I Blame My Evil Clone

Chapter 7: A Failure to Rescue

Alrighty, I'm back! Here's Chapter Seven, "A Failure to Rescue." Ooh, ominous title, huh? Can you guess which character dies in this chapter?

OH NO! I'VE SAID TOO MUCH!

Ch 7: A Failure to Rescue

Ty's POV

"Shut up!" Sky hisses at me. "The squid council keeps at least three people to keep watch over this place during the night."

Well, we've been really lucky so far. Wait a second... "You're warning me?" I ask. Sky nods and looks at me like I'm an idiot. "Does that mean you believe I'm the real Ty?"

"Uhm... I guess so? But I still don't trust you. Anyway, if I'm wrong, and you are Evil-Ty, then at least I can just die tonight and get it over with," he replies.

"Die? Did they disable the respawn machine?"

"This place doesn't even have a respawn machine."

Oh, joy of all joys. "Well, then. Let's go find Mitch and Jerome," Jason says. We all climb the staircase and step out into the main hallway. "Mitch?" he calls softly. "Jerome?"

"Where's Jason?" Mitch's voice comes from one of the other rooms. "Exploring downstairs," I reply. I mean, I don't say it... someone else who sounds exactly like me does.

Sky freezes. Oh, duh, it must be Evil-Ty! Sky slowly backs away from me. What, he thinks I'm Evil-Ty? Mitch, Jerome, and Evil-Ty come out of one of the rooms and stare at me. "Well, apparently Jason came upstairs," Evil-Ty says, "with Evil-Ty, Oh, and Sky! Are you OK? What happened to you?"

"I'm not Evil-Ty!" I shout. "You are! C'mon, Jason know. You were down there when we found Sky, remember, Jason?"

"Well, we split up so I could explore the basement while you checked that room, so... I actually don't know," Jason says.

"And we can't know for sure either, since he just came to us a few seconds go," Jerome puts in.

My jaw drops. Now I know how Sky felt. There is really no sure-fire way to figure out who's who.

"I can figure out who's who," Sky says quietly. Wow, Sky. We all turn and look at him expectantly. He takes a deep breath and then pulls off his sunglasses to reveal his bright red eyes.

Evil-Ty pounces on Sky, and Sky yelps. "I told you not to take them off again!" he roars as he starts punching and kicking Sky. Sky doesn't even fight back, he just sinks to the ground and closes his eyes. Mitch, Jerome, Jason, and I just stare at them, shocked. "You're ugly and worthless and stupid," Evil-Ty growls. "Say it"

"I'm ugly and worthless and stupid," Sky whispers.

This snaps me out of my trance, and I move forward to yank Evil-Ty off of Sky. "No! No, Sky, you're wonderful," I say.*

Evil-Ty glares at me. "No, he's not. He's ugly and worthless and stupid. He needs to know. You're not helping by lying to him."

"I'm not lying to him! He is wonderful! He doesn't deserve this."

"He deserves every bit of it! I can't let the prophecy come true!"

I narrow my eyes. "What prophecy?"

"The prophecy. The one where a red-eyed, budder-loving fool destroys this dimension. Heh, we didn't even know what budder was before Sky came along. The point is, Sky has to leave. Permanently."

"No, he doesn't," I shout.

"Yes, he does." Evil-Ty whirls around to face Sky and pulls a budder sword from his backpack. "Ironic, isn't it," he says as he presses the blade to Sky's throat, "that I'm using your precious gold to kill you?" I step forward, but he stops me with his words. "Don't come any closer, or he dies." I step back. "Of course, he's going to die anyway**."