4 Beetle Battle

Chapter 4 BEETLE BATTLE Flump… Andrew's brain clunked against his skull as they hit the ground. It was a surprisingly soft landing. They had landed on something squishy. "Worms!" yelled Andrew. Eek! Eeeeeek! Ack! Ack! Ack! the baby bat squawked. It began to creep along the floor of the cave. Andrew and Judy climbed atop the bat's wings. "Euuuw!" said Judy. "Smells like someone didn't clean the litter box—ever!"

meep… "Bat poop!" said Thudd. "Called guano. Very stinky stuff. Super stinky!" As the baby bat scuttled along, Andrew's flashlight beam lit the floor of the cave. White worms tangled in twisting knots. Beetles were scrambling over the worms. "I don't see any poop," said Andrew. "Just zillions of worms and bugs." meep… "Poop underneath wormy guys," said Thudd. Ploop… A big, dark, sticky drop splashed down in front of the baby bat. Plooorp… plooomp… More drops were falling around them. It sounded a lot like a slow rain. meep… "Now Drewd see bat poop," said Thudd. "Eeeeeuuuw!" groaned Judy. meep… "Bats poop here thousand years, maybe more," said Thudd. "Make lotsa, lotsa poop."

Judy's face scrunched up. "Yuck-a-roony! Don't make me come over there and take out your batteries, Thudd," she said. meep… "Bat poop is good stuff, Oody," said Thudd. "Is food for lotsa animals in cave. Like little wormy guys. Wormy guys eat bat poop like candy!" A streak of bright green light zigzagged toward the baby bat. It was a centipede. And it was battling three giant beetles! meep… "When this centipede scared, it make glow-in-dark color," said Thudd. The centipede and beetles tumbled toward them. The centipede flung the beetles onto the baby bat's wings! Eeeek! squeaked Thudd. "This kinda beetle eat living animals!" Eeek! Ack! Eeeeeek! the baby bat squeaked loudly. "We can't let them hurt the baby!" said Judy. She crawled over the baby bat's wing and punched one of the beetles between its eyes.

"Take that!" she yelled. Then she grabbed the beetle by its antennas and tossed it off the baby bat. But the beetle was heavy. Judy lost her balance and fell off the bat's wing! Andrew tugged the flashlight off his forehead and whacked another beetle on the head. But that just seemed to make it angry. It charged at Andrew. It shoved him off the wing and onto the squishy worms below. Then it opened its scissor-like jaws and reached for Andrew's neck! meep… "Breathe on beetle!" squeaked Thudd. "Drewd got garlic breath. Beetle hate garlic!" Andrew huffed and puffed as hard as he could at the beetle. It backed away! Another beetle came up behind Andrew. Andrew turned and blew at that one, too. He blew so hard, he felt dizzy. Andrew heard soft flapping above him. The next instant, he saw a big bat swooping down. It plucked the baby from the ground with its clawed feet and zoomed toward the ceiling of the cave.

meep… "Bats help bats," said Thudd. "Big bats help baby bats. Healthy bats help sick bats." "Ooooof!" Andrew heard Judy yelling nearby. "That's what you get for trying to eat me! Now get out of here!" "What are you doing?" hollered Andrew. "Beating this ugly bug's butt!" Judy yelled back. Andrew was swimming in an ocean of squirmy, wormy creatures. Their slimy little bodies rubbed against Andrew's legs. "It's like walking through a field of wiggly sausages," said Andrew. "Andrew!" yelled Judy. "Watch out behind you!"

Andrew turned to see a wide, flat, armored creature scurrying straight at him. Compared to Andrew, it was as big as a tank. "Woofers!" hollered Andrew, leaping over worms. The creature was faster than Andrew. It shoved him facedown into the wriggling sea of baby beetles. meep… "Giant cave cockroach!" squeaked Thudd. Andrew pulled himself up and wiped slime off his face. He looked up to see Judy standing over him. She was still catching her breath from her bug battle. "Okay Disaster Master," she said. "How are we going to get out of here without being eaten by bugs or something worse?" meep… "Drewd! Look!" squeaked Thudd from Andrew's pocket. He was pointing to a strange white shape. It looked like the monster roach they had just seen. But it was upside down with its legs in the air.