Book 10

## Chapter 1

The 9 gemstones shivered and glowed, then…ZAP!

With a flash, George and Eli were gone. Now trapped forever in who knew what dimension. Relief washed over Ice bear—that was the last they’d ever see of the two aliens!

When the two bears reached home, Ice bear plopped down in a soft lounge chair beside their cold tub while Hop went to get ice cream. Finally it was all over, finally there were no more aliens terrorizing them. She settled comfortably in the chair and sighed happily.

The nine gemstones were now with Faith, who was living in a hole in their front yard. She had promised to keep them safe whenever they needed them again. Ice bear was so grateful for  the little starfish.

Suddenly, as she closed her eyes, Ice heard a shrill scream:

“AAAAAAH!!!!”

Her eyes popped open and she leapt up from the chair. “Mom?” she asked anxiously. What could it be? *More aliens?* No, that couldn’t be right…

Free bear emerged from the house, her eyes wide with terror.

“Ice bear…” she began, brows furrowed together, “I’m afraid our house is in danger.”

Ice bear gasped. *No…*thoughts of George and Eli danced through her mind. *They couldn’t have escaped. Not this time. Not with the power of the 9 gemstones!*

Cold bear came from behind Free, dipping his head in sorrow. “Inside our house…”

He sighed, and Ice bear held her breath.

“...there is an ant.”

Ice stared at her parents, then burst out laughing. Her parents’ extreme fear of insects was pretty hilarious at times.

Just then, Hop arrived with his ice cream. “Got one for you too, Icy,” he exclaimed, handing over a double vanilla cone with sprinkles. “Now, what happened? I heard Mom’s scream all the way from the ice cream shop! Pretty sure she scared away half the park’s birds.”

“There’s an ant in our house.” Ice bear rolled her eyes.

Hop bear started laughing hysterically. “Seriously!?” he asked as he tried to catch his breath. “You guys are scared of ANTS?”

“It might be dangerous! Maybe it carries DISEASES!!” Free bear explained. “AND do you know what touches their feet?”

At the thought of it, Free bear felt nauseous.

“Um…” she stuttered. “I need to barf.”

She ran to the sink beside their porch and vomited.

Cold bear looked green at the sight of Free bear vomiting and ran to the toilet to vomit too.

Through the noise of the two bears barfing, Ice bear couldn’t help but laugh. “And this is all because of an ANT!!”

Hop bear fell on the floor in fits of hysterical laughter again.

When their parents finished barfing, Cold bear had an idea. “Hey! I know! I’ll hire an ANT KILLER!” he announced.

At the sound of that dreaded word, Free bear almost barfed again.

“Let’s leave them,” Hop whispered. “I can’t handle any more barfing…”

“Me neither,” Ice bear agreed, and they headed to the library. (After the whole Eli incident, a new librarian was hired. And he wasn’t an alien. Ice bear double-checked.)

## Chapter 2

When they got back, a strange man was there.

No, not a man…

A POTATO.

The potato was the height of their parents, with a red hat and moustache. He wore a dark blue vest that read ‘Ant Suit’ that had a walkie talkie on it. In his hand was a sword, and a large van that read “Ant Van” was beside him.

Immediately Ice bear was suspicious.

The potato pointed his sword at his van and exterminated his own van.

“Whoops, I hope that wasn’t my van…” he said. Then he noticed the bears and smiled. “I’m Mr Potatomato, the most careful ant killer in the world!” His sword slipped from his hand and landed in the grass as he said that. “Whoops. I—meant to do that, you’re in good hands…”

“Okay…” Ice said carefully. “Can I show you where the ant is so you can do your thing?”

Mr Potatomato nodded eagerly, grabbing his sword from the smooth floor. “Yes! Your–uh, ant has no chance against me!!”

Ice and Hop led him inside their mansion. A cold breeze flowed in, ruffling Ice bear’s soft white fur. Their parents were in the living room, talking to each other. When they heard Mr Potatomato approach, they looked up.

“Ah! Mr Potatomato! Just the ant killer we needed. The ant is in our room, we are staying far away from that thing.” Cold bear shuddered at the thought of the ant crawling in their room.

Hop bear stepped forward to lead the way, but…then he realised that the potato wasn’t looking at them at all.

He was staring at their parents.

Glaring, even.

His brown eyes were narrowed against his potato peeled skin, and he raised his sharp sword, its metal edge gleaming.

“What…” Hop trailed off, alarm spiking in his chest. “The ant isn’t here, remember? It’s in the room!”

Ice nudged Hop. “Uh…Hop, I think he’s evil…”

“Gimme all your money!!!!” Mr Potatomato suddenly shouted at Cold bear and Free bear. “You’re obviously so rich! LOOK AT YOUR MANSION oh my potato please let me steal it.”

“But…but you’re supposed to kill the ant…” Cold bear stammered.

Mr Potatomato let out a loud “Hur hur hur!” and thrust the sword a centimetre closer to their parents.

Ice bear gasped. She had to act fast! “Hop bear, stay here. I gotta go do something.”

“You got it, Icy.” Hop did a fancy salute as Mr Potatomato started going off about the mansion again.

Without hesitation, Ice bear sprinted into their yard. “Faith!!!!!” she screamed. “Faith! We need the 9 gemstones again RIGHT NOW.”

The rainbow-splashed starfish crawled out from her hole, carrying the 9 gemstones. “Oh no, what is it now?” she asked in her twinkly voice.

“Ah thank you no time to explain there’s an evil potato threatening my parents okay bye!”  Ice bear ran back into the house. Thankfully, her parents were still safe and sound. Mr Potatomato was there, but they seemed to be debating over something.

“No. We’re calling the police,” she heard her mom say.

Quickly, Ice bear pointed the gemstones all at Mr Potatomato. The gemstones connected almost magnetically and glowed with immense power.

Mr Potatomato definitely noticed them. “Oooh, pretty shiny things. I bet I could sell them for money! Hur hur—” As the potato went closer, the gemstones exploded in light and a final zap went through the house as he was transported to the same dimension as George and Eli.