CHAPTER EIGHTY-TWO
Abe lunged forward desperately, trying to tackle Fragg before he could get off a shot, but the sizzle of laser energy seared past his upper shoulder, and he felt a stinging pain in the side of his neck.
Then he struck Fragg like a blue thunderbolt, throwing the Glukkon to the staircase, throwing the pistol from the king’s hand. It clattered down the steps, but Abe was too busy throwing a punch. Fragg ducked his head out of the way and the Mudokon’s fist slammed into the carpeted steps with enough force to make him cry out.
One of Fragg’s mechanically-enhanced arms came looping around in a smashing cross. It struck Abe in the side of the head, and he tumbled backward for a few steps. His head ringing, Abe charged back up, hurling himself at Fragg headfirst.
The Glukkon kicked out with one leg, and Abe went flying back down the stairs with a cry. By the time he had bump-tumbled to the bottom, Fragg was leaping down after him, reaching out with his mechanical hands for the Mudokon’s exposed neck, snarling.
Abe grabbed Fragg’s wrists and twisted them aside. This prompted Fragg to launch a series of timed punch-kicks, sending most of Abe’s torso numb before he could even get in a blow. The Glukkon suddenly leaned forward in a powerful headbutt that sent Abe falling backward down the stairs again to land at the bottom.
Abe shook his head, blinking – and saw Fragg leaping through the air after him, both feet oustretched. Only a quick sideways roll brought Abe out of the range of the Glukkon’s feet, and made the king strike the floor hard enough to slam his ankles.
“Stop struggling!” Fragg ordered, lashing out with a kick that Abe further rolled away from. “You’re just delaying the inevitable!”
Abe rolled to his feet, blocking a mechanical punch on his time-strengthened wrist. “What do you mean?”
“Even if I don’t kill you, that Gabbit will!”
Abe ducked a punch, sidestepped a kick, and he had to grin. “Admitting you aren’t even as strong as Munch?”
Fragg’s face went pale. “Munch?” he repeated.
Abe grabbed the fallen pistol with his toes, flipped it up into his hand and shot Fragg in the face. Before the Glukkon’s body had even hit the floor like the empty sack of his good deeds, Abe had turned and was running down the passage.
A few seconds later, the Snoozers above blew the passage wider with careless shots of their repeater laser guns, and stormed down the hallway after Abe.
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