Cloneward Bound (21 page)

It should have occurred to Fisher that if Two had been able to escape the explosion of the TechX complex, Dr. X might very well have, too.

Specifically, it should have occurred to him
before
he was standing in the middle of a gigantic death maze being stared down by Granger and hundreds of his heavily armed, maniacal creations.

But it hadn’t occurred to him. The realization of this miscalculation smacked into Fisher with the force of a manatee on a tire swing.

Dr. X’s eyes swept back and forth across his victims.

“Welcome to my new show!” he trumpeted gleefully, opening his arms. He turned to Fisher and narrowed his eyes. “When you destroyed my beautiful TechX compound, I admit I was distraught. Fortunately, I had use of a backup laboratory hidden beneath Los Angeles, full of
hundreds of my spectacular creations. And when I heard that
Sci-Fi: Survivor
’s producer had died suddenly, tragically, and inexplicably”—Dr. X coughed—“I conveniently volunteered to step in as his replacement.”

“Mr. Gr-Granger?” Amanda stuttered out. Her mouth was hanging open.

“You—you know him?” squeaked Kevin Keels.

“Harry?”
Dr. Devilish and GG McGee said simultaneously.

“
You
know him, too?” Keels said, eyes widening.

“Oh, I know him,” Dr. Devilish said grimly. “I’ve known him my whole life.” He gulped. “He’s my big brother.”

“Your
brother
?” Fisher, Amanda, and Kevin echoed together.

“We weren’t what you’d call a
close
family,” Dr. X said, letting his arms drop to his sides. “Do you remember, Fisher, when I told you about my early life? How I was tormented and pushed around and beaten up in school? My little brother, Martin, was already bigger than me by then. And you know what he did while those kids were tossing me around like a hacky sack?
He stood there and watched
. Because he was afraid that if somebody hit him in the face, it would ruin his perfectly chiseled good looks.” He directed a black stare at Dr. Devilish. “He just stood there and watched, and then scooped me up when it was over and carried me home so that I could help him with
his homework. And
she
was there, too,” he said, jabbing a black-gloved finger in McGee’s direction, “egging them on!”

McGee gasped as though Granger had reached out and socked her in the stomach.

Slowly, Fisher began to understand. Dr. X had brought him here to settle a personal grudge. Why not settle all of his grudges at once? To say that the situation did not look good would probably win the award for biggest understatement ever. And Fisher still had no idea what had happened to Two.

“Harry, please,” McGee said, clasping her hands together. “I was a kid. I was just teasing you. I didn’t mean anything by it.”

“Can
anyone
tell me what’s going on?” blurted Keels. He looked like he was about to cry. Dr. X turned to look at him, and Kevin shrank backward.

“GG was a friend of mine,” said Dr. Devilish. “Neither one of us has seen Harry in years—thankfully. He barely kept in touch after he left for Palo Alto to become a science teacher.”

“
Our
science teacher,” Fisher put in. “Also a terrifying masked monster with his own research fortress.”

Amanda turned to Fisher. Her mouth was still hanging open.

Fisher added, by way of explanation, “That part of his identity wasn’t exactly public knowledge.”

“If all of you are up to speed,” Dr. X said, tapping his foot, “I do have better things to get to, so if you don’t mind I’ll just skip to the part where I kill you. I am who I am today because of people like you,” he said, pointing dramatically at his brother and McGee, “and my greatest attempt at taking over the world was thwarted by you!” he went on, pointing with equal flourish at Fisher. “As for you,” he said, turning to Amanda, “I’m sorry that you decided to accompany Mr. Bas here, but now that you’ve seen and heard all this, I’m afraid I’ll have to get rid of
you as well. That’s what happens when you associate with people like him.”

“But, but, what about me?” Keels spluttered. “What have I ever done to you?”

“Nothing specifically,” Dr. X said with a shrug. “But I find your music insipid, extremely unintelligent, lacking any kind of artistic merit, and very, very annoying. And I take that
very
personally. So as long as I’m rounding up people for elimination, I figured I’d throw you into the mix.” Keels started shivering with feverish intensity. “By the way, the concealed cameras have been rolling ever since the lights came up.
Sci-Fi: Survivor
is going to have the most-watched series premiere of all time, and with the cash I rake in I plan on rebuilding my empire.” Dr. X clapped his hands delightedly. “This is the part in which I, the sinister-looking but charismatic show host, explain to you how the final challenge works, so try to look surprised and a little nervous. Perfect! You’re all handling that last part splendidly.”

Dr. Devilish looked around nervously, probably trying to spot the cameras. He instinctively smoothed his hair behind one ear.

“Oh!” Dr. X said, mocking an expression as if a thought had just come into his head. “I’d almost forgotten something!” He placed two fingers in his mouth and gave a sharp whistle. The door opened and Two stumbled out,
pushed along by a very small henchman wearing a black cloak with a hood that concealed his face.

“Two!” Fisher said. His clone looked a little bit roughed up, but mostly unharmed.

“Hey, brother,” he said with a weak smile. He looked around at the others. His eyes stopped on Amanda, and his attempt at a smile disappeared. “Amanda! How did you—why are you—” He swallowed. “Why are you
here
?”

“We came to get you out of here,” she said, dropping her eyes.

“Basley?” said GG, looking up at Two. “What on earth …” She glanced back at Fisher, then back to Two.

“What is this??” said Dr. Devilish, doubling McGee’s tennis-ball eyes.

Kevin Keels was too busy trembling and muttering to himself to have noticed the sudden appearance of a second “Basley.”

“What’s going on?” GG was practically screeching.

“Long story,” Fisher said. “If we’re not dead later, remind me to tell you.”

“Don’t worry,” Dr. X said, grinning. “You will be.” He tilted his head to one side and examined Fisher. It was like being stared down by a bird of prey. “I’ve been very busy recently, barely sleeping. In some ways I have to thank you. Losing that laboratory forced me to go back to square one, to refocus my creative powers. And, of course,
I got a lucky break.” He whistled again, and Dr. X’s henchman, the one who was restraining Two, reached up and lowered his hood.

Fisher actually felt his heart stop. It took a few moments to start beating again, and in the meanwhile Fisher couldn’t move, blink, or breathe.

“Say hello, Three,” said Dr. X.

CHAPTER 20

“Hello,” said the person called Three, in the coldest, least human voice Fisher had ever imagined could come out of his mouth. Out of any mouth.

But it was coming out of his—Fisher’s—mouth, or at least a mouth that looked identical. A mouth that sat under Fisher’s nose, under his eyes, in his face.

Another clone.

Three’s hair was dyed black and slicked back in the same fashion as Dr. X’s, and from the way Two grimaced when Three gripped his arm, Three must be a lot stronger than either the original or the original clone.

Fisher wondered if this was a bad time to notice that he actually looked kind of cool with dark hair.

Hair! Fisher’s memory leapt back to what at the time had seemed an inconsequential part of Two’s escape story: Dr. X had tried to stop him from escaping, and in
the process grabbed at him, tearing out a clump of his hair. He’d gotten Two’s DNA.

“Two’s hair,” Dr. X said as though reading Fisher’s mind, “was riddled with the AGH hormone. It wasn’t easy to harvest it, and I had to work all through the night for nearly a week to replicate our new friend here but, obviously, I did it. Meet the new, improved, and completely evil Fisher. Now I can resume my work. I’ll have all the time in the world to bring my greatest dreams to fruition … after I eliminate all my distractions, that is.” He smiled meanly. Two was looking back over his shoulder at Three, then back at Fisher, his jaw slack, his eyes going wide. Noticing Two’s shock, Dr. X began to chuckle. “Why … you never even told him, did you?” Dr. X said, wiping away a tear with a black-gloved hand. “Oh, how precious. How absolutely special.”

Fisher saw the glow of dawning comprehension fill Two’s eyes.

“I had just about figured everything out,” Two said, staring at Fisher, his eyes shining with hurt. “But I was missing the last piece … I’m not your brother. I’m a clone. Like him.”

“You’re nothing like him,” Fisher said quickly.

Two didn’t seem to hear him. “I wanted to believe I was special. I wanted to believe I was … I was loved. Stupid.”

Two lowered his head until his chin touched his chest. Fisher wanted to say something—anything—to make Two feel better, feel like he was really worth something. But the words just wouldn’t come.

Keels twitched. Amanda gritted her teeth. Dr. Devilish had gone the color of chalk dust; GG kept opening and shutting her mouth, like a fish trying to swallow a fly.

Dr. X reached down and pressed a button on his belt. The floor began to rumble, and next to Fisher a panel slid apart in the ground, revealing a long drop down to a dark pool of water. Fisher could make out enormous, even darker shapes swimming underneath its surface.

“These are my new squi-ranhas,” Dr. X said. “And before you ask, imagine a creature that can jet rapidly through water and cling to its prey with tentacles like a squid, but with the ferocity and toothy maw of a piranha.” Dr. X chuckled. “Or rather,
don’t
imagine it. I’ll just show you. Three?”

Without a word, Three planted his feet and shoved Two forward. Two’s foot grazed the edge of the elevated platform, and he went careening over the side, right past Fisher and Amanda, who leapt to try and catch him. Fisher had to grab her around the waist to keep her from falling in right after him.

“No!”
Amanda screamed. Fisher watched in horror as
Two plummeted for an unbearably long second before hitting the water.

The pool frothed up. Shapes twisted and swirled for a few brief moments, and there was a horrible hissing and screeching sound. For a second, Two floated up to the surface, on his back, his eyes open and expressionless. The water was red around him.

“No,” Amanda kept repeating softly to herself. “No, no, no, no …” She slowly sank to the floor, taking Fisher with her, as he released his death grip on her waist.