by H. I. Larry
‘Nice try, Leon,’ said Grandpa, shaking his head. Zac thought he looked like he was trying not to smile. ‘Get going. We’re running out of time.’
‘Fine,’ said Zac, rolling his eyes. ‘Come on. Let’s go.’
He and Leon slid down from the roof of the Searcher, onto the floor of the forest.
Zac landed on his feet. Leon landed face-first in a bush.
Zac looked up and saw his grandpa pointing out into the forest.
‘The IRIS piece is that way,’ Grandpa said, ‘at the top of an old tower in the middle of the ruins. When you get up there, look in the flowerpot.’
‘Right,’ said Zac, dragging Leon away by the arm. The sooner this leg of the mission is finished, he thought, the better.
Zac and Leon ran through the forest, shining their SpyPad torches through the clouds of white fog. Zac squinted at the PSU strapped to his wrist.
‘I don’t see why Grandpa made us both come out here,’ panted Leon for about the hundredth time. He was puffed from all the running. ‘You usually go on these missions by yourself, anyway.’
‘Shh!’ Zac whispered. ‘Keep your voice down.You’re just making it easier for those androids to find –’
CLANK! CLANK! CLANK!
Zac gritted his teeth. ‘Too late.’
The sound of clanking android feet rang out behind Zac and Leon. Turning around, Zac saw blue electricity crackling in the distance.
Leon looked nervous. ‘What if they catch us?’ he hissed.
Zac reached into his backpack and pulled out his Jam Gloves. ‘That’s what these are for, right?’
Zac and Leon kept moving, strapping on the Jam Gloves as they went. They dodged between tree trunks and over rocks.
CLANK! CLANK! CLANK!
The androids were getting closer. Zac gulped. It sounded like there were heaps of them.
Up ahead, Zac could just make out a clearing in the forest.That had to be where the ruined castle was. They were so close to the second piece of IRIS.
He pushed forward, weaving between the trees.
Finally, the two boys burst into the clearing. The Misty Ruins stretched out in front of them. Massive piles of grey rock rose out of the long, green grass – the remains of an enormous old castle.
A single stone tower was still standing in the middle of the ruins. It looked like it might fall down at any moment.
‘That tower!’ whispered Zac. ‘That’s where the IRIS piece is hidden!’
CLANK! CLANK! CLANK!
Zac looked back over his shoulder.
Androids were stomping out of the mist in a line, right behind them! There were loads of them – even more than at the tree.
‘Oh, no,’ Leon moaned.
‘Don’t worry,’ Zac began. ‘Just keep running and –’ He stopped short. Zac realised suddenly that Leon wasn’t worrying about what was behind them. He was worrying about what was in front of them.
A second line of androids was marching towards them from among the ruins. The second line curved to join up with the first, forming a circle around Zac and Leon.
They were trapped.
CHAPTER
SEVEN
Zac rolled his eyes. ‘You know,’ he said, as the androids moved in from both sides, ‘this has just been one of those days.’
CLANK! CLANK! CLANK!
The cold, white mist swirled around them as the androids closed in.
Zac glanced down at the Jam Gloves on his hands. ‘How do I work these things?’
‘Point them at an android,’ said Leon quickly. ‘And then smack them together to fire the energy burst.’
‘Right,’ said Zac. He pointed his gloves at the nearest android and whacked them together.
SMACK!
G.I.B. JAM GLOVES - Active defence unit
An invisible burst of energy blasted out of the gloves, stopping the android dead in its tracks. It toppled to the ground, completely deactivated.
‘Awesome,’ said Zac, lining up his next target.
‘Uh-huh,’ said Leon nervously. He aimed his gloves shakily at an android and then bopped them together.
SMACK!
Leon’s blast sent another android tipping over. ‘I did it!’ said Leon, sounding like he could hardly believe it. ‘I got one!’
‘Nice one, Leon!’ said Zac.‘Keep going!’
Zac and Leon stood back-to-back, whacking their gloves together as the circle of androids clanked even closer.
SMACK! SMACK! SMACK!
Three androids went down. But more of them crowded in to fill the gap in the circle. Zac could see even more androids pouring in from the forest.
‘We can’t hold them off forever,’ said Zac anxiously. ‘We need to break through to the tower.’
He stepped forwards, thumping the gloves together wildly.
SMACK! SMACK! SMACK!
The androids fell like dominoes. Then another android stepped out of the mist. Zac could tell that this one was different. It was twice as tall as the others, and there was a bright blue light glowing from a panel in its chest.
‘Look, Zac!’ yelled Leon. ‘It’s the central computer!’
‘The what?’ said Zac, punching his hands together to shut down more androids.
SMACK! SMACK!
‘I think that big android is the network hub,’ said Leon admiringly. ‘If we destroy that one, the others should power down as well.’
Zac grinned. Nothing like a gadget to get Leon interested. Zac swung his gloves towards the big android and whacked them together. But nothing happened.
‘Leon, the gloves aren’t working on the big one!’ Zac called over his shoulder. He aimed his gloves at the smaller androids, knocking them down one after another. ‘You’ll need to shut it down some other way!’
SMACK! SMACK!
‘OK,’ said Leon quickly. ‘We need to get it on its back so I can have a look at that chest panel.’
‘No worries,’ said Zac. ‘I’ve got an idea. But I need you to cover me.’
Leon nodded and started thumping his hands to keep the androids back.
SMACK! SMACK! SMACK!
Zac bent down, slipped off one of his Jam Gloves, and swiftly pulled the laces out of his shoes. Then he put the glove back on and pumped his hands together, clearing a path through the androids. Zac raced into the forest.
Then, as silently as he could, he sneaked back up behind the big android. This is the oldest trick in the book, he thought, but it just might work.
He slipped his gloves off again, and then knelt down behind the big android to begin tying its feet together.
He glanced up and saw Leon smacking his hands wildly, keeping the other androids at bay.
SMACK! SMACK! SMACK!
When the shoelaces were knotted tightly, Zac jumped to his feet. He popped up in front of the big android and gave it a big shove.
Unable to keep its balance, the big android crashed to the ground on its back. It struggled to get up, but it wasn’t going anywhere.
CLUNK!
‘All right, Leon!’ shouted Zac, putting his gloves back on. ‘Your turn.’
Zac began taking down the other androids, while Leon crouched and cracked open the panel on the big android’s chest. Inside was a mess of wires, with a glowing blue crystal in the middle.
SMACK! SMACK! SMACK!
‘Hurry!’ Zac urged, whacking his arms together over and over again.
‘I’m working as fast as I can!’ said Leon, poking at the android’s chest with a screwdriver.
SMACK! SMACK! SMACK!
A few androids collapsed in the grass, but there were still so many! They surged forwards. Closer, closer…
GZZZK-POW!
Zac saw Leon jump back as a blast of sparks and smoke shot out of the big android’s chest.
Then suddenly, one by one, the other androids froze and fell to the ground.
For a few seconds, the air was full of the sound of clanking metal as the androids piled on top of each other.<
br />
Then everything was quiet.
‘You did it!’ Zac grinned. ‘You shut them all down!’
‘Yeah, well,’ Leon said, looking very pleased with himself. ‘You were pretty good too.’
Zac checked the PSU.
Excellent, he thought. Now we just head up to that tower and – Suddenly, two people charged into the clearing from the other side.
Zac groaned. Even through the mist, he had no trouble working out who they were.
CHAPTER
EIGHT
‘Look,’ said Leon. ‘It’s Blackwood and Caz!’
‘I know,’ said Zac. ‘Quick, let’s go!’ He took off towards the old castle, sprinting as fast as he could.
‘More running,’ grumbled Leon from behind him. ‘Great.’
Zac raced towards the tower, winding his way through piles of grey rubble. He kept one eye on the PSU as he ran.
Caz and Blackwood were running from the other direction. Zac spotted the Data Orb glowing in Caz’s hands.
I can’t believe they found the Orb so quickly, he thought as he ran. I thought it was gone for good!
Zac came to a rotting wooden door and charged straight through it. It flew off its hinges and crashed to the ground. Zac looked back and saw Leon staggering along behind him, holding his side and gasping.
Zac and Leon ran down a narrow path between two collapsed walls. The roof had caved in long ago, and Zac could see straight up to the sky.
Zac reached the tower only a few steps ahead of Caz and Blackwood.
At the foot of the tower was a stone archway. Inside, Zac saw a long spiral staircase snaking up to the top. He raced for the stairs, Caz right behind him.
Leon had stopped at the bottom of the stairs, wheezing for breath. Zac considered stopping to see if Leon was OK, but he didn’t really have a choice.
I’ve got to get that IRIS piece before Caz does, Zac thought as he raced up the stairs.
He was still exhausted from dealing with the androids, and his legs ached with every step. Just a bit further, he told himself.
As they got closer to the top, Zac was sure he could feel the whole tower swaying. He could hear Caz coming up behind him, only a step or two away.
Finally, they reached a tiny round room at the top of the tower.
Zac knew the IRIS piece was in this room somewhere. He scanned the room. There was a large open window on the opposite wall. Underneath, he saw a pile of old rubble. There were some shrivelled weeds in the dirt.
Zac kept looking. Spaced around the walls of the room were ten wooden treasure chests. They all looked like they might be filled with gold and jewels.
Zac went straight for the nearest chest and tried it heave it open. It was locked.
‘Get out of my way, Power,’ snapped Caz, shoving past him. She pulled out something that looked like a remote control with a short metal stick at the end. She went to a chest and poked the gadget into the keyhole.
CLICK!
The chest unlocked and Caz lifted the lid. But instead of one gadget piece, there were hundreds inside. The whole chest was filled with little bits of metal in all different shapes and sizes.
‘Good luck with that,’ Zac snorted, as Caz clawed through the pile of fake IRIS parts. He knew she had no hope of finding the real gadget piece in that mess.
Caz glared at him, but seemed to agree. She gave up and moved onto the next chest. But the second chest was exactly the same – an enormous pile of jumbled gadget parts.
Zac turned around, feeling like he must be missing something. His eyes swept past the window again and Grandpa’s words echoed in his head. Look in the flowerpot.
Of course, thought Zac. That wasn’t just a pile of rubble under the window. It was a smashed flowerpot! That had to be where the IRIS piece was hiding. Those treasure chests were decoys!
CRACK!
Suddenly, the ground under Zac’s feet shifted. He stumbled sideways. The old tower was moving. It felt like any second now, the whole thing would collapse with them inside.
The shifting settled for a moment, and Zac ran to the window. When he reached the shattered flowerpot, he began clawing through the dirt. Caz ignored him and kept going through the treasure chests.
At first it didn’t seem like there was anything in the pile of dirt, and Zac wondered whether he’d made a mistake.
But then his hand brushed something cold and hard. Zac grabbed at it, pulling it out of the dirt. It was a fat glass tube with a spiral of wire inside.
It had to be the IRIS power core!
CRACK!
The tower moved again, more roughly this time. Caz whirled around and saw Zac holding the piece of IRIS.
She ran towards him. But then the tower swayed back in the other direction, and she tripped over.
CRACK!
Zac went staggering backwards. Oh, no! he thought, as his legs slipped out from under him – and he went flying out the window!
CHAPTER
NINE
Zac plummeted to the ground, still holding the power core.
Acting on pure instinct, he whipped the Bounce Board out of his backpack and slipped it under his feet. He was only a metre away from the ground.
The Bounce Board smacked into the ground. Then the springs activated under the board, sending Zac back into the air.
BOIINNNGGG!
He gripped the IRIS power core tightly, laughing as he rocketed through the mist.
G.I.B. BOUNCE BOARD - Portable Travel Device
This was like skateboarding and bungee jumping put together! He slammed into the ground again, and then sprang back into the air.
Then he remembered his brother. I’d better go make sure Leon’s OK, he thought, turning towards the tower. Zac made his bounces smaller until he could get off.
He found Leon standing in the ruins.
Leon stared at him, white-faced. ‘That was so close!’
‘I’m fine,’ grinned Zac. ‘This Bounce Board is awesome! Where’s Blackwood?’
Leon pointed across the ruins to the foot of the tower, where Blackwood was waiting for Caz to come back out. The whole tower was swaying from side to side now. It looked like one little gust of wind could send it toppling over.
Caz raced out of the tower. She brushed straight past Blackwood and sprinted towards Zac and Leon. She looked furious that Zac was still standing after his fall from the tower.
‘Zac Power!’ she screamed, still running. ‘Give me that piece of IRIS, you –’
CRRAAAAAAAAACCCK!
A huge creaking noise came from the direction of the castle. Caz stopped shouting. All three of them looked up.
The tower was about to fall. After so many years, the last piece of the ruined castle was finally crashing to earth. The tower tipped over like a falling tree, slowly leaning down to the ground. It looked like it was falling in slow motion.
Zac looked over at Blackwood. She was standing at the foot of the tower, and she clearly didn’t realise that it would fall on top of her!
‘Grandma!’ Caz shouted. ‘Move!’
Blackwood turned to run, but Zac could already tell she couldn’t make it out in time.
WHOOSH!
A sudden flash of movement caught Zac’s eye. A blurred figure burst out of the mist, speeding towards the falling tower.
It was Grandpa.
He raced into the shadow of the tower and dived straight at Blackwood, pushing her out of the way just as –
CRRRRAAAASSSSHHHH!
The tower hit the ground with a massive explosion of sound. A cloud of dust burst into the air, turning the mist from white to grey. Rubble showered down on the ruins like a hailstorm.
‘Grandpa!’ shouted Zac and Leon.
‘Grandma!’ screamed Caz.
All three of them broke into a run. They tore across the ruins to the fallen tower and didn’t stop until they heard voices coming from the other side.
Peering over the ruins of the tower, Zac saw Grandpa pulling Blackwood
to her feet. They were both safe.
Zac was only a few metres away, but both Grandpa and Blackwood had their backs to him.
‘You stupid old man,’ Blackwood coughed, shaking off Grandpa’s hand. ‘It’s always the same with you!’
‘What’s always the same?’ Grandpa asked.
‘You just can’t help yourself, can you!’ Blackwood yelled. ‘You always have to step in and play the hero!’
Grandpa raised an eyebrow. ‘Would you rather I’d left you there to get squashed by that tower?’
‘We’re enemies now, you old fool!’ raged Blackwood. ‘That’s what enemies do! You should have left me there to get squashed!’
Grandpa gave Blackwood a weary smile. ‘You know I could never do that,’ he sighed. ‘You might have changed your name, Elizabeth, but you’re still my sister.’
CHAPTER
TEN
Zac’s mouth fell open. Blackwood was Grandpa’s sister? That was impossible!
He turned to Leon. But his brother looked just as shocked as Zac felt.
Zac scrambled over the rubble of the fallen tower towards Grandpa and Blackwood. His foot crunched on a rock.
Grandpa looked up and realised that TO BE CONTINUED... Zac and Leon had heard them talking. ‘Boys, listen to me,’ he began.
But now Caz was storming up to join them. She went straight for Blackwood.
‘You’re his sister?’ Caz shrieked. ‘You’re a – you’re a Power?!’
Blackwood shook her head firmly. ‘No, Caz. I’m not –’
‘You are!’ said Caz, looking disgusted.
‘And if you’re a Power…that means I’m a Power!’ Her eyes flashed across to Zac.
‘And that means Zac and I are…’
‘Second cousins,’ Grandpa finished with a shrug. ‘I’m afraid so.’
Caz looked like she wanted to throw up.
Zac knew how she felt. Caz Rewop was his worst enemy. Zac had spent half his life trying to undo whatever new evil thing she was planning, and now it turned out they were family?
‘NO!’ Blackwood roared, pulling Caz alongside her. ‘We are not Powers. Not anymore.’