“Goodness, yes,” Tarvek said reasonably. “Why, it’s a miracle that it was still functioning at all!”
Higgs nodded once, almost imperceptibly, as his eyebrows rose with interest. “Is that so? Guess we got lucky.” He straightened and offered Tarvek a friendly hand up. “I’ll tell ’em you said that, sir.”
Meanwhile, Zeetha bounded towards Lucrezia. “Okay, spooky girl,” she sang out. “Time to go back to sleep!”
Effortlessly, using Theo as a blunt object, Lucrezia swatted Zeetha backward into Violetta’s arms.
“Ah…I meant you, not me…” Zeetha mumbled. Then she rallied. “She seems healthy, anyway. That’s good. I guess. Ouch.”
Violetta nodded glumly. “She’s riding the Post Revivification Rush. She’ll be faster, tougher, and stronger for a while. Also meaner.” She peered at Zeetha. “You—I saw you in a circus once, right?”
Zeetha blinked. “Uh…probably…”
Violetta firmly pushed her aside. “Okay, you listen up. This thing inside the Lady Heterodyne is a killer. Stage clowning will only get you killed, so you just stay back here out of the way while we sort her out.”
Zeetha’s blinked. Then her eyes narrowed. “Oh, I’ve got news for you. That harpy inside Agatha? She’s only the second most dangerous thing in the room.”94
Violetta nodded. “Well of course. There’s all this half-baked madboy stuff lying around.”
“I am Zeetha! Daughter of Chump! Royal princess guardian of Skifander!”
Violetta rolled her eyes. “Oh jeez—seriously?”
“Silence!” Lucrezia shouted. “I am leaving! If you want this fool to live, you will not impede me!”
“No,” Theo protested. “You can’t!”
“Oh don’t worry,” Lucrezia assured him. “Killing you will be simplicity itself.”
“Um…That’s not actually what I meant…”
Lucrezia shook her head affectionately. “Silly boy.”
“You’re not killing anybody,” Violetta announced. “Because I won’t let you.”
Lucrezia looked at her with contempt. “Oh, just look at you. You’re one of the Order’s Smoke Knights. With your pathetic attempts at misdirection and your silly sleight of hand. But I am Lucrezia Mongfish, and whether you acknowledge it or not, your order serves me.”
Violetta crossed her arms. “Oh this is sweet. Okay, two things: First, like I told you, I no longer serve the Order. And second, I specialize in misdirection and sleight of hand.” She grinned.
Lucrezia stared at her. “…And that’s supposed to impress me how?”
Everyone was staring at her now, and Lucrezia suddenly realized that she was clutching, not Theo, but a Theo-sized bundle of cloth tied up with twine. She screamed and flung it aside.
Theo looked at Violetta with new respect. “Wow!”
Zeetha closed her mouth and tried to look unimpressed. “Not bad,” she allowed.
Violetta made an elegant “after you” bow. “Your turn, ‘princess.’”
Zeetha snorted and strode forward. Lucrezia looked wary. She backed away, shrugging off the harness that bound her to the array. “I know better than to fight you, Skifandrian!”
Zeetha almost stumbled with surprise, but caught herself and a grin slowly spread across her face. “You do?” She ostentatiously cracked her knuckles. “Now that’s interesting.”95
“Stay back,” Lucrezia demanded.
Zeetha’s grin grew more predatory. “Or what? You’ll hurt Agatha? So what? She’s tough, she’ll get over it.” Zeetha gave a feral grin. “You’ll kill her? I don’t think you could do it hard enough. Not here.”
Lucrezia’s eyes narrowed. “Then I’ll just have to settle for a distraction.” And with that she swept the heavy crown of lights off of her head and flung it towards the array. It tore into the machinery near Gil’s slab. Lightning and exploding droplets of molten metal erupted and the air filled with smoke.
Zeetha didn’t bother to look. She lashed out with a looping right cross that snapped Lucrezia’s head to one side.
“How is that supposed to distract me,” Zeetha sneered. “That’s a problem for the Sparks. My job is to take you out so they can work.” She paused to deliver a neat backhand punch to Fraulein Snaug, who had been sneaking up behind her. “Although that was a nice try.”
Lucrezia rubbed her jaw and visibly rallied. “Wretched girl! Did you think I would fold with one punch?” She swayed slightly. “Or… or was that two?”
Her teeth snapped together with an audible clack as Zeetha danced in and delivered a quick uppercut.
“Nah,” Zeetha said judiciously, “It’ll take twenty punches. Maybe thirty—you’re wound pretty tight.”
“That’s right, I am!” Lucrezia snarled as she leapt forward. “Which means I only have to hit you once!”
Violetta slammed a boot into the side of her head, then stood over her, peering down into her face. “Oh, like I’m going to let that happen.”
Zeetha looked offended. “Hey! Hey! I’m working here. You got DuMedd out, I’m wearing her down.”
Violetta snorted. “As far as I can see, you’re just waltzing around and playing with her. You’d better let up, or you’re really going to hurt her. She’s already worn down.”
Lucrezia uncoiled from the floor and caught Violetta with a punch to the jaw that lifted her feet from the floor.
Zeetha shrugged modestly. “See? She’s not ‘worn out’, I’m just really good.”
Violetta waved a hand from where she’d landed. “Okay, yeah, got it. Thanks.”
Professor Mezzasalma stared in horror at the lightning that enveloped Gil. “The controls are fused,” he cried. “I can’t shut it down! He’s going to fry—and no power on Earth can stop it!”
Suddenly, the lightning storm vanished. There was popping and the cooling of metal. Mezzasalma turned, astonished, to see von Zinzer holding up the plug end of the cable that had connected the main array to the power generators. Mezzasalma stared at von Zinzer a moment, then smacked him on the back of the head.
Tarvek took control. “Get Gil out of there!” he ordered. “Clear off that table and find me a medical bag!”
Gil was unconscious. The four men decoupled him and hauled him to a clear bench. Tarvek examined him and bit his lip in frustration.
“Hey!” Von Zinzer poked Gil’s arm. “His color is back to normal.” He looked at Tarvek. “You too.”
Tarvek stared at his own hand in astonishment, then glanced at Lucrezia. She was also back to normal.
“DIE!” Lucrezia screamed.
Sort of normal. “So how is Wulfenbach doing?” Von Zinzer asked.
“Not good,” Tarvek reported. “We haven’t finished the last part of the process yet.” He gave Gil a gentle slap. “Hey! Gil! Hang on! The system’s been damaged!”
Mezzasalma grabbed von Zinzer and Sleipnir. “The two of you, come with me. I want a full diagnostic!”
Tarvek leaned in and muttered, “If you die before it gets fixed, I swear I’ll kill you!”
To his astonishment, Gil’s eyes fluttered halfway open. “Afraid you won’t have time,” he whispered.
Violetta sprang back to her feet. “So if you’re so hot, why are you still fooling around with her?”
Zeetha looked offended. “I’m not ‘fooling around’, I’m learning.” She waved towards a swaying Lucrezia. “For instance, she’s lousy at hand-to-hand combat.”
“I will crush you,” Lucrezia snarled.
“Probably she’s used to batting her eyes and wiggling her hips and getting other people to do her fighting for her.”