Robo-Dodo Rumble Read online

  Chapter 12

  The monster had ripped the roof off the art museum and was gulping down priceless works of art!

  “Should I blast it with my la-ser beams?” asked Robo-Dodo.

  “Of course not!” I yelled. “What are you telling me with the laser beams! We are cookie makers, not eel blasters!”

  “Gee,” said Robo-Dodo. “I have learned an im-por-tant les-son to-day. May-be the real mon-ster is—”

  “Learn your lesson later,” interrupted Didi. “First, we’ve got an eel to stuff! Look!”

  The eel was opening its mouth really wide! It looked like it would eat the entire museum gift shop in one gigantic bite!

  “NOOOOO! NOT THE GIFT SHOP!” yelled Didi. “PUSH THE BUTTON, KOKO!”

  I pushed the button.

  Deep within Robo-Dodo, powerful engines roared to life. The entire walking robotic cookie factory began to shake.

  The conveyor belt began spinning at 392 miles per hour!

  The giant beak opened!

  Dozens, hundreds, thousands of cookies shot out of the beak and right into the gaping mouth of the giant eel monster!

  “Yum!” said the eel as it swallowed them all.

  The cookies kept flying and the monster kept eating and eating.

  “Can’t . . . keep . . . up . . . much . . . lon-ger . . .” groaned Robo-Dodo.

  “Hang in there!” yelled Didi.

  “More! More!” said the giant eel monster.

  “Don’t talk with your mouth full!” yelled the Queen.

  “Sorry,” said the giant eel monster with its mouth full. “It’s just that these cookies are SO good! Just like my mom used to make!”

  The cookies were still pouring out and the eel hadn’t missed one yet.

  “Mmm . . . I’m starting to feel full,” the giant eel moaned.

  “Just a little more!” yelled Didi.

  A screen started blinking. “ALERT: COOKIE LEVEL LOW!”

  “Robo-Dodo! Can you give us any more?”

  “One . . . last . . . batch . . .” wheezed Robo-Dodo. One thousand more cookies dropped onto the conveyor belt and were shot into the eel’s mouth.

  “WONDERFUL!” slobbered the monster. “I’ve almost had all I can eat. Maybe just one more?”

  “No . . . more . . .” said Robo-Dodo. It shuddered and stumbled. “Out of fuel . . . Out of coo-kies . . . Out of biz-ness . . .”

  “The daring plan just changed!” yelled Didi. “Jump! This robot is about to crash!”

  We jumped out of the hole in the roof and skated down the beak, just as Robo-Dodo began to tip backward.

  “Dim-ple-hammmmmmm . . .” Robo-Dodo groaned as it toppled over, directly onto the museum gift shop!

  Then came the horrible sounds of glass breaking, bricks crumbling, and thousands of coffee mugs smashing into bits.

  And then . . . silence. Robo-Dodo didn’t move.

  “The mighty metal dodo is no more,” said the Queen.

  “No more?” asked the giant eel monster. “You mean no more cookies? But I thought it was all-you-can-eat? I’ve got room for one more!”

  “Uh . . . sorry,” said Didi.

  “This is an outrage!” yelled the giant eel. “I’m going to give this place ZERO STARS on MonsterBook and I’m NEVER coming back again!”

  It slithered back into the sea and never came back again.

  “You did it, Didi!” I yelled. “You saved the city.”

  Didi was looking at the remains of the art museum gift shop. Robo-Dodo was lying on a heap of torn tote bags and broken coffee mugs.

  “Yes,” said Didi Dodo, “but at what cost? At what cost?”

  Epilogue

  Lots of fire trucks, police cars, and TV news vans and one presidential limo showed up.

  “What are you dumb birds doing here?” yelled the President. “This is a disaster area! Get outta here.”

  The Queen gave me and the baby chicks a ride back to the cookie shop, but Didi wouldn’t come.

  She said she had a plan, and I know better than to argue when she has a plan!

  We got back to the shop, and it was just like we had left it: with dozens and dozens of unsold cookies!

  “Uh-oh,” said the baby chicks.

  “What are we going to do with all these cookies?” asked the Queen.

  “I don’t know,” I said sadly. “I just don’t know.”

  Just then, Penguini came running in.

  “Quick, my friends! Turn on your television! Didi is on the news!”

  We turned on the TV and there she was, talking to famous TV newsperson Greta Von Hopinstop.

  “As you can see,” Greta was saying, “everyone is coming back to the city to see how much damage the sea monster has done.”

  The camera showed the bitten buildings, the busted library, the headless Cousin Yuk Yuk statue, and the smashed coffee mugs.

  “Everyone is asking the same question,” said Greta. “They are asking: How can we ever rebuild this city?”

  “Don’t worry, I have a plan,” said Didi Dodo.

  She waved her wing, she lifted her beak, and she sparkled her eyes right at the camera.

  “And what is that plan?” asked Greta Von Hopinstop.

  “I’ve repaired Robo-Dodo and reprogrammed it to make bricks to rebuild the city.”

  Robo-Dodo stomped onto the screen and opened its mouth, and a medium-size taco stand popped out. (Right on top of the President’s new limo.)

  “Hey!” neighed President Horse G. Horse angrily. “What do you think you—”

  “That will be one pen-ny,” said Robo-Dodo.

  “Wow, what a bargain!” whinnied President Horse G. Horse happily. “Does anyone have a penny they can loan me?”

  “Well,” said the reporter, “it looks like everything is going to work out just fine. But where will everybody get their cookies?”

  “At Ko-Ko Do-Do’s Coo-kie Shop, of course,” said Robo-Dodo. “He makes the best coo-kies in the ci-ty!”

  Instantly, everyone in the city started running straight for my cookie shop! They all came barging in the door, yelling and hollering for cookies.

  “Uh-oh,” said the baby chicks.

  “Keep calm,” shouted the Queen. “We’ve got plenty of leftover cookies for everybody!”

  Just then, Didi skated in.

  “Here she is!” I shouted. “It’s Didi Dodo, the daring dodo and future spy!”

  The crowd started to cheer and then stopped cheering to jump out of the way, because Didi still doesn’t know how to stop! She crashed right into the counter and double-chocolate chunk cookies flew everywhere . . . again!

  “Sorry about the cookies,” said Didi.

  “Don’t be worrying about it,” I said. “Today, you SAVED the whole cookie shop!”

  And I gave her a free cookie.

  ABOUT THE AUTHOR

  TOM ANGLEBERGER is the New York Times bestselling author of the Origami Yoda series, as well as many other books for kids. He created Koko Dodo with his wife, Cece Bell, for the Inspector Flytrap series. When that series ended, he still wanted to send Koko on some bigger adventures . . . whether Koko wanted to go or not! Visit Tom at origamiyoda.com.

  ABOUT THE ILLUSTRATOR

  JARED CHAPMAN is the author-illustrator of the bestselling Vegetables in Underwear, as well as Fruits in Suits and Pirate, Viking & Scientist. He lives in Texas. Find out more about Jared at jaredchapman.com.

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  Tom Angleberger, Robo-Dodo Rumble

 

 

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