“I can’t let him get away with this,” Joey said.
“I could say the same thing to you,” Hypnova shot back. “Using that wand is the absolute last resort.”
“What do you call this?”
“This isn’t the end,” Hypnova said. “Save the wand for later. We’re going to need it for something important.”
“More important than this?”
“It depends on who you ask.”
“Hypnova, we don’t have time to mess around,” Joey said. “He’s got an army.”
“We’ve fought bigger armies,” Allegra replied.
“Bigger than this?” Leanora asked.
“Much bigger,” Skerren confirmed. As he spoke, he went on cutting down iron knights like he was clearing a forest, putting some breathing room between the group and the growing legion of castle guards.
“What’s the plan, then?” Shazad asked. “What are we going to do?”
“See that light up there?” Jack asked, pointing at the glowing power core behind DeMayne. The blue light now had a red hue at its base. “He’s reprogramming the signal. We’ve got until the blue light goes red.”
“It’s going pretty fast,” Joey said, watching it rise like a thermometer someone had left on the stove.
“Let’s slow things down a little.” Jack raised a hand and the gears in the room stopped turning. The hydraulic presses in the walls froze in place. Even the iron knight assembly line ground to a halt.
“You’re doing it!” Joey shouted as the light in the power core faded. Everything was connected. If Jack could hold the gears that moved the island, it would cut power to DeMayne’s mind-control machine.
The castle shook as if an earthquake had just hit, and Joey felt the whole island drop a little. The brief plunge broke Jack’s concentration, and the gears started moving again, only slower. “I can’t shut it off,” he said, clearly straining. “I can buy you time and slow it down, but it takes everything I’ve got. I can’t hold these guys back at the same time.”
The iron knights renewed their march, free of Jack’s control. “We can do that,” Skerren said as he continued to cut them to ribbons.
“We’ve got your back,” Allegra said, morphing her arms back into blades to do the same. “And your front,” she added, stretching herself to shield Jack from harm. Leanora joined the fight, swinging firestone punches as the mechanized drones attacked in force.
“We’ll cover Jack,” Allegra told her. “You need to get to DeMayne.”
“And wreck that orb!” Skerren added.
“No!” Jack shouted. “You can’t wreck it. There’s too much energy coming off that thing. This whole place will blow. And if we break the machinery outside, the island will fall. We’ll all die.”
“So, what do we do?” Joey asked again.
“We need to get DeMayne off the orb before he imprints himself on it. Once that signal goes out, it’s going to control everyone, including us. We’ll be his loyal supporters, just like Ivory and Clear.”
Jack retreated up the steps, falling back as the army of iron knights stomped forward. Skerren, Allegra, and Leanora held the line at the bottom of the staircase, keeping them at bay. Joey, Shazad, Janelle, and Hypnova hung back, trying to figure out the fastest, safest route to the orb. Joey looked over the clanging army of mindless bots to Mr. Ivory and Mr. Clear. Just as Joey and his friends were protecting Jack while he worked, the agents of the Invisible Hand were there to protect DeMayne. They stood at the bottom of mission control as the last line of defense. Even with Jack slowing the machine down to a crawl, Joey could tell they wouldn’t reach DeMayne in time, and they wouldn’t get past the ogre and the iceman without help.
“How are we going to do this?” Joey asked Hypnova.
She didn’t look sure, but Janelle answered before Hypnova could say anything. “I’ve got it!” Janelle exclaimed. “This is it. This is perfect!”
“What are you talking about?” Joey asked.
“The way to reveal the Imagine Nation without killing you. We can reprogram the machine ourselves!”
“How?” Shazad asked her. “We have no idea how it works.”
“What about Jack?” Janelle asked.
“What about me?” Jack said, locked in a mental battle with the Clockwork Castle. “I told you, this place won’t talk to me. It likes him better.”
“But you can still talk to it,” Janelle said. “Can you see it too? I don’t know how your powers work. Can you see the inner workings of this place?”
“I can, but I don’t understand them. I’d need time to dive into them when I’m not also trying to hold them still.”
“Then show me,” Janelle said. “Let Hypnova connect our minds so I can see what you see. This is what I’m here for. Magic and science! You put the blueprints of this place in my mind, and I can find a weakness in this Death Star.”
“Did you say Death Star?” Joey asked.
“Not now, Joey!”
“It’s kind of important,” Joey said. “The Death Star blows up. We don’t want to blow up.”
“I’ll find a way around that,” Janelle said.
“Whatever you do, you’d better do it fast!” Leanora yelled in between punches. “We can’t keep this up forever!”
Janelle handed Joey the Staff of Sorcero. “Help them. Use this, not the wand.” She turned to Hypnova. “I’m ready.”
Joey ran down the steps to join Skerren, Allegra, and Leanora in battle. Shazad stayed with Janelle and Jack, standing guard as their last line of defense. Sparks flew out as Joey swung the Staff of Sorcero at the iron knights, tearing through them like they were made of tinfoil. Over his shoulder, he saw Hypnova use her power to build a bridge between Janelle’s mind and Jack’s.
“Wow.” Janelle staggered a step. “It’s so complex.… I can’t believe someone built this a thousand years ago.” She turned around, studying the throne room as if she were looking through the walls with X-ray eyes. “Is this how you see the world?” she asked Jack, marveling at the view. “It’s amazing.”
“Can she sort through all this fast enough for it to matter?” Allegra asked.
“If anyone can, she can!” Joey said.
As if on cue, Janelle froze in place. “I’ve got it. There!” She pointed to the center of the throne room floor. It was overflowing with iron knights.
“There?!” Shazad said. “What’s over there?”
Janelle started down the steps without pausing to answer. She made a beeline for the edge of the melee like she was on a mission. One of the iron knights went after her, and Shazad rushed in with a kick that sent it stumbling backward to be crushed in one of the giant gears protruding from the floor. Janelle forged ahead, in a world of her own.
“Cover us!” Shazad shouted, taking her arm and staying by her side. Joey, Leanora, and Hypnova formed a protective semicircle around them, and together they fought their way forward. Once they cleared a space at the center of the room, Janelle found an access panel in the floor—a trapdoor. She opened it and jumped down into the guts of the castle without any hesitation or explanation.
“Where’s she going?” Shazad asked, peering down into the gear works.
“Wherever it is, I’m going with her,” Hypnova said, lowering herself down after Janelle.
“We need to keep moving,” Leanora said as the iron knights swarmed around them. Meanwhile, up at the power core, DeMayne had already managed to turn half of the blue light red.
“Shazad, I think it’s time for you to go into beast mode,” Joey said.
“That’s going to be a problem.” Shazad grabbed the edge of his cape and held it out. His trademark magical object was in tatters, torn by the clawing hands of the iron knights. “My parents are going to kill me—if these things don’t do it first.”
“These things aren’t killing anybody. Not if I can help it.” Skerren slashed his way to the center of the room. The sword in his right hand was a blur, shredding any metal soldier tha
t got within striking distance. The sword in his left hand, he offered to Shazad. “Here. Work your magic with this.”
“Your sword?” Shazad took the blade as if he were being handed a priceless work of art. “Really?”
“Take good care of that,” Skerren ordered.
“Don’t worry,” Shazad said. “Protecting magical objects is what I do.” Skerren eyed his ruined cape, looking unconvinced. “Usually,” Shazad added.
“If you two are finished, I could use some help back here!” Allegra shouted. She wrapped a silvery arm around Jack and dragged him back to the door in a strategic retreat. He was straining hard to slow down the great machine and was no help to her as she fought off the iron knights alone.
“Duty calls,” Skerren said. “We’ll buy as much time as we can. GO!”
Using his other sword, Skerren cut a swath back toward Jack and Allegra while Joey, Shazad, and Leanora pushed forward toward DeMayne. It was pure mayhem as they crossed swords, fists, and staves with the iron knights every step of the way. Their magical weapons gave them the advantage over the mechanized drones, but for every one of them Joey, Shazad, and Leanora took down, there were ten more to take their place. It was the wildest fight Joey had ever been caught in the middle of. Absolute bedlam. He had more than his share of close calls as several killing blows nearly found their mark, but he was rescued by Shazad or Leanora just in time. Joey came through for his friends in a similar fashion, taking out enemies in their blind spots as they struggled against the iron knights. Punch by punch and swing by swing, they made it across the room to the mission control workstations. Mr. Ivory and Mr. Clear were there waiting for them. Magic energy coursed through DeMayne’s body as he gripped the orb, locked in a dogged attempt to reprogram the Clockwork Castle. It looked terribly painful, but he refused to let go. Joey got the sense DeMayne didn’t expect he would have to hold on so long. Jack had managed to hurt him by slowing down the machine, but it was up to Joey, Shazad, and Leanora to stop him. The power core was now almost 75 percent red.
“You’re too late,” DeMayne grunted through clenched teeth. “In a few minutes, you won’t be fighting me. You’ll be bowing down before me. Ivory! Clear! Keep them back!”
Mr. Ivory and Mr. Clear stepped up to block for DeMayne as Joey, Shazad, and Leanora came up the steps. Mr. Ivory was still an ogre, a giant with thick muscles and hands like cinder blocks. Mr. Clear was there behind him, rubbing his hands together and trying to keep warm. They were formidable obstacles, even if neither of them looked like he wanted to be there.
“We don’t have to do this,” Joey said.
“I’m afraid we do,” Mr. Ivory replied.
“Let us pass,” Joey pleaded. “We don’t want to hurt you.”
“Don’t worry. You won’t.”
Mr. Ivory reached forward and shoved Joey, hitting him hard in the chest. All the air left Joey’s body, and he went tumbling back into Shazad and Leanora. They fell down the steps, nearly landing back in the arms of the iron knights. They were still coming off the assembly lines and massing at the base of the steps. One of them grabbed Leanora, but Shazad cut it off at the wrist before it could drag her down. Joey brought the Staff of Sorcero down on its head as if he were driving a railroad spike into place with a sledgehammer.
“Just stay down,” Mr. Clear told them. “This will be over soon.”
“We can’t do that,” Joey said.
Mr. Clear sighed and covered the steps with a slippery sheet of ice. He also put a thick wall of ice in the middle of the staircase. Leanora put a fist of fire through the wall, smashing it to bits.
They climbed the steps with care. The iron knights couldn’t follow. After repeatedly slipping and falling, they abandoned their pursuit of Joey, Shazad, and Leanora and instead focused their efforts on reaching Jack. At the top of the steps, Mr. Ivory swatted at Shazad, who dodged the attack and responded with one of his own, slicing Mr. Ivory’s palm open. It wasn’t a terrible wound given his giant size, but it still had to hurt. Mr. Ivory pulled his hand back in surprise, and Joey saw an opening. He darted forward and swung the staff as hard as he could at Mr. Ivory’s knee. Sparks flew out, and there was a sickening crunch. Mr. Ivory cried out in pain. That one definitely hurt.
Mr. Ivory clutched his knee and wobbled in place before he fell. Joey had to move fast to avoid getting crushed beneath him. Unable to support himself, Mr. Ivory collapsed and pounded the floor in anger. He hit it so hard the tremors knocked Joey, Shazad, and Leanora off their feet.
“Stay back!” he shouted from the ground, blocking the way to DeMayne.
“Why are you fighting us?” Leanora shouted back. “You can’t be on board with this. DeMayne wants to brainwash the entire world and everyone’s minds. You really want him ruling the planet like a king?”
“What’s the difference?” Mr. Ivory asked, clutching his broken knee. “He’s been doing it for years already.”
“And how’s that working out?” Leanora demanded. “The world’s a mess—that’s why we’re here! You could help us!”
“You can’t beat him,” Mr. Ivory said. “He always has an ace hidden up his sleeve. Look around. You never saw this coming. Only he did. This is what I was talking about. You let magic loose in the world, bad things happen.”
“Like what happened to me.” Mr. Clear appeared over Mr. Ivory’s shoulder. He raised a shaky hand, and his bracelet lit up again. Ice formed around the ankles of Joey, Shazad, and Leanora. It materialized around their wrists like handcuffs, weighing them down toward boulders of ice that were growing up from the ground. Within seconds, they were trapped, just like they had been in Gravenmurk Glen.
“It’s like he s-s-said,” Mr. Clear said, with his breath appearing as a frosty white vapor. “It’s too late. S-stop fighting. I’m already so cold. It’s going to take me days to warm up now. After what I did to get us all to the tower?” He shook with a pitiful convulsion. “I don’t want to do this anymore. There’s no point. In a few minutes we’ll all be on the same side.”
“We’re already on the same side,” Leanora argued. “DeMayne’s side only has room for one. That’s why he never helped you. That’s why you’re the only two fingers left on the Invisible Hand.”
“That isn’t true,” Mr. Clear said. “There are hundreds of us.”
“Then where are they?” Shazad asked. “They don’t exist. It’s just the two of you left. We were in his mind. We saw every one of his followers through the years. There are only two active members. You two.”
“It’s true,” Leanora said. “He needs you more than he lets on. It’s all smoke and mirrors with him. He’s got no one else! That’s why he has these metal soldiers down there. It’s why he needed us to get here! DeMayne’s not as powerful as he makes himself out to be, and it’s his own fault. He won’t trust anyone enough to let them get close. He won’t help people who need it, because he knows if he did, he might lose them. It doesn’t have to be that way.” Leanora charged up her firestone, breaking her right hand free of the ice. “Magic isn’t about keeping secrets. It’s meant to be shared.” She didn’t melt the ice around her other hand or free her feet. Instead, she held the firestone pendant out to Mr. Clear. “I’ll show you. Here.”
“Lea, what are you doing?” Joey asked. “We have to keep fighting.”
“I am,” Leanora said. She kept her arm out, offering the firestone to Mr. Clear. “Take it. I’m giving it to you. You look like you could use it.”
“What is this?” Mr. Clear asked. “Some kind of trick?”
“No tricks,” Leanora said. “Just magic. The way it’s supposed to be.”
Mr. Clear approached with caution. Once he was close enough, he snatched the pendant out of Leanora’s hand, jumping back before she could try anything. His caution was unnecessary, his suspicions unwarranted. Leanora’s offer was genuine. Standing at what he no doubt considered to be a safe distance, he held the pendant up by its chain, staring at the orange stone.
; “Put it on,” Leanora told him. “Go ahead. You’ve seen me use it. You know what it does. What are you waiting for?”
Mr. Clear hesitated but ultimately decided he had nothing to lose. He placed the pendant around his neck and wrapped his left hand around the firestone. Soon his right hand began to glow. It was a tiny light, no bigger than a flame dancing on the wick of a candle, but it grew. Mr. Clear flared his fingertips, and the orange-red light began to move up his arm. It didn’t stop at the elbow the way it always did for Leanora. It spread across his entire body, traveling through his veins and warming his blood. For a moment his entire body was illuminated, and when he let go of the stone, he was a new man. His skin had gone from a frosty white to a rosy pink. For the first time since Joey had met him, Mr. Clear looked to be on the verge of life instead of death.
“I don’t believe it.” Mr. Clear looked at his hands as if they belonged to someone else. “I’m warm.” He took off his coat and threw it down. “I’m warm! I haven’t felt like this in… I don’t know how long! I forgot what it was like!” His voice cracked as he spoke. Tears fell from his eyes and they didn’t freeze in place. “I didn’t think this was possible.”
“Anything’s possible,” Leanora said. “I think those stones were meant to be together.”
“I don’t understand.” Mr. Ivory pulled himself up. He limped forward, clutching his knee. “You’re just going to give that to him?”
“I don’t want to fight anymore,” Leanora said. “I’m tired of fighting. Maybe we could try to be friends instead.”
Mr. Ivory was quiet for a moment. His face was inscrutable due to his monstrous appearance, but when he spoke it was clear Leanora’s words had touched his heart. “I never had any real friends.”
“Just speaking for myself,” Shazad began, “I’ve never had better friends than these two.” He gave a nod to Joey and Leanora. The heartfelt moment was spoiled by the sound of a hard-fought battle that was still raging across the room. Allegra and Skerren were still fighting to keep the iron knights away from Jack. They were standing their ground, but they were losing steam. So was Jack for that matter. “The rest of our friends need help. You can do something. You can make a difference.”
The New World Page 23
