Disney After Dark by Ridley Pearson Read Free Book Online Page B

real-looking knife going to do? Wayne had warned him that he was half hologram, half human. Only now did he realize his human half could hurt.
    His wounded arm looked less transparent all of a sudden. He wondered if his fear made him more human than hologram. He pushed against the fear, as if he were trying to shut a heavy door.
    A gray-haired pirate with a peg leg thump, thump, thumped his way closer. The circle closed around him. Now Finn could smell the pirates: oily, like an old car, and faintly electrical.
    Charlene called out to him from behind the tree.
    The captain raised his sword higher, trying to follow that voice. “Reinforcements, mates! Be ye ready!”
    Two of the younger pirates closed in on Finn. They walked stiffly and slowly, like six-foot-tall toy soldiers. Finn circled to his right, away from them. He dodged two more attempts from the laser. One of the pirates was hit in the process; the captain raised his hand to stop the laser assault.
    The two young pirates, their knives glinting, pressed ever closer.
    The captain, with one knee cocked, his foot perched on the lead car, thundered, “Well, now, laddies! Serve him up like a fine filet!”
    “Hey, dog breath!” It was Philby. He stepped out from behind the tree.
    All six pirates turned toward Philby at once.
    With the pirates’ attention briefly diverted, Finn sprang for the nearest Space Ranger car. He grabbed hold of its laser, swiveled and fired. A pulse of red light shot out. Finn was a veteran of Space Ranger Spin. He winged the pirate in the car ahead of him, not ten feet away. The pirate didn’t seem to feel it—he was a machine.
    Another pirate charged. Finn shot his knee out, and the thing toppled over, its one good leg moving, still trying to walk.
    Finn saw a difference between Blackbeard and the other pirates: Blackbeard had a vaguely human sound to him. Most of the others—all but a few—looked and sounded more like machines than real pirates.
    Finn sliced and burned right through the peg leg of the older pirate. He too, teetered, leaned, and tumbled over. Two down.
    On the captain’s command, his men charged as a unit. Finn aimed for their knees in a brilliant display of gunnery. They staggered. Several fell. The captain ordered a retreat, and Finn held his fire.
    Blackbeard, his eyes darting weirdly back and forth, reached for, but then decided against, the sword that hung at his waist. He clucked his tongue in disappointment. “Ye’ve made a terrible mistake, lad. Me advice for ye is, go back from whence you came. And take them there other two with ye. For yer own good.” His mechanical facial expression never changed. He made no more threats—not with Finn still perched behind the laser. He simply turned and walked away. He did not run, did not hurry, Finn noted. He headed down the path and, a moment later, was gone, out of sight. His pirates dragged themselves and their other fallen mates off with them.
    Finn released his hold on the laser, his fingers stiff from gripping so tightly. His shirt bore a small charred hole. The burn on his arm was now a blistered scab. He’d hoped he might only have imagined it—but no: it hurt something fierce.
    He climbed out of the car.
    “Way to go,” Charlene said simply, trying not to sound too impressed.

    Philby approached, and Finn thanked him for the diversion.
    The two shook hands. It felt to Finn as if that handshake represented a pact between them.
    They were in this together now.
    To celebrate what he called their “first victory,” Wayne offered them ice-cream bars from a food kiosk. He carried a heavy-looking ring with dozens of keys of all shapes and sizes with which he unlocked the kiosk.
    Finn sat down on a bench. Wayne handed him his ice-cream sandwich, and Finn tore off the paper and bit into the treat. He tasted it, though it wasn’t nearly as sweet as it should have been.
    Maybe he was only half human, he thought.
    “What about Willa and Maybeck?” Charlene asked,