by Phil Foglio
He looked at Agatha. She stood there, outlined in early morning light coming in through the window. Her hair was the most magnificent reddish gold he had ever seen. He took in the entirety of her and realized that he wanted to hold her in his arms and never ever let her go, and then he looked once again into those dazzling green eyes and knew that if he could spend the rest of his life watching them experience the things he could show them, then his life would be complete, and more importantly, that without her, his life would be forever empty and bereft of purpose. For the rest of Gilgamesh’s life, whenever he thought of Agatha, the first and most enduring image, the one that was burned into his heart, was this one, where she stood and looked at him and listened to him babble and tried to decide whether he would live or die.
With this realization, a great clarity washed through him and he realized that if he wanted her, all he had to do was tell her why. His mouth finally got the message and snapped shut in mid-burble.
He straightened up and looked Agatha full in the face. Agatha blinked and uncrossed her arms. Gil stepped closer.
“Agatha, I—”
“Ha-HA!” There was a swoosh, a blur of gold, and a “Gloof!” from Agatha. And she was gone.
Gil spun around and saw Agatha being carried off by Othar Tryggvassen, who was effortlessly swinging through the air on a long cable. “HEY!” he yelled.
Othar gracefully turned, and he and Agatha landed atop a ceiling girder. She twisted out of his grasp. “Do you mind?” She hissed, “I was busy here!”
From the floor Gil called up frantically. “Agatha! Get away from him!”
“What’s the matter, Wulfenbach?” Othar called back jovially. “Didn’t expect a hero to rescue the damsel from your unwelcome advances?”
Gil shook his fist. “They weren’t unwelcome, you idiot!”
Agatha shoved forward. “Just a minute! I’m not done yelling at you yet!”
Othar gently pulled her back from the edge. “Well, yes you are.” He reached into his side holster and pulled forth a bizarre little steam pistol. “We’ve got to go.” He aimed the gun at Gil: “And he’s got to die.”
Just as he fired, Agatha grabbed his arm and yanked with all her might. This threw Othar off balance and he swayed precipitously on the edge of the girder. Below, the bullet smacked into the wall centimeters from Gil’s head. With a grimace, Gilgamesh ducked down into the maze of machinery and was lost to sight.
Othar sighed. “Drat.” He turned to Agatha. “He got away… for the moment.”
Agatha stood braced for Othar’s fury. “I won’t let you—”
He wagged a gently admonishing finger in her face. “You should be more careful. You could have fallen. You’re lucky I caught you.”
The events of the last twenty seconds replayed in Agatha’s mind. “But you didn’t—”
“I hope you’re not going to be one of those clumsy girl sidekicks who always need rescuing during my final showdown with the
villain,” Othar remarked.
“I AM NOT YOUR SIDEKICK!”
Othar laughed. “Of course you are! You came to rescue me!”
“If I’d known you were going to run around trying to shoot people who were proposing to me—!”
“Oh that was just the once.” The sheer number of things that Agatha wanted to say to this, temporarily overwhelmed her ability to speak. Othar, unfortunately, did not have this problem. “Now, your innocence does you credit, but you’ll soon learn that Evil deserves no pity! And young Wulfenbach is certainly evil.”
Agatha rolled her eyes. “Clueless I’ll give you, but—”
Her words were left behind as Agatha herself was swept off the girder by Gilgamesh swinging through on his own cable. They lightly touched down on an adjoining girder. “If being like you is the alternative,” Gil remarked to Othar, as he relinquished his grip on the cable, “then I’ll gladly take being evil.”
The released cable vanished into the dimness of the ceiling, followed by several squeaks and a faint fwap. This caused Othar to pause and peer upwards into the darkness, which may have been why he missed seeing the beam which swung down from the side, caught him square in the ribs and smashed him through the plate glass wall and into open space. As he arced downwards, they heard him admonish them with a final declaration of “Foul!” before he vanished into the cloudscape below.
Agatha rushed over to the window and stared down in shock. “You threw him out of the airship,” she cried. “I went to all that trouble to rescue him and you’ve killed him!”
“But he was shooting—” Gil realized this was a futile line of argument and switched tactics. “He’ll be fine. I’ve seen him survive worse.” Agatha looked at him incredulously. “Trust me. When you get to know him better, you’ll want to throw him out a window yourself.”
As he spoke Gil casually slipped off a shoe and with a moment’s calculation tossed it down into the machinery below. It hit a lever and a winch began to creak, lowering a hook on a large chain past their girder. Gil casually looped his arm around Agatha’s waist, snagged the chain and they held each other tightly as they headed for the distant deck below.
“I occasionally want to throw any number of people out a window—” Agatha said looking significantly at Gil—”But I control myself.”
But Gil wasn’t listening. “Uh-huh. Forget eloping.”
Agatha blinked. “Oh. But—”
“We’re going straight to my father. I’ll have him announce that you are, in effect, married to me already.”
The thudding of their feet upon the deck broke Agatha’s shocked silence. She ripped herself free of Gil’s arm. “How dare you? What do you think—?”
“Any number of people are going to try to grab you. So the sooner the world sees that you are mine, the safer you’ll be.” Gil calmly retrieved his shoe and slipped it back on. He turned back to Agatha and froze. Agatha’s fury poured off of her like a physical force, and it took all of his strength not to step back. Every instinct he possessed warned him that he was close to death and he frantically tried to figure out why.
“I am not your personal property, or Othar’s!”
“I know that! But you’re going to wind up someone’s personal property unless we act now!”
“I thought the Baron outlawed slavery.”
Gil rolled his eyes. “You’ve never been outside Beetleburg. You couldn’t understand—”
“Don’t assume I’m too stupid to understand—explain it to me!”
Gil reeled as if he’d been struck. His shoulders slumped. “You’re right.”
Agatha had been prepared for more arguing. She paused, and released the lungful of air she’d gathered. Encouraged by her silence. Gil continued: “The reason I… I like you is because you’re smart. I should treat you that way. Explain why I think this is in your best interest, as well as my own.” Agatha raised her eyebrows encouragingly.
A small explosion shuddered somewhere in the distance. Gil’s eyes hardened. “But I’m afraid I simply don’t have the time.” Agatha’s eyes widened in shock as Gil took her wrist in a grip like iron. “You’ll come with me now, and I’ll explain—”
A massive fist came down and connected to the top of Gil’s head with a meaty BONK, and he collapsed to the deck.
“Was this boy bothering you, dear?”
“Lilith!” Agatha shouted. “Adam!” For it was indeed her parents standing before her. To her surprise she saw that they were garbed in coveralls, peppered with small pockets carrying tools and useful bits of gear. The outfits appeared to be rather old and well-used, though Agatha was sure that she’d never seen them before. She looked down at Gilgamesh sprawled out at her feet. “You hit him.”
The burly construct allowed himself a self-satisfied smile. But Lilith noticed the concern in Agatha’s voice. “He’ll be fine, dear.” A touch of concern appeared on her face. “Who is he?”
Agatha leaned down and shifted Gil slightly so that his head was at a less awk
ward angle. “Gilgamesh Wulfenbach,” she informed them. “He… um… wants me to marry him.” A look of shock passed between the two constructs. Agatha continued, “In fact, he kind of insists.”
Seconds later Agatha found herself tucked under Adam’s massive arm while her step-parents were running down a corridor. “So you don’t think I should then?”
“We’re leaving,” Lilith informed her. “Right now!”
Agatha looked out the window at the flotilla of airships that attended the Castle. “How?” She thought for a second. “And how did you get here?”
“We’ve been following the Castle from the ground. We were planning on hijacking one of the regular supply ships, but today there was a flurry of activity, with dozens of ships bringing people to the ground.” They came to a massive bulkhead door which had been sealed. Lilith began spinning dials.
“There was an evacuation of the labs,” Agatha explained. “There was an accident with a Slaver Engine.”
Lilith froze on hearing this and then, without further ado, simply ripped the massive door out of its frame. “We commandeered a pinnace and we’ll leave the same way.”
They found themselves in an enormous, dimly lit chamber lined with pumps slowly thumping away on either side. “But this place is huge,” Agatha observed. “How did you manage to find me?”
Lilith shrugged. “We have done this sort of thing before, dear. We just looked for the center of chaos and there you were.” She shook her head. “We knew something like this would happen if your locket was removed.”
Agatha’s hand automatically went to the empty place near her throat. “My locket?”
Adam and Lilith looked at each other. Adam shrugged, and Lilith nodded. “You started to break through at a very early age—”
“You knew I was a Spark?”
Lilith nodded. “Your uncle made the locket specifically to keep you from breaking through completely.”
“But I was so stupid! How could you let me live like that?”
“We were hiding you!” Lilith answered hotly. “Young Sparks never survive without powerful protection! If they don’t blow themselves up or get killed by their creations, they’re likely to go mad and kill everyone around them.”
They turned a corner and Agatha began to note signs of the fighting. Smoke drifted through the air, and a single dead wasp warrior lay crushed beneath a gas cylinder that had obviously been taken from a stack of same that lined the wall. Lilith grimaced, and continued: “Your uncle was gone. Beetle wasn’t strong enough, and the Baron would have taken you instantly.” She broke off and caught Agatha’s eye. “And you don’t ever want that.”
Agatha opened her mouth to question, but Lilith plowed on. “In the country you would have been killed by the peasantry. Even burned as a Witch. Plus you’re a girl. Girls with the Spark, they usually just disappear. Even the Baron’s people have noticed that there’s a disproportionately low number of them, but they don’t know why. Every power in Europe is going to try to kill you or control you. You’ve already seen that with young Wulfenbach.”
“But I don’t understand,” Agatha cried. “There are a lot of Sparks wandering about. Why would I be in so much danger?”
Lilith stopped dead in front of the door. Her head briefly slumped forward enough that it rested on the cool metal surface.
“I suppose there’ll never be a good time…” she muttered. She looked at Agatha. “Your family. We never told you.” She leaned on the door, which, surprisingly, was unlocked, and began to creak open. “You’re the daughter of—”
The opening door revealed a large room lined with galleries extending several stories upwards. The room was filled with people, constructs and clanks. They all turned towards the opening door, revealing, at the center of the crowd, none other than the Baron himself.
Silence spread, until Klaus, his eyes wide in surprise at the figure in the doorway, stepped forward. “Judy?” he whispered.
CHAPTER 10
Go to sleep, lay down your head,
The Heterodynes, they are not dead.
They will return to us someday,
And send the monsters far away.
—Child’s lullaby
Lilith went white. “Klaus!” Adam set Agatha down and moved forward. Klaus saw him and his brows lowered. “Punch?” Without taking his eyes off of the little group he snapped out orders. “Contain them, and find my son!” Several of the guards began to spread out, and a small squad raced off, no doubt to try to encircle the three. The others began to move forward, but the Baron checked them with an upraised hand. Agatha noticed that he was dirty, and that his clothes were torn; with surprise, she saw that his left hand was bandaged. Another part of her mind took note of the fact that she was shocked that he could be injured. The rest of the group had obviously been through a tough ordeal. Many were injured, and all looked weary.
“Something very odd is going on here,” Klaus muttered.
Lilith swallowed. “Klaus, we—”
Suddenly a lone Jägermonster pushed its way forward until it was right behind the Baron. A distant memory was obviously fighting its way to the surface of its mind. “Vait! Meester Ponch?”
Without hesitation, Klaus backfisted the Jäger in the face and it dropped to the ground unconscious. “Damn! He’ll be a problem.” To the others he said, “Seal the area, and keep the Jägers out of here.”
At this point Agatha didn’t know what was happening, but thought to correct things before they got further out of hand. “Herr Baron,” she piped up, “there’s been some sort of a mistake. These are my parents: Adam and Lilith Clay.”
Klaus nodded slowly. “Punch and Judy. So you’re the unfindable Clays. This explains so much. But the girl—she’s not your real daughter.”
“She’s just an orphan we took in,” Lilith interjected.
“I’m sure she is. Lucrezia and Bill’s, I imagine. Or is she a surprise from Barry’s past?”
Agatha blinked. It almost sounded like the Baron knew her parents. He must be confused. They’d had many a laugh around the dinner table about the coincidence of the names—
A shriek caught them all by surprise. A wild-eyed Von Pinn pushed her way to the fore. Klaus put up a hand to check her progress, and she glared at him while she panted in short, excited bursts. “Yes!” She spoke in a strained voice. Gone now was the controlled fury that Agatha had seen before. “She is the daughter of Lucrezia Mongfish! When first she came, she gave to me an order, which I obeyed without thinking!” She whipped her head around and glared at Agatha with unreadable emotions distorting her face. “That will not work again, Girl Agatha. Now you are mine!” She clutched at Klaus’ hand and, shockingly, pleaded with him. “She—Klaus, she is mine! Nothing have I ever asked, but now—!”
“Hold.” Klaus did not speak loudly, but Von Pinn instantly went silent, and returned to staring, quivering, at Agatha. The Baron closed his eyes, and pinched the bridge of his nose.
“Yesss… so she was the Spark in Beetleburg. It’s so obvious now.” He sighed. “I must be getting old.”
Lilith took a small step backward. “Klaus, we’re going to leave now.”
The Baron’s eyes snapped open. “Oh no. Not this time. Not without an explanation. I was gone for less than four years, and I came back to a world in ruins! Death, destruction, chaos—the endless fighting—it was like the Heterodyne Boys had never existed. Things were worse than ever.
“So I stopped it. And I did it my way this time. No more negotiating, no more promises, no more second chances. Rule by conquest and peace by intimidation because that was all the geniuses I dealt with could understand. And I did it alone because I had to. All my friends and companions were gone, gone without a trace! I thought them all dead and gone and no one even knew what happened to them—and now here you are, the Heterodyne Boys’ steadfast companions. I had considered us mutual friends; I had always thought of you as people, decent people, and yet you’ve obviously been hiding from me for
all these years.
“Well, I will find out why you were hiding from me. I will find out where the Heterodyne Boys went and I will find out what else you have been hiding from me, because I assure you, you will tell me.”
Lilith glowered. “You always could play to the gallery, Klaus, but Barry came back.”
Klaus sighed. “Wonderful. More puzzles. Apparently that’s supposed to worry me?” He waved a hand dismissively. “Soon enough. Katz!” A Lackya stepped forward. “Have these people locked up—In separate quarters. I want them guarded by at least two guards each around the clock.” Klaus frowned. “And not by the Jägers; in fact they’re not to know of this until I’ve sorted this mess out.”
Katz nodded. The door swung open. Everyone tensed, but the only one there was Bangladesh DuPree. She was obviously trying to keep herself from laughing about something. “Hey, Klaus,” she announced, “we found your boy! Babbling a bit, but that’s pretty normal. Get this—Says his fiancée knocked him out.”
Few announcements could have broken Klaus’ concentration, but this certainly appeared to be one of them. “His what?”
He spun about in time to see Agatha wearily rest her face in her hands. He went white. “Ah,” he said a trifle unsteadily. “I see that history repeats itself. That will stop—”
Again DuPree interrupted. “Hey! That’s her!”
Klaus tensed. “Explain.”
Bangladesh waved towards Agatha. “That girl I told you about. The one in my Phenomena Log, the one with Gil and the Geisterdamen. That’s her!”
“Worse and worse! All right, in addition to being confined, this girl is to be kept sedated—”
With a hollow sound, the head of the Lackya standing next to Klaus snapped back and the guard dropped to the deck.
In the next second, a small object tore through the Baron’s leg. He roared with pain and dropped to one knee. Almost simultaneously, another object glanced off of Boris’ skull and knocked the wind out of Bangladesh, sending them down.
