Beetle Power! (3 page)

 
 

Zap's heart pounded as he slowly turned round. His wings drooped with relief when he saw the crickets standing behind him.

“Thank goodness, it's you!” Zap cried. “Where did you go?”

“We were taking the baby mice
back when we spotted some gossiping money spiders,” said Sergeant Stealth. “So, we sneaked up and listened in on their conversation. It was very interesting.”

Buzz, Lurch and Crunch crawled over to join them.

“Was Spinner there too?” asked Zap.

“No,” said Sergeant Stealth. “But we found out where he's hiding – Stinking Bog.”

Zap shared a worried look with the Bug Buddies. Apart from
Shadow Creek, Stinking Bog was the smelliest, scariest place in Spinner's Wood.

“But Gonzo has always told us to avoid the bog,” said Crunch, nervously.

“I'm afraid we've got no choice,” said Zap.

 

The smell almost knocked Zap over. “Now I know why it's called Stinking Bog,” he said.

It hadn't taken the team of crickets and bugs long to get there. All they had to do was follow the pong …

“It's revolting!” said Buzz, his legs wobbling like he was going to faint.

Crunch used his giant claw to waft the smell away from Buzz.

“Mmm … it smells just like my breakfast!” said Lurch, smiling.
“Yum!”

“Yes,” cried Buzz. “But you eat
poo
!”

“And I eat beetles!”
cried a hissing voice from above.

Zap looked up to see a thick strand of silk hanging from a branch. Lowering himself down on it was
Spinner – looking bigger and meaner than ever.

“The only question is,” said Spinner, “which one of you shall I eat first?”

The giant spider landed on a rock in the middle of the bog, spreading out his thick hairy legs. Zap shivered. How could they take on this monster and win?

Zap crawled forward, trying hard to stop his wings trembling.

“Ah,” smiled Spinner, “are you volunteering to be the first inside
my stomach?”

“No,” said Zap, “I'm challenging you to a final showdown.”

Spinner burst out laughing. “You what?!” he said.

“This is your last chance,” continued Zap. “If we win, then you will promise to live by Gonzo's rules and respect the life of every bug in Spinner's Wood. But if you win … Gonzo has agreed to leave the wood forever.”

Spinner immediately stopped laughing. His eyes lit up. “In that
case,” Spinner said, “it will be my pleasure. But if you have friends to help you, it's only fair that I do too.”

Zap watched as hundreds of spiders crawled out from behind every rock in Stinking Bog.

Everywhere he looked, beady eyes stared at him.
They were surrounded!

 
 

“We're doomed!” cried Crunch.

“There are enough of us to put up a fight,” said Zap, bravely. “Isn't that right, Sergeant Stealth?”

Zap turned to the crickets, but was shocked to see that they were no longer there.

“Those cowardly crickets have
crept off!” cried Buzz.

“They've done their job in helping us to find Spinner,” said Zap. “It's
our
job to take him on.”

“But there's only four of us. There are
loads
of them,” said Lurch. He pointed towards the swarm of spiders, flexing their legs.

“Yes,” said Zap, standing as tall as he could. “But we're the Bug Buddies. We've defeated Spinner before –
we can do it again!”

With Zap leading the way, the Bug Buddies crawled forward.

 

A group of small spiders shot out strands of silk to trip them up.

“Ouch!”
cried Lurch, falling flat on his face.

Zap zoomed into the air. “I'll see to this lot,” he shouted down to the others. “You battle your way to Spinner.”

Zap flew round and round above the spiders. Silky strands shot towards him, but he quickly darted out of the way. As they fell to the ground, the webs tangled around the spiders.
My plan's working
, he thought.

Zap flew faster and faster as the spiders continued to fire their sticky strands. They were so busy trying to fire at him, the spiders didn't realise they were tying themselves up in webs!

“That's one-nil to us,” said Zap, smiling.

He flew over to join his friends. Crunch had taken the lead, waving his giant claws to clear a path through their attackers. Behind him, Lurch was lobbing dung balls at the advancing spiders.

Buzz was sucking up grass seeds, then firing them out of his mouth at the spiders. Most of the smaller ones scuttled away, as the hard, round balls bounced off their bodies. Spinner hissed as his army backed off towards the wood, leaving a large gap in front of him.

“Nice work!” said Zap, hovering above them. “We've cleared a path through to Spinner.”

Buzz sucked up some more seeds and blew as hard as he could.

“Ow, ow, ow, ow, ow!”
cried Spinner, as five grass seeds hit his head, one after another.

The giant spider fell over, looking dazed.
Now's our chance
, thought Zap. He whizzed round to the back of Spinner and gave the spider's body a nip.

“That hurt, you sneaky bug,” cried Spinner.

The huge spider kicked out a leg, but Zap easily dodged out of the way. Excitement made his wings flutter even faster. Spinner was down and his spider friends had retreated. It looked like the battle was going their way …

“Help!”

Zap whipped his head round to see Lurch stuck in the mud, surrounded by taunting spiders. Zap gasped – his friend was sinking! He zoomed across and grabbed one of Lurch's legs. Zap pulled and pulled, but he wasn't strong enough to free the dung beetle. What was he going to do?

Crunch rushed over, elbowing the spiders out of the way. “Let me try,” he said, hooking his giant claws around the dung beetle's body. He began to lift him, his body trembling with the effort.

“Get off me, you sneaky beasts!”
cried Buzz from the other side of the bog.

Zap saw that a group of spiders were trying to pin Buzz down with their webs.

Spinner got to his feet, laughing with delight. “It looks like the Bug
Buddies are about to be defeated,” he said.
“Say goodbye, Gonzo!”

Was Spinner really going to win?