THE MOMENT
"It's his first heroic gig," DarkMoon mumbled to himself, then sighed. "I'll give him 10 more minutes...," He swept his long black cape under him and sat down on a bench near the main exhibit. He ignored the blaring alarm and pulled his node out to check if he'd missed a message or a call; but, there was none. He felt comfortable waiting. The security guards and even the police wouldn't confront him. They were too terrified; he'd already solidified his reputation with them. He waited about five minutes before a voice called his attention.
"Hey, are you DarkMoon?" he looked up to see a lean man with short dark hair. He wore a dark green suit with golden trim and a golden eye mask to match; but, he wore no cape. "I'm Juan Million," he said.
"Finally," DarkMoon nodded as he stood from the bench. "This alarm's been annoying the hell out of me. You ready to go?" DarkMoon raised his hands in a fighting stance. "Punch me out through the window just so we can move to a quieter place."
"Wait!" Juan Million put his hands up. "I'm not here yet...," he wiggled his fingers at the air, and a tall black portal opened next to him. Another version of him stepped out of the portal while the first version vanished with green and gold sparkles of energy.
"Okay," Juan nodded, then a new clone stepped forward out of him.
"Now, I'm ready."
"Huh?" DarkMoon dropped his hands and tilted his head at Juan. "What do you mean you weren't here?"
"I'll tell you after I punch you," Juan shook his head while standing behind himself. "This alarm is unbearable."
"Alright..," DarkMoon nodded. As soon as he agreed, the clone stepped forward and swung hard. DarkMoon went crashing through the second-story window and out into the museum's garden maze. DarkMoon's plan was to toy with his new hero for some time, then escape through the maze; he knew it inside and out. As soon as he cratered the ground, he stood up again to wait.
Juan Million leaped out of the window; his green suit stood out against the orange sky. The sun was on its way down. He landed near DarkMoon. They were both in the maze now and the museum's alarm wasn't so distracting anymore.
"I thought there would be more onlookers...," Juan said as he approached DarkMoon. When he leaped out of the window he was surprised that there was hardly another soul around. But, the fact that there wasn't meant they could chat a bit out of character.
"Nah, not on this Server," DarkMoon shrugged. "I've been a regular villain here before."
"Oh, nice," Juan nodded.
"Your profile says you're a Unique Soul, and your Superpower is making clones...," DarkMoon said. "...so I kind of get what you mean when you said the real you wasn't here. But, the part that confused me was your clone made the portal? Why didn't you make it? Can all your clones do that?" DarkMoon asked. He was genuinely curious about how his new nemesis worked and not for any sinister motivations. Juan seemed to understand that and he smiled with a nod.
"Yeah, I'm honestly still kind of learning how to work myself," he chuckled. "I wasn't a Unique Soul until recently. Here's what I've figured out so far..," Juan said. As he spoke, six new clones walked out of his back and lined up on both sides of him.
"So, the funny part is, I don't actually have any Unique Abilities," Juan said. "I mean, technically I did. La Luna can copy six Unique Abilities. Once I got all six...," he gestured to his clones. "..my base form was left with nothing."
"Whoaa..," DarkMoon said with interested awe.
"And, so I can only use the Abilities through clones. My plan was to make the perfect hero. La Calavera for strength," he pointed at the end of the line and one of his clones waved. "El Soldado for fighting and regeneration," the next one waved and Juan kept introducing them down the line.
"This one next to me is El Pájaro for flight. Then on this side we have La Estrella for Traversing," Each new clone waved in a different way. "Then, El Músico for style." That version of Juan released a rainbow of musical notes when he waved. "And, lastly, La Araña for the creep factor." That version waved and a dozen tiny spiders crawled out of the back of his hand and crawled around to disappear into his palm again.
"But,.. so much for the plan," Juan chuckled with a shrug. "
"Okay," DarkMoon nodded. "That's actually really kind of awesome. But, I have to ask this; and, I'm not even mad. But... with all those powers and all your clones... why were you late?"
"I'm still kind of new at Traversing..," Juan shrugged sheepishly. "I knew I was cutting it close; but, do you know how many cities there are named Springfield on just Server? I didn't want to Traverse straight to you in case you weren't ready... but then I realized it didn't matter when I was late. Next time I'll be there early."
"No way," DarkMoon shook his head. "Next time, you message me directly...," he pulled his hood and full mask off to reveal a teenager with a mess of dark brown curls atop his head. "...if I can add you to my friend list," he said. "My name is Aurelio Luna."