Slurp Monster Showdown (Geronimo Stilton Spacemice #9) Read online

  Professor

  Paws

  von

  volt

  My dear mouse friends,

  Have I ever told you how much I love science

  fiction? I’ve always wanted to write incredible

  adventures set in another dimension, but I’ve never

  believed that parallel universes exist . . . until now!

  That’s because my good friend Professor Paws

  von Volt, the brilliant, secretive scientist, has

  just made an incredible discovery. Thanks to some

  mousetropic calculations, he determined that there

  are many different dimensions in time and space,

  where anything could be possible.

  The professor’s work inspired me to write this

  science fiction adventure in which my

  family and I travel through space

  in search of new worlds.

  We’re a fabumouse crew:

  the spacemice!

  I hope you enjoy this

  intergalactic adventure!

  Geronimo Stilton

  robotix

  benjamin

  stiltonix

  and

  bugsy

  wugsy

  THE SPACEMICE

  Geronimo

  stiltonix

  traP

  stiltonix

  thea

  stiltonix

  grandfather

  william

  stiltonix

  Geronimo Stilton

  SPACEMICE

  SLURP MONSTER

  SHOWDOWN

  Scholastic Inc.

  Copyright © 2015 by Edizioni Piemme S.p.A., Palazzo Mondadori, Via

  Mondadori 1, 20090 Segrate, Italy. International Rights © Atlantyca

  S.p.A. English translation © 2017 by Atlantyca S.p.A.

  The publisher does not have any control over and does not assume any

  responsibility for author or third-party websites or their content.

  GERONIMO STILTON names, characters, and related indicia are copyright,

  trademark, and exclusive license of Atlantyca S.p.A. All rights reserved.

  The moral right of the author has been asserted. Based on an original

  idea by Elisabetta Dami. www.geronimostilton.com

  Published by Scholastic Inc., Publishers since 1920,

  557 Broadway, New

  York, NY 10012. SCHOLASTIC and associated logos are trademarks

  and/or registered trademarks of Scholastic Inc.

  Stilton is the name of a famous English cheese. It is a registered trademark

  of the Stilton Cheese Makers’ Association. For more information, go to

  www.stiltoncheese.com.

  All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright

  Conventions. No part of this publication may be reproduced, transmitted,

  downloaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced

  into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by

  any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereafter

  invented, without the express written permission of the publisher. For

  information regarding permission, please contact Atlantyca S.p.A., Via

  Leopardi 8, 20123 Milan, Italy; e-mail [email protected], www.

  atlantyca.com.

  This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents

  are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and

  any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments,

  events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

  e-ISBN 978-1-338-08858-8

  Text by Geronimo Stilton

  Original title Stiltonix contro il mostro slurp

  Cover by Flavio Ferron

  Illustrations by Giuseppe Facciotto (design) and Daniele Verzini (color)

  Graphics by Francesca Sirianni

  Special thanks to Tracey West

  Translated by Julia Heim

  Interior design by Kevin Callahan/BNGO Books

  First printing 2017

  In the darkness of the farthest galaxy in

  time and space is a spaceship inhabited

  exclusively by mice.

  This fabumouse vessel is called the

  MouseStar 1, and I am its captain!

  I am Geronimo Stiltonix

  , a somewhat

  accident-prone mouse who (to tell you

  the truth) would rather be writing novels

  than steering a spaceship.

  But for now, my adventurous

  family and I are busy

  traveling around the universe

  on exciting intergalactic missions.

  THIS IS THE

  LATEST ADVENTURE

  OF THE SPACEMICE!

  an unexPlored

  Planet!

  Everything was cosmically

  calm

  when I

  woke up on my spaceship

  that morning.

  I left my cabin, whistling as I headed to the

  control room. I couldn’t wait to

  sink

  into

  my captain’s chair and munch on some

  Gorgonzola

  granola

  , but when I got

  there . . .

  Oh, excuse me

  —

  I haven’t introduced

  myself. My name is Stiltonix,

  Geronimo

  Stiltonix,

  and I am captain of the

  MouseStar 1, the most mouserific spaceship

  in the universe!

  As I was saying, as soon as I entered the

  control room, a

  thunderous

  voice hit

  my ears.

  Look

  lively!

  “Look lively, you limp lunar

  cheese sticks!” yelled my grandfather

  William Stiltonix. He was sitting in my chair,

  shouting

  orders at the whole crew.

  “Grandfather, how nice to

  see

  you,” I

  said. “What brings you to the control room?”

  “My feet, Grandson

  —

  and they’re a lot

  FASTER

  than yours!” he snapped. “You’re

  late

  for work!”

  I stammered. “B-b-but we didn’t have any

  missions

  planned today!”

  “What a lazybones!” Grandfather said. “If

  it were up to you, this spaceship would stay

  in

  orbit

  forever.”

  Before I could defend myself,

  Robotix

  , the ship’s

  robot, floated over to

  Grandfather.

  “Admiral Stiltonix,

  we’re ready!” he said.

  “We have locked in the

  coordinates

  for our

  launch into hyperspace.”

  Launch into hyperspace?

  Holey craters!

  Hearing those words made my whiskers

  tremble in fright.

  Entering hyperspace meant

  accelerating

  faster than the speed of light

  —

  which really

  does a number on my stomach!

  “Er, Grandfather, why exactly do we need

/>   to

  launch

  into hyperspace?” I asked.

  “Because we’re

  explorers

  , Grandson!”

  he replied. “I recently identified a planet all

  the way at the end of the universe. It’s named

  Mozzarellon

  , and no spacemouse has

  ever set paw on it. We will be the first to

  explore it!”

  I gulped. “The end of the universe?” That

  sounded awfully

  far away

  .

  But Grandfather had his mind made

  up. “

  Full

  speed

  ahead!

  ” he

  commanded.

  The ship lurched forward, and the

  Aaaaargh!

  Hang

  on!

  Hey!

  V

  R

  O

  O

  acceleration

  was so strong that I flew

  backward! I

  bumped

  my head on the

  floor, fainted, and began having the most

  wonderful

  dream . . .

  In my dream, I was on the beaches of the

  planet

  Tropicalix. Walking next to me

  Full

  speed

  ahead!

  Heeeelp!

  Ha,

  ha,

  ha!

  O

  O

  M

  was

  Sally

  de

  Wrench

  , the talented

  technician of the MouseStar 1

  — and also

  the most

  fascinating

  rodent in the

  galaxy . . .

  A pull on my whiskers

  jolted

  me

  awake. I opened my eyes and gasped. I wasn’t

  looking at the kind face of Sally de

  Wrench

  —

  I was looking at the goofy

  face

  of my cousin Trap!

  “Wake up, Geronimo!” he said,

  shaking

  me

  forcefully. “We’ve arrived at the planet

  Mozzarellon. It’s a

  mousetastic

  place!

  We’ve got to get out there and explore!

  Come with me right now!”

  A mousetastic place?

  Go with him?

  But why?

  the

  exPloration

  mission

  I was still

  fuzzy

  from bumping my head. I

  couldn’t

  remember what had just happened,

  and I didn’t

  understand

  what Trap

  was talking about. But I knew one thing for

  sure: I didn’t want to do it!

  Trap grabbed me by the

  paws

  and got me back

  on my feet.

  “Cousin, what

  is this all about?”

  I snapped.

  “I’ll

  show

  you,”

  he replied.

  He led me to the

  Come on,

  Geronimo!

  large

  monitor

  and showed me a planet

  as white as

  milk

  , surrounded by a cosmic

  cloud.

  “It’s the planet

  Mozzarellon

  !” he told

  me. “While you fainted, we launched into

  hyperspace and entered the planet’s

  ORBIT

  !”

  Then Trap typed into a keyboard and

  an encyclopedia entry popped up. “Look!

  From the Encyclopedia Galactica

  MOZZARELLON

  This planet is known for its milky-white

  color. It has never been explored by

  spacemice, but visual data confirm

  that the surface is covered in wild

  mozzarella shrubs. Space probes have

  shown that the surface is soft and gummy.

  The planet’s inhabitants, the cheesix,

  appear to resemble balls of mozzarella

  cheese.

  There’s

  wild

  mozzarella

  growing on the planet. We have to go check

  it out!”

  Suddenly, I

  remembered

  Grandfather

  William’s plans to

  explore

  the planet. I

  was trying to gather my thoughts when Trap

  interrupted me.

  “Come on, Ger!” he urged, pushing me

  into the teleportation room. “The

  Teletransportix

  is ready

  to teleport us to the planet’s

  surface! By lunchtime we’ll

  be

  enjoying

  the

  first wild mozzarella

  in space!”

  “Wait just one

  minute,” I protested. “No

  mouse has ever set paw on

  Mozzarellon

  before.

  We need to do some

  tests

  before we

  go down there. There could be CALACTIC

  GERMS, or

  cosmic bacteria

  , or

  space

  microbes

  . . .”

  My voice trailed off when the doors

  of the

  room

  opened up, and in stepped

  Sally

  de

  Wrench

  !

  Glittering galaxies

  , she was even

  more fascinating

  in person!

  I didn’t want her

  to see how

  nervous

  I was, so I turned

  to Trap and

  spoke in my

  most captain-

  like voice.

  “Cousin, I

  would be happy

  Come

  on,

  Cousin!

  I’m

  sorry,

  but

  I

  have

  to

  work!

  to accompany you on your exploration

  mission, but as

  captain

  of this spaceship

  I must stay here and do some important

  captain business!”

  “But every

  exploration mission

  needs two rodents,” Trap said. “How will I

  do it alone?”

  Then something happened that I did not

  expect

  at all.

  Sally stepped

  forward. “Trap, I

  will go with you,”

  she said.

  Cheesy

  comets!

  Was the

  rodent of

  my dreams

  about to go

  Hey,

  but

  .

  .

  .

  on an exploration mission with my cousin,

  without me?

  Was this a bad joke? A

  nightmare? A horror film?

  “Please,

  wait

  until we can do some tests,”

  I said, but Trap and Sally ignored me. The

  two

  adventurous

  rodents were

  so eager to explore Mozzarellon! They

  stepped into the Teletransportix and

  entered the planet’s coordinates. Then they

  dematerialized

  right before my eyes! />
  I

  stared

  at the empty Teletransportix for a

  few minutes, blinking. Then I headed back

  to the control room.

  So far, my morning was

  stinking

  worse than rotten cheese!

  Code yellow!

  I

  slumped

  back to the control room,

  disappointed in myself. I was worried that

  I had looked like a

  scaredy-rat

  in

  front of Sally!

  To make matters

  worse

  , Grandfather

  William started yelling at me.

  “What are you doing here, Grandson?” he

  asked. “You should be on

  Mozzarellon

  !”

  I sighed. “I just think we should test for

  space bacteria

  , and . . .”

  “Tests take too much time!” said my sister,

  Thea. “I can’t wait to get down there!”

  “Really?” I asked.

  Thea nodded. “I want to ride my

  SPACE

  MOTORCYCLE

  on the surface!”

  “Did you hear that, you

  cheese

  loaf

  ?”

  Did

  you

  hear

  that?

  But

  I

  .

  .

  .

  Grandpa asked. “Thea has the spirit

  of a

  true captain

  !”

  Red

  with embarrassment, I walked

  over to my nephew Benjamin.

  He was watching Trap and Sally’s mission

  on one of the

  screens

  in the control

  room.

  Benjamin

  SMILED

  at me. “Uncle, don’t be

  worried

  about exploring Mozzarellon.

  Bugsy and I will go with you when you’re

  done

  testing

  for space bacteria.”

  Galactic Gouda

  , he is such a sweet

  little nephew!

  I watched the screen with him. Trap

  and Sally were walking inside a shallow

  crater

  .

  “Look! They found the

  wild

  mozzarella

  shrubs!” Benjamin

  cried.

  The crew gathered around us,

  curious

  .

  Starry space dust, it was true! Growing

  inside the crater were

  strange

  space

  plants that had plump balls of mozzarella

  growing on their branches!

  Professor Greenfur

  , the

  ship’s scientist, nodded his head. “Now