Consequences by Carla Jablonski

person,” he told Daniel. “And I’m not going to splash around the sewers all day to find him. You are going to take me to him. Now.”
    â€œHave you gone barmy?” Daniel scoffed. “He’ll murder you, he will.”
    â€œMaybe, maybe not,” Tim replied. “Can you zap us there, or should we be looking for a grate to crawl down?”
    â€œOh, I can take you straight to him. If that’s what you really wants.”
    â€œIt’s what I wants—er, want .” Tim stood back up and faced Molly. “If we’re not back in an hour or so, you can start the ice cream expedition without us. Take Marya, if you can find her. I’m not sure if unicorns eat ice cream, though.”
    â€œAre you nuts?” Molly glared at Tim. “You can’t go down there.” She pointed at Daniel. “You heard what he said—this Slaggingham wants you dead. And you’re just going to walk right into his lair?”
    â€œI wouldn’t call it a lair. It’s more a factory, like,” Daniel corrected.
    Molly lifted her foot as a warning, and Daniel held up his hands in a placating gesture. Tim took her by the elbow and walked her a few steps away from Daniel.
    â€œMolly, I’m certain the only way I can help Daniel is by running him back through that machine.” He lowered his voice. “Besides, I don’t think any of us are safe with him as he is. It’s better if I nip this in the bud now.”
    As the words came out of his mouth he realized he was finally facing up to something in the moment. Instead of following his usual pattern of running away, he was dealing with the crisis dead-on.
    Molly crossed her arms over her chest. “Then I’m coming with you.”
    â€œOh, bad plan,” Tim said. There was no way Tim would bring Molly along on this excursion underground. The fact that they were going after some bloke who invented machines that could do what had been done to Daniel meant they weren’t dealing with anyone ordinary. He didn’t want Molly anywhere near that.
    But he knew her all too well—she wasn’t one to sit back and let someone else go to the action. How could he convince her to stay behind?
    â€œLook, I need you up here as backup,” he explained. “If I don’t come back after an hour, then come down and find me. If we’re down there together now, there’s no one to help later.”
    Molly narrowed her eyes as if she were trying to decide whether he was scamming her or serious.“Okay,” she said dubiously. “One hour only. And then I’m coming down after you.”
    â€œThanks, Molly. Okay, Danny boy,” Tim said, turning around. “Lead on.” Silently he added, I really hope I don’t regret this.

Chapter Nine

    Underneath London
    R EVEREND SLAGGINGHAM HAD BEEN tickled to see the transformation in his protégé, Daniel. He watched gleefully as the boy shouted out in rage at that blight on humanity, Timothy Hunter. Soot and cinders swirled everywhere—no one could survive that kind of attack. Now that he’d become an altered creature, perhaps Daniel would be able to withstand all that flame and ash. If not, more’s the pity, but such is life.
    A clanging alarm drew Slaggingham’s attention away from his viewing machine. He glanced down at his watch. “Fume and choke me! I’m late! I should have inspected the Extractor three and a half minutes ago. How could I have missed it?”
    Slaggingham pressed the button that causedthe panel to slide down, concealing the viewing machine again. Then, he hurried along to the main part of the underground factory. He went to inspect the bottling plant, admiring the perfectly symmetrical lines of the empty bottles on the conveyor belt. Snatching one up, he read the label aloud. “Slaggingham’s Own Elixir of Happiness. Distilled and bottled in subterranean London.”
    He proudly