The gathering crowd might be chuckling, but they didn’t know what Bartholomew did. That Captain Sludge was a monster from another realm. One who was dead set on crushing all creation both on Earth and in Artania. However, in all of Bartholomew’s run-ins with Sludge on Earth, he had never injured anyone.
Yet.
“Back off, slime bucket,” Alex said.
Sludge guffawed and took a step forward. Bartholomew swallowed hard. The monster pulled a battle-axe from the folds of his long cloak.
Bartholomew gripped Alex’s arm.
Coco toddled up on four-inch slingbacks. “Wow, what a show! So Spielberg,” she squealed.
“Stay back!” Bartholomew warned.
Coco dismissed his comment with a wave. “Oh, it’s just Sam from Gwen’s Halloween party.” She turned toward Sludge. “Hi, Sam!”
By now Jose had regained consc
