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27

12:00 AM

PURPOSELESSLY HYPER-INFLATED INDIVIDUALITY

Jonathan caught most of the impact on his shield, but the collision still knocked the wind out of hied with muscle, as hard as a sack of doorknobs He heard the thin aluminum alloy of Purposelessly Hyperinflated Individuality cruers as it instantly turned white-hot Sparks flew froly in his ears

For ahad robbed hiround, but as the icy touch of the creature&039;s flesh faded, Jonathan&039;s body lightened again

By the tihtless

He rolled to his feet, co up face-to-face with a very surprised Rex

"Did you see that?" he said "Direct hit"

On his way out to the Bottoreat flying aid It was a surfboard, a wing, a sail - a surface to catch the air and control his direction after he&039;d ju, Jonathan had used it to adjust his path like a s sizzled at his feet, and Jonathan glanced down The spiders were closing in froh the metal He had landed in the s

Smart was relative, he supposed

"Smells bad out here," he said to Rex and Melissa "Let&039;s juenius," Melissa said She pointed

The other darkling ooping toward the three of the across the desert

Jonathan pulled the still s Purposelessly Hyperinflated Individuality fro its triple-decker name had one more jolt left in it He crooked the trash can lid in his ariant Frisbee and hurled it at the beast

He didn&039;t pause to see the result, grabbing Rex He held out his other hand

Melissa shrank from him "I&039;d rather die"

"That&039;s crap," Rex said, shoving her forward Her hands carabbed one

A wave of nausea hit him, and he al into his, belligerent and angry but at the sahts andinto every corner of his h hihtless, and, overwhel touched

For a ed into his ht at him

"One, two" he started

Rex hadn&039;t floith him for more than a year, but the reflexes were still there They knelt and juether they were strong enough to drag Melissa along

Jonathan heard the second darkling collide with the projectile, and another feline screech echoed across the desert But there were other winged shapes co at theers dug into his, but sheoff necklace after necklace with her free hand, casting the screaround Rex flailed about with his free hand, theto life

The first jump carried them to within yards of the snake pit Jonathan had to hold Rex back or their next leap would have carried theh and out the other side

They skidded to a stop inside the arc&039;s safety seconds later, and Jonathan let go, letting them drop into the soft sand Melissa landed badly, an ankle twisting and eyes flashing in the lightning The veno a taste like rotten ue

Melissa doubled over, convulsing once with a pitifulthe hard sand Still coughing, she ed to stand and face him, and Jonathan braced himself

Her face held an expression he&039;d never seen before or perhaps had never been able to see She was so sad, so hopeless Then the familiar mask of annoyance descended over her features

"Thanks," she said

Jonathan realized that they&039;d actually made it back to the snake pit "You&039;re welcome"

Melissa turned to Dess "And you"