Chapter 9

CHAPTER 9 FRANKY, VAMPYRA, AND IGOR JUNIOR rushed to the window to see what Wolfy was looking at. "All I see is darkness," said Igor Junior. "That's just it," said Wolfy. "There's supposed to be a big birthday celebration for the village." "With popcorn," Franky said. "And the first ever Monster Mash competition that I worked so hard for."

"And a merry-go-round," said Vampyra. "Let's not forget the merry-go-round." "That sounds fun," said Igor Junior. "Exactly," said Wolfy. "But it sure doesn't look like anyone is having fun down there."

"What's everyone looking at?" said a very large rat with a very large belly, munching on a wedge of cheese. None of the Junior Monster Scouts were surprised to see him. He was the leader of all the rats and lived in the basement of Castle Dracula. He was a very nice rat, even if he had bad manners, like chewing cheese with his mouth open. "The village," Wolfy said. "There's no birthday celebration." "It's so dark," said Vampyra. "Oh yeah," said the rat. He waved his cheese in the air. "The power is out." Igor Junior peered out the window. "Look! There's a candle in the Old Windmill!" "The villagers need light!" said Vampyra. "Electricity!" "Good thing Doctor Frankenstein has his own power," said Wolfy.

Franky scratched his bolts. He did this when he was thinking really hard. He thought of his mechanical monster for the village's first ever Monster Mash competition. He thought of Doctor Frankenstein's laboratory. He thought of what Wolfy had just said. He thought of the lever that Igor Junior was not supposed to touch but had touched anyway. "Boris," said Franky. (Boris was the name of the large rat with bad manners.) "Can you gather all the rats and bring them here?" "What?" asked Boris. "Now? We're having a cheese party!" "You know what goes great with cheese?" asked Franky. "More cheese?" Boris asked. "He has a point," said Wolfy. "Popcorn," said Franky. "Cheese-covered popcorn."

"Say no more," said Boris. He ran off to gather the rest of the rats. Wolfy's stomach grumbled and growled. "All this talk of popcorn is making me hungry." Franky wrapped his arms around his friends. "I've got a plan."