Heroes of the Dustbin

  “Spencer’s right,” said V. “The Sweeper is too irresponsible. Perhaps a good disguise can get me into New Forest Academy.” She glanced at Rho, seated beside her. “It worked for Jenna.”

  “It’s going to take more than a disguise to fool the Witches,” Aryl said. He turned to Sach and Olin. “We’d better make some spit sponges of our own, lads. We’ve got supplies to Glopify and false nails to forge. It’s going to be a long night.”

  “What do you have in mind?” Rho asked.

  Aryl leaned across the table. “I think I know how to send Daisy and Spencer with Dez.”

  “It’ll never work,” Spencer reminded. “The Witches will spot me.”

  Aryl shook his head. “Not this time. If my plan works, no one will spot you.”

  Chapter 8

  “You guys ready to do this?”

  Spencer slept better than he’d expected, considering that he wasn’t at home in his tidy room. Netty, the Auran who had given up her bedroom for Spencer, kept a clean space and seemed to have good hygiene. He awoke feeling rested and rejuvenated, anxious to see what the Dark Aurans had accomplished during the night. He’d volunteered to work with them, but the boys had insisted that he sleep. Spencer would need his strength for the days ahead.

  He caught a big breakfast at the round table in the conference room. Sylva turned out to be quite the chef. Apparently, three hundred years of cooking experience led to some pretty amazing eggs Benedict. Daisy joined him for oatmeal and toast before the two of them headed outside to the dumpsters.

  Dez swooped down when he saw them exit the building. He’d been perched on the edge of the roof, like a vulture waiting for roadkill.

  “You guys ready to do this?” Dez seemed a little too excited, and slightly caffeine-riddled. Spencer wondered if he’d found an Auran stash of Mountain Dew. “This is going to be awesome! Fist bump!” Dez punched Spencer in the arm.

  “Ow!” Spencer pulled away. “That wasn’t my fist.”

  “What are you doing up already?” Daisy said. “I thought we’d have to splash you with cold water to wake you.”

  “Nah,” Dez said. “I didn’t sleep at all.” He was bouncing on his toes as if he might fly off at any second. “I was flying around the landfill using my super eyesight to help the Dark Aurans find stuff.”

  Spencer had almost forgotten that Dez’s Sweeper powers helped him see great distances, even in the dark. Not to mention the fact that he didn’t need to sleep for long periods of time.

  “Man,” Dez said. “Those guys are way better at Glopifying stuff than you are.” He slugged Spencer on the arm again. “Check this out.”

  Dez made a giant leap forward, his black wings bearing him aloft until he came to perch on the lip of a portal dumpster. He extended a talon finger to point. Spencer and Daisy hurried to the edge of the concrete pad to look in the direction that Dez had indicated.

  Spencer froze in astonishment. Daisy clapped her hands. Before them were piles upon piles of Glopified weapons.

  There must have been over a hundred brooms, and at least as many mops. Pushbrooms, vacuum bags, plungers, spray bottles, razorblades, and dustpans. Most of it looked used and beat up, but when did cleaning supplies ever look pretty?

  “What do you think?” sounded a voice at Spencer’s ear. He whirled around, only half surprised that the Dark Aurans had crept up on them. The three boys looked worn and tired. Spencer could only imagine the strain of the long night.

  “Where did you get all this?” Spencer asked.

  Sach gestured vaguely toward the mounds of landfill trash. “That’s what this place was made for, remember? For centuries, janitors have been sending maxed-out cleaning supplies to the landfill. There’s no shortage here.”

  “We just had to give them new life,” Aryl said. “A bit of magic spit and these supplies are back in action. But this time, they won’t ever max out.”

  Spencer grinned. He didn’t know what to say. For the first time since Walter’s death, it looked like there might be hope for the dwindling Rebel force.

  “You’ll need these,” Olin said, holding out a couple of tool belts. Spencer was glad to see them again. He and Daisy had donated theirs to a Rebel school in desperate need. But a mission into New Forest Academy would be nearly impossible without a Glopified tool belt.

  Spencer and Daisy accepted the belts and buckled them on. The belt felt right on Spencer’s hips, and he realized how much he’d missed it.

  “Stocked with all of the usual,” Olin explained, pointing to the U clips that held long-handled supplies and the spillproof pouches with smaller items.

  “What about Dez?” Daisy asked, noticing that there wasn’t a belt for the Sweeper kid.

  “I don’t need weapons, remember?” he said, still perched on the dumpster above them. “I’m a walking weapon.”

  “The Rebels are supposed to be destitute,” Aryl explained. “If we send Dez with a belt full of Glopified supplies, the Witches will be suspicious. Remember, he’s supposed to be a traitor.”

  “Yeah,” Spencer said. “We’re hoping that doesn’t come true.”

  “Relax, Doofus,” Dez said. “I’m sticking to the plan this time.” He pulled a Ziploc sandwich bag from his pocket and dangled it out for Spencer to see that it contained the bronze nails.

  “You gave Dez the nails?” Daisy said.

  “Those are the fake ones,” Sach said. “I told you they’d be convincing.”

  “I’m not really sure how convincing they look in a Ziploc bag,” Spencer said. “They’re supposed to be magic wands, not Cheetos.”

  “Duh.” Dez stuffed the false nails back into his pocket. “I’ll take them out of the bag before I hand them over.”

  “Which brings us to the exchange,” Sach said, getting them back on topic. “The moment you arrive at the Academy, Dez will be spotted. The guards might try to take the nails, but Dez will insist that he deliver them to the Witches personally. This is important: Spencer and Daisy will need to know exactly what room the Witches have been hiding in so they can search for the hair.”

  “What happens to Dez after he delivers the nails?” Spencer asked.

  “I doubt the Witches will befriend him, if that’s what you were thinking,” Olin answered. “They’ll probably hand him over to the Sweepers to be kept as a prisoner.”

  “Probably?” Spencer said.

  “Either that, or they’ll order him dead on the spot,” Aryl said. “We’re really hoping for the first option.”

  “And you’re okay with this plan?” Daisy asked the Sweeper boy.

  “I don’t care,” he said. “Either way, I get to bash some heads.” He knocked his fists together.

  “As soon as the Witches have taken the bait,” Olin said, “Dez is supposed to fight his way out of New Forest Academy.”

  “That’s the part I like,” said the muscular kid.

  “One Dez, against who knows how many Sweepers?” Spencer said. “He’ll never make it out of there.”

  “Normally, I would agree with you,” Aryl said. “But we’re hoping that Dez will get out the same way you and Daisy will get in.”

  “How’s that?” Spencer asked, anxious to hear Aryl’s plan that would prevent him from being recognized by the Witches.

  Aryl grinned. “You’ll be invisible.”

  Daisy’s eyes grew wide, and Spencer tilted his head skeptically. “Invisible?” he repeated.

  “What do you know about bleach?” Sach asked.

  Spencer knew that it was a harsh cleaning chemical that took color out of fabric. The first time he’d done his own laundry, he’d accidentally used bleach instead of detergent. All of his clothes in that load had come out white.

  “I know you’re not supposed to get it in your eyes,” Daisy said. “Or on your skin.”

  “Glopified bleach is a bit different,” Aryl said, producing a spray bottle from the stock of Glopified equipment. “It’s safe to the skin. But it has an unusual effect on any obje
ct it touches.”

  He kicked a rock out of the dirt, about the size of a tennis ball. Stooping down, he picked it up and held it out for the kids to see.

  “Ordinary bleach takes the color out of fabric, countertops, and almost everything it touches,” Aryl explained. “Glopified bleach doesn’t just turn things white.” He sprayed the rock in his hand. “It turns things invisible.”

  The stone in Aryl’s hand shimmered like a mirage. Then it disappeared completely. His hand was still cupped around something, but Spencer couldn’t see anything at all. Aryl made a tossing gesture, and a second later, something thudded against the dirt, leaving a small impression where the invisible rock sat.

  “We’re going to bleach ourselves?” Spencer asked.

  “Yup,” Olin said. “Bleach the color right out of you.”

  Spencer reached out his foot and nudged the invisible stone. He felt it move, despite the fact that no one could see it.

  “How long does it last?” Daisy asked. Spencer could tell that she too had some hesitations about going invisible.

  “Like other sprays, the effect will last about fifteen minutes,” answered Aryl.

  “That doesn’t give you much time to collect a Witch’s hair and escape,” Olin said.

  Spencer didn’t like operating under a time limit. “Can’t we just spray ourselves again if the invisibility wears off?”

  “You can spray yourself again, yes,” Sach said. “But the second time, the invisibility effect is . . . permanent.”

  “I don’t want to be invisible forever!” Daisy said.

  Aryl shrugged. “Then only use the bleach once.” He held the bleach bottle out for Spencer, who exhaled slowly and accepted it.

  Olin retrieved a second spray bottle. He passed it to Daisy, and she clipped it on her belt.

  “What about mine?” Dez asked.

  “You can’t walk in there with a bottle of bleach,” Olin said. “They’ll know you’re up to something.”

  “Spencer will pass you his bottle as soon as the Witches have taken the nails,” said Sach. “Bleach yourself and fight your way out while Spencer and Daisy find the hair.”

  “Yeah, yeah,” Dez said. “Enough talk. Let’s do this!” He dropped from his perch to land beside Spencer.

  “Wait!” came a shout from across the concrete pad. Two Auran girls were rushing toward them. The one in the back was clearly Rho, and Spencer identified V by the Spade in her hands.

  “Give me a bottle of bleach,” V said.

  “You’re not going with them,” Olin answered. “Invisible or not, it’s too risky that you’ll be caught. The Witches can’t find out that we are behind this operation. If they trace Dez and the false nails back to the Dark Aurans, they’ll figure out that we’re trying to close the source or take action against the brain nests.”

  “I won’t get caught,” V said. “I’ll stay in the truck. They need a driver to get them to the Academy.”

  “Then we’ll send Rho,” Aryl said. “We need you to use the Spade for us. There’s something in the landfill we have to get.”

  V gripped the rawhide handle protectively. “What do you need out there?”

  “The Vortex vacuum bag,” Sach answered.

  “The Vortex was destroyed,” Spencer said. “It was in the BEM laboratory when it got flooded. It’s at the bottom of the Atlantic.”

  “We have another,” said Sach. “There were actually three Vortices. One of them was set off in the 1980s. The BEM called it an anomaly and safely disposed of it. That was Aryl’s.”

  “The one you’re familiar with was mine,” said Olin. “But now it’s swimming with the fishes. That leaves Sach’s, but it’s at least a day’s journey into the landfill, stashed at one of our hideouts.”

  “I had no idea there were three Vortexes,” Daisy said.

  “Vortices,” Aryl corrected.

  “Huh?”

  “The plural of Vortex is Vortices,” he explained. “Like mouse and mice. Child and children.”

  “Enough!” Dez cut in. “We get it. Like sheep and sheeps.”

  Spencer rolled his eyes at Dez’s bad vocabulary. “Why do you need another Vortex?” he asked Sach.

  “It’s the only way back into the Dustbin,” he said. “Once the Glop source is closed, we’ll need to act fast. With any luck, your friend Marv will have a lead on those scissors. As soon as we have them, we’ll use the final Vortex to enter the Dustbin and destroy the Toxite brain nests.”

  “Why take the time to go looking for your vacuum bag?” V asked, still clutching the Spade defensively. “You’re free now. Why not save time and Glopify a new Vortex?”

  “It’s not that easy,” Olin said. “It’s a rare vacuum bag that will link up to the Dustbin. Regular Glopified vacuum bags simply charge up the bits of grit inside—it’s where we get vac dust. But Aryl created the first Vortex by accident. Gia had taken hold of his Pan and ordered him to Glopify a bag. For some reason, it didn’t behave like the others, but instead formed a gateway into the Dustbin.”

  “I punctured the bag,” Aryl said. “I hoped to get pulled out of the landfill. But the curse of the Broomstaff was too strong. The Pan kept me rooted while everything around me was drawn in. But I knew I’d created a real gem. When Gia came collecting, I told her it didn’t work. She gave me a second shot, and the next vacuum bag Glopified normally—full of vac dust.”

  “We started looking for opportunities to create another,” Olin said. “Over the decades, the Auran girls ordered us to Glopify hundreds of vacuum bags. Only three of them ever linked to the Dustbin.”

  “Isn’t there another way in?” Spencer asked, thinking back on something Sach had said. “What about the Glop source?”

  All three Dark Aurans stared blankly at him. Spencer fidgeted, wondering if he’d said something wrong. In an attempt to explain himself, he went on. “You said the Glop source is like a spillway from the Dustbin. We know the Witches came through it to get here. Theoretically, couldn’t someone go into the source and come out in the Dustbin?”

  Olin and Sach were shaking their heads. Aryl looked skeptical. “Theoretically,” he repeated. “People aren’t meant to touch raw Glop. I don’t think anyone could survive that.”

  “The Vortex is definitely the only safe way into the Dustbin,” Sach said. “That’s why it’s worth a day’s trek into the landfill to get it.”

  “But you need the Spade to reach it,” V stated.

  “Which is why you simply can’t go to the Academy,” Aryl said.

  V pursed her lips in thought. “Fine. I’ll go with you.”

  “How will we get to the Academy?” Spencer asked.

  “I’ll drive you,” Rho said. “But I won’t stay long. The girls and I are still gathering ingredients for the formula. We’ll want to be ready to close the source the moment you return.”

  “Take my garbage truck,” V said, pointing to the first dumpster. “It’s parked in Utah. Several hours’ drive, but that’s probably the closest you’ll get to Denver.”

  “Finally,” Dez said, winging his way to beat everyone to V’s dumpster. “You guys ready to see my combat skills?”

  Spencer didn’t like dividing up like this. He felt as though the Rebel force was stretched so thin they might fall apart at any moment. Walter was dead; their parents had been captured along with so many of the Rebels. Bookworm was decapitated, and Bernard and Penny were missing. Marv was in Florida playing Bingo with retired janitors, while V and the Dark Aurans headed into the landfill.

  Spencer put a hand on Daisy’s shoulder as they walked toward V’s dumpster. Daisy had been by his side from the start. Her steady presence gave him hope and courage. Now they were walking right into the Witches’ lair. They were going to New Forest Academy one last time.

  Spencer zipped his coveralls and climbed into the dumpster.

  Chapter 9

  “Some call me Dez.”

  Rho steered the garbage truck off the canyon road and parked
in a dirt pullout about a quarter mile from New Forest Academy’s entrance. Dez leapt from the cab and landed squarely on the road’s edge.

  “Hurry up,” he said, squinting against the afternoon sun. “I’ve got some Witches to fool.” He checked his pocket to make sure the sandwich bag with the false nails was where it should be.

  “We’re probably going to come across some Sweepers in there,” Spencer said, digging around in his janitorial belt. Vanilla air freshener would counteract the Toxite breath, but the scent might give them away. He found what he was hoping for, grateful that the Dark Aurans had been thorough in preparing the belts.

  “Put on your mask,” Spencer told Daisy, stretching the elastic band of his dust mask around his head.

  “You guys look like dorks every time you wear those,” Dez said. Spencer didn’t care how he looked. Any second now and he’d be invisible.

  “When should we bleach?” Daisy asked, once she got her dust mask in place.

  “Better do it now,” Rho said. “You don’t want to risk getting any closer while you’re visible.”

  “The invisibility only lasts fifteen minutes,” Spencer pointed out. “By the time we walk to the Academy entrance, I don’t think we’ll have enough time.”

  “Who says we’re walking?” Dez extended his wings.

  Spencer checked his watch so he’d know what time his invisibility would expire. Then he realized that if the bleach worked, he wouldn’t be able to see his watch until it was too late.

  “Help me spray them,” Rho called to Dez. “We don’t want the bleach to wear off on one of them before the other.”

  Daisy handed her bleach bottle to Rho and Spencer gave his to Dez. He didn’t like the idea of the bully aiming anything at his face, but if Spencer bleached himself, he might miss a spot.

  “You’ll probably want to close your eyes,” Rho said, which was more warning than Spencer got from Dez. Spencer managed to snap his eyes shut just as the first shot of bleach misted over his face. He heard Dez’s talon clicking against the trigger on the spray bottle and felt a slight tingling sensation on his skin.