This was the hard part. Taking a deep breath, I plunged into it.
“Second, I won’t be along for this one. Something else has come up that takes priority over Queen Hemlock. Now, if she’s not that important to me . . .”
“Whoa. Stop the music!” Tananda exclaimed. “I want to hear what this hot deal is you’ve got going on the side. What’s more important to you than defending your own home dimension?”
I avoided her eyes.
“It’s not a deal or a job, really. It … It’s personal. Something I can’t delegate. I’ve got to handle it myself.”
“So tell us,” she demanded, crossing her arms. “We’re family. If nothing else, don’t you think we have a right to know what the head man is going to be doing while we’re off fighting a war for him?”
I had had a feeling I wouldn’t be able to slip this by unnoticed. With a sigh, I dropped the other shoe.
“Look around the room,” I said. “Notice anything missing?”
There was a pause as everyone complied. It took a distressingly long time for them to figure it out.
“Aahz!” Chumley said at last. “Aahz isn’t here.”
“Say, that’s right,” Massha blinked. “I thought the meeting was a little quiet. Where is old Green and Scaly?”
“Gone.”
It took a moment for it to sink in. Then the team stared at each other in shocked silence.
‘ “The note was on my desk this morning,” I continued. “It’s his letter of resignation from M.Y.T.H. Inc. Apparently he feels that without his powers he’s deadwood . . . taking up space without earning his pay. He’s packed up and gone, headed back to Perv.”