Heroes of the Dustbin

  Spencer stared at the spot where his school used to be. Now there was nothing left but a deep hole where the scissors had sliced. The entire school was gone, and with it, the Glop source. Spencer took a deep breath. It was a bold move to relocate Welcher Elementary. It also meant that today was indisputably the last day of school.

  “Ha ha!” Dez laughed, landing on the ground beside Spencer. “Did you see that? I just picked up a school!” He flexed his biceps.

  But Spencer wasn’t feeling the joys of victory yet. Moving Welcher Elementary was only the first step in their plan. The real battle was yet to come.

  “We should hurry,” Penny said as Big Bertha screeched to a halt beside the boys. Bernard leapt out of the cab as Penny squeegeed a new, much smaller portal. The four of them stepped through, arriving safely among the Rebels just as the first bolt of lightning crackled over the landfill.

  Spencer stared at the Broomstaff looming over the Rebel army. Then he turned to the hillside where Welcher Elementary School had just landed, the dust still settling around it.

  Belzora had reforged the front door, and all of the newly created defenses were locking into place. The roof was crawling with Sweepers, and a gang of Pluggers had just been sent out along the sides of the school.

  Spencer took a deep breath, remembering the war that Walter Jamison had predicted would occur between the Rebels and the BEM. Walter was right.

  But tonight that war would end.

  Chapter 41

  “I want to write a letter.”

  Spencer pushed his way to the front of the Rebel troops where Daisy and Bookworm were stationed.

  “You did it!” Daisy shouted when she saw him.

  “Are you guys ready?” he asked, looking over the row of trashcannons. There were a dozen big cans, wedged in the ground and carefully angled at the newly arrived school. Behind each trashcannon sat an Auran girl, experienced and ready to launch a slug of trash at the enemy’s defenses. Sach, Olin, and Aryl manned the final three cannons.

  Rho raced over to Bookworm, so caught up in what was about to happen that she didn’t even acknowledge Spencer’s huge accomplishment in delivering the school to the landfill.

  “Trashcannons stand ready,” she said to the Thingamajunk. “Call your people.”

  Bookworm tilted his head back and bellowed. Then, dropping to all fours, he thumped his hands and feet rhythmically against the trash-strewn ground.

  Spencer stepped back as Thingamajunks began forming out of the trash. Bookworm grunted instructions in a language that only the garbage figures understood. The Thingamajunks saluted and, without delay, climbed into the trashcannons.

  “Ready!” Rho shouted, taking her place behind a trashcannon. “Aim!” The Thingamajunks in the cannons ducked down, their garbage heads tucking out of sight. “FIRE!”

  The valley echoed with a dozen resounding booms. Twelve Thingamajunks went airborne, shooting through the night with the speed of deadly cannonballs.

  The patrolling BEM Pluggers and Sweepers had no chance of stopping the incoming trash warriors. The Thingamajunks pelted into the side of Welcher Elementary, breaking mortar and shattering reinforced glass. Most were completely obliterated upon impact, but they quickly formed new bodies from the plentiful trash surrounding the school.

  The second wave of Thingamajunks loaded themselves into the trashcannons. Bookworm stooped down, throwing his big arms around Daisy.

  “You be careful out there,” she insisted. “Don’t do anything crazy now that you’re a famous boxer.” Bookworm seemed to chuckle. He gave Daisy a fist bump, then dove into Rho’s trashcannon.

  “FIRE!”

  Once again, a volley of Thingamajunks slammed into the school, smashing defenses and pounding the doors.

  Marv’s deep voice rumbled across the ranks of Rebels. “Attention!”

  The troops formed into four lines, a myriad of Glopified supplies bristling like spears and swords. They filed forward until they stood just before the line of empty trashcannons.

  Thunder rumbled overhead as Alan Zumbro stepped out to address the army. “This is our chance to end it all!” he yelled. “If we succeed, your schools will be free. And tomorrow there will be no Toxites!”

  “Listen up!” Penny shouted. “We’re going to charge over there and break down those doors! Once the way is open, we send the signal, and Spencer and his team move in. We don’t stop fighting! We do everything we can to keep the battle on us. You got it?”

  A roar went up from the Rebel troops. They were scared; Spencer could see it. He couldn’t blame them. Every one of them had experience in Toxite fighting. They’d pledged to protect their schools regardless of the BEM’s orders. But fighting Pluggers and Sweepers was something different. Toxites in a school typically ran from a conflict. Sweepers ran toward it.

  On the front line, Marv raised a dirty pushbroom. His voice pealed out, as loud as a trashcannon. “CHARGE!”

  The Rebel troops raced forward in a tight formation, a multitude of shouts and thrusting weapons. The rear line took flight, using brooms to propel themselves above the heads of their comrades. Dez flew with them, defending against airborne attacks.

  With the army’s hasty exodus, Spencer suddenly felt exposed. He and Daisy were alone with the Aurans, not a single adult left to rely on.

  “Let’s head down to the pump house and get the others ready,” Spencer said.

  As they trudged closer to the mighty Broomstaff, a few droplets of rain spilled from the clouds. It was almost as if the huge, gnarly broom sensed people drawing near and brewed a storm just in case anyone planned on getting Panned. Spencer smelled the putrid stench of the Glop lagoon, bubbling and glowing.

  The new pump house was very different from the old, dilapidated one Spencer had blown up on his last visit to the Broomstaff. V had sworn she would rebuild every pipe, and the Auran’s determination had paid off.

  This pump house was rectangular, with a sturdy door and aluminum siding. V had installed the pump and built the pipes on a single level, but the house was more spacious than its predecessor.

  The lagoon surrounding the Broomstaff was for Glop drainage. Once all the magical sludge had settled in, the pump could be engaged to siphon all the raw Glop back into the earth’s core. From there, Toxites would spawn from the muck, living to pollute the brains of honest students.

  After today, the lagoon would be harmless, and V’s hard-built pump house obsolete.

  Spencer acknowledged the Rebel guards at the pump house door. There would be two more janitors inside, watching over the cage in the corner of the pump house where General Clean sat humiliated.

  Min greeted Spencer and Daisy as they entered the pump house. The other Monitors were there too. Spencer wanted to thank each one of them for their bravery in coming to this strange place, but there simply wasn’t time. Penny could send the signal at any moment, and Spencer still had to get supplies into the Monitors’ hands.

  Min had already supplied them with brooms, latex gloves, and individual bags of vacuum dust. They were defensive weapons, not intended for the Monitors to stick around and fight.

  “Okay,” Spencer said, passing around a large stack of dust masks. “These masks will block the effects of Toxite breath. They’ll also disguise your faces. Keep them on at all times.”

  Several of the Monitors were already fitting them over nose and mouth, making sure the elastic band held the mask tightly.

  “We stay close together and we charge fast,” Spencer instructed. “If it gets too intense, use this to help you escape.” He pointed to a rack of spray bottles by the door. He and the Dark Aurans had spent a good part of the afternoon Glopifying enough spray for every Monitor.

  “What is it?” asked one of the Monitors. Spencer realized that he didn’t even know the boy’s name. But there wasn’t time to learn it now.

  “Bleach,” Spencer answered. “It’s going to be your safest way out of the battle. Spray it on yourself and you’ll turn invis
ible.”

  “But only do it once,” cautioned Daisy. “It’s permanent the second time.”

  “The effect only lasts about fifteen minutes,” Spencer said, “so get out fast and make your way back to the shelter of the pump house.”

  “Why don’t we turn invisible now?” asked another Monitor. “We could slip into the school without being noticed.”

  “There are certain ingredients we need to close the Glop source,” Spencer said. “One of them is a drop of blood from an Auran boy. That means I have to get to the source. Since I’ve already used bleach once, I can’t go invisible again.”

  “What about the other boys?” Lina asked, pointing to Sach, Olin, and Aryl.

  “We’re staying here,” Aryl said. “The three of us are in charge of cutting the Toxite brain stem the moment the source closes.”

  “We have everything we need,” Sach said. He held up the scissors that Spencer had given him after cutting Welcher’s foundation. Aryl clutched the Vortex that they planned to use to enter the Dustbin.

  “How will you get out of the Dustbin after you’ve destroyed the nests?” Daisy asked.

  Olin reached down and hefted a freshly Glopified leaf blower. Spencer remembered using one the last time they exited the Dustbin. The blower would create a temporary Rip back to this world. Riding the slipstream of wind, they would easily be able to escape the Dustbin.

  “Spencer is top priority,” Rho said. “We’ve given him all the ingredients to close the source. The rest of us have to make sure he reaches the drinking fountain safely.”

  “Spencer,” rasped a dry voice from the corner of the pump house. Spencer turned to see General Clean pressed against the bars of his rake cage, twirling a pen between the fingers of his only remaining hand. The man’s voice had once been booming and deep, carrying such authority that it cause everyone nearby to cower. Now it was the pathetic voice of a defeated man.

  “Spencer,” the man said again.

  It was quiet in the pump house, and Spencer felt all eyes on him. “What do you want, Clean?”

  “Lend me a paper,” he said, his sightless eyes staring vaguely in Spencer’s direction.

  “Paper?” Spencer asked. It wasn’t the request he was expecting.

  General Clean held up the pen he’d been twirling. “I want to write a letter,” he rasped. “To your father.”

  “If you have something to tell my dad, you say it to him in person,” Spencer replied.

  “Hey,” Gia called from the pump house door. “They just sent up the signal!”

  Spencer had instructed Penny to shoot an unmanned broom into the air with a flashlight taped to it when the Rebels were ready for the Monitors to charge.

  “Okay,” Daisy said. “They’re ready for us.”

  The Monitors began filing outside, pulling on their dust masks and grabbing the small bottles of bleach.

  “Spencer,” Olin said, catching his arm at the doorway. “Good luck over there.”

  “You too,” Spencer said. “Next time we see each other this will all be over.” Sach and Aryl nodded their support, and Spencer followed the others outside.

  Spencer found Min and Daisy at the head of the group. Rho and the Auran girls mixed with the Monitors. Their height and build blended well with the young students, but the Aurans’ white hair caused them to stand out like sheep on a dark hillside.

  “Stay close together and move fast,” Min instructed the Monitors, using a voice louder than Spencer had ever heard from him. “If our trick works, the Witches will order a cease-fire and we should get safely inside.” Min pulled something shimmery and white from his back pocket and placed it on his head.

  It was a wig. Cheap strands, tangled from being in Min’s pocket, hung past the boy’s shoulders. He tucked an itchy piece behind his ear, eyes peering out between his dust mask and white bangs.

  Daisy giggled. “You look hilarious!” Her laughter dispelled some of the tension of the stressful moment. Min, however, found his costume far less amusing.

  “I never thought we’d save the day wearing twelve-dollar wigs from a costume shop,” Min said. He handed another wig to Daisy, who tucked up her braid and pulled it on.

  Spencer looked out at the Monitors, each one now covered with a cheap white wig. Some were short, others long. In a moment, the drizzling rain had matted them all down, and Spencer had a hard time distinguishing the real Aurans from the fake ones.

  He turned back toward Welcher Elementary School. The Witches, watching safely from their sink of soapsuds, would see them coming, a mess of white-haired youths. They wouldn’t dare harm the Dark Aurans. Killing them would destroy the Toxites they were so desperate to protect.

  Spencer was counting on the Witches’ paranoia now. Being unable to identify the Dark Aurans would force the enemy to call a cease-fire. By the time the Witches realized that the children were merely impostors, Spencer intended to be standing at the Glop source.

  Chapter 42

  “Stop the little brats!”

  Spencer led the Monitors in a sprint across the damp trash. Daisy was at one side, Rho at the other. Min tugged awkwardly at his white wig, but Spencer knew the boy’s self-consciousness over it would end the moment they reached the battle.

  The remaining Aurans and Monitors stayed close, their proximity adding to the confusion of who was really ageless and who was merely wigged.

  Spencer held his breath as they reached the edge of the conflict. The fight waged brutally, the Rebel Janitors struggling against the seemingly endless waves of mounted Pluggers, Sweepers, and infantry BEM workers that poured out the crumpled front doors of the school.

  Spencer’s pushbroom powered into the first enemy, a BEM woman with a razorblade. She went spiraling into the night sky, relieving one Rebel Janitor of the duel he’d been fighting.

  The Monitors hurled their vacuum dust, their untrained tosses finding a mark only about half the time. A few of them tapped their brooms the moment they reached the battle, drifting backward and then sprinting to the safety of the pump house. Spencer didn’t blame them. The Witches hadn’t called the cease-fire yet, and the fighting wasn’t going to get any easier.

  The group of Aurans and Monitors huddled tightly, the enemy bearing in on them from all sides. Daisy barely ducked under the bludgeoning, armored tail of a Filth. Spencer brought his pushbroom around and sent the Plugger rider sailing out of his saddle. Min tossed a Funnel Throw over Spencer’s shoulder, temporarily pinning the angry Toxite.

  Spencer was just beginning to think that they’d made a terrible mistake, that the Witches either weren’t deceived or didn’t care what happened to the Dark Aurans, when suddenly Belzora’s voice crackled through the intercom.

  “Spare the young ones!” There was a hint of desperation in her voice. “Do not touch the ones with the white hair!”

  The instructions were very clear, causing the BEM attackers to immediately draw back.

  “Phew,” Daisy said. “It’s about time.” Right then, Dez swooped low, dodging an attack from a Rubbish Plugger. His big wing flapped over Daisy’s head, the force of air blasting the wig right off her head.

  “Sorry!” Dez called as he winged away. But the damage was irreparable. Daisy’s sandy-brown hair was clearly visible among the group of white heads.

  “Wigs!” shouted one of the Sweepers. “They’re wearing wigs!” Instantly, the fight swarmed around them once more.

  “Stand down!” Belzora shrieked through the intercom. “Of course they’re wearing wigs, you fools! The trick is knowing which three are the real boys.”

  Spencer grinned, realizing that the Witches had no idea that the Dark Aurans had stayed behind. He took full advantage of the enemies’ confusion, pushing his white-haired group up the crumbling steps of Welcher Elementary School.

  “I didn’t say to let them pass!” Belzora shrieked. “Stop the little brats! And do what you wish to those that have been de-wigged.”

  Daisy became an instant target,
despite the fact that she’d picked up her wig and was struggling to fit it over her hair once more. She had been revealed as an impostor, and was currently the only person in the group that the BEM had approval to attack.

  Daisy was plucked out of the group like a flower, a Rubbish Sweeper snatching her up. She screamed, thrusting her razorblade through the man’s wing. The injury caused him to veer sharply, dropping the girl to the crowd of hands and weapons below.

  Bookworm rose unexpectedly amidst the group of enemies. He caught the girl in his garbage arms, ducking his head as claws and blades slashed into his body, shredding garbage from his form.

  Bookworm staggered several yards under the heavy assault, depositing Daisy at the edge of the fight. He collapsed momentarily and then re-formed with new trash, beating his chest to challenge anyone to touch the girl.

  Across the chaotic battlefield, Daisy and Spencer locked eyes. He knew she didn’t want to abandon him, but the struggle had drawn her too far away to rejoin the Monitors. Spencer took a deep breath, silently wished her good luck, and then turned to enter the school.

  It bothered him to be separated from Daisy. Somehow it made him feel alone, even though he was still surrounded by the Monitors and the Auran girls.

  The walls around Welcher’s entrance were bubbling with soapsuds. Now that everything was wet from the rain, the surveillance suds were multiplying. Spencer reached up with his pushbroom, popping dozens as he passed inside. There was no way he could destroy them all, and the suds were likely to be the thing that would ruin their plan. If the Witches found out that the Dark Aurans were not with them, they would all be in danger, wig or no wig.

  The entire building was bristling with enemies. Spencer saw two active squeegee portals where Sweepers and BEM workers came through as reinforcements. They bumped into the Monitors, pushing them back and slowing them down, all the while obeying the Witches’ orders not to hurt the kids.