Astrosaurs 13 Read online

  “I’m sorry, Teggs,” Damona wailed. “The Sauropod pulled up alongside my ship, and Tonka told me he would squish your entire crew if I didn’t come on board with the Mega-Spray Y. Now he’s got us all!”

  Tonka laughed. “Open up the secret tunnel, Attila, and I’ll join you down there in a shuttle.”

  “Well done, my fellow FANG-fiend.” Attila crossed to a control panel and pulled a big lever to open the sliding crater. “You have lost, Teggs!”

  Teggs hung his head. “So it seems,” he whispered.

  Dasta hopped about with evil glee. “We have you, your friends, your ship and the invention you stole for us – all within our power.”

  “Our revenge is complete.” King Albu threw back his ugly head and roared with laughter as the rest of the FANG joined in. “At last Teggs Stegosaur is utterly, totally and absolutely defeated!”

  Chapter Nine

  THE SECRET OF THE FANG

  The FANG gang went on laughing and crowing. Blink and Dutch stared helplessly as Teggs sank to his knees beside his white case, which was lying all but forgotten on its side.

  “You are right,” Teggs muttered. “I am hopelessly beaten . . .” But then he reached into the case – and pulled out a ray gun! “Or I would be if I hadn’t planned ahead!” He jumped back up and trained the weapon on King Albu with a sharp little smile. “Now, I don’t like guns, but I like you even less. So tell Tonka to give himself up or else I’ll change the gun’s setting from stun beam to laser – and blast you all to atomic pieces!”

  “Way to go, dude!” Dutch cheered, and Blink beamed and clapped his chained-up wings.

  “You want to shoot?” snarled King Albu. “Go ahead!”

  “Eh?” Teggs frowned. “You might have come back from the dead once, but don’t push your luck!”

  “We cannot die, Teggs.” Dasta scuttled towards him and smiled. “Because we were never alive . . .”

  Suddenly, his eyes turned red and began to spin around – and so did King Albu’s! Blink twittered in fright while Dutch gasped in amazement. Without warning, a small metal tube slid out of Albu’s forehead and shot bullets of light at Teggs’s hand. Teggs yelped as the gun was blasted from his grip.

  “I should have realized,” he groaned, rubbing his sore hand. “They’re not the real King Albu and Crool Dasta at all – and I bet Tonka is just a trick too. They are all robotic dino-droids, built by Attila!”

  “At last, the orange oaf understands!” Attila performed a sinister boogie. “The real Tonka and Dasta are still locked up in my old space prison. You suspected your friends might be dino-droids, but never my evil allies.”

  “You almost messed up when you chose King Albu, though, didn’t you?” Teggs said. “You didn’t know that I saw him squished with my own eyes!”

  “True. I really wanted to make a dino-droid of General Loki,” Attila confided. “But you have fought him so often, you might have guessed he was a fake.” He sighed. “Besides, I couldn’t find the right coloured paint! I had to work quickly before my escape from prison was discovered. Like this underground base, Dasta, Albu and Tonka were made in a rush. They are not quite perfect . . . but they have served their purpose.”

  Teggs scowled. “They certainly tricked me.”

  “Don’t feel too bad, Teggs,” said Attila mockingly. “Worried for your academy friends, cut off from your crew and rattled by so many old enemies, you couldn’t think straight – just as I planned!”

  “Now I understand why you wanted the Mega-Spray Y so badly,” Blink realized. “That stuff would dissolve a metal-and-plastic dino-droid in moments.”

  Dutch nodded. “But now you’ve got some, you can find a way to protect your robot things from being mashed!”

  Attila nodded eagerly. “Then nothing in the universe will be able to so much as scratch my creations. I shall replace all living dinosaurs with everlasting robots . . . and they will obey only me!” He chuckled. “I think I shall start by replacing the three of you. Albu, Dasta – destroy them!”

  Their eyes still spinning and glowing red, the mechanical carnivores began to advance . . .

  Striding forward fearlessly, Teggs whacked the Dasta-droid with his tail and sent him staggering. But the fake Albu let rip with more super-bright bullets from his forehead and blasted Teggs to the floor. Attila cheered as the two dino-droids bore down on the stegosaurus, their gleaming claws reaching for his throat . . .

  But suddenly, with a fierce roar, Dutch broke free of his chains and smashed both dino-droids aside with his powerful tail.

  “Impossible!” cried Attila. “You are not strong enough to have broken your bonds!”

  “True, dude,” Dutch agreed. “But while you were busy yakking, Blink grabbed that ray gun Teggs threw our way and blasted through my chains!”

  Blink beamed. “And guess what.” He spread his large, leathery wings and his own chains fell away. “I’ve just freed myself as well!”

  Teggs struggled up as Blink quickly tossed him the ray gun. “And while the stun ray won’t work on your robot-pets, it can still take care of you!”

  “First, you have to hit me,” squealed Attila, dodging two shots from Teggs as he dived behind a control panel. “Before my dino-droids destroy you all!”

  With horror, Teggs saw that Albu and Dasta were already back on their robotic feet and lumbering towards him.

  “And not just those two,” growled Attila, hitting some switches. “Let us see how you fare against my early test versions. Not as convincing in the ‘look-alike’ stakes – but just as deadly!”

  A sliding door opened and ten more robotic terrors jerked menacingly into the room – there were three different Albus, three Dastas and four very threatening Tonkas. The faces were half finished and scary. Their crimson eyes spun like Catherine wheels. Shiny metal muscles replaced green scales or straggly wool, and missiles and laser guns were already emerging from holes in their heads and arms.

  “Er, dudes?” said Dutch nervously. “Remember back at the academy we used to call ourselves the Daring Dinos?”

  Blink gulped and nodded. “Now we’ve got to really live up to that name!”

  “Right!” Teggs gave them a brave grin and held out his right hand. “Do we dare?”

  Dutch and Blink put their hands on his and smiled back. “WE DARE!”

  And with a loud whoop, the three old friends joined together in battle once more!

  Blink launched himself into the air. Two of the Dasta-droids fired missiles from their heads, but he spun about to avoid them.

  As explosions went off all around him, Teggs performed a spiky eight-ton cartwheel and knocked two of the metal mammoths flying.

  Dutch dodged a laser beam and swatted an Albu-droid with his long neck. Then he tripped up two Tonkas with his tail and squashed a Dasta-droid with his big, scaly bottom.

  But suddenly, one of the King Albus shot bolts of electricity from his claws into the metal floor. Teggs and Dutch gasped and shook with pain as electric shocks flashed through them. Blink swooped down and tried to lift the two of them clear of the sparking floor, but he got shocked too. All three astrosaurs collapsed in a heap.

  The shocks stopped at last, and Teggs opened his eyes – to find the twelve dino-droids stomping towards him and his friends. “Come on,” he gasped, dragging Blink and Dutch to their feet. “Maybe we can shelter in Damona’s shuttle—”

  “I don’t think so,” said a gruff mammoth voice from the parking-bay doorway.

  Teggs swung round to find the way to the bay blocked by a scorched and oily Tonka – leading Arx, Iggy, Gipsy and Damona behind him in chains.

  “Guys!” cried Teggs. “Are you OK?”

  “Sorry we tried to stop you before, Captain,” said Arx. He and the other astrosaurs looked very downcast. “And sorry we’ve let you down now.”

  “Forget it,” Teggs murmured. “I know you did your best. No one can ask for more.”

  “I certainly can’t!” cried Attila, jumping out f
rom hiding and boogieing with delight. “It’s over, Teggs. Now my mechanical pets shall deal with you – slowly . . .”

  Teggs clutched hold of Dutch and Blink as the twelve deadly dino-droids closed in for the kill.

  Chapter Ten

  SPRAY IT AGAIN!

  As the murderous machines stalked closer and closer, Iggy cleared his throat. “Er, excuse me, Attila,” he said, patting the mammoth beside him. “But now all the dino-droids are together, I think Tonka here would like to say something.”

  The mangled mammoth lifted his trunk and strode forward.

  “Say something, Ig?” Gipsy grinned and shook her head. “I think you mean . . . Spray something!”

  At her command, using his trunk like a hosepipe, the fake Tonka sprayed brown, smelly liquid all over the place!

  “Duck, Teggs!” Damona shouted.

  Teggs did as she said, dragging Blink and Dutch down with him. The dino-droids were drenched in the dirty downpour . . .

  And suddenly, they started to melt!

  “Nooooooooo!” bellowed Attila in helpless rage – just as Arx, Gipsy, Iggy and Damona all threw off their chains!

  “We’re not really prisoners.” Arx beamed. “Tricky Tonka here tried to take over the Sauropod—”

  “But he was damaged when Damona blew up his ship,” said Gipsy breathlessly. “He started going wrong.”

  “He was leaking oil,” Iggy agreed. “And up close I could hear his circuits whirring! Knowing Attila was on the loose, I guessed that Tonka must be a dino-droid.”

  “So together we overpowered him,” Arx explained. “Then Iggy was able to rewire his computer brain and make him work for us!”

  Teggs watched as the mammoth spat more of the mucky liquid and dissolved a bank of controls. “And that’s not just any old spray, is it?”

  He grinned at his crew. “It’s the real Mega-Spray Y!”

  Damona nodded. “When I saw the Sauropod approaching Tartara, I went over in a shuttle and told Arx what was happening. We shoved a spray can inside Tonka’s mechanical trunk, and tricked the FANG into thinking we were their prisoners . . .”

  “Awesome!” Dutch cheered.

  “Now let’s polish off these melting monsters,” said Gipsy. “Together!” And with a fierce yell, she hoof-jabbed the nearest Albu-droid and whacked its metal head clear off!

  “I like your style, Gipsy!” cried Damona. And as one of the phoney Tonkas tried to fire its lasers at Teggs, she rammed it with her horns and smashed it to soggy pieces.

  Meanwhile, Arx and Iggy wasted no time demolishing three dissolving Dastas. “It’s very satisfying to crunch that crummy carnivore three times over!” Iggy remarked.

  “You know it, dude!” shouted Dutch, as he and Blink took care of a pair of melting Albu-droids.

  “Captain!” Gipsy pointed as she trashed a Tonka-droid with her tail. “Attila’s getting away!”

  Punching the most dangerous Dasta-droid into techno-trickles, Teggs saw the evil genius running for the back way out. “Oi, Attila!” he yelled. “You forgot to pack your trunk!”

  So saying, he wrenched off the tame Tonka’s woolly trunk – still loaded with Mega-Spray Y – and hurled it across the control room. It hit Attila on the head and drenched him.

  “You stego-dunce!” bawled Attila, still running. “I am not made of metal! The spray does not work on me— Whoops!” His silver shorts fell down around his ankles and tripped him up! He went flying head-over-heels, crashed into the wall and lay still with his bottom poking up in the air.

  “Good thinking, Captain!” Iggy grinned. “Attila might not have been made of metal – but his belt buckle was!”

  “I’m just glad he was wearing underpants.” Gipsy shuddered. “Yuck!”

  “Both he and his pants will soon be back in prison,” said Arx, staring round at twelve pools of sludgy goo – all that was left of the dissolved dino-droids. Even the tame, trunkless techno-Tonka was now little more than a sticky bundle of rotten wool.

  “Let’s hope that’s the last we hear of Attila and the FANG,” said Teggs with feeling. “His plans are ruined – just like his robots.”

  “But our big reunion has been ruined too,” said Blink sadly.

  “Come off it, beak-face,” said Damona, slapping him on the back. “Being back in action together is the best reunion of all!”

  Dutch grabbed her in a jokey headlock. “You may be right there!”

  Meanwhile, Arx and Gipsy had crossed over to one of Attila’s control panels and were flicking some switches.

  “Hey, what are you two up to?” Iggy wondered.

  The next moment he had his answer, as Admiral Rosso’s face appeared on one of the big screens on the wall. “Yes? Who’s calling?”

  “Only us, sir,” said Arx happily. “We couldn’t wait to tell you three bits of great news.”

  Gipsy nodded. “We’ve caught Attila, we’ve got back the Mega-Spray Y – and best of all, we’ve found out that Captain Teggs isn’t a crook at all.”

  “He was made to steal that stuff against his will!” squawked Blink.

  “He’s the same hero he always was,” added Dutch proudly.

  A huge grin spread over Rosso’s wrinkly face. “I knew Teggs couldn’t really be a criminal! I’ll call off the hunt for him at once.”

  Teggs crossed to the screen and saluted. “Thanks, sir. I’m just sorry I couldn’t tell you what was going on sooner.” He beamed. “Though if it wasn’t for the bravery of my very best friends – past and present – I wouldn’t be standing here to tell you now!”

  “Well, explanations can wait,” said Rosso. “I’ll arrange a big party for you all at DSS HQ. Everyone must come along at once. You can drop Attila back in space prison on the way!”

  “Will do, sir,” Teggs promised. “See you soon.”

  As Rosso’s face faded from the screen, Dutch walked up to Teggs and shook his hand. “You risked a lot for us, dude. Thanks.”

  Teggs blushed. “That’s what friends are for.”

  Blink nodded quickly and shook his other hand. “You’re not just a brilliant friend – you’re the greatest astrosaur in the universe!”

  “Apart from me of course,” said Damona, smiling as everyone groaned. Gipsy ran over to Teggs and gave him a massive hug. “I’m so glad to have you back, Captain!”

  “I’m just sorry I had to push past you all like that on SSSS-One,” said Teggs.

  “Oh, forget it,” said Iggy, hugging them both. “Everything’s back to normal, and I’m going to party all night long!”

  “Me too!” Arx did a little jig, and Dutch and Blink joined in.

  “You know, Teggs, you really do have an amazing crew,” said Damona. “Could I borrow them for my own missions from time to time?”

  “Sorry, Damona,” said Teggs, “but I wouldn’t swap Arx, Gipsy and Iggy for anything in the universe. We’ll soon be sinking our teeth into another exciting adventure . . .” He bounded over to Attila and lifted him by the tail. “Because the FANG’s been sunk for good!”

  THE END

  About the Author

  Born in 1971, Steve Cole spent a happy childhood in rural Bedfordshire being loud and aspiring to amuse. He liked books, and so went to the University of East Anglia to read more of them. Later on he started writing them too, with titles ranging from pre-school poetry to Young Adult thrillers (with more TV and film tie-ins than he cares to admit to along the way). In other careers he has been the editor of Noddy magazine, and an editor of fiction and nonfiction book titles for various publishers. He is the author of the hugely successful Astrosaurs, Cows in Action, Astrosaurs Academy and Slime Squad series.

  ALSO BY STEVE COLE:

  Read all the adventures of Teggs, Gipsy, Arx and Iggy!

  1 Riddle of the Raptors

  2 The Hatching Horror

  3 The Seas of Doom

  4 The Mind-Swap Menace

  5 The Skies of Fear

  6 The Space Ghosts

  7 Day of
the Dino-Droids

  8 The Terror-Bird Trap

  9 The Planet of Peril

  10 The Star Pirates

  11 The Claws of Christmas

  12 The Sun-Snatchers

  13 Revenge of the Fang

  14 The Carnivore Curse

  15 The Dreams of Dread

  16 The Robot Raiders

  17 The Twist of Time

  18 The Sabre-Tooth Secret

  19 The Forest of Evil

  20 Earth Attack!

  21 The T. Rex Invasion

  22 The Castle of Frankensaur

  Read all the adventures of Teggs, Blink and Dutch at the Astrosaurs Academy!

  1 Destination: Danger!

  2 Contest Carnage!

  3 Terror Underground!

  4 Jungle Horror!

  5 Deadly Drama!

  6 Christmas Crisis!

  7 Volcano Invaders!

  8 Space Kidnap!

  Meet the time-travelling cows!

  1 The Ter-moo-nators

  2 The Moo-my’s Curse

  3 The Roman Moo-stery

  4 The Wild West Moo-nster

  5 World War Moo

  6 The Battle for Christmoos

  7 The Pirate Moo-tiny

  8 The Moo-gic of Merlin

  9 The Victorian Moo-ders

  10 The Moo-lympic Games

  11 First Cows on the Moon

  12 The Viking Emoo-gency

  If you can’t take the slime, don’t do the crime!

  1 The Fearsome Fists

  2 The Toxic Teeth

  3 The Cyber-Poos

  4 The Supernatural Squid

  5 The Killer Socks

  6 The Last-Chance Chicken

  7 The Alligator Army

  8 The Conquering Conks

  Visit www.stevecolebooks.co.uk for fun, games, jokes, to meet the characters and much, much more!