When I opened my eyes, I was back in my subconscious. The demons were gathered around me. Mal, to my relief, didn't appear to be present. The one that called itself Svetlana stepped forward; it wore a look of concern.

"Mike, are you-"

Manitoba put a hand on its shoulder to keep it from touching me. "I don't think so, sheila. We had orders to watch him, not to help him."

"But just look at him!" It protested. "He's so beat up!"

Vito guffawed. "That's the point, ya goonba!" Its face was so dumb and ugly that I really wanted to punch it.

Something occurred to me. Beat up? I touched my face and let out a whimper. One eye was swollen, probably blacked. My nose felt crooked and had traces of blood on it. It hurt like crazy when I touched it. I could barely speak, my jaw seemed to be broken. There were tear stains on my cheeks. I ran a stiff hand through my hair and found that there was blood there as well. I lifted my other hand and let out a wail of pain. My index finger was bent at an odd angle and I found myself unable to move it. My wrist wouldn't move either.

"What..." I had to fight to speak, for every word was like someone was jamming their knee into my chin, "happened?"

"You don't remember?" Chester asked in awe. "How could you forget a walloping like that?" It let out a laugh, which quickly transitioned into a cough. "Mal sure gave you the what-for!"

I furrowed my brow, then winced. "Mal... did this?"

Manitoba walked towards me and then knelt next to the spot where I was sitting. "You challenged him to a fight for control. It was stupid of you. Mal has powers in here. He didn't even have to touch you."

"What?" I grimaced. "How...?"

"While he's in here, he can do things by manipulating your mind. Creepy things." Manitoba explained. "You started beating yourself up. You couldn't stop, mate. But you wouldn't submit. You finally knocked yourself out."

"Where... is it... now?" I felt a sharp pain in my side.

Manitoba shot me a disapproving look. "It? Come on, mate, we aren't things. We're people."

"No." I said stubbornly, despite the pain I was experiencing. "Where is... Mal?"

Manitoba sighed. "He's back in control. You're free to join him. He plans on making you watch everything destructive he does anyway. He'll be back to get you soon."

"Destructive?" I squeaked.

"He has plans, mate. He wants revenge, and he's going to get it. He hated being cooped up." The Aussie paused. "Then again, we all did."

A lump rose in my throat as something occurred to me. "My... dad..."

"No, no, he won't hurt your pop, kookaburra." Manitoba assured me. "He wants him to suffer too."

"Manitoba... is Mal going... to kill me?"

The fedora-wearing copy of me blinked. "No. He hates you too much to kill you."

"Are you... guys..." my vision was beginning to blur and I fought to stay awake, "going to kill... me?"

"No." Manitoba responded. "We don't want you dead."

"But... you hate me..." I pointed out. I was doing my best to get their sympathy. Based on the tears in Svetlana's eyes, it was working.

Manitoba nodded. "Yeah. But just so you know..." it leaned forward and very softly, into my ear, it whispered, "we hate Mal more."

At this, I felt a spark of hope. I nodded, ignoring the sting in my head.

"Don't move too much, Mike." Svetlana told me worriedly. "You'll hurt yourself more. Ve don't vant it to get vorse."

Vito crossed its arms. "We ain't s'posed to help the enemy!"

Manitoba opened its mouth to retort but suddenly went stiff. "He's coming."

Svetlana, Chester, and Vito immediately backed away, their eyes wide with fear. Manitoba stood, but stayed by my side. It would've brought me a sense of security if Manitoba hadn't been working for Mal.

I watched as a long black shadow appeared on the wall. It slid across the floor until it rose up. My breath caught in my throat as it began to take a three-dimensional shape. Deep, menacing laughter began to boom through the subconscious. Chester covered its ears. Vito stayed completely still, though I could almost feel the fear radiating off of it. Svetlana was shaking, and I could see it was trying to hold back sobs. Color began to seep into the shadowy figure; first its hair, then its clothes, then its skin. Its face showed up last, and I cringed as soon as it did. It was smirking at me.

"Mikey. Good to see you're conscious." It looked me up and down and I saw its eyes sparkle. Shaking its head slightly, it let out a tsking noise. "My, my, Michael. Self-harm is not okay."

"I didn't... do... this!" I tried to burst angrily, cringing. "You did."

Mal feigned confusion. "No, I don't think so. Everyone saw you do it to yourself. Right guys?"

Everybody nodded hurriedly, not looking directly at Mal. Manitoba stayed virtually still except for one brisk nod of its head. Its gaze was stony and fixed on its so-called 'boss.' I could see the aforementioned hatred in its eyes.

Mal turned towards the other demon. "Is something wrong, Manitoba?" It inquired softly, its tone mocking.

"No."

"I don't believe that." Mal responded. "You don't feel bad for Mikey, do you?"

"No. He imprisoned us. He deserves it." Manitoba seemed to be reciting this, as if it were a tiresome line they had been forced to memorize.

I forced my mouth to open, drawing the attention away from Manitoba. "Leave me... alone." I gnarred with a little effort. "Crawl... back to the... dark hole you came from."

"Oh, Mike. The only dark hole I come from is right here. Your mind. And I won't stay here for long."

I managed to turn up one of the corners of my mouth in a pained smirk. "We'll see."

"Yes, we will. But I tell you what, Michael. If you relent and stop fighting, I will heal you."

"What?"

It grinned. "You heard me. I can heal you. No more injuries. All you have to do is say three little words. Easy words. It's quite simple really."

"What is... it?"

"You are stronger." It answered calmly.

I let out a sputtering cough of disbelief. I gaped at my evil counterpart. "I will not tell… you that… you are stronger! Especially when you… are not!"

Mal sighed. "Very well. Then I have no choice but to inflict more pain upon you." Its black, soulless eyes glinted. "Or rather, have you inflict more damage on yourself." It winked.

I felt my right fist rise up into the air. I tried to force it down with all of my might, but to no avail. My mind was weak, so was my body. I couldn't take any more pain or damage. Much more and I would surely die. It may have been all within my mind, but, as they say, mind over matter. My hand hovered in front of my face. My fingers wiggled before balling back into a fist. I kept my mouth shut. Just like that, my already injured fist swung into my temple. On came the excruciating headache.

"Give up." Mal prompted.

"N-Never." I declared, without much conviction.

It ran a hand through its hair. "If that's how you want it."

It flicked its wrist, and my fist came crashing into my already broken nose, blood began to come cascading down. Mal lifted its hand, and suddenly I was floating in the air. It brought its hand down, and I plummeted towards the floor of my subconscious. I let out a terror-filled scream. My body collided with the floor. I landed squarely on my arm, and felt it snap beneath my weight. I whimpered.

"Say it, Michael." It ordered.

I was bruised. I was broken. My body felt crippled and useless. But still, I managed to shake my head. "No..." I whispered.

It was getting impatient. I went soaring into the air again and flew into a wall. I groaned.

"SAY IT."

I couldn't take much more. I didn't even bother to say anything this time. I just laid in a crumpled heap, waiting for Mal to continue its onslaught. I felt someone's eyes on me. I slowly looked up and saw Manitoba. There were tears in its eyes. It saw me gazing at it and quickly glanced away. I looked at the others. They all had the same reaction. It then struck me that they didn't like to see me being tortured like this.

Touched, I forced a smile. My eyes met Mal's, and slowly I spoke. "I'm not afraid of you." I told it.

The sentence seemed to echo through the area. I heard everyone holding their breath. Fear was present on every face except mine and Mal's. My evil doppelganger stared at me. Its black eyes flashed dangerously. Its hand twitched and I closed my eyes, expecting to go soaring through the air again. Nothing happened. I opened my eyes warily and saw Mal standing over me.

"You're pathetic." It spat. "You're not even worth my time. I should just let you die."

I stared right back at it. "Then..." I took a shuddery breath, and grimaced; clearly one of my ribs was broken, "do it." I dared it.

"You're testing me, which is not a wise idea." Mal warned me. "But I'm not going to kill you. Not yet. I want to see you suffer. And right now," it paused, "that requires you to be healed."

It snapped its fingers. That was when the weirdest sensation took place. I felt my bones mending, pulling back together. My headache faded and my fingers straightened. My nose got really warm before it set back into place. The blood I was coated in vanished. The swelling in my jaw went away. My wrist made an almost sickening cracking sound as it snapped back to where it should be. I felt empowered. Energy flowed through me. I could think clearly again. The pounding in my ears dissipated. I tried to get up, and found it effortless. I no longer hurt. My legs were perfectly sturdy, instead of wiggling like jelly.

"You healed me?" I asked in confusion, enjoying the return of my ability to speak.

Mal scoffed and rolled its eyes. "Do not become confused, Michael. That was not an act of kindness or sympathy. Honestly, it would've been more humane to let you die."

"But you didn't let me die." I pointed out.

"No, I did not. But you are going to wish that I did."

I glanced at Manitoba. The Aussie was staring at the ground, its fedora tilted down over its eyes. Its hands were balled into fists. Trying to buy myself time, I crossed my arms. "So why me, Mal?"

"Excuse me?" It asked, bemused.

"Why do you hate me? There are others. Look around you. I'm not the only one in your way. But you choose to make my life miserable. Why?"

Mal sneered. "The others can be persuaded. Overpowered. They understand that they are outmatched. But you." He glowered at me. "You are deluded and bullheaded. You try to fight me." It took a step towards me, getting in my face. My eyes met its dead on. "I don't like opposition, Michael."

"That's tough, because I'm always going to oppose you." I spat.

"Precisely." Mal took a step back. "That's why I have chosen to target you. You remember when you first met me, don't you?"

I let out a growl. "Yes. Even though I've spent eight years trying to forget, I still remember."

"Come now, Mikey. I was never that bad. I never caused that much harm."

"Mal! Because of you I was expelled! Because of you I was put in an institution! I was in therapy for three years! I still have to talk to the school counselor once a week, and I'm almost in high school!" I yelled.

It shrugged. "You were being bullied." It pointed out. You were tormented, tortured. That's why you created me."

"I would never try to create something like you!" Mal nodded. "I know you didn't try. But your brain gave you what you needed. I was your first alternate, Michael. I took care of the bullies. I fixed your problems."

"You didn't fix anything! You made my whole life worse! Those bullies were found in the locker-rooms, tied and gagged! They watched the footage, and I was labeled 'disturbed'! They kicked me out, Mal!"

"I was more than willing to end your little conflict-"

"YOU TRIED TO BURN DOWN THE SCHOOL!" I screamed hysterically. "I ALMOST WENT TO PRISON!"

Mal looked bored. "Yes, but you didn't. You were diagnosed with MPD and sent to the mental ward. It was only a year."

"But you didn't leave after that year, did you?" I seethed. "You stayed, only making things worse. You would take over and terrorize my friends until I had absolutely none left. You ruined my life. My grades fell, my relatives started cutting their ties to me, eventually you just stopped going to school. The whole time, I was just stuck in my mind, crying. It wasn't until I was that I came back out."

"Ah yes. Because your mom found a church that would perform an exorcism. That kept me quiet for quite a while." It nodded. "But I came back, didn't I? I will always come back. You'll never be rid of me."

"You ruined my life." I hissed again.

"I didn't ruin anything. I simply made it… more exciting."

I was shaking with indignation. "I was a KID, Mal! You stole my childhood and there was nothing I could do about it!"

"Yes, well. After the exorcism, I only stayed quiet for a year, isn't that right, Mike?"

Tears welled up in my eyes. "You waited a year after coming back… That's when…"

"I killed your mother."

Anger began to bubble up inside me. I lunged for it and managed to get in a hit. My fist collided with its face. Its eyes narrowed and I flew back. I saw that I had blacked its eye, but the wound healed quickly. It advanced towards me and seized my shoulder.

"That's enough." It spat.

Before I could squirm away, it closed its eyes. I let out a cry of anguish as I was, once again, sucked into the same body as Mal. We were, once again, both in control. "Not both." Mal corrected me irritatedly. "Just me. You're just along for the ride."

I would've retorted, but was immediately filled with the sharpest, most intense fear I had ever experienced. I knew where we were. My eyes flit around the room, landing on the cream-colored tiles and the ugly, plaster walls. My heart sped up as I stared at the little red lockers lining the hall.

"No…" I thought, beginning to panic. "Oh no."

We were at my old school.

A/N: Hi guys! I would like to profusely thank everyone who favorited, followed, or reviewed. Extra special thanks to my first reviewer, Jaz2mine, who also favorited and followed! Their review was part of my inspiration for getting this chapter done. I'm really glad that, though I only have a few reviews, they're all positive. I know this is a weird story, and this was a rather violent chapter. This is a dark story, I'm just going to warn you guys. But anyways, thank you so much for reading. Drop me a review if you liked it!