Saving the World and Other Extreme Sports

55

"Thanks, Max," Ari said when he was within earshot. "You won't regret this, I promise. I'm going to keep you safe."

I frowned at him, trying not to look at his ruined, gory face. "We all keep each other safe," I said shortly, then swung into a steeply pitched right turn. I saw Gazzy and the others swooping over the School's large parking lot. An entrance there led to additional, underground parking.

"Where's Iggy?" I demanded.

The Gasman pointed downward, and I saw Iggy leaning over the open hood of a car.

"Oh, no," I muttered, as Iggy slammed the hood shut, then pushed the car toward the sloping entrance to the underground parking.

"Oh no, oh no," I continued as the car smoothly, silently rolled through the opening and disappeared. Iggy shot upward, looking happier than he had in weeks.

"And a-one, and a-two, and a-thr-," he began.

Boom! A massive explosion blew part of the top off the parking garage. We quickly flew out of range as streaming chunks of glowing red asphalt, glass, and concrete rocketed through the night sky. Alarms went off. Outdoor emergency lights flashed on.

"Way to be!" the Gasman crowed, slapping high fives with Iggy.

"Yeah," I said. "Way to be loud and obvious about where we are and what we're doing."

"High four!" Total said, holding up a paw. "That rocked!"

I felt Fang looking at me furiously, but I avoided his eyes. Ari hung back on the periphery.

I needed several moments to get a grip. Why had I asked Ari to come with us? Now everyone was mad at me. But it had seemed like the right thing to do. On the other hand, it required a perhaps ill-fated leap of faith on my part that he wouldn't suddenly turn bad again. I'm not real good at leaps of faith.

Then again, Ari was going to die soon anyway.

I wheeled around and faced the flock, their forms dimly lit by the fireball below.

Boom! Another explosion, even bigger than the first, blew out another section of the garage. I looked at Iggy, and as if he could sense it, he shrugged.

"Big garage full of big cars with big gas tanks."

Whatever. "Okay, guys, let's head north," I said briskly. No idea why, no idea where, but it seemed like the right thing to do.

Sometimes all you have is instinct, a gut feeling. It's important to pay attention to them.

I almost groaned aloud. Look what the cat dragged in, I thought. Hello, Voice.

Hello, Maximum. I'm glad you're okay.

No thanks to you, I thought as I leveled out and started flying directly north.

I've missed talking with you.

Well, I can't say that I've missed you, I thought. But I sort of missed you too.

Now I'm back.

Yep.

And you know what else was back? I saw it when I waved for the others to follow me more closely.

The scars on my arm. From taking out my chip.