image [https://img.wattpad.com/story_parts/1441523271/images/17e09906bfe7203b79787145073.png]

Cornered by Fate

With a desperate effort, I raised my left hand towards the clones surrounding Charles. A surge of icy mist surrounded them, freezing them instantly, encased in a thick layer of frost that halted them mid-movement.

Without pausing, I turned and sprinted towards Annabella, every fiber of my being focused on reaching her in time. But as I closed the distance, my heart sank. A massive shadow loomed overhead—a mass of debris, levitated by one of Mateos' clones, positioned directly above where Annabella was held.

"NO!" I shouted as the debris crashed down with thunderous force. The ground shook, and a cloud of dust and debris billowed up, obscuring my view.

I was thrown backward by the shockwave, my body slamming into the broken concrete. Dazed, I struggled to my feet, my ears ringing, and my vision blurred with tears and dust. "Annie!" My voice cracked as I screamed her name, fear and desperation tearing at my throat.

Scrambling through the debris, I pushed aside chunks of concrete and twisted rebar, my hands shaking, my breath ragged. The thought that I might be too late—that I might have failed to save her—was unbearable. Each moment felt like an eternity as I cleared the last of the rubble.

Charles rushed to my side to help. Our hands worked in unison, tossing aside anything in our way with desperate urgency. Just as despair threatened to overwhelm me, a section of debris shifted unexpectedly. My heart leaped as Annabella's hand suddenly emerged, followed by the rest of her, covered in dirt and gasping for air.

Relief flooded through me like a raging river. I grabbed her, pulling her into a tight embrace, the warmth of her alive and breathing body grounding me in the reality that she was safe. "Annie, how did you survive?" I asked, pulling back to look at her, making sure she was completely intact.

Breathing heavily, Annabella shook her head, her voice shaky. "I—I don't know. I was so scared, I thought I was going to die. I just put my hands up..." Her eyes widened as she recalled the moment. "It felt like something held the rocks back, kept them from crushing me. They just... fell around me instead. When I put my hands down, I realized I was trapped under all the debris, with just small pieces falling on me."

Could this be due to her awakened powers? Before we could revel in the miracle any longer, a chilling voice cut through our brief moment of relief. "How cute, that little moment of hope," Mateos called out mockingly from behind us. We turned to see him—or rather, them—a horde of clones, each one with massive debris floating ominously above them. With a sinister grin, one of the clones snapped his fingers, and like a deadly rain, the debris hurtled towards us.

Reacting instantly, Charles conjured his volatile explosions, but he quickly fell to the ground. I shot up an ice wall to block the oncoming debris. I knew it wouldn't hold, but it would give us time to think of a plan to escape. As my barrier rose, a massive, translucent force field suddenly surged from the ground, enveloping and extending beyond my ice wall, dwarfing it in both size and thickness.

Stunned, I turned around to find Annabella, her face still etched with fear but her hands raised high, emanating a power I had never seen her wield before. The force field shimmered around us, the debris crashing against it and disintegrating into fragments.

For a moment, I could only stare at her in awe. Not only could she sense the threat in others, but she now could conjure a very strong force field. This must be how she survived being crushed before. Such distinctive powers—could they be influenced by her emotions?

As the last of the debris clattered harmlessly against Annie's shimmering force field, I realized she was more than my sister anymore; she was a member of The Sunspears. A question flickered through my mind—how had Ivory not sensed Annie's powers? But there was no time to dwell on these thoughts.

Mateos, watching the spectacle, began to clap slowly, a sinister smile spreading across his face. "A new development, indeed," he mused aloud, his gaze fixed on Annabella like a predator eyeing his next meal. "A new power to ponder, a new power to acquire."

Suddenly, the situation escalated as Annabella was violently lifted off the ground, her body slamming against the inside of the force field with a sickening thud. Mateos was attempting to pull her towards him using his magnetic abilities, but Annabella's force field held strong, preventing her from being torn away.

Annabella groaned in pain, trapped in an invisible tug-of-war between Mateos's magnetic pull and the protective barrier. Meanwhile, more debris began to bombard the force field, each impact echoing like the beat of a sinister drum. Mateos's laughter rang out, "How much longer can you hold out?" he taunted, his voice echoing around us.

Annabella's face strained, beads of sweat forming on her forehead as she fought to maintain the force field and resist Mateo's magnetism. The pressure seemed to be mounting by the second, her features contorting in distress with the effort of keeping the barrier intact.

Debris began crashing down upon the clones as well, and amidst the dust, a figure emerged—Alexander. He moved with newfound freedom, the magnetic pull that had once ensnared him gone with the destruction of the controlling clone.

Simultaneously, with the alleviation of the force pulling on her, Annabella collapsed to the ground, gasping for breath but free from the invisible grip that had held her. She scrambled to her feet, leaning against the weakening force field for support.

However, our momentary relief was short-lived. The remaining clones quickly regrouped and swarmed Alexander, overwhelming him with sheer numbers. From behind the force field, I could see him struggling against the horde.

"Annie, drop the force field. I need to help Alexander!" I shouted, my voice urgent. Without hesitation, though clearly struggling with exhaustion, Annie nodded and the shimmering barrier began to dissipate, disappearing with a faint crackle of energy.

As I sprinted towards Alexander to aid him, the clones suddenly took notice of me. In a disturbing display of coordination, they ceased their assault on Alexander and turned their attention towards me. In an instant, they shifted their forms, each one morphing into a replica of Alexander. They each grabbed hold of an Alexander clone, a sea of identical faces turning to look at me, their faces filled with mockery.

I halted, my mind racing as I tried to discern the real Alexander among the impostors. Desperately, I turned back to seek Annabella's help, to use her powers to sense the real one. But my heart sank as I saw her slumped on the ground, her energy spent from maintaining the force field. She was barely conscious, her breaths shallow and labored.

Before I could even process this new predicament, another wave of confusion struck. Dozens of Charles clones appeared, each one also holding a Charles clone hostage to further confuse me. The scene was a maddening mirror hall of duplicates.

Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.

Staring at the multiplying clones around me, a deep sense of helplessness washed over me. How could I possibly figure out which one is the real one? How could I protect my friends when I couldn't even tell them apart from their enemies?

As frustration and anger surged within me, I forced the rising sense of helplessness aside. These past weeks, I had grown—grown to believe I could lead, could fight, could protect. The idea that I could lead The Sunspears to victory had filled me with a sense of purpose, a belief in my own strength. But now, surrounded by countless clones of my friends, that belief was being tested to its limits.

With a roar, ice blasted from my hands in sharp, jagged spears aimed at the advancing clones. The sight was disorienting, battling figures that wore the faces of people I trusted, but I pushed through the doubt and confusion, focusing on the fight.

Clones charged at me from all directions. I spun, ducking and weaving, each punch and kick reinforced with icy blasts, knocking clones back and freezing them in place momentarily before they could break free. The cold air around me crackled with the movements of my attacks, frost forming on the ground and walls wherever I moved.

Holding back my full strength was excruciatingly difficult. I was fighting not to kill, to incapacitate rather than destroy, even as they came at me relentlessly. The battle was a blur of motion, ice, and faces—too many faces.

Suddenly, pain lanced through my leg—a sharp, burning agony that cut through the chaos. I looked down to see a clone with Alexander's face withdrawing a blade from my thigh. I reacted instinctively, my hand forming an ice knife, ready to strike back in defense.

But as I turned to face him, our eyes met. The clone's expression—so like Alexander's, filled with conflict and confusion—made me hesitate. Could this be the real Alexander being controlled? Could I take that risk? My arm trembled, the ice knife ready but uncertain.

That moment of hesitation cost me. I felt a sudden force at my back, an unseen grip that seized me with terrifying strength. The world whirled around as I was yanked backward, and dragged across the ground. The rough terrain scraped against my skin, stones, and debris tearing at my clothes as I tried to find some leverage, some way to break free.

I was pulled mercilessly through a house, crashing through walls and furniture as if I were a ragdoll. The destructive path seemed endless, a dizzying, painful blur until suddenly, I was flung out into the open, still being dragged across the ground by the relentless magnetic pull.

Every attempt to regain control, to use my ice to anchor myself, was thwarted by the overpowering force. Dust and blood clouded my vision, as I struggled against the invisible tether that bound me to Mateos' will.

Lying battered on the ground, the realization of how outmatched I was hit me hard.

Motionless on the ground, each breath a labored effort, I felt the weight of my own defeat pressing down on me. The cold, hard earth beneath me seemed to drain the last reserves of my strength, leaving me hollow and spent. Above, the clones of Charles, Alexander, and even Mateos hovered, their expressions filled with triumph.

One of the clones, wearing Alexander's face, broke the silence. "It appears Ellion didn't have the strength to go on. What a pity," he mused, his voice dripping with feigned regret. "I expected more from the man Fabian respected."

Their words stung, igniting a flicker of frustration within me. The mention of Fabian and the memories of battles fought together, stirred something deep inside. I felt like a fool, played by Davos. I knew I alone could not defeat him; though he could duplicate, each time he did, the clone was weaker than the last.

I knew who could kick his ass. I remembered the night in Itayó Forest when Nicholas fought Max. I screamed for Ivory to help—and she appeared just in time as if summoned by my call. Could I hope for such a miracle now?

Struggling to push myself up, the pain was sharp but I managed to sit. Surrounded by the clones, I felt an overwhelming sense of isolation. But even in that dark moment, a part of me clung to a sliver of hope.

Ivory's name hovered on the edge of my lips, a desperate invocation held back only by doubt. Would she hear me? Would she come again to pull me from the brink?

Just as I was about to voice the call, a sudden shift in the air—a ripple of energy that felt like the pulse of the universe—silenced me. There, materializing out of thin air, stood Ivory. Her green hair was matted with blood, her clothes torn and stained, and she looked battered but unbowed.

A small, grateful smile crossed my lips as our eyes met. No words were needed; her timely arrival spoke louder than any promise ever could. Ivory, recognizing the unspoken gratitude in my gaze, returned the smile with a wry twist of her own lips.

"I don't want to be a hero," she said, her voice steady despite the chaos around us, "but sometimes you leave me no choice."

The clones lunged at us, their faces filled with rage. Ivory opened her palms, and with a powerful gust of force, blasted the clones away. They were sent tumbling back, scattered all around the debris-strewn ground and the walls of what remained of the shattered houses, falling with full force.

In the next breath, she grabbed hold of me, and with the disorienting rush of teleportation, we found ourselves on a rooftop not far from the scene below. "Cowards! Show yourselves!" The sounds of the clones regrouping and their angry shouts still reached us above. They started demolishing the houses, trying to make us come out.

Catching my breath, I turned to Ivory. "We need to go back! Annie is still down there—she just awakened her power and Davos could go after her!"

Ivory's gaze shifted softly to the side, and following her eyes, I saw Annabella lying unconscious but safe on the rooftop beside us. Relief flooded through me, so intense it was almost staggering. Ivory had rescued her before coming for me. My heart rate began to normalize, knowing Annabella was safe.

"What about Alexander and Charles?" I asked, looking back toward the tumultuous scene below.

Ivory, however, seemed focused on something else. "Did Annabella really develop powers?" she asked, an intensity in her voice that demanded honesty.

"Yes," I replied, the suspicion in my voice hard to mask. "Why didn't you tell us earlier? Couldn't you sense her developing Clemons Cells?"

She ignored my question, "We don't need to worry about Davos killing Alexander or Charles," she stated firmly. "The real Davos isn't among those clones. If he killed them right now, he wouldn't be able to absorb their powers. That's why he's playing this game, keeping them alive."

Confused and a bit skeptical, I asked, "How can you be so sure?"

"Dr. Clemons' studies said that Parent Clemons Cells must be in proximity to one another for absorption to occur effectively, a few meters close. When one with Parent Clemons Cells kills another bearer, the cells can be absorbed, but only if the other's Parent Cell is nearby. Otherwise, the Clemons' Cells disintegrate and die upon the host's death," she explained with profound knowledge like she was reading the book in her head. "Let's say one has the ability to shoot a projectile from 20 meters away, and with that ability, he kills another Clemons Cells bearer. He still won't be able to absorb the cells due to the distance. The cells will leave the body trying to look for a Parent Clemons Cell to absorb them, but they die quickly after their host dies. Soon after leaving their host body, they start to die in the air. I'm sure the real Davos knows this and won't risk losing these powers."

"So, we need to keep away from the real Davos. Sounds easy, if we knew the real one. Do you know?" I asked Ivory.

Ivory shook her head softly, "I managed to find a few of the others, including Jessie, whose powers we used to identify who was the real one among us. But we got cornered by some Mateos' clones and Fabian." Her brow furrowed in frustration as she added, "I'm not sure where the real Davos might be hiding, but we have to keep both groups of clones away."

Reflecting on what Mateos said earlier, about each clone being their own unique person, maintaining the appearances and personalities they had assumed, maybe we could use this to make out the real one among them. "One of Mateos' clones mentioned that each clone is unique, in their reasoning and actions, under the new persona they have acquired. I guess that's why Mateos is always using his clones' powers."

"And why Fabian didn't use clones but only his super strength," Ivory replied. "Not dividing their powers will be his downfall. We'll divide them, spread them thin, and keep eliminating the clones until the last one can't create anymore. Once we deal with the clones, we'll eventually be able to pinpoint the real one." She paused for a second, realizing something. "But as we bring down his clones, the real Davos would be getting much stronger. All the Clemons Cells from the clones will have reverted to him, enhancing his powers." Turning to face me squarely, she asked, "What do you say, do you think we can do it?"

Rising to my feet, feeling my strength coming back, I met her gaze with a determined look. "For you and me? Easy task." I forced a smile, hoping I could keep up with the fake bravado.