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,

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!

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....

"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

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.