CHAPTER 60

Madison trembled, doing her best to hold the force field firm, but every second that passed made it more difficult. She could feel the whole weight of the earth pressing down on her, trying to crush her. It was like holding up a car or something on her back, sweat trickling down all over her body from the strain. She wasn't sure how much longer she could keep this up. She felt like she would collapse any second now and that would be it.

Travis was standing right next to her, looking at her with concern. He kept looking like he wanted to say something but didn't. Madison was grateful for that. She didn't need words of encouragement or anything like that right now. She just needed to focus.

It would be better to know that she was holding on for something. That there was some ray of hope. That the others would find them in time and save them, or that Travis was coming up with a plan or something. But he looked as lost as she felt and so far there was no sign of any help. They'd already checked Travis's phone but being underground like this disrupted its signal.

Still, no matter how long it took, Madison would still keep holding on.

"Hey," Travis suddenly said, surprising her. "I…I'm sorry. For bringing you into all of this. You were right, what you said. It is idiotic and suicidal to live your life like a superhero."

Madison sucked in her breath, remembering that day. It had been after the school battle with Swarm, when Travis tried to convince them all to team up. Considering how close they'd just come to dying, Madison had snapped at him.

"N-no, I'm sorry" she mumbled. "I shouldn't have said that."

"But it's true. Even if we do get survive this, this kind of lifestyle is crazy and is going to get us killed sooner or later. I mean, I accepted that. This is what I've always wanted. But you…I brought you into this. And that wasn't fair. So, I'm sorr-"

"I chose this too," she said so softly that it was barely a whisper. But he still heard her, staring at her with wide eyes. "I…I wanted to deny it, but I love my powers. I love using them. And I want to keep doing it. I've…been scared of really trying anything new my whole life because I hate failing. But, when I use my powers, I feel…better. Stronger. More like me. I don't know why." She looked up at him straight in the eyes. "So don't blame yourself. I wanted to come here. I wanted to help Eustace because he's my friend. The only one I had before you. And before that, I wanted to help Gabriela from Swarm. And if there's someone else out there planning on hurting my friends, I want to stop them too. It's what heroes do, right?"

Travis stared in silent shock for a few second before grinning. "Yeah. That's what heroes do."

"We might die here or another day or whatever. But I don't regret it. So you don't regret it either," she told him. "We'll find some way out of-"

"Oh, I already figured a way out of here," he said, shocking her.

"Wh-what?"

"Yeah I came up with something a few minutes ago."

"Why didn't you say anything?" Madison asked, glaring at him. "I'm literally getting crushed by the earth here."

"Well, I wasn't positive it would work or not so I wanted to apologize to you first before we tried it. You know, just in case."

Madison sighed. She felt like all her muscles were being stretched right now so was up for any kind of plan. "Just tell me what we have to do."

"Ok, first thing's first. Do you think you can open a hole in the force field?"

Madison gaped at him. "What? Why would I do that? The Sculptor would be able to get in!"

"I know. But he won't. Cause I'm going to put us into speed mode. Then, I'll use my lightning lasers to cut a hole through the earth. I noticed when I fought his dirt monsters that they tend to cut through his power, making them ordinary dirt again. Once I've done that, you use your powers again and push that severed earth out before he can use it again and then wrap around the hole so that we can escape."

Madison blinked. Maybe it was the way he explained it or the way the earth was still pressing down on her, but she didn't really understand much of what he just said. "Can you say that again?"

"Don't worry, we'll take it step by step," he reassured her. "Step one, open a hole in the field. Right here," he gestured to a spot to the side of the earth.

Madison didn't like it, but they were running out of time and she definitely couldn't think of anything. "I really hope you're right about this."

"So am I."

That did not make her feel better. Still, she concentrated and dropped her grip on the field where he'd gestured, a hole opening up right in the side. She saw the earth shift there and only had time to think that this was a bad idea. And then suddenly Travis was standing next to her, hand on her shoulder, and everything was still.

She gasped a little, realizing she no longer felt the hold on her force field anymore. But it was still up. She could see it all around her. So…

"We're in speed mode," Travis explained. "It's where I move so fast, the world slows down around me. I shared a little of my power with you so you can see it. So long as I'm touching you, you can move around freely here."

"Wow," Madison muttered. This was incredible. There were so many questions she wanted to ask, but they didn't have time. "So what's step two?"

"This is." Travis stepped up to the hole in the force field and held up his hand, raising his index and middle fingers together and lighting them up with electricity. He then started firing off a continuous blast of lightning through the earth, slicing right along the sides of the hole. It took a few minutes, or whatever passed for minutes at this speed. Travis grumbled and cursed under his breath, the power obviously hurting him, but he kept going until he completed it, cutting a large cylinder of earth off from the rest.

"Had to cut further than I expected but it is like I thought. We're close to the side of this earth tree's trunk. So that's how we'll escape."

"Why not go up? Isn't that where the Sculptor is?"

"Exactly. All his power is coming down on us which means the earth above us is probably super powerful. The stuff to the side is probably much less so, which is why I was able to cut through it. Now, you just need to push it out, make a field inside the hole for us to escape through, and we're home free. Probably."

"Push this out?" Madison questioned, looking at the cylinder of earth. She wasn't sure how she could do that. "My power doesn't work that way."

"Actually, I think it can. You create force fields in dome or bubble like shapes. But I think you can also expand the field in different areas, similar to how you opened the hole there. Just concentrate on the force field here and expand it around the cylinder there so it's inside and the Sculptor can't manipulate it. Then, just push it outside."

"I'm…not sure I'm following."

Travis tilted his head. "Yeah, I'm not really the best at explaining. We'll just go step by step. So here, just start by expanding your field around the cylinder, ok. Like, push it through where I cut."

Madison nodded. She understood the logic there. But there was still one problem. "My power doesn't work in this…speed mode of yours. I don't even feel connected to that force field. Look," she held up her hand, trying to make another force field but nothing other than the air turning a slight shade of blue happened.

"Oh, right. Sculptor mentioned that too. Alright, I'll take us out of speed mode and you'll reconnect with the field and then expand it around the earth there. You know, just be really fast about it, ok?"

Madison gulped, already seeing so many flaws there, but they still didn't have any other options, so she just nodded and prepped herself.

"Ready?" he asked. "I'll snap my fingers, so you'll know exactly when we're back."

"Just do it."

He held up his fingers, thumb pressed tightly against his middle finger. Madison felt her heart beat once and then there was a loud SNAP!

She instantly acted, feeling her barrier fall around her. She summoned up her power and a new field formed from the ashes of the last one, still blocking out the earth. But she didn't stop there, focusing all her attention on where Travis had sliced through the earth and pushing her field in those cuts, letting her power flow through the tiny gaps all the way to the outside. She had never done that before but she found it easier than she thought it would be. Travis had been right, she could expand her field in any way she wanted. Within seconds, she was done, the separated cylinder of earth now inside the field. She half expected it writhe around and form something to attack them, but it remained completely motionless.

"Whew," Travis breathed out in relief. "So glad that worked. Great job Madison."

"Thanks. Now what?"

"Now, you just have to push it out."

"Oh, right," Madison nodded, focusing up again. Creating a second force field like that had taken more out of her than she would like to admit, but she could still do this. She moved her field to block off the cylinder first then slowly began to push it back. For a second, nothing happened but she pushed harder and the earth finally started to move. She grunted, shoving it along but it still only moved a few inches at a time.

"You got this Madison," she heard Travis say.

"Thanks," she muttered. "But please don't distract me right now."

"Right, sorry."

She sucked in a deep breath and pushed even harder, planting her feet down to gain more leverage. She didn't know long it took, but she kept going, just pushing and pushing her field outward until finally she felt something give and the next second, the earth's weight went down dramatically. She grinned and gave it one last push and then it was gone.

"Done," she said, slumping a little.

"Fantastic job, Madison. Now we just climb through that hole and get the hell out of here."

Madison nodded. "I just hope the others are doing better than we are."

"This is so not ok!" Luke shrieked, dodging another strike.

He was currently flying through the air, doing his best to avoid the massive dragon as well as its horde of angry children. Because of course this Sculptor wouldn't stop with one dragon but would create a whole freaking army of them. Thankfully, there was only one big one though the others were all Luke's size and still had nasty claws and teeth so it wasn't that much of an improvement.

Luke dove to the ground, three of the dragons on his tail. He grunted, ignoring the chest pain, and swiftly turned, grabbing hold of the dragons with his mind and slamming them together. He hoisted them up and brought them down hard to the ground, pushing as much power into it as he could until he saw them break apart. Thankfully, unlike the dirt monsters from before, these didn't reform. If he had to guess, the Sculptor was a little preoccupied with that giant tree thing on the horizon. Luke didn't know whether to be happy about that or even more worried.

He was hovering over the fields on the edge of the city, wanting to keep this battle as far away from people as possible, but it was getting more and more difficult. He couldn't just stay in place or else they'd get him so he had to keep moving. And the fields weren't that big.

He dodged another strike, twisting in midair before pushing the dragon away with his power before blocking another one's jaws from clamping down on him. He grabbed ahold of its head and ripped it off and then did the same with the rest of its body, letting the stones fall back down.

He was still going strong but was beginning to feel the strain. Especially in his chest. He really should not be moving around so much with his injury. He was trying his best to use his power the same way he did last night, to keep the wound closed and stop it from getting worse, but he had no idea if he was doing that right or not.

He heard a loud roar and saw the big dragon coming at him again. As it did, he noticed its mouth begin to glow and his eyes widened, instinctively diving out of the way just before the dragon unleashed an inferno from its jaws, lighting up the field and burning everything in its path. Luke hissed, feeling like he was in an oven as he narrowly avoided the flames, rising back up as soon as he was clear. The dragon growled and flapped its stony wings that made it fly for reasons he didn't understand and came after him, its brethren right alongside him.

He had to take these things out quickly. Or else there might not be much of a city left.

Sumin kept rising up the earthen trunk as fast as they could. They had been fortunate that the monstrous formation this Sculptor had created had not been as powerful as it seemed. They had been able to create a giant drill to make an exit and fly right through, though they had had to keep the swarm of tendrils off with a variety of indigo blades and chainsaws while they did so.

They'd tried locating Emily but couldn't find her, finally deciding that flying up to the top of the tree would be the best course of action at the moment.

Now here they were, still on their crane and flapping upwards into the sky towards where the Sculptor was undoubtedly waiting. They hadn't known what to think when they learned it was Eustace. They were still processing many things today, mainly surrounding their grandmother's sudden revelation to a multitude of secrets. But the kicker had been that the previous Cloak Guard had been forced to kill the Sculptor's host in order to defeat them. That revelation only became worse when they learned the host was Eustace, the boy they had sat next to at lunch for a few years now. The boy who drew many fantastic pictures.

They had known beforehand they would never be able to kill the host. They were even more positive now that they knew who it was. But their grandmother hadn't given any other advice other than: just follow your heart and it will lead you to the right path.

It was a nice sentiment though Sumin would have preferred specific instructions.

They would just have to try and reach Eustace and help him break free of the Sculptor's hold. And based on how fast this tree was growing, they would have to do it soon.

As they continued to climb up, they did their best to avoid the branches extending out though that was proving to be more and more difficult. Unlike normal tree branches, these ones like to move around, as if each one had a mind of its own. But Sumin knew they only had one mind.

Every now and then, one attempted to attack but Sumin swiftly created a blade or saw or something and cut through the attack. Once, they'd even cut off a whole branch though they'd had to dive back down and chop it up even more before it could smash into several houses below.

Sumin looked back down at the city. From this height, they could see the people like they would see ants, all running around in a panic from the tree. Unlike with Swarm, this was absolutely not contained. The world had to be aware of this kind of power by now. They hoped that meant there would be a response from the ones in charge of this other world, ones more qualified to handle this. But somehow, from what their grandmother told them, they doubted it. For some reason, this was up to them.

So Sumin kept rising up. As they did, they noticed that instead of the attacks on them increasing like they had thought, they were decreasing, now only the occasional branch or tendril launching an attack. That did not bode well.

"He wants me for something," they muttered to themself. But what? Well, judging from how close to the top they were now, they would have the answer soon.

They heard it before they arrived, the sounds of combat. There were explosive sounds as well as rumblings and screams of rage. Sumin hastened their pace, readying themselves for combat. They'd been doing some thinking since the battle last night and decided to upgrade themselves a little. With a thought, their whole body glowed before they were enveloped in the body of a large, indigo tiger. They'd first seen a tiger at the zoo when they were only a toddler but had been fascinated by it. Since then, they'd developed a soft love for tigers, and Life of Pi had only deepened that love. Nonetheless, this should protect them from anymore sneak attacks. They hoped.

They rose the last part of the way and though had prepared themself were still taken aback by what they saw. There was a large cage surrounding the entire top of the tree that seemed to have electricity around it along with a massive hole in its side. They could make out a dark, metallic mass that was unfortunately familiar along with what appeared to be a lake of water, floating balls, a spider-web of blue fire, and tentacles that looked to be made of diamond.

They were able to identify two figures. One was Swarm and they growled at his presence, having hoped last night would be the last they saw of him. Evidently not. The other figure was a large one covered in a mix of strange substances that somehow blended together. However, Eustace's face still there though with an uncharacteristically savage grin on his face. They looked around more, hoping to spot one of their friends and they would have missed her if she didn't glow so brightly.

"Gabriela," they murmured as they spotted her, trapped in the clutches of a diamond tentacle. They gritted their teeth and had the crane dive down for the hole.

"Ah, you've arrived!" Eustace cried out as they soared through. "Thank you for being so prompt. Though I guess I helped out a bit there."

Sumin glared at him. It was Eustace's voice, his face, but not his tone. There was something otherworldly in his voice, something wrong. They could even see it in his eyes. This was not Eustace. This was the Sculptor.

"Sumin Jang," Swarm growled, glaring at them. "Nice tiger suit. But I suggest you leave now if you value your life. This is my fight and I will win."

"The last time we fought, it was you who came out the loser," they reminded him.

"That was a team effort. You lost one-on-one. And now, you stand alone again. If I must fight you and the Sculptor at once, I will."

"Why are you here, Swarm?" they asked, while behind them they created a sheen around Gabriela, enveloping her in their light.

"This is my only path to freedom," he spat. "I must stop the Sculptor or else my superiors will punish me for my attacks."

"So you are not here to help save the world?" Sumin checked.

"Well of course I'm here for that too!" he said a little too defensively.

"You know, you were the one I wanted to go up against the most," the Sculptor said conversationally, pointing right at Sumin. "I remember how your ancestor fought. Oh the things he made out of light. They were powerful enough to match even my artwork. He once constructed an entire flock of giant birds that came closer than I would have liked to destroying my tree. He was the closest thing I had to an equal back then. So, I do hope you can live up to his reputation and give me a good fight. Otherwise this will all get dull very quickly."

"Oh I'll give you a fight!" Swarm snarled.

"Not you, you bore me."

"I'll make you eat those words, scum!"

"How was he our teacher?" Sumin muttered as Swarm charged. "He is clearly unhinged."

"I may have lost most of my bots on the way up here, but I still have more than enough to take you down!" Swarm sent a wave of microbots right towards the Sculptor but the strange balls floating around suddenly dove down, meeting the bots in the middle. Instantly, Sumin saw the bots freeze up and go still. If that wasn't all, the diamond tentacles also attacked, striking the microbots head on and smashing them back.

Sumin used the distraction to focus on Gabriela, trying to get her free. They poured more power into their hold on her, expanding it to break her free of the tentacle's grip. It was difficult, as the diamond was as hard as, well, a diamond. But that did not mean its grip was and they pushed harder until they just managed to get an inch free.

That was all they needed. With a jerk, they yanked Gabriela from its grip, pulling her free.

"Sumin?" she gasped. "What are you doing here? And…why are you dressed like a tiger?"

"Saving you. And I like tigers."

"You think this will stop me!" They turned to see Swarm sending his own tentacles towards the Sculptor, but they were thwarted when a wall of black rock rose up in front of them. Still, they did their best to work around it. "I will kill you and gain my freedom!"

"He is a problem," Sumin glared. "We cannot let him kill Eustace."

"I think Eustace is about to kill him," Gabriela pointed out.

The ground rumbled beneath Swarm's microbots and a geyser of fire erupted in the middle of them, destroying a bunch of them.

"Seems so. But what happens when we stop the Sculptor before that happens?" Sumin asked, refusing to add if in their statement. "Swarm will come after him then. He will also thwart any attempts of ours to fight and/or save Eustace ourselves."

"Good point," Gabriela nodded. "But we can't tackle both of them alone."

Sumin did not truly appreciate the phrase 'perfect timing' until Travis and Madison appeared right after Gabriela said that. Both looked tired and scared but also ready to fight.

"So, what's the situation?" Travis asked, taking a look around. "Oh Swarm's back. Great. Oh, and Sumin, nice tiger suit. That looks awesome."

"Thank you."

"Where'd you two come from?" Gabriela asked. "Actually, that doesn't matter. We need to separate those two," she pointed to where Swarm and the Sculptor were fighting. "But it took all of us last time to take on Swarm. I don't know how-"

"I will handle Swarm," Sumin informed them.

"What? Sumin, are you sure?"

"I am the most qualified for the role," Sumin replied. "You know this. Your powers don't work on him and Travis does not have enough of his power to do a repeat of last time. I almost had him last night but he caught me by surprise. That will not happen this time."

Gabriela looked like she wanted to argue but she just nodded instead. "Good luck."

"And hurry back if you can," Travis added. "We're going to need all hands on deck to stop the Sculptor. I think he levelled up in the last ten minutes."

"Understood," Sumin said.

"Take this!" Swarm waved his hands and his microbots began to form up into giant formations, charging right for the Sculptor who remained unconcerned. His diamond tentacles rushed to protect him, smashing straight through the giants and ripping them apart.

Sumin took this as their opportunity, launching themself forward in their tiger form right. Swarm saw them coming at the last second but he was too late, Sumin grabbing hold of him and pulling him right for the hole in the cage.

"What the hell are you doing?" Swarm yelled. "The Sculptor is back there? Do you want the world to end?"

"No. But I will not allow you to kill my friend."

"Your friend? You mean the host? He's gone, you idiot! We have to kill him or else the world, and my life, are finished!"

Sumin ignored him, running straight through the hole and onto one of the large branches. As they predicted, the microbots were right on their tail, following their master.

"Aw, leaving so soon?"

They whirled around and saw massive creature that seemed to be made up of kitchen appliances standing in front of them, ready to attack.

"Well, it seems like I may not to fight you head on," they heard the Sculptor call out. "But this will be the next best thing."

The formation charged forward and before Sumin could react, it wrapped its arms around them and Swarm and threw them all off the tree into the air where they quickly began to fall to the ground far below.