Mirage: "I'm back here!? How?! Hey, voice!"
Mirage had returned to the place that looked like a mansion, and once again, it seemed different from the last time. Now, the place where Mirage stood resembled a small warehouse, but there was something off about it. It felt like something straight out of a futuristic SpongeBob episode, except instead of silver, everything was made of metal.
V.A: "Back already? What a surprise... Well, you probably know what you need to do, right? Good luck."
Mirage: "Hold on! I w—"
Before he could finish, Mirage felt a sharp pain, and then his vision turned upside down. He saw his own headless body next to a metallic version of himself.
Mirage: "What...!"
Upon witnessing his own death, Mirage closed his eyes. Then, something strange happened... he was... alive, with his head intact.
Mirage: "I'm... alive...? How?"
V.A: "What are you doing, you idiot?! DO YOU WANT TO DIE?!"
Reacting instinctively to the voice's warning, Mirage turned to where the blow had come from last time, and there it was—his metallic copy, charging at him with a blade protruding from its wrist. Seeing the copy approach, Mirage reached for his katanas, but they weren't at his waist... This search left him open, and he was struck full-force by the metallic copy's blow, ending his life once again...
*Third Attempt*
Mirage: "Got it... I can't die here!"
Waking up in the same place again, Mirage didn't waste time and managed to dodge the first strike by ducking under the copy's arm. Seizing the moment, he tried to throw the copy over his shoulder, but unfortunately for him...
Mirage: "AHHHH! MY SHOULDER!"
The copy had sprouted a cluster of spikes from its arm, pinning Mirage in place. As a finishing move, the copy ejected more spikes, this time from its torso, piercing Mirage's entire body... killing him instantly.
*Fourth Attempt*
Mirage: "Ugh... ugh... what pain...! Even if I can't die... I still feel all the pain from before I 'die'... Plus, this 'copy' of mine isn't made of metal, even if it looks like it. Can I even hurt it?"
Formulating a plan, Mirage charged at the copy, which was already coming at him with the same strike.
Mirage: *'So it makes the same moves too? Or is it just this one?'*
As he got within range, Mirage blocked the strike with one hand and, with the other, punched the copy's stomach.
Mirage: "You bastard... you're faster than I thought..."
Before Mirage's hand could reach the copy's stomach, it shifted metal to that area, forming an iron plate that stopped Mirage's attack and broke his fingers.
Mirage: "Ahh! You're not gonna make this easy for me, huh?"
Retreating as fast as he could before the copy could do anything else, Mirage searched the warehouse for something to use as a weapon. During his search, he found various cleaning supplies and similar items, but the only thing that could serve as a weapon was a pair of fireplace pokers.
Mirage: "Ascension: Torrent"
Using one of his copied techniques, Mirage advanced on the copy. As soon as the makeshift weapons made contact with the copy's metallic 'flesh,' they were absorbed, just like what happened with Daniel.
Mirage: "What?! This thing has Smiley's Akuma powers?!"
V.A: "You only noticed now? Man... you're dumber than I thought..."
Mirage: "Hey! Who do you think you are?! Come say that to my—ahh!"
Angered by the Voice inside his Akuma, Mirage didn't notice the copy eject a metal spike—made from the fireplace poker—straight into his throat, causing him to choke on his own blood for a brief moment before being sliced in half.
*Fifth Attempt*
Mirage: "HEY, YOU CRAPPY VOICE! THE MOMENT I FIND YOU, I SWEAR I'LL MAKE YOU REGRET—"
V.A: "Ooh, I'm so scared. But before you start thinking about hunting me down, you've got to deal with your copy... And since I'm nice, I'll give you a tip: use its power against it..."
Mirage: "I don't need your help!"
*'Use its power against it?'*
Despite saying he didn't want help, Mirage thought about the Voice's words and devised a plan. First, he quickly grabbed the fireplace pokers and charged at the copy again. Facing his copy once more, Mirage attacked with the pokers, and as before, the weapons were 'absorbed'... But that was the plan! As soon as the pokers were connected to the copy, Mirage activated his electro at full power.
V.A: "Fufufufu~ That's not what I meant by 'use its power against it.'"
Mirage: "No? Whatever... what matters is it worked... it didn—Argh!"
Thinking he had defeated the copy, Mirage didn't notice the metal spike that shot out from its stomach, piercing straight through his heart.
*Sixth Attempt*
Mirage: "How?! How did it withstand that charge?!"
V.A: "You really are kind of slow, huh?"
Mirage: "I swear... if you call me that one more time..."
V.A: "And it's my fault? I gave you two hints about how my power works, and you're playing dumb to avoid getting it."
Mirage: "What are you talking about? Two hints?"
Thinking hard about what the Voice had said, Mirage replayed everything it had told him while dodging the copy's strikes, until something clicked in his mind.
Mirage: "Your power... it's copying Akumas in the Mis..."
V.A: "Finally! I thought you'd never figure it out."
Mirage: "Got it! I'm a bit slow! Now explain how to use your copies."
V.A: "Since I don't want to watch you die another 30 times, I'll give you another tip! Just remember what the Akuma no Mi you copied means."
Mirage: "Meaning...? Smiley said he was a metal shaper, and from what I remember, his Fruit is the Kanemari, which means metal bender... In other words, his body became a forging mold!"
Reaching this conclusion, Mirage went after the copy, which had been oddly still until now (likely the Voice's doing). As he faced the copy, it ejected a barrage of spikes from its body and leaped at him.
Mirage: "Ow! This is harder than it looks!"
Thinking his body was a mold, Mirage managed to use Neru's power, though with minor injuries due to his low proficiency.
Mirage: *'What a weird freaking feeling...'*
After absorbing the metal from the spikes the copy had created, Mirage realized that having chunks of pure metal in his body wasn't exactly pleasant. The only way to describe it was like having a slime inside you that you could move and shape at will.
Mirage: "Now let's tr—"
Distracted for a moment while trying to form a blade with the metal in his body, the copy attacked with a horizontal slash, aiming to cut him in half. Naturally, Mirage tried to turn his body into a mold again... It worked, but no matter how much he thought of his body as a mold... it was still flesh and bone.
*Seventh Attempt*
This time, the Voice stayed silent. Mirage didn't care and charged at the copy again, aiming to absorb as much metal as possible to recreate his katanas. And he succeeded! While dodging and absorbing the copy's strikes, Mirage molded the metal in his body into two katanas and expelled them from his hands.
Mirage: "Now it's time for the show to start!"
Seeing that the original had finally grasped his new power, the copy went all out, absorbing a massive amount of metal, almost overflowing with it. Mirage found this odd but decided to attack anyway.
Mirage: "Ascension: Torrent"
The copy stared at Mirage's strike without reacting. As the katanas made contact, they were repelled by the metallic body. Then, the copy aimed its arm at Mirage and unleashed a barrage of metal constructs. By a hair's breadth, Mirage dodged most of them.
Mirage: "Neat trick you've been hiding..."
The two went back and forth like this for a while until Mirage noticed his electro was flowing much better into these katanas than the ones in the "real" world. Seeing this, he attempted a risky move that could cost him his life if it went wrong.
Mirage: "How did Damian put it? Focus electro on the back of the katana, and when you make the cutting motion... explode the electro! Alright, let's try it!"
Following the description, Mirage charged electro into one of his katanas and tried to replicate Damian's move.
Mirage: "Mèi TāoTiè: Blood-Dyed Sky"
*'This name doesn't suit my version at all...'*
*BOOM*
Exploding the electro at the right moment, Mirage successfully executed Damian's technique, but there was a problem with his version... brute force. Because of this detail, Mirage only managed to cut half of the copy's body.
Mirage: "Damn it!"
As he tried to pull the katana out, Mirage realized it was stuck, and unfortunately for him, in that split second, the copy exploded into a shower of spikes that pierced multiple parts of his body.
Mirage: "That hurt! But don't think that's enough to kill me!"
Instinctively, Mirage used the Kanemari's power to avoid death by the spikes, but he was now pinned in place and on the brink of death... In this dire situation, Mirage bet everything on one final attack.
Mirage: "Mèi TāoTiè: Blood-Dyed Sky"
*BOOM!*
With desperate movements, Mirage used the same technique, this time with the free katana, and to his luck... the strike worked perfectly. Mirage managed to slice the copy in half, but... it didn't go down without a fight. As a final blow, the copy channeled all its metal into a massive club and hurled it at Mirage. Seeing the club coming, Mirage just smiled before closing his eyes.
To Be Continued