The Suite Life X

39 - A Desperate Gambit

Cody’s newfound bravado managed to carry him through the last leg of his journey. It was a good thing it did, too. Had he been in his right mind, he likely would’ve froze up at the wrong time and been crushed into paste by the walls that he had to scale as they gradually closed in.

His ability to air-dash would once again be tested when he was greeted by a series of tiny platforms each with a lengthy distance between them and an obviously deadly fall awaiting him if he failed.

He had no choice but to stop and plan out his every move, which in itself brought his nerves right back…

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Several heart-stopping leaps later, he collapsed on solid ground, eager to catch his breath.

His brief rest was interrupted by clapping.

“What now…?” He moaned at nothing in particular. He found he couldn’t get mad at the source of the noise anymore. It took way more mental energy than he had, in fact, to feel anything at all.

“Excellent work, boy. I guess I wound up taking the wrong clone after all. Either way, we’ll rectify that shortly.” That last sentence sounded particularly ominous. “Catch your breath and get moving. I know a certain someone who’s itching for a final showdown!”

Is this how Zack feels in class…every day?

That question lit some fire under the tall boy, at least for a bit longer.

He threw himself forward and through the awaiting door off of the strength of that blaze.

“I'll…ask him myself!”

“Ask me what, Dear Brother?”

For the third time yet, the twins faced down each other, with the elder having cream-colored ripples of light emanating from his body. His eyes were as red as before, but with a form of smugness within them that felt out of place.

Lucien's influence.

He put the question he'd had to the side in favor of the more relevant, obvious one.

It wasn't aimed at Zack.

“What makes you think I'd fall for this? I know that my brother would never willingly be your slave! He-”

“Really, Brother? Just can it with the self-righteous drivel already.”

The smirk the shorter twin wore vanished into a frown. He looked at his brother with a stare that Cody never imagined would ever be aimed towards him.

It was one of sheer disgust.

It hurt. Bad. “I'm trying to help you…”

“…because you want to feed your own ego. Right, Codes? It’s not like you don’t have everything anyway!”

He immediately rushed the taller teen with a charged punch, which the latter narrowly avoided.

“What are you…talking about?”

After a few swings, Cody was forced to start defending himself. His shots were ducked or dodged thanks to his brother’s newfound agility.

“Oh, I don’t know… How about the perfect grades, the love and respect of everybody you know, the love of your life hanging off your arm…” The tonal bitterness seemed to increase with each listed item. “Every teacher seems to practically throw themselves at you along with everyone else!”

The elder twin launched forward in a blazing tackle which the youngest managed to evade.

“People care about you, too—”