Tornados

by Mac Park

  Lemonfizz Media

  PO Box 499

  Elwood, Victoria 3184

  www.lemonfizzmedia.com

  Scholastic Australia Pty Limited

  PO Box 579

  Gosford, NSW 2250

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  www.scholastic.com.au

  Part of the Scholastic Group Sydney Auckland New York Toronto London Mexico City New Delhi Hong Kong Buenos Aires Puerto Rico

  Published by Pop & Fizz and Scholastic Australia in 2010.

  Pop & Fizz is a partnership between Paddlepop Press and Lemonfizz Media.

  www.paddlepoppress.com

  Text, design and illustrations copyright © Lemonfizz Media 2010.

  Cover illustration by Britt Martin.

  Internal illustrations by Lionel Portier, Melanie Matthews and James Hart.

  A CIP record for this title is available from the National Library of Australia

  All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, storage in an information retrieval system, or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the publisher, unless specifically permitted under the Australian Copyright Act 1968 as amended.

  Printed in Australia by McPherson’s Printing Group

  It is our policy, in association with McPherson’s Printing Group, to use papers that are renewable and made efficiently from wood grown in sustainable forests, so as to minimise the environmental footprint.

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  Table of Contents

  Cover

  Title Page

  Copyright

  Prologue

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Back Cover Material

  Once, mega-beast and man shared one world. But it did not last. The beasts wanted to rule the world. They started battles against man. After many bad battles between beast and man the world was split in two. Man was given Earth. Megabeasts were given Beastium.

  A border-wall was created. It closed the two worlds off. Man was safe. But not for long ... Beastium was not enough for the mega-beasts. They wanted Earth.

  The beasts began to battle through the border-wall. It was the job of the Border Guards to stop them. They had to keep the beasts in Beastium. Some battles were won. Some were lost.

  Battles won by the beasts gave them more power. The beasts earned new battle attacks. Battles won by the Border Guards earned them upgrades. Their battle gear could do more.

  Five boys now guard the border-wall. They are the Bordaria Border Guards. They are in training to become Border Masters like their dads.

  The Border Guards’ dads and grand-dads are the Bordaria Master Command. The BMC help the Border Guards during battle.

  The Border Guards must learn. The safety of Earth depends on them.

  The BMC reward good Border Guard battling. Upgrades can be earned for sending beasts back into their lands. New battle gear can also be given to Border Guards who battle well.

  If they do not battle well, the Border Guards will lose upgrades and points. Then they will not be given new and better gear.

  Kai Masters is a Border Guard in training. His work is top secret. He must protect Earth. The BMC watch Kai closely. Kai must not fail.

  Let the battles commence!

  Kai Masters was having lunch. He was at Burgers are Best. He loved their burgers. The radio was on. Kai was just about to eat his burger when a news flash came on.

  ‘Very bad winds and dust storms are coming!’ the voice said.

  ‘Anyone outside should go home. Stay off the roads. Please stay in your homes. Wait there until it’s safe.’

  That’s odd, thought Kai. We don’t get wild wind storms here. Is this the work of beasts again?

  Kai Masters was a Border Guard. He guarded the wall between Earth and Beastium. And kept beasts in their lands.

  He and his dogbot, BC3, battled beasts. Beasts that wanted to take over Earth.

  Kai was a good Border Guard. But he was still learning. One day, Kai hoped to be a Border Master. Kai’s dad was a Border Master. And so was his grand-dad.

  Kai’s dad was part of the Bordaria Master Command now. The BMC. The BMC helped Kai in battles.

  Kai left his burger on the table. There was no time to eat it. He ran out of Burgers are Best. BC3 was waiting for him outside. The dog was a gift from the BMC. It was built for battle. BC helped Kai do his job. He was Kai’s buddy too. Kai called him BC for short.

  BC had his fake fur on. Kai put it on him when they went out.

  It made BC look like a real dog. BC hated it! It was itchy. He couldn’t wait for Kai to take it off.

  ‘Very bad wind storms are on the way, BC,’ said Kai. ‘We need to go to the lab! Something is not right.’

  Kai and BC lived in a lighthouse. It had been in Kai’s family for years and years. It looked really old from the outside. The inside was totally new. It had been set up for a Border Guard.

  When Kai got home he took BC’s fur off.

  Kai hit a button. The fur went back inside BC’s metal body. Then Kai pushed BC’s talk button.

  The dog began to talk. ‘Dust is bad,’ said BC. ‘Can’t see much.’ BC’s tail was wagging. That always meant there was trouble.

  Kai could hear the wind outside.

  ‘The wind is blowing round in circles,’ he said. ‘Like little tornadoes!’

  ‘We need to get a sample of it,’ said BC. ‘Maybe a beast from Beastium is coming.’

  ‘Maybe,’ said Kai. ‘A beast could be trying to come through the wall again.’

  Kai went into his bedroom. He went up the ladder. Then he climbed out onto the deck. The deck had a glass roof. And two glass walls. One wall was made of brick.

  On the brick wall was a big photo of the beach.

  Kai pushed a button on the wall. The photo slid down. A big touch screen was hiding behind the photo.

  Kai touched ‘roof open’ on the screen.

  The glass roof slid open. Next he touched ‘wind sock’. The wind sock came out from the wall. It went up into the air. It filled with wind. Then the wind sock closed. Then it came back inside.

  Kai touched ‘roof close’. He took the wind sock. Then he went to the kitchen. BC was waiting for him in the pantry. ‘Can I push the secret button?’ asked BC.

  ‘Go for it,’ said Kai as he looked for something to eat. No snacks for me to eat here. I’m so hungry, he thought. I wish I’d had time to eat my burger.

  BC pushed the button with his nose. It was under the pantry shelf.

  The pantry’s back wall started to move. It slid open. Kai and BC went in behind the wall. They went down the ladder into the lab. It was under the kitchen.

  The lab was filled with top-secret tools. Tools for learning all about beasts.

  Kai put the wind sock into the sample tester.

  He hit the test button on his computer.

  ‘Rock and air lands,’ said Kai. ‘Yes. Dirt and wind.’

  ‘We battle rock beasts again?’ asked BC.

  ‘No,’ said Kai. ‘I think it’s the air land. The wind goes in circles. Just like in the air land, Tornados.’

  Kai hit the air land button. I hope I’m right, he thought. Then the computer flashed again. A card popped up on the screen.

 
‘This beast looks mean,’ said Kai. ‘Let’s go get our battle gear. This will be a hard battle.’

  There was another secret room behind the lab. It was the battle chamber. It had all the battle gear. Kai took out his Border Guard Card.

  Kai pushed the card into the computer. Then he took it out again. The computer flashed.

  Then there was a loud noise.

  The bricks in the wall behind them began to move. Four bricks moved to make a hole. Kai and BC went through the hole into the room.

  The room had three walls. The walls were filled with battle gear. The last wall had a screen over it.

  Kai couldn’t get to that wall. ‘I’m so over that!’ said Kai. ‘When will the BMC let me have things from the other walls?’

  Kai saw something on the second wall. ‘I bet we still can’t have things from this wall,’ said Kai.

  ‘I want this,’ said Kai. He went to the middle wall. Kai tried to take a jet pack. He waited for the locked sound he always heard.

  But the jet pack came off the wall. ‘Yes!’ said Kai. ‘At last we can have things from the middle wall! Look at this, BC!’

  ‘This can help me fly in strong winds. And it can make its own strong winds,’ said Kai.

  ‘Good for air battles,’ said BC.

  ‘We can pick one more thing from the battle chamber. What about that thing on the middle wall?’ said Kai.

  Kai read the tag. ‘It shoots rocks,’ he said. ‘That could be useful.’ Kai went to take it. He heard a noise.

  Then a computer voice said

  ‘Oh well,’ said Kai. ‘We got to have one thing from the middle wall.’

  Kai went back to the first wall.

  ‘This looks good,’ Kai said. ‘These chains could be very handy.’ He took the chains. ‘Time to go then, BC.’

  Kai and BC went into the lift. Kai pushed the button for the take-off pad.

  ‘What else will BMC give us for battle?’ asked BC.

  ‘Who knows,’ said Kai. ‘That’s why the lift is so much fun.’

  The lift went to the top. Its door opened. Kai and BC were on the take-off pad. They were ready for battle.

  ‘The BMC gave you a jet pack, BC.’ said Kai. ‘And mine now has power boosters. That will be handy.’ Just then Kai’s orbix beeped.

  The orb was a small computer. It had lots of good stuff on it. And it could be used in battle. The BMC also used it to talk with their guards.

  ‘You got another upgrade, BC,’ said Kai.

  Kai hit the light button on the orb. The lighthouse roof opened. The take-off pad lit up with light. The light went into the sky.

  It took Kai and BC with it.

  Kai and BC landed on top of white clouds. It was very bumpy. They bounced about like balls.

  ‘This is Tornados,’ said Kai. ‘The wind is strong. We have to get down through the clouds.’

  Kai and BC set their jet packs to high. They tried to push down but they were thrown back up. They were back where they started.

  Kai and BC bounced about. ‘How can we get past the clouds?’ asked BC.

  ‘Let’s try my power boosters,’ said Kai.

  Kai held BC. He hit the booster button. He and BC shot through the clouds. ‘That was so easy,’ said Kai. ‘These power boosters are great.’

  Kai let go of BC. ‘Let’s look around.’ He and BC moved slowly in the air. It was quiet and still. Then BC’s tail began to wag. ‘What is it, BC?’ asked Kai.

  ‘Something is coming,’ said BC.

  Kai turned to look. But it was too late. Birds were flying straight for him. They dived at Kai.

  There were lots of them. They pecked him with their sharp beaks.

  Kai was being pecked and pecked. And he was rolling away. ‘Help, BC,’ he said. ‘Use your eye lasers.’

  BC hit the birds with his lasers. One by one they fell away.

  ‘Thanks, BC,’ said Kai. ‘Those birds hurt.’

  ‘Eye lasers are good!’ said BC. And then his tail wagged once more. That was not good.

  Kai looked around the air land. He saw something this time. ‘It’s another one of those birds,’ said Kai. ‘Do your stuff, BC.’

  BC hit it with his lasers. But the lasers did nothing. The bird just kept coming.

  ‘Oh no,’ said Kai. ‘It’s not the same bird. I’m not sure what it is. It’s smaller than the one we saw in the lab. And more are coming.’

  The birds began to flap their wings. They made a wind that pulled Kai and BC into them.

  ‘They are sucking us in,’ said Kai. ‘And they aren’t birds. They are some kind of baby beast.’

  Kai grabbed hold of BC. Then he hit the power booster button on his jet pack.

  But it was too late. The beasts flapped their wings again. This time the wind pushed Kai and BC far back. They were thrown a long way.

  The place they landed in was very stormy. Kai and BC raced back to the air land. This time they were ready.

  Kai threw his beast chains. They grew longer and longer. Long chains went round and round one baby beast. Kai got it easily. ‘Use your lasers,’ said Kai. BC took a shot.

  ‘Got it,’ said BC. Kai took the chains off the beast. It fell away. The chains went back down to their small size.

  ‘Two more coming,’ said BC. Kai threw the chains.

  Even longer chains came out. They went round and round another beast. Again BC hit it with his lasers.

  The beast be fell back deep into the air land.

  ‘One more to go, BC,’ said Kai. ‘Watch out. It’s coming for you.’

  Kai quickly threw the chains. He got the beast just before it got BC. ‘That was close,’ said Kai. ‘We’ve sent them back where they came from. Come on, let’s keep going.’

  Kai and BC pushed through the wind. It was a hard ride. Wind blew around in circles. Then a huge wind blasted them. It sent them tumbling over and over.

  It was going round and round really fast. It was turning into a big twister.

  ‘Get behind me quick, BC,’ said Kai. He turned on his airstrikers. They were set to top-speed. The two air-strikers made their own winds.

  The winds were strong. They went round in circles. Kai had made his own twisters.

  Kai’s twisters pushed the big twister back. ‘Hang in there, BC,’ said Kai. ‘We’re beating it.’

  But then there was a loud noise.

  A huge beast was inside the big twister. Kai saw two big blue wings slap together. The wind from the wings sent Kai and BC rolling. Kai took out his orb. He took a photo. I hope the BMC find this one for me fast, he thought. A card popped up onto the orb’s screen.

  Kai looked up at the beast. It was getting ready to flap again.

  Kai was on the border wall. He held BC in his arms. The dog was not moving. BC had been hit with too much gas. Even for a dogbot. BC could not wake up. What can I do? thought Kai.

  Just then Kai’s orb beeped.

  Kai looked at the beast. It was getting closer.

  There wasn’t much time. He did BC’s jet pack up. Then he opened the orb.

  There was a bottle sitting inside the orb. It was filled with gold oil. Kai took it out. It’s from the BMC, he thought.

  I’ll put some oil in BC’s ears, thought Kai. He opened the bottle. Kai tipped the gold oil into BC’s ear. It went in. And it began to work.

  The dogbot started to move. ‘Yes!’ said Kai. ‘You’re waking up. Are you OK, BC? Do you think you can battle?’

  ‘You bet,’ said BC.

  ‘We only have one chain,’ said Kai.

  ‘I can take one end,’ said BC. ‘I’ll go behind. You go in front.’

  ‘Good plan. Let’s wrap this be beast up once and for all,’ said Kai.

  ‘It must not crash through the wall. We must stop it.’

>   Kai and BC flew at the beast.

  BC flew behind it.

  He took one end of the chain with him.

  The beast didn’t even see him. It was looking at the wall.

  Kai flew to the front of the beast. He took the other end of the chain with him.

  Kai and BC went around the beast. Once, twice, three times. The beast was trapped.

  It made a huge noise.

  Then Kai took the chain around the beast’s mouth. ‘No more bad breath for us,’ he said.

  Kai looked at the beast. It was trapped.

  The beast could not move. ‘Time to send this beast back to where it came from, BC,’ said Kai.