“It was the gas, wasn’t it?” said M.
Wild only smiled. “Then I lived out my life on the run. Took on a few lives here and there, until it was time to die a nice, natural death. And naturally that wouldn’t suit me, either. So I began working with the less scrupulous surgeons and doctors. They became my own Resurrection Men. Together we kept my body cobbled together with spare parts. And when those parts gave out …”
“You found newer and younger parts to replace them with,” finished M. The thought made her sick to her stomach. “So why the fake bones in the case?”
“Simple. They aren’t bones at all, they’re pieces of the meteorite. And thanks to your parents hoarding those moon rocks, I now have everything I need to finally complete my lifelong work.”
“You used Zara to get to my mother. To steal the rocks,” said M. She glanced at her mother and Zara standing side by side right at that very moment. But they were lost to the gas. “You convinced her to leave me in the forest, didn’t you?”
“I burned Madame Voleur down with the cabin, too. But that was her fault for living in firewood.” More and more of Wild’s mannerisms were coming out and more and more of Foley disappeared. He was mere skin and bones now. A costume that a madman had stolen. “Madame V and her bratty crooks dogged me for years. Hiding the Rembrandt paintings. Leaving a trail to my death cane in the Black Museum. And hiding that copy of the Mutus Liber was a feat, too. But you handled all those missions for me, M. So you can see why I had no choice. I needed to teach Madame Voleur a lesson once and for all. And I made sure she knew that I was the teacher before she went up in flames.”
M felt Zara’s grip loosen on her arm. Could she be fighting the gas? M needed to buy more time. Then her father’s voice sprang into her head. The more you know about the people around you, the more you know about the situation you’re in. “All these years,” she started, “you’ve been waiting for the comet to return.”
“That blasted thing travels a dreadfully long orbit,” Wild said with exhaustion. “What was I to do but wait?”
“How does that explain creating the Lawless School and the Fulbright Academy?” M could now move her right arm. Zara was coming to, slowly but surely. “And why would you destroy —?”
Wild laughed. “Killing time, M. I was only killing time by doing what I do best. It was fun to make a mess of this place. Like playing with toy soldiers … only mine were real. I created an entire reason for families to live! A team for them to root for, a legacy for their children to follow. The parents were so proud. The graduates felt like they had earned their future, while the Ronins suffered through utter failure and rejection for the rest of their lives. And for what? Tell me, did you know how long your father had the Lawless yearbook that I so vainly allowed my name to appear in? Oh, he found that years ago. Makes you wonder why he didn’t share it sooner.”
“I’m sure he had his reasons,” said M.
“I remember now,” said Wild. “It’s because I told him I’d kill you and your mother if he ever let my secret out. Must feel good, knowing that your father cared more about the two of you than the rest of the world.”
“Because he knew I’d find it,” said M with sudden confidence. “He knew I’d finish what he started.”
“Well, you are a smart cookie, Ms. Freeman. A chocolate chip off the old block! But tell me, are you a fortune cookie, too? What do you think lies in your future?”
Stopping you.
That’s what she would have said if Jonathan Wild hadn’t choked her with chloroform. And the roomful of strangers turned off like a light.
The black hood was heavy and thick with M’s own breathing. She felt damp sweat roll into her eyes and down her cheek. It was uncomfortable and claustrophobic, but it meant she was alive. A parched moan escaped her as she felt the outside world take form around her. It was cold and hard. Pushing her hands against a marble floor, M gently lifted herself up to her knees and pulled off the hood.
She studied the room. It was dark, but she could make out two other hooded figures slumped across from her. M called out but her voice was raspy and dry. “Hello?” The slight whisper echoed like a ghost in what had to be a gigantic room.
One of the other prisoners flinched to life and slowly pulled off her hood. It was Jules. “M?” She coughed up phlegm and spit it out.
“I’m okay,” she replied. “You?”
“I’ve been better,” groaned Jules. “Chloroform headache. Ugh, and I can still taste it in the back of my throat.”
The third figure began to roll around on the floor and sat up. A muffled scream came from under the hood, as the prisoner’s hands went to his face and patted it as if to make sure his head was still intact. Then he ripped the hood off and gasped for air.
“Merlyn?!” Jules was shocked to see their old friend here. “But how?”
“Jules?” he answered hopefully, then he turned to see M in just as much trouble and hung his head low. “You’re here, too? This isn’t good.”
“It’s my fault,” said M. “I told Foley we were working together after you called.”
“Huh?” Merlyn looked confused. “Why would Foley send a team of Fulbrights after me? They swarmed my house and shot me with a tranquilizer dart.” He touched the back of his neck gingerly where the dart must have struck its mark. “I’ve heard of holding a grudge, but we put him in that deep freeze, like, years ago.”
“Foley’s not really Foley,” explained M. “He’s John Doe. And Doe is really Jonathan Wild.”
“What?” asked Merlyn. “I think that dart is still messing with me ’cause you’re not making any sense.”
“I’ll explain it after we escape,” M said.
Merlyn grinned. “Same old M. Hey, you remember that time we escaped the Box? That was cool.”
“I don’t think we’re in the Box anymore,” said M. As her eyes finally adjusted to the darkness, she examined the room, which was huge. It had a cathedral-style ceiling with gorgeous, stained-glass windows built in directly above them. Two sets of marble staircases rose up on opposite sides of the room and candles were lit all over the ground.
M tried to stand up, but she bumped her head against something invisible. She pressed hard against the air. “There’s some sort of force field around me.”
“Me, too,” said Jules as she clubbed the ghostly surface.
“Where are we?” asked Merlyn.
“Don’t you young scholars recognize the Library of Congress when you see it?” asked Foley — Wild — from the top of the staircase. “That’s right, friends, welcome to Washington, DC, and the largest library in the world.”
He was wearing his own special Fulbright suit with the mask slung behind him.
“What are we doing here?” asked M, still groggy from the trip.
Wild clapped his hands and spoke with pure enjoyment. “You three are going to help me achieve my ultimate goal! It’s been years in the making! Tonight, children, we are going to destroy the world … and the universe, if my calculations are correct.”
“You … you’ll never get away with this,” said M. “You can’t destroy the universe. That’s just … plain stupid for one thing.”
“Not to mention impossible,” said Merlyn.
“So was setting off a black hole on Earth,” snapped Wild. “And I managed that.”
He walked down the stairs toward them and raised his hand to draw attention to his neck. “See, I’ve had a long time to come up with this plan. A. Long. Time. When the police finally caught me, I was sentenced to death by hanging. And let me tell you, the entire population of London turned out to watch that evil Jonathan Wild get what he deserved. I’ll never forget their joyful cheers when the rope went tight. Have you ever heard a crowd of people cheering at your very breath being taken away? Well, I have. I still hear them, even through Foley’s ears. Not one person on Earth cried for me. Now they’ll know how it feels.”
“But those people are long gone!” cried Jules. “
No one deserves this!”
“That’s where you’re wrong,” Wild snapped. “I have watched humanity for centuries and found them wanting. Wars, crime, death, unspeakable evil. There’s no hope here.”
“You can’t give up hope,” begged M.
“I didn’t give it up, Freeman,” Wild said. “It was stolen from me. Now, that’s my story. But let’s go further back. Have you ever heard of the Big Bang theory? Sure you have, the one where a ball of nothingness squeezed so tight that it caused an explosion that built everything ever in existence?”
“No,” Merlyn gasped. “You can’t be … You’re not considering —”
“The opposite theory?” Wild finished. “I am. Oh, Merlyn, you are the smart one! Care to explain it to your friends?”
Merlyn threw his head back and turned it slowly, deflated by whatever he was about to say. “It’s called the Big Crunch. Some scientists believe that eventually the weight of the universe will become so unbearable that it will collapse in on itself, crushing everything ever in existence back into nothingness. But even if they’re right, that won’t happen for a long, long, long, long, long, long time.”
“And I do hate waiting,” snarled Wild. “So let’s move things along. If my favorite comet were to ever come in contact with your only moon, well, that should make the black hole to end all black holes. It would swallow everything and cause the universe to fold back in on itself. Good-bye, Earth. Good-bye, life. Hello, uncreation.”
“You’re crazy,” said Jules.
“Tell me something I don’t know, Byrd!” snapped Wild. “Many great thinkers were called crazy in their time. I consider it a compliment.”
“Most of those great thinkers didn’t want to end all of life,” said Merlyn.
“Well, then they weren’t thinking big enough, now were they?” said Wild.
“Why are we here, Wild?” said M.
“What can I say, I’m a reader,” said Wild as he jumped up and paced toward a door. “And did you know that the Library of Congress has a version of one of my favorite books of all time, the Mutus Liber?”
With a snap of his fingers, Wild summoned Devon and Evel from the shadows. They each held a book, and their eyes were empty. M knew they were still under the influence of the gas.
Zara came in from a third side, holding a third book in one hand and dragging Keyshawn on a hospital gurney with the other. The wheels creaked eerily in the large room, echoing like in a horror movie.
“Keyshawn!” yelled M as she strained against her force field.
Then each of Wild’s zombies flipped the books open to the same page, and placed the books together between M, Merlyn, Jules, and Keyshawn. The books made three sides of a larger square on the ground in the middle of the room.
“No,” said M, hoping to buy some time. “I meant why are we here? You could have gotten rid of us easily back in London. Wiped out our minds again. And Keyshawn is in a coma.”
“I love an audience, but you four are much more than that.” Wild sat down and crossed his legs, then leaned back on his elbows. “Do you know what we all have in common?”
“Nothing,” said Merlyn.
“We’ve all been dosed with the gas,” said M.
“Correct,” said Wild, “but there’s more. Guess what else happens over time? Life and families. Oh yes, families grow and grow and grow.”
“Are you telling us that we’re …” Jules said with a pause to try to stomach the last word. “Related?”
“Forget about Merlyn — you’re the smart one, Byrd!” A crooked smile creaked over Wild’s face. “What, no love for Great-great-great-great-great-times-ten-grandpa?”
“I’m gonna be sick,” gagged Merlyn.
The thought made M severely uncomfortable in her own skin. She suddenly felt as if every muscle, bone, and blood vessel in her body belonged to someone else. But there was one important part of her that Wild could never own. Her will. “The future fixes the past’s mistakes,” she said.
“Well, that’s why I’m wiping out the past, future, and present.” Wild jumped up and stood over the three books that lay open on the floor. “As you can see, I need one more copy to complete my collection. A copy that dear Mr. Calvin Fence has in his possession. When I told him I had you, M, it wasn’t long before he came running.”
Dr. Lawless entered the room, shoving Cal ahead of him. Both were fully suited and a haze of smoke came off of them. The smell of burning metal hung in the air. Lawless tossed the final copy of the Mutus Liber in front of Wild.
“It wasn’t much of a fight,” bragged Lawless.
“Did you beat him with four fingers tied behind your back?” snarked M.
Wild came forward and picked up the book. He examined it closely then grinned. “You’ve done well, Lawless. It’s a perfect match.”
“C’mon, Cal!” Merlyn yelled. “You brought the real book with you to save us? Why not bring a fake?!”
“I’m sorry, guys.” Cal’s face was already bruised and red with scrapes. “The plan made more sense in my head.”
Wild let out a howling cackle at that. “This is precious, Calvin Fence. You disappointed your father. You disappointed your mother. And now you’ve disappointed your only friends in the world. I’m beginning to like you more and more.”
Wild slapped Cal playfully on the cheek and gave the book to zombie Devon. She used it to complete the square in the middle of the floor. Then Devon pulled out a knife, followed by a five-inch gold circle that she laid over the center of the newly formed square. Tracing the circle with a knife, Devon cut away at the original books. When she was finished, she handed the four cut pieces back to Wild.
“Thank you, Devon, my perfect little soldier.” Then Wild held aloft the Chaucer astrolabe. “Do you know why we don’t use astrolabes anymore? It’s not because we have computers now. No, the astrolabe died out a long time before computers existed. It was replaced by the invention of the sailor’s astrolabe. See, sailors realized that they didn’t need the entire night sky to tell time or direction. Therefore they didn’t need the whole circle of the astrolabe. Instead, they broke the sky down into quadrants, so I’ve done the same.”
He fanned out the four pieces of paper cut from the Mutus Liber. Then he kneeled down and held the pieces over one of the candle’s flames. Slowly, writing began to appear on the pages. “During my first lifetime, I became casually obsessed with the night sky. Especially the rumors of a deadly comet. It was said to carry an evil spirit that would annihilate everything in its path. But while those rumors were eventually dismissed by all sorts of scientific minds as unbelievable fiction to scare children, I knew it was true.”
When all of the writing had surfaced, Wild lifted the papers to his lips and blew on them. They bent with his breath. “So I tracked the comet through history and I discovered its path. Then I drew up the coordinates on the edges of these famous books. When I was caught, I had some of my henchmen hide the books for safekeeping. Turns out, though, that some of them didn’t want the world to end. They wanted to keep the books away from me, to save the world, I suppose. So they hid them; they even made more copies to try and fool me, but you can’t keep a good man down. I mean, if I’ve proven anything, I’ve proven that.”
Wild took the four quadrants and formed a complete circle, which he placed in the Chaucer astrolabe. “And yes, the comet has made a few passes during my long life, but tonight will be the first pass when I have pieces of the moon! Now I have the exact information I need to set off another black hole on Earth to knock the comet just a touch off course. Toward the moon.”
“Wait, what?” asked Dr. Lawless. “You are going to do what?”
“Comet hit moon, go boom,” said M. “What did you think he needed the book for, you moron?”
“No, Wild, I won’t let that happen!” Lawless pulsed a magblast, but Wild swept the attack aside with his own magblast and lifted Lawless high in the air.
“I don’t remember asking for your permi
ssion, Doctor,” said Wild.
M watched as Lawless drifted up toward the stained-glass windows above them. There was something odd about them and it wasn’t just that Dr. Lawless was about to smash into them. The colored panes were vibrating ever so slightly. She caught Cal’s eye and knocked against her force field. “He’s holding us down with a magblast. Up on the ceiling.”
“Thanks,” he whispered back.
“You knew we gave you the wrong astrolabe back in London, didn’t you?” she asked.
“Yeah,” he murmured. “But I needed to flush Doe out.”
“So this is actually part of your plan?” said M.
“Well, not all of it.”
But their conversation was cut short by a scream and a heavy thump on the ground. Dr. Lawless lay there between M and Cal. He moaned and moved his legs. In the suit a fall like that wouldn’t do too much permanent damage, but it would definitely sting.
Wild stepped over Lawless and held Chaucer’s astrolabe up to calculate the coordinates hidden in the Mutus Liber pages. He smiled and entered the numbers into a handheld device. From the ceiling above them, M heard the sounds of heavy machines shifting into a different position. Then M, Merlyn, Jules, and Keyshawn were moved to different parts of the room by the force fields like pieces on a chess board.
“Okay, friends,” announced Wild once everyone was in position. “Our time has come to an end. If you will each take a meteorite and place it in front of your favorite contestant.”
Devon and Evel carried a pile of bones — the phony bones of Jonathan Wild’s fake skeleton. Then they set them in front of M and her friends. Legs, arms, ribs, and more were splayed across the floor in stacks.
Once the bones were passed out, Zara brought around the moon rocks. She handed each of the rocks to the prisoners, reaching through their force fields and trapping the stones inside with them. When she reached M, she handed her the final piece. And winked. The answer, she mouthed.
M took the rock in her hand. It looked just like the others, only slightly darker, less bleached out. As she held the chunk, she thought back to one of Keyshawn’s murky statements from before. The moon is not the moon.
Mayhem Page 20
