The Hunt

by Sunnstar

A scavenger hunt at an amusement park, woot!

In a world where directors really say–

"Cut!" Jimmy yelled.

Some people

"Carl!" Carl volunteered.

Really like . . .

"What? No one said my name yet!"

Cheese.

"You keep a wedge of cheese in your back pocket?" Sheen said.

"Of course, doesn't everybody?" Carl replied.

From the author that brought you the fantastic The Competition, the "Best Premise Award" and "Kipfisto Fanfics Award" winning It's a Matter of Life and Death, the fabulous, highly recommended by Kipfisto's Fanfics Awards, but unfinished Diamonds Ain't a Girl's Best Friend, and the half-written yet unpublished My Life in a Mystery, Sunnstar brings you . . .

"Dun, dun dun dun dun dun dun!" Sheen said.

Hey Mara, can I get a drum roll please?

Mara S. runs onstage with a drum and rolls it across the floor

"Hey you kids, come back here with my drum!" a man dressed in a cheesy blue and white band outfit yelled, running after the instrument as in bounced down the stairs.

Thanks Mara!

"No problem, it's my job," Carl answered.

Sunnstar brings you . . . The Hunt!

A RACHEL ORIGINAL

Sponsored by and the fantastic NickeChris

Dedicated toMara S. (Ivory23), Ally B. (Bjont), Sammy D. (UltraSam), Rachel (InvdrKitty), Sarah (TtlAngel1), and last but not least Gwen (1Tigercub1)

Based on the fanfiction by Rachel L. (Sunnstar)

The Hunt

COMING SOON TO COMPUTERS NEAR YOU

No Parts Wanted[/font

Chapter 1

"Sheen—Sheen—SHEEN!" Ms. Fowl screamed. She had been showing them a documentary on trees and trying to wake Sheen up from his deep sleep. Sheen was just about to yell at her when the door opened.

"Hello everybody!" Principal Willoughby announced cheerily. "I need to see Jimmy, Cindy, Sheen, Libby, and Carl in my office, pronto! Ta-ta!"

"Thanks Nerd-tron, what did you do now?" Cindy moaned. Her boring-movie-nap had been so good.

"Nothing!!" Jimmy exclaimed defensively, raising his head from his desk. "Well aside from launch another toaster into the Milky Way and accidentally hit a small meteor, sending it to Uranus . . . but Willoughby doesn't know that!"

"Hey Jim, did you get any chocolate from the Milky Way that you brought to school?" Sheen wanted to know. His "sugar radar" had woken him up, and Milky Ways were his current favorite chocolate.

"What? No, the Milky Way is all rock, and the occasional twenty percent off toaster, and has nothing to do with actual milk . . . or the chocolate."

"How do you know?" Carl demanded. His bargain-hunting ears had heard the words "twenty percent off" and sent off alarms in his brain, which revived him from his mid-class snooze. "Have you every actually been there?"
"Yes, several times," Jimmy retorted. "Actually nine times—seven of which you were there, one of which was yesterday."
"Oh, no wonder there's pebble in my shoe! I thought I slept-walked into the Candy Bar again—you know the Rocky Road has actual rocks?" Carl said.

"Um, guys, can we go to the office already? You know Willoughby, he'll probably burst right back in here in ten seconds if we're not there like, now," Libby pointed out. She stretched, yawned, and rubbed her eyes.

The five of them left the room. Sheen came back in and cut the TV cord at the plug, gave a thumbs up to the room of half-conscious students, and almost left the room when Ms. Fowl sat up.
"I like . . . banana and raspberry," she murmured in her sleep. She fell back on her desk again, snoring.

Sheen took a bow.

"What do you think Willoughby wants us for?" Carl asked worriedly.

"Maybe he wants to tell us that llamas are extinct," Sheen taunted him.

"Aaaaaah," Carl screamed, "the horror!!"

Sheen laughed so hard he walked into Willoughby's office door. Cindy shook her head disdainfully and went inside; the others followed gladly. If only they knew what horrors would come to follow.

Chapter 2

"So, uh, Principal Willoughby, what seems to be the problem?" Jimmy asked nervously.

"Problem? There is no problem! Corki, explain," Willoughby ordered, snapping his fingers bossily.

"Hello, young movie stars!" Corki Shiatzu said in ever-cool voice, pushing down his sunglasses.

"Excuse me?" Sheen squeaked.

"Movie?" Libby squealed.

"Stars!" Cindy shrieked.

"What are you talking about?" Jimmy wanted to know.

"Well, me and the boys were talking, and we think a boy genius whose brains get him into trouble would make a great movie!" the famous director explained.

"And we get to be in it?" Carl exclaimed hopefully.

"My, my, someone woke up on the dumb side of the bed," Corki snapped. "Of course you're in it, who else do you think I'd find to play the nerdy best friend, the good-looking third wheel, the mean crush, and the supa-hip pop diva? The Weird Store?!"

"Whoa, dude, what's wrong with you?" Sheen said, surprised.

Corki shook his head.

"Supa-sorry, everyone—"

"Who cares, what's the movie about?"

"There's an evil scientist that's trying to blow up the world, and he'll do it in three hours, and the only way to stop him is to find the inactivation microchip. Meanwhile, the two main characters are having a race to find it in the New Zealand Retroland. The only way to find it is to finish the race first, which is more of a scavenger hunt for clues. Any questions?"

"When do we start filming?" Jimmy asked eagerly.

"Tomorrow morning at nine," Corki answered in a suave voice.

"I don't know, Neutron," Cindy said after school at the Candy Bar. "This whole thing seems a little fishy to me."
"Oh, that's my ice cream," Carl explained. "Sam couldn't figure out what to put in the Penguin Swirl, so he replaced penguins with little pieces of fish."

Sheen and Libby gave him repulsive looks while Jimmy argued with Cindy.
"Come on! How could this be fishy? It seems perfectly acceptable to me."

"Neutron, don't you remember the last time we tried to make a movie?" Cindy protested. "We all believed that that Quentin Smithee guy was for real but he turned out to be Professor Calamitous in disguise, trying to kill us!"

The two of them get a faraway look in their eyes as they remember that fateful incident, though quite differently: Cindy was under the mistaken impression that she had been the one to "save the day."

"But this is different," Jimmy tried to explain. "We all know Corki, we've seen him a thousand times—he judged our science fair, for Edison's sake! What more proof do you need?"

"I'm telling you, I just don't have a good feeling about this!" Cindy said.

"Cindy, please, just be in the movie, or else we might not be able to do it!" Jimmy begged.
"Don't you want to be a star?" Libby coaxed her.

"Of course I do!" Cindy said, caving. "But I don't have to be in it, they'll find someone to replace me!"
"You mean like Betty Quinlan?" Libby pointed out.

"Okay, I'm in," Cindy said immediately. "But any funny business, I'm warning you, Neutron, and I'm quitting."

"Deal."

Yeah right.

Chapter 3

"Everybody here?" Corki yelled over his sunglasses.

"Everybody but Carl," Libby informed him.

"Well, where is he? If he's not here in five minutes he is so fi—"

"Here I am! Here I am," Carl said, panting.
"What took you so long?" Cindy barked. "I'm ready for my close-up!"

"Sorry, sorry, but I was at the bakery and I couldn't decide whether to get chocolate, sprinkled, or powdered donuts, so I ended up getting all of them at the last minute," he apologized.

"What?!" Sheen yelled.

"I know! Why were you getting donuts in the first place?! We have people for that, don't we?" Corki snapped his fingers. A bald guy wearing a baseball hat appeared out of nowhere with a powdered donut and handed it to Corki.

"Don't you remember? Yesterday you appointed me official handler of nuts, and I figured donuts counted!"

The picture fades into a flashback:

"Hi Corki!" Carl said.
"Hello," Corki said wearily.

"Hi Corki!"
"Um, hello."
"HI CORKI!"
"What's wrong with you?"

"Well, I was wondering if there was anything you needed me to do on set, you know, like anything?" Carl smiled hopefully.

"Kid, you're in the movie," Corki retorted.

"Oh, please? Please please please please please please PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE—"

"You're nuts! Now leave me alone, I need to work on my tan."

"Nuts, right, got it! I'm on it, Corki!" Carl exclaimed, running off.

The picture faded back into reality.

"Sheen, what were you screaming about?" Carl asked.

"You got powdered donuts?" Sheen cried. "How could you?! They're like balls of white, powdery evil!"

Jimmy shook his head and said "So Corki, I've been thinking—"

"Here we go," Cindy said exasperatedly.

Jimmy glared at her. "And I think it would be best if we get our scripts now, so we can start memorizing our lines."

"Scripts?" Corki blinked in surprise. "Silly boy, there are no scripts! This is what we in Hollywood call an 'ad lib film,' so you'll just make up your lines."
"But there's no such thing as an ad lib—" Cindy began.

"So!" Corki interrupted her. "Are we ready to start filming?"
"Yeah," all five of them said at the same time.

"Then—"

"Action!" Sheen yelled.

Everyone else looked at him.
"Sorry, just trying to help," Sheen said, insulted. "Dun, dun dun dun dun dun dun! And, action!"

Chapter 4

"You ready to go down, Vortex?" Jimmy threatened.

"Oh, please, it doesn't matter, it's just a movie anyway," Cindy yawned.

"Did I mention that the winning team gets a million dollars per person?" Corki added.

"You're going down, Neutron!" Cindy yelled.

"Wait, Corki, that's not fair! We only have two people and they have three!" Libby protested.

"Hey, Libbs, Sheen and Carl aren't real people, their half-brains make them half people. Actually, I think we have the advantage—two smarts against one smart and two idiots." Cindy was smirking at the boys' team.

"Hey!! I don't know what you said, but it sounded mean, so as soon as the words process through my tiny, peanut-sized brain I'll think of something to say back," Sheen said confusedly.

"Young movie stars!" Corki interjected crossly. "Will you start already? Here's your first clue! And, action!"

"Cut!" Jimmy yelled, and Corki groaned. "We don't even know what to do!"
Corki snapped his fingers and the same guy came back with another donut. Corki ate it and gave Cindy and Jimmy maps, watches, and identical papers:

Rules, Instructions, and Guidelines

1. Read your first clue and look at the map. Try to find your next clue based on the riddle of the first one. (Girls' clues are pink and boys' are blue.)

2. When you find a clue, use your magnetic watches to beam in the papers. They may be on the top of rides or in the car in front of you.

3. Once you've found your last clue, the riddle will lead you to more clues and eventually the last one, along with the microchip.

4. If you find the microchip first, you win.

5. None of your clues lead to the same place, except for the chip.

6. If you find the other team's clue, you may not destroy it, hide it, take it, or change the writing. If you do, your team will be instantly disqualified. There are cameras everywhere, so if you cheat, we'll know. (This is why there is no camera crew as well.)

7. Keep your eyes open and good luck!
8. Go!

Cindy and Jimmy were both reading it aloud to their teams. As soon as they read number eight, they both opened their clues.

Chapter 5

Girls:

"Come on, open it faster, open it faster!" Libby hurried.

"I am, I am!" Cindy said. "Come over here where they can't hear us."

She opened up the pink piece of paper and put in on the table in front of them. This is what it said:

(Picture of a fire) – E + ST + (Picture of a stop sign) + (Picture of a mailbox) + (Picture of a ghost with a speech bubble and an arrow pointing to the question mark in it) + (Picture of Cindy) + R

"Huh?" Libby said. Her eyes were glazing over.

"Okay, let's solve this one at a time," Cindy instructed. She took a pen out of her pocket and started writing on the back of her instructions sheet.

"Fire minus E plus ST, so that's 'First,' and then I guess 'stop . . .' then the mailbox is probably 'mail,' and what's this thing with the ghost? It's pointing to the speech bubble, what does that mean?"
"Boo," Libby supplied.

"Boo hoo," Cindy said, trying to think.

"No I mean the clue is 'boo,'" she explained.

"Huh?"
"It's pointing to a blank speech bubble from a ghost . . . and ghosts say 'boo,' don't they?" Libby pointed out.

"Genius, pure genius," Cindy muttered. "So that's 'boo' and then a picture of me? Oh, I bet the answer is 'me!'" and then that's plus R, which makes it . . . 'First stop, mail boomer?" No, that doesn't make sense—"

"First stop, Maliboomer!" Libby exclaimed.

"Excuse me?"
"It's a ride, Cindy," Libby said as if it were incredibly obvious, "called the Maliboomer."

"That's awesome!" Cindy exclaimed.

"So all we have to do is go to the Maliboomer, ride it, and find the clue?" Libby asked.

"Let's go!"
"But wait, we don't even know where to go," Libby reasoned.

"That's why they gave us a map!" Cindy pointed out.

Both girls studied the map intently and after ten seconds, Cindy folded it back up.

"We just go straight down there, turn left, run until we see this, turn right, then go straight, and we're there."

She and Libby started running past the boys as fast as they could.

"What are you doing?" Jimmy shouted.

Cindy looked over her shoulder as she ran.

"Winning!"

Chapter 6

"Jimmy," Carl whined, "the girls are beating us!"
"I know, I know, but I can't figure out this clue! Oh, if only I had my decoder watch!"

For the billionth time, he peered hopefully at the paper as if the answer would jump out at him:

D + (picture of a car) – J + (picture of a shirt with an arrow pointing to a white spot) – L + O + (picture of a tree) + H – RE + JU + (picture of a slanted L) – A

"I mean, I know I'm supposed to be a genius, but this is ridiculous!" Jimmy said exasperatedly.

"Can't you just think harder? The girls probably already found their next clue!" Carl moaned.

"I'm trying!" Jimmy told him crossly. "But, like, D + car – J? There's no J in car!" He was becoming hysterical.

"Hey Jim, can I try?" Sheen asked.

Jimmy turned red-faced to Sheen, who was playing a Nintendo game with his feet on the table.

"What makes you think that if I can't figure it out, you could?!"

"Can I just try?" Sheen said.

"Fine," Jimmy surrendered, turning his back to Sheen and crossing his arms, "but I guarantee you won't be able to—"

"I got the first word!"
"What?!" Jimmy exploded.

"Go Sheen!" Carl cheered.

"See, I may not be school smart—"

"You can say that again," Jimmy muttered.

"As I was SAYING, before I was so RUDELY interrupted, that I may not be school smart, but I do know cars," Sheen explained.

"Huh?" the other two boys demanded.

"Look . . . D plus a picture of a Jeep," Sheen said as if it were the most obvious thing in the world, "minus J equals 'Deep!'" he looked incredibly proud of himself.

"Uh huh . . ." Jimmy said looking thoughtful. "Continue . . ."

"But I don't know what this is!" Sheen looked confused.

"Ah, now that's a face I recognize," Jimmy teased him.

"Hey, Jimmy, that's not very n—AHH! Lint!" Carl screamed.

"What?"

"Lint! On the paper . . . get it off!!" he begged.

"Oh, I get it! Lint minus L is int, plus O is 'into!'" Now Sheen was getting hysterical. "Plus a tree plus H, minus RE is . . . teh? No, the!"

"I know the next one!" Jimmy yelled excitedly. "That's an angle! JU plus angle minus A is jungle . . . 'Deep into the Jungle!'"

"But that's on the other side of the park! We'll never get there in time!" Carl said.

"We will with my rocket shoes!" Jimmy said, grinning.

"But Jimmy, I'm sure those are against the rules," Carl said worriedly. "Won't we be disqualified?"

"Don't listen to him, Jimmy," Sheen shrieked. "It doesn't specifically say 'You may not use rocket shoes' and besides, don't you want to win?"

"You're right, Sheen," Jimmy said, gaining confidence. "Gentlemen, grab on!"

Chapter 7

"This looks so, so, so incredibly awesome!" Cindy shrieked.

"I know, I know!" Libby squealed.

"It's like one big corkscrew!"

The Maliboomer was like one big corkscrew: it started out purple at the bottom, then twisted around and around, the color fading to blue, green, yellow, then orange. At the very top (painted red) the car spun around "just like those teacups at Disneyworld," and Cindy said.

"Come on, don't just stand there!" Libby said. "Come on!"

"Have fun!" the ride attendant shouted, after pulling the protection gear over their heads (after all, this was a level four out of four ride).

"We will!" Libby answered.

Music started playing from somewhere closer to her ears, and she realized that there were speakers in each seat.

"Cool," she said to herself, grinning.

"What!?" Cindy yelled from the seat next to her. Unlike most rides, this one had a five-across-four-down setup instead of the basic one-after-the-other "car."

"Nothing!" Libby called back.

The ride started, and up they went. Around and around, in a blur of lilac, azure, jade, blonde, gold, and scarlet. When they got to the top, they started spinning around.

"I'm gunna throw up!" Cindy cried.

"You better not, there's a clue!" Libby exclaimed.

Cindy looked up and there indeed was a folded up piece of pink paper. Hoping against hope, she pushed the button on her watch and pointed the face up to the top of the track. Some kind of laser beamed out of the watch and up to the clue and sucked it in, until it stuck magnetically to the face of the clock.

"That's so cool!" Cindy and Libby cried at the same time.

"What's that, ladies?" Jimmy gloated, with Carl and Sheen each holding onto an ankle.

"Spew-tron!" Cindy burst out.

"Vortex," Jimmy retorted.

"Sheen?" Libby asked.

"Hey Libbs!" Sheen said.

"Estevez?!" Cindy exploded.

"Cindy!" Sheen greeted her.

"Neutron!" Libby said angrily.

"Libby," Jimmy snapped.

"Carl!" Carl volunteered. When everyone looked at him, he said, "What? No one said my name yet!"

"Spew-tron, what are you doing?!" Cindy blew up.

"Winning!" Jimmy boasted, flying around the girls. The ride was slowing down as it ended.

"Um, Jimmy, how are we winning? We didn't even get the second clue yet!" Carl wanted to know.

Jimmy smacked his forehead and said, "Carl!"

"Oh ho-ho!" Cindy said excitedly. "Mr. Smarty-Pants didn't even get the second clue yet!"

"Thanks, Carl," Jimmy muttered sarcastically.

"No problem, it's my job," Carl answered.

"Well, for your information, we're now two ahead of you!" Cindy said triumphantly.
"Don't you mean one?" Jimmy sneered, as the protection gear automatically rose over their heads.

Cindy pulled the pink paper off her watch and waved it in Jimmy's face. She and Libby started running as she called, "No, I mean two!"

Chapter 8

"Come on, Jimmy, faster, they're beating us!" Sheen said.

"I know, but we're here, calm down!" Jimmy demanded.

He landed his shoes and Carl and Sheen let go. They each raced through the line (empty, thankfully) and jumped into the first car they saw, that was about to start.

"Whew! See guys? We can still win!" Jimmy said hopefully.
"Yeah, right," Sheen muttered.

For the next few minutes, Jimmy, Carl, and Sheen rode through a simulation of the jungle, complete with bird and tiger noises and—

"AAAHH! A spider! I'm allergic to spiders!" Carl cried.

"Relax, Carl, they're fake!" Jimmy said.

"Really? How do you kn—AAAHHHHHH!"

They had just turned a dark corner, and for a second it was all dark, but then suddenly a red light turned on, then another, and other—they were imitating bats' eyes opening.

"I'm allergic to rats!" Carl yelled.

"Carl, they're supposed to be bats!" Jimmy shouted over the screaming.

"AHH! I'm allergic to bats too!"

They turned another corner, and it went dark again. The three of them (plus the other passengers) rode in darkness for nearly five seconds when Sheen shouted, "BOO!"

Well, of course, this scared Carl so much he would have jumped straight up in the air if there hadn't been a seat belt. He even failed to notice that they were crossing a (fake) bridge until they were halfway across.

Jimmy and Sheen had smartly put Carl in the middle so he couldn't look over, but when he saw the bridge (and realized that it was shaking with the weight of the car), he leaned over Sheen and looked down. When he saw the many, many feet under them—which of course let to the bottom of the line, but there was steam so he couldn't see anybody—he panicked.

"OH NO, Quentin Smithee has come to seek his revenge and broke the bridge!" he howled.

"Carl!" Jimmy said, obviously annoyed. "The bridge is fine! See? There are pretend ropes over the metal or wood or whatever the bridge is, and they are supposed to be shaking like that!"

"Yeah, it's an opitcal issulion," Sheen added. A few people behind them laughed.

"I knew that," Carl said calmly. "Hey Jim, there's a clue!"
Jimmy pressed the button on his watch and turned it towards the blue piece of paper. The watch beamed it in almost magically so the paper stuck magnetically to the face of the watch.

"Guys, the ride is over, let's go!" Sheen announced.

Chapter 9

After finding two more clues apiece (girls' at Splash Hill, on the ceiling before the bill fall, and in the Everest Bobsleds, in the bowl on jewels; and the boys' on Space Hill, on a planet before takeoff, and the monorail overlooking the park, on a window) both the Red and Blue teams were on their ultimate riddles. Whichever team got to the appropriate attractions first would be directed to the microchip and the prize money. Everyone was nervous (Cindy hadn't been able to think of a decent insult since running into the boys after Everest Bobsleds), except for Carl, who was completely oblivious to the world surrounding him due to his newfound obsession with his yo-yo (given to him by Jimmy to shut him up about complaining that he was bored and hungry). The pressure was on.

"Cindy, we've been fast-walking forever, can't we stop for like two seconds?" Libby panted.

"No! You want to win that prize, don't you?" Cindy said stubbornly.

"I won't be able to accept the prize if I'm dead," Libby retorted. "Besides, look at that churro stand! How can you resist the perfect Mexican pastry?" Libby tried to tempt her.

"Churros are from Spain," Cindy said shortly.

"Come on, please, just sit and read the clue!"

"Fine... hey, can you get me a churro while you're at it?" Cindy added, handing her a five-dollar-bill.

Libby rolled her eyes and came back with two churros. Cindy opened the note and read it aloud:

b You might be sad, you might be glad,

Even full of terror,

But don't you want to beat the boys?
Don't you think that's fairer? /b

"'Fairer' isn't a word," Cindy commented.

"Oh please, we don't need to hear about your perfect 102.5 English average now... okay, so—fairer, terror—terror, obviously at Terror Tower!" Libby ripped off another bite of her churro. "Okay, now we can go."

Cindy and Libby stepped in the pink-colored seats in the front row of Terror Tower. Unlike most of the other rides at the park, this one was just a thirty-three seated car that practically flew up to the top of a track (fifty stories high) and a camera took everyone's picture, and fell all the way down and halfway back up, and so on. The terrorizing part was that the car was going at eighty miles an hour.

"Are you ready?" Libby said nervously.

"Of course I am!" Cindy lied. Even a dare-devil like her had never been on anything going over sixty miles an hour.

"Just don't forget to beam the clue down when you see it," Libby reminded her.

"Don't sweat it." Cindy hoped her tough voice didn't reveal her queasiness.

Suddenly a voice came over the intercom.

"Attention all passengers, please keep your seatbelt on and your hands, arms, feet, and legs inside the vehicle at all times."

"What's he talking about, this is an inside ride!" Cindy giggled. "Plus, we're the only people in here."
"Yeah, don't you think that's weird? And why were the front two seats painted pink and all the others are white?" Libby wanted to know. As she spoke, her seat started to vibrate as if the ride was starting.

"I think it's so we know the Pink Team knows we're in the right ride," Cindy guessed.

"I don't think s—AAAAAAAHH!!" Before she could finish her sentence, the car sped up the track faster than Libby had ever moved in her life.

She could barely tell the difference when she and Cindy fell all the way down again and flew back up.

At the very top of the five-hundred feet (Cindy's math brain had solved this math before the ride started, and this little tidbit of information hadn't helped her nausea), the chairs started shaking again. The heavy shaking slowed down to a minor vibration, and then it stopped. Libby could distinguish two small, round electronic devices that seemed to be minuscule cameras. When Cindy regained her vision (her eyes were practically spinning), she noticed a little piece of paper wedged between the two cameras—it was pink. As she dazedly pressed the button on her watch, the cameras began to flash.

But they weren't normal camera flash: first it was a blue flash, then after a pause, a series of short white flickers there was one long one, starting with a high-pitched whine that turned into a screech and then—

BOOM.

Chapter 10

"Hey Jimmy, no offense or anything, but this is boring," Sheen complained.

"How?" Jimmy asked exasperatedly.

"Well, there's nothing for me to do," Sheen explained like it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"Well, when Carl comes out of the bathroom I'll let you figure out the clue," Jimmy relented.

"Ah! Thinking, it burns!" Sheen screamed.
"It'll keep you not bored for like, ten whole seconds," Jimmy joked.

At that second, Carl came out of the bathroom looking much more relaxed.

"Ooh, ooh, gimme gimme!" Sheen begged.

"Hey, let me see!" Carl said. He and Jimmy looked over Sheen's shoulder while he read slowly and inconsistently.

b The next to last clue

For the winning blue group-y,

Will lead you to a crazy ride,

So crazy that it's loopy! /b

"Hey Carl, remember the loopy dance?" Sheen said.

"Oh yeah!" Carl laughed. "I'm loopy, I'm loopy, I'm loopy—"

"Guys! Come on! Sheen, what do you think this clue means?" Jimmy said impatiently.

"That we're loopy?" Sheen asked innocently.

"No!"

"Fine! Then let's go to a roller coaster with a loop, sheesh!" Sheen exclaimed.

"Good idea, Sheen," Jimmy admired. "Wow, that sounded really odd."

"Gee, thanks," Sheen said sarcastically.

"Okay, so let's go—"

"To Spine-Chillin' Screamin'!" Sheen announced.

More Looks.

"Again, just trying to help."

"Man, this is gunna be so awesome!" Sheen predicted excitedly as they were stepping into the seats.

"Yeah!" Carl agreed enthusiastically from the back. "Unless of course something goes horribly, horribly wrong such as getting stuck on the top of the loop, like we did on Bat Out'a Heck."
Jimmy and Sheen turned around before pulling the full-body "safety thing" (in Sheen's words) and gave him blank stares.

"Now why'd you have to go and say that, Carl?" Jimmy said irritably.

"Just a way of keeping things 'fresh,'" he said.

"Shhh, it's starting!" Sheen said in excitement. "Hey Jimmy, why do you think the front three seats were painted blue instead of white like the other ones?"

"Probably to let us know that the Blue Team is on the right—whoa!" Jimmy speculated as they rode straight down at a sudden burst of speed.

Carl was screaming, "I'm gunna throw up!" when Jimmy noticed the loop—and the blue paper tied to the track. He was only able to push the button on his watch because of the unexpected (slight) deceleration.

"Why are we slowing down?" Sheen asked. "We were about to go upside-down!"

"Don't complain," Carl said in a sick voice.

There was just enough time for Jimmy to grab the note at the top of the loop because as soon as he did a bright light out of nowhere starting flashing, something started whining, there was a loud pop and then there was a—

BOOM.

Chapter 11

"What—what—what?!" sputtered Jimmy, after falling onto a hardwood floor.

"What a bright light," Cindy said sarcastically. (Apparently her lack of insults had worn off.) "That's exactly what I said when I fell into this cage about—" (she checked her watch) "ten minutes ago? Which means uh, WE should be winning right now!"

Jimmy tuned her out after the word "cage" and looked around. It was then that he realized that he had fallen directly into a steel cage from, looking up, a huge hole in the steel ceiling, which after several seconds automatically slid shut.

"Where are we?" he breathed.

Cindy opened her mouth and a gasp came out of it, but from Carl.

"Jimmy!"

"What, what?" Jimmy explained, wheeling around.

"Elaborate your vocabulary," Cindy muttered,

"Jimmy. . . my yo-yo fell!" he looked horrified. Jimmy rolled his eyes and demonstrated the proper way to rewind a yo-yo.

"But Vortex, where in Eisenhower's name are we?" Jimmy asked urgently.

"You walked—oh, excuse me, fell right into my little trap," a voice said proudly (or arrogantly, in Cindy's opinion).

Once again, Jimmy wheeled around, followed by Cindy, Libby, Sheen, and even Carl. (His yo-yo fell.)

"Yes, you have fallen right into my trap," the voice continued. "See, this entire game was a setup. Knowing that you'd play along, I rigged both of the last rides to bring you here. Pretty genius, no?"

"No." Cindy looked furious, but not as furious as Libby, after being informed that her dreams of being a star no longer existed. She, however, was too angry to speak.

"Well, you didn't think about it by yourself," another, deeper voice said irritably.

"Hey!" Sheen said, cupping his hand over his head in order to see. "Can you come out of those shadows? I can't tell who you are!"

"I," the first voice announced, this time definitely arrogantly, stepping into the light, "am Professor Calamitous. Surprised?"

"Oh yeah," Carl breathed.

"Of course," Jimmy said exasperatedly, rolling his eyes (not to Carl's statement, but because practically all the traps he's fallen in were devised by Calamitous).

"No way," Libby fumed.

Chapter 12

After getting over the shock and fury of seeing Professor Calamitous for the umpteenth time, Libby was able to speak again. She opened her mouth and just when she was about to let Calamitous have it, the annoyed voice spoke again.

"But, 'Professor Calamitous'" (even without seeing the body of the second voice Sheen could tell that he was making air quotes) "I am the one who came up with that master plan. I just . . . thoughtfully let you help me." Jimmy rolled his eyes: even Cindy had never sounded so conceited.

"Mr. Plan?" Carl spoke up. "Can you please, you know, reveal your identity now?"

"Of course, jellybag!" the voice said tauntingly.

"Jellybag . . . well, this is great!" Jimmy said sarcastically, realizing who the villain was.

"Indeed it is, jellybag leader. For I am . . . Meldar!" and Meldar floated out of the dark.

"Yup, just fantastic."

"But Meldar and Mr. Calamitous, what do you want?" Carl asked worriedly. Sheen started laughing at something that no one else noticed yet.

"That's—" Calamitous struck his evil pose— "'Professor Calamitous' to you!"
"Professor, huh?" Sheen said, amused. "If you're so smart then what happened to your pants?"

Calamitous looked down and realized that his pants were lying on the floor in a gray heap. He turned red and pulled then up again; Sheen continued laughing.

After Jimmy got over this, the angry look returned to his face.

"So, Meldar, what's your evil plan this time?" Jimmy wanted to know.

"Hey, what about me? I've had many more evil plans than Meldar, why are you asking him?"

"Because I'm the genius here, you're just my assistant, remember nitwit?" Meldar explained crossly.

"Excuse me!"

Meldar rolled his eyes and fished a bag out of his jacket pocket. He opened the bag, took out a piece of chocolate, and threw it into Calamitous's mouth.

"Right, I'm a nitwit, assistant, whatever," he said, grinning.

Meldar rolled his eyes again. "No wonder Beautiful Gorgeous left you."

"Ahem." Jimmy cleared his throat. "Meldar . . . plan . . . evil . . . you?"

"Oh, right." Meldar fumbled through his pockets and found a miniature flashlight; he held it under his chin as though he were about to recite a ghost story.

"Remember when Vandanna confiscated my cufflinks?"
"Hey, I confiscated them and gave them to Vandanna!" Jimmy protested.

"Ugh, details," Meldar said, rolling his eyes and waving his hand. "Anyway, when Vandanna confiscated my cufflinks she took out the activation microchip and robotically electrified it so I couldn't remove it from its hiding spot."
"And?" Jimmy prompted him.

"So, you brainless little jellybags, I need you to get it for me!"

Jimmy and Libby both raised an eyebrow.
"Excuse me, but what makes you think we're gunna do it for THAT tone?"

Meldar floated forward threateningly. Carl whimpered and crouched behind Sheen, but Jimmy took three steps forward. Meldar looked surprised.

"No way, Meldar!" Jimmy shouted.

"Yeah, in your dreams!" Libby proclaimed. Cindy stared at her with a weird expression on her face.

"I repeat, excuse me? You will do what I say or else." Meldar flashed an evil grin.

Jimmy was starting to look the slightest bit afraid, but Libby felt skeptical and looked angry. She took a few more steps forward and spoke. "Or what."

Meldar looked taken aback. "Well, I dunno, I didn't think the head jellybag's leader's new girlfriend would challenge my royal evilness."

"She's not my girlfriend!" Jimmy cried, at the same time as Cindy, Libby, and Sheen. "And you are NOT a royal evilness."

"Yeah," Carl piped up, "that's King Goobat."

"Who's King Goobat?" Meldar asked, looking bewildered.

"What? Man, have you been living in outer space?" Sheen laughed. "King Goobat is only the weirdest, most annoying. . ." he trailed off when he saw Jimmy stifling a laugh. "Oh, I guess you have been living it outer space!"
"Pchduh, Sheen, you should have said he lived in a cave!" Carl scoffed.

"But he doesn't!"
"That's the point!"
"Argh, enough with the flibberty-gibber!" Meldar shouted.

"Someone's been spending a little too much time with Cap'n Betty," Sheen whispered to Carl. Meldar scowled.

"As I was saying, you five are gunna get the microchip for me and when I rule the world you'll get a small financial reward, kapish?"

Jimmy started to answer when Libby tapped his shoulder:
"Jimmy, what are we gunna do?" she hissed.

"Yeah Neutron, if we don't get the chip he's gunna find something to finish that 'or else,' and if we do get it he's gunna rule the world!" Cindy added.

"I think he's been spending a little too much time with Calamitous, too," Sheen commented. "Isn't taking over the world sort of his thing?"

"Neutron, think of something!"

Professor Calamitous reappeared from the bathroom; this reminded Jimmy of something.
"Think, think, think. . ." Jimmy muttered, closing his eyes and clenching his fists.

Chapter 13

The traditional trip through Jimmy's brain and purple things let to a familiar image of Calamitous going to the bathroom, five minutes ago. Suddenly Jimmy remembered when Calamitous had trapped Goddard and forced his to fix an invention. Then he realized the way he had escaped was by pretending to obey Professor Calamitous to trick him.

"Brain blast!" Jimmy's eyes snapped open.

"So what's the plan?" Cindy and Libby asked together.

"Listen up, guys—"

"I hope there's no secret plotting going on here!" Meldar said disapprovingly.

"Of course not! We were just, um—" Sheen stopped to think, something he doesn't do very often.

"We. . . decided we're gunna get the chip," Jimmy told him, trying to make it sound as if he were admitting defeat.

"We are?!" Sheen, Carl, and Libby exclaimed.

Meldar looked surprised and pleased. Cindy, however, had known Jimmy long enough to know when he's lying (this skill had come in particularly handy when he tried to trick Libby and her into testing an experiment) and this was one of those times.

"Yeah, we are," she spoke up, shooting a meaningful look at Libby.

"Oh yeah!" Libby said, elbowing Sheen in the side. Sheen gave a thumbs-up and rubbed the spot where she had jabbed him.

"So," Meldar said, as if he just wanted to clarify a few points, "if I release you know, you'll get the chip as fast as you can?"
"Yes," Cindy and Jimmy said at the same time.

"You won't do anything else? You'll open your clues immediately and go straight there?"
"Yeah," Cindy, Jimmy, and Libby agreed in unison.

"And, assuming you get it, you'll do nothing to destroy, harm, or change the microchip?"

"Yes!" all five kids yelled at once.

Meldar cracked an evil smile.

"Perfect."

Carl shivered. This evil smile was, perhaps, the scariest thing he had seen all day.

"Well?" Calamitous said exasperatedly. "Aren't you going to open your clues?"
Cindy became aware that a pink folded up piece of paper was sitting expectantly on her watch and opened it. Jimmy, somehow knowing they would be identical, didn't move.

"Well? What does it say?" Libby asked nervously.

"Cindy cleared her throat and read her note—which, unlike all the others, was printed over a skill and crossbones sign—aloud:

Congratulations, you've come this far,

But now, beware, you'll find out who you really are.

Although this clue might be the last,

It could be friendships that run out fast.

And now to find the microchip,

You'd be wise to take this tip:

Alas, tonight the moon is full—

Ignoring that'd be gullible

For when it reaches the middle of the sky,

You'll know just where your secrets lie.

Congratulations, you've come this far,

But now, beware, you'll find out who you really are.

And on that ominous note, Meldar let them out of their cage.

Chapter 14

"You know, that gets more annoying every time," Cindy commented, referring to the gigantic tube that sucked them out of the lair, much like the one in Jimmy's lab.

"Listen, guys, we need to get out of here," Jimmy whispered urgently.

"But you said—" Sheen began.

"Yeah, yeah, I know what I said, but—"

"You're not thinking of ditching us, are you?" Calamitous's voice rang out.

"Oh, no, of course not!" Jimmy lied, looking around for the source of the noise.

"Yes, we thought this might happen," Meldar informed them over a sort of loudspeaker. "That's why we had a plan."

And then, Libby fell through the same chute they had just escaped from. Screaming her lungs out, she disappeared from sight.

"Give Libby back!" Sheen bellowed.

"You have until midnight. Bring me the microchip by then or you'll never see your precious Lily again!" Meldar spoke with a sort of finality that meant business.

"It's Libby!" Carl exclaimed.

"Jimmy, we can't just leave without Libby!" Cindy shrieked.

"Of course we can't!" Jimmy said, like it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"Well, what are we gunna d—" Sheen stopped abruptly.

"Did she just call you Jimmy?" he and Carl asked together.

Cindy blushed.

"Maybe," Jimmy muttered. "Anyway, here's what we're gunna do. Huddle up, guys."
Meldar cleared his throat over the intercom.

"We're gunna get the chip, okay?!" Jimmy shouted, glaring at the spot where Libby had vanished.

"Excellent."

Chapter 15

Hours later, after passing the time by riding other coasters (carefully avoiding Terror Tower and Spine-Chillin' Screamin), Jimmy, Cindy, Sheen, and Carl were growing weary and nervous. By eleven o'clock, four minutes and twelve seconds before the moon reached the middle of the sky, according the boy genius, Jimmy had had enough.

"Listen, Meldar—"

"And Professor Calamitous!" an indignant voice rang out.

"Listen, Meldar and Professor Calamitous, we want Libby back to help us. So if you don't give her back now, the deal's off!"
Nobody answered for a few seconds, during which Meldar and Calamitous were obviously discussing his offer.

"Fine. But if we don't get the chip by midnight we're taking her back!"

Jimmy rolled his eyes and muttered to Cindy "Tough negotiator" in a sarcastic voice.

There was an odd squelching noise, followed by a pop, and Libby was raised from the ground in front of them, shaking.

"Libby!" Sheen yelled happily.

"What. . . happened to you?" Jimmy demanded.

"They—they—played opera for six hours straight! I was dying!"

The boys all let out their breaths in relief, but Cindy looked absolutely horrified. However, she didn't say anything to console her best friend—this was unusual for her.

Jimmy cleared his throat. "Well, it's 11:04 and the moon is in the middle of the sky. Where's the chip?"

Libby shook her head and made herself stop wondering why such an ugly expression had glued itself to Cindy's face. "Ahem, but guys, look closer at the moon. See where the light is shining?"

Indeed, once they followed the trail of moonlight with their eyes, even the half-asleep Carl could distinguish their next destination.

And then, at 11:06, fifty-four minutes before the deadline, Jimmy, Cindy, Sheen, Libby, and Carl ran.

Chapter 16

After ten minutes of running through the park, the gang stopped to rest, bent down with their hands on their knees, panting. Carl took out his inhaler and breathed.

Finally, the dim sound of music registered in their ears. Libby looked up: where was it coming from?

Then, suddenly, a parade passed them by. The song playing was the tune to "There They Are, the Dominant Life Forms" song but without words. Colorful balloons danced ahead, followed by floats of people they couldn't see in the distance.

"What is this, Disneyland?" Cindy demanded irritably.

"Not quite," Libby said, grinning. "Did you notice who the people the floats are modeled after?"

Dozens of. . . not people, they couldn't be human—dozens of near-identical Meldars paraded by the five kids, lifeless expressions cloned on their faces. Every one of them was holding a puppet-master string that was attached to a float—which, as Libby had pointed, were supposed to be Jimmy and Cindy.

Sheen burst out laughing. "They looked exactly like you guys!"

Cindy managed to scrape her jaw off the floor and retort, "Yeah genius, we know."

The toothpaste-ad smiles on their gigantic faces clearly came from their school pictures. Cindy felt sick: for long had Meldar planned this?

They all sat there for several seconds and then, one by one, stood up, looking defeated.

"I was so sure I was right!" Libby moaned.
"So was I," Jimmy admitted.

Cindy remained silent.

"Well, this is great," Sheen said sarcastically.

"We don't even have time to think of a new plan!" Carl cried, wringing his hands.

Jimmy stared at him. "What are you talking about? We should have at least forty more minutes!"

Carl shook his head and said, "Nope. We've got, like, five more minutes."
Cindy grabbed his wrist and watched in horror as the 11:56 clicked to 11:57.

"But—but—that's impossible!" Cindy spluttered.

"She's right!" Jimmy said, in the same tone of mingled shock and disbelief. "That's scientifically impossible—it was 11:15 a minute ago!"

Libby switched from amused at Cindy and Jimmy to slightly exasperated. "Einstein and Einsteinette, in case you forgot, Meldar and Calamitous are gunna zap me back down to opera city if you don't give them what they want by midnight!"

"Uh, right," Jimmy said hastily.

He started to open his mouth again but was interrupted by a squeak:
Carl, for some reason, felt the impulse to look up just as the parade was fading away and saw—

"Guys! Look!"

Cindy and Jimmy swiveled around and they too saw—their clues!

The two pieces of paper glittered in the moonlight, taunting them, urging them to run, for time was running out.

Cindy, whatever she was, however jealous of Libby she was, was a seriously competitive girl. Even if there was no prize—the hopes of which were long gone—she wanted to win. She wanted to finally beat Jimmy at something.

Cindy leapt into the air and ran, followed momentarily by Jimmy. They ran as fast as they could, Sheen, Libby, and Carl, right behind them, a race against time.

"Ten! Nine! Eight!"

Carl and Sheen had taken it upon themselves to add more suspense and fear to the situation by counting away the seconds melodramatically. Meldar's clock could be heard over the shouting, doing the same thing.

"Seven! Six!"

Jimmy and Cindy were nearing the Meldar-robots; Cindy was the first to notice that her clue was taped to float-Cindy's left shoe. Tick, tock, went the amplified clock.

"Five!"

Sheen, Libby, and Carl were right behind their team captains. Time was dwindling away like the last grains of sand in an egg timer.

"Four!"

Time seemed to pass in slow motion; Jimmy's foot hit the ground as the other jumped up, flailing in the air as the seconds floated by.

"Three!"

The other three were going anxious. Seconds crept along like hours and Cindy and Jimmy readied their index fingers on the buttons of their watches.

"Two!"

It was almost unnerving to watch. Libby closed her eyes and Sheen and Carl raised their voices. Even the clock seemed more excited.

"ONE!"

The leaders of the blue and red team, definitely in slow motion, threw themselves in the air and, definitely in slow motion, each pushed a button—one of them first, but it was impossible to tell who—as the floor gave away beneath them. Beams of light shot dramatically out of Jimmy's and Cindy's watches and the notes fell, somehow even faster than normal, through the hole in the ground just before the trap door closed. The blue and pink papers stuck to the faces of their watches as Jimmy, Cindy, Libby, Carl, and Sheen screamed, falling, falling, falling. . .

Chapter 17

"Sheen—Sheen—SHEEN!" Ms. Fowl screamed.

Sheen woke up screaming. He picked his head up from his desk faster that humanly possible and, not still screaming, but breathing heavily, looked wildly around the classroom—classroom?!

Jimmy awoke second, startled.

"Where—where—where are we?" he demanded.

Carl woke up screaming, not as loud as Sheen had been but at a respectable volume nonetheless.

"Meldar!" he panted, swiveling around in his seat. "Calama—where are they?"

Libby was next, ironically the calmest of them all.

"Where—where are we?" she asked nervously.

Cindy woke up last.

"Neutron!" she yelled furiously.

"Hey!" Jimmy said defensively. "This wasn't my fault!"

"But Meldar! And Professor Calamitous! Where are they?" Carl asked, bewildered.

The other students were looking very amused by this point.

"You—you dreamed about Calamitous too?" Sheen said, looking more confused that ever.

"And Meldar?" Libby added.

"Yeah, but—" Carl began.

"What happened to the parade?" Jimmy looked behind the annoyed Ms. Fowl, as if expecting to see a hundred Meldars in front of the chalkboard.

"So. . . we all dreamed the same thing?" Cindy asked.

"I guess," Jimmy said uncertainly.

"It was all just a dream?" Libby said disbelievingly.

"It was all just a dream," Carl told her happily.

"It was all just a dream," Sheen said dazedly, like he couldn't believe it.

"It was all just a dream," Jimmy repeated more firmly, finally believing it when he saw that the watch on his wrist wasn't magnetic and had no note on it.

Cindy glanced at Libby, then at the notebook on her best friend's desk: she sighed in relief upon seeing SE+LF 4EVER doodled numerous times on the cover.

Cindy smiled.

"It was all just a dream."