Chapter 5
The Troubles Begin
The clone was quietly celebrating the giant spider's literal and metaphorical fall. When he was done congratulating himself, he turned to the next issue... how to get down? He was still hanging to the webbing stretched from the corners of the ceiling to the center and his arms were actually getting tired. It didn't take him too long to formulate a plan--if it had, he likely would have sooner or later gotten down... the painful way. He would do what he did to the giant spider and melt the rope; except that he would just simply swing down to the floor and drop from a safer height rather than crash through the floor and splat on the concrete like the spider had.
So that's what he did. With a grunt of effort, he lifted himself until he was able to wrap his legs as well as an elbow around the rope. Then he began to blow hot air.
Slowly the silk cable began to unravel...
Meanwhile, the real superhero wasn't quite as in the mood to celebrate as his clone had been. He was glad that the evil arachnid had been thwarted again. But it made him curious because it wasn't him who had thwarted it. Could it have been just a stroke of dumb luck? While the spider had been swatting him around the theater, could its rope have just suddenly snapped?
To find out, he turned and looked up to the ceiling. Then his mouth dropped.
Huh? Isn't that the kid whose hide I saved earlier today? How'd he get up there?
The ungrateful kid clung to the rope like a frightened chimpanzee though he strangely wasn't making a noise except what sounded like yoga breathing exercises.
"He's going to fall," Superkid murmured, "and kill himself... just after I saved him! Is he trying to get me in trouble or something?"
Whatever the case, the hero's code dictated that he prevent innocents from harm--even if this kid wasn't so innocent. So he took the cord and blew into it, and his cape expanded into a balloon and lifted him into the air.
Just then he heard twanging sounds like strings snapping. He turned to the kid clinging to the web and noticed the web bobbing. When he looked closer, he discovered the web had somehow gotten thin near the kid's head--the threads were snapping and soon the whole cable would give away! The kid was going to fall!
Superkid blew more hot air into the balloon to get it to rise faster. But the threads were twanging faster and faster and the rope next to the kid's head was getting thinner and thinner until it was hanging by a thread literally and metaph... yeah, you get the idea.
Superkid puffed more air into his balloon. He had to reach that kid before he plummeted to his doom! Superkid had to hurry to prevent tragedy from befalling an innocent civilian! He had to preserve the virtue of the harmless town of Poolington!
The final thread snapped. The kid plummeted. Superkid shot out his hand to catch him... but missed...
And he watched in horror as the kid plummeted to a gruesome fate that no person--good or evil--deserved. He watched as innocence shattered into millions of tiny fragments right before his very eyes... watched as everything he worked so hard to defend crashed all around him... watched that pure and guileless youth swing toward the wall...
Swing?
Our hero's horror turned to astonishment as he watched the kid swing down toward the front entrance from the giant spider's rope. He was even more astonished that when the kid reached the wall, he kicked off it and flipped backwards to land on his feet.
"That was amazing!" shrieked a reporter, who was standing in the lobby along with a huge crowd. She turned to her cameraman. "Did you get that?"
Superkid dropped to the ground and hurried to the kid. "Are you all right?"
"Never better," the kid responded as he brushed off his sleeves. "Which is more than what can be said for you in the next few minutes!"
Superkid was bewildered. What the heck was that supposed to mean? Who was this jerk?
The reporter, who stood on the other side of the kid and so could actually see his face, gaped between him and Superkid behind him. She stammered, "There's... there's..."
Superkid had had enough of this kid's attitude. With as much control as he could summon, he said as he chopped the air with his finger, "I don't know what you're problem is, but unless you're going to be my archenemy, you'd better apologize to me and show me a little more respect before I kick your behind into the next county."
The kid threw back his head and laughed. "Your archenemy? You make it sound like you're the real hero and I'm the imposter! Or haven't you figured it out yet?"
Superkid tensed. This sounded like a lead-in to a heated battle. But the kid's words were confusing, so he asked, "Figured what out?"
The kid turned. Superkid's face changed from grim determination to utter shock. His mouth dropped open and his eyes popped out--and this time I only mean it metaphorically.
"Who... how... who... where... how..."
"Surprised to see me?" The clone smiled evilly at Superkid. "Didn't think I'd escape from your diabolical master, did you?"
Our hero had no idea what this duplicate was talking about so he didn't quite know how to respond. Before he could think of it, Derrick and Darrin squeezed through the crowd to the front.
"Did you beat it?" Derrick asked.
Superkid and the clone both turned to Derrick and Darrin.
"Whoa!" Both Derrick and Darrin did double-takes. "There's... there's two of you!"
"You've been fooled by this imposter this whole time!" The clone waved his finger at his original self. He sneered at our hero, "Your guise has been exposed. The game is up. Time to go back to your master."
"What in the world are you talking about?!" Superkid finally managed to blurt out. "I'm the real Superkid! You're the imposter!"
"Oh yeah?" The clone crossed his arms. "Prove it."
Superkid thought a moment. Then he blew hot air into his cape-balloon, which lifted him a few inches into the air. Then he let out the air, which slowly brought him back to the ground.
"Can you do that?" he challenged.
The clone snorted. "Obviously, but it proves nothing..." Then his face brightened. "Ah, but if you're the real Superkid, how did you acquire that power?"
Superkid narrowed his eyes suspiciously. "Wait a minute, this is a plot of yours to learn all that you can about me while pretending to already know it."
"Or maybe you're just using that as an excuse for not knowing the answer?" said the clone slyly.
Superkid growled in frustration. "Oh, this is just ridiculous!" He turned to his friends. "Derrick and Darrin, you know I'm the real Superkid, right?"
He waited expectantly for them to tell him they did. But they didn't. No, some way or another, the two of them had become perplexed, judging by the looks they gave each other.
Darrin leaned toward Derrick. "How do we tell?"
Derrick mused--a strange look for him. Then he pointed. "I say he's the real Superkid. He's wearing the costume."
"But how can we tell for sure? I mean, what if he really had been an imposter this whole time?"
"Why would he be an imposter?" Derrick asked him. "Nothing's really happened in over a week. If he was an imposter, he would have done something evil by now."
Which was pretty insightful for Derrick. Darrin, on the other hand, was a step ahead of Derrick as far as complicated plots go. "He could have replaced our friend just recently. He could have taken his place this morning."
Derrick's eyes widened. "Hey, you're right, he could have..." He turned to Darrin, who was perplexed further when he saw the gaping smile on his goofy friend's face. "Then either one of them could be the real Superkid and the other one... a clone!" He squealed with joy.
Darrin groaned, "Ugh. Derrick, this is serious! If we can't find out who the real Superkid is, then... well... it could be bad!"
"Then I have a solution," said the clone, drawing everyone's attention. "You test us."
Superkid eyed him suspiciously. "You must know all the answers somehow."
The clone smirked at him. "And you mu
st not if you're nervous about getting asked questions that only the real Superkid would know."
"No," said Superkid, irritated, "I'm just suspicious about what makes you so confident."
While the two Superkids bickered, Darrin leaned toward Derrick. "So what questions do we ask them?"
Derrick answered gleefully as though he had been asked to read off his Christmas list, "My favorite TV show, your favorite color, your secret crush..."
"I don't have a secret crush," Darrin told him irritably though he was now suspiciously red in the face.
Derrick pretended he hadn't heard him. "...who his mom is, who his dad is, how many brothers and sisters he has..."
"He doesn't have any brothers and sisters," Darrin said bemusedly.
Derrick hissed, "Hush! That's how we'll catch the fake one! We'll ask trick questions like that and like where you and him sit in class or what his favorite spider is or when did I last help him with his homework or..."
"Or what his secret identity is?" Darrin suggested without much thought.
Derrick brightened. "Darrin, you're a genius! All we have to do is say Aaron's name and whoever changes into Aaron is the real one!"
Darrin shook his head. "We can't do that."
Derrick glared at him. "Why not?"
Darrin explained, "Aaron would freak out if he woke up and saw himself standing next to him."
"Which is why we do them separately."
Darrin opened his mouth... then he thought about it. At last, he replied, "That's a good idea, actually."
"When have I not had a good idea?" Derrick said with a wave of his hand. Before Darrin could tell him about all the bad ideas he had had, Derrick turned around and called to the bickering doubles, "We've come up with a plan."
The two Superkids stopped shouting and turned to him.
Derrick continued, "We have come up with a test... a foolproof plan to see which one of you is the real Superkid."
The clone responded, "It was Darrin's idea... right?"