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

Chapter 19: "Help Swings In"

As C.H.I.P. the bear and I hung from the tree, I tried to remain positive.

Maybe this wasn't the end. I mean, I'd always been able to think myself out of any tight spot, so why not now? And since, being upside-down, the blood was flowing to my brain, maybe my thinking would be brainier than ever!

Or maybe I'd just pass out. Regardless, I knew I had to come up with a plan fast.

First, I took stock of our situation: We were trapped by a chimpanzee who had turned the whole town into a jungle, who had turned smart and evil because of my trademarked microthingy, and who was capable of using the C.H.I.P. app on my phone.

Second, I devised a plan: If we could get untied, I could get my phone back and turn Chip into a slug. Then he could ooze his way out of his bonds and slime C.H.I.M.P.

Third, I realized that was the dumbest idea in the world.

We were in big trouble!

Helpless, we hung from the tree, watching the chimp fool around with my phone. Then, using my app, he actually turned Chip into C.H.I.P. the warthog. There C.H.I.P. was, squealing away, struggling to get free.

C.H.I.M.P. howled; he thought it was the funniest thing he'd ever seen. Then he turned C.H.I.P. into a dragonfly. C.H.I.P. flapped his arms as fast as he could, and he actually got some air, spinning around at the end of the vine.

Then, the chimp turned C.H.I.P. into a slug! I couldn't believe my luck. C.H.I.P. started to sweat, and, just as I predicted, he slipped right out of the vines wrapped around his legs.

He was free! Now was our chance!

Too bad slugs can only travel about six inches an hour.

The chimp howled again and turned C.H.I.P. into a rabbit. C.H.I.P. just sat there, nibbling on a leaf. It was pathetic. C.H.I.M.P. probably realized that, as long as he made C.H.I.P. a non-threatening animal, he could keep him as some sort of court jester.

And all I could do was just hang there and watch. Maybe my dad was right from the start. Maybe taking on wacky bad guys was a job left to professionals like him and his team at McKrakken Security Systems. I sure needed Dad now.

Suddenly, out of the corner of my eye, I saw someone swinging in on a vine. I knew it! Dad was coming to rescue me and take down C.H.I.M.P.!

The chimp looked up. He had just turned C.H.I.P. into a pill bug, and, since C.H.I.P. had rolled up into a ball like pill bugs do, C.H.I.M.P. was kicking him around like a soccer ball. But I knew this humiliation wouldn't last long because, flying in on a vine to save us was...

...Carla Mawhinney??!!

Wearing this cool leopard-print dress, Carla leapt off her vine and landed right in front of the chimp. "Let Nort and the hero guy go, you stupid, dirty ape!"

"Carla?" I gasped.

"Hang in there, Nort!" Carla said, giving me a half smile. Then she turned back to the chimp and kicked my phone right out of his hands!

C.H.I.M.P. glared at her with fury. Not only that, all the spider monkeys gathered around, ready to defend their ruler.

"Carla, run!" I cried out. "Save yourself!"

"Don't worry, Nort," she said. "I didn't take five years of taekwondo for nothing." The spider monkeys attacked her, but she was ready. She smacked one monkey after another, sending them flying off into the trees. She was amazing! I just wished I could've witnessed her incredible display of skill and agility right-side up.

Carla cut me down from the tree. I grabbed my phone and quickly turned C.H.I.P. into a kangaroo. C.H.I.P. hopped over to C.H.I.M.P. and boxed him in the face like a punching bag. Then Carla whacked the chimp in the stomach, and C.H.I.P. the kangaroo jumped up and down on C.H.I.M.P.'s toes.

"Carla, grab his collar!" I yelled. But before she had a chance to try, C.H.I.P. the kangaroo leapt up and kicked C.H.I.M.P. with both of his powerful kangaroo feet, launching him into the jungle. He landed hard, then stood up in a daze and hissed at us before swinging off into the distance on hanging vines.

Carla put her hands on her hips and looked at C.H.I.P. the kangaroo. "Now, what did you go and do that for?" But C.H.I.P. just jumped happily up and down, like any kangaroo would. "For the hero guy, you sure are acting weird."

I quickly turned C.H.I.P. back into Chip. He just shook his head a bit and said, "WA-HOO! That was fun!"

Carla stared at Chip, amazed at what she'd just witnessed. "Chip? You're the hero guy?"

"Uh..." Chip hesitated, looking at me for guidance.

"No!" I insisted to Carla. "He's just goofy, old Chip, same as always! The important thing is, you were amazing! You saved me and Chip from the evil chimpanzee who turned Vortville into a jungle somehow, definitely not because of any microthingy I might have invented that's in his collar and making him supersmart and superstrong!"

Carla looked at me closely. "You made the chimp supersmart and superstrong?"

"No, I said I didn't. Just like I have nothing to do with the hero guy who's definitely not actually Chip when he's not taking on wacky bad guys." Phew! If not for my clever way with words, Carla would've guessed all my supersecret secrets.

Carla walked right up to me now. "You're just being modest. You don't want to admit that you invented a tiny microthingy that is able to turn Chip into the hero guy because you think that's like bragging."

Wow, not only was Carla cool and amazing, she was able to easily see through my very ingenious attempts to fool her. So I figured I might as well admit to everything. I mean, she'd already figured out that I was a brilliant, dashing and irresistibly attractive scientific genius. Why keep trying to hide it?

"And," she added, "you also don't want to admit that one of your microthingies turned that chimp into a dangerous wacky bad guy who's turned the entire city into a jungle."

I froze. Suddenly, I wasn't quite so eager to admit to being a brilliant brainiac. All I could think to say was, "Heeeey, how about those taekwondo lessons!" But the secret was out. I had to take the credit and the blame.

And I had to figure out how to find C.H.I.M.P. again and stop him from becoming even smarter and more evil. After all, who knew what diabolical plan he had in store for Vortville next?