Riley Ross

Several minutes earlier, just right outside Riley's room, Hannah was trying her best not to scream. She was knocking as lightly, but as hard as she could, so as not to alert Diana.

[...You could also replicate heartbeats.]

At the same time, the light coming from her phone painted the dark hallway and her eyes as she watched ABC-ZBN's news about Replica Ricky and this mysterious black-clad hero. But soon, the feed was cut off.

She wasn't going to think much of what Gracey told her. But since she called her this late, and then there was also the fact that Replica Ricky was indeed calling for Riley's name, she got a little worried.

And right now, it didn't help at all that Replica Ricky was calling this black-clad superhero Riley.

Of course, this was absolutely ridiculous, even if the black-clad superhero also had telekinesis, the power was considered to be amongst the most common superpowers in the world.

What didn't sit right with her was the fact that Riley had his door locked.

That has never happened before, not once, not ever.

And right when it did happen, all of this other stuff also happened. Of course, Hannah would be suspicious.

"Psst. Riley!" Hannah loudly whispered, shaking the doorknob several times while she quietly knocked with her foot. "Are you there? Do you know what's going on outside right now? Psst. Riley. Wake up!"

Hannah glanced back from time to time, making sure that Diana wasn't behind her again. She waited for a few seconds and then slightly increased the strength in her kick.

"Riley!" She screamed through the gaps of the door. "I swear, if you're not sleeping right now and making a fucking mess outside wearing that weird-ass black suit, I'm going to kill you myself. Do you hear me?! Riley!"

Hannah started knocking with her hands now, violently yanking on the doorknob at the same time.

"I swear…" Hannah's eyebrows began to twitch, "...Riley Quinn Ross. I swear, if you do not open this door in three seconds, I will break it down. I don't even fucking care if Mom would ground me for it. I will fucking break this door down if you do not—"

"Sister."

"Jesus fucking Christ!"

Hannah's effort in not trying to scream was completely shattered the moment the door actually opened and Riley finally answered her.

How could it not shatter, when standing right in front of her, was Riley completely naked?

Completely. Naked.

"Put some fucking clothes on, you fuck!" Hannah quickly looked away, accidentally throwing her phone in the room in the process.

"I am not putting my clothes just yet, Sister," Riley calmly said, turning around and crouching to pick up her phone.

"Fucking—" Hannah completely covered her face, rushing inside the room and running straight toward Riley's closet to get him some clothes. "Why are you even naked?!"

"I was swimming in the bathtub, Sister."

"What?!" Hannah stepped out of the closet, still covering her eyes as she made her way to the bed and threw the clothes there. Riley handed her phone back, and she quickly snatched it away from him without looking.

"Why are you swimming in your bathtub when we literally have a swimming pool on the balcony?!"

"Well, I felt it would be inappropriate to swim naked in the swimming pool, Sister." Riley sighed. "After all, we have no idea who is watching us from the sky."

"What the fuck is wrong with you?!"

"Everything, Sister. Now, if you will excuse me, I need to—"

"You—just stop swimming and put your fucking clothes on! I need to tell you about something!"

"I suppose I should just continue my swim in the swimming pool in an hour."

"Why—Agh. Just get dressed! I knew you were doing something weird! Why can't you just be like a normal boy?!"

"If I were a normal twelve-year-old boy, then you would have seen a completely different—"

"Ack! Get dressed!"

Hannah covered her ears, her frustrations filling Riley's room. But fortunately for her, Riley started getting dressed, although clearly sighing and shaking her head at her as if she was the one who was weird between the two of them.

"And so, Sister," Riley said, a towel flying over his shoulders as he sat on the bed.

"What was it you wanted to talk about?"

Hannah showed Riley the footage of Replica Ricky and even opened his window to show him that everything was a mess below. But while they were talking, Kitty's livestream popped up in Hannah's notifications.

And there, clear as day, the black-clad hero was still on the highway with Replica Ricky's face in his palm.

"...Darkday? Oh, shit! He says he's the one who killed Steph! Fuck… wait, Gracey's calling in the group chat. Oh, fuck… Bro, let's go to the balcony!"

"I will follow you there, Sister," Riley said, his eyes following Hannah as she made her way out of the room. He didn't get up immediately, only staring at the door for a few seconds before looking back at the window.

"This is weird," he said. "I know I am a clone, but everything else feels the same. If I die, I will just crumble into dust? But no, the original—no. The Boss made me from one of the officers who died. I am of flesh and blood."

Riley, no. The very first clone Riley had created from a corpse looked at his hands. He was actually also the second clone he had created, almost at the same time as the others, who were only made of gravel, dirt, and sand.

Riley created him for this very purpose. He knew that either one of his adoptive family members would attempt to talk to him, or in Hannah's case, barge into his room to make sure he was okay.

And so, he created me. I feel… alive, but I know I am not. I feel what the Boss is feeling, I know what he is thinking. I also know what the other clones are thinking—almost as if we are connected. A hive mind.

Well… I better not keep the Boss' sister waiting. Good luck, Boss.

And with that, Riley's clone stepped out of the room to join Hannah on the balcony.

***

Meanwhile, Riley landed back in the warehouse. Since it no longer had a roof, he just flew straight inside.

He casually let go of Replica Ricky, who dropped to the dirt-covered ground with a light thud. He was completely unconscious, and even if he wasn't, Riley already had him restrained completely.

Several clones emerged from him, the three of them standing around Replica Ricky to make sure he wasn't going anywhere.

Riley looked around, and the motorcycle Tomoe stole was parked just right outside the main entrance.

"Tomoe," he called. A loud noise rustled from deeper into the warehouse, and Tomoe carefully stepped out from the back door.

She was about to approach, but gasped and stopped when she saw the replicas.

"Are they… with you?" Tomoe's usually robotic voice had a hint of shock in it. She looked at Riley, and then at the unconscious Replica Ricky, and then at the clones.

"Yes," Riley answered. "It would seem I was able to… replicate Replica Ricky's abilities."

"What?" Tomoe's eyes widened. "You could do that?"

"I guess so," he said, shrugging as he approached Tomoe. "It's just something we have to get used to now. I'm called Darkday now, by the way."

"I'm… aware. I saw Kitty's livestream," she whispered. "But, wait… you can make clones of yourself now? How?"

"I discovered I could do it after I died. I have a theory as to why, but it needs testing." Riley looked around. "And we can't do it here."

"...Yes. The police will find this place soon once they follow the trail from Ricky's tracks," Tomoe said, also looking around the ruined warehouse. "Should we… just leave Rob and the others somewhere to be discovered?"

"No. Not yet." Riley shook his head. "I was planning on keeping him."

Tomoe blinked before looking to where Riley was pointing.

"Replica… Ricky?" She asked quietly. "You… didn't kill him yet?"

"No. I want to build a home for him somewhere—obviously, not here." He sighed. "I read somewhere that serial killers keep trophies? I want to keep him."

"That… is not what a trophy is."

"Oh?" Riley shrugged.

"A trophy is something serial killers keep to… relive the memory of the kill."

"Why would I need that when I remember every single detail of what I did to them?" Riley tilted his head to the side. "Also, I think I could learn a few things from Replica Ricky on how to effectively use this ability more, no?"

"That… makes more sense." Tomoe closed her eyes and sighed, subtly shaking her head before pulling out her phone. "And where are you thinking of keeping them?"

"You're not sleepy, are you?"

"Huh? I'm… not. I'm used to staying up late."

"And you're not doing anything today?"

"It's… Sunday."

"And?"

"...No."

"That's good. I was thinking of going to the South Pole."

"No."

"Why not?"

"It would take at least three days to go there with your current flying speed. I'll find us a closer one for now."

"Oh. That's disappointing."