The Dreamers

44: The Copy

Serena woke up in the extra room in the bunker. She got up as she brushed her hair and teeth and got dressed in some casual clothes.

She looked at the dresser to see a note.

Hey Princess,

You can help yourself to anything in the fridge. If you need anything, I'll be in the training room downstairs. If you're going anywhere, just let me or Leilani and Varrick know.

-Antonio

She walked down the stairs to see Leilani and Varrick playing video games on the TV.

"Hey, you two!" She smiled.

Leilani turned around, "Hey Serena! Good morning!"

"Do you two know where the training room is?"

Varrick looked over his shoulder. He pointed to a set of double doors.

"Thank you!" The two smiled as she made her way to the doors.

She opened them and walked in. It was a full-on gym! There was a lot of equipment, and the room stretched out for a while. How the heck did Pyro even make all of this?!

"Pyro." She called out, no one answered.

She walked around to another part of the gym. She looked around to see Pyro, but he was standing still with his eyes closed in a relaxed but focused state.

Was he meditating? She looked but didn't disturb him. Just then, black energy swirled around him. She looked a little worried. What was going on?

Suddenly, something formed in front of him. It was another him! An exact duplicate of him. Height, hair, eyes, body, clothes. Literally, everything was the same.

She gasped a little as he opened his eyes, "Oh, good morning, Serena." He said with a warm smile.

"What is that?!" She looked at his clone.

"Did you sleep well?" He walked closer to her.

"How did you do that?!" The clone of him approached her too.

"Did you eat anything yet?"

"Pyro, answer my questions." She stated, crossing her arms.

He pointed to the copy. The copy waved and smiled Pyro's adore smile.

"This is an 'imaginary friend' or as I like to call him: Pyro Jr." He said proudly.

"Hello, Princess." The copy said in Pyro's voice.

"Ah, ah ,ah. Only I call her Princess." He said, pushing the copy away. He looked at Serena as he continued.

"It's a technique I learned from one of the books Varrick found at the library. It lets me create any imaginary friend I want." He said, smiling.

"Is it real?"

"Yep." He slaps the other Pyro's chest, "He is real because human minds interpret imaginary friends as real."

"I get it."

He smiled as he sat on a bench and looked up at her. His copy went over and started working out with the equipment.

"How did you do that thing?"

"What thing?"

"When you were in the convenience store. You were able to surge your dream energy through objects. It kept it completely concealed."

He eyes widened a little. She was surprised he noticed.

"O-Oh... Yeah. I just found out I can do that. I haven't been using the ring, and I've been learning to use my powers through my body."

"Same here." He stood up and put his hands on her shoulders.

"What are you doing?" She said, looking at him suspiciously.

"Well, go on~" He said with a mischievous grin, "Try it on me."

"I-I don't wanna hurt you."

He rolls his eyes, "I'll be fine, Princes -"

He felt his breathing being cut off. His blood felt like it was no longer circulating. All he felt were nightmares inside him. His face looked at her in distress and disbelief.

She let's go, afraid as he gasps for air.

"I told you, it's scary." He was still gasping for air as he looked up at her.

"Impressive." He grinned.

"Wait, seriously?"

"I mean, you got the second strongest 1st grade completely helpless," he patted her head, "With more practice, you'll be able to do that to the first."

She grinned, "That's unusual of you to admit that Gianna is stronger than you."

"Well, because she has all those nightmares and henchmen on her side. Other than that, I'm the stronger one."

She chuckled, "There we go."

"But seriously, that's a really weird technique."

"Says the man who just made a doppelganger of himself."

"But Princess, think of all the fun things you could do with two Pyros!" They both smiled their cute smiles.

Serena chuckled a little.

Pyro snapped, and the copy of him disappeared.

"Okay, we have a mission tonight, Princess."

"A mission?"

He took out his phone, "Jace Harris. 24, blood type: B, 5,11. He works for Gianna as one of her henchmen. He's not one of those buff guys, so he won't put up too much of a physical threat, but he was a loyal follower to her when the revolution started."

"I see.."

"I've been keeping my eye on him. He's goes into the same bar every Friday night like tonight and gambles with the same three men."

"So, what are we going to do?"

"We are going to sneak him in and lure him away from the other men. Once we do, we will kidnap him and take him hostage here. He is close to Gianna, so he is our first step to getting close to her."

"I understand." She nods.

"However, I'm not going to be the one to get him away from the poker table..."

"What. Are you kidding me?"

"You just have to wear a dress and find some way to get him away from them. I'll do the rest." He said, rubbing her shoulders.

"I'm not excatly a flirt, Antonio."

He chuckled, "I don't believe that."

She pouted and looked at him. He chuckled a little, looking at her adorable face.

"So, are you in?"

She sighed, "Okay, I'm in."