question. You planning to cook me, or what? Donât eat me, pal.â
Mike looked all around the room. It was empty. âWait, who said that?â
But at that momentâ Ahhhhh! âa horrible, bloodcurdling scream pierced the bathroom!
It was coming from the science fair!
It was coming from Liz!
2
Sound Can Change the World
M ike raced back to the science fair, clutching his damp potato. When he burst into the gym, he saw a huge metal machine smashing through the tables after Liz!
On the front of the machine was a big hand attached to a long metal arm. A powerful spring was coiled under the arm.
âHelp!â Liz cried, as she fell against the bleachers. She kicked at the giant hand coming down at her. It moved closer and closer.
Mike dived. With one quick move he pushed Liz out of the way just as the metal hand lunged.
Errrrk! The machine stopped.
Flonk! A small slit opened on the top of the machine and two faces appeared.
Mike looked up at the faces. âSean? Holly?â
The faces smiled. âCool project, huh?â shouted Holly Vickers. âItâs a catapult!â
âThanks a lot, friends!â Liz snarled. She got up and dusted herself off.
Mr. Bell strode through the tables as Holly and her brother Sean popped out the top of the catapult and jumped down to the floor. âAh, the glories of invention!â the principal boomed.
âAnd all from spare parts,â said Holly.
âIt can hurl objects hundreds of feet in the air,â added Sean. He looked at Mike, who was still on the floor. âLetâs try it with the potato that Mikeâs got.â Sean reached for Potadio.
âNo!â Mike cried. âThatâs my project!â
Sean raised his eyebrows. âOh, sorry, Mike.â Then he grinned. âEnormous metal catapult versus dusty little potato. Hmm. I wonder whoâll win.â
Mike glanced down at the small lump resting in his hand. Now that it was all clean, he noticed lots of scratches and scars all over it.
The potato looked kind of sad.
âSorry, little spud,â Mike whispered. âI guess you donât stand a chance against that big thing.â
âDad thinks our project is so good,â said Sean, âheâs going to make a movie with it. Heâs going to call it Scary Evil Robot Ghost Gremlins from Another Scary Dimension!â
âBecause plain old regular gremlins just arenât scary enough,â said Holly, with a smile.
Sean and Hollyâs father was Todd Vickers, the not-so-famous movie director and owner of Humongous Horror Movie Studios. His movies were scary, but usually not very good.
Suddenly, the doors of the gym flew open and in stepped a tall man. He had fluffy blond hair, a slim suit, and shiny black shoes.
The crowd of kids and teachers grew hushed.
âWhoâs that?â whispered one kid.
âYeah, who?â whispered another.
The blond man stepped slowly to the center of the gym, holding up a microphone.
He squinted out across the crowd. He began to curl his lips into a wide grin. He raised an eyebrow slowly. Very slowly.
âStorm,â he announced. âRock Storm. Thatâs my name and hosting is my game! Iâve come all the way from WYRD Radio to host your science awards show!â Then he looked around. âHey, everybodyâhowâs my hair?â
âAhem!â Principal Bell said, walking over from the other side of the gym and bending over the microphone. âWeâre pleased to invite you to our display of junior scientific genius andââ
âSure, sure, school-head-guy,â Rock Storm broke in. âBut let me do the announcing, okay?â
Rock Storm began by stepping over to Mikeâs table. Sean, Holly, and Jeff came over and stood next to Mike and Liz.
âHey, look at this,â said Rock, smirking down at the potato. âIs it lunchtime already? Ha-ha!â
âActually, sir,â Mike