16
It was me.
That was the only thought able to penetrate through the cloud of shock in my head. After a moment, however, I began to recover from the initial surprise of laying my eyes on this aberration. It still amazed me that he looked exactly the same as me: brown hair, rich brown eyes, a blue T-Shirt, shorts, and Vans. But there was something definitely off about him. A dark aura surrounded his presence, and the look on his face was hard and cold, as he pushed his Particle sword off mine. I glanced behind me for a second, and saw that Aiden was also engaged with a figure who'd appeared out of nowhere. Even though I could only see him from the back, I was able to tell that he was also some sort of dark doppelganger, specifically made for Aiden, most likely here to wipe him out. However, I wasn't in any position to help him since I had to concentrate on my own fight. And the dark version of me was upon me again.
I took the offense first, driving him back with rapid slashes and strikes, wondering how this was even possible. Maybe Tyler had created these things as some kind of illusions in order to throw us off. After my attack on him failed, he'd Shifted back up to the walkway above, watching the show with nothing to harm him. But, it was clear that probably wasn't the case. He'd had plenty of time to try to shoot us down in the few seconds of our shock. Something else was going on here. Just then, it occurred to me that the way this guy blocked my attacks, the precision of his movements, and the fluid paths of his blade were all strikingly similar in some way. It took me a moment to realize it was exactly how I trained in Particle fighting.
This was more than a little disturbing. Not only did he look identical to me, he also knew how I fought and parried. It was only a matter of time before he turned the offense on me, and I had to do something before that happened. As we started to near the wall, I sweeped around him in a flash, kicking him in the back and forcing him to tumble to the ground. I moved in to capitalize on his vulnerability, but he Shifted away at the last second, reappearing to my left and jabbing his sword out at me. I jumped back, giving him the opportunity to further the attack. It turned out that fending off his strikes wasn't as hard as I'd believed. His attack style was the same as mine: try to throw the opponent off with a few hard strikes, and if there's an opening, throw all your focus at it and exploit it. Because of that, I could anticipate where he'd swing next, and be ready to stop him.
The problem was, it could work exactly the opposite way. Since he knew how I blocked, he could change his course in an instant, first aiming for my chest, but then at my neck. For the most part I was able to fend him off rather well, but there were a few times when he'd get through my defenses, and poke his Particle sword through my body, one step away from killing me. However, I'd always hop or duck out of the way a second before the sword solidified, and come back to retaliate. After a while, I was starting to exhaust myself from the constant slashing and dodging. But it wasn't just my physical strength diminishing. I could feel my Shifting powers weakening as well, and I knew I couldn't keep this up for much longer.
A risky idea popped into my head, and not seeing any other options, I decided to go for it. The next time he came in for a strike, I blocked but didn't let him go this time. Instead, I pushed back as he did the same, and we remained in a standstill, neither of us giving in. However, I allowed my gaze to fall on one of the windows behind him. Then, I stretched out my left hand. By the time he realized what was happening, it was too late. The window reformed into a Particle sword in my hand, more powerful than my other one, glowing a rich purple. He fell back to avoid a slash, but I kept right with him, using dual blades to fight his single. The dark Jason attempted to move quick enough to block both blades, but whenever he left one, the other was ready to stab through his body. After a few minutes, I finally managed to gain a hit, jabbing my pale gold sword into his side, solidifying it, then pulling it back out.
He collapsed to the ground with a terrible scream, though I couldn't see any blood pouring out of the wound. But, his vulnerability gave me a quick break, so I took a step back to catch my breath. Then something happened that made me stop in my tracks. My doppelganger's entire face had vanished, completely obscured by shadows as if hiding behind a veil. It only lasted for a few seconds before he was back on his feet, face visible again, and drawing another Particle sword that was colored purple. Before I realized what was happening, he was charging, swords slashing. I raised mine to block, and we began to duel again, with him pushing towards the other side of the warehouse. My mind was buzzing with various thoughts from what had occurred. It seemed like if I tried to use any of the advanced Shifting techniques I had learned during the months of training, he'd pick up on them in nearly no time at all. This rang true as his strikes with the two blades grew more and more similar to mine. As we continued to battle, I managed to catch Tyler in the corner of my eye, watching the fights below with an ominous leer on his face.
My expression turned into rage. I'd figured that he'd created these monsters to keep me and Aiden occupied, but it seemed more treacherous than that. He must've wanted us to engage in a fight that we couldn't win, since we were up against our own selves, who grew stronger the harder we tried to defeat them.
I'd had it.
The next time the dark Jason came in for a strike, I blocked and then kicked him hard in the stomach. He crashed to the ground seemingly winded as I Shifted up to the walkway Tyler was standing on. His eyes widened when he saw me standing there, but didn't have time to react as I slammed him into the wall, jabbing my Particle sword down an opening in the top of his chestplate. Not wasting any time, I imagined it as a wooden sword, and it immediately solidified. Despite Tyler's attempts to fight against me, I slowly began to push the tip towards his chest. A moment later, I felt it dig into his skin. His face morphed into a pained expression, then I felt the sword leave my hand, and I paused momentarily, stunned by his sudden use of Shape Destruction. Nonetheless, I Shifted another Particle sword from a few pieces of glass on the balcony and wasted no time in shoving it down his armor and attempting to push it through his body.
But, once again, he mustered up the concentration to disintegrate it, which only heightened my anger. For a moment, we went back and forth in this strange pattern of Shifting and Destroying, me trying to harm him and Tyler trying to protect himself. I managed to get in a cut or two before he Destroyed my sword, but I could tell he was growing tiresome, his face showing exhaustion and unspeakable pain. Then, for a second, I backed off, looking at him unemotionally. The only reason I came up here was to hurt him, and it appeared that I had.
Badly.
He'd slumped against the wall, holding his chest, grimacing at the cuts I'd driven into his flesh. And yet, I didn't feel any stronger; my Shifting powers hadn't returned to their fullest from engaging him. And if they hadn't come back by now, then it wasn't going to happen if I killed him. I took a step away, unsure of what to do, torn between two directions, neither of which felt right, but it didn't matter in the end. Tyler's eyes flew open, and upon seeing my hesitation, glared coldy at me, and I disappeared for a second, then reappeared in the air, high above the ground, my weapon flying out of my hand.
I didn't even have the time to fall before my doppelganger Shifted me back to the floor, sword already plunging down like a lightning strike. I rolled to the side, narrowly avoiding it, and leaped back onto my feet. Immediately, my eyes locked onto one of the wooden beams holding up the balcony, and I concentrated on it becoming a large rock. This is what it turned into about 5 feet above the dark Jason's head. He didn't know what was happening until it struck him, nearly lining up with the crashing of the balcony as part of it fell down to ground level in a pile of wood, dust, and debris.
I didn't worry about my Shifter double, who wasn't moving, or Tyler, whom I couldn't see. I could only focus on Aiden fighting his own doppelganger, and slowly losing. I couldn't help but feel responsible for him being here. While it seemed I'd had no choice in choosing the Shifter I would fight, I actually did. It could've been easy enough for me to help battle their army instead of going after the leaders, but I'd had second thoughts. And now we were stuck in another mess with our dark twins, not to mention Tyler and anyone else who survived. I fell to my knees. At that moment, something solid and heavy struck a blow to my head, and I collapsed to the floor, feeling dizzy from the rock and my blood pounding in my brain.
I managed to look and catch a glimpse of Tyler walking up to me, before I ultimately blacked out again, all thought halting in an instant.
Kaitlyn was leaning against a tree, arms folded, watching the building carefully. Though, she was starting to get impatient. 15 minutes ago, Brandon had told her to wait in this spot after her fight with Lin, while he went to go see if Tyler was doing okay. He'd dropped off the unconscious form of Jam, so while he was gone, she made sure their two prisoners didn't wake up and try to escape. Now all they needed was the third one to get out of the area before the trouble coming far away arrived. She put against the rough bark, gritting her teeth. What's taking them so long? They should've been back by now. Kaitlyn sighed, glancing over at Lin and Jam. They were lying against the tree, appearing to be asleep, their eyes closed. She shook her head and looked back toward the office complex. She was sure no one would see and try to steal them; she had to go check on Brandon and Tyler. Just before she could bring out the thought to Shift down to the building three blocks away, three figures appeared in the distance, one of them being carried. A second later, they were right in front of her, surrounded by a group of dissipating Particles.
"About time you showed up," Kaitlyn said with a sly grin. "I thought about leaving you guys behind while I still could, but I was nice and decided to wait for you guys."
"You would've stayed right here," Brandon replied with a scowl. He turned around to show the body of Jason he was carrying on his back. "We have the only Shifter who might be able to help us with our next plan, and you don't even know where we're going. You wouldn't have gotten very far."
Kaitlyn rolled her eyes. "To that note, where is our next hideout?"
"Far away," Brandon said, now being the one to smile. "But maybe if you're a good girl, I'll tell you."
Kaitlyn growled in anger, hating every moment of being controlled by this guy. This was one of the many moments where she wished she could just stab a sword through his back. But, of course, she knew that wouldn't be the right move to do. Besides, the dark Shifters, it was just the three of them now, and if there was the smallest chance that Jason, Lin, and Jam would meet back up with Aiden, they could overwhelm them if things went in their favor. Which suddenly brought a new question into her mind.
"What happened to our newest recruit?" She asked, as Brandon motioned for her to carry Lin as Tyler slung Jam over his shoulder. "He was there this morning."
Brandon frowned, but not at Kaitlyn. "He's gone; left when we weren't paying attention. He told me he didn't like our methods, even though I explained they were necessary. He's a traitor, just like our enemies."
Kaitlyn shrugged and nodded. "I was suspicious of him from the beginning. It didn't seem likely that he'd stay."
"And those shadow versions of Jason and Aiden had something important to do. They'll come back in a few hours."
Kaitlyn readjusted Lin on her shoulders, and wondered exactly where they were and what this mission was that they had to finish.
"We should get going."
Kaitlyn looked over at Tyler, who'd spoken for the first time since he got back. His face was grim as he looked in the direction of the office complex, and as she followed his gaze, she was able to make out what looked like a flock of geese flying in the distance, non-pollutant smoke trailing behind them. But, she knew those weren't geese.
"Just like you said," she said to Brandon, though she didn't turn around.
"Someone was bound to tip them off," Brandon replied. "They should probably know about us before it's all gone."
Kaitlyn didn't respond as she watched them fly in above the office complex, their helmets gleaming in the sun, the smoke from their jet packs clouding the air.
"Yeah, let's go," she said determinedly.
Within seconds, the three of them, with their hostages, had disappeared in bursts of Particles just as the explosions started up, echoing loudly throughout the empty city.
He was running.
Aiden was sprinting through the street of the city trying to escape the people who nearly ended his life just minutes ago. He'd tried to stop Tyler from getting away with Jason, but the Shifter who'd been impersonating him had intervened, cutting through his defenses with terrifying efficiency and leaving him no choice but to flee. He desperately hoped they hadn't seen him and followed because he was in no condition to fight right now. It;d been quite a while since Aiden had run this fast or for this long, but he didn't feel any cramps or pain in his limbs as he pumped them to the max, his breathing even and quick. Within another five minutes, he'd reached the outskirts of the city, which opened up to a large field that was a few miles wide. He slowed as he came up to a building that used to be a McDonald's, and then came to a complete stop.
That's when the fatigue of running caught up to him, and he bent over with his hands on his knees, breathing hoarsely as several thoughts flew into his mind at once. The first of these was the realization that Alex and Ryan were dead. He'd tried to contact them with their communication system, and neither had responded. He wasn't too concerned after the first time, but three attempts with no response definitely meant something had happened. He wasn't sure if Lin and Jam had been killed, but he knew there wasn't much time to grieve over the losses. He had to get out of the vicinity after a short break.
The next thought was about the dark Shifters. He was positive that the Particles he and Jason had lost had been used to create them; it was from the Taser that Aaron Clark had designed to control powerful Shifters who went out of hand. Any moves that they tried to use to defeat them were immediately picked up on and used against them. These dark Shifters had to be destroyed as soon as possible in order for their powers to return to their full strength.
The remaining thoughts, ranging from what Brandon, Kaitlyn, and Tyler's next move was to how he was going to stop them were overshadowed by the knowledge that he was alone. Completely and utterly alone. With the army torn to shreds and any survivors taken hostage, he was the last one left to go up against the coming threats. Unless he could rescue Jason and whoever else was captured, he wouldn't last long. Dealing with Brandon, Tyler, and Kaitlyn at the same time would be too much for him to handle.
All of a sudden he knew what he had to do. There was still one person who could help him in the coming days, and it was of the utmost importance that Aiden located him. Together they could turn the tide of the battle and save the world from whatever evil awaited it. But first, he had to get out of here. He straightened up, and was about to start running again when he heard, and felt, a large force from behind. He spun around to see one of the buildings collapse in an explosion of fire and sound echoing throughout the empty city. In the air he could make out of a group of figures looking down over it, the non-toxic smoke from their jetpacks mixing with the smoke from the fire. Somehow, the Eastern Militia had found the office complex and had blown it up. He couldn't help but stare; any of the Shifters who had survived the main battle had now been blown to bits by the people who were hunting them down.
Aiden put his head down and squeezed his eyes shut. No matter what happened, he didn't want himself to cry; he'd done enough of that in his life already. Plus, there wasn't time to grief over potential losses. If the army knew about the Shifters in the building, they'd probably start scouting the rest of the town as well. So, with a hardened resolve, and a determination to make things right, Aiden sprinted out of the city, ready to take on whatever got in his way to save his friends.