“No, big buddy,” he said. “That would be you.”
11
Nina adjusted her headset and clutched the microphone tightly in her hand. “Okay, boys, I’m going in,” she said. “Wish me luck.”
Nina took a deep breath and stepped confidently onto the stage. Freddie snuck behind the set and climbed up a narrow ladder to the gridiron walkway hanging above the studio. There were ropes and pulleys rigged to sandbags. From up there he could see everything. Manny jumped behind the lens and manned the television camera. Jordan and Quincy grabbed two fire extinguishers from the wall. They held them at the ready in case anything went wrong.
Freddie held his breath as he watched Nina approach the monster slowly, cautiously. Walking straight up to Yapzilla seemed like a horrible idea—but it was Nina’s monster, and he had to trust her.
Yapzilla turned toward Nina and let out a shriek aimed right at her face. SCHHHHHHREEEEEECH!!!!!
Nina didn’t flinch. She just smiled at the monster, greeting her in a soft, friendly voice. “Hey there, Yapzilla. . . . My name is Nina Green and I’m here to interview you about your newfound fame. Tell me, you’ve caught the world’s attention by screeching and setting things on fire, but let’s take a moment to get to know the real you.”
The monster stopped her fiery snorting and turned her gaze up toward the girl. She cocked her eyes curiously at Nina and then sent a little puff of smoke out of her neck mouth.
“I know it’s hard being a monster,” Nina continued soothingly to Yapzilla. “Everybody’s always running away screaming from you. That must be hard for you.”
To Freddie, Nina’s tone sounded pretty fake, but Yapzilla seemed to be loving the attention.
The monster nodded.
“Thank you for your honesty, Yapzilla.”
Manny looked up at Freddie with utter amazement. “It’s actually working. . . .”
And then it happened.
A little wisp of fire shot out of the monster’s mouth. Nina winced back away from the snortle of fire, batting at her singed eyebrows.
“Ouch! Watch it, you freak!” she screamed, covering her face.
Yapzilla contorted both her mouths into two angry scowls.
“Boys!” Jordan shouted, gripping his fire extinguisher. “Time for plan B!”
One of Yapzilla’s necks cranked back and let out a scorching ball of fire. It burned up the microphone in Nina’s hand.
“Help!” Nina shouted, as the monster’s hand coiled around Nina’s waist and lifted her high into the rafters. The monster opened her mouths wide. Red-hot flames appeared in the back of Yapzilla’s throat as she prepared to roast Nina with her blowtorch breath.
Nina let out a wild scream, squirming in Yapzilla’s tight grasp. The monster squeezed Nina like an anaconda wrapped around its prey. Yapzilla stood up on her hind legs and rose past Freddie into the rafters. One of her necks ripped a hole through the ceiling, then came back down as the monster shrieked and clutched Nina even tighter.
Freddie scrambled across the metal catwalk and found a sandbag tied to a rope. He untied the bag and aimed it right at Yapzilla’s foot. It fell with a whoosh just as Yapzilla was about to unleash another flash of fire breath. WHAM! The sandbag fell on the monster’s toes and Yapzilla let out an awful screech. Nina squirmed free from the monster’s grasp and fell, landing on her shrieking neck. The other neck swung in Freddie’s direction, and Yapzilla’s eyes zeroed in on her new target.
“Watch out, Freddie!” Manny yelled from below.
But Manny’s warning came too late.
Freddie lost his balance. He fell down, down, down, but before he crashed to the floor, he was caught midair.
By Yapzilla’s neck.
Now both he and Nina were latched on to each of the monster’s necks, flailing up and down. Freddie held on for dear life, pressing his arms and legs into Yapzilla’s neck skin like someone riding a mechanical bull for the first time.
Beneath him, Jordan bounded forward and aimed the nozzle of a fire extinguisher up at Yapzilla’s mouth. He shot the white chemical froth down the monster’s throat. Yapzilla choked and screeched once more, splatter painting the TV studio with white foam.
Quincy stepped up next, ready to blast the monster, too.
But before he had the chance, Nina jumped off and swung up onto the metal walkway like a gymnast on the uneven bars.
Freddie gaped as the screeching monster blew flames up at Nina.
On the walkway, Nina crawled on her hands and knees beneath the fire blast, reaching for another sandbag. With a grunt, she pulled the rope, dropping the sack of sand, and hit Yapzilla right on top of the hair-covered hump of her back.
ERRRK! the monster screeched. Her other neck dropped, and Freddie tumbled to the floor with a loud smack. Nina climbed back down to the stage.
Stunned from the direct hit, Yapzilla flopped her necks from side to side. She knocked over a camera, then plopped to the floor with a thunk.
The monster was down for the count.
“Way to go, fellas!” Jordan said as the fires Yapzilla had set died down to a sizzle.
Freddie got up and surveyed the scene. Thick black camera wires were tangled everywhere.
He picked up a wire and tugged on it. It seemed pretty strong. “Guys, I think we can use these cords to tie her up.”
“Good idea,” said Manny as he gathered up a handful. “That should stop her for a while. Then we can go after Mega-Q.”
The boys put down their fire extinguishers, and Quincy showed them a fancy knot he’d also learned at science camp that he guaranteed would hold.
Nina peered into a TV monitor, taking a look at her charbroiled eyebrow. “She burned off my eyebrow! I look ridiculous!”
“No one’s arguing with you there . . . ,” Jordan told her.
“I think it looks kind of cool,” Freddie said. “Like you’re the action hero in a monster movie.”
“Thank you, Freddie!” she said.
“More like the monster in a monster movie.” Quincy snickered.
Nina glared at Quincy as Freddie and Manny finished tying the cable cords around the monster’s twin pout.
“Boom! Done!” Manny and Freddie gave each other a fist bump, and they all headed for the doorway.
“Let’s blow this Popsicle stand,” Nina said, leading the way out of the TV station.
It was early afternoon, but the dark heavy sky made it feel like the sun had just set. As the kids took in the scene, they stopped their high-fiving celebration immediately. Their town looked even worse than it had before.
Smoke wafted skyward from the stores blazing on Main Street. The blare of car horns and rumble of engines from the traffic jam on the nearby highway filled the air. Sirens wailed in the distance. A shriek rang out from who knows where. Ash drifted and fluttered down from the clouds. The ground jumped with sparking power lines, which had been snipped into a million little pieces.
It was a full-blown symphony of chaos.
And Mega-Q was the conductor.
“My monster’s the only one left,” said Quincy, taking in the chaos around them. Clearly he’d done the most damage. “I’m trying to think where he would be. . . .”
“We know he’s knocked out all the phone lines and the cell phone tower. He’s disabled most of the town’s power . . . ,” Freddie said. “If you were Mega-Q, where would you go next?”
Quincy fiddled with his glasses, pacing back and forth. He stopped and put his finger in the air like he had something, then let his arm fall as the idea fizzled. “Not quite . . . just have to keep thinking.”
So the know-it-all doesn’t know at all, Freddie thought. Although if there was one thing he wanted Quincy to figure out, it was this.
“Come on, man,” Jordan said. “Think like the monster!”
“Yeah,” said Nina. “What would you want if you were a monster?”
“How am I supposed to know what a monster wants? It’s a monster!” Quincy snapped.
“Yeah,” Nina said, “but it’s based on you and what you want. Jordan loves sports, so Kraydon went to the gym. Yapzilla wanted to be famous, like me. . . .” She flicked her hair.
Quincy glanced up with the look of a detective getting a genius idea. “We have to go back to school!”
“Dude, I know you love school and all,” Jordan said, “but we’ve got one more monster on the loose. . . .”
“Exactly. And I know my monster. I know he’s smart, and I know he knows that the one thing more terrifying than one monster—” Quincy paused, raising one eyebrow dramatically.
“Is an army of monsters,” Freddie finished, realizing where the mega-nerd was going with this.
“Precisely.” Quincy nodded. “The only way to make more monsters is that 3D printer at school.”
The kids’ faces fell as they thought about what that could mean. A whole monster army to stop? That sounded like the worst thing imaginable.
“Huh, well I expect nothing less from an evil supergenius,” said Manny.
“We better get to Mr. Snoozer’s office, and fast,” said Freddie.
The kids hopped on their bikes and hurried back to school. Freddie crossed his fingers as they rode after Quincy, wishing that the know-it-all was wrong for once in his life.
12
The kids snuck past their half-demolished school. Kraydon was still trapped in the soccer nets and hardened mud. His eye went wild when he saw the kids, but he couldn’t hurt them from his rock-solid prison.
They crept around the corner and along the side of the building. When they reached Mr. Snoozer’s office, they stopped and peeked over the windowsill. Sure enough, through the window, they glimpsed Mega-Q lurking around the computer and 3D printer. The monster was about the size and length of a roller-coaster car. And he was super angry, throwing chairs and flipping tables in some kind of tantrum.
“Get down!” Freddie yelled as Mega-Q’s head jerked toward the window.
They all ducked.
“Good thinking, Q-man,” Freddie told Quincy. “Way to know your monster.”
“Did he see us?” Manny asked, huffing and puffing with panic.
“I don’t think so,” Freddie said hopefully.
Nina reached into her backpack and pulled out a black stick that looked like a small baton. She extended it out and clamped her phone to it.
“What’s that?” Freddie asked.
“It’s my selfie stick,” she said, raising the phone’s lens just over the sill so they could get a look inside.
Mega-Q was now working at the computer, his blue band of electricity squiggling around the monitor like it could control the device through some kind of power signal. They watched in horror as the monster tried to print his own monsters. He wasn’t having much luck.
There were discarded gobs of pink goo everywhere. Ugly, faceless blobs—more like newborn gerbils than monsters. Freddie watched the pudgy little furless minimonsters squiggling around. They looked disgusting.
Inside, Mega-Q slammed his talons against the printer. The printer spat out the next blob, but it was nothing like Freddie’s monsters.
“This is great,” Nina said excitedly. “He can’t make them on his own!”
“Yeah,” said Quincy. “But he’ll figure it out eventually.”
“What makes you so sure?” Jordan asked.
“He already knows how to use the 3D printer,” said Quincy. “It’s only a matter of time before he figures it out. We have to stop him now.”
“How are we going to get in there and stop him?” Nina asked.
“I’ll go,” Freddie volunteered, not quite believing the words coming out of his mouth. “I have an idea that just might work.”
“You’re not going anywhere alone with Mega-Q,” Manny said. “That thing is insane!”
“I drew these monsters. It’s my responsibility to put an end to this,” Freddie said. “I could make him an offer he can’t refuse—I’ll say I ditched you guys and I want to draw his monster army. He can’t say no to that.”
Quincy pinched his chin, thinking. “That’s not a bad idea, actually.”
Freddie motioned for everyone to get in close. “Listen up . . . here’s what we’re going to do.” He grabbed his sketchbook from his backpack and started scribbling a diagram on a piece of paper while the rest of them watched. “The only thing is . . . we’ll need a school bus.”
“This day keeps getting crazier and crazier.” Nina sighed.
After some time, the kids regrouped with everything they needed. Jordan had found the keys to the one remaining school bus tucked under the driver’s seat. Manny gathered up a couple of mops from the janitor’s closet that they could use like swords.
As everybody checked their walkie-talkies, Quincy turned to Freddie. “So you’re going to enter the office and try to stall Mega-Q as best you can.” He then turned to Nina and Jordan. “You two are in charge of the bus. We need it backed up to the exit door on the east side of the building.”
“Umm,” Nina said. “I’m in sixth grade. I don’t drive buses. I don’t even like riding in them.”
“My dad drives a truck,” Jordan said. “I’ve seen him do it a thousand times.”
“Okay then,” Quincy continued. “While they’re doing that, Manny and I will sneak into the building and be backup, waiting until Freddie lures Mega-Q through the door and into the bus.”
Quincy clapped his hands together. “Okay, people, let’s get moving.”
They broke. Freddie rubbed his hands nervously. The plan would work. It had to work. If it didn’t, Mega-Q was going to keep getting smarter and smarter. Soon enough, he’d be able to build an army on his own and they’d all be goners. And it would all be Freddie’s fault.
“You okay, buddy?” Manny asked Freddie as they crept back toward the side door.
“Yeah, I just want this to be over and done with . . . ,” Freddie said.
“Take it easy,” Manny said. “Everything’s going to be fine.” Manny was a good liar. He handed Freddie his phone and clicked it on to video. “Here, get some more shots for the movie. It’ll take your mind off what you’re actually doing.”
“We’re not making a movie right now, Manny,” Freddie said. “We’re trying to save our town from the monsters.”
“You’re a smart guy,” Manny said. “You can do two things at once.”
“Are you kidding me?” Jordan said. “He can’t even walk and chew gum at the same time.”
Freddie glared at Jordan.
“I’m sorry. I take it back,” Jordan said. “You’re gonna do great!”
An uncomfortable silence fell over the outside of the school. Freddie looked through the window, but he couldn’t see Mega-Q in the art room anymore. “Where’d he go?” Freddie peered over the windowsill, stretching his gaze this way and that. The millipede monster wasn’t in Snoozer’s office either.
Suddenly, the sound of a thousand legs clattered against the pavement. Freddie whirled around as Mega-Q skittered toward them in an inhuman blur. Freddie barely had time to flinch before the monster stopped just inches from his face. Mega-Q was looking right at him, cocking his bug head like he was processing a million thoughts at once.
But Freddie only had one thought going through his mind: uh-oh.
The monster wheeled around and shot blue sparks at the other kids. Manny, Nina, Quincy, and Jordan all backed away. Freddie had to think fast if he wanted to save his friends.
He knew what he had to do.
“Get out of here!” Freddie shouted at his friends.
He couldn’t underestimate Mega-Q’s intellect. He had to play this just right for any of it to work. He turned to Mega-Q.
“Listen, Mega-Q, those kids aren’t really my friends. They were just using me. I want to work with you! We can create an army together.”
Mega-Q couldn’t talk, but Freddie had a sense he understood. This was either going to be his best idea ever—or the biggest mistake of his life.<
br />
13
In a flash, the monster grabbed Freddie and whisked him off his feet. Mega-Q was stronger than he looked, Freddie thought, impressed. Freddie hadn’t been picked up like that since he was a little kid.
The monster carried Freddie into the art room and dropped him next to the computer in Snoozer’s office. Up close, Freddie could see just how sharp each of Mega-Q’s legs were, like a hundred samurai swords clacking and scratching.
On the computer screen, he saw the beginnings of the monsters Mega-Q had tried to design. They were awful looking, all out of proportion with mouths and eyes on opposite sides of their blob bodies. Freddie had done better artwork in kindergarten. The monster may be a genius, but he was no artist.
Mega-Q clicked his legs impatiently at Freddie.
“I want to help you,” Freddie said. “If you want an army of minion clones, we’ll give you an army of minion clones. You want flying monsters, we’ll give you flying monsters.” Freddie pulled up the Sculptris computer program and started clicking and sketching out a fleet of winged gargoyles and a battalion of little Mega-Q clones. His quick drawings were a million times better than Mega-Q’s.
Mega-Q chittered creepily. He seemed to nod. He almost looked . . . pleased.
“I’ll work for you, but on one condition. You have to let me be your second in command,” Freddie said, keeping up the act.
Mega-Q tapped his legs as if he were thinking long and hard. Time was moving slower than a turtle surfing a wave of molasses. Freddie didn’t know what to do next. He was worried about his town. He was worried about his dad, and his friends and classmates. The fate of everyone and everything was resting on his shoulders. And he wasn’t sure he could stand it all.
“Well?” Freddie asked.
Mega-Q chittered and nodded, then lifted his front arm. Freddie put out his hand to shake on the deal. Mega-Q swatted his hand away and pointed to the art pad and pen on the table. Freddie looked meekly at the monster and gulped awkwardly. He’d gotten his friends into this mess, now he’d have to get them out. He sat down and got to work.
Monsters Unleashed Page 5