OU COULD LOCK the Gasman in a padded cell with some dental floss and a bowl of Jell-O, and he’d find a way to make something explode.

I immediately crawled away from the window and hunkered down behind the couch. “Blow up?” I repeated. With Gazzy, we take life-saving precautions first and ask questions later.

“If you leave the area, you will be terminated with extreme prejudice,” said the voice outside.

Gazzy cackled. “What a butthead. Wait till you see what’s gonna happen!”

I glanced at Fang, who had moved under a table. “Did you leave the flamethrowers lying around again?”

He shrugged. “I always forget.”

Inside, the house suddenly seemed darker. I looked at the windows. There was no moonlight shining under the curtains. Then I heard the far-off rumble of thunder. We were in the middle of the desert—not a big rainstorm area.

“God in heaven. He can’t manipulate the weather now, can he?” I asked Fang anxiously.

Fang dropped his head into his hands and groaned.

“Max-HIH-mum Ride.”

“I AM a dumb-bot!” I couldn’t help snickering. Fang’s shoulders hunched.

More rumbling thunder. Windowpanes rattling. I peeped over the top of the couch and could barely see the leader-guy through the inch of exposed window. He was looking up at the sky with Ari’s confused expression.

“Okay, here it comes,” I heard Gazzy say from upstairs.

“Did you set the thing?” Iggy asked him.

“Yup.”

“Point it away from the house?”

Oh, yes, please, point whatever it is away from the house,I wished fervently.

“Duh, yeah,” said Gazzy. He chuckled. “Should be any second.”

Suddenly the entire area was lit with a massive lightning bolt—despite the curtains and shades on the windows, the living room was as bright as day. At almost the exact same time, there was a horrible buzzing, crackling sound, and every bit of electricity in the house died—tiny status lights winking out, the AC halting abruptly. Then there was a huge boom of thunder that I felt deep in my stomach.

With an ear-throbbingpop! it was over.

Silence.

“Oh, way,way awesome, dude!” Gazzy shouted, laughing maniacally. I heard many slappings of high fives.

“Did it do it?” Iggy asked. “Never mind—I can smell it.”

“Itso did it, man!” Gazzy said excitedly. “This was thepinnacle of our pyromania!” I stood up cautiously as he raced downstairs. Fang crawled out from under the table.

“Max!” Gazzy said, running to me. “We saw big thunderheads forming in the distance—the first time in years, I bet! Then—check it out! This house had a lightning rod on the roof! That’s a metal pole that sends any lightning bolts into the ground. We disconnected it, aimed it at the dumb-bots, and enhanced its powers a tad! Next thing you know, they’re extracrispy! And the best part? They were standing so close together that they helped fry each other!” He hugged himself, jumping up and down. “I’m brilliant! I’m a genius! I can blow up the world!”

I raised my eyebrows.

“Not that I wouldwant to, of course,” Gazzy said, and gave a little cough.

“Should we look outside?” Total asked.

Fang was already standing at a window, using one finger to move a curtain aside. “They’re fried, all right. There’s barely enough parts left to make a can opener.”

Gazzy and Iggy crowed some more and slapped high fives again. Somehow, even though he can’t see, Iggy never misses a high five. It’s a little creepy.

I opened the front door slowly. There was a wide, charred circle around the house, littered with ‘bot bits and smoking electronics. “See if there are any salvageable weapons,” I directed. The Ari dobblyganga doppergung dobblemunger look-alike was lying on the ground, mostly in one piece. Mostly human, with a ‘bot substructure. Again, ew.

I walked over to him, and it was pretty awful. I can destroy a hundred ‘bots and still whistle cheerfully, but this poor mess on the ground seemed as much a victim as we were. Some crucial parts of him were missing, but his eyes blinked as I approached. This close, he still looked a ton like Ari, but I could tell it wasn’t a perfect copy.

Then I remembered that this creature had been prepared to exterminate myfamily, and that my own mother had beenkidnapped, and that the flock had been hiding in the dark wondering if they were about todie .

“So,” I said, leaning down a bit, “how’s Mr. Chu, that scamp?”

His head twitched, and the light behind his eyes went out.

“Tell him hi for me!” I said, then looked at the flock. “Pack light. We’re moving out.”