Beetle Blast Read Online Free

disgust—wow—that fart was
awful
!). Now, he thought, as he surveyed the nearby water and the clumps of bog weed,
where
was Danny?
    â€œOooooh!” came a familiar voice. “Oooh, Scratch, look! Someone’s left chocolate cake! Look! Oh, it’s our lucky day!”

    Josh peered around the edge of the rock. He saw two brown rats sniffing at something in the undergrowth, not far from the picnic bench, which now rose up like a huge wooden monolith. “WAIT! STOP!” yelled Josh, scurrying toward the rats. “DON’T EAT THAT!”
    The rats paused and looked over toward him. “What’s
that
about?” murmured one of them.
    â€œOh, I expect he wants a bit for himself. Well, tough luck!” said the other one, turning back to the crumbly brown treat.
    â€œSCRATCH! SNIFF! STOP!” bellowed Josh. All of a sudden he found himself up in the air. His wings had shot out of their cases. He was flying, low to the ground, straight for the rats. He had to save them from being S.W.I.T.C.H.ed. After all, they’d saved him and Danny from death quite a few times!
    â€œJosh? Is that you?” asked Sniff, her delicate spray of whiskers twitching as she peered at the beetle flying toward her. “Oh my! What has she changed you into this time?” Scratch and Sniff knew all about Petty and her S.W.I.T.C.H. spray. They had spent time in her lab, listening in as she talked loudly to herself.

    â€œYes—yes it is me,” said Josh, landing at their feet. “And you
mustn’t
eat that cake! Petty’s put S.W.I.T.C.H. pellets in it! That’s how I ended up like this.”
    â€œOh, you poor love!” clucked Sniff. “She just keeps getting you, doesn’t she?”
    Josh sighed. “Well, she doesn’t
deliberately
try to get us. It just seems to keep happening!”
    Sniff gave her husband a
look
. He shrugged back at her. “Whatever you say, dear,” she said to Josh. Then she gazed sadly at the cake. Sniff
loved
chocolate cake. Danny or Josh occasionally put some under the shed in their back garden, where Scratch and Sniff lived. Sometimes the rats would come out to eat it with them. When they were in boy form, Danny and Josh couldn’t understand what the rats said. But the happy waves of thanks worked well enough.
    â€œSuch a shame,” sighed Sniff, turning her back firmly on the contaminated cake. “But where’s your brother?”
    â€œThat’s just it,” said Josh. He looked around anxiously. “I don’t know. He was in the pond with me. Then there was a big sort of waterquake, and now he’s gone.”
    â€œWell—that’s what caused your waterquake,” said Scratch. He pointed his brown furry paw at the looming shapes that moved around the pond. “Your human friends were splashing about in the water with jars.”
    Josh gulped. “Oh. Oh
no
. They were pond dipping! What if Danny’s been pond dipped?”
    â€œWell, he might not have been, love,” said Sniff. She gave a reassuring smile that revealed her long yellow front teeth. “He might just still be in the water, wondering where you are.”
    Josh stared at the large green lake. It was going to take a while to search through it. It was probably a better idea to check the pond-dipping jars first. He could fly into the wildlife center building and have a quick look. If Danny wasn’t in a jar, he could zip back to the pond and look for him there. Of course, Danny might just turn back into a boy at any time and burst out of the pond anyway. And Josh knew he could change at any time too. He would have to be careful to land as soon as he felt that peculiar feeling that came just before the change back occurred.
    Then Josh shivered.
    â€œWhat’s up, mate?” asked Scratch.
    â€œIf Danny is in a glass jar…” murmured Josh, … what’s going to happen to him when he changes back to