Chapter 9

The level of strangeness increased exponentially as they moved closer to the snow covered mountain. More pyramids and metallic trees, but also translucent rocks and deep purple patches of snow. There was a yellow orb that had melted all the snow within a ten food radius, and a bright pink bush in full bloom that appeared unhappy under its blanket of snow.

"Blackwing will be here soon." Said Amanda. "There are way too many rifts to go unnoticed. That's why we picked this spot. We can use that to our advantage."

"How much time do we have?" asked Farah.

"Enough." Answered Martin, gruffly.

Todd looked up the mountain. "How far do we have to climb?

"As high as we can." Replied Amanda. "The higher we are, the further the energy will disperse."

Farah and Todd clasped hands.

"Stay safe." She said.

"You're the one with the dangerous job." He replied. "I've got Amanda and Vogel with me. I'll be fine. Please be careful, and watch your back."

They leaned in and kissed. It was awkward in front of everyone, especially with the snickering sounds coming from at least half the Rowdies. Todd was pretty sure all four of them were actually twelve year old boys at heart.

Farah and Todd released each others hands and Todd began his trek up the mountain.

"Careful there, Romeo." Said Amanda. "It almost got PG there for a minute."

"Wow." Said Todd. "Really, that's what we're going to talk about?"

"She's out of your league."

"I'm painfully aware. Thanks."

"Speaking of painfully aware," said Amanda "have you discovered the joys of a physical relationship when you have pararibulitis?"

Todd said nothing.

"Did you even get any tongue before you were bathed in acid or had your shirt crush your ribs?"

"I'm not discussing this with you!" he said as he sped up his climb.

They were silent for a while when Amanda said, "Spiders."

"What?" said Todd.

"I figured out romance wasn't going to work for me when I was making out with Jamie Gregs and was suddenly swarmed by spiders."

Todd cringed.

"Jamie thought he could be understanding of my condition, but he didn't stick around long after that."

After walking a few more minutes in silence he said, "Vines covered in thorns."

"Oof." Said Amanda. "Sounds like a fun one. How'd Farah handle it?"

"She's been… surprisingly supportive."

Amanda shook her head. "You get how rare that is, right?"

"Yeah," said Todd "I don't deserve Farah. I honestly don't know why she still wants me. Not just because of my pararibulitis and the how that affects… aspects of our relationship. But because I'm me and I'm constantly screwing things up." He paused. "When I'm with her, I want to be worthy of whatever it is she sees in me. I want to be the type of man she deserves."

Amanda stopped walking and looked at her brother. "I'm happy for you. Really."

Todd started to tear up and then shook it off. "Thanks. That, uh, means a lot coming from you."

"Yeah." She said as she continued her climb. "It does."

Farah could feel the prickle on her skin. It was like the feeling when a big storm is brewing. That strange crackle of energy in the air. She always felt that before a major mission. She had her gun ready. The remaining three Rowdies had bats and crowbars, which for whatever reason seemed to be more effective for them than guns. Dirk was looking through binoculars.

"You're sure they're coming?" said Dirk.

"No way they've missed this level of breeches." Said Martin. "No doubt about it. They're coming."

"There!" Farah called. "Three o'clock!"

There was a trickle of soldiers coming over the horizon. They were heavily armed. They knew someone was here, and they were prepared.

Farah's head was buzzing with various strategies. How many were there? What were they armed with? What was the best strategy to keep them at bay? Would there be a second wave behind them? She hadn't had time to answer any of those questions when she heard Dirk shout,

"Eight o'clock!"

Farah turned, and sure enough, there was another set of soldiers as large and armed as the first. And as she turned her head, she saw another group. And another. And another.

It was an army.

Todd was sweating despite the cold. The hike was exhausting and Todd had been living on little sleep, fast food, and pararibulitis meds for a while. His body couldn't handle what it once could.

Amanda scoffed at him.

"Keep up, Old Man."

"Hey, I taught you how to use a spoon. You could show a little patience."

"Need me to carry you?" asked Vogel.

At first Todd thought he was being rude, but he saw no trace of that on his face.

"He can, you know." Said Amanda. "One of the perks of being a vampire."

"Thanks, but I'm good." Said Todd as he tried to salvage a little dignity. "How much further?"

Vogel stopped walking so suddenly that Todd crashed into him.

"What?" Amanda asked with concern in her voice.

"We're out of time." He said.

Todd turned and saw what he meant. Hundreds of armed soldiers were closing in on the spot where their friends were stationed.

"Set up, now!" Amanda barked as they scrambled to get everything ready.

Todd couldn't stop picturing Farah and Dirk down there being so grossly outnumbered.

Please, hang on.

Farah felt a pull in her stomach. These numbers were far beyond their estimation.

"Everyone in position!" she shouted as they took their stances. "We have to bottleneck as many of the groups as possible. There are several points around us where they will have to enter is small groups or single file. That will help slow them down."

Not enough. Said her brain, which was working overtime trying to calculate the numbers of opponents and attempting to find ways to even the odds.

The Rowdies got into their battle stances. Farah pulled out her spare gun and handed it to Dirk.

"Do you know how to use this?"

"Yes…ish?" he replied as he took it.

"They want us alive for questioning and experiments." Said Cross. "We can use that."

Farah nodded. "As long as we can buy enough time, the numbers won't be a problem. We just have to keep them at bay long enough to let everything go into motion."

Easier said than done. Hissed her brain, which was refusing to shut up and let her work.

"Can you at least not use clichés when you taunt me?" Farah muttered as she crouched into position.

"What was that?" asked Dirk.

"Nothing." Said Farah, a bit harsher than she meant to.

"Need a hand?"

Farah whirled around and pointed her gun at the unexpected voice. Bart didn't react, but Ken threw his hands in the air so fast that he nearly dropped the laptop he was holding.

Farah lowered her gun. "How did you get here undetected with a literal army closing in?"

Bart shrugged. "Universe."

"Neither of us are interested in being taken again." Said Ken. "We're here to help you cut the head off the snake." He lowered his arms and began typing on his computer.

"What are you doing?" asked Dirk.

"Feeding them false intel. Sending a few of the groups to other locations where there are supposedly more of us or things they need to check out. Anything to confuse them."

"Tuck back behind those rocks at the base of the mountain." Said Farah. "You'll be safer there. Dirk and Bart, keep him covered."

"Roger!" shouted Dirk, who was using enthusiasm to mask his fear.

"Yeah, sure." Said Bart with a shrug. She always seemed to not care. But Farah saw the fear that flashed briefly across her face. She was scared. Not for herself. She was afraid of losing Ken.

I know how you feel.

Everything was set. Todd's heart was pounding.

"Now what?" he asked.

"We have to trigger a pararibulitis attack." She said.

"Shouldn't be hard. I'm surprised we didn't have any climbing up here."

Amanda handed him a knife.

"I'm sorry." Said Todd.

"What?" she asked.

"I'm sorry. For everything. For lying. For being selfish. For not protecting you. For taking so long to find you. For…"

Amanda held up her hand. "Stop. This isn't goodbye. It's going to work and we can hug and cry and have our Hallmark moment later. Just focus."

Todd nodded as Amanda positioned the knife over the palm of her hand.

"I'm sorry too." She said as she dragged the knife across her flesh.

Todd watched in silent horror as his sister screamed in pain the way she had so many times since her diagnosis. He wanted to make it stop. To help her. But instead he stood there and watched helplessly as Vogel began to drain the energy from her body and channel it into the crystal they had set up on the mountainside. She stopped screaming and instead, her body became stiff. It was as if she were in a trance. He wondered if maybe she was. As much as Todd wanted to stay there and make sure she was alright, he climbed the large rock next to them and looked out over into the land below them.

"Anything?" Vogel yelled.

Todd was trying to see some evidence to Amanda's work, but there was none. All he saw was the battle that had begun.