by Steve Cole
Plog rounded on Marvin and Maynard. “How did you get me and Zill into this place?”
“We pulled you up to the top of the cliffs on ropes,” said Maynard, “then brought you down here through a secret tunnel.”
“It’s here.” Marvin banged on the wall and a jagged door slid open. “See ya!” Before anyone could stop them, he and Maynard sprinted through the doorway and were lost from sight.
Danjo was about to chase after the maggot-men when another super-tough tentacle thumped against the platform, knocking him down. Everyone yelled in alarm as a giant squid snapped savagely at the safety rail.
Plog turned to Dolofin. “Lead your crew outside too,” he said. “At least they’ll be safe from the squid.”
“Thanks, Nog.” Dolofin herded the junkjacks into the tunnel. “And if you can stop us all from being blown sky-high, that would be nice!”
“Wouldn’t it just,” Plog muttered as the control panel started flashing even faster. Another tentacle smashed against the platform.
“This place can’t last much longer,” said Danjo.
“Zill.” Plog looked at her. “It’s dangerous, I know – but do you think you can swing across the cavern with Furp and reach that bomb?”
“It’s no more dangerous than staying here,” said Zill bravely. She climbed onto the safety rail at the platform’s edge, took a deep breath, then spat a slime-line up at the high metal ceiling. It stuck! Furp hopped onto her back and grabbed hold of her tail. “Here goes nothing,” she said – and launched herself across the cavern!
Plog watched anxiously as she and Furp hurtled through the air. When Zill reached the end of her swing, Furp jumped off, his momentum carrying him all the way to the far wall in a matter of seconds.
“Made it!” he cried, and started scuttling down towards the bomb below the water.
Zill, meanwhile, swung back towards the balcony – but before she could reach safety, a tentacle burst from the water and plucked her out of the air! The vile, baggy body of a gigantic squid rose up out of the water, its single bloodshot eye narrowed . . .
“Zill!” Plog dived off the balcony, landing right on the squid’s squelchy eyeball with his iron boots! With a shriek, the squid convulsed and hurled Zill away – straight into Danjo’s arms. But Plog was left clinging onto the squid’s horrible head – and more of the monsters were coming towards him . . .
“I’ve got the bomb!” Furp cried, clinging to the wall above the water, waving a round, black device.
“And I’ve got trouble,” Plog realized, perched precariously on the furious squid.
Zill frantically coughed up a slime-strand. “Catch hold, Fur-boy!”
Plog grabbed hold of Zill’s sticky rope and swung back to the platform just as several squid tried to chomp him in two.
At the same time, Danjo shot a freezing jet of slime across the cavern that hardened to form an icy bridge. “Furp, get your skates on – slide, boy, slide!”
Furp jumped onto Danjo’s slimy ice-slide and skidded clear across the divide, dodging flailing tentacles, clutching the bomb in both hands.
No sooner had he collapsed onto the platform than the slide was smashed to bits by another seething squid.
“Nothing like cutting it fine,” joked Furp feebly, getting to his feet.
“Here!” Plog took the bomb in trembling hands and placed it on the control panel, now flashing about a million times a second. Zill stuck the explosive in place with a swiftly spun slime-net.
“Danjo,” Plog panted. “Squirt that explosive with enough hot slime to set it off – and then everybody run.”
“Understood,” said Danjo. Taking careful aim, his three legs holding him steady even as the squid pounded at the platform again, Danjo squirted a jet of boiling slime at the bomb’s black casing. It began to steam . . .
“RUN!” Plog bellowed, shooing his friends away. The four of them ran along a steep cast-iron tunnel, black as pitch and winding steeply upwards. The ground trembled beneath them. Iron filings dropped from the roof. Finally, the four Squaddies burst out into bright morning sunlight and—
FA-BOOOOOM!
The bomb went off right on top of the control panel. The shockwaves shook the clifftops! Dolofin and his junkjacks were thrown to the ground. Plog, Zill, Furp and Danjo all clung to each other, hoping against hope that they had stopped the deadly countdown and not simply kick-started the destruction of the cliffs and the ultimate trashing of Trashland . . .
But finally, the shockwaves subsided. As the last tremors faded, the Cast-Iron Clifftops held steady and still.
Plog raised his head and peered all about. “We’re still here!”
“It worked.” Zill grinned. “The water’s still inside the cliffs. Your nutty plan worked, Fur-boy!”
The junkjacks cheered, and the Squaddies breathed an enormous sigh of relief.
Furp hopped over to the cliff edge. “Look!” he said, pointing down way below to the Septic Sea.
Joining him, Plog saw a horde of shadows beneath the water, fading from sight.
“The so-called supernatural squid,” he murmured. “Finding their way back home.”
Zill nodded. “Now the aggravator’s gone up in smoke, they’ll be back to normal – eating just a little and staying out of sight.”
Danjo looked round at the junkjacks, whose cheeks were oddly full. “Hey, what are you eating?”
“Just a bit of seaweed,” said Dolofin.
“Us found quite a lot of it growing in the water in them cliffs,” said another junkjack, also munching.
“Enough to feed all us junkjacks till they grow back in the Septic Sea,” said Dolofin happily. “I’ll be able to send for our families from abroad. Pongo Beach and the Septic Sea will be our true and proper home once more.”
A ragged cheer went up from the munching junkjacks, and the Slime Squad joined in with the happy cries.
“It’s a shame Marvin and Maynard got away,” Plog said sadly. “They might have been able to tell us where to find Lord Klukk.”
Zill shuddered. “I have a feeling we’ll be seeing him again soon – and whoever he’s hired as his horrible helpmates.”
“But until then . . .” Danjo pulled a pair of shades from his shorts. “How about a quick sunbathe?”
“Yes!” Zill stretched out on the warm iron and beamed. “This is the perfect place to top up my tan.”
“The view’s good too,” said Furp happily, staring out over the world they’d saved.
“It certainly is,” Plog agreed. “And the Slime Squad will go on fighting to keep Trashland just the way it is – wild, whiffy, and all-round wonderful!”
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:
[ASTROSAURS]
Riddle of the Raptors
The Hatching Horror
The Seas of Doom
The Mind-Swap Menace
The Skies of Fear
The Space Ghosts
Day of the Dino-Droids
The Terror-Bird Trap
The Planet of Peril
The Star Pirates
The Claws of Christmas
The Sun-Snatchers
Revenge of the Fang
The Carnivore Curse
The Dreams of Dread
The Robot Raiders
The Twist of Time
The Sabre-Tooth Secret
The Forest of Evil
Earth Attack!
The T-Rex Invasion
The Castle of Frankensaur
[ASTROSAURS ACADEMY]
Destination: Danger!
Contest Carnage!
Terror Underground!
Jungle Horror!
Deadly Drama!
Christmas Crisis!
Volcano Invaders!
Space Kidnap!
[COWS IN ACTION]
The Ter-Moo-nators
The Moo-my’s Curse
The Roman Moo-stery
The Wild West Moo-nster
World War Moo
The Battle for Christmoos
The Pirate Moo-tiny
The Moogic of Merlin
The Victorian Moo-ders
The Moo-lympic Games
First Cows on the Mooon
The Viking Emoo-gency
The Udderly Moo-vellous C.I.A. Joke Book
Astrosaurs Vs Cows in Action: The Dinosaur Moo-tants
[SLIME SQUAD]
Slime Squad Vs The Fearsome Fists
Slime Squad Vs The Toxic Teeth
Slime Squad Vs The Cyber Poos
Slime Squad Vs The Supernatural Squid
Slime Squad Vs The Killer Socks
Slime Squad Vs The Last Chance Chicken
Slime Squad Vs The Alligator Army
Slime Squad Vs The Conquering Conks
For older readers:
Z. Rex
Z. Raptor
Z. Apocalypse
THE SLIME SQUAD vs THE SUPERNATURAL SQUID
AN RHCP DIGITAL EBOOK 978 1 448 17489 8
Published in Great Britain by RHCP Digital,
an imprint of Random House Children’s Publishers UK
A Random House Group Company
This ebook edition published 2013
Copyright © Steve Cole, 2010
Map copyright © Steve Cole and Dynamo Design, 2010
Illustrations copyright © Woody Fox, 2010
First Published in Great Britain
Red Fox 9781862308794 2010
The right of Steve Cole to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
This ebook is copyright material and must not be copied, reproduced, transferred, distributed, leased, licensed or publicly performed or used in any way except as specifically permitted in writing by the publishers, as allowed under the terms and conditions under which it was purchased or as strictly permitted by applicable copyright law. Any unauthorized distribution or use of this text may be a direct infringement of the author’s and publisher’s rights and those responsible may be liable in law accordingly.
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A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
