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

Chapter 24: "Too Many C.H.I.P.s"

Then I remembered, Chip and I had left our bikes at the Lake Vortville beach after Pinkie first attacked!

So I ran down to the beach, jumped on my bike and started speeding down the hill into town. I would have to stop evil C.H.I.P. and then stop the crumbling dam.

I had to zoom around lots of dangerous turns trying to catch up with C.H.I.P. at the wheel of the C.H.I.P.-mobile. Finally, I saw him straight ahead, and I was gaining on him!

I racked my brain for what I could change C.H.I.P. into next that couldn't possibly be used for evil. Maybe I could make him a conservationist. Conservationists want to save the world, not destroy it. But I wanted to be sure this time, so, panting with exhaustion, I radioed Stella and asked her.

Rolling her eyes, Stella said, "Isn't it obvious? As a conservationist, he'll probably want to save the world by destroying man-made things like buildings and cars!"

That's Stella, always thinking negative. But she was probably right. So I said, "I'll make him a fireman! Firemen put out fires and save people's lives!"

Stella shot back, "Evil C.H.I.P. the fireman would probably start fires, not put them out!"

She had me again. I had to think of the quietest, least destructive job in the world. "How about a librarian? What could evil C.H.I.P. possibly do as a librarian to destroy Vortville?"

"He'll attack everybody with one of those wooden newspaper holder things, duh!"

Okay, I forgot about those wooden newspaper holder things. It can seriously hurt if you get smacked in the head by one!

It was hopeless. I had to think of another way to de-evilize C.H.I.P.!

Finally, C.H.I.P. had to take a sharp turn, and I was almost able to catch up with the C.H.I.P.-mobile.

I wondered where he was going. He was still an evil scientist, so I asked myself, if an evil scientist wanted to destroy Vortville, where would he go and what would he do? Then I looked up ahead and realized he was headed for the Vortville Water Treatment Plant. Why? It must be to shut it down! That way, when the dam bursts, the water would have nowhere to go but straight through the city!

Then I had a flash: The way to get C.H.I.P. to do something good and not evil would be to have him become something that normal Chip wanted to be—like a champion pogo stick jumper. So I changed him into one while he was still driving!

The C.H.I.P.-mobile skidded to a stop, and I almost slammed into it on my bike.

As a champion pogo stick jumper, C.H.I.P. was skinny now and dressed in tights. He immediately jumped out of the C.H.I.P.-mobile and bounded around on a pogo stick! He was laughing like a goofball, but it was a happy laugh and not an evil one.

Or was it evil after all? I wasn't sure . . . until I heard him saying "Must . . . destroy . . . Vortville!" in the middle of his laughter.

Okay, so pogo stick jumping wasn't a good choice. But then, I figured, so what if C.H.I.P. is still evil. How could he destroy a city with just a pogo stick?

Well, evil C.H.I.P. figured out how. He spotted some construction men tearing up the sidewalk, preparing to put in a new one. And when C.H.I.P. saw a jackhammer the men were using, he flipped out.

C.H.I.P. snatched the jackhammer and used it like a pogo stick! The power of the jackhammer shot C.H.I.P. way up high into the air, and each time he came down, he tore up another part of the street.

C.H.I.P. was destroying downtown Vortville!

I had to think of something else Chip wanted to be, and fast. How about a rock and roll drummer? How could he use that for evil? I mean, I know they look evil sometimes, but in the end, they're just making music, right?

Luckily, C.H.I.P. had abandoned the C.H.I.P.-mobile, so I jumped into the driver's seat and took off after him while he was still on his jackhammer pogo stick. Then I immediately changed him into a rock and roll drummer.

C.H.I.P. instantly lost the ability to jump on a pogo stick, but the jackhammer shot him so high, he landed right on top of City Hall.

He was now a rock and roll drummer, and he wanted to bang some drums. So he took two drumsticks out and starting drumming away on the City Hall dome.

Relieved, I laughed as I watched him from down below. Even if C.H.I.P. was still evil, how much damage could he do with two little drumsticks?

But evil C.H.I.P. had thought of that too. He threw down his drumsticks and picked up two big pieces of scrap wood he found on the angled roof. They were as big as baseball bats, and he started to bang his huge new drumsticks on the City Hall dome!

C.H.I.P. did the evil drum solo of all time, and since the dome was made of copper, the crashing noise inside was deafening. People ran outside, holding their ears, terrified of the thunderous racket.

And then C.H.I.P. drummed even harder, so hard that the building began to shake. He was going to bring the whole building down!

Believe it or not, then things got even worse. People started pointing up to C.H.I.P. on the roof and yelling, "It's the hero guy! The hero guy's turned bad!"

"He's trying to destroy Vortville!"

A crowd formed, with everybody screaming up at C.H.I.P. It was my worst nightmare come true. With C.H.I.P., I hadn't created the greatest weapon against wacky bad guys ever, I'd created a monster!

But I had one last chance to keep C.H.I.P. from destroying the city. I remembered that Chip had once turned himself into a master baker so that he could eat all the wonderful things he baked. I figured, there's no way baking could be used for evil. (I know, at this point I should have figured that everything could be used for evil in some way, but I was scrambling here!)

Hoping against hope, I used my phone app to change C.H.I.P. once again.

Still on the roof of City Hall, C.H.I.P. morphed into a master baker, complete with a baker's white smock and tall white hat.

"What am I doing up here?" he cried. "I need a kitchen!" So he jumped down from the City Hall building, landing in some bushes. Then he raised his nose to the wind and sniffed. "I smell food. Horrible food. I must correct this catastrophe!"

C.H.I.P. was good once again! (At least I hoped he was. Really, really hoped.) He took off running, and I followed him in the C.H.I.P.-mobile.

And we didn't have to go far because we ended up . . . at our school!