Story Thieves Part 9

"You really are stupid enough to be Verity's clone, aren't you?" She hit a b.u.t.ton, and Dr. Verity's image appeared on the viewscreen.

"Citizens of Quanterium," Dr. Verity said, standing in front of white columns. A blue flag with the image of a rocket ship taking off from a planet, Quanterium's flag, flapped in the wind at his side. "I come to you tonight to report that a Magisterian ship has broken our blockade and destroyed a Science Soldier transport. This is in no uncertain terms an act of war and must be addressed as such." He shook his head sadly. "I want peace as much as the rest of you, but the safety of Quanterium is my utmost concern, and I will not allow these magic-using criminals to do any more harm.

"I am officially declaring war on Magisteria. Our armies of Science Soldiers are on the move and will attack each Magisterian city within the next twenty-four hours. If the Magisterians truly wish peace, as they've claimed, then they will surrender and turn their criminals over to Science Police at once.

"This is a dark day for Quanterium, but I believe in our planet, our people, and our science. Together, we will overcome any who would reject the natural laws of the universe. May factual discourse guide you all."

The ship banked hard to the left as Dr. Verity's image disappeared, and Owen barely held on to a chair. "Wow," he said. "That escalated quickly."

"You seem to have that effect on people," Charm said. "So now Verity's Science Soldiers from all those alternate dimensions where we found the Fourth Key are heading here to destroy Magisteria. His infinite robots outnumber the not-infinite Magisterians by . . . let's say an infinite amount. Usually that's a bad sign in war. You probably weren't taught math, though, so I understand why this is new to you."

"Ah, it'll be fine," Owen said, waving a hand. "That's why we're here. He said we have twenty-four hours. That's plenty of time!" And it would be. After all, this was the last book, and everything was going to end well, so what's the worst that could happen? The planet wasn't actually going to get attacked. This was just Jonathan Porterhouse raising the stakes, giving them a time limit so everything seemed more exciting!

Charm gave him a strange look, then turned back to the controls. "I can't open a wormhole while we're under attack." She jammed the controls to the left, and a laser blast blew past them, right where they'd just been. "And the longer we're out here, the more ships will arrive. So when we do get blown up, I hope you somehow go first."

"I'll handle it," Owen told her, and set the spell book down on the floor. Again, it seemed to pull away from his touch, which was weird. He didn't remember it ever doing that with Kiel.

"No!" Charm shouted. "No more magic! We barely lived through the last time."

"Oh, don't be such a baby," Owen told her. "We made it out okay, didn't we?" He touched the singed part of the book again, then shrugged. "But if it makes you feel better, I'll use something less explosive."

"Kiel Gnomenfoot, if your spell harms even one metal plate on my ship, I will eject you into the nearest sun. Over and over."

Owen ran his hand over the book, thinking, Give me a spell that will keep these ships from seeing us. That'd do it, right?

The magic filled him again, but this time it felt less warm and friendly, and more . . . not. He shrugged, then immediately cast the spell, using his magic wands to aim the magic right at the ship. "Invisibility, coming up!" he told Charm.

"What?" she said as the entire ship disappeared, leaving Owen, the spell book, and Charm all floating on what looked to be nothing. Charm gasped and frantically felt around for the controls. "THIS IS YOUR PLAN?" she shouted. "To make all my computers and sensors disappear? Whose side are you on?"

The Scientific Method began to slow down as Charm threw her hands out, searching for the controls. Her hand hit something invisible, and the ship tilted left, just in time to save them from a laser that pa.s.sed by.

Unfortunately, now that Owen could see what surrounded them, he realized that one laser wasn't their problem.

"That's a lot of ships," he said, pointing at the fifteen or so Science Soldier fighters that were flying right at them.

"I'm glad you finally noticed!" Charm shouted. "Now could you let me see what I'm doing so they don't shoot us to death?"

Owen immediately reversed the spell, and the Scientific Method faded back into view just in time for one of the laser blasts to slam into the ship.

Everything went sideways, and the wall nearest Owen exploded in flames and smoke. Foam shot from the ceiling to put the fire out as alarms blared throughout the ship. "We just lost half our life support!" Charm shouted. "One more hit and we're done. I need to open a wormhole, now!"

"I got this!" Owen shouted, and turned back to the spell book. Give me something good, you stupid book! A spell that will actually stop those other ships!

This time there wasn't even a cold, less friendly energy. This time the book didn't even open to a page. It just sat there, and weirdly, Owen got the feeling that it was glaring at him.

"Are you kidding me?" he said to the book, fear filling his stomach. "Give me a spell!"

The book didn't move.

"Well, they're locking on with their laser missiles," Charm said. "Now seems like a good time to tell you how I've hated you from the moment we met."

Owen glanced over his shoulder at her, then turned back to the book, breathing way too quickly. "Okay, I'm sorry! I'm sorry I got you burned, I'm sorry I called you stupid. Just please help us now, or we're all gonna get blown up!"

For a second, nothing happened. Then the book opened, and a cold, chilling energy filled Owen. He immediately let the spell out, not even caring what it did, and the spell book slammed shut, right on his hand.

"Ow!" he shouted, but the book just ground his hand harder.

"The Science Soldier ships . . . they're slowing down!" Charm said from the pilot's seat. "What did you do?"

Owen stood up, the spell book still holding his hand hostage. "I, uh, took them down. Hard." He tried to shake off the book as he stepped over to the viewscreen, just as curious as Charm was about what he'd done.

The attacking ships seemed to have changed color, glowing golden in the light of the nearby sun. Other than that, there didn't seem to be anything different about them.

"Obviously, I made them all, uh, gold now," Owen said, faking some Kiel Gnomenfoot arrogance, but inwardly, having no idea what had just happened. Gold? Why would the spell book have given him that spell?

"That's actually impressive," Charm said, raising her eyebrows in surprise. "Gold doesn't conduct electricity, which means you took out all of their systems and computers in one shot. And even if they could move, their engines would melt right through the ship. I might almost call that . . . clever."

"Well, it's all in a day's work for Kiel Gnomenfoot," Owen said, winking at her.

She stared at him for a second, then turned back to the controls. "Opening a wormhole. We'll be safe in a second. Then we can repair the life-support systems and get a move on."

Something large and multicolored ripped into existence in the middle of the nothingness right in front of them and sucked the ship right in. The ship stretched out, pulling every fiber of Owen until he wanted to scream, then let go, snapping him back like a rubber band as it spit them back out. They emerged from the other side of the wormhole into a nothingness that looked an awful lot like the one they'd just left, only this nothingness had no planets or attacking ships.

"It'll take them a while to follow us," Charm said, standing up from the pilot's seat. "Repairs are going, so we should have a little time."

"You don't need to thank me," Owen told her, grinning. Why had he been afraid, again? Of course they'd be fine. The book was written, and obviously Kiel made it to the end!

"Oh, don't worry about that," she said, and suddenly her ray guns were in her hands, aimed right at his face. "Instead, I'm going to shoot you. You have one minute to tell me who you are and what happened to Kiel Gnomenfoot."

CHAPTER 19.

All Bethany could see was the ceiling as if she were looking at it through a telescope. Even as she struggled, something within her grew almost calmer as the ceiling got smaller and smaller, blackness folding in around it. Weirdly, it occurred to her that this must be tunnel vision, even as the tunnel of her sight began to collapse in on itself.

Then she slammed into the floor and suddenly could breathe again. She gratefully sucked in as much air as she could as her head pounded. What had happened?

"I said, stop," said Kiel from somewhere in front of her.

Everything in the room dimmed except for the Magister, who glowed from deep down inside. "What do you think you're doing, apprentice?" the old wizard said, his voice low and dangerous. "I would not have hurt the girl. But I need her power, and cannot take it while she defies me. You must understand what-"

The Magister abruptly went quiet, only to groan from a lot farther away than he had been. Bethany pushed herself up so she could see what was happening, and found Kiel holding double magic wands that looked like they'd been sharpened into knives. The wands pointed at the now crumpled form of the Magister where he'd just slammed into the far wall.

"That's going to cost me at ch.o.r.e time when this is all over," Kiel said. He turned to Bethany and winked. "Look, I get it. You're impressed with me, and probably dumbfounded. It happens. But don't just sit there. Maybe do something a little more useful than jumping into blank sheets of-"

He didn't finish his sentence; instead, he rocketed up into the ceiling, then down onto the floor, back and forth like a pinball machine.

"You will not raise your hand to me, boy!" the Magister said, stopping Kiel in midair. "After everything I have done for you? All the years of teaching and raising you as if you were my own?"

"This from the guy . . . who said none of that . . . was real," Kiel said to Bethany, cringing in pain. "Wouldn't that mean . . . all those years of being my guardian . . . didn't happen either?" He forced a grin, then aimed his twin wands at the Magister and mumbled something. Instantly, lightning launched from the tips of the wands directly at the older magician.

The Magister raised his hand, and the lightning absorbed right into his palm. "Always playing the hero, aren't you, Kiel? In your own mind, if nowhere else. But this isn't our world anymore, and things have changed. You're protecting a girl who has the power to save everyone and everything you know. She could end all the conflict back on Magisteria, end all the pain!"

"Weren't you going to do something?" Kiel asked Bethany, only to shout in surprise as hundreds of tiny imps appeared out of nowhere, holding his arms out to his sides to keep him from using his wands.

". . . . um," Bethany said, and grabbed the blank page from the floor where it'd landed, then sprinted as fast as she could up the stairs.

"You're lucky I've got this!" Kiel yelled after her, struggling against the imps as they tried to pry the wands out of his hands. "Anyone else would probably be worried right now!"

How was he still making jokes while being attacked? That was so like a book character, to say clever lines while crazy things were happening. Bethany didn't waste her time responding as she pushed her way up the stairs, only to almost fall back down them as the Magister exploded through the floor, holding Kiel in midair as he turned to face Bethany.

"You cannot leave, Bethany," the Magister told her, his eyes glowing. "I must have your power!"

"Shouldn't you be . . . worrying more about me?" Kiel yelled at the Magister, despite not being able to move due to the imps. "I don't need . . . my wands to . . . beat you."

"Is that so?" the Magister said, and the imps finally pulled Kiel's wands out of his hands and dropped them onto the ground in front of the Magister. "And what magic have I taught you that could possibly defeat me?" He bent down to pick up the dropped wands.

Kiel half smiled. "Let's call it the magic of planning ahead."

One of the wands exploded in the Magister's hand, sending the older man crashing into a column in the middle of the room. The imps abruptly disappeared, dropping Kiel to the floor, which he hit hard with a loud groan. With the Magister distracted, Bethany sprinted for the library doors, then paused.

Owen would have helped Kiel here. It was probably the brave, heroic thing to do.

Like she was ever going to follow Owen's example.

With that, she leaped into the library to hide, leaving the door open just wide enough so she could watch what happened.

Kiel stood up, trying to catch his breath, and held his remaining wand aimed at the Magister. "This is all . . . making me seriously rethink . . . my apprenticeship," he said, then mumbled a spell. The marble floor shuddered, then rose up around the Magister, trapping the older magician in place.

The Magister's eyes lit up with blue fire, and the floor tiles exploded toward Kiel, who waved them away with his wand, then sent ice shards hurtling toward the Magister.

The shards slid around the older man, hitting the wall behind him.

"NO MORE!" the Magister roared, and Kiel suddenly dropped to the floor, his legs and arms flopping around uselessly, leaving the boy unable to stand, cast a spell, or even think. "This is but a Crisis of Confusion spell, Kiel, and you will eventually return to normal. But continue defying me and I shall take the magic from your mind altogether! We cannot continue living out the whims of these writers, living out conflict and hate for their entertainment!"

He stepped forward to kick Kiel's remaining knife-wand from his hand, then gestured, wiping Kiel's mouth off his face like zipping up a zipper. Dark shadows grabbed each of Kiel's hands and feet and dragged him over to the wall, holding him in place.

"For the love I hold for you, Kiel, please, listen to me." The Magister, breathing hard, held out a shaky hand toward his apprentice. "Stop this, or I shall have to take steps. Be reasonable! You cannot defeat me with the magic I taught you myself."

Kiel closed his eyes, then slowly nodded.

The Magister gestured, and Kiel's mouth reappeared. The boy sighed, his eyes still closed. "You're right," he said. "I can't."

Then Kiel slammed his chin into his chest, and an impossibly bright light exploded like a sun in front of him, destroying the shadows holding him against the wall. The magician looked away with a cry as the light quickly faded, only to find Kiel standing just inches from him, holding a ray gun to the Magister's head.

The older man's eyes widened and his voice cracked with rage. "You . . . you would use science against me?"

Kiel shrugged, his eyes wild. "Charm gave me this ray gun and that flare for emergencies. I feel dirty even using them. But, like you said, there's no way I'm going to defeat you with magic. Now calm down and maybe we can fix all of this before it gets even worse."

"There is no going back, Kiel," the Magister whispered. "Not to our world, not with the knowledge we now have."

"Yes, there is!" Kiel shouted. "Maybe that Porterhouse guy did create us. So what? You say he made us into who we are? Magi, you made me into who I am! You raised me, led me, taught me. You created the me that I am today, more than anyone else." He glared at the Magister. "Now look at you. Attacking innocent people? Threatening them, torturing them? This isn't you."

The ray gun exploded into a thousand pieces, and the Magister began to grow, magical energies exploding all around him in his rage. Ten feet, then twenty, and he cracked the ceiling of the room, his height still increasing.

"This doesn't look like calming down," Kiel said from below.

"The Magister who raised you never truly existed!" the magician roared, and his voice was as loud as thunder. "For his sake, and for the sake of all those trapped within every other story, I will have the girl's power!"

"Uh-oh," Kiel said quietly.

"Are you ready for someone else's idea?" said Bethany from his side, holding a book in her hand.

Kiel glanced over and shrugged. "It's not my typical strategy, but I'm flexible."

Bethany quickly whispered into his ear, then threw the book open onto the floor in front of them. As the Magister raged above them, casting some sort of elaborate spell, Bethany grabbed Kiel's hand, and the two of them leaped forward into the now-open book.

"NO!" the Magister shouted, realizing too late what was happening. He struck out and magical energy exploded from his hand, but they were already gone.

The book burst into nothingness, leaving behind just a blackened mark on the floor, the air still crackling with deadly magic.

The Magister settled to the floor, his eyes wide. "What have I done?" He touched the floor gently, the spot where his bolt had destroyed the book. "Kiel? What have I done?"

CHAPTER 20.

Who are you?" Charm said, her ray guns powered up and ready to fire.

How had she seen through his disguise? What was going on here? "I'm Kiel Gnomenfoot, Charm!" he said, holding his hands up in surrender.

"Are you?" she said, her weirdly cute robot eye staring right through him. "You haven't been the same since I found you in the Magister's tower. You're not acting like your usual self. The cat's ignored you completely, instead of hanging on your shoulder like it usually does. You're not worried about Magisteria being attacked." She frowned. "Also, that spell book is trying to eat your hand."

"What, this?" Owen said, frantically trying to shove the spell book off of himself. "This is just a difference of opinion!"

"Scientific Method," Charm said to her ship, "scan him against all known records of Kiel Gnomenfoot, down to the quantum level. Show me the results on-screen."