The sight of those words, although not really a surprise, affected me more than I would've thought. Knowing a little now about what it was like to be captured by the Stompers, on top of having it happen to people we cared so much about, made it seem so real, and so terrible. I sank to the floor of the room and stared at Hood, not knowing what to say.

Mom was crying, like usual. Dad and Joseph were staring into space, their faces unreadable. Rusty had his back to me, shaking his head. After a moment of complete silence, Hood wrote more words on the wall.

“TANAKA IS WAITING FOR US. WE MUST GO.”

I knew he was right. Of all the people in the world, I was the one most capable of helping rescue Rayna and Miyoko, and the other members of the Alliance if they'd found them. But my heart was sick, and it had been a long time since I'd felt so much despair. I just wanted to be done with it—done with all the nonsense that I was the one destined to save everyone. I was flat-out sick of that burden.

But sometimes in life, when deep down we know we have no choice but to move forward and take the only action that is right, we just do it. I stood up and rubbed my eyes.

“Okay, Hood. Let's go.”

Even Mom didn't complain. She usually put forth at least a token resistance when I set off to save the world, but this time she stayed quiet, knowing that it had to be. Good grief, I thought, this time last year I was picking my nose and watching football.

“You come right back here when you find them,” Dad said. “In fact, maybe I should go too.”

“No, no, no,” said Joseph. “Someone needs to stay here and look out for everyone. You stay here, J.M., and I'll go with these knuckleheads.”

“No, I'll go,” said Rusty.

I held my hands up. “Listen, you guys. Just stay here, all right? I can't waste time trying to let everyone hold onto me so they have the Shield. At least I have that, Tanaka has his … creatures, and Hood here is like some magical wizard or something—he always seems to survive. Just stay.”

“He's right,” Mom said. No one liked it, but that was that.

“Okay,” I said. “In two days I have to meet that lady in New York. Supposedly she's going to help me figure out the riddle of the Red Disk and find the Dream Warden. So Hood will have to help me get there. If we're lucky, we can get everyone back here before then. But if we can't, I'll go straight there, and try to get you a message.”

“What in the heck do we do if the Ka come knocking at our door?” asked Rusty. “Or what about our little intruder last night?”

“I don't know,” I said, a little annoyed. “I would guess you'll be better off than going into a cave full of who knows what. Make do.”

Not waiting for his answer, I ran upstairs to get the small leather carrying case we'd found to keep the Red Disk safe. It had a long strap that I could pull over my arm and wrap around the other side of my neck. It looked dangerously similar to a purse, but I was willing to risk my manliness to make sure I didn't lose the stupid thing. I ran back down to the living room.

“I'll take this just in case I don't make it back here,” I said, motioning to the leather case. “Well, let's get going.”

I gave everyone a hug and then told Hood I was ready. He moved me over to the spot in the middle of the room where he'd dropped the Bender Ring. I stood as close to him as I could, and he lifted the Ring up over our heads.

“Rusty, look after Mom and Dad for me, okay?” I said, trying to make a joke. He nodded, and did his best to smile, letting me know that everything was cool between us.

“Be careful, Jimmy,” Mom said.

“I will.”

Joseph started to say something smart-alecky, but I never heard him finish.

Hood brought down the Ring, and seconds later I was back in Japan.