He paused again and took a moment to sweep his gaze across the eyes of the crowd. He was glad he’d stepped up on the rock so he could see them all—their tall, weary bodies and their haggard faces.

“Are we ready to give up?”

The resounding boom of their collective “No!” made his heart soar. Adrenaline pumped through his body.

“Are we ready to quit fighting?”

“No!”

“Do we fear an enemy we don’t understand?”

“No!”

“Will we go and fight no matter what fate brings?”

“Yes!”

“Will we fight?” He screamed it now, energy surging through the air like electric charges.

“Yes!”

“Will we win?”

“Yes!”

“Will we win?”

“Yes!”

“Will . . . we . . . win?”

“YES!”

Sato’s chest heaved with heavy breaths. “Then let’s go and do it.”

Master George was back in the operations center with Rutger, and he felt a deep sadness in his heart. There was a part of him—deep down, hidden, but there for sure—that was telling him he was saying good-bye to his longtime friend for the very last time. He tried to ignore it, but it was shattering his heart.

“I’m sorry to leave you here,” George said. “But I fear we can’t win this battle unless we gather all of our forces. Keep trying until you’ve found them. All of them. Can you do that for me?”

“Of course I can,” Rutger said. The short man put on a brave face that hid nothing. “I give you my word that I won’t rest until every living Realitant responds and we come to help you in the Thirteenth. I’m already about halfway there.”

George nodded slowly, his lips pressed together. “Good, then. You’ll know where to send them—we’ll stay in constant contact.”

“I know, boss. I know.”

George reached out and put a hand on his old partner’s shoulder. “My dear Rutger. We’ve been through a lot together, haven’t we?”

“We sure have.” He grinned, as genuine an expression as he’d ever shown.

“I . . . just want to thank you for being there for me all these years. I want to thank you for . . . for being my friend. Whatever happens . . .”

Rutger held up a hand. “Not another word, boss. Please. Not another word. It’s not needed.”

The two of them locked eyes for a long moment, a thousand memories bouncing between them. It was true. They needed no words.

“Very well. Then we’ll see you and the rest of the Realitants on the field of battle. Whatever form it takes. Now, I have a lot of winking to do. My Barrier Wand is going to be very hot indeed.”

Master George turned away and walked out of the room, hoping Rutger hadn’t noticed the tears that had begun to well up in his eyes.

Chapter 62

Rest and Relaxation

Jane had winked them to the top of a mountain, a craggy peak of black stone that had no vegetation whatsoever. Tick had felt the cool rush of thin air when they’d arrived almost an hour ago and hadn’t stopped shivering since. Once there, Jane had insisted on taking some time to meditate and prepare herself for the difficulties that awaited. Chu had grumbled, and Tick had asked questions, but she’d refused to say another word.

Tick was glad for the break and for the time to collect his own thoughts. Everything had been such a mad rush. But instead he’d fallen into a restless sleep, shivering all the while. When Chu woke him up with a light kick to the ribs, Tick was instantly awake, and thankful his body had gotten a break.

“It’s time we get moving,” Chu barked. Tick wondered if there’d ever been a more unlikable person in the Realities. Ever. The man turned his attention to Jane, who was up and ready to go. “Why’d you wink us so far out anyway?”

Instead of answering, Jane pointed to a rise of rock to their left with nothing but cloudy sky beyond. Then she walked toward it briskly, obviously expecting the other two to follow her. Which they did—Chu a little begrudgingly, mumbling something that Tick couldn’t hear. They reached the spit of rock that rose about thirty feet above their heads, and began to climb the slope, a gradual one with plenty of handholds and footholds. As they neared the top, Tick heard a noise like the rushing sound of water in a swift river. It grew in volume, becoming a roar when he finally poked his head over the upper lip of the jagged black stone.

What he saw before him, stretching from one side of the land to the other, was something that his brain couldn’t compute at first. It seemed impossible, an image he’d only seen in weather reports and videos of massive storms out in the ocean. Miles and miles across, a wide whirlpool of gray clouds slowly spun in a giant circle, an enormous hurricane of fog and mist, with tendrils of lightning flashing within. Thunder rumbled across the windswept fields between Tick and the unbelievable sight in the distance. And even as he watched, he could tell that the storm was growing, as if with every sweep around the churning circle, the vaporous gray air pulsed outward.

The Void looked ready to consume the entire planet.

“Because I thought it’d be a bad idea to land in the middle of the belly of the Void,” Jane finally said after everyone got a good look at the beastly storm. “Let’s be glad I’m in charge.”

“You’re in charge?” Chu laughed. “I’m the only one here with the technological means to accomplish what we both want. And you know it.”

“We all need each other right now. And that’s that.”

Chu didn’t answer, but his eyes showed a fanaticism that scared Tick. Something was up with the man.

“We will capture the power that rages within that storm,” Chu said slowly, evenly. “We will harness it and use it to accomplish the greatest feat ever known to mankind. We’ll become one with the fabric of Reality, see all things, be able to do anything we imagine. My team has it all calculated. We’re ready to move, even though we haven’t done the testing I’d normally demand.”

“My goodness,” Tick said. He barely heard his own voice over the increasing sounds of thunder booming across the land. “You’ve completely lost it!”

“Lost it?” Chu replied with a bark of a laugh. “Boy, you have no idea what we’ve planned! When we add the consciousness of my great mind and soul to the infinite power of the Void and then to Reality itself, I’ll become like a god. All suffering, all crime, all hunger . . . I can make it end. We can make it end. Jane will have her Utopia. Finally.”

Tick looked over at the red mask of Jane, which showed no expression. The wind ripped at her robe and hood. She said nothing, which, for some reason, filled him with dread.

“Am I the only left here who’s sane?” Tick finally asked. “We’re talking about wild experiments and fantastical ideas when we have a hungry storm out there about to eat everything? Including us, by the way!”

Jane turned sharply to him. “Atticus, you don’t understand. You don’t.”

Just then, not too far away—toward the bottom of the slope of the mountain—a host of people suddenly appeared, winking into existence in a quick series of flashes. Tick’s jaw dropped open—it was Master George, Paul and Sofia, Mothball and Sally, Sato and dozens of tall soldiers. They spread out before him like . . . like an army. Tick couldn’t believe it.

“It was just as we feared!” Jane shouted at Chu.

The man took a few steps back, a suspicious look on his face, one of his hands reaching for his pocket. His fingers slipped inside.

“What are you doing?” Tick asked.

Chu’s voice suddenly boomed through the air as if he were commanding an army through a loudspeaker. “It’s time, Benson! Bring them all in. Bring them all. The entire force. The Metaspides, the Ranters, the Denters. It’s time for war.”

Tick leaped into motion, running toward him, not fully understanding, but determined to stop whatever he was trying to do.

“I’ll be right back,” the man said with a last glance at Tick.

Reginald Chu disappeared.

Chapter 63

A Gift from Friends

As soon as Chu disappeared, Tick had only one thought consume his mind. Reuniting with the Realitants. But he’d barely taken a step when he felt a tingle shoot down his back, and suddenly he and Jane were on the far side of them, off the mountain and between his friends and the churning Void. Jane had winked them there.

The wind tore at their clothes, and the cracks of thunder coming from the lightning within the Void made the world seem as if it were about to split open. Which, Tick realized, was actually happening, in a way. Though there weren’t as many rips in Reality as he’d seen back at the Grand Canyon, glimpses to other worlds dotted the air.

“Why’d you do that?” he yelled at Jane.

She stepped up close to him. “No matter what you think, you have no choice but to help me now. Call it a trap if you’d like, but you are out of options. Help me, or the Void will kill everyone. Everyone!”

They stood on grassy fields that had seemed far away just a minute ago. The massive hurricane of the Void churned in a grand circle next to them. It was easily the most frightening thing Tick had ever set his eyes upon.

He knew she’d won. Only he had the power to stop such a horror. “How can I even trust you?” he yelled at her. “I’d be better off doing it alone!”

She leaned into the fierce wind, her gaze glued to the monstrosity in the near distance. She finally looked at him. “And if you succeeded, I’d still do whatever it takes to build my Utopia. Do you understand? You might as well join forces with me now.”

Tick glared back. He wanted to ask how she could still be thinking of her Utopia when so much was on the line. But he chose to let it go for the moment. He was going to turn the tables on her. Use her, for a change. He’d rely on his instincts, pool their powers just like when they broke out of the Nonex. And somehow he would destroy the Void and sever the link with the Fourth Dimension.

“Then let’s do it,” he finally said.

“It’s the right decision, Atticus!” she shouted. “Be prepared to use every ounce of our Chi’karda once the time is right! Stick together every step of the way!”

Tick nodded, refusing to give in to the fear that wanted to cripple him on the inside. “Then there’s only one thing to do.”

She nodded, pointing at the spinning mass of the Void. “Walk straight into it.”

“Tick!”

He looked back to see Sofia and Paul running straight toward him, sprinting at full speed. Part of him wanted to tell them to go back, to leave him, that it was too dangerous this close to the Void. But he wanted to see his friends. Desperately. He started off in their direction to close the gap.

“Atticus!” Jane shouted. “We don’t have time for this!”

“I’ll only be a second!”

He ran until they met, and then they were all hugging each other, fiercely, even laughing. Right then Paul and Sofia were his tie to everything that he cared about in life. Seeing them filled him up, something he’d needed so badly. He’d been running on empty for a long time.