Chapter 20
The next two weeks were busy ones for the group. With Professor Utonium and Reese's guidance, they began seeking out and destroying Shadau's Mornaucks. They quickly discovered that the best time to find Shadau's many minions was at dusk as they slowly crept from their daytime hiding places. Each night, they headed out and spread over Townsville to hunt down more of the monsters.
Early one morning, as they returned home, drained and exhausted, Brick floated down the long hallway towards the kitchen. He turned to see Reese sitting at the computer that Darion had destroyed. He had a notebook in his lap and was intensely studying it. Brick paused a moment as he had the feeling he had seen a book similar to the one Reese held before. He shrugged and dismissed the feeling as a result of exhaustion. As Brick continued on, he heard voices coming from down in Professor Utonium's lab. He wandered down the stairs and found Professor at the working computer with Darion looking over his shoulder.
"So, this is mine?" Darion asked as Brick approached. The computer screen again displayed the chemical analysis of Darion's blood. Brick sighed as he felt Professor had studied the information so much as to commit it to memory.
"This is yours," Professor answered, "I just wish I could figure out what Shadau's up to. So far, none of his new Mornaucks seem to be any different. With as many as we've gotten rid of, if Shadau were trying to duplicate anything that's already in you, we would've seen something by now."
"Well, they're all different. The one me, Brick, and Blossom chased down last night looked like a bear with horns!" Darion remarked.
Professor chuckled, "Yes, he's definitely turned the animal world inside out."
"Yeah, whatever," Brick muttered as he landed next to Darion and looked at the screen, "Ya know, 'Can't let an opportunity pass you by'."
Darion turned to face him and furrowed his brow. "Where'd you hear that line?"
Brick yawned and rubbed his eyes. "You're boy, Shadau."
"When?" Darion asked.
"Right before his goons beat the crap outta me," Brick stated.
"Why, Darion?" Professor asked.
Darion shook his head and answered, "That's always kind of been Shadau's 'catch phrase'. Every time he was about to try something new, that's what he'd say."
"What else did he say, Brick?" Professor asked.
"Nothing, really," Brick replied, "He came in and said I wasn't the right one. Didn't stop him, though. He shoved a Q-tip up my nose, then said 'Can't let an opportunity pass you by.' Then he left."
"What did he do with the Q-tip?" Professor asked as he turned to face the boys.
Brick shrugged and replied, "He stuck it in a little bag and took it with him."
Professor looked puzzled as he stared at Brick. He rubbed his chin and mumbled, "What IS he doing?" He turned from them and opened a drawer in his desk. Turning back to Brick and Darion, they noticed he held a small white plastic tab that looked like the top of a Tic-Tac container.
"Come here a second, Brick, let's try something," Professor insisted as he took Brick's hand. He pressed the tab to Brick's finger and they heard a click. Brick jumped as he felt a sharp prick from the tab. He let out a yelp as he pulled his hand away from Professor.
"Hey!" he complained. Brick went to put his sore finger in his mouth, but Professor again grabbed his hand.
"Hold on!" he exclaimed. He squeezed Brick's finger until a small bulb of blood had formed on the puncture wound, then gently wiped Brick's finger on a glass slide. He released Brick and quickly turned and placed the slide in his electronic microscope.
"Is everybody else home now, Brick?" Professor asked as he focused the microscope's lenses on the slide..
"Yeah," Brick answered, "Except for Blossom. She said she wanted to stop at the library for something."
Darion raised his eyebrows. "Alone?"
"No, Dareena and Derrick went with her," Brick stated.
"Good," Professor muttered.
"What are you doing?" Darion asked.
"Let's just see if we can get a jump up in this game," Professor mumbled as he began madly typing on the computer's keyboard to feed information on Brick's blood into the analysis of Darion's.
"What now?" Brick asked.
"OK," Professor replied as he continued with the computer, "We already know that you have the basic ingredients of Chemical X in you, Darion."
"So?" Brick grunted, "What's that got to do with anything? He ain't getting the rest from me, right? Mojo didn't use Chemical X, remember?"
"No, that's what the toilet water was for, right?" Darion chuckled.
"Yeah," Brick grumbled. Then he remembered the notebook he had seen Reese studying. "Hey, I think I HAVE seen that kind of notebook before!"
"What notebook?" Darion asked.
Brick pointed back up the stairs. "Like the one Reese has. Mojo had some like that."
Professor looked stunned as he again turned to face them. "Are you serious? What was in them?"
"I dunno, I couldn't read 'em, remember? They were really old, though," Brick answered.
"Did they have pictures in them?" Darion asked.
Brick nodded. "Hand-drawn, but yeah, there were a bunch."
Professor sat back and rubbed his eyes. He let out a sigh and stated, "OK, so Mojo Jojo had some of Shadau's notebooks. That could explain where he even cooked up the idea of making you and your brothers in the first place. He would have recognized the pattern of Chemical X elements if he had one that Shadau had put it in, possibly come across the leech bit."
"Yeah, but he used snails instead," Brick reminded Professor, "And he didn't have Chemical X. It's not in us!"
The computer behind Professor suddenly beeped to indicate that it was through with its analysis. Professor turned to the monitor and again sighed. "It is now."
"Huh?" the boys exclaimed.
"Right here," Professor stated as he pointed to a chemical chart on the screen, "In fact, with Darion's blood and yours together, he's got the entire formula."
"That's bad," Brick stated.
"Only if he figures it out, Brick," Professor replied, "I'm thinking more like this.he's had the basic ingredients all this time, but either didn't know what he had, or,."
"Or what?!" Brick demanded.
"The more I look through Shadau's research notes, the more I'm convinced that the partial formula he's had just didn't strike him as 'interesting enough'," Professor stated.
"Meaning?" Darion prodded.
"Meaning that he's not looking for any specific thing.his research is based on what he finds that's different. Yes, the Chemical X ingredients are different, but nothing worth pursuing, in his mind," Professor explained, "So if he doesn't recognize the Chemical X as anything useful, he just moves on to another project. He tried to make something out of it at one time, but apparently gave up."
"Yeah, when he was beating the hell out of me every chance he got," Darion stated angrily.
"Sorry to say it, but, yes, Darion," Professor answered.
"So, what's he lookin' for now?" Brick asked.
"Like I said, anything that sparks his interest," Professor replied. He scrolled through several graphs and charts too quickly for either Darion or Brick to make sense out of. "What's truly strange is just how similar you two are," Professor remarked, "It's almost as if you're copies of each other!"
"Would that be something for him?" Darion asked.
"Nah, he said I wasn't the right one, remember?" Brick repeated.
Professor suddenly sat up straight in his chair and his mouth dropped open. His eyes widened as he stared at the computer screen.
"Holy cow, that's IT!" he exclaimed as he reached to the side of the monitor and began tearing through a pile of Shadau's notebooks.
"Phosphorous, nitrate, ethyl alcohol, kerosene, the elements are all here!" he murmured as he continued madly at the computer keyboard, "Why didn't I see this before!"
Professor rifled through one of Shadau's genuine notebooks, then returned to continue his rampage on the computer's keyboard.
"The fields were frozen, he tried to melt them with fire!" Professor muttered as the printer began spitting out documents, "I remember that!"
"What are you lookin' for??" Brick demanded.
Without answering, Professor scooped up the notebook he had been looking at along with the computer printouts and hurried up the stairs, out of the lab.
Chapter 21 "I've got it!" Professor exclaimed as he burst into the computer room where Reese sat. "He doesn't know about Brick's fire breath, and Darion's got the same type of chemicals in him that Brick does! It's all here! Ethyl alcohol, phosphorous, hell, even molecules from embalming fluid! Do you get it? He's trying to make the Mornaucks flame-proof! Once he analyzes the blood sample he has from Brick, he'll see the same thing!"
"No," Reese mumbled, "That's not it."
"That HAS to be it, Reese!" Professor insisted, "Don't you remember London? The fields he had were frozen over from the cold weather. He tried to melt them with a flame-thrower hoping they had survived! He didn't even know about my kids until recently. He probably told his Mornaucks to snatch the red-headed boy, and Brick and Darion look enough alike that they just grabbed the wrong kid."
"Yeah, they do look a lot alike," Reese answered as if from a distant dream. He stared out the window and continued, "And you're right, he probably told his Mornaucks to get the red-head."
Professor grinned and asked, "So you get it, right? That's what he's looking for!"
"That's not what I said," Reese replied as he continued to look out the window. He let out a long sigh and shook his head. "Brick and Darion look alike, yeah, but somebody else shares a resemblance as well." He picked up the notebook he had on his lap and turned it to face Professor Utonium.
Professor's jaw dropped open and a horrified look crossed his face. There was a newspaper clipping from the Townsville Times taped into the notebook and Professor recognized the scene.
"Oh my God!" Professor mumbled, then quickly turned and fled the room.
Chapter 22
Derrick let out a long yawn as they walked down the street towards home. "Damn, I'm tired," he complained.
"OK, OK," Blossom soothed, "We're going home now, so relax. It'll be light soon anyway."
Dareena snickered and said, "You've got to be the only person I've ever met with her own key to the town library!"
"Yeah," Blossom giggled, "I'm in there enough the head librarian decided to just give it to me. She knows I'm not going to trash the place. I love it there!"
"Boring, if you ask me," Derrick snorted.
Dareena shook her head. "You'll never change." She pointed to Derrick's feet and said, "Tie your sneaker before you trip and bust your face, will you?"
Derrick stopped, looked down at his feet and sighed. He knelt and began untangling the laces as the girls giggled at him.
Dareena suddenly paused and looked around. She furrowed her brow and looked to the sky. "What was that?"
"What?" Blossom asked with a chuckle, "I don't hear anything."
"Oh my God, what is that!?" Dareena shrieked.
Derrick turned to look behind him, but as he did, something swooped over his head sending him rolling forward with its force. He looked up and saw that both girls were now gone and a huge bat-like creature soaring away from him. He let out a howl of anger and took off after the beast.
The bat was considerably larger than the one he and his siblings could morph into, black as the night around him, and as it turned to see Derrick chasing it, Derrick noticed that its face looked like one of the missing Townsville citizens. The creature let out a bone-chilling screech, but Derrick continued after it, howling his rage at it as he went.
The bat headed left and as Derrick took off across the street to keep up with it, he was suddenly caught in the glow of a pair of headlights. Derrick felt a searing pain in his left leg as the speeding car struck him, sending him up over its hood to smack into the windshield, roll over the roof, and hit the pavement with a thud. Derrick struggled to get up as the white Lincoln Continental sped away. He looked at his left leg and saw that it was horribly twisted and mangled. He lay on the street and helplessly watched both the car and the bat disappear from view.
Into the Belly of the Beast
Blossom struggled within the dark innards of the creature as what felt like tentacles wrapped around her entire body to hold her still. Its belly had split open like bombay doors on a B-52 and sucked her up with vacuum-like pressure. It was impossible to move and she quickly found her lasers inoperable inside the creature. She tried to draw in air to hit the beast with her ice breath, but found that the air inside the bat was thick with ether. Though she fought it with all her strength, she fell into unconsciousness with Lenny Baxter's hideously misshapened face floating in her mind.
The bat was losing altitude fast as the early morning sun began to sap its strength. The Lincoln followed behind it, remaining in the shadows below. The bat gave a last scream and crashed to the ground, spilling its cargo as it rolled in the dust along side the road.
The Lincoln stopped under a tree and Shadau cautiously got out and looked around. He knew he had to move quickly or risk being caught by the sun's rays himself. He hurried to the bat and watched it struggling to get up. He simply walked away from it and over to where it had ejected its passenger.
"Well, what have we here? A stow-away," he smirked. Dareena slowly sat up, then her eyes widened as Shadau reached for her and grabbed her by the hair. She screamed as he picked her up and wrapped his left arm around her neck.
Blossom groggily opened her eyes, but was still too dazed to get up. She saw a blurred Shadau standing before her and Dareena struggling in his grip.
"Let her go," Blossom mumbled, "She's not yours anymore."
"True," Shadau remarked, "She's not. Maybe later." He then dug his right hand into Dareena's back as she screamed in agony. With a flick of his wrist, he wrenched her body in separate directions. Blossom cringed as she heard a sickening crunch as Shadau snapped Dareena's spine. He then dropped her and she hit the ground like a loose sack of potatoes. Though her eyes were still open, she looked dead. Blossom could only stare at him in horror.
"Maybe later."
Chapter 23
Reese hit the Toronado's brakes hard, sending all its occupants lurching forward and causing the tires to screech in protest. They quickly climbed out of the car to approach the struggling figure lying in the street.
"Derrick!" Bubbles screamed as she zipped to his side, "What happened, where's Blossom?"
Derrick panted with pain and tried to get up again. He shivered as he said, "Shadau...he's got a bat...big one..."
"C'mere, kid," Reese stated as he knelt at Derrick's side. He helped Derrick sit up and examined his broken leg. "Looks like your night's officially over." He looked to Professor and said, "He needs to go to a hospital. He's already in shock."
"Then get him there," Professor stated sternly. He leaned over Derrick and gently placed his hand on his shoulder. "Where did they go, Derrick? Any idea?"
"Don't know," Derrick answered, "Really big bat...headed towards the hills...mines...has to be the mines..."
"No way," Reese said, "You're not going after him alone."
"You're right," Buttercup grunted, "He's not."
"Wait a minute," Reese insisted, "You are not going out there without me. You take Derrick, I'll handle Shadau."
"Hey, Blossom's our sister, pal," Buttercup barked.
"And ours," Boomer added.
Professor nodded and stated, "Welcome to the wonderful world of responsibility, my friend. Take care of your son first. Then catch up." He turned to Brick and said, "Go on, but don't head in until I tell you to, got it?"
Brick nodded and answered, "Yeah, but we get to tear him apart."
Reese suddenly grabbed Professor by the front of his shirt and glared directly into his face. "You're gonna get yourself and your kids killed, my friend," he muttered menacingly.
A sly grin spread across Professor's face as he replied, "We'll just see about that, now won't we?" He broke loose from Reese's hold and turned towards an oncoming car. He flagged the vehicle down, hopped into the passenger's side, and waved as he left the scene.
Reese let out a sigh and turned to Brick and the others. "Well, go on, then!" he ordered. He carefully picked Derrick up, headed to the Toronado, and gently put him in the car. He looked to them as he opened the driver's door. "Be careful. Don't get yourselves killed. And look out for your dad."
Brick chuckled as Reese's car headed out of sight. "Let's go."
"Wait a second, what about me?" Darion asked.
"You should've gone with Reese," Butch answered, "Guess you're walkin' now."
"You're not leaving me behind, damn it!" Darion shouted, "Blossom may be your sister, but Dareena's mine!"
"Darion," Butch began, "You can't fly by yourself. How you gonna keep up?"
"I'll hitch with one of you," Darion answered.
"No," Brick grumbled, "You're not going, Darion, and we're wasting time arguing with you. Just go back to the house and..."
"Do you even know where the mines Derrick mentioned are?" Darion cut him off, "Or where you're going once you get there?".
"Uhhhh..." Brick stammered as he looked to his brothers. Their expressions answered his unspoken question, so he looked to Bubbles who shook her head. Buttercup only shrugged.
"Funny, 'cause I do," Darion stated confidently, "I've been in there. I know where I'm going."
Buttercup rolled her eyes and sighed, "Oh, c'mon, Darion, just tell us where we're going, will ya?"
"Nope," Darion replied, "Not unless I go with you."
"Darion," Brick started sternly as an angry look crossed his face, "We don't have time for your games."
"You're right," Darion answered, "We don't. We seem to be at an impass here. You don't know where the mines are, and I'm not going to tell you unless you agree to take me with you."
"We could just beat the hell out of you," Boomer grumbled.
Darion chuckled as he glared at Boomer. "Not like I haven't experienced that, either." He turned to Brick and extended his hand. "Deal?"
Brick let out an annoyed sigh and glared at Darion. Finally, he nodded and accepted Darion's handshake. "I'm gonna kick your butt later."
A toothy grin spread across Darion's face as he answered, "You can try."
Chapter 24
"Darion!" Brick choked, "Ease up on my throat, will ya?"
"Sorry!" Darion shouted over the whistling wind as the group traveled at super speed towards the hills and the mines where Shadau was hiding. Darion dared a peek down from Brick's back and quickly cringed. He shut his eyes and held on for dear life as they soared over the hills.
They landed outside the mine's entrance and snickered at Darion as he tried to regain his balance on wobbly legs.
"Not funny," he grumbled.
"You don't seem to have any trouble when you fly with Derrick and Dareena," Bubbles giggled, "You're weird!"
"I usually don't have to deal with the sounds of the wind whistling through my earrings, either," Darion replied, "That's what's weird!"
"C'mon, let's go," Buttercup muttered.
They cautiously entred the mine and followed Darion through the maze of tunnels to the rickety rails. Bubbles shivered as they crossed over the huge expanse and timidly looked over the edge.
"That's a long way down," she commented, "I hope we don't fall off this."
Boomer rolled his eyes and stated, "If you fall through it, Bubbles, just fly back up!"
"Oh yeah!" Bubbles giggled. Then they heard the snuffling noises. "What was that?" Bubbles exclaimed.
"It sounds awfully big!" Buttercup added.
"That's what me, Derrick, and Dareena heard last time we were in here," Darion explained nervously, "We didn't stick around to see it."
"Well, let's find out," Brick grumbled as he headed to the front of the group and went down the tunnel the sound was coming from.
The noises got louder as they traveled down the tunnel, then they noticed that the walls around them seemed to glow with a strange orange light. They turned left at a junction between three tunnels and stopped short.
"Holy shit!" Butch shouted.
Directly in front of them was a huge beast that looked like a dragon from King Arthur's court. Its enormous head had fins larger than the sails on the biggest boat they had ever seen protruding back from its ears, its body was covered in scales as big around as a wrecking ball, its spiked tail was as long as a hockey rink, and its feet were all spiked with claws as long as the railroad ties they had walked across. It also looked as if it were made entirely of flames as it glowed orange and a strange hue similar to gas fumes surrounded it. As its huge orange eyes focused on them, it opened its long snout, revealing row upon row of long fangs, and let out a deafening roar. Bubbles, Buttercup, Brick, Butch, and Boomer nailed it with their lasers, but their attack only seemed to irritate the creature as it reared up on its hind legs and howled. It slammed its front feet down on the rock causing the entire tunnel to shake. It growled at them, then drew in a long breath. Brick suddenly knew what was coming.
"Let's go!" he hollered and quickly led them back out of the tunnel. The dragon let loose with a huge blast of its fire breath that chased them back out into a huge cavern. They split up and ducked to either side of the tunnel's opening as the wall of flames shot passed them.
Boomer heard the sound of water somewhere ahead of them. He grinned and shot down the next tunnel towards the sound.
"Boomer!" Buttercup shouted, "Come back!"
The dragon ran passed them and after Boomer as he flew down the long tunnel. Its ear-splitting screeches echoed all around them.
"C'mon, Fido!" Boomer taunted the dragon, "Follow me!"
He suddenly found the source of the sounds he had heard. He saw a long wooden bridge that spanned a deep chasm. He landed in the centre of the bridge and quickly looked around as the dragon howled again behind him. Falling down one wall of the trench with a deafening roar was an enormous waterfall that flowed to the bottom of the cave into a huge, never-ending whirlpool. If he could just get the dragon to follow him.
The dragon stomped at the end of the bridge and growled at Boomer. Boomer slowly backed away from the dragon and chuckled at it. "C'mon, ya big gas ball, come and get me!"
The dragon roared at him again and let loose with another blast of its fire breath. Boomer quickly shot up over the flames, then floated back to the bridge. The dragon was enraged by his game and began to make its way across the span after Boomer. With each step of its huge feet, the bridge creaked and groaned with the monster's weight. Boomer floated just above the bridge's wooden planks so the dragon would think he was still standing on it.
"C'mon, c'mon, time's a-wasting!" Boomer taunted, "Let's see what you're really made of!"
The bridge suddenly began to collapse with the dragon's weight. It looked over the side of the structure and realized where it was heading and let out a screech. The dragon fell as the bridge's weakened centre pieces splintered and tore away from the ends attached to the rock cavern on either side. Boomer hovered over the span and chuckled as the dragon plummeted to the water. "Happy trails!" he shouted.
He gasped as suddenly a long leathery tentacle shot up from the dragon's body and snapped around his right leg and began pulling him down with it. Boomer tried to get loose from the dragon's grasp as it hung below him and screeched. Its tail was sucked into the whirlpool and the water's force began dragging it down into the centre of the spiral. Boomer shot a laser at the tentacle then screamed in pain as long spears grew out of sides of the tentacle and slowly pierced into his leg. In a panic, Boomer turned and grabbed for what was left of the bridge. He managed to get his upper body on the bridge, but the dragon's weight and the pull of the water were too strong for him to drag himself up any further. Boomer panted with exertion as he tried desperately to cling to the bridge, but he began slowly sliding back down with the dragon. Long splinters from the bridge's rotted wood cut his fingers as he reached the edge. He let out a scream as he finally lost his grip on the bridge.
Suddenly, someome snatched his right hand, stopping his fall. He looked up to see Buttercup above him lying prone on the bridge and holding him with both hands. Her eyes widened as she, too, began to slide forward over the edge. Brick dove forward and grabbed her feet before she slid too far. He dug his heels into the planks and pulled backwards as hard as he could.
"Don't you let him go, Buttercup!" he shouted, "Don't you lose him!"
"I won't!" she screamed back at him.
"Gimme your other hand, Boomer!" Butch shouted as he leaned over the edge of the bridge and grabbed onto Boomer's shirt.
Bubbles shot over the edge and shot a laser blast at the tentacle wrapped around Boomer's leg. Boomer howled as the spears dug deeper into his leg. "Quit that!" he shouted at Bubbles, "You're only making it madder!"
"What do we do?" Bubbles screamed.
"We gotta get him loose!" Butch hollered.
"How?" Bubbles yelled, "We can't get close enough to it! It's made of fire!"
"Hang on, I got this," Darion shouted. He stood at the edge of the broken bridge and looked down at the dragon. Its blasts of fire couldn't reach up to where the group lay, nor could it reach Boomer. Its tentacle was all that was keeping it from being sucked into the whirlpool.
Boomer screamed as the dragon went deeper into the pool. The muscles in his leg strained and his hip socket popped as it pulled on him. "It's gonna tear my leg off!"
Darion suddenly leaped off the edge of the bridge and landed on the dragon's tentacle. He steadied himself and stood up. The dragon screeched at him and tried again to launch a fireball up to where they were.
"Darion, what are you doin'?" Butch yelled, but Darion seemed not to hear him. Darion glared directly into the dragon's eyes and grinned a wicked smile. "Bye, bye!" he muttered. Then he opened his mouth and bit through the tentacle. It retracted like a rubber band and snapped Darion up into the air. With nothing to hold onto, the dragon was dragged into the whirlpool. Bubbles watched it disappear in a bloody shower of muck as it was sucked into a small tunnel at the bottom of the pool.
Buttercup, Brick, and Butch fell backwards as Boomer was released. They quickly scrambled to pull him up on the bridge. Darion reached for the rocks on the side of the cavern and was horrified to see that he had misjudged his distance and missed his target. He began falling to the pool below.
He watched in shock as he came closer and closer to the water's churning surface. He was suddenly grabbed and pulled back up as Bubbles caught him in midair and flew back to the bridge where the others sat, huffing and puffing over their effort to save Boomer.
"Thanks, Bubbles," Darion said, "That was close."
"Too close," Boomer huffed, "Thanks, guys." He began pulling on the section of dragon tentacle still clinging to his leg. He sucked in his breath in pain as he tried to pull the spears out of his skin. "Man, how do I get this thing off me?"
"Wait for all the blood to drain out of it," Darion explained, "Then they'll fall off on their own."
"Great," Boomer grumbled, "So for now, I have this thing hanging on me."
"Can you walk at least?" Darion asked.
"Doesn't matter, I'll just fly," Boomer answered.
"No better time than the present," Brick stated as he stood up. He pulled Boomer up and looked back the way they had come. "We still need to find Blossom, Dareena, and Professor. We split up, tear this mine apart if necessary. Butch, Buttercup, you go back that way. Bubbles, Boomer, you go back to the other tunnel and look around. Darion, you stick with me."
Buttercup threw her arms up and shouted, "Whoo-hoo! Finally, I'm not stuck with you!"
Brick smirked at her as she grinned back at him. "Ha-ha," he muttered.
The next two weeks were busy ones for the group. With Professor Utonium and Reese's guidance, they began seeking out and destroying Shadau's Mornaucks. They quickly discovered that the best time to find Shadau's many minions was at dusk as they slowly crept from their daytime hiding places. Each night, they headed out and spread over Townsville to hunt down more of the monsters.
Early one morning, as they returned home, drained and exhausted, Brick floated down the long hallway towards the kitchen. He turned to see Reese sitting at the computer that Darion had destroyed. He had a notebook in his lap and was intensely studying it. Brick paused a moment as he had the feeling he had seen a book similar to the one Reese held before. He shrugged and dismissed the feeling as a result of exhaustion. As Brick continued on, he heard voices coming from down in Professor Utonium's lab. He wandered down the stairs and found Professor at the working computer with Darion looking over his shoulder.
"So, this is mine?" Darion asked as Brick approached. The computer screen again displayed the chemical analysis of Darion's blood. Brick sighed as he felt Professor had studied the information so much as to commit it to memory.
"This is yours," Professor answered, "I just wish I could figure out what Shadau's up to. So far, none of his new Mornaucks seem to be any different. With as many as we've gotten rid of, if Shadau were trying to duplicate anything that's already in you, we would've seen something by now."
"Well, they're all different. The one me, Brick, and Blossom chased down last night looked like a bear with horns!" Darion remarked.
Professor chuckled, "Yes, he's definitely turned the animal world inside out."
"Yeah, whatever," Brick muttered as he landed next to Darion and looked at the screen, "Ya know, 'Can't let an opportunity pass you by'."
Darion turned to face him and furrowed his brow. "Where'd you hear that line?"
Brick yawned and rubbed his eyes. "You're boy, Shadau."
"When?" Darion asked.
"Right before his goons beat the crap outta me," Brick stated.
"Why, Darion?" Professor asked.
Darion shook his head and answered, "That's always kind of been Shadau's 'catch phrase'. Every time he was about to try something new, that's what he'd say."
"What else did he say, Brick?" Professor asked.
"Nothing, really," Brick replied, "He came in and said I wasn't the right one. Didn't stop him, though. He shoved a Q-tip up my nose, then said 'Can't let an opportunity pass you by.' Then he left."
"What did he do with the Q-tip?" Professor asked as he turned to face the boys.
Brick shrugged and replied, "He stuck it in a little bag and took it with him."
Professor looked puzzled as he stared at Brick. He rubbed his chin and mumbled, "What IS he doing?" He turned from them and opened a drawer in his desk. Turning back to Brick and Darion, they noticed he held a small white plastic tab that looked like the top of a Tic-Tac container.
"Come here a second, Brick, let's try something," Professor insisted as he took Brick's hand. He pressed the tab to Brick's finger and they heard a click. Brick jumped as he felt a sharp prick from the tab. He let out a yelp as he pulled his hand away from Professor.
"Hey!" he complained. Brick went to put his sore finger in his mouth, but Professor again grabbed his hand.
"Hold on!" he exclaimed. He squeezed Brick's finger until a small bulb of blood had formed on the puncture wound, then gently wiped Brick's finger on a glass slide. He released Brick and quickly turned and placed the slide in his electronic microscope.
"Is everybody else home now, Brick?" Professor asked as he focused the microscope's lenses on the slide..
"Yeah," Brick answered, "Except for Blossom. She said she wanted to stop at the library for something."
Darion raised his eyebrows. "Alone?"
"No, Dareena and Derrick went with her," Brick stated.
"Good," Professor muttered.
"What are you doing?" Darion asked.
"Let's just see if we can get a jump up in this game," Professor mumbled as he began madly typing on the computer's keyboard to feed information on Brick's blood into the analysis of Darion's.
"What now?" Brick asked.
"OK," Professor replied as he continued with the computer, "We already know that you have the basic ingredients of Chemical X in you, Darion."
"So?" Brick grunted, "What's that got to do with anything? He ain't getting the rest from me, right? Mojo didn't use Chemical X, remember?"
"No, that's what the toilet water was for, right?" Darion chuckled.
"Yeah," Brick grumbled. Then he remembered the notebook he had seen Reese studying. "Hey, I think I HAVE seen that kind of notebook before!"
"What notebook?" Darion asked.
Brick pointed back up the stairs. "Like the one Reese has. Mojo had some like that."
Professor looked stunned as he again turned to face them. "Are you serious? What was in them?"
"I dunno, I couldn't read 'em, remember? They were really old, though," Brick answered.
"Did they have pictures in them?" Darion asked.
Brick nodded. "Hand-drawn, but yeah, there were a bunch."
Professor sat back and rubbed his eyes. He let out a sigh and stated, "OK, so Mojo Jojo had some of Shadau's notebooks. That could explain where he even cooked up the idea of making you and your brothers in the first place. He would have recognized the pattern of Chemical X elements if he had one that Shadau had put it in, possibly come across the leech bit."
"Yeah, but he used snails instead," Brick reminded Professor, "And he didn't have Chemical X. It's not in us!"
The computer behind Professor suddenly beeped to indicate that it was through with its analysis. Professor turned to the monitor and again sighed. "It is now."
"Huh?" the boys exclaimed.
"Right here," Professor stated as he pointed to a chemical chart on the screen, "In fact, with Darion's blood and yours together, he's got the entire formula."
"That's bad," Brick stated.
"Only if he figures it out, Brick," Professor replied, "I'm thinking more like this.he's had the basic ingredients all this time, but either didn't know what he had, or,."
"Or what?!" Brick demanded.
"The more I look through Shadau's research notes, the more I'm convinced that the partial formula he's had just didn't strike him as 'interesting enough'," Professor stated.
"Meaning?" Darion prodded.
"Meaning that he's not looking for any specific thing.his research is based on what he finds that's different. Yes, the Chemical X ingredients are different, but nothing worth pursuing, in his mind," Professor explained, "So if he doesn't recognize the Chemical X as anything useful, he just moves on to another project. He tried to make something out of it at one time, but apparently gave up."
"Yeah, when he was beating the hell out of me every chance he got," Darion stated angrily.
"Sorry to say it, but, yes, Darion," Professor answered.
"So, what's he lookin' for now?" Brick asked.
"Like I said, anything that sparks his interest," Professor replied. He scrolled through several graphs and charts too quickly for either Darion or Brick to make sense out of. "What's truly strange is just how similar you two are," Professor remarked, "It's almost as if you're copies of each other!"
"Would that be something for him?" Darion asked.
"Nah, he said I wasn't the right one, remember?" Brick repeated.
Professor suddenly sat up straight in his chair and his mouth dropped open. His eyes widened as he stared at the computer screen.
"Holy cow, that's IT!" he exclaimed as he reached to the side of the monitor and began tearing through a pile of Shadau's notebooks.
"Phosphorous, nitrate, ethyl alcohol, kerosene, the elements are all here!" he murmured as he continued madly at the computer keyboard, "Why didn't I see this before!"
Professor rifled through one of Shadau's genuine notebooks, then returned to continue his rampage on the computer's keyboard.
"The fields were frozen, he tried to melt them with fire!" Professor muttered as the printer began spitting out documents, "I remember that!"
"What are you lookin' for??" Brick demanded.
Without answering, Professor scooped up the notebook he had been looking at along with the computer printouts and hurried up the stairs, out of the lab.
Chapter 21 "I've got it!" Professor exclaimed as he burst into the computer room where Reese sat. "He doesn't know about Brick's fire breath, and Darion's got the same type of chemicals in him that Brick does! It's all here! Ethyl alcohol, phosphorous, hell, even molecules from embalming fluid! Do you get it? He's trying to make the Mornaucks flame-proof! Once he analyzes the blood sample he has from Brick, he'll see the same thing!"
"No," Reese mumbled, "That's not it."
"That HAS to be it, Reese!" Professor insisted, "Don't you remember London? The fields he had were frozen over from the cold weather. He tried to melt them with a flame-thrower hoping they had survived! He didn't even know about my kids until recently. He probably told his Mornaucks to snatch the red-headed boy, and Brick and Darion look enough alike that they just grabbed the wrong kid."
"Yeah, they do look a lot alike," Reese answered as if from a distant dream. He stared out the window and continued, "And you're right, he probably told his Mornaucks to get the red-head."
Professor grinned and asked, "So you get it, right? That's what he's looking for!"
"That's not what I said," Reese replied as he continued to look out the window. He let out a long sigh and shook his head. "Brick and Darion look alike, yeah, but somebody else shares a resemblance as well." He picked up the notebook he had on his lap and turned it to face Professor Utonium.
Professor's jaw dropped open and a horrified look crossed his face. There was a newspaper clipping from the Townsville Times taped into the notebook and Professor recognized the scene.
"Oh my God!" Professor mumbled, then quickly turned and fled the room.
Chapter 22
Derrick let out a long yawn as they walked down the street towards home. "Damn, I'm tired," he complained.
"OK, OK," Blossom soothed, "We're going home now, so relax. It'll be light soon anyway."
Dareena snickered and said, "You've got to be the only person I've ever met with her own key to the town library!"
"Yeah," Blossom giggled, "I'm in there enough the head librarian decided to just give it to me. She knows I'm not going to trash the place. I love it there!"
"Boring, if you ask me," Derrick snorted.
Dareena shook her head. "You'll never change." She pointed to Derrick's feet and said, "Tie your sneaker before you trip and bust your face, will you?"
Derrick stopped, looked down at his feet and sighed. He knelt and began untangling the laces as the girls giggled at him.
Dareena suddenly paused and looked around. She furrowed her brow and looked to the sky. "What was that?"
"What?" Blossom asked with a chuckle, "I don't hear anything."
"Oh my God, what is that!?" Dareena shrieked.
Derrick turned to look behind him, but as he did, something swooped over his head sending him rolling forward with its force. He looked up and saw that both girls were now gone and a huge bat-like creature soaring away from him. He let out a howl of anger and took off after the beast.
The bat was considerably larger than the one he and his siblings could morph into, black as the night around him, and as it turned to see Derrick chasing it, Derrick noticed that its face looked like one of the missing Townsville citizens. The creature let out a bone-chilling screech, but Derrick continued after it, howling his rage at it as he went.
The bat headed left and as Derrick took off across the street to keep up with it, he was suddenly caught in the glow of a pair of headlights. Derrick felt a searing pain in his left leg as the speeding car struck him, sending him up over its hood to smack into the windshield, roll over the roof, and hit the pavement with a thud. Derrick struggled to get up as the white Lincoln Continental sped away. He looked at his left leg and saw that it was horribly twisted and mangled. He lay on the street and helplessly watched both the car and the bat disappear from view.
Into the Belly of the Beast
Blossom struggled within the dark innards of the creature as what felt like tentacles wrapped around her entire body to hold her still. Its belly had split open like bombay doors on a B-52 and sucked her up with vacuum-like pressure. It was impossible to move and she quickly found her lasers inoperable inside the creature. She tried to draw in air to hit the beast with her ice breath, but found that the air inside the bat was thick with ether. Though she fought it with all her strength, she fell into unconsciousness with Lenny Baxter's hideously misshapened face floating in her mind.
The bat was losing altitude fast as the early morning sun began to sap its strength. The Lincoln followed behind it, remaining in the shadows below. The bat gave a last scream and crashed to the ground, spilling its cargo as it rolled in the dust along side the road.
The Lincoln stopped under a tree and Shadau cautiously got out and looked around. He knew he had to move quickly or risk being caught by the sun's rays himself. He hurried to the bat and watched it struggling to get up. He simply walked away from it and over to where it had ejected its passenger.
"Well, what have we here? A stow-away," he smirked. Dareena slowly sat up, then her eyes widened as Shadau reached for her and grabbed her by the hair. She screamed as he picked her up and wrapped his left arm around her neck.
Blossom groggily opened her eyes, but was still too dazed to get up. She saw a blurred Shadau standing before her and Dareena struggling in his grip.
"Let her go," Blossom mumbled, "She's not yours anymore."
"True," Shadau remarked, "She's not. Maybe later." He then dug his right hand into Dareena's back as she screamed in agony. With a flick of his wrist, he wrenched her body in separate directions. Blossom cringed as she heard a sickening crunch as Shadau snapped Dareena's spine. He then dropped her and she hit the ground like a loose sack of potatoes. Though her eyes were still open, she looked dead. Blossom could only stare at him in horror.
"Maybe later."
Chapter 23
Reese hit the Toronado's brakes hard, sending all its occupants lurching forward and causing the tires to screech in protest. They quickly climbed out of the car to approach the struggling figure lying in the street.
"Derrick!" Bubbles screamed as she zipped to his side, "What happened, where's Blossom?"
Derrick panted with pain and tried to get up again. He shivered as he said, "Shadau...he's got a bat...big one..."
"C'mere, kid," Reese stated as he knelt at Derrick's side. He helped Derrick sit up and examined his broken leg. "Looks like your night's officially over." He looked to Professor and said, "He needs to go to a hospital. He's already in shock."
"Then get him there," Professor stated sternly. He leaned over Derrick and gently placed his hand on his shoulder. "Where did they go, Derrick? Any idea?"
"Don't know," Derrick answered, "Really big bat...headed towards the hills...mines...has to be the mines..."
"No way," Reese said, "You're not going after him alone."
"You're right," Buttercup grunted, "He's not."
"Wait a minute," Reese insisted, "You are not going out there without me. You take Derrick, I'll handle Shadau."
"Hey, Blossom's our sister, pal," Buttercup barked.
"And ours," Boomer added.
Professor nodded and stated, "Welcome to the wonderful world of responsibility, my friend. Take care of your son first. Then catch up." He turned to Brick and said, "Go on, but don't head in until I tell you to, got it?"
Brick nodded and answered, "Yeah, but we get to tear him apart."
Reese suddenly grabbed Professor by the front of his shirt and glared directly into his face. "You're gonna get yourself and your kids killed, my friend," he muttered menacingly.
A sly grin spread across Professor's face as he replied, "We'll just see about that, now won't we?" He broke loose from Reese's hold and turned towards an oncoming car. He flagged the vehicle down, hopped into the passenger's side, and waved as he left the scene.
Reese let out a sigh and turned to Brick and the others. "Well, go on, then!" he ordered. He carefully picked Derrick up, headed to the Toronado, and gently put him in the car. He looked to them as he opened the driver's door. "Be careful. Don't get yourselves killed. And look out for your dad."
Brick chuckled as Reese's car headed out of sight. "Let's go."
"Wait a second, what about me?" Darion asked.
"You should've gone with Reese," Butch answered, "Guess you're walkin' now."
"You're not leaving me behind, damn it!" Darion shouted, "Blossom may be your sister, but Dareena's mine!"
"Darion," Butch began, "You can't fly by yourself. How you gonna keep up?"
"I'll hitch with one of you," Darion answered.
"No," Brick grumbled, "You're not going, Darion, and we're wasting time arguing with you. Just go back to the house and..."
"Do you even know where the mines Derrick mentioned are?" Darion cut him off, "Or where you're going once you get there?".
"Uhhhh..." Brick stammered as he looked to his brothers. Their expressions answered his unspoken question, so he looked to Bubbles who shook her head. Buttercup only shrugged.
"Funny, 'cause I do," Darion stated confidently, "I've been in there. I know where I'm going."
Buttercup rolled her eyes and sighed, "Oh, c'mon, Darion, just tell us where we're going, will ya?"
"Nope," Darion replied, "Not unless I go with you."
"Darion," Brick started sternly as an angry look crossed his face, "We don't have time for your games."
"You're right," Darion answered, "We don't. We seem to be at an impass here. You don't know where the mines are, and I'm not going to tell you unless you agree to take me with you."
"We could just beat the hell out of you," Boomer grumbled.
Darion chuckled as he glared at Boomer. "Not like I haven't experienced that, either." He turned to Brick and extended his hand. "Deal?"
Brick let out an annoyed sigh and glared at Darion. Finally, he nodded and accepted Darion's handshake. "I'm gonna kick your butt later."
A toothy grin spread across Darion's face as he answered, "You can try."
Chapter 24
"Darion!" Brick choked, "Ease up on my throat, will ya?"
"Sorry!" Darion shouted over the whistling wind as the group traveled at super speed towards the hills and the mines where Shadau was hiding. Darion dared a peek down from Brick's back and quickly cringed. He shut his eyes and held on for dear life as they soared over the hills.
They landed outside the mine's entrance and snickered at Darion as he tried to regain his balance on wobbly legs.
"Not funny," he grumbled.
"You don't seem to have any trouble when you fly with Derrick and Dareena," Bubbles giggled, "You're weird!"
"I usually don't have to deal with the sounds of the wind whistling through my earrings, either," Darion replied, "That's what's weird!"
"C'mon, let's go," Buttercup muttered.
They cautiously entred the mine and followed Darion through the maze of tunnels to the rickety rails. Bubbles shivered as they crossed over the huge expanse and timidly looked over the edge.
"That's a long way down," she commented, "I hope we don't fall off this."
Boomer rolled his eyes and stated, "If you fall through it, Bubbles, just fly back up!"
"Oh yeah!" Bubbles giggled. Then they heard the snuffling noises. "What was that?" Bubbles exclaimed.
"It sounds awfully big!" Buttercup added.
"That's what me, Derrick, and Dareena heard last time we were in here," Darion explained nervously, "We didn't stick around to see it."
"Well, let's find out," Brick grumbled as he headed to the front of the group and went down the tunnel the sound was coming from.
The noises got louder as they traveled down the tunnel, then they noticed that the walls around them seemed to glow with a strange orange light. They turned left at a junction between three tunnels and stopped short.
"Holy shit!" Butch shouted.
Directly in front of them was a huge beast that looked like a dragon from King Arthur's court. Its enormous head had fins larger than the sails on the biggest boat they had ever seen protruding back from its ears, its body was covered in scales as big around as a wrecking ball, its spiked tail was as long as a hockey rink, and its feet were all spiked with claws as long as the railroad ties they had walked across. It also looked as if it were made entirely of flames as it glowed orange and a strange hue similar to gas fumes surrounded it. As its huge orange eyes focused on them, it opened its long snout, revealing row upon row of long fangs, and let out a deafening roar. Bubbles, Buttercup, Brick, Butch, and Boomer nailed it with their lasers, but their attack only seemed to irritate the creature as it reared up on its hind legs and howled. It slammed its front feet down on the rock causing the entire tunnel to shake. It growled at them, then drew in a long breath. Brick suddenly knew what was coming.
"Let's go!" he hollered and quickly led them back out of the tunnel. The dragon let loose with a huge blast of its fire breath that chased them back out into a huge cavern. They split up and ducked to either side of the tunnel's opening as the wall of flames shot passed them.
Boomer heard the sound of water somewhere ahead of them. He grinned and shot down the next tunnel towards the sound.
"Boomer!" Buttercup shouted, "Come back!"
The dragon ran passed them and after Boomer as he flew down the long tunnel. Its ear-splitting screeches echoed all around them.
"C'mon, Fido!" Boomer taunted the dragon, "Follow me!"
He suddenly found the source of the sounds he had heard. He saw a long wooden bridge that spanned a deep chasm. He landed in the centre of the bridge and quickly looked around as the dragon howled again behind him. Falling down one wall of the trench with a deafening roar was an enormous waterfall that flowed to the bottom of the cave into a huge, never-ending whirlpool. If he could just get the dragon to follow him.
The dragon stomped at the end of the bridge and growled at Boomer. Boomer slowly backed away from the dragon and chuckled at it. "C'mon, ya big gas ball, come and get me!"
The dragon roared at him again and let loose with another blast of its fire breath. Boomer quickly shot up over the flames, then floated back to the bridge. The dragon was enraged by his game and began to make its way across the span after Boomer. With each step of its huge feet, the bridge creaked and groaned with the monster's weight. Boomer floated just above the bridge's wooden planks so the dragon would think he was still standing on it.
"C'mon, c'mon, time's a-wasting!" Boomer taunted, "Let's see what you're really made of!"
The bridge suddenly began to collapse with the dragon's weight. It looked over the side of the structure and realized where it was heading and let out a screech. The dragon fell as the bridge's weakened centre pieces splintered and tore away from the ends attached to the rock cavern on either side. Boomer hovered over the span and chuckled as the dragon plummeted to the water. "Happy trails!" he shouted.
He gasped as suddenly a long leathery tentacle shot up from the dragon's body and snapped around his right leg and began pulling him down with it. Boomer tried to get loose from the dragon's grasp as it hung below him and screeched. Its tail was sucked into the whirlpool and the water's force began dragging it down into the centre of the spiral. Boomer shot a laser at the tentacle then screamed in pain as long spears grew out of sides of the tentacle and slowly pierced into his leg. In a panic, Boomer turned and grabbed for what was left of the bridge. He managed to get his upper body on the bridge, but the dragon's weight and the pull of the water were too strong for him to drag himself up any further. Boomer panted with exertion as he tried desperately to cling to the bridge, but he began slowly sliding back down with the dragon. Long splinters from the bridge's rotted wood cut his fingers as he reached the edge. He let out a scream as he finally lost his grip on the bridge.
Suddenly, someome snatched his right hand, stopping his fall. He looked up to see Buttercup above him lying prone on the bridge and holding him with both hands. Her eyes widened as she, too, began to slide forward over the edge. Brick dove forward and grabbed her feet before she slid too far. He dug his heels into the planks and pulled backwards as hard as he could.
"Don't you let him go, Buttercup!" he shouted, "Don't you lose him!"
"I won't!" she screamed back at him.
"Gimme your other hand, Boomer!" Butch shouted as he leaned over the edge of the bridge and grabbed onto Boomer's shirt.
Bubbles shot over the edge and shot a laser blast at the tentacle wrapped around Boomer's leg. Boomer howled as the spears dug deeper into his leg. "Quit that!" he shouted at Bubbles, "You're only making it madder!"
"What do we do?" Bubbles screamed.
"We gotta get him loose!" Butch hollered.
"How?" Bubbles yelled, "We can't get close enough to it! It's made of fire!"
"Hang on, I got this," Darion shouted. He stood at the edge of the broken bridge and looked down at the dragon. Its blasts of fire couldn't reach up to where the group lay, nor could it reach Boomer. Its tentacle was all that was keeping it from being sucked into the whirlpool.
Boomer screamed as the dragon went deeper into the pool. The muscles in his leg strained and his hip socket popped as it pulled on him. "It's gonna tear my leg off!"
Darion suddenly leaped off the edge of the bridge and landed on the dragon's tentacle. He steadied himself and stood up. The dragon screeched at him and tried again to launch a fireball up to where they were.
"Darion, what are you doin'?" Butch yelled, but Darion seemed not to hear him. Darion glared directly into the dragon's eyes and grinned a wicked smile. "Bye, bye!" he muttered. Then he opened his mouth and bit through the tentacle. It retracted like a rubber band and snapped Darion up into the air. With nothing to hold onto, the dragon was dragged into the whirlpool. Bubbles watched it disappear in a bloody shower of muck as it was sucked into a small tunnel at the bottom of the pool.
Buttercup, Brick, and Butch fell backwards as Boomer was released. They quickly scrambled to pull him up on the bridge. Darion reached for the rocks on the side of the cavern and was horrified to see that he had misjudged his distance and missed his target. He began falling to the pool below.
He watched in shock as he came closer and closer to the water's churning surface. He was suddenly grabbed and pulled back up as Bubbles caught him in midair and flew back to the bridge where the others sat, huffing and puffing over their effort to save Boomer.
"Thanks, Bubbles," Darion said, "That was close."
"Too close," Boomer huffed, "Thanks, guys." He began pulling on the section of dragon tentacle still clinging to his leg. He sucked in his breath in pain as he tried to pull the spears out of his skin. "Man, how do I get this thing off me?"
"Wait for all the blood to drain out of it," Darion explained, "Then they'll fall off on their own."
"Great," Boomer grumbled, "So for now, I have this thing hanging on me."
"Can you walk at least?" Darion asked.
"Doesn't matter, I'll just fly," Boomer answered.
"No better time than the present," Brick stated as he stood up. He pulled Boomer up and looked back the way they had come. "We still need to find Blossom, Dareena, and Professor. We split up, tear this mine apart if necessary. Butch, Buttercup, you go back that way. Bubbles, Boomer, you go back to the other tunnel and look around. Darion, you stick with me."
Buttercup threw her arms up and shouted, "Whoo-hoo! Finally, I'm not stuck with you!"
Brick smirked at her as she grinned back at him. "Ha-ha," he muttered.