to stop me.
“Hey, man, I think maybe we need to slow down, you know, because these bugs aren’t so friendly and well, what if the mantids try to . . . eat you ?”
“No!” I insisted, climbing onto the bottom rung of the ladder. “I have to save her!” I threw the pack off my back and started up.
“Go, Damon, go!” Lindsey cheered after me. She had her camera up and snapping. Gulp. I hoped these wouldn’t be the last pictures ever taken of Rachel or me.
As I climbed toward her, Rachel looked so scared. Then I realized something pretty important.
Rachel saw Mega Mantis One and Mega Mantis Three. She saw them. But how?
As I reached her sneakers, I turned. My stomach flip-flopped. Both mantids were close enough to swallow us in one gulp.
“Get away from us!” I screamed. Every part of me was shaking.
So why weren’t the giant mantids attacking?
Neither Mega Mantis seemed to notice that I was within chomping distance. They turned their heads around 180 degrees and moved into the field.
“Are you okay?” Lindsey cried. She was still taking photos. I saw her flash go off.
“Where are they going?” Stella shouted from below the ladder. “Can you see from up there?”
“I think the Mega Mantids are headed for Riddle Air Base,” I yelled down, following them with my eyes.
“Of course!” Stella yelled. “The hangar! It’s home! Bright lights! Lots of space! Just like Leery’s movie!”
Rachel was just above me now. She was a quivering mass of Jell-O, too. I reached up and grabbed her hand. Then we went back down the ladder together.
“You saved my life!” Rachel gushed once we stepped onto the ground.
“Yeah, well, duh ,” I said and tried to play it cool. “I’m not just going to stand there and do nothing. Mom would ground me forever.”
“I swear on a stack of B-Monster Galaxy magazines that I’ll never, ever laugh at you again,” Rachel said.
“Don’t get carried away,” I grumbled.
Stella raced over to us. She handed me my pack back.
“We have to go to the Air Force Base!” she yelled. “Now!”
I looked at my sister. “Rachel, what did you see up there?” I whispered.
“Everything,” Rachel whispered back. “The little bugs. And the big bugs, too. I saw one in our backyard, too, the other day. I know I should have told you. But it was way more fun watching you be scared.”
I was dumbfounded. I couldn’t believe she’d seen it all. Was she one of us ?
“We have to talk later,” I told her. “But right now go straight to the Snack Shack and find Mom.”
I raced across the field and followed the rest of the Monster Squad to the hangar.
When we came up to the air hangar, something was humming. I looked around and spotted the generator for the big lights on the runway. Those lights went on every night like clockwork. The runway was an emergency landing strip for the area.
Stella saw something else in the grass. “Look!” she cried. “It’s glowing!”
There on the edge of the field was the headless body of Mega Mantis Two. Next to it were more Mega Mantis skins.
Finding the skins, of course, seemed pretty cool right then. But it was actually not a good thing. Skins meant that the mantids were here and ready to fight. They were probably ready to destroy our entire town and the rest of the world until they ate everything and everyone and burped away life as we knew it.
The Monster Squad couldn’t let that happen.
“Fire on sight,” Ranger ordered like some kind of major general.
I shifted my pack to make sure all my cans were ready to spray. They were so heavy. My back was killing me.
“Look! More mantids!” Lindsey cried.
I squinted into the light. I spotted Mega Mantis One and Mega Mantis Three, and then I freaked.
There were five more bugs, and they were all getting ready to fight one another from the looks of it! A fight like that would destroy Riddle. Which meant that we had to kill seven mantids at once! Impossible!
Their mouths were
“Hey, man, I think maybe we need to slow down, you know, because these bugs aren’t so friendly and well, what if the mantids try to . . . eat you ?”
“No!” I insisted, climbing onto the bottom rung of the ladder. “I have to save her!” I threw the pack off my back and started up.
“Go, Damon, go!” Lindsey cheered after me. She had her camera up and snapping. Gulp. I hoped these wouldn’t be the last pictures ever taken of Rachel or me.
As I climbed toward her, Rachel looked so scared. Then I realized something pretty important.
Rachel saw Mega Mantis One and Mega Mantis Three. She saw them. But how?
As I reached her sneakers, I turned. My stomach flip-flopped. Both mantids were close enough to swallow us in one gulp.
“Get away from us!” I screamed. Every part of me was shaking.
So why weren’t the giant mantids attacking?
Neither Mega Mantis seemed to notice that I was within chomping distance. They turned their heads around 180 degrees and moved into the field.
“Are you okay?” Lindsey cried. She was still taking photos. I saw her flash go off.
“Where are they going?” Stella shouted from below the ladder. “Can you see from up there?”
“I think the Mega Mantids are headed for Riddle Air Base,” I yelled down, following them with my eyes.
“Of course!” Stella yelled. “The hangar! It’s home! Bright lights! Lots of space! Just like Leery’s movie!”
Rachel was just above me now. She was a quivering mass of Jell-O, too. I reached up and grabbed her hand. Then we went back down the ladder together.
“You saved my life!” Rachel gushed once we stepped onto the ground.
“Yeah, well, duh ,” I said and tried to play it cool. “I’m not just going to stand there and do nothing. Mom would ground me forever.”
“I swear on a stack of B-Monster Galaxy magazines that I’ll never, ever laugh at you again,” Rachel said.
“Don’t get carried away,” I grumbled.
Stella raced over to us. She handed me my pack back.
“We have to go to the Air Force Base!” she yelled. “Now!”
I looked at my sister. “Rachel, what did you see up there?” I whispered.
“Everything,” Rachel whispered back. “The little bugs. And the big bugs, too. I saw one in our backyard, too, the other day. I know I should have told you. But it was way more fun watching you be scared.”
I was dumbfounded. I couldn’t believe she’d seen it all. Was she one of us ?
“We have to talk later,” I told her. “But right now go straight to the Snack Shack and find Mom.”
I raced across the field and followed the rest of the Monster Squad to the hangar.
When we came up to the air hangar, something was humming. I looked around and spotted the generator for the big lights on the runway. Those lights went on every night like clockwork. The runway was an emergency landing strip for the area.
Stella saw something else in the grass. “Look!” she cried. “It’s glowing!”
There on the edge of the field was the headless body of Mega Mantis Two. Next to it were more Mega Mantis skins.
Finding the skins, of course, seemed pretty cool right then. But it was actually not a good thing. Skins meant that the mantids were here and ready to fight. They were probably ready to destroy our entire town and the rest of the world until they ate everything and everyone and burped away life as we knew it.
The Monster Squad couldn’t let that happen.
“Fire on sight,” Ranger ordered like some kind of major general.
I shifted my pack to make sure all my cans were ready to spray. They were so heavy. My back was killing me.
“Look! More mantids!” Lindsey cried.
I squinted into the light. I spotted Mega Mantis One and Mega Mantis Three, and then I freaked.
There were five more bugs, and they were all getting ready to fight one another from the looks of it! A fight like that would destroy Riddle. Which meant that we had to kill seven mantids at once! Impossible!
Their mouths were
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