by Lee Bacon
“Yeah, but my way’s faster,” replied the gray-skinned behemoth in a gravelly voice.
Milton looked from one to the other. “W-what do you want with us?” he asked. “Who are you?”
“Leave the introductions to me.”
The voice came from above. Hearing it was like a claw gripping my heart. And right away, I knew who the voice belonged to.
nFinity.
He’d been the fifth member of the Alliance of the Impossible, the superhero group we’d formed at the start of the summer. nFinity had once been a teenage supercelebrity. But that was before he betrayed us and joined up with Phineas Vex, the evil billionaire who’d attempted to kill or kidnap me and my friends on multiple occasions.
So I guess you could say I wasn’t thrilled to be seeing him again.
After vanishing with Vex, nFinity had gone missing. Until now. I stared up at him, watching as he drifted toward us on his sleek hover scooter. He had the same tousled brown hair, the same blue and red uniform with the same n logo on his chest. But he looked different now. Changed. His eyes were bloodshot, ringed with dark circles, as though he hadn’t slept over the past couple of months. His face was pale and gaunt. It was like his time with Vex had scrubbed away every last trace of the heartthrob he’d once been.
I nervously searched the food court for an escape route, but all exits had been blocked. And there was little chance that we could get that far anyway. Not with floating knives bearing down on us like bayonets and baseball bats waiting for us to make a false move.
“This is Grifter.” nFinity pointed to the girl. “Found her in Vegas, using her Gyft as a street magician.”
“Distract folks with a nice show,” Grifter said, “and it’s a lot easier to lift their wallets.”
“And my concrete friend here goes by the name Lunk.”
“S’up,” said the massive guy. “I’m looking forward to squashing you.”
“Patience, Lunk,” nFinity said. “You’ll have your chance soon enough. Just give us a moment to get reacquainted. It’s been a while since I’ve seen my old teammates.”
“Teammates?” I spat the word back at him. “You handed us over to Vex. You nearly got us killed.”
“No, I nearly got them killed.” nFinity’s bloodshot eyes flickered to my friends. “Vex wouldn’t let me harm a hair on your head. As much as I may have wanted to. He had something entirely different in mind for the all-important Joshua Dread.”
“And what was that?”
nFinity’s jaw clenched. “I don’t know.”
“That’s because you’re just his minion,” Milton said. “His unpaid intern.”
nFinity flung out his arm, and a flame burst loose from the palm of his hand. It took the shape of a pit bull that snapped its fiery jaws. Milton tumbled backward, falling to the ground. If nFinity’s fire show had come any closer, it would’ve been stop-drop-and-roll time for Milton.
“I serve the most powerful being on this planet!” nFinity’s fire dog bared its teeth and clawed the air in front of Milton. “So you’d be wise to show some respect.”
“Why are you doing this?” Sophie asked. She’d been the closest to nFinity during our time in the Alliance of the Impossible, and I could tell how much it still pained her to see him this way. “This isn’t like you. You’re better than this.”
nFinity’s eyes fell on Sophie, and for a moment I saw a glimpse of the guy he’d once been. The ultracool superhero everyone had looked up to. The star who had appeared in commercials and on the covers of magazines. But then it was gone. Replaced by the new-and-definitely-not-improved nFinity 2.0. The traitor. The villain.
“You don’t know me,” he hissed. “You never did. All I was to you—to everyone—was a product. A face on TV. Someone to sell cereal and zit cream. But now I have real power. And before long, the entire world will see who I really am.”
nFinity clasped his hand into a fist and the flaming dog vanished.
“Enough talk.” He turned to face Grifter and Lunk. “You know the orders. Vex wants Dread—alive. As for his friends?” nFinity’s scowl deepened. “Kill them.”
I really didn’t want to watch my friends die in the food court, but it was starting to look like that was the way things were going. Grifter glared at us with a dark smile. Beside her, Lunk cracked his enormous gray knuckles.
“Watch out!” Miranda screamed. Her superpowered intuition let her know about dangers before they even materialized. She dove, knocking Milton out of the way just as Lunk slammed his massive fist against the floor, leaving a crater in the spot where Milton had been standing.
“Th-thanks,” Milton spluttered, staring wide-eyed at the cracked tiles.
Miranda was already on the move again. Lunk growled, trying to keep up with her. He took another swing, but she darted away from him.
“Over here, big guy!” Miranda taunted him. She performed an acrobatic sideways flip, barely avoiding the next hit. “That the best you got?”
“You know, teasing him only makes him angrier,” Milton called.
“Exactly.” Miranda jumped backward.
“Playtime’s over!” Lunk boomed. “Now it’s squash time!”
“Gotta catch me first.”
Miranda leaped backward. Suddenly, she was dangerously close to a baseball bat. The wooden bat swung, but Miranda was ready for that too. She dropped and rolled sideways as Lunk closed in for his next attack. And instead of Miranda, the brute’s massive gray fists slammed the bat. It exploded into a thousand splinters.
“RAAARGH!”
Lunk took another wild swing—and another. But Miranda was always one move ahead. Like they were in a game of Whac-a-Mole, Lunk trailed behind her, shattering bats and swatting knives out of the air.
“She’s getting Lunk to destroy his own weapons!” Milton said excitedly.
Miranda’s strategy nearly collapsed when she slipped on some spilled water and wiped out between a trio of tables. Lunk skidded to a stop. As he gazed nervously at the water, his gray features transformed from brute anger to fear.
A moment later, Miranda was back on her feet and running again. Lunk carefully sidestepped the water and rumbled after her, smashing everything in his path. Milton bolted in the opposite direction, trailed by nFinity.
I surged after them but immediately tumbled to the floor. Glancing down, I saw an extension cord wrapped around my ankles. Another slithered forward like a snake, twisting around my arms and binding my wrists together.
“Going someplace?”
Grifter shot me a mischievous grin. She clenched her hand into a fist and the cords tightened around my wrists and ankles. She flung out her other hand and the swarm of knives darted in Sophie’s direction.
Sophie ducked and dodged, but how long could she keep it up? How long could any of us last?
The extension cord dug into my wrists. As the fight raged around me, I stopped struggling to free myself and took a deep, calming breath. It was the only way to use my Gyft. Focus. Control your emotions. Not always the easiest things to do when you’re being attacked by accessories from an electronics store.
But within seconds, I felt it—the energy surging through my chest, down my arms and legs. The extension cords began to sizzle, melting away from my wrists and ankles.
Shaking off the severed cords, I climbed to my feet and sprinted toward Grifter. Along the way, I grabbed hold of the ketchup and mustard bottles that had been floating around our table earlier. With a bottle in each hand, I called out, “Hey, Grifter!”
She whirled around just as I squeezed the bottles. Globs of ketchup and mustard splattered her face. Grifter reeled back, clutching at her eyes. The knives she’d been controlling stopped pursuing Sophie and clattered to the ground.
“She can’t control what she can’t see,” I said, catching up with Sophie.
“Then let’s make sure she can’t see anything.” Sophie hopped behind a fast-food counter, pouring a jumbo milk shake. “Hope you like strawberry
swirl!” she called, hurling the shake into Grifter’s face.
“How ’bout some spaghetti and meatballs to go with that?” I grabbed a half-eaten plate from the table beside me and let loose.
With an all-you-can-eat buffet of food (not to mention free drink refills) hitting her in the face, Grifter’s telekinesis was worthless. We threw everything we could find—nachos, mashed potatoes, refried beans. As she staggered blindly, I opened a door marked STORAGE and Sophie gave her a push. Grifter stumbled into the storage closet. I slammed the door shut and Sophie sealed it closed with a couple of arcade games.
“One down,” I said. “Two to go.”
“We’d better make it quick. Milton and Miranda are in trouble.”
Even with the intense glow that radiated from her skin, I could see concern in Sophie’s eyes. And when I followed her gaze, I saw why. At the other end of the wrecked food court, nFinity and Lunk had our friends cornered. Milton had his back against the wall, a baseball bat clutched in his hand. Miranda was beside him, her face drawn with exhaustion. Her shirt was ripped, and blood trickled down her knee.
Sophie heaved a sofa above her head, taking aim.
“Hold on.” I spotted a water gun on the floor. “No offense, but I don’t think furniture’s gonna do the job.”
Balancing the sofa on one hand, Sophie gave me a confused look. “You have a better idea?”
I grabbed the water gun. “How ’bout we give this a try?”
“You’re kidding, right?”
“Nope.” Something about the way Lunk had hesitated in front of the pool of water told me he wasn’t a fan of liquids. Not that there was any time to explain my theory at the moment. All I said was, “Just trust me. And keep them distracted.”
Sophie looked skeptical, but she nodded anyway. As she launched the sofa at Lunk, I hopped behind one of the food counters and filled up the water gun.
By the time I caught up with the others, the situation was looking grim. Nothing Sophie used against Lunk had worked. She was backed against the wall beside Milton and Miranda. While nFinity watched, Lunk stomped toward my friends, his enormous concrete fists raised.
“Hey, doofus,” I called. “You thirsty?”
Lunk stopped and turned toward me, his eyes widening when he saw what I had in my hands. I pumped the handle and pulled the trigger.
Splooosh!
As soon as the water hit him, Lunk began to … melt. Or at least, that was the way it looked at first. His concrete skin turned to sludge—his features dripping away, his arms and legs becoming gray mush.
It was like concrete being made—except the opposite. Instead of water causing the cement mixture to harden, it liquefied the concrete.
I could barely believe what was left after the concrete washed away. Standing in a pool of gray sludge was a skinny kid with a pencil neck and braces. All he had on was a pair of flowery boxer shorts.
“Well, that’s just great!” he complained in a squeaky voice. “I was just starting to have some fun!”
But that still left nFinity. With his goons taken out of the equation, he was on his own. Not that he lacked firepower. He thrust out his hand, and the flaming pit bull once again sprang from his palm, snapping its jaws fiercely.
All I could bring to the fight was my water gun, and I seriously doubted that would do much against nFinity’s pet dog. Unless …
Concentrating again, I tossed the water cannon at nFinity. A surge of energy pulsed through me. As the plastic gun left my fingers, it buzzed with spontaneous combustion. It flew high into the air, and then …
BOOOOOOM!
The water cannon exploded a few feet from nFinity, splattering him with water and melted plastic. Without slowing down, I grabbed a stereo speaker and then a teddy bear and tossed them nFinity’s way. Waves of spontaneous combustion passed through my veins. One by one, each object exploded in nFinity’s face. He staggered backward. His fiery dog faded, then vanished.
But it was Sophie who delivered the finishing blow. She ripped a table loose from the floor, bolts and tiles flying everywhere. nFinity tried to get out of the way, but he wasn’t quick enough. The table grazed his shoulder, tearing a pouch loose from his uniform. As nFinity crumpled to the floor, a slip of paper fell from the pouch.
I rushed forward to grab it, then turned to follow the others toward the exit.
nFinity’s voice echoed behind me. “You can’t run forever! Vex will find you!”
Reaching the exit, Sophie grabbed hold of the arcade game that blocked the door and tossed it over her shoulder like it weighed nothing at all. Milton flung open the door and we ran outside.
Once we were a safe distance from the mall and sure we weren’t being followed, I looked at the slip of paper.
“What is that?” Sophie asked.
“Don’t know.” I gulped a mouthful of air. “nFinity lost it in the food court.”
With the others reading over my shoulder, I scanned the words on the paper:
PLATINUM-SEALED ALPHA CAPACITOR
NEUTRON FLOW REVERSAL CHAMBER
OSCILLATING PARTICLE IMMOBILIZER
THE DOMINION KEY
Staring at the list, I got the feeling we’d found a clue. I just didn’t know what the heck it meant.
“All right, people! We’ve got a serious situation. Lives are at stake. Now … who wants snacks?”
I’d never seen our living room so crowded before. But the really remarkable thing was who’d shown up. Milton, Sophie, and Miranda were in the corner. Dad was perched on the edge of the couch, nervously polishing his customized eyeglasses. And sitting beside him, looking extremely uncomfortable, was Captain Justice.
It wasn’t every day that a famous superhero hangs out in the home of the world’s most horrible supervillains. Throughout most of their careers, the only reason for the Dread Duo to get this close to Captain Justice had been because they were trying to kill, maim, or grievously injure him.
But this was an extreme circumstance. After Sophie and I told our parents about the attack, they’d insisted that we meet immediately. And because my parents’ house was the closest to the Sheepsdale Mall—not to mention equipped with state-of-the-art security and surveillance features—it had become the improvised meeting place.
At least Captain Justice hadn’t brought along his camera crew this time. That didn’t mean he’d come alone, though. Standing nearby was his robot butler, Stanley. Tall and dignified, with metallic skin and glowing eyes, Stanley stepped forward.
“If you would like, I would be glad to prepare a light meal for anyone who wants it,” Stanley volunteered in a crisp electronic voice.
“No need,” my dad replied.
“You sure?” Captain Justice asked. “Stanley’s a whiz in the kitchen.”
“Thank you, but I’ve got my own robot butler,” Dad said defensively. “And Elliot happens to be a terrific cook—”
Dad was interrupted when the door to the dining room burst open. In stumbled what appeared to be an aluminum trash can with paddles for feet.
“I haaave made mini-pizzzas!” slurred Elliot, bumping into a framed picture of Mom on the wall. The picture fell, glass shattering across the floor. “Sooorrry! I will take caaare of that!”
As Elliot bent over to scoop up the broken glass, the mini-pizzas spilled off his tray. Not that it was a huge loss. Pizza isn’t supposed to be green.
Elliot was Dad’s invention. And even though he would never admit it, I was positive Dad had built Elliot as a way of keeping up with his former archnemesis. Unfortunately, Elliot was a long way from perfect. But despite his flaws, Elliot had saved my life a couple of months back. Ever since then, I’d kept my complaints to a minimum.
Elliot wasn’t the only one of my parents’ inventions making a scene. There was also Micus, the mutant ficus that my mom had developed several months back. Micus may have looked like an ordinary houseplant, but there was one slight difference.
He had a mind of his own.
&nb
sp; At the moment, the ficus seemed a little disgruntled that he was stuck in the dining room, away from all the action. Using his leafy branches as hands, he kept grabbing clumps of soil from his pot and tossing them into the living room. And for some reason, the dirt usually ended up hitting me.
One other thing you should know about Micus … he has a serious grudge against me.
“Let’s just get to business,” Mom said, doing her best to ignore the soil that was sailing across the room. “nFinity and two of his minions were able to track you kids to the Sheepsdale Mall this afternoon. You did an excellent job of defending yourselves, but it’s only a matter of time until they come after you again.”
“And next time it could be at your school. Or …” Dad shivered. “Or even here.”
Captain Justice clenched his muscular jaw. “We can’t let that happen. Sophie—you’re all I’ve got.”
“What about Scarlett?” Sophie muttered.
It was tough, to be sure, but I think Captain Justice may have blushed a little at the comment. “Scarlett Flame is my … er … lady friend. But she could never replace you, honey. You’re my daughter. And I won’t let anything happen to you.”
“I know you kids like it here in Sheepsdale,” Mom began, “but it’s no longer safe for you.”
My stomach twisted into a knot. I’d been a part of this conversation enough over the years to know what was coming next. When you’ve got internationally feared supervillains as parents, you get used to a life on the move. I’d spent my entire childhood being shuffled around from town to town, school to school. Every time a superhero started sniffing around our backyard or the FBI tracked down my parents’ aliases, we were forced to pack up and start over someplace else. New names, new identities, new lives.
And now it was all happening again. I glanced at my friends. Sophie, Milton, Miranda—was this the last time we were going to see each other? The thought of starting the seventh grade without them was unbearable.