"So…" Belinda began, taking a seat at the table, Daniel following suit. Despite her insistence that Chris was still her nephew, she wasn't sure how to actually go about treating him as her nephew. She knew she needed to meet with him, to establish the relationship, but… she wasn't quite sure how. "I- want to apologize for how you were treated after your parents-" She cut off, remembering that they weren't actually dead. "-after your… abandonment." She finished, her expression twisting distastefully as she failed to find a better word.

Chris waved dismissively. "Don't worry about it, it wasn't your fault. The only person I blame for that mess is Marco, and even then, it's more about the fact that he's so stuck up his own ass about abilities and status that he still thinks he was right to abandon the abilityless freak, and only regrets the fact that I turned out to actually be powerful. I have an issue with who he is, not what he did or did not do to me."

Belinda shook her head. "Still, I- I should have done more to keep stock of my sister's life. The fact that Marco could hide your existence from me for so long… I was negligent in my responsibilities. I should have done more to maintain contact with Isabel, even if it wasn't actually her, and you suffered for it."

Chris cocked his head thoughtfully for a moment, before shrugging. "I can see that. But still, it's fine. It's one of those 'if you were absolutely perfect' situations where yeah, you could have been better, but everyone can always be better all the time, so the fact that you messed up isn't exactly a problem, it's just a part of life. You weren't trying to mess up, life just happened, and here we are, so I don't hold anything against you for it. Just… do better next time? Not that something like this is likely to happen again…"

Belinda's expression twisted into a bitter grin. "No, I can't imagine it would. I have no more sisters to lose, after all." She shook her head. "In any case, I want you to know that no matter what happens between you and the Monteros, I will always be here whenever you need me. I refuse to see you abandoned again."

Chris raised an eyebrow at her, smiling slightly before nodding in acceptance. "I'll keep that in mind." A card appeared in his hand and he tossed it over. "If you ever need me, just rip that. Support goes both ways, after all."

Belinda hesitated before nodding and taking the card. "Thank you." She coughed slightly as she glanced at the other three. "So… how do you three know Chris?"

"We're Roommates." Greg chuckled as he replied.

Victoria raised an eyebrow at him. "That's a good answer. When did you come up with that?"

"Just now." Greg grinned. "It just came to me."

Andrew pinched the bridge of his nose. "Guys, if you comment on it, it ruins it!"

Belinda looked between them with a confused frown. "I'm not- what do you mean by roommates? From the- the orphanage?"

"No. They're talking about this Room we're all connected to somehow." Chris shook his head. "You know how my ability is weird, right?" Belinda nodded hesitantly. "Well, their abilities are weird in a similar way, and that weirdness connects us somehow, which involves the Room, making us Roommates."

Greg clicked his tongue. "If you explain why we're Roommates, it defeats the purpose of calling ourselves Roommates."

"Then you should have picked a term that would have made sense given the situation." Chris retorted. "The only places I could have roommates would be the orphanage or the Scouts, neither of which make sense for you to belong to."

Greg cocked his head. "Fair. How about… business partners? We are starting a business here, after all."

"That would still beg the question of how we met in the first place." Victoria pointed out.

"We can just brush that off with a 'we happened to meet one day, found we had similar goals and decided to work together' type thing. Not even lying, really." Greg shrugged.

"You know, eventually it's going to actually be important that we hide our true nature, and you're all going to fuck it up because you're too used to treating it like a joke." Andrew shook his head.

"I don't treat it like a joke!" Victoria protested.

"No, you treat it like a thought experiment, which isn't much better." Andrew retorted.

"See, I get your point, but if we're actually going to try and hide, we'd need to stop using our abilities, because they make it clear that something is up with us, and since we aren't going to stop using our abilities, then any attempt to hide our true nature is a joke." Greg pointed out.

"And what is your true nature?" Belinda asked, looking between them with a suspicious expression.

Chris glanced at the others. "Avatars?"

"Sure, go for it. They're your relatives." Greg shrugged.

Chris nodded, turning to Belinda. "We're avatars of the fundamental building blocks that constitute reality. I'm World, which is basically the space that things live in and the rules that govern that space, Greg is Body, the physical side of reality, Victoria is Soul, the metaphysical side of reality, and Andrew is Spirit, the connection between it all. Hence my world, Greg's smoke, Victoria's system, and Andrew's aura."

Belinda closed her eyes and took a deep breath, before opening her eyes and leveling a look at Chris. "You're some kind of avatar of a fundamental aspect of reality?"

Chris shrugged. "Basically."

"And that's why your ability is so… expansive?" Belinda asked, slowly coming around to the idea as she considered it more.

"Is that why you had all those abilities when we fought?" Daniel frowned.

"Sort of… that's the ability I was supposed to have, but didn't know how to access until recently." Chris replied.

Daniel blinked. "What?"

Chris sighed. "Basically because of what I am, my abilities are governed by my world, not the World around us, so I can't develop my abilities outside of my world, because I can't connect with the rules of the World to do so, which is why I never had any ability energy growing up. However, I recently learned how to merge my world with this reality, which allows me to connect with the rules here, allowing me to develop the ability I should have had when I was born, but didn't."

"And that ability is?" Daniel asked tentatively.

"I can absorb the ability energy of anything I kill to either gain that ability or strengthen a different ability I previously stole. I also gain their form, which can be similarly improved, making me physically stronger as well." Chris explained.

Daniel just stared at him incredulously. "Are you fucking kidding me?!?"

Chris raised an eyebrow at him. "No?"

"How- why- you are such bullshit!" Daniel exclaimed, clutching his head in frustration. The avatar thing was bad enough, but he had what sounded like the most ridiculous ability ever to go with it?!? Why?!? Just… why!?! How was he even supposed to compete with something like that?!?

This narrative has been purloined without the author's approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.

"I've been told." Chris nodded.

The table fell silent for a moment as Belinda and Daniel processed everything they'd just learned. "What are your plans for the City?" Belinda finally asked with a serious expression.

"To protect it, to make humanity stronger, and to eventually take it to the surface." Chris explained with a shrug. "At least, if that's what people want. The surface has issues of its own, so we might be better off just staying down here."

"Of course you've been to the surface." Belinda sighed, rubbing her temple. Why did she think he needed her help again?

"I actually haven't, but my parents have." Chris replied. "Though I should be there in about a week."

"I'm up there, but that's because I can move through solid matter." Greg shrugged.

Andrew cocked his head. "So can I… should I head up there too? I can make a body from a rock or something."

"If Greg could make me a body, I could go up too…" Victoria muttered. "Or I suppose I could possess something?"

Chris frowned, before shaking his head. "I have nothing for it. I have to walk up."

"Should we start looking for the Damir without you?" Andrew asked hesitantly.

"I suppose? It could save us some time searching." Chris agreed.

"Damir?" Belinda asked curiously.

"A race of vampires that have been preying on the humans on Earth for centuries." Chris explained.

Belinda sighed, rubbing her temple. "And I suppose Earth involves yet another mind-bending revelation that I'm going to struggle to come to terms with?"

"More or less." Chris nodded.

"I don't understand how someone as young as you has managed to collect so many world shattering secrets." Belinda shook her head. "Let alone how you can so comfortably slip them into casual conversation!"

"I mean… most of them are related to me, so they came pretty naturally." Chris shrugged. "Others are more of a natural consequence of my abilities, so… they also came pretty naturally."

Belinda frowned at him for a moment. "How about we change the subject to something more… normal. You said you were making a business here? Some kind of restaurant it looks like?" She commented, looking around. "What sort of restaurant are you making?"

"Something upscale, but casual." Victoria replied. "But it's less of a business and more of an embassy."

Belinda closed her eyes. "Do I want to know what an embassy is?"

Victoria blinked. "You don't know?"

"We don't exactly have a whole lot of foreign dignitaries visiting down here." Chris commented.

"Right…" Victoria muttered. "Basically an embassy is a headquarters of diplomatic relations for a foreign force. A place for people to direct questions and to familiarize themselves with the foreign force without needing to travel to where the foreign force exists. People can't exactly walk into Chris's world to contact us, so… embassy." She finished, waving vaguely at their surroundings.

"I see." Belinda nodded slowly. "That would make it easier to get in contact with you."

"Exactly." Victoria smiled.

"But why the restaurant? A simple office would suffice, wouldn't it?" Belinda frowned.

"We like to create a welcoming environment." Victoria shrugged.

"Also, if I'm going to hang out somewhere, I'm going to hang out somewhere I can actually enjoy myself." Greg added.

"That's… a way of looking at things, I suppose." Belinda muttered. "I'll have to come by once you're officially open."

Victoria hesitated. "Maybe… but you'll need to bring a guest."

Belinda raised an eyebrow. "A guest?"

Victoria sighed. "Let's just say it involves more secrets you probably don't want to worry about right now."

"Just let me know when you're coming and I'll set it up for you." Chris offered. Belinda looked between the two of them with a twisted expression. She was beginning to regret this visit.

*

Belinda and Daniel left not much later and they quickly finished setting up the restaurant, getting everything ready for the reveal. Once that was done, all they had to do was wait for the Doppelgangers to finish getting ready, and that was it. It'd be time to reveal them to the City and see what happens. "This is going to be a mess, isn't it?" Andrew muttered.

"Hey man, don't be such a downer." Greg nudged him with his elbow. "Sure, people will probably freak out a bit, there's going to be some chaos, but eventually they'll all adjust and accept the reality of the situation. It's human nature. Given time, everything becomes normal."

"Sure, but that normal usually involves hating whatever makes them uncomfortable." Andrew grumbled.

"True… but that's where this comes in! We encourage them to get used to the Doppelgangers, so that they aren't uncomfortable with them, and there's no reason to hate them." Greg retorted.

"I guess…" Andrew frowned. "I just feel like people are going to get hurt."

"Oh, people are absolutely going to get hurt." Greg nodded. "But less than could get hurt. I mean, that's why we're doing this, right?"

"Right." Chris agreed. "When the Elves invade, they're going to get in contact with the Families and turn them on the Doppelgangers, starting a witch hunt that turns into a civil war, tearing the City apart at the seams. By revealing them ourselves, we'll hopefully get ahead of that, preventing the witch hunt and saving the City."

"I know that, I just- ugh, I hate it when things get messy." Andrew grimaced.

"We all do, but that's what change is." Victoria sighed. "Change is a messy, chaotic process, but it's necessary, because without change, nothing would ever get better."

"Yeah, yeah." Andrew grumbled.

"So, what exactly are we doing for this thing anyway?" Greg asked, turning to Chris.

"Basically, they're going to put me up as a symbol of unity between the City and the Doppelgangers. Proof that the two are interconnected and that this interconnectedness is beneficial." Chris explained.

"Isn't the fact that your mom is actually an Elf going to ruin that image?" Victoria commented.

"We're not bringing up the Elves yet, I think. Just focusing on the Doppelgangers for now, so everyone will still think my mom was a Montero." Chris replied.

"But… you just told Belinda and Daniel that she wasn't." Victoria pointed out.

"So? Why would they care?" Chris raised an eyebrow at her. "Plus, remember, the Monteros want to maintain their connection to me, so they're unlikely to challenge the idea."

"I'm pretty sure Daniel would spill the beans just to screw you over… he does not like you." Victoria retorted.

Chris paused. "That's a good point. However, the point still isn't whether or not my parents are human, but that I'm human, and more importantly, that I'm working for the benefit of humanity. Or more, the idea that it doesn't matter whether you're human or not, we're all working together to make the City a better place."

Victoria grimaced slightly. "I guess… I'm not sure I'd use that as my main strategy though."

"Oh, it isn't. The main strategy is releasing a full list of every Doppelganger that has lived in the City, past and present, showing how ingrained they are, and how much they've done to help the City." Chris replied. "I'm more of a mascot. Not even the spokesman, just someone to point to as a successful representation of Doppelganger involvement in the City."

Victoria paused, before nodding. "Okay, that makes more sense. So what about the rest of us? Where do the Eternals play into all this?"

"That… I'm not so sure about." Chris frowned. "The usual? We recruit, we help out where we can, and we climb the Maze? I think we're taking more of a back seat in all this."

"Gotcha." Victoria muttered, before shaking her head. "Alright, if we're not dealing with the reveal, then we should focus on the Damir, right?"

"Or the Elves." Greg added. "Since we can get to the surface, there's no reason to wait for them to come to us, right? Why not see what we can figure out beforehand, maybe take advantage of some politics, do some minor terrorism…"

"No terrorism!" Victoria snapped. "But we probably should investigate the Elves… plus, we still need to actually find the Damir."

"I can send some fairies in a few different directions and see what I find." Greg offered.

"How much can you explore with just them?" Victoria raised an eyebrow.

"It depends on how many I use, but remember, they can fly with smoke now, which is much faster than their wings, so they can cover a lot of ground." Greg replied.

"Right." Victoria nodded. "Okay, that sounds like a plan. Greg's fairies will search for the Damir, while the three of us check out the Elves, and Chris works on getting to the surface."

Chris shook his head. "I don't see why you guys insist on limiting yourselves. We can do everything, why focus?"

Victoria rolled her eyes. "Because some of us need something to focus on. I hate it when we get bogged down with dozens of things happening at once… it gives me a headache."

Chris shrugged. "Fair enough, but remember, even if we aren't a part of it, the reveal will cause chaos, and there's a good chance we'll need to be on hand to help deal with it."

Victoria frowned. "True… okay, how about we just work on getting things set up with the Elves for now?"

"You guys do you." Chris replied. "I'm just letting you know what's happening."

"Let's just get to the surface and see what's up for now." Andrew commented. "We'll figure out what we're doing once we have a better handle on the situation."

"Right, good idea." Victoria nodded.

"I'll get some bodies ready for you." Greg added. "See you guys up there."