Tiny-Tricera Troubles

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  For Kathleen, my costume maker, my creative mentor, my hero. But most of all, my mom.

  CHAPTER 1

  THE 48TH ANNUAL GREAT TOMATO FESTIVAL

  “What if you don’t like tomatoes? I mean, it’s not like this is the great cotton candy festival. Everyone likes cotton candy. I bet half the people on the planet don’t even like tomatoes,” Lin said as we made our way through the crowd.

  “Everyone in this town likes tomatoes,” I said.

  “That’s not true. That can’t possibly be true because I don’t like tomatoes,” Lin said as she took a flyer from a guy wearing a red jacket. “Thanks,” she said with a smile. I noticed her teeth were kind of pinkish.

  “Maybe not fresh, raw tomatoes, but even you like tomato candy,” I said.

  “I’d eat dog food candy if there were such a thing.” Lin stopped in the middle of the crowd. “Wait. I just had an idea. We should make candy for dogs. We’d be RICH!”

  I was thinking that Lin might be onto something, when I heard the blip sound in my ear that told me someone had just turned on their SpyZoom Invisible Communicator. I could tell by the expression on Lin’s face that hers had just blipped, too.

  “Hey, Vicky. Is that you?” I asked. To the people standing around us it looked like I was talking to myself, but I didn’t care. I knew better.

  “Yeah. Where are you guys?” Vicky chirped in our ears.

  “We’re by the tomato juice dunking booth,” Lin said. “And look at that. They are looking for volunteers.”

  “Ha ha. Very funny, Lin. You’re not going to talk me into that today. I’m the Grand Marshal for the Tomato Parade. I got my hair done, I’m wearing a brand-new outfit, and I’m going to be on stage in, like, three minutes. Which brings me to my first question. Where are you guys and why aren’t you HERE WITH ME?” Vicky said without taking a breath.

  “We’re on our way. It’s just really busy out here. We’ll be there soon,” I said.

  “Do you have your tickets?” Vicky asked.

  “Yup. Your mom’s assistant dropped them off at my house this morning. Thanks, Vicky,” Lin said, then rolled her eyes. The Invisible Communicators are pretty awesome, but they aren’t sensitive enough to pick up eye rolls.

  “See you soon, Vicky. Have fun today,” I said, then tapped my earbud, turning off the communicator. “Come on. We gotta run.”

  Lin and I darted through the crowd outside the big stadium in the center of town. The famous Ramp-O-Saurus, the largest skateboard jump in the world, towered above everything, casting its long-necked shadow down on the festival. The line at the stadium was pretty big, but we had special guest tickets, so we got right in. A nice man wearing a tomato hat, a Ruby Girls concert T-shirt, and thick-rimmed glasses took us to our seats, then gave us each a towel covered in red, purple, and pink sequins.

  “What are these for?” Lin shouted at the usher.

  “You’re in the splash zone. The Grand Marshal is going to smash the opening ceremony tomato. You’ll be glad you had the towel, believe me,” he yelled back with a smile. “Enjoy the concert.”

  Music pumped through speakers as big as a semitruck, and the crowd was singing along, dancing, and shouting so loud I could barely hear myself think. I leaned over to Lin, holding the sparkling towel in my hands. “This isn’t going to dry anything. It’s covered in glitter,” I shouted.

  “I guess you can use it like a shield.” Lin was holding the tiny towel in front of her face. “Or you could stuff it in your ears so you don’t have to hear the concert.”

  “I think you’d need more than a towel to do that. Maybe some tomato-flavored bubble gum,” I yelled.

  “Why are we here anyway? I can’t stand the Ruby Girls,” Lin screamed.

  “We’re not here for the music,” I shouted as hundreds of brightly colored laser lights began to flicker on the stage. The crowd went wild, shouting and jumping up and down so loud that the stadium began to rock. I’d be lying if I said it wasn’t exciting. Okay, I’m not what you’d call a Ruby Girls groupie, but I’ve heard their music and it’s hard not to want to dance along when there is so much energy bouncing around at a live concert. A booming voice rumbled through the massive speakers. “Ladies and gentlemen. Tomato lovers around the world. Welcome to the Forty-eighth Annual Great Tomato Festival.”

  The mob of tomato fans went bonkers, and the voice continued. “As you know, one lucky person is elected as the Grand Marshal of the Tomato Parade, but that isn’t the end of their duties. That lucky person also gets to kick off the concert by smashing the ceremonial first tomato!”

  More cheering and roaring by the thousands of excited people surrounding me. Lin and I had been let in on the secret, but the rest of them had no idea who this year’s Grand Marshal was, and they were cheering for the announcement. The crowd only grew louder as a platform, covered in tiny, shining mirrors that bounced rainbow-colored reflections all around, lowered from the ceiling. Our newest adventure partner was facing away from the crowd, holding a huge mallet over her shoulder.

  “Time to meet our Grand Marshal. Join us in welcoming Victoria Van-Varbles,” the announcer said, and everyone went nutso. I looked over at Lin and even she was yelling and shouting for Vicky.

  T wo ushers wearing the tomato hats came on stage. One was carrying a sturdy-looking stool, and the other was packing the biggest tomato I had ever seen in my life. Vicky turned around on the platform and her new, replacement limited-edition Ruby Girls tour jacket sparkled almost as much as her wide smile. She held the hammer over her head and the crowd lost their minds.

  “Hey there, tomato fans! It’s me, Victoria! Are you ready to get this party started?” Vicky said, and her voice echoed off the back wall of the stadium. The people erupted, and Vicky did a little dance with the hammer.

  “Are you ready for the best band on planet Earth? RUBY GIRLS!” Vicky said, and I thought the stadium was going to split in two it was so loud.

  “Well, before they can come out, there’s something I need to do,” Vicky said. She put the head of the huge hammer on the ground and leaned against the handle. She scratched her head and pretended to be thinking really hard, but the crowd knew.

  “SMASH IT! SMASH IT! SMASH IT!” they chanted, and I couldn’t help it. I chanted along with them.

  “Oh. That’s right. I need to smash this little, tiny tomato with my itsy-bitsy hammer,” Vicky said. She swung it around as she approached the tomato, which was waiting to be pummeled on the sturdy stool in the center of the stage. Lin and I were sitting so close I could honestly smell the tomato, and as Vicky pulled the hammer behind her head, I noticed the first three rows lift their sequined towels over their faces. But I didn’t. I wanted to watch it sploosh. I’d had worse things than tomato guts on me before. Much worse.

  Vicky brought the hammer down with a THUD! It was a direct hit! Tomato seeds, juice, and pulpy-fleshy red chunks flew through
the air.

  It was pure pandemonium. All the rainbow-colored lights turned red and the music thumped faster and faster. Everyone around me was jumping and dancing as the chant changed to “Vicky! Vicky! Vicky!”

  I was joining in the fun when I felt something buzz in my pocket. I pulled out my phone and saw that I was getting a video call from Professor Penrod. I showed it to Lin. She held up a finger to tell Professor Penrod to wait one second, and started pulling me out of my seat.

  Vicky announced the Ruby Girls, then ran off stage as Lin and I made our way out of the wild, out-of-control crowd. The hallway surrounding the stadium was still loud and I could feel the beat rumbling beneath my feet, but at least I could hear myself think.

  I held the phone up to get another look at Penrod and saw that he and Carlyle were obviously inside the Microterium. I could tell because Bruno was scratching his collar with his back foot in the background.

  “Hey, Professor. Hello, Dr. Carlyle. How are you two?” I asked as Lin peeked over my shoulder and waved.

  “Oh, hello you two. Are you safe? It looked like you were inside a volcano,” Penrod said with a concerned look on his dirty face.

  I nodded, and Lin answered, “You saved us from something worse. We were about to be stuck inside a Ruby Girls concert.”

  “Oh. By all means go back, then. Have fun. What I need can wait,” Professor Penrod said.

  “Are you sure, Penny?” Dr. Carlyle asked.

  “Yeah. Are you sure, Penny? Because we’re just waiting for an excuse to leave this place,” Lin said.

  “Well, we are in a bit of a bind here in the Microterium,” the professor said.

  “Not the first time I’ve heard that sentence,” I said, but even as I said it I was looking forward to helping out. It had been a long, VERY long week since we’d been back to the Microterium. Dr. Carlyle and Professor Penrod were making some big changes to try to make the place safer and healthier for the Microsaurs. Professor Penrod said what they were doing was pretty risky because he was rebuilding the shrink and expand devices from scratch, and the chance of getting stuck tiny for the rest of our lives was too much to ask of us. Lin and I did not agree, but we obeyed.

  “True. What do you need?” Lin asked, as eager as I was.

  “Well, we could use some food supplies. A little lunch would be nice. But most important, we need someone to stop by and test the new Expand-O-Shrink-O-Portal,” Professor Penrod said with a proud smile on his face.

  “It’s done?” I asked, feeling that nervous excitement I always feel when I know adventure is nearby.

  “It sure is. We were wondering if you two would like to run down with some snacks and join us for a picnic in the Microterium,” Dr. Carlyle said.

  Lin didn’t even wait to reply. She started running full tilt out of the stadium.

  “I’ll take that as a yes,” Professor Penrod said.

  “You bet. We’ll be there in fifteen minutes max. I hope you like carnival food,” I said as I waved good-bye, then chased after Lin.

  CHAPTER 2

  BACK IN THE MICROTERIUM

  On our way out of the festival we picked up some of the most popular snacks for our Microterium picnic: fried green tomato slices, cheese pizza slices with extra marinara sauce, and my favorite—bright red and super-delicious sun-dried-tomato-crusted corn dogs. Lin bought some strawberry-tomato soda; tomato brownies, which I was not so sure I wanted to try; and just before we zipped off to Penrod’s, she bought her favorite tomato lollipop and tucked it in her back pocket. By the time we made it out of the park there was nobody around. Pretty much the entire town was inside the stadium, rocking out with Vicky and the Ruby Girls.

  We hurried to Professor Penrod’s place, ran through his backyard, and let ourselves into his secret barn-lab.

  “Well, that was fast,” Professor Penrod said as he stood up from the lab stool. He was working on some complicated wiring fixed to a blue switch. I wanted to know what it was the second I saw it, but before I could ask, Dr. Carlyle spoke.

  “And whatever you brought along for lunch smells delicious,” she said. She held out her arms and gave Lin a big hug. “It’s nice to see you again, Lin.”

  “Nice to see you, too, Dr. Carlyle,” she said. “I hope you’re hungry.”

  “I’m starving,” Dr. Carlyle said. “I almost started eating the Microbites.”

  “You should. They’re pretty good,” Lin said with a grin, and Dr. Carlyle laughed.

  Professor Penrod took his blue switch over to the back wall of the Microterium. “So. You two ready for a bit of a surprise?”

  “Always,” Lin said, and I nodded along.

  Professor Penrod twisted the framed picture of his prized dog, Bruno, and the back wall of the barn-lab lowered into the floor. I looked out into the Microterium and was shocked. It looked so lush and green inside. Far more dense than it had in the past. But that wasn’t all that had changed.

  “Where’s the big metal step?” Lin asked.

  “Very observant, young Lin,” the professor said. “That was my first modification. You see, the metal step worked just fine when it was just me visiting the Microterium. But now that there are a few of us stopping by from time to time, I needed a more permanent solution.”

  “Is this the Expand-O-Shrink-O-Portal you were talking about?” I asked as I studied the new contraption.

  “Positively perceptive, Danny. It is one and the same,” Professor Penrod said.

  Instead of using the big metal step as a trigger to turn on the old Shrink-A-Fier, there was now a shiny aluminum frame, like a big doorway between the barn-lab and the Microterium. I looked around for the massive showerhead and the coils and coils of clear plastic tubing, but I couldn’t see any of it.

  “Where’s the rest of it?” I asked.

  “It’s imbedded inside the metal frame itself. This is my finest invention, Danny old boy. You see, not only will the portal shrink you down to size, but if you look carefully down below, you’ll see a matching portal about the size of a thumbtack inside the Microterium. I’ve rigged the Shrink-A-Fier and the Expand-O-Matic into one single invention. And all you need to do is flick this blue switch to turn it on and walk through the portal. Then blam-o-shrink-o, you’ll be small. Reverse the process on the other side, and zap-o-expand-o, you’ll be right back here at normal size,” he explained.

  “Excellent,” I said, totally impressed.

  “And you moved the Fruity Stars Lab 3.0,” Lin said as she crouched down to look into the Microterium. Directly below the entrance, the plastic PIBBs building waited in the lush jungle that surrounded it. Right where the old copper penny used to sit I saw a tiny square frame of aluminum.

  “Absolutely,” Dr. Carlyle said. “We needed to move it closer to the entrance. I know nobody planned on this, but walking from the step to the old location of the Fruity Stars Lab caused quite a bit of environmental damage. Big feet plus small plants, well, that’s not a good combination. This way, after you get the hang of it, you can take a step up into the barn-lab while you expand, and you’ll be right back where you started without putting a massive toe in the Microterium.”

  “That sounds awesome,” Lin said. She turned to Professor Penrod. “When do we get to try it?”

  Professor Penrod flicked the switch to turn on the Expand-O-Shrink-O-Portal. I could hear the orange shrinking liquid start to bubble in tubes hidden inside the aluminum frame. A small motor began to whir and a faint, orange-smelling mist puffed inside the frame.

  “Well, I promised you a picnic in the Microterium. Now seems like a good time,” Professor Penrod said.

  “So we just step through? That’s all?” I asked, but Lin wasn’t waiting for an answer.

  “See ya soon, baboon,” she said as she jumped through the Expand-O-Shrink-O-Portal. She seemed to disappear right before my eyes, but I knew she was ant-sized and happy inside the Microterium.

  “I guess that’s my answer,” I said.

  Professor Penro
d motioned to the framed opening. “After you, Danny.”

  “You don’t need to ask me twice,” I said as I stepped through.

  The orange mist that surrounded me felt cool against my summer-toasted skin. The familiar dizzying feeling returned, and as I began to shrink I took a step toward the Fruity Stars Lab 3.0. In a jiffy I was standing in the Microterium with Lin.

  I heard something swooshing toward us and watched as Dr. Carlyle and Professor Penrod shrank down at the same time. They joined us with wide smiles on their faces.

  “That was AMAZING!” I said. “Wow. So much easier.”

  “Yeah, but I’m going to miss the Slide-A-Riffic,” Lin said.

  “Oh, that reminds me. I’ve relocated your gondola-like contraption, and it has been so handy I was wondering if you could build us a few more,” Professor Penrod said.

  “More what? Slide-A-Riffics?” I asked.

  “Yes. I think if we had five or six more we could station them along the railway. They could be drop-off points that we could use to move quickly through the Microterium,” Professor Penrod said.

  “A railway station?” Lin asked.

  “Oh my goodness. We have so much to catch you up on. Yes. We’ve added a train to the Microterium. We have to take a ride later, but first, it’s picnic time,” Professor Penrod said.

  “You can say that again,” Lin said, so of course, Penrod did.

  Lin and I unpacked the lunch. We placed the greasy, delicious-smelling, super-tomatoey items on the dice we like to use as a table. The smell attracted a few visitors, as it always does in the Microterium, and before long Pizza and Cornelia were chasing Bruno around as they playfully waited for their own picnic.

  “Just wait until you see what Dr. Carlyle has done to Frank’s Bog. It’s now a fantastic fungi forest fit for a king,” Professor Penrod said. He flicked the switch on his new invention to make sure it was all working correctly, then joined us at the dice.