by Jack Patton
It wasn’t long before Max was standing at the top of the tower, looking out across the sea toward the lava bridge and the distant mass of Reptile Island. Buzz and Spike stood by his side.
“Next time the lizards attack, we’ll see them coming,” Buzz said.
A movement on the water caught Max’s eye. He looked closer.
“That might be sooner than we think!” Max cried. “Do you see what I see?”
Spike gasped. “Basilisk lizards!” A whole group of the lizards was racing across the water. This was no scouting party. This was a full-on invasion force.
Max realized this was the second half of a one-two punch from Komodo. First, the geckos were meant to tear the tower down, and then the basilisk lizards would swarm the island.
“We need to warn Barton, fast,” Max called, leaping onto Buzz’s back. He shouted back to the scorpion, “Spike, I’ll go with Buzz—we’ll meet you on the beach!”
“Sure thing, human bean,” Spike called.
Buzz powered up her wings and zoomed down the side of the cliff, with Max hanging on for dear life. She pulled out of her crash dive and shot out across the bay like a missile. She would never usually fly so fast, but they had to reach Barton before the lizard forces landed on the beach—or Bug Island was finished.
The pair of them flew down across the bay, just slightly above the water’s surface. Waves rose and fell and frothy foam spewed out into the air—Max grabbed on to Buzz as securely as he could.
“Look!” Buzz yelled above the sound of her wings. “Our fishing spider forces are out on patrol!”
Max was glad to see the spiders skittering back and forth across the water, ready for anything that might come toward the land. They were like explosive mines bobbing about in the deep sea, waiting for enemy ships to smash into them unawares.
Barton’s temporary camp came into view, and Buzz rocketed toward it. She and Max slammed into a mossy landing pad, sending both of them tumbling over and over before coming to an abrupt stop.
Max opened his eyes to see Barton and his praying mantis guard looking down at him with concern. “Are you all right? That was quite a smash.”
“General, you need to prepare the troops. A lizard invasion force is coming!”
Max quickly explained what he’d seen from the watchtower.
Barton grimaced. “In that case, we must defend the beach at all costs! The watchtower plan has worked better than we could have foreseen,” he told Max as they walked together. “I cannot believe it was almost destroyed. The reptile spies must have heard us planning.”
“There were chameleons in the jungle,” Max said. “They make the best spies.”
Down at the beach, the bugs lined up in their battle ranks. The toughest, most armored bugs went in the front row. That line was mostly beetles and scorpions, who could withstand the lizards’ ferocious assault. On the sides, the hard-hitting striker bugs lurked, waiting to attack and withdraw: the mantises, bombardier beetles, and Webster’s spider troop. Finally, the hornet squadrons waited at the very rear, ready for the order to fly.
From out at sea, one of the fishing spiders skipped back toward the shore: “Lizards sighted!”
“Give me types and numbers!” Barton bellowed.
“There’s a troop of geckos crossing the lava bridge—chameleons, too. Komodo is right in the middle of them, and the basilisk lizards are following.”
They’re coming at us from all sides! Max thought.
The fishing spiders fell back to the beach to join the rest of the bug forces as General Komodo drew closer.
Komodo and his gecko platoon, followed by the chameleons and basilisk lizards, slithered off the lava bridge and into the shallows. They splashed up onto the sandy beach, glaring at the assembled bugs.
“I see you were expecting us,” Komodo said. “So nice of you to prepare dinner!”
“We saw you coming, all right,” Max called.
“Of course. That pointless watchtower you built on the cliff. What a waste of time! You should know by now that we lizards are everywhere. You’ll need more than that to keep us off our island.”
“This is Bug Island,” Max cried. “And we plan to keep it that way!”
“We’ll see about that,” Komodo hissed.
Barton grunted and opened his hardened wing cases. “I’ve heard enough,” he cried. “Battle Bugs, attack!”
The front rank of beetles charged down the beach and plowed into the gecko ranks. Their pincers nipped and bit, making the geckos hiss in anger. In retaliation, the lizards swatted at the beetles, trying to tip them over onto their backs, where they would be helpless. Komodo lunged down with his massive jaws, snapping up beetles and flinging them aside.
Spike came scuttling across the sand toward Max. “I came as fast as I could!”
“You haven’t missed the fight,” Max assured him. Together, they rode down to the front lines.
“Mantises!” Max yelled. “This way!”
The mantises raced over. Max directed them toward the chameleons, leading the attack himself from Spike’s back. In a flurry of snapping pincers, lashing venomous barbs, and vicious claw attacks, the chameleons were forced back to the water’s edge. Their color-changing abilities did nothing to stop them from being beaten in this fight.
Out on the water, the fishing spiders were doing their best to keep the basilisk lizards at bay, but they were hopelessly outsized. The lizards came splashing toward the shore, their eyes filled with an evil hunger.
Max remembered when he’d swum to the shore, chased the whole way by the basilisk lizard. Barton had told him about a reserve force buried in the sand. Now would be the perfect time to use it. “Barton!” Max yelled. “That secret weapon you mentioned? Now might be the time to use it.”
“I think you’re right, Max,” Barton called out. He made a piercing, high-pitched noise. Max covered his ears.
Up from the sand a volley of winged, hunched-over bugs burst into the air. They had long mouthparts, skinny bodies, and bristly legs.
Max gasped. “Assassin flies!” He knew they could deliver a nasty bite and their huge proboscis was full of toxins that could paralyze their prey—they were vicious predators.
“Dive!” buzzed their leader. The cloud of assassin flies rushed into the fight, swarming around the lizards’ faces and blinding them. They bit where they could, one of them even landing a hit on Komodo himself.
“Rargh! Where are those basilisks?” Komodo roared. “Finish these wretched bugs now!”
Max looked around to see the basilisk lizards wading through the sea-foam up toward the shore. The fishing spiders were limping back inland, desperately trying to keep them from landing.
The geckos saw their reinforcements coming and cheered. Max’s heart sank. The bugs had been so close to victory … If they couldn’t beat the lizards back, Bug Island would surely become a second Reptile Island!
“We need your brains, Max,” said Spike as he wrestled an attacking gecko with his pincers. “Do you have any bright ideas?”
From Spike’s back, Max could clearly see the gecko struggling, biting, and clawing for all it was worth. The lizard’s long tail dangled below, trailing in the sand. Compared to Spike’s proud, stinger-bearing tail, it was useless.
Wait, Max thought, suddenly remembering something about geckos. If they were attacked on the tail, they could detach it from their body to escape. But not having a tail left them off-balance and unable to fight as fiercely as usual.
“Spike, grab his tail!” Max yelled.
Spike seized the gecko’s tail in his pincer. Instantly, it fell off, like a limp rope. The gecko seemed to go crazy with fear.
“Argh!” it yelled. “My tail! Help!” With that, it sprinted back down the beach, toward the bridge.
Max grinned. His trick had worked. The geckos’ survival instincts wouldn’t let them stay in a fight if they had lost their tails. The urge to flee was just too strong.
“Bugs, aim for the
geckos’ tails and hang on!” he called out.
The bugs passed the message along the beach, then went to work. Mantises grabbed gecko tails and pinned them tight until they fell off. Scorpions followed Spike’s example, grabbing a gecko tail in each strong pincer. As the geckos’ tails came loose, the lizards went into a blind panic, fleeing away as fast as they could. Some of them even crashed back into the sea, floundering in the waves.
Komodo let out an angry roar. The beach in front of him was littered with dropped tails. The lizards he’d counted on to lead his attack were running in terror. The bugs advanced, marching steadily as Komodo fell back step-by-step toward the lava bridge.
The chameleons were down, and the geckos were running away. Only Komodo’s loyal basilisk lizards remained, and they were looking less loyal by the second, glancing fearfully at one another. When the assassin flies and hornet squadrons swept in to attack from two sides at once, it was too much. The basilisks turned and ran.
“ARGHH!” Komodo roared, backing away across the lava bridge once more. “This isn’t over, Barton. One day, I swear, I will devour you. Bite by bite!”
“Speaking of bites,” Barton said, “you’re about to get a few more of your own. Assassin flies, escort General Komodo off our island!”
The swarm of assassin flies surrounded Komodo, biting him everywhere they could and making him howl. Max watched him vanish over the horizon, with the flies chasing him all the way.
A cheer went up from the bugs on the beach. “Victory!”
“You’ve done it again, my young friend,” Barton said. “Bug Island will never fall to the lizards. Not while we have you on our side.”
* * *
Now that the bugs were safe, Max was eager to return to Tyler’s birthday party. After a swift good-bye, he held his magnifying glass up to the sky. He felt himself rushing up into the air as strange forces pulled him away from Bug Island and back to his own world.
As he whirled giddily through the air, he suddenly wondered what would happen if he came out high above the ground in the real world, like he had in Bug Island. He’d be smashed to a pulp! Surely the Encyclopedia knew what it was doing … right?
With a pop, he fell back into reality. To his horror, he was still falling. He had come out in midair.
In the next second, there was a mighty twang as Max hit Tyler’s backyard trampoline. He shot back up into the air, landed again, bounced up and down, and eventually came to a wobbly stop. The birthday party was still in full swing.
Tyler was staring at him with his mouth wide open.
“How did you do that? You went into my house, then the next thing I know, you’re out here!” He frowned. “You didn’t jump out of the window, did you?”
“Nope,” said Max with a wink. “You must have just missed me. I’m sneaky like that.”
Tyler looked puzzled, and shook his head. “Come on. I need you in my Fortress of Power. We’re playing capture the flag and I need a second-in-command. You up for the job?”
“Count me in!” Max said, laughing. After all, he thought, I’ve got plenty of siege experience now!
Emperor Scorpion
The emperor scorpion is one of the largest scorpions in the world. It has long been feared by humans for its unusual size and strong claws—however, it’s one of the less venomous species of scorpion in existence.
Although not fatal to humans, the scorpion’s sting is effective against its prey, which is primarily termites. The emperor scorpion has been known to dig down as far as six feet in order to reach its favorite morsel.
Fishing Spider
This kind of spider is most at home in or around water. Found across North America, Europe, and New Zealand, fishing spiders use their incredible abilities to hunt aquatic insects, and even small fish, to survive.
The fishing spider is hydrophobic. This doesn’t mean that it is scared of water; instead, it means that it repels water. The spiders are covered in tiny hairs that allow them to dash across the water without them actually making contact with it. If a fishing spider needs to dive, these hairs provide a thin coating of trapped air around its body, keeping the spider beneath nice and dry!
Admiral Butterflies
The red admiral is a relatively common butterfly found across large swaths of Europe, North America, and Asia. Its striking black wings with red stripes and white eyespots make it one of the most recognizable and well-known butterfly species.
Before it turns into a butterfly, the red admiral caterpillar is not to be messed with. Their black-and-yellow bodies are protected by rows and rows of branched spikes. Any bird or other predator that tries to eat them will get a pointy surprise!
Max Darwin is summoned back to Bug Island to discover the island in turmoil. Spike has vanished, and his disappearance has all the hallmarks of one of General Komodo’s schemes.
Max soon discovers that Spike has been bugnapped and is being held prisoner by the enemy. The Battle Bugs have no choice but to head straight into the heart of the Reptilian Empire!
Text copyright © 2015 by Hothouse Fiction
Cover and interior art by Brett Bean, copyright © 2015 by Scholastic Inc.
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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 978-0-545-70963-7
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