Diary of a Ninja Spy 4: Clone Army! (Diary of a Sixth Grade Ninja Spy) Read online

  Where evil goes, the ninja will follow…

  Also by William Thomas and Peter Patrick:

  Diary of a Ninja Spy

  Diary of a Ninja Spy 2

  Diary of a Ninja Spy 3

  In the Diary of a Super Spy series:

  Diary of a Super Spy

  Diary of a Super Spy 2: Attack of the Ninjas!

  Diary of a Super Spy 3: A Giant Problem!

  Diary of a Super Spy 4: Space!

  Diary of a Super Spy 5: Evil Attack!

  Diary of a Ninja Spy 4: Clone Attack!

  (Book 4)

  William Thomas

  Peter Patrick

  Copyright © 2016

  Published by Run Happy Publishing

  All rights reserved.

  No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means without the prior permission in writing of the publisher.

  This is a work of fiction. Any resemblance to any person, living or dead, is purely coincidental.

  Chapter 1

  “QUIET! Alright listen up, you little stinky, smelly, reeking youngsters.”

  I’m pretty sure our teacher doesn’t like children.

  “This homework needs to be completed by tomorrow. I don’t want any excuses from you! Not one!” continues Mrs. Nutty as she talks to the class. “I know that you are all silly little idiots, but this has to be completed!”

  Yep, I’m fairly confident now that she doesn’t like children at all.

  “I don’t want to hear any adventures about ninjas in our town or epic fighting battles taking place outside your houses,” Mrs. Nutty rambles on.

  The disturbances around the neighborhood are probably my fault, I’m still learning how to be stealthy and silent while on top secret ninja missions. Usually, I get caught up in the moment and I love to yell out cliché war cries when fighting.

  For example, a few nights ago I was battling Slime Zero, a giant slug, in a take-out restaurant and I screamed out, “Would you like fries with that?” as I a-salted the slug!

  Ha!

  I am a one-liner genius!

  But sadly, that is not the way of the Ninja Spy.

  My name is Blake Turner, and I am a Ninja Spy.

  I have had a lot of excitement in my life since becoming an official Ninja Spy, but it is soooo time consuming!

  I thought it would be like the comic books - save the day quickly, bask in the glory, then go home for a nap.

  But No!

  It is nothing like that at all.

  I train and train and train and train, then I study and study and study and study.

  And when it comes to the battles, they just go on and on and on. Not one enemy of mine has given up easily and surrendered on the spot.

  The fights go on for hours!

  And they are exhausting!

  All that is just part of my Ninja Spy life, I still have to live out my real identity as an ordinary school kid too.

  That involves gaming, attending school and homework!

  So much useless homework!

  I haven’t had a moment to myself since becoming an elite secret hero.

  I’m not complaining, I love saving the day and destroying the bad guys, but I just wish it wasn’t so demanding on my time.

  “I’m really starting to struggle with this whole balancing two lives stuff,” I say to my best friend Fred as we walk home together.

  “My grades are slipping, and if they slip any more my parents won’t let me leave the house. What am I going to do, Doodle?”

  Doodle is my new, cool way of saying dude.

  “Hmmmm,” Fred says, “You are in a bit of trouble there, aren’t you? There is only one of you.”

  “Thanks Einstein. I know there is only one of meeeeee… Boom! That’s it! Fred, you are a genius!”

  Chapter 2

  I race over to the Ninja Spy headquarters to see my comrade Agent Lightning.

  She is currently testing a new Ninja Spy gadget, the Brain Understanding Measurer, or the B.U.M, for short. It is a tool that measures the size of someone’s brain activity. The smarter the person, the higher the reading on the scale.

  Before she tests her B.U.M. on me, I interrupt and tell her of my idea.

  “Well, what do you think?” I ask, already knowing what she will say - Blake, you are a genius, or something like that.

  “Blake.”

  “Yes,” I reply as I wait for my praise.

  “Why do you keep talking to me? There are other Ninja Spy Agents you can talk to here. Stop harassing me.”

  Not the answer I was expecting. Probably just playing hard to get - I do have a crush on Agent Lightning and she knows it.

  “Oh you. Agent Lightning, stop joking around.”

  “Grrr, who’s joking?”

  “Well, what about my idea? It is pretty good, uh?” I should wait around to hear her approval but I see my mentor, Tekato, sneaking through the room. I run up to him and sell my idea again.

  “No, Blake. Just no. There are too many things that could go wrong.”

  Clearly Agent Lightning and Tekato are simply jealous of my idea.

  Even though they said it was a terrible idea, I think that they meant it was a great idea.

  But if they are not going to help me, the next thing I should do is go home and develop a prototype of my new idea.

  “Blake, it is late, you should go to bed. Have you completed your homework?” Mom asks me as I’m crouched over a ton of papers.

  My parents don’t appreciate how busy my life is. They don’t know that I’ve been saving the world outside school hours.

  “I’m doing it now,” I lie, pretending the paperwork is my homework.

  The homework can wait, in fact it may even do itself later on!

  Haha!

  I’ve been up all night scribbling plans for my project.

  I am going to build a clone!

  A copy of myself!

  This is going to be brilliant!

  Two of me will be able to get twice as much done!

  I will be able to go out and tackle all my Ninja Spy duties while my clone is stuck doing all my boring chores and school work!

  I keep drafting and redrafting my plan for hours.

  Suddenly, I notice the sun starting to rise!

  Eeekk!

  I have school soon!

  I haven’t slept or started my homework yet!

  A short time later, I am getting on the school bus.

  I am sooo tired. So very, very tired.

  I’m struggling to keep my eyes open.

  My vision is blurry and I’m quite sure that my words are mumbling out of my mouth. I must look a mess. I climb up the seats of the school bus and sit next to Fred.

  “Yawn,….meh Fred,” I say, trying to form a sentence.

  “Good morning, Blake. These late nights are taking a toll on you, aren’t they?”

  “Is it that obvious?” I reply drearily.

  “You should stop. You need to give up the Ninja Spy work. It is too much for you to handle,” Fred tries to reason with me.

  “Naaahhhh, Justice. Me uphold justice. Me do good,” I say as I start to doze off.

  With my last motion before I collapse from a lack of sleep, I thrust my clone blueprint into Fred’s hand.

  “Take a look at this. It work?” I mumble my final words as I fall into a deep sleep on the school bus.

  I wake up ten minutes later to find tears running down Fred’s face.

  �
�Fred, what happened? Are you ok? Who did this to you?” I question him.

  “It was you.”

  “Whaaa?”

  Quickly, I realize that Fred’s tears are not from pain or hurt.

  Fred was crying from laughter.

  And I think I know why.

  He is holding my blueprint plans for making a clone and bursting out laughing every time he glances at it.

  “Blake, how long did you spend on this plan?” asks Fred.

  “I was up all night,” I respond.

  “Really?”

  “Yup, that only took me one night,” I say proudly.

  Fred shows me what I have drawn. In hindsight, my plan was missing some details.

  “Blake, it is a badly drawn picture of you with a multiplication sign next to it. How did this take all night?”

  I shrug.

  I thought it was good.

  I know the plan is missing some of the finer scientific points.

  But the reason I revealed my super plan to Fred is so he can help make it.

  Fred is the smartest person I know, even smarter than some of the Ninja Spies I’ve met at the agency. If anyone can make this work, it is Fred.

  “OK, leave it with me, I’ll have a look later. My school day takes primary importance,” says Fred.

  He is such a nerd.

  “Thanks, Fred. What lesson do we have first,” I ask Fred as we jump off the school bus.

  “We have Mrs. Nutty first period.”

  I freeze. Drat. I was up all night working on my master-plan and I didn’t have time for my homework. Argh!

  “Fred,” I say calmly.

  “Yes.”

  “Sorry.”

  “Sorry, for wha...” Fred is unable to finish his sentence and falls limp, like a half zombie.

  I use a special holding move on Fred that turns him limp by squeezing a few pressure points.

  I know I should not be using this secret Ninja Spy move on an ordinary innocent person, but I have no choice. I can’t walk into Mrs. Nutty’s classroom without my homework.

  I need a clone now, then they can deal with Mrs. Nutty’s rage while I do something fun. I need Fred to start working on my clone ASAP!

  I carry Fred back to the garden shed in my backyard.

  “BLAKE!” Fred screams as he comes back to consciousness a few minutes later. “Where am I? Have you kidnapped me?!”

  “No, no. It is only kidnapping if you don’t want to be here,” I explain.

  “I don’t want to be here, Blake!”

  “Oh, then yes, this is a kidnapping.”

  “Fred, I need your help. Please? I need a clone urgently. There should be enough junk and parts in here to make a clone,” I plead with Fred.

  “Hmmmppp. No. I am not happy with you at all! I happen to like school, and I don’t appreciate being forced away to do your science project. I am going back to school.”

  “Whoa, slow down there, friend. How about if I let you use my clone as well?”

  “I can do my own homework, Blake.”

  “No, he would do something else for you. My clone could act as your bodyguard when I’m not around,” I say.

  Fred’s incredible intelligence comes at a cost. Bullies don’t like nerds. Fred is often traumatized by some of the other kids at school.

  “My clone could offer you protection!”

  “Hmmm,” Fred is deep in thought, “Ok, let’s do it. Let’s clone you!”

  Chapter 3

  After a few hours of welding, gluing and nailing, Fred has made a cloning machine!

  But it isn’t as futuristic as I had hoped.

  It resembles more of a junkyard project than a state of the art piece of equipment. It’s a collection of mirrors, wires, shovels, picks and batteries.

  “This is the best that we can do with what we have,” explains Fred. “You stand in front of the mirror as I power it up. The mirror will take a picture of you and reproduce you over there, under the sprinkler head. You will also need to wear this modified bike helmet so the machine can copy your mind.”

  “Awesome! No more homework for me!” I yell as I put on the helmet and move into position.

  As I walk across the room, I trip on a wire and it pops out of the machine.

  Eeekk!

  I look at it blankly because I have no idea where it came from or what it does. Fred didn’t see me clumsily damaging his work, so I pretend it didn’t happen.

  I don’t want to upset Fred after all his hard work.

  Also I feel a little bad, I haven’t done a single thing.

  I just watched him invent a contraption while I played with some of my old toys.

  “Blake, this hasn’t been tested. It could be dangerous,” Fred says in a concerning tone. “If any of my calculations are incorrect or a piece of the equipment doesn’t function properly, who knows what will happen.”

  “Meh, it will be fine. Stop your stressing, Mr. Stress-head.”

  Hmmm, maybe I should mention the disconnected wire…

  “Blake, stand still,” Fred commands.

  “But Fred-”

  Woooooooozzzzzzzzzzzzzzuuuuuuuuhhhppff!

  The entire shed is lit up!

  As the light slowly disappears and my vision comes back, I notice my image in the mirror is gone! I turn around to tell Fred but he is punching the air in joy.

  “What happened? Did it work?” I ask.

  “Sure did, doodle.”

  Doodle? That is my thing to say! Who? I spin around to see whose voice is mimicking me.

  It is me!

  It worked! The cloning worked! I’m staring at myself!

  Chapter 4

  “Hello, my name is Blake,” I introduce myself to myself.

  “I know who you are, you moron,” the clone snaps back.

  “Wow, you have a bit of an attitude,” chuckles Fred.

  I’m not going to stand here and take that from me. I’ve got to assert my authority.

  “I am your leader. You must do what I say. Do you understand? You work for me,” I set out the rules to my clone.

  “If I am really a clone of yours, you would know that I do not follow rules easily,” replies my clone.

  That is true. Have I just been outwitted by myself?

  “I am the original Blake, so therefore I am the boss,” I explain to the clone.

  “Na-uh. I’m the new and improved model. In fact, I’m smarter than you,” says my clone. “I wouldn’t clone myself expecting myself to follow orders from myself. Especially if I know that I can be rebellious.”

  “Blake, he has a point,” Fred agrees.

  “Don’t agree with him. Fred, you should be on my side,” I say, glaring at Fred.

  “I am. But on his side too. He is your clone. So I am still taking your side,” Fred explains.

  “Don’t confuse me!”

  “He is a little slow, isn’t he?”

  My clone just asked Fred if I’m slow! That is insulting!

  “I’m just as clever as you, you banana! You are my clone, remember?”

  “Nope, I’m a smarter version of you,” replies my clone. “The wire that you pulled out of the machine was a very important wire. That wire was in place to transfer some of your idiotic traits to me - your clone. But as you pulled it out, I am now a little smarter than you.”

  “Blake!” Fred yells as he kneels down to look at the wire. “You pulled out a wire from my machine and didn’t tell me?! Your clone is right! This wire was to transfer your stupidity… and your goodness. So that means your clone is smart and… evil!”

  I feel as if this is going to work against me.

  “He is now the more superior Blake!” barks Fred.

  “Don’t be mad, Fred,” says my clone. “As a more intelligent Blake I will treat you better as a friend. For example, I won’t kidnap you in order to get out of homework. See, I’m not that evil. There is no need to be worried.”

  I think he is lying.

  “Oh, I do lik
e the sound of that,” says Fred. “Maybe I’ve improved you.”

  “No! Stop! Don’t trust him – he is evil! He is here just to do my boring stuff while I go and do cool Ninja Spy stuff,” I raise my voice. “We can’t trust the clone. He might want to take over the world!”

  “Don’t be angry, Blake. I have plenty of time to take over the world. I’ll do the cool stuff for now and you focus on getting your school work done. I can tell you, you really will benefit from more school time. There is no point of me going, I know all that stuff already,” says my clone.

  I can’t believe this! My imposter is going to lead the life I want!

  “Well, guess what, Clone!? I’m still not going to go to school, so you have to,” I try calling his bluff.

  “That is fine, Blake,” replies my clone, “I’m not the one who will get in trouble - you will. I am just the clone of you, remember?”

  Wait a minute, did I just get outwitted again?

  I look to Fred for confirmation.

  He is smiling and nodding. Drat.

  “One more thing, Blake,” says my identical being who appears to be wittier than me, “Call me Blake.”

  “ARGH! No! You are a clone! I am Blake!”

  Chapter 5

  Finally, it is the weekend and I have a chance to catch up on some of my Ninja Spy chores.

  I walk in the Ninja Spy H.Q. and everyone is staring at me. I’m quite sure I haven’t done anything wrong. A few of the agents are smiling and nodding to me.

  Hmmmm, weird.

  I open up the door to the unsolved cases room and I realize why the agents are staring at me.

  They think I’ve already walked in - standing in front of me is my clone with a big, stupid grin.

  Man, I am annoying me.