The crowd of Realitants broke into applause as Sally bellowed a long-winded cheer that echoed across the park but made absolutely no sense. Paul thought he caught the words “rabbit” and “coon dog.” Sofia showed no reaction to anything, staring at a blank spot in front of her.
Mothball reached across Tick and grabbed him around the torso, lifting him up with a heavy grunt. His body flopped over her shoulder with no sign of life, his arms and legs dangling.
“Come on,” she said. “Chi’karda spot’s only a ’undred yards up yonder.” She nodded her head in the direction away from the destruction.
As the others started following Mothball, Paul reached down and offered Sofia a hand. “Let’s go, Miss Italy. Tick’s gonna be fine, thanks to you. You can beg me for forgiveness later.”
Sofia took his hand and pulled herself to her feet. “Forgiveness for what? Killing more spiders than you did?”
“ No. For not telling me you had a super-secret mission to put Tick in a coma.”
“Oh. Yeah. Sorry that Master George thinks I’m better than you.”
Paul sighed. “You’re forgiven.”
A shout from behind turned both their heads. A dark-haired man, his clothes ripped to shreds, his body battered and bloody, was limping along as fast as he could, yelling something unintelligible. Sofia recognized him before Paul did.
“It’s Chu!” she yelled. “Mothball! That’s Reginald Chu!”
Mothball turned and ran back toward them, Tick still slung over her shoulder. “Right, you are. Reginald Chu! Sally! Grab the monster!”
Sally had barely taken a step before an even louder shout came from a cluster of trees to their right. Another dark-haired man bolted from the shadows, his fist raised in the air, screaming obscenities that made Paul wince. Then, in disbelief, he saw who it was. Paul looked back at the other man.
Two Reginald Chus were running straight for them.
“Whoa,” he whispered.
“Oh, no,” Mothball said, standing right next to Paul. “Oh, no!” she said louder. Then she screamed at the top of her lungs. “Run! Everyone run! ”
Without waiting for a response, the tall lady sprinted for their Chi’karda launching point, Tick bouncing up and down on her shoulder, the other Realitants right behind her.
It took Paul a second to break his stare from the impossible sight of two identical men coming toward them-one limping, the other moving at full speed. Both seemed oblivious of the other, each wanting to reach the Realitants and unaware of his twin.
“Come on!” Sofia yelled, grabbing Paul by the arm and pulling him as they ran after Mothball. “I think I know-”
An ear-piercing noise cut her off just as a surge of blinding light flashed behind them. A terribly loud boom rattled the air, the sound of a million amplified horns going off at once. Paul had heard that sound before.
He’d barely had the thought when a rush of tornado-force wind hit them, knocking him and Sofia flat on the ground. The wind passed over them, a solid wave of air that was almost visible as it tore at trees and bushes and benches, traveling outward in a wide arc. It knocked over the other fleeing Realitants and kept moving along its destructive path.
All was still for a single moment. Then the ground started violently shaking, far worse than before. Trees crashed to the ground. Sounds of breaking glass and bending metal filled the air as the mountainous palace of Chu started collapsing all over again.
“Tick!” Paul yelled over the deafening noise. “He must’ve woke up!”
“No!” Sofia shouted back. “I think it has something to do with Chu meeting his Alterant.”
Paul risked a glance over his shoulder and saw that only one Chu remained-the injured one. He limped toward them, struggling all the worse because of the earthquake.
Sally suddenly bolted past Paul and Sofia, running for the man. Like picking up a bag of sticks, Sally grabbed Chu and flopped him over his shoulder just like Mothball had done with Tick. He ran back toward them, stumbling left and right as the ground shook.
“Get up! Get up!” Sofia shouted, pulling on Paul’s good arm.
He obeyed and ran after her, his mind twisting in a million different directions.
The earthquake worsened, throwing Sofia to the ground. Paul helped her up and they kept running, losing one step for every two they made forward. Sally caught up with them, moving as if Chu weighed only ten pounds.
Eventually, the Realitants gathered in the designated spot, every last one of them staring back toward Chu Industries in awe and fear. Mothball still held Tick, and she was shouting something over and over.
“Wink us out, George! Wink us out! Ruddy wink us out!”
Sounds of splitting and cracking and shattering glass rocked the air. A thunderous roar ripped across the ground, and Paul felt his heart wedge itself in his throat.
Chu’s palace collapsed toward the ground, the whole thing at once. Paul threw his hands over his ears. The sounds of destruction were louder than anything he’d ever heard before as an entire building of metal and glass exploded nearby. He watched as a massive cloud of black dust rolled out of the falling ruins, billowing out and rushing toward them at an alarming speed.
“Now, Master George!” Mothball roared, barely audible over the sounds of the mountain collapsing. “Now!”
Like a fleet of starships zipping into hyperspace, the Realitants winked away in quick succession. Paul actually tasted the choking dust and saw the suffocating darkness before he felt the familiar tingle and was winked to safety.
Chapter 50
No one did any celebrating.
After getting safely back to headquarters and undergoing full debriefings, most of the Realitants said their good-byes and winked back to their home Realities. Paul and Sofia stuck to Tick’s side; except for the rise and fall of his chest, he seemed as dead as a corpse. Paul couldn’t think of much to say as they followed Mothball to the infirmary, where Doctor Hillenstat hooked Tick up to several monitoring machines; an IV dripped a clear liquid into his veins. Rutger watched from the side, scrutinizing the doctor’s every move as if waiting for him to make a mistake.
“How long will he be out?” Sofia asked. “Is he gonna be okay?”
Hillenstat frowned. “An hour. A day. A week. No telling.”
“But will he be okay? ” Paul said.
The doctor felt Tick’s forehead. “Yes, he’s fine for now. But in the long run?” He shrugged. “I think I’ll let Master George be the judge of that.”
Sofia huffed. “Aren’t doctors supposed to make you feel better?”
Hillenstat smiled through his droopy mustache, the first time Paul had ever seen him do it. “Doctors are supposed to be honest. Now, I’ll go and get Master George and you can bother him with your questions. I need a nap.”
He wiped his hands together as if swiping away crumbs from dinner, gave one last look at Tick, then walked out of the infirmary.
Sofia looked at Rutger. “Nice guy you got there. I’m glad I’m not sick.”
Rutger ignored them, looking over at a machine that monitored Tick’s vitals, but Mothball spoke up. “Best doc in the Realities, he is. A bit snippy, though.”
Master George walked in, Sally lumbering along behind him. They both pulled up chairs to the bed and sat down so the whole group was in a circle, looking solemnly at the comatose Tick.
“So what’s the deal?” Paul asked.
“Yeah, what’s wrong with him?” Sofia added.
Master George cleared his throat, not breaking his gaze from Tick’s face. “Yes, yes, a very good question, my young friends. I certainly didn’t expect things to go in this direction with the lad. Troubling, I tell you. Very troubling indeed.”
He paused, and after a few moments of tense silence, Sofia threw her hands into the air, palms up. “Well?”
“Show some respect,” Rutger growled.