6 REST IN PIECES

CHAPTER 6 REST IN PIECES With a gravelly grunt, the monster swung its heavy tail. PLOMFFFFF! The stone reptile smashed Elmer Mooselidge's gravestone into a million pebbles. "It's a rockodile!" shouted Alexander. "Split up!" The friends took off in different directions.

The rockodile turned in place like a board game spinner. Its snout pointed to Alexander. Then it tromped after him, its jaws wide open. "How do we beat this boulder-brain?!" shouted Rip, clambering up a tree. PIT-PIT-PAT! Rain began to fall. Alexander tried to remember the ROCKODILE pages of the notebook.

ROCKODILE stone reptile HABITAT surrounded by things made of stone. DIET Aquarium sand BEHAVIOR Good news. This monster won't eat you with its powerful jaws! Bad news. Instead, it will grind you into gravel. Just for fun.

WHAM! The rockodile's sledgehammer tail can smash boulders. FUN FACT! The rockodile got its name because it loves the electric guitar WARNING! You'd need heavy equipment-like a wrecking ball-to demolish a rockodile.

"We need a wrecking ball!" Alexander yelled. CLOMP! The monster's powerful jaws snapped at Alexander's heels. "How about a smashy-smashy monster?" yelled Rip. "That could work!" Alexander called back. He ran left— then right. The rockodile's twisty body easily kept up, smashing graves along the way. "I WILL SNAP YOU TO BITS!" roared the rockodile. Its voice sounded like two bricks scraping together. "JUST LIKE THE BOSS- MONSTER ORDERED!" "You know the boss-monster?" Nikki asked, popping up from behind a grave. "That's just the creature we're looking for!" The rain was falling harder now, and the ground was slippery with mud.

Nikki slipped and fell. The rockodile sprung toward her. "Smashy smashy!" yelled Rip. He popped a chocolate-chunk cookie into his mouth, jumped down, and transformed before his boots hit the ground.