Gus found himself alone on the rock in the middle of the beach. He remained silent for a second, while his gaze continually passed from where Luz had previously been to where Willow had been until a few moments before; then he couldn't hold back any longer. His little spider abdomen contracted as all the tiny organs he had instead of lungs filled with air and swelled bigger than they ever had, and then he screamed in anger and frustration, and despite the fact that he was only a spider of a few centimeters this scream could be heard even three meters away. "Great! Really great! Of course, the situation couldn't get any better! We've lost just about every person we've ever known and here we are lost in a foreign land with no food or help, Luz has gone completely crazy, and Willow should have started acting like an idiot now! And I'm no different either, seeing as I'm here, sitting on a damn rock talking to myself like a...!"

"If you realize on your own that you're behaving like an idiot, then stop! I can't take it anymore, may I know what problems you three have!?" a familiar voice shouted at him. Gus turned and saw that it was the same crab who had helped them earlier who had spoken, and that it had come out from under the sand again and was looking at him rather angrily. "I've been covering my ears for at least ten minutes trying not to hear your screams and shouts! For your information, crabs like me are nocturnal! I'm trying to sleep here!"

Gus narrowed his eyes. For the first time in his life he was feeling the strong urge to strangle someone, or rather take them and cook them into crab paste. "Oh, I'm so damn sorry, good sir, but I just had the worst day of my life, and believe me, my life hasn't been a bed of roses lately! I just lost all my friends and the woman who hosted me for all these years because of a giant goddamn monster, the only two friends I have left have abandoned me here and gone in opposite directions, and you could FOR FIVE DAMN MINUTES LET ME RELEASE SOME ANGER!"

The crab backed away slightly, fear clear in its eyes; Gus guessed that he mustn't have a good look in that moment, or at least that he had become very different from the cute little spider he usually was. "Wow, buddy… it's none of my business and don't take this as an offense, but you and your friends urgently need a good therapist"

"You think I don't know!?" Gus blurted out, and then walked around, waving his paws in every direction. "Everything was so damn good! We finally found Camila! We could go home, start over! Luz and Vee would go to school, play with the other kids, make friends, and then who knows, maybe one day Vee she would have married Masha and Luz would have found someone willing to put up with her! Camila would have grown old and run down, surrounded by the love and affection of her daughters, and maybe one day she would even have been a grandmother! We would have been one big happy family! But no! Belos, of all creatures, we were supposed to meet! A monster that almost no one had seen for fifty years, today was supposed to decide to unleash itself, and of all places precisely in this stretch of sea! If there is a god or in any case someone who decides our fate, please let me meet him, because I urgently need to hurt him physically!" and saying so he started punching the stone he was standing on, causing himself quite a bit of pain.

"Hey, stop it! You'll break your paws if you'll comtinue to do so! We may be arthropods and we may have very strong exoskeletons, but they're not that strong!" the crab told him.

But Gus wasn't in the mood to listen to him. "I don't care!" he growled as he continued to hit the rock. "I have to break something... give me something to let off some steam! I need it! I have to..."

He couldn't say anything else: the crab quickly closed the distance between the two of them and grabbed him with his claws, lifting him bodily and holding him far away from his body, and then carried him to a nearby pool of water created on the beach after that the waves had receded and stuck his head under the water. Gus thrashed furiously; technically he wasn't at risk of suffocation, given that the crab was keeping most of his body out of the water and therefore he, who like all arthropods channeled air through his skin, was able to breathe normally... but not being able to speak due to the water blocking his mouth it was making him quite angry. He continued to struggle and hurled several insults at the crab, who however didn't hear him except for a few air bubbles emerging on the surface of the pool of water, and this made Gus even more furious; but slowly the tiredness and feeling of helplessness got the better of him and he finally stopped. Then the crab picked him up again and shook him dry, and then looked him seriously in the eyes: "Are you done?"

Gus let out an angry huff. "You're an asshole" he grumbled.

"Yes, I know" the crab murmured putting him back on the ground and finally letting him go. He was silent for a moment, then he said: "Listen, buddy... I don't think I understand the situation very well, but it seems clear to me that you and your friends have just had a really bad experience... and even though I know it won't count for shit, I'm sorry. Really"

The crab had spoken with much more empathy than before, and it didn't seem like he was faking it; he actually looked quite sorry for him. "Well... thanks" Gus said, not knowing how to respond.

"Don't thank me" the crab grumbled in a sour voice, then he added: "I don't deny that you are really facing a mountain of shit... however, if the situation is really the one you describe to me, then you still have two friends, so... if you're the only one among you who still has sanity, maybe you should run after them and find a way to make them see reason. I mean... if this is all you have left..."

Gus took several deep breaths, then he realized that the crab was right: that wasn't the time to feel sorry for himself. He would freak out later, now he had to help Luz and find Willow. If he lost his clarity it was the end for all of them. "But I don't even know where they went... and also Luz is a puppet who take steps fifty times longer than mine, and Willow is a cricket who can fly, while I'm just a spider... it will take me hours to find them ..."

"Yes, I noticed that detail while I was helping you earlier. You are a very strange group, by the way" the crab said, then he remained silent for a moment as if he were thinking, and in the end he sighed and murmured: "Look... all that movement you just made me do made me not want to sleep anymore, so I might as well give you a hand. But promise me that after this you will leave me alone forever"

Gus's eyes lit up. Even though it wasn't much, that small gesture of generosity warmed his heart a little. "Uh... thank you very much. That's very kind of you. Oh, I'm Gus, by the way"

"Mattholomule" the crab replied unceremoniously, then he snapped his claws. "I can help you find your friends, but you won't like the method"

Gus raised an eyebrow. "Why?"

"Because I'll throw you in the air"

"What!?"

"I told you you wouldn't like it"

"... explain yourself better, please"

Mattholomule extended his large claws in front of him and clicked them making an almost metallic sound. "The strength of my claws is immense. I can open a coconut with one blow... or I can take a small spider like you and throw it a few meters high, so that you can see the area from above" he explained. "Don't worry, you won't run any risks: I'll catch you as soon as you fall. And you won't be caught by some passing seagull, they all fled inland when Belos appeared"

Judging by the crab's look, it was clear that he expected the spider to refuse and that he had to insist. But to Mattholomule's surprise, Gus didn't even have a brief moment of doubt and nodded immediately. "Okay. Let's do it"

"Seriously?" the crab exclaimed in amazement. From his point of view, having a stranger throw him into the air with no guarantee that he would actually catch him again was something that only a person with serious mental problems would have agreed to do so on the spot.

Gus simply shrugged. "Trust me, it's not the craziest thing I've done lately. This is a game in comparison"

Mattholomule looked as confused as he had ever been in his life, but he still didn't ask any questions and grabbed Gus by the abdomen, and then he threw him into the air. The spider flew vertically for at least three meters and despite the fear and dizziness he forced himself to look at the surrounding area, looking for any clue as to where his friends could have gone, and then he fell back to the ground where he was caught on the fly by Mattholomule. This scene repeated itself a couple of times, and then Gus finally spotted something. "I found Willow!" he exclaimed as soon as the crab caught him again. "It's on that white flower over there, right next to the beach. Can you throw me to the top?"

"It's a quite long flight, but I can do it" the crab replied, preparing to throw it. "This is a goodbye then. Please, don't come back to this beach again, and try to make sure that those weirdos of your friends don't do so either"

"I'll try, but I can't promise you anything. If there's one thing I've learned on this trip it's that people meet again much easier than you think. Who knows, maybe one day we'll see each other again" Gus replied, then a small smile appeared on his face: "Anyway, thanks for everything. You're a friend"

"Sure, sure. Now disappear!" Mattholomule replied, and without waiting any longer he threw Gus towards the flower. He stood still for a moment watching the brown spider grow smaller and smaller until he almost vanished, then he turned and returned to his den with a mutter: "If that spider ever comes back here, I swear I will drown him"

Gus spun in the sky for a few meters and finally landed on the flower where he wanted to go. Well, landed was a big word, since he fell into it as if he was hurled from a catapult. Willow was sitting there looking depressed at the horizon, and he crashed into her, sending them both tumbling off the flower; fortunately their exoskeletons were very hard and could withstand much worse falls, so they didn't hurt themselves. When Willow realized what had just hit her she became so confused she almost stammered: "Gus!? How... what are you... how did you...?"

"I found someone that helped me, I'll explain you later" Gus replied getting back on his feet. "Now we have to go! We have to find Luz before she gets seriously hurt!"

Willow wrapped her arms around her waist. She had a strange light in her eyes. "Why? You heard her, she doesn't want us with her anymore. We are useless to her"

Gus was speechless for a second. "Oh, come on! Willow, you can't seriously believe what she said! She obviously told those things on purpose to send us away! What's wrong with you?"

"It's wrong that she hurt me anyway!" Willow exclaimed, and a few tears fell from her little eyes. "I... I'm tired, Gus. I'm too tired. We've already been through too many emotions for today. I can't go on any longer. I can't stand running after that puppet and being told again that... that I'm an useless cricket incapable of flying properly... although that's so damn true, seeing as I could do absolutely nothing to help our friends..."

"Willow, none of us could do anything! We were facing a monster as big as an island!" Gus pointed out to her. "What could you do, spit in his eye? Not even Hunter, who is an expert monster hunter who could smash a stone with his bare hands and who is capable of fighting evenly against a greater basilisk, could have even made a dent in Belos!"

As he said those words, one thing occurred to him: maybe they hadn't lost completely everything... Hunter and Flapjack were still alive and they were in Bonesborough, which wasn't far away. Maybe once they managed to get Luz back they could ask them for help; at least they could have provided thrm with food and lodging and not made them sleep rough. Yes, it might be a good idea... after all, they were the only friends they had left, and even though Hunter was constantly at odds with Luz, he doubted he would leave her sleeping on the streets.

But unlike him Willow wasn't thinking about it; for once Hunter's name didn't get any reaction out of her. On the contrary, she was thinking about something completely different. "I know I couldn't do anything! And that's exactly the problem! I... I thought things had changed!" she said shaking like a leaf, then to Gus's surprise she curled up in a ball and started sobbing. "Since I left Camila's workshop to chase that disobedient puppet, I have become stronger, and I found myself no longer fearing the outside world. I thought I had finally become a courageous person, that I had overcome my fears, but when faced to that monster... I felt exactly the same as before. Nothing has changed, I'm still the same fragile cricket too heavy to fly that was hiding in a shop! And to hear it said to my face by Luz... by her. .. from her who has always believed in me, who has always encouraged me... from her who is the reason why I had tried to change... I... I don't know what happened... but now... now I feel..."

Gus felt his heart skip a beat when he saw his friend in that state. Willow had always been the strong one between the two of them, the older sister who exuded confidence, the one who strove to be serious and rational at all times and who wasn't afraid to throw herself at opponents who were enormous in her view and punch them; but now, the situation had become too much even for her. She couldn't take it anymore. Gus could understand her, and he didn't blame her... but he too was very tired by that situation and was now getting seriously irritated. "Willow, what crazy maniac wouldn't feel fear, or rather pure terror, in seeing a monster of that size coming against them!? It has nothing to do with being brave or strong, we simply had the misfortune of finding the wrong opponent!"

"I KNOW! But for some reason it still hurts!" Willow screamed as she cried. "The fact that Luz, of all people, after all the times we helped her, after all the times we laughed together, after all the times she smiled at me and cheered me on and warmed my heart like never before, said those things to me, it made me feel... weak. Fragile. Inadequate. As if she had given vent to all my insecurities. I'm not a brave person, Gus! I want to go home. I can't take it anymore. I want to..."

"THATS ENOUGH!" Gus raised his voice, making the cricket jolt, so much so that she abandoned her perched position and jumped back. "Do you know why it hurts you? Because you just came out from an experience that left a deep mark on you, and Luz is your best friend! Do you think I wasn't hurt by her words? I know very well that I'm a pathetic spineless spider, but still I don't indulge in self-pity while that puppet is somewhere alone in a very unhealthy state of mind! Damn it, Willow! Luz just lost her mother, her sister and all her friends! This is no time to think about your insecurities! You aren't a brave person, mh? So what? Then pretend to be one, like I'm doing! You think I didn't have a heart attack every time that crab threw me in the air? I'm even smaller and weaker than you, in case you haven't noticed! But now I'm going to look for her because she's my friend, the best friend you and I could ever found, and don't try to deny it! Will she yell at me again? Yes! Will she tell me that I'm a good-for-nothing idiot? Yes, and I'll confirm it to her, but in the meantime I'll chase her and watch over her until I've made sure she's no longer a danger to herself!"

Willow was speechless; it was the first time Gus had ever gotten mad like that. She had always been used to seeing Gus as a peaceful, quiet, fun spider, but now it seemed like flashes were emerging from his eyes. She was quite intimidated by this new version of him, and couldn't help but take several steps back; but Gus quickly closed the distance between them and grabbed her by the shoulders, shaking her violently, and he looked her straight in the eyes. "I'm going to look for her because this is my duty as her friend! Because that poor girl has already lost too much and I won't let her lose me too just because I'm mentally upset and she said a few too many words to me! If you want stay here and cry, go ahead, but I'm going to find her!" Gus let go of Willow in a rather ungentlemanly manner and then he started walking in a random direction, but he kept looking at her rather than checking where he was going. "If you want to wallow in self-pity and think about your own problems while Luz could at any moment pick up another rock and smash her head in with it, than do it! But don't come to me crying when you'll regr... OUCH!"

He hadn't even taken ten steps before he hit a hard surface that he hadn't saw since he was busy looking at Willow. Strange, he hadn't noticed it before... but when he opened his eyes again he realized that it was a shoe, so someone must have just put their foot there. "Hey, you, watch where you're going! I was... uh?"

As soon as he looked up Gus went completely silent and his eyes widened so much that they took up almost half his face; Willow too, as soon as she noticed what he was looking, was just as speechless and amazed as he was. Under their shocked gaze the owner of the shoe knelt down and pushed aside the grass and flowers above them, allowing them to take a good look at her and make sure they weren't mistaken, and then gave them a smile. Gus and Willow remained motionless for at least another ten seconds, then the same exclamation emerged from both their mouths almost at the same time: "WHAT!?"


This chapter especially served to show that Luz is not the only one who is seriously traumatized by the experience she received. After all, Gus and Willow too considered Camila, Vee, Masha and all the others very important people, even if not on the level of Luz. Not to mention they were forced to fight against each other and literally saw evil itself try to devour them. They too are completely destroyed emotionally and psychologically. And also, it was only fair to give Gus his 'moment of glory' when he was him to act as the voice of reason, since so far it's been Willow who's fulfilled that role the most.