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Never underestimate the power of collective hate. It brings people together just as quickly, if not faster than love. When people find a common problem, there's almost nothing capable of stopping them from coming together. But when you add that hate to an equation that already had love and friendship, then you're playing with something deadly.

"I don't get it. If you're mad, why hide it," Wes asked.

"Like it or not, Danger is popular, so getting on his bad side could hurt my chances of progressing," BJ answered.

"But you were fine letting me know how you felt when you thought I was the bad guy?" I remarked.

"We were friends. You can't be underhanded and sneaky to someone you know," she explained.

"...Right," Wes and I said collectively.

The three of us were having a meeting of the minds in the school library. Our government teacher ate something bad from the cafeteria, so our class had study hall until the next period. I hated having a doppelganger. Wes didn't like any version of me that used magic. And BJ saw Danger as her new competition. In the past, it was impossible getting BJ and Wes to sit at the same table together. With our common enemy, it was almost like they forgot how much they disliked one another. Emphasis on "almost."

"But you'll help us egg Vista and Harmon's houses," Wes suggested.

"No!" BJ said, appalled by the idea.

"We never talked about egging anything," I said.

"Vista and Harmon aren't the problems. I'm sure they've been swayed by Danger somehow, that's all," BJ added.

"Or, your new friends weren't as loyal as you thought," Wes debated.

"Can we focus on getting rid of Danger," I suggested.

Class was almost over, but all we managed to accomplish was drawing attention to ourselves. I shouldn't have been surprised though, having people watching me was usual business.

"I suggest we feed him to a school of sea beasts," BJ said.

"No," I said.

"We could kidnap him and leave him in the mountains naked," Wes added.

"No," I repeated to the equally bad idea.

"Then what do you suggest we do?" BJ questioned.

"I don't know, but we aren't killing anyone," I argued.

"If he's really your doppelganger, then it's not murder. It's more like... clearing the board," she went on to say.

Clearing the board?" Wes asked.

I couldn't tell if BJ was serious or not. When did everyone get so ruthless? What if Danger wasn't the doppelganger? It was a hard thought, but a logical observation. There was no way to know for sure which of us was the original. Even if Danger was a copy, I doubt I had it in me to kill him.

"We aren't killing anyone," I repeated loud enough for our classmates to turn and look at me like a crazy person.

"Fine. We should at least find the spell that created Danger and use it to make him go away," BJ continued.

"The only person who knows that spell would try to catch me sooner than help me," I said.

I was surprised after a month Scribe hadn't shown up or came looking for Danger. Despite only meeting the creature once, he left an impression of being near all-powerful. To think he'd yet to pop up was suspicious.

"Besides, even if we knew the spell, I wouldn't use it," I said.

"Pitch," BJ exclaimed.

She was disappointed, but just because we were talking again didn't mean I was willing to go back on promises. Magic wasn't an option.

"I can't, I won't," I said.

"Then, this is a waste of time," she replied.

"I thought it was nice to finally hang out with both of my best friends for once," I debated.

"Our truce only stands until Danger is taken care of," she said.

"Can't you admit it's nice being around each other without fighting?" I questioned.

"I grew to enjoy the fight," she answered.

"I'll 'enjoy' anything that ruins Danger's day," Wes joked.

The bell rang, and it was time to move to our next classes. As we got up from the table, I couldn't help but notice one of my friends was missing. I hadn't seen Velmer in a few days, which was odd because we shared almost every other class together. There was an uncomfortable lack of ray guns and robots.

After school that day, I went to check on the goblin next door. We lived so close to one another, but it was easy to go days without seeing Velmer in person. It could have been that I was busy trying to become a member of The Ring, or maybe he was caught up in his usual sci-fi nonsense. Either way, I hadn't seen Velmer in such a long while, I had to be worried.

"They could be crack jobs from NASA here to steal my secrets, or hunters trying to kill us," Velmer said.

"Hunters?" I asked.

It was my first time actually stepping foot in Velmer's family home. I hadn't noticed it until then, but we often hung out in the front or back yard when I visited. He never invited me in before. It was something out of a futuristic tech catalog. Everything was silver, chrome, and active. From the outside, you may never have known just how amazing Velmer's place was. It only made sense that he upgraded everything. On any given day, he carried drones, lasers, and machines the same way I carried a backpack. I don't know what I expected to see, but it was more. Unfortunately, I couldn't savor the experience of walking into a smart house because, apparently, Velmer's family was in danger.

"Or NASA," he joked.

"Be serious. What do you mean by hunters?" I said.

"You know goblins are new to living out in the open. Some people are taking longer to let us off the hunt list than others," he answered as we walked to his bedroom.

The floors were metallic and cold. If not for the rugs Velmer's mother was likely responsible for putting down, it would have felt more like a laboratory than a house. All of the doors were self-activating sliders. They even made that cool whooshing sound like stereotypical spaceships.

"This is Daybreak. Sure, people can be close-minded sometimes, but," I started to say until we entered Velmer's bedroom.

It was empty. There was no bed, no closet, not even a single robot. I expected Velmer's room to be the crescendo of the house, but it was nothing more than a silver box.

"Pitch, my family moved here because no one could find Daybreak on a map. But after your fight with Santa, and Danger being on national TV, there are too many eyes on this town," Velmer explained.

"And you think people are trying to kill you," I asked.

As I stood in the center of the room, scratching my head, Velmer walked over to the only thing in sight. There were two buttons on the wall near the door. They were small, and with everything covered in metal, they blended in. He pushed one of them, and suddenly the floor began to shake.

"It'll start with my family, but if they take us, there wont be anything stopping them from taking anyone else whose less than human," Velmer continued as the room moved.

We were going down. His room was moving like an elevator. Eventually, we were so far beneath the house, everything went dark, but built-in lights kicked in. When we finally stopped, the door opened, and on the other side was a wonderland of technology. Tables, chemicals, wires, and machines populated a space larger than the house we were under. I tried not to look surprised, but how could I not be. He had an underground lair.

"We should tell the cops," I suggested as he led me further into the hideout.

The ceiling was a warped dome made of lights. Each table we passed seemed to be a different project Velmer had in the works. We didn't stop until we passed all the smaller stations and met the other end of the room.

He had a computer.

It wasn't anything huge or oversized, just a laptop on a desk. It was connected to so many wires running throughout the room, it couldn't have been an ordinary laptop, but that's how it looked to my eyes.

"And waste my time getting laughed at, I don't think so," he argued as he flipped open the device and pulled up a video.

He had security footage of outside. Indeed, there were people staking out the goblin house. I overlooked the fact that many of the videos Velmer showed me had clear sight into my bedroom because of the severity of the situation.

"If you won't go to the police, then how are you going to stay safe?"

"Pitch," he said, gesturing to the room around us.

"What? You're going to laser them to death?" I said jokingly

"Yes," he answered bluntly.

"No!" I exclaimed.

"Yes, and I won't be alone," he said.

"Your family is ok with this?"

"They have no idea," he revealed.

"Then, who's going to help you," I asked.

"Riz, and now that you're here, you can help too," he replied as he leaned against his computer desk.

"I'm not killing anyone! And who is Riz?"

Velmer pointed to something behind me, and I turned around.

"I am," said a naked girl standing behind my back.

I took a moment to look her up and down. My eyes had to be playing tricks on me. While I decided whether or not I was hallucinating, she stood there with her hands on her hips posing. She wasn't shy. Her face was familiar, but the person wearing it didn't match the attitude or personality that should have accompanied it.

"Velmer...why does 'Riz' look like a naked Allison from art class," I asked as I turned my attention back to the goblin.

"I am a mimic," Riz said as she stepped around me to stand next to Velmer.

"She can shapeshift into anyone we think of," Velmer said.

"As long as they're a woman," Riz added.

"I know what a mimic is. Why do you have one?" I asked Velmer.

"The mimics haven't assimilated yet, so Riz has to stay hidden," he answered casually.

"That's not what I'm asking," I said while trying to keep my eyes from fixating on the naked girl.

"Riz is my girlfriend," Velmer finally admitted.

I facepalmed myself.

"How long has she been down here?" I asked.

"I've been Velmer's life mate for a little over two years now," Riz answered for herself.

"So, you've been here since he moved in?"

"Yes," she said.

Mimics were famous for two reasons. They were seamless shapeshifters, and they were dangerous tricksters. Their antics weren't limited to humans either. Mimics were known for messing with anyone foolish enough to get too close.

"The two of you aren't killing people," I argued.

"I assure you, we can be very good at it," Riz replied before I could get the last of my words out.

"That's not the point," I said.

"Look, Pitch, unless you have a better idea, we're going to do what we have to," Velmer said.