As I stepped toward one of the tubes—one that looked exactly like me—I heard it.
Clapping.
Slow. Mocking.
A figure emerged from the shadows at the far end of the room. Six feet tall. White lab coat. Smug grin stretching ear to ear.
I raised my weapon. "Who the hell are you?"
Then I looked at the clones again. The anger boiling inside twisted into something darker.
"No—scratch that. What is this? Why are there copies of me?"
The man's smile never wavered.
"One question at a time," he said calmly, adjusting his glasses. "My name is Dr. Fuji. I'm the one who gave you your powers. And the one responsible for… all of them."
He gestured to the rows of tubes, like he was proud of this horror show.
"You bastard…" I growled. "Why? Why create clones of me?!"
Fuji gave a small chuckle and began to pace slowly between the tubes.
"Let me explain—from the beginning," he said. "When we first brought you here, we tried extracting your Supcell. The idea was simple: isolate it, replicate it, then sell it to the highest bidder. You'd be worth billions."
He stopped and looked at one of the sleeping clones.
"But there was a problem. Your Supcell… it's not just a power source. It's a parasite. A mother cell. Every time we cloned it, the cell sought to return to its origin—you."
My eyes narrowed. "What do you mean 'return'?"
Fuji grinned wider. "I mean the cells went berserk. They consumed everything in their path. Flesh. Steel. Even other test subjects. Just to get back to the mother."
He looked me dead in the eye.
"So we tried something else. We cloned you. The whole package. DNA, mind, soul, and cell."
He waved his hand.
"It worked… sort of. The clones woke up screaming. Mindless. Desperate. Like lost children crawling back to their mother."
He took a breath.
"But unlike the Supcell on its own… these? These were controllable. Eventually. With time, tech, and lots of trial and error."
I didn't wait for more.
I teleported.
Right to his side.
BOOM.
I pulled the trigger, shoving the barrel into his gut. The shot hit dead center.
And bounced off.
Like rubber.
He didn't even flinch.
Fuji's grin widened into something monstrous. "You really thought that would work?"
He looked at my gun.
"Looks like you've got four bullets left."
I took a step back. "How did you—?"
His fist crashed into my face mid-sentence.
I hit the ground, dazed.
Then came the kicks. One after another. Ribs. Jaw. Stomach. The floor rattled with each blow.
From above me, I heard his cold, arrogant voice.
"So, Mordax... How's the floor taste?"
That name.
My name.
Something inside me snapped.
Lips bloody, I gritted my teeth. "My name… is Mordax."
I activated my wall-vision—X-ray mode BULLSHIT . Looked right through him. Saw the muscle patterns, bone structure, weak spots.
But I didn't shoot him.
I aimed at the tube behind him.
And pulled the trigger.
BOOM.
The bullet shattered the glass, and green fluid spilled out with a hiss.
A clone fell to the floor, gasping like a newborn—
But with glowing red eyes.