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Loincloth scratched his ugly head. He turned to his friend in the fiberglass toga. ―She‘s kind of pretty,<br />
Torque. Maybe I should let her go.‖<br />
Torque, the dude in the toga, growled. ―I saw her first, Sump. I‟ll let her go!‖ Sump and Torque started to<br />
argue, but the third Cyclops rose and shouted, ―Fools!‖<br />
Leo almost dropped his screwdriver. <strong>The</strong> third Cyclops was a female. She was several feet taller than<br />
Torque or Sump, and even beefier. She wore a tent of chain mail cut like one of those sack dresses Leo‘s mean<br />
Aunt Rosa used to wear. What‘d they call that—a muumuu? Yeah, the Cyclops lady had a chain mail muumuu.<br />
Her greasy black hair was matted in pigtails, woven with copper wires and metal washers. Her nose and mouth<br />
were thick and smashed together, like she spent her free time ramming her face into walls; but her single red<br />
eye glittered with evil intelligence.<br />
<strong>The</strong> woman Cyclops stalked over to Sump and pushed him aside, knocking him over the conveyor belt.<br />
Torque backed up quickly.<br />
―<strong>The</strong> girl is Venus spawn,‖ the lady Cyclops snarled. ―She‘s using charmspeak on you.‖<br />
Piper started to say, ―Please, ma‘am—‖<br />
―Rarr!‖ <strong>The</strong> lady Cyclops grabbed Piper around the waist. ―Don‘t try your pretty talk on me, girl! I‘m Ma<br />
Gasket! I‘ve eaten heroes tougher than you for lunch!‖<br />
Leo feared Piper would get crushed, but Ma Gasket just dropped her and let her dangle from her chain.<br />
<strong>The</strong>n she started yelling at Sump about how stupid he was.<br />
Leo‘s hands worked furiously. He twisted wires and turned switches, hardly thinking about what he was<br />
doing. He finished attaching the remote. <strong>The</strong>n he crept over to the next robotic arm while the Cyclopes were<br />
talking.<br />
―—eat her last, Ma?‖ Sump was saying.<br />
―Idiot!‖ Ma Gasket yelled, and Leo realized Sump and Torque must be her sons. If so, ugly definitely ran in<br />
the family. ―I should‘ve thrown you out on the streets when you were babies, like proper Cyclops children. You<br />
might have learned some useful skills. Curse my soft heart that I kept you!‖<br />
―Soft heart?‖ Torque muttered.<br />
―What was that, you ingrate?‖<br />
―Nothing, Ma. I said you got a soft heart. We get to work for you, feed you, file your toenails—‖<br />
―And you should be grateful!‖ Ma Gasket bellowed. ―Now, stoke the fire, Torque! And Sump, you idiot, my<br />
case of salsa is in the other warehouse. Don‘t tell me you expect me to eat these demigods without salsa!‖<br />
―Yes, Ma,‖ Sump said. ―I mean no, Ma. I mean—‖<br />
―Go get it!‖ Ma Gasket picked up a nearby truck chassis and slammed it over Sump‘s head. Sump<br />
crumpled to his knees. Leo was sure a hit like that would kill him, but Sump apparently got hit by trucks a lot. He<br />
managed to push the chassis off his head. <strong>The</strong>n he staggered to his feet and ran offto fetch the salsa.<br />
Now‘s the time, Leo thought. While they‘re separated.<br />
He finished wiring the second machine and moved toward a third. As he dashed between robotic arms,<br />
the Cyclopes didn‘t see him, but Piper did. Her expression turned from terror to disbelief, and she gasped.<br />
Ma Gasket turned to her. ―What‘s the matter, girl? So fragile I broke you?‖<br />
Thankfully, Piper was a quick thinker. She looked away from Leo and said, ―I think it‘s my ribs, ma‘am. If<br />
I‘m busted up inside, I‘ll taste terrible.‖<br />
Ma Gasket bellowed with laughter. ―Good one. <strong>The</strong> last hero we ate—remember him, Torque? Son of<br />
Mercury, wasn‘t he?‖<br />
―Yes, Ma,‖ Torque said. ―Tasty. Little bit stringy.‖<br />
―He tried a trick like that. Said he was on medication. But he tasted fine!‖<br />
―Tasted like mutton,‖ Torque recalled. ―Purple shirt. Talked in Latin. Yes, a bit stringy, but good.‖<br />
Leo‘s fingers froze on the maintenance panel. Apparently, Piper was having the same thought he was,<br />
because she asked, ―Purple shirt? Latin?‖<br />
―Good eating,‖ Ma Gasket said fondly. ―Point is, girl, we‘re not as dumb as people think! We‘re not falling<br />
for those stupid tricks and riddles, not us northern Cyclopes.‖<br />
Leo forced himself back to work, but his mind was racing. A kid who spoke Latin had been caught here—<br />
in a purple shirt like Jason‘s? He didn‘t know what that meant, but he had to leave the interrogation to Piper. If<br />
he was going to have any chance of defeating these monsters, he had to move fast before Sump came back<br />
with the salsa.<br />
He looked up at the engine block suspended right above the Cyclopes‘ campsite. He wished he could use<br />
that—it would make a great weapon. But the crane holding it was on the opposite side of the conveyor belt.<br />
<strong>The</strong>re was no way Leo could get over there without being seen, and besides, he was running short on time.<br />
<strong>The</strong> last part of his plan was the trickiest. From his tool belt he summoned some wires, a radio adapter,<br />
and a smaller screwdriver and started to build a universal remote. For the first time, he said a silent thank-you to