“Master Mind!” Joy calls out, halfway through her ‘Noooo!’ 

Master Mind drops me quickly but softly to the Shroom and activates his jetpack. Looking around, I see he is the only one with the jetpack. Madelyn’s, Charlie’s, and Justin’s jetpacks are all in the tunnel. And mine, too. 

Master Mind is in the air above us, about to zoom down, when he stops. “I fear it is too late!” 

Joy stands on the edge and leans to look down. So do the other kids. 

“Oh no,” she says. 

“The Armed Child has landed on a Shroom far below,” Master Mind lands back next to me. “She has died and turned to dust.” 

The girl and one of the boys begin to cry. Another boy begins to shout at Joy. I can’t understand a word. The third boy tries to calm him down, but ends up screaming back. 

The first screaming boy pushes the boy talking to him back against Master Mind and aims his gun at me, then at Joy. 

An assault weapon that came out of the inside of Master Mind’s exoskeleton is now aimed at the child’s temple. 

“You will put down the weapon or you will die,” Master Mind warns. “Three…” 

The boy still has his gun aimed at Joy. 

“You won’t be able to fire at me in time,” Joy says calmly. “Put it down.” 

“Two…” 

The boy screams at her. 

“I understand, it’s terrible what happened to him,” Joy tells him, “But you have to put it down!”

“One…” 

The boy screams, getting angrier and angrier. 

“Don’t shoot him, Master Mind!” Joy commands. 

“Zero!” Master Mind fires and the boy’s head explodes. 

“Nooooo!” I yell and it could be that Joy is yelling something too. 

The boy’s body falls back to the Shroom and turns to dust.

This is so awful! Where is Justin? How long has he been awake? 

The girl and the two boys that Joy ‘rescued’ are shouting now, too. They just saw two of their friends die, one at Master Mind’s weapon. 

“Please, please, please, let’s all calm down,” Joy says. 

(To be continued…)

—Told by Grampa Walt