Beetle Power!
Authors: Joe Miller
Spinner's Wood is full of sticky mud, tall trees and long grass. But most of all, it's full of bugs! Now, some people think that bugs are pests. But they haven't met Gonzo or the
Bug Buddies
â four best friends called
Zap, Buzz, Lurch
and
Crunch
. Their life would be perfect if it wasn't for a spider called
Spinner
, who has eight legs and one mission: to trap the whole wood in his evil web. But you'll soon find out that even bugs can be heroes â¦
 Zap was about to score! He darted towards the empty goal and nudged the grass seed ball forwards, ready to shoot. Suddenly Crunch took up position between the two goalposts. The huge stag beetle spread out his claws.
Slimy snails!
thought Zap.
How am I going to get the ball past him?
Then he had an idea. He zipped underneath Crunch's shiny black body, between his legs and out the other side.
“Where's Zap gone?” said Crunch, peering between his legs.
“Here I am!” shouted Zap, nudging the ball into the goal.
Zap flew into the air, doing a loop-the-loop in celebration. He may be the smallest beetle in Spinner's Wood â but he was faster than the rest of his Bug Buddies.
“Nice move,” Buzz the ladybird called. Zap landed on the soft grass. His best friend, Lurch the dung beetle, scuttled over to him.
“I've seen beetles crawl
over
somebody to score,” he said, “but never underneath!”
“I told you this was a good place for a game of Beetle Ball,” said Buzz. “The short grass makes it perfect for Zap's fancy moves.”
“We can play here now that we don't have to worry about Spinner,” said Crunch.
A tingle of nerves ran through Zap. The Bug Buddies never usually played Beetle Ball this close to Shadow Creek. But since the evil spider, Spinner, had been trapped in a tunnel a few weeks ago, everyone in Spinner's Wood had lived
peacefully. Zap still kept an eye out for eight hairy legs, though.
After all
, he thought,
we've defeated Spinner before and he's
always
returned.
The four friends made their way over to Algae Pond. “Playing Beetle Ball has made me hungry,” said Buzz.
Zap laughed. “
Everything
makes you hungry!” he said.
Buzz crawled off to search for a snack. Zap smiled as a group of pond-skaters glided over on the surface of the water. Their thin, brown bodies were held above the
water by four long, skinny legs.
“I wish we could play you at Beetle Ball,” one of them called.
“Me too,” said Zap, “but we can't float on water.”
“I wonder if dung balls float?” said Lurch.
Zap chuckled. His best friend was forever talking about poo!
A pond-skater pointed a leg towards the other side of the pond. “Hey,” he said, “I didn't know ladybirds could actually
make
things go spotty.”
Zap saw Buzz sitting on a rock which was covered in small, black spots.
“Time to play a trick,” said Zap, mischievously.
Zap, Lurch and Crunch flew across the pond, landing next to Buzz.
“Oh no,” said Zap, pointing at the rock, “are you losing your spots?” Buzz spat out his snack.
He started scrabbling around on the rock.
“I'm only teasing,” said Zap. “Your
spots can't
really
fall off. Anyway, you don't have this many. You've only got seven, remember?”
Lurch scuttled across the rock, examining the dark spots with a worried expression on his face.
“What's wrong?” asked Zap.
“We'd better be on the lookout for more of these,” said Lurch.
“Why?” asked Crunch. “They're just a bunch of spots.”
“Depends on who left them here,” said Lurch.
Zap felt a prickle of anxiety.
Â
When something mysterious happened near Shadow Creek, it usually meant that a certain spider was up to no good â¦
 The Bug Buddies flew through the wood, searching for more dark spots.
“There's some!”
shouted Zap, pointing to a green and white hosta plant on the edge of a small clearing.
Lurch swooped down on the fat
leaves, dashing from spot to spot, peering at each one.
“Look,” said Buzz, pointing his antennae. “They're all along the bank, too.”
Zap looked round to see a trail of spots heading towards Gonzo's
Rock. Lurch hurried over to the trail. He flew faster as he came across more and more spots.
“I've never seen Lurch like this before,” said Zap.
“Me neither,” said Crunch, sounding nervous.
Lurch crawled back towards them, with a very worried look on his face. “Gather round,” he whispered.
Zap huddled in close to his Bug Buddies.
“Why are you whispering?” asked Buzz.
Lurch nodded at a group of yellow butterflies and white moths playing happily nearby. “I know what the spots are,” said the dung
beetle, “and I don't want to scare the whole wood.”
Zap's tummy did a nervous flip. “It's Spinner, isn't it?” he said.
“Shh!” said Lurch. He nodded slowly. “Yes, it's Spinner. Those dark spots are spider poo.”
Zap's wings drooped â this was terrible news.
“Are you s-sure?” said Crunch, his big claws clattering together.
“If there's one thing I'm sure about,” said Lurch, “it's poo.”
“I
knew
he'd be back,” said Zap.
“It's not just Spinner,” said Lurch. “With this much poo, he must have an army of spiders with him!”
“We need to tell Gonzo,” said Zap, flapping his wings.
“Right now!”
Â
Zap spotted the wise grasshopper sitting on his rock. He landed next to Gonzo, his friends following close behind.
“We've got some news for you,” he said gravely. “Spinner's back.”
Gonzo nodded his head, slowly. He didn't look surprised.
I wasn't the only one who expected Spinner to return
, Zap thought.
“And he's got squillions of other spiders with him,” said Lurch. “There's spider poo everywhere.”
“Look â it's all around your rock,” said Crunch, inspecting the slab that Gonzo was sat on. “We're in danger!”
“If Spinner was going to attack us, he'd have done it by now,” said Gonzo, calmly. “He must be busy hatching his latest plan.”
“What are we going to do?” asked Zap.
Gonzo took a deep breath. “It's time to end this feud. Ask all our insect friends to meet here when the sun is highest in the sky,” he replied.
“I'm going to make the most important speech Spinner's Wood has ever heard.”
