13 BZZT! ZAPY OW!

CHAPTER 13 BZZZT! ZAP! OW! Yipes!" Alexander dove behind a row of seats. The swarm of lightning bugs just missed him. The bugs smashed into the control panel. The planetarium lit up like a disco. The bugs spun around in a dizzy whirl. Then they darted toward Alexander, Rip, and Nikki. "Watch out, guys!" shouted Alexander. "Their zaps hurt!"

BZZZT! A pink bug zapped Rip's ear. "Ow! You weren't kidding!" BZZZT! A blue bug zapped Nikki's hand. "Ack!" BZZZT! A yellow one zapped Alexander on the nose. "Cut it out!" The three friends waved and danced and flailed their arms like string puppets. Quick!" Alexander yelled. "To the roof!" They scrambled up the ladder. surrounded by a cloud of angry, zapping bugs.

CLACK! They popped out of the hatch. The air on the roof felt dry and crackly. Green forks of lightning ripped through the sky. BZZZT! eouch!" yelled Rip. He swatted a bug, knocking it to the ground. He smiled, and lifted his foot above the bug. "Squishy-Lime!" he said, stomping down hard. His shoe flashed, But the bug had zipped out of the way. It hovered near his shoe and started humming loudly. The rest of the bugs froze in midair.

"What's happening?" asked Alexander. At once, all of the lightning bugs started buzzing around Rip. "Get away!" Rip shouted. He danced an angry jig, but the bugs stuck to his blinking shoes. Then the bugs flew up high and out of sight. Rip took a step. His shoes no longer blinked. "Did you guys see that?!" he said. "Those dumb bugs just sucked the power from my light-up shoes!" Alexander's eyes widened. "That must be why my clock and the pencil sharpeners and the stoplights all stopped working! I bet these zapper-bugs have been sucking power out of everything!" he said. "And that's why the escalators and lights have been wonky, too." Nikki added.

Alexander looked around. Huge cables ran along the rooftop. They were connected to a giant metal box. "This dial must be what Ms. Vanderpants was talking about with that electrician," he said. "The school's power is down to zero!" "Look!" said Nikki. She pointed to a nearby antenna tower. All the humming zapper-bugs zoomed up, up, up. A giant, glowing, green roundish-thing hung from the top of the tower. Arcs of lightning shot out from the pod.

"So that's where the crazy green lightning's coming from," said Rip. The zapper-bugs zipped around the pod, humming and flashing. One-by-one, they landed on the pod, and— BLORP! They were all absorbed into it. "What is that thing?" asked Rip. "It's a cocoon!" said Nikki. "Man, oh, man," said Rip. "The moth inside must be gigantic!" The cocoon blasted open with an explosion of sparks. A nine-foot tall bug monster burst out. "Who are you calling a moth?" It grunted.