Chapter 13

chapter thirteen They are suddenly falling. Quint's incantation has blasted a blazing column of energy straight up and down, evaporating everything above and below, including the floor beneath their feet, the floor beneath that, and the floor beneath that. Even as he plummets, Quint looks up. Above him, he sees the swirling aftermath of his conjuration. The beam nicked the Drakkor, and the monster is howling, reeling back, black oil-goop spraying from a fresh wound in its chest. And below them, Quint sees stuffed animals and plushies. Thousands of them appear to be rising up at rocket-speed as the heroes plunge through the final, just-exploded hole. "BRACE YOURSELVES!" Dirk shouts, grabbing Drooler tight, just as— FWOOOMP!

他们突然下落。 昆特的咒语使一股炽热的能量柱直上直下，蒸发了上面和下面的一切，包括他们脚下的地板，脚下的地板，还有脚下的地板。 尽管他在坠落，昆特还是抬头看了看。 在他的上方，他看到了他的咒语后的漩涡。 光束击中了德拉科号，怪物在嚎叫，踉跄着后退，黑色的油浆从胸口的新伤口喷涌而出。 在它们下面，昆特看到了毛绒动物和毛绒玩具。 当英雄们跳入最后一个刚刚爆炸的洞时，成千上万的人似乎以火箭的速度上升起来。 “坚持住!”德克喊道，一把抓住流口水，就在这时——噗！

got real lucky with the landing spot. Pizza, pizza. It's good for you. This little possum puppet is so cute. I'm keeping it. "I believe we fell all the way to the basement," Quint says, squinting. "Guess they store their merchandise here." They can't see much beyond the peak of the mountainous stuffie pile—everything beyond is shrouded in shadow. "Bravo, Quint! Rescued our rear ends, ya did!" Galamelon cheers. "You used your conjuring powers

找到着陆点真是太幸运了。 披萨,披萨。这对你有好处。 这个小负鼠玩偶太可爱了。 我要留着它。“我相信我们一路摔到了地下室，”昆特眯着眼睛说。 “我猜他们把商品都存放在这里。” 除了那堆堆积如山的东西，他们什么也看不见——除此之外的一切都笼罩在阴影中。 “干得漂亮,五胞胎!你救了我们的屁股！”Galamelon欢呼。 “你用了你的魔法

in our moment of need—and saved me!" Dirk and Kimmy shoot Galamelon a glare. "I mean... us!" Galamelon says, sinking into the stuffie pile and getting cozy. "Oh, my mentorship is going marvelously. I should open a school after this. A whole franchise of schools! And hang big paintings of me in the hallways!" Quint avoids his friend's gaze. "We got lucky. I was trying to perform a Level Two Kinetic Dynamo conjuration. That was like Level Five! We're fortunate to be alive. Las Guy, you're rocking this. Also. I'm pretty sure you vaporize that weird Queene. High fives, anyone? High five, what? What vaporized a vaporized Skelton?" Everyone glances around. Galamelon's right: Skaelka is nowhere to be seen. Dirk lifts a large stuffed armadillo, searches underneath, then swallows hard. Drooler meeps sadly. "You sure did!" Galamelon says, again going for the high five. "Big-time vaporization!" "NO," Dirk insists, shooting Galamelon a hard look. "Quint, you did not vaporize Skaelka. You just blew a bunch of holes through the building." "But if you did vaporize her," Kimmy says. "I bet you at least vaporized her in one piece." "That's not how vaporization works!" Quint cries. "If she's been vaporized, she's... vapor! Particles. Billions of—"

在我们需要的时候，他救了我！”德克和吉米瞪了加隆一眼。 “我的意思是…我们!”加隆说着，陷进了那堆杂物里，舒服了起来。 “哦，我的导师生涯进行得非常顺利。 之后我应该开一所学校。 一个完整的特许经营学校！把我的巨幅画像挂在走廊上！”昆特避开了他朋友的目光。 “我们很幸运。我在试着施二级动能发电机咒。 那简直是第五级！我们很幸运能活着。 拉斯盖伊，你太棒了。 也。我很确定你蒸发了那个奇怪的奎恩。 来击掌吧？击掌，什么？ 是什么使斯克尔顿蒸发了？”每个人都环顾四周。 Galamelon的右边：Skaelka不见了。 德克举起一只巨大的犰狳标本，在下面搜寻，然后用力吞咽。 流口水者悲伤地哭泣。“你当然说了！”加隆说，再次击掌。 “一流的蒸发!”“不，”德克坚持道，狠狠地瞪了加隆一眼。 “昆特，斯卡卡不是你蒸发的。 你刚刚把大楼炸了一堆洞。” “但如果你真的让她蒸发了，”吉米说。 “我敢打赌，你至少把她完整地蒸发了。” “汽化不是这样的！”五胞胎哭。 “如果她被蒸发了，她…… 蒸汽!粒子。数十亿——“

my limb cleaver will turn you to vapers. I take the stars. Yay, she's not particles. Yes, no "Quick, Quint!" Dirk cries. "Turn on your flashlight! We gotta find a way outta here before she chops us up!" "Nope. No way," Quint says. "Absolutely not." Despite Skaelka screaming toward them, Quint doesn't move. "The flashlight is affixed to my conjurer's cane, and I'm never using the cane again. Galamelon, from here on out... "Quint heaves a heavy sigh. "I think it'd be best if you handle all the conjuring." Galamelon lets out an awkward laugh-cough. "Oh, I'm flattered, but I couldn't possibly—" SCRAAAPE! Everyone freezes. Even Skaelka. "You all heard that, right?" Kimmy whispers. "That heebie-jeebie noise that sounded like razor- sharp claws raking across cold steel?" CREEEAK!

我的切肢刀会把你变成烟。 我拿着星星。耶，她不是粒子。 是的，不是“快，昆特！”德克哭。 “打开你的手电筒！”我们得在她把我们剁了之前想办法离开这里！”“不。 不可能，”昆特说。“绝对不会。” 尽管斯卡卡朝他们尖叫，昆特没有动。 “手电筒被固定在我的魔术师手杖上，我再也不用手杖了。 加隆，从现在开始…… 昆特重重地叹了口气。 “我想最好还是由你来处理所有的魔法。” 加隆发出一声尴尬的笑声——咳嗽。 “哦，我受宠若惊，但我不可能——”“刮！每个人都呆住了。 甚至Skaelka。“你们都听到了，对吧？”吉米低声说。 “就是那种像剃刀般锋利的爪子在冰冷的钢铁上刮来刮去的叽叽声？”CREEEAK !

"It sounds like... shop class," Dirk says softly. "Like twisting metal." They peer into the darkness, holding their breath. Slowly, a sliver of light appears. "I think the light is coming from a door," Quint whispers. "To the outside." "And by the looks of it, something is trying to come inside," Dirk says. There is another scrape, another creak, and then a booming CRUNCH! The door is being bent, scrunched, and pulled by whatever something is on the other side. "Ready yourselves," Dirk says, reaching for his sword. "That includes you, Drooler." Drooler bravely meeps in reply. The door cracks wider, jostling the stuffie mountain and causing everyone to sink down a few inches. "I bet it's bandits," Galamelon says. "Or trolls. No, bandit-trolls. Who wants to bet? If it's bandit-trolls, I win. If it's anything else, you win. So, you can guess anything: rabid donkeys, tap-dancing fish, could even be—" "CAROL!" Kimmy exclaims. The door cracks open farther, revealing the young carapace.

“听起来……手工课，”德克轻声说。 “就像扭曲的金属。”他们屏住呼吸凝视着黑暗。 慢慢地，一缕光出现了。 “我觉得光是从一扇门里射出来的，”昆特低声说。 “到外面去。”德克说：“从它的外观来看，有些东西正试图进入里面。” 又是刮擦声，又是嘎吱声，然后是一声轰隆的嘎吱声！门正在被另一边的什么东西弄弯、弄响、拉着。 “准备好，”德克说着，伸手去拿他的剑。 “那也包括你，流口水。” 流口水者勇敢地回应。 门裂得更宽了，挤到了那座闷热的山上，每个人都往下陷了几英寸。 “我敢打赌是强盗，”加隆说。 ”或巨魔。不,bandit-trolls。 谁想打赌？如果是土匪巨魔，我赢了。 如果是别的，你赢了。 所以，你可以猜测任何事情：疯驴，跳踢踏舞的鱼，甚至可能是——”“卡罗尔！”吉米声称。 门进一步打开，露出了年轻的甲壳。

"Nevermind, bet's off, you all took too long," Galamelon quickly says. Carol's claws finish prying the door off its hinges —and the door pops open fully. Suddenly, the mountain of merchandise is loosened, causing a tidal wave of stuffies that whisks the heroes out of the basement, down a loading ramp, toward daylight— Whoosh

“没关系，我不打赌了，你们都花了太长时间，”加隆很快说。 卡萝尔的爪子把门从铰链上撬了下来——门猛地完全打开了。 突然间，堆积如山的商品被解开了，造成了一股物品的浪潮，把英雄们从地下室带走，沿着装载坡道，走向白昼——嗖嗖