“Isn’t it an even greater accomplishment that we both made it?” Jane asked. “That such bitter enemies could reconcile enough to work together for a common cause?”
“All I see is cowardice,” Chu replied, wrinkling up his nose as if such a notion disgusted him more than anything else. “If you don’t have the strength, will, or ability to kill this young man, then I certainly don’t want you by my side.” He shifted his gaze to Tick. “And you-don’t think you’ve accomplished anything great. Much tougher tests lie ahead.”
Chu paused, looking back and forth between Tick and Jane. “Still
… I need an apprentice, and my patience has run out. Like I said, one or none. You’ll both come with me and settle the matter.”
Tick finally found the voice that had been locked in a trap of panic inside him. “What do you mean? What are you going to do to us?”
Chu laughed, the humorless laugh of a man who just found out he has mere days to live. “I’m not going to do anything to you. You’ll do it to each other.”
“But what-” Tick stopped when Chu held up a hand.
“Don’t say another word. You will follow me, both of you. And don’t be stupid-I have more weapons hidden in this place than you could count in a week’s time. Try anything against me, and you will die. If my sensors detect any spikes in Chi’karda levels within you, you will die. At least until we get to the chamber. Tonight, you’ll sleep. I want you well-rested for the morning. Come.”
He turned and walked toward the opposite side of the room, though there was no sign of a door. “Now!” he shouted.
Mistress Jane stood up and motioned for Tick to come with her after Chu. Heart thumping, Tick fell in line beside her. His head swam with confusion. Both of these people were supposed to be his enemy!
He and Jane stayed twenty feet behind Chu, walking just fast enough to keep the distance consistent. Chu didn’t slow when he came within a few paces of the curved wall, and just before he walked right into it, everything went pitch-black for a full three seconds. Tick almost stopped, but Jane grabbed his hand, pulling him along before letting him go.
Lights flickered above them, then ahead of them, flashing as if gaining power before finally shining at full strength. They strode down a long hallway with a carpeted floor of brown-and-black diamonds, the white walls lined with pictures of various instruments and odd scientific experiments- beakers and wires and microscopes and animals in small cages. It gave Tick the creeps.
He looked back and the hallway stretched just as far in that direction as it did before them, as if they’d never been inside the large, round room made of illuminated white material. It surprised him when he realized he wasn’t surprised. He wondered if anything would seem crazy or magical to him ever again.
Jane reached over and grabbed his wrist. “Listen to me,” she whispered.
Tick didn’t want to trust her, but he nodded anyway, as slightly as he could in case they were being watched.
“When the time is right,” she said, speaking so softly Tick had to strain his ears, “we’ll strike. You and I together. Remember-no matter what you think of me, right here, right now, we have to stop him, or Dark Infinity will make every last Reality an insane asylum.”
“Strike?” Tick whispered back. “What do you expect from me? I don’t know what you guys think I can do, but I don’t have any powers and I can barely lift fifty pounds.”
Jane shook her head in anger. “Grow up, Atticus. Are you really that dense? Even I’ve noticed the things you’ve done the last couple of weeks.”
Tick looked over at her. “What are you talking about?” He winced; his voice was way too loud.
“Just stay close. Trust me-your abilities will come out. And when they do, I’ll channel them against Chu.”
Tick almost stumbled. The floor seemed to bounce with ripples as he felt his head swim. “I don’t get what you’re-”
Jane held a finger to her lips and picked up the pace. The hallway stretched to infinity before them.
Tick kept walking.
For the first time in a long time, Paul felt like he might not die of pain after all. Doctor Hillenstat, a wiry old man with a droopy mustache and enormous teeth from the Second Reality, had barely said a word after Rutger had winked him in to work on Paul’s arm. Paul had been grateful for the silence, because he’d been in no mood to talk.
The pain worsened before it got better, but once the medicine kicked in and the bone settled in the thin white cast, life became bliss. Despite everything-the near-death experiences and the disappearance of his good friend Tick-Paul felt on top of the world after having suffered for so long.
Now, still lying on the soft bed in the infirmary, he decided he better pay attention to the frantic discussions going on between the people sitting in chairs around him-Master George, Rutger, Mothball, Sally, Sofia, and Doctor Hillenstat, who’d insisted on staying around until he was sure Paul was on the mend.
“All right, Sofia,” Master George said after shushing everyone from talking over each other. “The matter of greatest concern at the moment is this: the odd melding of materials you saw on several occasions these past weeks. I want you to take a minute now, think about it very hard, picture it in your mind exactly as it was, and tell us every detail. Can you do that for us?”
Sofia rolled her eyes. “How many times…” She didn’t finish, Master George having given her his gentlemanly stare of death, eyebrows raised. “Fine, okay.”
“Splendid,” Master George whispered, rubbing his hands together as he leaned forward in his chair.
Sofia took a second before running through it all again. “The first time it happened was back at Tick’s hometown. We were in the woods, and we met that psycho teacher of his, Mr. Chu. He strapped the things on our arms-”
Master George interrupted her. “I’m certain that was Reginald Chu from the Fourth, not Tick’s science instructor. And the thing he put around your arm was a highly illegal device called a nanohijacker. If we ever catch Chu, he’ll be punished severely and spend the rest of his days in a Realitant prison.” His face reddened. “So sorry, please continue.”
“The… nanohijacker hurt worse than anything I’ve felt in my entire life,” Sofia said, her face grimacing at the memory. “We heard loud crashing sounds in the woods, and Chu told us something was coming to get us. Well, the pain made us all pass out and when we woke up, dozens of trees had been smashed together-almost like they’d melted. We even saw a couple of deer in the mess.”
“Hope it wasn’t the wee one I saw last year,” Mothball said. “Sprightly little thing, it was.”
Sofia gave her a confused look then continued. “In the weird underground place, a bunch of robot things called metaspides attacked us, but they all got melded together, too. There was a big tornado and they turned into one big heap of junk.”
“That was the Industrial Barrens in the Seventh Reality,” Master George said. “Miserable place. And those metaspides are Chu’s security force. I didn’t know he’d sent them to the Seventh. We’ve had trouble with those buggers before. Go on.”
“It happened two more times,” Sofia said. “In the desert, a huge beast catapulted through the tunnel right before it was going to kill us-and got trapped in a big chunk of melted glass. I think some of the glass might have been created from the super-heated sand. The last time was when we were running from the glowing… monkeys near Circle City and a bunch of trees smashed together again, killing a few of the animals. It looked just like it had back in Deer Park-like the wood had liquefied and twisted together, then solidified into one massive structure. Like it was something from a nightmare.”
Sofia stopped and looked at the floor.
Master George patted her arm and leaned back in his chair. “Thank you, my dear. Yes, yes, I’m quite certain my suspicions are correct. Quite certain, indeed. I fear our problems are much deeper than we thought. Oh, goodness gracious me.”
“What?” Paul said, his joy a
nd relief from the vanished pain fading at the haunted look that crossed Master George’s face. “How could it possibly be worse? What are you talking about?”
“It’s Tick,” Rutger grumbled. “It’s Tick.”
Sofia’s head shot up. “What do you mean, it’s Tick? ”
Master George stood, any sign of the jolly old English gentleman gone, his face set in a stony expression of concern.
“Master Atticus is out of control,” he said. “He’s obviously not even aware of the power that’s bursting from him. Tick’s inexplicable abilities over the Chi’karda are completely and absolutely out of control. It appears he’s manipulating matter on the quantum level-destroying it, reshaping it, restructuring it. It seems to be triggered when he is frightened or angry. I cannot stress enough the danger of such a thing.”
Paul felt like someone had just ripped his brain out, stomped on it, then shoved it back in his skull. “You mean Tick did all that weird stuff with the trees… and the glass…?”
“Quite right, Master Paul, quite right. Now imagine an out-of-control Atticus in the vicinity of Chu and his Dark Infinity device.” Master George brought a hand to his chin and shuddered. “My fellow Realitants, we now have a new number-one priority. Tick must be stopped at all costs, or he might trigger a chain reaction that could destroy every last Reality. We need to bring him back here, where we can figure things out.”
He paused. “Again, I can’t stress it enough: Atticus Higginbottom must be stopped.”
Part 4
The New Mistress Jane
Chapter 38
A Time for Slumber
Tick was exhausted by the time Chu stopped and turned to face them. The hallway continued on for as far as Tick could see, but Chu opened a hidden passage to his right by placing the palm of his hand on a square section of a metal wall. A hissing noise sounded as the panel slid to the right and disappeared, revealing a long corridor with doors spaced at regular intervals on either side-maybe forty in all. The doors were made of wood but had no handles.
“It’s late,” Chu said, motioning the two of them to step into the new hallway. “You’ll both be confined to a cell for the night, where I expect you to get sufficient rest for tomorrow’s events. Much will be decided when the sun rises, and before it sets, one of you will be dead. Or both. Think on that as you sleep.”
Tick fought the sudden urge to push Chu out of the way and run. Oddly, he wanted Mistress Jane to yell at Chu, to use her powers against the creepy man. With a lump in his throat, Tick realized that the woman Master George had deemed the most evil to ever live had become his ally and his only hope. It sickened him, and he didn’t know how he could ever sleep.
“I could use a good night’s rest,” Jane said, stepping into the corridor as she ran a hand through her black hair. “Which one is my room?”
Chu made a quick gesture and a door on either side popped open, swinging outward. The hallway was narrow enough for him to reach out and grab both doors, holding them open. “The lady to my right, the boy to my left. You’ll find food, a shower, fresh clothes-everything you need. But rest is your priority. In you go.”
Tick looked at Mistress Jane, but she didn’t return his glance. She simply nodded to Chu and entered her room. Chu slammed the door closed; it sealed with a hiss.
“In, boy,” he said.
From somewhere within him, courage swelled in Tick’s chest. “You won’t win. The Realitants know everything, and they’ll be coming for you.”
Chu glanced at the leather satchel slung over Tick’s shoulder, his eyes lingering.
Stupid! Tick thought. You shouldn’t have said anything!
“ In, boy,” Chu repeated.
This time, Tick kept his mouth shut and quickly entered the room. He’d barely crossed the threshold when the door slammed shut behind him.
“It’s very late,” Master George said, walking at such a brisk pace down the dark hallway that Paul had to jog to keep up with him and the others. “But before we slumber, I must show you one last thing. Tomorrow is perhaps the biggest day any of us will ever face-and I want you to know exactly what’s at stake.”
He paused in front of a steel door with a heavy bolt thrust through its lock. He reached out and slid a small, two-inch peephole open, the scrape of metal piercing the air.
“I want each of you to look in here, for as long as you can stand it. Then we will speak one last time before we say good night.”
Master George stepped aside and gestured for Sofia to go first.
As she peeked through the small slot, Paul saw her body go rigid, her hands clenched into tight fists. She finally looked away after several seconds.
“Why didn’t you tell us?” she yelled, looking accusingly at everyone in turn. “What’s wrong with him?”
Paul pushed past her and looked through the hole in the door. His breath caught when he saw Sato, his arms and legs strapped to a bed in several places. Despite the number of constraints, he still thrashed about madly, ropes of veins bulging under his skin, his face red from the effort. Dark bruises and scrapes marked where he fought against the straps.
His lips moved as he screamed something, spit flying, but a wall of glass between the door and the bed trapped the sound in and Paul couldn’t hear a word. Paul didn’t know if he’d ever seen something so heartbreaking. He finally stepped back, wondering if the image would ever leave his mind.
“What’s wrong with him?” he whispered.
“Yeah, what’s wrong with him!” Sofia shouted.
Master George took a deep breath. “Sato was infected with the Dark Infinity plague-the very thing Tick has been sent to destroy with the antidote. You need to know that Sato displayed a supreme effort of sacrifice and courage to bring us the sample we required. But even more important, you need to know there are thousands, perhaps millions, who are in the same state as this poor boy.”
Paul and Sofia locked eyes, not saying a word, but sharing the horror of what they’d just seen. Sato, Paul thought. Oh, man, Sato.
“As you can see,” Master George said, “we have a lot of problems on our hands. We have sent in as our only hope a boy who has a power that could destroy everything around him if he loses control. We have a plague of insanity sweeping through the Realities. And it all could come to a head tomorrow.”
“So what do we need to do?” Sofia said, not so much a question as a statement.
“Yeah,” Paul said to show his support.
Rutger answered. “Tonight, we get some sleep-everyone needs rest. Plus, we’re still waiting for some of the others to arrive.”
“The others?” Paul asked.
Master George stepped forward and took a look through the peephole at Sato. After a long moment, he turned and faced the group, his face solemn.
“Tomorrow, we send an army of Realitants to the Fourth Reality.”
Tick lay in the small bed, the covers pulled up to his chin, staring at the ceiling he couldn’t see because of the darkness. Full of delicious food, freshly showered, dressed in a nice set of flannel pajamas, he kept his eyes open, staring at the blackness hanging above him like the void of deep space.
Tears trickled down his temples, into his hair and ears. Never, not once in his entire life, had he felt so utterly alone. He finally squeezed his eyes shut, sending another surge of wetness across his skin. He concentrated, picturing each member of his family one by one. His dad, hooting and running in place as his guy scored a touchdown in Football 3000. His mom, baking cookies, tasting dough on her finger. Lisa, talking on the phone, sticking her tongue out. Kayla, her eyes glued to a Winnie the Pooh cartoon on TV.
Then he thought of Sofia. And Paul. Sato. Mothball and Rutger. Master George and Sally.
And then the image of Mr. Chu popped in his head. Not the evil one, not the one who looked at him like he was nothing but trash. The Mr. Chu in his mind was the good and kind one, the one who loved science like a kid loves candy. The man who’d devoted his life to helping st
udents gain an understanding of the world and how it works, to help prepare them for life. To plant a seed in future doctors, engineers, chemists, biologists.
What happened to you? Tick thought. What did… he do to you?
Despite everything, Tick felt a little better. No matter what happened tomorrow, he would always have his friends and family in his heart and mind. And then a thought hit him: he should quit feeling sorry for himself-those people he’d just been thinking of needed him. Though he had no idea what to expect when morning came, he had to face it and do whatever it took to win. Everything depended on Tick.
Finally, the events of the day caught up to him. To think he’d awakened that morning in a place called Circle City, hoping to figure out a clue that seemed so silly now. Could this really have been only one day? It had to be the longest day of his life. And he felt it.
As exhaustion pulled him into sleep, he had one last coherent thought.
Tomorrow, I’m going to win.
Chapter 39
Weaponry
For some odd reason, Paul was dreaming he’d just been sworn in as President of the United States, but everyone in the huge crowd booed and threw rotten tomatoes at him. One hit him square in the face, wet and gooey.
He woke up to see yellow eyes and the flicker of a tongue. Muffintops had been sent to get him out of bed.
“Get off me, you furry rat,” he said, pushing the cat aside. He groaned as he pulled himself to a sitting position-his casted arm almost felt stronger than the other one-and swung his legs to the floor. Muffintops glared at him, her yellow eyes regarding him with distaste.
“Sorry, dude,” Paul said, reaching down to pet her. “I’m grumpy when I wake up.” He looked at his watch: 5:00 am. “Ah, man, what’s up with that? Muffins, go tell the old man I’m not ready to get up.”
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