Noah Aitel

Jonny Thunder, Boy Wonder

            Once upon a time there was a boy named Jonny Thunder, who was eight years old, and the most brilliant scientist the world had ever seen.  Ever since he was born, Jonny had always loved building things, from robots that made breakfast, to rocket-powered roller skates, to an umbrella that could turn into a hot-air balloon.  Jonny was always building something new, and spent most of his free time in his little laboratory, trying to come up with machines to fix all the world’s problems.  But he was always determined to do it alone.  He would never accept anyone’s help.  One day, he was working on his latest invention, the Happifier 9000, a ray gun which would make anyone it was pointed at instantly become happy.  He wanted to use it to solve all the world’s crime and injustice by making everyone happy.  But so far, all it had managed to do was turn anything it was pointed at bright yellow for a few hours.  Jonny, currently a rather nice shade of yellow himself, had almost given up hope on getting it to work.

            “Why can’t I get this right?” he asked aloud, slumping back into a chair in the corner of his laboratory.  “I’ve tried everything!”

            Just then, Jonny’s friend, Mary, walked through Jonny’s open door.

            “What a nice shade of yellow you are, Jonny,” she said, grinning.  “It really suits you.”

            “Ha ha,” Jonny replied, rolling his eyes.  “For your information, I’ll be back to normal in a couple of hours.  This is a temporary reaction caused by –”

            “Blah blah blah,” Mary interrupted.  “So what are you working on that’s made you so bright and sunny?”  Mary walked towards his latest invention and started pushing buttons.

            “It’s my Happifier 9000, and I would appreciate it if you kept your hands off it,” Jonny snapped.  “It’s a delicate piece of machinery –”

            “C’mon,” Mary said, looking back at him. “It’s not like I can make it any worse, I might even be able to help you fix it.”

            “I doubt that very much, Mary.  It’s supposed to make whoever it’s pointed at instantly become happy.  What would you know about inventing anyway?”

            “I might know more than you think.  What if you tried putting in the things that make people happy, like flowers, or sunlight, or marshmallows?”

            “You have no idea what you’re talking about, Mary,” Jonny sighed.  “Leave the inventing to me.”

            “Fine, don’t take my help, but you’ll regret it.”

            “Not likely,” he replied.  “So why did you come here, anyway?”

            “Oh yeah, I almost forgot about that.  The mayor wanted me to tell you that Dr. Apocalypse is back, and he’s trying to take over the world again.”

            “Dr. Apocalypse!” Jonny exclaimed, leaping to his feet.  “Why didn’t you tell me right away?  I’ve gotta get out there and stop him!”

            “I’ll come too,” Mary replied.  “You’re gonna need some back-up.”

            “It’s too dangerous, Mary.  I’ll be fine by myself.  Now where did I put my Flying Feet and my Anti-Apocalypse Ray?”  Jonny answered as he searched through a pile of inventions, hurling them behind him as he looked for the ones he needed.

            “Hmph,” Mary responded.  “Fine then, take him on by yourself.  But don’t come crying to me when you need my help.”

            “Don’t worry, Mary, that’ll never happen,” he said, finally finding what he was looking for.  “I’ll be fine.”  And with that, he flew out the door.

Jonny flew through the city on his Flying Feet, leaving a trail of blue smoke behind him.  As he flew past the residents of the town, they shouted to him:

            “Go Jonny, go!” some yelled.

 “Dr. Apocalypse is that way!” cried others, pointing unnecessarily towards the center of town, where giant Apocalypse Bots were causing mayhem.

“You still owe me ten bucks, Jonny!” hollered one.

“Little busy here, Bobby!” Jonny replied, rocketing forward faster than before.

When Jonny made it to the center of the city, there was smoke and clouds of dust everywhere.  The Apocalypse Bots were trashing the streets: wrecking cars, stores, and anything else they could find.  Water was shooting into the air from broken fire hydrants, and in the center of all the destruction was Dr. Apocalypse, sitting in a floating throne and watching with glee.

“Game’s up, Apocalypse!” shouted Jonny, aiming the Anti-Apocalypse Ray.  “Bet you forgot I made a gun just to deal with you!”

“Oh no!” Dr. Apocalypse replied.  “Jonny Thunder!  What ever can I do?”

“You can say hello to the police chief for me!  Have fun in jail, Doctor!”  Jonny fired the Anti Apocalypse Ray and....

Nothing.

“You didn’t think I’d be foolish enough to fall for that same trick twice, did you, Jonny Thunder, Boy Wonder?  Or should I say, Boy Blunder!  Ahahahahahahaha!  Now have a taste of this!”  With that Dr. Apocalypse pulled out his own ray gun and fired it at Jonny.

Suddenly, Jonny felt like he couldn’t move, and started to plummet towards the ground, his descent only slowed just enough by his Flying Feet.  He crashed to the ground and fell over, unable to move a muscle.

When Jonny woke up, he was in an all metal room, shackled to a steel chair.  In front of him was Dr. Apocalypse, grinning unbearably.

“Not so smart now, are you Mr. Thunder.  Take away your gadgets and you’re nothing but a scared little boy.  No one can save you now.”

“You’ll never get away with this Apocalypse!”

“On the contrary, I believe I will, Mr. Thunder.  With you out of the picture, no one can stop me from taking over the world!”

“Wanna bet?!” cried a voice from across the room.  It was Mary, grinning wildly, Happifier 9000 in her hands.  “It’s time you learned to cheer up and be nice for once, Dr. Apocalypse!”  Mary aimed the Happifier directly at Dr. Apocalypse and pulled the trigger.

Dr. Apocalypse started to glow, an aura of light spreading out from him and making the whole room bright for a few seconds before it dimmed down.  When Jonny looked at Dr. Apocalypse’s face, he saw that he was smiling.  Not a ferocious grin like before, but a genuine smile.

“Are you alright, Doctor?” asked Jonny.

“Never better,” he replied, his voice pleasant, his smile broader than before.  “You know, I’ve been thinking, and I realized I’ve really got no reason to want to take over the world.  I think I’d rather just change it by putting my scientific skills into helping others.  I think I could do a whole lot of good if I put my mind to it.”  Then Dr. Apocalypse pressed a button releasing Jonny, and then another turning off his killer robots.

“Thanks, Dr. Apocalypse,” Jonny said, standing up.

“Call me Jerry,” he replied, before smiling and walking away.

“So how did you manage to get the Happifier to work?” Jonny asked, turning to Mary.

“I just stuffed some flowers and marshmallows in and left it out in the sunlight.  I told you that’s what it needed,” she replied.

“But that’s not science!  It shouldn’t work!” Jonny exclaimed.

“Maybe it shouldn’t, but it does.  Looks like you don’t know as much about science as you say you do, Jonny.  You need to let other people try to help you, even when you think they can’t.”

“I guess you’re right, Mary.  But I still don’t understand why it works.”

“Who cares?  It saved your life, and that’s what matters.”

“You’re right.  Thanks for saving me, Mary.”

“You’re welcome.  But next time just ask for my help in the first place.”

“Don’t worry.  I’ll accept any help you’re willing to give from now on.”

From that day on, Jerry Apocalypse was a peaceful scientist, often helping Jonny in his work.  Jonny lived happily ever after, and whenever Mary offered him help, he gladly accepted.