Archebold flipped through the Book of Creeps as Bugsy's pencils flew over the drawing pad.
“It had pink, wormy fingers,” Mr. Lupo went on. “Fingers that had lightning dancing from their tips.”
“Lightning?” everybody inside the room said at the same time.
The werewolf nodded. “And that's not all. You shoulda seen what it did with this evil power.” The old wolf paused for effect. “It reached its pink, disgusting hands out to the bank, and the bank began to shimmy and shake, and the walls came tumbling down.”
Lupo stared at his own clawed hands. “It was horrible, I tell ya.”
It became deathly quiet in the small room, the old werewolf's fear so thick Billy could cut it with a knife.
“I can't find anything that matches that description,” Archebold said with frustration, paging through the Book of Creeps. “Wormy pink fingers, antennas, lightning. Nothing even remotely fits that description.”
“Cause it's like nothing we've ever seen!” the were-wolf wailed. “And I hope never to see it again!”
Billy glanced over at the giant spider to see if he was still drawing.
“What about you, Bugsy?” Billy asked. “Was Mr. Lupo's description good enough to give us something?”
The spider's multiple pencils were flying over the sketchpad, putting some final details on the drawing. “We've got something, all right,” the spider said, holding the pad out so that only he could see. “It's terrifying,” he went on, a tremble of fear in his high voice.
“Let's see it,” Chief Bloodwart instructed.
Billy braced himself. If the creatures of Monstros thought it was scary, he was preparing himself for the worst. He felt Archebold's hand reach out and take hold of his arm as Bugsy turned the sketchpad around.
“It's … horrible,” Bloodwart said, quickly looking away.
“That's it!” Mr. Lupo wailed, his dentures flying from his mouth and bouncing off the table to land on the floor. The old werewolf dove beneath the table to hide.
Billy swayed, suddenly very light-headed.
“Are you all right, sir?” Archebold asked, gripping his arm tightly.
“Yeah, I'm good,” he answered. But that was far from the truth.
Bugsy's drawing was perfect, capturing every single detail Mr. Lupo had described.
In fact, the drawing of Victoria was almost as good as a photograph.
Never have I been in the presence of such raw, destructive power, Sireena Sassafras thought as she sat in the back of the van with the Victoria creature and her furry companion.
“More donuts?” she asked, holding out the box of Creepy Creams.
“Sure,” Victoria said, her overly large eyes glinting with glee. “These are good.”
“Don't have to ask me twice,” said Mr. Flops, reaching into the box with both hands.
“I don't think I've ever seen you eat so much, Mr. Flops,” Victoria said through a mouthful of jellyfish donut.
“I don't think I've ever been this hungry.” The furry beast that Victoria referred to as a bunny began to eat its crystallized, cobweb-covered treat eagerly. “Matter of fact, I'm not sure I've even been hungry before. This is great!”
Sireena watched the two little strangers devour their donuts happily, glad to be keeping them in a pleasant state of mind. With the help of Victoria and Mr. Flops, she and her brother would soon be the queen and king of crime in Monstros City—as well as rich beyond their wildest dreams.
“How are we doing back there?” Sigmund called from the driver's seat. “Everybody happy?”
Sireena shifted on the many sacks of money they had just acquired from various Monstros City banks. “They're just fine. More?” Sireena asked, smiling widely, offering up more of the delectable treats.
“I'm full,” Victoria said, then burped loudly.
Sireena jumped back, not sure what the sound meant.
“Good one,” Flops said. The two slapped their hands together in a strange, congratulatory gesture.
“That was wicked loud,” Victoria said, and started to giggle.
Nervously, Sireena joined in. “We're certainly having a good time, aren't we?”
The little creature's face suddenly grew very stern. “Hey, where are we going now?” she asked. “I thought we were going back to the cemetery.”
The van took a sharp corner and Sireena tumbled from her perch atop the stack of money sacks. “Of course we're going to the shadow passage that will return you to the wondrous-sounding Bradbury that you've already told us so much about.”
Sireena's brain had already filed away all the things that the Victoria creature had told them about the world above Monstros City. It sounded absolutely fascinating, and ripe for domination. When they were through with Monstros, Bradbury would be next on the Sassafras Siblings' list of conquests. “But we have to make one more stop before—”
“We're not going to another bank, are we?” Victoria whined.
“Everything all right back there?” Sigmund called out again.
“We're good,” Sireena said cheerfully. “I was just about to explain to Victoria that we need to stop at one more bank to get back the money they stole from us.”
The bunny was licking cobwebs from its paws. “Can't believe that all these banks took your money and won't give it back. Didn't you call the police?”
Sireena thought quickly, the evil gears inside her criminal brain clicking away. “Ahhhhhhhhh…we can't go to the cops, you see,” she said, lowering her voice to a whisper.
“Why?” Victoria asked. “Policemen are our friends.”
The Sassafras sister shook her head. “Not here in Monstros. In fact, they work with the banks, trying to take away all the things my brother and I have worked so hard to get.”
“That's awful,” Mr. Flops said.
“Yeah,” Victoria agreed. “It's a good thing we came along to help you.”
“Exactly,” Sireena said. “Without your… what did you call it? Your Destructo Touch? Our money would be kept from us forever.”
The van came to a sudden, screeching halt and Sigmund got out.
“Humongous National Bank,” he announced as he opened the van's rear doors. “Let's go show those good-for-nothing bank managers that they can't steal from the Sassafras Siblings anymore!”
“Yeah!” Victoria cried, and both she and Flops jumped out of the van.
Sireena joined them. “Well, let's go,” she said, starting to cross the street. A sudden tug on her skirt stopped her and she looked down to see Victoria still on the curb, Mr. Flops by her side. “What is it?” she asked, a hint of impatience in her tone.
“I can't cross unless I hold a grown-up's hand,” the pink-skinned agent of destruction said.
Sireena stared at the stubby digits wiggling for attention. She had seen what those fingers were capable of, and had no desire to touch them.
“Sigmund would love to take you across,” Sireena said, grabbing hold of her brother's shoulders and spinning him toward the tiny creature.
“What am I doing?” he asked.
“You're helping me across the street,” Victoria said as she reached out and took his hand.
Sireena braced herself, waiting for her brother to explode like a bubble or to burst into flames like a bonfire, but he seemed to be perfectly fine.
“Shall we go, then?” she asked, and they all bustled across the busy street to the bank entrance.
Patrons were coming and going, but all Sireena could see in her mind were dollar signs. She had a feeling that this was going to be their best haul yet.
She watched as Victoria and Flops walked toward the front door of Humongous National.
“Wait!” Sireena called out, and the others halted in their tracks. “Since this is our last bank, we need to make a special entrance, one that everybody will remember.”
“Awesome,” Victoria said with a hideous smile.
Sireena was truly disturbed by how ugly this creature from Bradb
ury was. If this was how all residents of the mysterious world above looked, she thought it must be a truly terrifying place indeed.
“Do you want me to use it?” Victoria asked, rubbing her tiny hands together. Standing beside her, Flops did the same.
“Oh yes,” Sireena said, nodding her head slowly. “Use the Destructo Touch!”
And with a high-pitched squeal that sounded like it might have been delight, the horrible little creature approached the front of the Humongous National Bank and laid her hands upon the building.
The wall began to shake, huge cracks appearing and snaking down to the foundation. In a matter of seconds, the front of the bank no longer existed.
“How's that?” Victoria asked, wiping the dust from her hands on the front of her pants.
“Spectacular,” Sireena answered. “I couldn't have done better myself.”
CHAPTER 11
“Down there!” Billy yelled, looking through the curved windshield of the Owlcopter.
A huge plume of dust had just erupted into the eerie darkness of the Monstros City sky.
“How much you wanna bet there's a bank down there?” he said, watching the thick grayish cloud drift in the sky like smoke.
Archebold aimed the sky craft toward the street.
“I'm taking us down, sir.”
Victoria was running wild in the streets of Monstros City, and it appeared that her already deadly Destructo Touch had been amplified by being here.
It didn't really surprise Billy. He'd seen what this weird place did for his own strength and speed. It was only logical that Victoria's superpower—if you wanted to call it that—would be increased as well.
The Owlcopter dropped down through the thick cloud of dust, the spinning rotor blades clearing the air so that they could see.
It was just like in the other parts of the city.
Total chaos.
Monsters were running everywhere in a panic. A large, square building directly below had lost its front, the stone used to build it turned to rubble. Billy was reminded of the Constructo blocks in his garage.
“I guess I do have to go down there,” he said to his friend.
Archebold flipped some switches on his control panel and a hatch slid open behind them in the floor of the copter.
“Jeez, couldn't you have fought me a little—oh no, Billy, it's too dangerous!—or something like that?” Billy asked.
Archebold smiled, moving the control stick around on the copter to keep it hovering in one place above the chaotic street. “You're the superhero,” he said.
Billy sighed, unbuckling his seat belt and going toward the hatch. “That's what you keep telling me,” he complained.
There was a spool of cable in the ceiling above the hatch opening and Billy took hold of the end, preparing to jump.
“Are you sure there's nothing you can say to convince me not to do this?” he asked as he took the cable in his hand.
“Nope,” the goblin said with a wave. “Bye-bye!”
“Thanks for thinking about it, though,” Billy said as he got ready to leap down into the hatch.
“No prob” was the last thing Billy heard as he jumped, the thick cable unspooling with a whirring sound as he dropped to the street below him.
He landed in a crouch, and quickly scanned for any signs of danger. He let go of the cord, gave Archebold a wave, and the Owlcopter flew off.
Billy reached out to a passing citizen, her arms filled with grocery bags. “Excuse me.”
She had one huge eye in the center of a round face. The eye bulged as she fixed him in what he thought might be a frightened stare.
“Can you tell me what's going on?” he asked her.
“It's terrible,” she said, clutching her bags tighter. “One minute it was there and then it was gone. Terrible! Terrible, I tell you!”
And in a total panic, the eyeball lady ran off.
“Great,” Billy muttered as he approached what used to be the front of the building. “That certainly helped.”
He didn't know what to expect. All he knew was that it probably involved his five-year-old next-door neighbor, and that he had to get her out of there before she could do any more damage.
He heard voices, and moved closer to the crumbled building front. At first he heard two—a man and a woman whom he didn't recognize; at least he thought it was a man and a woman—but the third voice was unmistakable.
Victoria.
He saw the ogres first, each of them pushing carts stacked high with bags of money. Even at first glance, there was something about the two that screamed bad guys. Their skin was a sickly green, their heads practically square. They both had huge lower jaws and stocky, muscular bodies that reminded Billy of some gorillas he'd once seen at the zoo. The guy was dressed fairly normally in dark pants, shirt and vest, but the woman wore lots of jewelry, a flouncy blouse and a dress with flowers all over it. It looked as though she was trying to be beautiful.
Too bad she has a face that could stop a clock.
And between them both, struggling along, dragging one of the money bags with the help of a stuffed rabbit, was his five-year-old neighbor.
Stuffed rabbit?
Yep, Mr. Flops was showing more life than his own father on a football-season Sunday.
“So when we're finished here, there're only a few more banks we have to stop at. Isn't that right, Sireena?” the male ogre was saying.
“Oh yes, now that you mention it, Brother Sigmund,” agreed the female beastie.
The little girl dropped her bag and crossed her arms. “I don't want to go to any more banks,” she said, wearing what Billy had learned was her mad face. “I want you to take me and Mr. Flops back home.”
It was all starting to make sense. Somehow these two—Sireena and Sigmund—were using Victoria to help them rob the Monstros City banks.
Yep, they were evil all right.
Billy cleared his throat.
“I'll take you home, Victoria,” he said, lowering the tone of his voice to sound more superheroic.
The angry look on Victoria's face turned to one of surprise.
“Billy Hooten!” she shrieked happily. “What are you doin' here?”
“I've come to bring you home,” he said, raising his hand and gesturing for her to join him.
“You look cool in that costume, Billy,” she said, starting toward him.
Sireena grabbed her by the shoulder. “Are you sure you want to do that, dear?”
“Think about it,” Sigmund added. His dark, shifty eyes looked at Billy with intense hatred. “Isn't this the same person who made fun of you … and made you cry?”
“You got that right,” Mr. Flops piped up. “He was pretty mean.”
Victoria stopped. The mad face was back, and she seemed to be remembering how angry she was at Billy. She put her hands on her hips. “Yeah, you were mean, Billy Hooten, and I don't think I want to be your friend anymore.”
Billy rolled his eyes. Every time the little girl got mad at him, she wasn't going to be his friend anymore. A real freakin' tragedy, he thought disgustedly.
“Knock it off, Victoria, and c'mon,” he said, holding out his gloved hand. “I gotta get you home before anybody notices you're gone and—”
“Don't listen to him,” Sigmund said, moving in close and putting his hands on Victoria's shoulders. “He just wants to make you cry some more.”
“Yes,” Sireena agreed. “Look at him in his superhero costume, thinking he's some sort of big shot, pushing you around.”
“Yeah,” Victoria agreed, the mad face getting even madder. “Stupid Billy Hooten.”
“Cut the crap, you two!” Billy yelled at the ogres. “Victoria is coming with me right now or she's going to get into a lot of trouble.”
At first, Billy wasn't sure what happened. One second he was standing there, the next he was flying through the air. And then he realized that in a fit of anger Victoria had stomped her sneakered foot upon the ground, creating a miniea
rthquake that shook the streets of Monstros City.
“Don't you yell at my new bestest friends, you great big stupid-head!” she screamed.
Billy landed hard on his butt, a shock wave of pain shooting up his back and making his eyes water. The ground continued to shake, rattle and roll, and the screams of the citizenry filled the air.
He struggled to his feet, pinwheeling his arms in an attempt to keep his balance on the violently vibrating street. Quickly, he scanned the area, searching for the little girl, and gasped when he saw her teetering on the edge of a great, jagged rip in the pavement.
Billy jumped into action, springing through the air to grab Victoria and her bunny friend just when it looked as though they were about to fall into the yawning abyss. He felt his heart racing a million miles a minute as he set the little girl and her stuffed rabbit down.
“Are you all right?” he asked.
At first she was still wearing the mad face, and he thought he might be about to witness another example of the fearsome power of the Destructo Touch. But a smile broke out on Victoria's cute face as she threw her arms around his neck.
“I'm fine, thanks to you.” Her hug nearly choked him. “My hero!”
“So does this mean you're not mad at me anymore?” Billy asked, peeling her arms from around his neck.
“How could I stay mad at you?” she beamed. “You're so cute.”
“He is adorable,” Flops said, pulling a donut out of a pocket hidden in his fur and taking a big bite.
Victoria looked away suddenly, her big brown eyes darting around the rubble-strewn street.
“Hey, where did my new bestest friends Sigmund and Sireena Sassafras go?” she asked.
“Good question,” Billy replied, suddenly on alert. “You two stay here,” he told Victoria and Flops. “I'm going to go look for them.”
“Tell 'em I don't want to go to any more banks,” Victoria said before snatching what was left of the donuts away from the bunny.
“Hey!” Flops screamed.
Billy could hear the little girl and the rabbit arguing as he left them. Good, he thought. Maybe it would keep them out of trouble for awhile.