Chapter 25

chapter twenty-five "Something's happening!" I call as the hand literally drags me away. "I gotta follow the hand." "Where??" June shouts. "To Ghazt, I think!" "WHAT?" June shouts. "WHY?" "I DON'T KNOW!" Rover darts alongside me, and I glance back, catching Quint's eye. "We'll be there when you need us," Quint says. Dirk nods. "We'll all be the Muscle." With that, I'm yanked around the corner—and flipped up onto Rover as his snout catches my legs. I feel at home on his back. "Missed you, buddy," I say. Rover growls softly as he dashes down a steep, slick ramp toward the Operating Theater floor—and the remaining guards. I hope whatever's telling my hand to visit Ghazt isn't also gonna tell the guards to turn around and punch me in my nose. We reach the floor. I count a dozen guards, all with their backs to us. They look even more vile than the ones at the prison. Jagged helmets are fused to their thin, mantis-like heads. And there is Ghazt, in the center of the room. Lying lifeless on the slab.

The Cosmic Hand pulses—sending a burning shiver up my arm, into my skull. The burning fades to warmth, though, as I remember what I said I'd do once Rover and I were back together: play fetch. I take a deep breath, and step out into the light. Expecting the guards to turn at once—a big, dramatic, villain-packed greeting—I'm surprised when— None of them notice us. One is scratching his eyeball. Another sucks on a frog leg like it's a Popsicle. A few others stare at their feet. I stand there for an awkward moment, then clear my throat. "Ahem," I say, coughing into my hand. That gets them. The guards turn to face us. Not sure why, but I give them a little wave. A weird sensation comes over me suddenly, like I'm back at one of the dozen schools I attended before the apocalypse—a constant rotation of first days, teachers, and classfuls of strangers...

Hey guys, this is gonna sound weird, But I have this like cosmic hand thing. And I think it's telling me to go check on ghost. Do you mind if weapons pop from the guards arms, shoulders heads kneecaps, elbows? And yep, it's just a whole lot of weapon-popping? Looks like they mind, I say to rover, the guards spread out, forming a barricade around Go's body and the operating table. I scrubbed my hands into Rover's fur. He lifts his head. Hey buddy, Those cards look pretty cool, huh? With their shiny helme-theads with a growl, Rover stretches out, arching his spine. At first, I think he's begging for an underbelly

scratch. But no. He's coiling up, a spring, ready to unload. His head turns, tongue hanging out, waiting. Then— I've waited so long to say this again... "ROVER... FETCH, BOY!" Rover charges into the theater like he's been shot out of a cannon! He bounds toward one guard, then another, and another... It's nineteen seconds of dashing, gnashing speed. Like all of Rover's pent-up anger toward Wracksaw is

being unleashed in a magnificent display of giddy energy. And then—after every last helmet has been ripped off its respective guard—Rover comes trotting back to me, carrying a single slobber-covered hunk of metal. The guards totter on wobbly knees, tiny showers of sparks erupting from their heads. Rover drops the helmet at my feet with a CLANK. And then come a dozen THUNKS: the guards collapsing, one by one, like dominoes. They lie on the ground, mumbling softly. "Wow," I say, giving Rover a hard scratch behind his ear. "Guess you were eager to play fetch, too..." I quick-walk toward the operating table, eyes darting around the theater—expecting more guards to pop out at any moment. But the floor is empty except for me, Rover, and him... Ghazt. I stand over his lifeless body. His eyes are dull. The bio-vac tube still sticks out of his head, one end draped across his body.

Hello God, are you in there? No response. If this was supposed to be some sort of big, grand- finale, mano-a-rato showdown... it doesn't look like it's gonna live up to the hype. It's nothing like our first showdown. The anger and rage and fury in those beady eyes after I sliced off one of his whiskers is gone...