by Lucas Flint
As for Mecha Knight, as usual, he kept his eyes fixed firmly on the Capsule with the Ultimate Clone. But if I had to guess, I would say that Mecha Knight seemed almost relieved at the thought that the process had failed and Seth was dead.
Then, abruptly, the Ultimate Clone’s eyes snapped open. At the same time, the Capsule’s lid popped open and rose up, spewing odd green gas onto the tubes below, giving a ghostly appearance to the laboratory that set my hair on end.
A second later, a wet slap echoed throughout the laboratory as the Ultimate Clone jumped down from the Capsule. He stumbled briefly as if he was unused to his new body, but then he stood up to his full height and began to examine his body, flexing his muscles as he did so. I did, too, but only because I had no choice in the matter.
Yeah, he was definitely a clone of me. His body was an almost perfect replica of my own, down to the last detail. The only difference was that his skin seemed … different, almost plasticine in appearance, although that could just as easily have been due to the lights reflecting off his moist skin than anything. He was also completely and totally nude, which you think wouldn’t make me uncomfortable (I’d obviously seen myself naked lots of times), but somehow it did.
“Enjoying the show?” Phaser said to me under his breath, causing me to look at him suddenly. Phaser wore a rather hungry grin on his face as he looked down at the Ultimate Clone. “I am. Very much.”
Before I could feel sick at the implication of Phaser’s words, the Ultimate Clone looked over at us suddenly, as if he just remembered that he wasn’t alone.
“Behold,” said the Ultimate Clone. His voice sounded almost exactly like mine, except slightly deeper. He spread my—no, his—arms wide. “The process worked. My theory was correct. I am now immortal … truly immortal. Indeed, with all of the power flowing through my body, I am not merely immortal, but a god incarnate.”
Another bridge popped out of the Capsule and connected to our platform. Seth, without any hint of shame, walked over to us. Phaser was looking at him with intense interest, while Mecha Knight and the Neo-Killer merely watched him with wariness and interest. The Neo-Killer’s trigger finger, I noticed, was twitching, probably due to the fact that Seth and I were now almost identical. Mecha Knight, of course, stayed still, although I noticed his hand rested on the hilt of his sword.
When Seth stepped onto the platform, he glanced at Phaser and said, “Get me a jumpsuit.”
“Yes, sir,” said Phaser in a voice that made me wish he didn’t have his hands on Edge.
Phaser disappeared and reappeared almost instantaneously, carrying a full-size blue and yellow jumpsuit in his hands. He handed it to Seth, who put it on like he wore this sort of thing every day. It wasn’t hard to notice Phaser’s disappointment as Seth clothed his nudity, which just made me want to hurl.
Once Seth finished buttoning up his jumpsuit, he looked at me and grinned. “Impressed? I would hope you are. This is, after all, your body. Only, unlike your body, it will never decay. It will never die. It will remain in pristine condition for the rest of eternity, even to the death of the universe itself.”
“Nothing’s immortal, Seth,” I said. “Sooner or later, we all die.”
Seth simply chuckled. “Such … outdated thinking. With the power I have now accumulated, I have done the impossible and defeated death. Humanity’s mortal foe has finally been vanquished. Doppelganger is ready to go public. Once I release this news to the public, not only will I become wealthy beyond measure, but I will be treated as the god that I am. And your kind, of course, will pass away shortly after, replaced by the far superior clones who will serve humanity, as your kind should.”
My hands balled into fists, but there was nothing I could do. As long as the Indestructonium clamps held me down, all I could do was glare at Seth uselessly.
Then Seth glanced at the Neo-Killer. “David, come here, please.”
The Neo-Killer looked highly reluctant to come near Seth—probably due to his new resemblance to me—but then he trudged over to him begrudgingly. “Yes?”
Seth held out a hand. “Your gun. The one with bullets. Now.”
The Neo-Killer eyed Seth carefully. “Why should I give you my gun?”
Seth’s smile didn’t change. “Did that sound like a request?”
The two of them stared each other down for a moment, but then the Neo-Killer un-holstered his gun and handed it handle first to Seth. Seth took it without so much as a thank you and then pointed it directly at my face.
“Your assistance is no longer required, Bolt,” said Seth. “Please tell Genius that Project Revival was a success when you see him. I am sure he will be thrilled to know that I completed his research … even if it was at the cost of his own son’s life.”
CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX
Right before Seth could pull the trigger on the gun, the lights flickered above and then suddenly went out, plunging the whole laboratory into darkness. A second later, however, red lights along the walls turned on, which seemed to be backup lights, casting the lab and everyone within it in a disorienting red glow.
“What?” said Seth. He lowered the gun and immediately pulled out his phone. “Anna, what happened?”
This time, I could clear the harried voice of a woman on the other end say, “I don’t know, sir! It looks like someone knocked out the Vault’s power supply. I’ve been trying to get it back online, but only the backup generators work. I think they might have cut our power lines entirely.”
Seth’s eyes widened when he heard that. “Cut our power lines? Impossible. Who could have possibly done that?”
“I don’t know, sir,” said the woman, apparently named Anna, over the phone. “I’m doing everything I can to get power back, but like I said, it looks like all external power sources have been shut down entirely. They won’t react to any of my commands and—”
The intercom suddenly became static for a second, a loud whining sound that made all of us wince, until the static abruptly faded and a familiar cool female voice began speaking. “My apologies for being so late, Bolt. It simply took me slightly longer to break through the defenses of Vault Z than I anticipated.”
My face broke into a huge grin when I heard that voice. “Val? Valerie? Is that you?”
“Valerie?” Seth repeated. “Your AI?”
“Correct,” said Valerie, her voice booming over the intercom. “It is a pleasure to meet you, Seth. Or would be, if you were not currently in the process of trying to murder my creator’s son.”
“What are you doing here?” said Seth, looking around wildly. “How did you even find this place?”
“It was not especially difficult to find,” said Valerie. “Although you might have destroyed the Vaultwork, you failed to take into account Bolt’s earcoms, which you apparently did not remove from his ears when you kidnapped him. I tracked them down here, but was unable to access Vault Z itself until I activated Protocol Alpha.”
“Protocol Alpha,” I repeated. “That was what Olga told you to activate in her last message, right?”
“Yes,” said Valerie. “As it turned out, Protocol Alpha is a backup communication method designed to be used in the event the Vaultwork is destroyed. As a result, I was able to use Protocol Alpha to break into and take control over Vault Z fairly easily, especially because this Vault lacks an AI of its own.”
Seth’s hands trembled, but he said, in a calm voice, “I take it that you are the one who caused the power outage, then.”
“Oh, certainly,” said Valerie. “Once I gained control over the Vault’s systems, shutting off your power was almost as easy as flipping a switch. Not a literal switch, of course, because I don’t have a physical body that would allow for such movement, but—”
Without hesitation, Seth aimed the Neo-Killer’s gun at me again, but then the clamps on my arms and legs popped open and I dove to the floor just as Seth fired the gun. Rolling to my feet, I pulled my pole staff out of my belt and, with a crack, extended it fully and sl
apped the gun out of Seth’s hands, sending it flying out into the tubes somewhere below well outside of his reach.
“Interestingly, I also discovered that this Vault’s security systems also extend to the table upon which you trapped Bolt,” said Valerie. “It would have been smarter to keep controls for the two separate, but I suppose it was probably easier for your programmer to make everything connected and centralized if a bit less practical for you.”
I could tell Seth was angry now. His hands shook so much that he looked like he was about to explode. His teeth were bared in an almost wolfish snarl and his eyes were practically bulging out of his skull. I wondered if I looked that bad when I got angry. I’d have to ask Blizzard that the next time I saw her.
“So what?” said Seth, his calm voice cracked with barely hidden hatred. “You have taken control over my systems. I still have numbers on my side. I can still kill Bolt. And the boy.”
Seth looked over his shoulder suddenly at Phaser. “Kill the boy. Now.”
“With pleasure,” said Phaser, a wicked grin cracking across his face.
Before I could do anything, Phaser raised one intangible hand, but before he could plunge it into Edge’s chest back, a pool of shadow appeared underneath Edge’s feet and the teenager disappeared inside with a surprised yelp. Phaser desperately tried to grab Edge, but he was unable to catch the boy as he disappeared into the darkness under his feet.
“The hell was that?” said the Neo-Killer, jumping at the sight of Edge disappearing.
“That would be me,” said a voice behind me.
I looked over my shoulder to see Shade and Blizzard standing behind me, with a confused and disoriented-looking Edge standing in between them. Shade, as usual, was smirking, while Blizzard had taken a battle pose, her hands glowing blue with charged ice energy.
“Blizzard? Shade?” I said with a grin. “When did you two get here? Heck, how did you two get here?”
“Fisticuffs told us where this was,” said Shade casually. “He was really distraught at your kidnapping, so he gave us the coordinates of this Vault. It was easy to get in when Valerie shut off all its security systems and even easier to find you once we were inside.”
“And more will follow after us,” said Blizzard. “As we speak, Fingerprints is alerting the G-Men to this location, while I sent a message to Brains and Vanish informing them of our location and sent another emergency message to the Leadership Council telling them what we found. I estimate that the G-Men, NHA, and probably the INJ, too, will be descending onto this place very shortly.”
Then Blizzard looked at Seth and her eyes widened. “Wait, there are two of you now? I’m not sure whether to find that sexy or horrifying.”
“Why not both?” said Shade with a smirk. “Though frankly, I think Seth pulls off Bolt’s look better than Bolt.”
I rolled my eyes, but despite that, I was really glad they were here and really glad about the news they shared. I looked over at Seth and his minions in triumph. “It’s over, Seth. Your entire plan has just fallen apart like an old, rusty car. I bet they’ll have a special cell in Ultimate Max just for you.”
Phaser’s mouth hung open in shock. The Neo-Killer had drawn his gun that shot powerless pellets, but it was hard to tell if he was going to run or fight. Even Mecha Knight was beginning to show a bit of emotion now, or at least movement, with his grip on his sheathed sword tightening.
All three of them seemed to be waiting for Seth’s response. I guess we all were because what Seth did next would determine what the rest of us did.
Without warning, Seth threw back his head and laughed. He laughed and laughed hard and loud, like the maniac he was. His laugh kind of sounded like mine, if I was a complete and utter psycho with no sanity left. Even his own minions looked disturbed by his laughter as if they weren’t in on the joke.
Then Seth stopped laughing and looked at us. His expression was … strange, to say the least. It was somewhere between a grin and a scowl, like his face couldn’t decide how it wanted to look.
“Well played, well played,” said Seth, clapping his hands. “I will admit that I did not see this coming. I should have, but apparently, even I can be outsmarted.”
“So … are you going to give up and come quietly with us?” asked Blizzard uncertainly.
Seth’s smile became wicked and dangerous. “Of course not. Nor will I allow my life’s work to fall into the hands of the government, the NHA, or anyone else.”
Seth glanced over his shoulder at Mecha Knight. “Mecha Knight! Activate Vault Z’s self-destruct sequence now!”
Mecha Knight nodded. A second later, a computerized voice that was different from Valerie’s blared over the speakers a message that sent chills down all our spines:
“Self-destruct sequence activated. Time to explosion: Ten minutes. And counting.”
CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN
“Ten minutes?” I repeated. “Val, can you stop the self-destruct sequence?”
“Negative,” Valerie’s voice blared over the speakers once the automated voice finished speaking. “It appears that Vault Z’s self-destruct sequence is separate from the rest of the system and has over a thousand encryptions and security features to prevent anyone from hacking into it. I will try to brute force my way through its defense, but I am not sure I will be able to stop it in time. I suggest evacuating now.”
“No,” I said, looking at Seth. “We’re not leaving without him.”
“Sorry, but I have no interest in spending time in a jail cell for the rest of my immortal life,” said Seth. He waved at us. “See you later.”
With that, Seth shot into the air and landed on the floor below us. He then began running between the tubes, clearing trying to make a run for it. I found it weird he wasn’t using my super speed, but maybe he didn’t know how to use all of my powers just yet.
I looked over my shoulder at Blizzard and Shade. “You two distract Seth’s minions. I’ll go after him.”
Without waiting for a response from either of them, I launched myself over the platform’s railing. I hit the ground at a roll and got to my feet, although without my super strength the fall impacted me a lot harder than it should. But I ignored the pain and rushed after Seth, who was still well ahead of me. I had no idea when my powers would come back, but I didn’t care. I just pushed myself as hard as I could to run after him.
All around us, alarms blared and I could hear the automated voice counting down the self-destruct timer. I paid no attention to the timer, however, with my focus being entirely on Seth. He had nearly reached a door that must have been the exit. I knew that if I allowed him to get that far, he would definitely escape and we might never catch him again.
So, with a twist of my Teleportation Buckle, I appeared right in front of his path. Seth skid to a stop in shock, but I didn’t give him a chance to react. With a yell, I slammed my pole staff directly into the side of his face with as much strength as I could muster.
That would have been enough to knock out any normal person, but to my shock, my pole staff merely clanged against his skin like steel. He didn’t even fall over. He just stood there, a look of surprise on his own face, before an evil grin appeared on his lips.
Without hesitation, Seth ripped my pole staff out of my hands and broke it in half as easily as a twig. Tossing both halves aside, Seth grinned at me like a hyena about to pounce on its prey.
“I didn’t even feel that attack,” said Seth. “Is this what being a super feels like? If so, I am surprised that fewer of you have god complexes than you’d think. If I felt this way all the time, I would have ground humanity under my heel long ago.”
“Not everyone is as psychotic as you, Seth,” I said, raising my fists before me. “Some of us know we’re not gods, even if we have their power.”
“Power is the only thing separating mortals from gods,” Seth replied. “Allow me to demonstrate for you what a god does to mortals who speak against him.”
Seth rushed forward wit
h blinding speed. I just barely managed to jump out of the way in time, avoiding a devastating punch from Seth that crashed into the wall behind me. His punch hit the wall so hard that the entire Vault shuddered from the impact, even briefly interrupting the countdown timer.
Panting hard, I looked up as Seth ripped his fist out of the wall and looked at it in amazement.
“Wow,” said Seth, admiring his own fist. “Even I didn’t know I was that strong. The Ultimate Clone is even stronger than I thought.”
I gulped. I was not entirely helpless without my powers, but I was still pretty much incapable of even harming Seth in his current state. About the only thing saving me right now was the fact that Seth was still new to his body, but it wouldn’t be much longer before he mastered it. I needed to take him out before then, but how?
Seth whirled around to face me. Before I could even get up, Seth was in front of me. He grabbed me by the neck and lifted me up my feet, choking off my air supply as he crushed my throat.
“It is a shame that I have to kill you like this,” said Seth. “When I said I respected Genius, I truly meant. It is sad that our fates turned out this way, even ironic. We could have been so much more, but instead, you allowed your misguided sense of ‘heroism’ to get in the way of what is best for humanity.”
I spat in Seth’s face. “Go … to … hell …”
Seth shrugged. “You first.”
Right before Seth could finish crushing the air out of my throat, a glowing red fist came out of nowhere and slammed into the side of Seth’s head. Seth cried out in pain and dropped me as he staggered off to the side. I hit the floor awkwardly and gasped for air, rubbing my neck where Seth had been choking me.
“Bolt,” said a voice above me. “Are you okay?”
Gasping for breath, I looked up to see Uncle Jake standing above me. Both of his fists were glowing red with energy and he was looking down at me with concern on his features.
