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

Chapter 13: "Two Swingers"

"He's generating his own natural habitat, dummy!" Stella said once we got back to HQ.

I had mixed emotions about this. On the one hand, I was filled with pride that my microthingy could make an animal so smart it could invent a way to grow its own jungle. But, on the other hand, the chimp was destroying Vortville! And, because my C.H.I.P. was causing the chimp to change in this dangerous way, I was sort of his creator, so it was my responsibility to stop him. But I never designed the C.H.I.P. to be used on animals, so I didn't know what to expect next!

I took a look out my basement window, and I was amazed by what I saw. The vines were taking over the whole neighborhood now! In no time, all of Vortville would be covered!

We needed Chip to turn into a version of C.H.I.P. who could beat C.H.I.M.P. in his own environment, and fast. So I pulled out my phone and turned Chip into C.H.I.P. the king of the jungle.

Wearing furry shorts (and nothing else), C.H.I.P. said, "Must stop C.H.I.M.P.!" and he and I ran out to the front yard. The vines were now growing so fast, they were starting to blot out the sun. We could hear jungle birds cawing and insects buzzing. A huge snake even slithered around my feet!

C.H.I.M.P. wasn't just growing a bunch of vines, he was growing a whole new ecosystem.

But C.H.I.P. the king of the jungle knew what to do. He beat his chest and let out a real Tarzan cry. It seemed to echo throughout the whole town. Then he climbed a tree and started to swing from vine to vine, taking off across Vortville to look for C.H.I.M.P.

Stella stayed in HQ to track C.H.I.P.'s movements, and I tried to follow him on the ground. But my bike could no longer travel on the streets since vine-like tree roots had spread everywhere.

So I opened the garage door and jumped behind the wheel of the C.H.I.P.-mobile!

I sped off after C.H.I.P., trying to follow him as he swung on the vines. (Actually, I'll come up with any excuse to drive the C.H.I.P.-mobile. Sometimes I use it just to drive to the end of the driveway to get the mail.)

C.H.I.P. stopped atop a high tree and let out another Tarzan cry as he scanned the new jungle for C.H.I.M.P. Then, off in the distance, he heard the chimp hooting and screaming. C.H.I.P. took off again, fast.

Once again, I followed as best I could, but the vines were still growing all around, and I could barely see where the streets were anymore. Vortville was a complete jungle now! Hardly any sunlight was able to shine through the vegetation. Jungle sounds echoed throughout the city, keeping people locked inside their homes in terror. And those people who did venture out could barely walk five feet without slipping on a banana peel.

Eventually, the vines got so bad that the C.H.I.P.-mobile got tied up in them. But I had the perfect solution: my latest C.H.I.P.-mobile gadget, the Hedge Hacker! I pushed a button on the dashboard and two electric hedge trimmers popped out. Swiping back and forth like windshield wipers, they cut me a way through the dense foliage.

Stella was still tracking C.H.I.P. for me, so I aimed in his general direction. Finally, C.H.I.P. and C.H.I.M.P. came into view. It was a showdown up in the canopy, the two of them facing off over who would be king of the jungle!

"C.H.I.P. king of jungle, not C.H.I.M.P.!" bellowed C.H.I.P. Then he beat his chest and let out another cry.

But C.H.I.M.P. just did some sign language in response and then howled like he was laughing.

C.H.I.P. looked confused and mumbled, "C.H.I.P. no read sign language."

But I could read it. C.H.I.M.P. had signed, "C.H.I.P. is C.H.U.M.P., not king of jungle!"

I was furious. The chimp was making fun of C.H.I.P.! Unable to control myself, I yelled up to C.H.I.P., "Get him, C.H.I.P.! Take that monkey down!" Yeah, I knew he wasn't actually a monkey, but I really wanted C.H.I.P. to make a monkey out of that chimp!

C.H.I.P. grabbed a vine and swung over to fight C.H.I.M.P. But C.H.I.M.P. just swung away from him, laugh-howling again. C.H.I.P. tried another direction of attack, but there was no way he could out-swing an actual chimpanzee. C.H.I.M.P. was swinging circles around him!

I had to think fast. Remembering how C.H.I.P. had roped Pinky on Lake Vortville after he dissolved her nanobot-powered pink carpet, I turned C.H.I.P. into a rodeo rider. Then he grabbed a hold of a vine and swung it around like a lasso, throwing it at C.H.I.M.P. and snagging his legs! C.H.I.P. cinched the lasso tight and yanked the rope, pulling in C.H.I.M.P.

C.H.I.P. had done it! And he'd made it look easy!

Until he looked down.

C.H.I.P. the rodeo rider just now realized he was fifty feet up in the air, hanging amongst a mass of loose vines, and he choked. He slipped off his perch on a tree branch and fell straight for the ground! But he hung on tight to his rope, which was still attached to C.H.I.M.P.'s legs. C.H.I.M.P. held tight onto a vine, and that stopped C.H.I.P.'s fall. Phew! But he was still in danger, hanging in mid-air, and the weight of C.H.I.P. was pulling C.H.I.M.P. down.

Finally, C.H.I.M.P. was able to wriggle out of the lasso, first one foot, then the other... and down C.H.I.P. fell. Right... towards... me!

Luckily, I thought fast and turned him into a skydiver while he was falling. FLOOF! His parachute deployed just in time, bringing him down for a soft landing. C.H.I.P. was safe!

But we had bigger problems than that. C.H.I.M.P. had turned the town into the Vortville Jungle, and C.H.I.P. couldn't stop him!

Had C.H.I.P. finally met his match?