“Excellent,” Chu replied. “Let Mistress Jane know at once.”
Chapter 40
A Pulsing Light
Sato picked his way along the top of the rubble, knowing that he could slip to his death at any second. The ruined stone and brick and wood and whatever else Jane had used to build the place lay stacked on top of each other like some kind of fragile toy, ready to collapse at any second. Something shifted with every step, and Sato kept thinking he couldn’t possibly feel his heart leap any stronger, but it seemed to do so every time.
The gray mass of spinning air was only a few hundred feet to his left, and that certainly wasn’t helping his nerves. Cracks of thunder shook the air and made the debris beneath his feet tremble, and as hard as he tried, he couldn’t stop himself from looking over every few seconds at the brilliant displays of lightning. The Void itself was downright creepy. It had a steady roar and a chilling movement to it that made Sato feel as if it were alive and hungry.
And it was growing steadily. Half of the castle ruins had been swallowed by the entity, and its pace of expansion seemed to be increasing. If they were going to learn anything about what had happened to Mistress Jane’s creatures, they’d need to figure it out fast.
Tollaseat tapped him on the shoulder, making him almost jump out of his skin. “What if that blimey thing decides it wants to take a bit of leapin’ at us?” Mothball’s dad asked. “Takes a fancy at throwin’ a lightning bolt or two our way?”
“Then duck,” Sato replied. “You’re welcome to go back if you want.”
Tollaseat laughed, a booming sound that drowned out the thunder and rush of wind for a few seconds. “You make a grouchy grump, you do. Or is it a grumpy grouch?”
“Just keep looking.” Sato had enjoyed the tiny reprieve from the noises of the Void, but knew he couldn’t admit it. He needed to keep his game face on now. Be a leader. “You go that way, and I’ll go this way. But not too far off. We need to be off this big pile of rocks in an hour.”
“Can’t come soon enough,” the man mumbled.
Sato turned his back to him once more and started gingerly walking over the rubble again. According to their best guess, they were currently over the section the fangen and other creatures had been running toward, but everything looked the same from the outside—broken and dusty. Keeping his arms out for balance, he walked across the crooked stacks of stones, looking through the gaps and cracks for any sign of . . . he didn’t know. Something.
A few minutes later, he spotted it. Far down below the debris, just visible through the layers of stone, he saw a glowing blue light that pulsed every two or three seconds, flashing more brilliantly before fading again to a dull glow.
“Hey!” he shouted. “Come over here and look!”
Tollaseat’s face lit up with excitement, and he started lumbering his way over to where Sato stood. The man was so much taller and bigger than an average man, and Sato feared he’d crash down in a cloud of dust and rock chips at any second. But he finally made it and raised his shoulders in question.
“Down there.” Sato pointed.
Tollaseat put a big hand on Sato’s shoulder and leaned in to take a look. Sato flexed his leg muscles to keep his knees from collapsing under the added weight.
“Well, I’ll be,” the man said, the glow from below reflecting in his large eyes. “Take me spine out and tickle ’er up and down! What in the blazes you reckon that is, sir?”
Sato looked at his friend and best soldier. “I don’t know. But this can’t be a coincidence. Those nasty things of Jane’s were running this way, and then they all seemed to vanish, only to reappear later. And now there’s a flashing blue light shining in a place that doesn’t use electricity.”
“Right, you are. Can’t be two toads bumpin’ tongues on the same fly, that’s for sure.”
“Huh?” When Tollaseat opened his mouth to answer, Sato cut him off. “Never mind. Let’s get down to that thing. Time’s running out.”
He planted his feet as firmly as he could then bent over to lift a piece of rock directly above the odd blue glow. He chucked it to the side, the crack of it hitting the rubble barely audible over the noises of the Void.
In the shadow of the huge gray funnel of mist filled with lightning and thunder, Sato and Tollaseat started digging through the ruins of Mistress Jane’s castle.
Paul was curled up in his bed—or the bed he’d been given at the Grand Canyon headquarters—staring at the wall. He’d never felt so low in all his life, and there’d been some freaky, scary moments over the last couple of years. But right that second, he just wanted to sink into the mattress, fall asleep, and never wake up again. Everything had gone so wrong.
How could the whole world—scratch that, the whole universe and every single Reality within it—be in so much trouble? Again? Mistress Jane and her fancy schmancy Blade of Shattered Hope had almost set off a chain reaction that would’ve destroyed the universe. Paul didn’t care about the specifics, but he knew that Tick had saved them all. Yeah, he’d been sucked away into the Nonex, but deep down, Paul had known the kid was okay and that he’d find his way back somehow. Or, at least, Paul had told himself that.
But now all this? Some big gray cloud called the Void from the Fourth Dimension was eating away at a planet? And then Jane said it would keep on going once that was all done. And then Tick had to make it worse by running off against Master George’s wishes. Which wasn’t so bad to Paul—what was bad was the fact that Tick hadn’t come back. And Rutger couldn’t get a lock on Tick’s nanolocator. The Realitant system kept saying that it was blocked, a thing that had obviously bewildered and bamboozled everyone listening.
Not Paul. To him, the news had just made him sick to his stomach. He’d insisted on leaving, going to his room. Sorry, so sorry, but I don’t feel so well. Which was the absolute truth. They were supposed to take care of Chu and Mistress Jane then have fun exploring other worlds for the rest of their lives. It wasn’t supposed to be like this. Paul wanted to shout at the top of his lungs. Maybe pound on some walls while he was at it.
He sat up.
He had to do something. Master George and the others had talked and talked around the conference room table and had come up with absolutely nothing to show for it. Except that they were going to keep researching, keep tabs on things, blah blah blah. Paul couldn’t stand the thought of all that wasted time and energy. A big glob of fog was eating away at Reality, and his best friend had gone missing.
He had to do something, and he had to do something now, or he’d go completely nutso bat-crazy. Ignoring the ache and nausea in his belly, he slid off the bed and opened his door, stepping out into the hallway. It was right then that an image of a box popped into his head. A little metal box with a green button. And Paul knew exactly where Master George had placed it.
He started walking in that direction.
Chapter 41
Ill Reunion
When Tick opened his eyes, the face of Reginald Chu was staring back down at him. It was a face that had once meant so much to him—this terrible man was the Alterant of Tick’s beloved science teacher, one of the greatest people ever. It was crazy how two opposites could look so much alike.
Tick was surprised at how little panic he felt. The ordeal that had happened near his home had been terrible. The movement and disorientation from whatever it was that had captured him had caused him to faint. He’d eventually awakened on a gurney of steel in some kind of bright washroom, reeking. He almost gagged from his own smell. He’d barely been conscious enough to have the thought, however, before someone pricked him with something that made him doze off again. His last memory was of a big hose washing him off before the darkness took him away.
And now, here he was again. Waking up. He could feel clean, fresh clothes on his skin. He could see lights in the ceiling. And the ugly, smug face of Chu peering down at him as if he were nothing but an insect specimen.
“Don’t even think about reaching for yo
ur Chi’karda,” the man said. “Before I say anything else, I’ll warn you on that front. Do you understand?”
Tick stared at him but said nothing. His mind went back to his failed attempts to escape from that weird silver coffin that had captured him. Twice he’d tried to destroy the object and free himself by throwing out his power, only to have it rebound and practically fry his brain. He still didn’t really understand the whole strange turn of events.
Chu continued. “I can see the light of understanding in your eyes. I’m sure you remember when you and Jane came to Chu Industries, invited by yours truly. I wanted the best for my Dark Infinity project, and I knew there had to be something in place to block your Chi’karda levels. Well, obviously it didn’t work then—now did it? You destroyed my entire building and ruined Jane’s body for life.”
“Maybe I’ll do it again,” Tick responded. His confidence was returning, and he still felt no real fear, despite the situation.
“You’re missing my point. Once again your arrogance is preventing your brain from processing my words. I’m reminding you of the measures I had in place because they have been improved upon. My people are very clever, and you would be wise not to try anything. You felt what happened when you tried to use your force against the Bagger.”
“The Bagger?” Tick repeated. He lifted his head up and saw that he was lying on a small bed with several metal cords wrapped around his body, holding him down. The cords were much thinner than the one that had sprung from the long silver box and grabbed him by the waist, but seemed to be made from the same material.
“It’s an invention of Chu Industries that I have neither the time or the desire to explain. It uses technology that lies beyond terminology you would understand anyway. But the key is that it was armed with my anti-Chi’karda recoil mechanism. And it worked. Sorry to test it on you—I’m sure you don’t appreciate being the guinea pig, considering you could have died. What a pity that would’ve been.”
This supposedly grown man was acting like a child, and it annoyed Tick to no end. “Maybe you can just tell me why I’m here.”
Chu’s head pulled back ever so slightly, as if he were surprised that Tick would take such a tone considering his obvious disadvantages. “Don’t mistake bravery for stupidity, boy. With all the people I’ve crushed or pushed aside in my lifetime quest to rule the Realities and make them better, it should be clear that I have many, many enemies. But no one comes close to being a target of my sheer . . . animosity as you do. Mr. Higginbottom, I despise you—there’s no other way to put it. And your margin of error with me is as thin as a red blood cell. Do you understand?”
“You despise me?” Tick asked, incredulous. “How do you think I feel about you?”
“I’m sure the feeling is mutual. But it hardly matters now that I have such complete control over you. I suggest you take a more humble approach.”
But Tick wasn’t done sharing a piece of his mind. “And what’s all that garbage about making the Realities better? All you want is power, and you know it. You don’t care about anyone but yourself.”
Chu’s face flashed with anger, and he leaned in closer to Tick. His bad breath wafted to Tick’s nose and made him want to squirm out of the bed. “You shut that mouth of yours, do you hear me? Shut your mouth and show me some respect. You could never possibly understand me or my motives. I’ll do what needs to be done, and no one can stop me. Yes, I may have a petty streak in me, and I may have done a few things that I might not be proud of, which is unfortunate for you because when I’m done using you, I’m going to dispose of you in a way that brings me a great deal of satisfaction. It’s something you can start looking forward to.”
Tick lashed out, but the restraints held his arms in place. He was furious and had never wanted to hit another person so much in his life. But he slouched back down onto the bed, knowing he couldn’t be stupid enough to try anything with his power over Chi’karda. He’d just have to be patient and wait for the right opportunity to come along.
But at least he had his words. “You’re a pathetic man, Chu. How can you even look yourself in the mirror tonight after standing there and talking like that to someone who’s not even fifteen years old yet? Pathetic and sad.”
Chu, of course, did the most maddening thing then. He laughed as he straightened back up to stand tall. “Don’t goad me on, kid. You can yap all day if you want about how young you are, but we all know the power that’s trapped inside your child’s body. And we all know why.”
Tick paused, surprised by the odd statement. Even though he hated to let go of his anger, he had to know what the man meant. “What . . . why . . . why what?”
Chu raised his eyebrows. “Don’t play dumb with me, boy. Reginald Chu knows all—or at least what he cares to.”
Tick started to sit up before he remembered the restraints. Groaning in frustration, he closed his eyes then opened them again. He needed to find some humility. “I’m serious. I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“This is unbelievable. How could he keep you in the dark about this?” Chu looked at him in disbelief. “I’m talking about why you, of all people, have this incredible ability to manipulate and control Chi’karda. Don’t tell me that old man George hasn’t explained it to you yet. He knows. He went well out of his way to confirm it.”
Tick was dumbfounded. “What does he know?”
Chu folded his arms and peered down at him, slowly shaking his head. “Soulikens, Atticus. It’s all about the soulikens.”
Chapter 42
Poor Little Centipede
Sweat poured down Sato’s face, and it wasn’t just from the effort of digging through and tossing aside the countless broken stones that had lain between him and the source of the glowing light at his feet. He was nervous because the massive storm of the Void was growing louder and bigger, its shadow looming over him, Tollaseat, and the dug-out pit in which they stood. They needed to figure out this anomaly and get away from there.
He got down on one knee and inspected the source of the light. It was a slit in the floor, about three feet long and a few inches wide. Although it wasn’t really in the floor—it was more like the rip in Reality he’d seen before when the gray fog had first appeared beside the castle walls. Blue light shone from behind the odd crack in the air, so intense that it was hard to look at it directly. There was nothing else there, as if it were a small window into a river of radioactive material or something otherworldly. The light continued to pulse, flashing every few seconds so brightly that it was blinding.
“How’re we s’posed to figure what she might be?” Tollaseat asked. The man was too long and gangly to try to squat down next to Sato. “Took a bit of work, it did, gettin’ down this far. T’would be a mighty shame to go back empty-handed, now wouldn’t it?”
Sato thought Mothball’s dad had an uncanny gift for saying a lot of words that offered no help whatsoever. “I don’t know. Just let me think for a second.”
He did try to think, and that didn’t help either. He wasn’t a scientist. Somehow he’d become the captain of an army, for crying out loud. But he knew without any doubt that this small spit of shining blue light had something to do with . . . something.
Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed a centipede creeping along a broken slab of stone. Testing some theory on the edge of his mind, he picked up the poor little thing and tossed it into the slice of pulsing light. The bug disappeared in a tiny burst of white electricity, tiny jagged bolts skittering across the blue surface before dying out. There was no sign of the critter.
“Well, ain’t you a cruel one,” Tollaseat chided him from above. “What did that wee bugger ever do to you?”
Sato stood up, letting out a big sigh as he did so. “I was just putting him out of his misery. Pretty soon this whole place will be eaten up by . . . whatever that is out there.” He jabbed a thumb in the direction of the tornado, then gave one last glance to the blue anomaly. “It was just an experiment. I thought m
aybe something would happen. Look, I have no idea what to do here. We’ll just have to describe it to Master George and see what he thinks. Come on, let’s go.”
The two of them started up the pile of rocks they’d burrowed out of before. Sato was halfway to the top when he heard a horrible roar, like something half-mechanical and half-animal. It was followed by shouts from his soldiers.
His heart sank, and his first thought was, What now?
He picked up the pace and scrambled the rest of the way, almost falling twice as pieces of stone tore loose or broke off. When he reached the peak of the debris, he balanced himself and stood up, Tollaseat right beside him.
Something monstrous was crawling out of the churning mass of the Void’s huge tornado. It was big and long, with lightning arcing along its gray skin. With a terrifying dawn of awareness, Sato realized that the thing looked like . . .
It looked like a centipede.
Paul was just about to slip into the laboratory of the Realitant headquarters when Sofia spotted him from down the hallway. Great, he thought. He’d almost made it.
She ran up to him. “What in the world are you doing? I looked all over for you. Master George is not happy.”
“Hey, it’s not my fault those idiots can’t figure out what we’re supposed to do next.”
“Idiots?” she repeated. “Really? You’re calling them idiots?”
“Very funny. Look, I might not be the smartest tool in this workshop, but at least I don’t think it’s okay to sit around fiddling my thumbs. I think it’s high time you and I figured out something on our own.”
Sofia rolled her eyes, but he saw some compassion in there too. She was trying to keep everyone happy on both sides of the fence. “Paul, you know very well that not a single person here is fiddling their thumbs. The rest of them are analyzing data, talking to other Realitants, and researching. They’re trying to learn more about the Void and its energy so we can beat it. I was just coming to find you to help. We need every set of eyes.”