Chapter 16

chapter sixteen I'm covered head to toe in dirt and grime—and there's pain head to toe, too. I press my hand against the ground. Pebbles push into my bare palm as I sit up slowly, shaking out the cobwebs. What just happened? Oh right. Ghazt, gangplank, fighting, falling. In the distance, the Mallusk is speeding away, leaving a destruction-filled crevice in its wake. All the dirt and dust makes me feel like I've fallen into some kind of old-timey Wild West town. Dirk would go nuts for it. Except Dirk's not here. None of my friends are. My friends are back on board. There's only one other person here...

Ng,um, If I have to be stranded out in the wasteland wilds, Evie is the last person I'd choose to be with. But, I suppose, the last person is better than no person. I get to my feet, slowly at first—but then very quickly as Evie rises, swinging her weapon... "Oh, c'mon!" I shout, drawing the Slicer as I jump back, deflecting the blow. "You stole Ghazt's powers!" Evie barks. "You got us both stranded out here in the middle of nowhere! Everything was going fine on the Mallusk until you and your friends showed up!"

"Hey, for real," I say, "can we just dial it down a notch?" Evie's breathing hard, ready to keep going. I lower the Slicer—only slightly. Look, let's not fight. Ok, I'm pretty sure we both want the same thing here. Oh, really? You also want to knock an annoying kid named Jack Sullivan senseless? "I walked right into that one," I say with a frustrated sigh. "No. I mean get back to the Mallusk. My friends are on board." Evie's nose wrinkles at the word "friends," and I can tell I've hit a sore spot.

"Uh, yeah, duh, me too," she spits. "I have a Cosmic General to get back to? Also Smud, who's a close pal. And in case you've forgotten, I have an entire mall full of monsters to rule over. I mean... protect. Yeah, protect. Help protect. With Ghazt." I roll my eyes. Even after surviving a near-fatal fall off a gigantic beast, all she can think about is ruling. Power. And it's that thirst for power that got us into this mess. I turn my back to Evie and start walking along the Mallusk's carved-out path. I don't need her. I've got my Slicer, the air in my lungs, and the blood in my veins. I'll be fine. It takes an hour just to trek up and out of the crevice the Mallusk made. The sun is starting to set by the time I reach the narrow peak. It's like a jagged mountain ridgeline built from suburban rubble.

That's when I hear Evie's footsteps at my back... My ears guess she's a few paces behind. Although—I actually have no idea how big a pace is. Is it bigger than a click? Definitely smaller than a league. I don't want to look back—don't want to give her the satisfaction. But it's a treacherous, precarious walk. And with the sound of every shaky step, every strange footfall, I can't help but spin, expecting to find Evie mid-attack. About to push me, whack me, something. And each time I spin, Evie stops, stiffens, and steadies herself for battle. It goes on like this for nearly an hour, until—

Enough. My nerves are fried to a crisp. Ok, you can't keep acting like you're ready to strike at any moment. Me, What about you? "What about me?!" I shoot back. "You keep spinning around like you're gonna knock me off the road!" 'Cause you keep being about to strike!" 'Cause you keep spinning!" I sigh. "It's a chicken-or-the-egg thing." "Who you calling chicken?" "Uh-uh, nope," I say. "Don't try to Marty McFly me." That gets her. After a long moment, a smile cracks her face. "Look," I say with a tired sigh. "We'll never get back to the Mallusk like this. What about a temporary truce?"