A/N: Here is another chapter for your reading enjoyment.

Chapter Six
Making Preparations

Jay and his team approached Cronus slowly and cautiously. He might be acting out of character, but that didn't mean this wasn't an elaborate and bizarre ruse. Jay took the lead as he usually did. If Cronus was trying to deceive them, then he wanted to do what he could to protect his friends.

When they reached him, Cronus was tapping his foot with obvious impatience.

"Took you long enough," he muttered sullenly.

"What do you want, Cronus?" Jay asked his own annoyance clear in his voice.

"I want you to destroy those backstabbing duplicates!" Cronus snapped.

The heroes stared at him for a few seconds in confusion before understanding dawned.

"Jessica and her gang betrayed you, didn't they?" Jay stated more than asked.

"I created them," Cronus fumed, "and they double-crossed me. Well, they'll pay dearly for their disloyalty once I have my powers back."

"They stole your powers?" Archie laughed. "Good for them."

"How could they have done it though?" Odie mused.

"My double," Theresa answered, "Taylor. He must have generated a phantom just like I did, which means…"

"Which means they're probably going after the gods right now," Jay finished. "C'mon guys we need to go, they're going to need our help."

"What about me?" Cronus protested. "You can't just leave me here!"

"Don't worry," Jay called back over his shoulder, "we'll send Campe to pick you up."

"Uh, on second thought I'm fine," Cronus shouted. "Don't worry about me."

Jay didn't bother to turn around to see if Cronus was still there, he had more important things to worry about.

"Should we tell Campe about Cronus?" Theresa asked as the seven of them hurried toward Herry's truck.

"No time," Jay answered. "We need to figure out how to stop our doubles before Taylor steals the gods' powers."

"Actually, we're probably already too late," Odie pointed out.

Everyone paused for a moment to stare at him.

"Think about it," Odie continued, "Taylor stole Cronus' powers, which means he can create portals, and that means…"

"They were probably at the school seconds after we left," Jay concluded. "Odie, call Hermes, he can open a portal to the school for us, and…"

Jay paused when he saw the look on Odie's face.

"I already tried," he explained sadly, "he's not answering, no one is."

Jay sighed heavily. They were on the other side of town, the gods needed their help, and it would take at least 30 minutes to reach the school in Herry's truck. They also needed a plan to deal with their doppelgängers once they arrived.

"Okay," Jay began, "obviously Jessica used Echidna as bait to draw us away from the school, so she and her cronies could attack the gods without our interference."

"So what do we do about it?" Atlanta questioned.

"We need a plan," Jay replied. "There has to be a way to stop them."

"When Theresa stole the gods' powers it nearly destroyed her," Odie reminded. "Taylor's mortal, so shouldn't the same thing happen to him?"

"Maybe," Theresa responded, "but if Taylor also has some of Cronus' blood that could mean he can control their powers better than I could."

"Theresa has a point," Jay sighed, "which means we're heading toward a completely unknown and probably dangerous situation."

"We'll figure something out," Theresa reassured. "We always do."

Jay just nodded. They'd reached the truck by then, and everyone piled in as quickly as possible. As they drove, everyone tried to think of a plan to deal with their duplicitous doubles.

"Maybe we could trick them," Odie suggested a little uncertainly, "convince them that we're on their side."

"I don't think that's going to work," Jay said. "I don't doubt that Jessica has a massive ego and that she'd love the idea of us recognizing her superiority, but I also know that she has all my memories and I don't think she'd buy a sudden change of heart because if our positions were reversed, which in a weird way I guess they are, I know I wouldn't."

Everyone fell silent for a few moments, wracking their brains, trying to think of an alternate plan when Jay started speaking again.

"I think we could trick them into turning on each other," he began.

"How?" Herry asked.

"Well, like I said before, Jessica has a big ego, but I think the others do too. If we can figure out the right, or rather the wrong things to say we might be able to turn them against each other."

"By playing on their weaknesses and insecurities," Odie contributed.

"Exactly," Jay confirmed. "Jessica and her gang aren't a team like us. If we give them a push in the right direction it shouldn't take long for them to start fighting with one another, which should give us the opportunity we need to take them down and save the gods."

"What should we say to them?" Herry questioned.

"Anything you think will annoy or upset them," Jay answered, "but tell them someone from their team said it."

"You could tell Helen that Olivia said she's just a muscle-bound moron," Odie suggested helpfully.

"Okay," Herry agreed.

"You could tell Olivia that Ariane said she's a pompous know-it-all," Archie told Odie.

"Good one," Odie laughed. "She's sure to go after Ariane when she hears that."

"Tell her Helen said it," Herry countered.

"Why?" Odie and Archie asked at the same time.

"It'll sound more believable," Herry explained. "Olivia insulted Helen's intelligence, so Helen insults Olivia's intelligence."

"Yeah, and then, Olivia says something like, 'I bet you don't even know how to spell pompous," Atlanta contributed.

"You guys do realize that our doubles won't actually be saying these things to each other, right?" Jay interjected. "We just need to convince them that their teammates are badmouthing them behind their backs."

"What if they don't believe us?" Neil queried in his usual offhand way. "I mean it sounds like Olivia is at least as smart as Odie, would you believe it if someone told you that Herry had called you a pompous know-it-all?"

Neil looked at Odie, clearly waiting for an answer.

"No, I wouldn't," Odie responded, "but that's because I know Herry wouldn't say something like that about me."

"Of course not," Herry declared vehemently.

"Herry wouldn't call me a pompous know-it-all because we're friends," Odie continued, "and Herry's not the kind of person who says things like that about his friends."

"We all know Herry's a big softy," Neil interrupted, "so what's your point?"

"My point," Odie resumed exasperated, "is that our doppelgängers aren't friends. If you think about it they've only existed for a few days, which means, they barely know each other."

"But don't they have all our memories?" Herry asked confused.

"Yes," Odie confirmed, "but those are our memories of our interactions with our teammates, and they're not us. Cronus may have created them using our blood, but each of them is an individual with their own memories and personalities. From that perspective their relationships are very new and based on what little we've seen of the way they interact with each other I don't think we'll have too much trouble persuading them that their so-called friends are saying unkind things behind their backs."

"But if even one of them doesn't fall for it," Neil persisted.

"Then we'll deal with it when and if the need arises," Jay responded firmly. "We don't have time to plan for every possible contingency. All we can do it hope for the best."

"What do we do once they're all at each other's throats?" Archie inquired.

"Our first priority is getting the gods to safety," Jay replied. "After that I don't know. Somehow we'll have to recover whatever powers Taylor's stolen, and I doubt he'll give them up voluntarily."

"I could try to take them from him," Theresa suggested, although she didn't sound especially thrilled about it.

"I don't know if that's such a good idea," Jay hedged. "What if you lose control again or…?"

"I have a better handle on my powers now," Theresa interrupted. "Besides, I'm the only one here who can use magic."

"What if you can't steal the gods' powers from Taylor?" Jay persisted, still unconvinced.

"Even if I don't succeed in getting the gods' powers back from Taylor, I might still provide enough of a distraction to allow you to stop him," Theresa argued.

Jay sighed, but nodded. He was wise enough to know that Theresa wasn't going to change her mind.

"Just be careful," he requested.

"Of course," she agreed.

The rest of the drive was silent as everyone did their best to prepare for the battle ahead. Jay just hoped they were up to the challenge.

A/N: Sorry if this chapter's a little short, but this seemed like a good place to end it. The next one should be longer and more exciting. We hope to have it out soon. Stay safe everyone.