Modelland (47 page)

“It looks like someone’s abusin’ their power, Gunnero—I mean BellaDonna. Oops, I mean Tookie,” Dylan muttered, rolling her eyes at Tookie so hard that only the whites showed.

“I’ll pretend I didn’t hear that, Zarpessa—I mean Chaste. Oops, I mean Dylan,” Tookie retorted.

“I no like Unicas fighting!” Shiraz took Dylan’s and Tookie’s hands and made them touch.

“Shiraz, we don’t have time for this,” Tookie said yanking her hand away from Dylan’s. “Do you wanna
die
or do you wanna
live
?”

“Live, I want!”

“Then we have to be
sharp
!”

Shiraz wrapped an arm around Tookie’s shoulder. “You tense, no? Because of Bravo?”

Tookie snuck a peek at Shiraz, surprised that she had guessed her secret so easily. Instead of saying anything, Tookie let out a stifled sob.

Dylan’s face softened. She wrapped an arm around Tookie too. “Maybe he can come with us.”

This just made another rush of emotion swell in Tookie’s heart. She hated that she was leaving Bravo behind. She hated that she’d finally found something amazing, Bravo and Modelland, and had to give it up. But Tookie slowly shook her head and held back the tears she knew would render her a weak leader. “No, this is it, girls. Bravo’s in heaven here, surrounded by Modelland architecture,” she said. “He’s living his dream. What we need to be focusing on for ourselves is not living a dream, but just
living
. Pure survival. We have to get out of this place before we are killed. It’s as simple as that.”

The next morning, Tookie stood at the bathroom mirror, holding her toothbrush in her hand. Something seemed … 
different
that morning. No longer did the sight of her toothbrush make her feel a pang of rejection. In fact, when she looked in the mirror, she thought she saw a miracle. A
real
miracle. One that had nothing to do with
The Myrracle
from back home.

Her body no longer resembled a Peppertown twig. There were slight curves at the base of her hips, the same hips that had tickled when Bravo had smoothed down her eyebrows with his dampened thumb.
Am I hallucinating?
she wondered.
Creamy said
that the only thing that would develop on me would be a larger forehead as my hairline receded from age. Is this mirror warped?

Tookie ran her small hands up and down the mirror. The surface was as smooth as the first day she had arrived at Modelland.
Yes, I am definitely hallucinating
.

Crazier still, Tookie could swear that she was—well, she hated to even think the word about herself. The word Dr. Erica had used to describe her.
Prett—
.

Guru Gunnero’s voice blared through the air:
“All you pure-and-prude Bellas, it’s time to lose it! Your ManAttack virginity, I mean! Report to the OrbArena at once! And don’t forget to bring protection! Elbow and knee pads, that is!”
He snickered lewdly.

Every girl in the D seemed surprised except Dylan, Shiraz, Piper, and Tookie.

“Try to kick some Bestosterone prissy-boy ass,” Dylan whispered behind Tookie.

“Yes, Tookie,” Piper added with a smirk. “We’d appreciate departing this fantastic land with a victory under the Unicas’ Sentura belts.”

“I’ll try,” Tookie whispered.

Suddenly, she felt a presence behind her. When she turned, she saw Ci~L standing in the middle of the bathroom, glaring at her. All the red, blue, and purple water spouting out of the holes in the mirrors came to an abrupt stop, as if even the liquid were terrified of Ci~L’s presence.

“Uh …,” Tookie said, taking two steps backward and hitting the sink behind her. Ci~L stalked up to Tookie and grabbed her wrist. “I’m here to collect you. You’re one of the contestants for ManAttack today.”

Ci~L yanked Tookie out of the bathroom and walked her down Beautification Boulevard. Banners for the
7
Seven Tournament, which would take place the next day, fluttered in the wind. With each step, Tookie considered the could-have-beens and if-onlys that would have meant a different experience at this magical place.
I could have been free of all this dread and doom if only I’d been born looking like … like Myrracle
.

“Don’t worry,” Ci~L said in a cackling voice. “The torture won’t last that long. It’ll all be over in a flash.”

Tookie’s mouth fell open. Was the sacrifice going to happen now?

Ci~L turned to Tookie as they walked. “After ManAttack is over, you and your little friends better come straight to me.”

Tookie froze. There was no way in hell she was meeting Ci~L.

Ci~L leaned closer. “And if you don’t find me,
I’ll find you.
”

Luckily, they had reached the OrbArena. A Mannecant stepped out from a doorway. “In here,” she said, pushing Tookie up a staircase and into a smaller room through a door marked
BELLA PREP ZONE
. The OrbArena loomed around her, a lattice of metal. Powerful spotlights ran along the outer frame, bouncing beams of artificial light off the structure and illuminating a long wooden plank that traversed the orb. Hundreds of seats were attached to the metal struts on the frame. The seats were empty now. Tookie wondered when the Unicas would arrive. As soon as they did, Piper would scout out the place for the switchboard. She’d report back to Shiraz, who would tell Dylan, and then Dylan would faint. When Piper turned the lights out, Tookie would know to meet them at the southwest corner of the OrbArena, and Shiraz’s night vision would guide them to the 7Seven stadium, where the ZipZap was.

“Strip,” the Mannecant said.

Tookie stared at her. “Ex
cuse
me?”

“Didn’t you know?” The Mannecant’s thin lips curved into a smirk. “The ManAttack is performed in one’s
underwear.
” She pointed at the table; there was a stiff bra-and-panties set marked
Tookie
that was made with complicated strips of fabric.

“How do I put this on?” Tookie asked helplessly.

“Figure it out,” the Mannecant said in a cold voice. “The other contestants will be here shortly.”

“Who else is competing?” Tookie asked, but the Mannecant had already marched away. Seconds later, two figures stepped through the door. Tookie’s heart dropped.

Chaste and Zarpessa.

Zarpessa looked fresh and polished, nothing like the ragged, wild girl who’d been caught in her very own personal Loony Lumière nightmare many nights before. This was the first time Tookie had seen her since the episode. She wondered if Zarpessa had spent the whole time in the FEDS.

Zarpessa glanced over at Tookie, but her face didn’t register irritation or malice. Neither a nasty look nor a wicked comment came.
Wow, she’s been reformed
, Tookie thought.

“Are you … okay?” Tookie asked, walking over to her. She would never have had the courage to do that in Metopia—nor would she have wanted to. But a lot had changed since she’d been at Modelland. “About the other night, I mean. We all do strange things at night sometimes. I sleepwalk, in fact. So I can understand what you’re going through.”

In a flash, Zarpessa’s face turned from meek to malicious. She moved so close to Tookie that their noses almost touched. “You understand? You understand
nothing
! You have no idea what it’s
like to be
me
. You can’t, because you and your useless friends have never been on top. And stop being all sweet, pretending like you aren’t thrilled about what happened to me that night. When Dr. Erica took me away, did you tell
any
one about my family?”

Tookie blinked hard. “I didn’t say a word! I swear!”

“Yeah,
right.
” Zarpessa’s eyes narrowed. “If you ever try to say you
understand
me again, I will cut your tongue out. Because your freak-a-zoid, Unfortunate-Looking, water-headed-baby self can’t, and you
never
will!”

And then Zarpessa spun away, shoulders squared, her hands repeatedly opening and closing into fists. Chaste followed, shooting Tookie a nasty look.
You weren’t so crazy about Zarpessa the other night
, Tookie wished she could remind Chaste, remembering how the girl had taken a big step away from Zarpessa in the throes of her breakdown.

Zarpessa and Chaste stepped through the door to the OrbArena and out onto the wooden plank, testing how it felt. Chaste started bouncing up and down on the plank, higher than possible in regular gravity. A giant scoreboard loomed in the sphere. Tookie spotted her name immediately—she would compete last. And then, to her horror, she spotted her competitor.

“No,” Tookie whispered.
Anyone
but Bravo.

Within minutes, the seats filled with excited Bellas and enthusiastic Bestosteros, as well as a sprinkling of Gurus. Tookie spotted Guru Pacifico, his eyebrows looking as if they were having a conversation with the ebony-skinned Bestostero on his right, while his mouth seemed to converse with the hazel-eyed Bella behind him. Guru Applaussez’s hand-head waved in the air like a beauty queen on a parade float.

The girls disappeared back into the Prep Zone and put on their undergarments. Chaste and Zarpessa fit into theirs nicely, but Tookie just looked ashy and sticklike.
Shoot, I’m going to have to escape in this lingerie!
Tookie thought. She hated the idea of leaving through the ZipZap in just her skivvies.

After they’d changed, Zarpessa, Chaste, and Tookie stepped out of the Prep Zone and were assaulted by the roar of rowdy crowd noise. Bellas had taken off their Senturas and were using them as flags. And everyone, of course, was staring at the six scantily clad girls and boys, for the Bestosteros had donned couture briefs made of strips of material like those of the girls’ costumes. The briefs exposed slits of their buttocks, and left bare all of their rippling muscles. Tookie peeked at Bravo. He looked so amazing and gorgeous she felt the urge to throw up.

“Welcome, pretty ladies and even prettier gentlemen,
bienvenue
to ManAttack!” Gunnero Narzz’s voice boomed from the sky. The crowd yelled and stomped their feet. Gunnero lowered into the OrbArena standing on top of a hovering podium shaped like the male and female gender symbols. “It’s been a while since the two sexes got to have a mix-up like tonight. I’m sure everyone’s hormones are raging more than mine!”

Just then, Tookie spotted a flash of white hair between the steel beams.
Piper!
She was looking for the switch! She glanced at Bravo again, standing across the plank with Alexander and Webb. Her eyes filled with tears.

Narzz continued. “As it has been played for eons, there are four phases to ManAttack. First, the Touch. Oh yes—contact, people … between man and woman. Second, Wardrobe. But if you want, you can stay half nude. Fun for the crowd, oh yes indeed, but point deductions for the players. Third, Maquillage. Makeup, that is. Foundation for the girls, Mandation for the boys. Can someone get me some? My color is Ivory Sands Number Three. Oh, and watch out for those pesky explosives, lads and lasses! And fourth and finally, the Snaps. The Photo Finish. Yes, we take pictures here ’cause they last longer!”

“Bravo, I want to have your babies! We can start trying right there on that plank, right now!” a Bella behind Applaussez shouted from the crowd.

A couple of Bestosteros whistled lasciviously. Tookie noticed Bravo trying to catch her eye down the plank, but she pointedly looked away. She’d thought she could avoid him today, escape without having to have a conversation. It would be easier that way, after all. Cleaner. Fewer tears. Less desire to stay. But now she had to
battle
him.
Maybe Piper will find the switch before I have to go through with it
, she thought.
Maybe we’ll get out of here before I have to face him
.

“One more thing,” Gunnero said, still balancing primly on the masculine- and feminine-symbol plank. “Please, boys and girls: no strikes to the face or to the boys’ ‘neither-nether’ regions. Pain of that kind is
not
beauty. Now, on with the show! Up first! Chaste
from Modelland and Alexander from Bestosterone! The rest of the competitors, return to your Prep Zones!”