Chapter 21

chapter twenty-one Neon looks back for me—slow at first, and then faster, frantic. Globlet grabs my hand. "June, he looks scared. And I feel scared." "I'm not sure this is right," Johnny Steve says. Wretches crowd around Neon. One prods his back, where his wings used to be. And then, at once— KEE-AWWW!! The Wretches attack! Neon whirls, trying to escape, but one enormous talon snatches him! The largest Wretch, some sort of den mother, hurls him into the horde! Neon is writhing, twisting, flailing. They're toying with him. Because they know he's damaged, they know he can't fly,

第21章霓虹灯回头找我——起初缓慢，然后加快，疯狂。 地球仪抓住我的手。“琼，他看起来很害怕。 我感到害怕。”“我不确定这是对的，”约翰尼·史蒂夫说。 可怜虫围着霓虹。 一只戳了戳他的背，原来是他的翅膀。 然后，马上——哇——哇！！可怜虫来了！霓虹旋转着，试图逃跑，但一只巨大的爪子抓住了他！最大的坏蛋，某种女教母，把他扔进了部落！霓虹灯在扭动、扭曲、挣扎。 他们在玩弄他。因为他们知道他受伤了，他们知道他不能飞，

they know he's not like them. GRR SLASH ROAR. I've led him to his doom. I burst out from behind the Jeep and race toward the horde of Wretches. I'm not thinking straight. Not even close. Racing up the hill, I see Neon curled up into a little ball. It's so similar to what the Rifters did to him—like horrible déjà vu—that I want to puke. The Wretches are evil, yes— but I didn't think they'd be evil to their own kind!

他们知道他和他们不一样。 GRR slash咆哮。我把他引向了死路。 我从吉普车后面冲出来，向那群可怜虫跑去。 我脑子不清楚。 差远了。跑上山时，我看见霓虹蜷缩成一个小球。 这和裂谷党人对他做的事太像了——可怕的dsamj - vu——我都想吐了。 可怜虫是邪恶的，是的——但我没想到他们会对自己的同类如此邪恶！

Behind me, I hear Globlet and Johnny Steve screaming my name. Telling me to turn back. Telling me to get down. But I don't, because in this moment I'm not scared of the Wretches. However, it's not the Wretches they're warning me about. It's something else entirely....

我听到Globlet和Johnny Steve在我身后喊我的名字。 叫我回头。叫我趴下。 但我不害怕，因为此刻我不怕那些可怜虫。 然而，他们警告我的不是那些可怜虫。 这完全是另一回事....

"NO!" I cry out as I'm ripped upward, into the air. "Yes," the Boss Rifter says, smiling cruelly. I'm instantly clawing at the lasso, trying to use the Thing-A-Ma-Blasty Gadget Blaster to slice myself free. But the Ogre sweeps me across the ground. The Blaster bangs hard against a chunk of rubble and my entire arm goes numb. "Leggo!" I cry. "Leggo!" The Boss Rifter does not "leggo." Instead, the lasso is swung up, over his shoulder. I'm suddenly weightless, tumbling through the air. This is like a surprise upsidedown roller coaster—and I hate surprise upside-down roller coasters! If a roller coaster is gonna go upside down, I want advance notice! I see Johnny Steve and Globlet, racing to catch me. But they won't make it. And the last thing I see, as I'm carried away, is Neon. And a massive Wretch

“不!”当我被拉扯到空中时，我大叫起来。 “是的，”Boss Rifter冷酷地笑着说。 我马上就去抓套索，想用爆炸装置爆破器把自己切出来。 但食人魔把我扫过了地面。 爆破药重重地撞在碎石上，我的整个手臂都麻木了。 “希望吧!”我哭了。“希望吧!”Boss Rifter不会“leggo”。 相反，套索被甩了起来，越过他的肩膀。 我突然失重了，在空中翻滚。 这就像一个惊喜颠倒的过山车——我讨厌惊喜颠倒的过山车！如果过山车要倒过来，我要提前通知！我看到约翰尼·史蒂夫和Globlet跑过来追我。 但他们不会成功的。当我忘乎所以时，最后看到的是霓虹。 而且是个大坏蛋

swinging a talon into his side. It is a killing blow. Neon cries out. Slowly, like it's a scene out of a movie, he sinks to the ground. I open my mouth to scream, but blood rushes to my head, and everything goes black.

用爪子刺向他的侧身。 这是致命的一击。霓虹灯在呼喊。 慢慢地，就像电影里的场景一样，他沉到了地上。 我张开嘴想尖叫，但血涌向我的头，一切都变黑了。