MY BEST FRIEND IS A SECRET AGENT, Book 2: How C.H.I.P. Took a Dive to Dash...

Chapter 22: "Shutting Down a Madman"

Dr. Eelstrom decided to make his secret evil plan not so secret (but still evil) by taking over the airwaves with a big announcement.

On every TV channel and every computer and phone, Dr. Eelstrom's slimy, scaly face appeared, making everybody cringe with horror—and he hadn't even started talking yet.

But once he opened his mouth, it was even more horrifying: "People of Vortville! You have been confined to dry land for too long. Soon, you will be free to live in an underwater wonderland as nature intended! Any attempt to stop me will be futile!" Then he cackled the way all wacky bad guys do (except Dr. Eelstrom's laugh sounded a lot grosser than most).

This was it. No more time for planning, just action!

C.H.I.P. the tank commander and I jumped into the C.H.I.P.-mobile and headed off for another amphibious ride on the water. But this time we weren't going to Lake Vortville.

We were going to the ocean!

When we got to the coastline, C.H.I.P. activated the fin-like things that popped out of the wheels, and we charged out onto the water, crashing through the waves like they were nothing. Okay, we got soaking wet, but that's the price you pay when you want to save the world!

Once we made it to the open water, I pulled up this graphic on my phone of Dr. Eelstrom's really big intake pipe that sucked water from the ocean all the way to Lake Vortville.

"Dad tried to get to Dr. Eelstrom the obvious way, and it didn't work," I said to C.H.I.P. "So we're going to mount an attack from the inside! All you have to do is swim up this big pipe and catch Eelstrom by surprise." I showed C.H.I.P. this little scuba diver swim up the tube in the graphic. (It took me all night to animate it, but it was worth it.)

"Yes, SIR!" C.H.I.P. the tank commander said, and then he started to dive into the water.

I grabbed him to stop him. "Wait! I need to change you first." Wow, military guys like tank commanders are sure gung-ho when you order them to do stuff.

Operating my phone, I turned C.H.I.P. into a scuba diver. I also programmed him to be able to change his skills by himself again because, where he was going, I couldn't follow!

"I'm going in!" C.H.I.P. the scuba diver said in a cool voice. He gave me a thumbs-up and jumped into the dark, churning water.

Underwater, C.H.I.P. swam down deep and found the mouth of Eelstrom's huge intake pipe. It was sucking the water in fast, so all C.H.I.P. had to do was swim into it and hang on for the ride of his life! "WA-HOO!" he cheered as he shot up the tube.

At the bottom of Lake Vortville, Dr. Eelstrom stood in front of his big, curved windows looking out at the other end of the massive pipe pumping water in from the ocean. I tuned into the Ladybug Drone camera just in time to hear him exclaim "Vortville Dam is doomed!" to his little octopus. Then he laughed his phlegmy evil laugh again.

But, just then, Dr. Eelstrom spotted C.H.I.P. swimming out of the pipe! Nearly choking on his own phlegm, the doctor watched in horror and confusion as C.H.I.P. swam right up to the other side of the glass. "WHAT?!" Eelstrom screamed. "Who are you?!"

C.H.I.P. just smiled and waved, then he swam below the windows and out of sight.

Eelstrom darted around the room, looking down at his floor, afraid of what C.H.I.P. might be doing down there. "No! Get away! Get away from here!" he cried.

Suddenly—SLAM!—a hatch blasted open from below, and C.H.I.P. leapt up from the water, landing right in front of Eelstrom. C.H.I.P. ripped off his face mask and grinned. "Don't want to be a wet blanket, Dr. Eelstrom, but it's time to turn off the tap."

C.H.I.P. then morphed into a weightlifter. This totally blew Dr. Eelstrom's mind. "Oh, no!" he screamed. "You're that hero guy everybody's talking about!" Then he got truly angry. "And you nabbed my sister! My sweet Pinkeborg, holed up in a nasty jail cell because of you!"

Grinning, C.H.I.P. grabbed this huge valve wheel, and he started turning it with all his might.

"Get your hands off that!" cried Eelstrom. He ran back to the window and saw that C.H.I.P. was shutting off the inflow of ocean water from the huge pipe! "NOOO!" Dr. Eelstrom screamed. Then he jumped onto C.H.I.P.'s back and tried to pull him away from the valve wheel.

"Gotta get this sea monkey off my back," C.H.I.P. said, easily throwing Eelstrom off.

The doctor crashed into his Vortville model, spilling water all over the floor. "OWW!" he screamed. "Why does Vortville have to have so many pointy buildings?!"

Meanwhile, I was driving the C.H.I.P.-mobile back onto land and then up the hill to Lake Vortville. Yes, you read that right, I was behind the wheel of the C.H.I.P.-mobile! Since our mini-emergency on Lake Vortville, I'd added some pedal-extenders so I could reach the gas and brakes.

I know, I still didn't technically know how to drive, but I didn't exactly have time for driving lessons. I probably did a few things wrong on my way to the lake—ran a couple red lights, drove on the wrong side of the road, knocked over a few fire hydrants—but I still managed to make it there safely. (Most people seemed more than happy to get out of the C.H.I.P.-mobile's way.)

At Lake Vortville, I drove right onto the dam to check the water level. The water was lapping right near the top, but it hadn't started going over yet. And it also didn't seem to be rising anymore—thanks to C.H.I.P.!

On the Ladybug Drone camera, I could see C.H.I.P. straining to make those last few turns that would fully close the ocean water valve.

C.H.I.P. had almost done it! He was going to save Vortville—again! And it had all been so easy. Everything was going perfectly according to plan!

Until it wasn't.