out of his pocket for the third time. He squirted a bit at Danny and then at himself.
Outside, the security guard was already pushing through all the screaming damsels and making for the doorway to the pink tent castle. He looked furious. Heâd had more strife in one afternoonin Princessland than heâd ever had working with juvenile delinquents â¦
But then he slid on a slick of friendship bracelet beads and shot across the floor. He shot into the face-paint stand. A large pot landed on his nose, daubing him with glittery yellow. All the damsels burst into fits of uncontrollable giggling.
He struggled onto his knees and crawled toward the tent, growling with fury. But when he tore open the curtains at the tent doorway, he was once again confronted with nothing. Nobody there at all!
âWhat is GOING ON?!!â he wailed, sinking back down to the floor. âIâve been working too hard,â he told himself as his forehead thumped onto the floor. An orange flumpywumpy slid down his face. âI wuvv you!â it told him. He didnât notice the leopard-skin and pink geckos shimmying up over his shoulder and shooting out of the castle tent window.
There was a pillar near the pink castle. In fact, the structure had been tied up against it for extra stability. Danny and Josh shot up the pillar so fast that they were nothing more than a blur to anyone watchingâand nobody was watching. They were far too interested in seeing whether the big security guard was going to stop crying and come back out of the pink castle.
Danny and Josh got outside the store in less than a minute and then shot into some shrubs that grew alongside it. They sat, motionless, waiting to S.W.I.T.C.H. back again. For several minutes, they said nothing. Danny licked his eyeballs once or twice. But other than that, they just kept still.
Finally, Danny spoke. âThat was ⦠kind of weird.â The scales on his shoulder were sore and bruised, even though heâd S.W.I.T.C.H.ed back down to gecko size. The back of Joshâs neck was also covered in teeth marks. âSorry, Josh. I really didnât mean to bite you that hard.â
âYes, you did,â Josh said. âBut so did I. Donât feel too badâwe couldnât help it.â
âWhat do you mean?â Danny asked. He was feeling very guilty about the great glee with which he had attacked his twin just ten minutes ago.
âWeâre both geckos, and weâre both male,â explained Josh. âFemale geckos can get along fine together. But male geckos canât. Theyâre really territorial. And they quite often fight to the death.â
Danny gulped.
âItâs just as well that security guard came along,â Josh said. âI mightâve bitten your head off.â
Danny smirked. âIâd like to see you try â¦â
âDONâT!â Josh waved his gecko hand at Danny. âSeriously! DONâT! We mustnât let that happen again. How will I explain it to Mom? Sheâll ask where are you, and Iâll have to say I bit your head off. She wonât like it, you know.â
âSheâll be fineâbecause I will have bitten YOUR head off!â snarled Danny, getting up onto all four feet and baring his teeth.
FFFFFFFFOOOFFF!
And then he was crouched on his hands and knees with his head poking up out of the bushes, still baring his teeth. Josh was doing the same. Fortunately, they were both boy-shaped again. Completely, this time.
âPhew!â sighed Josh. âThat was close. Come onâletâs go home. Iâve had enough excitement for one day.â
Danny nodded, getting to his feet and looking around, embarrassed.
They dusted themselves off, noticing that there was still bits of blood on their boy skin and some little bite marks. Then they set out for home.
âWAIT!â
They froze, getting ready to run. Someone was skipping out of Princessland