The three clones slowly twirled their sword around them like nun chucks, slicing at the air with little impact on the environment, but my mind reacted. I saw them as if they weren't in front of us, as if they were ghosts, reimagined images of fear. Why had the beast taken Damon's face? And why had it multiplied by three?

"It is a shame to place us at forty-nine," the clone on the far left said.

"We deserve the fiftieth position," the clone on the right hissed.

"No one can replicate us," the center clone snarled.

"You!?" Damon angrily lifted his sword and pointed it at them. "You copied me! You're wearing my face!"

They snickered in unison. The clone on the left pursed their lips. "And what if we said it was our face first?"

Damon drew in a sharp breath as he stepped back. His hand trembled in the grip of his sword. Uncertainty rang through him, and I knew it because I heard it in his pounding heartbeats. He couldn't have believed these demons. They had to be able to copy whoever they laid eyes on.

"Hmm," the center clone snickered, "look at him shake."

"He's afraid." The clone on the right laughed in their palm.

"I'm not afraid!" Damon shouted.

I bit my lip. Don't let them get to you.

"He isn't afraid," one snickered.

"Oh, the lies I smell," the center laughed.

"Itty bitty baby," the clone on the right cooed the loudest. And that was the trigger. Damon growled and spun his sword back so he held it over his shoulder. Then he rushed the replica creatures with a full on attack. My eyes widened and my breath hitched as he swung at the three of them, catching their blocking blows with their swords against his own. Their sounds of battle frustration surrounded me and I couldn't tell which belonged to whom.

It wasn't supposed to be like this. They egged him on, found his fear, and used it to their advantage. When we were younger, Damon kept his interests and personality different from everyone else and that was one of the things I loved most about him. But these three made him the same and tore away his originality. The beasts were cruel! To find what bothered him most and pair it with the bullying he sustained in school. The later bosses were calculated. I am worried about tomorrow, but we need to survive tonight.

Spinning my sword, I hung it at my side and charged at them to join Damon. I caught the clone on the left and sliced it in its arm. It hissed and quickly stepped to the side. "Don't run from me!" I shouted.

"They're not me," Damon hissed. "I never run!"

"Oh, never?" the center snickered. "You should've last night, would've spared your love the terror of dying at your hands."

I quickly looked at them. This is what they did. I understood their feat tactic but they would not make Damon relive last night. It was terrible for the both of us, but for him to know he had no control, that was one of his biggest fears.

I pushed off the ground and attacked the three of them at once. My sword swung in twirling fashion, quick and fluid slash, slash, slash, and I caught each of them in the chest. They stepped back and hissed, flattening their hands against their cloaks to stop the bleeding.

Damon took the distraction. Starting his attack, he gripped his sword and swung hard at the clone on the right. He caught his neck, but the blade wouldn't slice through. He and his clone locked eyes.

"You think you... can kill me... with one swing?!" the clone croaked as it gave Damon a bloody grin.

"One swung, no," Damon hissed as he pulled his weapon free from the creature in front of him. "Two swings, maybe, and three swings yes!"

Damon quickly pulled his arms back before swinging his sword forward again with two hard, strong whacks! I watched as the clone's head fell clean off. Using Damon's strength as my own motivation, I plunged my sword into the creature's abdomen in front of me. It screamed as I pulled it straight across slicing his midsection partway. With it distracted and in pain, unable to say a word, I lifted my blade and sliced it at its neck. Another head was gone. All that remained was the replica in the center. He grinned at the two of us.

"You defeated parts of me," he said, "and feel victorious?"

I glanced down at my clothes, covered in blood. When I looked at Damon, he was the same—covered in blood, fury on his face, and there was a slight, rage-filled tremor in his breath. I ground my teeth as I focused on the clone again. "Oh, we are," I hissed. "Don't you feel smaller without your two friends?"

"No," he snickered and rolled his head around his shoulders. "With them being gone it only makes this easier."

A warm burst of air shot out from further into the cave, hitting our chest and legs. I took a step back as the force pushed me. Damon remained firm beside me. "It isn't easier if it's two against one, you dumb fuck."

"When you think of it like that, no, of course not." The clone narrowed their gaze and looked at Damon. "But it becomes simple when I'm not crowded. You see, this isn't even my final form."

The clone turned black before shifting into a white wisp of smoke. My heart quickened as I watched. I looked at Damon as if he could tell me what was happening, but he didn't know, just like I didn't. We were clueless as the clone changed and morphed into something new, something familiar.

"Fucking shit..." Damon breathed as the clone returned and looked exactly like the man beside me. There wasn't a color difference; identical twins from the clothes to the samurai sword. Then he lunged at Damon and tossed him so they rolled on the ground together.

I panicked.

"You can't win if she can't tell us apart!" the clone laughed.

"She can!" Fists flew. Punches landed on jaws, into cheeks. Blood dripped from the lips of both faces. Tears rimmed all four eyes. Still holding my sword, I stepped back again. "She'll always know who I am!"

My soul shattered. I heard Damon and I agreed, except at this moment. Looking at the two of them, I couldn't tell them apart. Everything was the same, every molecule down to a single atom. Tears welled in my eyes. What was I supposed to do? I could gun it and pick, but what if I hurt Damon? What if I grabbed the wrong man? That fear, that terror, kept my feet planted on the floor.

A sword flung up in the air, followed by another. The blades slapped into each other, cracking in the middle. They pushed into each other and screamed. Their powerful shouts echoed in the cave. Rocks rattled in the ceiling. A warm gust of air blew toward us.

I can't just stand here and not try. I ground my teeth and ran forward. Neither man looked at me, which made it harder to choose which one to attack. As I lifted my sword above my head, Damon would look at me, if his eyes would flicker, an expression. Anything!

Blindly, I brought my sword down and they pushed off each other, leaving my weapon to hit nothing but the cave floor. I missed. Quickly, I turned for the Damon on my right and brought the sword down on him. My blade cut into his thigh and his scream was deeper, louder than I could've anticipated. "Nina!"

Did the clone know my name? I didn't the sword. I wouldn't fall for it. Leaning into the hilt of my weapon, I bore my gaze into the Damon below me. "How do I know it's you?" I hissed.

What am I even asking?

Tears streamed down his cheeks. Blood puddled beneath him. "Nina," he whimpered, "please."

I squeezed my eyes shut. I couldn't look at him. This could've been a trick. The clones played with Damon's emotions; was I next? "Tell me I know you!" I shouted.

"Nina!" he screamed.

I pushed again. The sound of bone crunching vibrated on the cave floor. Damon fell back and wailed in pain. "I love you!"

I slowly opened one eye as my heart shattered. Damon? Ask questions, Nina. Breathing in, I trembled but couldn't look at him. I needed to know, there were tons of our past that the clone couldn't know. "What's... name something the fake you wouldn't know?"

There was a moment's pause. The other Damon hunched over as he panted, sweated, and watched. I locked eyes with him as the Damon by my feet whimpered. "When we graduated, we skipped the parties, we... we got a room and hoped we... we could survive adulthood."

My gaze panned down to him. The pain on his face tore through me. I eased my weight off my sword.

"We... we spent hours together... to forget..." His mouth parted as he let out a small cry. "I wanted... to stay but... I called you the next day... you... you didn't answer..."

I closed my eyes as a tear fell. No one knew that. I never told anyone, never said it out loud, and I knew Damon kept it a secret. He said it right—we wanted to forget. It would be easy to move on if we could let go. He had called me, and I couldn't. He needed the chance to be away from me and to grow, and I felt I deserved the same. I knew we would find each other but not like this.

I looked to the other Damon as the one beneath me spoke again, "I've... loved you... since you said you liked... my pictures."

As carefully as I could, I pulled the sword from his leg. He groaned and fell back onto the ground. He put his hands over his face and whimpered into his palm. "I... dreamed about... you for years..."

Screaming, I charged at the other Damon. He popped up in an instant with a grin on his face.

"You will not do this!" I brought my sword down by his shoulder. He quickly dodged but I moved just as fast, swiftly bringing my sword across his chest. The front of my blade sliced into him, and blood poured. He grunted and stumbled back.

"You cannot control our fears!" I charged again, closing the foot distance he placed between us. This time there wasn't a grin on his face. His eyes darkened as he watched my blade rise above my head. I brought it down, but he managed to move; he was slower this time.

"You will not be the end of us!" I caught up to him, shifting to the right as he'd done. I swung my sword and cut deeply into his arm. He screamed as his limb hung slightly. Holding it with his other hand, he stared at me wide-eyed. "Our lives depend on this! Our world needs us! And all you want is to play games!"

"And what do you think they're doing?!" he shouted as he managed to hold his sword with his injured arm. "This war is a game to them! Quest is a virtual simulation of—"

I lunged at him. I jumped on his chest. My knee crashed into his ribcage until the bones cracked. As he fell to the floor with my weight above him, he dropped his sword and coughed up blood. I leaned in close, so my face was next to his. "I will play their game and become the monster they need me to be if it means Damon and I will live."

Bloodshot eyes peered up at me and he gurgled, "What... about... the other... players?"

I bared my teeth and held my sword against his neck. "They'll come along for the ride."

I quickly pulled the blade, sliced his neck, and closed my eyes as his life splattered across my skin. A ding went off in my head. Boss completion. I peered at Damon just as the world turned black, shifting us back to reality.