B-Monsters who were in control. Outside the castle, at that exact moment, the B-Force was strengthening again. I could only imagine what the mall looked like now!
At that moment, the real B-Monster from Planet Q was getting very close, digging, digging, digging . . .
Walter appeared, his face illuminated by a flashlight. He looked like a guy from the haunted house on Halloween.
âIâm so sorry, kids,â he said. âEverythingâs gone kerplooey again! But you already know that.â
âWhat are we supposed to do now?â Stella whispered.
âIs the B-Force getting stronger?â I asked.
âStronger, yes,â Walter said.
âThanks to the increased magnetism caused by the pending arrival of the movie bots and their retrieval of the firequartz,â Jesse said, âI bet the electricity all over Riddle has been short-circuited. That includes this castle.â
âYo, Jess,â Damon said. âEnglish, please.â
âA changing magnetic field creates electrical current,â Jesse said. âSo if the magnetism cuts in and out, then the electricity might cut in and out, too . . .â
âOr shutdown completely?â Stella asked.
Walter nodded. âIndeed. Very well said, Jesse.â
âMagnets make electricity?â Stella said. âBut I thought electrical current created magnetism.â
âIt works both ways,â Jesse explained.
âSo the power in the castle is short-circuiting because of all the magnetism?â I asked.
Walter nodded. âYes, Lindsey,â he explained. âWhen one magnetic force gets hit with another force, like electricity, the molecules inside the object get mixed up . . .â
âAnd the magnetism goes away!â I said.
Walter nodded. âExactly. Good work, Lindsey.â
âJust a little something I learned from a friend,â I said, indicating Jesse, of course.
âAaaaah!â Damon blurted. His face had gone white. âI canât listen to this science mumbo jumbo anymore. This Monster Squad mission is just too scary for a bunch of fifth-graders. We need Leery. We need an escape route out of Riddle. We needââ
The castleâs power rumbled back on and we all looked up. The overhead lights buzzed like wasps again.
Beeeeep! Beeeeep! Beeeeep!
âAha!â Walter cried, clicking a beeper on his belt. âThe communication system is back online! Thank goodness! Letâs go get Leery! We have to go before we lose power again! We have a lot to report!â
âAnd even more to ask,â I added.
CHAPTER 8
LEERY THEORY
We raced to the round room near the castle entrance. Leery Castle looked much safer with all the lights turned on. Walter had installed a new, enormous screen monitor for the communicator. We could see Leery almost life-size, speaking to us from halfway across the globe.
When we fought the Beast with 1000 Eyes, Leery had been out of town in the arctic. Today, he was at the Great Wall of China looking for rare specimens of bamboo. I wondered if that meant our next potential B-Monster would be a plantâor distantly related to a panda bear. There was nothing predictable about the Monster Squad. Eventually weâd have to face all B-Monsters: fish, bird, animal, and plant.
Right now the B-Monster was a robot.
The picture on the communicator screen was crystal clear. We could see Leery as if he were in the room with us. The Great Wall curved for miles in the distance.
âYou have come so far since your first Monster Squad mission, my friends,â Leery said to all of us.
âFight the B-Monster! Fight the B-Monster!â Damon yelled out. Stella looked so annoyed. But it didnât bug me. Damon just didnât want to look like a chicken in front of Leery. That was understandable. I wanted to show off every time we came face-to-face with Leery, too.
Walter moved the communicator around so we could each say our own hello. He