Page 79 of Swamp Kings 2

“Me neither,” she said. “I had a brother once, but only for two days. His name was Daniel Lee.” She lay her head back on Fetch’s shoulder, her little hand reaching up and toying with his ear. “He went visit Jesus before mommy and daddy did.”

Fathom eyed Fetch, wanting to stab him in the eye with a bolt of electricity for dragging them into this strange…malware.

“What games do you like to play?” she asked, keeping her head on Fetch.

“We don’t play games,” Fathom said.

She climbed off Fetch and sat on the edge of the couch, facing them in a full-on assault. “Cause you don’t know how?” she asked, her question honest as the universe.

“Because we don’t like games,” Fin said.

“Not even rock paper scissors?” she pressed, undeterred.

“We don’t know that game,” Fathom said, instantly realizing his mistake as she made her way over and sat right between them.

She held out her palm and made a fist of the other. “Rock. Paper. Scissors,” she explained. “This means rock, this means paper, and this one’s scissors,” she said, her pointer and middle finger open. “Rock smashes scissors, scissors cuts paper and paper smothers rock.”

“How does paper smother rock?” Fin demanded carefully.

She gave him a perturbed shrug. “It just does,”she said, resigned to the fallacy.

Fathom eyed Fetch, who sat with both arms on top of the couch, grin beaming like the sun while Lucywent on.

“So, you do rock paper scissors, then on the fourth time, you decide which you’re gonna be, rock paper or scissors. If I choose rock and you choose scissors, I crush you. And if you choose paper andIchoose scissors, I cut you.”

She stared at him, her head tilted against her shoulder.

“And if he chooses paper and you choose rock, he smothers you,” Fin said. “And the game is over.”

She turned her attention to Fin. “You always play two out of three,” she informed, getting back to eyeing Fathom. “So, you wanna play?”

“I think Fin understands it better than I do,” Fathom said, getting a full body muscle spasm that Fathom overrode with an electrical discharge.

She turned to Fin now. “You want to?” She waited for many seconds then said, “You can say no.”

Fathom felt Fetch’s bright smile burning his retinas.

“One round,” Fin decided, the little body turning its full attention to him.

“You gotta get ready,” she said, holding her fist in her palm.

Fin did the same.

“We’ll practice first,” she decided. “Follow me.” She softly pounded her little fist against her palm slowly, “Rock…paper…scissors. Now you choose your weapon.” She played scissor-fingers on her palm. “See, you chose rock, so you get to smush me. Get it?”

Fin flicked his gaze to Fathom. “I do,” he said.

Fathom watched, measuring the child’s mental acuity as they played. She’d lost the first and won the second.

Isn’t it cheating if you use your powers to discern her intentions?Fathom cut in.

I’m simply using my creator-given tools, the same as she is.

A little unequally matched, wouldn’t you say?

I would, but I didn’t ask for this.

Sucha grueling test of your powers.

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