Danger Guys (2 page)

Boom-boom-boom.
Metalhead stomped to the center of the room. His eye panned from side to side. Then he started to speak.

“Two humans. Boys. Destroy them.”

“Hey,” Zeek whispered. “He can't do that. He's an actor!”

“Unh-uh, Zeek. A robot. Remember what the tour guide said. All their monsters are computerized.”

Suddenly—
voom!
The desk we were hiding under disappeared. And there was that ugly red eye pulsing down at us.

“Okay, Nood. Be cool. Don't make him mad.”

But I had a feeling this dude was
born
mad.

A second later he proved it. He grabbed Zeek, lifted him off the floor, and shook him like a baby rattle.

“Noo-oo-oo-dle!”

“Let go of my pal, Bucket Brain!” I screamed.

I couldn't believe what happened next.

Before I knew it, I jumped up, my leg flew out, and—
wump!
—I gave the big guy a perfect karate kick straight to his knee.

“Yeooow!” My whole body throbbed. But the creep dropped Zeek with a thud.

“Big mistake, human boy.” The iron jaw on Metalhead's face grinned an ugly grin.

Suddenly, I realized what I was doing. I was
fighting
with a killing machine from the 21st century! I tried to be nice.

“Sorry, Metalhead. Mr. Metalhead. Sir—I—”

“Don't stand there
talking
to him, Noodle. He's a killer robot! Let's move it!”

“Good call, Zeekie. To the transport deck!”

We sidestepped the big guy and blazed toward the deck at the end of the set. We were making pretty good time.

I was going to give Zeek the old thumbs-up sign. Then we slipped on something. It felt like a skateboard. It wasn't a skateboard.

Whoa! We took off into the air.

“Jetboard!” shouted Zeek. “From
Jump into Time, Part 2
!”

“
Part 3
, you mean.”

“Whatever!”

Shooo-ooom!
The jet-powered skateboard shot around the control bridge. I dumped the flashlights into Zeek's pack and grabbed his jacket so I wouldn't fall off.

Suddenly we changed direction and blasted off the set and down a dark hall.

“Hey, buddy,” I yelled. “I think I see a door at the end of this!”

Wrong. It just looked like a door. It was a wall.

Wham!
The jetboard stopped dead. We didn't.

Craaack!
We crashed through the wall and tumbled outside into the rain.

I looked back.

There was a cutout in the wall where we had broken through. Two heads, four legs, four arms, and two backpacks. Just like in cartoons.

Stomp! Stomp!

“He's still coming!” Zeek cried.

My brain worked lightning fast. A couple of feet away, there was a puddle of rainwater.

“Excellent,” I said. “I've got an idea!”

“Oh, I love when you say that,” said Zeek, smiling. Then he frowned. “But where do we hide?”

“We don't. We stick out our feet and wait.”

“What?”

Crash!
Metalhead blasted through the wall.

Umph!
He tripped on our feet.
Splash!
His electric head hit the puddle.

Sssssss!
Like a burger hitting a hot grill. He twitched a couple times, then stopped moving.

“Well,” I said, starting to smile. “I guess that takes care of—”

Blub. Blub.
Bubbles came up out of the water.

Zeek stepped closer. “What did he say?”

I looked at my pal.

I gulped.

“He said—'I'll be back!'”

FOUR

“Let's get out of here,” said Zeek.

He didn't have to say that twice.

We jumped the puddle and bolted down a narrow muddy path. The lightning had almost stopped, but it was still raining pretty hard.

We ducked under a leafy tree.

“Okay,” said Zeek. “Time out. What was all that about anyway? I mean, Shovel Face wasn't really trying to kill us. Was he?”

I shook my head. “I don't know.”

“Or maybe it's just some kind of Halloween show the studio is putting on. You know, to scare us?”

Thunder rumbled over our heads.

“Maybe,” I said. But something told me, maybe not. “But I think we'd better get to the castle and tell everybody what happened.”

Zeek nodded. “Where are we, anyway?”

I did a quick look around. Big green ferns and leafy plants grew up on each side of the path. Tall skinny trees with lots of vines towered above us into the mist. The rain pattered on the leaves.

“A jungle,” I said.

I pushed through some bushes. “I think there's a building up there. The castle is probably just around the corner.” I smiled and poked up my thumb. Zeek did the same.

We made our way through the jungle. Zeek swung his camera all around at the wild plants. “Maybe we could make a jungle movie.
Noodle, the Ape Boy
or something like that.”

“Ha, ha,” I said. “Let's just keep going.”

But when we got to the building, there wasn't any. Building, I mean. It was just a wall, painted to look like a building.

“Whoa!” said Zeek.

“I agree,” I said. Then I swallowed hard and started back into the jungle. “This isn't really happening.”

“Sorry, Nood,” said Zeek, tapping his video camera. “It's happening. I've got it all on tape.”

Lightning flashed in the distance. The rain dripped down through the leaves as we walked.

“I wish I knew why Metalhead attacked us,” I said. “I don't really think it was part of the Paragon Studio experience.”

“But what could make him go so crazy?” Zeek said. “The lousy weather?” He smiled.

“Yeah, right,” I said. Then I looked up at the sky. Something was starting to click in my head.

We pushed through a thick wall of leaves and into a clearing. At the center was a huge black boulder.

“All right,” I said, running over to it. “We should be able to see the castle from here.”

We clambered up the rock, stood on top, and looked around.

“Cool view!” Zeek took out the video camera again and started panning around.

The view was cool, all right.

We could see the whole studio from there. To our left was the western town where they filmed
Trigger Happy.
Next to it was the lake from
Swamp Creep
and the streets of Metro City where they made
Catman
and
Catman Returns.

Not too far away was an old broken-down house. I didn't like the look of that house. It made my skin crawl.

But just behind it was the castle.

“Bingo,” I said. “In three minutes we're there.”

“Yeah, just wait until they hear what happened to us.”

We started down from the boulder.

“You know, Zeek,” I said. “I've been thinking about what happened with Metalhead. I haven't figured it all out yet, but—”

Suddenly, the boulder shifted a little.

“Whoa, Zeek! Did you feel anything?”

Zeek looked at me. “The Paragon Earthquake ride? I thought that opens next summer.”

I looked down at the rock under our feet. The surface started to
wrinkle.
Then it stretched out. Then it—breathed!

“No …” I mumbled. “I don't think it's an earthquake.”

All of a sudden, a huge black scaly head the size of a bus swung around at us and roared!

“Grrraaaooowww!”

“Gorgatron!” yelled Zeek.

“What?” I shouted. “You know this guy?”

“Gorgatron! The prehistoric dino-lizard they made for
Gorgatron Park
! It's hungry. And we're on its back!”

Zeek was right. We were on its back. And it did look hungry.

Suddenly, Gorgatron bent over to see what was for lunch. It looked right in Zeek's camera.

“Extreme close-up!” Zeek screamed.

Then the dinosaur made a strange noise.

“
Kerr-kerrr-kerrr—
”

“No!” yelled Zeek. “Not that! It's going to—to—”

“
—Phlooooo!
”

It sneezed all over us.

“Grossssss!” we both screamed, as the force blew us down the dino's back in a river of goop.

Gorgatron rose up on its hind legs. We tumbled to the ground.

“Oh, man,” Zeek moaned. “Of all the futuristic attack weapons, we had to choose flashlights!”

I looked over at him. “Yeah, right,” I yelled. “Like we're really going to fight him!”

“
Grrraaaoooooowww!
”

Gorgatron stretched up about fifty feet in the air. He began to chase us.

Wump-wump-wump!
The ground thundered beneath the huge weight.

Zeek and I raced back into the jungle. I could hear leaves and trees crashing right behind us. The beast was hot on our tails.

“Hurry!” I shouted. “I read that dinos could run really fast!”

Wump-wump-wump!

“Yeah?” yelled Zeek. “And did you get to the part that tells how to escape from one?”

We dashed back into the clearing again.

“Over there!” Zeek pointed to the old broken-down house. “Let's move it—fast!”

“No way,” I yelled. “I mean that house is all falling down and dark inside and really creepy and I think maybe it's been used for every haunted house movie since time began and—”

“
Grrrraaaaaooooooowwwww!
”

“But hey, with a little paint—”

FIVE

We flashed across the clearing, flew up the steps, and dived through the front door of the old house.

The door wasn't open, but like I said—the place was old.

We collapsed in the living room of the number-one haunted house in America.

“I have a bad feeling about this,” I said.

Zeek nodded. “But at least we don't have ugly monster killer dino-bots chasing us.”

He had a point. I went over to the window. Gorgatron was thumping back into the jungle. “Even he's afraid of this place,” I said.

In the dim light I could see that the walls were dark and stained. There were cobwebs all over everything. There were wobbly-looking stairs going up to the next floor. And the room had a really bad smell.

“Hey,” said Zeek, looking around from behind his video camera. “They made
Nutzoid
here.”

I turned to Zeek. “Of course they made
Nutzoid
here! And
Bobby Hammerhands.
And
Cold Sweat.
And
Oozeface.
And—”

“Arrrgh.”

“What?” I said.

“I didn't say anything,” said Zeek.

“Yes, you did. You said ‘Arrrgh.'”

Zeek looked at me. “That wasn't me. I wouldn't say that, honest. Why would I say that?”

“Arrrgh.”

I looked at him closely, trying to see his mouth move. “You're trying to scare me, aren't you, Zeek. We're in a haunted house and you're trying to scare me. Pretty soon you'll be saying things like—”

“Mum … mum … mum …” Zeek stuttered.

“No, not ‘mum-mum-mum',” I said. “Scary things. Things like ‘IIIEEE!' or—”

“Mum … mum … mum …” he said again. He obviously wasn't listening to me. And he wasn't looking at me either. He was looking over my shoulder. His eyes were going kind of buggy.

“Arrrgh!”

“What
is
that noise?” I said. I finally looked around. A man was thumping down the stairs. An old man. Very old. He was very dusty. And he was wrapped from head to foot in—well—toilet paper!

“ARRRGH!” he groaned.

“Oh, a mummy,” I said. “Zeek, it's a—”

“IIIEEE!”

Wham!
The door banged and Zeek disappeared down a hall. I heard him slam a door and start piling up stuff on the other side of it.

I looked down the hall. I looked at the guy coming down the stairs. I wasn't getting it.

“Wait a minute,” I said to the old guy. “You're dressed up, right? I mean, it's Halloween and you're dressed up. Right? RIGHT?”

“Arrrgh!” was all he said. Then he slowly stretched out one of his creepy arms. He thumped across the room toward me. He was leaving little clouds of dust with every step.

I tried to be nice, but when he stretched out his other creepy arm toward me, I had to be rude.

Wham!
I blasted from the room into the hall.

“Arrrgh!” said the mummy. And he started down the hall after me.

I got to the room where Zeek was hiding. I banged on the door. “Zeek! It's me! Let me in!”

“How do I know it's you?” Zeek yelled through the door. “How do I know you're not a mummy who just sounds like you!”

“Because mummies can only say ‘Arrrgh!' Now open up or I'll—”

“Arrrgh!”

The mummy was getting closer. I was trapped against the door. Those ugly arms were stretched out toward me.

“Zeeeeeekie!” I screamed. “The dead guy!”

Suddenly, the door flew open, and I tumbled into the room with Zeek. He slammed the door behind me and pushed chairs and tables and other stuff back in front of it.

I was safe.

“Whew!” I gasped. “That was close.”

“Too close,” said Zeek. Then he looked at my jacket. “So he got you, huh?”

“Who?”

“Him. Out there. The mummy.”

“No way!” I said. “He didn't get me. I wouldn't let that old bag of bones get me. No way.”

“Oh yeah?” Zeek blew on my shoulder and a puff of white mummy dust floated up.

SIX

I gulped. And pushed another chair in front of the door. Then I turned around and saw Zeek video taping me.

“Come on, pal,” I said. “No more fooling around. We've got to get out of here.”

Zeek nodded and stuffed the video camera in his backpack. “Good call, Noodle. What's the plan?”