“I’ll show you fighting magic!”
Streaks of red swam down her waist-length hair as she lunged after the little Pud. She chased him around the hill, but he was too quick for her.
Meanwhile, Simon gazed lazily at the long row of furry weeds in front of him. He took the black wand and brought it as far back as he could. Tonya yelled loudly as she chased after Thorn. Simon paid little attention to his friends; his focus was centered on the strange weed at his feet. He felt a cool breeze brush against his face, and for a moment everything became silent.
“Foonati,” he said, waving the wand through the air like a scythe.
Immediately, the weed trembled and jerked, but something stopped it from launching into the air. The dirt where it stood broke apart. A thick root suddenly burst out of the ground, allowing Simon to see that the weeds actually sprouted from the same source.
Each weed, in turn, moved out of place as the root buckled under the soil. It flailed about wildly like a power line that had just been cut. Oblivious to what was happening, Tonya and Thorn were both thrown to the ground as the grassy carpet underneath them yanked away. A large crack ran down the hill, causing an upheaval of rocks and grass to form on each side. Two more cracks ripped through the soft dirt and headed towards the base of a large tree that was covered with the same pussy-willow weeds.
Similar to giant tendrils, the roots sprang upwards and twisted around the tree furiously. A chill ran down Simon’s spine when he heard the painful crack of the tree being split in half by its own roots. As if that weren’t enough, the possessed roots continued to spread throughout the entire forest like a pernicious virus, attacking the rest of the pussy-willow trees.
Within moments, Simon realized that all of the willow trees were interconnected by the same root system. Perhaps the strange trees were actually one organism whose appendages expanded throughout the whole forest. Needless to say, no other type of tree was harmed, and when the scene of destruction was over, not a single pussy-willow tree remained standing.
From where Simon sat, he could see the winding pathways that had been cut throughout the forest from the carnage that had just taken place. The forest now looked like a huge maze.
“That was some spell!” Thorn gasped as he walked towards Simon. “You really gave that weed a nudge, didn’t you? I’d hate to see what a major moving spell would do!”
Simon stared at the fallen trees in disbelief, his mouth hanging open. “I think that’s enough magic for today,” he mumbled.
“We’re just getting started!” Thorn exclaimed.
“No, maybe we should go home now. I think I’ve done enough damage already.”
“We can’t go home or we’ll get in trouble for playing hooky,” Tonya countered. “Besides, after what you just did, the forest will be crawling with adults. I doubt they’ll find us up here.”
“That’s right,” Thorn said. “Let’s see how big you can make a banana grow.” The little boy unzipped Simon’s fanny pack, and out popped two peaches and a banana. He threw a peach to Tonya who, after catching it, scanned the surface closely for worm holes. “Oh! Oh! Here we go!” Thorn squealed, bringing out Simon’s video game machine.
Simon frowned. “You want me to make my video games grow?”
“No, silly, I want you to make them work.”
His face brightened. “Oh, I was kinda hoping Tonya would show me how to recharge the batteries. That’s why I brought it with me in the first place. It was going to be a surprise for your birthday.”
Tonya reacted quickly, “Oh, no-no-no-no-no! I wouldn’t do that if I were you. That would be way too complicated. You might not use enough wattage or you might use too much voltage. Spells like that are just so intricate you’d have to be a professional to be able to do it. Besides, you’d probably fry the—”
POOF! A thin stream of white smoke came out of the colorful screen, and mechanical-sounding music filled the air.
“…circuits,” Tonya said, finishing her sentence.
“You did it!” Thorn yelled. “Now you have to show me how to get past level ten. Tell me, when you’re fighting the end boss, do you use the flame-thrower or the grenade launcher?”
“Oh, no,” Tonya moaned. “I wish you hadn’t done that.”
But it was too late; Simon and Thorn were instantly and completely enthralled with the video game. Playing it brought back many happy memories of Earth that Simon had forgotten. The boy hadn’t realized until now how much he really did miss his home. He missed the food. He missed the interaction with normal children. He even missed being awakened by Dimitri every morning.
Tonya sat away from the boys and made comments such as, “Don’t you think we should go now?” and “How much longer are you guys gonna be?” and “You guys are pathetic.”
Annoyed and upset, Tonya rested on her back and stared at the clouds overhead. She picked out the especially long blades of grass around her and ate them one by one, imagining they were French fries.
The bright sun made it difficult for her to keep her eyes open, and after a while, she decided not to fight it any longer. Soon, the young teenager was fast asleep—away from the realities of life and especially away from that blasted video game machine.
The day passed by quickly.
* * *
Tonya stirred in her sleep. “No… No! Run!” She screamed herself awake. It was only a dream, yet it seemed so real.
“What’s wrong?” asked Simon, not bothering to raise his head from the game.
“It was just a dream,” Tonya said, yawning. “I dreamt we were being chased by those lizard things. … You don’t think there’s any of them in the forest, do you?”
The boys nodded slightly but didn’t respond.
Tonya sighed and then suddenly looked around, realizing how dark it was. The sun was starting to hide behind the mountain. A quickly-growing shadow cast itself across the forest as the sun descended from view.
“I can’t believe you guys are still playing. Thornapple, didn’t your dad say he had a surprise for you back at home?”
“Oh my gosh! I forgot all about my birthday.”
“That’s a miracle.”
Simon turned off his video game and said, “We better go while the sun is still out.”
They packed up their things and slid down the hill—what was left of it. The forest appeared much darker now and more ominous, but they trudged on, nonetheless. Simon started to recognize the pathway; there was the sloth-eating tree—except, its green hand was curled up inside for the night. A little ways farther, they heard voices ahead of them. Simon quickly turned off the lights on his hover chair.
“This is the strangest thing I’ve ever seen,” a man said.
“Do you think the dragunos did this?” another replied.
“No, I don’t think so. It almost looks like the trees attacked themselves, but that’s impossible.”
“Look at how the roots have come right out of the ground. It would have taken something pretty big to do that, but I don’t see any tracks at all. Surely we would have detected if the aliens had come back, wouldn’t we?”
“Lenny, the Lisardians have been gone for a thousand years now. They’re not coming back.”
“Yeah, but you’ve heard the rumor that the aliens return every millennium. Last time they sprang up out of nowhere. What if—”
“Lenny! Let’s just finish surveying the area and leave the speculations to the scientists.”
The three teenagers slowly made their way through the clearing, but when a stick snapped under Thorn’s foot, Lenny shrieked.
“Did you hear that? They’re coming for us!”
Simon cranked his hover chair into full gear and zoomed past the inspectors like a speeding ghost. Because of the darkness, the only thing the little Puds could see was that someone or something had just flown by.
Tonya and Thorn followed Simon while Lenny screamed, “They’re back! The Lisardians are back! Don’t let them get me!”
/> After reaching the main cobblestone road, all three teenagers burst into laughter. “Don’t let them get me!” Thorn imitated. They joked all the way home; however, their faces were soon wiped clean of merriment when they reached the porch. Standing there in the doorway with hands on her hips and a scolding expression on her face was Mrs. Troodle.
Chapter 15
The Big Fight
“Do you know what time it is?” Thorn’s mother snapped. “We’ve been waiting all night for you to come home, Thornapple. If we don’t hurry, we’ll be late.”
Thorn swallowed hard and asked, “Late for what?”
Mrs. Troodle threw both hands into the air. “Your birthday surprise. We’re taking you to the big fight tonight.”
“You’re kidding me! I thought it was sold out.”
“It is sold out, but we bought our tickets early.” She turned her head and yelled into the house,“Honey, they’re here! Let’s go!”
“One moment, Sweetie. I’m just finishing up on the news.”
She twisted her lips and murmured, “Oh, you’re just finishing up on the news.”
Mrs. Troodle marched into the house, followed by Thorn, Tonya, and Simon. They found Dr. Troodle watching the news from a semi-holographic projection that emitted from Har’s security collar. The poor kid was foaming at the mouth, and he couldn’t seem to keep his eyes focused on anything. All three teenagers looked at each other nervously as the tiny reporter presented the news.
Earlier today, every single willow tree in the Zapaneen forest was mysteriously torn down. Specialists on the scene have told us that there is no scientific explanation for this phenomena, yet they are not ruling out foul play. Authorities have no comment at this time.
On another note, eleven more draguno attacks were reported today—one attack involving a daycare facility. Two big Puds were killed protecting their owners, and five more were severely injured. Scientists still haven’t discovered where these reptiles are coming from, but they assured us that the situation is under control…
Mrs. Troodle pressed a button on Har’s collar, and the 3-D projection turned off. “All right, let’s go.”
“Hey, I was watching that,” Dr. Troodle said.
“You can watch it when we get back.” She turned to Har, who was drooling profusely onto the gray carpet, and commanded, “Har, record the news.”
A red light on his security collar blinked on and off, indicating that the news was being recorded from the Holonet.
* * *
“Honey, if you don’t hurry it up, we’ll miss the first round!”
“I’m going the speed limit, Sweetie. Just be patient. We’ll be there before you know it.”
Because of the awkwardly designed vehicle, Simon was forced to sit with his head between his knees, and Tonya was obliged to curl up on the seat with her legs folded over in a sort of kneeling position. And of course, there wasn’t enough room to bring Simon’s hover chair, so they left it at home.
“Honey, maybe I should drive,” Mrs. Troodle said.
“We’re almost to the highway… Oh, look at that line!” They slowed down to a crawl. “It looks like we’re not the only ones headed for the big fight.”
Mrs. Troodle pulled on a lever, and the car lurched upwards and started to fly over the long row of cars ahead of them.
“You’re going to get me pulled over,” the doctor said, steering the vehicle upwards.
He cut into a row of traffic that flew overhead. Simon felt his stomach drop as they sped onwards. Soon, a small flying ball zoomed up to the front window, and a mechanical voice asked, “Destination?”
“Hollywhip Stadium,” Dr. Troodle said.
“Destination confirmed… Directions are now mapped out… Please sit back and enjoy the trip.”
A white light shot out of the metallic ball and engulfed the car in a strange glowing web. It dragged the vehicle through the highway, hopping from lane to lane to make their journey as efficient as possible. Looking out the side window, Simon noticed similar devices leading the other cars as well.
A series of tall buildings came into view. Because Simon had never been in the inner city before, he didn’t realize how grand it really was. The buildings stood so high, he could scarcely see the ground below. Holographic billboards lined the invisible highway, advertising things such as schools of higher learning, new advancements in security collars, items for conducting experiments, special seminars on science, and even informational books on how to potty train your big Pud.
Vehicles of all shapes and sizes flooded the entire sky. For a race of people who didn’t seem to care much about anything other than science, the little Puds sure did have a huge variety of flying cars. And if it weren’t for the aid of the floating balls, the whole network of highways would be in total chaos, but, surprisingly, every car was able to compensate for variances in the wind and openings created when cars jumped to different roadways or lanes.
As they neared the tallest building, their car started to sputter and cough. Suddenly, the tractor beam surrounding the vehicle shorted out, forcing the car to brake loose from the highway and fall.
“Ah, great,” Dr. Troodle mumbled under his breath. “I’ve been meaning to get the magnetron converter fixed. Hold on, everybody!”
They dove through several rows of cars—all of which moved out of the way in perfect unison.
The metallic ball chased after them frantically. “Malfunction: the magnetic coupling has been disengaged…” came the mechanical voice. “There is no need to panic. Please stay calm while I attempt to regain control of the vehicle.”
“That’s easy for you to say!” Mrs. Troodle said.
She pulled down on the throttle to help bring the car out of its nosedive. Abruptly, the car shot upwards, and everyone fell back against their seats. All the while, the flying ball kept shooting its tractor beam at them, but the web of light just couldn’t seem to take hold. Now the car was rising higher and higher, dispersing traffic like a speedboat cutting through water.
Dr. Troodle smashed through four floating billboards in succession and then leveled off long enough to scatter a line of cars that were waiting to get into the parking lot on the top of the largest building. Thorn screamed as they raced towards a tall partition that separated the coliseum from the parking lot. Then, just before they were pulverized against the wall, the metal orb that had been trailing behind finally grabbed hold of the vehicle.
“Destination arrived. I hope you enjoyed the trip,” it said as they came to an abrupt halt. The ball gently rested the car onto a convenient parking space near the entrance.
“Well,” Mrs. Troodle said, brushing her hair out of her face, “that was a nice shortcut. We’re not even late.”
The arena sat on top of the building like a bowl. Spotlights danced around the noisy crowd, and the smell of food filled the air. Everyone around them seemed to be staring at Tonya; it wasn’t every day they saw a tall, green-haired alien in their midst.
“You guys didn’t get any dinner, did you?” yelled Dr. Troodle over the cheers of the crowd. “Here, take this.” He gave some money to each of them.
“Thanks!” all three of them said.
Tonya and Thorn raced to the concession stands, while Simon trailed sluggishly behind. He took one look at the selection and decided to go hungry. Thorn ordered a chicken wing—feathers and all—and Tonya ordered some deep-fried rhubarb.
“Aren’t you going to get anything?” Thorn asked Simon.
“I’m not too hungry.”
Just then, the crowd roared. The announcer said in an exaggerated voice, “To my left, we have the challenger: Alvin Bottlebrush! He has been fighting professionally for two years now. His favorite science is chemistry, and he holds two doctorates in biology… And girls, I hear he’s single.”
The noise was deafening. Everyone but Simon turned around to get a closer look.
“Come on, kids, let’s go!” Mrs. Troodle urged.
Simon exc
hanged his money for something sealed in a white plastic wrapper. He promptly put the item in his fanny pack before anybody could see.
The announcer spoke again. “And to my right, we have the champion: Bo-Bob Dungbeat! Mr. Dungbeat has never lost a fight yet. He enjoys chemical engineering and computer science. He is currently studying at Highland City’s very own Northcliff University, where he hopes to teach someday.”
Simon made it to his seat just in time to see two small Puds strutting around the stage, flexing their muscles like bodybuilders. He thought it odd that such a civilized people would endorse a violent sport such as boxing. Mrs. Troodle seemed especially interested in Alvin Bottlebrush, who was clearly the better looking of the two fighters.
“The rules are simple,” the announcer continued. “Keep it clean while the blue light is on—nothing below the belt. Watch for the chaos light. When you see it, you’ll have thirty seconds of no-holds-barred. Good luck, gentleman. Shake hands and let the fight begin!”
The two boxers attempted to shake hands, but their gloves proved too cumbersome. They then turned around and left the ring, which Simon found very confusing. Standing just outside the ropes, each fighter was outfitted with wires and electrodes that led to a plastic headband.
The crowd screamed wildly as two trapdoors opened up on the stage. Slowly, two giant figures emerged from the floor. They were the biggest Puds Simon and Tonya had ever seen.
Simon still didn’t know what was going on until he saw the big Puds start to fight. Somehow, the large men were being remotely controlled by the little Puds. For instance, every time Alvin or Bo-Bob swung an arm, their counterpart in the ring would swing his arm as well.
The two giants exchanged blows to the face—one after the other—until Bo-Bob’s Pud began to bleed from a cut under his eye.
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