They Came From Planet Q Read Free Page A

numbers,” Stella reminded us. “So we must stick together, no matter what.”
    We moved through the sea of frenzied people as quickly as possible, eyes fixed on the parade as best we could. After a few yards, when the toys switched direction, we did, too. I jumped onto a bench to see where the toys were headed. The others jumped onto the bench with me.
    â€œLook!” I cried, pointing. “The toys are headed toward the center of the mall. Why are they going to the center of the mall? What’s there?”
    â€œSomething magnetic?” Stella asked.
    â€œOur B-Monster?” Jesse said.
    I snapped a photo and turned to Damon to find out what he thought.
    But he wasn’t there.
    â€œDamon?”

    I spun back around the other way.
    â€œDAMON?”
    I craned my neck to see where he’d gone and nearly tripped over a kid in the process. My camera fell to the floor and the flash went off. Snap! Snap! Snap!
    â€œDAMOOOOOOON!”
    â€œAnyone see where Damon went?” Jesse asked.
    â€œGreen shirt! Twelve o’clock!” Stella howled, pointing over the heads of the crowd.
    Lucky for us, Damon’s neon “Tuff Guy” T-shirt made him easy to spot, even among all this chaos.
    We raced over and caught up to him in no time.
    â€œWhat are you doing, Damon?” Stella howled.

    â€œWe do things together. We’re Monster Squad; not Chicken Squad.”
    â€œI’m not a chicken,” Damon said. “I was just getting a head start . . .”
    â€œNice lie,” Stella huffed and assumed her Ninja pose. “I mean, nice try .”
    â€œHey!” I yelled. “The toys are flying!”
    All those metal toys suddenly became airborne as if they were attached to some kind of invisible bungee cord. It was amazing to watch.
    Up, up, up . . .
    CRAAAAASSSSH!
    We stopped dead in our tracks. I grabbed Jesse’s arm so hard I probably twisted off all the freckles.
    Directly above us, the ceiling had ripped open. There was a gaping hole the size of a football field.
    â€œWow,” I said. “It’s not every day that the ceiling of our local mall opens wide and says ahhhhh .”
    â€œI’ve never seen anything like this on the Science Man show,” Jesse said. He tried to look up into the hole, but there was dust and debris floating around in the air. It made it hard to see anything.
    â€œIt’s like there’s a giant magnet in the sky pulling all the metal objects its way,” Damon noted.
    We all squinted and tried to see what might be hanging over the mall ceiling.
    And then, just like that, we felt a spray of water rain down on our heads.
    â€œWhat in the middle of Riddle was THAT?” I gulped.

CHAPTER 3
    THOUSAND THOUSAND THREE^COINS IN A FOUNTAIN
    The center of the mall is all about the enormous Petroglyph fountain. People sit on the ledge to take a break from shopping. They toss in coins for luck. They make wishes.
    But at that very moment, that fountain was going bonkers. All the coins were spouting through the air!

    â€œThis is just like those lawnmowers in Australia!” I said.
    All around us, the mall fountain gushed and sprayed. For a split second, I wondered if all those coins spewing into the air might just come crashing back down onto our heads. Talk about pennies from heaven!
    â€œSo now that we know there is some magnetic B-Force up there, with the power to suck up all the toys and steel beams and coins from inside the mall, what can we do about it?” asked Stella.
    My body shook. I didn’t know anything right now except that the water was cold and I was a bundle of nerves. Watching all these metal objects get sucked into the sky really did make me wonder if the world was going to end. I could only imagine how scary all this B-Force (even just a little of it) must have looked to a non-Monster Squadder.
    â€œShould we get out of here like everyone else?” Jesse asked cautiously. I sensed a