“You three should train extra hard,” he said, pacing nervously. “If you hear that alarm again, you have to be ready. It will mean bad news. Very bad news.”
“Well, I guess that’s perfect timing for us to go and practice, then,” Albert said.
He looked at the giant, round clock on Professor Bigglesby’s desk. It was almost time for the first head-to-head Competition. At least they knew they wouldn’t have to face Argon today. They’d be up against the other Calderon training unit, the Third Termers called Ecco. The thought helped clear some of Albert’s dread from the alarm. In fact, he found he had a spring in his step. Today was his day; he could feel it.
When Team Hydra reached the copper door to the Pit ten minutes later and opened it, the Pit looked like an entirely new place. There were no cables or rings of fire, and the black Melatrix wasn’t bouncing around, waiting to pulverize Leroy. Instead, there were floating orange ledges scattered around. At the very top, on both sides opposite each other, sat two large metal buckets. And where there had once been bouncy ground at the bottom, there was now a sea of blue.
“Oh yeah.” Birdie smiled, looking down at the water. “This is good news, you guys! My Tile can help us win!” She held it up to her mouth and planted a big kiss on the water-droplet symbol.
“I wonder what those buckets are up there for,” Leroy mused aloud.
They walked along the ledge to the other side of the Pit, where Trey and Professor Flynn sat waiting. There was already a huge crowd of Core workers gathered to watch the action. Petra was among them. He gave Albert, Leroy, and Birdie a big thumbs-up.
“You’ve arrived early,” Professor Flynn said, smiling at Albert. “I like the dedication.”
“We wanted to scope out the scene before the other team got here,” Albert said to his dad.
“About that,” Professor Flynn started. “James from the Ecco team had an unfortunate run-in with a Jackalope last night, so we’ve rejiggered the schedule. You’ll be up against Argon again today.” Albert, Leroy, and Birdie exchanged defeated glances.
There goes my good feeling, Albert thought.
“But not to worry! Today’s challenge is a good one. Especially for you, Birdie.” He pointed down at the water. “A little hint for you three, if I may? Watch your back. You never know what might come after you.”
Before Albert could ask what his dad was getting at, the door of the Pit opened and Hoyt and his team walked in. Leroy groaned.
“Don’t let them see us sweat,” Birdie whispered. “I’m going to pulverize them!”
“We’re going to pulverize them,” Albert reminded her. “We have to work as a team, remember?”
“That’s not how it works on the swim team,” she said.
“But if we work together, we can win,” Leroy added.
“Fine,” Birdie said. “But if you two boys slow me down . . .”
Leroy rolled his eyes. “Girls,” he whispered to Albert.
Professor Flynn had everyone line up around the edge of the Pit while Trey explained the challenge.
“As you saw yesterday, you’ll need mental and physical skills to navigate the Realms. In Calderon, you’re going to come across some pretty scary stuff. There are a lot of high obstacles you’re going to have to scale. Sometimes, you won’t be able to figure out a clear way to reach the top, and you might have to problem solve.”
“Ooooo, Synapse Tile time!” Leroy said, elbowing Albert.
Professor Flynn spoke up. “Grey, Aria, and Terran have also recently reported that they suspect the source of the current Imbalance in the Calderon Realm is a problem in the large body of water there, so we thought we’d give you some swimming to do today.”
“Told you my Tile would come in handy!” Birdie whispered to Albert.
“Today’s challenge will help you hone those mental and physical skills, but even more important, your teamwork skills, which you started to work on yesterday. There’s a reason we send Balance Keepers into the Realms in teams: the more you work together, the more successful—and safe—you’ll be. So, today’s challenge is this: Go to the bottom of the lake, find the tokens that spell out a secret word, then place the tokens in the buckets. Grab as many tokens as you want while you’re assembling the word, but once you have your word, only two tokens may be placed in the buckets at a time, and only two tokens can be carried by any one player at a time. Whichever team completes the challenge first wins.”
“That’s it?” Albert asked. It seemed easy enough. The secret word might be a little tricky, but together, his team could figure it out.
“That’s it,” Trey said, but he had a mysterious gleam in his eye.
Trey blew his silver whistle, and two platforms with diving boards appeared, one on each side of the Pit. Albert, Leroy, and Birdie took the one to their left, and Hoyt, Slink, and Mo took the right. As the diving boards began moving down deeper into the Pit, Albert thought of how badly he wanted to win. He grabbed the Tile around his neck.
“Let’s hope this Tile does something today,” he said, to no one in particular.
The platforms stopped a few feet above the water and Professor Flynn called down to them.
“Are both teams ready?”
“Ready!” all six Balance Keepers shouted at once. Leroy took a deep breath. Birdie rocked back and forth on her heels. Albert cracked his knuckles.
“BEGIN!” Trey shouted. He blew his whistle, and the Pit came to life.
All the ledges overhead began to move, up and down, left and right. And fast. The other team didn’t waste any time. Slink dove headfirst toward the water. Mo sat down on the edge of the floating platform and waited for Slink to come back up.
“Figure out the secret word! I’ll wait for you up top!” Hoyt shouted to his team. When he saw Team Hydra looking at him, he grimaced. “See you later, newbs!” Then he bent his knees, took a big leap, and landed on the next platform up like it was no more difficult than playing hopscotch.
“That was ridiculous!” Leroy screamed. “He just jumped up five feet, four inches without even breaking a sweat!”
Albert looked up at the platform. It did seem a little high from where he was standing now, but if Hoyt could do it, he figured he could, too. He thought again of how he’d jumped across Herman, Wyoming. He’d thought that was adventure, but this—this—was adventure. He wasn’t about to let a little leap stop him now.
“Birdie.” Albert turned to her. “Get underwater. Start looking at the tokens and see if you can figure out what the secret word is.”
Birdie nodded and dove into the water with a loud splash!
“Leroy, can you stay here and wait for Birdie? When she brings those tokens up, start laying them out. Try to figure out the secret word.”
“Ten-four, big buddy,” Leroy said, tipping the bill of his baseball cap. “What are you going to do?”
Albert stood on the very edge of the platform and looked up. “I’m going to do what Hoyt just did. I don’t know his plan, but he must have a reason for going up there.” Leroy nodded, then turned his attention to Birdie.
Albert bent his knees, took a deep breath, and jumped.
He got his upper body on the platform overhead, but his feet were still dangling down below. He let go and landed back on the diving board, nearly bouncing Leroy off into the water below.
“Uh, Albert? That wasn’t exactly a leap. More like a bunny hop,” Leroy said behind him.
“Thanks for clearing that up,” Albert said. He gritted his teeth and tried again. This time he got most of his body on, then pulled his legs up. Not bad, but not as easy as I thought it would be.
Birdie surfaced and placed a handful of tokens on the platform. Some were as small as quarters, while others were the size of her entire hand. They were all different shapes, with different colors on them. Albert thought he spotted the tip of the letter E, but he couldn’t be sure.
He tried another leap to the next platform. Again, he had to pull himself up.
“They’re puzzle pieces!” Birdie said. “There’s hundreds of them down there! I don’t know which ones to grab!”
“Get as many as you can,” Leroy said. “And hurry!”
Another attempt at a jump. Another lame pulling himself up. Was Hoyt really that much stronger than him?
Slink’s head popped up across from Birdie’s. He appeared to have at least two pieces.
It’s just a jump, Albert thought. A big jump. You can do it.
“We’re already ten steps ahead of you!” Hoyt yelled from overhead. He was hopping from platform to platform, landing on them with an effortless grace that made Albert’s stomach drop. Now he was just showing off. “Quit now, before you guys embarrass yourselves!”
Albert reluctantly watched Hoyt, studying the way he moved with such power and grace. He sighed. He had to hand it to the guy—he was good, even at the things his Speed Tile didn’t help with.
Birdie surfaced with more tokens, and Leroy started piecing them together. There was a snap and a letter I appeared. “Yes! We’re doing it!” Leroy shouted.
It was like that little victory was just the encouragement Albert needed. He took a deep breath.
I can do this. He thought about the time he jumped for hours on his cousin’s trampoline in California, how he felt like he could leap to the moon if he wanted. I wish I could just jump like I did that day . . . maybe even higher than Hoyt.
Out of nowhere, there was a buzzing feeling in his legs, like they couldn’t wait to move. Albert bent his knees, gritted his teeth, and jumped with all his might.
He shot into the air like he’d bounced off a springboard. He almost didn’t land on a platform, but as one of them floated to the left, he came down on the edge and threw his weight forward so as not to fall. He collapsed, gasping for air. Maybe he was as strong as Hoyt. . . .
“Very nice, Albert!” Professor Flynn shouted into his MegaHorn. “Way to add a little fire to the Competition!”
“Go, Albert!” Petra screamed from the audience. Everyone cheered, and Farnsworth, somewhere in their midst, let out an encouraging howl.
Across from Albert, Hoyt’s jaw hung open. Albert tried it again.
Come on, Albert. Leap! He imagined monkeys at the zoo, leaping from tree to tree like it was as easy as breathing.
When the platform he was on passed another one moving upward, Albert jumped and landed right in the center.
“Yes!” he shouted. Now I’m doing it!
Below, he could hear Leroy hooting and hollering, cheering him on, and he thought he saw Birdie surface again with more tokens.
“Hydra is making progress!” Professor Flynn said. “As soon as they spell out their word, they can start taking their tokens up to the buckets.”
Albert watched from above as Birdie and Leroy struggled to spell out the secret word. Across from them, Slink and Mo were having trouble, too.
“It’s just you and me, Flynn!” Hoyt bounced past Albert, and suddenly, Albert realized: this was about teamwork. He’d said it himself to Birdie earlier. They wouldn’t win if Albert wasn’t down there with them, making their entire unit whole. It was just like Hoyt to miss that point. Albert leaped down and landed on the platform next to Leroy and Birdie.
“Are the words going to be the same?” Leroy was asking Birdie.
“Fill me in!” Albert said to his teammates.
“We’re trying, but so far no luck!” Birdie groaned. “Thanks for coming back to help, by the way.”
Birdie turned and dove back under the water. Albert followed after her, taking a deep breath before he submerged. The water wasn’t salty, so he could open his eyes for a few seconds and see what was below. Hundreds of tokens sat on the bottom of the pool, piled on top of one another. Across from where Birdie swam, Albert could see Slink sifting through the tokens. The kid was swimming torpedo fast.
His breath was running out, so Albert surfaced.
“I think Slink has a Water Tile like Birdie’s!” Albert said to Leroy.
“Thanks for the uplifting news, buddy!”
Birdie surfaced again, two tokens in her hand. She looked like an angry, wet cat. “I can’t figure it out, you guys! It’s, like, a total maze down there!”
Albert bobbed up and down in the water. “I’ll do whatever I need to do to help; just tell me what to do!”
“Just . . . figure it out! I don’t know, but we’re running out of time!” Birdie said. She dove back under, and Albert wished so badly he could follow, but there was no way he could hold his breath that long. What he wouldn’t give to have a Water Tile like Birdie’s, with that cool droplet symbol on it. . . .
All at once, Albert felt impossibly light. The Tile around his neck seemed to buzz with life, and he just knew what to do.
He dove under the water, took a breath of air, and . . .
What?
Somehow, Albert was doing what Birdie could do. It was like he had a Water Tile. There was no time for questions. Albert dove, following Birdie to the bottom of the pool. She looked shocked when she saw him, but he shook his head and pointed at the bottom of the pool. Together, they grabbed as many tokens as possible. With two people instead of one, they might have a fighting chance.
As soon as they surfaced, hands full of tokens, Leroy started rummaging through the new finds.
“Wait a minute; I think there’s something here!” Leroy said.
Albert climbed out of the water and onto the platform beside Leroy. What had just happened to him? Was that his Tile, finally working its magic? What he’d done should have been impossible.
“What was that?” Birdie asked Albert. “How did you swim down so far? You couldn’t do it earlier. . . .” She had a look of complete shock on her face.
“I don’t know,” Albert said. “Let’s figure it out later!”
“I’ve got it!” Leroy shouted.
He started dishing out commands to Albert and Birdie. In seconds, they’d fit six specific pieces together and finally discovered their secret word.
“It spells HISSENGORE!” Leroy shouted. Then he turned to Albert and Birdie. “You guys aren’t going to like this.”
Birdie’s eyes widened nervously. “What’s a Hissengore, Leroy?”
“Let’s just say it hisses a lot and hope we don’t actually see one.”
Slink and Mo had their six tokens together, too, or Albert guessed they did, when they all shouted, “HEXABON!” in unison.
CRACK!
Albert’s head snapped up toward the sound. Overhead, the side of the Pit wall opened up, and out shot two creatures in a blur: one green, one brown.
“Oh no!” Slink cried from the right, just as a brown monkey with six arms dove down onto him, screeching like a banshee. “I hate Hexabons!”
“What on earth is a Hexabon?” Birdie squealed, involuntarily edging back on their platform.
“Hexabon—a six-armed primate that longs for human contact . . .” Leroy spewed the definition out, then looked embarrassed and shocked. “I read it in class the other day, okay?”
Albert turned just in time to see a bottle-green snake, several feet longer than Birdie was tall, wrap itself around Leroy. It was hissing and burping little puffs of green smoke into Leroy’s face.
“Um, you guys, this snake has some serious bad breath.” Leroy forced out a laugh, but he looked like he might pass out any second.
Albert didn’t know what to do. Smelly breath didn’t seem very threatening, but he guessed that if they were in Calderon, the real Hissengores would do a lot more than just breathe on them. He had to help Leroy. He scrambled forward and kicked the Hissengore’s scaly side.
“I hate snakes!” Birdie whined, but she started kicking anyway. Across from them, a Hexabon seemed to be attacking Slink by hugging him and licking his face.
“Forget about me!” Leroy said. “Get the tokens up there. Albert, start jumping, now!” He was punching the Hissengore over and over, but the snake didn’t seem to care. It was laughing a
t him, burping even more, until Leroy’s knees buckled.
Birdie grabbed the first two tokens, yanked them apart, and shoved them into Albert’s hands.
“You have to go! Jump!”
Albert gave Leroy a nod, tightened his grip on the tokens, and bent his knees. Come on, Albert, time to fly like Superman!
He rocketed into the air like he’d just been flung from a slingshot, and landed square on his feet on a platform. That swim must have loosened me up, Albert thought. Hoyt bounced past, nearly kicking Albert in the face. Albert dodged him, but his grip on the tokens loosened, and they tumbled out of his hands and back down to the bottom.
The crowd groaned overhead, and Farnsworth let out a disappointed howl.
“Albert!” Birdie yelled from below. “Get back down here!”
She was trying to jump up to a platform, but Albert could see she wasn’t going to get far.
Albert leaped but overshot the distance and landed right in the water. Epic fail, Albert thought.
“Sayonara, loser!” Hoyt yelled when Albert surfaced. Now it was clear he was using his Speed Tile powers, too. He leaped up four platforms in three seconds!
“Albert!” Birdie screamed. “Get out of the water!”
Birdie pushed the two tokens into Albert’s hands again as he emerged onto the platform. “Take these to the top; I’ll be right behind you with two more.”
While Leroy wrestled with the Hissengore, Albert took a leap. He landed, and was about to jump to another, when Hoyt slammed into him in midair.
“Not so fast, Flynn!” Hoyt said. He leaped, using Albert’s head as a springboard, and dropped two tokens into the bucket. Albert crashed hard back onto the platform, his legs all wobbly like Jell-O.
“Let’s go, Hydra!” Petra screamed from the crowd.
There was a ding, and another Hexabon appeared out of a hole in the wall on Hoyt’s side. It leaped at him, and they crashed all the way down to the water in a big six-armed-monkey embrace.
“There’s going to be another Hissengore once we put our tokens in!” Albert yelled down to Birdie.
She hadn’t managed to leap to a new platform. If he was being honest with himself, he didn’t know how he was jumping so high, but he didn’t really care, so long as he was keeping up with Hoyt.
Balance Keepers #1: The Fires of Calderon Page 11