Lester and the rest of Armie's Strongarms had again come to the entrance to Recalm City, and the heroes had let them through without any questions. Now, they were walking back to the city through the defensive lines.

  Lester looked at First. His likely clone seemed to be content, simultaneously looking around curiously and being totally unaware of everything. At least the fellow was no longer naked, dressed now in spare camo clothes, taken from the big backpack that Lester was carrying.

  Lester knew he shouldn't be going back to Recalm City. But what could he do? He could of course take off and walk to New Helsinki. But there was that one thing he had to know. Even if he was already absolutely certain, he had to know.

  I'm not a clone, he again thought the words deep within his mind. I am the original Lester.

  Turning to Red, who walked next to him, Lester asked, "Do you think we'll meet with the master villain?"

  Red let out a smile. "Nah, guys like us. We're way down the food chain. We'll probably just deal with a middleman, some guy who'll just whisk us away and present the kid to the top dog, forgetting to mention who actually did the work."

  Lester nodded, thinking about what could happen. If what Red said came to be, he would likely never get an answer to the question. But that might be better than coming face to face again with the infamous villain Doctor Nastybrain. But Lester was adamant about seeing this through. He just had to.

  After they passed all the minefields, crops, and automatic turrets, and entered the city, a man with the look of a secret service agent approached them. He was dressed in a dark blue suit and had short hair, and something about the way he stood told Lester that the man had seen combat. The guy said to Armie, "Good day, you must be Armie and this must be Armie's Strongarms." He took out a badge that showed a snake biting a skull. "I'm with the Guild of Calamity and Woe, and am facilitating for Doctor Nastybrain. Would you all please follow me and we'll take a ride."

  The others looked for Armie, who nodded and said, "As the doctor wishes."

  ***

  After the meeting with the guild representative, they had been taken into a black minibus, which had taken them all, gear included, to an unspecified location.

  As they stopped and got out, Lester recognized the place. It was the same unmarked concrete building he'd escaped from almost two months ago. Now, here they all stood in the parking lot, which was now filled with cars compared to the last time he'd been here when the place had been almost abandoned.

  "I don't want to go back there," First said.

  Lester had the same feeling as his kid clone. He really didn't want to go back there either.

  "It'll be alright," Armie said.

  Lester heard the nervousness in her voice. Things would certainly not be alright for the kid. But what other choice was there? The kid had already killed several people and torn the head off a giant bear. It wasn't like someone could just adopt him.

  The guy in the suit caught something in his earphone and he replied, "Affirmative". Then he said to them, "The doctor wants to see you all."

  Armie indicated to the others. "We'll do as the doctor wants."

  Lester felt the walls close around him. There was only one way to go.

  At the request of the suit guy, they had to leave their equipment in the minibus for safekeeping. After that, they were led into the concrete building, and now there were three people in the lobby. Lester recognized one of them. It was the same guy who'd helped him out last time. Good old Oliver. Though, the security guard didn't recognize him. He had, back then, looked like a zombie after all.

  They continued onward, taking the elevator. After a while of going down, the doors opened. Lester saw the same lobby he'd gone through. There was even the killer robot there, standing on its tracks, holding two miniguns. But now it just stood on the side, the light in its head turned off. Lester also noted the metal door that led to the stairwell, from where he had escaped the place. There was still the mark there on the door's surface, where the robot had slammed the cleaver sword, almost killing him.

  Lester shuddered from the not-so-old memories.

  As they went through corridors lined with doors, Lester noted all the people who they passed. Some of them were security guards dressed in black overalls, holding some kind of stun guns. Some of them looked like lab workers dressed in white overalls. All of them had the same logo, an exploding brain with the words Nasty's Business. The place was not as empty as it had been back then. The doctor was definitely back.

  They finally were led into a lab, and Lester noted the familiarity. There were all the computers and science equipment around the walls, and at the center, there was the operating table with the metal manacles. The same table he'd woken on over a month ago.

  "Ahh, visitors, welcome," a voice said from the door, and as Lester turned toward the voice, he saw Doctor Nastybrain walk in. Lab coat and a big head. And inside the head, electric sparks and a shadow of the man's huge brain. Was the head slightly transparent for the electricity to be visible? Or maybe the brain activity was just so intense that it shone through the skin and the skull of the huge head.

  Lester was overwhelmed with panic. He froze. Please don't remember me. Please don't remember me. He crouched slightly moving to the back of the group so as not to get noticed.

  Nasty pointed at Lester's clone First. "And you found my little experiment."

  First turned to Armie and said, "The man with the big head made me scream."

  Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

  "Yes, we had some good times together," Nasty said.

  Lester saw the expressions of his fellow hunters. They were holding it together, but they were afraid. Nasty could, if he wanted to, end them all now. And Doctor Nastybrain was not someone known for his stable behavior.

  Armie put her hand on the boy's shoulder and said with a mostly calm voice, "Everything is alright."

  "Okay," First said, seemingly satisfied by Armie's comment.

  Nasty looked at the boy and then at Armie, "And the experiment seems to have bonded with you. Would you be so kind as to direct the young one onto the table over there?"

  The table in question. The one Lester remembered waking up on was in the middle of the room. There were the manacles to hold people down there. Differing from the time when he had woken up here, there was now some kind of a half ring with electronics and sensors attached, which was positioned so the head would lie down inside it. Behind stood a robotic arm with a circular saw. Likely there for some Nasty brain surgery.

  Armie indicated for First to go. "Go lie down there, and follow the doctor's orders."

  The kid did that and the manacles on the bed grabbed the boy's arms and legs, which caused him to start wriggling.

  "Just be calm and lay back," Nasty said, and First instantly stopped his movements.

  At the point of the table where the boy's head was resting, lights came to life. There were some quiet scanner noises.

  As he was looking through some data on a monitor, Nasty said to no one in particular, "Fascinating. And there's even some growth. The bond is unexpected. But maybe there's an opportunity here."

  After a while, Nasty turned around, and the manacles on the table snapped open, releasing First. Nasty said to him, "Go to your villain." And the boy moved to stand next to Armie. To her, Nasty said, "It seems to be attached to you. There's no breaking that connection—other than death that is."

  Lester watched as Nasty seemed to think about it. Armie was silent, not moving. She was made out of muscle and could probably out-wrestle a gorilla, but she was frozen. It was either fear or survival instincts. Either way, the only way she and the rest of them would get out of this was if Nasty let them.

  With a smile on his face, Nasty looked at Armie and said to her, "How would you like to have a loyal prototype henchman working for you." He indicated toward First.

  Armie started to say, "I—"

  "It'll be a kind of a trial. You would take him out to do henchman stuff and then bring him back every month for evaluation."

  "I understand. I will do that," Armie said.

  Lester knew she didn't really have a choice. It seemed like First was going to be part of the team. Maybe this would mean that, as the boy was the newcomer, he himself would get a promotion and would no longer have to carry the heavy bag.

  "Good choice." Nasty said. Then he turned to point at Lester and said, "Much better than the old one here."

  As everyone turned to look at him, Lester gulped, feeling the floor drop from under him.

  End of the road.

  Lester opened his mouth and the words that came out from him were, "I was just—"

  "—defective," Nasty finished the sentence.

  "You're one of the Doctor's?" Armie said with a confused voice.

  "It never told you where it came from," Nasty said, "That's because it's lacking in loyalty." Nasty quickly moved in front of Lester and poked him with a finger. "Also, it is in a really bad shape. Seems like aging rapidly. Probably dead in a year or two."

  Lester took a step back, but a small bolt of electricity sprang from Nasty's fingertip, shocking him and knocking him on his butt.

  Nasty said, "No spine either. For a henchman, you would likely do better with some random guy from the street." Nasty left Lester to sit on the floor as he moved to First. "This—" He then turned to Armie. "This henchman here would die for you."

  "Is that true?" Armie asked First.

  "Yes," First answered with a calm and direct voice.

  "I'll take him," Armie said.

  Red cleared his throat. "What about Lester here?"

  Armie looked at Lester, then she turned to First and put his hand on the boy's shoulder, and answered, "I don't think there's room in the group for him anymore."

  Lester's heart dropped. Armie had definitely been all sweet to him earlier this day. They definitely had had a connection. And now this fake version of him came and just replaced him.

  Lester sat on the floor, not able to process what had happened. Then he said, "What about me?"

  "Just get rid of the broken one," Nasty said. He stopped for a second then said, "I have an idea that needs actualization." He marched out of the room.

  After Nasty had gone, Lester and his former colleagues were left there with a couple of Nasty's people watching them, including the guy in the suit. He said to them, "It's time to leave."

  Lester noticed the man in the suit staring at him. It was like the guy was trying to decide what to do with him. If to put a bullet in his brain and burn his body.

  A thought hit Lester. What was it that Nasty had just said about getting rid of him?

  He got up and said to the suit guy, "I am able to get rid of myself thank you. Just show me the way out."

  The guy just nodded. And indicated for him and the others to follow. "The elevator is this way."

  They left the way they had come. As they were in the elevator, Lester noticed that none of his ex-teammates looked at him. Sure it might be a bit awkward for them, but for him. It was a fucking nightmare.

  They rose up toward the surface slowly and in silence.

  As they got out from the ground-level concrete building, Lester looked at the others, thinking what to say. Why had Armie just abandoned him? Dropped him like he was nothing more but an old appliance that was replaced by a newer one. Why? He had to know the reason.

  Lester started to say something, but then he saw Armie turn away. Like not wanting to look at him.

  After a moment, Red approached Lester and said, "Boy, you got lucky today. If I were you, I would already be on my way."

  Lester nodded and turned away.

  "And Lester," he heard Red say and turned to look back to hear the man finish, "good luck."

  "You too," Lester said, turned back around, and walked away from Nasty's base, his former teammates, and into the streets of Recalm City.

  As he went he got a notice from the Henchman Interface.

  Quest completed: Find out if you're a clone or not

  Nasty clearly indicated that you were a clone. But since you don't accept this as a reality, the award will be reduced by 1 point, and a new quest will be created.

  2 points gained.

  New Quest: You think you're not a clone:

  Prove, against all the evidence, that you are not a clone.

  Award 3 points.

  Lester stared at the text until it faded away. He was Lester. He had all the memories of Lester. The Henchman Interface was wrong. Doctor Nastybrain was wrong. He was Lester.

  After a while, another text popped up.

  Quest failed: Survive for one month as a monster hunter.

  Since there were only 6/30 days remaining and because you managed not to die, you still gain 2 points.

  Lester felt down. He had, for sure, thought that there might have been some kind of a future there with him in Armie's Strongarms. But Armie had just replaced him with a mindless clone. Maybe this was for the best. Maybe he should try to do this life thing on his own from now on.

  New Quest: Become a true villain.

  Remove the collar on your powers and upgrade the Henchman Interface into the Villain Interface. This can only be done in Doctor Natybrain's laboratory at the operating table.

  Award 6 points.