"They're gonna beat the snot out of us." Mike stated as we all walked to the schoolhouse.

"They will not." I insisted. "Mainly because they can't. I'm at the tippy-top of level 2, if Elsie is telling the truth. She would be the only one in our grade who's strong enough to beat us and even then, she knows I won't hesitate to pull out the bedbugs if she or the others get any ideas. That's a losing proposition no matter how you look at it."

I paused as Eva let out a gleeful laugh.

She was holding hands with Dana and Dorothy as we all moved in a group. Looing up at them with the kind of innocent jubilation that made me miss the good old days.

Part of me had been worried about how Eva might take to having six new cousins living in the lower sections of the bunker-basement from now on. Turns out she loved the change and she'd spent the following two days getting acquainted with all of them.

All of us.

All while they tried really hard to explain why they all knew her without fully delving into the whole evil cloning thing.

"Yeah. You're level 2. Almost 3. But we, the puny little mortals that we are, remain level 1. While everyone else here got to grind out at least one level from your murder-Dungeon."

He sucked in a breath.

"Also, I'm scared of coach Russell."

"Of course you are. So am I. You'd have to be brain-dead to not be scared of coach Russell. I'm pretty sure Mr. Robertson is scared of coach Russell."

"Nah man. You don't get it. Evil Cecil specifically designed me to look like that Mike guy that got killed in Vietnam. I'm the only one who can pass as an adult."

"You don't even look 18." I countered.

"Yeah? I was 14 before this whole mess you made and if we're being technical, I'm still a freaking baby in this body! But that's not the point. I now have a completely different body because that jerk wanted to mess with coach Russell. I am near-identical to that old buddy of his. And you know what?"

"What?"

"It worked. Coach Russell lost his mind when he saw me. The dude spent thirty minutes clinging to me and crying. I have no idea what happened to the real Mike in the war, but that guy is fucked up. Like, he needs therapy."

I shrugged.

"If you've got my memories and we're being honest.... I mean. We knew that since the beginning. It was never a secret or anything."

"No man. You don't understand. This guy was hugging me so tightly I couldn't breathe. With your blood and brains still on his hands. He had snot running down his face and everything."

That did sound dreadful.

Yet, what was I supposed to do? What were any of us supposed to do?

Coach Russell was Mr. Robertson's pet monster. Everybody knew as much. My copies especially.

As such, he had the strength to match.

Part of me wondered what kind of plans the old man had in the background and how many of them took the sheer power of coach Russell for granted.

Part of me wondered if the old man had ever spared a thought for what might happen if his favorite dog ripped of his leash.

I shook my head to dispel the notion. Shaking like a leaf, despite being largely unaffected by the autumn cold.

The trees in Dunstonberry had all reddened in the time I was passed out. Green hues slowly giving way to a beautiful canvas of reddish-orange that fell in accordance to the whims of the chilling winds.

The aura of life that had surrounded me back at the farm and in the Dungeon was nowhere to be found here. Instead, I felt a distinct melancholy as my eyes took in the picturesque beauty.

All around me, trees were preparing to sleep. Tucking themselves in within the confines of their largely unmoving bodies. In a spiritual sense anyway.

"It's colder this year." Eva muttered. "Mom says its going to snow soon."

She turned her head to Dorothy.

"How will we get to school if it starts snowing? Dad is busy all the time. So he won't drive us."

"Oh, I'm sure he'll drive us if we ask." Dorothy answered. "If that doesn't work, I'm sure I can fly you there. Or I can turn into some kind of horse thing. Shouldn't be too hard."

Eva gasped.

"Cecil! Dorothy says she can use the same magic as you!"

"That's amazing Eva!" All of us said in unison.

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Then I cursed internally. Realizing that it happened again.

"Why do all of you answer when I tell Cecil something?" Eva asked. Not for the first time.

"We just want to get in on the fun." Progress explained. "We feel lonely sometimes."

I thanked her or him, hard to tell with the memory business, within my own mind and re-focused on the walk. We were approaching the school once more. Just as we had that first week after we arrived.

Unlike that time, the door was no longer an impediment.

The heavy steel moved as easily as if it were made of light wood and I held it open for the rest of our posse.

"Have a great day Eva!" We all called after her.

"K bye!"

Mercy, Progress, Michael, Patience, Dana and Dorothy waved at her. As did I.

Then, we all looked at each other, took a deep breath as one and moved further into the building.

Halfway through the hall, we saw another figure passing by.

A lithe, handsome young man. One year older than Elsie, with the same auburn hair and deep blue eyes.

"Mercy!" He called out. With a smile so bright it outshone the bloody light fixtures.

"I'm so happy to see you!"

"Hello Oscar." Mercy answered. With all the enthusiasm of someone who got peed on by a skunk.

"I have to say Mercy. You are looking positively radiant today. You hair is coming out beautifully." He flashed an impish grin that was eerily similar to that of his sister.

"It makes your eyes pop out. You look great."

Mercy didn't say anything.

She didn't have to.

If they all had my memories and they all thought they were ostensibly me, then I could very well picture the exact thoughts passing through her head.

Something something roadkill something.

I tried to give Oscar a warning look.

But the man would not pick up the bloody hint.

Maybe because he didn't actually have the [Knowledge] core all the mainline Robertsons had. Meaning he couldn't read minds to save his life. Or maybe because he had other things on his mind.

Indeed, his eyes continued to drift the more he talked. And anyone with eyes of their own could see where his own eyes were going.

That is, down.

Me and the others exchanged looks of our own.

Most of them seeming to blame me or more accurately Pool-Cecil for this debacle.

In Oscar Robertson's defense, he'd been more than civil and actually kind of nice in all our previous meetings, when there had been only one of us. It was just that Pool Cecil had designed his experiments with the mold of honeytraps and...

Well.

In all honesty, he'd done too good a job.

All the female copies looked like something straight out of coach Russell's raunchiest fantasies. Because they were something out of coach Russell's raunchiest fantasies.

Those babies weren't just nice to look at. They were miracles. Perfect miracles.

Which made it all the more disturbing that a copy of my personality was in that body. Staring at Oscar freaking Robertson's eyes as his gaze became more and more glued to that area.

I got to the point where I, Mike, Progress and Patience started coughing loudly next to him.

The man did not notice.

'You can use this.' The evil voice whispered in my ear. 'My mistake was being too open about my intentions, too quickly. Make another trap and have them lead this fool on. He has his mother's core, instead of his father's. He is still respected. He still has influence. Use him to...'

I cut off the flow of magic to the Skill. Down to almost nothing.

The rest of them took note and probably figured out what had happened.

All except Oscar of course. He was far too busy yapping on while burning a hole through Mercy's hoodie.

"Hey!" She finally snapped at him. "Eyes are up here!"

"Wha...?" He looked up. His face a mask of confusion, as if he'd only just broken out of a freaking illusion ninjutsu.

"Oh. Yes! Of course! I... I wasn't looking at them. I was just, admiring your hoodie. It's very pretty."

"As if that would work you stupid moron! You do realize that I have the memories of living as a man for 14 years right? Please tell me you realize this?"

"Of course I realize that Mercy! But you're a girl now and you're so... so...."

He lost his train of thought again. Mumbling incoherently while his eyes one again found the miracles.

Mercy punched him. Launching a straight hook that would have made coach Russell weep tears of pride.

It didn't work out as she'd intended.

Because Oscar Robertson was level 3 and a peak level 3 at that. While she was level 1.

"AAAAH! SONOFABI...!"

Progress wrapped a hand around Mercy's mouth.

"Eva's nearby. I don't want her hearing this."

Mercy mumbled something incoherent and then gave Oscar the finger.

And just like that, he was heading in one direction, beet-red in the cheeks, while we moved to our actual classroom.

Soon we found ourselves standing outside the dreaded door. Inclining our heads to listen.

"I'm telling you guys! Halloween is satanic!" Ramji's voice called out. "It's a party for the devil! You're going to a party for the devil!"

"Dude, what are you on right now?" Drew's voice countered. Seemingly as surprised and befuddled as we were.

"Simple. Halloween was originally a party for devil spirits and after a while, people here started celebrating it. It's a pagan ritual. If you don't think so, then tell me where in the bible does it say that you dress up as a ghost and the people around you have to give you candy. You can't. Because its not in the bible. I don't celebrate Halloween because I'm a good Christian boy. But you all do you if you don't care about where your souls go."

"Are you sure you have a soul though?" Marco asked in a monotone voice. "Maybe all you have is the little ashes where a soul used to be. Maybe Cecil's roaches took your soul and now you're going to the bad place after you die."

"Could happen." Drew pounced immediately. "You know? You were all clean and righteous before, but now you got roach juice under your skin. Do you think Saint Peter lets people past the pearly gates if they have roach juice under their skin?"

"I wouldn't let you into my house if you had roach juice under your skin." Marco hammered on.

"You guys are dicks!" Ramji bellowed. In a way that let me picture his reddening face and wagging finger.

I breathed out an internal sigh of relief.

If these guys were still playing around like this, then there was a chance everything would be fine.

I opened the door, with the rest of the copies standing behind me.

Then the whole room was engulfed in one collective gasp.

Sharp as a knife, it cut through the voices.

Leaving all of us standing out in the open with wide eyes and paralyzed bodies.

For the other students, it was because I was there. The guy responsible for all their recent night terrors.

For me and the copies it was because of the teachers for the day.

One of them was a calm, gentle-looking man with mixed features. His head adorned with slick black hair combed backwards. His angular face bearing sharp features and piercing deep-blue eyes that seemed to shine like sapphires.

James Robertson looked immaculate in his suit. His bearing and demeaner making it seem as if he owned the place. Which wasn't all that far from the truth if you thought about it.

In contrast, coach Russell looked like a mix between a rabid animal and a serial killer. His eyes turning bloodshot the second they caught a glimpse of me.

One of those eyes, the left one, twitched a couple of times. While the corners of his mouth tried to move in the semblance of a smile.

"H, H, Hey. Cecil." He managed between gritted teeth. "So N, N, Nice to see you."

He waved to the side.

"We have a packed schedule today. Have a seat."