The Kid Kingdom Read Free

Finbar turned around to see an alien kid, exactly Kip’s height. His three brown eyes were the same colour as Kip’s. He wore a red T-shirt that was just like one Kip had at home. In fact, apart from his green skin and three eye stalks, he was a lot like Kip.
    â€˜Er…hi,’ Kip answered, stunned that this alien kid even spoke his language.
    Towering over the kid was what looked like a cross between a wolf and an alien being. He was furry all over. He looked a lot like Finbar, except his fur was black, not white.
    A creepy, excited shiver ran up Kip’s spine. I think we’ve just met our alien doubles! he thought.
    â€˜This is Fergus, and I’m Ker,’ said the kid. His three eyes twitched first left, then right. Kip noticed his middle eye stalk was longer than the others.
    â€˜Ker’s the leader of Yufe,’ Fergus added firmly.
    A kid in charge of an entire planet? Kip couldn’t believe it.
    Kip noticed Fergus giving Finbar a yellow-eyed stare, as if daring him to disagree.
    Kip had a bad feeling about Fergus. Something about that alien wolf seemed like trouble.

CHAPTER 5
    Kip and Finbar smiled uncertainly at Ker and Fergus. It was pretty freaky meeting an alien version of yourself deep in an unexplored galaxy, but Kip still thought Yufe was fun.
    â€˜Come on,’ said Ker. ‘I’ll show you around. My place is over there.’
    Like Kip, Ker lived in an apartment building. Kip and his parents lived in a tiny apartment thousands of storeys up. But Ker seemed to have this apartment building all to himself. And it was awesome!

    Ker’s House
    There was no lift between the floors. Instead, transparent chutes sucked you up the outside of the building, and slides ran from the top floor to the ground. At the bottom of the building was a swimming pool and garden.
    Heaps of Ker’s friends were relaxing on motorised lilos as Refresherbots brought them food and drinks.
    Then Kip spotted something sailing through the air towards his head. It looked a bit like a chocolate éclair, except the icing was orange and the cream inside was frothing.
    â€˜Food fight!’ yelled one of Ker’s friends.
    Ker whipped a portable mini-laser from his pocket and blasted the alien éclair to pieces. He laughed as cream splattered everywhere.
    â€˜There’s nothing this cool on Earth!’ Kip said to Finbar.
    â€˜Or this messy,’ Finbar muttered, picking blue baked beans out of his fur. ‘Shouldn’t Ker be more responsible?’ He’s supposed to be running this planet!’
    But Kip was too caught up in the food fight to listen. His SpaceCuff was buzzing, but he ignored that too.
    He grabbed a hamburger-shaped melon from a passing Refresherbot and lobbed it at an alien kid.
    SPLAT!
    â€˜I’m going to get you, Alien Boy!’ the kid shrieked at Kip.
    Kip was swept into the game. Finbar hated getting his white fur dirty, so he ducked behind a tree.
    Kip hurled a green ice-cream sundae into the air. It sailed into the street, smashing into a lone figure. The kid was wearing a long black cloak instead of bright colours like the rest of the kids.
    â€˜Hey, sorry,’ called Finbar, as Kip ran off. ‘Kip didn’t mean to hit you.’
    The kid didn’t seem to have noticed the ice-cream, though. Instead, he was staring anxiously towards the large comet in the sky. But at the sound of Finbar’s voice, the kid vanished down a narrow alley behind Ker’s apartment building.
    The food fight had turned into a bombing competition in the pool. Ker and Kip were relaxing on deckchairs, green drinks bubbling over the top of their glasses. Fergus sat by Ker’s side.
    â€˜Who was that kid wearing the black cloak?’ Finbar asked, coming over.
    â€˜Probably your stupid sist–’ Fergus began, muttering under his breath.
    â€˜Oh, who cares, Fergus,’ said Ker, grinning at Kip. ‘Fergus worries about details, but I