Did death really not mean anything anymore? What was the fucking point of dying if it just meant he’d wake up again, completely fine? Could he do anything he wanted? Was the only reason he was holding back completely meaningless now?

His eyes were blurring into nothingness as the woman zoomed past him, pulling the floating body in front of them out of the tractor beam. “...See? Good as new! I have no idea how it keeps it’s non-biological features so seamlessly from such a small source, but that’s why powers are so fascinating! I swear, you can hardly find a similar power these-”

The clone was back up.

It wasn’t nearly as disgusting or horrific as it had been to watch them die. Just like when he created a clone, the black cylinder had simply turned to liquid that grew quickly over the course of a few seconds, taking on a human form before the details actually formed…

And yet, Liam’s ears were still ringing. He watched emotionlessly as it crawled over to him, grabbing his still bleeding hands and wrapping it up with the remaining scraps of it’s clothes. He let it wrap around the hand, but only let it near him until it finished, and backed off immediately after. He didn’t want to be touched by it, not after what it had put him through.

Not after what he put the clone through.

“-just a drop from you is all you need to turn these things back to their original selves. It’s so terrifyingly effective that I almost feel green with envy!” Mrs. Deus basically shouting in what Liam could now see was raving lunacy. She probably hadn’t slept at all last night. Hell, she probably had been pulling all nighters from before the two had met, and this was just another sleepless night caught up in that hell.

He remembered times where he couldn’t stop thinking. Those moments were the worst, staying in the still of night in your bed, too scared that if you got up, it would lose the precious moment your body drifted off to sleep. You could do nothing but think in those moments, and Liam wondered if that was always the case for these types of supers.

Guess some powers were a different kind of hell, huh?

His claws sharpened, and he waited for the perfect moment for her to come near him while she spoke. The knuckles in his hands clicked, shifted and forming in a way he hadn’t thought possible. For the first time, his claws had almost seamlessly formed together, looking so uniform it was as if a blade was jutting out of his wrist. She was moving closer, not once bothering to look over to his side as her hands continued fiddling with her armchairs. Lack of sleep had made the super genius unaware of her surroundings. Or maybe all district 1 bastards were this moronic.

He was ready, and she was completely oblivious-

“Mrs. Deus? Are you here?”

A voice sounded out behind him. The knuckles on his hands clicked once more, and the claws slid back into his fingers fast enough where even the quick swivel of the woman’s head towards him was too slow to catch it. He only just realized then that he was sweating, to the point where his shirt was soaked. As if someone had, ironically, splashed a bucket of water over him, he finally realized what he was doing.

“Ah! Leonard! Quick, give me the good news!” The teacher exclaimed, her eyes gazing right past him, as if he had been thin air. His thoughts were no longer set on killing her, but the change had been so drastic that he knew it wasn’t just a natural change in thought.

…What the hell was that?

It was such a shock he hardly even considered the fact that it had been Leonard, of all people, to come from the scrap wreckage. That bastard stepped in with a look of surprise when he had seen Liam. “Ah, Liam. I was hoping there would be a better time to meet up.” The kid smiled, but under it he cold see the nervousness in their careful gaze. Liam almost wanted to laugh. They were the one that ran their mouth, so why were they acting like he was the danger?

Well, it wasn’t as if he was gonna hurt them. The voice grinded against his ear, and he wanted to punch the kid at the moment.

…but

The super smartass was talking to the teacher about something, their eyes shifting to Liam every once in a while as if to make sure he still existed. Their face still held some sense of control, and their conversation was too much technical jargon for Liam to understand… except for some parts. “Liam’s healing factor might have something to do with the following expirements. He has unaltered clones, perhaps we try with them?” The words were confusing but their message was clear. They wanted to kill another clone.

This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it

He scowled, but for some reason, Liam’s body didn’t respond the same way as before. He didn’t want to kill the kid, and his emotions felt like they were actually his. That was right, killing someone was something unacceptable. In this city, it probably meant he’d get the same punishment, or worse, somehow. This was logical thought, so why was he so ready to kill for something that wasn’t his problem?

His eyes turned to the clone, and he realized that the thing had never once stopped looking at the teacher. It’s eyes were unblinking and strained, the first time he had seen one of them act so unnaturally. His body shuddered, wondering where the hell it learned to look at someone like that.

Like someone ready to kill.

“-Expects the Identity cube back. He doesn’t require too much blood but expect at least two ounces left.”

“Two ounces!? I’ve barely left an ounce! Gosh, I hope Wyland doesn’t find out I, ah! Lia- Ah, I mean… Clone! Come here!”

The clone went to move towards the woman, and Liam felt his own claws threaten to come out again. His mind went through the terrible emotions again, and he realized what the hell was happening. His hand jutted out, stopping the clone before it could follow through with the order. It looked at him with it’s golden eyes, the same one’s Liam had. Maybe it was because he was looking in a mirror, but he could see it’s anguish, its shame.

It’s misery.

What the hell was this thing, if it wasn’t sapient?

Who the hell was he, then? His mind felt heavy, and like before something took over, he let it this time, allowing the words to almost slip off his tongue.

“...disappear.”

The clone nodded, and unlike before, its body transformed almost immediately into a black cylinder. The thoughts disappeared, and Liam found himself breathing easier again. His mind was clear, his head was lighter… but he wasn’t any happier for it.

This… had happened before, right?

Shit.

He rubbed the tears from his eyes as he went to pick up the clone’s self, shoving it into his pocket before turning back to the surprised couple of supers. The woman had the box in her hand, opened to show the needle again…

He raised a hand out, showing one of his fingers. There was a smile on his face for the first time since he entered this damn laboratory. One of acceptance.

“Let me do it. Better than a clone, right?.”

________________________________________________________________

Emily was stumped. She had spent the last half-hour tending to Liam’s clones, and she had found herself enjoying their company. While the one with the scary, black arms seemed a bit more reserved, the two normal Liams had each been a lot more receptive to her help. They had almost danced around her like a pair of cats trying their best to get her attention, and each time one was being healed the other got a look on their face like she had betrayed them.

“Aw, honey. They took a liking to you, huh? I knew leaving the healing department to you was a good idea.” The nice lady doctor spoke aloud as she neatly parted her hair in front of a mirror, trying to find a good angle. Emily only smiled, but even that was enough to break her out of her concentration. Soon enough, one of the clones nudged their shoulder against her’s, giving her a look like she had just kicked his dog…

Ah… it was too much.

She refocused her efforts, and the feeling of the clone leaning into the healing filled her with a sense of satisfaction that she couldn’t explain. It was funny and endearing at first, having the two eating out of her hands, but she had started getting exhausted by their lack of healing factors. It had taken the ruined legs of the ego only ten minutes to heal along with her ability, but since these clones weren’t… Egos, it meant that they healed quite a bit slower, even when they were taking her energy quite easily along with the self-regenerative pills. It certainly didn’t help that she was constantly switching between them, and eventually she had found herself with each at her side, one hand on each of their shoulders as they patiently watched her work.

It was certainly a new experience to heal two people at once.

She had to focus quite a bit, and each time she lost focus on either one they made it abundantly clear that they were being shorted. It was tiring, but seeing the demon of Noon high act so desperate… It was almost adorable.

And then the actual Liam came in.

“Disappear, you idiots.”

As if they had never existed, the clones beside her turned to black, and then disappeared completely. The ego on the bed also poofed away, turning to look at the original before a black cylinder fell to the pillow. Emily was surprised, but the nurse was even more shocked. “Holy sh-moly! What the flip happened to the kids!?” She rushed to check out what happened, but was stopped by Liam’s stare.

He looked happy.

Tired, but happy.

The boy yawned and climbed onto the bed, much to Emily’s surprise. She’d never seen him let his guard down this much without being told to… Though, she didn’t know all that much about him now, did she? His shoes were kicked off almost the moment he laid down, and he turned to her with a lazy look in his eye. “I’m… going to sleep. If you don’t mind, can you heal me while I'm out?” The words made her flinch, so casual and flippant it had been as if he hadn’t been the same person…

What was happening!?

She just nodded, unable to form words, and with that Liam closed his eyes…

And just… slept.

The two women in the resting area turned to each other with a look that properly conveyed the complete and utter ridiculousness of the situation, and both seemed to have the same question...

What in the heck had happened to him after he left!?