The Cobra Clash

by Jack Patton

  “So now what?” Max demanded.

  Komodo looked up toward the volcano, and a strange look came into his golden eyes. “Now … I honor the volcano.”

  “What?” Max asked.

  “Did you expect to be eaten? Oh, no. A far worse fate awaits you. Guards! Escort them to Great Reptilicus!”

  The lizards began to march the bugs back up the side of the volcano. Max whispered to Barton, “What on earth is this ‘Great Reptilicus’ he’s talking about?”

  “I think he means the volcano,” Barton whispered back.

  Komodo overheard. “Mighty is the Great Reptilicus. His breath is fire! His blood is molten rock!”

  The volcano rumbled. The lizards made sounds of awe.

  Suddenly it was clear what Komodo meant to do. In that dreadful moment Max wished he’d never picked up the Encyclopedia all those weeks ago.

  “Barton, he’s going to throw us into the volcano!”

  Komodo’s triumphant laugh told him he was right. “My reptile troops might want to eat you, human, but that is too good for you after all the trouble you’ve caused our forces.”

  None of the bugs spoke as the lizards herded them up the volcano. Max struggled to think of a way out of this. Try as he might, he couldn’t. His mind felt like it was trapped in quicksand.

  Then Max looked over his shoulder and saw what was coming up behind them, and his heart sank lower than ever.

  All across the island, lizards were coming out of hiding, wriggling out of the sand, emerging from cracks in the rocks, and scampering out of caves and hollows. Iguanas, crested lizards, snakes, chameleons, turtles … dozens of them, then hundreds, then thousands. They covered the ground in a living carpet of creatures, all falling into step behind Komodo.

  Every single reptile on Reptile Island was coming—slithering, crawling, hopping, and gliding—to watch Komodo’s final victory.

  As the procession reached the crater at the volcano’s very top, Barton made a sudden bid for freedom. He launched himself into the air, whirring his great wings furiously.

  “Go, Barton!” Max cheered.

  But three gliding lizards leapt up and caught Barton at once. They pulled him to the ground. Barton struggled and fought, but more and more of the lizards piled on until he was pinned, unable to move at all.

  The ground trembled beneath their feet. The bugs stood at the edge of the crater, looking down. Inside the volcano, boiling lava bubbled and spurted, sending gouts of glowing matter up into the air.

  “End of the road,” gloated one of the winged lizards.

  Max stood on the edge of the crater, hoping for a miracle. And then, as the last of his hope was dying, he heard a distant sound, coming closer, fast.

  Buzz? No, it wasn’t the high-pitched drone of the giant hornet’s wings. It was a deeper, stronger sound … the noise of something big.

  He looked toward Bug Island. A colossal black shape came thundering over the sea, zooming over the beach and up to the volcano. The crowd of watching lizards gasped.

  Max grinned. Only one flying insect was that large.

  “Dobs!” Max yelled happily and waved his arms. “Over here!”

  Dobs heard him. The mighty insect swept down close, the wind from his wings flinging sand and dust everywhere, as if he was an approaching rescue helicopter. The gliding lizards backed away, trying to keep the sand out of their eyes.

  Only Komodo stood his ground, but with sand flying into his mouth, he couldn’t shout orders. “Mmmf!” he grunted. “Grrm blrgrh the buffle mmmgn!” Nobody could understand him.

  Dobs hovered just above the ground. The windstorm from his wings blew up a cloud of dust so thick it hid the Battle Bugs from view. Max could hear the lizards yelling in anger.

  “I THOUGHT YOU MIGHT NEED A LIFT,” Dobs boomed.

  “Yes please!” Max yelled back.

  Once again, Dobs’s huge pincers closed around him, gently lifting him off the ground.

  “Grab my leg,” Max yelled down to Webster. “We’re getting out of here.”

  The timid spider wrapped himself around Max’s leg. “Ready!” he called.

  “Now, Gigantus. Grab on to Webster!”

  The centipede gripped tightly onto Webster’s rear legs. Dobs beat his wings as hard as he could, taking the extra weight.

  Barton was still struggling under a pile of lizards. “Get out,” Barton cried. “Save yourselves.”

  “Not without you,” Max said. He glanced down and saw that Spike was braced for action. “Spike, now!”

  Spike slammed his stinger into the topmost lizard. The reptile roared in pain and released its grip. Another sting, and another, and another—and suddenly Barton burst free from the heap of groaning lizards.

  “Payback time! That’s for taking me prisoner, you big ugly newts!” Spike yelled.

  “Spike, grab hold of Gigantus.”

  “Who’s ‘not important’ now, eh?”

  “Spike!”

  “Oh, sorry!” Spike caught hold of Gigantus with both pincers.

  “Dobs, GO!” Max yelled.

  Dobs slowly rose up, straining as hard as he could. Above him hovered Barton, battered but alive. Below him dangled a living chain: Max, then Webster, then Gigantus, then Spike.

  “Can he really lift all of us?” squeaked Webster.

  “Only one way to find out!” Gigantus said.

  Max held his breath as the airborne group flew up and over the volcano’s edge. Dobs bobbed unsteadily in the air and his wings thundered as if they were about to snap off, but Max knew he was going to make it. They flew back down the volcano slope, only just above the lizards. Max looked down at thousands of reptile faces watching them in anger.

  “Careful, Dobs!” shouted Spike. “Gliding lizards incoming!”

  The slender lizards came bounding down the mountainside, leaping up at the escaping bugs. With every leap they spread their arms and glided a short way, snapping as they went. One of them almost caught Spike. “Gliding lizards!” he roared. “I can’t stand them!”

  “Dobs, can you take evasive action?” Max asked.

  “SORRY, MAX,” Dobs said. “THEY’RE COMING AT ME FROM BEHIND. CAN’T DODGE THEM.”

  Max couldn’t believe it. They’d come so close to escaping, only to be brought down at the last minute.

  Dobs was nearly over the beach now, but the gliding lizards were keeping up, and coming closer with each attack. As if that wasn’t enough, there was a dark cloud looming over them.

  “Wait,” Max said. “That’s no cloud!”

  The next second the sky was suddenly filled with screaming hornets, gleaming black and gold in the sunlight, diving down to attack the lizards.

  “It’s Buzz!” Webster yelled happily. “She brought reinforcements!”

  “Not a moment too soon,” added Barton.

  As the hornets bombarded the gliding lizards with stings, Buzz flew up alongside them. “You’re all clear, Max! Head on back to base. We’ll keep the bogies off your back.”

  “Thanks, Buzz!”

  “Excellent flying, Dobs,” Buzz added. “You’re a credit to the Battle Bugs. We’re lucky to have you on our side.” Then, in a flash, she was gone to join her fellow hornets.

  Dobs didn’t say anything, but Max was sure his wings were beating all the stronger now. He made it all the way across the sea to Bug Island before stopping for a rest. The grateful bugs climbed down onto the ground of their own island.

  “Nice job, Dobs,” said Spike. Webster and Gigantus agreed. The giant dobsonfly glowed with pride.

  “I know I’m not much of a fighter bug,” he admitted. “But I can carry a lot.”

  “You were just the right bug for the job,” Max told him. “You saved our lives.”

  “Look at that. The ‘Great Reptilicus’ is angry,” said Barton.

  Over on Reptile Island, the volcano was belching out huge clouds of smoke. A ferocious blast of lava exploded into the sky and fell down like a fiery rain across th
e island. The lizards were probably cowering in fear.

  “That’s the best welcome-home present I could have asked for!” Spike said.

  “Good to have you back, buddy,” said Max with a grin. “Guess I’d better head home myself.”

  “Until next time, Max,” Barton said. “Komodo will want revenge for this humiliation. I have a feeling we will need your remarkable brain more than ever in the days to come.”

  Max held his magnifying glass up to the sky. Instantly, there was a sucking, whooshing noise and he was whisked up into the air.

  The next moment, he fell down into the human world, back into his school, between the library stacks … and landed right on top of a pushcart full of books. It toppled over with a CRASH.

  “What was that?” cried Mrs. Marquette from somewhere off in the distance. “Don’t move. I’m coming!”

  Uh-oh, Max thought to himself, and began to sneak toward the exit. Time for another stealthy escape …

  Giant Centipede

  Found across the continent of South America and on the islands of the Caribbean, the giant centipede is one of the largest representatives of its genus in the world. It can easily reach ten inches in length, and some have even been known to grow up to an enormous twelve inches.

  The giant centipede is one aggressive arthropod. It feeds on a whole variety of vertebrates and invertebrates, including frogs, lizards, and birds. If it comes across something it is able to catch and kill, it will happily devour it.

  The giant centipede is a clever critter, too. It has been known to dangle upside down from the roofs of caves in order to catch passing bats. Grabbing on to the unsuspecting creatures with its many legs, the centipede then injects venom into its victim using sharp claws called forcipules. The venom contains chemicals that are fatal to small animals. Even in humans, the poison can cause severe pain and fever.

  All in all, the giant centipede is a bug that is not to be messed with!

  Trap-door Spider

  Trap-door spiders get their name from the way they catch their prey. After using their fangs and forelegs to burrow down into the ground, they fashion a “trapdoor” made of vegetation, soil, and their own silk. Then, they lie in wait just under the door, until an unsuspecting victim trips the silk wire outside the burrow, and the spider strikes.

  However, this formidable predator doesn’t always find itself with the upper hand; sometimes it, too, comes under attack. If a spider wasp spots a trap-door spider, it will attack it until the arachnid is forced to retreat. But even when the spider thinks it’s safe in its hole, the wasp can destroy the trapdoor with its fangs and sting the spider. Then, the wasp lays its eggs on the trap-door spider, so that when the larvae hatch, they have an eight-legged meal for the taking!

  Dobsonfly

  The dobsonfly is a large insect distributed throughout the Americas, Asia, and South Africa. It inhabits aquatic areas, and is particularly common around streams, swamps, and other waterways. Apart from butterflies, dobsonflies are some of the largest insects in the world. Their wingspans can reach up to seven inches, and vary in color from gray to translucent.

  These insects are generalist predators, which means that they feed on a wide variety of things. As nocturnal insects, they emerge at night to ambush their prey, which is mostly made up of young mayflies, midges, and other small flying insects.

  The time has come for the Battle Bugs to drive General Komodo’s reptilian forces off Bug Island once and for all. Using all the knowledge Max has gained in his time with the Battle Bugs, he must lead the bug army in an all-out attack. If they don’t defeat the lizard army this time, Bug Island will be lost—forever.

  Text copyright © 2015 by Hothouse Fiction.

  Cover and interior art by Brett Bean, copyright © 2015 by Scholastic Inc.

  All rights reserved. Published by Scholastic Inc., Publishers since 1920. 557 Broadway, New York, NY 10012, by arrangement with Hothouse Fiction. Series created by Hothouse Fiction.

  The publisher does not have any control over and does not assume any responsibility for author or third-party websites or their content.

  SCHOLASTIC and associated logos are trademarks and/or registered trademarks of Scholastic Inc. BATTLE BUGS is a trademark of Hothouse Fiction.

  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.

  First printing 2015

  Cover art by Brett Bean

  Cover design by Phil Falco & Ellen Duda

  e-ISBN 978-0-545-86019-2

  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, write to Scholastic Inc., Attention: Permissions Department, 557 Broadway, New York, NY 10012.