by Matt London
“I’m not scared of this overgrown cheese grater,” Evie said. “He’s going to let my brother go and allow us to leave the jungle safely, and he’s going to do it right now. And the next time we go after the dreadnought he won’t intervene.”
Benjamin snapped his metal jaw like a piranha. “Oh? And why would I do that?”
“I’ll trade you for your two buddies here. Buzz and Gregory for Rick. Two for one. Seems like a fair trade to me.”
Benjamin laughed. “Those two mean nothing to me. Kill them if you want to. I don’t care.”
“What?” Evie asked.
“What??” asked Buzz, his voice filled with hurt and surprise.
“I hate these freaks!” Benjamin said. “I’m just using them to take over the continent. You think I like them? You think I care if you kill a couple of them? Go ahead. Do it.”
Evie hesitated.
“HA!” Benjamin laughed. “You Lanes are all cowardly liars. Look. Here’s how you do it.” He kicked his foot and his hoverboots engaged. He launched himself at Evie, claws outstretched.
“No!” Rick shouted. “Kitty, please, do something!”
The girl with the cheetah legs leaped forward. In two large steps she passed Benjamin and grabbed him by the wrist. Then she stopped short and swung him in a different direction. The boots propelled Benjamin into the ground. He tumbled back to his feet and skidded to a stop.
“Traitor!” Benjamin snarled. “I’ll kill you! I’ll kill all of you.”
Kitty dashed across the clearing and vaulted over the fire. Sparks licked her metal feet. With a sharp-clawed toe, she sliced through Rick’s restraints and then helped the boy to his feet. This all happened in one-point-seven seconds.
Benjamin glared at his Brat Brigade. “Oh I see, so you’re all turning against me?”
“Sprout,” Evie said. “Untie him.”
The boy obliged, releasing Buzz from his lasso. Buzz stepped forward, popping his knuckles. “You know, Benny boy, we don’t really like when someone says it’s okay for one of our own to die. So yeah, maybe we are gonna all turn against you.”
“I’m down for some turning against him,” Gregory smirked.
“You’ll all regret this,” Benjamin said.
A loud THRUM turned their attention to the sky. The Mastercorp dreadnought cruised overhead. Suspended below the massive black shark was a pink machine of tremendous size. It had a vast domed head and eight tentacles that stretched and twitched in every direction. The tentacles had suction cups the size of circus tents, and a series of hatches along each side.
“What in the eight continents is that?” Evie asked.
“I don’t know . . .” Sprout stared at the pink robot octopus as it blocked out the sun. “But it’s Mastercorp. And that means it’s very bad.”
THE BRIDGE OF THE DREADNOUGHT WAS LIKE A DEPARTMENT STORE ON THE BIGGEST SHOPPING day of the year. Mastercorp workers crashed into each other as they ran around the deck, issuing commands, filling out orders, and compiling data. The moment of truth was close.
Viola Piffle stood at the center of it all. Her mechanical ravens crowded the helm, perched on the command console, her shoulders, the guardrails, even the pilot’s head. “Decrease altitude by two hundred meters. Tighten deployment clamps by three rotations. Charge the dispenser!”
Agents rushed to obey her commands. Vesuvia watched the chaos, for once not caring that she wasn’t the center of attention. Normally, that would make her want to puke, but all this time with her mother had shaken the arrogance and bossiness out of her. She kept hearing Diana’s anguished pleas. The only person who had ever been nice to her, and really meant it, had been in danger, and Vesuvia had not done anything to stop it. Now, all Vesuvia wanted was for Mastercorp to take control and complete their mission so this could all be over.
Tactical monitors hanging from the walls of the bridge displayed various spots around the continent: the Winterpole outpost, Scifun, even the dreadnought itself. She hated looking at the images of the dreadnought, with the enormous pink octopus—no, with Diana—spreading her tentacles across the continent. The guilt felt like a pallet of gold nail polish crushing her chest.
The image on all the monitors switched to a thick, ugly face. It was the head from the observation deck. The CEO of Mastercorp. “Viola Piffle,” the head said. “Report in on a secure channel immediately.”
Without a pause the images on the monitors returned to what they were showing before. Everyone on the bridge was quiet, like a ghost had walked through the room.
With a flash of her bracelet, Viola ordered her ravens to pick her up. As they carried her across the bridge, Viola snapped her fingers at Vesuvia. “Come, Vesuvia, let me show you how a professional follows orders.”
One of the ravens painfully clamped down on Vesuvia’s shoulder, tearing her expensive blouse. Vesuvia followed her mother into a communication room. The door sealed shut behind them.
The giant head emerged from the holo-projector on the far side of the room.
“Hello, sir.” Viola said. “I hope you will see we are progressing on schedule.”
“I want you to accelerate the plan,” the head declared. “By midnight tonight the Board of Directors wants the seven continents to be reduced to stone and ash. Your little eighth continent should be well into the conversion process.”
“I assure you, sir, it will be done.”
“And what of the Lanes?”
Viola stiffened. “They’re not an issue. Mister Dark acquired the only complete copy of the Eden Compound. I have it now. The Lanes have no way to stop us.”
“Do not disappoint us, Mrs. Piffle. You know what will happen if you fail.”
“Yes, sir.”
The head vanished. Viola shoved Vesuvia out of the way and stalked back to the bridge, where she screamed at the crew.
“Everyone who is crewing the octopus, go to your stations immediately. The rest of you, prepare to launch the North American assault. Mister Dark!”
The stern-faced Mastercorp agent approached. His tie loose and collar open, he guzzled a vial of his Anti-Eden Compound serum. His neck was gray and zombified, with bloated silvery lines where his veins should have been. Wiping his mouth, he said, “I’m here. My people are prepared to launch the attack.”
“Good. You have command of the bridge.” She turned to her daughter. “Vesuvia. You’re coming with me to the command center inside the octopus. Your friend Diana is about to make all our dreams come true. I want you to see it firsthand.”
Vesuvia could not think of anything she wanted to see less.
THUNDER BOOMED IN THE AIR. A RUSHING SOUND FOLLOWED, LIKE A TIDAL WAVE. THE RAIN CLOUDS had burst, and as Rick looked around the circle at Benjamin, the Brat Brigade, Evie, and the others, he knew things were about to get wet.
The rain dropped like a waterfall, splashing the ground all around them. The campfire sputtered out. The dirt became damp and turned to mud.
Above them, there was another strange sound, a tremendous groan that made Rick’s heart seize up. The clamps on the bottom of the dreadnought that held the octopus in place released, and the enormous pink robot began to fall.
“RUN!” Rick screamed and took off across the muddy clearing, away from the plummeting octopus.
The others followed Rick’s retreat, except Benjamin, who shouted, “That’s right! You can run! But you’ll never escape me!”
The octopus landed in the jungle a mile away, but the impact shook the earth. The closest tentacle undulated in the air before slapping the ground like a bullwhip. A wave of mud and rainwater surged over the treetops and knocked down the kids as they ran.
Rick tumbled to the ground. Mud splashed his glasses. In the hazy darkness, he felt himself spinning in a circle on his belly, sliding across the muddy ground.
Evie collided with him. He gr
abbed her and they slid together.
“Grab onto a tree!” she shouted.
“Good thinking!” Rick reached out and caught one of the larger trunks. He clung tightly to the tree. Evie wrapped her arms around his neck.
After a minute, the mudslide ended. The groggy, mud-caked kids struggled to their feet and looked around. 2-Tor was hunched over with his wing half-buried in the ground. Sprout struggled to pluck him free like a turnip.
“What happened?” Rick studied the scene.
“Is he all right?” Kitty asked, running over.
Sprout tipped back his hat. “Well, we were skidding away in that there flash flood, but 2-Tor got the idea to stake himself in the ground. Saved my life, I reckon.”
“Yes, but now I am quite stuck,” 2-Tor said.
Evie and Kitty helped Sprout pull 2-Tor’s wing from the ground. Rick watched the sky. Another tentacle was swaying in the air, looking like it could fall at any second.
“You rotten scheming Lanes!”
Benjamin.
“Get me out of this hole so I can crush you all!”
The group followed the sound of Benjamin’s voice. He was stuck at the bottom of a sinkhole not far away. He stood on a small rock fifteen feet down, surrounded on all sides by slippery muddy walls. His hoverboots were also covered in mud. He was trapped.
“Okay,” Evie sighed. “Somebody give us a rope. We’ll pull him out.”
“Are you crazy?” Buzz asked, scratching his shaved head. “That guy tried to kill all of us. If we let him out, he’ll try again.”
“That’s not how we do things,” Rick answered. “We help people, even people like Benjamin.”
Gregory sighed. “Fine, we’ll help Benjamin. There’s a grappling hook in my shell.”
A roar of wind filled the air. The other tentacle fell through the sky and slammed into the ground. A shock wave of water shot up from the point of impact, which stretched for miles across the surface of the continent.
“No!” Rick shouted. “We only have a few seconds. We have to run.”
“But what about Benjamin?” Evie asked.
“I will crush you in my robotic death grasp!” Benjamin shrieked from down in the hole.
“Forget it, Lanes,” Gregory said. “You’re on your own.” He fled into the jungle to escape the impending mudslide. With a shrug, Buzz followed.
Kitty lingered, looking between her friends and Rick. She pounced over to Rick and Evie. “Okay, what do we do?”
“I reckon we run so we don’t get hit by that!” Sprout said, pointing at the wave of mud that was coming toward them.
Evie turned to Rick. He understood her expression— it was a face reserved for moments of extreme crisis, when, no questions asked, he had to trust her. He nodded.
Crawling to the edge of the sinkhole, Evie said, “Benjamin! Grab my hand.”
Rick held her in place so she wouldn’t slip in. “And hurry up! We only have a few seconds.”
“I laugh at your seconds!” Benjamin said. “And I shall poke your hand with my sharp claws. Poke! Poke!”
“Hey, y’all,” Sprout said worriedly as the mudslide rolled closer. “We gotta mosey!”
“I say, we must speedily depart,” 2-Tor agreed.
Benjamin gnashed his sharp metal jaw. “I will grind your bones to make my—” A surge of mud poured over the edge of the sinkhole, knocking Benjamin flat. The mud washed over him, burying him under its thick brown mass.
The mud knocked Rick’s legs out from under him. He struggled to get up.
“It’s too late for him. Let’s go,” Kitty said, throwing Rick over her shoulder. She sprinted away, her feet barely touching the mud.
As she ran, Rick looked behind them. 2-Tor flapped his wings, snatched Sprout and Evie with his talons, and took to the skies, escaping safely. The mud splashed through the clearing in waves, burying Benjamin under layers and layers of wet dirt. What a dull, unexciting way to go. Not at all the blaze of glory Benjamin would have wanted.
Kitty ran clear of the flood, leaping higher and higher with each bounding step. “Hold on,” she instructed. They spotted Buzz flying up ahead.
Rick clung tightly as Kitty jumped, reached up her arms, and caught hold of Buzz’s foot. He flapped higher into the air, above the trees. Just out of the reach of the mudslide, Gregory was escaping on foot.
“Man!” Buzz complained. “You guys are heavy.”
The continent spread around them, with its wide carpet of jungle trees and three tall mountain peaks in the distance. The lightbulb-shaped head of the roboctopus formed a fourth mountain on their other side. The tentacles stretched for miles and miles, constricting the continent.
Squinting at the head of the octopus, Rick got an uneasy feeling. It didn’t just look like a regular octopus. It had a face, one that looked uncomfortably familiar. It was something in the expression. Rick recognized the sadness in those eyes.
“Oh no,” he moaned. “That’s Diana. That octopus is Diana!”
2-Tor flew level with Buzz. Evie shook her head in disbelief. “How is that possible?”
“I don’t know,” Rick said. “But it’s her. Look at her!”
Kitty frowned. “I think I know. Viola Piffle put her into Aniarmament. She fused her body with machinery and the Anti-Eden Compound, creating a new human-machine hybrid, just like each of us.”
Rick made a fist. “We have to save her.”
“What can we do?” Sprout asked.
Down on the surface, the hatches on the sides of the tentacles opened, and buildings rolled out. The octopus was full of prefabricated structures—houses, factories, military bases, and the like. The tentacles formed superhighways across the continent, covering the surface with Mastercorp buildings.
“What are they doing to our continent?” Evie asked.
“They’re taking over,” Buzz explained. “Mastercorp plans to urbanize the entire landmass and sell it off piece by piece to other corporations.”
“We have to stop them,” Evie said, determined.
Buzz gritted his teeth. “Yeah? I think they have the same idea about us.”
A flock of black robo-birds emerged from a vent near the top of the octopus and flew toward the kids in the air. Evie shivered. “Those are Viola’s ravens. They’re bad news.”
“Well, what do we do?” Kitty asked. “We’re defenseless up here!”
“Hey, Rick! Evie!” The Condor zoomed out of the sky. Dad’s voice boomed over the speakers still strapped to the wings of his hovership.
“Dad!” Rick and Evie cheered.
“Gimme one second,” their father said.
He flew the Condor into the flock of ravens, scattering the robo-birds. Then he swooped around and hovered above the kids.
“Hop inside!” Dad called out. “I’ve been looking all over for you! We have places to be, and lots of stuff to talk about.”
THE CONDOR FLEW OVER THE EIGHTH CONTINENT’S EASTERN SEABOARD AND LANDED ON THE Sudsy Bubbler, the capital ship of the Cleanaspot fleet. The oil spill cleanup vessel had basically become a mobile headquarters for the cleaning company since the CEO, Evie’s mom, had moved to Scifun full time.
Dad landed his hovership in the Sudsy Bubbler’s docking bay and led the crowd of kids, and one very muddy 2-Tor, to the closest cleaning station. The Cleanaspot employees were nearly giddy with excitement over the crowd of dirty children, and they wasted no time hosing them down with turbo-powered soap cannons.
The group then hurried to the briefing room, where a strategy session was already in progress. Members of the Science Circle, Professor Doran, Cleanaspot Executives, the Director of Winterpole, Mrs. Maple, Mr. Snow, they were all there—everyone except Diana.
“What’s the latest? Get us up to speed.” Dad slipped into the seat at the conference table next to Mom. Ever
yone standing in a circle behind the table leaned in close to listen.
Mister Snow spoke hastily. “We were hoping you could tell us the same thing. How did the scouting mission go? And what is your progress on re-creating the Eden Compound?”
Dad sighed. “Without the formula, I won’t be able to re-create it. We can’t undo any damage done by Mastercorp’s Anti-Eden Compound. Preventing them from releasing their chemical bombs is the only chance we have of stopping them now. As for my little scouting expedition, I finally found these miscreants. So that’s something.”
He pointed at Evie, Rick, and the others. All eyes turned to them.
“Well?” Mom asked. “What did you see out there, kids?”
Evie hesitated. She wasn’t sure how to describe the results of Mastercorp’s latest twisted experiment. Fortunately for her, Rick spoke up. “Mastercorp is trying to turn the continent into one big city. They are burying the natural landscape under prefabricated buildings.”
The Director of Winterpole flapped his arms. “What about the giant roboctopus we saw them drop from the dreadnought?”
Rick hung his head. “That octopus . . . It’s Diana.”
“What?” Mrs. Maple said. “Impossible! How dare you say that about my daughter?”
“It’s true,” Evie said. “Viola Piffle transformed her into that huge machine.”
Mrs. Maple wailed, “We have to do something! I’ll do anything to get her back. Anything! Please, Diana is all I have.”
“Oh, so now you see how much she means to you?” Evie muttered, glaring at Mrs. Maple.
“How do we stop the octopus?” Mister Snow asked, sounding more concerned than Evie had ever heard him. “How do we reverse what Mastercorp is doing and save Diana Maple?”
Dad rubbed his chin. “Well, from the analysis I’ve done of the children in the Brat Brigade, I have developed a working theory. Kitty, you were transformed using Anti-Eden Compound, right?”
“Whoa, whoa, whoa. How did you know that?” Kitty waved her arms in the air. “We just met. When did you analyze us?”
