The Beast with 1000 Eyes

by Laura Dower

  “DON’T LOOK!” the other members of Monster Squad wailed again. “STELLA, YOU DON’T KNOW WHAT YOU’RE DOING!”

  But I knew exactly what I was doing.

  CHAPTER 14

  SPAT CITY

  “Kiiiiiya!” I screamed and then I really let loose.

  I leaped high into the air, as high as I’d ever leaped before for a spin twist kick. I just needed to see my target, just for a split second. All my energy, all my strength boosted me up. As I lurched forward, my feet made contact with the primary eye. It was a direct hit!

  The monster flew backward through the air . . .

  Over the mound . . .

  And right off the mountain in a cloud of dust!

  “NO WAY!” Damon and Jesse shouted in unison. “YOU DID IT!”

  They ran over to the edge before I even got there.

  Hundreds of feet below, the eyeball monster had crash-landed on a rock.

  Splat City.

  Lindsey put her arm around me like a real friend. Pretty soon, the four of us were standing there, arm in arm, hugging. Thank goodness no one got a picture of that.

  “Do you think it’s dead?” Damon asked.

  On the ground, all around the Eyeball Beast, there were smushed, crushed, and smooshed eyes. A few twitched madly, as if they still worked. But, this beast was a goner. As dead as the rock it landed on.

  “What’s that?” Jesse cried.

  Over to the side, a lone eyeball seemed to have detached from the beast. It pulsated like it might come to life. I remembered the jars of eyeballs in the castle. All it took was one eyeball to make another and then another. We couldn’t risk it!

  Jesse scrambled down the rocks with another stick.

  “Take that!” Jesse cried, poking the runaway eyeball hard.

  I looked away. All this monster-crushing splurt was making me woozy. I liked being the ninja and all that, but I was ready for all this B-Monster to go.

  “Ding, dong, the beast is dead!” Lindsey sang to the tune of The Wizard of Ozsong. “Ding, dong, the Eyeball Beast is deeeeeeaad!”

  I believed them, but I wanted to be extra-certain this monster would not be coming back. So I ran back to get the spit cup. A little insurance wouldn’t hurt anyone—except the beast, of course.

  I hustled down the cliff, too, with the cup of our spit.

  “Incoming!” I cried and poured the spit over the beast’s quivering, dying body.

  The whole thing evaporated into a fine, pink mist.

  “That would have made a great ending for the original movie,” a voice said from behind us. “Leery would be proud.”

  I turned to see Great Auntie San San stumbling toward us. She was alive and walking around! The trance had been broken for good!

  “San San!” I cried. “What happened?”

  “You saved the day, Monster Squad,” Great Auntie San San said, looking at the beast on the rock. “That’s what happened. You saved the day. And you saved me.”

  Except for a few bumps and bruises from her wild ride on the shoulders of the Eyeball Beast, San San was A-OK. We were all okay. Even after swimming down a river of tears and poking one thousand eyeballs up the mountainside—we survived.

  “Kids, I found this on the ground over there,” San San said, holding up the amulet. “I’m happy to say that it brought us good luck after all.”

  I took it from her, expecting the same amulet I’d had just a moment before. But now this amulet was cold. It wasn’t glowing anymore. It had gone black.

  “We have to tell Walter and Leery what’s happened,” Jesse said.

  “Hey,” Lindsey said, pointing across the mountainside where they stood. “We’re practically at Leery Castle. Why don’t we go there right now?”

  I pulled out my cell phone and we dialed Walter Block. He told us to come over to the castle pronto.

  “Wait!” Damon said. “We can’t go talk to Walter yet. We still have to find the original reel.”

  We all sighed. “Drat,” Lindsey said. “I was so busy worrying about the Eyeball Beast that I forgot about the reel!”

  “It wasn’t screened in my apartment,” San San said. “Where else could it be?”

  “What about the library? Ms. Shenanigans has a bunch of old reels,” I said.

  “I don’t think so,” Damon said. “I scanned her shelves when we were in the library. I didn’t see it.”

  “Maybe it was screened in Antarctica where Oswald Leery is,” Jesse suggested.

  “Or not,” Lindsey said.

  “We can’t give up!” I said. “We have to find that reel before the movie gets screened again.”

  “I don’t know if I can face another Eyeball Beast attack,” San San said.

  “Neither can we!” all four members of the Monster Squad said at once.

  CHAPTER 15

  A REEL MESS

  The castle was about a fifteen minute walk from where we’d destroyed the B-Monster. I’ve never been so happy to see a pair of Crabzilla gates in my entire life. Of course, San San wasn’t sure about stepping inside the castle after all these years.

  I could tell how nervous she felt.

  The door was ajar. We have permission to go into the castle even when no one is there. It’s one of those Monster Squad privileges we got when we signed on to this gig.

  “Walter?” I called out as we entered the hallway.

  “Caw! Caw!” Poe the crow swooped down and landed on my shoulder.

  San San broke into a wide smile when she saw him. “Poe! My baby!” She explained how the crow had come on to one of the movie sets as a baby bird. She couldn’t believe he was all grown up.

  “I don’t think Walter is here,” Damon said. “Maybe he went to meet Leery in Antarctica?”

  I made a face. “He has to be here. We just spoke with him on the phone, dummy.”

  “Don’t call me dummy, dummy,” Damon snarled.

  I wasn’t in the mood for a showdown with the Eyeball Beast andDamon Molloy in one day. So Poe and I went in search of the reel.

  “Walter! Walter! We’re back!”

  Everyone followed, but we could not find him; even when we searched the lower level and called out at the top of our lungs.

  Then I saw a shaft of light coming from the door marked VAULT.

  “Hey!” Jesse cried, heading for the door. “Walter must be working in here—”

  He pushed the door open wide. I glanced around the room. What a mess. Walter had all the reels pulled out again.

  “Monster Squad, you’re here! I was thrilled to get your call! You figured out a way to corner the beast! Congratulations!” Walter said.

  We all looked at each other.

  “Um . . . Walter, we killed the Eyeball Beast, but ...”

  “Where are my manners!” he cried out. “We should be celebrating! We must contact Dr. Leery at once! How fortunate that you destroyed B-Monster number three so close to the castle! Now, so we can celebrate together. I’ll go hook up the live video—”

  “Wait!” I cried. “Walter, there’s something we need to tell you.”

  San San stepped into view now.

  “Sandra!” Walter called out. “What are you doing here?”

  “I came along for the ride,” San San said. Then she and Walter embraced. They had been old friends, too, and were happy to see each other.

  “Did you want to tell me about her?” Walter asked, pointing to San San.

  “No,” I stammered. “W-w-whhat I wanted to say was ...”

  “We don’t have the reel yet,” Damon blurted.

  I knuckle-punched Damon’s shoulder for telling before I could.

  “Oh,” Walter grimaced. “Hmmmm. No reel destroyed? Hmmmm. That’s most unexpected and unfortunate news. As you recall, Dr. Leery said that was one of the most important parts of this mission . . .”

  We all stared at our sneakers. What else could we do?

  “Let’s dial up Dr. Leery, anyway,” Walter said. “He and I had schedul
ed a phone meeting this afternoon. I know he will be happy to hear about the demise of the beast ...”

  “And disappointed to hear about the reel,” I added.

  “Now, now, Stella . . .” Walter patted my back. “He only wants to support you. After all, you four are doing his work.”

  But Walter’s words didn’t help. I still felt sick to my stomach. And I couldn’t escape the feeling that all this was my fault. While we waited for the connection to Leery, the five of us (San San included) helped Walter tidy up the vault. On the table next to the projector was a pile without labels. Walter said he had been going through them one by one to search for the outtake footage.

  “Have you watched all of these?” I asked aloud as I picked over the pile of mystery reels. Some of them looked familiar. Some not. It was like the pile we’d gone through the day we watched The Beast with 1000 Eyes . . .

  “STELLA!” Damon yelled out. “Oh no . . . I think you need to see this!”

  “What is it?”

  Damon held up a reel in front of my nose. I stared at it closely.

  The Beast with 1000 Eyes.

  “So?”

  He pointed to another sticker, below the title.

  ORIGINAL REEL.

  My throat clenched. My pulse quickened. My head reeled.

  It was the reel I’d chosen just the other day. The reel we watched. Somehow a COPYlabel from another reel had gotten stuck onto my reel. The ORIGINAL sticker beneath it had been hidden from sight.

  Oh no.

  Without realizing it, I had unleashed the eyeball B-Monster.

  Me!

  “Nice one, Ninja,” Damon said. He raised an eyebrow at me. “So this is all your fault!”

  My cheeks turned four shades of purple. I looked over at Walter in a panic. I had to sit down.

  Lindsey and Jesse just stared at me with blank expressions on their faces. No one knew what to say. What kind of a ninja was I? How could I stand tall as a Monster Squad member again? I’d never messed up anything so badly. I would probably be banished from Monster Squad forever and ever.

  But then, in that moment, in that embarrassing moment, something happened that surprised me even more than a beast with one thousand gooey eyes.

  My fellow Monster Squadders told me not to worry. They backed me up. Even Damon.

  “Yo, Ninja, don’t freak out. It’s okay. We got the beast! We saved the day!”

  “You cannot be hard on yourself,” San San said to me. “Stella, perhaps your mistake unleashed the beast, but since then, you also have done many good things. You helped give me the strength to stop worrying. I’m no longer afraid to face my own monsters. I couldn’t have done any of that without the Monster Squad—especially you!”

  Jesse handed me the original reel of The Beast with 1000 Eyes.

  “We’d better destroy this reel once and for all,” he said. “You want to do the honors, Stella?”

  I took the reel in my hand and began to pull out the tape. Then I glanced up at Poe, sitting on a shelf. Having a sharp-beaked crow in the castle was helpful at that moment. Poe was more than happy to help us tear into the reel, too. I tossed the film into the air. Poe caught some film in his beak.

  “So long, Eyeball Beast!” Damon screeched as the film quickly unspooled off the reel. We cheered and stomped on the loose ends. Then we tossed the remains into a garbage bag.

  “Finally!” I cried. “We killed the B-Monster. We destroyed the reel. Now we can call Leery.”

  We headed into the screening room for our big conversation with the one and only Oswald Leery—and maybe a penguin or two.

  With Walter’s help, Lindsey downloaded a whole mess of digital photos of the eyeball monster, the pink mist, and one extreme close-up of the amulet.

  We had quite a story to tell.

  Through the Antarctic static, Leery appeared on-screen again in his parka. It felt a little bit colder in the room when his image showed up. The iceberg behind him shone bright white and his breath was pure steam. It was cold there, for sure, but Leery spoke to us as warmly as ever.

  “Another fine job, Monster Squad,” he said. “I can’t express enough thanks for all you’ve been doing to help destroy the B-Monsters on the loose. Because of your brave actions, Riddle is a whole lot safer. Slimo, Mega Mantis, and now . . . the Beast with 1000 Eyes. I am impressed.”

  Then, from behind me, Great Auntie San San pushed forward a little bit closer to the screen.

  “Oswald,” she said meekly.

  “SANDRA? Is that you?” Leery recognized San San’s voice right away. He got this weird expression on his face.

  I was about to explain why San San was there, but Great Auntie San San placed her hand on my arm gently to let me know she’d handle this on her own.

  “Yes, it is me, Oswald. Sandra Lee. My niece found me and asked me to help out. Yes, I know about your little experiment. You have assembled a team of champions, Oswald. It reminds me of our days together making the movies . . .”

  I got a little concerned because Leery wasn’t saying anything. His expression was expressionless.

  “Walter,” I whispered, “can you get more of a close-up on Leery? What’s he doing?”

  Walter zoomed in. We all let out a little gasp. Leery’s face appeared frozen from the cold—but he was crying! Each teardrop turned to little icicles on his cheek.

  “I’m so sorry, Sandra,” Leery said. “I know how hard it has been all these years, keeping my secrets. I am sorry for putting you through that. And I am grateful for your help.”

  San San smiled. “Just how many of these B-Monsters are on the loose in Riddle anyway, Dr. Leery?” she asked.

  Leery smiled back. “One at a time! That’s about all we can handle!”

  “Oh no!” Damon let out a wail. He pointed to the screen. “Over there! Behind Leery! It’s another B-Monster—coming up from the water!”

  I squinted to see exactly what Damon was talking about. Then I let out a laugh.

  “That’s no monster! That’s a seal!” I said.

  We all chuckled. Then San San took her hand in mine and stood close to the microphone so Leery could hear as clearly as possible. She apologized to Leery for stealing the amulet from the set of the movie. She wanted to give back the relic after all these years, but Leery wouldn’t take it. He insisted that San San keep it. It was, he said, a part of a B so it belonged to the Queen B.

  All at once, my cell phone rang in my pocket. I checked the display. It was my alarm again, reminding me of something important.

  KARATE MEET.

  I nearly screamed.

  Karate? Karate!I had almost forgotten about it. The most important meet of my life was in just one hour! I needed to get back to Dojo Academy pronto!

  We said our good-byes—for the time being—to Leery.

  Then Walter volunteered to drive all of us down Nerve Mountain to the karate studio.

  CHAPTER 16

  RUNNER-UP, UP, AND AWAY

  Competition day at Dojo Academy was a real blur. I think this was partially due to the fact that I was dog tired. What a week it had been! I’d met a long-lost aunt, tracked down and destroyed the beastly Eyeball Beast, and found a glowing amulet with monstrous powers.

  But I had to shake off my nerves and tired bones. It was time to compete.

  I spotted Brick and his family right away and waved. Then I saw my own family in the viewing gallery. Mom waved. I’d called her earlier to let her know that I was spending the morning with my friends and I’d meet her at Dojo Academy. I’d also told her that I had bumped into someone she knew and that person would be coming to the meet, too.

  As soon as we arrived, Front Desk Lady pulled together another row of chairs for the members of the Monster Squad, Walter, and my surprise guest, San San.

  When I brought Great Auntie San San over to Mom, they just stared at each other for a moment. And then they slowly started to talk. Whew. That was easier than I thought.

  Now all I had to do was
kick my way to a black belt. No sweat. I headed back into the karate studio to do some warm-up exercises. Wouldn’t Brick be surprised when he saw me do his kick for the judges?

  As it turned out, Brick was in rare form. Sure, he made fun of osu during practice, but he used it perfectly during our match. He pinned me on the floor and knocked me off the mats more than once.

  Eventually, I landed flat on my back, with Brick standing over me.

  “Tough break, Ninja,” Brick said. He helped me up. “Better luck next time.”

  I got up and waved to the Monster Squad, Walter, San San, and Mom. Everyone was clapping. But despite losing, I did not feel like a runner-up. I was a winner—all-around. I helped kick some monster butt and I got to know my long-lost aunt. I even got a trophy, never mind that it was only for second place. If all this wasn’t winning, then what was?

  Brick came over to me after the awards had been distributed and I was sure he’d gloat some more. After all, his trophy was three times the size of mine.

  “See you in class next week?” he asked.

  This day was certainly full of surprises. “Next week!” I said.

  “So who’s up for a great big barbecue tomorrow?” Mom asked as we strolled out of Dojo Academy. “Auntie San San already said she’ll be there. And your friends are all welcome!” she said, pointing to Lindsey, Jesse, and Damon.

  They looked back at me.

  “Friends?” Damon cracked.

  But the truth was, it was getting harder and harder not to consider my fellow squad members as actual true friends.

  “Hey, Stella,” Jesse said. “Let me see your trophy.”

  I handed it over. The engraving on the bottom read:STELLA MIN

  KYU 2

  DOJO ACADEMY

  “For what it’s worth,” Jesse said to me, “I think you were number kyu one, not kyu two. Whatever that word means.”

  “And as far as I’mconcerned,” Damon added, “you really are a ninja.”

  As we walked outside, the sky looked ominous, like a storm was blowing in. Night was coming, too. Brrrrr. I shoved my hands into my pockets to shake off the chill.