Jester Book 1: Abduction

Chp 20 Part 2: Faker

Chester was still reeling from the reveal. It couldn't be possible. A one-to-one doppelganger was directly in front of him. It was like looking through a parallel dimension.

His hair, his arms, his legs, his pores. Even his butt was an exact replica. He was looking at another Chester. He was staring at himself.

While Chester sat on his ass in awe the copy made a grand show of his arrival. He started fanning the crowd as they rallied behind his outrageous entrance. He took a moment to stop working the audience and address his main query, "YOU!"

His fingernails looked just like Chester's. Even though Chester's hands currently were swallowed up in a skin-tight sleeve. The imposter made a circular motion with his wrist as he spoke, "You thought you could copy me? With that cheap costume?"

That voice. It sounded like him. Or he felt like it sounded like him. He never realized how high his voice actually was. He wagged his finger back and forth as he spoke, "That costume is so winter special."

He was unable to formulate a sentence. The duplicate kept up a slurry of words that swallowed up his counterargument attempts, "You've been running all over town causing mayhem." He started pacing circles around the dark original, "The mines halting? You!"

He wanted to say, 'Wait a second,' but his voice was stuck in his stomach.

"Poco's concerts stopping? You!" This shouldn't be happening, "Lou's snow cones melting? Spike's crafts? Brawl Pines?" He stood in front of Chester now. The dark hero was frozen. His clone was now turning it all on him, "YOU! YOU! YOU!"

He continued to pace until he was behind Chester again. With his chin to the sky, he finished his announcement, "Even Mandy's Candy Shop. You greedy monster." He could hear a crocodile tear forming, "And then you framed me."

No.

"I had to hide for weeks."

No that's not true.

"If it wasn't for Pam. I'd be rotting in Starr Jails!"

That was the last straw. Chester turned on a dime ready to swing, "Liar!"

When he was finally looking at the copy he was staring into the smiling face of one of his old bells. It vibrated violently in the clone's hand much like the copy's own wild smile. The explosion was small enough to fit in a shot glass but carried the force to crack a brick. Chester was sent reeling as he covered his charred forehead.

His clone made a grand spectacle of this attack. He started juggling laughing bells like rubber balls. The crowd started laughing along. They requested Chester do some stunts to add to the show. He of course obliged by trying to juggle with his eyes shut and one hand. The stunt failed when all the spheres came crashing down on his head though they didn't detonate. He made a silly face by placing his hands on his head and sticking out his tongue.

They roared along in joy at the jester's antics. Meanwhile, the real Chester was just regaining his vision. It still hurt just to open his eyes from the brimstone and shrapnel plastic. When his vision finally returned his clone was dancing around on the crowd's perimeter. He was holding something above his head. It was a cube with a cranking handle on the side. Just seeing the blurred form of that made Chester's back ache. The genuine article must have felt threatened knowing it wasn't only Chester whose identity had been stolen.

The colorful clown cranked on the handle at a breakneck pace. The song it played finished before it could start. Yellow, green, blue, pink. An array of colors came spewing out from the latch as something appeared from within. A massive pink ball of wrapped candy delight. It glowed like a lightning bug as it arched through the sky. Its apex caused it to stand still as gravity continued its inevitable pull.