Nemo didn’t wait around to see what kind of bugs he was going to summon. She went to the large pole that the statue of Saturn stood on. It too had a ladder affixed to it. She started climbing. She had no idea how going even higher up was going to help her, but she figured it was better than being on the roof in a three-against-one battle.
When she reached the bottom of the planet, she discovered that it was hollow, and that she could crawl inside. She did, finding herself inside a globe about twenty feet wide. It was filled with lights that twinkled on and off. The ladder kept going up, ending in a platform that had a small door in it. Nemo ignored it for the moment, trying to catch her breath and think.
She didn’t have long. A moment later, she heard buzzing.
Not more flies, she thought.
But it wasn’t flies. It was bees. They began pouring into the globe through the cracks in the planet’s surface. They immediately surrounded Nemo, stinging. She swatted at them with her hands, but it did little good. For every one she killed, there was another to take its place. Soon they were stinging her all over.
Out of desperation, she climbed again, going up to the little platform. She shoved open the door she found there and crawled out onto a narrow platform that extended out about ten feet before connecting with a wider, curved ledge. It was supposed to be the ring around Saturn, she realized.
The bees had followed her, and continued to sting. Her body burned as their venom coursed through her. She tried using her telekinesis to push them away, but it didn’t work. The constant pain made it impossible to sustain a field for very long, and whenever she faltered, the bees slipped through and resumed their assault.
Out of desperation, she crawled along the platform and onto the metal ring. Looking down, she saw that she was now actually extended over the edge of the room. The ground seemed miles away, and she felt her heart freeze in her chest as vertigo overwhelmed her. She flattened herself against the metal and closed her eyes.
“Not afraid of heights, are you?”
Boomer’s voice came from behind her. Her eyes, swelling shut from the bee stings, refused to open. She forced them, blinking through tears, and saw Boomer in the doorway. He held something in his hand. Something glowing.
“You should have gone down,” he said.
Nemo started to crawl. She could barely see, but she could feel the metal beneath her hands. The buzzing bees kept up a disorienting cacophony that filled her head. She almost didn’t feel the stings anymore, there were so many of them.
She felt a burning pain sear through her leg. Boomer had thrown whatever was in his hand at her. She screamed, instinctively rolling onto her side. Then she realized that her shoulder and head were not touching anything solid. She had almost fallen over the edge of the ring.
“Magdalena says she doesn’t have any use for you,” Boomer called out. “She says I can do what I want with you.”
Nemo, on her back, forced her eyes open. Boomer was standing on the ring, staring at her from a dozen feet away. He had another glowing object in his hand.
“Guess I don’t have a fear of heights,” he said.
Nemo anticipated the hit, but it still felt like being shot when the burning thing struck her stomach. She screamed and rolled. She felt herself sliding over the edge and clutched at the surface of the ring. She managed to hang on, but she knew she was close to falling.
Boomer laughed. “This is too easy,” he said.
The bees buzzed in Nemo’s ears, taunting her.
“Hey!” Boomer shouted. “Call off your bugs!”
A moment later, the bees left just as they’d come, lifting away from Nemo and disappearing into the night. Her body still burned from their stings, and she gasped for breath as the venom did its work. She could feel her throat closing up.
“Come on,” Boomer said. “At least try.”
Nemo looked up at him through narrow slits, barely able to see him. He held up his hand, showing her another glowing object.
“Last chance,” he said.
Rage surged through Nemo, pushing the pain back enough for her to get onto her knees. She breathed in ragged gasps as she forced herself to her feet to face Boomer. She swayed unsteadily, and thought she might fall over if she tried to take even one step. But she stood her ground. She held up her hands, willing her Legacy to work.
Boomer laughed as he threw his bomb at her.
Nemo saw the air between them shimmer. Then Ghost appeared. She was facing Nemo, and didn’t see Boomer behind her. When Boomer’s missile hit her in the back, she stumbled forward, her mouth open in a scream. Nemo opened her arms and caught her. The force almost pushed both of them over the edge of the ring, but Nemo fought to stay still.
Ghost was lying limp against her. Nemo fell to her knees and laid her friend on the ring. When she pulled her hands away, they were covered in blood. Nemo looked at Boomer. He no longer had anything in his hands. Nemo realized that he was out of weapons.
She summoned the last of her fading strength. Holding her hands up, she focused her telekinesis and pushed as hard as she could. She watched as Boomer flew backwards, off the ring and out over the edge of the hotel. He didn’t even scream as he fell.
Nemo looked down at Ghost. Her eyes were open, and she was smiling a sad smile.
“You’re going to be okay,” Nemo said. “Can you get us out of here?”
Ghost shut her eyes. She winced in pain as she tried. “No,” she said. “I don’t think I can.”
Nemo gathered her into her arms. “It’s okay,” she said.
“I’m sorry,” Ghost said.
“Me too,” said Nemo.
Ghost started to say something else, then coughed.
“Shh,” Nemo said, stroking Ghost’s hair. “It’s okay.”
Ghost said nothing. Nemo felt tears slip from her eyes. “It’s okay,” she whispered again. “It’s okay.”
CHAPTER NINE
SIX
LAS VEGAS, NEVADA
SIX HAD NEVER IN HER LIFE WISHED SHE COULD fly more than she did standing on the ground looking up at Eleni hovering overhead, conducting the movements of the three monsters as if she was some kind of orchestra leader.
The towering beasts roared and clawed at the air. Where their feet fell, cars crumpled and street signs fell like sticks. People scattered, screaming and running away from the destruction now that they realized that what was happening was real. Watching them, Eleni laughed.
“Hey! Why don’t you pick on someone your own size?!” Six shouted. “Metaphorically speaking,” she added under her breath. She looked at Nine. “What’s that thing she’s riding, anyway?”
“I don’t know,” Nine said, eyeing the floating platform. “But I want one.”
Eleni turned her attention to Six and Nine, noticing them for the first time. She scowled. Then she waved her staff. The three monsters turned their heads, each looking a different direction. Two of them started off in opposite directions, their bulky bodies filling the street as they went deeper into the city.
“She’s trying to divide our attention,” Six said angrily.
“Well, it’s working,” said Nine. “Do you want to go after those two or deal with her and the third one?”
“Leave her to me,” Six said. “This has been a long time coming.”
Nine grinned. “Have fun,” he said, then took off after one of the retreating beasts.
Six focused her attention on Eleni and the remaining monster. It loomed over her, the stench of its foul breath filling the air as it roared.
“Here goes nothing,” Six said, and ran towards it.
She leaped up, getting a purchase on its scaly hide and climbing its leg until she was on its shoulder. Eleni still hovered above it on her platform, out of reach. Six attempted to hit the platform with a wave of telekinesis, but Eleni was expecting it and rose up and away.
Six considered conjuring a storm. Something to knock Eleni off. But since she was getting reacquainted with her Lega
cies, Six knew she had to be careful about collateral damage with the crowd below. Police were attempting to herd bystanders out of the way, but people were too interested in what was happening to leave.
She decided to risk it.
Concentrating on the air above Eleni, she summoned lightning. The air crackled with electricity. Eleni, hearing it, looked up just as a bolt burst towards her. She managed to maneuver out of the way at the last second, and the lightning hit one of the police cars.
“She’s attacking us!” an officer shouted, pointing at Six as two more bolts rained down.
“I’m trying to stop the psychopath!” Six shouted back.
He ignored her, pulling his pistol as several of the other officers did the same thing. Half pointed them at Six, while the other half pointed them at Eleni. Six braced herself to deflect the bullets if they fired, and quickly quelled the lightning storm, not wanting to antagonize the police any further.
Before she could figure out another way to get to Eleni, the Mog’s staff started to glow. Then she raised it, and the beast Six was standing on tried to shake her off. Six fell into a crouch, hanging on as she had the first time she’d ridden one. She was used to their movements now, and knew where to stick her fingers between the scales to keep from falling off. The monsters were huge, but they were also slow, so she was able to adjust to the thing’s attempts to dislodge her.
Eleni called up a fireball and launched it at Six. Six deflected it easily with a burst of telekinesis, rendering it harmless. Then she went invisible. Eleni shouted in rage and frustration, sending out a volley of smaller fireballs towards the place where she thought Six was. But Six had moved, climbing onto the beast’s head. Eleni was just above her now, scanning for signs of Six.
Six crouched and jumped, propelling herself into the air. She reached for the edge of the hovering platform, managing to grip it with the fingertips of one hand. But it was her injured arm, and her shoulder burned fiercely as she tried to maintain her hold. The platform rocked under the added weight, tipping to the side. Six swung her body, trying to knock Eleni off her balance.
Eleni countered by bringing the end of her staff down hard on where she thought Six’s fingers must be based on the tilt of the platform. Unfortunately, she guessed correctly. Six felt her fingers break. The intense pain caused her focus to falter. She flickered into view. Eleni kicked her in the face, hard, and Six flew backwards, falling onto the monster’s back and rolling. She dug in with her ruined fingers, screaming as they were torn even more out of joint but managing to just hang on. She went invisible again, and this time stayed hidden.
She needed a new plan of attack. Eleni could easily stay out of her reach, and with no immediate weapon at her disposal, and nothing around her to turn into one, Six had no way of knocking her off the platform. I need to bring her to me, she thought. But how? What could she do that would make Eleni come closer?
She decided to attack the creature. Maybe if Eleni thought it was in danger, she would risk coming down from the platform to help it. First, Six attempted to set her broken fingers, gripping them with her good hand and pulling them back into place. The pain was horrific, and it only partly worked, but at least she could move a couple of her fingers now. She turned onto her stomach and began crawling up the thing’s neck, going towards its head. Stabbing the thing in the eye had worked once. Maybe something similar would work again. The only problem was, she had no weapon now.
She reached the spot just behind the creature’s head, but still had no idea what she was going to do. Then she had an idea. She materialized, allowing Eleni to see her. At the same time, she pretended to collapse on the beast’s back, letting her body slump to the side. It took all of her willpower to hang on as pain tore through her hand and shoulder, but she did it. Her head lolled as if she had passed out from pain, her legs dangling along the side of the monster as it rocked back and forth.
Eleni took the bait. Thinking that Six was incapacitated, she formed a huge fireball in her hand. When it was glowing red, she hurled it at Six. Six, watching from between eyelids open only a slit, waited until it was almost upon her, then let go and slid down a few feet, thrusting both hands between a row of scales to stop herself from falling off completely.
The fireball struck the beast. Despite its scales, it felt the searing pain of the resulting explosion, and it whirled. Six hung on, her body flying out sideways as the monster turned towards Eleni and slashed at her with its claws. It struck the platform, tipping it, and Eleni tumbled off. She scrabbled to hang on, but with the staff still in one hand she wasn’t able to grab on, and fell.
She bounced off the monster’s side and tumbled to the ground. Six was about to let go of the creature and go after her, when Eleni surprised her by climbing on the beast herself. She drove the staff in between its scales, enraging it even more. Then the orb at the end started to glow again.
Six had only a moment to wonder what the Mog was up to before the monster turned and began scaling the side of the hotel. Its claws easily punctured the glass and steel, crunching loudly as it moved far more quickly than Six thought possible for such a huge animal. It was four stories up before she could even think about getting off. Now it was too late.
The thing climbed. Six held on as best she could, keeping an eye on Eleni, who was slowly making her way up towards Six. The surrounding buildings quickly retreated as the monster ascended the side of the Saturn, the flashing lights streaking by, making Six dizzy.
Six’s only advantage was that because Eleni was still holding on to the staff, she only had one hand for maneuvering on the monster’s back. The higher and faster it climbed, the more Eleni struggled, until finally she was forced to stay in one place, glaring up at Six with an expression of pure hatred, waiting for her chance.
Six too was barely hanging on. With each thud of the creature’s claws, she was shaken again. Her shoulder had gone past the point of hurting to become a throbbing knot of pure pain. The broken bones in her hand ground together with each thrust of the beast’s body, and she expected at any moment to simply fall from its back. If she did, she planned to take the Mog with her.
But that didn’t happen. Instead, the two of them clung to the monster as it climbed to the very top of the hotel, hundreds of feet above the Strip. Six waited for it to reach the top and settle on the roof. When it was within a few floors of the top, though, it stopped, clinging to the side. Six could feel it breathing, its sides moving in and out. She waited for it to start moving again, but it remained in place.
She looked down at Eleni. The Mog’s blond hair streamed in the wind that whipped around the hotel, hiding her face. Six wondered if she had somehow commanded the monster to stop or if it had done it of its own accord. The orb in Eleni’s staff wasn’t glowing, so Six didn’t know.
She turned her attention to the monster itself. Above her, the wound created by Eleni’s fireball oozed a sticky black substance. Then Six noticed something protruding from the hole in the scales. At first she thought it was bone, but moonlight glinted off it as it would off metal.
She planted the toe of her boot between some scales and pushed herself up a few inches. Her injured hand throbbed, but she ignored it, jamming it between more scales and using it to pin herself to the monster’s body as she climbed a little bit at a time. She hoped it wouldn’t start climbing again, and it didn’t. Still, the wind tried to tear her away from the thing’s back, and it was slow going.
When she got to the wound, she reached for the thing sticking out of the monster’s back. It was cold, metallic. She ran her hand down it, feeling the ends of wires. They were frayed, and when her fingertips touched them, she got a slight shock. The creature bellowed. Six dipped her fingers into what she’d thought was blood, then brought them to her nose. She did smell the iron scent of blood, but also something else. Something oily, with a chemical odor.
It’s part machine, she thought. Some kind of biomechanical creature.
Now she understood the
role the orb played. It was some kind of transmitter. And since Eleni had injured the thing, it wasn’t working exactly the way it was supposed to.
This might or might not be a good thing. They were stuck on the side of the hotel, and the creature wasn’t moving. If it stayed where it was, Six didn’t know how they would get off. And she wasn’t sure how long she could hang on.
She heard a sound and looked down. Eleni was climbing up. She was grunting with each step she took, exclaiming in her own language in a way that Six understood clearly was the Mog equivalent of cursing. She had apparently realized what was going on with the beast, and had decided to act.
Six turned her attention back to the creature’s wound. Sticking her hand inside again, she found the wires she’d located before. There were several of them, all torn and exposed. She took the raw ends and tried touching them to one another. The monster shrieked and lifted one front leg. Its weight shifted to the other arm and it swung to the left. Six barely managed to hang on by gripping the protruding metal rod.
She let go of the wires and the monster steadied itself, although its right arm now flailed against the side of the building, as if it couldn’t help itself. The glass of the windows broke, raining down on Six and Eleni. Six didn’t want to risk making it let go completely, so she abandoned the mechanical innards. Eleni was only a few feet behind her, and moving more quickly. Six decided to climb.
She moved past the wounded area and onto the creature’s neck. The only way for her to go was up its head, and so that’s where she went. The scales of the neck gave way to the larger, smoother plates of its head. These were slipperier, with fewer places to hold on. Plus, the animal was moving its head back and forth, screaming.
Six crested the top of the thing’s head. On either side, its huge eyes glowed like moons, the irises round and black. It blinked, trying to look at her. Then it threw its head back, attempting to dislodge her. She gripped the bony ridges around its eye sockets until it stopped, then kept going, inching down the bridge of its snout. Behind her, Eleni perched between the thing’s shoulders, using her legs to hang on. She raised her hand, a fireball forming in her palm.
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