Paraworld Zero (23 page)

    The bright sun made it difficult for her to keep her eyes open, and after a
while, she decided not to fight it any longer. Soon, the young teenager was fast asleep—away from
the realities of life and especially away from that blasted video game machine.

    The day passed by quickly.

    

    

    Tonya stirred in her sleep. “
No… No! Run!
” She screamed herself awake. It was only a dream, yet it seemed so
real.

    “What’s wrong?” asked Simon, not bothering to raise his head from the
game.

    “It was just a dream,” Tonya said, yawning. “I dreamt we were being chased by
those lizard things.
…
You don’t think there’s any of them in the forest, do you?”

    The boys nodded slightly but didn’t respond.

    Tonya sighed and then suddenly looked around, realizing how dark it was. The
sun was starting to hide behind the mountain. A quickly-growing shadow cast itself across the
forest as the sun descended from view.

    “I can’t believe you guys are still playing. Thornapple, didn’t your dad say
he had a surprise for you back at home?”

    “Oh my gosh! I forgot all about my birthday.”

    “That’s a miracle.”

    Simon turned off his video game and said, “We better go while the sun is
still out.”

    They packed up their things and slid down the hill—what was left of it. The
forest appeared much darker now and more ominous, but they trudged on, nonetheless. Simon started
to recognize the pathway; there was the sloth-eating tree—except, its green hand was curled up
inside for the night. A little ways farther, they heard voices ahead of them. Simon quickly
turned off the lights on his hover chair.

    “This is the strangest thing I’ve ever seen,” a man said.

    “Do you think the dragunos did this?” another replied.

    “No, I don’t think so. It almost looks like the trees attacked themselves,
but that’s impossible.”

    “Look at how the roots have come right out of the ground. It would have taken
something pretty big to do that, but I don’t see any tracks at all. Surely we would have detected
if the aliens had come back, wouldn’t we?”

    “Lenny, the Lisardians have been gone for a thousand years now. They’re not
coming back.”

    “Yeah, but you’ve heard the rumor that the aliens return every millennium.
Last time they sprang up out of nowhere. What if—”

    “Lenny! Let’s just finish surveying the area and leave the speculations to
the scientists.”

    The three teenagers slowly made their way through the clearing, but when a
stick snapped under Thorn’s foot, Lenny shrieked.

    “Did you hear that? They’re coming for us!”

    Simon cranked his hover chair into full gear and zoomed past the inspectors
like a speeding ghost. Because of the darkness, the only thing the little Puds could see was that
someone or something had just flown by.

    Tonya and Thorn followed Simon while Lenny screamed, “They’re back! The
Lisardians are back! Don’t let them get me!”

    After reaching the main cobblestone road, all three teenagers burst into
laughter. “
Don’t let them get me
!” Thorn imitated. They joked all the way home; however, their faces
were soon wiped clean of merriment when they reached the porch. Standing there in the doorway
with hands on her hips and a scolding expression on her face was Mrs. Troodle.

Chapter 15
    

    

    “Do you know what time it is?” Thorn’s mother snapped. “We’ve been waiting
all night for you to come home, Thornapple. If we don’t hurry, we’ll be late.”

    Thorn swallowed hard and asked, “Late for what?”

    Mrs. Troodle threw both hands into the air. “Your birthday surprise. We’re
taking you to the big fight tonight.”

    “You’re kidding me! I thought it was sold out.”

    “It is sold out, but we bought our tickets early.” She turned her head and
yelled into the house,“Honey, they’re here! Let’s go!”

    “One moment, Sweetie. I’m just finishing up on the news.”

    She twisted her lips and murmured, “Oh, you’re just finishing up on the
news.”

    Mrs. Troodle marched into the house, followed by Thorn, Tonya, and Simon.
They found Dr. Troodle watching the news from a semi-holographic projection that emitted from
Har’s security collar. The poor kid was foaming at the mouth, and he couldn’t seem to keep his
eyes focused on anything. All three teenagers looked at each other nervously as the tiny reporter
presented the news.

    
Earlier today, every single willow tree in the Zapaneen forest was mysteriously torn down.
Specialists on the scene have told us that there is no scientific explanation for this phenomena,
yet they are not ruling out foul play. Authorities have no comment at this time.

    
On another note, eleven more draguno attacks were reported today—one attack involving a
daycare facility. Two big Puds were killed protecting their owners, and five more were severely
injured. Scientists still haven’t discovered where these reptiles are coming from, but they
assured us that the situation is under control
…

    Mrs. Troodle pressed a button on Har’s collar, and the 3-D projection turned
off. “All right, let’s go.”

    “Hey, I was watching that,” Dr. Troodle said.

    “You can watch it when we get back.” She turned to Har, who was drooling
profusely onto the gray carpet, and commanded, “Har, record the news.”

    A red light on his security collar blinked on and off, indicating that the
news was being recorded from the Holonet.

    

    

    “Honey, if you don’t hurry it up, we’ll miss the first round!”

    “I’m going the speed limit, Sweetie. Just be patient. We’ll be there before
you know it.”

    Because of the awkwardly designed vehicle, Simon was forced to sit with his
head between his knees, and Tonya was obliged to curl up on the seat with her legs folded over in
a sort of kneeling position. And of course, there wasn’t enough room to bring Simon’s hover
chair, so they left it at home.

    “Honey, maybe I should drive,” Mrs. Troodle said.

    “We’re almost to the highway… Oh, look at that line!” They slowed down to a
crawl. “It looks like we’re not the only ones headed for the big fight.”

    Mrs. Troodle pulled on a lever, and the car lurched upwards and started to
fly over the long row of cars ahead of them.

    “You’re going to get me pulled over,” the doctor said, steering the vehicle
upwards.

    He cut into a row of traffic that flew overhead. Simon felt his stomach drop
as they sped onwards. Soon, a small flying ball zoomed up to the front window, and a mechanical
voice asked, “
Destination
?”

    “Hollywhip Stadium,” Dr. Troodle said.

    “
Destination confirmed… Directions are now mapped out… Please sit back and enjoy the
trip
.”

    A white light shot out of the metallic ball and engulfed the car in a strange
glowing web. It dragged the vehicle through the highway, hopping from lane to lane to make their
journey as efficient as possible. Looking out the side window, Simon noticed similar devices
leading the other cars as well.

    A series of tall buildings came into view. Because Simon had never been in
the inner city before, he didn’t realize how grand it really was. The buildings stood so high, he
could scarcely see the ground below. Holographic billboards lined the invisible highway,
advertising things such as schools of higher learning, new advancements in security collars,
items for conducting experiments, special seminars on science, and even informational books on
how to potty train your big Pud.

    Vehicles of all shapes and sizes flooded the entire sky. For a race of people
who didn’t seem to care much about anything other than science, the little Puds sure did have a
huge variety of flying cars. And if it weren’t for the aid of the floating balls, the whole
network of highways would be in total chaos, but, surprisingly, every car was able to compensate
for variances in the wind and openings created when cars jumped to different roadways or
lanes.

    As they neared the tallest building, their car started to sputter and cough.
Suddenly, the tractor beam surrounding the vehicle shorted out, forcing the car to brake loose
from the highway and fall.

    “
Ah, great,
” Dr. Troodle mumbled under his breath. “I’ve been meaning to get the magnetron
converter fixed. Hold on, everybody!”

    They dove through several rows of cars—all of which moved out of the way in
perfect unison.

    The metallic ball chased after them frantically.
“Malfunction: the magnetic coupling has been disengaged
…” came the mechanical voice. “
There is no need to panic. Please stay calm while I attempt to regain control of the
vehicle
.”

    “That’s easy for you to say!” Mrs. Troodle said.

    She pulled down on the throttle to help bring the car out of its nosedive.
Abruptly, the car shot upwards, and everyone fell back against their seats. All the while, the
flying ball kept shooting its tractor beam at them, but the web of light just couldn’t seem to
take hold. Now the car was rising higher and higher, dispersing traffic like a speedboat cutting
through water.

    Dr. Troodle smashed through four floating billboards in succession and then
leveled off long enough to scatter a line of cars that were waiting to get into the parking lot
on the top of the largest building. Thorn screamed as they raced towards a tall partition that
separated the coliseum from the parking lot. Then, just before they were pulverized against the
wall, the metal orb that had been trailing behind finally grabbed hold of the vehicle.

    “
Destination arrived. I hope you enjoyed the trip,
” it said as they came to an abrupt halt.
The ball gently rested the car onto a convenient parking space near the entrance.

    “Well,” Mrs. Troodle said, brushing her hair out of her face, “that was a
nice shortcut. We’re not even late.”

    The arena sat on top of the building like a bowl. Spotlights danced around
the noisy crowd, and the smell of food filled the air. Everyone around them seemed to be staring
at Tonya; it wasn’t every day they saw a tall, green-haired alien in their midst.

    “You guys didn’t get any dinner, did you?” yelled Dr. Troodle over the cheers
of the crowd. “Here, take this.” He gave some money to each of them.

    “Thanks!” all three of them said.

    Tonya and Thorn raced to the concession stands, while Simon trailed
sluggishly behind. He took one look at the selection and decided to go hungry. Thorn ordered a
chicken wing—feathers and all—and Tonya ordered some deep-fried rhubarb.

    “Aren’t you going to get anything?” Thorn asked Simon.

    “I’m not too hungry.”

    Just then, the crowd roared. The announcer said in an exaggerated voice, “To
my left, we have the challenger: Alvin Bottlebrush! He has been fighting professionally for two
years now. His favorite science is chemistry, and he holds two doctorates in biology… And girls,
I hear he’s single.”

    The noise was deafening. Everyone but Simon turned around to get a closer
look.

    “Come on, kids, let’s go!” Mrs. Troodle urged.

    Simon exchanged his money for something sealed in a white plastic wrapper. He
promptly put the item in his fanny pack before anybody could see.

    The announcer spoke again. “And to my right, we have the champion: Bo-Bob
Dungbeat! Mr. Dungbeat has never lost a fight yet. He enjoys chemical engineering and computer
science. He is currently studying at Highland City’s very own Northcliff University, where he
hopes to teach someday.”

    Simon made it to his seat just in time to see two small Puds strutting around
the stage, flexing their muscles like bodybuilders. He thought it odd that such a civilized
people would endorse a violent sport such as boxing. Mrs. Troodle seemed especially interested in
Alvin Bottlebrush, who was clearly the better looking of the two fighters.

    “The rules are simple,” the announcer continued. “Keep it clean while the
blue light is on—nothing below the belt. Watch for the chaos light. When you see it, you’ll have
thirty seconds of no-holds-barred. Good luck, gentleman. Shake hands and let the fight
begin!”

    The two boxers attempted to shake hands, but their gloves proved too
cumbersome. They then turned around and left the ring, which Simon found very confusing. Standing
just outside the ropes, each fighter was outfitted with wires and electrodes that led to a
plastic headband.