Free Return of Mega Mantis by Laura Dower

more?”
    “It depends,” I said. “How many times did you watch the original reel of Mega Mantis , Doctor?”
    Dr. Von Rosenhof grabbed a pad of yellow paper off a table and began to scribble. He was muttering to himself.
    “Hmmm . . . let’s see . . . I watched Mega Mantis once a few years back and then last month . . . and last week a few times . . .”
    “How many in all ?” Stella asked, as impatient as ever.
    “I believe I watched the movie eight times in all,” he said.
    “Eight viewings. Eight dead bugs,” Lindsey said. “Whew! So this is a wrap! That was such a close—”
    “Not so fast!” I said, waving the reel in the air. “What about tonight’s viewing, Dr. V?”
    The doctor made a face like he’d just sucked a lemon.
    “Oooh,” Dr. Von Rosenhof said. “I’m afraid that I hadn’t considered the most recent screening—”
    I threw the reel on the ground and began to stomp on it. Stella joined in. Soon the four of us were stomping and kicking and shredding Mega Mantis into teeny bits. It was another stomptacular!
    Dr. Von Rosenhof looked appalled. Walter, however, looked proud.
    “Sorry for the mess,” I said, bending down to pick up the pieces.
    Bzzzzzzzzzzzt.
    All at once, I felt a gnat on my neck. Then Stella, Ranger, and Lindsey saw a swarm of little bugs come into the room. We knew exactly what that meant. Rrrrrrarrrrrrkkkkk!
    Our eyes bugged out wide. We knew that noise. Boy, did we ever!
    “Mega Mantis Nine!” we all yelled at the same exact time.
    “Here?” Dr. Von Rosenhof asked. “At my house?”
    “It must have been attracted to the really bright floodlights,” I said.
    “So what does the Monster Squad propose we do now?” Walter asked.
    “Kiiiya!” Stella struck one of her karate poses.
    “Oh no! We’re all out of RID!” Lindsey said.
    But then I remembered my backpack and the spray can that had malfunctioned. “We’re not out of anything , Monster Squad,” I said confidently. “We can zap this mantis just like the others.”
    Walter and Ranger grabbed my pack. Together the bunch of us fiddled with the hose and lid. It took us a few minutes but we got it working properly again. Then we headed into Dr. V’s front yard.
    Mega Mantis Nine was right there, drooling.
    “Stand back, everyone,” I cried as I fixed up my spray. “Here, Mega Mega!”
    There must have been sensors on Nine’s knifelike pincers. He turned toward me with hunger in his freaky compound eyes. But I didn’t waste a moment.
    “Spray!”
    At first the spray didn’t come out very strong, but then it hit the bug with full force. It reeled and twisted and then, finally, it shrunk —just like the others.
    We raced over. I leaned down and picked up the mantis by the legs. It was just like the time my dad picked up the flies, only braver . I handed Mini Mantis to Dr. Von Rosenhof.
    “Insecta Manitodea!” Dr. V cried with glee. “This is the finest day of my scientific life. Thank you, Monster Squad.”
    He shoved the Mini Mantis into a small box from his pocket, and we said our good-byes.
    Walter offered to give us all a ride home. We threw our packs into the trunk of his limousine so the smell of RID wouldn’t fill up the backseat. When he popped the trunk, however, I noticed something strange. There was an open cooler back there with . . .
    More jars.
    “What are these ?” I asked, lifting out one of the cold jars.
    Were there bugs in here, too?
    “AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!”
    I nearly dropped one jar when I saw what was swimming inside.
    Eyeballs?
    “Look!” I cried, holding it up to the others.
    Stella cringed. “I can’t look at that when it’s looking back at me!” she said.
    “Don’t mind the samples,” Walter said coolly. “I’m doing a few experiments for Dr. Leery. I’ll explain the next time you’re at the castle.”
    Carefully, I put the jar back into the trunk. As curious as I usually am, I wasn’t ready to talk about eyeballs or anything new right now. I was still