"Stuck in gripping mud." Elliot didn't have time to explain what gripping mud was, but his siblings didn't seem too curious. As long as Kovol was stuck, that seemed to be all they cared about.
"So send all of your Underworld friends to get him now," Reed said.
Elliot shook his head. "That won't work. Even stuck in the mud, he's still powerful enough to put up a good fight. As soon as it's dark enough, he'll call his army to help him get out. They're called Shadow Men, and they're just as scary as they sound. I don't want to fight Kovol anymore until I know I can win. It's time to end this." He looked at Cami. "Where's Harold?"
"He's still afraid to make another mistake." Cami frowned. "He said if he does, then I might not like him back. I told him nobody cares when people make mistakes. They only care when people don't try to fix them."
"So is he coming?"
Cami shrugged. "He said he'll think about it."
"Oh, good grief," Elliot said with a sigh. "Where's the turnip juice?"
She handed it to him. "Here. But you said it isn't ready yet."
"It's not. And I really don't know how to get that last ingredient." Then he remembered that his sister's food sometimes tasted a little strange. "Hey, Wendy, you don't happen to cook with earwax, do you?"
She made a face. "Ha-ha."
"No, seriously. Last week you made some cookies. I kind of thought--"
"I don't cook with earwax!"
He held up a hand. "No, I didn't think so." At least a big part of him had hoped not.
"You need earwax?" Tubs stuck his finger in his ear and pulled out a slimy clump. "I've got some."
"Thanks, Tubs," Elliot said. "But I need a lot of it for this potion to work."
"How much do you need?" Tubs reached into his pocket and pulled out a plastic sandwich bag with a huge blob of earwax inside. It was every color of gross, and so large he must have been collecting it for years.
"Disgusting!" Cami said. "How long have you had that?"
"Since I started preschool," Tubs said. "Do you like it?"
"No!" Cami and Wendy said together.
"Yes!" Kyle and Cole said at the same time.
Reed said nothing. Either he didn't have a very strong opinion on the subject of earwax collections, or else he was too grossed out to speak.
Elliot held out his hand for the earwax. "Well, I love it. Can I have it?"
Tubs pulled it closer to himself. "I dunno. I almost threw it at Kovol before, when we were all throwing things, but then I remembered how long I've been working on this collection. I can't just give it away for nothing."
"How about to save the world?" Elliot said.
"Yeah, I guess that is pretty important." Tubs thought it over. "Will they print my name in the newspaper about what a hero I am?"
"Probably not. We'll never really be able to talk about what happened here."
Wendy stepped forward. "But I'll make you some of those cookies that Elliot says tasted like earwax. A whole plate of them. And maybe they'll be helpful in getting your head to make more earwax."
Tubs smiled as if that actually made sense to him. "Yeah, I'll save the world with this bag of earwax. And who knows? Maybe I can use the next glob to save the universe!"
Elliot didn't think earwax worked that way. But at least Tubs handed him the plastic bag.
Cami knelt on the ground and opened the bottle of turnip juice. Being careful not to touch any of it, Elliot pushed the earwax out of the bag and into the bottle. It plopped to the bottom in a big clump.