Defeat (Book Attack Series: Book 9 - Alex Rider)

Chapter XII

Chapter XII

Nevada

"You know, it's not very easy to climb this thing barehanded. It'd be nice if I got a pair of those fancy shookie thingamabobers."

"First of all, they're called Shuke." Maddie answered from behind me. "If your gonna ask me for weapons, do it properly."

"I'm just sayin'..." I replied, "Maybe you could get me a pair next time."

"If you get me thirty bucks, I'd be happy to pay Leo to make another pair. And I seriously hope there's not gonna be a next time. Hope this doesn't offend you or anything, but one evil villain dimension war is enough for my lifetime, thank you very much."

"Fair enough." I tested the branch ahead of me and smiled, "I got a solid one!"

"Oh thank god." Was the response, "I was getting bored."

Once I'd heaved myself onto the branch, Bird-Max flew up and sat next to me as Maddie pulled herself on. "You know you coulda just flown up, right." She said. At Maddie's glare, she continued, "I hear I can help."

"Maybe." Maddie answered, "You'll be an extra set of eyes, basically."

"Eyes are fun." She replied sarcastically.

"Very." I said, "We're finding any villains we might be able to shoot down without having to actually go up against them. Leveling the playing field, if you like."

"Oh god." Maddie interrupted, "Nev, look."

I followed her finger to the place she was pointing and gasped. Gary and Ellen. They were strapped down to a board, arms and legs attached to their sides. They seemed almost asleep, but their eyes were wide open, and glowing a sickly bright yellow. I shuddered, "Something tells me they didn't do exactly what the villains wanted them to."

"On a brighter side," Max said, "If we kill all the villains attached to them, they should wake up. Right?"

"Sure." Maddie said, "But we can't."

"Why not?" I asked stubbornly.

"Gaea." Maddie replied glumly, "Heroes of Olympus isn't finished. She's still needed."

"Great." I sighed, "This is a fantastic predicament, universe. Thank you so much."

Maddie's eyes widened, and she quickly armed her bow with an arrow, "I got one."

I looked at her aim and nodded, "Jeb."

"I'm sorry Max." She said, "I know he practically raised you and everything."

"He attacked us. He killed my friends." Max shook her head, "Shoot that son-of-a-bitch down."

Maddie smirked, "Sure thing."

She let the arrow loose, and I held my breath as it soared through the leaves of the tree and down towards the battleground below. We heard a thunk as the arrow plunged its way into Jeb's chest, his shirt growing red from the blood. He fell face first into the mud, the arrow snapping in half on the way down.

I smiled, "Nice shot."

"One down," Max said, "Two dozen or so to go."

"I wouldn't be so sure." Maddie said.

I looked down at the war zone and finally noticed the issue. "There's another one. And another. And another. There are hundreds."

"Oh my god." Max gasped, "He cloned himself."

Maddie bit her lip, "This is gonna be harder than I thought."

·•·•·•·•·•·•·•·•·•·•·•·Author's Note!!!·•·•·•·•·•·•·•·•·•·

In case you guys didn't notice (or did, or it didn't work, who knows?), I CHANGED MY USERNAME! Yep. I'm now MaddieIPrince instead of bookattack (if it worked, which I don't know 'cause technology hates me).

Yeah. So Max's birthday party is today! Yay!

Glasovati i komentirati! Volim vas sve!

~ Maddie