Buzz hit the ground before he understood why everything had turned white.
One moment the guardian was stepping toward them like a nightmare with a schedule, the next the entire ceiling ripped open and hurled the room into a sunburst.
Heat slammed into him.
Sound cracked across his shell.
A wave of pressure punched the air out of his chest.
The cracked creature flew from his arms.
Buzz reached for it, claws stretched—
His fingers brushed its shell—
A chunk of melted ceiling slammed down between them and forced him backward.
"ZZA!" he yelled even though she wasn't in the room. Panic made the name leap out before sense kicked in.
Dust poured down like ash.
Light flickered in dizzy waves.
Metal scraped somewhere above with a long scream that made Buzz's teeth hurt.
He rolled onto his back, sucking in hard breaths as he tried to blink through the haze.
"Okay," he coughed, "that hurt a little."
A groan answered him.
