Chapter 27

chapter twenty-seven Ghazt's body vibrates, and I get the same sensation in the Cosmic Hand. We're connected. Two puzzle pieces—separated by Skaelka's ax, rejoined in a living monster fortress. The world is weird, man. "BEAR WITNESS!" Ghazt roars. "BEAR WITNESS TO THE INDOMITABLE POWER OF A COSMIC TERROR!" Ghazt's body begins to shudder. Tiny sparks of electricity dance across his fur. I brace myself for the biggest, most epic display of interdimensional cosmic power in history as— Ghazt falls back to the slab with a thud.

Um, was that it? Did I bear witness? Because I bear witness to cooler stuff than that one time at the science fair, N0ah's Chance made a battery out of a potato char. I am. It's too weak. Rex houses foul surgery has shock me of my strength. Read man hour Power? What am I supposed to do? Ask if anyone has any spare AA batteries? I glance across the room. Dirk and Quint are on either side of the Mega- Sentinel, trying their best to give the beast the business. Probably using a bunch of cool attacks they worked out together during their buddy-buddy hero quest. But I'm not even jealous this time... even if they did become best friends with that break-dancing Drakkor guy.

But June's not with them. My eyes search the floor, and then I zero in on a figure soaring across the room. It's June, flailing in midair like a crumb that's been flicked by a monstrous finger. She bounces off the wall, her fall cushioned by her backpack. And inside that backpack— "June! The Fortress Breaker!" Despite her crash landing—the words "Fortress Breaker" quickly have her springing back to her feet. "We're gonna use it?" she asks. "Ooooh, YES!" She's not gonna like what I have to say next. "Give it to Ghazt." "Ooh, NOPE!" she responds. She eyes me like I'm not the Jack Sullivan she knows. And maybe I'm not anymore. But something in me says this is the only move. June scans the room, the destruction, the battle still waging, and then, reluctantly, she slides the backpack off her shoulder. Pulling the device out, she runs toward me and Ghazt. In a flash, June is by my side—plonking the Fortress Breaker down onto Ghazt's chest. He smirks. "Ha. Thrull. Perfect." "It's full of potential energy," June warns. "Detonating the bomb with all of us huddled around it would not be smart!"

Ghazt chuckles. "Oh, there was a time when nothing would have delighted me more. But not now. I will be the bomb's conduit—and together, Jack, you and I will send a beacon to the world. You will understand, Jack—after it is done. You will truly appreciate what it is to be a general." I stand at the end of the table, the Cosmic Hand wrapped around Ghazt's nub. June stands to his left. She no longer looks eager. Rover is between us. "BEAR WITNESS—" Ghazt starts. "JUST GET ON WITH IT! WE KNOW WE'RE BEARING WITNESS TO SOME EPIC OTHER DIMENSIONAL GOD STUFF!" I shout. Ghazt glares. "So do it," he says. June and I lock eyes. Her finger hovers over the detonator affixed to Blasty. I nod. Here we go... GRAB

Clack Rover buries his head between his paws. June leaps back. I want to join her, but I can't—I couldn't let go of Ghazt's tail-nub even if I wanted to. It's like holding on to a live wire. But the explosion is small—quickly contained and absorbed by Ghazt.

Rays of light flood from the Fortress Breaker, like a disco ball. Two beams blast through the Thrull stuffie's eyes—then through every part of him, until he has melted away to nothing. And that same light begins to pour from Ghazt's body as the power and energy of the Fortress Breaker is funneled through him. Ghazt's back arches violently—but his arms stay wrapped, python-tight, around the Fortress Breaker. And my hand's grip on Ghazt's tail-nub is unbreakable—even as my feet lift off the floor. The full power of the Cosmic Terror drives through me. I feel like I'm being turned inside out! It's like my entire being—every molecule, every atom—is being pulled apart. And then—