خیابان های پارک وحشت فصل 25

Streets of Panic Park - Chapter 25

“It’s YOUR last chapter!” Matt shouted. “We’re not finished yet!”

Dr. Crawler raised himself on Inspector Cranium’s arm. “Ssssssave your breath!” he hissed.

Cranium lowered the big snake to the pavement. “You’re getting heavy, Crawler,” he said. “How many mice did they feed you today?” “Bite your tongue!” the snake snapped at Cranium.

“Look at you losers,” Slappy said, eyes darting from side to side. “Do you really think you stand a chance? Half of you are already shadows or freaks!” “I’d rather be a freak than a dummy!” Robby yelled.

Slappy’s body jiggled as he laughed. “You’ve got us all beat, Robby. You’re an invisible freak! Hahaha.” Slappy shook his head. “And you’re also a dummy — because you created this clown!” He pointed to Dr. Maniac.

“I’m not a clown!” Dr. Maniac roared. “I’m a MANIAC!”

He swung around to face Slappy. “I’d grab you and teach you a lesson — but I’d get splinters!” “Pipe down, ye sea dogs!” Captain Ben boomed, waving his crutch wildly. “If ye sail with me, ye sail as one! It’s one for all and all for one. That be the rule of the seven seas!” The villains all started arguing at once. Dr. Crawler snapped at Captain Ben’s wooden leg. The captain brought his crutch down hard on the snake’s middle.

“Silence, everyone!” Inspector Cranium cried, waving his hands above his head.

None of us moved. We stayed with our backs to the building wall.

What was this about? Why were the villains so tense? Why were they at each other’s throats?

Finally, Cranium got them quiet. He turned back to us. “As I was saying, this is the last chapter. For ALL of us!” “What do you mean?” I cried. “I … don’t understand. Why is it the final chapter for you?” “Yeah,” Luke chimed in. “Don’t you work for The Menace?”

Cranium nodded. “Yes, we came to work for The Menace. Byron chose us all. He made us a good offer.” Slappy’s mouth clicked up and down. “The Menace said we could all take our revenge on you losers,” he rasped. “You know. You got lucky. You defeated us back home. So he gave us another chance.” The snake lifted itself high. “He promissssed us a good time. All we had to do was sssscare you out of HorrorLand. Make you think HorrorLand was unssssafe.” “Aye, and we did a fine job of that,” Captain Ben chimed in.

“We made you believe that HorrorLand was the scariest place,” Cranium said. “So you would try to escape to Panic Park.” Cranium turned his gaze on me. “It worked, too,” he said. “Except that stupid Horror, Ned — he nearly fouled us up by getting you and Luke involved.” “I don’t know what you’re talking about,” I replied. “Who is Ned?”

He rubbed his pointy beard. “Who do you think Monster X was?” Cranium demanded. “Who do you think was desperately feeding you two information about HorrorLand? It was Ned. Monster X was Ned!” “Ned was trying to help us?” Matt cried.

“How do you know it was Ned?” I demanded.

Cranium shrugged. “I’ve got my spies. You can’t keep a secret from the Thought Police.” “Ha-ha! Cranium is a maniac, too!” Dr. Maniac cried. “Maniacs rule! Maniacs rule!” He did a crazy dance. But he had to stop when his legs got all tangled in his cape.

“Our job was to frighten you out of Horror-Land,” Cranium said. “Once we got you to Panic Park, our job was to get your Fear Level to the top. The Menace is very smart. He knew we would be your worst nightmares come true.” “Why are you telling us all this?” I demanded.

“Ssssilence!” Crawler hissed.

“No one can keep a secret from the Thought Police. Not even The Menace. I just read his mind,” Cranium continued. “Just now. Just this second. And what I learned, I didn’t like.” “What did you learn?” I asked.

Cranium narrowed his eyes. “When you hit one hundred on the Fear Meter and Panic Park returns to the world, he plans to keep you prisoners in the park — forever. And US, TOO!” “All of us?” I gasped.

“He plans to keep us ALL prisoners,” Cranium said. “He’s not going to let any of us go home after the job is done.” “I … still don’t understand why you’re telling us this,” I said.

“Because we need your HELP!” Dr. Maniac screamed.

“Huh?” We all gasped and cried out in surprise.

Slappy shook his head. “I can’t believe I’m saying this,” he said. “But we have to work together with you losers.” “It’s the only way we can defeat him,” Cranium said. “The only way we can destroy him.” Matt’s mouth hung open. He squinted hard at Cranium and Slappy. “You’re joking, right?” “Let me get this right. You want us to help you destroy The Menace?” Boone said slowly.

“You have to stand up to him!” Cranium said.

Matt laughed. “For sure.” He turned to the rest of us. “Don’t you get it? It’s a trap. A trick. It’s the final scare. The final scare that puts the meter over the top. And these guys win.” “No way!” Michael shouted to the row of villains. “No way we help you! No way! No way!” And we all began to chant: “No way! No way! No way!”

As I chanted along with everyone, I saw the villains’ expressions change. I saw the evil settle over their faces. I saw the grim, cold stares as their eyes narrowed.

And I felt chilling fear.

I felt fear freeze every muscle of my body as the villains began to move … move in for the final chapter … the final attack.