by Lisa McMann
Charlie floundered, dropping back under, her ankle throbbing sharply with pain from where Kelly had spiked her with poison. Luckily, Dr. Jakande’s suit had stopped it from sinking in too far. Charlie righted herself and floated back up for a breath, trying to ignore the stinging and keep her leg moving. She had to stop Kelly. And she had to find Dr. Gray before he did something awful. She dived down again, hoping her healing ability would soon take care of the injury.
She was a good swimmer, and she was used to swimming in lakes. She’d grown up near a huge one, Lake Michigan, and she and Andy had spent their summers there and at the Y, swimming all the time. But she was no dolphin. As Charlie swam for a short distance above the surface, she could tell her strength ability was helping her move a little faster and more easily through the water. That was something, at least, but it was nothing like moving on land. She swam onward, peering through the water. She could hear a faint beeping and she realized her bat vision had kicked on in the murkiness underwater. The rocks on the floor of the lake shimmered silver around her. Mac’s shadow circled the area above her, and soon she could see a silver-and-red Kelly gliding around long strands of seaweeds. Charlie’s abilities were double-dipping, and that wasn’t a bad thing.
Charlie eyed the weeds, then impulsively yanked some of them out of the bottom and draped them around her neck. They might come in handy, though she wasn’t quite sure how yet. She surfaced for a few breaths. “You’re doing great, Mac!” She sped up in pursuit of Kelly. When she found the familiar shimmer again, she pushed off a rock with all her strength, trying to find a way to speed up underwater. But her abilities were greatly hindered in this environment. There was no speed of a cheetah down here. She’d have to use her strength to power her forward. Too bad she had to breathe a lot more often than Kelly did.
Kelly had turned her camo on. But Charlie’s infrared viper vision kept the girl easily in sight. Charlie surfaced.
“I can’t see her anymore,” said Mac, huffing and looking weak.
“I can,” said Charlie. “I’m going to grab her and drag her to shore if I can. I think you can go back there for now, and just be ready to help once I’ve got a hold.”
“Got it!” Mac, whose breath was sounding quite ragged by now from running, gladly went back to the shore.
Charlie took a deep breath, and with all the force she could gather, dived through the water and swam at Kelly. Kelly darted away, but Charlie caught her by the leg and hung on, careful not to get pricked by one of her platypus spurs. She pulled the weeds from around her neck and tried tying Kelly’s legs together to keep the dangerous spurs in one place.
Kelly squirmed. “Let go of me!” she shouted, her voice gurgling in the water. She dropped to the lake’s bottom and tried to shake Charlie off or kick her with her spurs. Charlie pinched Kelly’s leg hard, then carefully grabbed on to the base of one of the spikes. She grunted and bent the spike, trying to crack it off, but it wouldn’t. Kelly screamed in pain and twisted around, one leg slipping out of Charlie’s grasp.
Charlie dodged Kelly’s heel. Again in need of air, she pushed off the sandy bottom with Kelly in tow, dragging her to the surface and letting go before Kelly could kick her. She gasped for breath and Kelly managed to get some air, too.
“Leave me alone!” Kelly screamed.
“Where is Dr. Gray?” Charlie demanded. “What’s he doing?” She tightened her grip around Kelly’s leg.
“Stop squeezing me!” said Kelly, bending forward and slamming her fist into Charlie’s ear.
Charlie grabbed it, wincing, and twisted Kelly’s arm hard. She squealed and thrashed. Soon they were both back under, rolling and tussling.
Kelly slammed her heel back again, this time into Charlie’s thigh. Charlie scream and sucked in water, making her choke. She floundered and let go of Kelly, then surfaced and floated on her back for a moment, coughing and moaning and clutching at her leg. The pain pulsed through her. Her leg felt paralyzed. Kelly had gotten her good with that one. She was having trouble staying afloat.
“Come on,” Charlie muttered to herself. “Heal!” But there was no rushing the healing power, and no handling this kind of pain. Unable to see where Kelly was, she started to panic. She looked at the shore, realizing she and Kelly had been pulled farther and farther out by the waves. Mac stood anxiously on the beach. Maria was nowhere to be found. Was she still getting help?
Then Charlie saw movement in the water coming toward her from the shore. She looked closer and realized it was Maria, as a werealligator, gliding through the waves. Thank goodness! Finally! Maybe Maria could chomp down on Kelly to convince her to tell them where Gray was. But Maria couldn’t chomp unless she could see Kelly. How could they turn off her cuttlefish camouflage?
Charlie groaned with pain. She tried to kick but one leg felt like lead. She took a deep breath and went underwater to see where Kelly was. When she came back up and looked out toward the island, she saw something in the water that she never expected to see.
Charlie’s eyes widened as a triangular fin cut through the waves at a high speed, coming straight at her. “What the … ,” she muttered. And then it swam past her, heading for Maria.
CHAPTER 41
Shark vs. Alligator
Maria saw Mega, the rhino-shark soldier, about two seconds before the monster attacked. It was just long enough for her to gather her wits and open her mouth, exposing her row of sharp teeth. She struck out with her claws and tail, too. But the shark mouth with the rhino horn slammed into her, tossing her up out of the water like she was a toy.
Maria splashed back down, twisted, and chomped at the soldier’s nose, hoping to at least hit her in a sensitive spot, but missed. She rolled and struck out at Mega’s neck, and finally connected. She bit down hard. The shark pulled her sandpapery skin away, leaving Maria’s face scratched and bloody. But Maria had left a few bite marks in Mega’s neck and shoulder that the woman wouldn’t soon forget. The soldier circled and charged again. This time she bit down around Maria’s middle.
Maria screamed in pain and cracked her elbow into Mega’s ear. The rhino-shark pushed the girl through the water, not letting go. Maria waved her claws and snapped her alligator jaws, trying to catch anything, but the shark woman had a solid grip on the girl. “Help!” Maria cried out. Mega pulled her underwater.
Forgetting Kelly, Charlie started paddling toward Maria, her useless leg trailing in the water behind her. “Maria!” she cried.
From the shore, Mac came running on top of the water, but there wasn’t much he could do. If he switched to pangolin mode, he’d sink like a rock and drown. But he didn’t have any way to protect himself in lizard mode. “Come back to shore!” he shouted weakly, knowing that it was easier said than done.
Mega tossed Maria up into the air again. Maria swiveled and twisted, then clawed the water as she came down, catching Mega in the face and leaving four bloody cuts across her cheek. Mega was furious. But before she could grab Maria again, Maria clamped down on the woman’s shoulder and started shaking her.
Mega squealed in pain. She broke free, ripping out two of Maria’s alligator teeth, which remained embedded in Mega’s shoulder. Maria’s blood clouded the water. Mega circled. Frenzied and angry, she went in for the kill. She clamped down on Maria’s head, lifted her up so her tail was out of the water, and shook her like a dog shakes a stuffed toy. Maria’s yells went silent.
“Maria!” Charlie screamed. She reached them, but there wasn’t much she could do but watch in horror.
Mega dragged Maria through the water and shook her again, then whirled around and tossed her at Mac, hitting him in the chest and knocking him down. He splashed and went under. Maria sank too. Mac resurfaced, looking wildly around for his friend, then dived down to find her. He grabbed her by the alligator tail and pulled her up, taking her under the arms and keeping her bleeding head above water. Treading water with Maria in tow, he carefully removed Maria’s device and pulled the Mark Five from his pocket. He sl
apped it on her and put her Mark Two in his pocket.
Barely able to move in the water, Charlie was a sitting duck, and her arms burned, trying to keep herself afloat. When Mega turned on her, all Charlie could think of to do was to try to pry Mega’s mouth open and keep it that way. She dived down, her leg barely beginning to work again, and searched for a rock or a piece of driftwood. Not that it would hold the shark long, since she had human arms to pull out whatever Charlie managed to put in there. She came back up empty-handed, and barely had time to take a breath before Mega attacked.
Charlie grabbed the shark’s mouth and pulled it open, holding it as wide as she could. She clamped her good leg around the woman’s body and squeezed. The two slipped under the water, Mega flailing with her mouth forced open and Charlie attached to her torso. Her strength was solid, and she had a strong grip with her gecko ability. But her injured leg wasn’t helping. And Charlie knew she’d have to let go eventually to get air.
Mega lurched and her jaw snapped shut, catching Charlie’s arm inside. Charlie’s eyes widened. She screamed into the water. Mega stayed low, dragging the girl around as Charlie tried placing hard kicks into Mega’s stomach with her good leg.
The kicks didn’t seem to faze the crazed shark. Before long Charlie’s lungs began to burn. She needed air. She twisted and tried to wrench her arm away, growing desperate, then weak, but the shark held fast. Charlie’s vision began to go dark.
Just before Charlie faded into unconsciousness, she saw an infrared spot moving toward her through the water.
CHAPTER 42
One More Chance
Mega had come out of nowhere. Kelly had watched in horror as the rhino-shark woman practically shredded Maria and tossed her aside. Then she’d turned on Charlie and was trying to drown her. Charlie had little to fight back with in this setting. Not to mention she was still probably dealing with the platypus venom. It wasn’t a fair fight by any means.
And Mega was out of control. It was like the blood in the water affected her like it would a real shark. And now all Mega wanted to do was kill.
Kelly stayed in camo mode. She crept closer, not wanting Mega to turn on her in her crazed attack. She thought about trying to hypnotize Mega like she’d done in the past for fun, but decided that Mega was too frantic to be caught by her pulsing. She swam closer and saw that Mega’s teeth dug deep into Charlie’s upper arm. She saw Charlie panicking, flailing. Drowning. She saw her head loll forward as she lost consciousness.
Kelly felt her heart hit her throat. This wasn’t right. It wasn’t okay. She pushed forward, staying camouflaged, and swam around Mega, slipping under her as she floated near the bottom. Mega didn’t see her. Kelly made a V with her legs around Mega’s protruding belly. And then she cringed and slammed both heels into the woman and held them there.
Mega’s body recoiled in shock. She released Charlie’s arm, letting the girl float away, and screamed, twisting and turning until full paralysis set in. After what seemed like an eternity, Kelly yanked her spikes out, then swam quickly to Charlie’s limp body. She grabbed the girl around the waist and streamed through the water toward the shore. She raised Charlie’s head above the surface, not knowing what to do to get her to start breathing again—all she could do was hope Charlie’s healing power was up to this kind of challenge.
Seeing people standing in the shallow water, Kelly reached for the bottom, found it, and started running, dragging Charlie with her.
“Kelly!” said Mac. “What did you do to her?” He ran at Kelly, furious, and tried to yank Charlie away.
“It was Mega,” Kelly said, breathing hard. “Hurry—does anyone know how to get her to breathe?” She looked up and saw Charlie’s mom running toward them with her emergency kit. Kelly and Mac climbed the bank and laid Charlie on the ground as residents of the area came to see what was happening.
“Tell me what happened,” said Dr. Wilde in a serious but calm voice. She checked Charlie’s airways and started CPR as Kelly explained everything.
Maria was nearby, back in her normal body and nursing her wounds. She still had the Mark Five on her wrist. Every now and then as Kelly told what happened, Maria nodded.
Dr. Wilde continued CPR on Charlie, pumping her chest until finally Charlie choked and coughed up a bunch of water. She lifted her head and puked on Kelly’s leg, and then she groaned. Her left arm was limp and full of ugly tooth punctures and cuts. Her suit had a puncture hole in the thigh. Dr. Wilde slit Charlie’s sleeve and the bottom half of her pant leg and checked the wounds. She looked at Kelly.
Kelly looked down. She didn’t try to justify it. “That’s from a platypus spike. I hit her somewhere else, too—more like a glancing hit, not a direct stab.”
“My ankle,” said Charlie weakly. “That one doesn’t hurt anymore. The suit helped.” She sat up on one elbow. “Where’s Maria? Is she okay?”
“She’s resting over there under that tree by Dr. Sharma,” said her mom. “She’s healing nicely. Mac got the Mark Five on her and brought her to shore just as I was coming to help.”
Charlie looked at Kelly. “I saw you swimming toward me when … when I almost … when Mega had me trapped.” Her voice wavered. “What happened? I blacked out.”
“I stayed camouflaged and attacked Mega,” said Kelly quietly. Then I grabbed you. She’s probably still stuck at the bottom of the lake, paralyzed. I stabbed her in two places. She’s going to hurt for a while.”
Charlie’s expression flickered. “Why did you rescue me?”
Kelly pressed her lips together, then spoke carefully. “Because you’re my friend. I meant what I told you guys earlier. I know you have no reason to believe me. I was terrible to you. But I really want to go … home… .” She started to cry and didn’t try to hold back her tears. “I made a huge mistake. And I’m so sorry.”
Charlie didn’t know what to say. She didn’t know if she could believe Kelly, even after this. Kelly was so good at acting, and she was so good at lying. But she’d saved her life. She’d said she wanted to go home when she thought she was talking to Zed.
She winced as her mother cleaned up the puncture wounds on her arm. “Tell us where Dr. Gray is.”
Kelly closed her eyes and let out a breath. “He’s on that island. I’m almost sure of it. Prowl said he’s got a huge container full of formula that he’s been working on in the lab. He’s going to pour it into his mist machine thing and somehow release it into the air. It’s supposed to turn everyone into chimeras.” She looked sorrowful. “I didn’t know he was going to do that—not until we got here. He … he told me he was doing good things. That he was working for the government and wanted to help people. And …” she looked at the ground. “He said you were the bad guys for trying to stop him.” She took in a shuddering breath. “I was sad and lonely and I believed him. And now it’s too late for me to escape. I don’t know if I’ll ever be able to go home because of what I did.”
“Ugh, Kelly,” said Mac. “Just … why?”
Maria laid a hand on Mac’s arm and shook her head slightly.
“We’ll talk about that later,” said Charlie’s mom firmly to Kelly. She sat back and looked sternly at her. “Just like always, we’ll do what we can to help you. It’s going to be okay.”
Kelly hung her head. “I hope so.”
“But now we have to stop a madman,” said Charlie. “Who’s with him?”
“Cyke, Braun, Fang, and Morph,” said Kelly. “Are you going to try to go after him now?”
“Absolutely,” said Charlie. She tested her leg, finding she could move it again, though it still hurt. She struggled to stand. “We don’t have a choice. We need to stop him before he destroys people’s lives. He could turn on that machine at any second.” She looked up as she realized Dr. Sharma had finished with Maria. “Are you all ready?” Charlie asked. “We can heal up on the way.”
Maria and Mac looked at each other and nodded.
Dr. Wilde looked like she was going to object, but then
she just sighed and seemed like she wasn’t going to fight it. “You’re right. Let’s go,” she said. “Quinn, can you let Erica know what’s up? And tell Nubia we need her at the ferry dock. Where’s Charles?”
“He’s coming,” said Dr. Sharma. “Jack’s staying behind with Erica to keep an eye on the prisoners and wait for the government people to show up.”
Charlie turned to Kelly and studied her for a long moment. The girl had fought her. But she’d also saved her life. Maybe she could find a way to give her one more chance. “It’s hard to believe in you. You know?”
Kelly bit her lip and her eyes welled up. She looked at the ground. “I know.”
“But right now we could really use your help.”
Kelly looked up at Charlie. “You mean it?”
Charlie nodded and reached out a hand to help Kelly stand. “Come on.”
CHAPTER 43
A Moment Too Late
They rode the ferry to the island, the kids standing anxiously on the deck with the wind in their faces. Dr. Jakande and Mr. Wilde joined the other adults a few paces away.
“I want to apologize about Andy,” Kelly said.
Charlie glanced at the girl. “Okay,” she prompted when Kelly didn’t actually apologize. “Go for it.”
Kelly seemed momentarily flustered. “I’m … I’m sorry. I never meant to hit him. I felt terrible. These spikes …” She trailed off and looked down, though the ability wasn’t activated. Tears welled up in her eyes again. “They’ve caused me a lot of trouble.”
“No kidding,” Mac said sarcastically. “Maybe you should, you know, stop using them.”
“I want to.” Kelly turned away, stinging. “Once I’m out of this mess with Dr. Gray … this device is going back home with Dr. Sharma. I don’t want it.” A tear slipped down her cheek. She wiped it away hastily. “Is Andy okay?” she asked.