The Search for Mr. R

The Search for Mr. R is the first book of the Veytech series. It stars Eleanor, Jerald, and Tommy Vance, along with Raymond Ramsey. What follows is a complete transcript of The Search for Mr. R.

The Search for Mr. R

A Veytech novel by Fin Walling

Prologue

Raymond Ramsey was running. Running from a force so terrible he hadn’t been able to stop it. All my fault. Raymond grimaced as he ducked into an alley, looking furtively around. His pursuers were nowhere to be seen. He sighed with relief, and continued mentally berating himself. If you hadn’t felt the need to feed your sense of drama, you wouldn’t be in this mess! He got up and started to look for a way out, but before he could spot one, he felt something poke into his spine. A cane. A cane he knew all too well. He slowly turned around to face his pursuer. “Jack.” He intoned, in a voice of both fear and disgust. Jack was a strange looking man in an average black suit. He, rather strangely, had shoulder length blond hair curled at the ends. On his suit, right above his heart (if he had one), was a red diamond patch, sewn into the fabric. His cane was swirled red and white, almost like a candy cane, but near one end, a small, claw-shaped blade poked out, making it look like a second rate scythe. However, unlike a scythe, the blade was inverted, curving toward the top of the walking stick rather than back down. Jack smirked and pressed a latch on his cane, causing the blade to slide back into the cane through a slit that was made to do just that. “Raymond. I have to admit, you led us on quite a chase. You caught on a second too early, or we would’ve had you in your house. Kudos for that. Running to those kids, though. That was stupid. You led us right to them and it was futile. We’ve caught you anyways. And Dr. White is capturing them right now. It’s over, Raymond.” Raymond started to put his hands up, then darted to the right, colliding with one of Jack’s hired guns, who had entered the alley at the exact wrong time. Jack yelled and pressed the latch again, making the blade re-extend. Raymond fell to the ground with an ‘oof!’, and Jack quickly cracked him over the head with his cane, knocking him unconscious. Jack glared at the unconscious man, kicking him in the side. “Load him into the van. We’ll take him to Mr. R. Now, let’s see how Dr. White fared.” He stooped to pick up Raymond’s large and strange hat, as it had fallen off when the man fell. Then he turned back toward the van. As the van drove off, the moon shone over Chicago.

Part I

1

7 hours earlier

11 year old Jerald Vance stood behind the food stall, waiting for his cue. He watched several customers buy bread and fruit, then looked around the city block. Where are they? He was waiting for Eleanor and Tommy to provide the distraction he needed to pilfer some food. He didn’t like stealing, but it was the only way to eat in downtown Chicago that the three orphans were comfortable with. They had gone through too many terrible foster families and orphanages to seek help from the government or any charities. And they had stopped dumpster diving ever since Tommy had gotten food poisoning. Oh, Tommy. Jerald and Eleanor’s five year old brother was a bundle of joy. He was truly a terrific addition to this world. He was quirky, fun, happy go lucky, liked jokes, and, right now, was nowhere to be seen. Jerald was still scanning the street when his eyes settled on a man in a suit with ridiculous hair and an even more ridiculous cane. He couldn’t help chuckling to himself at the man’s curled gold locks and candy cane walking stick. The man was across the street, leaning against a wall. He seemed to be waiting for something, or somebody. Jerald could’ve sworn that he then looked directly back at him, and his smile quickly vanished as he ducked behind one of the stall’s tables. Suddenly he heard the food stall’s vendor talking to two very recognizable voices. “I’m sorry kids, can I help you?” The vendor was a big man, not exactly buff, but not fat either. He wore an apron and rubber gloves, and had a hairnet on over what little hair he had left. He rested his meaty arms on the table as he spoke to Jerald’s siblings. Eleanor and Tommy Vance stood in front of the stall, 14 year old Eleanor holding her 5 year old brother’s hand as convincing tears streamed down his face. “My little brother lost his toy truck around here yesterday.” Eleanor explained as Tommy bawled. “We were wondering if you could help us look for it.” “I WANT TWUCKY!” Tommy wailed, and the man quickly bent down and started looking. That was his que. Jerald hastily loaded as much food as he could into his backpack, occasionally glancing up to make sure the vendor wasn’t looking. After his backpack was jammed full, he stood up, nodded to Eleanor, and quickly left. Now it was Eleanor’s job to tie up the loose ends. She made sure the vendor wasn’t looking, then pulled a random toy truck they had gotten at a thrift store for $.99 out of her pocket. She held it up. “Here’s your truck, Tommy.” Tommy took the truck and cradled it. “Twucky! I love you.” The vendor stood back up as Eleanor thanked him. “No problem. I’m always happy to help a kid find his truck. Goodbye!” Eleanor felt guilty for stealing from this guy, but they needed the food more than him, so she squandered it and left, holding Tommy’s hand and leading him with her. No one saw. No one noticed their heist. The food vendor would be puzzled later, but would chock it up to a miscounting of inventory. No one, that is, but Jack. He smirked at the disappearing kids, then turned and seemed to disappear himself.

2

The siblings met up at their current hideout, an abandoned house in a housing development that never got finished. The floors and supports were all bare wood, with canvas over the holes in the walls and no carpet or furnishings, aside from the torn mattresses the three had gotten from Goodwill. Jerald arrived first, and started divvying up the food. When Eleanor and Tommy arrived, he each gave them their third of the backpack full of food. It was not much. Nowhere near the amount of food kids their age needed. But it was something, and they chomped into it with abandon. Tommy finished his first, and tugged at Eleanor’s arm. “I’m still hungry.” Eleanor paused, about to bite into a loaf of bread, then handed it to Tommy, who happily ate it in two bites. Eleanor sighed, as she was now out of food. She made eye contact with Jerald, and they both knew what the other was thinking. We can’t keep going like this. Tommy, having finished the bread, tugged on Eleanor again and asked, “Elly?” “Yes Tommy?” “Are we the bad guys? We stole from the nice man.” Eleanor and Jerald winced in unison at the question, and Eleanor tried to explain. “No Tommy, we’re not the bad guys. We just. . . needed that food more than he did.” “Oh.” Tommy responded, yawning. The sun was setting over the Chicago skyline, and it was almost time for them to go to bed. “I’m glad we’re not the bad guys.” Tommy lay on his mattress, cuddling up with the stuffed fish the three had found in a box marked ‘Free’ in front of a suburban house. Jerald also lay on his mattress, trying to fall asleep, but Eleanor stayed up. Eleanor and Jerald traded off keeping watch during the night to make sure they weren’t discovered, as sleeping in an abandoned house is technically illegal.

***

Three hours later, Eleanor woke Jerald for his turn. As she was shaking him, she heard footsteps and ragged breathing from just outside their house. She froze, then woke both of them, and all three quickly hid behind a stack of beams that had never been added to the house’s main structure. Suddenly a man burst in. He was breathing hard, and was doubled over, as if he didn’t spend a lot of time working out, or really doing any kind of exercise. He was tall and thin, but not so tall and thin that it was comical. He wore a long black coat and a matching wide-brimmed hat, almost like a fedora’s fabric and style combined with a sun hat’s shape. He looked up just then, and the children had to stifle a gasp. The man looked bald, at least from what they could see. No hair poked out from the brim of his hat. But more strikingly, he only had one eye. Or, one working eye. His right eye was pale and pupiless, unseeing. A ragged scar, a knife wound, ran down that side of his face, from his right forehead to his right cheek. He glanced around furtively, likely looking for his pursuers. Then he looked directly at the kids, and yelped in surprise. He ran over, and they were taken aback by his friendliness/maybe aggression. The three broke into an outright run, Eleanor dragging Tommy just behind her. The man cried out, “Wait! Kids! Eleanor! Jerald!” Eleanor paused, turning back to the man. “How do you know our names?” “I promise, I’m a friend. I,” The man swallowed. “I knew your parents.” Now they all stopped, staring at him like he had sprouted another head. Eleanor gave him a shrewd look. “How do you know our parents?” The man explained. “I can’t tell you anymore right now. I’m being chased. My name is Raymond. Here.” He took off his hat (He was, in fact, bald) and fished around inside. He pulled out a business card. Raymond Ramsey 7492 Slipknot Way. “Go to that address and I can tell you more. Now, I need to go. If I were you, I’d get as far away from here as possible. And don’t lose that card!” He ran off into the night. The three kids stared off at the spot where he had disappeared, wondering if that strange interaction with that even stranger man had actually happened. Then the voices came.

3

“I’m sure he went this way.” came a woman’s voice. “You’d better be.” a man said. “Or Mr. R won’t be happy.” “And of course, you’ll have to be the instrument of his unhappiness.” the woman sighed. “You are his enforcer, after all.” The kids ducked back behind the stack of beams as the man and woman came into view. Jerald stifled a gasp. It was the man from earlier, with the ridiculous hair and cane! The woman beside him, however, Jerald did not recognize. She was primly dressed, with neatly gelled blond hair and a red business suit/skirt. She wore no makeup, but had on a pair of red horn-rimmed glasses that matched her skirt. They were followed by a contingent of burly men in suits and sunglasses that practically screamed HIRED GUNS! “Dr. White,” The strangely dressed man said, thereby identifying the woman, “Let’s cross that bridge when we come to it. All we need to do is find Raymond, and then you’re off the hook.” As he said ‘hook’, he touched the back of her neck with the blade of his cane. She slapped the spot and glared. “I hate it when you do that.” The man laughed cruelly. “I know.” They continued through the abandoned house, glancing around only minimally. Jerald thought the three of them were home free. Until Tommy sneezed. Three huge, echoing sneezes that seemed to vibrate the very air around all of them. Jerald wondered at how such a loud and echoing sound could come out of a boy so small. The adults whirled around, almost simultaneously, and the man strode up to the box, covering a distance of 20 feet in three quick steps. Jerald blinked. How did he move so quickly? The man swept aside the beams with one swipe of his cane. Those were really heavy, and he had almost no leverage! The three backed against the wall as he closed in. “Well, this is unexpected. It’s the Vance children, all grown up.” Another person who knows our names? “We haven’t met before, but the name’s Jack. Jack Diamond. I knew your parents.” Jack smiled a smile that looked more like a sneer. “I have a friend who’d love to speak with you. He knew them too.” Eleanor backed away. While Raymond had emanated an air of paternal, semi-competent dopiness and anxiety, Jack radiated menace, His cane was held tight in one hand as he held his other out to the kids. His too-wide smile shined as he spoke. “Whattaya say, kids? Come with me and I can tell you about your past.” “No way!” Eleanor yelled. Jack sighed. “I was afraid you’d say that. Dr. White, subdue them. I must go after Raymond.” Dr. White sighed and mimicked Jack. “I was afraid you’d say that. Okay, come along, kids.” Dr. White and two hired guns closed in on the Vance children as Jack and the others followed Raymond into the night. “Never!” Jerald yelled. Eleanor kicked one of the men in the crotch and he doubled over in pain. The other went to punch Tommy, who shrieked and jumped out of the way. The man’s fist went through the unfinished wood wall and got stuck. Meanwhile, Dr. White was facing off with Jerald. “Come on, kid. Don’t make this harder than it has to be.” In response, Jerald shoved a nearby bucket onto Dr. Whites head. She stumbled around comically for a second, before Jerald kicked her and she fell out of one of the canvas coverings onto the ground a few feet below. Then, before their opponents could regroup, the children fled into the night.

4

The next morning, the siblings trudged along a sidewalk. Tired and groggy, they had slept in an alley that past night, using bags of trash as pillows. None of them (Except for Tommy) had gotten much sleep, worried that Jack or Dr. White would find them. Jerald and Eleanor had argued in whispers about whether to go to the address on Raymond’s card. Jerald had said that it was the only way to learn about their parents. Eleanor, as the oldest, felt that she needed to protect her siblings, and she didn’t want to go to some address given to them by arguably the weirdest man they had ever seen. Eventually, Jerald had won by playing the Tommy card, saying this was the only way he could know who his parents had been. So here they were. 7492 Slipknot Way. It was. . . underwhelming. Eleanor had expected a sinister evil lair where Raymond plotted how to trick and kidnap children. Jerald had thought it would be something absurd, like a mad science lab or a wizard’s tower. Tommy was busy playing with his fish. Instead of any of these (yes, even the fish), what stood before them was a normal house. True, it was bigger than most, but it was, by any standard, normal. It was made of wood, painted a pleasant shade of tan. The roof had brown shingles, and flowers grew on the window sills in front of green shutters. It had a reasonable lawn, not dead and dry, but not meticulously looked-over. It was the kind of house that you would look at and think, Hmmm, wow, what a completely average and plain house. But still, the siblings had to draw up all their courage to take even a single step onto the (very normal) walkway. Jerald steeled himself and strode up to the door, hesitating for just a millisecond before knocking. The instant his knuckles made contact with the door, it swung open. ''That’s weird. It’s not even closed.'' Jerald pushed it a bit more, than cautiously stepped inside. “Hello? Raymond?” He yelled into the house, and it echoed on the wood paneling that lined the walls and floor of Raymond’s dwelling. The inside was as normal as the outside, maybe a bit dark for a house, but still very average. The entrance way had potted plants, ceiling lights, and a shoe rack. Everything you would expect. A door led to the kitchen, which had all the modern appliances any house did. When Eleanor opened the fridge, it had all the normal things. Eggs, milk, fruit, vegetables, turkey, cheese, etc. Eleanor closed the fridge. Jerald was examining the cabinets and drawers. Silverware, plates, a blender, all normal things. Tommy, however, made a beeline to the parlor, which was connected to the kitchen. “Look, guys, they have a spinny chair! Wheeeeeee!” It was, in fact, a spinny chair, one of those large comfy pods that can spin around, commonly placed in front of windows. Tommy spun the chair, and something clicked within the room. The house started rumbling around them and the chair was descending into the ground, like a slow elevator. Jerald and Eleanor simultaneously dashed toward Tommy, but it was too late. He had descended too far into the ground. He held his hand up toward his siblings. “Ellie! Jerry! Help!” He disappeared into the darkness.

5

Jerald and Eleanor panicked. I mean, obviously. Wouldn’t you if your 5-year old sibling disappeared on a Despicable Me style elevator into the ground of an unfamiliar house? I’m pretty sure you would. Unless you’re a monster. Or you don’t have a younger sibling. Now wait, where was I? Oh, yeah. Raymond’s house. Tommy. Chair elevator.

***

Jerald and Eleanor panicked. “WHERE DID HE GO?!” Eleanor screeched. Jerald took a slightly calmer approach, although on the inside, he was screaming. “Who is this guy that he has a chair elevator in his parlor?!” “I DON’T CARE!! I JUST WANT TOMMY BACK!! TOMMY!!” She began screaming into the hole, and Jerald winced and covered his ears. “Look, screaming won’t solve anything-” “ELLY?” An echoing call came up the shaft. “Huh. Guess screaming did solve something.” Jerald mused. “TOMMY!! ARE YOU OKAY?!” “YEAH, I’M FINE! THIS SPINNY CHAIR WENT INTO A SPOOKY CAVE! IT’S SO COOL!” Eleanor blanched. “A SPOOKY CAVE?!?! TOMMY!! FIND A WAY BACK UP!!” “OKAY!! I’LL LOOK AROUND FOR ONE!! I’LL SEE YOU SOON! WAIT, I HEARD SOMETHING!!” Tommy screamed, and scuffling sounds came from the shaft. Now both of the siblings were freaking out. “TOMMY!!! TOMMY!!!” They were in hysterics. But they were forced to wait until Tommy found his way back up. But he never did.

***

Instead, they went down. It was about 10 minutes of agonizing waiting before the now empty chair re-ascended. Now they were descending into the depths of Raymond’s hideout with a small pen flashlight that Jerald had found in a kitchen drawer. The dim spot of light barely illuminated the natural stone cavern. It wasn’t football stadium vast, but it was relatively large, and the tiny LED bulb barely illuminated a portion of the room. The siblings both gulped at the same time as the elevator came to a stop with a great scraping noise. Then all was silence, apart from the drip of water. This was terrifying. A huge, nearly pitch-black cave, filled with intermittent ambient sounds that made them jump every time, and shadows that made Jerald question his sanity. Eleanor had to draw up every ounce of courage she had to step off the elevator platform. The siblings strode through the caverns, Jerald shining the feeble pen light around as every tiny sound; their breathing, their footsteps, Jerald accidentally kicking a rock; made their hearts hammer harder in their chests. Eleanor felt as though it was hours upon hours of creeping through this nightmarish place. In truth, it was only about 20 minutes. Then the light died. And if they had thought it was terrifying before, now it was absolutely, positively, petrifying. The pitch-darkness combined with the already maddening milieu created just a sense of utter terror that neither of them had ever experienced before. They clung to each other, afraid to move, afraid to speak, afraid to even breathe. Then the light came. At first, Eleanor thought that she was hallucinating from the fear, but when Jerald drew in his breath, she realized that he saw it too. A dim, flickering, orange light that grew slightly brighter as the seconds passed, until finally they could see that it was a lantern. A lantern held by a gnarled, warty, hag, who crept toward them in the darkness. “Well, duckies. What do we have here? Some lost baby birds, away from the nest, looking for their brother.” Jerald and Eleanor were still too terrified to scream, but they trembled and backed against the wall as the hag advanced. The hag cackled, showing her black teeth and shriveled tongue. “Well, it seems the duckies have found more then they bargained for. The hawk makes it’s nest down here, you see. And hawks love duckies.” The hag licked her lips. Finally, the paralysis was broken. The siblings took off down the hall, back toward the elevator. They wandered through the labyrinth, the hag just behind them. They could see the flicker of her light and hear her cackle. “Yes, run, my duckies! Run! I know every inch of this maze!” They turned a corner and reached a dead end.

6

The hag closed in. The siblings had their back to the wall, literally. They had to escape. She’s just an old woman. Jerald reassured himself. ''A creepy old woman. . . with sharp black teeth. . and huge nails. . .and a heavy metal object filled with fire that she can swing at our heads and-oh, who am I kidding. We can’t win this!'' Jerald gulped and frantically searched himself for a weapon. But in his fervor, Raymond’s business card fell out of his pocket. He tried to pick it back up, but the witch quickly snapped it up with her bony, gnarled hand. She squinted at the card, then looked up, surprised. “Wait a minute. Raymond sent you?” She said, in quite a different voice. Instead of a raspy cackle, this was a smooth, sweet voice, with just a hint of an accent Jerald couldn’t place. She sounded like one of those glamorous foreign actors. Jerald and Eleanor blinked. They were deeply confused. The witch put down the lantern and clapped her hands. Instantly, fluorescent lights hidden in the ceiling blazed to life, illuminating the caverns. Jerald and Eleanor winced as the light hit their eyes, and their pupils dilated. Now that the cave was brightly illuminated, they realized that it was not a real cave. Sure, at surface level it seemed real, but then they noticed the hidden speakers that had played the ambient cave sounds, and a door hidden in the wall that could pass a basic glance in dim light, but now seemed glaringly obvious. The woman opened the door and gestured for the siblings to go through. “Right this way.” Eleanor didn’t budge. “Where’s Tommy?” The woman rolled her eyes, as if they didn’t have time for this nonsense. “Your brother is fine. He’s just behind this door. Now scoot!” The siblings reluctantly went through the door as the hag indicated. The room was a control room, filled with screens, presumably connected to cameras, that showed every angle of the cave and Raymond’s house. It was a clean, polished, white room, like a lab or a hospital. Lit by soft fluorescent lights and filled with high-tech equipment. The hag ducked behind a changing screen. “I’ll just be a second.” When she emerged, literally a second later, she had the appearance of a beautiful movie starlet, with styled blond hair, makeup-red lips, and fancy designer clothes. Jerald stared. “How did you do that?” The woman smirked. “Tricks of the trade, darling. Now. Down to business. I’m Ms. Phoenix. I work for Raymond. Now, I suspect you have questions.” Jerald was about to blurt out a host of questions about Raymond, his past, and how he knew the Vance’s parents, when he caught Eleanors glare. Then he remembered. “Where’s Tommy?!” Ms. Phoenix blinked. “Oh, oh yes, I had completely forgotten! My apologies, children.” She hit a button on a console, and one of the wall panels slid open to reveal Tommy happily playing in a small room. He stopped when the panel slid open, and recognized Eleanor and Jerald. He ran to embrace them. “Eleanor! Tommy! The nice lady gave me ice cream!” Eleanor glared at Ms. Phoenix over Tommy’s shoulder, as if to say, ‘You gave him ice cream?!’ Ms. Phoenix shrugged, as if to say, ‘What was I supposed to do to keep a 5-year-old happy in a spooky cave.’ Then, as one, the children, even Tommy, sat down, ready for answers. Ms. Phoenix sighed. “Fine. Sit down. We’ll be here a while.”

7

“Magic. Is real.” The children stared. This was the last thing they expected to hear. And I know it’s also probably the last thing you expected to hear. You: ''I thought this was a high mystery adventure about 3 kids trying to find information about their lost parents! I want my money back!'' Okay, okay. Calm down. I don’t say this much, but I’m sorry. If you’re freaking out right now, I’m sorry that this book isn’t what you wanted. But, this is what happened. I’m telling it like it is. The Vance’s had a wild adventure, and it involved magic. So, if you have a problem with that, you can stop reading! But you won’t. I know you people. I know you because I am one of you. The type that would be reading this book. The creators, the bookish people who dream of a better world. And so, like me with disappointing books, you will keep reading, all the way to the end. Or, maybe you won’t. Ya know what, if I keep talking, you probably won’t. You didn’t come here to hear me ramble on. So, back to the Vance’s adventure.

***

“Magic. Is real.” The children stared. This was the last thing they expected to hear. “I’m sorry, what?” Jerald retorted. Ms. Phoenix smirked. “Magic. Is-” “I know, I heard you. I meant elaborate.” “Okay. Magic is real. Or was. Once. Hundreds of years ago, all had magic. Then there was some big war between two orders. The Paladins of the Light vs. The Dark Order of Archdemon Zyzzy. Now, they had a war, and the beings more powerful than us, some call them ‘gods’, decided that humans weren’t worthy of magic. So they stripped all but a select few of their magical abilities. And over time, the worthy died out. And now, magic has all but faded into obscurity, known about by only a select few.” She paused to sigh, wistfully, as if remembering better days. “Raymond is one of those few. As were your parents.” Jerald started to open his mouth, but Ms. Phoenix held her hand up. “They were relic hunters. That was literally their group name. The Relic Hunters. It was your parents, Raymond, three others,” She scrunched up her face, as if remembering a sour memory. “And the one they now call Mr. R.” At this Jerald finally spoke. “Mr. R? The famous tech billionaire? CEO of Veytech? The man whose face has never been seen? That Mr. R?” Ms. Phoenix nodded and Jerald laughed bitterly. “You’re crazy. Come on guys, let’s leave. This lady is crazy. This is all useless.” Eleanor pulled him back down. “Oh shut up! Don’t you remember that Jack guy mentioning him to Dr. White?” Jerald pondered. Now that she mentioned it, he did seem to recall Jack name-dropping Mr. R when he and Dr. White were conversing. Ms. Phoenix inhaled sharply. “You kids met Jack Diamond? And escaped? Guess you really are Alex and Vera’s kids.” “Wait, you know him too?” “Yes, let me finish my story. So. They hunt magical artifacts for a living. They found the Ring of Soul Stealing, and the Amulet of Kathmet, among other things. They did very well. Until the eye. One day, Lana, their investigator, came up with a lead for the most powerful artifact yet. Something called the Eye of Niishva. There was once a dark wizard, Niishva. He was part of the Order of Zyzzy, the evil guys I told you about earlier. He bargained away his body and soul, to be taken once he died, for gargantuan amounts of power. He was killed by a captain of the Paladins of the Light, and the demon lords he had made unholy deals with swooped in. They divided the body, and Zyzzy got his right eye. He infused it with unholy power, almost as much as the wizard had had in life. Basically, it allowed the wielder to use as many magical artifacts as they could fit on their body, as long as they pay the ultimate price, one mortal soul. Normally the human body is only strong enough to handle 7 or 8 units of Mana before it becomes overloaded. And each artifact uses a certain amount of Mana. Most average about 3-5 units. But the eye expands that capacity a hundred fold. It is very powerful. Zyzzy knew it. So he gave it to his most devoted follower. Mallgi, a member of his dark order. But the Paladins of the Light foiled his plans. They killed Mallgi in a great battle, and took the eye. The great wizard Faaris recognized it’s evil potential, and so he hid away the eye in a deadly tomb, so no one could ever again get that kind of power. But, hundreds of years later, Lana found it. And five years ago they went after it. It was the worst mistake they ever made. Lana was killed in the tomb, and their other companion, Varden, was cursed. This tore the rest of us apart. We reached the eye, and then Mr. R made his move. He seized the eye, and proclaimed that he was worthy of the power. Raymond and your parents tried to stop him, but he gave Raymond that scar, but not before receiving a similar scar from Raymond himself. Then he gouged out his eye and replaced it with The Eye of Niishva. Then. . . he collapsed the tomb. Varden saved Raymond and they escaped the rubble. But your parents didn’t. You know the rest. But I don’t. When Raymond checked the apartment you had lived in, you three were gone.” Eleanor nodded. “They never told us about this, or even the treasure hunting thing. We never met Raymond or Varden or Lana. They hid this all from us. Right before they left on one of their mysterious trips, our mom hired a nanny. Once she disappeared, the nanny bailed. We’ve been on the streets ever since.” “I’m sorry.” Ms. Phoenix bowed her head. Eleanor nodded again. “Thank you. “Now, where is Raymond?” Eleanor grimaced. “We don’t know. The last time we saw him, he was chased into the night by Jack. We came here hoping he would be here.” Ms. Phoenix swore under her breath. “Then Jack captured him. Jack is the most diligent and skilled hunter I’ve ever seen. Raymond. . . is not. He must’ve taken him to Mr. R.” Eleanor cleared her throat. “And, where exactly would that be?” Ms. Phoenix got up and began fiddling with some of the equipment in the room. “That’s the problem. I don’t know. But I know someone who might.” She tossed Eleanor 3 backpacks. She caught them, confused. “What are these for?” “Emergency supplies. In case we’re separated.” Eleanor laughed, incredulous. “You make it sound like we’re going somewhere.” Ms. Phoenix opened a door to another room. “We are. Come on, we’re gonna ask Varden.”

8

Eleanor shivered in her seat. The small plane was intended for cargo, and was very drafty. The siblings had gone through the door into a large hanger. Ms. Phoenix had shuffled them along, and now here they were, sitting in make-shift seats in the cargo hold of a military airplane. Ms. Phoenix had refused to explain how she had gotten the airplane, and Eleanor had more important things to worry about. Things like Jerald. She eyed him in one of the other seats, sitting starstruck at the revelations they had been subject to this afternoon. He had always been a dreamer, and finding out magic was real was pretty much utopia for him. But Eleanor was worried. As the oldest, she had to keep the three together and safe. If Jerald followed in their parent’s footsteps, he could meet an end just like they had. And Eleanor was still not convinced about this whole Raymond business. Although, she realized, if she walked away from this, the rest of her life would be torture, knowing magic was real and her parents had hunted for it. And if this Raymond really was a good guy, she owed it to her parents to save him from Mr. R. Ms. Phoenix’s voice over her headset derailed her train of thought. “We’re almost there, children. Just a few more minutes.” Jerald spoke into his as well. “Hey, who are we going to see again?” “Varden.” Now Eleanor joined the conversation. “The guy that was cursed?” “Yup.” “Yeah, what exactly is his curse?” “You’ll see.” Eleanor sighed, exasperated. This was the sort of thing that made her want to grab Tommy and Jerald and get out of there right now. Not knowing what was ahead, or the specifics of their journey was torture. And the less they knew, the more likely it would be that the journey was unsafe. But before she could worry anymore, they were there.

***

They were somewhere in Arizona. That’s all that Ms. Phoenix would tell them. When Eleanor scoffed and asked how they had gotten from Chicago to Arizona in less than an hour, she simply answered, “Magic.” Now they were walking off a runway that was in the middle of a desert, toward a shed. It was the only building for miles around. It was a tiny wooden shed with a green door, barely bigger than a porta-potty. A man and a woman in strange red uniforms had met them at the runway, and now flanked the four as they made their way toward the shed. Eleanor glanced at the man nervously. His face displayed no emotion. They didn’t carry guns, which she found reassuring, but the way they clenched their gloved hands as they walked made her uneasy. The man stopped and opened the door to the shed. Inside was a black void. It seemed endless, and contained nothing, not even stars. Eleanor shrieked and jumped back, right into the woman. “I’m not going in there!!!” She screamed. Ms. Phoenix closed her eyes. “Yes. you are.” “No!! It’s probably gonna kill me! Jerald, Tommy, run to the plane!!” Neither moved. Tommy was busy playing with his fish, and Jerald glared at Eleanor. “Just go! It’s not gonna kill you. You’re being stupid.” Eleanor opened her mouth to argue more and then the woman pushed her into the shed. Eleanor tumbled in a black void, more complete than any darkness she had ever been in. It was just. . . black. Nothing else. It was mesmerizing. Even the shed’s doorway had faded into the nothingness at this point. It was absolute peace. Finally. Eleanor closed her eyes, and let the endless void swallow her. She was one with the void. Bliss. Pure Blis- Eleanor landed hard on a wood floor, she yelped in surprise, and opened her eyes. She was in a small room with a wood floor and wood walls. A small light lit the room. A doorway led into another space, but another red uniformed man was standing in it. Eleanor blinked in confusion. Then Tommy landed on top of her. She yelped as he giggled. “Whee! Fun ride!” She quickly pulled him out of the way as Jerald landed where they had just been. “What on Earth?” Jerald got up and felt the ceiling above him, as though searching for a secret door. Fortunately, he managed to dart out of the way as Ms. Phoenix materialized in thin air and landed in a 3 point crouch on the floor. She got up and brushed herself off. “Okay, children, this way.” She nodded to the guard, who started leading them through a mess of hallways paneled similarly to the earlier room. Occasionally the passed another red uniformed person, but mostly the walked in relative solitude. They saw many doors, but didn’t go through any until they reached the end of the hall. There the man opened a set of double doors. Then he took his place, standing sentry to the doors. Ms. Phoenix led them through, into an office. A large wooden desk with a comfortable looking chair sat facing the doorway. Behind that was a wall of bookshelves, containing many, many volumes. On another wall, a spiral staircase led up to a balcony with another door on it. The children marveled at the room when the door on the balcony creaked open. A man stepped out. He was neatly dressed, with a white dress shirt, grey vest, and black dress pants. He had spiky blond hair, mostly hidden beneath a grey beanie. He had a pointy nose, searching grey eyes, and a look about him that he knew exactly who you were, and why you were here, which in this case he apparently did. As he entered, a faint hissing noise filled the air, continuing as white noise as he came down the stairs. “I know why you’re here, Ms. Phoenix, and the answer is no.” Ms. Phoenix looked disgusted. “Well hello to you too, Varden. Say hi to your guests.” She moved aside and let Varden see the children. A look of astonishment crossed his face, and he moved closer. “Unforseen. . .” He murmured. “They’re Alex and Vera’s kids.” “I know. And I’m sorry, Ms. Phoenix, but the answer is still no.”He turned away. “But-” Ms. Phoenix returned. Varden twisted back, ripping off his beanie. “The last time I tried to stop R, I ended up like this!!!” Eleanor screamed as she saw that his teeth were pointed and long, fangs. His tongue was long and very thin, a tiny black shaft darted in between his teeth. But that was not all. In the middle of his forehead was a mouth. A horizontal cleft in his skull. This was what was making the hissing. It had similar teeth to his normal mouth, and slowly opened and closed like a clam.

9

Varden turned away and slipped his beanie back onto his head, hiding the mouth once again. “I’m sorry. I can’t. This is not all that monster did to me. That is my curse: I have near-infinite knowledge, but I cannot act. Everytime I do, I turn more into a demon. This is why I have my Order. They act when I cannot. But I will never get involved with Raymond and Ronald’s feud again. If I give you this information, my transformation will progress. I cannot let that happen.” The room was silent, save for the hissing of Varden’s second mouth. Then Tommy spoke. “It’s what Mommy and Daddy would’ve wanted.” When Varden turned back, his eyes were full of tears. “You’re right. You’re right.” Then he collapsed into his chair and started sobbing. “I’m so sorry. This is all my fault. I’m a coward. A selfish coward.” Tommy walked up and put his arms around the man’s neck, giving him a hug. After a while, Varden’s sobs turned to sniffles, then he became silent. He wiped his eyes and looked up. “Raymond is being held in Mr. R’s contingency bunker. 1974 Pine avenue, in Oregon.” Ms. Phoenix nodded. “Thank you.” Varden shook his head. “Don’t thank me, thank Tommy. Now go.” The four quickly exited as Varden waved and settled in for the pain ahead as his body warped and changed more. They took a second to breathe in the hall. “Oregon, huh?” Eleanor said. “I suppose you’re going to say we shouldn’t go.” Ms. Phoenix responded. “Not at all. Oregon it is.” After seeing Varden, Eleanor was even more determined to keep her brothers out of this mess. She would just have to find another way to do it.

Interlude

Raymond shifted from his position sitting against the wall. His captors had gone to great lengths to make sure he was as uncomfortable as possible. No bed but a small, moldy mattress, and every other surface in the cell cool and hard. He rubbed his scalp. It felt naked without his hat, and a small stubble was beginning to coat it. He would have to shave soon. He liked being bald. He had long since destroyed the camera in his cell (by repeatedly throwing his shoe at it) so the stubble would be noticed by none but himself. Unless someone showed up. Like Jack was doing right now. Raymond had long since learned the footstep patterns of his various guards. The usuals had a heavy tromp, not caring who heard them. Dr. White had a nervous trot, often speedwalking to get somewhere important. Poor Dr. White. She was just in the wrong place at the wrong time under the wrong regime. Jack, on the other hand, moved like a cat. Silently and gracefully. The way Raymond knew he was coming was often that the silence got. . . thicker. And, sure enough, Jack’s face appeared in the small window on the airtight bulkhead that served as a cell door. Mr. R was not taking any chances. Jack tapped the electronic panel beside the door, and gears ground deep within it. Then he stood and smirked as it retracted into the doorframe. “Mr. R wants to see you.” He said as he stepped into the cell. Raymond snorted. “Tell that pig-faced joke of a man he can go-OOF!” He was cut off when Jack stabbed him in the gut with the bottom end of his ridiculous cane (fortunately it was not sharp). Jack snapped his fingers and before Raymond could react, two extremely large men in suits and sunglasses entered the cell, grabbed his arms, and started dragging him off. Jack smirked and followed behind. They reached Mr. R’s throne room, the man sitting in the chair that should’ve been Raymond’s, wearing the hat that was Raymond’s. Mr. R smirked at Raymond, who scowled back. In response, Mr. R got up, still wearing Raymond’s hat. “Ah, Raymond.” Mr. R moved toward him, savoring the theatrics of his slow approach. “You came. How nice. I have plans. Big plans.”

Part II

10

The plane ride was mostly uneventful. They landed near the address Varden had given them, and then Ms. Phoenix gave Eleanor a gun. Granted, it was only a tranquilizer, but it still filled her with a sense of dread. “This is for you, and you only.” Ms. Phoenix looked into her eyes. “Only use it if I get captured and you need to protect your brothers.” Eleanor nodded nervously, and took the gun. Then Ms. Phoenix had to steal a truck. She picked the lock with a hairpin, and hotwired a large van belonging to a janitorial company. She went behind a nearby house, and when she emerged she was a man in a blue outfit. Jerald stared. “Wow. I’ve got to learn how you do that.” The janitor smirked and said, in Ms. Phoenix’s voice, “Again, tricks of the trade.” Then they drove. The bunker seemed like a normal industrial building. All grey concrete and black asphalt. It was isolated, miles away from the nearby town. There was no sign hinting at what lay within. They pulled up to a large garage door and Ms. Phoenix/The janitor leaned out to speak to the man in the suit. “Hey, I’m here to clean.” She said with a surprisingly convincing Boston accent. The man grunted, looked in a few boxes in the back, then waved them in. He had missed the children huddled behind the cleaning cart. They parked in the garage, and the kids slipped inside the cart just in time for it to be rolled out by Ms. Phoenix. They were hidden by the trash bags and brooms hanging off the side of the cart. “Alright.” She whispered. “First stop is the archives. See where Raymond’s being held.” They moved on without a hitch, men in suits passing by occasionally. Then they took an abrupt turn, and stopped. “Okay, come out.” They slipped out of the cart to see the janitor messing with a computer console. The room was filled with racks of servers and floppy disks. This was obviously the computer room. “We should be safe in here. Let me just get a lock on Raymond’s location. . .” She worked in silence for a few minutes, and then a prompt popped up: ENTER PASSCODE. Ms. Phoenix cursed, and Jerald leaned close. “Try Mr. R.” She typed it. INCORRECT. 2 ATTEMPTS REMAINING. “What about Raymond?” INCORRECT. “Veytech?” INCORRECT. CONTACTING SECURITY. Immediately, alarms started blaring, and red light flashed in the room. The four all ducked inside the racks of servers as guards rushed in, searching for the intruders.

11

Jerald huddled in one of the end rows, guards closing in rapidly. He desperately looked around for something better to hide in or behind, and his eyes settled on the door. It was only a few yards away, and he could make a dash for it. He tried to estimate the likelihood of success, but realized he needed to act now. Steeling himself, he sucker punched the first guard in the nose, knocking him back. As the second rounded the corner, he grabbed a small brush from the cart beside him and threw it at the guy’s head. It made a hollow thunk as the guard went down. As three more came at him, he took the bucket of soapy water and splashed it on the floor, sending all three to the ground. He grabbed the lid of a trash can and, taking a running start, used it like a sled to slide across the puddle and out through the door.

***

Eleanor and Tommy were pinned down. They had rushed into a different isle than Jerald in the panic, and now guards were advancing. Eleanor spotted Jerald slide out the door on a trash can lid. Good. At least he was safe. Her and Tommy, however, were very much not. The first guard came around the corner, and, having no other weapons, Eleanor flung one of the servers at him. He caught it in midair with a scowl, and threw it over his shoulder as he drew closer. Eleanor and Tommy turned and ran. . . straight into another guard. This one cracked his knuckles as he advanced. At least the guards didn’t have guns. The gun! That was it! Eleanor had completely forgotten about the gun. She quickly pulled it from her pocket and shot one of the tranq darts into the guy’s chest. His face froze with a comical look of surprise as he toppled over. She quickly turned and shot the other one, who went down just as easily. Then they ran. Jumping over the guard’s sleeping form, They emerged out of the server room.

***

The kids were safe. That was good. Now Ms. Phoenix was free to fight the guards to her full ability. She got one in a headlock, and slammed him into one of his comrades. She tranqed two more, then used her Döppleganger abilities to morph into one of the two remaining guards. The other guard, confused, accidentally punched his friend, and then was quickly dispatched by Ms. Phoenix. She started to walk out, still in the form of the guard, when Jack shot her in the back with her dropped tranquilizer gun. She had just enough time to curse Jack Diamond’s name before she dropped unconscious.

12

Jerald made his way through the hallways of the bunker, dodging guards, when he happened upon a strange door. The door itself was not so strange, but when he opened it, he found the passageway behind it descended into the ground. All of the other hallways in the place stayed level. He hadn’t even known that there was a lower level, but there it was. Having nothing better to do, he decided to take this new passage. Maybe it would lead to Raymond’s cell. So he closed the door behind him and went down the stairs. Inside it was nearly pitch black. This part of the complex was obviously not as well maintained as the upstairs. There were cracks in the grey concrete walls, with strange plants and weeds growing through them. The passage was lit only by naked bulbs hanging from the ceiling. Jerald gulped, but when he turned back, he heard guards at the door. He quickly locked it, but realized that there was no going back now. The only way was onward. Onward and downward, as they say. As he went deeper it only got darker. It was obvious that people almost never came this deep, as dead lights became more and more frequent. Fortunately, he did find a flashlight lying on the ground, and after a few whacks, he got it working. It was dim, but better than nothing, and he was grateful for the extra light as he went deeper. Then he nearly ran into a massive door. It was at least 10 feet tall, and made of some strong and shiny metal. Jerald was about to turn back when he heard the voices of guards from behind him. They had correctly guessed he was down here and were now chasing him in the maze. Whatever was behind this door had to be better. So Jerald slammed his fist into a button on the control panel, and the door slowly ground open. He gulped when he saw the inside. Massive dents, scratch marks. Whatever was in there really wanted to get out. He quickly smashed the door panel with his flashlight, which malfunctioned and caused the door to start closing. He ducked through before it could close all the way, and it shut with a deafening boom. Whatever, whoever was in here, he was trapped in here with it.

13

I’m sorry, but I’m skipping this one. I admit it, I’m superstitious. I’m afraid that if I include something in this chapter, something bad will happen. Oh, stop whining. I might be saving you from bad luck. I’m still skipping it. Onto chapter 14!

14

Eleanor and Tommy ran, outpacing the guards that chased them through the complex. Eventually they reached a door, and Eleanor ushered Tommy inside, then locked it. Tommy tugged on her sleeve, and she turned around to see a massive garage full of a variety of vehicles. There were cars, of course, but also motorcycles, small planes, what looked like a tank, and countless others. Eleanor blinked, then had an epiphany. She peeked through the small window on the door, measuring the width of the hallway. Then she looked around for something-and found it. She ran over to a garage door and hit the button to open it. It led deeper into the facility. Then she gestured for Tommy to follow and got in a snowplow. Fortunately, the keys were hanging on a hook in the cab. She grabbed them and started the plow. Then, just as guards were beginning to peek through the open garage door to see what was going on, she drove the snowplow toward them. They ran. Thus began the Snowplow Rampage. No one was hurt. Eleanor made sure of that. She deliberately went just slow enough to not hit anyone, but fast enough that they would think she was gunning for them. She drove through the facility, plowing through (literally) everything in her way. The guards all quickly ducked into smaller hallways as she drew near, and their way was relatively clear as they drove. Eleanor leaned toward Tommy without taking her eyes off the “road”. “Tommy, use the screen in the middle to find Raymond’s cell.” Tommy nodded and started tapping at the GPS built into the plow. “Let’s see. . . prisoners. . . Raymond! Here we go!” A voice began to emanate from the dash. “Turn left.” Eleanor followed the instructions, until the directions forced them to exit the plow. “Go straight.” Straight ahead of them was a dead end with a human sized door in the wall. Eleanor turned the plow so that it blocked the hallway, and they got out. Then she and Tommy both took a deep breath, and pushed open the door.

15

The shadows closed in on Jerald as he crept down the tunnel. “What is it with me and underground tunnels?” he muttered. The good news was he didn’t hear the guards anymore. The bad news was that he couldn’t get out. He had searched the other side of the door for a panel, but there was none on the inside. They really didn’t want whatever was in here getting out. The shadows played with his mind as he went forward. He darted the light around, making sure he was still alone, when he heard a giggle. He aimed his flashlight toward the sound and saw. . . him. It was an exact copy, same clothes and everything. He jumped back, surprised and horrified. He, that is, the other him, doubled over in laughter, and morphed into a girl about his age. “Oh man, you should’ve seen your face.” Jerald blinked in confusion. “Who. . . what are you?” The girl straightened up, still grinning. She had blond hair and bright blue eyes. She wore scruffy clothes and had dirt smudges on her face. “I’m a döppleganger, silly. The name’s Alyssa.” She held out her hand for him to shake. He didn’t take it. “A. . . döppleganger? Like an imitator? A copycat?” Alyssa shrugged her shoulders. “Pretty much. Although I don’t like the phrase copycat.” “So. . . you can transform into whoever you like?” Suddenly something clicked. Ms. Phoenix’s mysterious ability to transform into different people. The speed with which she did it. No one could completely change their appearance in 5 seconds. Even masks, wigs, and makeup took longer. As he pondered this, Alyssa was still talking. “Yep! Not animals, though. That’s Shapeshifter territory.” “There are Shapeshif- You know what, I’m getting off track. What are you doing down here?” Alyssa’s smile disappeared. “They’re keeping us prisoner. You didn’t know that?” Jerald shook his head. “I’m not exactly a friend with the people in this base.” Her smile returned. “Good. I thought you were different. Now, if you’re not friends with them, then what are you doing here?” Jerald was beginning to like this girl. “I’m here to rescue someone. A man named Raymond.” Alyssa gasped. “Raymond’s back?!?” Jerald blinked. “He was here before?” “Yes! He used to run this base. He let us come and go as we please, and had us in nice apartments rather than down here.” Her smile transformed into a snarl. “And then Mr. R took over. His guards herded us down here, and installed the door. They killed any who resisted.” Jerald stood in silence for a few seconds. “Wow. That sucks.” He said, when it was obvious Alyssa wasn’t going to say anything more. Alyssa’s smile returned yet again. “But. . . you’re here to rescue us too, right?” Jerald winced. “Um. . . truth be told, I didn’t know you guys existed until about 5 minutes ago. But it only seems right. I’m looking for a way out myself.” “Great! I’ll take you to the colony!” And before Jerald could react, she grabbed his hand and pulled him down the tunnel.

16

The door led into yet another hallway. Fortunately, this one had signage on the wall. Eleanor studied the sign as Tommy kept a lookout for guards. “Let’s see. . . the cell block is this way.” She and Tommy followed the arrows through the bunker until they could see cells just ahead. The hallway opened up into a much wider room, with the cells along the back wall. From where they stood, they could only see a few cells, which had electronic displays showing the name of each prisoner in large letters. Most were blank, but they could see that the center one said ‘Raymond’. Eleanor gave a shout, and they rushed toward it. But right as they were about to cross into the room, their way was blocked. From the sides of the room, which they had been unable to see from their angle, guards emerged, blocking their way. In the center of the column were Jack, looking as smug as ever, and Dr. White, who looked more disheveled than ever. But they were flanking a man in a black trench coat and weird hat that looked like a cross between a fedora and a sun hat. It was Raymond. But. . . he was all wrong. For starters, he had an evil smirk on his face, and the eye that should’ve been dull and white was shining with an unmistakable aura of malevolence, and glowing with an evil blue light. That’s when Eleanor realized. Raymond was Mr. R. He had lied to them and betrayed them, and Ms. Phoenix was probably in on it too. Obviously Raymond (Mr. R) saw the look of shock, fury, and betrayal on Eleanor’s face, and chuckled. “It’s over.” Was all he said, and then he made a hand signal at the guards. 2 of them grabbed the kids. “Finally. Alex and Vera’s children at last. Or, some of them. We know where your brother is, and we’ll get him soon. It’s over.” He repeated, and laughed again, and this time it turned into a full on evil guffaw. Eleanor lowered her head as she realized the truth to his words. It was over. Then Raymond abruptly stopped laughing, jerked his thumb over his shoulder, and said simply, “Put them with Raymond.” Eleanor raised her head, confused, as the guards opened the door to the cell and flung them onto the floor. Eleanor quickly got up and tried to run out through the door, but they had already closed it. Someone cleared their throat behind her. She turned around, and there sat Raymond, a sad smile on his face. “Hello, children.”

Part III

17

The man and the woman stared at Jerald, faces unreadable. These were Alyssa’s parents, who Jerald had just explained the. . . situation to. Abruptly, the man spoke. “Is it true? Can you get us out of here?” Jerald nodded. “Once the guards find a way in, they’ll leave the door open. They won’t want to get trapped inside, after all. Then we overpower them and escape through the open door.” The woman clutched her husband’s arm. “This is the chance we’ve been waiting for! When they open the door, we can use our abilities to escape!” The man turned to her and kissed her forehead. “Yes.” He whispered. “This is our salvation.” Jerald blinked, confused. “Wait a minute, have they ever opened the door before?” The woman shook her head. “After they put us down here, they closed it for good. Fortunately, we found a grove of edible mushrooms before long, or we all would’ve died. But. . .” She looked sadly at the ground. “We’re almost out. They’ll regrow eventually, but we’ll starve to death before then. This is the only way we’ll survive. This is the only way our daughter will have a future.” The man reached across the table and grasped Jerald’s hand. “Thank you for giving us this chance.”

***

Jerald stood among a contingent of tense döpplegangers, wondering what he was getting himself into. They were waiting around a bend in the tunnel for guards to come. The plan was that they would ambush them, knock them out, then, disguising themselves as the guards, return to the larger group. They would then use confusion to overpower the others, and storm the facility above, finding Eleanor, Tommy, Ms. Phoenix, and Raymond in the process. That was the deal, and Alyssa’s parents had been all too happy to agree. They saw it as a small price to pay for their freedom. Alyssa elbowed Jerald from her position next to her. “They’re coming.” She whispered, “Remember, you can’t disguise yourself, so stay in the middle of the group.” Jerald looked at Alyssa. “I know the plan. I came up with the plan.” Alyssa’s smile wasn’t daunted. “Just making sure.” Then the first guard rounded the bend, and Alyssa’s father punched him in the face. The plan worked great. In a few minutes, a heap of unconscious guards lay in the passage, with identical guards standing over them. Alyssa was the only one who hadn’t transformed, as one of the limitations of döppleganger abilities is a height restriction. Döpplegangers could only take the shape of someone within a few inches their own height. Nonetheless, Alyssa, never daunted, transformed into a pint-sized guard and marched around in a circle wearing an exaggerated frown, making Jerald smile. The others formed a kind of wall around the kids, who walked with them in the center of their group. Soon, the door was inside, with more guards standing around it. One of them waved his arm at the döpplegangers approach, not knowing that they were in disguise. The smaller group drew near, and the same guard barked, “Report!” Alyssa’s father responded with a fist to the guards face.

***

Eleanor blinked. “I’m sorry, what?” Raymond chuckled. Eleanor scowled. “There is nothing funny about this!” Tommy looked from Raymond to the door. “Wasn’t Raymond out there? And evil? And bald?” Raymond sighed. “I wish. Hair makes me itch, and I look good bald.” Eleanor looked skeptical. “Yeah. . . I’m not sure about that. And why are you laughing?!” Raymond shook his head. “It’s just that this is very satisfying, from a storytelling standpoint, I mean.” Eleanor nodded, realization dawning on her face. “Oh. You’re a massive nerd.” Raymond started to protest, but then stopped, realizing she was right. “But why, exactly, is this satisfying?” “Because Ronald is my brother.” Eleanor was disgusted. “You’re kidding. Mr. R is your twin brother?! That is such a cliché!” Raymond shrugged. “Exactly. That’s why it’s satisfying.” Eleanor shook her head, exasperated. “You are so weird. Now, how do we get out of here?” Raymond shook his head sadly. “If I knew, I wouldn’t be here. We can only hope Jerald can get us out of here.” It took Eleanor a second to remember that Raymond knew her and Jerald, or had, ten years ago. “And who’s this?” He crouched in front of Tommy, smiling at him. “I’m Tommy. And you’re Mr. Raymond.” Raymond smiled. “Yes, I am. Hi Tommy.” Eleanor was investigating the glass of the door when she heard something. Raymond came over and peered through the glass alongside her. They watched more guards rush into the room outside and start pummeling the guards that were already there. “What the?” Eleanor gaped, but Raymond smiled. “It’s the döpplegangers.”

18

Jerald smiled at the chaos that the döpplegangers created. Guards were punching guards, unsure of who was real and who was a döppleganger. Several completely authentic guards got laid low by comrades who were seeing double. But Jerald had more important things to do. “You ready?” He said to Alyssa, who was nearby, whooping and cheering while repeatedly kicking a prone guard in the crotch. After a final kick, she came over with a massive grin. “Man, what a rush! I haven’t done something like this since. . . ever!” Jerald smiled, happy that she was happy. “I’m glad to hear. But now we need to get to the cell block.” Fortunately, they were not far, as the döpplegangers had advanced quickly through the building, utilizing confusion to win every skirmish with Mr. R’s forces. Jerald and Alyssa rushed through the hallways of the facility, following signs pointing towards the cell block. The döpplegangers helped them along by keeping the guards occupied, so they were unencumbered as they sped towards their goal. Finally, they emerged until the cell block. The döpplegangers had already made it into here, and there was a battle in full swing by the time they spotted the display reading ‘Raymond’. They rushed over and Alyssa spun the giant wheel on the door. There was a grinding sound, and the door whooshed open, Eleanor and Tommy rushing out. Eleanor hugged Jerald, nearly knocking him over. “Jerald! Thank goodness!” Jerald laughed, relieved. “I lost track of you in the server room, and it’s a good thing you ended up here! That’s two birds with one stone!” Tommy was looking at Alyssa. “Who’s this?” Jerald pulled away from Eleanor as he explained. “Oh, Eleanor, Tommy, meet Alyssa. Alyssa, these are my siblings, Eleanor and Tommy.” Alyssa smiled and nodded. “Pleasure to meet y’all. Now, let’s get out of here.” “Not yet.” Jerald turned back to Eleanor. “Where’s Raymond?” “Oh, he’s coming.” RIght on cue, Raymond stepped out of the cell, smiling at Jerald. “I knew you could do it.” Jerald smiled back, nervously. “Um. . . hi?” Raymond smiled back, awkwardly. “Aw yes. I’m a near stranger you just rescued from my twin brother’s bunker. Awkwardness is to be expected. But I am grateful, and will do my best to repay you.” Eleanor rolled her eyes. “He’s just trying to act all noble and cool. He reads too much fantasy.” Raymond turned to her, dropping his facade. “Oh come on! There’s no such thing as too much fantasy.” Jerald laughed. “I know, right?!? Also, twin brother?!” Raymond turned back to Jerald. “I’ll explain later.” Their bonding was interrupted by shouts from across the room. Jack had arrived. And he was accompanied by Dr. White, who stood timidly behind him as he wreaked havoc. Jack was a blur. He spun and dodged, ducked and jump, all the while decimating the döpplegangers with his funny little cane. They fell in droves, unconscious or injured, to the ground. “Crap. Time to go, kids!” Raymond said, and ushered the Vances toward the door. The door that then slammed shut just before they went through. They looked back to see that Jack had his fist on a panel in the wall, having just pressed the button that controlled the doors. They were trapped in here. With Jack Diamond.

19

Raymond gulped audibly as Jack and Dr. White closed in. At this point, all of the döpplegangers, excluding Alyssa, had been dispatched by Jack. Fortunately, Alyssa’s parents had been in another part of the building. Raymond stood in front of the children, protectively, but Jerald could see that he was as least as nervous as the Vance children. “Stay away from them, Jack. Do whatever you want to me, but don’t hurt the kids.” Jack chuckled. “Tell me, do you actually think that’ll work?” Raymond sagged. “No. But this might.” He drew an object from his pocket, a plastic fork, and flung it at Jack’s head, point first. Jack didn’t even bother dodging. He just let the fork bounce off of his forehead when it hit, handle first. Raymond was not a professional fork thrower. Jack just raised an eyebrow. “Did you actually think that would work?” Raymond shrugged. Jack advanced. “Now. We don’t have to make this hard. Just come with us.” Raymond, instead of answering, looked at Dr. White. “You don’t have to do this.” Jack smirked. “Yes I do.” “Please.” Jack laughed. “Do you really think I’d listen to that?” But Dr. White was looking more and more conflicted as Raymond kept talking. “You helped me when I ran Veytech. Please, help me now.” Jack looked confused, but still smug. “I didn’t help you when you ran Veytech-” “I wasn’t talking to you.” Realization dawned on Jack’s face, and he turned around just in time for Dr. White to smack him in the face with the clipboard she was holding. It stunned him just long enough for her to grab his cane and crack him on the back of his head. Jack fell to the ground, unconscious. Dr. White looked at Raymond, who smiled. “Thank you, Dr. White.” Dr. White nodded and opened the door using the panel. “You should go.” Raymond walked up to her. “Please come with us. When Ronald finds out. . .” Dr. White nodded. “I’ll catch up. Now go.” Raymond nodded and led the kids outside, looking back one more time at Dr. White.

20

They emerged into Mr. R’s throne room, but he was gone. Escaped somewhere on some truck or helicopter. Ms. Phoenix was gone too. Still being held by Mr. R. There was no sign of her anywhere in the cell block, or the bunker itself. Which meant one thing. “He took her.” Raymond muttered. “He needs her for his plan.” Jerald blinked. “What plan?” Raymond turned to look at him. “The villain always has a plan for world domination. And I know what it is. Come on, we need to get to the hanger.” Yes, of course the contingency bunker had a hanger. Filled with helicopters and small planes in the style of the one the kids had arrived here in, it was a convenient escape route for villains. And this is where Alyssa left. “Hey, I get the epic quest and all that, but I kinda have to get back to my parents.” Raymond nodded. “Cool, that works. Oh, and here.” He fished a small device out of his pocket. “I have a transmitter that connects to this. If we need you in the big showdown that’s coming, I’ll press a button and it’ll vibrate. Tell your parents, they’ll know what to do.” Then, with a hug for Jerald and a “See you all soon!” Alyssa was gone. Raymond smiled. “I like her.” Jerald nodded. “Me too.” They were interrupted by a whirring sound from behind them, like a jet engine starting up. Jerald turned just in time to see one of the jets in the hanger open it’s throttle. The hanger door ground open and the jet started moving, driving out the exit door and taking flight. They stood, dumbfounded, unsure what to make of this, until Dr. White ran up behind them, panting. “Raymond!” She was breathing heavy. Like Raymond, Dr. White was not built for running. “Jack. . . escaped. . . Came in. . . here. . . Chased him. . . Jet.” Raymond turned back to where the jet had disappeared. “Ah, that’s a problem.”

21

Raymond flew the helicopter toward Chicago, The kids sitting in the back. Dr. White had decided to stay behind to help the döpplegangers get settled in their new bunker. So here they were, once again. Eleanor, Jerald, Tommy, and Raymond. Raymond who’s voice suddenly crackled over the comm built into the helicopter. All of the kids were wearing headphones, as the copter was LOUD. Without them, they couldn’t hear a thing, excluding the loud thwip-thwip-thwip of the blades. “So. . . . now is probably a good time for some exposition.” As if a floodgate had been opened, Jerald and Eleanor both started talking over each other into the comm, Jerald excitedly, Eleanor angrily. The barrage was so intense that Raymond winced when it hit his ears, so hard his headphones nearly fell off. “He’s your brother?!” “You owned Veytech?!” “Why were there döpplegangers in that bunker?!” etc. Eventually Raymond had to yell to get them to stop. “Guys. Guys, guys, GUYS!” They fell silent, stunned by his outburst. “Yes, Ronald is my brother. Twin, actually. We found magical artifacts, our last mission went wrong, he turned evil. That’s that. Also, yes, I owned Veytech. After the Relic Hunters disbanded I needed something to do, so I started it. Dr. White and a few others helped me. Because of my eye, and because I have a sense of drama, No one outside the company ever saw my face. That was fine, until Ronald heard about it. He used the eye, his new accomplice, Jack, and the fact that no one knew who I was to take over. Also, the döpplegangers lived there willingly. They did grunt work for the company. Any more questions?” Jerald spoke. “Wait, you both have one white eye. Were there two Eyes of Niishva?” “No, I’m just blind in one eye. He’s the one with the Eye of Niishva.” Now Eleanor spoke up. “Where are we going?” “I was hoping you’d ask that. We’re going back to my house. I need to grab some stuff. And I need to shave. Then we’re going to Veytech headquarters in Minneapolis. That’s where Ronald is finishing his plan.” “Yeah. . . what is his plan?” “Well, Ms. Phoenix explained how the eye worked, right? Well, He’s gonna use it to use all of the magical artifacts he’s gotten his hands on over the years. With all that power combined. . . he’ll be unstoppable.” They sat in solemn silence as that sunk in. A silence that was broken when Raymond said, “I’ve always wanted to say that.” Eleanor rolled her eyes. “So. . . we’re going to stop him and save Ms. Phoenix?”  “Exactly.”

22

They arrived in Chicago, landing their helicopter on a parking lot, much to the confusion of passersby. Raymond glanced nervously back at their parking space as they walked toward Slipknot way. Eleanor sighed exasperatedly. “For the last time, Raymond, no one is going to steal the helicopter.” “But what if they do? That’s an expensive piece of equipment, and downtown Chicago isn’t exactly the safest neighborhood in the world.” Eleanor just rolled her eyes as they continued down the block.

***

The door was broken. They noticed that from all the way across the street. It was hanging of it’s hinges in a way that implied someone had broken in. Raymond paled, quickly looked both ways, and ran across the street to assess the damage. The kids followed at a more reasonable face, Eleanor holding Tommy’s hand. Inside, the house was destroyed. Everything had been wrecked, vases and paintings strewn about. Raymond looked like he was about to say something, but then he looked at the kids and instead chose to let out a loud “Dang it!” He hesitantly entered the parlor, as if he didn’t want to actually see what had happened. And his worst fears were confirmed. The Armchair had been ripped out of the floor, the naked elevator shaft exposed to the world. It still seemed to be functioning, but badly. Dents and scratches marred the floor around it, and the platform itself. When Raymond stepped on it, it made a loud grinding sound that it was very much not supposed to. He held out his hand to the kids, who shared a look. Then Jerald reluctantly stepped onto the broken elevator, with Eleanor and Tommy following suit. Then they slowly descended. The elevator rattled and ground, wobbling and shaking as they went down. It was very nerve-wracking. Near the end of their descent, literal smoke started emanating from parts of the mechanism. They were all very happy to get off. The downstairs was wrecked. Now that the children saw it more clearly with the flickering fluorescent lights in the ceiling, it was obvious that the entire labyrinth was just a farce to scare away the nosy and unprepared. Also, Raymond said he “Liked it.”. Speakers sat in corners, making noises like the scurrying of rats and the dripping of water. Small signs set into the walls had helpful arrows showing where the actual bunker was. Raymond winced when they came to the door; it was ajar. He pulled it open more and stepped inside. As expected, the bunker was trashed. Broken glass, overturned chairs, and potted plants were strewn about, adding a hazardous obstacle course as the four of them made their way across the room, Eleanor carrying Tommy on her shoulders. They entered another chamber, this one being one the kids hadn’t seen. It was filled with marble pedestals, about waist high, with the tops covered with boxes of glass, like an exhibit in a museum. All the boxes were empty but one, the glass broken. Convenient plaques on each pedestal named the magical artifacts that had presumably sat there. The ‘Bracer of Jhan-gluur’, the ‘Amulet of Kathmet’, and ‘Akiira’s Helm’ were some of the artifacts that had presumably sat there before Mr. R had taken them. Only one artifact remained in it’s case, and this one’s sign was red rather than white. It read: ‘Ring of Soul Stealing’. Raymond grew pale and punched the wall. He swore, and Eleanor covered Tommy’s ears. “It’s all gone!” Raymond ranted. “All of it! Except for this stupid cursed ring.” He stopped. He looked at the ring. A smile crossed his face. He opened the case, picked up the ring, and stuck it in his pocket. Then he turned to the kids. “Come on. We’re going to stop my brother.”

23

Eleanor shook her head. “No. we’ve had enough. We saved you and all those Döpplegangers, and that was cool, but we’re not coming to the final battle. The final battle is when people die. Come on Jerald, Tommy. We’re going.” She pulled Tommy out of the room, but Jerald stayed put. “No.” Eleanor turned. “What?” “No. I’m not going back. Now that I know magic is real, that our parents searched for it, I can’t go back to living on the streets, stealing for food and never being a part of this again. I can’t.” Eleanor was about to speak, to reprimand him, to tell him that it was her job to protect them and she wasn’t going to let them get killed by a creepy bald man in a trench coat, but then Tommy let go of her hand and walked over to stand with Jerald and Raymond. Raymond looked down at him, surprised, and a slight smile split his face. He looked back up at Eleanor, who made a noise deep in her throat that almost sounded like an angry yak being strangled. She sighed, put her head in her hands, and walked over to join them. “Just to be clear, I am ONLY coming to make sure my younger brothers don’t DIE.” Raymond nodded, trying not to grin. “That’s fair. Now let’s go stop my brother.”

***

Minneapolis, Minnesota, where Veytech headquarters was stationed, is a beautiful town. It’s clean for a city of it’s size, and the people are, in general, kind and polite. One of the downsides to living in Minnesota, however, is the cold. The temperature during the winter can sometimes drop below Antarctica’s, meaning that Minnesota is brutal to live in for four months of the year. Luckily for our heroes, it was August. They took the helicopter, of course, because how else are you going to get from Chicago to Minneapolis in two hours? They touched down on a relatively large and flat stretch of grass about 3 blocks from their destination.The walk would’ve been pleasant and leisurely if they hadn’t been going to stop a madman from harnessing the power of every magical artifact the Relic Hunters had ever found. As such, they hurried. “Kids,” Raymond gasped, hunched over, “Slow. . . down!” He was really out of shape, and easily outpaced by the Vance children. Eleanor looked back at him, irritated, and Jerald stopped. After a minute, Raymond regained his strength and they continued. Eleanor turned the corner first, Jerald just behind her, with Raymond and Tommy lagging behind. There was Veytech. None of the kids had seen it before, and all of them reacted accordingly. Eleanor gasped. Jerald laughed. Tommy pointed at the massive building and asked, “Is that where we’re going?” A slight smile creased Raymond’s face. “Yes. Yes it is.” The building was massive, with a huge, inverted trapezoidal central tower. Two smaller towers branched out on either side of the central one, almost forming a ‘V’ with the main building inside. There was some. . . construct set up on the roof. From this distance they couldn’t tell. Raymond pointed at it. “There. That’s where we need to go.” They ran into the building.

24

“I don’t like this shirt.” Raymond frowned at the bright yellow shirt adorned with the Veytech logo he wore instead of his usual trench coat. “It’s itchy, and the color hurts my eyes. When I get my company back, I’m gonna replace this with a nice cotton charcoal grey.” Eleanor rolled her eyes. “For the last time, it’s a precaution. Considering how recognizable you are, with your scar and terrible fashion sense, we needed to make sure no one knew it was you.” Along with the shirt, Raymond wore a black Veytech baseball cap, a pair of jeans, and sunglasses. “I know, I know. I’m just saying.” The four of them were walking at the back of a tour group, intentionally lagging behind so they wouldn’t be missed when they slipped away. The tour leader was a balding, sweaty man with a potbelly and an impressively large red mustache. He kept stuttering and cracking lame jokes, and it was obvious he didn’t know what he was doing. Raymond kept raising his hand and asking hard questions, which obviously didn’t help his state of mind. “Erm. .” The man wiped his forehead with a handkerchief after Raymond asked his latest stumper. “I’m sorry sir, I don’t know when construction on the left side tower was finished. Now, folks, if you’ll come this way,” As he continued, Eleanor hissed at Raymond. “What are you doing?!? You’re drawing attention to us!!” Raymond shrugged. “I’m just disappointed in Ronald for hiring incompetent people. I thought he was better than this.” Eleanor shook her head. “I can’t believe that this is your first priority right now. You-” Raymond urgently shushed her and bent down to speak to the kids. “Now.” He said in a whisper. “In about 5 seconds, the tour group is going to pass an employees only door. That is the door that leads to roof access. On my cue, break from the group and head for that door.” He stood up like nothing had happened, and they continued for about 5 seconds. At that point, he put his hands on Jerald and Eleanor’s shoulders and veered off from the group. Eleanor held Tommy’s hand so he came with them. They made it to the door without being accosted by anyone, and Raymond opened it and ushered the kids through before going through himself and closing the door behind him. He sighed with relief, turned, and froze. There was someone else in the room. That someone was wearing a hazmat suit and working on some device, their back to them. Raymond put his finger to his lips as a signal to the kids to be quiet, and started edging toward the door. Unfortunately, he was not looking down, and kicked a screwdriver laying on the floor. It rolled, clattering on the metal. The person stiffened, put down their tools, and turned around. “You people aren’t supposed to be in here!” They said, in a voice that could have belonged to either gender. They reached toward a radio on their belt, unhooked it, and brought it toward their face. Raymond tore off his hat and glasses and spoke, “Ellix, wait!” The person paused. “R-Raymond? Is that you? You’re back?” Raymond nodded. Ellix dropped the walkie-talkie and sighed with relief. “Thank goodness! I was hoping you’d come back. Ronald is ruining everything. Raymond, he’s planning-” Raymond interrupted. “I know what he’s planning. I’m trying to stop him.” Eleanor cleared her throat. “We’re trying to stop him.” She jerked her thumb at Ellix. “This is Ellix, one of my best scientists.” Eleanor looked at Ellix. “Were they-” “No, I wasn’t a Relic Hunter, but I know what’s going on.” Eleanor nodded. “Ah. Good.” Raymond nodded as well. “Yes. Well, if you people are quite done, we have a villain to stop.” Ellix stepped back, stammering. “I-I-um-don’t-” They stopped short when Raymond put a hand on their shoulder. “Ellix. It’s okay. I would never ask you to do this.” Ellix nodded. “I’m sorry, Raymond. I’m not brave enough for this.” Raymond nodded. “I know. I’m not either.” Then he stood up and opened the door to the stairwell.

25

Ronald Ramsey, Mr. R, false CEO of Veytech, stood on the roof of the building he controlled. “Is everything ready?” He asked Jack, who was fiddling with a console full of buttons and lights. Jack turned to Mr. R and nodded. “Good. Roll the cameras.” Jack flipped a switch, and suddenly every channel on every TV was showing Mr. R’s grinning face. The massive glass front of Veytech also changed to a giant screen, and people gasped on the street below. “People of Earth!” Mr. R roared, his voice amplified by the microphone in his lapel. “I am Mr. R! You may know me as the CEO of Veytech, foremost tech company in the world!!!!” He paused for emphasis. “Now, from this moment on, you will know me as lord and master!!!” He turned, theatrically, and strode toward a table where magical artifacts were piled. Next to the table was a chair, which Ms. Phoenix was tied to. She snarled at Ronald. “You won’t get away with this.” Ronald smirked. “You know, they always say that. And they’re usually right. But this time. . . we’ll see.” He grabbed an intricately carved dagger from the table and held it up to the cameras. “Five years ago, I used this dagger to gouge out my own eye and replace it with this!” He pointed to the Eye of Niishva, which was glowing with an eerie blue night, sensing it’s time was nearing. “Now, I use it once again to activate the artifact. To activate it. . . with a soul.” He turned back toward Ms. Phoenix and raised the dagger. People around the world held their breath as this madman was about to stab her. Ms. Phoenix glowered defiantly up at him, refusing to shy away from her end. Ronald took aim, readied his arm. . . and got hit in the side of the face with a shoe. “Stay away from her!” Raymond roared from off-screen. Jack dutifully panned the camera to reveal Jerald, Eleanor, Tommy, and Raymond standing right next to the door to the stairwell. Raymond was only wearing one shoe. Mr. R snarled and strode toward them, brandishing his dagger. “You again! Why don’t you just give up, you idiots!! I’m gonna win! I have all the magical artifacts!” He swung the dagger, and Jerald stepped out of the way. Ronald laughed cruelly and swung it again, forcing Eleanor to yank Tommy out of it’s path.

***

Ellix had heard the announcement, both from above them and by the screen that sat above their workstation. They also heard, and saw, Raymond and the Vances burst out of the stairwell and attack. Ellix looked at their work, back at the tv, and sighed, frustrated. “Dang it!” Ellix put down the device they’d been working on and started running up the stairs.

***

Ronald was laughing now, swinging wildly at his brother and the kids. He hadn’t hit any of them yet, although Raymond had had some near misses. Now Ronald had Eleanor backed up against the wall of the stairwell, and he was laughing as he swung the dagger once more. Eleanor ducked, but the door opened once more, and on the follow-through Ronald’s dagger sunk into Ellix’s chest. Even though it was hard to tell with the hazmat suit, Ellix was looking down at their chest. “Oh. . . crud.” Then Ellix fell.

26

Energy surged from Ellix’s wound to the dagger, and then on to the eye, which glowed even brighter. Ronald laughed as the eye charged up, and then all was still. Ronald turned back toward the table just in time to be rushed by Raymond. He knocked him aside easily. He made it to the table and picked up a massive fistful of magical artifacts, adorning himself with their power. Each one glowed as he put it on, all of them connected to the eye by beams of light. Ronald raised his hand and Raymond went flying, slamming into the wall. His leg bent awkwardly and he cried out. Ronald snapped his fingers and 3 fireballs streamed out of a gauntlet, narrowly missing Jerald. Eleanor saw the dagger laying next to Ellix, and saw her chance. She picked it up, gazing sadly at Ellix’s prone formed. ''No blood. How odd.'' But there was no time for that now. As Ronald was busy with Jerald, she crept across the roof toward Ms. Phoenix’s chair. She was about to cut the ropes tying Ms. Phoenix to the chair when her swing was deflected by a very recognizable cane. She looked up, and there was Jack, his post abandoned as he blocked the dagger with his cane. “It’s not gonna be that easy.” He withdrew his cane and swung at her head, the blade out. Eleanor leapt back, but Jack was already readying another swing. He was fast. She barely managed to block his first three swings, but the fourth caught her unawares. He swung left, and she moved the dagger to block, but at the last second he swung to the right, hitting her in the side with the flat side of his cane. The dagger flew out of her hand and spun across the roof. He pointed his cane at her neck. She looked up at him, dazed. Suddenly, through her stupor, a connection snapped together in her brain. “Hey. . . I finally. . know where I. . . recognize you from.” He smirked. “Oh?” “The. . . playing card. You’re the Jack. . . of Diamonds.” He smirked wider, bringing up his cane. “My dear. I inspired the Jack of Diamonds.” With a yell, Ms. Phoenix barreled into him, knocking him aside. Quickly Eleanor took in several things. The dagger in Tommy’s hand, the fact that he was standing next to the chair, and the fact that the ropes were now severed. Ms. Phoenix punched Jack in the face and he cried out. His nose was obviously broken. She wrenched the cane out of his hand and swung it at him. The blade pierced his arm and he yelled. He staggered to his feet, pulled the cane out of his arm, and stood there. “This is insanity, Phoenix.” He said through the pain. Ms. Phoenix shook her head. “No. This. Is. VEYTECH!!!” Then she kicked him over the edge of the roof. He fell quite a long way before he hit the ground below. Ms. Phoenix turned and shook her head at the kids. “Raymond is obviously a bad influence on me. What a hack reference.”

27

Jerald was slammed against the ground again by Ronald’s will. He seemed to be transforming, his skin turning the same pale blue as the eye, his fingers and teeth elongating. It was gradual, but noticeable. The eye was corrupting him. “You think you can stand against me?!?!” He roared, his voice made bestial, “I AM BECOME UNTO A GOD!!!!” He swung his hand again, and Jerald barely rolled out of the way as a massive block of stone pulverized where he had just been. Then a voice cut through the chaos. “Ronald. Stop.” Raymond was on his feet, supported by Ms. Phoenix. “I know we’ve had our differences, but we’re still brothers. Please, can we put this aside and join together once again?” For just a second Ronald’s human eye flickered, showing a sense of remorse, longing, and humanity. But then it was gone. “NOO!! YOU SHALL NOT TAKE THIS POWER AWAY AGAIN!!!” He swung his arm in a great sweeping gesture and they were all flung against the wall. Raymond, Eleanor, Tommy, Jerald, and Ms. Phoenix. Ronald, now looking worse than ever, lurched toward them. “I WILL. . . KILL YOU ALL!!!” He roared, raising his hands again. Raymond pressed something into Jerald’s hands and whispered in his ear. “You know what to do.” It was a ring. Jerald stood up, facing Ronald. “Wait!!” Ronald paused. “WHAT?” His voice was loud, even when speaking normally. “Umm. . .” Jerald stammered. “Do-do you like. . . riddles?” Ronald snarled. “NO.” He raised his hands again, and Jerald panicked. He thought through every stalling tactic he had ever seen in a movie, and discarded all of them just as quick. “Screw it.” Jerald ran. He ran past Ronald, to the table. His hand brushed the pile of magical artifacts as he dropped what he was holding. Ronald roared and swung around, chasing Jerald, who tripped on the hard roof. Ronald towered over him, seething. “YOU INSECT!!! I’LL GRIND YOU INTO PIECES, BRING THEM BACK TO LIFE, AND KILL YOU AGAIN!!!!! BUT FIRST. . .” His eyes turned greedily toward the table. He scooped the entire pile of magical artifacts with one sweep, and they all glowed and flew through the air to land on various parts of Ronald’s body. He now looked like he was wearing a mismatched sheet of armor made up of pure magical power. The last item, a ring, trembled in his hand before finally slipping onto his finger. Ronald laughed again as the eye glowed exponentially brighter. “NOW YOU DIE!!!!” He pointed his fist at Jerald, about to blast him into oblivion, when something happened. Ronald stopped. He blinked. And then he disappeared. No fanfare, no dramatic death. He just disappeared. The magical artifacts all clattered to the ground as Jerald opened his eyes and looked up. Raymond, supported by Ms. Phoenix, limped over. He picked up an item from the pile. It was a ring. Inside, he could see a tiny image of Ronald, minus the eye, sulking. Raymond smirked, pocketed the ring, and staggered over to Jerald, giving him an awkward one-armed hug. “You did good, kid. Better than I could’ve done.” Then he turned back to the pile. “Now. What to do with this?” The eye sat in the pile, and it seemed to be glaring at Raymond and Jerald. It was no longer glowing, but suddenly it flashed brighter than before. Raymond, Jerald, and Ms. Phoenix blinked, dazed, and Ellix coughed from the stairwell. “Ow. This hurts.” They all ran over to Ellix, including Eleanor and Tommy. Ellix was moving, but the chest wound was now actually bleeding. Raymond paled. “Oh no. When your soul left your body, it put you in stasis. Now that it’s back. . .” Ellix seemed to smile through the mask. “It’s okay, Raymond. Maybe I was brave enough after all.” Ellix closed their eyes. “Umm. . . I don’t think it’s over yet.” Eleanor spoke up. She was holding a necklace in the shape of a heart. “I think I saw the info card for this one in the bunker. It’s the Amulet of Kathmet, right? Heals any wound?” A smile split Raymond’s face. “Eleanor, you’re a genius.” Eleanor clipped the necklace around Ellix’s neck and the wound closed up. Even the hazmat suit mended itself. Ellix stretched their arms and sat up. “Wow. That feels good, not having a lethal chest wound. Thanks!” They gave Eleanor a thumbs-up, and she smiled sheepishly in return. Raymond turned back towards where Jack had been sitting. “Now. Let’s turn off that broadcast.”

Epilogue

Raymond had decided to officially adopt the Vance (Now Vance-Ramsey) children, and they had agreed, even Eleanor. The second important decision Raymond had made after his brother had tried to take over the Earth was to step down as Veytech CEO. He had given his first official press conference, showing his face to the world for the first time, to say that he would be naming Ms. Phoenix as acting CEO until Tommy was 18, at which point the Vance children would run the company. He had also explained that Veytech was dabbling in movie making, and that the spectacle on the roof had been a rehearsal that had accidentally been broadcast. He was not sure how many people believed it but hey, lying and cover-ups are part of corporate life. Along with having Ms. Phoenix run Veytech, he had named a new board of directors. Lance MacDune, a clever physicist with a prosthetic left arm. Tina Wheatly, who had won the nobel prize for chemistry. Eustice Dallas, a grumpy accountant who could crunch numbers like no other. And, of course, Ellix and Doctor White. Raymond, under the guise of his brother, had laid off all the hired guns and reinstated the döpplegangers in control of the contingency bunker. Allysa and her family, however, had decided to move to Minneapolis and work at the main HQ of Veytech. Jerald was very happy at this decision. Jack, unlike the others that had worked for Ronald, had been nowhere to be found. After the battle, they had gone down to see what happened, and the body had been gone. Eleanor had been exasperated. “How is he alive? No one could survive that!” Ms. Phoenix had shaken her head. “The Jacks are not human. They are. . . very hard to kill.” So he was unaccounted for. But, otherwise, everything was good. The magical artifacts had been locked in a vault even more secure than Raymond’s bunker. The plan was that they would never see the light of day again. The ring, however, Raymond kept in a special place, making sure Ronald was trapped forever. The only question left was, what to do now? Raymond sighed and set his bag down on the floor. He had taken a long flight from Minneapolis to Chicago, and had left his kids in the very capable hands of Ms. Phoenix, Dr. White, and Ellix. He was bored out of his mind. He picked up his crutches and awkwardly made his way into his office, which was a tasteful wood paneled affair with a top-of-the-line laptop set into the desk. The crutches were new, a result of the broken leg he had suffered from Ronald. He sat down heavily in his chair, and stared at the bookshelf lining his wall. Books. . . Raymond had always loved books. Especially fantasy. Rick Riordan, Emily Rodda, Brandon Mull, Tui T. Sutherland, you name it, Raymond had probably read it. Now maybe, just maybe, it was time for him to create instead of just consume. He threw open his laptop, inspired, and logged in. He opened google docs and began typing: Raymond Ramsey was running.

Acknowledgements

If you’re reading this after reading my whole book, Thank you, thank you, THANK YOU! If you just turned to this page to see how it ended, then come on. Just read the book. I promise you’ll enjoy it. Please? Thanks. So, here’s what I got. Thank you to Emily Rodda, Brandon Mull, Tui. T Sutherland, Jolly Blackburn, and Shannon Messenger. Your books inspired me to write my own. Thanks to The Stupendium, DAGames, TheFatRat, and BoomKitty. Your music kept me focused during many late night writing sessions. Thanks to Denis, Minitoon, TheMeatly, Alvaro Azofra, Pablo Realini, Gonzalo Sande, and Scott Cawthon. Your video games inspired me, and influenced my art into what it is today. Thanks to The Derksens, The Harmans (Especially Selah), Kali Mann, MilesDreamsicle, and WildLoner. You are my true friends, the only people on this list who are actually getting a free copy of this book. Thank you to Rob Walling, Sherry Walling, Fisher Walling, Genesis Cook, and Jangler Fish (Which is an inside joke literally 6 people will get). Above all, thank you, dear reader, for reading my book.

Fin

Super Secret Bonus Epilogue

Dr. Alice Drew was perplexed. “You haven’t given him anything to write with? No pens, no pencils, no markers?” The man next to her shook his head. “No, ma’am. And yet, every time we leave him alone, there’s a new scrawl on his cell.” The man they were referring to was sitting in the back of a small concrete cell. He was hunched, with his knees pulled up and his face hidden. Dr. Drew shivered, for even though his eyes couldn’t be seen, she knew he was staring at her. His vivid green turtleneck was remarkably clean for having spent 5 years in a high security prison. The same was true of his jeans, and of his hair, which was short even though no one had let him shave in years. He was barefoot, and his feet were pressed against the cold concrete of the cell floor. No one there knew why he was there, only that he was, that he had been in there for five years, and that he was inarguably insane. Dr. Drew turned to her assistant once more. “What’s his name?” The assistant dutifully flipped through his clipboard. “It’s. . . Oswald. Oswald Lancer.” Dr. Drew turned back to examine Oswald’s cell once more. “And the scrawling?” “It’s-not ink, ma’am. Not graphite, not even wax. I sent a cleaning team in there a few days ago. They couldn’t scrub it off. Whatever it is. . . it’s something new. Something not known to man.” Dr. Drew squinted at the scrawlings filling his cell. Doodles, nonsensical sentences, that sort of thing. She could make out a drawing of what looked like a bone, a crossbow, a fencing sword, a wooden toy sword, and a baseball bat all in a row. There was also a little spiral, what looked like a diagram of Fibbonaci’s golden ratio, and a picture of a solid black orb. She also saw sentences such as “The Cycle continues '', “The echoes, they babble!” and, in larger script, “Raymond must die! '' and “Lana lives” Dr. Drew turned away. “I want a double guard placed on his cell. There’s something going on here. And I don’t like it.”