can lift up to five thousand times his
own weight, but when there’s something
that’s too heavy to carry on his own, that
little guy will call on his friends to help
him out. I tested this by leaving out a
superheavy Cheerio, and sure enough a
group of five ants worked
together to carry it away.
I guess you could say ants have got
brains and brawn!” The science fair
judges laughed. Flash smiled. Peter
frowned.
This was really happening.
Flash Thompson was doing well at
science. And worse, Peter himself was
interested in Flash’s project. Peter
knew he shouldn’t be so annoyed.
Assuming Flash wouldn’t be good at
schoolwork just because he was good
at sports was unfair. Just as unfair
as Flash thinking Peter couldn’t play
basketball because he was smart. But
Peter didn’t care about fairness right
now. He just wanted the judges to stop
paying attention to Flash.
Which they did, the moment
Doctor Octopus came raging through
the door. Panic ensued at the sight of
the metal-tentacled menace.
“Give me those particles!” Doc Ock
cried.
Ant-Man was right beside him.
“What’s the magic word?” he asked.
Doctor Octopus swung a metal arm.
Ant-Man ducked. “Please,” the
tiniest Avenger said. “The magic word is
please.”
“Enough of this foolishness!” said
Doctor Octopus. “I am the superior
scientist! The altered Pym Particles will
be mine. And you will give them to me
now!”
Peter was wondering what particles
they were talking about when he
noticed a lone canister floating through
the air. It moved with direction and
purpose, as if someone very small was
flying it. Suddenly it dipped down and
shot past Aidan Taylor’s homemade
volcano before disappearing into Reilly
First’s dry-ice project.
Peter knew what he had to do.
As scientists and students
scattered, Peter grabbed Aunt May and
pushed her out the door to safety. Amid
the chaos, he disappeared back into the
crowd. Peter hated leaving his aunt, but
he needed to help. He needed to find an
empty classroom to change. He needed
to become the amazing Spider-Man!
Chapter
6
Doctor Octopus slammed his
tentacles down hard on the floor.
Ant-Man weaved between them. He got
in close to Doc Ock’s body and slammed
against his chest with all his might. The
mad scientist stumbled backward.
Ant-Man was about to land another
punch when a metal arm
swiped right and knocked
him through the air.
Ant-Man landed in the jaws of
a pincer. The menacing metal claw
began to close. Ant-Man was as good as
squashed until . . .
FWOOSH!
The Wasp swooped in. She lifted
Ant-Man out of the tentacle’s grasp and
flew him to safety.
“I’ve really got to get me some
wings,” Ant-Man said.
“You’re welcome,” replied the Wasp.
“RAAARRRR!” roared Doctor
Octopus. He grabbed hold of the nearest
table and flipped it. Science projects
flew everywhere, including Reilly’s dry-
ice experiment. The canister of Gigantor
Particles rolled out from the mist.
“The particles!” the Wasp cried.
She dropped Ant-Man at the foot of the
artificial volcano and flew as fast as
she could for the canister.
She reached out a hand.
She almost had it when—
SLAM! One of Doc Ock’s
tentacles swatted
her aside.
The evil scientist
lifted the canister.
“Victory,” he cried.
“Victory is mine!”
The Wasp called to Ant-Man, “I think
it’s time we let Doctor Octopus know
what Pym Particles actually feel like.”
“Roger that,” said Ant-Man. He
took a gas balloon filled with shrinking
Pym Particles from his utility belt and
hurled it at the Super Villain.
Just then, Spider-Man swung onto
the scene. He had timed his entrance
perfectly. The trajectory of his swing
was right on track. He knocked Doctor
Octopus off his feet and sent them both
flying . . . right into Ant-Man’s
shrinking balloon!
BURST!
Spider-Man, Doctor Octopus, and
the canister of Gigantor Particles
shrank down to insect size. They
tumbled into the Amanat cousins’ group
project, landing inside the jaws of a
Venus flytrap!
Chapter
7
Spider-Man lay on his side, face-to-
face with Doctor Octopus. The Venus
flytrap began to close.
“I don’t know what’s worse,” Spidey
said. “The fact that I’m the size of a
lima bean and I’m about to be eaten by
a plant, or the fishy breath on you.” He
waved his hand in front of his nose. “Is
that why they call you Doctor Octopus?
Pee-yew!”
“Enough, you bothersome bug!”
Doc Ock shoved the web-slinger aside.
He spotted the canister of Gigantor
Particles caught between two of the
flytrap’s teeth. His now-tiny metal
tentacles lifted him toward it, but
before he could reach out, Spider-Man
tackled him from behind.
“I don’t know what those particles
do,” Spidey said. “But I’m guessing
they’re not for you!” He webbed Doc
Ock’s metal extremities together and
hurled him toward the ceiling. The
fearsome foe flew up and out of the
plant’s jaws, taking Spider-Man with
him. They crash-landed on top of a
table.
“You fool!” Doctor Octopus cried.
“The canister will be crushed!”
Ant-Man ran up beside them.
“Octopuppy’s right,” he said. “If those
particles are released, there’s going
to be a giant man-eating plant in the
middle of Manhattan.”
While Doctor Octopus and Ant-Man
stared in horror at the flytrap’s closing
jaws, Spider-Man stared in awe at
his fellow Super Hero. “Excuse me,
Ant-Man,” he said. “Hi, I’m your
friendly neighborhood Spider-Man, and
can I just say I love your work with the
Avengers? Seriously, this is huge. Or
should I say tiny? You know, because
we’re small?” He laughed at his own
joke. “Anyway, I’ve always wanted
to team up with you. And now you’re
here, and I’m here, so maybe we can—”
&nb
sp; Spider-Man paused. “I’m sorry, did
you say ‘giant man-eating plant’? The
particles make things bigger?”
Ant-Man nodded.
Spidey hung his head. “My bad.”
The trio watched as the plant’s
leaves tightened and the canister was
about to burst.
“I can’t look,” Ant-Man said, turning
away.
Suddenly, the Wasp swooped in,
grabbed the canister, and saved the day.
She landed beside Ant-Man. He
gave her a high five. “I knew we’d be
okay!” he exclaimed.
“Enough! The particles will be mine!”
Doctor Octopus yelled. His tentacles
moved into action, each one knocking a
hero aside. The canister flew into the air
once more. Doc Ock reached for it, but
Spider-Man’s web snatched it first.
As he handed the canister to the
Wasp, Spider-Man said, “May I just
say it’s a real honor to be fighting
alongside— Oof!”
A tentacle grabbed Spider-Man
and hurled him into the air. The Wasp
jumped out of the path of another.
“Ant-Man,” she hollered. “Go long!”
Ant-Man took off, and the Wasp
threw the canister. It sailed over Doctor
Octopus’s head and landed right in
Ant-Man’s arms.
Ant-Man climbed through a project
about climate change (CO2 Much?) and
ran past a poster on running (Fartlek
Training: It’s Not Just a Silly Name!).
But Doc Ock was gaining on him. By
the time Ant-Man reached the base of
the baking-soda volcano, the brilliant
bad guy was on his heels.
“Ant-Man,” Spider-Man called from
the top of the volcano. “Up here!” But
just as Ant-Man launched the canister,
the ground began to shake. A low
rumbling sound got louder and louder
until . . .
KA-BAAAAAAM!
The volcano erupted, sending
Spider-Man and the canister flying. He
shot his web at it.
“Got it! No thanks to that eruption
interruption,” he said. Spider-Man
was so relieved to have the Gigantor
Particles in his possession that he didn’t
notice he had landed—and was stuck—
in a petri dish of honey!
“Well, this is a sticky situation,” he
said.
“Or a sweet one,” Doctor Octopus
laughed, suddenly upon him. “Good-bye,
spider-fool!” he cried as he snatched the
canister from Spider-Man’s gooey hand
and ran.
Chapter
8
Doctor Octopus headed for the exit.
If he made it outside before the heroes
caught him, he could disappear. Then
he—and the Gigantor Particles—would
be gone for good!
Spider-Man tried to run forward
through the honey, but it was like
pushing against the waves at the beach.
If only he could use the thickness of the
sweet nectar to his advantage, like how
he’d harnessed the power of the water’s
current in his science project.
A lightbulb went off over Spidey’s
head! He knew exactly what to do.
Ant-Man and the Wasp arrived
to pull him free. As they tugged,
Spider-Man said, “I know you guys are
Avengers and all, but I think I know
how to catch Doctor Octopus.”
“Tell us your big idea, kid,” Ant-Man
said.
“Ant-Man, grab that spoon and
stick it in the honey,” Spider-Man
instructed.
Ant-Man shoved the handle of the
utensil into the thick amber goop.
“Wasp, can you pull the top
part back as far as possible?”
“I sure can,” the Wasp replied. She
flew to the tip of the spoon, bent it all
the way backward, and held it there.
Spider-Man climbed into the bowl
of the makeshift catapult and curled
himself into a ball. “Here goes nothing,”
he said. He gave the Wasp a thumbs-up.
She let go.
Spider-Man catapulted into the air
with such force that it didn’t take long
for him to reach Doctor Octopus and
knock him to the ground. The Super
Villain went sprawling, and the canister
fell from his hand. It smashed open.
The Gigantor Particles spilled all over
them both.
“Oh no!” Spidey cried.
“Oh yes!” Doc Ock replied.
“We’re going to be giants,” they said
in unison.
As the particles took hold, the
Super Hero and the Super Villain grew
and grew and grew until . . . they were
back to their normal size.
“Huh,” said Spider-Man. “The giant
version of tiny us is regular-size us.
That’s a lesson in proportion.”
“You fool!” cried Doctor Octopus.
“You’ve ruined everything!”
Spider-Man shrugged. “And I’d say
I saved the world. We’ll just have to
agree to disagree.”
Doctor Octopus shot a tentacle at
Spider-Man, knocking him off his feet.
“I don’t need to be huge to exterminate
you irritating insects!” he cried. “Or to
destroy the entire university!” Doctor
Octopus began rampaging through the
science fair.
Ant-Man and the Wasp returned
to their regular size. They helped
Spider-Man to his feet.
“We have to stop him,” Ant-Man
said.
“I’ve got it,” the Wasp cried. She
pointed to Flash’s science project and
the glass case that housed his ants. “All
we have to do is break this open and
we’ve got ourselves an army!”
“On it,” Ant-Man said. He raised his
fist and was about to smash the case
when Spider-Man snatched it away.
“I’m sorry,” Spidey said. “But I can’t
let you do that.”
Chapter
9
“Oh no,” said Ant-Man. “Did Doc
Ock do some sort of mind control on
you? I hate it when the bad guys do
mind control.”
“No, it’s not that,” Spider-Man said.
“It’s just that this is someone’s science
fair project and I know he worked really
hard on it. I’d feel bad if we
destroyed it.”
“But Ant-Man can use
neurotransmitters from his
helmet to communicate with the
ants,” the Wasp explained. “He
can send them into Doctor Octopus’s
metal arms so they can chew through
the wires he uses to control them. The
battle would be over in an instant.”
“Really?” asked Spider-Man. “Wow,
that is an awesome plan.” He pictured
Flash and all the hard work he had
done. He shook his head. “But no. We
can’t.”
“Sure you c
an,” said a voice from
behind a table. Flash Thompson popped
his head out. “Those are my ants.
If they can help stop Doctor Octopus,
then they’re all yours,
Spider-Man.”
“Are you sure?” Spidey asked. “Your
project would be ruined.”
Flash shrugged. “It’s no biggie.
The guy next to me with that awesome
water project is probably going to win
the trophy anyway. At least now my
ants will be doing some good. I knew
they were the coolest insects!”
Ant-Man smiled.
“No offense, Spider-Man,” Flash
said.
“None taken,” answered Spidey.
“And listen,” Flash added. “If you
want to chew through wires, use the
trap-jaw ants. Their mandibles move
crazy fast, like a hundred and forty
miles per hour. They’ll get the job done
in a snap.”
Spider-Man was impressed. “And
here I thought a spider bite was
intense.”
The Wasp cleared her throat. “Can
we get back to beating the bad guy?”
she asked.
Spidey nodded.
The Wasp smashed a hole into one
side of the glass case.
Ant-Man sent a signal to the
trap-jaw ants. In seconds they came
streaming from the case and swarmed
Doctor Octopus’s metal arms. Then they
disappeared inside the sockets.
“What is this?” Doc Ock laughed.
“You think some tiny, insignificant ants
are worthy adversaries for me?”
Spider-Man, Ant-Man, and the
Wasp waited.
“I’ll show you what real might is!”
Marvel Super Hero Adventures: Buggin'' Out!: An Early Chapter Book (Super Hero Adventures Chapter Books) Page 2