Chapter 3

chapter three When we finally stop tumbling and tilt-a-flipping, we're sprawled out on concrete. My eyes keep spinning for a long time—and when they finally stop and focus, I see hair. June's hair, in my face. It tickles. "When's the last time you washed your hair?" I ask her. "You might wanna do it soon 'cause it kinda stinks like maple syrup." June groans. "That's not my hair, dumb dumb. Look around." Sitting up, I see that we've landed in the parking lot of a roadside breakfast joint: Suzie Stacks Pancake Barn. Flies buzz around in lazy patterns. They're loud. But not as loud as the sound of bones snapping and cracking. It's Tiny Splotcher—he's rising. Joints and limbs pop at impossible, unnatural angles, allowing him to free himself from the lasso-line. But June and I—and our darn non-snappable-andre- snappable appendages—are still stuck fast.

当我们终于停止翻滚和倾斜翻转时，我们就躺在混凝土上了。 我的眼睛旋转了很长一段时间，当它们终于停下来集中注意力时，我看到了头发。 琼的头发，在我的脸上。它痒。 “你上次洗头是什么时候？”我问她。 “你可能想快点做，因为它有点像枫糖浆。” 6月叹息。“那不是我的头发，笨蛋笨蛋。 四处看看。”坐起来，我看到我们已经降落在路边早餐店的停车场：Suzie Stacks Pancake Barn。 苍蝇懒洋洋地飞来飞去。 他们大声。但没有骨头断裂的声音那么响亮。 是小斑点——他在上升。 关节和四肢以不可能的、不自然的角度弹出，让他从套索中解脱出来。 但琼和我，还有我们那该死的不可拆卸的，安德烈，可拆卸的附属品，仍然紧紧地粘在一起。

You thought you would take me because I am the little one. Yes, that was a mistake. It wasn't like a height judgment thing. The monster's glowing, oozing claw-appendage flashes open, revealing a terrifying array of needle- spikes. "Whoa, whoa, whoa—WAIT!" June says, holding up a hand. "Could you, maybe, go easy on us? Because, uh..." "Because, well..." I start, before June jumps back in. "Because my friend here is super scared right now. Huge needle-phobe."

你以为你会带我去，因为我是最小的。 是的，那是个错误。这不是身高判断的问题。 怪物的发光的，渗出的爪子附属物闪开，露出一排可怕的针尖。 “哇，哇，哇——等等！”琼举起一只手说。 “也许，你能对我们宽容一点吗？” 因为,呃……”“因为,嗯……” 我开始了，在琼回来之前。 “因为我的朋友现在超级害怕。 巨大的needle-phobe。”

"What the—HEY!" I shout. "Am not; you're the one—" "See," June says, smiling at the Splotcher while nodding her head my way. "A little defensive, too. He hates needles. At the doctor's, he closes his eyes—but he makes the nurse tell him when the shot is coming because he also hates not knowing." "We never went to the doctor together!" I exclaim. What's going on here? Has the monster apocalypse finally gotten to her? And, yeah, I hate shots. Everyone hates shots. If I ever met someone who liked shots, I'd step away slowly, 'cause— "At the school nurse's one time, he just flat-out fainted," June says. "Not a criticism, just saying." Tiny Splotcher snaps one last limb, and a dangling arm fixes back into place. His shoulder makes a sound like two canned hams hurled against a brick wall. Leaning forward, he hisses, "I have had many shots. Many injections. But unlike this cowardly young human, I welcome them!" "Oh, had a lot of shots, eh?" June says. "From the school nurse?" Tiny Splotcher makes a wet, hacking sound. "From Wracksaw! Bear witness: we are now in the shadow of his fortress—where me and my fellow monsters have been made great. Been given purpose!"

“什么the-HEY !”我喊。 “我不是;你就是我的真命天子——”“看，”琼说，对着斯普洛彻微笑着，向我点了点头。 “我也有点抵触心理。他讨厌针。 在医生那里，他闭上眼睛——但他让护士告诉他什么时候打针，因为他也讨厌不知道。” “我们从来没有一起去看过医生！”我惊叫。 这是怎么回事？怪物末日终于来找她了吗？ 是的，我讨厌打针。每个人都讨厌打针。 如果我遇到一个喜欢喝酒的人，我会慢慢地走开，因为——“有一次在学校护士那里，他完全晕了过去，”琼说。 “不是批评，只是说说而已。” 小斑点折断了最后一条肢体，一只悬垂的手臂被固定了回去。 他的肩膀发出的声音就像两只火腿罐头撞在砖墙上。 他身体前倾，嘶嘶地说：“我已经打了很多针了。 许多注射。但我不像这个懦弱的年轻人，我欢迎他们！”“哦，打了很多针，嗯？”6月说。 “从学校护士那儿？”小斑点发出一种潮湿的、黑客的声音。 “从Wracksaw !见证吧：我们现在就在他的堡垒的阴影下——在那里，我和我的怪物同伴们变得伟大了。 被赋予了目的！”

And that's when I get it. June doesn't have to say it —I know what she's doing. It's almost like—proof that she and I have a special connection, maybe? I'd like to think so. "Ahh, Wracksaw," I say, jumping in. Seems like maybe that's the creature Thrull was taking Ghazt to, but I have to know for sure. "Weird name for a school nurse—" "He is no school nurssssse! He is a brilliant mind!" "Ooh, that's actually perfect! 'Cause one of your buddies gave me this little cut here," June says, turning her injured cheek toward Tiny Splotcher. "Maybe Wracksaw could stitch me up?" My throat tightens at that. So does the Cosmic Hand. Because that cut was made by me. Not a Splotcher. "He would do more than stitch. He has not yet had a human body to experiment on. But... NO! I will not deliver you to him. He is too busy with Ghazt." "Oh, you know Ghazt?" June asks. "We know Ghazt!" "You do not know Ghazt," the guard says, hissing. "You only knew Ghazt." Tiny Splotcher's narrow, insect-like face rearranges into something like a knowing grin. "Was he a companion of yours?" Not sure how to answer that one. Truly.

然后我就明白了。琼不用这么说-我知道她在干什么。 这几乎证明了我和她之间有一种特殊的联系，也许吧？ 我想是的。“啊，锯怪。”我说着，跳了进去。 看来这就是瑟鲁要带加斯特去的那个生物，但我得确认一下。 “学校护士的名字真怪——”“他不是学校护士！他是一个聪明的头脑！”“哦，这真是太完美了！”因为你的一个朋友给了我这个小伤口，”琼说，把她受伤的脸颊转向小斯普莱彻。 “也许锯怪能把我缝起来？”我的喉咙一听就发紧。 宇宙之手也是如此。因为那个伤口是我割的。 不是色斑。“他要做的不仅仅是针线活。 他还没有一个人体来做实验。 但是…不!我不会把你交给他。 他太忙于Ghazt了。” “哦，你知道加兹特吗？”6月问道。 “我们知道加斯特！”“你不了解Ghazt，”卫兵嘶嘶地说。 “你只知道加斯特。”小斑点的狭窄的，昆虫般的脸重新排列成一个像会心的笑容。 “他是你的同伴吗？”不知道该怎么回答这个问题。 真正的。

What do you call a Cosmic General you've been fighting for what feels like forever? An interdimensional rat monster whose powers were stolen by Thrull—and then stolen again, from Thrull, by me, when the Scrapken tentacle on my hand sucked away Ghazt's powers, turning the Scrapken tentacle into the Cosmic Hand? "We were more like... colleagues?" I say finally. "We actually ran for the same office. It was a hard- fought campaign, but I suppose there's a begrudging mutual respect after something like that—" "Then I will take great joy in your sadness," Tiny Splotcher says, his horrible mouth twisting into an arrogant smile, "when I tell you that..."

你为之奋斗了一辈子的宇宙将军叫什么？ 一个跨次元的老鼠怪物，它的力量被Thrull偷走了——然后又被我从Thrull那里偷走了，当我手上的Scrapken触手吸走了Ghazt的力量，把Scrapken触手变成了宇宙之手？ “我们更像是……同事吗?”我说最后。 “实际上，我们竞选的是同一个职位。 这是一场艰苦的战役，但我想，在经历了这样的事情之后，人们还是会勉强地相互尊重的——”“那么，我将为你的悲伤感到极大的快乐，”小斯普莱彻说，他那可怕的嘴巴扭曲成傲慢的微笑，“当我告诉你……”

gas, it's dead. WHAT?? Dead?! Wait... No. That's not... Dead? In case my brain-thoughts didn't make it clear enough, I shout, "Dead?! Wait... No. That's not... Dead?!?" I mean, Ghazt wasn't in great shape when Thrull carried him off... but dead? Could he really be gone? For good? June catches my eye. I suspect she's thinking what I should be thinking: What about the info inside

煤气，它死了。什么? ?死了吗? !等待…… 否。这不是……死了吗?为了防止我的大脑思维不够清晰，我大喊：“死了？！”等待…… 否。这不是……死了吗? ! ?”我是说，当斯拉尔把加斯特带走的时候，他的状态不是很好…… 但是死了吗?他真的走了吗？ 对好吗?六月吸引了我的目光。 我怀疑她在想我应该在想的事情：里面的信息呢