The Octopus Effect (33 page)

Kender swung an armored fist at her, but Krissantha was too quick. She ducked under the attack and tapped his arm. That part of his shell began to crumble, too. He had minutes—at most—before his armor was gone. Then she would start in on his body.

Cassaro spat a cloud of spores at Krissantha, but her formula made them disintegrate upon touching her. Aleadra nodded silently, still just watching.

Owen used velocity to launch numerous metal rods at Krissantha and Preto, but Sirabetta used her air pressure formula to knock the missiles off into the woods. Then Owen used his power to send Sirabetta zooming toward the nearest thick tree, which brought a frown to Aleadra's face.

There was no need for her to take action—Sirabetta had a counter for Owen's attack. She read a blue tattoo and grunted from the sudden stop as the formula, based on balancing energies of motion, opposed Owen's.

“Did you forget that I can resist your silly formula?” she shouted while hovering.

Owen smirked and used velocity to launch four rusted toasters at her. “No, but did
you
forget that you can use only one tattoo at a time?”

Bobbing in mid-air, Sirabetta fired a quartet of glowing star-balls in succession, destroying the flying appliances one-by-one.

Owen's jaw dropped. “You used two tattoos at once!” he moaned.

“That's right,” Sirabetta said. “I got an upgrade when I had my tattoos replaced.”

Owen didn't respond, he just disappeared from sight.

Aleadra wrinkled her nose. “Someone's been learning octopus-camouflage. That won't do at all.” She wiggled her fingers, and Owen suddenly became partially visible. He looked down and gulped; stripes of visibility ran up and down his body, making him all too easy to spot.

Sirabetta read another tattoo, generating a beach ball-size globe of multicolored light in front of Owen. He used his velocity control to fling it into the woods, but the damage was done; the boy blinked furiously, his vision surely filled with spots.

Alysha, meanwhile, flared her nostrils and jet propelled over to Krissantha, one outstretched hand crackling with electricity. “Hang on, Kender, I'm coming!”

“Another octopus trait . . . jet propulsion through your nose, hmm?” Aleadra said. “How creative. But tell me, do you have any allergies?” She wiggled her fingers.

Alysha's shocking touch was inches from Krissantha when she suddenly scrunched her face up. “Oh n—” was all she managed to say before she let loose a huge sneeze that sent her flying ten feet backward. “You think that's going to st—?” And then another sneeze ripped out, shooting her off into another direction.

“There's little about Biology that I can't manipulate, child,” Aleadra said.

“Try Physics,” Loisana said, at last recovered enough to fight. She turned the moisture in the air to water and doused Aleadra. Then she froze the water, encasing Aleadra in ever-thickening ice. Loisana then turned to Krissantha, changing the dirt beneath her to its liquid form—like quicksand, but faster-acting. Krissantha sank fast, clutching uselessly at the liquefied ground.

Kender gasped with relief that Krissantha's attack had stopped; almost his entire exoskeleton had been stripped away. He'd need time to rest before he could grow another one, but there seemed little chance of that.

Preto turned at the sound of Krissantha's and Aleadra's screams, giving Flangelo-emu an opening. The giant bird sprang up and sent a spinning kick to Preto's midsection, knocking the wind out of the larger being. Flangelo followed up with a hard smack of his beak into Preto's forehead. The half-man, half-manta staggered back.

Flangelo spun around, ready to finish Preto off with a kick to the head, but Sirabetta was faster. She shot a fiery star-ball at him; though the emu jumped back to avoid getting blown up, the star-ball exploded underneath him and catapulted him backward. Loisana quickly changed water vapor to water around Flangelo, probably dousing him to make sure his feathers weren't on fire.

While Loisana was distracted, Sirabetta used her heat-generating tattoo to thaw the frozen Aleadra, and Preto pulled Krissantha out of the ultraquicksand. Sirabetta used her air pressure tattoo to cause an explosion between Loisana and Flangelo, knocking both out.

Owen used velocity to smack Krissantha into Preto, distracting Preto and stunning Krissantha.

“Enough of your tricks,” Sirabetta said to Owen. She wavered in midair before she could strike, though. “What's . . . happening . . . to . . . me . . . ?” she moaned. She felt a crushing weariness wash over her, making her slowly sink to the path.

Aleadra fixed Targa with a look. “Using epinephrine? We can't have that, can we?” she muttered. She wiggled her fingers, redirecting Targa's formula onto Owen, who slumped forward with exhaustion. Sirabetta sprang to her feet, her strength restored.

Cassaro spat a cloud of spores at Aleadra, but with a slash of her hand she deflected them onto Targa. Targa shrieked and started smacking at the tiny fungi now clinging to her while Cassaro's jaw dropped in surprise.

Preto used one of his fin-wings to slam Cassaro to the dirt, unconscious, then turned and did the same to the unar mored Kender.

“Who's left?” Sirabetta asked with glee. This was more fun than she'd hoped.

Owen struggled to stay awake, but his heart rate kept slowing until he finally sank to the dirt with a whimper and passed out.

Alysha, out of sight among the trees, let out another sneeze and a pained groan as she crashed through some bushes. Aleadra wiggled her fingers, and Alysha's next sneeze was huge, smacking her into a massive tree trunk. She flopped to the ground, out cold.

“Then there was one,” Sirabetta said, pointing to Targa. “Battle's over, sweetie.”

Targa was frantically tearing at Cassaro's mini mushrooms. She looked up at the enemies opposing her and backed away, her big blue eyes growing larger with fear.

Preto moved in from one direction and Krissantha came from another. But Preto wailed as he was suddenly jerked into the air by an unseen force. Krissantha shrieked as she was dragged forward, her feet leaving grooves in the dirt. Aleadra wrinkled her nose and started to look around before she too was grabbed by something invisible.

Sirabetta had time to open her mouth in protest before she felt crushing pressure wrapped around her body like a giant snake. She knew who it must be—Bloom, ambushing her with some strange gravity attack. She managed to activate the formula that gave her power over kinetic and potential energy—the same one that let her resist Owen's velocity—and used it to break free of the boy's grip.

Aleadra strained to pull that unseeable something away from her neck. “It's like an octopus, but different,” she gasped. “I can barely resist it. Help me, Sara Beth!”

The unseen force smashed Preto into a tree, and he collapsed, unconscious. It also slammed Krissantha face-first into the dirt, leaving her crumpled in a heap.

Aleadra tried to speak, but she could only manage strangling sounds; her clothes rumpled, as if something—or several somethings—were constricting around her. With Krissantha and Preto out of the way, perhaps the attack on her grew stronger—it was clearly getting past her defenses.

Sirabetta floated down to Targa. “Are
you
helping Bloom do this?” She turned to stare at Aleadra's suffering. “Leave her alone!” Sirabetta shouted, using air pressure to knock Targa out.

If anything, the assault on Aleadra became fiercer—she was lifted into the air, where she twisted and writhed.

“No,” a cold, angry young voice said. “She's hurt enough people today.” Branches snapped and cracked as coils of gravity made room for Simon Bloom to leap up from the heart of the forest. He landed in the center of the path, probably using his gravity powers to slam into and shake the ground as if a giant had struck it. His clothes were torn and his face scratched, but Simon Bloom stood straight with clear confidence.

“How dramatic,” Sirabetta sneered. “Now release her and face me, Bloom.”

Aleadra wriggled helplessly above as Simon and Sirabetta circled each other.

“So you can gang up on me?” Simon said. “I don't think so.”

Sirabetta shifted from hateful glare at Simon to worried look at Aleadra. “Put her down!” she yelled, her voice cracking with concern.

“Sure—as soon as we can settle this one-on-one.”

Sirabetta was filled with horror as Aleadra stopped struggling and slumped forward. With a flick of his eyes, Simon flung her to the ground, hard . . . and she did not move. “Mother!” Sirabetta screamed, running to her.

“Mother?” Simon said, his fierce expression slipping. “Aleadra is your mother?”

“What, your spying Narrator didn't know something?” Sirabetta spat as she cradled the former Keeper's head. “Alive,” she whispered. “She's still alive.”

“Of course she's alive,” Simon said, sounding indignant.

Sirabetta stood and clenched her hands into fists as she stared down the path at Simon. “You're going to pay, Bloom,” she growled. “For standing in my way, for ruining my life, and for daring to harm my mother.”

Simon pointed at his friends spread out on the ground, also unconscious, and his expression hardened. “If she helped you do that,” he snarled, “then she got justice. And that's what you'll get, too.”

Even the Breeze stopped blowing as Sirabetta cracked her knuckles, and Simon rolled his neck and shoulders. As they both prepared to unleash powers beyond imagination.

Sirabetta activated a blue tattoo on one arm, launching herself up into the air. At the same time, Simon soared upward with a twist of gravity.

They maneuvered quickly but carefully, swooping and ducking under and around branches, and circling huge tree trunks. This hide-and-seek led them out into the clearing or, rather, high above it. Suddenly they faced each other across open air.

“No more dancing, Simon,” Sirabetta snarled.

Simon changed his gravitational pull so he could hover. He lashed out with a gravity arm, snatched Sirabetta, and whipped her at the nearest tree. With visible effort, she tore free of his grip and flew back to her place.

“Did you forget?” she said. “Gravity—your favorite toy— doesn't work on me. Here's a new toy for you.” She fired a ball of star-stuff at him; it sizzled the air as it flew.

Simon gasped. Like Owen, he was shocked that Sirabetta could now use more than one tattoo at a time. He didn't hesitate, though; he'd gotten used to thinking on his feet (or, as now, in midair). And he didn't need much thought to set his gravity arms in motion.

Simon grabbed the searing ball in a coil of gravity. Stars, after all, were as subject to gravity as anything else in the universe. He whipped it around and slung it back at her. “No,” he yelled. “You keep it!”

Sirabetta cursed under her breath and barely managed to send another star-ball at this one in time to destroy it. The backlash of force and flame staggered her in the air, knocking her backward.

“Impressive, Bloom. Too bad you're not so slick with space-time. Maybe your friends wouldn't be lying in a pile in the dirt. It's a pity they trusted
you
as a leader.”

Simon gritted his teeth. He had made a mistake with space-time, yes, but he wasn't going to allow guilt to wash over him, or self-doubt to distract him. Not this time—not ever again, if he could help it. It was courage and confidence—tempered with caution—that made a good leader. And whether he wanted to be or not, that's what Simon was.

Sirabetta fired off a series of six of the burning globes at Simon, but he used gravity arms to flick the first two star-balls aside, sending them deep into the woods. They blew apart a pair of distant treetops, setting them ablaze. He snagged the other four out of the air and sent them soaring back at Sirabetta. She bobbed and weaved to avoid them, singeing her leg on the fiery tail of one that came too close. They exploded beyond her, destroying several massive trees and igniting many others.

Sirabetta looked at the devastation behind her and smirked. “Wrecking your beloved woods?” she said. “I can help.” She pointed to a yellow tattoo—her deforestation control—and, with a wink, activated it. Her formula cut through the bases of the trunks of the biggest trees around the clearing, eating away at the wood.

The sight of Dunkerhook being torn apart wounded Simon, but rather than show it, he went for Sirabetta's soft spot. “Aren't you afraid you'll hit your mommy?”

“You don't get to speak about her!” Sirabetta screamed. She set off air pressure explosions on the far sides of the trees, toppling them toward Simon. He narrowly avoided the enormous columns of dying wood. She hurled another barrage of star-balls at him, one after another in rapid succession. There were too many for him to grab and throw back without getting hit.