Kingdom Keepers II(9)

“I don’t care. You’re not allowed up there,” he said. By saying this he confirmed he knew about the penthouse—Walt Disney’s former apartment—the secret room Wayne had offered the DHIs as a place to hide.

An Overtaker? Finn wondered. The group loyal to Maleficent, dedicated to changing the balance of power in the Parks.

“I said you’re not allowed up there,” the man said.

“White or black?” Finn said, his DHI standing on one of each.

The pleasant warmth of the DHI gave way to a slight chill, and Finn knew the internal light was giving way to flesh and blood. He wished he understood how to control this transformation better, but that was for another time. He took advantage of his brief weightlessness and crossed the checkerboard floor to a platform that presented another three ascending staircases. He had one last trick left.

The man stepped out onto the checkerboard, keeping his eyes on the squares. It was a long fall below—thirty feet or more, though the floor had been painted in perspective, which made it appear more like three hundred: a bottomless, rocky cavern. He took that in, and then, as he looked across at Finn, his face turned scarlet with anger.

“You won’t talk your way out of this, son.” He stepped onto a black tile. Then another. He knew the pattern! Making sure he avoided any two black squares in the same horizontal line, he progressed cautiously but quickly across the floor.

Finn felt the DHI fading. He’d managed to maintain it for a minute or more, but he suspected he weighed something now. Would he trip the sensors that opened the floor, or could he make it across?

His plan was to run right through the man. He believed if he concentrated, he could summon his pure DHI for the fraction of a second it would take to pass through him. In doing so, he was certain to cause the intruder to misstep, which would send him plummeting. But Finn would have to move quickly to avoid being on the floor when it fell out and gave way.

He stepped out onto two black squares. He could feel his weight on his feet. He was about equal parts boy and DHI. How much longer?

The Dapper Dan stopped halfway, his face a scowl. Then something occurred to him, and he belched out a laugh. “Going to wrestle me, are you?” He grinned mischievously. “I’ll save you the trouble.” His right foot reached out for a white square.

Finn had not considered that the fastest way for the man to catch Finn was to make Finn fall with him.

Finn ran forward on the black tiles, simultaneously letting go of all fear. He felt the warmth return like a blast from a furnace. But well before he reached the other side—in fact, before he even reached his adversary—the floor went out from under him.

The man fell, letting out a short scream as he was funneled into a red plastic chute.

Finn was floating. The trapdoor had opened beneath him, but his DHI simply hovered. He was suspended ten feet above the evacuation chute, with only air beneath him.

He felt the chill returning. He managed three steps toward the edge of the open pit and then fell. His fingers caught the lip of the hinged flooring, and his body smacked into the hanging trapdoor. Normally not good at pull-ups, he must have been partially DHI, because he managed to lift himself, hook a leg, and pull himself up. Seconds later, the trapdoor snapped back into position. He stayed on the black squares and recrossed.

Middle staircase. Red door. He remembered this section well.

He heard the Dapper Dan hit bottom and, seconds later, the sound of him climbing stairs again. Faster now. Ever more determined to apprehend Finn.

Finn stepped forward into total darkness, a matter of extreme trust. The first time he’d followed Wayne in here, he’d nearly puked from fear. The black hole.

He ran smack into Philby.

“There’s no elevator,” Philby said.

“What?”

“No elevator. It’s not here.”

“It has to be here,” Finn said.

“No such luck, Sherlock.”

“But that means—”

“Somebody’s up there,” Philby said. “Already in the apartment. And what do you want to bet it’s not Wayne?”

“There’s got to be another way up,” Finn said. “Fire stairs. Something for an emergency.”

“In case you hadn’t noticed, it’s pitch black. You don’t happen to have a flashlight on you, I suppose?”

“Turn your back to me,” Finn said. He mustered his strength. Transforming into his DHI sapped his energy. He felt exhausted from having challenged the man just now, but knew he had to do this. He closed his eyes. He felt the warmth return. He couldn’t hold it for more than a few seconds. He came out of it, his legs weak, his head swooning.