14 BACKSTAGE BRAWL

CHAPTER 14 BACKSTAGE BRAWL Step 2!" Alexander yelled. He threw the brownie to Rip. Rip caught it and scarfed it down. In seconds, he was hairy, scaly, toothy, and ready to fight.

Ms. Vanderpants hunched down, her tail swinging. Rip lowered his horns and charged at his principal. She whipped around, blocking Rip's attack with her armored shell. BLOMP! Rip bounced off her shell and crashed into a stack of stage lights. "So much for Step 2!" Nikki yelled. She grabbed a broom from a nearby workbench. Ms. Vanderpants stepped toward Rip, who was still on the ground. "Leave him alone!" Nikki screamed.

Nikki swung the broom at Ms. Vanderpants's legs, catching her ankles and tripping her to the floor. But in an instant, Ms. Vanderpants was back on her claws. "I'm coming, Nikki!" Alexander shouted. He ran for a mop, but tripped over a skittering ant. "Urf!" He crashed into a costume rack, getting his head stuck in a knight's helmet.

GRAAAWWRR! Monster-Rip roared, and threw a sandbag at Ms. Vanderpants's head. She lunged at the bag, spearing it with her horn. A shower of sand rained down on Nikki. Nikki staggered, wiping the sand from her eyes, and smashed into Sir Alexander. The two of them bumped into a control panel next to the curtains, and then fell into an oversized drum.

VRRRRR!!!! A cable began to move. The curtains were going up. "No!" Ms. Vanderpants shouted. "The students mustn't see me like this!" She dove at the control panel, stabbing it with her horn. SPROING! The cable snapped in half, and the curtain came back down. GRAAAWWRR! Once again, Rip charged at his principal. She jumped straight up, clutching the end of the broken cable.

Rip flew under her. CLONK-KER-BLASH! He plowed into a stack of brass instruments, and fell into the drum with Alexander and Nikki. "Oof," he said, back in regular-Rip mode. "Enough," said Ms. Vanderpants. "You will listen to what I have to say!" She held the end of the broken cable in her claws. Then she curled back into a ball and rolled around the S.S.M.P., impossibly fast, tying them to the drum.