Monsters Unleashed #2 Read online

  He should have been more careful. This was all his fault!

  While they ate their after-school snacks, Freddie drew a diagram of the entomon from memory. He showed the new insect monster to Oddo, Mungo, Kraydon, Yapzilla, and Mega-Q. Their minimonsters nodded as Nina explained the plan.

  “We’ll use your guys’ unique abilities to get inside Trevor’s house. We’ll do it tonight, when everyone’s asleep.”

  “But that would mean that we have to”—Freddie’s voice lowered to a whisper—“sneak out of our houses.”

  “What’s your point?” Nina asked him.

  “Look at me,” Freddie said, towering over the rest of them. “I can’t sneak anywhere. I’m, like, the worst sneaker in the world! One wrong step and it’s Creak City!”

  “Wear slippers, then,” Nina told him. “We have to go tonight. We can’t risk those bugs falling into a toilet or something, and we can’t go now because Trevor will be expecting us. We’ll meet up after our parents go to sleep.”

  Lost in his thoughts, Freddie grew more and more worried about their recent string of luck. Or lack of luck. And now that they were sneaking into someone’s house, anything could happen. Trevor’s parents could catch them and call their parents or even the cops, and then they would all get grounded until they graduated high school. But that was small potatoes compared to their town getting overrun by monster bugs. That, Freddie thought, was a very large potato.

  4

  It had been at least an hour since Freddie’s dad had come home from work and fallen asleep on the couch. Freddie tiptoed down the steps and heard the wood-saw sound of his father’s snoring. He looked down at his feet. Two pink bunny slippers stared up at him. He had followed Nina’s advice, except the only slippers he owned were these fluffy pink bunnies. They did seem to work in silencing his footsteps though.

  Freddie opened the door without a squeak and slipped outside into the night. Oddo’s little monster head poked out of the front pouch pocket of his sweatshirt. Freddie could have sworn his pet monster used to fit in his pocket more easily. It seemed like he weighed a little more, too. Maybe his sweatshirt had shrunk in the laundry or his monster had eaten too much gummi candy today.

  Or both.

  Freddie stopped in his tracks as something moved across the sidewalk at his feet. His heart skipped a beat as Mungo chirped up at him. “Yum yums,” he said, which was all he ever said. Mungo wore a little black suit and a mask with two eyeholes that made him look like a ninja. Freddie recognized it from one of Manny’s action figures. The little monster motioned for Freddie and Oddo to follow him.

  As they turned the corner down the street from his house, Freddie could see all four of his friends waiting in the shadows between the glow of the streetlamps.

  “Dude, what are those?” Jordan pointed at Freddie’s feet.

  “She told me to wear them!” Freddie pointed at Nina.

  “Can we get going now, please?” Manny said a little bit testily. “It’s after midnight, you know.”

  They made their way to Trevor’s house on Cactus Way. No one spoke for a while as they lurked along the roadside shadows. The whole town was fast asleep.

  Quincy broke the silence. “So I did a little research and I think I may have figured out how to feed these things the silica. The entomons appear to be part beetle. Beetles eat slugs, so . . .” Quincy opened up a small tin case filled with slugs. “I took the liberty of making them a snack. I just took a pellet of the silica, which will keep the bug monsters from growing, and pressed the pellet into the slug.”

  “Nice,” Nina said, though Freddie felt his stomach turning. Nasty. “My mom does that when our dog has to take a pill. Not with slugs, though.”

  “Also,” Quincy continued, “I watched Manny’s video again and figured out what this bug monster is made of. It ain’t pretty. I’d hypothesize that they’re even stronger than they look. They have these supersharp pincers and, based on the species Trevor combined, I suspect that they’re going to be very territorial. He also spliced herbivorous insects with carnivorous insects, so it’s probable that they’ll eat anything. And since there are two of them, we need to be worried about how they reproduce, which at this point . . . your guess is as good as mine. . . .”

  While Jordan and Manny listened to Quincy, Nina sidled up next to Freddie. “Hey,” she said. “Are you and Manny okay?”

  “Yeah, I think so,” Freddie said. “He seems annoyed with me lately, though. Ever since last week.”

  “Because you have new friends now,” she said. “I’ve been going through the same thing with my friends. They don’t understand why I want to spend all my time with you lose—I mean you guys, but I realized after all this stuff with the monsters that my old friends were mean most of the time. You and Manny will be fine. At least he’s part of our group, too.”

  “Thanks, Nina.” Freddie smiled.

  “Everybody hush up,” Jordan said. “We’re here!”

  They stopped at a red brick two-story house with white shutters and a wooden mailbox, which Freddie opened. Inside, there were a couple of bills and a science magazine with a large dragonfly on the cover, Insect Monthly. The sticker on the bottom said Trevor Kelso, followed by the address.

  “This is definitely the place,” Freddie said, trying to ignore the nervous pit in his stomach.

  “The coast is clear . . . ,” Jordan whispered and they sneaked up the driveway, through the dark part of the Kelsos’ yard until they came to the rear of the house.

  They peered at the back door.

  Jordan turned to Quincy. “Looks like they have an alarm system. Do you think Mega-Q can take it out?”

  Quincy nodded and motioned to Mega-Q, who sent out a pulse of electricity around the house, and they heard a zap as the alarm circuits were disconnected. The tiny green light on the alarm box went off.

  “Nice work, buddy,” Freddie said to Quincy.

  Nice work, buddy, Manny mouthed the words, copying Freddie and making a face.

  Jordan turned to Freddie and Manny. “I don’t know what’s going on with you two, but you better drop it, because this mission is going to take teamwork. We all need to be on the same page of the playbook.” He glowered at them both. “Are we all good now?”

  “I’m fine,” Freddie said sheepishly.

  “I’m finer than fine,” said Manny. “Never been finer in my life.”

  Nina cleared her throat. “So how do we get in, then? It’s all locked up.”

  Manny snapped his fingers. “Mungo, go!”

  Mungo skulked like a ninja and scaled the brick siding to the first-floor windowsill. The window locks were all fastened.

  Freddie gave Oddo the signal to go help him.

  Oddo hopped up after him and wedged his three arms under the locked window frame. He lifted with every ounce of effort in his fluffy round body, and eventually the wood sill bent just enough so Mungo could squeeze underneath. Oddo dropped the window frame back down with a soft thump.

  Freddie’s belly filled with butterflies as they waited for Mungo to let them in.

  It took a moment for Mungo to undo the lock. The screen door slid open and they went through the kitchen, moving single file up the staircase.

  Jordan was at the front. He waved the rest of them on with his left hand, holding his right index finger to his lips. They crept down the hallway. Freddie’s slippered feet didn’t make a sound.

  Yapzilla sat comfortably in the upturned palms of Nina’s hands. The double-necked monster let off a small but steady stream of fire to light their way.

  They stopped before a door covered with insect stickers. “This must be Trevor’s room,” Jordan said.

  “Thanks, Captain Obvious.” Manny rolled his eyes.

  “Manny, you be the lookout,” Jordan went on.

  “Why do I have to be lookout?” Manny asked.

  “Chain of command, brother,” Jordan replied.

  Manny grumbled disapprovingly and stood outside Trevor’
s room with his arms crossed.

  Oddo and Mungo stayed in the upstairs hall, with Manny on the lookout.

  Nina then quietly pushed open Trevor’s door. It opened without a squeak. She walked in first, followed by Jordan, Quincy, and Freddie, who was walking softly in his bunny slippers.

  On the other side of the room, Trevor slept on a twin bed. He lay flat on his stomach. His pajamas had little blue grasshoppers and orange butterflies checkered all over them. His bedspread and wallpaper were also covered with bugs and spiders and insects. It was bug heaven . . . if you were into that sort of thing. If you weren’t, it was totally disgusting!

  “Okay,” Jordan said. “Let’s do this.”

  The four of them split up to find the bug monsters. Nina tiptoed around on the other side of the room and scanned the bookcase and dresser.

  Jordan looked under Trevor’s bed. Freddie scanned the shelves, which held hundreds of jars and cases filled with various insects. Freddie got the willies just looking at the creepy-crawlies.

  Come on, he thought to himself. Find the printer, get the bugs, and then get outta here. . . . Freddie tiptoed in his pink bunny slippers alongside Trevor’s bed. He was so close to Trevor he could almost feel the breeze from his snoring.

  Suddenly, Trevor flipped over in his bed, kicking one of his pillows to the floor. They all held their breaths, praying silently that he would stay asleep.

  On the other side of the bed, Jordan held Kraydon in the palm of his hand. The muscle-bound minimonster’s eyeball rotated and he fired a pulse at Trevor’s sleeping body. The snoring stopped as Trevor turned to stone.

  Freddie shot a glare at Jordan and Kraydon.

  “What?” Jordan said coyly. “We’ll turn him back after we’re done.”

  Then in the flickering glow of Yapzilla’s fire breath, Freddie saw a familiar object underneath the nightstand.

  It was the 3D printer . . . the same one that had been taken from Freddie’s locker. There was only one package of 3D printing goo left.

  “Got the printer,” Freddie whispered.

  “Nice work, big fella.” Jordan gave him a thumbs-up.

  “Good job, Freddie,” Nina whispered from across the room.

  Just then, Manny burst in the bedroom and shut the door softly.

  “What are you doing?” Jordan asked. “You’re supposed to be standing watch.”

  “Shhhh!” Manny said. “Trevor’s mom’s coming. . . . Everybody hide!”

  Freddie and Manny hid under the bed. Nina slipped in the closet. Jordan ducked behind the chair in the corner. Quincy crouched under the desk.

  Suddenly a voice sounded on the other side of the door. “Trevvy, are you still up?”

  Freddie’s eyes widened. Trevor was currently a stone statue! Think, think, what did Trevor’s voice sound like? Freddie was terrible at impersonations, but he knew someone who wasn’t. He nudged his oldest pal.

  Manny swallowed hard and opened his mouth. “Yeah, Mom, sorry . . . I was just, uh, doing something . . . ,” he said in a soft, nasally, higher-pitched voice.

  Mrs. Kelso’s voice sounded again through the door. “Okay, well, go back to bed, lamb chop.”

  “Sure thing, Mumsy. Nighty night.”

  Jordan nearly burst out laughing when Manny said the word mumsy.

  They listened quietly as Trevor’s mom’s footsteps faded down the hallway.

  Phew! Freddie thought. That was a close one.

  Except their problems were far from over.

  When Nina came out of the closet, she had a glassy-eyed look on her face.

  “What’s wrong, Nina?” Freddie asked.

  “Guys . . . ,” she said in a strange voice. “I found the bugs.” She passed a mason jar to Freddie. Inside, the two entomon bugs chittered and clacked against the glass.

  Quincy opened the tin box of silica-filled slugs and fed them to the entomon bugs. The entomons gobbled up the slugs, swallowing the silica that made sure they stayed little.

  “There,” he said, putting the lid back on the jar. “Mission accomplished.”

  But Nina was still standing there in a trance.

  “Nina, come on! We got the bugs and the printer! Let’s get out of here,” Freddie urged her, but Nina wasn’t budging. She just stood with her back to them, facing the closet, mesmerized.

  “What’s the matter with her?” Manny asked as they all stepped closer.

  Yapzilla’s flaming snout cast a glow inside the closet.

  The four boys looked in and gasped, holding their breaths, all trying not to scream.

  5

  The whole inside of the closet was coated with ripe, burbling egg sacs. The ento-eggs looked ready to burst. Some of the insects already had, and the baby entomons’ legs and heads were starting to pop out.

  “Yapzilla, torch ’em!” Jordan said.

  “Are you crazy, man?” Freddie said, stopping Yapzilla. “We could burn the whole house down!”

  “I’m with Freddie,” Quincy said. “Too risky.”

  “There’s got to be some other way,” Manny said.

  Then all of a sudden the egg sacs began to bulge and wiggle, bulge and jiggle more and more rapidly. “They’re all going to hatch,” Nina said, breaking her silence. “And I think I just threw up in my mouth a little. . . .”

  The entomons’ offspring erupted from the bulging insect eggs and dropped from the ceiling, falling to the floor with a pitter-pat, patter-patter. The freshly hatched bugs crawled across the ceiling, down the walls. They were bigger than Freddie expected, and there were so many. Too many. Hundreds, if not more.

  Suddenly, the mason jar started to clink as the two original entomons scratched and tapped their claws against the glass. Then just as suddenly, the closet full of baby entomonsters fixed their attention on the five kids.

  The original two entomons in the jar were going berserk. Freddie, Jordan, and Nina backed away from the door, as the bugs in the closet started to mobilize.

  “Jordan, turn Trevor back and let’s get the heck out of here!” Freddie whisper-yelled.

  Kraydon quickly zapped Trevor back to life, and the kids left Trevor’s bedroom as quickly and quietly as they possibly could. Freddie glanced back as the insect swarm skittered out of the closet like a puddle of oozing lava.

  It was coming right for them.

  “Come on!” Quincy said, and hurried down the stairs.

  Manny gathered up the five minimonsters at the bottom of the staircase and put them in his backpack.

  The kids picked up speed as they hit the first floor and hustled through the living room. Behind them, the bugs spiraled down the bannister and poured over the landing and down the staircase. Each of them was about the size of a fun-size Snickers bar. Except way less delicious.

  All Freddie could think about was how much he did not want to die tonight.

  The baby bug swarm swept across the family room, coating everything in squirming, scuttling insects.

  The five kids hustled through the kitchen, and Jordan slid open the back door. He motioned for Freddie to go first, and Freddie slipped out into the backyard, followed by Nina, Manny, Quincy, and Jordan, who pushed the screen door shut behind them.

  As Freddie carried them across the lawn, the two bugs in the jar glowed on and off like a beacon.

  “Why are they glowing like that?” Nina asked.

  “Bioluminescence,” Quincy said. “Like fireflies or plankton.”

  They heard a strange noise behind them, like metal ripping. The baby bugs sliced through the screen door.

  “Go!” Freddie whispered to his friends urgently, and they all raced across the yard as the baby entomons chased after them.

  “Why do they keep following us?” Quincy asked as they ran.

  “Because they’re freakin’ bonkers . . . ,” Manny said, as they hightailed it through the yard. His backpack full of monsters jostled and bounced.

  Freddie stared at the glowing entomonsters inside the mason jar. “I think the
y’re following us because we have their entomon parents.”

  “The parentomons . . . ,” Nina said ominously, as they stopped near the fence at the end of the yard.

  The kids watched the swarm of baby monster bugs in horror. The entomon offspring skittered out of Trevor’s window and down the side of the house. In the dark, it looked like Trevor’s room was overflowing with thick, black oil.

  At that very moment something rustled around the cuff of Freddie’s pants.

  More entomon bugs raced around Freddie’s feet, making him dance like his pants were on fire. He stumbled over his own two feet, twitching and flinching as something scuttled up the inside of his shirt. One of the baby bug monsters scurried up his armpit, tickling his skin.

  “Look out, man!” Jordan warned Freddie as the kids backed away from him.

  The swarm pooled around Freddie’s feet.

  “Ahhh!” Freddie muffled his mouth with his hand, trying to keep quiet.

  The entomonster swarm scurried up his body, covering him all the way to his neck. Freddie flailed his arms and kicked his bunny-slippered feet. He tried to run away, but he lost his balance and tripped.

  The mason jar went flying out of his hand and shattered on the concrete walkway.

  The two glowing entomons scrambled out of the broken jar.

  “Freddie, just leave them, let’s go!” Quincy whisper-yelled.

  The baby bugs headed straight for the escaped monster bugs.

  The glowing parentomons hissed and lunged at Freddie with their pincers.

  The entoswarm was about to reach its parent bugs, when Freddie lifted his big foot to squash them.

  As he brought his pink bunny slipper down, someone tackled him from the side and sent him crashing to the ground.