Adventures of Captain Xdey (20 page)

Xoey raced toward her father. Roe and Nell shook their heads. “No, Xoey!” She didn’t hear them. She didn’t care that her white hair fell loose as the hat tumbled down to the ground. She just wanted to hug her father. Someone grabbed her from behind and the next thing she knew she was flying backwards.

Gesler grabbed Hiddle by the back of the neck. He squeezed until his son let go of his head. A woman beat Gesler with a purse. “How dare you hurt that boy!” Gesler pushed her to the ground and tossed Hiddle like he was yesterday’s garbage.

Ramos set Nadine down. “Help him.” She pointed to Hiddle’s crumpled form between two sets of bleachers. Ramos unsheathed the sword that the Shinobi had given him. He pointed the tip of the blade at Gesler’s chest.

Gesler smiled a grave smile. He removed his long black jacket, carefully folded it, and set it down. “I have no qualms fighting a child,” he said as he held his palms facing out to indicate he was unarmed. “The question then becomes, do you have issue fighting an adult?”

Ramos stared at the dark-haired man with shady eyes. “No. This is my path.”

With speed, Gesler retrieved an extending baton from behind him. He gestured Ramos forward. Nadine comforted Hiddle. He was alive, but likely in a lot of pain. Ramos pointed his sword at his target. He was far from an expert, but the Shinobi taught him a few things. Patience was, above all, most important.

Gesler moved forward only to find that Ramos disappeared in a cloud of smoke. He looked around for his opponent and when a tip of a blade touched his side, he knew Ramos was behind him. While the child had bravery, he lacked brutality. Gesler swung around and whacked Ramos across his face with the tip of the baton. Blood spewed from his mouth. Ramos pushed the sword into his side an inch or so. Gesler knew it was not a grave wound.

He slammed the baton down upon the shoulder of the boy. His opponent dropped the sword. Ramos did not cry out. A warrior never revealed their pain. Tears, however, could not be stopped. Gesler grinned down at the whimpering boy. “A pleasure.”

He turned to continue his agenda. Ramos stood up behind him, picked up the sword in his off-hand, and slammed it through Gesler’s stomach. “The pleasure is all mine,” said Ramos.

Xoey moved in the air, hoping to land without breaking a bone or slamming head first into something not worth hitting. She tumbled into the harsh landing which created a cloud of sawdust to unearth around her. She held her breath at the sight of Nix running toward her. Unarmed and smaller than her opponent, she pulled herself to her feet and ran to her left. She spotted Ramos in trouble. If he died, everything would be lost. He sought to keep her true on her path. He was her friend. Xoey ran up the stairs with Nix hot on her heels. She was surprised at how fast he could run with a cane. Xoey spun to her right, grabbed the cane out of his hand, and swiped it behind his knees. The cane shattered at the impact. Nix grinned at her discovery.

The gnome pulled dark goggles over his eyes. Nadine looked everywhere for Mal. They didn’t have much time.

Wylar had said that the Wonder-Vac was in the heart of the circus. Mal kicked the sawdust, hoping to find a trap-door. He wiped his brow, uncertain of how he would save them all. Mal looked over at his lingering parents, but they were nowhere in sight. His heart dropped. They were so close. They could have just taken their parents and escaped. Why go through all of this? His hand slid across something metal. It was a copper ring attached to a box stuffed into the ground. He heaved and pulled, but it did not budge.

“Come on!” he shouted at it.

He stomped his feet in frustration. “This is…” He tugged and pulled until his palms were raw. “Stupid box.” His foot slid out from under him and he fell. His head slammed into something hard. Mal rolled over on his stomach and pushed the straw to reveal a box with a green button. He smashed it and the distinct sound of gears could be heard from underneath. He turned to see the box had lifted from the ground on an elevator lift. He pulled the box down and pulled up the lid to see the marvelous invention, the Wonder-Vac. It was to be strapped to the arm and shoulder. The hose extended from the arm and was meant to be held in both hands.

Xoey spotted Mal’s discovery. Nix gripped his fingers deep into her jaw, forcing her to look at him. She winced at the pain. “You have caused me quite a bit of trouble.”

“I could say the same for you,” she said through squeezed cheeks

He laughed in her face. “I will enjoy killing you.”

A red hot pain shot up and through her rib cage. She blinked. Her shirt suddenly felt wet and warm. She looked down to see her own blood pooling to the floor and a knife held fast in Nix’s hand. Xoey fell to her knees.

“No!” she heard someone shout. A bloodcurdling scream of horror echoed through the circus tents. It howled ghostly and mad.

Decyl shook Nadine. “Now!”

Through tears, Nadine radiated a pure white glow. Every ounce of remorse, pain, and frustration surfaced. Mal aimed the vacuum hose toward Nix. Ramos crawled toward Xoey. He pulled her up the steps away from the blinded Nix. She swore she heard him say, “You’re going to be okay.”

The crowds of men, women, and children lacked organization running out of the circus. For every few fallen, dozens would make it to safety. She closed her eyes at the brightness. With his good arm, Ramos fumbled through his knapsack.

Nadine held out her hands and an intense beam of energy shot out from her palms. Nix levitated in the air. Mal didn’t understand why or how she could do that. Nadine was too focused on her goal to notice. They watched as the heart rattled from under the bleacher where Ramos had left it. It stirred and shook violently. Mal took a step back. He was waiting on his cue to turn the device on.

The heart danced in the air until it stopped next to Nix. His screams were muted by the deafening roar that radiated from the stone. Decyl pointed to Mal. “Go!”

Mal flipped the switch. The machine whirred to life. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t put his arm down. It pointed to the sky, but it needed to be pointing in Nix’s direction. He dropped down on his side, using the box to give him the angle he needed. His arms ached and his hands vibrated with such intensity that it was all he could do to hold on. Even his teeth rattled. Nix was pulled forward, as though he was a speck of dust, and he was sucked into the vacuum. Mal quickly turned off the device. He dropped his arms with a sigh of relief and rolled on his back. “I’m never leaving my house again.”

Nadine collapsed as the white light vanished. She wiped the sweat beads from her forehead as she caught her breath. The she and Decyl helped Hiddle to his feet. “I’m okay,” he said. He limped, but reassured them he was able to walk on his own. The three of them rushed over to Xoey. Ramos cradled her head with one hand, attempting to stop the bleeding with the other.

Hiddle stood there in horror. Xoey wasn’t moving. They all cried. Mal perked his head up at the sound of mourning. He could see the group surrounding Xoey. “No…” he said.

“Need not worry, you’ll save them all.”

The heart twirled in the air. The Brashine had said he never had the Wonder-Vac, but what if Wylar was right all along? What if they were meant to work together? Mal gritted his teeth, took a deep breath, and lay back down. He flipped the switch and focused it on the heart, except this time, he reversed it, to where it blew out the trapped creatures. The Djinn reformed as they shot out of the hose.

They slammed into the stone and bounced off of it. Mal’s heart dropped. He was wrong. It was the only solution that made sense. In his despair, a crumpled form shot out of the vacuum. He looked at Nix as he flew end over end into the air. The heart-stone vibrated as he neared. The Djinn inside ripped from his body and were sucked into the stone.

Nix hit full impact against the stone and slid down into a disheveled mess. The floating stone radiated an eerie multi-colored glow and shot the light into Xoey’s wound. She did not move. The group backed away at the sight. All around her, the released Djinn bowed their heads to their saviors. Nadine gasped. Hiddle waved. The light vanished, the Djinn disappeared, and the stone dropped to the ground with a thud.