Superkid and the Clone

  Chapter 7

  Double Trouble

  Yes, I know that's the oldest twins pun ever invented! I just thought it was an appropriate title for this chapter, okay? What should I have titled it? Dual Dilemma?

  Derrick refused to believe Darrin. He demanded that Darrin show him this so-called Superkid-turned-Aaron that he was supposed to test. So Darrin took him to his house and to his room where this imposter-Aaron was.

  The imposter-Aaron was browsing through Darrin's bookshelf. When they entered, he straightened guiltily and said in an overly loud and demanding voice, "Why are you keeping me cooped up in here? What am I, under arrest?"

  Derrick marched up to him and thrust his face into the imposter-Aaron's, popping his right eye at him. Aaron backed away nervously. "What's your problem?"

  "What's your mom's name?"

  Imposter-Aaron blinked in surprise. "Uhh... Charlene Purn?"

  Derrick nodded, dumbfounded though he didn't show it. Could it be that...?

  No! It had to be a trick! He had to be pretending to be Aaron! But how to really know?

  Suddenly Derrick gasped and pointed behind Aaron. "Smash that spider!"

  With a yell, Aaron twisted and leaped away. When he realized there was no spider, he grew red in the face and grumbled, "Funny prank, Derrick. Ha ha ha."

  "So he is Aaron," Derrick murmured in despair to Darrin.

  "Two Aarons," Darrin agreed. Then he asked, "So now what do we do?"

  That was a question that not even Derrick--who had so recently been brimming with good ideas--could answer. His one ace in the hole--Superkid's alternate identity--had fallen through and out the other end. It was such a devastating blow to him that he couldn't even think of some other crazy test to put the Superkids through. Eventually it was Darrin who suggested that they keep the Superkids/Aarons separate--with one staying with Derrick while the other got to go home to his mom--until they could come up with a solution.

  Which turned out to be a bigger job than they suspected. When Derrick's Aaron found out that he was staying overnight (on a school night, no less!), he immediately became suspicious.

  "Does my mom know about this?"

  "Yup!" Derrick replied in as convincing a voice as he could make it. "She said you could stay at my house for a while." When Aaron's eyebrows about flew off his face, he added, "Weird, I know, but weirder things have happened, right?"

  "Riiiiiiiiiiiight," said Aaron in a voice that said he didn't believe Derrick for one second. He looked around the room. "So where's Darrin?"

  "Couldn't get permission," Derrick answered quickly. "But it'll be fun with just the two of us, right?"

  Aaron's face twisted unpleasantly. "Did I ever get a say in this?"

  It didn't get much easier the next morning. Derrick awoke to find Aaron gone. In panic, Derrick threw on a shirt and ran outside in his PJs. He ran as fast as he could to Aaron's house. He managed to catch Aaron just as he was opening the door to go in. He grabbed him, swung him away and cried, "Where are you going?"

  "Getting... ready for school," Aaron answered in a discombobulated voice. The way Derrick had grabbed and thrown him alarmed him, and he didn't feel much better with how wild Derrick was looking right now.

  "No!" Derrick blurted then he checked himself, "Uh--why don't you change at my house?" he checked the window nervously for the other Aaron.

  This Aaron stared at him perplexedly. "Because I couldn't find my clothes at your house. I figured you must have forgotten them."

  "You can wear some of my clothes!" Derrick checked the window again and felt his stomach drop when he saw a shadow moving around inside.

  At this point, Aaron was highly suspicious. In an attempt to pinpoint the cause of Derrick's stranger-than-usual behavior, he asked, "What's wrong with my clothes?"

  Poor Aaron only became even more confused when Derrick retorted, "What's wrong with mine?" He didn't resist when Derrick began pushing him back down the street, but he did turn and ask his strange friend, "If I asked what the heck is going on, would you tell me?"

  "If I told you what the heck is going on," Derrick grunted, glancing nervously back at Aaron's house while trying to get his befuddled friend to pick up the pace, "you would not believe one word of it."

  "Yeah probably," Aaron agreed. "I'm hardly believing it now."

  Derrick glanced backwards one last time and saw another Aaron step out of the house and walk toward the bus stop. He hurried his Aaron down the street before he discovered his doppelganger.