Chapter 12

CHAPTER 12 "WE DID IT!" SAID IGOR Junior. "You certainly did!" boomed a very loud, very stern voice. "Look at this place!" "Dad?" said Igor Junior. Sure enough, Igor Junior's dad, Igor Senior, stood in the laboratory doorway. And just like Baron Von Grump, he did not look happy. He was also not alone. Doctor Frankenstein was with him. So were Dracula, Frankenstein, and Wolf Man. They also did not look happy. No one was looking happy. It was a very uncomfortable moment. "Look at my laboratory!" said Doctor Frankenstein.

"What did I say, Igor Junior?" asked Igor Senior. "I said one thing. I said, 'Igor Junior —'" "'Do not pull that lever,'" mumbled Igor Junior. "And what did you do?" Igor Senior asked. "I pulled the lever," said Igor Junior. "And one more question," said Dracula. "What's with all the rats? I thought they lived in the basement." "We were promised cheesy popcorn," said Boris. "Yeah," said the rest of the rats.

Now all the adults did not look as angry. They looked confused. They had no idea what cheesy popcorn had to do with anything, let alone the terrible mess in the laboratory. And they certainly had no idea why the rats would have been promised cheesy popcorn.

"That's the thing," said Vampyra. "Igor Junior did not pull the lever by himself." "He didn't?" Igor Senior asked. "Well, maybe the first time," said Franky. "But then we all pulled the lever." "You did?" asked Frankenstein. "Why would you do that?" Wolf Man asked. "Why would you pull the lever when you were told not to?" "To save the village," said Wolfy. "They needed electricity for their birthday celebration." "Don't forget the cheesy popcorn!" said Boris. "And for their popcorn machines," said Igor Junior. "And lights so they can judge the windup monsters for the first ever Monster Mash competition," Franky said. "And for their merry-go-round," said Wolfy.

"We were just trying to help," said Vampyra. All the adults looked at them for a moment. Nobody said anything. They scrunched their eyebrows. They shuffled their feet. They looked at one another. "Give us a moment, children," said Dracula. He and the other parents put their heads together in a huddle. They lowered their voices and talked about adult things in very low, adult tones. Sometimes they pointed. Sometimes they shrugged. "Thanks for standing by me," said Igor Junior to the Junior Monster Scouts. Franky clapped him on the shoulder. "That's what friends do." Finally the adults turned back around. Dracula cleared his throat. "Okay, kids," he said. "Because you were honest and did what you were not supposed to do for a good

and helpful reason, you are not grounded. You may go to the village birthday celebration after you have helped Igor Junior clean up this mess of a laboratory." "Every bolt, beaker, and bucket of parts," said Doctor Frankenstein. "And you, Igor Junior," said Igor Senior. "Because you pulled the lever the first time, when you were specifically told not to, you are grounded..." Igor Junior's lip trembled. He just nodded and stared at the floor. "After you enjoy the village birthday celebration and a bucket of cheesy popcorn," finished Igor Senior. Igor Junior looked up with a surprised smile on his face. "Really?" he said. "A big birthday bash like this does not happen every day, and you did help make it possible," said Igor Senior. "But starting