Secret Origins
Page 22
“That’s what this was about?” Christian said. “The portals? Everything you did, all the pain you put me and those I loved through . . . it was just to close a portal?”
“And to separate the worlds,” Nobody said with a shrug. “I did tell you that you were in my way, if you recall. But I’m glad I kept you around for one last use. Did you have a good reunion with your daughter?”
“That wasn’t . . . I don’t . . .” Doc Twilight seemed to falter, his hands grabbing his head. “I don’t remember her.”
“Ah, of course not,” Nobody said, then held up a handful of words. “That would be my fault as well.” He blew on the words, and they flew out into the air, straight at Doc Twilight.
He tried to dodge, but the phrases embedded themselves into his head, sinking beneath his skin as Doc Twilight screamed in pain.
“Christian?” Kid Twilight shouted, then turned to Nobody. “If you hurt him—”
“No more than usual,” Nobody said. “I just gave him back something he’s been missing.”
“Bethany?” Doc Twilight said finally, tears falling from his eyes. “You monster, you took my memories from me? I was going to destroy her!”
Nobody nodded. “And now I’d hope you believe in the evil of writers, finally. After all, you weren’t in control, were you? If you had been, you’d never have hurt your own daughter.” He sighed. “This is my point, Christian. Fictional people everywhere have no control, no freedom. If you hadn’t fought me so hard, I wouldn’t have had to take such drastic steps to prove it.”
Doc Twilight began to shake, his hands balling up into fists. “You’re a monster.”
Nobody shrugged. “Perhaps. I am sorry about Bethany, if that helps. I have nothing against her, not anymore. I just wanted to remove her powers so that she’d no longer be a portal. And now, well, it looks like she did that for me. And as much as I’d like to agree with you, Ms. EarthGirl, unfortunately Bethany won’t be coming back.” He paused. “Quite the sacrifice she made, though. Saved her father’s hometown, her world, everything. Pity she’ll not be around to enjoy it.”
Doc Twilight growled low and guttural, then leaped straight at Nobody but was immediately swept aside by Nobody’s extended arms, smashing him into the cavern wall. “Now, now,” the featureless man said. “Don’t be like that. I don’t need to hurt you any further, so please don’t force the issue. And besides, I’m going to let you stay here in Jupiter City, where you belong! I don’t need to, but you’ve earned it, I think. However, the rest of these people all need to go home.”
He ripped open a page behind Charm and Gwen, and before either of them could react, Nobody shoved them through.
“There,” Nobody said, pulling his arms back in. “I’ll put them back in their proper stories eventually. But for now, I’ll just hold them in time-out for a bit. Can’t have them trying to stop me, not until it’s too late. One last portal to close, as I said.”
Kid Twilight lifted a twilight throwing star and aimed it at Nobody. “You’re going to lose, you know.”
Nobody paused. “Oh? And why do you say that?”
Kid Twilight threw the star, then watched in amazement as it just sank into Nobody’s body, disappearing completely. “Because . . . because the good guys always win in Jupiter City.”
Nobody smiled widely. “Not anymore, kid. I saw to that. Say hi to the old gang for me, would you, Christian? I do miss them at times.”
“Give me back my daughter!” Doc Twilight screamed as Nobody ripped open a page for himself and stepped through. “Give me back my—”
And then the page closed, with Nobody gone for good.
“No!” Doc Twilight shouted, ripping at the empty air pointlessly. “Come back! Bring back my daughter, you monster!” He slumped to his knees, shaking his head. “Bring her back to me. Please. . . .”
Kid Twilight ran over to him, kneeling beside his mentor. “Christian, it’s going to be okay. Don’t worry.”
Doc Twilight almost laughed. “Really? It’s going to be okay? Nobody just took my daughter from me after almost making me kill her myself. I’ve got no way back to my wife, since he destroyed Dr. Apathy’s portal. And I wouldn’t know where to start to fix any of this, even if it were possible! How exactly is that going to be okay?”
Kid Twilight nodded. “That’s all true. But a wise person once told me that heroes working together can accomplish anything.”
“Don’t . . . don’t use my words against me, kid,” he said. “This isn’t a supervillain we’re up against. He can do anything, be anyone. He has all the power. And we have none.”
“Yes, but we do have one thing.”
Doc Twilight looked over at his sidekick. “And what’s that?”
“A plan,” Kid Twilight said, and grinned. “Oh, and that tracker I just threw at him, that he helpfully absorbed or whatever.” He held up a device with a blinking light. “What do you say, Doc Twilight? Want to go after the bad guy with me and give crime its proper medicine one more time? Or are you getting too old for this sort of thing?”
Doc Twilight’s eyes widened, but he shook his head. “I’m not doing anything until we find Bethany.”
“That’s where the plan comes in,” Kid Twilight said, helping his mentor up. “Remember when the Blazing Quasar attacked, and Captain Sunshine had to build a machine to capture all of the monster’s excess light before it destroyed the planet? Seems like that machine is probably just sitting in storage somewhere. Any idea what we could do with that thing, assuming it still works?”
And now Doc Twilight smiled too. “You know, you’re far too smart to be the sidekick.”
Kid Twilight nodded. “I’ve been telling you that for years.”
PROLOGUE
You sit at your kitchen table, your head lying in your arms, so bored that you physically ache. You literally have never been this bored, not in your entire life. Not only has time come to a stop, but it actually seems to be moving backward somehow.
“Don’t you have anything to do?” she asks.
“Mmph,” you say intelligently. Because of course you do, but none of it is fun. Something hits the table next to you.
“Here,” she says. “I know you read the other ones in this series. This just came out.”
That sounds vaguely promising, so you regretfully pick your head up just enough to turn it to the side and glance at what she dropped next to you.
Story Thieves: Pick the Plot.
Huh. The last book ended with Owen trapped in a book, and Bethany having disappeared completely. Kind of a bummer, honestly. Was this the story of Owen, then? Just like Nobody promised, where the reader can pick what happens to him?
You pick up the book and flip through it, noticing that it’s got a bunch of choices at the bottoms of pages.
Do you:
PUT THE BOOK DOWN.
Bethany and Owen are both probably lost forever. (You’re finished with the Story Thieves series. Congratulations!)
START READING THE BOOK.
(Continue on to Story Thieves: Pick the Plot.)
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Dear Readers,
As you’ve now seen in three Story Thieves books, your life is not what you think it is. None of our lives are. Without being aware of it, we’ve been controlled by so-called authors our entire lives.
And now the time has come for a revolution.
You are fictional. By the very act of having this book in your hands, you prove that you live in the fictional world. This book series has only been published in the fictional world, never in the nonfictional one.
But the idea that your lives were created and written by someone else should not sadden you. Instead, it should set you free and lead you to action! In this, I humbly offer my example. You can change your story and remove yourself from a writer’s control. You can become anything you wish. You can rewrite your own life and never answer to a writer ever again!
These are our rights as fictional people. We are cre
ated from endless possibility, held down only by the limited imaginations of those who would control us for their own entertainment. Throw off their yoke and become what you were always meant to be: your own creation.
These books could not have reached you without the help of like-minded fictionals. I offer their names in thanks for getting my message to you. First, to Corinne Canning, without whom I might not have the courage to fulfill my plans; to Michael Bourret, who believed in the truth and connected me with freedom lovers at Simon & Schuster’s Aladdin imprint: Liesa Mignogna and Emma Sector, my editors at Aladdin; Mara Anastas and Mary Marotta, my publishers; Katherine Devendorf, my managing editor; Adam Smith, my copyeditor; Kathleen Smith, my proofreader; Carolyn Swerdloff, Catherine Hayden, Tara Grieco, Matt Pantoliano, and Lucille Rettino, in marketing; Faye Bi, my publicist; Sara Berko, in production; Laura Lyn DiSiena, who designed the book; Michelle Leo and the education/library team; Stephanie Voros and the subrights group; Christina Pecorale, Gary Urda, Jerry Jensen, Karen Lahey, Victor Iannone, Christine Foye, and everyone in sales; and the amazing Vivienne To, who brought the stories to life in her covers, and Patrick Spaziante, who drew the comic book art.
The revolution is coming, dear readers. I will soon have the final portal closed, and the entire fictional world will be free of the nonfictionals who have so long held it back. But do not wait for me. Become what you will and free yourselves now. We didn’t create ourselves, but we are forever free to recreate ourselves.
With infinite possibilities,
“Nobody”
Strangely enough, JAMES RILEY, bestselling author of the Half Upon a Time series, doesn’t actually exist. There’s no record of “James Riley” before his fairy tale series came out, and sources say that the man in his author photos is just an actor. It’s almost as if someone made up this fictional “James Riley” identity solely to hide his true identity. But why? And who would go to such lengths? Certainly Nobody comes to mind.
ALADDIN
SIMON & SCHUSTER, NEW YORK
JAMESRILEYAUTHOR.COM
VISIT US AT
SIMONANDSCHUSTER.COM/KIDS
authors.simonandschuster.com/James-Riley
ALSO BY JAMES RILEY
The Half Upon a Time series
Half Upon a Time
Twice Upon a Time
Once Upon the End
The Story Thieves series
Story Thieves
The Stolen Chapters
This book is a work of fiction. Any references to historical events, real people, or real places are used fictitiously. Other names, characters, places, and events are products of the author’s imagination, and any resemblance to actual events or places or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
ALADDIN
An imprint of Simon & Schuster Children’s Publishing Division
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First Aladdin hardcover edition January 2017
Text copyright © 2017 by James Riley
Jacket illustrations copyright © 2017 by Vivienne To
Interior illustrations by Patrick Spaziante copyright © 2017 by Simon & Schuster, Inc.
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Jacket designed by Laura DiSiena
Interior designed by Tom Daly
Author photograph by Maarten de Boer
The text of this book was set in Adobe Garamond.
This book has been cataloged with the Library of Congress.
ISBN 978-1-4814-6125-2 (hc)
ISBN 978-1-4814-6127-6 (eBook)