Middle-Grade Review: The Bad Guys in One Last Thing (The Bad Guys #20) by Aaron Blabey

After defeating the centipede in The Serpent and the Beast, and traveling to the past, Mr. Wolf is brought by The One (aka Rhonda, who has materialized as a Tasmanian Devil with a mullet and futuristic space suit) to the moment in time when he and Snake are celebrating in a diner after robbing twenty one banks in twenty one days. Mr. Wolf has time traveled and is seeing himself in the multiverse. What made him decide to be good that day, and why did he gather the other Bad Guys? Then, The One thinks it is important for Mr. Wolf to see the future, and the two travel about, visiting other characters. They crash Mr. Wolf’s funeral (which everyone had said was too soon), and see not only the B-Team Bad Guys (including The Tiffinator, Penguin, and a snake with butt hands?) but also Agent Kitty Kat and Agent Hogwild, who are retiring from saving the universe to go back to their medical and engineering careers, respectively. Mr. Wolf hikes up the mountain to visit Ellen, who is breathing and teaching yoga. He also chats with Cedric Snake, who is living a contemplative life since he feels bad about his role in all of the evil, even though he wasn’t in control of himself. The three part sweetly and vow to stay in touch. The One has an existential question for Mr. Wolf; when did he decide to become good? It’s finally determined that it is only because the future Mr. Wolf, resplendent in the sacred mullet and space suit, visited the bank robbing Mr. Wolf and convinced him to change his ways. Future Mr. Wolf returns to the diner just as Cedric is leaving, and talks to his former self, who massively freaks out. Finally believing that his counterpart is from the future, and that the world will end unless Mr. Wolf becomes good and has a role in saving the universe, the path is clear. Future Mr. Wolf causes his past self to forget everything except the imperative to become good. His mission accomplished, Mr. Wolf apprentices himself to The One, and helps her to take care of the multiverse. At the very end, the character with the butt hands says that his story deserves to have more told about it, but we are assured that this will not happen because this is THE END.