Chapter 24

chapter twenty-four Neon, you're alive, quat. I'm so happy to see Neon, I try to hug him! But my arms are tied at my sides, so he nuzzles his snout into my armpit. If that's how Wretches hug, I wholeheartedly approve. "I thought you were dead!" I exclaim. Neon huffs, as if to say, How dare you doubt me?

第二十四章霓虹，你还活着。 我很高兴见到霓虹，我想拥抱他！但我的胳膊被绑在身体两侧，所以他把鼻子伸进我的腋窝。 如果这就是坏蛋们拥抱的方式，我完全赞同。 “我还以为你死了呢！”我惊叫。 霓虹怒吼着，好像在说，你怎么敢怀疑我？

"But how did you find me?" I ask. Just then, Johnny Steve walks through the door! "I suspected this particular band of Rifters used Putt-Putt on the High Seas as a hideout." "But, Neon... Neon, you were... done for! The Boss Rifter even told me!" I glance at Johnny Steve. "How is he...?" Neon turns, striding to Johnny Steve and nuzzling against him. I gasp—Neon's left side is absolutely covered in bandages. "It took a lot of Choco Taco wrappers," Johnny Steve explains. He lowers his hood, and I see he's plastered in napkin gauze and even has a waffle cone over one wounded eye. I have to choke back a laugh—it looks like a second beak. Johnny Steve scratches Neon's neck while he fills me in. "After you were taken, I didn't know what to do. But I knew you were trying to save Neon. So I figured..." He suddenly looks very shy. "Well, I figured if that's what

“你是怎么找到我的？”我问。 就在这时，约翰尼·史蒂夫走了进来！“我怀疑这群裂裂者把公海上的‘推杆’当作藏身处。” “但是,霓虹……霓虹，你… 完蛋了!Boss Rifter甚至告诉过我！”我瞥了约翰尼·史蒂夫一眼。 “他怎么样了……？”霓虹转身，大步走向约翰尼·史蒂夫，用鼻子蹭他。 我倒吸了一口气——氖的左边完全被绷带包裹着。 “我们用了很多巧克力玉米卷包装纸，”约翰尼·史蒂夫解释道。 他垂下兜帽，我看到他身上裹着餐巾纱布，一只受伤的眼睛上甚至还有一个华夫饼蛋筒。 我不得不忍住笑——它看起来像第二只鸟嘴。 约翰尼·史蒂夫在给我解释的时候抓了抓霓虹的脖子。 “你被抓走后，我不知道该怎么办。 但我知道你是想救霓虹。 所以我想……”他突然显得很害羞。 “嗯，我想如果是这样的话

humans do for their friends, then I should do the same. Because—" "Because you're a human expert," I say, grinning. He smiles the widest smile I've ever seen. "Oh, you and I should also do hugs now!" he says as he hurries over to cut me free. His walking sword is splashed with Wretch goo. I shake my head in stunned awe. A moment after he cuts me loose, I hear a squeaky voice say, "HELLO!"

人类为朋友做的事，那我也应该这样做。 因为——”“因为你是人类专家，”我笑着说。 他的笑容是我见过的最灿烂的。 “哦，你和我现在也应该拥抱一下了！”他一边说一边赶过来帮我挣脱。 他的行走剑上溅满了可怜虫的黏液。 我震惊地摇了摇头。 他把我松开后不久，我听到一个尖细的声音说：“你好！”

GOBLET, um, were you back through the whole time? You seems pretty bummed out. Wanted to give you some alone time gloves. You made it Just then, Neon slams into me so hard I practically flip over. I throw my arms around his neck, squeezing so tight that it hurts my bruised wrists. "Neon, I'm sorry," I say. "I'm so, so sorry. I never should have taken you there...." Neon slips out of my arms, then he looks at the floor.

高脚杯，你一直都回来了吗？ 你看起来很沮丧。 想给你一双独处手套。 你做到了就在这时，霓虹狠狠地撞了我一下，我几乎翻了个身。 我伸出双臂搂住他的脖子，紧紧地搂住他，弄痛了我受伤的手腕。 “霓虹，对不起，”我说。“我非常、非常抱歉。 我真不该带你去....” 霓虹从我怀里溜走，然后他看着地板。

"Hey, buddy—hey," I say softly, tilting my head so I can see him better. "Why did the Wretches attack you like that?" Neon then pushes his head forward, so our nostrils are nearly touching. His eyes lock on to mine, and I feel his gaze creating bubbles in the back parts of my brain. But I don't look away. "It's okay," I say. "Show me." Neon peers closer—so close that our faces touch. Looking through me. I hear a faraway BOOM, and then I'm not at the mini golf course anymore. I'm not anywhere. I don't see a vision of the future and I don't see a memory of the past. Instead, this time I see— Neon. He's a baby, even younger than he is today. But he doesn't look the same, and

“嘿，伙计，嘿，”我轻轻地说，倾斜我的头，以便我能更清楚地看到他。 “那些可怜虫为什么这样攻击你？”然后霓虹把他的头向前推，所以我们的鼻孔几乎碰到了。 他的眼睛紧盯着我，我感到他的目光在我的大脑后部产生了气泡。 但我没有把目光移开。“没关系，”我说。 “给我。”霓虹灯更近了——近到我们的脸都碰到了。 看穿我。我听到远处一声巨响，然后我就不在迷你高尔夫球场了。 我哪儿也不在。我看不到未来的愿景，也看不到过去的记忆。 相反，这次我看到了-霓虹灯。 他还是个婴儿，甚至比现在还小。 但他看起来不一样了，而且

it's not just because he's smaller. He's happier. He has his wings! He's soaring through the sky, dipping and twirling and tumbling. He zooms around other baby Wretches and they play-wrestle in the sky. Everything looks different—the sky is pink and speckled, the ground seems to float, and water hangs in the air, unmoving.

这不仅仅是因为他个子小。 他的快乐。他有翅膀！他在天空中翱翔，俯冲，旋转，翻滚。 他在其他可怜的孩子周围急速旋转，他们在天空中玩摔跤。 一切看起来都不一样了——天空是粉红色的，有斑点，地面似乎在漂浮，水悬在空中，一动不动。