THE NEXT THING EMMET REMEMBERED WAS brightness. A harsh light hurt his eyes, causing him to squint against the glare. When he was fully aware, he realized there was a man standing over him, shining a penlight in his eyes. Which kind of hurt. He wished the man would stop. His entire body ached. Finally, the light went away, and his father’s face appeared in his field of vision.

“Hey, pal,” he said. “How you holding up?”

Emmet groaned. “Like grizzlies have been using me to play badminton.” As Emmet became more aware of his surroundings, he realized he felt a little sluggish. He lifted his left arm and found it was attached to an IV. His skin was covered with bandages.

When his eyes could focus better, he looked at his dad and saw his face was covered in bites and scratches.

“What happened? Where’s Apollo?” Emmet asked. He tried sitting up, but dizziness overtook him and he slumped back into the bed.

“Whoa, fella,” his dad said. “You’re pumped full of painkillers, and as near as the doctors can tell you’ve been stung — repeatedly — by hornets. You’ve got a lot of their venom coursing through your veins right now.”

“Whaa?” Emmet said. “Hornets? Wasn’t it bats?”

“It was both,” said a voice from the doorway. Emmet looked over to see Dr. Geaux and Calvin enter the room. “First of all, we just came from the vet hospital. Apollo is fine. He had several bites and stings as well, but he got some antivenom shots and he’s being his usual bouncy self; the entire staff is in love with him. But the vet wants to keep him a couple of days to make sure he’s okay and doesn’t have a reaction.”

Dr. Geaux moved to Emmet’s bedside, placing her hand on his forehead. She leaned over and kissed him on the cheek. Emmet blushed. At least he thought he did. His face was so swollen and sore he couldn’t tell for sure. Calvin came to his bed and gave him a fist bump. For Calvin, this was an expression of deep concern and an indication that he was glad his friend was okay.

“You were saying something about bats and hornets?” Emmet said. “The details are fuzzy.”

“Yes. We had animal control go in and get the two remaining in your kitchen. We haven’t had time to do a complete analysis, of course, but this is another hybrid species. They’re most definitely some genus of vampire bat, which are nonnative to South Florida; they mostly come from tropical climates. And they appear to have been cross-replicated with a species of hornet because … they have stingers,” Dr. Geaux said.

“You’ve got to be kidding,” Dr. Doyle said.

“Giant teeth on Pterogators and Muraecudas wasn’t enough, now he has to go for fangs and stingers? That’s just great,” Emmet said groggily.

Dr. Geaux laughed. A desperate, fed-up, I’ve-had-enough-of-this-guy type of laugh. “So it would appear,” she said.

“And I don’t suppose there’s been any sign of him?” Dr. Doyle asked.

“No. But we’re getting reports of bat attacks all over the city. It’s daylight now and there’s no current reported activity, so it looks like they’re still nocturnal creatures. But last night the Florida City PD logged over thirty calls. So far only minor injuries and no fatalities. But those things have venom. And if they’re part vampire bat, they probably survive by drinking blood. It’s only going to be a matter of time before something really bad happens. We’re going to have to put out a warning telling people to stay indoors at night until we can get a handle on these things,” Dr. Geaux said.

“So we’re not going to have the big long discussion over whether or not Dr. Catalyst is behind this?” Emmet said.

“No,” Dr. Geaux said. “Who else would it be? You’ve been right all along.”

“Could you say that again?” Emmet croaked. Dr. Geaux and his dad chuckled.

Emmet felt no satisfaction. After the incident with the Pterogators, Dr. Catalyst was silent for several months, and everyone had assumed he was dead. Then the Muraecudas appeared, and everyone except Emmet thought he had an accomplice or copycat working with him. But Emmet and Calvin confronted him again when he kidnapped Apollo. It was definitely the same guy.

Emmet was convinced Dr. Catalyst was actually their science teacher, Dr. Newton. But when the cops searched his apartment they found it trashed, and Newton missing. It appeared as if he’d been kidnapped. Now no one knew what to think. Except Emmet. He figured if Dr. Catalyst could fake a death in the Everglades, he could fake a kidnapping. Except for one niggling detail.

A Pterogator had crunched on Dr. Catalyst’s arm out in the swamp. Both Emmet and Calvin had witnessed it. And when Calvin confronted him in the aquarium, his hand was all mangled up from tendon and nerve damage. Dr. Newton’s arm was in a cast, but his hand didn’t have any damage. Still, Emmet was sure he was faking it all somehow.

“I don’t get it,” Calvin piped up.

“Get what?” Dr. Geaux asked.

“What are these creatures for? I mean, the Pterogators were developed to combat snakes in the Glades, and the Muraecudas were created to go after lionfish. His whole crusade is about stopping invasive species. But why would he create these … bat-a …” Calvin struggled to find a term to describe the new hybrids.

“Bat-a-hornets?” Emmet offered. “And I’d say the invasive species they’re combatting is pretty easy to figure out.”

“What is it?” Calvin asked.

“It’s us,” Emmet said.