Kermit shook his head. “They drank up all my hair-growing formula. I’ll never be able to mix it right again.”
We were going to use it for my revenge against Conan, Evan thought bitterly. Well… forget that idea.
“We don’t have time to worry about your hair formula,” Evan told his cousin.
POP!
Another wave of slime slapped the bathroom wall.
“If they keep multiplying and multiplying,” Evan said, “they could outnumber the people in this town. They could drink up the whole water supply. Drain all the flowers and plants. They could keep spreading and spreading — and drink up the entire country!”
Kermit gulped. “And it would be all my fault. I opened the can.”
The growls and snarls and chomps of jagged teeth were deafening. Hairy blue creatures bounced out the window, up the steps, all around the basement.
“We have to get rid of them somehow,” Evan moaned. “No. We can’t just get rid of them. We have to kill them!”
“Oh, wow,” Kermit muttered. Then his expression brightened. “I have an idea!” he declared.
21
“My electric fence!” he cried. “If we can herd them to the backyard, we can zap them with the electricity. Maybe it will dry them up!”
“Hey—!” Evan exclaimed. “Maybe it will. It’s worth a try.” Then he hesitated. “How do we get them to the backyard?”
Kermit shrugged.
POP! Another blob exploded into two.
Evan covered his ears to block out the angry growls and roars. He glanced frantically around the basement. And spotted several brooms and mops leaning against the wall near the laundry room.
“Come on — let’s round them up!” he told Kermit.
He grabbed a broom and handed another one to his cousin. The two of them began swinging the brooms, batting the hairy blobs, poking them, moving them out.
The creatures squealed in protest. But their balloonlike shape made them easy to bat and shove along.
It seemed to Evan to take hours. By the time they herded the last of the stragglers into the backyard, his arms ached and his sweatshirt was drenched with sweat.
“What’s going on? What on earth are you doing?” Andy came running across the yard. She wore bright green leggings and a purple sweater. She goggled as she saw how many bouncing blobs the boys were herding.
“Yuck!” she groaned. “They’re all hairy! Sick!”
“They’re out of control!” Kermit declared. “And it’s all my fault!”
Weird, Evan thought. Kermit never takes the blame for anything. Maybe he’s growing up.
“That’s why I came up with a brilliant plan to kill them!” Kermit declared.
Same old Kermit, Evan thought.
“We’re going to zap them,” Evan told Andy breathlessly. “On the invisible fence!”
“You’re going to shock them to death?” she cried, staring at the bouncing, growling monsters.
“It’s worth a try,” Evan gasped. He slapped a blob into line with a swing of his broom. The black hair over its body stiffened and stood straight up. It tried to bite the broom handle. But Evan slapped it away with another swing.
“Get ready!” Kermit cried. He swung his broom back and forth, frantically trying to keep the angry creatures in line.
“Okay! Push them! Push them forward — into the invisible fence!”
Evan swung his broom hard.
The blobs bounced forward, squealing and growling, snapping their teeth.
Forward. Forward. Toward the edge of the yard.
Will it work? Evan wondered. Will the jolt of electricity destroy the ugly, destructive things?
22
He swung the broom hard, batting the monsters forward.
Swung it again.
They bobbed and bounced over the low shrubs that divided the yards.
On into Conan Barber’s backyard.
“Nooooooo!” Kermit let out a cry and slapped his forehead. “The switch! I forgot to turn it on again!”
Creatures bounced into the next yard. Beneath the tufts of black hair, their skin glowed bright blue in the morning sunlight.
“You jerk!” Evan shrieked at his cousin. “How could you forget again? How could you?”
Andy plopped down on the grass, lowering her head and uttering an unhappy sigh.
Kermit fumbled in his back pocket for the fence control. He finally tugged it out and pressed the red button to turn on the power.
ZZZAAAAAP!
Evan shrieked and leaped into the air as a powerful shock jolted through him.
“I told you not to stand there!” Kermit cried.
Evan jumped aside.
“I turned it up all the way!” Kermit declared.
“Too late,” Evan muttered.
The Monster Blood creatures had all bounced and rolled into the next backyard.
Conan’s yard.
“Oh, no,” Evan moaned softly. “Here comes more trouble.”
All three of them gasped as Conan came lumbering across his yard, a can of Coke in one hand, his other hand balled into a tight, angry fist.
23
“Conan — go back!” Evan warned. But his voice came out tiny and weak. He knew that Conan couldn’t hear him over the growls and snarls of the Monster Blood creatures.
“What’s the big idea?” Conan boomed. “It’s not my birthday! Get these balloons out of my yard!”
“Get back! Get back!” Evan tried to warn him.
Kermit and Andy stood frozen, watching Conan storm toward the bouncing, evil blobs.
Evan waved frantically with both hands. “Get back—!”
Conan scowled at him. “Are you ordering me around in my own yard?”
“But — but—” Evan sputtered.
Conan kicked at one of the creatures. “Whoa. This balloon has hair on it!”
He bent to pick the creature up — and it jumped onto his arm. With a growl, it swallowed Conan’s Coke can.
“Hey—!” Conan protested.
The creature started to swell up from the liquid.
Conan struggled to shake it off. But it clung tightly to his arm.
And then, with a loud, wet POP, it exploded.
Thick slime splashed over Conan’s face. He spluttered, thrashed his arms out in surprise. Wiped the slimy goo from his eyes.
And blinked at two hairy, round creatures clinging to his arm.
“Get these off me!” he shrieked.
With a furious cry, he swung his free arm — and batted the two blobs together. They made a loud SQUISH as they collided with each other. And they dropped to the ground.
Another creature bit into Conan’s leg. Conan stumbled and tripped over another one.
He pulled himself up quickly, glaring furiously at Kermit. “You invented these hairy things — didn’t you!” he accused. “Don’t even answer. It’s some kind of lab experiment — right? I know this is your kind of thing.”
“No. Listen—” Kermit started weakly.
Another Monster Blood creature exploded, sending a wave of cold slime over Conan.
He spluttered again and tried to wipe it away. Then he shook a fist at them. “It’ll be payback time — real soon,” he threatened. “Payback time!”
And he slunk back toward his house, covered in slime.
Evan breathed a sigh of relief. We have enough problems without having Conan in our face, he thought.
Of course, Conan will be back. But we can’t worry about that now.
He gazed over the backyards. The Monster Blood creatures were spreading out over the entire block.
What are we going to do? Evan wondered.
He turned back to the house. “Hey — Aunt Dee is home!” he cried.
“When did she get back?” Kermit wondered.
“We have to tell her what’s happened,” Andy urged. “We need help. We can’t round these creatures up on our own.”
The three of them took off, running across the slime-puddled grass to the back door. A few seconds later, they burst breathlessly into the kitchen.