Editing Echidna Clones

{{Infobox/Worm/Team
|name           =
|image          =
|imagecaption   =
|leader(s)      = [[Echidna]]
|alignment      = [[Villains]]
|allies         = [[Trickster]]
|alliedOrg      = 
|status         = Exterminated
|web serial     = [[Migration 17.8]]}}'''Echidna Clones''' are a type of clone created by [[Echidna]]. They are created when an organism comes into contact with Echidna's body.

==Biology==
Once contact between Echidna and an organism is made, it takes minutes for a corresponding clone to form inside Echidna.<ref>It took a minute and a half for her to form the clones within her.  We closed the distance as her body swelled.  When she’d reached critical mass, each of the three mouths on her lower body opened to heave out a tide of blood and gore, along with eighteen or twenty people.  Half of the people she’d heaved out had clothes.  The other half had mutations.  The mutants were on their feet as soon as they could find traction in the sludge, the innocents seemed as though they could barely move. - [https://parahumans.wordpress.com/2013/02/09/queen-18-7/ Excerpt] from [[Queen 18.7]]</ref> They start off as pre-prepared nuggets of flesh within Echidna, rapidly developing into a clone of a chosen organism within Echidna's many stomachs.<ref name=":0" /><!--Missing interlude has some insights from witness and i wouldn't be surprised if it sheds some light on the matter.-->

The appearance of the clone depends on the amount of time they spend within Echidna's body. If spat out too soon, the clone is malformed, missing limbs and features. If spat out too late, the clone is also malformed, but with extra material instead.<ref name=":0">Noelle tagged several of the bodies in her internal stomachs, felt flesh constrict tight against them, felt the pre-prepared nuggets of flesh in her gullet forming into close replicas in an instant.  Timing was crucial; if she spat them out too soon, they’d be malformed, missing limbs or features.  Too late, and there was extra material. - [https://parahumans.wordpress.com/2013/02/16/interlude-18/ Excerpt] from [[Interlude 18]]</ref> This often means that clones will be mutated, with deformed features and strange, bizarre body-shapes. In many cases, these mutations may also make clones stronger and unusually durable compared to their originals.<ref name="sabotage">I sneaked cockroaches in through the gaps in the weapon’s exterior and started them chewing through the wiring.<br />[...]<br />Leet pulled the trigger.<br><br>“There we go,” Eidolon said.  The gun wasn’t firing.  He pulled the trigger again, and an arc of electricity ripped out from a space by the power supply, toasting half of the bugs I’d positioned on Leet and sending him sprawling to the ground.  He was back on his feet seconds later, tearing one panel away to get at the sparking power supply.  Tougher than a normal person. - [https://parahumans.wordpress.com/2013/02/09/queen-18-7/ Excerpt] from [[Queen 18.7]]</ref>

When a [[parahuman]] is cloned, the clone inherits the original parahuman's [[shard]] connection. They can either receive an identical but stronger version of the power, or receive a variation upon the original power.<ref>Some of the time, the powers would be different.  Most of the time, going by precedent, they were stronger.  Trickster was left to wonder how Perdition’s powers had changed.  Duration?  Range?  The amount of time reversed? - [https://parahumans.wordpress.com/2013/01/15/migration-17-8/ Excerpt] from [[Migration 17.8]]</ref> These variations can be quite extreme, as seen when a clone of [[Vista]] was altered to produce radiation with her power.<ref name="radiation">“It’s radioactive,” Tattletale intoned.  “Everything she’s dissolving like that.”<br><br>“Unless I cover it?” Grue asked.<br><br>“Unless you cover it.  Should cancel out the effects.  But you did want me to let you know when I’m making an educated guess.  This is one of them.” Tattletale said.  “I hope I’m right.  We could win this fight and still wind up dying in a hospital bed a few years from now, because we got too close as that stuff dissolved.” - [https://parahumans.wordpress.com/2013/02/05/monarch-18-6/ Excerpt] from [[Queen 18.6]]</ref>

Echidna is also capable of cloning bacteria and molds, altering them into a weaponized form that infects and weakens anyone that is caught within her body.<ref>With that thought, it dawned on me.  Noelle absorbed living things, and that apparently extended to bacteria.  Where others had bacteria in their digestive systems to help them digest food, Noelle, ''Echidna,'' had no need for such.  When she absorbed the ambient bacteria and molds from her surroundings, she was storing them, weaponizing them like she did with rats and insects.  They were used to debilitate her victims, render them unable to fight back while her clones got the upper hand. - [https://parahumans.wordpress.com/2013/02/19/scourge-19-1/ Excerpt] from [[Scourge 19.1]]</ref>

==Behavior==
Upon being created and expelled from Echidna, clones are immediately alert and aware of their surroundings. If their originals are around, they will begin attacking them. All Echidna clones are violently murderous, seeking to destroy everything their original cared about. Depending on the type, Echidna clones exhibit varying degrees of subservience to Echidna. Some clones are obedient, acting protective and even affectionate toward Echidna. Others act more on their own accord, though still working toward Echidna's overall agenda.<!--include skiters italicized thoughts on the matter good short hand-->

Human clones inherit their originals' memories and general psychology, subverted into a twisted caricature of their original personality.<ref>“She’s Steph.  She’s Steph.  Of course I care.  Fucking bugs!”  He lashed out with one arm, as if he could hurt the swarm, drive them away.  His arms folded around the clone-Steph.<br><br>I pulled the attacking bugs away, leaving only enough to track his movements.  I wasn’t sure I ''wanted'' to open up a line of dialogue, but my conscience couldn’t afford to let me ''not''.  “But… what about the person she was beating up?  You don’t care about the real Steph?”<br><br>“Ignored me.  Looked down on me because I was fat.  Fuck her,” he spoke with such force that my bugs could feel the spit flying from his mouth.<br><br>She’s still Steph, isn’t she?”<br><br>“Bitch.  Brushing me off.  Made it so we were friends, not boyfriend and girlfriend.  Bitch,” he said.<br><br>He let the mutant-clone Steph drop limp to the ground, clenched and unclenched a fist.  “Fuck her.  Fuck you for killing Steph.” - [https://parahumans.wordpress.com/2013/02/12/queen-18-8/ Excerpt] from [[Queen 18.8]]</ref> They consider themselves 'soldiers,' though not necessarily ''Echidna's'' soldiers. They possess an overwhelming desire to first destroy their originals' loved ones, then their close associates, eventually escalating in scope toward the goal of destroying countries and humanity at large.<ref>“Why do this?  Why hurt people?”<br><br>“I’m a soldier,” he said, his words dull.  “It’s what I am.”<br><br>I sensed his girth, used my swarm to sense his equally heavy alter-ego.  “You… don’t strike me as a soldier.”<br><br>“It’s what I am.”<br><br>“Is… is ''he'' a soldier?” I gestured in the direction of his other self.<br><br>“No.  Fat fuck could never be a soldier.  Kill him.  Dig my fingers into that gut and rip and tear until he dies.  Strangle him.  No willpower, hide from the world behind that disgusting fat.  Choke the life out of him.  He’s useless anyways.  Waste of air, waste of a life.”<br><br>''Projecting much?''<br><br>“And when he’s dead?  What will you do?”<br><br>He moved toward me, and I backed away a step, bringing my bugs closer to him.  He went still again, glanced around.  “Kill others.  Kill Dad and Mom and Sammy and the cats.  Kill teachers and classmates and burn my house and burn the school.  Fuckers.  All of them.  Looking down on me.”<br><br>His words struck a chord, and it was the closest experience I’d ever had to the sort of flashback that happened in the movies.  I could remember being in the school bathroom, dripping with juice.  Being so frustrated, so angry, so hurt that I just wanted to lash out.<br><br>Was that all he had left?  Was that all he was?<br><br>“And if ''they'' all die?”<br><br>“Kill others.  Burn this fucking disgusting city.  Burn this fucking country.  Keep burning, keep killing.”<br><br>“Do you really think that’ll make anything better?”<br><br>“No.”<br><br>“Then why?  Is there any way I can get you to stop?”<br><br>“No.  Won’t stop.  I’m a ''soldier''.”<br><br>“Whose soldier?  Hers? Noelle’s?  The monster who spat you out?”<br><br>“No.” - [https://parahumans.wordpress.com/2013/02/12/queen-18-8/ Excerpt] from [[Queen 18.8]]</ref> While irrationally murderous, they are capable of showing empathy and grief toward their fellow clones, especially if those clones are of a person their original knew.<ref>“You leave Steph alone!” the fat clone bellowed.<br><br>The words caught me off guard as much as the fact that he’d seen the attack.  He charged, and I swiftly backed up, bringing my weapons to the ready.<br><br>He didn’t come after me.  He stopped by ‘Steph’, the one-legged clone with the fatal throat wound.<br><br>“You care about her?” I asked.<br><br>“She’s Steph,” he said. - [https://parahumans.wordpress.com/2013/02/12/queen-18-8/ Excerpt] from [[Queen 18.8]]</ref> They have a sense of self-preservation, and become distressed when caught in a hopeless situation.<ref>Still fighting to avoid being brained by Wanton’s telekinetic storm, the tall Vista let out a drawn out half-moan, half-scream, equal parts despair and anger.  It didn’t sound exactly normal, but that didn’t surprise me.  What made my blood run cold was that she ''almost'' sounded like a young girl might.  A little too close to reality for comfort. - [https://parahumans.wordpress.com/2013/02/05/monarch-18-6/ Excerpt] from [[Queen 18.6]]</ref>

Animals that were cloned attacked everything in sight with savage fervor. Cloned rats sought out people to bite and claw at. Cloned bugs did the same, but were also uncontrollable by [[Skitter]]. Skitter's clone, [[Chitter]], was able to control these cloned bugs.<ref>I could track the rats that were crawling out of the vomit.  A dozen of them, and they were homing in on people, savagely biting and clawing into any flesh they found.  I made sure to cluster my bugs in as dense a swarm as I could afford, to keep them contained.  The bugs I didn’t devote to the task worked to disable and distract the more mundane clones.<br><br>I might have missed it if I hadn’t had the bugs pressed together to contain the rats.  I had missed it already, countless times.  Wasps, hornets and cockroaches were crawling free of the slurry of flesh that Noelle had vomited into the building’s lobby.  They were attacking my bugs and any people they found. - [https://parahumans.wordpress.com/2013/02/09/queen-18-7/ Excerpt] from [[Queen 18.7]]</ref>

==List of Clones==
*[[Abhorror]] (Grue)
*[[Apocrypha]] (Alexandria)
*[[Carnie]] (Circus)
*[[Charlatan]] (Trickster)
*[[Chitter]] (Skitter)
*[[Gross]] (Grace)
*[[Ignis Fatuus]] (Eidolon)
*[[Pwn]] (Leet)
*[[Scape]] (Vista)
*[[Temblor]] (Tecton)
*[[Unter]] (Über)
*[[Vizier]] (Regent)
*[[Witness]] (Tattletale)
*[[Parahuman Characters#Kudzu|Kudzu]] clones
*[[Perdition]] clones
*Clones of [[Bitch's Dogs|Bitch's dogs]]
*Various civilian clones
*Various animal clones

==History==
===Background===
There was an event involving the [[The Travelers|Travelers]] in [[New York]] that led to the disappearance of forty individuals. This was likely one of the incidents in which Noelle created clones.<ref>“I don’t know.  ''Could'' they?  Yes.  And that possibility is too dangerous, especially given what Regent can do.  The Undersiders do not pull their punches.  The Travelers, oddly enough, are more moderate, but they do have sixteen kills under their belt, due in large part to the sheer power at their disposal.”<br/><br/>“Let’s not forget the incident in New York,” Legend said.  “Forty individuals disappeared in one night.  Investigation confirmed the Travelers were occupying a nearby location.  Chances are good that they were involved.” - [https://parahumans.wordpress.com/2012/09/01/interlude-13/ Excerpt] from [[Interlude 13]]</ref><ref>Tattletale spoke up, “The Travelers have two other members who don’t see much action.  Oliver handles their day-to-day stuff.  Finds and prepares places for them to settle down, gets food, looks after Noelle.  Noelle…”<br/><br/>“New York,” Miss Militia interrupted.  “She’s the one that’s responsible for the disappearance of those forty people?”<br/><br/>“I wouldn’t be surprised,” Tattletale said. - [https://parahumans.wordpress.com/2013/01/26/queen-18-3/ Excerpt] from [[Queen 18.3]]</ref> 

In the third incident involving clones, three clones of [[Perdition]] were created after he touched Noelle, making them the third, fourth, and fifth clones ever created by Noelle.<ref>They all stared at the bodies.  This would be the third incident.  Or incidents three through five, if he wanted to count it that way. - [https://parahumans.wordpress.com/2013/01/15/migration-17-8/ Excerpt] from [[Migration 17.8]]</ref> The clones went on a rampage in [[Boston]], killing three civilians and injuring more until they were confronted by the Travelers and subsequently put down.<ref>[[Migration 17.8]]</ref> Krouse mentioned a prior incident the previous fall that had even worse results than the third. This may or may not have been the New York incident.<ref>“Fuck,” Krouse said.  “At least two dead at the hands of the one I stopped.  Not as bad as last fall.” - [https://parahumans.wordpress.com/2013/01/15/migration-17-8/ Excerpt] from [[Migration 17.8]]</ref>

===Post-[[Slaughterhouse Nine]]===
After Echidna broke loose following the death of [[Coil]], Echidna managed to capture [[Vista]] and create several clones of her. She would go on to hunt for capes, capturing and cloning [[Über]], [[Leet]], and [[Circus]].<ref>[[Queen 18.4]]</ref> When the Travelers, [[Undersiders]], and [[Chicago#The_Wards|Chicago Wards]] were fighting against Echidna, Trickster turned on the heroes and began actively facilitating the capture of capes by Echidna, allowing even more parahuman clones to be created. Numerous clones of many types were created after the [[battle against Echidna]] began in earnest.

The climax of the battle came when [[Ignis Fatuus]] and [[Apocrypha]], clones of [[Eidolon]] and [[Alexandria]] respectively, were created. Ignis Fatuus engaged and killed [[Myrddin]], and then went on to reveal the secret of [[Cauldron]] and its association with the [[Triumvirate]] and the [[PRT]]. This was a devastating blow to morale, but after [[Skitter]] revitalized the gathered capes with a display of force, they were able to destroy both Ignis Fatuus and the two Apocryphas.<ref name="death">“Hit the Eidolon-Clone,” I spoke to Miss Militia through my bugs, hurrying to step away from Noelle’s bisected form.  “Hit him hard.”<br><br>The Eidolon-clone moved one arm in our direction, only to stop short.  A thread that had draped his arm was now a rigid barrier, connected to the same thread that I’d positioned between Noelle and I.  He tried to retreat, only to find the thread I’d circled around his neck holding him firm.<br><br>He started to flicker, no doubt to escape.  One arm free.  Then another.<br><br>Miss Militia hefted her rocket launcher.  Our Eidolon was already flying to Legend’s rescue as she pulled the trigger.  The Eidolon-clone wasn’t quite free when the warhead hit home.  For extra measure the explosion drove him against the threads that had draped his body.<br><br>If I’d been good at the punchlines, I might have thrown one out there.  The best I could come up with was, Flicker that. - [https://parahumans.wordpress.com/2013/03/09/scourge-19-6/ Excerpt] from [[Scourge 19.6]]</ref><ref>A series of neon green concentric circles exploded outward from a point in the sky above, rippling out to disappear over each horizon.  Eidolon had engaged one Alexandria-clone, and whatever he’d done seemed to have finished her off.  One left.<br />[...]<br />Another circle exploded across the sky.  Alexandria-clone-two was down.  Legend and Eidolon descended in Echidna’s direction, keeping a healthier distance.<br><br>Whatever Eidolon had been hitting the clones with, considering the area it was covering and the fact that it was apparently taking Alexandria out of action, it suggested a kind of attack that couldn’t be used near the ground, because it might have leveled whole sections of the city. - [https://parahumans.wordpress.com/2013/03/09/scourge-19-6/ Excerpt] from [[Scourge 19.6]]</ref>

With Echidna's subsequent death, the only source of Echidna clones was destroyed. It can be assumed that the rest of the Echidna clones were killed during or after the battle against Echidna.

==Trivia==
*Echidna clones are likely based on the common [[Wikipedia:Evil_twin#Comic books|comic book trope]] of "evil clones."
*Excluding [[Witness]], all named clones are only named in the tags of the chapters they appear in.
*Echidna clones are named based on their originals' cape names, with their names being intentional inversions and parodies of the originals.
*Witness was introduced in the [[Missing Interlude]] and was subsequently decanonized by Wildbow after the interlude was taken down. In [[Ward]], a [[Case 53]] with the same name and similar circumstances is mentioned. It is unknown whether this Witness is canonically the same one from the Missing Interlude.

==Fanart Gallery ==
<gallery hideaddbutton="true" navigation="true">
R6mOVGD.jpg|Scurry by [https://forums.spacebattles.com/members/idiom-alpha.389007/ Idiom Alpha.]|link=https://forums.spacebattles.com/posts/50665159
Chitter by Scarfgirl.png|Scurry/Chitter by [https://scarfgirl.deviantart.com/ Scarfgirl]
</gallery>
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