Summary

The three girls found the stones in "Val: The Gate." In an undefined state, the Collector angrily crashed around. They assumed their positions, knowing Marion may have needed to create "a gate of her own" (402). Val and Zoey fought him off until "the earth directly underneath Marion's feet shook" (404). They held onto her as the Collector dove at them, and "the Rock opened" (405). The Rock "explained in whispers" that they needed to continue their mission (406). The tesser was peaceful in "Marion: The Obscura," and they landed on a strange "salt flat" under "glittering waves of galaxies," lined with icy "facsimiles of trees" (409, 410). Val insisted that Marion not tesser the Collector to the Far Place alone. Suddenly, a tree exploded, "ooz[ing] bubbling black liquid" and "yellow pus" that screamed (413). A fleshy, "batlike" monster emerged from inside the tree (413). Slimy...