by Mark Young
Theremin nudged Newton. “We did it! We’re moving on to the next round!”
“Now it’s time for the individual round,” Ms. Mumtaz announced. “Each member of the two teams will now compete against all remaining contestants. Contestants, get ready!”
Twelve small, individual pillars rose from the floor. Drones swept in and lifted each of the remaining contestants with mechanical hands. Newton’s heart pounded as his drone carried him across the stadium to one of the small pillars. The drones deposited Odifin on the pillar to Newton’s left, and Theremin on the pillar to his right.
He looked across at the members of the Destroyers team: Mimi, Tabitha Talos, Debbie Danning, Faraday Michaels, Archimedes Jones, and Boris Bacon.
That’s a lot of kids to beat, Newton thought. But I’m glad I made it this far!
“The rules are basically the same,” Ms. Mumtaz said. “If you get a question wrong, you will be eliminated. The last student standing is the winner. But the final two competitors will get the option to call a family member if they need help with an answer.”
The audience murmured with excitement.
“Up first is Rotwang,” Mumtaz announced.
Newton heard a few snickers in the crowd. He looked over at Rotwang, whom he now thought of as a friend. Rotwang hadn’t gotten many questions right in practice.
I feel bad for him! Newton thought. When he gets eliminated first, everyone’s going to say it’s because he’s an assistant.
“You can do it, Rotwang!” Odifin called out.
“Rotwang, who was the lab assistant to the famous mad scientist Jann von Hoppenheimer?” Mumtaz asked.
Rotwang beamed. “Finster Snivers! He was my great-great-uncle!”
“Correct!” Ms. Mumtaz said. “Well done, Rotwang. All right, Shelly, here’s your question: How many horns does the three-horned flying cave creature have?”
Mimi spoke up. “I object! That is an unfair question. The answer is right in the question. It’s three horns, obviously.”
“You’re wrong, Mimi,” Shelly said calmly. “A three-horned flying cave creature has a hidden horn on the roof of its mouth. So the answer is four.”
“Correct, Shelly!” Ms. Mumtaz said. “And, Mimi, because you got the question wrong, you are eliminated.”
“Wait, that’s double unfair!” Mimi yelled. “It wasn’t my question; it was Shelly’s.”
“Judges, what say you?” Ms. Mumtaz asked.
Professor Phlegm nudged Professor Wagg awake. Then the three judges huddled, and Professor Leviathan stood up.
“The rules are simple. You are eliminated if you get a question wrong,” she said in her booming voice. “The rules don’t say which question. So, Mimi, you are eliminated!”
“Noooooooooo!” Mimi wailed as her pillar descended into the floor.
The rests of the contestants breathed a sigh of relief, grateful not to be the first eliminated. But more questions and eliminations quickly followed. Higgy got a question wrong about the invention of solar-powered eyebrows. Tabitha missed the next one. Odifin and Theremin each got their first question right, and then it was Newton’s turn.
“Newton, which mineral, when used as a powder, can cure dimension sickness?” Ms. Mumtaz asked.
The answer popped into Newton’s head. “Stablesium!” he said.
“Correct!” Ms. Mumtaz said, and the crowd cheered.
The questions came faster. Rotwang missed a question and was eliminated, and then nobody got a question wrong for two rounds in a row. But the third round wiped out Archimedes and Faraday. Then Shelly missed a physics question, and Newton’s heart fell as he watched her descend through the stage below.
“Go get them, Goo Getters!” she called out with a smile.
And then there were four: Debbie, Theremin, Odifin, and Newton.
“Theremin, who can eat more hot dogs in five minutes? An average third grader or a carnivorous carnation?” Mumtaz asked.
“Um, the third grader?” Theremin guessed.
“Incorrect!” Ms. Mumtaz said. “A carnivorous carnation can eat forty-seven hot dogs in five minutes, but experiments with third graders showed an average of only thirteen.”
Theremin’s eyes glowed red. “What kind of a dumb question is—”
Whoosh! His pillar sank down into the floor.
“Debbie, name two ingredients in Professor Draconus Node’s classic formula for improving memory,” Ms. Mumtaz said.
Debbie bit her lip, concentrating. Newton could see beads of sweat forming on her forehead.
“Magnesium and… barium?” she said tentatively.
“The correct answer is magnesium and grape jelly,” Ms. Mumtaz said, and Debbie disappeared. “That leaves us with our two finalists: Newton Warp and Odifin Pinkwad!”
The stadium filled with applause.
I can’t believe it, Newton thought. The cheers coming from the crowd made him feel warm inside in a way he’d never felt before. I’m… I’m good at this!
“All right, Newton. This question is for you,” Ms. Mumtaz said. “Name the five changing states of theoretical matter.”
Newton searched his brain. He remembered reading about this, but he wasn’t sure if he could name all five. “Instigation,” he said slowly. “Disintegration. Destruction. Combustion. And…”
He stopped. Gasp! He couldn’t think of the fifth state.
“Newton, remember that you have the option to call a family member for help,” Ms. Mumtaz said, and her face fell as she said it. She knew as well as Newton that he had no one to call.
“No, that’s okay,” Newton said, trying not to let on how sad that had made him. He took a wild guess. “Computation?”
“Incorrect. The correct answer is mutation,” she said.
Newton prepared himself for the plunge down through the stage.
“But you’re not going anywhere yet,” Mumtaz added. “If Odifin gets his question wrong, you’ll still have a chance to win.”
Newton nodded.
“Are you ready, Odifin?” Ms. Mumtaz asked.
“Ready,” he said.
“Here’s your question,” she said. “Who was the first mad scientist to create a thunderstorm generator?”
CHAPTER 13 A Ludicrous Question
Odifin’s eyestalks swung around to look at Newton, who was grinning at him happily. Odifin wished he could smile back at Newton.
“It’s rather a ludicrous question,” Odifin said, and Newton started laughing at their shared joke. “I’d like to call my mom, please.”
“Certainly,” said Ms. Mumtaz, and the sound of numbers being dialed echoed through the stadium.
“Hello?”
“Hi, Mom. It’s me.”
“You’re doing so great, Odifin!” his mom said. “I’m so proud of you. And you look so handsome on television.”
“Thirty seconds, Odifin,” Ms. Mumtaz warned. “Ask her the question.”
“Mom, I just want to say I’m sorry I lied to you,” Odifin began.
“Apology accepted, Odie,” Ms. Pinkwad replied. “I know you were under a lot of stress.”
“And I don’t want you to worry about me,” Odifin said. “I’m glad you sent me to Franken-Sci High.”
“You’re sure you’re not lonely?” his mom asked.
“No, Mom,” Odifin said. He looked over at Newton. “I’ve got friends now. Real friends.”
“I’m glad to hear that—” Ms. Pinkwad said, but she was interrupted by Ms. Mumtaz saying “Ahem.”
“Time’s up, Odifin!” Ms. Mumtaz said. “And while that was a very interesting phone call, I need your answer. Who was the first mad scientist to create a thunderstorm generator?”
“Ludwig Kilowatt,” Odifin said.
“That answer is… CORRECT!” Ms. Mumtaz said. “Congratulations, Odifin Pinkwad! You are the winner of the Brilliant Brains Trivia Competition!”
Boom! Boom! BOOM! The sky filled with fireworks, and more sparkling confetti fell from the dron
es flying above.
A camera drone zoomed in on Odifin’s jar.
“Odifin, is there anything you’d like to say?” Ms. Mumtaz asked.
“Yes,” he said. “Goo Getters, meet me in my room. It’s time to party!”
CHAPTER 14 DNA in a Snap!
“Odifin! Odifin!” Newton cheered. He didn’t mind losing, not one bit. It was great to see Odifin so happy.
A drone flew in and lifted Newton again. It gently deposited him onto Ms. Mumtaz’s platform, right next to her.
“Well done, Newton,” Ms. Mumtaz said. “I know you studied hard for today.”
“I did,” Newton said.
She handed him a box. “Here. This is the prize for the runner-up.”
Newton looked at the box in his hands. It was the DNA-in-a-Snap kit from Crowninshield Industries.
“Um, thanks,” he said.
“You never know when a DNA kit might come in handy,” she said. And Newton wasn’t sure, but he thought she winked at him. Or was it just a blink?
Then he remembered. His friends had said he could use a DNA test to figure out if Odifin was really his brother or not.
“Thanks,” he said again, but his excitement quickly fizzled, because he remembered that Odifin didn’t want to know if they were brothers.
Still, he tucked the box under his arm and made his way through the crowds of students back to the dorm. It took him a while because, as he walked, kids kept congratulating him.
“You were great up there, Newton!”
“Nice job, Newton!”
“Way to go, Newton!”
In the boys’ dorm he found Shelly, Theremin, Rotwang, and Higgy crowded together inside Odifin and Rotwang’s room. The 753 volumes of the encyclopedia set had already been transported there, and there wasn’t much room to stand.
Shelly hugged him. “I’m so proud of you, Newton!”
“Thanks,” he said. “But I’m really happy for Odifin. He brought it home for the Goo Getters!”
Odifin wheeled into the room. “Sorry I’m late,” he said. “I had to speak to some reporters. Wow, look at these encyclopedias!”
“Yes, what a great prize,” Higgy said a little sadly.
“Higgy, you can come over and read or borrow them anytime you want,” Odifin promised.
“I won something too,” Newton said, and he held out the DNA kit.
“Hey, that’s perfect!” Theremin said. “You can use it on you and Odifin.”
“I would,” Newton began, “but Odifin doesn’t want—”
“Bring on the test!” Odifin said.
“Really?” Newton asked.
“Absolutely,” Odifin said. “I realized tonight, when you didn’t have any relatives to call, how hard it must be for you not to have any family at all. At least I have my mom. If we turn out to be brothers, at least you’ll have me. And my mom can be your family too.”
Newton beamed at him. “Thank you, Odifin!” he said, and then he thought nervously, What if the test shows we aren’t brothers? The thought was too upsetting, so he pushed it out of his head.
Theremin opened the box and pulled out a pair of goggles made of clear plastic.
“So, when you wear these goggles, they’ll take a picture of the DNA strands floating in the cells of your and Odifin’s eyes. The pictures are uploaded to a phone or computer. Then you use the Crowninshield app to instantly compare them.”
“I’ll download the app for you, Newton,” Shelly offered. “Give me your tablet.”
Newton handed it over while Theremin adjusted the strap on the goggles. Then Newton placed the goggles over his eyes, and the room brightened with a bright flash.
“Okay. The picture is uploading,” Shelly said.
“Me next!” Odifin said.
Newton handed the goggles to Rotwang, who held them up to Odifin’s eyes. A second flash filled the room with light.
“Okay. The app is processing the data,” Shelly reported.
The room got quiet as they waited for the results.
“You know it won’t matter what the results are,” Odifin said as he rolled closer to Newton. “You can still be my brother if you want.”
“Hey, Odifin, you’re already my almost-brother,” Theremin put in.
“And mine,” Higgy said.
“And mine,” Shelly added.
“I’ll be your brother too, if you want me,” Rotwang offered as he too moved closer to Newton.
“Thanks, everybody,” Newton said. “It means a lot to me. I may never find my family, but—” His tablet pinged. Shelly looked at the screen, and her eyes got wide.
“Well?” Newton asked.
“What are the results?” Odifin said.
“It says here that you’re more closely related than first cousins, but less close than brothers,” Shelly responded.
Newton frowned. “What’s between a first cousin and a brother?”
“I’m not sure,” Shelly admitted. “But I think it’s good news. You two are definitely related!”
Newton looked at Odifin. “Definitely?” he asked.
Shelly put her arms around Newton and Odifin’s jar. “Double definitely,” Shelly said. “But if I were you, I’d show this to Professor Flubitus. He can’t ignore a DNA test.”
“Right,” Newton said as he took the tablet from her. “Do you want to come with me, Odifin?”
“Sure, almost-bro,” Odifin joked. “The rest of you can stay here and have fun.”
“Great!” Higgy shouted. “I’m going to dive into the encyclopedia volume twenty-seven. It’s all about bizarre diseases!”
Newton and Odifin went back to the main school building.
“So we’re related,” Newton sighed.
“Apparently we are,” Odifin replied.
There was an awkward silence, but Newton was smiling.
“You know, maybe this means you can come home with me for the holidays,” Odifin said. “Mom makes a great pumpkin pie. I mean, I’ve never eaten it, but it looks amazing.”
“That would be really nice,” Newton said, and that warm, fuzzy feeling filled his heart again.
They found Professor Flubitus in his office, watching cartoons on his laptop. He slammed it shut when the boys entered.
“Newton. Odifin. What brings you here… together?” he asked, a little bit nervously.
Newton held out the tablet. “We did a DNA test,” he said. “So we know we’re related.”
Flubitus looked at the tablet and ran his fingers through his green hair. “Very impressive,” he said. “You’ve figured it out.”
“Figured out what, exactly?” Newton pressed.
“You boys are brothers,” Flubitus said. “Half brothers, technically.”
Newton stepped forward. “So, tell us more.”
“I’m afraid I can’t,” Flubitus said.
“Newton, it’s okay,” Odifin said. “I mean, we’ve got the DNA test to prove it. And now Flubitus confirms it. We’re brothers! I’ve always wanted a brother.”
Odifin was right. Now that Flubitus had confirmed it, Newton felt like he could really celebrate. “I wanted to find my family. And here you are.”
Flubitus stood up. “Lovely. Now run along, boys! And no more questions!”
Newton and Odifin moved to the hallway, and Odifin stopped.
“Newton, are you—are you glad it’s me?” Odifin asked.
“Sure,” Newton replied. “Why wouldn’t I be?”
“Well, until recently we weren’t even friends,” Odifin said. “I’m still not sure why you and your friends asked me to join your study group. After all that happened between us.”
“Well, like you, I know what it’s like to lose control sometimes,” Newton admitted. “We just wanted to help you. And it turned out to be awesome.”
“Yes, it did,” Odifin said. “What do you mean, though, about losing control?”
“It’s a long story,” Newton said as they headed back to Odifin’s room. “I gue
ss we have a lot to learn from each other.”
“Yes,” Odifin said. “For example, do you sleep with a night-light on? Because I always have.”
“No,” Newton answered. “But I see pretty well in the dark.”
“What’s your favorite color?” Odifin asked.
“Um, green,” Newton responded.
“ME TOO!” Odifin said. “I’m sure we’ll have a bazillion things to ask each other. Like, I wonder which one of us is older. Not that it matters, but I’ve always wanted a little brother…”
Newton looked at Odifin as he chatted away. Newton was excited to feel hope rising inside him. Things are changing, he realized. Odifin used to be mean, and now look at him! And look at me. I used to not have any family, and now I have a half brother.
Yes, it was strange that Newton’s half brother was a brain in a jar. Sure, there were a lot more questions he wanted answered. But he felt like everything was going to be all right.
“Last one to the dorm is a Tuscan stink beetle!” Odifin cried when they got outside. He revved up his motor and zipped ahead through the jungle.
“Hey, wait up!” Newton yelled, and he raced after his strange half brother as the moon rose over the island. Whatever happened next, Newton was excited to have family to share it with.
More from this Series
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Book 5
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Monsters Among Us!
Book 2
The Robot Who Knew Too…
Book 3
Keep reading for a preview of
The Creature in Room #YTH-125
by
Mark Young
“Attention, students! Today our lunch staff accidentally used the recipe for interdimensional meatloaf instead of international meatloaf. If your meatloaf has disappeared from your plate unexpectedly, you may choose another lunch special.”
The loud chatter in the Franken-Sci High cafeteria died down during the announcement, and rose again to a dull roar when it had finished.