The world is in grave danger and no one knows it, no human anyway- except for thirteen old Benton Johnson. To make matters worse, he is alone and lost in a rainforest. Life was bad enough for Benton after losing his mom, but now, his world has turned beyond upside down. While on a Junior Discoverers' expedition, he falls from the boat and becomes trapped in a South American jungle where he stumbles onto an ancient Aztec ruin and acquires the most incredible ability, though he soon wishes he had not. He learns that the demon pirate Black Bellamy is heading his way to drink the life force of Tu'i Malila, a tortoise with the power of the ages inside her. Then he learns that it is up to him to stop Bellamy. Life was beyond unfair. If Black Bellamy drains Tu'i's life force he will become invincible, and will destroy the entire world. It is up to Benton and his small band of unlikely heroes-a porcupine named Tennyson and an iguana named Hermando-to save the world. But how was he, Benton Johnson, a nobody from nowhere, supposed to battle such supernatural evil and save the world?