Rocket & Liftoff – The Bedlam Bugs

by Jon Ireland

  ‘What do you think you’re doing?’ chastised Hoppy. ‘What’s got into you?! I told you to wait at the top!’

  The little dinosaur signalled for Hoppy to look up. The giant spiders were crawling all above them.

  ‘Oh,’ said Hoppy, eyeing up the oncoming creepers. ‘They don’t look friendly. We better move and fast.’

  To the left of them was a rock ledge, extruding several feet out over the ravine, and just about big enough for the two of them to stand on.

  ‘Over there,’ said Hoppy, pointing.

  Hoppy helped Tinysaur clamber along the rocks and onto the ledge.

  ‘Do you think you can climb down from here?’

  Tinysaur poked her head over the edge and stared down at the river below. It was a drop of several hundred feet. She covered her eyes with her tiny paws and shook her head.

  ‘Ouch!’ Hoppy suddenly felt a sharp sting in her left shoulder. One of the giant spiders had jumped and landed on her back, taking her by surprise.

  Instantly, she swatted it away, sending it flying down the ravine.

  ‘Make sure they don’t touch you – they’ve got stingers. We’ve got to get away from here.’

  As soon as she’d said that, ten more of them appeared at the back of the ledge. Then ten more to the right and ten more to the left.

  Giant spiders everywhere.

  They were trapped!

  Chapter 4 – Holding on for dear life

  Three giant spiders leapt together at Hoppy but this time she saw them. With one chop of her right arm and a kick with her left boot, she knocked the spiders flying.

  HEEYAH!

  Two of the creepers went after Tinysaur, who growled at them menacingly. Tinysaur flicked her tail and skilfully brushed them off the ledge and into the river.

  Hoppy backflipped over five more spiders, and swept her foot in a circle like a whip, flinging several more over the side.

  ‘YEOW!’ howled Hoppy as she was stung again, this time on her left foot. ‘That hurt!’

  She stomped on top of the spider and crushed it.

  More giant spiders began to emerge. They were coming from all directions.

  ‘There’s too many of them,’ cried Hoppy, ‘I can’t hold them off any longer. Take my hand, Tinysaur.’

  She held her right hand out to Tinysaur who took hold of it with both her paws.

  ‘You’re going to have to trust me. This sounds crazy but I’m going to throw you onto the other side of the ravine!’

  Tinysaur’s eyes widened. But before she could do anything about it, Hoppy lifted her from the ground and swung her round and around preparing her for launch.

  Tinysaur yelped!

  ‘Get ready! 3 – 2 – 1!’

  She was off.

  Flying through the air like a tossed pancake, Tinysaur went from one side of the ravine up and over to the other.

  WHEEEEE!

  Landing with a thud, and then skidding on grass and into a bush, she made it to the other side.

  Hoppy was left on the rock ledge, now swarming with spiders.

  ‘Here I go,’ said Hoppy as she took one step back and two fast steps forward. Using all her strength she leapt out over the ravine.

  Several of the spiders immediately tried to spring after her.

  ‘Yowch!’

  One of the spiders managed to grab on to her trailing ankle while the others missed and fell.

  Now she couldn’t jump far enough!

  Her arms flung wildly but, with a bit of luck, Hoppy managed to grab onto an overhanging tree branch on the other side of the ravine. Then in one smooth motion, she swung herself around the branch, flicked off the last clinging spider and let go, catapulting herself up and over the cliff edge to end up gracefully landing beside Tinysaur.

  ‘Phew!’ gasped Hoppy. ‘I’ve never seen anything like them! Did you see the way they moved? They didn’t act like real spiders – more like machines!’

  Tinysaur whimpered and Hoppy patted her on the head reassuringly.

  ‘Something bad is brewing,’ said Hoppy ominously, ‘and I don’t mean one of Liftoff’s cabbage soups.’

  * * *

  Somewhere deep in the Forever Forest, perched at the top of an extremely tall pine tree, and hanging on for dear life, was a large orange-shelled tortoise wearing a matching orange helmet. His name was Shelly. And he was keeping as far away as possible from an odd-looking bunch of robots that stood by the foot of the tree.

  ‘You metal morons!’ shouted one of the robots called Klump. He was fuming at the other robots beside him. ‘How did you let Shelly get up in the tree? How are we going to get him down now?’

  Klump was a boxy, dull grey-coloured robot, built like an old-fashioned computer, with two arms and four small wheels. He had two gold stars above each of his shoulders and he seemed to be the leader of the gang.

  Next to him was a hovering ball-shaped robot with long arms and a moustache. His name was Hover and he had one gold star.

  Then there was a little three-wheeled cone-shaped robot, with two binocular eyes called Zoom.

  And finally, the biggest of them all was a muscular robot shaped like a wrestler. This one was called Basher, and he was the brawn of the bunch.

  ‘I’m going to be in a heap load of trouble if I don’t take you back to Doctor Mischief,’ said Klump, shuddering at the mere mention of his boss’s name. ‘You have to come down.’

  ‘No, I’m staying here,’ replied Shelly, holding tightly to the tip of his pine tree. ‘Besides, I don’t want to talk to her. I’m too busy!’

  ‘Busy!’ shrieked Klump, ‘You’re up a tree!’

  ‘I’m searching for a new breed of insect,’ said Shelly matter-of-factly.

  Hover, the floating robot ball, grunted and snorted, and Zoom, the little one, chirped something that only the robots could understand.

  ‘Basher, you’ll have to try and push the tree over,’ said Klump, pointing first at the big muscled robot and then at the pine’s trunk.

  Basher shrugged his broad shoulders and stepped up to the tree. He put both his huge arms around the trunk and then proceeded to push with all his strength.

  ‘Heave!’ groaned Basher.

  But no matter how long or hard Basher shoved and pushed, the tree wouldn’t be toppled.

  ‘Give it a shake,’ ordered Klump. ‘We’ll shake the tortoise off his perch!’

  Basher changed his stance a little and then forcefully tried to wobble the tree back and forth. This was a more effective approach and the top of the tree swayed quite considerably.

  Shelly gripped on for dear life as he was tossed back and forth on the swinging branch.

  ‘That’s it!’ cried Klump with a devious smile. ‘You’re doing it, Basher! Keep going! He’s falling off!’

  Several twigs and pine cones dropped to the ground but Shelly’s grip was stronger than expected and he wasn’t letting go.

  All of a sudden, one of the larger pine cones came loose and dropped directly onto Klump’s head.

  DONG!

  ‘YEOW!’ cried Klump. ‘Stop! Stop! STOP! Stop shaking the tree! I’m getting more hurt than he is!’

  Basher took his big hydraulic arms off the tree trunk, stepped back and inspected the damage.

  Shelly was still at the top of the tree.

  ‘Somebody will have to climb up and get him!’ snapped Klump. ‘One of you lot, get up there!’

  Basher and Hover looked at each other in despair.

  ‘I’m too big to climb,’ said Basher in a deep, slow voice. ‘Hover can’t get more than six foot of the ground. And Zoom doesn’t even have arms.’

  Zoom chirped and nodded. Hover grunted in agreement.

  Klump slouched to the floor and covered his head with both hands. ‘I’m a failure!’ he said, ‘I can’t even catch a tortoise. I can’t do anything! I’m really gonna get it from Doctor Mischief this time.’

  Basher whispered to Hover, ‘Dr Mischief will be real mad a
t Klump if he turns up without Shelly. I wouldn’t want to be on his four wheels when she finds out.’

  Hover hovered next to the deflated Klump and gave him a reassuring pat on the back.

  Zoom gave a sympathetic series of beeps.

  ‘I can’t go back to the Doctor without Shelly. We’ll just have to wait for him to come down,’ said Klump. ‘Did you hear that Shelly? We’re not going anywhere until you come down!’

  Chapter 5 – The rescue

  ‘What’s the matter?’ asked Hoppy.

  They were on their way home to the Tree House, when Tinysaur had started yapping furiously at Hoppy. She gave a series of short barks and growls.

  ‘Oh dear,’ said Hoppy, understanding Tinysaur’s dino-language, ‘Shelly’s calling for help? I hope it’s not more of those spiders.’

  Tinysaur sniffed the air and pointed her nose to one side, indicating the direction of the calls.

  ‘Yap, yap, grrr!’.

  ‘You lead the way.’

  Ten minutes running later, Tinysaur had led Hoppy to a clearing in the forest, an open area of high grass with just a single huge pine tree in the centre.

  ‘I see something,’ whispered Hoppy. ‘Look – it’s the robots. Klump, Basher, Hover and Zoom. What are they doing this far into the forest?’

  Tinysaur whimpered and lifted her nose in the direction of the top of the lone pine tree.

  ‘It’s Shelly,’ whispered Hoppy, spotting the tortoise’s distinct orange shell clinging to the highest branch. ‘They’ve trapped him! Those mean robots.’

  Hoppy and Tinysaur kept themselves hidden behind a large bush while listening in on the odd-looking robots conversation.

  ‘You’ll have to come down sooner or later,’ shouted Klump up to Shelly. ‘If I don’t bring you to her, Doctor Mischief will have my microchips crushed to micro-mash!’

  ‘I’m not going with you,’ replied Shelly. ‘Now let me down before I miss my three-o-clock cup of tea.’

  Hoppy looked at Tinysaur; ‘We need to rescue him. But how are we going to get past those robots? I need some kind of a distraction...’

  She glanced side to side until she spotted a large branch on the forest floor.

  ‘Maybe I can use that,’ said Hoppy. But before she had a chance to try, Tinysaur had already vanished.

  ‘Tinysaur!’

  Tinysaur was scampering across the grass to the robots, barking furiously at Klump who in shock, leapt up on all four wheels.

  ‘Argghhh!,’ Klump cried out, ‘Get this reptile away from me! Hover, Basher! Get her!’

  Hover glided over to the small dinosaur, reaching out his metal arms to grab her, but Tinysaur slipped under his grip and escaped. In a spin, Hover accidentally flew straight into Klump and they bumped heads.

  DOING!

  Hover rubbed his round head and winced.

  ‘You tin-can klutz!’ reprimanded Klump. There was a big dent in his metal forehead. ‘Someone get that dinosaur!’

  Basher bent over to grab her, but the little dinosaur zipped under Basher’s big legs. The giant robot lost balance, toppled forward and squished his face into the dirt.

  Klump was fuming.

  ‘Get up from there and after her. All of you! Track her down!’

  Hoppy was about to leap into action when she saw Tinysaur race to the other side of the clearing and dive into the forest undergrowth.

  Clever girl!

  With her green skin, Tinysaur would be extremely hard to spot in the trees. The perfect camouflage.

  Klump was now left all alone to guard the tree.

  ‘Hey, Klump!’ called out Hoppy.

  Hoppy suddenly appeared right behind him and tapped Klump on the shoulder.

  ‘Why don’t you pick on someone your own size.’

  Klump spun around in alarm. ‘What? I’m doing nothing,’ he spluttered. ‘I’m not picking on anyone!’

  Hoppy pointed a finger up to his face and eye-balled him.

  ‘Don’t tell fibs, Klump! Shelly’s up in that tree and you’re bullying him.’

  ‘I am not!’

  ‘Oh yes you are,’ said Hoppy. She pushed her finger onto his forehead, making him stumble backwards on his tiny wheels. ‘Not so tough now that you don’t have Basher or Hover protecting you.’

  Klump’s eyes searched for his robot entourage but they were no where to be seen. He widened his mouth into a cowardly smile. ‘We were just hanging around, chilling out, having a picnic.’

  Shelly’s voice called down from above, ‘You’ve kept me stuck up this tree for the last two hours!’

  ‘Oh who’s that up there? What a surprise!’ Klump said, feigning ignorance. ‘Goodness me, I didn’t even notice you were there,’ he lied.

  Shelly began to climb down. At the lowest branch he hopped off, scrunched himself into a tight ball, rolled onto the grass and then popped up onto two feet.

  ‘Thank you, Hoppy,’ Shelly said simply. ‘I’m going home. I’m late as it is.’

  And with that, he walked into the forest and disappeared.

  Hoppy glared at Klump.

  ‘Do that again and I’ll knock your block off! You hear me?’

  Klump cringed.

  Hoppy took a few steps, acrobatically back-flipped and then ran after Shelly.

  Klump stood alone in the clearing, aghast.

  ‘Yap, yap, yap!’

  Tinysaur raced past Klump, knocking him with his tail and sending the boxy robot tumbling over on one side.

  SPLAT!

  ‘What have you done to me?!’ whimpered Klump who had one wheel bent and sticking up in the air. ‘Somebody get me out of here! I’m stuck in a cow pat!’

  ‘Good girl,’ Hoppy said, grinning as Tinysaur came running to meet her.

  Shelly smiled and gave Tinysaur a big thumbs up. ‘Thank you for the rescue. Those robot rascals! Always up to no good.’

  Hoppy waved them onwards. ‘They’ll never find us once we’re in deep into the Forest. Let’s go!’

  And with that, the three animal friends, dashed safely into the Forever Forest, far from Klump and his daft robots.

  Chapter 6 – The watcher in the shadows

  While Rocket was rubbing his chin, contemplating their next move, Liftoff was replacing the squashed pink tulips in his bag with white daffodils.

  ‘We should look for the others,’ said Rocket thoughtfully. ‘Let’s go check the Tree house.’

  ‘Shouldn’t we have lunch first?’ asked Liftoff, distracted by hunger pangs. ‘All this excitement has made me a bit peckish.’

  ‘You’re thinking about food while the Island is in danger!’

  ‘Huh?’ said Liftoff. ‘What danger?’

  ‘That fire ball! The missile that chased me!’

  ‘Oh right, sure, I guess that was pretty dangerous,’ said Liftoff, thinking about it again.

  ‘Who knows what other dangers are out there? Who knows what’s round the corner? It could be a matter of life and death!’

  Liftoff paused to think about it.

  ‘We could pick up some fish on the way,’ said Liftoff.

  Just the mention of fish was all the excuse Rocket needed to become distracted.

  ‘No harm in doing a bit of fishing first I suppose. As long as we don’t take too long. And I do need to pick up some fruit. I am feeling a bit weak after all that running.’

  Agreeing to have lunch first before going on any adventure, the two heroes chose the forest path leading to their favourite fishing lake.

  As they strolled together along the dirt track, they relived the strange events of the morning. It certainly hadn’t been a typical day.

  ‘I suppose it was Mischief and the robots up to no good again,’ said Liftoff.

  ‘Even for them, it’s awfully mean,’ said Rocket. ‘Besides, I’ve never known them to use those kind of lethal weapons. They usually want to catch us, not kill us!’

  ‘Then who did it?’

  ‘It’s a mystery...’ Roc
ket said. He noticed a bush off to the side of the track. ‘Blueberries! Don’t mind me while I do some fruit picking.’

  ‘I don’t see what the fuss is about. They’re so tiny. Those little berries wouldn’t fill me up at all. I don’t know why you even bother.’

  ‘You know how I get super tired if I don’t eat fruit. These blueberries are perfect for carrying as a snack. It won’t take me long.’

  Rocket walked over to the blueberry bush which was covered in clusters of sweet juicy berries. He harvested a few of the best ones and placed them in the leather pouches tied to his belt.

  ‘Come on, get a move on,’ shouted Liftoff. ‘What’s taking you so long?’

  Liftoff was holding the bunny from his satchel and he put it close to his right ear.

  ‘Bunny says he’s hungry and wants to get moving!’

  ‘Okay, okay, I’m done,’ said Rocket, leaving the bush and rejoining his friend.

  No sooner had they started walking again when Rocket stopped in his tracks.

  ‘Shhh,’ hushed Rocket, putting a finger to his lips and placing the other hand in front of Liftoff. He whispered, ‘Did you hear that?’

  ‘Hear what?’ replied Liftoff blankly.

  ‘That!’ said Liftoff. ‘That whining noise. Like a humming, whirring noise. Listen...’

  ‘I can’t hear anything.’

  ‘Over there,’ said Rocket, his ears pricked up. He pointed to the right.

  Liftoff squinted, trying to spot something. He shook his head. ‘I don’t see anything.’

  ‘Now there,’ said Rocket, spinning around. ‘There!’ He changed position again and pointed to his left. ‘Whatever it is, it’s moving!’

  ‘Are you sure it isn’t just the wind? Remember that time you thought the air had been poisoned? But then you realised I’d just been cooking my cabbage soup special.’

  ‘It did smell toxic... but this time is different. Something’s watching us,’ whispered Rocket. ‘And I’m going to find out who.’

  Pulling out a handful of the fresh berries from his pocket, Rocket gobbled them and within seconds his tummy was glowing bright orange. Then his thighs, then his knees, calves and finally his feet and toes burned red hot.

  ‘Stay right here,’ said Rocket. And before Liftoff could blink Rocket had disappeared.

  As Rocket sped away from Liftoff in search of the mystery spy, the world around Rocket changed into ultra-slow motion. A leaf that was falling to the ground appeared to levitate in the same spot. Drips of water from the tree branches looked like icicles. A seagull flying above them seemed to hover mid-flap.