Return of Mega Mantis Read Online Free PDF Page B

chat with Leery,” Walter said, “I am going to check out the B-Force levels in your backyard.”
    “B-Force?” Lindsey asked. “What’s that?”
    Before we could ask, Walter disappeared downstairs.
    My computer hummed as a fuzzy screen came up. A man appeared, like a ghost, through the static.

    Oswald Leery!
    “My friends,” Leery said, clearing his throat. His voice faded in and out. “We meet again. I understand our situation is critical. Walter filled me in on the details. I know you are being swarmed. I also know that Damon has seen a strange and enormous bug in his backyard. I think I have some valuable information for you.”
    Stella gripped the chair arms. I guess even ninjas get tense, too.
    “A few weeks ago,” Leery went on, “I learned that the original Mega Mantis movie had been screened and a B-Monster had escaped. There were worldwide Mega Mantis sightings. I tracked Mega to Malaysia but then it slipped away!”
    We all sucked in a deep breath. Leery adjusted his dark glasses and continued.
    “The thing is,” Leery explained, “once a B-Monster comes back to life it will always find its way back to Riddle. But Mega Mantis did this sooner than I expected. And once a B-Monster comes back, its powers increase. Mega Mantis gets stronger by the day.”
    I looked over at Stella. She looked scared.
    “But that’s not all, Monster Squad!” Leery went on. “You need to know that ifaBmovie is screened more than once . . . a B may come back to life more than once, too.”
    We all gasped.
    “There may be multiple mantids right there in Riddle, right now.”
    “No way!” I shouted.
    “Shhh!” Stella socked me in the arm.
    Leery went on.
    “Monster Squad,” Leery said, “more than one Mega Mantis will invade Riddle in the next twenty-four hours. You four are the only ones who can save our city and the rest of the world. Are you ready?”

CHAPTER 8
    WE ARE SO DOOMED
    My fists clenched. I could barely imagine one mega-sized praying mantis, let alone multiple mantids . And what if the person with the original Mega Mantis movie watched it on a video loop? That could mean a zillion mantids on the loose.
    “We are SO doomed,” I said out loud.
    “Yup,” Stella said. She rolled her eyes. “Doomed. And that’s probably the only time I’ll ever agree with you, Molloy.”
    “Pay attention!” Ranger said, nudging me. Leery was still talking to us through the computer. I pumped up the volume.
    “Years ago,” Leery explained from behind his dark glasses, “my cameraman shot some research footage in Malaysia. We were able to take incredible photographs of a Mega Mantis loose in the jungle.”
    Leery flashed us a series of mantis photos. In one picture, the bug was in the process of shedding its skin.
    “When a mantis molts,” Leery explained, “it becomes more dangerous.”
    “Eeeeeew,” Lindsey said, turning away.
    But I stared straight ahead. We had so much to learn about mantids before we could beat these B-Monsters. I didn’t want to miss a thing.
    Leery went on.
    “After these photos were taken, my cameraman vanished. We recovered the camera, but we never located the man . . . or the mantis.”
    We all let out another gasp.
    “I believe that the Mega Mantis in these photographs may have gone back to Riddle. Once he sensed that a new bug had been freed from the original reel, he came to find his brother mantis.”
    I realized I was shaking. We all were. If what Leery said was true, we were in big trouble . BIG trouble. Fighting Mega Mantis One was bad enough. But fighting a second Mega Mantis? Was that even possible?
    “Monster Squad,” Leery wheezed, “we cannot let these creatures destroy Riddle. Are you prepared to fight Mega Mantis and its mates? Prepared for victory? Prepared for triumph?”
    “Um, no,” I said aloud to the screen.
    Stella whacked my shoulder. “Wrong answer, lame-o,” she said. “Of course we’re ready!”
    “I know you must have questions,” Leery said.