by Jack Patton
Off in the distance he could still see the volcano, the Great Reptilicus, bellowing out dark smoke. Even from this far away, he could hear loud rumbling noises. The volcano was clearly about to erupt, just as the elder turtles had predicted.
Suddenly, as he peered out across the bay, an even more terrifying sight confronted Max. Row after row of lizards, of all shapes and sizes, were slowly making their way across the lava bridge.
“No!” he yelled, struggling against his webbing bonds. “They’ve already started the invasion!”
He could just make out the lizards crashing into the waiting ranks of the beach bug army. Scorpions, spiders, beetles, and even flies battered away at the invaders. For now, the sheer mass of bugs was keeping the lizards from advancing too far inland, but it was obvious the bug ranks wouldn’t hold forever.
“I’ve got to get down there and help!” Max yelled as he thrashed around, bouncing on the end of the webbing line. Being human was supposed to give him advantages the bugs didn’t have! If only he had something that could cut the web. Some human tool . . .
Wait. He thought. I do have something.
Max angled his hand into his front jeans pocket. With a flick of his wrist, his fingers closed around the rubber grip of the screwdriver he’d put back in his pocket at the science fair.
He slid the screwdriver out of his pocket and grasped it like a dagger. He dragged it up against the webbing covering his chest. The sharp metal began to cut away some of the webbing. Spider silk may have been able to hold more weight than steel, but luckily it was much easier to cut through.
“So much for Jet thinking us non-bugs were useless,” Max cried. He was trying to free his arm when a crash from below grabbed his attention.
Like a black-and-orange vision from his worst nightmare, the Gila monster was back. And it looked hungry.
Max froze.
“Well, well,” it said, licking its scaly lips. “The bugs have left me a snack, before the banquet begins. And it’s the very one I was sent to eat yesterday!”
So the lizards are after me, Max thought. But why?
Even though he was dangling from a branch, Max knew he wasn’t out of the reptile’s reach. It lunged up at him, jaws wide. Max frantically tried to swing out of the way, but the Gila monster’s jaws clamped shut on the cocoon.
The Gila monster tugged, and Max was torn down from the branch. Jaws coated in venomous saliva were pressing against his body. Jet’s webbing was the only thing protecting him now. Fortunately, the fall had torn the webbing, freeing his arm.
“Take that!” Max yelled, swiping at the lizard. He gripped the screwdriver tightly and jammed it into the reptile’s nostril. With a roar of pain, the Gila monster flung its head back. Max went flying out of its jaws and landed in a patch of grass.
Max had to get free. He ripped and slashed with the screwdriver, but his legs were still all tangled up.
“I didn’t know human beings had stingers,” the Gila monster grunted. “That stinger won’t do you any good, though. I’m still going to eat you!”
Max readied his screwdriver as the Gila monster opened its mouth and lunged.
“GET AWAY FROM HIM!”
Spike came charging out from between the trees and jammed his stinger into the Gila monster’s underbelly, making it howl with pain. Before it could turn to attack the scorpion, Spike had grabbed hold of its foreleg with his pincers and held fast.
“THAT’S WHAT YOU GET FOR TRYING TO EAT MY FRIEND!” Spike yelled.
“Let me go!” the Gila monster wailed.
With a sudden surge of strength, the reptile pulled out of Spike’s grasp and went galloping off toward the lava bridge.
Spike waved his pincers in the air as it retreated. “Tell your boss he can expect the same treatment! Bug Island isn’t his, and it never will be!”
“Thanks, Spike.” Max said, quickly freeing himself from the last of the webbing. “I thought I was a goner for sure.”
“I’m just glad you’re safe, little buddy. I’ve been looking for you all night . . .” Spike trailed off as he picked up a ragged scrap of Max’s cocoon. “Wait a minute—this is spider silk!” he cried. “Who did this to you?” he asked, his voice shaking with anger.
“It was Jet,” Max said. “She called me a traitor.”
“What?” Spike opened and closed his pincers. “She’s the traitor, wrapping you up like this! She probably told that monster lizard where to find you, too. She won’t get away with it. We’ve got to tell Barton. She’s got to face Battle Bug justice!”
“We will tell Barton,” Max said sternly. “But first, we’ve got a battle to fight. And a war to win.”
Max climbed onto Spike’s back. Together, the two of them rode toward the beach.
It was time to decide the final fate of Bug Island, once and for all.
The bugs at the back of the army cheered as they saw Max and Spike coming toward them.
“We thought you’d been eaten,” a mantis chirped.
“Not today,” Max said. “Let me through, bugs. I need to get to the front.”
Spike pushed through the eager bugs and climbed a rock so that Max could get a good view of the beach. He shielded his eyes from the bright morning sun and looked out at the battle.
The bugs had formed a massive defensive line, making the most of what was left of the wall. Spiders, centipedes, and termites scuttled in every direction, trying to find where they were needed most.
Lizards crowded all along the lava bridge, nose to tail, from one island’s shore to the other. The evacuation of Reptile Island was well underway. But with so many of them all trying to leave at once, they couldn’t move very fast. It was like rush hour on a city highway.
That could work in our favor, Max thought.
At the bugs’ end of the beach, reptile warriors were scrambling off the lava bridge and into the fight as fast as they could. Komodo had sent some of his heaviest units in first: quick-darting salamanders, thick-skinned thorny devil lizards, slithering coral snakes, geckos, chameleons, and gliding lizards. There were more lizards than Max had ever seen before.
Buzz and her hornet squadron swept past overhead and plunged down to deliver a barrage of stings before roaring up into the air again.
“Come on!” Max yelled to Spike. “We’re needed!”
The scorpion galloped forward, carrying Max through to the front line.
All of the bug battalions were there, including the spider squadrons, the mantis strike force, the all-important bombardier beetle brigades, and the most numerous soldiers of all, the army ants.
“Hit them from both sides,” Max yelled. “Don’t let them get off the bridge! Attack!”
The two flanks of the bug army thundered into the fray. From above, the bug forces would look like a pair of scissors snapping shut on the lizards.
Classic pincer move, Max thought with satisfaction.
Barton flew past overhead, and zeroed in to land right by Max. A hissing lizard lunged, but Barton grabbed it just in time and tossed it back where it had come from.
“Max! Where have you been?”
“It’s a long story, General. I’ll have to explain later.” He jerked a thumb at the oncoming reptile forces. “Should we deal with this little problem first?”
“Sounds like a good idea to me,” Barton rumbled.
Side by side, they prepared for the final onslaught.
Max pointed to the lava bridge, where a gigantic dragon-like figure was barging through the reptile ranks in his haste to reach the bugs. Some lizards were knocked into the water and started flailing around, unable to swim.
“Look, Komodo’s coming,” Max said.
Barton flexed his mandibles. “Let him come. It’s time to finish this, once and for all.” He paused and looked around him. “It’s been an honor to fight by your side, my friend.”
“Same here,” Max said.
Barton opened his wing case and hovered in the air. “On my command . . . Battle
Bugs, charge!”
The giant centipede legions, led by Gigantus, charged into the fight. Behind them came the swarming millipedes, and the bullet ants. The skies filled with the fury of the hornets, with Buzz out in front. Wasps and bees came sweeping through alongside them.
Pincers slashed, claws grabbed, and sting after sting found its mark. They were fighting not just for their lives, but also for their home. Max lost track of time in the chaos. The noise was unbelievable, with the hisses and croaks of wounded lizards mingling with the furious buzzes and screeches of the bugs. He directed Spike to attack one opponent, then another, always striking where the lizards were weakest.
At one point, Spike seemed tired, and so Max urged him forward. “Come on, buddy! Don’t give up now!”
“Give up?” Spike roared. “Never!” He reared forward and slammed his pincers down on the heads of two attacking lizards.
Still the lizards came. Max realized the bugs were slowly, but surely, being pushed back. The more ground the bugs yielded, the more lizards could swarm off the lava bridge and onto the beach.
They’re winning, he thought.
“Lizards, cease fighting! Hold your ground!” roared the voice of General Komodo. He came triumphantly swaggering up to the front, while his exhausted troops paused in their onslaught.
The bug forces stood braced, waiting for the fighting to begin again. Barton picked his way through to the front of the bug ranks. With each of their forces behind them, primed to fight, Barton and Komodo stared each other down.
“Was this the best you could do, Barton?” Komodo sighed. “A few measly trip wires, a half-built wall, and an ant buffet?”
“Bug Island will never be yours,” Barton retorted.
“It won’t be Bug Island for much longer!” Komodo roared with laughter. “I hereby name this place New Reptile Island. A fitting home for my people, complete with all the bugs we could ever eat.”
“You think it will be that easy?” Barton yelled. “Even if you occupy our island, we’ll never give up the fight.”
Komodo slowly shook his head, his tongue flickering all the while. “I doubt that,” he snarled, a smile creeping across his lips. “One of your bugs has already seen sense and come over to our side.”
“What?” Barton snarled. “You’re lying!”
“We’ve had an agent on your side all along, passing information to us!” Komodo gloated. “How else do you think we knew about your defenses?”
I knew it, Max thought. That traitorous spider, Jet! She’s been working for Komodo all along. No wonder she tried to imprison me on the day of the battle.
He looked across to the spider battalion, where Jet was glaring back at him. But to Max’s amazement, it wasn’t Jet who stepped forward.
It was Barton’s handpicked commander of defense. The golden-green scarab beetle, Scuttler!
Before the startled bugs could stop him, Scuttler opened his wing case and launched himself into the air. He flew over the reptile front ranks, reached Komodo, and settled on his shoulder.
“Meet your new ruler, bugs,” said Komodo. “King Scuttler the First. He will keep you in line, meek and obedient to your reptile masters.”
“He was the traitor?” Max cried.
“Scuttler!” Barton boomed. “Why? I thought you were loyal.”
“You didn’t think at all, Barton!” Scuttler snarled. “You let the human do all your thinking for you. You aren’t fit to lead the bugs—but I am!”
“You?” Barton repeated.
“I am a golden scarab, not some common beetle like you,” Scuttler said. We are royal. Born to rule! It is my destiny to replace you.”
“Is that really what you want, Scuttler? To rule over an island of enslaved bugs, as General Komodo’s puppet? Are you that desperate to be a king?”
“It is what I deserve,” Scuttler said, pompously.
Max saw Jet give him an apologetic glance. He gave her one in return. They’d both thought the other was the traitor, when the real traitor had been right under their noses the whole time.
“You will never rule us,” Barton said savagely. “I will fight to the death to save Bug Island!”
“Me, too,” yelled Spike.
“And me,” said Webster and Buzz.
Max glared at Komodo. “And me.”
“Perhaps we should put your commitment to the test,” Komodo said.
“AS YOU WISH!” With a mighty battle cry, Barton flew right at Komodo’s face.
Bugs and lizards alike scattered out of the way as the two generals lunged at each other. A hatred that had lasted longer than anyone could remember finally burst out in full force.
Barton hovered and struck with his huge mandibles, jabbing at Komodo’s eyes. Komodo snapped with his jaws, trying to tear Barton out of the sky. For a huge beetle, Barton was surprisingly fast.
Komodo tried to swipe with a claw, but Barton dodged at the last second. Scuttler cowered, still clinging to Komodo’s shoulder. Barton flew up behind Komodo’s head, forcing the reptile leader to twist and turn angrily. “Stay still! Let me finish you!”
Barton grabbed Komodo’s face. He dug his mandibles in deep, making the general yell. Komodo raked with his claws, but couldn’t reach the titan beetle. His legs were just too stubby.
A cheer went up from the bug ranks. Suddenly, it seemed they had hope again.
A distant rumble reached Max’s ears. The volcano was near eruption, but all eyes were watching the generals fight. He turned to look and saw something that almost stopped his heart.
Just like Steve’s soda volcano had, this one was about to break apart from the force of the eruption. There were cracks running down the side.
By the look of it, when the volcano blew, tons of rock would break loose and plunge into the sea. The eruption is going to be just like the soda volcano back at the science fair. Only a lot bigger. Max glanced from the bugs to the volcano and back, and knew what he had to do.
“Battle Bugs, surge forward!” he shouted.
While Komodo howled and screamed and tried to shake Barton off, the bugs stampeded forward, plunging into the lizard ranks. The lizards, startled by the bugs’ fury, staggered backward.
“Keep going!” Max yelled. “We’ve got to fight them back onto the lava bridge!”
“What you got in mind, buddy?” grunted Spike as he flung an attacking lizard back at its own forces, sending lizards flying.
“If we can trap them on the lava bridge, then we’ve as good as won,” Max said. “Look!”
Max pointed at the volcano, which was belching out alarming amounts of smoke. A violent rumble shook the earth, as if the whole world were being torn in half. Lava sprayed from the volcano crater.
Then, just as an orange fountain of lava shot up into the air, the whole side of the volcano collapsed.
The destruction seemed to happen in slow motion. Thousands of tons of rock went tumbling toward the water.
“Oh,” said Spike hollowly. “I see what you mean.”
With a thunderous KATHOOM, the rocks plunged into the ocean between the two islands.
Half a mountain collapsing into the sea all at once was going to displace a lot of water. First, a white geyser blasted up.
Next came the tsunami.
Max and Spike stared in awe as a wall of water as high as a house came rushing toward them . . .
“One last push!” Max yelled. “We have to drive them back over the bridge. Go, go, go!”
The Battle Bugs piled in, from the biggest to the smallest, shoving the lizards back in one final desperate moment. As well as the warrior bugs, the little worker termites and the ladybugs and dragonflies joined the charge. Spiders linked arms with ants. Hornets and butterflies flew into battle together. Not one bug was left out.
Faced with the overwhelming power of the bug forces advancing as one, the lizards could only retreat. They staggered back across the sandy beach onto the lava bridge. Thousands of angry claws, mandibles, and stingers held
them at bay.
“Regroup!” Komodo roared, still trying to throw off Barton. “What are you scared of? They’re just bugs!”
Max rode Spike at the head of the bug charge. Momentum carried him forward. All around him, bugs were yelling their battle cries. They rushed onto the lava bridge, driving the lizards before them. They couldn’t stop now. The lizard forces were in complete disarray. They were rapidly returning to Reptile Island, even though volcanic debris still rained down.
Max glanced across the glittering sea. The tsunami was coming. It raced toward the lava bridge, so high it almost crested the volcano. Most of the lizards were huddled on the far shore of Reptile Island.
“That’s far enough,” Max shouted to the bugs. “Back to Bug Island!”
General Komodo snarled down at Max as he and Spike galloped back across the lava bridge. “So, human. You turn around and run, when you could face me? You are a coward after all.” Komodo, distracted by Barton, seemed not to notice that most of his army had deserted him.
Barton let go of Komodo’s head, flew up into the air above him, and laughed.
“You dare laugh at me in my moment of triumph?” Komodo growled.
“We’re not running from you. We’re running from THAT.” Max cried over his shoulder.
A shadow fell across Komodo.
“General! Look out!” Scuttler squealed, still clinging to Komodo’s shoulder.
“What?” In genuine confusion, Komodo turned to look.
Looming above him was the towering wave, churning and sloshing, so high that it blocked out the sun. Komodo’s eyes bugged almost out of his skull and his mouth gaped in a despairing wail: “Noooo!”
Spike charged up the beach and carried Max to safety. The last few bugs that had been on the beach scrambled to higher ground. Barton flew as fast as he could alongside the roaring wall of water.
Komodo tried to sprint across the bridge to Bug Island, but he wasn’t fast enough.
The wave struck. The world was blotted out in a fury of roaring water and surging white foam. Max saw Komodo himself go under, with Scuttler still clinging hopelessly to him. They rode the top of the wave and disappeared out of sight around the far side of the island.
