The boy looked up sharply, and Paula knew that he was, instinctively, answering to his name. She remembered the day -- it seemed so long ago, though it really hadn’t been -- when Jeff had showed them all his fabulous Twinning Ray. It was the day that Ness’s clone had been born, the clone who they had named Michael. Suddenly, it was all beginning to make sense!
Paula felt the beginning of an adrenaline rush, not unlike that felt by a small child who had suddenly discovered the solution to a very difficult puzzle. This was Mike! The day that they’d all been in Summers, Mike had disappeared, and it was that very day that the first crime had been committed, supposedly done by Ness. All the while, though, it had been Mike, his clone, causing the trouble! Finding it slightly hard to breathe, Paula ran inside of the police station, a little afraid to even be taking her eyes off the boy as she looked for an officer.
"That’s my name, don’t wear it out," Mike called after her in response to being called by name. "Hey, where are you going?"
Paula shut out the sounds of his confused voice and looked around inside the station, her eyes darting around wildly. Finally, they focused on an officer who didn’t seem to be too busy. Paula raced over to her with wings on her feet and grabbed her by the hand. "Excuse me, Ma’am, but you seriously have to get outside right now," she said, feeling terribly rude but knowing that it would all be worth it when Ness was free again. The officer didn’t have time to protest. She just allowed Paula to drag her outside, and it was then that she saw the young criminal, still standing there, stupefied.
The officer gasped, as if she’d suddenly realized something and knew that some kind of mistake had been made -- after all, wasn’t this the same boy she’d supposedly seen in his cell five minutes earlier? "Halt, in the name of the law!" she cried out, dropping Paula’s hand and charging towards the boy, who appeared to be somewhat dazed and still a little perplexed as to what, exactly, was going on. After all, it had happened so fast. Before Mike could go anywhere, she’d gripped his left hand tightly in her right, and it was seconds later when she threw a pair of handcuffs on him, just to be safe.
Paula ran back inside the station, where she spotted both Captain Strong and Ness’s mother standing outside of the cell where Ness was being held. "Hey, I think there’s something going on out front that you two need to see!" Paula exclaimed. Captain Strong, a little reluctant to take his eyes off of the boy who seemed to be a brilliant young criminal and an amazing escapist, walked slowly in Paula’s direction. Ness’s mother, however, reacted differently. She knew how deeply Paula cared for Ness; it was her opinion that, while neither of them would ever openly admit it, Paula was smitten with Ness and vice versa. In that moment, Ness’s mother looked in Paula’s eyes and saw nothing but honesty, concern, and a kind of passion that let her know the girl was telling the truth.
"What do you mean, Paula?" Ness’s mother jogged ahead of Captain Strong to catch up with Paula.
"Let’s just say that Ness is innocent, and now, we finally have a way to prove it," she replied sweetly, smiling brightly.
Ness’s mother gasped. "What?"
She wasn’t the only one who was surprised. Captain Strong suddenly became deeply interested in what Paula had to say, and from a distance, they could all hear a voice say "Thank God!" Paula grinned -- she would’ve known Ness’s voice anywhere.
The threesome was met at the door by the officer that Paula had spoke to moments before. Behind her was a figure who was hunched over, handcuffs pulling his fists behind his back. "Captain," she said, addressing her boss, "you might be interested in this young man." She thrust Mike out in front of her for the three of them to see.
"Ness?" Paula couldn’t remember ever seeing anyone so confused. One would think it would be strange for a mother to suddenly believe her son was in two places at the same time. She glanced back at the cell, where she could see Ness’s hands poking through the bars; she then turned back to Mike, more perplexed than before.
"I’m not Ness, I’m Mike," the young vandal confessed.
"Mike?" Again, Ness’s mother was confused. "Who are you, and why do you look just like my son?"
"You mean you found him, Paula?" Ness called from his cell.
Paula smiled. "Yes, Ness, I did, just now." She paused. "Allow me to introduce you all to Mike, Ness’s clone. He was born just the other day, a product of a new invention, known as a Twinning Ray, created by the genius of Jeff Andonuts."
"Twinning Ray?" Captain Strong asked, the words feeling foreign in his mouth.
"Yes," Paula said. "It’s a tool that can create a perfect clone of someone instantly." She paused to look at Mike, handcuffed and guilty. "Well, almost perfect, anyway. It seems that it’s good at cloning someone who looks the same as the original, but it’s lacking in the personality department. I’ll have to tell Jeff there are still a few bugs to work out."
"So you mean to say that Jeff tested this thing on Ness?" Ness’s mother asked, beginning to understand.
"Exactly. Ness volunteered to be cloned, so Jeff tried it out on him. We named Ness’s clone Michael, or Mike for short." Paula gave Mike another brief glance, but he said nothing, just hung his head in silence. "We took him to Summers, but he got separated from us and we’ve been looking for him ever since. It seems that while he was free from us, Mike got into some mischief." She turned to Captain Strong. "Sir, this is the young criminal you’ve been looking for, not Ness. You’ve got the wrong boy, I’m afraid."
"Paula!" At the sound of her own name being called by an ecstatic voice, Paula looked up to see someone coming towards her. It was Ness, and walking behind him was the officer who had handcuffed Mike. She’d unlocked his cell, set him free, and Ness looked happier than he’d been in a long time.
"Oh, Ness!" Paula pushed her way through the adults and hurried towards him. Their hearts beating frantically, the two friends collapsed into an embrace that drew a few "oh, isn’t that cute" glances from the cops, as well as from Ness’s mother. Mike scowled as he watched their reunion.
"So it was Mike all along?" Ness said, finally understanding what had happened.
"Yes, Ness, it was Mike who did those things." Paula paused to take a shallow breath. "Ness, I knew it couldn’t have been you. I never believed them for a second."
Ness pulled back for a second and looked into Paula’s eyes. "You have no idea how infinitely glad I am to hear you say that, Paula," he said with a smile. "I was afraid you still hated me." He put his head down.
Paula felt her eyes brimming with tears. "Hate you? Oh, Ness, I never hated you. I don’t think I ever could. I just wanted to apologize to you. It’s me who’s been wrong."
Ness looked surprised. "Wrong about what?" he said. "You’re the one who just got me my freedom back!"
Paula felt badly. "Yes, but about our fight before you got arrested -- I was wrong, Ness, and I’m sorry. I wish I’d made up with you then. I felt so awful when I found out you were in prison and the last thing we’d done was hurt each other."
Ness shook his head and pulled Paula back into his arms. "Oh, Paula, you know that I felt the same way the whole time I was cooped up in that cell. I felt horrible that we’d been fighting. I’m so sorry."
Paula smiled. "I’m sorry too." She stepped back, out of his embrace. "Friends again?" She reached out with a shy right hand.
Ness looked down at her hand and grasped it with his own. "Friends forever," he said, shaking her hand firmly.
"Oh, isn’t that nice?" Mike said mockingly, obviously attempting to ruin the moment.
"Oh, one more thing," Ness whispered to Paula. "You were right -- cloning people is a bad thing. Remind me to call Jeff and tell him that his Twinning Ray isn’t so great after all." He paused. "Clones sound like a great idea, but in the end, it’s real people -- real friends - that show you what life is all about."