“I’m fine,” I said. “So, how’s this going to work?”
“We’ll have Teeny lay down a beat,” Chasm said. “You and I will rap back and forth until one of us gets stumped.”
“Sounds fair,” I said.
Chasm snapped his fingers without looking back at Tina. The girl slowly rose to her feet and began stomping her magical shoe in rhythm, an impressive array of sounds resonating through the cave.
“You go first,” I said.
“Happily.” Chasm closed his eyes, focusing on the beat that Tina was laying down. Then the battle started.
“Let’s pick this up where you and I left off,
I led these people here, like a horse to the trough,
And now you understand why I needed your string,
I got a dozen wishers from a mini golf swing.
You never even thought that I could multiply the tether,
Now I’ll be making wishes and I don’t care whether
Anything should happen to these poor pathetic losers.
They chose to come to Mr. Kaz, so pickers can’t be choosers.”
Okay. Now it was my turn. I started speaking a sentence, feeling terrified. But the words flowed off my tongue with excellent rhythm and rhyme. It took a bit of focus, but it wasn’t very hard.
“You think you’re something fancy with your little man-purse,
It’s time for Mr. Kaz to answer to the Universe.
You’ll end up in a jar, without a reassignment,
And you’ll be getting old in solitary confinement.
You told me yourself, there was a trinket with power,
Capable of taking you down, in half an hour,
Or less. And I know you really want me to leave,
But the Universe is waiting with an Ace up its sleeve.”
Nailed it!
I glanced at Ridge, who seemed to be equally impressed with my performance. Not only had all of my sentences rhymed, but I thought I’d managed to shake Chasm a bit with their meaning. He was feeling so secure about stealing the spool of string that I felt like he could use a reminder about the second trinket—the dagger that could bring him down.
“A mediocre rap from a worthless boy,
Your life is so depressing. Nothing to enjoy,
A lonely little orphan kid who doesn’t know his past.
You, the hero. Me, the villain. So typecast.”
As Chasm insulted me through his second verse, I tried hard not to stare at the flash of movement I had seen on the far wall. It was Jathon, I was sure of it. He must have made some kind of wish that allowed him to crawl along the ceiling and descend behind Chasm on the opposite side of the cave. I had no choice but to jump into another verse of rap and try to hold the evil genie’s attention a little longer.
“Keep your eyes on me, you maniacal genie,
You’re nothing but a dirty-rotten, good-for-nothing meanie.
I’m a rapping distraction, with a heavy dose of swagger,
’Cuz my friend is standing right behind you holding a dagger!”
Shoot, I might have just spoiled the fact that Jathon had snuck up behind Chasm. But hey, at least it rhymed!
Chasm’s eyes grew wide, and he spun around in shock. Jathon had gathered the Wishmaker adults behind him. Vale held all twelve of their glowing tethers, the strings gripped tightly in a bundle between her hands. Jathon lifted his right hand and I saw the dagger glint in the blue lights from the fish tank.
“No!” Chasm screamed.
Jathon brought the old blade down, slashing through the dozen strings in a single blow. With the adults cut free, Vale only needed to hang on to one of the thin strings to try to reuse it on Tina.
But as the dagger sliced through, something unexpected happened. The strings seared like a flash of fire. Vale gave a shout and pulled her hands away. In the blink of an eye, the magical pieces of string had been reduced to little more than ash, falling through the genie girl’s fingers.
Apparently, the string was a one-time-use kind of trinket.
I saw the knots flake away from Chasm’s wrist as he brought his arm up. The twelve civilians, now ex-Wishmakers, stumbled backward, rubbing at their wrists where the strings had once held them.
“Run!” Jathon shouted, waving at them. “I created a door on the upper landing! Make your way up the escalator and get out of here!”
“What have you done?” Chasm wailed. He swung his arm, knocking Jathon heavily across the back. The boy hit the ground, trinket dagger falling from his grasp and skidding across the stone floor.
“Ridge!” I yelled, ears smoking. “Balaclava!”
He instantly morphed into a penguin-winged polar bear and leaped at Chasm’s unprotected back. The attack knocked Chasm to his knees, preventing him from hurting Jathon with a second blow.
Meanwhile, I was down on my hands and feet, bear-crawling across the floor to the place where Jathon’s dagger had fallen. I scooped up the ancient blade and craned my neck to look for Tina.
I spotted her in a huddle on the ground next to a lounge chair. Vale was already at her side, attempting to speak to the mute girl.
Over my shoulder, I heard Chasm yell something unintelligible, pinned under Ridge’s huge polar bear bulk.
“I’ve got my paw in his mouth!” Ridge proudly announced. “But he’s biting down pretty hard. You guys had better do something soon!”
“Tina!” I said, crawling awkwardly over to her. “We’re going to cut you free with this dagger.” With my elbow locked stiff from my pay-as-you-play consequence, I started slashing the blade through the air like a madman, hopeful to connect with Tina’s invisible tether.
“Forget it,” Jathon said, rubbing a bump on his head as he came up behind us. “The dagger can only cut the tether if it’s visible. I don’t know what we’re going to do.”
“I couldn’t hold on,” said Vale. “The string burned away as soon as Jathon cut it.”
Jathon laughed when Vale said his name. I hiccuped. “Chasm wasted the whole spool!” Jathon moaned. “All five hundred and . . . however many feet there were!”
I stopped my hapless air-cutting. Something didn’t add up. I thought back to when we’d measured the string in the ski lodge. It had been enough to go between Vale and Jathon thirteen times.
“Thirteen times,” I muttered. “Chasm ran out of string, but he only tied on to twelve people.”
“What are you saying?” Jathon asked.
“I’m saying that a forty-two-foot piece of string went missing between the ski lodge and here.” And I suddenly had a very good idea of where it might be.
“Thackary Anderthon!” I hissed, tilting my head to scan the hideout. There he was, finally emerging from whatever corner he’d been hiding in. The despicable man was walking slowly toward the spot where Ridge had pinned Chasm. In his right hand, he held a piece of white string, loosely coiled as he approached the captive genie.
Thackary must have been planning this all along! That was why he acted so defensive every time someone mentioned the string. He had always known of its power to create a new tether, and now he planned to use it for himself!
I couldn’t reach Thackary in time. Not while forced to remain on all fours. And Chasm was an easy target, gagged and pinned by the shaggy polar bear. There was only one way to stop Thackary. One way to buy us a little more time to get that final piece of string and tie it onto Tina.
“Balaclava!” I shouted. More smoke out my ears.
Ridge transformed into a skinny kid, and Chasm bit down on his fingers.
“Yeooooow!” Ridge howled.
Chasm sprang to his feet, swatting at the smaller genie as though he were a bothersome insect. Ridge tumbled onto one of the couches with such force that it tipped over.
“Yarrr! I be humbled to speak to the great Chasm!” cried Thackary, not even shirking away as the Wishbreaker turned to him.
“You look familiar,” Chasm said. “Have I had the misfortune of looking at y
our face before?”
“Aye! We met when ye first emerged from yer jar,” said Thackary. “I pledged meself then, and I pledge meself now.” He held out the coiled piece of string. “Make me yer loyal servant!”
“Hmm . . .” Chasm said. “You do know that I enslave people, take away their wishes, torment them with serious consequences, and make them do whatever I want?”
“Aye,” said Thackary.
“Okay, cool,” said Chasm. “Just checking.”
“I’ll do anything to shake the consequences I now carry,” said Thackary, glancing at Jathon.
Sure, he had some pesky problems lingering from his time as a young Wishmaker. No one wanted to carry consequences. But tethering himself to Chasm was not the way to get rid of them. The Wishbreaker would only assign him worse consequences. And besides, Tina needed that string!
“You’re one weird little dude,” Chasm said. “But I guess I could use you to take over the world.” Chasm reached out to take the string.
Tina suddenly appeared out of nowhere, coasting forward on her roller-skate foot. Her sock-covered hand darted out and grabbed the coil of string, yanking it from Thackary’s unsuspecting hand.
“Arrr!” The angry man lunged, grabbing on to the back of Tina’s shirt and halting her escape. But he only held her for a second before he fell back, howling in pain. “Yarr! Ye’ve got a hive of bees swarming yer midriff! Fierce little stingers!”
As Thackary rubbed at his fresh bee stings, Tina kicked, coasting toward me with a determined expression on her face as I shuffled my feet.
“Bad Teeny!” Chasm shouted, thrusting out his foot and tripping her escape. Tina flew toward Ridge and me, and I braced to catch her. Our silent friend toppled all three of us to the floor. Chasm pounced on us, but we were suddenly shooting sideways.
What was this? We had landed on a rug, and now the Universe was pulling it out from under me. Chasm hit the floor where we had been, as the three of us tumbled off the rug, finally rolling to a stop.
It was a rather painful experience, and I sat up, rubbing my shoulder. Ridge was strewn across my legs, and Tina was a few feet away, already stumbling to her feet.
“Well, little Teeny,” Chasm said, cracking his knuckles as if preparing for something dreadful. “Why don’t we remind your friends what I’m capable of? I’m feeling a little fiery sensation coming on.” He tapped his chest. “Compassion?” he mused. “No . . . Heartburn? No . . .” He snapped his fingers. “Oh, I know what it is!”
Tina’s eyes went wide and she looked right at me. As Chasm opened his mouth to say something, she made a quick decision and tossed me the coil of string.
“It’s abracadrizzle,” said the Wishbreaker.
I imagined that Jathon and Vale were pretty confused by Chasm’s statement. But Ridge and I knew exactly what that word would do.
In a flash, Chasm transformed into a dragon. His arms were now stout forelegs ending in hooked black talons. Well, that was going to complicate tying the string around his wrist.
The pay-as-you-play consequence instantly took effect on Tina, a wall of flames leaping up around her. I suddenly realized why she had tossed me the string. With Tina surrounded so closely by flames, it was too risky that the delicate string would catch fire and burn up.
I needed to convince Chasm to transform back into human form so the defenses around Tina would drop.
Thackary Anderthon was nowhere in sight. I assumed he had slunk back into whatever corner he had come from. Jathon and Vale were racing toward us, but Chasm’s long tail suddenly snaked out, knocking them backward. His thick neck turned, and dragon Chasm let out a gush of flames.
I braced myself (and by bracing myself, I mean shutting my eyes in absolute fear), but the fire didn’t touch us. I felt the heat of the blaze all around, and I gripped tightly to the dagger and the coil of string in my hand.
“Abracadrizzle.” When I heard Chasm’s voice, I finally dared to open my eyes. The dragon had ignited a ring of fire all the way around us, like the one that had surrounded Tina, only much bigger. With this new border, Ridge and I were the only ones trapped inside with Chasm, while Tina, Jathon, and Vale were shut outside the new wall of flames.
Returned to his regular form, Chasm straightened his bow tie, one hand behind his back and an obnoxious grin on his face.
“Aren’t you boys missing something?” Chasm asked.
“I’ve got everything we need to take you down right here!” I brandished the dagger and the string, proud that I hadn’t dropped them in my fear of getting burned alive.
“I’m not talking about your trinkets,” Chasm said, whipping his hand out from behind his back and showing off the item he was holding.
It was Ridge’s peanut butter jar.
“How did you . . . ?” I muttered.
“Oh, is this important?” Chasm asked with fake concern. “I just saw it sticking out of your backpack, and I thought . . . Gotta have it. You’d be surprised what you can steal while your opponent stands there with his eyes shut.”
“You’re a pickpocket?” I cried.
“Technically, he’s a pickbackpack,” Ridge said.
“Well, it doesn’t matter, anyway,” I said to Chasm. “There’s nothing you can do with that jar. Those things are magically enhanced and totally unbreakable.”
Chasm broke the jar.
He smashed the peanut butter container against his forehead like a tough guy crushing a soda can. There was a blinding blast of magic, and Ridge’s jar exploded into tiny fragments.
Ridge screamed. The boy genie looked like he was on the verge of panic.
“I didn’t think that was possible!” I muttered.
“Puh-lease!” said Chasm. “I’m the Wishbreaker. Emphasis on breaker. I can steal people’s wishes, force them into consequences. . . . Did you really think I couldn’t break a genie jar?”
“It’s okay, Ridge,” I said. “You’re still my genie. This hasn’t changed anything.”
“Don’t you know what this means?” Ridge cried, bordering on hysteria.
“It means he dies,” said Chasm. “He has nowhere to go when this quest ends. Your poor widdle genie will fizzle out of existence forever.”
Now I understood why Ridge was panicking. Wouldn’t you panic if you had less than a day before “fizzling out of existence”?
“I will break you down, boy,” Chasm said. “I took Tina. Now I’ve taken Ridge.”
“I’m not giving up,” I said. “We know how to free Tina. And I’ll figure out how to save Ridge.”
“Are you sure?” asked Chasm. “It’s hard to save other people when you are lost yourself.”
“What are you talking about?” I said.
“I’ve got a great idea,” Chasm said, “and I want you to hear me out. Okay?”
“You’re the bad guy!” Ridge shouted. “You’ve got bad ideas!”
“That’s just not fair.” Chasm’s voice was dripping with pretend hurt. “Sometimes bad guys have good ideas. Like this one: Use the string for yourself, Ace.”
“That is a bad idea,” I said. “You seriously thought I’d fall for that?”
“Think about it!” cried Chasm. “Everyone who ties to me gets one free wish. This is finally your chance to find yourself. Don’t you want to know your past? Aren’t you curious about where you came from? Who you were?”
Of course I was curious! But I’d given up on that after my failed attempt to meet Samuel Sylvester Stansworth’s parents. There was another cause far more important than learning who I used to be. I was here for Tina!
“You can’t ask about your past with a regular genie.” Chasm gestured to Ridge. “But I can give you that wish with no consequence attached.”
“Yeah, yeah, yeah,” I said. “And then I become your eternal slave. Not happening.”
“You’ve got the dagger!” Chasm pointed at the weapon in my hand. “The minute you get what you want, I’ll let you cut yourself free. I promise.”
&
nbsp; “I don’t believe you,” I answered. “You’ll steal my voice, just like you did to the others.”
“Even if I was lying,” said Chasm, “making a wish to steal your voice would take a couple seconds. You’d have plenty of time to cut the string before I can spit it out.”
He’d actually made a good point there. It was just a tiny piece of string and I’d seen how easily the dagger had sliced through it.
“Ah,” Chasm said. “I can tell you’re thinking it over. You realize that I’m a reasonable fellow with reasonable ideas.”
“Taking over the world is not a reasonable idea!” Ridge said. “And, by the way, I can’t tell if you’re trying to rule the world or destroy it.”
“I think of it as a nice mix,” said Chasm. “Maybe sixty-forty. Destroy the people I can’t control. I mean, if I destroyed all the humans, there will be no one left to see me on Broadway.”
“Nobody’s going to see you on Broadway!” Ridge said.
“I’ll make them,” said Chasm. “And they’ll like it.”
“Come on, Ace.” Ridge turned to me. “You can’t possibly be considering anything this guy says. You know it’s a trap.”
“It’s not a trap!” Chasm said. “It’s a fair offer, with an easy escape clause. Use the string to connect us. Cut yourself free with the dagger.”
“What’s in it for you?” I asked, shuffling back and forth so I wouldn’t sink into the floor.
“I’ve decided I prefer my tethers invisible.” He gestured at Tina outside the fire wall. “You get to learn your past, and I make sure that the string gets used up.”
For one final moment, I let my mind linger on the idea of learning my past. I daydreamed about getting the answers I’d spent years seeking.
And then I looked Chasm in the face and said, “No way.” I took a deep breath. “There is only one piece of string left, and I’m using it to save Tina. You can’t tempt me anymore, Chasm. You know why?”
“Enlighten me,” said the big genie, folding his arms.
“Because I don’t care,” I replied. “I’m done chasing my past. I don’t care who Ace was. All that matters is who I am.”
“Very poetic,” Chasm said, awarding my speech with a slow clap that made my head turn around. “But I can see the lie behind your brave words.”
The Wishbreaker Page 19
