by Steve Cole
“Escape through the sewers, Captain!” Iggy raised his fists. “I’ll delay them for as long as I can!”
But the guards pulled out their guns. With a dozen ray-blasts they knocked rocks from the wall behind them, causing a cave-in that blocked off the sewer tunnel. Herdlip squeaked and held up his hands – Teggs, Gipsy and Iggy reluctantly did the same.
Now the swaddled figure straightened up to his full, imposing height. He shrugged off the blankets and tossed the squelchy rubber bottles to the ground. His swollen face looked like someone had inflated it with a bicycle pump – but then he spat on his hands and wiped off the mumpy-bumpy disguise to reveal cruel, aristocratic croc-like features underneath.
“Just when we thought things couldn’t get any worse,” breathed Gipsy. “Here he is at last – Prince Poota.”
Teggs nodded grimly. “And it seems he’s got us well and truly trapped!”
Chapter Nine
SPLASH IT ALL OVER
“Hi, fans!” Poota said with a cheesy grin. “Yes, it’s me – Prince Pellito Poota. But perhaps you’d prefer to call me Soon-to-be-King Pellito Poota, the priceless pin-up who’ll make all plant-eaters perish!”
“How about we call you Putrid Prince Poopy-Pants?” Iggy suggested.
Teggs nodded. “You looked better with your make-up on.”
“Aha, but I have changed my plans,” said Poota triumphantly, “now that I know about Herdlip’s monster problem.”
“How did you find out?” demanded Iggy.
“Dear, devoted Donkle has a secret microphone hidden up his nostril,” Poota explained. “Thanks to him I’ve overheard every word you’ve said – you could say that I nose everything!” His little joke was met with silence. Poota flashed a warning look at the guards, and they quickly burst out laughing. “That’s better.”
“Where is Donkle, anyway?” asked Gipsy.
“On his way to the royal bedchamber,” Poota replied. “Now his head’s feeling better, he can help to guard my sickly uncle – along with that idiot Griffen and your friend Arx.”
“Oh, no,” Teggs groaned. “You heard me tell Arx to take King Jeck and Griffen back to Herdlip’s bedroom, didn’t you?”
“And my guards captured all three of them the moment they appeared!” Poota chuckled. “But it is your own fate that should concern you. King Jeck is nearly dead, and I shall soon be king. My first act will be to send you back home full of Herbicarnus-X – so that all veggie dinos will mutate into mindless, meat-guzzling monsters!”
“We haven’t caught Herdlip’s rotten germs yet,” said Iggy defiantly.
“And I haven’t drunk that potion he gave me,” Poota retorted, pulling the beaker from a pouch on his belt. “So I’m going to splash it all over the three of you instead. It will change you just as it has changed him.”
The astrosaurs looked at each other helplessly.
“By wiping all plant-eaters from the face of the Jurassic Quadrant, I shall become the greatest carnivore king in all history,” breathed Poota. He did a little dance in excitement. “My praises shall be sung from Raptos to Teerex Major. I bet I’ll even be voted Most Dashing Meat-Muncher of the year!”
“I doubt it,” said Teggs. “As far as I can see, you’re just a big drip!”
With that, the six-ton stegosaurus suddenly leaped through the air and landed on a pile of Poota’s discarded hot-water bottles. The plugs popped out and water slooshed through the air, drenching Poota completely. He spluttered in outrage and slipped over onto his bum.
At the same moment, while Herdlip cowered in a corner, Iggy and Gipsy burst into action.
Iggy pounced on two of the guards and banged their heads together, while Gipsy knocked down three more baryonyx with some dynamic dino-judo jabs. Teggs curled up and rolled about the dungeon like a spiky, self-propelled wrecking ball, scattering the remaining guards. “Let’s get out of here!” he shouted.
Iggy and Gipsy hustled Herdlip out of the dungeon and rushed after Teggs through the dark stone corridors.
“We must get to the Sauropod and take off,” Herdlip cried, scurrying along behind the others.
“Not without Arx,” said Iggy flatly, and Gipsy nodded.
“Besides, our mission was to make King Jeck well again,” Teggs puffed. He could already hear dozens of heavy footfalls behind them as Poota and his guards gave chase. “We must get to the king’s bedchamber – Prince Poota kept your potion, Herdlip. Perhaps he still has those tablets you gave him.”
“But now Jeck is a prisoner too,” Gipsy reminded him. “Along with Arx and Griffen!”
“So let’s set them free!” Teggs skidded to a halt, pointing down a side passage. “Look! The royal bedroom is through those golden double doors. Let’s surprise any guards waiting inside . . .”
Teggs, Iggy and Gipsy ran at top speed, ready to shoulder-charge the heavy doors. But just as the astrosaurs were about to hit them, the doors were pulled open!
“Whooaaaaaa!” All three of them lost their balance and went tumbling into the smoky room, finishing up in a tangled heap on the floor.
Teggs noticed Herdlip’s little pillbox lying beside a solid-gold hat stand, forgotten on the floor. If he could only reach it . . .
“Don’t move, twig-gobblers.” Teggs glanced back and saw Sergeant Donkle sniggering in the doorway, holding Herdlip in a neck-lock and waving a communicator. “Poota warned me you’d escaped. He said me you might come here, so I was ready to trick you.”
“Captain!” cried a familiar voice.
Teggs looked to his left – and saw Arx being held at gunpoint by four more guards. On the king’s grand bed, Jeck and Griffen lay tied up and helpless, both staring angrily at Teggs.
“Donkle told us that Herdlip’s ‘special herbal drink’ is a poisonous potion that turns any carnivore into a plant-eater,” hissed Griffen.
“Can this be true?” croaked Jeck.
“I’m afraid so,” said Teggs quietly. “But I promise, we didn’t know.”
“A likely story!” Prince Poota stood dripping in the doorway, eight slightly battered guards just behind him. “But who cares? The important thing is, Herdlip’s potion works the other way round too.”
“It’s true,” moaned Herdlip bitterly. “Twice now, I’ve turned into a carnivore – and when the third change comes, I will remain that way for ever.”
“Indeed.” Poota chuckled and pulled out his flask of Herbicarnus-X. “In the meantime, one splash of this will soon turn Captain Dregs and his boring buddies into savage, bone-crunching beasts as well!” He pulled out the cork. “Prepare to kiss your plant-eating past goodbye, astrosaurs! You’ll soon be eating each other!”
Chapter Ten
THE END OF THE CURSE
“Wait!” Herdlip shouted, clutching at his throat. A cloud of green smoke burst from his bottom, and Donkle fell back, choking. “Oh, help! It-it’s starting to happen . . . the final change!”
“The point of no return,” said Teggs grimly. “No need to splash us now, Poota – we will all catch Herdlip’s carnivore germs anyway!”
Arx’s guards and those behind Poota pointed their guns at Herdlip, but the prince shook his head. “Don’t shoot him yet,” he hissed. “Wait till he has fully transformed. Let the plant-eaters behold the fate that awaits them and all their kind!”
Astrosaurs and baryonyx alike stared in horrified amazement as the terrifying transformation took hold. Herdlip’s purple scales turned green. He reared up on his back legs as his body inflated and his head turned spiky. His teeth and claws grew long and pointed, and his eyes began to glow.
Arx pulled away from his incredulous guards and threw himself at Poota’s feet. “Please, great Prince, I beg you,” he moaned. “Don’t let me change into a monster! Let me be your slave instead.”
“Arx!” Teggs frowned. “Pull yourself together!”
“I’ll do anything, sweet Poota,” Arx went on. “Save me!”
“Ha!” Poota sneered down at the tremb
ling triceratops. “See how this weakling pleads with me for his life!”
“Yep,” Arx agreed. “This ‘weakling’ just needed to get close enough to do this!”
And suddenly, in a blur of horns and hoofs, he butted Poota in the stomach and snatched the potion away! Poota staggered backward, tripped over the still-choking Donkle and crashed into his guards, knocking most of them to the floor.
The startled guards still standing aimed their ray-guns at Arx. “Don’t think so!” Teggs shouted, and whacked the nearest baryonyx with his spiky tail. Iggy punched another, and Gipsy high-kicked the other two clear over the bed! They landed in a heap at the back of the room. Meanwhile, clutching the precious potion to his chest, Arx took on the rest of Poota’s guards in horn-to-claw combat and sent them scattering.
But a horrifying howl signalled that Herdlip’s transformation was now complete. The mild-mannered dinosaur had become a towering, snarling, spitting terror. His eyes were fiery red, his claws were longer than ever, and his cavernous jaws were crammed with flesh-shredding teeth. He roared at the astrosaurs, searching out a target.
Then he lunged towards Arx . . .
“Look out!” Teggs cried. “Herdlip can’t control himself any longer!”
The monster’s mouth stretched wide ready to bite the triceratops – and Arx sloshed the contents of the flask inside! With a spluttering roar, Herdlip broke off his attack and reeled across the room. He stuck out his green tongue and belched like a foghorn. His scaly skin turned first blue, then orange, then livid red, smoking as if he was burning inside.
“What’s happening?” Gipsy shouted, dodging Herdlip’s flailing tail.
“Keep away from him,” Arx yelled back, watching in fascination.
“I wish I could!” Teggs said, as Herdlip stamped a spiky foot mere millimetres from the little pillbox. “But if I don’t get the King’s real medicine right now it could be too late!”
Teggs dived over the monster’s thrashing tail and did a forward roll, grabbing for the tiny container. But Herdlip’s other foot slammed down beside Teggs’s head, and the shock waves knocked the box further away. Teggs slithered after it, but the belching, bellowing creature kicked Jeck’s solid gold hat-stand over. CLUNK! It hit Teggs on the head. The room began to spin around him. Desperately, he stretched out his arm, groping blindly . . . and grasped the pillbox just as Herdlip picked him up and hurled him across the room.
“I’ve heard of flying doctors, but this is ridiculous!” Teggs cried, opening the pillbox as he zoomed through the air. “Your Majesty, quick – open wide!”
And just as he sailed over Jeck’s bed, Teggs dropped two tablets down the king’s throat! With an astonished gurgle, the old baryonyx swallowed them.
“Quick, catch the captain!” Iggy shouted to Arx.
“I think Prince Poota and his guards are going to catch him,” said Arx. “And for once, that’s a good thing!”
Sure enough, Teggs had a soft landing on top of Poota, Donkle and half a dozen other guards. After a muffled chorus of OOF!s the baryonyx baddies could say no more.
“Look at Herdlip!” Gipsy cried suddenly. “He’s changed back to normal!”
“She’s right!” said Iggy. Herdlip was still steaming and hiccupping a bit, but was his old, small, sellosaurus self again.
Teggs stared at Arx. “Did you know that would happen?”
“You heard Poota, Captain.” Arx was looking pleased with himself. “Herdlip invented Herbicarnus-X to turn carnivores into plant-eaters.”
Gipsy got his meaning. “And it was only when Herdlip changed for the third and final time that his carnivore condition became permanent.”
“Exactly!” Arx smiled. “I gambled that once he became a true carnivore, another dose of Herbicarnus-X would shock his system back to normal. All we have to do now is keep him tucked away until we’re sure he is completely cured!”
“Brilliant!” Iggy helped Herdlip back up. “How are you feeling?”
“I’m feeling sorry,” said Herdlip. He waddled up to Griffen and Jeck, and quickly untied their ropes. “Truly, very sorry. I realize now what a terrible thing I nearly did.”
“Too right, you snivelling stem-nibbler!” Griffen grabbed Herdlip angrily by the arm. “You think saying sorry can make things better?”
“N-n-n-no,” Herdlip stammered. “But for starters, I will share my cure for Ribchomper’s Mump-Bumps with all meat-eaters, free of charge – so no carnivore will ever suffer from this dreadful illness again.”
“That is a kind offer, Herdlip,” King Jeck declared, sitting up with a faint sparkle in his eyes. “Your cure is certainly good stuff, I feel much better already! Do put him down, Griffen.”
“Yes, Your Majesty.” Griffen bowed his head and let Herdlip go.
Teggs felt something wriggle under his bottom and lifted a cheek. It was Poota. “No uncle, you must destroy them!” he pleaded. “They planned to change us into plant-eating pansies. They planned to wipe out our way of life.”
“Only one plant-eater planned to do that,” Jeck declared. “Just as only one baryonyx – you, Poota – planned to do the same to them.” He looked at Teggs and his astrosaurs and nodded. “I shall never forget how bravely you’ve all fought to put things right.”
Teggs saluted him. “Admiral Rosso and the entire Dinosaur Space Service will be very pleased to know you’re getting better.”
“And now I shall arrange for two more ships to escort you safely back to your own side of space.” Jeck sighed. “It seems that both our peoples have centuries of hate and mistrust to overcome before there can ever be peace.”
“True.” Teggs smiled. “But with wise rulers like you around, perhaps one day it will happen.”
“As someone who’s been both a plant-eater and a carnivore, from now on I’m going to do all I can to make that happen!” Dr Herdlip declared.
Griffen nodded. “And I am going to make sure that Poota and his team of traitors are sent to the smelliest dungeons on the whole planet.” He smiled nastily. “As soon as I’ve upheld a very important baryonyx tradition, that is. Captain Teggs, if you would excuse me?”
Teggs climbed off Poota and stood back – allowing Griffen to conk the fallen prince on the head with his tail. With a dizzy groan, Poota sank back to the floor.
Jeck beamed approvingly. “That’s my annoying nephew sent off to dreamland.”
“With his dreams of being the perfect king well and truly over,” Arx added.
“And now that we’ve cured two different kinds of Carnivore Curse in one day,” said Teggs, “I think it’s time we also healed the Herbivore Hunger.”
Gipsy, Iggy and Arx gave him puzzled smiles. “The what?”
“It’s a desperate need I often get for a brand-new, super-exciting adventure!” Teggs grinned at his friends. “Luckily, with a crew like you, a ship like the Sauropod and a crazy cosmos like ours, I know that the perfect cure is never far away – so let’s go and find it!”
THE END
About the Author
Born in 1971, Steve Cole spent a happy childhood in rural Bedfordshire being loud and aspiring to amuse. He liked books, and so went to the University of East Anglia to read more of them. Later on he started writing them too, with titles ranging from pre-school poetry to Young Adult thrillers (with more TV and film tie-ins than he cares to admit to along the way). In other careers he has been the editor of Noddy magazine, and an editor of fiction and nonfiction book titles for various publishers. He is the author of the hugely successful Astrosaurs, Cows in Action, Astrosaurs Academy and Slime Squad series.
ALSO BY STEVE COLE:
Read all the adventures of Teggs, Gipsy, Arx and Iggy!
1 Riddle of the Raptors
2 The Hatching Horror
3 The Seas of Doom
4 The Mind-Swap Menace
5 The Skies of Fear
6 The Space Ghosts
7 Day of the Dino-Droids
8 The Terror-Bird Trap
> 9 The Planet of Peril
10 The Star Pirates
11 The Claws of Christmas
12 The Sun-Snatchers
13 Revenge of the Fang
14 The Carnivore Curse
15 The Dreams of Dread
16 The Robot Raiders
17 The Twist of Time
18 The Sabre-Tooth Secret
19 The Forest of Evil
20 Earth Attack!
21 The T. Rex Invasion
22 The Castle of Frankensaur
Read all the adventures of Teggs, Blink and Dutch at the Astrosaurs Academy!
1 Destination: Danger!
2 Contest Carnage!
3 Terror Underground!
4 Jungle Horror!
5 Deadly Drama!
6 Christmas Crisis!
7 Volcano Invaders!
8 Space Kidnap!
Meet the time-travelling cows!
1 The Ter-moo-nators
2 The Moo-my’s Curse
3 The Roman Moo-stery
4 The Wild West Moo-nster
5 World War Moo
6 The Battle for Christmoos
7 The Pirate Moo-tiny
8 The Moo-gic of Merlin
9 The Victorian Moo-ders
10 The Moo-lympic Games
11 First Cows on the Moon
12 The Viking Emoo-gency
If you can’t take the slime, don’t do the crime!
1 The Fearsome Fists
2 The Toxic Teeth
3 The Cyber-Poos
4 The Supernatural Squid
5 The Killer Socks
6 The Last-Chance Chicken
7 The Alligator Army
8 The Conquering Conks
Visit www.stevecolebooks.co.uk for fun, games, jokes, to meet the characters and much, much more!
