Henry Rider: Clown Hunter

Chapter Five

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Chapter Five

Reality snapped back into focus, leaving me in McGus' training room.

"Holy jalapenos," I whispered, a small cloud of smoke puffing out of my mouth, "I'm alive."

"Of course you are. You're too stupid to die."

I turned to see McGus standing at the edge of the room, arms folded and mouth slicing a bitter frown in his face. Nothing out of the usual there. I glanced down at myself. Soot and dried mud cracked every time I moved, and a few trails of smoke rose from my blue hair.

"Just another day at the office," I croaked, holding up the Escher Cube for him to see.

McGus just grunted, stubbornly refusing to be impressed. "Where was it?"

"Mexico. It appeared in the middle of a desert gnome colony last night, and they decided to worship it as their new god. When I showed up and tried to take it..."

Lightning. Tornadoes. Fire falling from the heavens. At least one giant man-eating duck.

"...they didn't react well."

That got a rare smirk out of him, which would have been encouraging if he hadn't been laughing at me. I held out the Cube, waiting for him to take it. I'd catch an IW back to my own dimension and then walk home. With any luck, I'd be back in time to watch my Sunday morning cartoons before someone else laid claim to the TV. But instead of taking the Cube, McGus looked around and then raised his eyebrow at me.

"What?" I asked.

"Where's the kid?"

"Huh?" I cocked my head. "Ethan? He's at my place. Where else would he be?"

The old Green's expression darkened. "Damn it, Henry. Are you trying to get the council to fire you?"

I jumped. "Fire me? What for?"

"For breaking the promise you made less than eight hours ago!" McGus turned acidic green eyes on me. "Do you think this is a joke?"

"I...But..." My hands waved meaningless gestures in the air. "You wanted me to bring him?"

"It doesn't matter what I want. What matters is what you said last night."

"It was dangerous out there!" I yelled, pointing at my face. "If this happened to me, how many pieces do you think Ethan would be in right now?"

"Until he learns to laugh again, he can stay with me." McGus quoted. "I'll be near him all the time to protect him from maiams."

I held up a finger. "Okay, but hear me out: I was also told not to let a maiam get him."

"That's true," McGus admitted.

"So, bringing him to the maiams is probably the last thing I'd want to do, right?"

"I didn't make the terms for your agreement, Henry. You did. And if you want to stay the Hunter, you'll have to abide by them."

"He's fine," I insisted. "I left him with my parents."

"And did your parents become maiam hunters while I was asleep?"

I groaned loudly, dragging my fingers down my face. Why did old people have to be so freaking critical of everything?

"What you said last night is true," McGus said, leaning forward to tower over me. "Every maiam in the country is going to be drawn to the laughter inside him. That means that the most danger he's ever going to be in is when the Hunter isn't by his side."