The Strike Trilogy (58 page)

Tobin stepped closer to the portal, but then stopped. It was so large that he could already feel it starting to draw him in. “How much rock does it take to make one this big?”

Wakefield smiled. “Just about as much Zeddtrified Ore as there is on Capricious, give or take. Always wanted to see what I could do if I had this much rock.”

“Luckily,” Orion said, “King Ontombe and his animal warriors protect Capricious’ largest natural supply of Zeddtrified Ore, and they were gracious enough to allow us to use it, because they knew how drastic the situation was.”

“And the bigger the portal, the more powerful it is?” Tobin asked.

“Usually,” Orion replied. “We’re planning on this one being big enough and powerful enough to counteract whatever technology Rigel is using that stops us from teleporting into the Dark Nebula. If all goes how we think it will, this portal will be able to teleport everybody here right into the center of Boston. Unfortunately, there’s no way to test it beforehand.”

Tobin grinned. “So we’re just gonna wing it and hope for the best.”

“Not really,” Orion replied. “If it doesn’t work, we’ll just end up right back here where we started. And then we move on to Plan B.”

“Which is?”

“Well, we find whatever portal Rigel has been using to get supplies in and out of the Dark Nebula from Capricious, and we forcefully take over that one.”

“So let’s just hope Plan A works out for everyone. That sounds good.”

“Exactly.”

Tobin looked in the reflection of the portal. Behind him, he could see some of the heroes who had come to Ruffalo Rock to help him. “So when are we using this thing?” the boy asked.

“Tomorrow,” Orion replied.

Tobin spun around. “Tomorrow?!”

“Yup,” the old man said. “No more waiting. No more going on the defensive. We went through all that trouble of discovering Rigel’s plan to use the trigulsaurs on Earth, and now we have to act. We cannot allow Rigel to move along with his plan for invasion any further. If we do, the Earth will be doomed, and there will be no second chances. Tomorrow, we go on the offensive.”

Tobin looked up at the portal. “And we’re just gonna send everyone we have here—the heroes, the rebels, King Ontombe’s warriors—through the portal and into Boston, hoping to draw the Daybreaker out.”

“Exactly. And when he comes out of the Trident to see what is happening, he’s gonna go after you. And when he does, you’ll hit him with this.”

Wakefield reached to a table and handed Tobin a dark blue, metallic, shimmering bo-staff. Tobin noticed the middle portion of the staff was thicker than normal, and when he turned the weapon over, he saw that the Chrono-Key was now embedded in the center of the staff.

“That weaponized Chrono-Key bo-staff will send the Daybreaker right back where he came from,” Orion explained. “Whether he wants to or not.”

Tobin inspected the pocket watch stuck into the middle of his staff. “No more Daybreaker.”

“No more Daybreaker,” Orion replied. “No more Rigel. No more New Capricious.”

Tobin thought it over. “So, all we gotta do is hope that this giant, never-before-attempted portal works, then we hope our super-team of superheroes draws the Daybreaker out, then we hope we survive his attack, and then we hope I can somehow get close enough to him to hit him with this reverse Chrono-Key bo-staff.”

A silence. Orion and Wakefield looked at each other.

“Well, when you say it like that...” Orion replied.

“The good news is at least we know the Chrono-Key can still send people back after being here for a long period of time,” Wakefield said. “‘Cuz it worked on your dad.”

Tobin rolled his eyes. “Oh, that makes me feel so much better.”

Orion laughed. “I know, Tobin. This is almost going to be impossible. There are more variants and things that can go wrong than I can imagine. But it’s our only chance. We have to hit them and hit them now. We can’t allow them any more time to prepare or unleash another horrible attack.”

“Oh, I know,” the boy said. “I like the plan. I mean, I like it as much as I can like it. I just want to make sure everyone knows it’s all kinds of insane.”

Orion nodded, smiling. “It is, that’s right. But I have faith in you, and I have faith in all of our friends to fight to the end. No matter what. And that’s all I can ask for.”

Tobin turned around. Adrianna, the Shigeru Knights, and Captain X-Treme were inspecting Wakefield’s various inventions spread throughout the workbenches in the hangar, laughing and eagerly showing each other the bizarre devices.

The boy turned to Orion and chuckled. “We’ve come a long way since we went up against Vincent with just me, you, Keplar, and Scatterbolt, haven’t we?”

“Yes, we have. But I warn you, Tobin, this is like nothing we’ve ever faced. We just encountered the Daybreaker on Earth, and we barely escaped with our lives. The more and more I think about it, the more and more I realize that it has all led to this moment. Everything has led to this, since the moment I first introduced myself to you at the supermarket. It’s this moment here, and everything that happens tomorrow. We have to be ready, and we have to be aware of the implications of failure.”

“Okay,” Tobin said with a nod. “We will be. But what do we do till then? Get a good night’s sleep?”

“No,” King Ontombe said. “We party.”

Tobin and Orion looked up. King Ontombe was standing on a walkway above the workbenches.

“It is tradition to celebrate and feast when we welcome new friends to Ruffalo Rock,” the majestic eagle king said, his voice echoing in the airplane hangar. “The celebration has already begun outside. You will join us now. This is not optional.”

King Ontombe turned and exited through a door, closing it behind him. Tobin looked to Orion and Wakefield.

“I guess we better join him,” Wakefield suggested.

“Isn’t this the time when you tell me to go to bed so I’m rested and ready for tomorrow?” Tobin asked.

Orion smiled. “Usually. But this isn’t a usual situation.”

CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

A
s Tobin, Orion, and Wakefield stepped outside, the boy was shocked to see that Ruffalo Rock’s main square had been turned into a giant, raucous street festival. Streamers and ribbons were draped across the roads, hanging from building to building, and a band near the wooden gated entrance was playing a rocking, rhythmic tune on their drums, trumpets, and guitars. Tented booths were set up along the sidewalks, and animals inside the tents were handing out cups of bright red punch, steins of beer, and all sorts of delicious, carnival-style food, like green-and-yellow popcorn, hamburgers dripping with mustard, ice cream, cotton candy, pulled pork sandwiches, and many other kinds of foods that Tobin didn’t recognize, but still smelt delicious. As he looked to his right, Tobin realized the middle of Ruffalo Rock’s main square was now one huge dance floor, with many of the superheroes and citizens of Ruffalo Rock already taking part in the festivities and shaking the night away to the sounds of the Ruffalo Rock band. Most shocking of all, Tobin discovered, was that King Ontombe was the band’s lead saxophone player.

“What the heck is this?” Tobin said with a laugh. He watched as a group of acrobatic giraffes near the wooden gate juggled a series of flaming wine bottles for an applauding audience, tossing them back and forth between each other. “This is insane.”

“I’ve heard of this before,” Orion said, looking at the hundreds of balloons floating up from the windows of the city. “It’s how King Ontombe and his people welcome new friends to their home. It’s not conventional the night before a mission, I’ll say that. But I guess we better blend in.”

In front of them, Aykrada emerged from the crowd around the dance floor and took Orion by the hand.

“That’s right,” she said. “Come here. You’ve been owing me a dance for the past fifteen years. Ever since Junior’s first wedding.”

“Oh, I don’t know about that,” Orion stammered, trying to move away. “I don’t think I—”

Aykrada pulled him onto the dance floor. “Don’t even try to get out of this. Your wife was always bragging about what a good dancer you are. Let’s see it.”

As Aykrada forced Orion into the dancing crowd, the old man turned back to Tobin and mouthed, “Help me.”

Tobin laughed and shrugged, holding up his hands. No matter how long it had taken him to get to Ruffalo Rock, or how many times he had almost died in the haunted caves on the train from Holdenshmirth, as Tobin watched Orion dance with Aykrada, awkwardly trying to snap his fingers to the rhythm of the music, the boy realized it had all been worth it.

Looking across the festival, Tobin spotted Jennifer and Chad; they were standing near a booth that was handing out roasted bremshaw on a stick. Tobin’s friends from Bridgton still looked completely overwhelmed, but at least they were no longer petrified with fear. Well, not as much as they were before, anyway.

“So, guys,” Tobin said as he walked to them. “What do you think of my other life?”

“It’s insane,” Chad said, taking a bite of the pink-and-green, spoiled-ham-smelling bremshaw. “More insane than I could ever imagine.”

“You’ve told us so much about it,” Jennifer said, “but nothing can prepare you to see a giant, talking eagle for the first time.”

Tobin laughed. “I still can’t believe you guys are here. Are you okay? What the heck happened back on Earth?”

“C’mon,” Jennifer said, motioning toward the rest of the festival. “Let’s talk about it. It might help me to regain some of my sanity.”

As the friends walked toward a booth passing out fudge-drizzled marshmallows the size of basketballs, Chad reached out and grabbed a purple, shining candy apple from a tray.

“Dude,” he asked Tobin, “do you think they have games here like the fair back home? And do you think Orion will be mad if I have some of that punch?”

Meanwhile, on a bench against the edge of the town square, away from the dance floor, Keplar was sitting and watching the festivities from afar, with his crutches lying on the ground next to him. His arms were still wrapped with tape and his shoulders were still missing large chunks of fur, but the bandage on the left side of his face was now replaced with a single black eye patch.

“From what I’ve heard about you,” Ida said, approaching the dog with two frothy steins of beer, “I’m surprised you’re not in there right in the thick of things.”

Keplar snickered. “Not really in the mood tonight.”

“Here,” Ida said, handing the dog a stein. “At least drink with me. You can’t be too out of it to turn that down.”

Keplar clutched the beer in his paw. “No, definitely not.”

As the dog took a big swig from the stein, Ida sat down next to him.

“How you feeling?” she asked.

“Like hell. But better, considering I’m pretty sure death was knocking on my door there for a while.”

“It definitely was. I don’t know what would’ve happened if we didn’t get to you as soon as we did.”

Keplar nodded. A silence passed.

“Orion told me what you did on the chopper,” Keplar said. “How you didn’t give up on me, even when maybe some people thought you should. Thank you.”

“Of course,” Ida replied. “You don’t have to thank me. I just did what I had to. I wasn’t losing anybody out there. I don’t do that.”

Keplar looked to the ground. “I’m sorry for the crap I said before at the camp. I swear I’m not like that, it’s just—”

Ida waved him off. “I get it. I don’t appreciate it, but I get it. It’s not the first time someone has judged me because of how I look.”

“That’s not what I did, I just didn’t know—”

“It’s fine. Seriously. You’re not thinking that way anymore, are you?”

“Hell no.”

“Okay then. Then that’s good enough for me.”

Ida held up her stein and they shared a toast. After taking a sip, Ida looked toward the dance floor. Orion was dancing with Aykrada.

“So, let me ask you something,” she said.

“Sure.”

“Is Orion single?”

Keplar looked at her, with his mouth dropped open. Then he burst out laughing, holding his stomach. Ida laughed too, taking another sip.

“I think I’ve already had too much to drink,” she said, shaking her head.

Not far from Keplar and Ida, among a set of picnic tables that were filled with the celebrating citizens of Ruffalo Rock, Jennifer and Chad were telling Tobin about their unexpected adventure.

“So I walk in,” Jennifer said, “and Keplar is just standing there, with mustard and ice cream and who knows what else all over his jacket, and my mom’s vase is broken on the floor behind him.”

“Oh my god,” Tobin said, laughing. “That’s awful. And awesome.”

“Yeah, that’s gonna be fun to explain.”

“How do you think I feel?” Chad said. “Orion came into my work, and I just left! I didn’t even tell anyone! I didn’t realize it until now, but I’m definitely gonna get fired over this!”

They laughed.

“Well,” Tobin said, “considering what happened at the navy base, I think you should be happy that—”

“Ahem.”

Tobin turned around. Adrianna was standing behind them.

“Hi,” she said. “Aren’t you going to introduce me to your friends?”

Chad looked her up and down. “Whoa.”

“Oh yeah, yeah,” Tobin stammered. “This is Chad.”

Adrianna shook his hand. “Hi, Chad.”

“Whoa,” Chad said again.

Tobin turned to Jennifer. “And this is Jennifer.”

Jennifer extended her hand. “Hi. You must be Adrianna. I’ve heard so much about you.”

“Really?” Adrianna replied. “Because I haven’t heard anything about you.”

Jennifer smiled uncomfortably, glancing at Tobin from the corner of her eye. Tobin looked to the ground, his hands in his pockets.

“Oh boy,” he muttered.

Chad looked back and forth between Jennifer and Adrianna. He couldn’t stop grinning. “This is awesome,” he said between chuckles.

Meanwhile, at the front of the festival, near the wooden gate of Ruffalo Rock, Scatterbolt was trying to coerce someone to come out of the Rytonian Rebels’ medic helicopter. Holding out his hand, the robot dangled a piece of pink-and-green bremshaw meat between his fingers.

“Come on, come on,” Scatterbolt said quietly. “Go ahead. I know it’s noisy out here, but it’s really fun. Come on. That’s it.”

Finally, Scatterbolt was successful—the baby trigulsaur bounded down the chopper’s steps and jumped through the air, clutching the bremshaw meat from Scatterbolt’s fingers.

“There you go!” Scatterbolt said to the bouncing, tongue-wagging, three-horned dinosaur. “See? We’re all friends here. Come on, it will be fun.”

As Scatterbolt walked back toward the festival, the trigulsaur followed him.

“Hey everybody!” the robot shouted. “Look!”

A group of chatting heroes—including Mad Dog John and Wakefield—turned to Scatterbolt.

“Look who’s joined us!” the robot said, pointing to the trigulsaur.

“Uh, cool,” Mad Dog John said, confused. “What is it?”

“It’s a trigulsaur!”

“Excellent,” Mad Dog John said with a smile. “What’s his name?”

“Umm…” Scatterbolt eyed the dinosaur, then turned back to the heroes. “Keplar Junior!”

“Sweet!” Mad Dog John replied, holding up his mug of punch. “Keplar Junior!”

“Keplar Junior!” the rest of the heroes replied, holding up their drinks and sharing a cheers.

“See?” Scatterbolt said, turning to the newly named Keplar Junior. “Told you it was fun!”

A few dozen feet away, as Scatterbolt tossed another chunk of bremshaw to the baby dinosaur, the original Keplar was still sitting on the bench and watching the festivities from a distance. Soon, Ida returned and handed the dog another stein of beer.

“Another drink?” Keplar said. “You’re not so bad after all, for a Rytonian.”

“Easy,” Ida replied. “You haven’t reached the point where you can make jokes like that yet.”

Keplar laughed as Ida sat down near him. They watched the dance floor.

“Look, I’m all for a party,” Keplar said, “and it’s great having everyone here and everything, but isn’t this a little morbid?”

“What do you mean?”

“It’s like...we’re celebrating as if we might not come back tomorrow or something.”

“Well, maybe some of us won’t.”

“Hey. Don’t say that.”

“What? Let’s be realistic, Keplar. You saw what happened back there with the Daybreaker. You
felt
what happened. This won’t be pretty tomorrow.”

“So you’re saying this is a hopeless mission?”

“No. Not at all. But everyone here knows what’s at stake. What’s been asked of them. Don’t you think?”

“Yeah, I guess. But we’re gonna party about it?”

“What the heck else are we gonna do? Sit in our rooms and count down the seconds until morning? Plus, it’s the tradition of our host. You don’t insult your host. Especially when he’s a three-hundred-pound eagle.”

Keplar grinned. “I guess you’re right.” He shook his head. “Geez. I must be getting old. Questioning why we’re having a party.”

“Maybe Orion’s finally getting to you. Or maybe it’s the third degree burns all over your body.”

The dog laughed. “Could be. Could be that.”

A silence passed.

“So tell me,” the dog said. “You serious about that Orion thing?”

Ida looked toward the dance floor. Orion was now slow dancing with Aykrada.

“I’m only telling you this ‘cuz I like you,” Ida began, “but I used to have his poster on my wall back when I was in college.”

As Ida and Keplar continued their talk on the bench, on the dance floor in front of them, Orion spun Aykrada around on her toes and then resumed slow dancing with her.

“It’s a good thing your husband’s not here to see this,” Orion said with a smile. “I wouldn’t want to get beat up.”

Aykrada rolled her eyes. “Oh, please. He idolizes you more than I do. He probably wishes it was him out here dancing with you instead of me.”

Orion laughed and gave her another twirl.

“Plus,” she said, “if I can’t dance with one of my oldest friends, who can I dance with?”

Then, over Orion’s shoulder, Aykrada spotted Tobin. The boy was chatting with Chad, Captain X-Treme, and three members of the Shigeru Knights.

“Look at him over there,” Aykrada said. “Can you believe it? Scott’s son. Our Scott’s son. Right there.”

“I know,” Orion replied. “Sometimes, I have to remind myself that it’s Tobin I’m talking with and not Scott. It’s uncanny.”

Aykrada smiled. “And wonderful. You’ve done an amazing job with him, Orion. You really have. Scott would be so happy. And proud. Proud doesn’t begin to describe it.”

Orion watched Tobin from the dance floor. “You have to promise me something, Aykrada.”

“Of course.”

“If anything happens tomorrow, if I don’t make it…take care of him. I know he’s grown up a lot, but he’s still just a kid.”

“Orion, stop it. Nothing’s gonna happen to you.”

“Aykrada, I’m ninety-seven years old. I’m not who I used to be. I can barely even go to Earth anymore without collapsing. Who knows how I’ll be able to hold up inside the Dark Nebula.”

“Orion, I’ve been watching you do this for three decades. You’re the Red Wolf. Nothing is gonna happen to you.”

“But if it does. Promise me that. Promise me you’ll look after him.”

“Of course. But nothing is gonna happen to you.”

The song ended. Aykrada let go of Orion.

“Okay,” she said, “I better go talk to Wakefield before he gets too grumpy and goes to bed. Maybe I’ll bring him some cake. You want anything?”

“No, I’m fine.”

“Okay. Talk to you soon.”

As Aykrada turned and walked away, the old man spotted Tobin coming toward him.

“What’s going on over there?” the old man asked, motioning toward the edge of the dance floor.

Tobin looked in that direction. Not far from them, Adrianna and Jennifer were talking, and Adrianna was cracking up with laughter.

“Apparently they’re best friends,” Tobin said. “Which is just great. I don’t know what’s better for me: if they are enemies or if they get along.”

Orion chuckled. He looked around the street festival. “So this is all a little different, huh?”

“The party? Uh, yeah, just a little bit. I actually really like it, though. I think it’s helping everyone bond or whatever. Or at least helping us relax.”