by Lucas Flint
“What was that sound?” said Benjamin. He looked at me urgently. “Was that your doing? What did you—”
Another snap and the floor shuddered again, this time even making Benjamin stumble. I maintained my balance this time by holding onto the door as tightly as I could, though now the floor was quite wobbly under my feet.
“You’re shaking the floor somehow,” said Benjamin. He sounded close to panic now. “Yet you’re not moving at all. How is this possible? Some new power I didn’t know the Trickshot suit even had?”
My smile grew wider. “Oh, this isn’t a new power, my friend. It’s just an old one being used in a new way.”
Benjamin opened his mouth to ask me what I meant, but he was interrupted by a third, fourth, and fifth snap that each happened in rapid succession one after the other, sounding like a pop gun going off. The floor suddenly shook and even tilted under our feet. Benjamin went sliding several feet before he reached out with his hand and grabbed onto the computer in the center of the room, which stayed steady despite how much the floor had shaken.
“Those snaps …” Benjamin’s voice trailed off. “They sound familiar … but where …”
“Still haven’t figured it out yet?” I said. “All right. I’ll give you a hint. Look at the platform’s support cables.”
Benjamin suddenly looked around at the steel cables which had been holding this platform up over the open vats of Power below us. At first, he looked as confused as ever, but as soon as he noticed that nearly all of the cables save for two at either end of the platform had snapped, realization dawned on his monstrous features like lightning.
Benjamin whipped his head toward me, anger and fear on his face in equal tones. “Your disks have snapped nearly all of the cables. You’re trying to make this platform crash into the vats below.”
“Right on,” I said. “I remember how part of your goop fell into the vats and dissolved, so I’m betting that the same thing will happen to the rest of your body if you fall into it. Call it a hypothesis, if you will, albeit not a very scientific one.”
Fear rose in Benjamin’s eyes. “You foolish boy. If you drop this platform on the vats, you’ll doom us all! If you destroy Power, that will destroy Icon’s main source of income.”
“And?” I said. “That’s a bonus if it means getting rid of you forever. What other good things will happen if I let you die?”
Benjamin shook his head and growled at me. “Well, your plan isn’t going to work. You missed two of the cables, which is the bare minimum this platform needs to stay suspended in midair. You should have thrown more than six of those pesky disks of yours.”
My smile grew so big that it almost hurt. “Oh, I know. But doing cool trick shots isn’t my only power, you know.”
Gathering all of my super strength into my right fist, I slammed my fist down as hard as I could onto the floor of the platform we stood upon. The sudden impact of my fist onto the platform strained the remaining cables at first, making me think for a split second that the cables were stronger than I thought and that my plan was going to fail after all.
But then the cables snapped and the platform fell directly toward the steaming vats below. I activated my flight powers at the last second, however, and flew backwards into the open doorway, but I didn’t get far before Benjamin extended his hand toward me and wrapped it around my ankle, nearly yanking me down with him as the platform fell out underneath his feet.
“I’m not dying today, brat!” Benjamin shouted. “You’re my ticket out of here whether you like it or not!”
Just as those words left Benjamin’s lips, the sixth and final disk I had thrown appeared out of nowhere and cut cleanly through Benjamin’s arm. I yanked my foot back into the room and slammed the door shut behind me. The last thing I saw, before I slammed the door shut, was the shock and horror on Benjamin’s face as he fell.
As soon as I closed the door, I heard the loud sound of metal crashing into the vats below. There were sounds of metal splashing into some kind of liquid, alarms going off, and something sizzling in the vats of Power. I even thought I heard Benjamin’s last screams of pain, but they were drowned out by all of the much louder noises which accompanied the fall of the platform.
But at this point, I didn’t care to see if Benjamin had died or not. I just turned around to see Uncle Josh and Christina standing there, shocked looks on both of their faces.
“What are you two looking at?” I said.
“Nothing,” said Christina. “I just didn’t expect you to have the balls to pull off a move like that.”
“Same here,” said Uncle Josh. “That was risky, Jack, much riskier than even I would be willing to try. You’re lucky you didn’t get killed.”
I shrugged. “I’ve done riskier in the past. Besides, Benjamin wasn’t that hard. He wasn’t as smart as he thought he was.”
“Yeah, sounds about right,” said Christina. “Creep always thought he was smarter than everyone else just because he was the head scientist of the Power division. I would have killed the jerk myself if I could have.”
“Right,” said Uncle Josh. “Anyway, we need to keep going. Benjamin may be dead, but we still have a long way to go if we’re going to rescue Gregory and destroy Iconia. It wouldn’t surprise me if Chaser has sent some of his agents down into the tunnels to catch us, so let’s get going.”
Uncle Josh turned and began walking down the stairs as quickly as he could. Christina followed and I took up the rear, glancing over my shoulder every now and then to make sure that Benjamin hadn’t somehow survived the collapse and was following us. I knew he was probably dead, but it was better to be safe than sorry, in my opinion.
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
The stairs descended beneath Lab #5 much deeper than I expected. It seemed to take us ages before we finally reached the bottom of the stairs, where we went through yet another doorway that led us into a massive underground tunnel that stretched on forever in both directions. The walls, floor, and ceiling were covered with shiny metal panels, illuminated by the bright fluorescent lights set on the ceiling at ten feet intervals. There were no Icon agents down here when we entered, but I did notice a security camera looking directly at us when we emerged from the doorway.
“Don’t worry about it,” said Christina, nodding at the camera. “Chaser probably already knows we’re here. No point in being stealthy about it.”
“I guess you’re right,” I said. “So where do we go from here?”
“Let’s see …” Christina looked up and down the tunnel. “North. That’s where the Tower is, so if we keep going north, we’ll eventually reach the Tower dungeons where your grandpa is.”
“That’s simple,” I said.
“Oh, trust me, it’s far from simple,” said Christina. “I bet Chaser already has guards set up to keep us from entering the dungeons from here. Keep your guard up.”
“Sure,” I said. I looked at Uncle Josh. “You ready, Uncle?”
“As ready as I’ll ever be, I guess,” said Uncle Josh. “As long as we don’t have to run into any more super freaks, I think I’ll be—”
Uncle Josh was suddenly interrupted by a loud ringing noise coming from his pocket, a sound which made all three of us jump when we heard it. I immediately drew three disks from my pouch, while Christina conjured two energy ropes in her hands which she held like whips, but then Uncle Josh said, “Hold your horses, you two. It’s just my phone. Let’s see who it is.”
Uncle Josh pulled his phone out of his pocket and said, “Hello? … Hey, Mack! How are you and Gina doing?”
I heard Mack’s voice over the phone, but it was too low for me to make out exactly what he was saying. But I could see Uncle Josh, who was nodding and tapping his chin in interest as Mack spoke.
“Interesting,” said Uncle Josh. “Well, call me back when you and Gina get the bomb set up. We just entered the tunnels and are on our way to the Tower. See you later.”
Uncle Josh ended the call and slipped his
phone into his pocket, while I said, “How are Mack and Gina doing? Have they set up the bomb yet?”
“Not yet,” said Uncle Josh. “Apparently, our distraction is working, because Mack says that they’ve seen guards converging on Lab Five in response to our actions there. Looks like everything is going according to plan.”
I chuckled. “Those guards are going to be in for a nasty surprise once they get to the lab.”
“What about the bomb?” said Christina. “You told Mack to call you back when they set it up.”
“Oh, right,” said Uncle Josh. “Yes, they’re getting pretty close to the spot where the Gift is supposed to go. Once they get it in place, they’ll start the timer, but I made them promise to call me before they did so we could get ready.”
“Didn’t you say the timer can only be delayed for thirty minutes?” I said. “That doesn’t leave us a whole lot of time to escape once it starts.”
“Don’t worry,” said Uncle Josh. “By the time they start the timer, we should be well on our way to the top of the Tower where Icon keeps all of their helicopters. But if you really want to make sure we have plenty of time to spare, then I suggest getting a move on, because the quicker we save Greg, the quicker we can get out of here, bomb or no.”
I nodded and said, “All right. Let’s head north, then.”
I started walking in that direction, with Uncle Josh and Christina following closely behind me. I would have flown the entirety of the tunnel myself, but I didn’t want to leave Uncle Josh or Christina behind. I especially didn’t want to leave Uncle Josh alone with Christina. Despite everything we’d been through, I still didn’t trust her entirely. It might have just been our paranoia speaking, but I worried that Christina might betray us at the last minute. Of course, it was getting harder and harder to maintain that opinion, given how many times Christina had been given the perfect opportunity to betray us and yet had not every time.
“So how long is this tunnel?” I said, looking over my shoulder at Christina.
“About half a mile long, I think,” said Christina. “Usually, I travel on the trolley, so I’m not exactly sure how long it is.”
“Trolley?” I said. “They have a trolley down here?”
“But I don’t see any tracks,” said Uncle Josh, looking at the floor.
“Trolley is just our name for it,” said Christina. “It’s more like a hover vehicle that we use to transport supplies and stuff between the Tower and the labs. It’s not very fast or comfortable, but it does the job.”
I suddenly looked down the tunnel. “Do you think there’s a chance the trolley might come down this way and run us over?”
“Doubt it,” said Christina.
“Why?” said Uncle Josh. “That would seem like a good way to kill us.”
Christina’s mischievous smile returned. “Because I may or may not have disabled its engines when I betrayed Icon, purely out of spite.”
“Ah,” I said. “Of course you would do that.”
“What can I say?” said Christina. “It’s what my mom always said: ‘If you’re going to betray someone, then take a dump in their salad while you’re at it.’”
I frowned. “Didn’t you say you have amnesia? How can you remember what your mom said?”
Christina suddenly looked away. “It’s not complete amnesia. I do remember a few things here and there from my past, but nothing definite. I couldn’t tell you what my mom’s name is or what she looks like. I just remember that.”
“You have amnesia?” said Uncle Josh, looking at Christina with interest. “I didn’t know that.”
“Yeah, I do, but it’s not that big a deal,” said Christina with a shrug. “I’ve learned to live with it. I don’t know anything about my past and I don’t need to.”
Uncle Josh tapped his chin. “Hmph. In my experience, amnesiacs are usually very interested in learning about their past. They’re not usually as dismissive of it as you are.”
“Maybe I’m not like your average amnesiac,” said Christina. “Maybe I’m special.”
“Like a snowflake,” I said with a smile.
Christina shot me the most murderous glare she had ever looked at me with before, but I didn’t apologize. I’d gotten Christina there and she knew it. She would probably go to her grave never admitting it to anyone, but I’d gotten her with the snowflake comment and it felt pretty good.
“Snowflake?” said Uncle Josh. “Rather appropriate, given how frigid she is.”
“I’m starting to rethink the wisdom of betraying Icon now,” said Christina. “Maybe when we get to the Tower I’ll just hand you two over to the guards and claim you kidnapped me and forced me to help you or something.”
I shook my head. “Nope, too late for that, Christie. You’re with us, for better or for worse.”
Christina said nothing to that, but I could tell she was really starting to regret joining up with us. Either that, or she was planning her next comeback to me. I didn’t really care either way. As long as she continued to help us save Grandfather, I didn’t care how she felt about, well, anything.
The three of us walked together in silence for the next several minutes. I kept my eyes and ears open, keeping a careful eye out for any potential traps or dangers in here. But it was like the forest earlier: Eerily quiet, with the only sounds being our own footsteps and breaths as we advanced closer and closer to the Tower. It was a lot nicer than the forest, though, mostly because we weren’t having to push through tons of tree branches and bushes.
As we walked, I thought about TW again. I wished he was still here with us. I was certain he would be happy to save Grandfather, but unfortunately he was not going to be around to see him saved. But if we succeeded in rescuing Grandfather, then perhaps he would be able to repair TW. After all, Grandfather was the man who originally programmed TW in the first place. If I gave him the Watch, then he might be able to bring TW back.
That thought filled me with hope, but I told myself not to get too excited just yet. After all, there was still a long way to go before we even reached Grandfather, much less saved him. True, we were closer now than ever before, but I couldn’t allow myself to get too caught up in my own excitement. Caution was still a virtue here, regardless of how quiet it may have seemed.
I was snapped out of my thoughts, however, when Christina said, “What was that?”
“What was what?” I said, looking at Christina in confusion.
“I thought I heard something,” said Christina. She pointed straight ahead of us. “I thought I heard something coming from up ahead.”
“What did it sound like?” I said.
“Footsteps,” said Christina. “Like someone is down here with us.”
“An Icon agent?” said Uncle Josh.
I looked ahead, but as far as I could tell, we were the only people in the tunnel at the moment. “I don’t see anything. Maybe you just heard our own footsteps echoing off the floor and walls.”
“Probably,” said Christina, folding her arms across her chest and frowning. “But I’m not sure. Those footsteps didn’t sound like ours. They sounded much heavier, like they belonged to someone bigger than any of us.”
Uncle Josh reached into his right pocket. “We knew it was unlikely that Icon would allow us to advance without any problems. It wouldn’t surprise me if one of their agents is somewhere in here.”
“Again, I don’t see anything,” I said. “I think that maybe you’re—”
I was interrupted by a low rumbling in the ground, a tremor of some sort. It was soft, almost imperceptible, but at the same time, it was quite noticeable.
“Why did the ground shake?” I said. I looked at Christina. “Does Iconia have earthquakes or something?”
“No,” said Christina, shaking her head. She looked as mystified as Uncle Josh and I. “I don’t know what’s up with the tremor.”
“Whatever it is, it can’t be any good,” said Uncle Josh. “We need to keep moving forward. The dungeons aren’t much fa
rther now.”
Just as Uncle Josh said that, all of the vents in the ceiling suddenly opened at once. We all looked up just in time to see some kind of strange green gas begin pouring out of the vents toward us.
“What is that?” I said. “Gas?”
Christina’s eyes widened with horror. She looked at me and Uncle Josh and said, “We need to run. Now. Because if we breathe in any of that gas … we’ll be dead in seconds.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
Normally, I would have questioned Christina about what that gas was and how it would kill us, but there was something about its green hue that made me feel the same kind of apprehension I felt whenever I saw a rattlesnake.
So I just ran after Christina, who ran ahead of me and Uncle Josh surprisingly fast. As we ran, more gas poured out of the vents on the ceiling, forming a wall of gas behind us that advanced in our wake. We had already put a good distance between ourselves and the gas, but we didn’t slow down at all.
“What is that gas?” I shouted at Christina as we ran. “Is it another one of Icon’s inventions?”
Christina nodded without looking over her shoulder at me. “Yeah. Benjamin made it. It’s a special blend called Benjamin gas, named after himself, obviously.”
“What’s so special about it?” I said. “Aside from the fact that it kills in three seconds, that is.”
“Look back and tell me what you see,” said Christina. “It’s easier to show its effects than explain them.”
Uncle Josh and I looked back over our shoulders, but I almost immediately wished I hadn’t, because through the thick green cloud of Benjamin gas, I saw that the floor, ceiling, and walls were rusting away. It looked like the gas was taking bites out of the tunnel, as if it was some kind of living creature that needed to eat metal to survive.
“It’s corroding the metal,” said Uncle Josh as we turned our attention back to Christina. “That can’t be good.”
“It isn’t,” said Christina, shaking her head, again without looking at us. “But that’s what it’s designed to do. It’s toxic enough to rust and corrode even the strongest of metals. It can also eat through human flesh in three seconds flat.”