Marvel Super Hero Adventures: Buggin'' Out!: An Early Chapter Book (Super Hero Adventures Chapter Books) Read online

  By MacKenzie Cadenhead

  & Sean Ryan

  Illustrated by Derek Laufman

  Dedication

  For Miles & his pals at

  the Mount Sinai NICU –MC

  For Joanna, always –SR

  © 2018 MARVEL. All rights reserved. Published by Marvel Press, an imprint of Disney Book

  Group. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means,

  electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage

  and retrieval system, without written permission from the publisher. For information address

  Marvel Press, 125 West End Avenue, New York, New York 10023.

  Designed by David Roe

  ISBN 978-1-368-01706-0

  Peter Parker was just a normal kid when

  he was bitten by a radioactive spider and

  became The Amazing Spider-Man! He

  has super strength, can climb walls, and

  can jump incredible distances. Being the

  science-minded kid that he is, Peter also

  made his very own web-shooters. Peter

  takes his job as a Super Hero seriously

  because of the lesson his Uncle Ben

  taught him: With great power comes

  great responsibility.

  Ant-Man and the Wasp prove that big

  things come in small packages. Thanks to

  the incredible Pym Particles that can shrink

  anything, Scott Lang can become the size

  of an ant while keeping the strength of a

  full-grown person. With the help of his

  high-tech suit, he can communicate with

  colonies of ants to enlist their help with

  his super heroics. Similarly, the brilliant

  scientist Hope Van Dyne uses Pym Particles

  to shrink down. But her suit includes a set of

  ultralight yet powerful wings and a stinger

  that gets the job done.

  Doctor Octopus wasn’t always a

  vicious villain with four menacing metal

  tentacles. He was once Dr. Otto Octavius,

  a supersmart scientist. One fateful day, he

  was working on his experimental robot arms

  when a terrible accident fused them to his

  body. The dastardly doctor has since turned

  to a life of crime, controlling the metal

  tentacles with his mind to stir up trouble.

  Chapter

  1

  “Jaeger.”

  “Bacharach.”

  “Choi.”

  “Schulte.”

  The students whose names were

  called stood beside their team captains,

  Missy Ruiz and Flash Thompson.

  “I’ll take Buck next,” Missy said. She

  gave Buck a high five.

  “Powell’s with me,” said Flash.

  Powell joined his cheering teammates.

  “That leaves Murphy and Parker,”

  Coach Bennett said. He pointed at the

  two boys standing on the sidelines of the

  basketball court.

  Donnie Murphy looked at his feet.

  He didn’t like basketball. He didn’t like

  sports of any kind. He hoped that if he

  didn’t make eye contact he would never

  be picked.

  Peter Parker, on the other hand, was

  eager to join a team. While Peter had

  the reputation of being an uncoordinated

  brainiac, he secretly loved playing

  sports. He secretly loved doing anything

  athletic. Because secretly, he was the

  arachnid acrobat known as Spider-Man!

  In order to keep his Super Hero

  identity secret, Peter always had to play

  down his amazing skills. But today he

  just wanted to participate. Even if he

  only used ten percent of his ability, Peter

  knew he could be the star of Midtown

  High’s PE program. And after years of

  being picked last, he wanted to shine.

  Peter smiled at Missy as she

  considered her choice. Pick me, he

  thought. Pick me!

  “Murphy,” Missy said.

  Peter’s shoulders slumped.

  “I guess Parker’s with us,” said Flash.

  Peter straightened up. He could still

  show them what he could do! But as he

  went to join his team, Flash blocked his

  path.

  Flash was the most athletic boy

  at school. He was big and strong, and

  though he might not have been at the

  top of any class other than Gym, Peter

  was eager to hear his words of wisdom.

  “Why don’t you sit this one out, Parker?”

  Flash said. “Hold up the wall with

  Murphy while the rest of us athletes

  play four-on-four. We’ll make sure the

  ball never comes near you.”

  This was not the pep talk Peter

  was hoping for. He opened his mouth

  to tell Flash that he actually wanted

  to play. But before he could speak,

  Peter’s spider-sense began to tingle. A

  basketball was about to hit the back of

  his head!

  Peter’s mind raced. What should

  he do? If he spun around and caught

  the ball, everyone would see his quick

  reflexes. Then they’d all want him on

  their team! But if he caught a ball he

  clearly couldn’t see, his classmates might

  start to wonder how he did it. And his

  secret identity as Spider-Man would be

  compromised.

  Could he risk it? No. The only choice

  was to let the ball hit him. Peter braced

  for impact.

  Suddenly, Flash reached out and

  caught the ball. “That was a close one,”

  he said. “Like I was saying, stay out of

  our way, Parker. Wouldn’t want that big

  brain of yours to get hurt.”

  Flash laughed and joined the rest

  of the boys and girls on the court. Coach

  Bennett blew his whistle and started the

  game. Peter walked over to the sideline

  where Donnie Murphy had already sat

  down.

  Donnie relaxed against the

  gymnasium wall. “Lucky we don’t have

  to play, huh?” he said.

  Peter watched as Flash tossed the

  basketball into the net. SWISH!

  “Yeah.” Peter sighed. “Lucky us.”

  Chapter

  2

  Despite the morning’s basketball

  bust, Peter’s afternoon was looking

  up. It was time for the school science

  fair. This year it was being held at

  Empire State University, and the real

  scientists who worked there would be

  the judges. At stake was the coveted

  Big Apple Science Trophy. Peter knew

  the competition would be fierce. But he

  also knew how hard he had worked

  on his project. He was confident he

&nb
sp; had a shot at winning the top prize.

  “I’d like to see Flash Thompson do

  something like this,” Peter mumbled to

  himself, steaming all over again as he

  remembered how Flash had sunk shot

  after shot in PE.

  “What was that?” asked Aunt May.

  She had come all the way from Queens

  to see her nephew in scientific action.

  “I said, uh, thanks for coming to

  this,” Peter replied.

  “I wouldn’t miss it for anything,”

  said Aunt May. “Although I must

  admit, I don’t entirely understand what

  your project is about.” She pointed to

  the large tub of water that Peter was

  wheeling into the science fair room.

  Inside the tub were four long metal

  poles connected by wires.

  “I call it A New Kind of Current,”

  Peter said. “I’m showing how we can

  create electricity by using water’s

  natural movement. I got the idea after

  we went to the beach and the waves

  kept pushing me back out of the water.

  There’s a lot of power in those waves! So

  for my project I figured out how to take

  that power and turn it into electrical

  energy.”

  Aunt May raised her eyebrows.

  “All I think about at the beach is who

  the bad guy is in the Agatha Twisty

  mystery I’m reading.” She squeezed her

  nephew’s arm. “Peter, I

  am very impressed.”

  Peter blushed. For

  a moment all thoughts

  of Flash Thompson

  and basketball were

  forgotten. Until . . .

  “Excuse me. Coming through!”

  said Flash. His shirt was untucked

  and his hair was a mess. The normally

  cucumber-cool athlete was anything

  but as he stumbled into the fair room

  carrying a glass case and some index

  cards.

  Flash dumped his stuff on the table

  next to Peter’s. Peter rolled his eyes.

  He wondered what on earth Flash

  Thompson could be presenting at the

  science fair. How many basketball

  players it takes to screw in a lightbulb?

  “Oh, hey, Parker,” Flash said, as

  he glanced up from his project. “I had

  to run here from basketball practice. I

  was worried I’d be late.” Flash looked

  around. Though it was cool in the fair

  room, he continued to sweat. “Yikes,

  there’s a lot of smart stuff in here.”

  Peter smiled. “There sure is.”

  “Wow,” said Flash. “I didn’t know

  water could make electricity. Your

  project looks great!”

  “Thanks,” Peter said. He looked at

  the jumble of papers on Flash’s table.

  He knew he was being unkind, but he

  was still hurt by Flash’s rude behavior

  in gym class that morning. It felt good

  to be better than Flash at something.

  Trying not to snicker, Peter asked,

  “What’s your project?”

  Flash showed Peter his note cards.

  To Peter’s surprise, they had drawings

  of different types of ants and captions

  about their special skills. Inside the

  glass case was a habitat with hundreds

  of ants. Peter was impressed.

  “I call it Heavy Lifting: The Ant,”

  Flash said. “I like ants, you know?

  They’re, like, superstrong.”

  Peter couldn’t believe it. “It looks

  like you put a lot of effort into your

  project,” he said.

  “I’ve been working on this for

  weeks,” Flash replied.

  As Flash set up his project, Peter

  returned to his table and pouted.

  If Peter wasn’t welcome to play

  basketball, then Flash shouldn’t be able

  to do science. Peter thought he’d rather

  be in a big Super Hero fight than watch

  Flash beat him at the science fair, too.

  Little did he know his wish was

  about to be granted.

  Chapter

  3

  In another corner of Empire State

  University, Hope Van Dyne stood before

  a giant husk of corn in the lab where

  she and Scott Lang worked. She had

  encountered enormous vegetables

  other times when she shrank down to

  her Super Hero form, the Wasp. But in

  those cases, the vegetables were normal

  size, and Hope was super-small. Today

  was different. Hope was currently

  regular-human size. And this corn was

  as big as a minivan.

  “It worked!” Hope said. She clapped

  her hands in excitement. “We’ve

  successfully altered the Pym Particles

  into Gigantor Particles. Usually they

  allow us to shrink down to insect size,

  but today we’ve made them do the

  opposite—grow organic material bigger!

  This could be the answer to world

  hunger. Imagine if we could grow fields

  of giant corn. Or apples.”

  “Or pizza!” Scott chimed in. Scott

  was Hope’s partner in the lab—and in

  battle—as the Super Hero Ant-Man.

  “Yes, Scott,” Hope said. She rolled

  her eyes. “Or pizza.” She walked over

  to the particle spectrometer at the far

  end of their lab. She pulled a canister

  from its base and made sure the lid was

  shut tight. “This is just our first test.

  We still have to make sure the organic

  compounds maintain their atomic

  structure when enlarged.”

  “Which is science talk for big corn

  same as little corn?” Scott asked.

  Hope nodded and tossed him the

  canister.

  “That canister contains the only

  collection of Gigantor Particles that can

  enlarge organic matter,” she explained.

  “This is one of the most important

  scientific breakthroughs in generations.

  We have to keep it safe. In other words,

  don’t open it.”

  Scott fastened the canister to the

  holster of his Ant-Man suit. “You can

  count on me,” he said. “Or my name

  isn’t—”

  BOOM!

  The door to the lab burst open

  and a menacing man with four metal

  tentacles pushed through the doorway.

  “Doctor Octopus!” Scott shouted.

  A tentacle shot into the room and

  snatched the canister containing the

  Gigantor Particles from Ant-Man’s suit.

  “The one and only,” the Super

  Villain said as an evil grin spread

  across his face.

  Chapter

  4

  Ant-Man and the Wasp stood

  opposite the sinister scientist, stunned.

  “The Gigantor Particles belong to

  me now,” Doctor Octopus said. “I will

  use them on myself, and then there

  will be no stopping me! I will be huge,

  and the world will be mine to do with

  as I wish!”

  Doc Ock’s metal arms flailed around

  the laboratory. Wasp and Ant-Man


  jumped out of the way just as one

  crashed down between them. Ant-Man

  shrank down to his ant size, while the

  full-size Wasp flew over to confront

  the villain.

  “The Gigantor Particles are

  experimental,” she said, trying to stay

  calm. “We don’t know how they work on

  humans yet. You’re putting yourself in

  danger if you open that canister.”

  “Silly insect,” Doc Ock said. “I don’t

  need you to finish this work. I have the

  superior scientific mind. I will make

  these particles perform perfectly. And

  then I will squash you like the bugs

  you are.”

  Doc Ock froze. “Wait, there’s only

  one of you? I thought there were two.

  Where did the other one go? Where is

  the little ant boy?”

  “That’s Ant-MAN to you!” a tiny

  voice said from the tip of a tentacle’s

  pincer. It held the canister of Gigantor

  Particles. Ant-Man pried the claw open

  and the canister fell to the ground.

  “Noooo!” Doctor Octopus cried. He

  reached for the plummeting particles,

  but he was too slow.

  “Gotcha,” the Wasp said. She’d

  shrunk down now, too. She caught the

  canister before it hit the floor. Then she

  flew out of the laboratory with it.

  Ant-Man followed on foot.

  Doctor Octopus came right behind

  him.

  The chase was on!

  Chapter

  5

  Three judges stood before Flash’s

  ant project.

  “Sometimes even the strongest ant

  needs some help,” Flash said. “Sure, he