4 Yack Buster Deluxe 6XM

Yack Buster Deluxe 6xm

On the bus, Shark Hammersmash thumb-wrestled Rocky and Frank. In the boys' room, Shark Hammersmash thumb-wrestled Skunk. The Shark went down one, two, three times. At morning recess, at lunch, and on the playground, Shark Hammersmash thumb-wrestled Riley Rottenberger (still rotten), Heather Strong (who really was strong), and some first-grader named Johnson Splink (no lie). The Shark took a beating every time. In class, Mrs. D. was teaching about money. Dollars and cents. Quarters, dimes, and nickels. She passed out trays of fake paper money and plastic coins. "Pair up with your partner and help each other make correct change. I'll be in the hall hanging artwork. So I'm going to turn on the Yack Buster Deluxe." Not the Yack Buster Deluxe! The Yack Buster Deluxe 6XM was a stoplight in the corner of the room. When Class 2D kept their voices low, the light stayed green. If they started to get noisy, the light turned yellow. If they got way too noisy, the stoplight turned red. In the deluxe model, a siren even went off.

Stink Moody did NOT have a good track record with the Yack Buster Deluxe 6XM. Once he'd dropped his math book and the siren had gone off. Another time he fell off his chair and the siren went cuckoo. Woo-oo-woo! Mrs. D. turned on the machine. The green light blinked. The red light was not lit up, but it stared at Stink like a black eye waiting to happen. As soon as Mrs. D. left the room, Stink said to Sophie, "Let's thumb-wrestle." "Thumb-wrestle? I don't know how." Thunderation! The Shark had found his bait. Stink would beat the pants off Sophie in a mini smackdown. No problemo! "I'll show you," said Stink. "In the middle of math class?"

"It only takes two seconds." Two seconds to crush you, Stink thought. Stink taught Sophie how to lock hands. Stink taught Sophie the rules. Stink taught Sophie to say, "One, two, three, four, I declare a thumb war!" "I don't like war games." "It's not really war," said Stink. "It's wrestling. Think of it like a sport." "Then why did you say war?" "It rhymes with four," said Stink. "S'more rhymes with four," said Sophie. "One, two, three, four, I declare a thumb s'more!"

The S'more Showdown began. Stink thumbwrestled with all his might, but Sophie pinned him flat for three counts in no time. He was a s'more, all right. A smushed-flat marshmallow. "Go again," said Stink. Stink bit his tongue. Stink tried not to think of s'mores. Class 2D forgot all about the Yack Buster Deluxe 6XM. "Smash her down, Shark!" yelled the boys. "Watch out for the Marshmallow-izer!" said the girls. Sophie took Stink down again. "Just call me Sophie of the Thumbs." "Best out of three?" Stink asked. Nobody was doing math. Nobody was counting fake money. The room got loud. The room got louder. "Get the butter— you're toast!" yelled the boys. "Prepare to die, Shark Hammersmash!" the girls yelled back. The Yack Buster's yellow light came on, blazing bright as the sun. Nobody noticed. The Yack Buster's red light came on. Nobody stopped.

Woo-oo-woo! The Yack Buster's siren went off, louder than a smoke alarm. Louder than a fire truck. "Make it stop!" Stink yelled. "Before we get in mucho trouble!" Stink raced over to the Yack Buster. He could not find the off button.