Doppelganger Danger (Mission Multiverse Book 2) , livre ebook

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113 pages

English

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Five middle schoolers' quest to save the multiverse continues in this explosive follow-up to Mission Multiverse, perfect for fans of the Percy Jackson seriesThis action-packed sequel finds middle-school band geeks Dev, Isaiah, Tessa, Maeve, and Lewis trapped in a parallel version of Earth as they fight to save their families-and the entire rest of the multiverse-from the villainous Empyrean One. Far from home and running out of options, it will take everything they have to get back to Earth and preserve humanity once and for all. The startling revelation that they are their own worst enemies forces a painful decision: will they forsake the lives they once knew for an uncertain future? Perfect for fans of the Percy Jackson series, this sweeping space adventure combines dry wit with a tension-laden plot to keep readers glued to the page.

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Publié par	ABRAMS BOOKS
Date de parution	10 mai 2022
Nombre de lectures	0
EAN13	9781647000592
Langue	English
Poids de l'ouvrage	1 Mo

Informations légales : prix de location à la page 0,0764€. Cette information est donnée uniquement à titre indicatif conformément à la législation en vigueur.

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PUBLISHER S NOTE: This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are either the product of the author s imagination or used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
Cataloging-in-Publication Data has been applied for and may be obtained from the Library of Congress.
ISBN 978-1-4197-4825-7 eISBN 978-1-64700-059-2
Text copyright 2022 Abrams
Book design by Jade Rector
Published in 2022 by Amulet Books, an imprint of ABRAMS. All rights reserved. No portion of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, mechanical, electronic, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without written permission from the publisher.
Amulet Books are available at special discounts when purchased in quantity for premiums and promotions as well as fundraising or educational use. Special editions can also be created to specification. For details, contact specialsales@abramsbooks.com or the address below.
Amulet Books is a registered trademark of Harry N. Abrams, Inc.
ABRAMS The Art of Books 195 Broadway, New York, NY 10007 abramsbooks.com
For Mia, Isla, and Hunter- neatest nieces and most cosmic cousins
CHAPTER 1
Dev Khatri s rules for surviving the multiverse were pretty simple: Speak up. Act out. And kick some serious butt.
These were the exact opposite of his rules for surviving middle school back in Ohio, where most people knew him as a quiet and nerdy band geek who avoided confrontation at all costs. But that life felt a world-no, worlds -away.
He glanced around at the parched, crumbling landscape. It was drained of color, like an old sepia-toned photograph, without the nostalgia or charm. Behind him, a steel and glass building sagged sadly, most of its windows shattered, its halls and labs empty. The faded NASA sign above the front doors hung at a crooked angle.
Rusted cars littered the road, parked haphazardly and forgotten, as though people had been in a hurry to escape. Dev couldn t help but wonder, what had happened in this place before he and his friends arrived? Why did it look so . . . apocalyptic? What had the people been running from?
Far in the distance, yellow lights blinked and smokestacks coughed up noxious plumes. Ash floated through the air, stinging Dev s eyes. Blackened vines snaked through the cracked concrete at his feet. He exchanged a worried look with Maeve, who was putting on a brave face and leading them toward the eerie city in the valley below. Lewis, Tessa, and Isaiah followed, their gazes set on the horizon, each lost in their own thoughts.
The wind whispered and the vines at their feet writhed and twisted. A tendril wrapped itself around Dev s ankle. He kicked it away and quickened his pace, his heart beating hard. None of this was right. He and his friends weren t supposed to be here. They had tried to travel home, where their families were waiting for them, back on Earth in Dimension14. Their Earth. This parallel place was definitely not it. Dev exhaled, shaking off his fears and steeling himself for whatever lay ahead. There was no doubt about it: In the past few days, everything had changed. Himself included.
It all started when Dev and his fellow marching bandmates-the Conroy Cadets-accidentally activated a quantum collider during a class field trip to the Gwen Research Center, a NASA field station where Dev s father worked as a catastrophysicist. The collider transported them to Station Liminus, a central meeting place between dimensions governed by the Multiverse Allied Council. As if stumbling into a new dimension and meeting a dazzling array of sentient life-forms hadn t been mind-blowing enough, the cadets then learned that Earth was on the brink of collapse. Oh, and the MAC, mistaking the cadets for an envoy of Earth s best and brightest, expected the kids to fix everything. No pressure, right?
In the past, Dev had worried about normal middle school stuff like pop quizzes, body odor, and embarrassing himself in front of his crush. After arriving on Station Liminus, those past worries seemed silly by comparison. Especially when the cadets realized the fate of their home planet-and the entire multiverse-rested in their well-intentioned but rather clumsy hands.
Thrust into uncertainty and peril, the cadets rose to the occasion as best they could, using their musical talents to reestablish contact with Queen Eryna, a powerful and important ally. In addition, they d thwarted duplicitous General Shro, unmasked Dr. Genevieve Scopes as a traitor, and revealed the Empyrean One s malevolent plans for destruction and domination. Not too shabby for a bunch of middle school misfits who d previously been frequent victims of the school bully s supersonic-atomic-bubonic-wedgie attacks. Sure, the cadets had made some pretty epic mistakes along the way, disrupting interdimensional diplomacy, damaging critical gateways, and setting loose a seriously scary space-beast, to name a few. But overall, Dev was proud of himself and his friends.
GAHROOARR!
Uh-oh. Speaking of spacebeasts . . .
Dev, Tessa, Isaiah, Maeve, and Lewis wheeled around and instinctively huddled together, each one facing outward, eyes wide and watching.
KRRAAGHH!
Something resembling the long-lost cousin of the colossadon crashed through the nearby forest, toppling the blackened trees like toothpicks. The cadets froze. The beast lurched forward, nostrils flaring.
What. Is. That? Tessa whimpered, moving closer to Dev, her arm brushing against his, which made him blush the slightest bit. The Hawthorne-Scott sisters had a way of doing that to him, even at the most inopportune times, like right now.
Looks like a harbinger of doom, Isaiah croaked, his gray eyes unblinking, his feet rooted to the ground.
Lewis frowned. Harbinger of doom, huh? That s catchy, but I think dragomander has a better ring to it.
Dev studied the creature with terrified fascination. Only a few days prior, his mother had told him that in order to be a knight, he d need dragons to defeat. Of course, she d been speaking metaphorically, and then somewhat literally about a revoltingly healthy breakfast smoothie, but that was beside the point. Now Dev was face-to-face with an actual dragon. Or, something vaguely dragon-esque, like one of the creatures they d viewed (and accidentally released, oops!) from within the Station s Menagerie. This so-called dragomander was twice the size of his family s minivan, a mix between a mutant salamander and an armadillo, with the nose-numbing stench of a skunk.
Shh! It hasn t spotted us yet, Maeve breathed. Large reptiles often have poor eyesight. But they can see movement. Everyone stay still.
Lewis raised an eyebrow, like he d much rather make a run for it. As a former member of the school s track team, he d have the best shot at getting away. Yet he didn t try to escape. He stuck by his friends, lowering himself into a fighting stance, with his knees bent and his arms out. In each hand, he clutched a drumstick.
Before their departure from Station Liminus, Secretary Ignatia Leapkeene had kindly returned the musical instruments they d unwittingly brought from Earth-a clarinet for Tessa (who d been impersonating her identical twin sister, Zoey, on a dare), a trumpet for Isaiah, drumsticks for Lewis, an oboe for Maeve, and a shiny saxophone for Dev, which he now realized were the closest things to weapons they had.
Let s hope this little fella doesn t actually breathe fire, like a real dragon, Lewis whispered.
Oh, please, Maeve hissed. There s no such thing as a real dragon.
Maybe not in our dimension, but clearly we re not in Kansas anymore, he shot back, a little too loudly.
Ohio, Maeve corrected. Not Kansas.
Lewis huffed. Would someone please tell Little Miss Know-It-All that now is not the time to-
GAHROOARR!
The dragomander s head whipped around, its small ears pricked. It had spotted them. It shot out of the forest, its four clawed feet tearing up clods of dry earth, heading straight for the cadets. It roared as it approached, its pungent breath blowing their hair back from their faces and bringing tears to their eyes. Tessa shrieked and dropped her clarinet.
In the blink of an eye, the dragomander flicked its long, sticky tongue and snapped up the instrument, crunching it like a pretzel between its sharp, yellow teeth.
Aww, no! Tessa moaned. She d promised her sister nothing would happen to that clarinet. How was she going to explain this ? Zoey is totally gonna kill me!
Isaiah grimaced. Assuming that thing doesn t kill us all first . . .
Before they could escape, the dragomander began circling them, eyeing them like prey. It opened its jaws and roared again, hungry for more.
Anger welled up in Dev, more powerful than fear. He was no longer that shy, meek kid who bullies picked on without consequence. He was a Conroy Cadet, darn it, and he was prepared to kick some serious butt.
Hey! You! he shouted at the beast. Leave me and my friends alone! He looked straight into the dragomander s green eyes. He tightened his grip on his saxophone, lifted it in the air, and roared right back.
The others stared, dumbstruck for a moment, then they all followed suit. Maeve held her oboe poised like a javelin. Lewis jabbed his drumsticks like little swords. Isaiah aimed his trumpet over his shoulder like a grenade launcher. Tessa, who d already lost her clarinet, struck a karate-style pose.
The dragomander s pupils dilated. It reared up on its hind legs, towering over the cadets. Its limbs were thick and muscular, covered in brown and yellow scales. Dev s courage fizzled. With a queasy lurch of his stomach, he realized how ridiculous he and his friends looked. How unprepared and outmatched they truly were. What did he really expect to do with a measly saxophone? Whack the dragomander over the head? Annoy it to death with a medle