Volcan

by Mac Park

  Lemonfizz Media

  PO Box 499

  Elwood, Victoria 3184

  www.lemonfizzmedia.com

  Scholastic Australia Pty Limited

  PO Box 579

  Gosford, NSW 2250

  ABN 11 000 614 577

  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 Aus 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 Melanie Matthews.

  Internal illustrations by Lionel Portier, Melanie Matthews, Steve Karp 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

  Long ago beast and man shared one world. Then battles began between them.

  After many battles the world was split in two. Beasts were given Beastium. Man was given Earth.

  A border-wall was made. It closed the two worlds off.

  Border Guards were trained to defend the border-wall.

  The beasts tried to get through the border-wall many times. The Border Guards had to stop them. Battles won by beasts made them stronger. Battles won by guards earned them new battle gear. And they got new upgrades. Then their battle gear could do more.

  Five boys now defend the border-wall. They are in training to become Border Masters. Just like their dads.

  Their dads were also Border Guards once. Then they became Border Captains and then Border Knights. They kept learning until they became Border Masters. Now they make up the Bordaria Master Command. The BMC.

  The BMC helped the Border Guards during battle. They gave the Border Guards new battle gear.

  The boys had to earn new battle gear. They needed to learn from their battles. And from their mistakes.

  Kai Masters is a Border Guard. His work is top secret. The BMC watch Kai closely. Kai must not fail.

  The beasts of Beastium lived in four lands. There was a fire land. There was a rock land and a water land. And there was an air land.

  But over time, the edges of the lands mixed. That was how the border-lands were made.

  The edges of fire and rock mixed. It made a volcano land. The edges of rock and water mixed. There was a mud border-land.

  The edges of water and wind mixed. There was an ice border-land. The edges of wind and fire mixed. That made a storm border-land.

  But it was not just the edges of the worlds that mixed.

  The beasts from each of the worlds mixed too. And then a new kind of beast was made...

  The border-land beast.

  Kai Masters must think about his old battles. He must learn from them. If he does not, then he will fail.

  Kai must not lose.

  It was Sunday. It was a sunny but cold winter day.

  Kai Masters was at his soccer BBQ. Kai played soccer for the Bayside Beasts. They had won their grand final. The team was having a party.

  Kai was helping with the food. It was his job to flip the burgers on the BBQ. It was hot work.

  The kids lined up. Everyone was getting a burger on a bun. They got their bread. Then they went to Kai for their burgers.

  Suddenly black stuff floated down onto their food. That’s just black ash from the BBQ, thought Kai. He looked at the BBQ. But there was no ash.

  The ash was coming from the sky. And the kids weren’t happy. The ash had turned hard on their food. It looked like hard black goo. And they couldn’t get it off.

  It’s like hot, hard mud, thought Kai. He called his dog. BC3 ran to him. Kai bent down and put his lead on.

  BC’s tail was wagging. That’s not good, thought Kai. BC was not like other dogs. He was a robotic dog. But only Kai knew that. BC’s tail always wagged when there was beastly trouble.

  Kai Master was 12 years old. And he was a Border Guard. It was Kai’s job to stop beasts getting to Earth. Beasts that tried to break through the border-wall.

  ‘We need to go,’ said Kai as he patted BC. ‘But first I’ll take some of this black stuff.’

  Kai took out his orbix. It was a mini computer. It was a beast-battling tool too. The orb and BC came from the BMC. They were given to Kai to help him in battle.

  Kai opened the orb where no one could see. He held it out. He caught some ash.

  I need to test this in the lab at home, thought Kai. It could be a beast from the fire land again.

  ‘Come on, BC,’ said Kai. ‘We have work to do.’

  Kai’s home was an old lighthouse. It had secret rooms in it. Rooms that were made just for a Border Guard. Kai and BC ran through the front door. Kai took BC’s lead off. Then he pushed his chat button.

  ‘Turn fur off,’ said BC. BC hated his fake fur.

  His fur was itchy. He only wore it when he was outside. Or when friends came over.

  Kai hit the fur button on his orb. BC’s fur went back inside his metal body.

  ‘Let’s take this ash to the mini lab,’ said Kai. ‘I don’t want to touch it.’

  Kai went into the kitchen pantry. He pushed the button under the bottom shelf.

  The back wall of the pantry began to move. Kai and BC went behind the wall.

  They climbed down the ladder to the lab. Then they went into the mini lab room.

  Kai put his orb into the orb mini lab. Then he picked up the remote. He pushed the button for the orb mini lab.

  Then the wall screen flashed.

  ‘The fire land and the rock land,’ said Kai. Then the screen flashed again.

  ‘A volcano,’ said Kai. He hit the Volcan button.

  A card popped up on the screen.

  ‘A lava beast?’ asked BC.

  ‘It looks like it,’ said Kai. ‘We need to get ready for heat. And lots of it! Time to pick our battle gear, BC.’

  ‘We won two upgrades after ice battle,’ said BC. ‘Hope they will be good for this land.’

  ‘We’ll find out when we go in the lift,’ said Kai. ‘First we need to go to the battle chamber.’

  The battle chamber was behind the lab and mini lab. Kai put his Border Guard Card into the computer’s slot. Some bricks in the lab wall began to move.

  They made a hole in the wall. Kai and BC climbed through the hole.

  The battle chamber had t
hree walls. Each one had battle gear on it. Kai moved over to wall three. ‘I think we can have stuff from here now,’ he said.

  Kai went to take a chill zapper. ‘This will be good in a hot land,’ he said. ‘It shoots icy stuff.’

  Kai heard a computer voice say

  ‘Maybe next time,’ said Kai.

  Kai moved over to wall two. ‘Look at that sword,’ he said to BC.

  Kai read the tag. ‘It can turn everything to ice. But only when put in the right place. Weird, it doesn’t say what that that place is. I think we should take it, anyway.’

  Kai took the sword from the wall. Then a computer voice said

  The slide went from Kai’s bedroom to the lab. It also went from the lab to the transport chamber. Kai and BC climbed into the slide. They slid down into the next chamber.

  The Build-a-Ride computer was on. Kai looked at the buttons. ‘We can’t touch lava, it will burn right though us. I think we should fly,’ said Kai. He hit the air button.

  Then he hit the lava button.

  Then he hit the drill button.

  ‘Drill mode can go under ground,’ said BC.

  ‘Yes,’ said Kai.

  They heard a noise.

  Part of the floor in the middle of the room moved. It slid open to make a round hole. Up from the hole came the jet-drill. The one that Kai had made. It was in jet mode.

  Kai climbed into the front seat. BC jumped into the back.

  ‘We have to get the bars filled?,’ asked BC.

  ‘Yes,’ said Kai. ‘When they are full we can change to drill mode. The bars show when we have won battle points.’

  Kai put his orb into the orb-shaped space on the dashboard.

  The lift began to move. It took Kai and BC to the top of the lighthouse. The lift doors opened. Kai’s orb beeped.

  ‘It’s our upgrades,’ said Kai. ‘My clothes are lava-proof,’ said Kai. ‘And so are my shoes. I can stand on lava now. My shoes won’t melt.’

  ‘That’s good,’ said BC. ‘What did I get?’

  ‘You got an upgrade to your tail,’ said Kai. ‘The laser on your tail can ice things!’

  ‘That will be good in a lava land,’ said BC. ‘My body can take heat. And my tail can turn lava to ice.’

  ‘Yes,’ said Kai as he thought about the card. ‘What’s an ash burp anyway?’

  ‘Maybe the beast will blow hot ash at us,’ said BC.

  ‘Maybe,’ said Kai.

  The jet-drill was on the takeoff pad. Kai keyed in the Volcan codes on his orb. Then he hit the light button.

  The lighthouse roof opened. The take-off pad filled with light. The light shot up into the sky. It took Kai, BC and the jet-drill to the border-land of Volcan.

  Kai flew into a red and black sky. It was filled with ash and ash clouds. ‘This is Volcan alright,’ said Kai. ‘Look down at the land, BC.’

  There were volcanoes, everywhere. There were lots of small ones. And there was one huge one.

  Suddenly the jet was hit. ‘What was that?’ asked BC.

  ‘Rocks! Huge rocks from the volcanoes,’ said Kai. ‘And more are coming!’

  Kai hit the laser bolt button. A bolt of light flew from the jet. It hit a rock that was coming straight at them. The bolt blew the rock to bits.

  ‘Got that one,’ said BC. ‘More coming.’ Kai hit two more rocks. But more kept coming.

  ‘It’s getting harder,’ said Kai. ‘I can’t fly the jet and get the rocks.’

  BC climbed into the front with Kai. He had to sit on Kai’s lap. ‘I’ll get the rocks,’ said BC. ‘You can fly.’

  Kai dodged as many rocks as he could. BC hit the big rocks with the laser bolt. Soon the rocks were gone.

  Kai slowed the jet down. ‘Thanks, BC,’ he said. ‘Good job. And look! We won points. Look at the bars.’

  ‘Need to win more to change to drill mode,’ said BC.

  Suddenly there was a huge noise.

  It came from the volcano in front of them.

  The jet rocked. Kai quickly got control of it. Then he slowed the jet right down.

  Clouds of ash flew from the top of the volcano. They were huge. They spread right across the sky. They kept coming.

  ‘We need to get out of these ash clouds,’ said Kai. ‘The ash will get inside the jet’s engines. It will stop them working.’

  Kai set the jet’s engines to turbo-blast. They flew right through the ash clouds. It was a fast but bumpy ride.

  Then the jet engines stopped. ‘Oh no,’ said Kai. ‘There was too much ash. We’re going to crash. I’ll have to crash-land at the bottom of that volcano.’

  ‘Look,’ said BC. ‘Bars are full now. We can change to drill mode.’

  ‘Get back in your seat,’ said Kai. ‘And put your seat belt on. I’m going to land.’

  Kai tried to land the jet.

  It bumped up and down as it went along the ground. Then Kai pushed the button for drill mode.

  Suddenly Kai was driving the drill. On the ground. He hit the brakes. The drill stopped.

  ‘That was a bit tricky,’ said Kai.

  But there was no answer. BC was gone.

  Kai looked around for BC. He must have fallen out when we landed, Kai thought. I have to find him. Then he heard a noise.

  It was a group of spiders. But not just any spiders.

  They were lava spiders.

  The spiders were spinning sticky lava webs.

  Then Kai saw BC. He was wrapped up in lava spider webs. And he couldn’t move.

  Kai turned the drill to face the spiders. He hit the ice-disc button. Round discs of hard ice flew from the drill.

  The ice discs landed on the spiders. sp Kai watched as their webs turned to ice. The icy spiders sp fell away.

  Then Kai turned to BC. ‘Use your tail upgrade, BC,’ he said. A blue light shone from BC’s tail. It spread over the webs wrapped around him.

  The light froze the sticky lava webs. They cracked and fell to the ground.

  Kai jumped out of the drill. He ran over to BC.

  ‘What happened to you?’ asked Kai.

  ‘Eject button on my seat. It went off by itself,’ said BC. ‘I was thrown out when jet went to drill mode.’

  ‘You’re okay now?’ asked Kai.

  But BC’s tail began to wag. Then there was a loud rumble.

  Out of the big volcano climbed the beast. ‘That’s the one we saw in the lab,’ said Kai. ‘The baby.’

  The beast opened its mouth and burped. It sent an ash cloud straight at Kai and BC.

  Kai pulled his hood over his head. He lay down over BC.

  He let the ash-cloud pass over them.

  When the cloud had gone they stood up. ‘An ash cloud attack,’ said BC.

  ‘Yes,’ said Kai. ‘The same ash that fell from the sky at home. But where is the beast? It got away.’

  BC pointed to the top of the volcano.

  ‘It’s going into the volcano,’ he said and his tail wagged madly.

  ‘This isn’t good,’ said Kai. ‘It’s going down into the magma chamber. Where all the lava is made.’

  There was an even louder rumble than before.

  ‘It’s changing,’ said BC.

  ‘Yes,’ said Kai. ‘Because it got away from us. This new beast will be even bigger.’

  The rumbling stopped. Then the beast rose up from the volcano. It was bigger. It looked like it was made of fire and rock. Its claws glowed yellow and white.

  Kai quickly took a photo on his orb. A card popped up.

  Kai and BC got back into the drill. ‘There is an ice hose on the drill,’ said Kai. ‘I’ll use it. You work the ice disc.’

  The beast opened its mouth. But this time there was no ash cloud. Hot hurls of lava flew at Kai and BC.

  Kai hose
d the hurls with ice. BC shot ice discs at the beast. But it was no good. The beast melted the ice disks. And Kai’s ice hose was not enough.

  ‘Let’s get inside that cave over there,’ said Kai.

  ‘We need to work out how to stop this beast.’

  Just then the beast stopped its lava hurls. It let out a huge noise.

  And it changed again. ‘It’s a maxi beast now!’ said BC.

  Kai took a photo as they drove for cover.

  A card popped up on the orb’s screen.

  Kai and BC sat in the drill inside the cave. ‘Let me see what else this drill can do,’ said Kai.

  The drill had a button called rapid chill. Kai pushed it. The hoses on the back of the drill made a noise.

  Kai looked at the hoses. They had two round spouts. There was one at each end of the hoses.