13 KER-PLO0IE!

CHAPTER 13 KER- PLOOIE! Alexander rolled to the ground. He was shaken but not hurt. A billion bits of paper rained down from the sky. Nikki tore off her blindfold. "Where's the P-rex?" she asked. "I can't see through all this paper!" "This paper is the P-rex!" said Alexander. "You busted it!"

"Salamander," said Rip, "let's invite a P-rex to your birthday party next Leap Year! We can Suddenly, Rip froze. "Wait! Where's all the candy?" he asked. "The notebook said we'd have a sweet surprise!" The falling confetti was starting to thin out. "Uh, Rip," said Nikki. "I found the candy." "Oh, good!" said Rip, standing up. "Where?" A monstrous skeleton made entirely of candy— was standing where the P-rex had been. It had sharp candy cane claws, glowing fireball eyes, and jagged peanut-brittle teeth. "The P-rex's skeleton!?!" yelled Alexander. Rip's eyes doubled in size. "It looks like a... candy-saurus!"

GRAAAR!

The candy-saurus whipped its licorice tail at Nikki. At the end of the tail was a jawbreaker the size of a boulder. Nikki leaped away, just as the jawbreaker crushed the upside-down school bus. SMASH! "Run! Its tail is stuck in the bus!" said Rip. Alexander, Rip, and Nikki darted across the parking lot. The pavement was blanketed with shredded paper and chunks of candy. They crouched down behind a bike rack. "Yikes," said Alexander. "This is the biggest monster we've ever—" SPLONK! He was interrupted by the sound of a falling school bus.