STEP BROTHER DEAREST
But every strike only fueled its flames, the grin growing wider, hungrier.
Vera collapsed, sobbing, as her broken reflection climbed her body, whispering her deepest fears into her ear.
Stepbrother faltered, his twin glitching faster than he could calculate, equations unraveling into chaos.
The city roared approval.
---
“Stop fighting them!” I shouted, forcing air through my lungs, dodging another slash from my puppet-double. “That’s what it wants! It’s feeding off the struggle!”
Madison gasped, pinned by her fragments. “Then what do we do?!”