Squinting, Arthur tried to estimate how many mimics they were facing. Then he spotted something. “Wait a moment,” he said, resting a hand on Cecily’s shoulder. “Maybe I’m seeing things, but I think one of those T-class units is wearing…”
Ren’s eyes widened. “Unicorn slippers!”
Arthur felt like he’d just been lifted into the air as Professor Isaac Newton came hurrying out of the tunnel, dressed in his captain’s finery, with his glittery unicorn slippers – now soaking wet – hanging off his feet. “I abandoned ship as soon as I could; there wasn’t time to change,” he explained, moving aside as Wangari Maathai barrelled out behind him.
“Arthur! Ren! Cecily!” She hugged each of them in turn, getting her blouse damp and muddy in the process.
Next to emerge was Amaros Ba, holding a long curved blade in his hand. He lifted it to the sky and announced something in a language Arthur presumed was Tyrian, but without his Wondercloak to translate, he didn’t understand. “English?” he pleaded, feeling like an embarrassed tourist.
Amaros made the switch quickly. “I told you before: a true adventurer never knows what is around the next corner!”
“Unless he has a map,” Thomas Edison corrected, appearing over Amaros’s shoulder. His downy white hair was ruffled and his bow tie set off-kilter. “There were problems with my communications device,” he recounted. “I had to recalibrate it twice, but the message got through eventually. I told everyone to get to Realm Eighteen as fast as they could.”
Silent as a shadow, one last figure strode out behind them all. Dressed in battered but colourful armour, with several new scratches across her face, Tomoe Gozen smiled.
Arthur’s heart soared. “You’re OK!”
Cecily bolted forwards and threw her arms around the legendary warrior, who muttered something in Japanese.
“She said: it’s good to see you too,” Ren told Arthur.
Newton fetched his gold pocket watch from his waistcoat. “I hate to be a – what’s the expression? – party pooper, but we have twenty minutes before these three turn into protoplasm.”
Seeing Tomoe Gozen and the other heroes had made Arthur want to crumble with relief, but the urgency in Newton’s voice quickly focused his mind. “It’s no use,” he said, shaking his head. “The only time-key left is the one Tiburon Nox is wearing around his neck.”
“He’s somewhere in the sewers,” Cecily added seriously. “But he has a group of T-class mimics with him.”
Wangari Maathai put her hands on her hips. “So, what, you’re just going to give up?” She shook her head. “No, no, no. There are opportunities even in the most difficult moments. You only need to seize them.”
Hearing her words, Arthur felt a seed of hope sprout inside him. “Well, Tiburon’s that way,” he offered, pointing in the direction they’d come.
“Then we shall plan on the move!” Amaros declared, taking the lead.
As they set off, Arthur decided that running through a stinking sewer towards certain doom was infinitely better when you had five of humanity’s greatest heroes running alongside you.
“With the right materials, I’m sure I could invent something to help,” Edison muttered, arguing the merits of various solutions with Isaac Newton. Tomoe Gozen raced along at Amaros Ba’s side, discussing battle tactics. Arthur didn’t know what they were saying, but it sounded intense.
Ahead, Wangari Maathai raised her fist, signalling for them all to stop. She crept to the edge of an archway and peered through into an adjoining chamber. As the splash of her footsteps subsided, Arthur heard noises reverberating inside. “It’s Tiburon,” she whispered. “And he’s not alone.”
Quietly as they could, Arthur and the others flattened themselves against the adjacent wall. Tomoe notched an arrow. Amaros Ba drew his sword. Newton flapped open one side of his navy brocade coat to reveal an assortment of small brown bottles with chemical labels. “I grabbed as many as I could before I left,” he whispered conspiratorially. “If I mix them correctly, I’ve got smoke bombs and stink bombs.”
Edison patted him on the shoulder. “Well done, sir.”
Cecily gathered Cloud into her arms and began to fiddle with his collar. Ren brought out her key ring multi-tool. “Ready.”
With a rolled-up maths textbook in his hand, Arthur swallowed and peeked round the corner.
Wangari Maathai had said Tiburon wasn’t alone, but she’d failed to mention how many mimics were with him. Arthur’s stomach dropped as he counted the long-faced T-class units holding smoking swords. Ten, twenty, thirty, forty… They were hovering in perfect formation throughout the chamber and connecting passageways, as if the whole place had been covered in mirrors and was reflecting their image everywhere.
Tiburon Nox stood in the middle of the crowd, looking smug. As he moved under a grate, the time-key hanging around his neck glinted. “I know you’re in here, Pipsqueaks!” he called. There was an amused tone to his voice. He had the upper hand and he knew it. “I only want the time-key that the dog is wearing. Hand it over and you can go free.”
Arthur’s jaw stiffened. He couldn’t let Tiburon win, but the odds were impossible – even with the heroes fighting at their side. He wished there was another option.
As he turned back against the wall he caught sight of Ren’s key ring multi-tool and remembered something Milo had told them. “Does the laser pointer on that work?” he hissed.
Ren pressed a small button at one end and a green dot of light projected onto the floor. Arthur tensed. He had an idea, but he wasn’t sure he could go through with it. “I think there’s a way we can use it,” he whispered nervously. “Milo said that Tiburon’s time-key is a prototype that reacts to infrared radiation – and that’s what the laser emits. If you shine it at the time-key it should trigger a blast of energy like we felt at Number Twenty-Seven.”
Newton shuffled closer. “That makes sense. I was working on an experiment involving infrared radiation aboard the Principia – Cloud’s time-key must have been exposed to it in the captain’s cabin.” He frowned. “But if you damage Tiburon’s time-key, you won’t be able to use it to get home.”
Arthur offered Ren and Cecily an apologetic glance. Part of him wanted to forget the idea entirely, but another part of him knew it was the right thing to do. He thought of all the struggles and sacrifices the heroes had undertaken during their lifetimes in order to achieve everything they had. One of the things he’d learned from their stories was that the right thing was always worth doing, no matter how hard it might be. “What Newton says is true,” he told Ren and Cecily, feeling a renewed sense of purpose. “But if Tiburon keeps that time-key, think of all the damage he could do – not just to people in the twenty-fifth century, but in our time too. No one should have the power to meddle with history.” He swallowed and added bleakly, “Also, the chances of us beating all those mimics in the time we have left are zero.”
Cecily and Ren risked a peep around the corner and quickly returned with their cheeks flushed. “So if we do this,” Cecily whispered slowly, “Tiburon won’t be able to threaten the heroes any more. They would be free to live out their second lives however they wanted.”
“And we’d have done something with our lives before we turn into protoplasm,” Ren pointed out. “Something that counts.”
Arthur nodded and, without thinking, held his hand out between them all. Cecily placed hers on top and Ren smiled as she did the same. “All right,” she said firmly. “Let’s do this.”
Her fingers tightened around her multi-tool and before any of the heroes could stop her, she stepped into the open, activated the laser and aimed it at Tiburon.
27
The rotten stench of sewage filled Arthur’s nostrils as he came to, blinking in the dim light. Everything hurt. Pain throbbed in his chest; his ears were ringing and he could taste blood at the back of his tongue. A thick layer of brick-red dust coated his skin and clothes, making him feel like a chicken drumstick dipped in paprika.
Slowly, he pushed himself to his knees. “Cecily, are you all right?” he asked, jogging her shoulder. She and Cloud were soaking wet.
“Erg,” she groaned, rubbing her jaw. “What happened?”
A metre away, Ren was propped against the dripping wet sewer wall, her face streaked with blood. “Arthur’s idea worked,” she croaked.
Remembering they were about to turn into slime, he checked his watch. They had twelve minutes to go.
Behind him, the heroes stirred. Newton coughed loudly as he rose to his feet; Edison was already up, brushing his suit clean. Although their clothes were damp and filthy, they both seemed unharmed. Arthur supposed their mimic bodies had withstood the blast better than his human one.
“Shhh,” Wangari hissed, as she was helped to her feet by Tomoe Gozen. “Can you hear that?”
Amaros straightened his mud-splattered turban and collected his sword from a puddle. “What is it?”
“Nothing,” Wangari replied. “Silence.”
As the group staggered into the main chamber, Arthur drew his breath. Tiburon Nox was sprawled in a pool of steaming water, the time-key resting on his chest, still attached to the chain around his neck. His army of T-class mimics were frozen in strange positions around the floor, as if they’d been playing musical statues during a yoga class. Arthur noticed the translucent haze which usually circled their hover-wheels had evaporated.
“The blast must have disabled their engines,” Edison concluded.
Scanning the scene, Newton rubbed his chin. “What do you say to the theory that the walls reflected a certain amount of force back inside this chamber?” he asked Edison. “Surface evidence would suggest it was felt much more intensely in here than where we were.”
Edison nodded and glanced at Arthur. “Ingenious, my boy. Truly.”
Arthur smiled gingerly, accepting the compliment even though he had no idea what the two were talking about.
Wangari leaned over Tiburon’s body and, with two fingers against his neck, took his pulse. “He’s alive,” she said. “Just knocked out.” She carefully unhooked the time-key from the chain around his neck.
Amaros Ba strode out among the mimics, nudging them with his sword to check none were still functioning. Arthur felt a hand on his shoulder and turned to find Tomoe Gozen had gathered him, Ren and Cecily together. Light flashed in her dark eyes as she uttered something in Japanese.
“What did she say?” Cecily whispered out of the corner of her mouth.
Ren was blushing. “She said: Thank you. You’re my heroes.”
Cloud gave a triumphant bark that echoed off the sewer walls, like he might be saying: I’ve known they were heroes all along!
Arthur felt a lump in his throat. Everything was so overwhelming he didn’t know how to respond. His plan to stop Tiburon had been successful, but now their fates were sealed: they were going to die there.
“Come,” Wangari Maathai said solemnly. “You three have saved our lives in the past and the present; I won’t allow you to spend the last few moments of yours in this dingy sewer.”
As they plodded towards the entrance of the sewer, Arthur felt numb. He wondered what it was going to be like, turning to protoplasm. Would it be painful? Would he even know it was happening, or would everything just switch off like a light in his head?
Back in the anatomy theatre, everything was wet and dusted with shards of glass. The roof had shattered. Rain dripped through the empty ceiling onto the laboratory floor, which was covered in black scorch marks, as if the ghosts had played rodeo with a set of Bunsen burners. Valeria and her V-classes were nowhere to be seen, but Milo Hertz was sitting on the edge of an empty bench.
When he saw them, his eyes widened. “You’re alive!” He jumped up and ran towards them. From the number of burns on his arms and face, Arthur guessed he’d been fighting T-classes while they were in the sewers.
“What happened? Where’s Tiburon?” Milo scanned their faces, searching for injuries.
“We’ve only got a few minutes,” Ren mumbled miserably.
“Right,” Milo said excitedly. “Of course.” He rushed to the closed Wonderway and began tapping numbers into the keypad at the bottom.
Arthur wondered what had got into him, until he saw Mary Shelley stomping across the room towards them. Her sickly yellow skin was flushed red and the huge ruby necklace around her neck was missing. Arthur remembered she’d abandoned them just as Tiburon had arrived, but he didn’t have the energy to be annoyed.
“It was the ghosts,” Mary Shelley said breathlessly, reaching into a pocket on her dress. “They had it all along. I only realized when Milo mentioned that no one else could have possibly gained access – but you see, the ghosts can pass through walls.”
Arthur blinked as she pulled out an obsidian time-key and passed it to Milo. Confused, Arthur glanced at Cloud, who still had his time-key dangling from his collar. The other prototype Arthur had just seen Wangari Maathai remove from Tiburon Nox’s neck, which could only mean one thing…
“Is that the third time-key?” he exclaimed. His tongue went leaden. “How did—?”
Mary Shelley gestured to her empty décolletage, and Arthur realized what had happened: she’d given the ghosts her necklace in exchange.
28
“Using data from Cloud, I’ve programmed this to send you back to the exact moment you left,” Milo said hurriedly, standing beside the Wonderway. “You’ve only got a few minutes to say your goodbyes.”
Arthur stared into the churning vortex of sapphire smoke, moments away from going home. A dizzying mix of emotions swept over him – relief that their quest was over, but also uncertainty over what would happen next. Only minutes ago, he’d been preparing to die…
The portal hummed with energy, making the hairs on his arms stand on end. It felt just like the first Wonderway they’d walked through at Number Twenty-Seven. He couldn’t believe that had only been three days ago. It felt like so much longer.
Wangari Maathai gathered Arthur, Ren and Cecily together in a four-way hug. She smelled like her forest, of damp earth and honeysuckle. “Promise me you’ll take care of each other.”
“Promib,” Arthur agreed in a muffled voice.
Edison and Newton shook Arthur, Ren and Cecily’s hands, and wished them luck. Tomoe bowed and repeated something in Japanese. “My friend wishes she had more time with you,” Amaros Ba translated, with an easy smile. “As do I. We could have some great adventures together.”
“Here,” Milo said, scooping doggy-Cloud off the floor and handing him to Cecily. Arthur cringed when he saw Cloud’s matted wet fur and sandy paws. The little guy needed a serious bath.
Cloud wagged his tail as Cecily held him close and rubbed her nose into the fur on his head. “I’ll miss you, Cloud.”
“Me too, Fuzzball,” Ren said, patting him on the head. Her upper lip went stiff, like she was trying hard not to cry. Arthur felt the corners of his mouth tugging down. He’d grown fond of Cloud too.
“Actually, you’re not saying goodbye.” Milo reached over and rubbed Cloud under the chin. “I am.”
Cecily’s face brightened. “Cloud’s coming with us?”
Milo nodded. “Everything that has happened to the three of you cannot be repeated to another soul. There may be times in your life when it is difficult to keep that secret, when it is hard to live in the present, knowing what you do about the future. But Cloud will help you. He will be there for you, always.”
Cloud gave a firm bark as if to say, That’s right!
Amaros Ba winked at them. “Also, we’ll have a canine sleeper agent in the past. You know – just in case the future needs saving again.”
“What will happen to you and the other heroes in the Wonderscape?” Arthur asked.
“They’ll be given a choice,” Milo said solemnly. “They can remain here as mimics in the twenty-fifth century, free to explore the Known Universe, or I’ll go back in time and undo what Tiburon did to create them,
so they’ll never know they were ever here.”
Arthur wondered what everyone would choose. He hoped the heroes they’d met would decide to stick around in 2473. The universe always needed people like them.
“And your brother and sister?” Ren asked. “Where will they go?”
“I’ll use evidence stored on M-73’s neuro-processor to explain to the authorities what they did,” Milo said. “Tiburon will have to answer for his crimes. As for Valeria, I don’t know. Perhaps the authorities will question her too – if they can find her.”
Arthur assessed the remains of Frankenstein’s laboratory. Mist rose from the surfaces of several chemical spillages; there was smashed glass and broken apparatus everywhere, and the hamster tubes had all been destroyed during the fighting. In some bizarre way, he was going to miss this marvellous mess. Yes, the Wonderscape had almost killed him; but it had also given him experiences he’d remember for the rest of his life, as well as two extraordinary friends – all of which he was grateful for.
Milo took a deep breath. “It’s time.”
Blue mist clouded Arthur’s vision as he stepped through the Wonderway and emerged on the upstairs landing of Number Twenty-Seven. As his brain freeze faded, he surveyed the garish 1970s decor and felt a swell of emotion. He might have only seen the place once before, but it was still Peacepoint Estate in the twenty-first century. It was home.
Ren beamed. “We’re here. We’re really here!”
Cloud trotted through the Wonderway next, followed by Cecily. As she pressed the toe of her shoe into the shaggy avocado-green carpet, tears streamed down her cheeks. “I never thought I’d be so happy to see this again,” she said giddily.
Arthur laughed and steadied himself against the railings. The mix of joy and relief coursing through his body was delirious. He glimpsed the pale-yellow morning sky through a broken window and remembered it had looked that colour just before the gnome-explosion. It was as if no time had passed at all.
Wonderscape Page 24
