MY BEST FRIEND IS A SECRET AGENT, Book 3: How C.H.I.P. Took on C.H.I.M.P. and...

Chapter 12: "Out of Control"

As Chip and I rode down the street, I sensed something weird was going on.

"Do you get the feeling we're being followed?" I asked Chip.

"Mmmff," Chip replied. His mouth was full of bananas.

I looked behind us. Was there something moving behind that line of parked cars? And did something move in those trees?

I told Chip to stop, and we both turned and looked behind us. Finally, we could see clearly. There was something behind those cars and in those trees... and everywhere else! We were being followed by massive, spreading vines! They were growing fast, like a fungus, and they spread their tendrils all over the neighborhood right before our eyes.

"What'f thaff?!" Chip asked with his banana-filled mouth.

"I don't know," I said, "but I'll bet it has something to do with Gert and her chimp!"

I turned to head back to Gert's house. Chip's eyes bugged out. "You're going back?!" he said, finally swallowing his big mouthful. Nervous, he decided to follow me.

When we got to Gert's, she was running out of her house, screaming "Heeelp!" at the top of her lungs. And standing right on top of the house was her chimp, jumping up and down, his collar blinking red like before.

"What's going on?!" I demanded.

"Your microthingy is making my chimp go nuts!"

"My microthingy? I thought you invented it!"

"Don't try to blame this on me, Nort McKrakken! I said no such thing!"

But we had no time to argue. The massive, fast-growing vines seemed to all be coming from inside Gert's house, and we had to stop them before they turned our fair town into the Vortville Jungle!

So, while Gert wasn't looking, I turned Chip into C.H.I.P. the safari guide. "Hey, look, it's the hero guy!" I cried, and Gert looked over at C.H.I.P., complete with pith helmet and a huge machete.

"Where'd he come from?" Gert asked.

C.H.I.P. used the machete to hack away at the growing vines, trying to make his way into the house. "Time to make some serious cutbacks!" he quipped.

I followed him inside where we could see that the vines were growing out of Gert's basement. But there was no way C.H.I.P. could hack his way down into the basement. Whatever C.H.I.P. cut away just grew back instantly!

I tried to figure out what was going on: After Gert's chimp helped her win First Prize in the Science Fair, she totally ignored him, leaving him locked in her basement. But with the C.H.I.P. 1.0 microthingy still activated in his collar, he was probably left to do whatever he wanted down there. Getting smarter and stronger by the minute, he first took on the Freaky Fuzzies. But did he then figure out a way to grow huge, tree-like vines? And, if so, why?

Was he really trying to turn Vortville into a jungle?!