Dimensions (The Young Neos Book 4)

by Lucas Flint

  “No, but it is nearby,” said Pantalone, gesturing behind himself. “I can show you both the way.”

  “Good to hear,” said Arlecchino. “But, ah, you didn’t run into the Midnight Menace, did you?”

  “No,” said Pantalone, shaking his head. “I didn’t run into anyone. I don’t think the Midnight Menace is in the area. We’re safe.”

  Arlecchino sighed in relief. “Good to hear. Last thing we need is someone like that guy getting in the way of our plans.”

  The woman nodded, but then made several hand gestures, which Pantalone apparently understood, because he said, “Don’t worry, Moretta. We won’t be here much longer. As soon we destroy what Mann sent us to destroy, we will be able to go back home.”

  The woman—apparently named Moretta—clearly sighed in relief, though again, she made no noise. Treehugger was finding the woman’s silence stranger than ever, especially since neither Pantalone nor Arlecchino appeared to find it odd. She wondered if Moretta was mute, but then she realized that Moretta didn’t make any noises when she moved, either. Moretta was clearly a superhuman of some sort, but what her exact powers were, Treehugger did not know. She just hoped that the Midnight Menace would appear soon, because whatever the Venetians were doing here, it was probably not any good.

  All of a sudden, the lamppost grew darker. Moretta must have noticed, because she pointed at the lamppost, prompting Pantalone to say, “Moretta, what is it?”

  “The lamppost,” said Arlecchino, taking a step backwards in shock. “It’s going out.”

  He was right. Thick darkness converged on the lamppost until it was completely covered, casting the whole clearing into shadow. Treehugger wanted to run, but she was too scared of being heard by the Venetians to move. She just knelt in the bushes, shaking slightly, listening as the three Venetians stumbled around in the shadows in an obvious attempt to find out what happened.

  “What happened?” said Arlecchino’s voice from within the shadows; it sounded slightly closer than before. “I can’t see a damn thing.”

  “The light,” said Pantalone’s voice, which also sounded closer than before. “It’s off.”

  “Whose bright idea was that?” said Arlecchino in annoyance. “Hold on, let me turn it back on … wait a minute, the switch is still flipped on, but how come I can’t see anything?”

  “Because I don’t want you to,” came the soft voice of the Midnight Menace, seemingly from everywhere at once.

  A second later, Treehugger heard a swooping of a cape, followed by cries of anger and pain. She heard punches being thrown, fists crashing into bones and faces, as well as grunts and kicks. She even thought she heard wood being split over someone’s head, followed by someone falling onto the ground unconscious. It all sounded so close, perhaps not more than a few feet away from Treehugger, but she didn’t move. She didn’t want to get in the middle of what was obviously an intense battle between the Midnight Menace and the Venetians. She would just get in the way, given how she couldn’t see in the dark, so she just sat there waiting for the fight to end, confident that the Midnight Menace would defeat the Venetians.

  That was when Treehugger heard a small click behind her. She would have turned her head to see where the sound had come from, but then she felt the cold barrel of a gun placed against the back of her head and she froze. She wanted to ask who was behind her, but she realized that it had to be one of the Venetians. Who, exactly, she didn’t know, but then she felt the gun pushed against the back of her neck, a clear sign that she needed to stand up if she didn’t want her head to be blasted apart.

  Reluctantly, Treehugger rose to her feet. She suddenly realized that she couldn’t hear a thing; it was like all of the sound in the area had been turned off. That was when she felt another hand grab her arm and suddenly twist it in an extremely painful way, causing Treehugger to yelp in pain. Even her own yelp startled her, because she had not realized that she could hear sounds again

  Suddenly, the sounds of fighting stopped and the darkness in the clearing instantly vanished, allowing the light from the lamp to shine again. The Midnight Menace stood in the clearing, as tall and dangerous-looking as ever. He stood with one foot on Pantalone, who lay on the ground like he had been punched in the face, while Arlecchino was being held by his collar in his right hand, a dazed look on the Venetian’s face. The only Venetian missing was Moretta, though it was possible that Treehugger was overlooking her due to her fear of being shot.

  “Girl?” said the Midnight Menace, looking at Treehugger in surprise. “What happened to you? Who—?” The Midnight Menace’s eyes narrowed. “Ah. I see.”

  Treehugger was about to ask the Midnight Menace what he meant, but then she felt the barrel of the gun press against the back of her neck again and she froze. If Moretta was missing, then didn’t that mean that …

  It did. Moretta had sneaked up on Treehugger and was holding her hostage. And, if the Midnight Menace didn’t meet her demands, Treehugger would die.

  CHAPTER FIFTEEN

  “Put the gun down, woman,” said the Midnight Menace. He hefted the nearly-unconscious Arlecchino in his other hand. “Or I will make your friends suffer like they’ve never suffered before.”

  There was no response. Treehugger tried not to let her fear get the best of her, but it was hard because the gun’s barrel was right up against her head. Her costume may have been bulletproof, but the impact of the bullet against the back of her head would still hurt like hell, possibly even put her into a coma. Treehugger didn’t know exactly what would happen, which made her wish that she had asked more about this when she first got her suit over a year ago.

  “The silent treatment, eh?” said the Midnight Menace. “Unusual, given how most supervillains love to talk.”

  “She’s mute, you idiot,” said Arlecchino. Despite having been beaten nearly to a pulp, Arlecchino still managed to speak, though since he was missing a tooth, his words sounded slightly strange. “She can’t talk, not even one word.”

  “She is?” said the Midnight Menace. “That explains her silence.”

  “Ha, you thought she was just trying to be intimidating,” said Arlecchino with a chuckle. “For being the leader of the second largest superhero organization in America, you sure aren’t very bright.”

  The Midnight Menace glared at Arlecchino, but then the gun barrel dug deeper into the back of Treehugger’s head, causing her to say, “No, wait, Menace, don’t hurt him. Moretta is going to shoot me if you hurt Arlecchino or Pantalone.”

  “How do you know?” said the Midnight Menace, looking at Treehugger. “Perhaps she doesn’t like her teammates very much.”

  “Actually, she does,” said Arlecchino. “And the girl’s right. I don’t know what is going through Moretta’s mind at the moment, but I can guarantee you that she is more than willing to put a bullet through that girl’s brain if you hurt us.”

  “You mean she would murder a teenage girl just to complete your mission?” said the Midnight Menace, disgust clear in his voice. “You Venetians—no, you animals, are even worse than I thought.”

  “That girl ain’t as innocent as she seems,” said Arlecchino, glancing at Treehugger. “She’s one of the Young Neos. Those brats keep getting in our way. I’m surprised that Moretta hasn’t shot yet, though, given how much of a pain in the ass those Young Neos have been to us.”

  Treehugger bit her lower lip. She didn’t say anything because she didn’t want to get shot. Of course, it was clear enough now that Moretta was just holding her hostage in order to make sure that the Midnight Menace did not defeat her and her teammates, which made it unlikely that Moretta would shoot Treehugger. Still, Treehugger didn’t know much about Moretta and didn’t want to make any big risks.

  “And I wouldn’t recommend attacking her, either,” said Arlecchino. “I know what you’re thinking, dark knight, and there’s no way you can outspeed Moretta. She’s got a trigger finger like lightning.”

  “How do you know I couldn’t di
sarm her before she kills Treehugger?” said the Midnight Menace. “I am a rather quick superhero myself.”

  “Go ahead and try it, my man,” said Arlecchino with a chuckle. “Personally, I didn’t think that self-proclaimed superheroes like you would be willing to put the lives of kids at risk, but it’s your funeral. Or really, the girl’s, since she’s the one who is definitely going to die before this is all over.”

  Despite her fear, Treehugger could not help but feel annoyed at how everyone was calling her a kid. She was sixteen-years-old; she wasn’t a little kid anymore. Maybe she wasn’t as old as Bolt or Blizzard, but that didn’t mean that she was just a little kid. She didn’t say that aloud, however, again because she didn’t want to give Moretta an excuse to shoot her.

  The Midnight Menace appeared to be considering his options. He didn’t let Arlecchino down, but neither did Arlecchino try to free himself. Treehugger could still feel the gun barrel against the back of her head. She wished that she could at least see Moretta, because not being able to see her just made the situation much worse.

  I wish there was a way I could help the Midnight Menace, Treehugger thought. But as long as I am Moretta’s prisoner, I’m practically useless to him. All I can really do is stand here and hope he will find a way to save me.

  Treehugger felt a slight pain on her left shoulder. It was hard to tell, but she realized that a leaf from above had fallen on her shoulder and cut partially through her suit’s surface and her skin underneath. She had forgotten about the razor sharp leaves of the trees. She wondered if she could control them like normal leaves; after all, they were plants and plant control was her specialty. Yet Treehugger had never tried to control the plants of the Shadowlands, and if she tried and failed … well, it was her only option and she was willing to take the consequences. All she really needed to do was distract Moretta long enough for the Midnight Menace to take her out.

  “You’ve gone pretty quiet yourself, darky,” said Arlecchino. “Are you going to give up and let us do what we want or are you going to play the hero and get that girl killed? Moretta’s trigger finger is looking pretty tired right now.”

  “Shut up,” said the Midnight Menace. “Your opinion is irrelevant, unwanted, and annoying. I am still thinking.”

  “Don’t think for too long, now,” said Arlecchino with a chuckle. “We’re all busy people here and we don’t have all the time in the world to waste waiting for super zeroes like you to figure out what you want to do. Also, think of Moretta’s poor trigger finger and how tired it must be from having to hold that same position for so long. It might just slip … accidentally, of course.”

  The Midnight Menace looked just about ready to kill Arlecchino in cold blood, but he restrained himself, no doubt because any attempt to harm Arlecchino would just give Moretta an excuse to shoot Treehugger. Not that Treehugger was paying too much attention to their conversations; she was instead focused on the leaf by her left foot, the one that had cut her shoulder. She was trying to move it, desperately focusing her power on the leaf. She didn’t know how much time she had before Moretta decided to shoot, so she tried as much as she could to gain control over the leaf.

  At first, Treehugger felt no connection to the leaf. But gradually, bit by bit, she felt a connection begin to grow between her and the leaf. It was different from how she felt when she connected with Earth plants, though. The leaf felt rougher and more alien; indeed, it almost felt like it wasn’t a leaf at all. It was an odd sensation, just like all of the other sensations that she had experienced in the Shadowlands, but eventually, when she felt the connection was secure enough, Treehugger mentally commanded the leaf to move.

  Out of the corner of her eye, Treehugger saw the leaf twitch ever so slightly, subtly enough that no one other than herself noticed. And she knew it wasn’t because of the wind, because there was no breeze blowing through the Shadowlands at the moment (in fact, it seemed like there was no wind in the Shadowlands, period, but that was another oddity she would ask the Midnight Menace about later). Now if she could gain control of one leaf …

  Treehugger’s thoughts were interrupted by the sensation of the barrel of the gun being pushed deeper into the back of her head, almost to the point of knocking Treehugger over.

  “Uh oh,” said Arlecchino with a wicked grin on his face. “Looks like Moretta is losing her patience. Make your choice, Menace, or Moretta will make it for you.”

  The Midnight Menace’s hand shook, but he dropped Arlecchino like a rock and stepped off of the unconscious Pantalone. “Very well. I will spare your allies, Moretta. Now spare the girl’s life. That was the deal, wasn’t it?”

  Suddenly, Arlecchino—who was rubbing his back that he had fallen on—suddenly smirked. “Yeah, right.”

  At that exact moment, Treehugger sensed that Moretta was about to pull the trigger. With a yell, Treehugger sent the leaf on the ground flying toward Moretta’s gun hand. Treehugger heard the leaf slicing through skin, someone stumbling behind her, and a gun being dropped, as well as a shocked shout coming from Arlecchino, but Treehugger didn’t wait. She whirled around and saw Moretta staggering backwards into the forest, clutching her bleeding hand where the leaf had cut it. In the dim light, it was difficult to see the damage, but it looked like the leaf must have left a deep cut that probably wouldn’t be healing up anytime soon.

  Treehugger thrust her arms forward. Two nearby tree branches suddenly reached out and grabbed Moretta by both arms, pulling her arms apart until Moretta looked like she was screaming in pain. The tree branches lifted Moretta dozens of feet off the ground and her feet kicked futilely at the air, too short to reach the branches that held her prisoner and lacking any sort of power that she could use to free herself.

  Panting, Treehugger suddenly heard several punches behind herself and turned around again. This time, she saw that the Midnight Menace stood over both Arlecchino and Pantalone, both of whom looked like they had taken a serious beating. Arlecchino, in particular, looked like he was missing a couple of teeth, his mask barely hanging onto his face.

  The Midnight Menace, on the other hand, looked completely unharmed. That amazed Treehugger, because the Venetians had always given her and the other Young Neos a difficult time in battle. That the Midnight Menace could beat these two so easily was amazing in and of itself, especially since these two Venetians in particular had once taken the entire team to fight.

  Of course, the Midnight Menace acted like he did this sort of thing every day. He stepped toward Treehugger, his red eyes focused solely on her. “That was a reckless move, girl. Even I didn’t see it coming. You could have been killed.”

  Treehugger rubbed her arm self-consciously. “I know. It was risky, but it was also the only way to beat them. Otherwise, well, I would be dead.”

  “Yes, I agree,” said the Midnight Menace. “Just because I said it was reckless doesn’t mean I think it was dumb. More importantly, however, is that I didn’t know that you could control the plant life of the Shadowlands. I thought it was impossible.”

  “I didn’t know that, either,” said Treehugger with a shrug. “It was a complete gamble, though one that worked out in the end.”

  “Yes, it did,” said the Midnight Menace. He looked up at the trees surrounding them. “Perhaps the Shadowlands’ connection to Earth is deeper than I thought. There must be a connection between the plants of the Shadowlands and the plants of Earth. If I had the time or interest, I’d probably investigate it; as it is, I’m more interested in taking care of these Venetians at the moment than in pondering questions like that.”

  Treehugger looked at Arlecchino and Pantalone uncertainly. “What are you going to do to them? Are you going to kill them?”

  “No,” said the Midnight Menace, shaking his head. “First, I am going to make them tell me what they are doing here in the Shadowlands and how they even got here in the first place. Then I will take them back to Earth and hand them over to the government to be jailed like the criminals they are. If ne
cessary, I will also destroy the method which they used to enter this place; no one has any right to be here, at least not without my permission or being called by the Shadowlands themselves.”

  Treehugger nodded. “Okay, that makes sense. Will you send me back to Earth soon, too?”

  “Of course,” said the Midnight Menace. “It may be a little while longer, however, because dragging these three back to the Temple will take some—”

  The Midnight Menace suddenly stopped talking. His mouth kept moving, but no sound came from his lips. For that matter, everything else had gone silent as well; when Treehugger tried to talk, no sound came out of her lips, either.

  Realizing what happened, Treehugger whirled around to see that Moretta was awake again. Only now, Moretta was looking at Treehugger with an evil triumph in her eyes, like she was about to deliver the finishing blow.

  And before either Treehugger or the Midnight Menace could react, Moretta tilted her head to the side.

  A huge sound blast—just like the one back in the Academy—suddenly blew through the air. It was incredibly loud in the stillness of the Shadowlands and hit Treehugger like a brick, knocking her flat onto the ground where she fell into unconscious as soon as she cracked her head against an exposed tree root.

  CHAPTER SIXTEEN

  Treehugger’s head hurt, hurt so much that it made her want to fall unconscious again. Unfortunately, she couldn’t go back to sleep, no matter how much she wanted, although she kept her eyes closed just the same in the vain hope that maybe she would naturally fall asleep again if she kept them shut.

  Ugh, what happened? Treehugger thought, her head throbbing. Feels like I got hit by a sledgehammer. Twice.

  It took Treehugger a moment to remember what happened. The battle in the forest … the clash with the Venetians … Moretta creating a sound blast … Treehugger herself falling to the ground … that was where the memories ended. She had no idea what happened after any of that; indeed, most of it felt unreal, like how you feel when you have a particularly realistic dream and wake up the next morning unsure about which parts were real and which parts were fake.