9. Crimes and Mr. Meaner

CHAPTER 9 CRIMES AND MR. MEANER A few days later, school was back in session. The teachers taught, the students studied...

...and George and Harold went back to their mischief.

After school, George and Harold climbed up into their tree house to do their homework. The "yesterday" versions of themselves were busy playing video games and reading comics. "How was school today?" asked Yesterday George. "Meh," said George. "Didja learn anything new?" asked Yesterday Harold. "Eh," said Harold, shrugging. By all appearances, things had finally returned to normal.

But at night, Mr. Meaner tinkered away at a makeshift laboratory inside an old, abandoned factory near Franz Pond. He was developing a powerful mind-control potion that would turn even the most unruly child into a brainlessly obedient conformist. Using a base mixture of sodium thiopental, Mr. Meaner added liberal doses of butyric acid, tryptophan, and Clamato juice. Then he filtered the solution through an old, dirty pile of stinky gym socks. The concoction smelled terrible, but its sinister effect would be even worse! "My formula is now ready for human trials," said Mr. Meaner. "And I know exactly which two humans I'm going to try it out on!"