, insinuating that he might not have been ready to let things go.
or
“Don’t argue. Just do it.”
⟶ Mirrors | Part 02 ● 5k words — originally written & published on Nov 26th, 2017
⟶ Summary | As he takes you in his arms once again, denying your escape right when you are ready to leave him for good, he helps you to realise that the mirrors are not the only things that could help you see the truth within. That you could also see the reflection of your soul…in him.
⟶ Mirrors: what becomes of us (bonus chapter) ● 8,5k words — written & published on Sept 7th, 2023
⟶ Summary | One year has passed, and the unmistakable fuzzy feelings that have nothing to do with lust continue to grow. Yet while he is able to look deep into your heart, he has yet to allow you to see what is hidden inside his. He still put up a hard front, making you believe that standing by his side may not be as different than standing in front of fragile mirrors.
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