Chapter 24

chapter twenty-four I throw myself across the floor, reaching out with the Cosmic Hand. Searching, grabbing! I feel power—undefined, unknown—coursing through it. And with that hand and what I find with it, I'm able to reach every monster on board—all the way to the parking garage and its exit... Hey, citizens of Mollusk City, It's Jack. Earlier, I said a real leader won't lie to you. So here's the truth. Today has not been the best. Don't know if I'll be seeing you again. If I don't, please remember this fight. If you work together, you can fight back and you can win. That's the truth, too.

I open my hand, and the PA microphone clangs to the broken floor. That's all I got. Ghazt whimpers: a squeak so soft I barely hear it. "Shhh..." Thrull says cruelly, tightening the bone-whip until Ghazt goes silent. Then— FA-SHINK! Ghazt falls as Thrull's bone-whip snaps straight, a long blade pressed to my throat. Thrull's voice is a ragged snarl. "You didn't even try to reach your weapon. For someone who caused me so much trouble, I expected more. Did you expect more, too? I think you did. Fear not—there is more to come. You see, Jack..." I will end you now. You, the boy will fall, but your skeleton will rise by my hand. And then I will use you to destroy your friends down to the last.

I swallow. And then I hear a voice. "Stop where you are, Thrull." Huh? Who just said that? I look up—and my mouth falls open and my eyes go wide. It's Johnny Steve. And he's not alone. At every level of the mall, monsters are stepping toward the railings. I'm confused. Scared. They should be gone. They were supposed to have escaped! If we didn't buy them time, didn't save them, then this has all been for nothing. But then I see that their arms are full. They're holding loot, all of them: water pistols, Wiffle balls, buckets.

All of it dripping with Ultra-Slime, and all of it aimed at Thrull. "This is us working together," one monster says. "This is us fighting back," says another. Thrull looks up. His left leg buckles, then goes stiff again. It's a quick thing, and if he hadn't corrected it so quickly, I wouldn't have noticed. But it's clear: he's hurt, too. Drops of Ultra-Slime drip down his arm and pool at his feet. And whatever Thrull wants from Ghazt, I'm guessing he needs Ghazt alive. That means Ghazt is a (just barely) living ticking clock. Without the monsters' return, Thrull would have ended me. And probably June. But now... Thrull's eyes scan the monsters above.

I will see you all again. And when I do serving, kneeling, that will not be an option for you. There will be only death.

His eyes turn to me—staring hard. It's not just a promise that he'll see me again—that's kind of a given. This is more than that... Thanks to the Cosmic Hand, I am tied forever to the future of this fight. I can never bow out, can never just quit. Even if I wanted to. And I have a feeling Thrull is thinking something similar—like our fates are now intertwined. Cosmic Hand or not, Thrull will never let up. He won't quit until he has destroyed me, Jack Sullivan, the dopey kid who can never quite get it over on him, can never quite defeat him, but remains a post-apocalyptic thorn in his side nonetheless... Nope. Thrull's not gonna be satisfied until I'm dead. With a snapping crack, he yanks Ghazt upward— hoisting the massive rat body over his shoulder. Thrull turns. A raspy, pained yelp falls from Ghazt's lips as Thrull stomps out. And then, with one final swing of the bone-whip, Thrull smashes the pillar holding up Evie and Ghazt's Food Court headquarters. It collapses in a heap of rubble. And when the smoke and dust clear, Thrull is gone... and Ghazt is gone with him.