“This is a onetime thing,” she whispered. “Just so you know…”
“Of course.” Malcolm grinned at her and gave her pony tail another tug. She brought her lips down to his shaft, and only then seemed to start giving it her full effort.
He felt her soft lips, her wet tongue, and her hot mouth all working in tandem as she lifted and lowered her head. Malcolm closed his eyes and gave himself over to the sensation. His hips bucked up into the air slightly as he reached his limit. Tapestry squealed again.
Malcolm unloaded, first into her mouth, and then onto her shirt as she tried to pull back. She scowled at him, but it softened into an annoyed smile after a couple of seconds.
“I’m holding you to that promise.” She wiped her shirt clean as best as she could. “After this, you would be a jerk to break it.”
“I know,” Malcolm said.
The two of them stared at each other for a moment, and then a harsh knock came at the motel room door.
“Tapestry!” shouted Melanie. “You said you’d only be a minute! What are you doing in there, anyway?”
Tapestry held a hand up to her mouth and blushed fiercely.
“I… should go,” she said.
“Right,” said Malcolm. “Good night, Aubrey.”
She smiled at him and hurried to the door. Malcolm pulled on his boxers and pants, feeling a sudden certainty about what he had to do next.
Wax’s motel room was directly next to his. Malcolm knocked, and was about to knock again when the door opened. Wax looked like he’d been sleeping. It had been a couple days since he’d shaved his head and his hairline had grown out far enough to be visible.
“Wind Runner,” he said. “What is it?”
“I had a couple of questions,” said Malcolm. “I didn’t really want ask you earlier, around the others.”
Wax sighed and gestured for him to enter.
“I was already in bed,” said Wax. “But don’t worry about it. I doubt I’ll be getting much sleep tonight, regardless.”
Malcolm stood, considering what to say.
“Multi didn’t seem to recognize you during the protest,” said Malcolm.
Wax nodded.
“I was surprised by that, too,” he said. “I can only assume that Rain Dancer told him that all of the other Multi copies at the old Champion Authority headquarters were killed.”
“But you didn’t point out your, uh, relation to him,” said Malcolm. “If you’d wanted to, you might have been able to make a case for your life. Given that you’re a copy of him.”
“A copy of the former him,” corrected Wax. “But I guess you do have a point. My loyalty doesn’t lie with the monsters, Malcolm. I was loyal to Savior, and the Champion Authority. I’m not going to betray you, if that’s what you’re worried about.”
“No,” said Malcolm, smiling. “I trust you. I’m just thankful that we still have you on our side.”
He nodded to Wax, and then reached out to shake his hand. He felt the tingle of having absorbed a new power as soon as their hands clasped.
“Was that it?” asked Wax.
“Yeah,” said Malcolm. “Sorry. I guess it could have waited until the morning.”
He nodded to Wax and then headed back to his own room.
CHAPTER 38
Malcolm could feel Wax, or rather, Multi’s power, on the edge of his awareness. He wasn’t sure what he’d expected, but the sensation was incredibly odd, almost heavy. It felt as though he’d eaten a full meal, and was at the point where he needed to get rid of some of the weight afterward.
Whether this is a good idea, or a bad idea… It’s happening.
He took a deep breath. He stood with his arms outstretched, trying to focus on gathering energy and executing Multi’s power. An excited tension ran through his hands. Malcolm closed his eyes, slowly flexing the new power like an invisible muscle.
Light began to emanate from his chest, growing in intensity until it was blindingly bright. Malcolm’s stomach fluttered, and his heart pounded in his chest. His vision blurred for a moment, and then quite suddenly, he felt a tug as though he’d crossed his eyes.
A sharp popping noise cut through the room. For an instant, that feeling of double vision remained, except it was of two different scenes at once. He could see himself, standing naked on one side of the room. He could also see himself standing clothed, wearing the outfit he remembered putting on that morning.
Malcolm blinked, and the sensation abruptly cut off. He slowly let out a breath that he hadn’t realized he’d been holding. He stared at the copy he’d made, who stood naked in front of the hotel room’s door. Malcolm glanced down at his own body at the exact same time as his copy did.
“Wow,” they both in unison.
Malcolm clamped both hands over his mouth. He couldn’t believe it had worked. Part of him had been expecting it to not work. He had been afraid that the power would be too complicated and unusable in the same way that Savior’s had been.
“I can’t believe you just did that,” said his naked copy.
Malcolm grinned.
“Yes, you can,” he said. “It was your idea, as much as it was mine. You are me.”
“Hey, don’t be a smartass,” said the copy. “You know what I mean.”
Malcolm sighed.
“I know exactly what you mean,” he said.
The two Malcolms stared at each other for a moment.
“Tapestry will never forgive us if she finds out,” said the copy.
“That’s why you can never tell her,” said Malcolm. “It won’t be that hard. I’ve kept secrets from her before.”
I guess I won’t be the one keeping them anymore, will I?
“I should be the one going to face Rain Dancer,” said the copy.
“We both feel like that,” said Malcolm. “But given that you didn’t ask to be here, it’s not really fair for me to give you the dirty job.”
“From my point of view, I did ask to be here,” said the copy.
“I guess so,” said Malcolm. “Can you use your powers? Wax told me once that all of Multi’s copies were just normal people, not gifted.”
“Yeah,” said the copy. “I still can. At least, wind manipulation and mimicry. I can feel them both.”
Maybe it’s just limited to the multiplication ability? If that could pass on to each copy, the exponential growth would get out of hand.
“Perfect,” said Malcolm. “And other than that, you still feel like me?”
“I mean… sort of. Damn it, this is kind of confusing for me. I definitely don’t like being a copy.”
“That’s good,” said Malcolm. “That means that it won’t be hard for you to take my place.”
The copy shook his head. “That’s just it,” he said. “I don’t feel like I’m taking your place, I feel like I’m taking… my place. Does that make sense?”
Malcolm shrugged.
“Does it matter? I know how you must be feeling. Think of it like… you’re my second wind.”
“Second wind,” said the copy. “I like that. I’m the Second Wind.”
“For now,” said Malcolm. “You’ll be Wind Runner, soon enough. The one and only.”
The two of them laughed, and the sound of it was disturbingly in sync. Malcolm ran a hand through his hair and started taking off his clothes.
“Here,” he said. “You can have my shirt, pants, and shoes. I’m keeping my boxers. And the stabilizer, obviously.”
Second Wind frowned.
“What am I supposed to do about that?” he asked. “Tapestry and the others will notice that I don’t have it.”
“Say that it short circuited when you went through one of the portals,” said Malcolm. “Or maybe it took some electricity during the fight at the protest and crumbled to dust. Just come up with a lie, doesn’t matter as long as it’s convincing.”
“What about the tracking device in it?” asked Second Wind.