t that very moment, Toshiaki, Bob, Nassor, and E were discovering exactly what they had created.

After coming back to life, Sparky was still a regular dog—not counting a few stitches and neck bolts. But that was because he had been brought back out of love. What the others had done was due to jealousy, greed, and selfishness. Which meant the creatures they had made were bound to have some…deformities.

Inside the classroom, E swung a desk lamp over to take a closer look at his rat. On the upside, it had come back to life just as he hoped. On the downside, it wasn’t a normal rat anymore. As E watched, the rat sat up. Then, with alarming dexterity, it began to unclip the electrodes attached to its body, as if it were human. It also seemed to have grown. Its legs were still little and mouselike, but it had a huge hump on its back and its snout was long and pointy. When it tilted its head back and howled, it sounded somewhere between a wolf and a mouse. The rat had become a were-rat! Gulping, E stepped back, hitting the desk lamp and casting a shadow of the Were-Rat on the wall. Then the rat reared up on its back feet, its teeth and claws extended, and began to make its way toward E. He was in big trouble.…

E wasn’t the only one in over his head. Bob stood at the edge of the pool, staring into the water. The mist had cleared and left the water’s surface smooth and clear. For a moment, Bob felt a rush of disappointment. The experiment hadn’t worked.

And then, an almost-translucent hand reached up out of the water and grabbed the side of the pool.

As Bob watched, a sea creature pulled itself out of the water. But this was no ordinary sea creature. The lightning had made it into something bigger—and scarier. It was skinny, with spindly arms and legs and large, webbed ears sticking out of its shrimplike head. Looking over at Bob, its wide eyes grew wider and it opened its mouth, revealing sharp, spiky teeth.

The Sea Monster wasn’t alone. As it made its way out of the pool, dozens more followed. They were like an army of simian warriors. Some even carried bone tridents. And they all looked very, very angry.

Letting out a scream, Bob turned. “Victor!” he said aloud to himself as he ran away. “Victor will know what to do.”

As Bob hightailed it out of his yard, Toshiaki was trying to figure out if his own experiment had worked. Standing there, he watched as the kite he had attached to his animal came crashing down, still smoldering. Looking over, he saw that the wagon was empty and next to it, the Miracle-Gro container lay on its side, also empty. Where had Shelley gone?

Suddenly, a massive turtle foot smashed down, crushing the wagon as if it were a toy. Toshiaki raised his head and gulped. Standing there was a giant turtle monster. It was bigger than a bus, and when it lifted its head to shriek at the sky, the sound was deafening.

Toshiaki fell backward and then began to scramble away as fast as he could. For a moment, he felt a rush of pride that he had brought back his pet turtle. But then the turtle let out another huge roar and the pride was replaced with utter terror. Turning toward the direction of downtown New Holland, the Turtle Monster saw the bright lights of the Ferris wheel. Distracted, it began to lumber off in that direction, leaving Toshiaki behind. As the turtle moved away, Toshiaki grabbed his bike and started riding in the other direction. He had to get help—fast!

Nassor was going to need help, too. In the cemetery, he watched as the earth around the grave began to rumble and shake as though something were trying to get out.

“Rise, Colossus,” Nassor said. “Rise from your tomb!”

As he continued to urge his creature to rise, the ground shook even harder. A moment later a creature emerged from the ground. At first glance, it looked like a huge wad of tissues. But as it pulled itself up and out of the ground its shape became clearer. It wasn’t tissues. It was a mummy hamster! Breaking clear of the ground, it stood up and extended its arms. The hamster took a few steps forward on its hind legs but then fell onto all fours. It began to lurch forward, dragging its hind leg. Nassor shuffled back as the creature continued to advance, a menacing look on its once cute and fluffy face…

Nassor had to find Victor. He would know what to do. He hoped.…

Victor was unaware that monsters had been unleashed upon New Holland. As the Mummy Hamster, Were-Rat, Vampire Cat, Turtle Monster, and Sea Monsters took to the streets, Victor was making his way home with Sparky.

“I’ll get you charged up, boy,” he told his dog. “You gotta be hungry.”

Wrapped inside the blanket, Sparky wagged his tail. He was feeling a bit hungry and tired. All that running had taken a lot out of him. He wanted to go home and take a nice long nap on his bed in the attic.

But that wasn’t going to happen.

Turning a corner, Victor did a double take. Charging past was what looked like an army of…giant shrimp? They were tall and skinny and oblivious to Victor as they marched along. Crouching down behind a mailbox, he and Sparky watched the creatures. They were chattering to each other in some strange language, and occasionally one would hit a mailbox with what appeared to be a trident. Another purposefully trampled on a bed of flowers. It was almost as if they enjoyed causing destruction.

Suddenly, one of the creatures stopped. It was the largest member of the army and appeared to be its leader. It seemed to have noticed the lights from Dutch Day in the distance. Giving an order that sounded something like CHARGE, it opened up a nearby manhole cover and disappeared into the sewers. The army followed.

As soon as the coast was clear, Victor raced home, Sparky at his heels. He needed to talk to his parents. But when he got home, the door was wide open. “Mom? Dad?” he shouted. There was no answer. No one was home. They were probably still out looking for Sparky.

He was turning to go when Bob wheeled up the walkway on his bike. His face was red and he was panting from the effort of pedaling his bike.

“Victor!” he shouted. “I need your help!”

That wasn’t what Victor wanted to hear. He had a sinking feeling he knew why Bob was here. “Did you see those things?” he asked. “They were like…”

“Sea Monsters,” Bob finished.

“Really?” Victor said, raising his eyebrows. He could sort of see the resemblance. But weren’t sea creatures supposed to be really small and live in water?

Bob nodded. Really. “You know how on the package, they’re like in a happy kingdom and everyone’s smiling? Well, they’re not like that at all.”

Before Bob could explain further, Toshiaki came racing up on his bike. The usually composed boy looked a mess. “Victor! I need your help!” he shouted from the sidewalk.

“I asked him first!” Bob shouted back.

“My problem’s bigger!” Toshiaki screamed. He didn’t have time for this. Turning, he pointed. In the distance, they could make out the giant turtle walking down the street, dwarfing the houses as he passed by them. It was like Godzilla had come to New Holland—in the shape of a turtle.

Sparky let out a bark and Bob shrugged. He had to admit, Toshiaki was right. His problem was definitely bigger.

Just then, the boys heard a scream coming from the direction opposite the Turtle Monster. Turning, they watched as their gym/science teacher raced past. And right behind her, running on its two back legs, was the biggest rat they had ever seen. Occasionally it would put one of its front feet down for a burst of speed. The teacher let out another scream and kept running.

The three boys exchanged looks. This was not good.

“I’ll get my bike,” Victor finally said, trying to sound braver than he felt. They had to get control of these creatures before they destroyed New Holland. The only question was, how were they going to do that?