The Rubbish went into a tight roll, cutting between pillars and trying desperately to shake Penny from its back. But Penny held tightly to the creature's red horns. Her knees dug into the scruff of the Toxite's side while one hand reached to her belt and drew a plunger. Stabbing downward, she struck the Rubbish on the top of its head. She pushed with all her strength as smoky black dust began venting from the dissolving Toxite.

The creature had just opened its beak to shriek in pain when it exploded, sending Penny tumbling to the hard concrete.

Spencer backed up against the pillar, digging into his belt pouch for more vac dust. Without looking, he realized that he'd reached into the wrong pouch. Spencer's hand closed around a rectangular object.

Just then, the Rubbish hopped around the pillar to attack. Its neck convulsed and the beak opened wide, working up the power to release a plume of blackness into the boy's face. Pulling the chalkboard eraser from his pouch, Spencer hurled the bomb into the Toxite's open beak. The eraser lodged in the Rubbish's throat and detonated. The huge beak opened and closed silently, wisps of white chalk leaking out the sides.

Spencer backed away as the Toxite began to twitch. It flopped onto its side, writhing. Leathery wings folded and unfolded, unable to take flight. Then the Rubbish dissolved from the inside until all that was left was a ghostly cloud of Glopified chalk dust curling toward the ceiling.

With the final Rubbish destroyed, Dez's senses started to return.

"Hey!" he said, bouncing at Daisy's side. He glanced down at the toilet plunger stuck to his stomach. "What the... ? Put me down! What are you trying to do?"

Daisy reached the elevator and set Dez on his feet. With a twist of the handle, the toilet plunger popped off his belly, leaving a large round welt. Dez instantly pulled his shirt down.

"I don't think you want to mess with this!" Dez pointed to his stomach like it was a weapon of ma.s.s destruction.

"Relax," said Daisy. "I just saved your life."

Spencer and Penny arrived, covered in dust and breathing heavily from their run across the garage.

The elevator wasn't much more than a big metal cage set into a concrete shaft. "Freight elevator," Penny said. Reaching her fingers through the links, she heaved, sliding the metal grate upward like a castle portcullis.

The four of them stepped into the elevator. Penny let go of the grate and it slammed down. Immediately, the elevator began to descend, exposed concrete walls flickering past.

"That wasn't so bad. Just a few relocated Toxites." Penny forced a smile. "Who's ready for level two?"

Chapter 51.

"Think you're bad?"

The elevator came to rest. Through the metal grate that served as a door, Spencer and the others could see the vast expanse of the underground parking garage. It looked calm and monotonous, but after the first level, Spencer was expecting the worst.

"Ready?" Penny asked. She grasped the metal grate and attempted to lift it like before. But even when the three kids joined her, the grate wouldn't budge.

"Rusted shut," Dez said.

"There's no way," Spencer said. "We just barely opened it."

"Do you even know what rust is?" Daisy asked.

"Hey!" Penny interrupted. She stood in the back corner of the elevator, her hands around a thick chain like the one from the pallet. "This should do it." She heaved on the chain and the grate lifted an inch. Hand over hand, Penny hoisted until the kids were able to duck under and exit the elevator.

"What now?" Spencer said, seeing the obvious problem. Penny, holding tight to the chain, couldn't let go or the grate would close.

"I've just got to be quick," she said. Penny released the chain and dove for the exit, but the grate slammed shut with alarming speed, trapping her inside the freight elevator. Returning to the chain, Penny pulled again, but this time nothing happened.

Penny breathed a sigh of annoyance. "Chain won't work." She drew her twin mops from her tool belt and flicked the strings at the elevator grate. But even the Glopified mops couldn't bend the metal.

"Look," said Dez. "There's another elevator over there!" He pointed across the dim garage.

Daisy was checking her tool belt when Spencer suddenly collapsed into a slumbering heap on the cold ground.

Penny stopped struggling against the elevator. She pressed her face to the grate, peering across the parking garage. "They're coming," she whispered.

Dez suddenly gave a high-pitched scream. Daisy whirled around to see three gigantic Filths scuttling forward, their sharp claws clicking on the hard cement. In the dim light, Daisy could see their dilated pupils and long, gnashing teeth. As a long-term result of the extension cords, the Filths had expanded to the size of grizzly bears. They were covered in deadly sharp quills as thick as pencils.

"Dez!" Penny shouted from the caged elevator. "Take Spencer's tool belt!"

The bully blundered, riddled with shock at the size of the Filths. It took him a second, but Penny's instructions sank in.

Dez rolled Spencer over and unclipped the belt buckle. Twisting sideways, Dez wrapped the belt around his own middle, sliding the buckle to allow for more stomach.

One of the Filths turned aside, and Daisy got a glimpse of the mutations that had resulted from the Toxite's evolution. A thick tail dropped down behind the monster, wagging back and forth. Attached to the end of the tail was a ball, rock hard and heavy. To make things worse, this bludgeoning tail weapon was studded with thick, barbed spikes.

"We've got to lead them away from Spencer!" Daisy shouted. She took off running directly toward the huge beasts, drawing a pushbroom from her belt.

Dez hesitated for only a moment before his sense of boyish pride kicked him into action. He couldn't let a girl do all the fighting!

Daisy shoved her weapon into one of the Filths, pushbroom sc.r.a.ping past the thick quills and striking it on the flank. The beast lost balance, rose a few feet, and came crashing down on its back with a squeal. It rolled over, sharp teeth gnashing and stringy saliva dangling from its jowls.

Dez's mop strings twisted forward. They slashed across a Filth's face, wrapping around the wide skull. The dangerous tail whipped around, severing the Glopified mop strings and forcing Dez back. The overgrown beast grunted, a deep-throated, guttural sound. Wicked cuts from the strings crisscrossed the Filth's face. But the wounds, instead of oozing blood, flaked away like crumbling dirt.

The third Filth paused in the darkness between two pillars. A single ray of fluorescent light fell on its face, causing the blue eyes to glint like those of a feral beast on the roadside. It arched its back and began to quiver violently, every muscle flexed.

Daisy saw the odd behavior, saw pressure building under the Filth's long quills. "Get down!" she shouted, diving behind a pillar.

Dez dropped to the ground as the Filth blasted its quills into the air. They fell like a thick volley of arrows, clattering off Daisy's pillar and narrowly missing Dez's body. This new defense was another deadly evolution brought on by the Glopified extension cords.

The Filth was hideous as it turned toward Dez. The creature's patchy fur was pocked with exit holes where the quills had been. It looked much thinner without its bristling spikes. But already, a new array of needles was rising out of the gray flesh with a sickening tearing sound.

As the Toxite turned, Dez reached out and grabbed one of the discarded quills. It was over a foot long and surprisingly lightweight. The tip was as sharp as a giant needle. He gripped the quill in his hand like a dagger.

There was no telling if the tactic would work, but as the Filth advanced, Dez rolled underneath the monster. Gagging at the putrid stench of the wild beast, he stabbed the long quill into the soft underbelly of the Toxite. Dust spewed from the wound, falling thickly onto Dez's face and arms. The Filth groaned as the boy pulled himself away.

The injured Toxite looked confused. Stabbed with its own weapon, the beast had felt its magic turned on itself. Dez staggered to his feet, cast the mop, and let the strings add to the pain. The Filth reared back on its hind legs, thumped its spiked tail against the ground, and exploded in a shower of gray dust.

Penny shouted something from the elevator. Her message resounded off the naked concrete walls, echoing again and again until the words became muddled and the meaning was lost.

Behind a pillar, Daisy thrust the handle of her pushbroom into a Filth's face. There was an audible pop as the eye erupted into a fountain of sludge. The creature reeled away, chattering. Before it could recover, Daisy raised her weapon with both hands above her head and brought it down. The well-placed blow to the Filth's neck was fatal. In a moment, all that was left was a scattering of dust.

Spencer tried to open his eyes. Daisy was patting his cheek and calling his name. But she felt so far away. He was sleeping comfortably. Why bother getting up?

Daisy checked over her shoulder. Dez was taking on the last Filth with a flurry of insults.

"Bring it on, beastie! You're nothing but a dust-munching pack rat! I've seen baby hamsters that looked meaner than you!"

The Toxite couldn't possibly understand Dez's lingo, and Daisy wished he would fight more and talk less. But the bully's distraction should buy her time to get Spencer across the level to the next elevator.

Daisy unclipped a broom from her belt. Taking Spencer by the arm, she slid the broom under him. She held on to the back of his coat and gripped the handle. Then, giving one last forlorn look to where Penny remained trapped in the elevator, Daisy kicked the broom bristles. The action sent her and Spencer skimming along the floor of the garage.

"Hey!" Dez called as they slid past. "Why doesn't Spencer have to get plunged?"

A second kick to the bristles pushed them out of harm's way. The broom clattered against the far wall, toppling both kids onto the ground. Daisy let go of the slumbering Spencer and stood up. Her knuckles were b.l.o.o.d.y and bruised from b.u.mping along the cement floor. She looked back at Dez in time to see the final injured Filth go into a defensive, quivering hunch.

"Think you're bad?" Dez insulted the creature. "I totally kicked your spiky b.u.t.t! You're just an overgrown, blubber-bloated, bucktooth chipmunk! With bad breath!"

"Look out!" Daisy shouted. But it was too late.

As Dez leapt forward to deal the injured Toxite a deathblow, the creature's quills released with an angry hiss. The projectiles pierced the air, shattering an overhead lightbulb in a burst of sparks. Dez screamed and fell to the ground out of sight behind the monstrous Filth.

Daisy sprinted away from the elevator, stripping a mop from her belt. As soon as she was in range, the strings leapt out, wrapping around the quill-less Filth and squeezing the life out of it.

The Filth was gone. Dust drifted to the ground like dirty snowfall. Daisy dropped the mop and fell to her knees at Dez's side.

The big kid was groaning, face ashen and teeth clenched. He was curled in a ball, both hands gripping his leg. Daisy covered her mouth when she saw the wound. Like a giant needle, the long quill had made a gristly st.i.tch through the outside of Dez's leg, just above the knee. His hands were covered in dark red. Dez clutched desperately at the spot, as if hoping that the pain would go away.

"No, no, no," Daisy muttered. Tears welled in her eyes as she watched the veins bulge on Dez's face. He grunted and pitched, desperate for help.

Spencer appeared behind Daisy, still rubbing sleep from his eyes. He yawned. "Sorry, guys. I must have fallen ..." He saw the gory quill in Dez's leg. "Whoa!"

"What do we do?" Daisy asked.

Spencer glanced at the distant elevator where Penny was trapped. "We can't go back," he said. "Let's just get him to the next elevator. The faster we get through this, the sooner we might find a way out."

Daisy nodded, sniffing back the tears. "Should I plunge him again?"

Spencer carefully reached around Dez and unclipped the tool belt. Daisy took the plunger and suctioned the cup onto Dez's stomach again.

"No!" Dez said. "Let me walk! I can ... aghhh!"

Daisy carefully hoisted the bully. Walking as smoothly as she could, Daisy carried him toward the next elevator. Spencer clipped on the tool belt, cinching the straps around his own waist.

Spencer reached into the back pouch of his belt to make sure he still had what he needed from the art building. "Hang in there, Dez."

A moment later, the three kids were inside another cage elevator, plummeting to the next level of the parking garage nightmare.

Chapter 52.

"Look at this cool thing!"

Hold the chain, Dez," Spencer said when the elevator stopped. The bully was sitting in the corner, still grabbing his leg with bloodied hands.

"You can't ... can't leave me here!" Dez shouted.

"You won't be able to keep up," Spencer said. "It'll kill you."

The bully shook his head, teeth still clenched. "You ... chumps!"

"We'll be back," Daisy said. "We won't leave without you or Penny."

Wordlessly, Dez lifted his red hands and grasped the chain. He pulled twice, just enough for Spencer and Daisy to crawl out onto the next level. Then Dez released the chain and the metal grate slammed.

"Okay," Spencer said, scanning the parking level. "I don't see the dumpster here, either. Must not be to the bottom yet."

Daisy unclipped her pushbroom, nervously awaiting an ambush. Spencer started forward, a plunger in his grip.

"We've seen Rubbishes and Filths," Spencer said. "So we have to a.s.sume that this level has Grimes. You know what that means? You've got to focus harder than ever." Spencer looked back at Daisy. She had stopped to examine a concrete pillar.

"Look at this cool thing!" Daisy had a huge smile on her face.

"Daisy!" Spencer hissed. "There's nothing special about that!"

"Are you sure? I think it's kinda cute ..."

The most enormous Grime dropped from the ceiling and landed with a squelching sound ten feet in front of Spencer. It was larger than any alligator he had ever seen at the zoo. Its black eyes were the size of softb.a.l.l.s.

The creature's skin was stretched so tightly that it appeared almost transparent. The long body was coated in a slimy film that shimmered with iridescence in the artificial light of the garage. A hideous forked tongue darted out of the wide mouth, feeling the ground and flicking back to moisten its large eyes.

Spencer made one last hopeful glance toward Daisy. She had dropped her pushbroom and was now hugging the pillar, a contented expression on her face.

Spencer took a deep breath. He was on his own for this level.

The Grime was holding still, sizing up the boy as if trying to decide whether to eat him in one or two bites. As the creature stared, Spencer noticed that its throat had begun to balloon outward like a croaking toad. The Grime swiveled its head, and Spencer saw that the extension-cord evolution had caused two pale sacks to develop behind the Grime's neck. The sacks glowed with a frightening greenish hue.

The Grime made a gurgling noise, its bloated throat stretching tighter. Suddenly, the sacks behind the neck emptied, the glowing greenish sludge emptying into the Toxite's throat.

Spencer drew his broom as the Grime's throat contracted, spewing a chug of venomous green slime into the air. Spencer slammed the broom bristles against the ground and shot over the deadly projectile. The slime splashed below him, sizzling and smoking as it hit the concrete.

Spencer's hasty launch sent him soaring directly over the Toxite. Fighting against the sickening odor of the Grime's venom, Spencer reached down with his plunger and suctioned onto the Toxite's yellow back. With a gurgling cry, the creature was peeled away from the ground and flung backward. Its gelatinous body skidded along the concrete as it twisted to get its feet down again.

Spencer landed carefully a few yards away. He was planning his next attack when he saw a flicker of movement snaking around a nearby pillar. Another Grime leapt, sticky fingers adhering to Spencer's shirt. The Grime tossed Spencer through the air, his broom flying out of his hand in the process.