The Lizard War Read online

  “Halt!” boomed the deep, rumbling voice of General Komodo. The lizards stopped and stood facing the scorpions, their scales gleaming in the sun.

  “It’s all over, you pathetic bugs,” General Komodo roared, his long tongue flicking from his mouth as he spoke. “You’re all going to be eaten—you might as well give up!”

  “No chance, you overgrown tadpole,” shouted Spike. “Come here and get us—if you dare!”

  General Komodo let out a growl so loud it caused Max’s rib cage to vibrate. “We’re going to be eating you bugs for breakfast, lunch, and dinner,” he spat. “And I think I’ll start with you”—he pointed a claw at Spike—“and that ugly thing on your back.”

  Max waved the spine in the air. “You’ll have to beat us first!” he yelled.

  Spike and the other scorpions cheered, and the lizards hissed. Spike raised his pincers and his stinger to make himself look as threatening as possible.

  “Use your pincers and your stingers,” Max whispered to the other scorpions. “Go for the nostrils—that’s where they’re weakest.”

  “This is your last chance!” cried General Komodo. “Surrender now! Or prepare to die a painful death.”

  “Never!” replied Spike. “Go back to your own island, tongue-flicker!”

  “That’s it!” shouted Komodo. “Charge!”

  The line of lizards surged forward, their teeth bared and their long claws glinting.

  “Charge!” shouted Max and Spike together, as Spike rushed forward.

  Max almost fell off Spike’s back as they smashed into the first lizard. Spike aimed his stinger straight for its nose. The reptile fell back, writhing on the ground in pain.

  As Spike prepared to face another lizard, Max felt something splatter all over his back. He turned and saw a salamander with its tongue fully extended, sticky mucus dripping from the tip.

  “Look out, Spike!” shouted Max.

  Spike turned just in time. His deadly stinger rushed through the air over Max’s head and slammed into the salamander’s skin. The salamander reeled its tongue in with a hiss and limped away. Max breathed a huge sigh of relief and looked around at the other scorpions. They were fighting just as bravely as Spike. Soon, almost all the enemies were falling back, yelping in pain.

  Max looked back toward the bridge. Only a few insects remained on their side of the water. “The other bugs have nearly made it,” he told Spike. “If we retreat now, we should be able to get across the bridge before the lizards have time to follow us.”

  “But I’m just starting to enjoy myself!” Spike joked.

  “What’s the matter with you, you useless reptiles!” shouted General Komodo to his troops. “Squash them! Destroy them! EAT them!” His huge feet pounded the earth as he came crashing forward.

  “On second thought, maybe it is time to go,” said Spike.

  “Scorpions!” shouted Max. “To the river!”

  All the scorpions turned and raced back to the bridge. One by one, they scuttled quickly across. Spike and Max climbed on after them, but to Max’s horror, the lizards were closing in.

  “Run, Spike! Run!” Max shouted, clinging tightly to Spike’s back. They were only halfway across, and already the first lizards had reached the bridge.

  General Komodo yelled more commands. “After them!” he screeched. “Move, you lazy lizards!”

  Spike rushed even faster toward the other bugs, who were gathered anxiously on the far bank. He was almost there when one of his feet slipped, and he lurched toward the fast-moving water. Max gasped as he was sent flying forward. He clutched onto Spike with all his might as Spike dangled from the tree bridge, hanging by just one pincer. Below them the water frothed and foamed, and behind them the lizards hissed and cackled.

  Then suddenly all their laughter was drowned out by a familiar droning noise from above. Buzz!

  “Flying squadron, dive-bomb, now!” Buzz yelled.

  Max clung on and watched as the giant hornet and other flying insects started dive-bombing the lizards on the bridge, flying at them and stinging them wherever they could. The lizards hissed and swatted at the flying bugs with their claws and tongues, but Buzz and her friends were too fast, and flew from side to side, always just out of reach.

  “Hold on,” Buzz yelled as she swooped in below Spike and helped nudge him back onto the bridge.

  Max sighed in relief as Spike’s feet touched the tree trunk. Spike scuttled across the rest of the bridge, and finally they were back on dry land.

  “We did it!” Barton cried. “All the bugs have made it across.”

  “Yeah, but it looks like all the reptiles will make it across, too, sir,” Buzz called down from where she was hovering above them all.

  Max looked back across the river and saw more and more reptiles and amphibians slithering onto the tree trunk. “Quick,” he shouted. “We have to destroy the bridge!”

  Crowding around the edge of the bridge, the bugs pushed with all their might. But the lizards were making it too heavy.

  “Heave!” shouted Barton.

  “P-perhaps I can help?” Webster scurried out from beneath the trapdoor where he had been hiding. Rushing up to the bridge, he put his front four legs against the wood and pushed hard with the full weight of his huge body. The lizards hissed in alarm as the sapling started to shake.

  “Go, Webster!” Max shouted, as the bridge started to move. With one last strong push, Webster shoved the end of the bridge into the river. The lizards tumbled into the water and were swept downstream.

  On the other side, General Komodo howled with rage.

  “After them!” he screeched, raising a huge, clawed foot and pushing a gecko into the river. But the current was too strong, and the gecko was carried away.

  “Useless creatures!” yelled Komodo. He looked at the other reptiles and shook his head. Then he looked back across the river. “You’ll pay for this, bug-brains,” he snarled. “Don’t think you’re safe. My lizard army will find a way to get to you, and then we won’t stop until we’ve eaten every last one of you! Especially you!” he snarled, looking straight at Max.

  The bugs let out a wild cheer as the lizards turned and slunk back into the forest. The tarantulas picked Webster up and danced along the riverbank with him, and the scorpions crowded around Spike.

  “Save the celebrations for later, soldiers!” Barton shouted over the noise. “Let’s get to safety first.”

  Buzz zoomed overhead. “I’m going to find out where those lizards are headed while there’s still some light,” she said.

  “Good idea.” Barton nodded. “We’ll make camp farther up the mountain. The fireflies will light up to show you where we are.”

  Buzz zoomed off, and the other bugs trudged happily up the mountain to find a place to camp for the night. Soon they found a sheltered spot at the foot of a cliff, and Barton gave the order to stop. All the bugs began making themselves as comfortable as they could. Webster dug a burrow, the wood lice and earwigs found stones to crawl under, and the spiders spun their webs. As Max watched them, he thought of his own bed back home. Now that all the excitement was over, he couldn’t help wondering if he would ever find his way back to his own world.

  A faint hum in the sky became louder and louder, and Buzz landed next to Max. Barton, Spike, and Webster hurried over.

  “What’s the news, Flight Commander?” Barton asked.

  “The enemy has retreated into the forest, sir,” replied Buzz. “But I sneaked up on their camp to listen in on their plans. Tomorrow, General Komodo is going to send them out looking for another place to cross the river.”

  “Just as I thought,” Barton said, rubbing his feelers together. “This battle is won, but the war isn’t over.” He climbed onto a log and called for attention with a shrill noise. Everyone fell silent and turned to face him. “Soldiers, you have all battled admirably today, but there’s one bug—or I should say creature—that deserves our special thanks.” He pointed one of his feelers at Max. “We w
ould all be lizard food right now if not for Max and his brilliant plan!”

  “And his very large brain!” Spike added.

  All the bugs whooped and chirped and buzzed. Max felt his face growing hot. He looked around at the cheering beetles and the crickets rubbing their wings together enthusiastically. Some of the wood lice had curled themselves into balls and were rolling around on the ground in excitement.

  Max grinned. It had been incredible being on Bug Island, and getting to meet such amazing creatures, but what if he never got home? His smile faded as he thought of his mom calling him for dinner and discovering that he had disappeared.

  “What’s up, Max?” Spike asked, placing a pincer on Max’s shoulder.

  “I’m just a little worried about how I’ll get back to my own world—the human world,” Max explained.

  “Well, how did you get here?” Buzz asked.

  “I don’t really know,” Max replied. “So I don’t have a clue how I’ll get back.” He started feeling slightly sick.

  “Do you have to go?” Barton asked. “We need all the help we can get. The lizards might be defeated for now, but they’ll be back.”

  Max nodded. “I have to get home. My mom will be worried about me. But once I figure out how I got here, I promise I’ll be back.”

  “Come on, bugs,” Spike said. “Max helped us; now it’s our turn to help him!”

  “True, true,” said Barton. “We need to help you remember how you got here.”

  “What was the last thing you did before you came to Bug Island?” Buzz asked.

  Max thought. The last thing he could remember was looking down at the map through the magnifying glass. The map was in his bedroom, a world away, but the magnifying glass was still in his pocket. He took it out and turned it over in his hands.

  “I looked through this, and then I sort of fell through it and found myself here.”

  “Well, maybe if you look through it again you’ll fall back?” Spike suggested.

  “That’s a good idea!” Max said. He took a deep breath and looked down through the magnifying glass. But nothing happened.

  “Oh, dear,” said Spike.

  “Are you sure you looked down?” Buzz asked.

  Max nodded sadly. “Yes, I was looking at a map of Bug Island, and the next thing I knew I was actually here.”

  “Hmm,” said Barton. “Puzzling.”

  “I-I have an idea,” Webster whispered.

  “What is it?” Max asked anxiously.

  “W-well, if you looked down to get here, then m-maybe you have to look up to get back.” Webster sighed and retreated back toward his trapdoor.

  “It’s worth a try,” said Barton.

  “Okay,” Max replied. With one last look around the clearing full of bugs, Max held the magnifying glass up to the dark sky. As he looked through the glass he felt a strange tingling in his feet. “I think it’s working,” he cried.

  “Good-bye, Max!” chorused his friends.

  “Good-bye!” Max called.

  “Come back soon!” Spike added.

  Max continued looking up through the magnifying glass. For a moment, all he could see was a clear dark sky, but then it was hidden by a swirling black fog. Max’s stomach lurched as he felt himself being pulled up and up … until he landed with a gentle bump.

  Max blinked. He was back in his bedroom, holding his magnifying glass, looking at the map of Bug Island in his new encyclopedia.

  “Max!” came his mom’s voice from downstairs. “For the last time, dinner’s ready!” she shouted impatiently.

  Max looked at the spider-shaped clock above his desk. Hardly any time had passed at all, but he’d been on Bug Island for hours. He’d talked to insects, ridden a scorpion, and fought a battle against huge hungry lizards, but here it was still dinner time!

  At least Mom hasn’t been worried, he thought.

  “Coming, Mom!” he called.

  Max put down the magnifying glass and looked at the map of Bug Island again. Down there somewhere were Spike, Barton, Webster, Buzz, and all the other bugs, in the middle of a war. Would he ever see any of them again? He hoped so. Just as he began to close the book, something caught Max’s eye. He opened the page again and peered at the map. It was hard to see the islands without the magnifying glass, but he was sure the black scorpion had waved a pincer at him.

  Max stared at the page for a moment, then grinned. He closed the encyclopedia and carefully placed it on one end of his bookshelf, next to a centipede-shaped bookend. He traced the picture of the golden scorpion on the book’s spine.

  He had a feeling he’d be back on Bug Island very soon.

  Titan Beetle

  As one of the world’s biggest beetles, the titan truly lives up to its name. An adult specimen can grow to be a huge six-and-a-half inches long! They boast a strong, flat body with long legs, large antennae, and a seriously impressive pair of short, sharp mandibles to ward off predators. (Its jaws are so strong they can even snap a pencil in two!)

  The beetles spend most of their lives underground, with only the adult males venturing out to find a female. They can be very hard to find. They are attracted to light, however, which scientists use to their advantage—that’s if they dare to get close to those fearsome mandibles!

  Ants

  Ants are one of the most highly successful and widespread insects in the world. They’re found on nearly every landmass on Earth and evolved over 110 million years ago—back when dinosaurs ruled the planet!

  One of the most fascinating ways ants work together is when they build bridges—with their own bodies! Ants are tiny creatures, so even the smallest gaps between high branches or shallow streams can seem impossible to cross. But by linking their legs together, ants can form bridges to where they need to go.

  If that isn’t amazing enough, the fire ant can even build an entire life raft out of all the workers in their colonies. That way they can survive flood waters and float safely down rivers!

  General Komodo and his army are on the attack. Komodo has assembled a fleet of fearsome horned lizards for a mountain assault. The Battle Bugs have to come up with an airtight plan—or risk losing everything.

  Max’s return to Bug Island is dangerous—but the Battle Bugs need his help!

  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.

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

  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 978-0-545-70960-6

  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.

 

 

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