Chapter 26 · Apex Loop: Glitch Evolution - Chapter 26: Mirror Match

"Stop copying me." My clone slammed me into the glass wall hard enough to crack it.

My claws scraped for grip. The thing wearing my shape leaned close, its face inches from mine. Same black eyes. Same jagged jaw. Same pale lines running under the skin like broken wires.

It smiled when I failed to push it back.

"You heard me," I growled. "Pick another trick."

The clone tilted its head.

Then it drove its knee into my ribs.

Pain flashed white. My grip broke, and I hit the floor on one shoulder. The impact rattled every loose piece inside my body. I rolled before its heel crushed my neck.

It missed by less than an inch.

"Kane!" Vivian's voice snapped through the speakers. "Don't waste your strength."

I sprang sideways. The clone's claws cut through the metal floor where my head had been.

"You made the thing," I shouted. "You tell it to stop."

"It doesn't take orders from me."

"That makes two of us."

The clone lunged again.

I met it in the center of the chamber. Our shoulders collided. Its body felt exactly like mine—