“…I hate to admit it, but you’re right.” A disappointed scowl burned on Andie’s face. “We can’t win this fight, not now. We need to retreat and regroup. After we return to our physical bodies, we can plan at our leisure. So we need to split up, and -”
“NO!” Cedric startled himself with his own outburst. “…No. We have an established ability to work as a team, whereas our opponents are more likely to get in each others way than anything. Splitting up only serves to weaken us and strengthen our enemies.”
“Right, the good guys work together to beat the squabbling bad guys. It’s one of the oldest tropes in the book. The comic book, that is.” Andie chuckled. “There really is some truth to it though, a well oiled team doesn’t just add together the power of its members, it multiplies it. On the other hand, a team held together only by self interest will inevitably fall... apart...” Andie paused, turning suspiciously toward Cedric. “How did you know that our evil counterparts work poorly together?”
“I… guess I just assumed?” Cedric had been so sure of himself a moment ago, like he’d seen evil Andie and evil Dyllan fighting with his own eyes. Now that he was trying to retrieve his train of thought, he was drawing a blank. Strange, he was usually so good at controlling his assumptions. “It’s not important. We need to stay on task. We move as a unit until we reach…” Cedric ran through a mental list of meeting points he and his friends had used in the past. “Sunflower Lane. Then we can split up, but we have to make sure to head straight for our homes - no time to rest, just non-stop sprinting.”
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Andie stared in silence for several seconds before answering. She was clearly still skeptical of Cedric. “Good enough for me.”
“Good, then we can -” Cedric paused, a flicker of movement catching his eye. “Actually, on second thought, Dyllan is taking too long to heal. You take him and make a break for his house, then take off for home yourself. I’ll stay behind and buy us a little time by pitting our evil counterparts against each other. I may not be as fast as you two, but I’m confident in my ability to sneak away - especially while they’re distracted.”
Andie glared at Cedric, turned to look at the portal, then to the unconscious Dyllan, then back to Cedric. “…Fine. Just... be careful, okay?”
Cedric nodded, then watched in silence as Andie picked up Dyllan and ran off - waiting until he was sure they were gone. “You can come out now.” Silence. “I know you’re there. I know how you think. If you really wanted to stay hidden, I would never have caught sight of you. If you wanted me dead, you would have killed me before Andie returned and told me we had evil counterparts; before I knew you existed. So tell me, why the mind games?”
“To test a theory.” Cedric heard his own voice echo in front of him, then saw a monochrome version of himself ripple into existence. “To see if you really did have my Cunning.”