HELPING HANDS

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He took the rear entrance into the shelter again which meant passing through the kitchen once more. This time though, he wasn’t met with welcoming applause when he strode into the kitchen but instead looks of confusion from the cooks in there, whose mouths hung open as they struggled to process why he’d just walked in with someone completely identical to him.

“I can explain, but I think that’ll just make it harder to understand,” Dang told the confused cooks as all four of them passed through the kitchen and into the main ground floor of the shelter where the air was filled with excited chatter, with the kids there running around, buzzing with energy.

“What’s going on here?” Daniel asked, a little surprised by the air of excitement, as were Megan and Dante who looked around with confused expressions on their faces.

“It’s the race!” a kid squealed then, answering Daniel’s question before Dang had the chance to.

“Race?” Daniel glanced at Dang with an expression of confusion on his face, clearly still in need of some clarification.

“It’ll be easier for you to just see for yourself,” Dang shrugged. “Back when I was still a kid here, we used to have these competitions when it was close to the holidays. Derby races. A lot of the kids here are incredibly smart, gifted, so they’d put together these cars made of scrap metal and pretty much race in them in a large open space. When I was younger, the race track was twenty minutes away from the shelter. The shelter’s moved since then though and the track’s only about five minutes away now.”

“So, a bunch of kids are gonna race?” Daniel asked. “Is that, uhm, safe?”

“Anna Li’s the one who runs this place,” Dang said. “She’s not going to let anyone get hurt. Plus, they’re races for good fun. No one’s trying to hurt anyone in them.”

“Wait, Anna?” Dante halted then, his expression suddenly darkening, his eyes going a little wide. “Anna Li?” His voice was a little stiff.

“Yeah,” Dang frowned at him. “Is something wrong?”

“Uh,” Dante gulped and took a step backward, his fists firmly clenched, an incredibly uncomfortable expression on his face. “You know what, I just realized that maybe I should have stayed with Daedalus at the observatory, it’d make it faster for him to get this detector thingy up and running, you know. I think I’ll just leave you guys to your whole race thing and get out of–,”

His voice trailed into a gasp then when Anna appeared at the foot of the stairs, flanked on either side by Caleb and Chase, both of whom were covered in soot and dark stains that looked a lot like engine oil. The twins were tugging at Anna’s hands playfully and steering her down the stairs while she laughed.

Anna’s laughter halted though, and her smile vanished, when she spotted Dang and Dante. Her expression immediately became one of shock and confusion, and she moved cautiously as she came closer to them.

She raised a hand and felt Dang’s face. Then she moved on to Dante and cupped his face in her hands.

Dante’s eyes reddened and welled up.

Anna looked from him to Dang. “Is he the one you mentioned?” she asked. “The other you?”

“No,” Dang shook his head and folded his arms. “He’s different. He’s another me.”

“Another?” Chase repeated, tilting his head in Dante’s directions, scratching the back of his head in a slightly puzzled manner. “Oh, I see. His energy’s different. You’re from another world, aren’t you, mister?”

“How’s the kid know that?” Daniel asked Megan in a whisper.

“You’re alive,” Dante croaked, very clearly struggling to fight back tears. He reached out and took Anna’s hands in his. He squeezed firmly.

“Should I not be?” Anna asked, laughing awkwardly, one eyebrow arched over the other.

Dang placed a hand on Dante’s back. “Hey. Are you good?”

Dante looked around. First at Dang, then at everyone else. He saw the looks he was getting, expressions of concern or confusion. He then let go of Anna’s hand and backed away, the tears he’d been fighting back now streaking down the sides of his face.

“I have to go,” he croaked, then he turned on his heels and bolted in the direction of one of the exits.

“He’s hurting,” Anna said as she watched Dante bolt off. She fixed her gaze on Dang. “What do you know about him? About his world, where he’s from.”

“Just what he told us,” Dang answered.

“Tell me everything.”

They found a spot to sit in the shelter and despite Dang and Anna’s insistence that the twins go join the other kids at the shelter, Caleb and Chase decided to stick around like glue, which meant they were there the entire time Dang informed Anna of Dante, essentially relaying to her everything Dante had to them.

When Dang was done, Anna had a pitiful expression on her face.

“To have been roped into war so early,” she shook her head, appearing rather deeply hurt. “It’s the same as the other one, isn’t it? Your other alternate?”

“Doppelganger,” Dang corrected, “but yes. On their worlds, they were involved in wars that involved cosmic energy, both wars tied to this Bellum guy in some way. Neither of them have directly encountered him, but he’s the altering force in both their lives.”

“And now yours too,” Chase added.

Dang looked at the boy and frowned. “I don’t follow.”

“You’ve never encountered Bellum,” Chase explained. “This world hasn’t. And yet, already, your life’s changed. Maybe you haven’t realized it but you’re being roped into a war yourself, a war that hasn’t even arrived yet. At least not entirely. How many times is it now that you’ve had to fight the murder-bots?”

“Why just you?” Anna queried. “Why aren’t other multiversal doubles popping up on our world? Why is it just other versions of you?”

“Good question,” Daniel nodded, a slight pouty expression on his face. Megan shoved him in the shoulder. “Ow!” the boy exclaimed. “What? It’s unfair that he’s the only one who gets to meet doubles of himself. I want to see if there’s an alternate version of me who’s like his world’s Elon Musk or something.”

“Unlikely,” Megan snorted. “I’m certain that if there are any alternate versions of you, they’re probably morons too.”

“We’ll never know, will we? Maybe there’s a blond version of me out there or a white-haired version with a lightning bolt scar on his face.”

“You want that?” Caleb frowned.

“Come on. Who doesn’t want a lightning scar? They’re the best kind!”

“Agreed,” Chase nodded.

“I’m sorry, I don’t think either of you have been introduced just yet,” Anna said, referring to Daniel and Megan. “Friends of Dang, are you?”

“No,” Dang replied quickly, at about the same time Daniel said “yes”.

Dang looked at Daniel and narrowed his eyes at him. Daniel simply shrugged and affected a playful grin.

“We’re work friends,” Dang responded. “And classmates. The two of them are–,”

“Tiger and Wombat,” Chase said before Dang could. Daniel and Megan made choking sounds, as if surprised to have their other identities known so easily, especially by a kid with a blindfold on. Dang, on the other hand, frowned at Chase.

“How?” he asked. “How do you know that?”

“I’ve heard Tiger and Wombat on the TV before,” Chase shrugged. “They sound the exact same. Plus, the boy smells a lot like fire. Same as your doppelganger. And the girl makes me feel a little cold. Wasn’t hard to piece it together.”

“You’re kidding, right?” Daniel blinked. “You pieced together who we were because you’d heard us on the TV before? That’s insane.”

“Actually, now that I think of it, it really should have been quite obvious,” Anna frowned. “Can’t believe I missed that.”

“Wait, do you think people at school know who we are because of how we sound?” Daniel asked Megan.

Megan simply shrugged. “Dunno. Don’t care.”

“The other one,” Anna said. “Daedalus. Would it be possible to meet him too? I’d like to know what he’s like, see if there’s any similarities between you two.”

“He’s kind of like, really uptight,” Daniel replied. “He’s like, you know, Batman if Batman were real. He’s got that whole brooding thing going on and that deeper voice plus being the natural leader. He’s so cool.”

“I don’t think Daedalus is the leader,” Dang said quickly, a little defensively, appearing very slightly offended by that comment.

“Really?” Megan frowned. “I think he is.”

“Yeah, whatever,” Dang rolled his eyes. “Doesn’t matter who’s leader anyways. Besides, that’s not what we’re here for. Let’s go help out with the derby cars, maybe make a little competition out of it?”

“You should probably talk to yourself first,” Caleb said. “He’s outside, by the fire escape. He’s been pacing and breathing anxiously for the past ten minutes. Seeing Anna really triggered something for him, some trauma, possibly.”

“You’ve heard him outside for the past ten minutes and are only just mentioning?” Dang demanded.

Caleb shrugged. “We were in the middle of a conversation. Would have been rude to interrupt. Anyways, would you like to talk to him or should Chase and I go ahead and–,”

“I’ll talk to him,” Dang rose to his feet at once. He looked at Daniel and Megan. “You head on over to the field and help with the derby cars, alright? I’ll meet you guys there with Dante in a few minutes.”

“Aye, aye, captain,” Daniel gave a salute, smiling playfully.

Dang shook his head in exasperation and made his way for the fire escape exit. On his way out, he got the unsettling sensation that he was being watched, and so he turned around to scan the shelter, see if there was anyone strange in there giving him odd looks.

At first, he noticed nothing out of the ordinary. And then he saw Chase, looking right in his direction, the boy with his hands buried in his pockets, his feet floating about two inches off the ground.

He frowned, and received a smile from the boy. Then Chase turned around and returned his attention to Anna, Daniel, Megan, and Caleb, his feet touching the ground once more.

Dang shook off the oddness of that encounter and made his way out where, exactly as Caleb had said, Dante was pacing back and forth, his hair now a rough mess that indicated he’d been tugging at it.

This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

“Hey,” Dang spoke gently, calmly.

Dante spun around wildly, clearly startled by Dang’s presence. Sparks flew from his fingertips as his eyes glowed a brilliant orange. This, although, was only for a moment. Once he’d realized it was Dang, he calmed a little and his eyes reverted to their usual shade. He shook his head.

“You didn’t mention anything about Anna before we came here,” he said. “If I’d known–,”

“I’m guessing she meant a lot to you on your universe?” Dang queried.

“She, uhh,” Dante cleared his throat. “She was sort of like my mom. Adoptive mother. Never knew my birth parents.”

“I’m guessing that’s a multiversal constant for us,” Dang sighed and sat on the fire escape stairs. Dante sat right next to him.

“Yeah, I guess,” Dante snorted. “But Anna, my Anna, she was incredibly understanding of me. When I found out I had flame powers, most people shunned me. After all, not a lot of people want to house a kid who could burn down everything. But not her, she didn’t care. She took me in.”

Dang nodded. “Yeah, I get that. What happened?”

“On our world, you’re either a rebel or you’re not. She was a rebel,” Dante went on. “Her, her two kids, it was sort of a family thing. Once I found out, I was confused, unsure whether or not to join them or let the Red Capital know what was going on. I was a kid, scared for my life. So, I left, decided to learn on my own. Took me less than three months to realize the Capital was sick, and that she was doing the right thing. So, I signed up for the cause, joined the rebels.”

“Uh-huh.”

“Well, it took a while to fix things with Anna and her kids,” Dante went on. “But we did fix that. Things were back to normal. And then one day, we had a mission. Gramps selected Anna and I for it—,”

“Wait, Gramps?” Dang frowned.

“Yeah, he was pretty much the leader of the rebellion and a lot like me in that he was pyrokinetic too…taught me to wield my flames,” Dante explained. “Anyways,” he went on, “Anna and I were selected for the mission. We were supposed to destroy a secret Crimson Cloak hideout, where they were conducting all sorts of experiments with cosmic energy.”

“I’m guessing it went wrong?”

“So wrong,” Dante’s voice shook. “They were expecting us. It was a trap. Zaldur and his bots were right there, waiting. I should have died, should have been killed, but Anna took the hit that was meant for me. She died in my place. And in my thirst for vengeance, in the fury that followed, I let her kids get killed too. I should have protected them like she protected me…but I didn’t. Everything that happened that day, everything that went wrong, it was all my fault. And now, seeing her again–,”

“Makes the guilt come back?” Dang guessed.

“Yeah,” Dante nodded.

Dang sighed and leaned back somewhat. “You gotta suck it up, man.”

Dante glanced at Dang and frowned. “What?”

“Yeah,” Dang shrugged. “I’m not going to tell you it wasn’t your fault or that there was nothing you could have done because I really don’t know, I’m not from your world. But the way I see it, what’s done is done, you can’t change the past. The mistakes you’ve made and their consequences, that’s all history now. And the only thing history’s good for is for us to learn from it and pave the way forward. That’s what you gotta do. Suck it up and keep it moving. Feeling sorry for yourself or having a panic attack out here isn’t going to undo what’s already happened.”

“I know, but–,”

“You beat Zaldur, didn’t you?” Dang queried. “Kicked his ass? Destroyed his plans?”

“Yeah?”

“Sounds to me like you’ve done everything you can and gotten your revenge,” Dang said. “And I don’t know what the Anna on your world was like but if she was like anything like the one who raised me, chances are she’d be proud of you for finishing what she started. Don’t go having some crappy breakdown now and staining the memory of her even further.” Dang’s expression turned stern and cold. “You do that, I’ll have to beat the shit out of you myself.”

Dante opened his mouth to respond but failed to find the right words. Instead, he stuttered for a bit before heaving a great sigh and cracking a warm smile, the twinkle returning to his eyes. “Looks like you and I have an awful lot in common,” Dante noted. “Maybe this whole doppelganger thing ain’t so annoying. Feels nice to have a little brother again.”

“One more thing,” Dang said, rising to his feet and offering a hand to help Dante up. Dante accepted the hand. Once Dante was on his feet, Dang patted down both his shoulders and gave Dante a threatening look. “Call me your little brother again and I’ll kick your ass.”

Dante grinned. “You think you can take me in a fight?”

“For your sake, I hope we never have to find out,” Dang smirked. “Now, if you’re done moping and being a crybaby, we’ve got to catch up with the others and help out with the derby cars.”

“You sure it’s a good idea to have a guy who burns stuff around cars?” Dante asked.

“Daniel’s already going to be there and if anyone’s going to screw up and blow cars up, it’ll probably be him,” Dang shrugged. “So, you know, bar’s already in hell.”

“Ah, I suppose that does take the pressure off. Let’s get going then. You sure Daedalus isn’t going to want to come join us and participate in all of this?”

“Seeing as he’s the only one in the group with an understanding of cosmic energy and how to track it properly, it’s best to let him do what he wants to,” Dang replied. “Sooner we can deal with all of these anomalies and figure out what’s bringing them here, the better. And then you get to go back home, right?”

“Something tells me you can’t wait until I’m out of here.”

“Oh, you have no idea.”

***

Daniel had set fire to a patch of field by the time they got there, and Megan’s attempt to extinguish it with her wind had worsened it. Dante had been quick in reacting and had surged forward with incredible speed before absorbing the wild fire into himself in a display of power that earned him applause and awestruck expressions from the other kids.

“I was going to do that,” Daniel panted, wiping beads of sweat off his forehead with the back of his palm. “I was warming up to do that.”

“Sure you were,” Dante snorted.

“Told you he was the one likely to blow stuff up,” Dang snorted, shaking his head in both amusement and disappointment.

“Burn something else!” one kid demanded excitedly.

“Nah, I think that’s enough for today,” Daniel shook his head and straightened to his feet. “That was a little too close for my liking.”

Dante and Dang were approached by Anna. Dante stiffened somewhat when she appeared in front of them, his eyes quickly watering.

“Uh,” he cleared his throat. “I wanted to apologize for my strange behavior back at the—,”

Anna stepped forward and wrapped her arms around Dante, placing him in a warm hug, one that lasted about half a minute. When she pulled away from him, she raised a hand to his face and smiled. “It’s alright, dear boy,” she said warmly. “Like with my Dang here, you’re never going to have to apologize to me, alright?”

Dante nodded. “Alright.”

Anna gave him a gentle nod, then turned around and walked to meet a group of kids. Dang watched her go and after a while, turned his focus back to Dante, and his eyes widened when he saw that his doppelganger had tears streaking down the sides of his face.

“You cry a lot, don’t you?” Dang smirked.

“What?” Dante frowned, and at once, the streak of tears on his face started to steam. For three seconds they steamed, and then they were gone. Evaporated. Dante smirked at Dang. “No idea what you’re talking about, buddy.”

“Okay, I’ll admit, that was cool,” Dang held his hands up in acceptance.

“Dang!” called a boy with snowy white hair, standing right next to an under-construction derby car and waving Dang over.

“You’re real popular around here, aren’t you?” Dante asked.

“I suppose you could say that,” Dang said, walking toward the kid who’d called him over, Dante went with him. Daniel and Megan went over to help another group of kids with their car although the kids were more concentrated on getting Daniel to set something ablaze than to actually help with the car.

The snowy-haired boy who’d called Dang over was a fourteen-year-old with sky blue eyes and a rounded face. He crouched by the small derby’s open hood and drew a deep breath. “Won’t start,” the kid whined. “Just coughs up smoke when I try to get it to start. Any idea how to fix it?”

“Hang on,” Dante answered. He reached into the hood, tugged at a few things, unplugged and replugged the battery then gave the boy the go-ahead to start the car again. This time, the car started, sending out small plumes of smoke.

“It’s going to need a lot more work,” Dante said, dusting his hands and wiping sweat off his face with the sleeve of his shirt. “If you’re fine with it, I think I’ve got a few upgrades in mind that should turn this little piece of scrap into the fastest beast ‘round here.”

“Really?” the kid’s eyes lit up, twinkling with excitement. “Do that!”

“Hey, what’s your name, kid?” Dang asked.

“Jordan. Jordan Gale.”

“Well, Jordan, you hop on out and stand aside, let Dante and I pimp your ride, alright?” Dang smiled.

Jordan hurried out of the car, an excited smile on his face. Dante and Dang went around the car, examining it all over, with Dante even taking a peek beneath the car and somehow getting some oil on his face down there.

“So, I think this could do with some more padding,” Dang said after his inspection. “Just to make sure he’s safe while he’s in there. And the engines, he’ll need something with a little more juice. Right now, this scrap’s going to get left in the dust by what Chase and Caleb have.”

Dang and Dante looked up in the direction where Chase and Caleb were standing around a blue-and-red vehicle, a number of other kids gathered around them, running their hands along the surface of a car that looked freshly painted. It was fairly evident from the car’s appearance, from its high-end exhaust to the sleeker front that they had the fastest ride there.

“I say we focus on upping the car’s speed and efficiency first,” Dante suggested with a shrug. “Then we worry about the padding after. We’re not going to be able to get all that stuff done today though.”

“Oh, that’s fine!” Jordan said brightly. “The derby isn’t for another two weeks. These are just preliminaries to test out the cars and figure out who’ll be in the actual races.”

“Yes, but still, would still be nice to leave the others in the dust today though,” Dante murmured. He looked over at Daniel and Megan, both of whom were taking apart pieces of another car and examining them carefully. “We could make this a competition of our own.”

“I see you’ve got a competitive fire in you,” Dang chuckled.

“I’ve got all sorts of fire in me,” Dante responded and rubbed the back of his neck. He glanced at Dang and smiled. “So, what do you say? Wanna make this fun?”

Dang slid his hands into his pockets, tilted his head backward and smiled. “Ah, why the hell not? All this anomaly and doppelganger stuff, might as well make the most out of it, right?” He looked in Daniel and Megan’s direction. “Oi! You guys want to make this fun?!”

“I thought you’d never ask!” Daniel yelled back and leaped into the air excitedly, a jet of flames that exploded from his feet propelling him even higher. His show of firepower earned him more applause from the kids.

“Showboat,” Dante muttered. “I’m going to enjoy this.”

And so it was that they began work on the derby cars, with Dante’s heat and Dang’s Resonate being rather useful in melding parts together and modifying the cars. The kids and Anna merely spectated, providing vocal shows of support.

Every now and then, Dante would start the car they were working on, get a kid to test it, then immediately begin working on more upgrades. Soon, the day made way for noon which rapidly gave way to sunset, and Anna declared that the kids would soon have to return to the shelter.

Dang though, managed to convince her to let them have a few test races. Dang and Dante stood in Jordan’s corner along with a few other kids, while Anna stood with Chase and Caleb, and Daniel and Megan stood with the kid whose car they’d been working on, a Tyler Bale.

The first race went the way of Chase and Caleb, with Tyler Bale coming in second and Jordan coming last but only by an insignificant distance.

Dang, displeased with the defeat immediately demanded another go. While the racers readied up, he and Dante installed a few minor upgrades to Jordan and checked in with the kid to be sure he was fine and feeling up for it.

“Are you kidding?!” Jordan chuckled. “Hell yeah! This is fun!”

The next race ended with Tyler and Jordan tying for first, with Chase and Caleb just a little behind them.

“Too close,” Daniel shook his head after the race.

“We gotta win the final round,” Dante said to Dang, looking a little miffed considering Jordan had blown his lead to come in second.

“I’m sorry,” Jordan said meekly.

“Nah, all good,” Dang smiled and ruffled the boy’s hair with his hands. “We’ll win it this time. We just need a little something extra.”

Dante and Dang locked eyes then and Dante arched one eyebrow over the other. “Wait, are you thinking what I’m thinking?” Dante queried.

“How precise are you?” Dang asked. “We don’t want to blow the kid up.”

“Don’t worry,” Dante grinned coolly. “I’ve got this.”

Once the racers were ready for the last race, Dang and Dante stood together and exchanged secretive nods, doing their best to keep grins off their faces. Anna commenced the race by blowing a whistle and the derby cars took off at once.

Caleb and Chase took the early lead but quickly fell behind Tyler. Soon, Jordan went in second, placing between Tyler and the twins. The finish line drew closer, and closer still, but the positions remained the same.

“Ready?” Dang asked, speaking in a low tone.

“Hang on,” Dante pursed his lips firmly, narrowing his eyes. He pressed two fingers together, getting ready to snap.

The finish line got closer and Dang took an instinctive step forward, his heart racing with excitement. He clenched his fists firmly, waiting, waiting…and then Dante snapped his finger.

The result was a combustion. A small one, precise and calculated, only just sufficient enough to give Jordan’s car a boost, one that launched him forward and well over the finish line, securing his first-place finish.

“Yes!” Dang exclaimed, punching the air in excitement then turning around and exchanging handshakes with Dante, the two of them bumping shoulders and exchanging pats on the back.

“Hey!” Daniel whined. “That’s cheating! Do over!”

“Hey, the game is the game!” Dang said loudly and with a shrug, a smile of smug satisfaction on his face.

“What he said!” Dante agreed, and exchanged fist bumps with Dang.

Once the race had concluded, Dang and Dante received looks of reproach from the twins and Tyler, looks that quickly morphed into annoyance following Dante’s constant mocking. Daniel’s constant demands for a do-over went unanswered after Anna declared it was far too late and that they really needed to return to the shelter.

The return to the shelter was filled with trolling and coy banter for the most part. Until finally, out of nowhere, everyone’s phones started to beep at about the same time.

“What the hell?” Daniel frowned, reaching into his pocket to get his phone.

Dang pulled out his phone too and Dante leaned over to get a look at his screen. Dante’s face quickly took on a puzzled expression. “What’s a Red Alert?” Dante queried.

“Nothing good,” Dang responded grimly.

Dang’s phone started to ring. It was a call from Daedalus. Dang answered it at once and raised the phone to his ear. “Yeah, I got the alert,” he said before Daedalus could say anything.

“Detector’s been upgraded,” Daedalus’ voice came through from the other end of the line, calm and composed. “Picked up on a new anomaly. And I’m seeing the clips going all over the internet right now…Dang, it’s a big one. You can’t do this one alone. I’m on my way.”

“No,” Dang replied quickly. “I’m with Dante and the others. We’ll take care of it. Just be our eyes and ears, alright?”

“Alright. Be careful.”

The call ended.

Dang immediately turned his attention to Daniel and Megan. “The two of you get the kids back to the shelter and make sure they’re safe. Dante and I will go handle the Red Alert.”

“Are you serious?” Daniel demanded. “You’re sidelining us?”

“Protect the kids,” Dang ordered. “Only come when it’s absolutely certain that they’re not in any danger. Do you understand?”

Daniel’s face fell and his shoulders slumped. “Yeah, sure, whatever,” he muttered.

“Good,” Dang nodded at him, then looked at Dante. “You’ve still got enough fire left in you, right?”

“Are you kidding?” Dante held out a hand and summoned a ball of dazzling flame. “I thought you’d never ask.”