19. Things Get Badder

CHAPTER 19 THINGS GET BADDER Frantically, Melvin swatted at the nine new tissue packs stuck to his upper torso as if they were a swarm of stinging bumblebees. He stomped his giant spiked feet and thrashed about violently as his hulking body doubled, then tripled in size. Melvin kicked and punched the walls of the gift shop as he let out a terrifying, bloodcurdling cry.

"There's no need to cry, little man," said Mr. Snoddy. "Here — have some more tissues to dry those tears!" He tossed several more sample tissue packs at Melvin. (As you might have noticed by now, Mr. Snoddy wasn't exactly the brightest bulb on the Hanukkah tree.)

What happened next could only be described as chaos. Once again, Melvin's massive body tripled in size. By now, Melvin was roaring and kicking and knocking over giant machines. Children screamed and ran.

Mr. Snoddy thought it might help matters if he could just give Melvin some more tissues. But before he could, a drop of mucus the size of a bathtub dripped from Melvin's massive nose and splashed down on Mr. Snoddy, gluing him to the floor.

George and Harold hid behind the red curtain with black dots on it as Melvin crashed through the roof of the factory. Ear- piercing roars bellowed out of his gigantic, oozing mouth as he kicked down the walls of the factory and tossed heavy machinery into the parking lot. Mr. Krupp and Miss Anthrope tried their best to get the situation under control, but they weren't having much luck.

"Hey, bub," shouted Mr. Krupp, "I've had just about enough of your shenanigans!"