Chapter 3

chapter three Dirk's not satisfied with Johnny Steve's answer—not at all. So Johnny Steve begins leading us through the maze-like depths of the mall, toward the Grand Protector, and—hopefully—to Drooler. "So how'd you wind up on board this thing?" June asks. "I wanna hear everything." Johnny Steve beams. "Oh, it is a most fascinating tale..." Nothing bad ever happens to me. Crunch. I was walking in along thinking how nothing bad happens to me. Then crunch. I'm vacuumed up by the mollusk

第三章德克对约翰尼·史蒂夫的回答不满意——一点也不满意。 于是，约翰尼·史蒂夫开始带领我们穿过迷宫般的商场深处，走向大守护者，希望能找到流饮。 “那你是怎么上这艘船的？”6月问道。 “我想听一切。” 约翰尼·史蒂夫眉开眼笑。“哦，这是一个非常有趣的故事……” 我从来没有遇到过坏事。 危机。我一直走着，想着怎么没发生什么坏事。 然后紧缩。我被软体动物吸走了

"And that," Johnny Steve says, with a mournful sigh, "is how I learned it is a mistake to store one's collection of spectacles in the same bindle as one's collection of souvenir mugs." "Does the Mallusk pick up everything in its way?" Quint asks. "Nearly everything, yes," Johnny Steve replies. "The Mallusk seems to choose its path by somehow sensing where there are creatures in need. So some on board are weary, injured, or hunted... while others just happen to be in the right place at the right time. Like us!" "Right place, right time," Dirk says. "Right." "Hey, wait!" June suddenly exclaims. "Where's Neon? I'm gonna give him so many scritches." Johnny Steve goes quiet and shifts uncomfortably. He tucks his walking sword under his trenchcoat, looking for any way to avoid June's gaze. "Johnny Steve..." June says. Her voice is heavy now. "Tell me where Neon is." Johnny Steve swallows. Then, finally, he says, "Well, uh... Neon exploded. Just... BOOM. He burst. Erupted. Like a water balloon." "WHAT?!" June shrieks.

“就这样，”约翰尼·史蒂夫悲哀地叹了口气说，“我明白了，把收藏的眼镜和收藏的纪念马克杯放在同一个盒子里是错误的。” “Mallusk会把路上的东西都捡起来吗？”五度音问道。 “几乎所有的东西，是的，”约翰尼·史蒂夫回答。 “Mallusk似乎通过某种方式感知到哪里有需要的生物来选择它的路径。 所以船上有些人累了，受伤了，或者被猎杀了…… 而其他人只是碰巧在正确的时间出现在正确的地点。 像我们这样的!”“正确的地点，正确的时间，”德克说。 “对的。”“嘿,等等!”琼突然惊叫起来。 “霓虹灯在哪里?我要狠狠地挠他几下。” 约翰尼·史蒂夫安静下来，不安地扭动着身体。 他把会走路的剑藏在风衣下，想办法避开琼的目光。 “约翰尼史蒂夫……”6月说。 她的声音现在很沉重。“告诉我霓虹在哪儿。” 约翰尼·史蒂夫吞了一口。最后，他说：“嗯，嗯…… 霓虹灯爆炸了。只是…繁荣。 他破裂。爆发了。就像一个水球。” “什么? !”6月尖叫。

Gotcha, a joke. You see, humans often use humor, even dark humor to cope with difficult situations. Not like that. Not in a, y'know? Hey, your friend exploded way. June has gone from "delighted to see you" to "ready to strangle you" real fast—and Johnny Steve knows it. "Truthfully, June," he says. "I do not know. Neon and I split up some time ago." "But he was OK?" June asks. "When you last saw him?" "Oh, most certainly!" Johnny Steve says. "Not exploded?" June asks. "Not exploded!" he answers happily. Then, quieter: "Neon had his own quest to attend to. Just as I am here, gone my own way, to be brave and do brave things— like a human!"

明白了，开个玩笑。你看，人类经常用幽默，甚至是黑色幽默来应对困境。 不是那样的。不，你知道吗？ 嘿，你朋友爆炸了。 琼已经从“见到你很高兴”变成了“准备掐死你”——约翰尼·史蒂夫知道这一点。 “说实话，琼，”他说。 “我不知道。我和霓虹不久前分手了。” “但他还好吧？”6月问道。 “你最后一次见到他是什么时候？”“哦，当然啦！”约翰尼·史蒂夫说。 “没有爆炸?”6月问道。 “没有爆炸！”他高兴地回答。 然后，他安静下来：“氖有他自己的任务要做。 就像我在这里一样，走自己的路，勇敢地做勇敢的事——像一个人一样！”

June blinks away any sadness about Neon. "This fight we're in..." she says quietly. "We each have to go where we're needed. I'll see Neon again, when it's time." "And Jack," Johnny Steve says, turning the next corner, "I believe these three are with you." "Alfred, Lefty, Glurm!" I exclaim. Relief fills me as I see my Zombie Squad. They are patiently waiting for me. A ton of fresh junk is hanging off them, including some pretty rad hats. They look like a so-bad-it's-good album cover... Jack's Zombiesquad featuring the hit single out of the goopy and into your heart.

琼用眼睛抹去了霓虹的悲伤。 “我们正在打这场仗……”她平静地说。 “我们每个人都必须去需要我们的地方。 到时候，我会再见到霓虹的。” “杰克，”约翰尼·史蒂夫转过下一个拐角说，“我相信这三个人和你在一起。” “阿尔弗雷德，阿左，格鲁姆！”我惊叫。 当我看到我的僵尸小队时，我如释重负。 他们正耐心地等着我。 上面挂着一大堆新垃圾，包括一些很酷的帽子。 它们看起来就像一张烂到不能再烂的专辑封面…… 杰克的僵尸小队主打单曲，从粘糊糊的，进入你的心。

"I knew you guys'd be OK!" I say. "C'mon, join up." And with a swing of the Slicer, I swoop them into a group, high-fiving each one as they fall in line behind us. Dirk's walking faster now. I can see him losing patience. "So who's this 'Grand Protector'?" he asks. "What do I need to know?" I figure he's working on a strategy for Drooler's rescue, and, perhaps, Grand Protector punching. "Auntie Anne!" Quint exclaims. "Wait, the Grand Protector is Auntie Anne?" I ask. "The pretzel queen?" "No! I smell Auntie Anne's pretzels!" Quint says. "Nearby." Then we all smell the sweet sugar-salt scent. And it suddenly occurs to me that we haven't eaten in way too long. In a flash, we're racing down the last corridor, giddy at the thought of cinnamon pretzel knots. Johnny Steve pushes open a heavy door and we're basked in a beautiful fluorescent glow. We gasp. It is... The Millennium Super Mall.

“我就知道你们会没事的！”我说。 “来吧，加入吧。”我挥动着切片机，把他们聚成一群，在他们排在我们后面的时候，我和他们每个人击掌。 德克现在走得快了。 我看得出他正在失去耐心。 “那么这个‘大护法’是谁呢？”他问道。 “我需要知道什么？”我猜他在想营救德鲁勒的策略，也许还有大护法的出拳。 “安妮阿姨!”昆特惊呼道。 “等等，护国公是安妮阿姨？”我问。 “椒盐卷饼女王？”“不!我闻到了安妮阿姨的椒盐脆饼的味道！”五度音说。 “附近”。然后我们都闻到了甜甜的糖盐味。 我突然想到我们已经很久没吃东西了。 转眼间，我们冲过最后一条走廊，一想到肉桂椒盐卷饼结就头晕目眩。 约翰尼·史蒂夫推开一扇沉重的门，我们沐浴在美丽的荧光灯下。 我们喘息。它是……千禧超级购物中心。