The words “New York City” ripple through Gregor’s brain, shocking him. All at once, he realizes he needs to return home to his mother and sister. He tells Vikus he needs to go back, but the man replies, “It is simple to fall down but the going up requires much giving” (36). Gregor doesn’t fully understand his meaning until Luxa tells Gregor flat out that he can’t go home. He decides to make a run for it, heading for the door the roaches came through—Luxa raises a hand, in a signal, and one of the bats swoops down from the ceiling and knocks him and Boots to the ground. It’s then he sees that: “Every bat in the arena had dived for them. They flew in a tight circle around Gregor and Boots, locking them in a prison of wings and fur” (37). He notices that each bat has a rider with the ability to hold on effortlessly, and all the riders have silver hair like Luxa. 

Boots surveys the bats joyously, and Luxa gives another signal. The bats “began wheeling around the arena in complicated patterns,” (39). Gregor feels “these people were a little too smug for their own good” (39).