The Blade of Shattered Hope (The 13th Reality #3) (39 page)

He had to do it, no matter what. Unchecked, she could and would murder millions and billions of people. She’d already proven that. Tick had to finish it.

He stepped toward her.

The ground exploded under Tick, a wave of invisible force lifting him off his feet and throwing him backward. Before he could gather his wits, his back slammed into the soft ground, knocking the air out of him. He pushed himself up onto his knees, gasping for breath. If the mud had been dried and hard, he could very well have broken his spine.

When a rush of air finally filled his lungs, he jumped to his feet. Jane stood a few yards away, both of her hands outstretched, palms facing him. Tick reached for the Chi’karda that still churned within him.

“Wait,” she said. “Wait. If we keep at this something really bad will happen.”

Tick didn’t waste time with words. He pushed a surge of Chi’karda straight at her, hurling it like a volley of sun flares. The power hit her, twisting her body up into the air and back down to the mud where she slid thirty feet and smacked into the base of a tall pine.

Tick switched gears, concentrating on the trees around her. Using his mind as commander, willing what he wanted to happen, he made a dozen trees around her dissolve, the wood bursting into a swirl of tiny particles. They flew around her in a brown tornado, encircling her like a swarm of muddy bees. Then he made them collapse, sealing the wood back together like he’d done before several times now, though unconsciously.

With a loud smacking sound, followed by cracks and groans, a large mass of twisted wood formed around Jane, trapping her inside. Crushing her.

Tick doubled over, his hands on his knees, pulling in rapid breaths. The mental effort of doing such a thing made him feel as though he’d run ten miles in a sprint. He glanced back up at the hideous structure of coiled tree parts. No way she survived that. No way.

The thought had barely formed when the entire formation exploded, chunks and chips of wood flying out in all directions. Tick fell to the ground and covered his head with both arms. He felt the prick of splinters, the whoosh of bigger pieces flying right over him. When it seemed as though the worst had passed, he looked up and saw Jane standing there, her arms once again outstretched.

“Atticus, we have to stop this!” she yelled.

Tick jumped to his feet. She was trying to trick him; he knew it. He threw another blast of Chi’karda at her; she blocked it with a visible bubble of solid air tinted orange. The concussion wave bounced back and knocked him to the ground, jolting the breath out of him once again. As he struggled for air, he clawed to gather another pool of his power, knowing she’d probably finish him off while he was down.

But when he staggered to his feet, she only stood there, her mask surprisingly showing concern, not anger.

“Atticus, stop,” she said in her scratchy, painful voice. “Give me five minutes to explain!”

Tick felt a rush of anger just as he pulled in a long, blissful breath. “It’s too late, Jane! I can’t let you go one more day killing and hurting!”

A ball of power filled him, almost bursting his chest. He unleashed it, threw it all at Jane.

Her shield formed again, resisting his attack. Tick was ready for the rebound of force this time, and he leaned into it, fighting it with his own strength. He let all his fears and inhibitions fall away, all his caution. She seemed to be getting stronger, and he knew he had to go for it. Screaming, he searched and probed his inner mind and body for every last trickle of Chi’karda, channeling it and throwing it at Jane.

She fought back. A wind tore through the air as the crackle of electricity and booms of thunder filled the world around them. Streaks of orange swirled and kicked; bursts of fire ignited here and there like ribbons of flame; the trees in the forest bent unnaturally away from them; mud and chunks of wood took flight, swirling like loose paper in a tornado. As Tick and Jane fought, their battling powers looked like two stars colliding, white and brilliant and blinding.

Tick hadn’t stopped screaming. The world rushed and burned around him. He couldn’t see. Life seemed to be draining out of his body. He didn’t know how much longer he could last. A trickle of despair dented his heart. He pushed harder.

Somehow he heard Jane yell the words, “We have to stop!”

“No!” Tick shouted back in a ripped shriek that tore through his burning throat. He pushed harder, flinging his whole life at her.

A sound like the world splitting in two pierced his ears, his brain, his every nerve.

And then, in a sudden instant, everything stopped.

All light disappeared. Tick felt himself flying through a dark and silent wind.

Time stretched on, blank and quiet. Eventually, he felt nothing.

~

I can’t believe my own eyes.”

Tick barely heard the words. A man. His voice was soft, but slightly . . . menacing, like small, sharp-nosed worms, slowly working their way into Tick’s brain, needling and hurting. The world around Tick was still dark.

The stranger spoke again. “Atticus Higginbottom and Mistress Jane. Together, with me, at last.”

Tick felt himself blinking, felt tears in his eyes, felt pain coursing through every inch of his body. But still nothing—blackness.

The man wouldn’t be quiet, and his every word throbbed in Tick’s skull. “I have no idea how it happened, but I can’t say I’m not pleased. It’ll be nice to have some help. I’m sure between the three of us, we can get out of here.”

Tick kept blinking and finally saw a faint smudge of light against the darkness.

“Where . . . where are we?”

Jane. It was Jane. She sounded even worse than usual.

The man chuckled, a horribly unpleasant sound. “You’re safe and sound, Mistress. No worries. Plenty to eat around here. Plenty of everything.”

The light grew in Tick’s vision. Increased its pace of brightening. Shapes began to form.

“I . . . warned him,” Jane said, her voice filled with resignation, as if she’d just accepted a horrible truth. “I . . .” She didn’t finish.

Something clicked, and suddenly Tick could see everything. Gasping, he sat up, ignoring the bolts of pain that shot through his body. He sat on a beach with a perfect blue sky hanging overhead and crystal-clear water lapping against the white sand. An enormous and endless ocean stretched to his right, a forest of palm trees to his left. Mistress Jane lay flat on the ground, several feet away, her mask cracked and tilted.

And sitting cross-legged next to Tick was Reginald Chu. The man who’d once ruled the Fourth Reality. The man who’d tried to rule all Thirteen with his Dark Infinity. The man who’d been sent to—

“Welcome to the Nonex, Atticus,” Chu said. “I hope you’re ready to help me get the heck out of here.”

~

Sofia sat between Paul and Sato on the couch, her arms folded, her foot tapping. Sally and Priscilla, both of whom had been in charge of collecting and helping the children rescued from the Factory, sat across from them, both looking down and as quiet as everyone else. Mothball was on the floor, leaning back against the bricks of the fireplace.

Master George and Rutger finally entered the room, their faces grave.

“I believe we finally have our report,” Master George announced, looking down at a stack of papers clasped in his hands. “The members of Sato’s Fifth Army are mostly safe and accounted for, having lost only”—he cleared his throat—“seventeen lives in battle. It looks like Sato and Mothball rescued ninety-seven children in all, and they are currently receiving the very best in treatment from Realitant doctors.”

“We lost ten of them,” Sato mumbled under his breath. It was the first thing he’d said since winking away from the Thirteenth.

“Why . . . yes, Sato. Yes, we did.” Master George paused, his eyes showing so much love for Sato that Sofia felt tears moisten her eyes. “The damage from our latest affairs is quite catastrophic. Every single Reality has suffered, and the recovery will take years. The worst by far is the Thirteenth, where . . . the final conflict inflicted utter devastation. It will take some time to discover just how much.”

Sofia spoke up. “What happened to Tick?”

“Yeah,” Paul said. “Out with it.”

Master George nodded uncomfortably. “Yes, yes, we’re all very concerned about Master Atticus and what has become of him.” His voice squeaked on the last three words; a tear spilled down his cheek. “I’m afraid we have quite troubling—and confusing—news.”

Sofia’s heart froze; her breath stopped.

“I can’t say I understand it,” he continued, fidgeting with his papers. “His nanolocator started working again once his business with the Haunce was complete. But then . . . it just . . . well, it reported back something we’ve never seen before. Rutger, you tell them. I can’t bear to say another bloody word.” He threw the papers on the floor and stomped out of the room.

Rutger took a moment before finally speaking.

“According to our system, Atticus Higginbottom has ceased to exist.”

~

Lisa had just fallen asleep—after a long time of trying to do so—when she felt someone shaking her by the shoulders, gently. She opened her eyes, ready to scream out in panic, when the sight of her mom silenced it. The glow of the moon shining through the window lit up Lorena Higginbottom’s face, making it look somehow kind and fiercely determined at the same time.

Lisa knew she was up to something. “What’s going on?”

“Keep quiet and follow me,” her mom whispered. “Don’t make a peep—you know your dad will wake up at the sneeze of a mouse.”

Confused but intrigued, Lisa shook her grogginess away and got up from bed. Then the two of them tiptoed out of her room, down the hall, then down the stairs, both keeping to the silent spots as best they could. Before long, Lisa’s mom had led her all the way down to the basement.

After flicking on the light, Lisa repeated her earlier question. “What’s going on?”

Her mom walked over to a dusty corner of the large room and dragged a couple of boxes away from the wall, then crouched down. “I know both you and I have been feeling like we want to help. To finally do our part in this whole mess. Especially now that my son”—she faltered, choked back the usual cry that had come so often since Master George had sent word that Tick was missing—“is nowhere to be found. I think it’s time we took a little of our own action.”

Lisa nodded, feeling the same swell of emotion, knowing she couldn’t speak without cracking. But she agreed. Agreed wholeheartedly. She wanted to
do
something. She wanted to act.

Her mom gripped a panel of the unpainted wall, and to Lisa’s surprise it came loose. She lifted out a large square and placed it on the ground. Swirls of dust puffed through the air. In the dark recess behind her, an object glinted.

“You’ve been hiding something down here?” Lisa asked.

“Yes. Though I never, never, never thought I’d have to use it again.” She leaned over and reached into the secret compartment.

“What?” Lisa asked, moving closer to get a better look. “What is it?”

Her mom pulled out a long, golden tube with dials and switches running down its sides, then held it up. “It’s a Barrier Wand, sweetie. It’s gonna help us find my boy.”

~

Atticus Higginbottom
—A Realitant from the state of Washington in Reality Prime.

Alterant
—Different versions of the same person existing in different Realities. It is extremely dangerous for Alterants to meet one another.

Annika
—A spy for the Realitants who was killed by a pack of fangen.

Barf Scarf
—The red-and-black scarf that Tick used to wear at all times to hide the ugly birthmark on his neck.

Barrier Wand
—The device used to wink people and things between Realities and between heavily concentrated places of Chi’karda within the same Reality. Works very easily with inanimate objects, and can place them almost anywhere. To transport humans, they must be in a place concentrated with Chi’karda (like a cemetery) and have a nanolocator that transmits their location to the Wand. The wand is useless without the Chi’karda Drive, which channels and magnifies the mysterious power.

Barrier Staff
—A special Barrier Wand created by Mistress Jane.

Benson
—A servant of Reginald Chu in the Fourth Reality.

Bermuda Triangle
—The most concentrated area of Chi’karda in each Reality. Still unknown as to why.

Billy “The Goat” Cooper
—Tick’s biggest nemesis at Jackson Middle School.

Blade of Shattered Hope
—A weapon created by Mistress Jane that allows her to harness the power of dark matter and utilize the linking of her Alterants to sever a Reality from existence.

Bryan Cannon
—A fisherman in Reality Prime.