Beetle Blast (7 page)

For Danny, it was like being in the spin cycle of a washing machine. He no longer knew which way was up. Every so often he would collide with the nymph, who was too dazed herself to say anything. There wasn't time to breathe, let alone menace anyone.

“HEY! COME BACK HERE!” yelled the old man, chasing after Josh. “Come back here with that jar!”

Gosh, thought Josh. He knew it was Poppy's jar, and the old man was her granddad. But he couldn't believe there was a chase going on over a bit of pondweed! Only he knew how special the stuff in the jar was. He needed to get it open now—before Danny changed back. He had to stop running, even if Poppy's granddad caught up.

Josh ducked behind a tree and undid the lid. He tipped the frothy green mess out onto the grass. Danny slid out, landing on his back. His legs were not wiggling. He was quite still.

“DANNY! DANNY!” yelled Josh. He wanted to pick the beetle up and shake it—make it come alive. But he might just squash it in all his panic. “DANNY!” sobbed Josh. “DANNY—PLEASE DON'T BE DEAD!”

“Let me see,” said a voice. And Petty Potts knelt down beside him. She put her face close to the soggy beetle. Then she blew on it. The legs waved. But that might just have been in the breeze. Petty looked up at Josh, who was holding his hands over his mouth and blinking with shock. She blew on Danny again. This time a feeler twitched. Then a leg.

Then Danny thumped Petty in the face.

“Ow!” said Petty, holding her nose. “That's the second time you've lumped me on the nose this month!” But she was grinning with relief. Getting whacked in the face as Danny bounced back to boy shape was a price she was willing to pay.

Danny sat up, his clothes soggy and covered with pondweed. He looked at the jar, which lay at an angle with just a little weed left in it. “Oh,” he said. “What happened to Nymphy Girl?”

“What?” gasped Josh.

“There was one of those dragonfly nymphs in there with me. Is she all right?” Danny peered into the sludgy weed. He could just make out a tiny, angry face. He chuckled. “We have to put her back,” he said.

“Are you telling me that you care about a dragonfly nymph?” said Josh.

“Well—you don't have to make a big thing of it,” said Danny, emptying the jar into a nearby watery ditch. “She wasn't my girlfriend. Not really my type. No need to get excited.”

“Oh, I don't know,” came a strange voice. “I think there's a lot to get excited about.”

Everyone stared up into the pale face of the man in the hat. He was smiling down at the scene around the spilled pond water. He scratched the area where his eyebrows should have been with one black, pointed fingernail.

Petty gasped and stood up. “YOU!” she said “YOU! VICTOR CROUCH!”

Josh and Danny gaped at each other. They had never really believed that Victor Crouch existed. They had thought he was all part of Petty's crazy imagination. But here he stood, large as life.

“Hello, Petty,” smiled Victor. “You remember me, then.”

“Remember you? Why, of course I do, you snake!” she spat. “Victor Crouch—my old friend—the one who tried to steal my work and burn out my memory!”

Victor sighed. “Aaaah, Petty! Still so lovely when you're angry. But you've got it all wrong. Somebody did burn out your memory, that's true. And that's why you can't remember who. It wasn't me. I am your friend.”

Petty narrowed her eyes at him.

“Your
friend
,” repeated Victor. “And I've come to take you back with me! The government wants you back. We all missed you and your genius brain so much. It's all been a big mistake.”

Petty tilted her head to one side, thinking about Victor Crouch's words. She rummaged around in her pockets absentmindedly.

“We're still trying to find out who
did
burn out your memory,” said Victor. “And what he did with your work … the cubes … Petty? The BUGSWITCH cubes and the REPTOSWITCH cubes? Remember? You told me all about them. Where did you find them in the end? Obviously you've got the spray working… ” He waved his pointy fingernail at Danny and Josh. “Your little friends have been having creepy-crawly adventures with you, haven't they? What brilliant work!”

Petty stared at him. Then she smiled. “Oh, Victor! How could I have been so wrong about you?”

Josh and Danny made faces at each other. Surely Petty wasn't falling for this? Victor Crouch was so creepy he made a slug look good.

“You're not the man I thought you were,” sighed Petty. “You're not that at all! You're a COCKROACH! THAT'S WHAT YOU ARE!”

Victor's charming smile vanished. “All right—have it your way, you crazy old witch!” and he pulled a walkie-talkie out of his pocket. “I have agents everywhere! All I have to do is call them. You'll be locked away forever!” He went to press the button on the radio.

There was a short sharp hiss. Petty stood with a spray bottle in her hands. Victor froze as a pale yellow mist of S.W.I.T.C.H. landed on him.

“What? What have you done?” he gasped.

“I told you,” said Petty. “You're a cockroach.”

Victor vanished. There was a shimmy of a shiny black wing case in the grass. Petty lifted her foot above it.

“Well,” she said. “Nice to catch up on old times, Victor. Bye-bye!”

But before her foot could stamp down, Danny leapt forward and pushed her sideways. “PETTY! NO!”

“He's EVIL!” insisted Petty, peering in alarm at the grass. “He'll have us all kidnapped and tortured for the S.W.I.T.C.H. secrets! He cannot be allowed to escape!”

“But that would be murder!” said Danny. “You can't kill people! Not deliberately!”

“Probably wouldn't have worked anyway,” said Josh. “Have you ever tried to kill a cockroach? They're armor-plated. They'd survive nuclear fallout. They can live for three months
without their
heads
. And you'll never splat them on a soft surface.”

Petty dropped to her knees and rummaged in the grass. “He's gone! He's gone already! How could you let him escape? How could you?”

“Well … at least he's not going to bother us for a while,” said Josh, staring into the grass. “And maybe he'll get eaten anyway…”

“I certainly hope so,” grumbled Petty, putting the spray bottle back in her pocket. “Good thing I had some spare spray with me. You never know when you might need it.” She picked up the walkie-talkie radio that Victor Crouch must have dropped as he turned into a cockroach. “Don't look at me like that! You heard what he said. If he'd pressed the button on this radio and called all his agents, we'd be on our way to a deep, dark prison by now.”

“What? Us?” said Danny. “But we're just kids. Nobody would lock us up!”

“Don't you believe it,” said Petty. “They would know that you know what I know, don't
you now? And if you know, they would want to know what you know and there's no knowing what they'd do to know you know!”

Danny and Josh edged away from her.