The Friday Society (29 page)

49

The Game Changer

M
ICHIKO SAW HIM
just a split second before it happened. He was hidden up near the ceiling, squatting on one of the iron struts that prevented the cave from collapsing in on itself. He launched himself into the air before she had a chance to act, a chance to step in, to do anything. He landed on the Fog, pushing her hard onto the floor. The gun flew out of her hands and skidded to a stop several feet away.

“Hayao!”
called Michiko. The boy was back up on his feet just as the Fog rose to hers with the help of Dr. Mantis. Hayao drew a
katana
he had strapped to his back and stood prepared. He was still and calm, waiting to see what happened next.

“Run, Hayao!”

He looked at her.

Do it, do what you’re brilliant at.

“Run!”

Hayao turned and ran. He ran across the room toward the steps. He easily maneuvered around the scientists who were trying to grab at him, and even leaped over one who was still hunched over an experiment. He reached the steps and ran up toward the door, but was blocked by another man. So he instantly turned around and launched himself, with the help of the railing, up onto the lowest strut. He ran along it as easily as if it had been the ground.

The Fog produced a pistol from inside her lab coat and shot him in the back.

“No!”
cried Michiko as she watched Hayao fall hard to the ground. Wrenching herself free of her distracted captor, she had a dagger prepared before she even had the thought. She threw it at the Fog, and it pierced her hand. The pistol fell as she shrieked in pain and staggered backward. Michiko leaped toward her.

“Michiko, don’t!” she heard Cora yell.

She landed in front of Hayao, who was lying on the ground shaking and sputtering, and knelt beside him. She sensed something behind her. She didn’t turn around. But her sword was instantly flashed backward, the tip touching the soft flesh under Dr. Mantis’s chin. “Stay back,” she warned. She turned and made eye contact so he knew she was serious.

She looked back to Hayao and pulled him up into her lap. She could hear noise in the background, the sounds of something happening, but she didn’t care what it was. All her focus was on Hayao.

“I was stupid,”
he said.

Yes. So stupid. To follow when she clearly said not to.
“It’s not your fault.
I should have been a better teacher to you. If I had been a better teacher, you would have made better choices.”

“I didn’t follow your rules. I didn’t wait. She was going to kill your friend, and I couldn’t think of anything else. I thought I could take care of it. I thought . . .”
He coughed, and dark sticky blood seeped from between his lips.

“No more talking, little monkey.”

“I’m sorry . . . for following you . . . for disobeying your orders . . .”
he said.

“Shhh. You have nothing to apologize for.
It’s me, don’t you understand, it’s all me. I’m so sorry.”

I’m so sorry.

“Thank you for being my teacher.”

Michiko shook her head and held back her tears. She had to be strong for him. But it was so hard. He looked so small, so helpless. Who were they, she and the other girls? Children playing at warriors. Look at the two of them now. Covered in blood and looking pathetic.
“I think, in this moment, it’s clear that I failed
you
.”

And stubborn as always:
“In this moment, it’s clear to me you didn’t.”

“Shhh,”
she said again. Why did he have to insist on talking, always talking.

In a whisper:
“I am a real samurai because of you.”

“Little monkey . . .”

He squeezed her hand by way of interruption and gave her one of his big, goofy smiles.
“Don’t you see . . . I’m not afraid to die.”

There was a loud rumble then, and Michiko glanced up instinctively and then immediately looked back at Hayao.

He was gone. Dead.

In such a quick moment. The space of a fleeting glance.

She held him close for a moment. But it seemed pointless. All she held now was his shell. His spirit had flown and was, she knew, content.

Everything became very quiet. Michiko had never felt such control, such certainty before.

It was so clear. Her concern for earthly attachments, her fear of death. It might not make her a samurai, but it made her strong in her own way. Hayao was worth fighting for. These other girls were worth fighting for. Her life was worth fighting for.

Maybe she wasn’t a samurai, but she could do this.

She turned and stood up. The Fog was running around yelling at people. Michiko had no idea what the woman was saying.

“Fight me,” said Michiko loudly.

The Fog turned and looked at her.

“Now.”

The Fog stopped for a moment and then, with a shrug, nodded. She grabbed her sword from by her desk and gave a little bow.

“I’ve defeated you twice,” she said slowly, making sure Michiko understood.

A broken sword and poison gas are not defeating me.

“No,” said Michiko. “You have not.”

50

Going Back

T
HE BOY LANDED
on top of the Fog, pushing her hard onto the floor. The gun flew out of her hands and skidded to a stop several feet away . . .

. . . from Nellie.

She didn’t need to think. She elbowed the man holding her in the stomach and lunged for the gun. The man came after her, but she reached into her pouch and grabbed a handful of her special glitter. She tossed it into his face.

The yell the man made as the poison hit his skin was very satisfying, but Nellie didn’t have time to think about it. She rolled and picked up the gun on her way, rising to a standing position and aiming it at the men, who had gathered before her in a truly menacing fashion. She noticed Cora running at her from where the Fog stood screaming in pain and trying to contend with the dagger that had pierced her hand.

“Nellie, cover me!” instructed Cora, and Nellie, following behind her, discovered that they were now standing by the flying pack thing.

“Listen carefully,” said Cora as she strapped the contraption onto herself. She handed Nellie a small box, which, upon closer examination, she realized was the device that controlled the bomb. “You keep that away from them. Don’t let anyone get it.”

“How did you—”

“When the dagger went through her hand, I took my chance. Just like you did. Fought my way free, then swiped it off her while she was still reacting to the pain. Great minds and all that.” Cora grinned as she attached the last strap across her waist. “Look, you can’t let anyone push that button, okay?” She indicated a big brass button in the center of the device.

“Can’t you just deactivate the device? You’re the one who made it!”

“I don’t have the tool to open it up, and even if I did, it’s such a sensitive task there’s a very strong chance I’d set the bomb off.”

Nellie nodded. “Okay . . . I’ll protect it. What’re you doin’?”

“I’m going to defuse the bomb.”

“Cora!”

“Don’t let anyone touch that damn button. Cover me till we reach that tunnel, and then . . . it’s all you.”

“What about the Fog?”

Cora glanced over her shoulder. “I think Michiko’s got that covered.”

Nellie ran with Cora to the tunnel, aiming the gun right at the Fog, who was yelling instructions to her men.

“Cora, I don’t think I can kill anyone.”

“Then don’t.”

Cora pushed a button on the pack and activated the cavorite. She floated a few feet in the air and aimed herself in front of the tunnel.

She looked at Nellie and gave her a reassuring smile. “You can do it,” she said, and then switched on the rockets. It came to life with a loud rumble.

She was gone into the darkness, and Nellie found herself surrounded by evil-scientist-henchmen types.

“Hiya,” she said.

* * *

C
ORA WAS FLYING
faster than she’d anticipated, and following the curves of the tunnel at this speed was treacherous, to say the least. She learned quickly how to use the two levers at the base of the pack to control her direction. The tunnel bent and twisted and snaked its way underground until it started to head upward. Cora could see the sky approaching.
Just a little more,
she thought to herself,
just a little more . . .

And then all I have to do is defuse a type of bomb I’ve never heard of in my life.

Piece of cake.

She burst into the night sky and was already high above Hampstead Heath before she realized where she was. My God, the tunnels crossed the entire city; it was quite a piece of work really.

Focus, Cora . . .

It was a typical London evening, the sky filled with low-hanging clouds. She flew into their cold wetness and turned off the rockets. She slowed to a stop, the cavorite keeping her levitated.

It was hard to see, and it was so dark.

The goggles.

She risked letting go of one of the steering levers, and pushed the goggles back onto her face, flipping the green glass down. With her renewed ability to see, she stared through the fog, twisting and turning her head in every direction, up, left, right, down . . .

There it was. Floating a little below her. She wondered for a brief moment if anything would have happened had she flown right into it.

She decided that that thought gave her the willies, and so she wasn’t going to think it anymore.

Cora steered herself toward the bomb.

* * *

T
HE GUN WAS
heavy, and Nellie could understand why Cora had used her hip to support it. She couldn’t play keep away with this thing weighing her down, but she could hardly drop it either.

Wait . . .
what was that button Cora had pushed to make it all come together?

Nellie tried to look threatening as she felt around the gun . . . she felt something on the side but remembered that was the button Cora had pushed to evaporate the creatures and quickly took her finger off . . . that would not be a good one to push. She felt around some more . . .
wait
.

There was a small button on the bottom, she could feel it. Did she dare?

She looked around and noticed Michiko standing with her sword raised and the Fog taking hold of her sword as well. Everyone was doing their part. She had to do hers.

Nellie pushed the button and the gun fell to pieces at her feet. All that remained was the small cylinder in her hand. That she could handle. She hung the remote device around her neck and took a deep breath. Then she reached into her pouch.

Time for some magic.

She threw the flashcube on the ground and it exploded in a burst of light and then smoke. The moment it hit, she launched herself toward the crowd of scientists and flipped over them as they bent over coughing and sputtering. She was running across the room before they even registered that she’d gone. But they’d be on her tail soon enough. The hall . . . she could take them on one at a time from there.

She changed direction and made her way toward the stairs. There was a very large man waiting for her by the door. She whipped off her cape and wrapped it around his head, pulling on it as she did. He stumbled and fell down the stairs, and she ran up his body and out of the giant cavern. She was flying down the hall in no time, the rest of the scientists coming up fast behind her.
Okay. Time to try it out.

Nellie stopped and turned and whipped off her glove, aiming what seemed to be an empty hand at the men. They stopped running and backed up a few paces. Then, it seemed, it dawned on them that she wasn’t actually holding anything. They relaxed a little.

“Stay back,” she said as she felt for the small silver hoop at her left hip. “I’m warnin’ you. I don’t want to be hurtin’ any of you.”

Dr. Mantis moved to the front of the queue.

“Now, now, pretty girl,” he said in that soft way of his. He took a step toward her.

“Stay back!”

I really really don’t want to hurt you.

He didn’t stay back.

She pulled the chain. A tongue of fire came bursting out of the funnel at her wrist and shot toward the evil-scientist-henchmen guys. It flooded the tunnel, and they ran screaming back the other way. Nellie released the chain, and the fire vanished. She saw then that Dr. Mantis’s jacket had caught fire.

“Shoot,” she said. “Why didn’t you run?!”

He was screaming in pain, and she approached him as near as she could.

“Roll around on the ground. It’ll put the fire out. Do it now, damn it!” She was very familiar with fire safety procedures, having had to leap through blazing hoops and even swallow some flames on occasion.

Dr. Mantis did what she said, and finally the fire was out.

He stared at her.

“Why would you help me?”

“Well . . . I don’t know really.”

“Run,” he said. Nellie was so taken aback that she just stood there. “Run away and out of here. Go, now!”

Nellie finally realized what he was doing and nodded. She turned and ran. She ran down the hall and through the blue-green room. She stopped short when she came to the trip wires in which Mr. Staunch lay tangled.
It’s safe,
she told herself. He had already activated all the darts.
Just go.
She took a deep breath and was about to run when she remembered.

“Michiko.”

* * *

“
O
KAY, LET’S GET
this over with,” said the Fog. “I understand the whole honor thing, but really, I don’t have the time for this. I’ll defeat you, with only one good hand even.”

Michiko wasn’t listening; she was watching. Where had the Fog learned to fight? In school, maybe. Who knew? But she wasn’t the great warrior that Michiko had thought she was. Now that she saw her in person, Michiko realized the truth. It was the element of surprise that had worked in her favor. That was all. Face-to-face like this, the Fog didn’t stand a chance. Not with only one hand that worked. She was clearly in pain. It seemed almost cruel.

But she did, after all, kill Hayao.

Wait for the first move. The first move reveals all.

But she killed Hayao.

Patience, little monkey, patience.

“Oh, come on, do something already!” The Fog attacked. It was a more precise movement than Michiko had anticipated, but she defended and deflected, and moved out of the way.

They were still again. Facing each other again.

She examined the expression on the Fog’s face. Frustration.

Interesting
.

The Fog attacked again, and again Michiko deflected and moved out of the way.

“What is this, some kind of game to you?”

Another attack, another deflection. This time the next attack followed immediately and Michiko fought back, parrying every attack and then spinning out to the side so that she could be on the offensive. Now she attacked, one two, slice, cut, then stop. She pulled back, took several steps backward, and stood at the ready.

“Why do you keep stopping? Why can’t you just fight!” cried the Fog as she launched herself at Michiko again.

Because you want me to.

* * *

T
HE BOMB WAS
huge. Bigger than any Cora had ever seen; bigger than she was by a long shot. Cora flew around it and examined it from all angles. It looked like she’d have to take it apart from the bottom, which meant she’d have to take it down to the ground. This would have to happen delicately.

* * *

N
ELLIE RAN DOWN
the hall, knowing that soon enough . . .

There they were to greet her, all the evil-scientist-henchmen guys.

Nellie wondered why they were acting as the Fog’s henchmen in the first place.

Good question.

* * *

T
HE SOUND OF
metal on metal. And then stopping.

The Fog screamed in frustration and drew her pistol. She aimed and fired.

Michiko deflected the bullet with her sword.

“No,” she said.

“Yes.”

Another shot, another deflection.

Again.

And again.

Until there were no more bullets.

“No,” said Michiko again.

The Fog tossed the pistol to the ground.

“Fine.”

* * *

“
W
HAT
I
DON’T
understand,” Nellie was saying, her finger in the hoop at her hip and ready just in case, “is why any of you are doin’ this. Do you lot really want to blow up London? You know she’s not takin’ you with her, right? That’s not possible. So if anyone survives, you’ll all be blamed for this. And anyway, won’t you miss London? It’s a nice city.”

The men all stared at her, mouths slightly agape.

“Yes, okay, I don’t want you to kill me, and you’re definitely not gettin’ this wee device here around my neck, but at the same time, when you think about it . . . you’re all bein’ a little rash, don’t you think?”

A murmur rose up in the group as the men started to talk with one another.

“Aren’t you supposed to be some of the brightest minds in the city? I think you’re takin’ your loyalty to your secret society a bit too serious. And. I’ll tell you somethin’ else. If you all just stop this nonsense and head on up topside right now, I’ll get you all free tickets to one of the Great Raheem’s magic shows. Now, what do you say to that?”

* * *

O
N THE HEATH,
sitting where one usually picnics: a bomb.

Beside it, a girl. With her tools. Like she was fixing the chain on her bike.

* * *

S
TILLNESS.

Now Michiko. Now.

It’s time to attack now.

* * *

“
A
ND ANOTHER THING,
don’t any of you have families, and a life outside of inventin’ dangerous weapons? I think you do. I think you were just enjoyin’ the ride so much, you didn’t notice when you went over the edge of a cliff.”

* * *

T
HE INSIDE GLOWED,
and clockwork pieces turned slowly, each influencing the other, every movement leading to the next.
Where is it? The solution. The off switch.
It had to be somewhere.
Think, Cora, think.

* * *

F
IGHT,
M
ICHIKO,
F
IGHT.

Not for your life, not for your honor, but for justice.

It was time.

* * *

C
ORA SAW.
S
HE
knew. It was time.

* * *

“
I
T’S TIME,” SAID
a short squat scientist. “It’s over. The Magician’s assistant is right. Let’s get the hell out of here.”

* * *

“
D
O IT.”
T
HE
Fog lay on the ground, her sword far to one side. She’d been so easy to disarm. It had been so simple.