When Rivals Came to Roost/Transcript

In the classroom, Brain stands in front of a screen, about to give a presentation.

Brain: Lights, please.    

The lights go out and the first slide shows pictures of Mighty Mountain and Lakewood.      

Brain: The rivalry between Mighty Mountain and Lakewood Elementary stretches back decades. Ever since Biff Biffington beat us in the hoop championship, our drive to defeat them has only intensified: Sports. Spelling bees. Quilting bees. Competitive bee keeping. Whatever the activity, our schools have duked it out for glory.

Slides show Biff Biffington, sports pennants from the sixties, a 1976 spelling bee, a quilting tournament, and a Mighty Mountain beekeeper.

Brain: But the most highly charged contest of them all has been... the Elwood City science fair. The trophy has switched hands dozens of times. But this year? Our arch enemy won't prevail! They may have the best quilts and honey, but science fair glory will be ours!

Slides show various winners: a marble run (MM), a chemistry experiment (LW), a butterfly project (MM) and finally an animated Lakewood flag.

~~~

Title Card: Brain, Los Dedos and Danny pick up worms

~~~

In the classroom, Muffy looks at a science project labelled “Worm Digging” that includes some worms in a glass case. Brain, Ladonna and Buster stand around her while the rest of the class is in their seats.

Muffy: I wish our science fair project wasn't so... (shudders) ...wormy.

Brain: Muffy, worms play an important role in keeping soil healthy.

Buster: Yeah! And they're funny. Ha! Especially Mr. Wiggles.

Muffy: He doesn't seem funny to me.

Buster: I guess not everybody gets worm humor.

Mr. Ratburn comes in.

Mr. Ratburn: Class, may I have your attention, please. A burst pipe flooded the third grade classroom at Mighty Mountain this weekend, so they'll be here until the damage is repaired.

Ladonna: Will their classroom be nearby?

Mr. Ratburn: Oh, by “here”, I meant in this room. They're arriving after lunch.

Class: (Here??   What??)

Mr. Ratburn: It'll be a little crowded, but I'm sure we'll make them feel as welcome as we would wish to feel if we were in their shoes.    

Brain steps protectively in front of the project.

Brain: But they'll see our worms! Our top secret worms!

Mr. Ratburn: Yes, and we'll get to learn about their project. Because the janitor rescued it.

~~~

Ladonna, Arthur, Buster, Brain and Muffy sit at a lunch table outside.

Ladonna: Mr. Ratburn said they lost a lot of their school supplies in the flood.

Muffy: We should make them welcome kits. I have a lot of extra scrunchies we could give them.   

She holds up some scrunchies.

Buster: And I have some ketchup flavored jelly beans.

He pulls out a soggy paper back from ‘Patrick’s Chocolates’.     

Buster: Or jelly beans I accidentally got ketchup on.

Ladonna: I was thinking notebook paper?

Arthur: Yeah! We should think about things we would appreciate having, if we were them.

Ladonna puts a box full of red-and-yellow ribbons on the table.

Ladonna: And what if we all wore these ribbons? They're in Mighty Mountain's school colors.   

Everyone except Brain pins ribbons to their chest.

Brain: Why would we wear these?

Muffy: Solidarity! To show them we're all on the same team.

Brain: But we're not on the same team. We're rivals!

Ladonna: Brain, just because Los Dedos beat you at chess a few months ago...

Buster: It'll be fun to have Mighty Mountain here. The more, the merrier.

~~~

After recess, the bell rings. The Lakewood third-graders now share the desks with Mighty Mountain students, including Danny and Los Dedos. Muffy stands in front of the class.

Muffy: On behalf of the third grade class, welcome! Please know that anything of ours is yours. Except that pencil! That's my pencil!    

Debbie looks embarrassed and drops the pencil.   

Muffy: Any questions?

~~~

The blackboard reads “Welcome Mighty Mountain”. During break, Los Dedos and Brain stand by the worm project while Maria and George eat lunch.

Los Dedos: Brain?

Brain: Los Dedos?

Los Dedos: Let's make the upcoming science fair about good science, not competition. Agreed?

Brain: Of course.      

They shake hands. Then they look at the worm project.

Los Dedos: Measuring worm digging? That's your whole project?

Brain: Worms eat their weight in dirt every day. That kind of data will impress the judges.

Los Dedos: Oh, I'm sure.

Los Dedos places a jar with ants on the table.

Brain: A bunch of ants in a pickle jar?! I'm sorry, Los Dedos, I expected more from you.

Los Dedos: We had an incredible display. It was almost complete, but the flooding destroyed it!

Brain: Oh, I'm sure.

Los Dedos opens a can of soda, which sprays all over the worm project.

Brain: Hh! Ah, my measurements!

Buster: Hh! Mr. Wiggles!

~~~

That afternoon, Arthur, Brain, Buster, Muffy and Ladonna are in the Reads’ living room and work on presentations for the worm project.

Arthur: It felt weird having Mighty Mountain kids in our class.

Ladonna: I'm sure it felt weirder for them. Imagine having a different desk, a different teacher?

Muffy: Debbie, my desk-mate, kept asking if she could borrow an eraser!

Ladonna: Probably because she didn't have one. They're all just trying to fit in.

Brain: How does sabotaging our worm graph with juice help them fit in?

Ladonna: That was an accident.

Buster: Or was it? Did you know in the natural world, ants and worms are mortal enemies?

Muffy: Hh!

Brain: I've never heard that before.

Buster: Then you've never read Bionic Bunny issue 312, 'Dr. Antic vs. Squirm: Doom in the Dirt'.

The others stare at him. In Busters imagination, a humanoid ant lounges in a deckchair on the beach.

Buster (narrator): The super villain Dr. Antic retired...

A giant worm destroys city buildings by digging through them.

Buster (narrator): But with Squirm on a rampage...      

Bionic Bunny flies over the city.

Bionic Bunny: Hh!   

He grabs Squirm’s tail, but Squirm shakes him off so that he slams into a building.  

Bionic Bunny: (strains)    Oof!

Bionic Bunny flies to an ice-covered castle, carrying a candle holder and a cuckoo clock. Inside the building, an elderly ant woman is knitting.

Buster (narrator): ...Bionic Bunny needed backup. Squirm's auntie was Auntie Worm, so he bribed Antic's auntie, upping the ante with antiques, in her Antarctic antechamber...

Auntie Worm picks up a phone and calls Dr. Antic at the beach.

Buster (narrator): ...to antagonize Antic into standing firm against Squirm.      

Auntie Worm talks incomprehensibly on the phone. Dr. Antic leaps into the air.

The fantasy ends. The others still stare at Buster.

Buster: And what happened next was horrible!

Muffy: What happened?!

Buster: My mom made me leave the store before I could finish the issue.

Brain: Well, Bionic Bunny isn't based on science.

Arthur: And the ants and worms are in separate containers.

Brain: But maybe we should keep a closer eye on our worms. And on the Mighty Mountain kids.

~~~

The next day, the Lakewood kids stand in the lunch line behind the Mighty Mountain kids.

Arthur: I can't believe how long we've been waiting in this line.

Buster: I know! Soon, it'll be dinner.

Brain: Well, maybe if some people didn't insist on the Mighty Mountain kids going to lunch first.

Ladonna: It was to make them feel more welcome.

Muffy: Besides, after working with worms all morning, I've kind of lost my appetite. Ugh.

Buster: But it's pizza day! I've been dreaming of pepperoni all week!

Mrs. MacGrady: Sorry, kids. Just ran out. But I turned yesterday's spaghetti into pasta a la yum.

She puts spaghetti in a strange sauce on Muffy’s and Buster’s plates.

Muffy: I can't escape the worms!

Buster: What about my pepperoni? Aww.

Muffy and Buster walk into the cafeteria past Los Dedos and Danny who are eating pizza.

Muffy: Mighty Mountain is really starting to wear out their welcome.

Buster: Yeah.       

Los Dedos and Danny hear them and exchange looks.

Flashback: Buster waits behind two Mighty Mountain kids to sharpen his pencil.

Buster (narrator): I have to wait longer to sharpen my pencils.

Flashback: Arthur and Muffy run to the court behind the gym and see four Mighty Mountain kids playing there.

Arthur (narrator): We couldn't use the foursquare court 'cause Mighty Mountain kids were using it!

Muffy (narrator): Are we making them feel too welcome?

The flashbacks end. Brain, Muffy, Buster, Binky and Ladonna sit at a table in the cafeteria.

Muffy: What if they don't want to go back?!

Ladonna: I don't think we have to worry about that.

Buster: Hey, where did Danny and Los Dedos go?

Brain: Hh! The worms!       

Brain, Buster and Ladonna run out of the cafeteria.

~~~

Brain, Buster and Ladonna run into the classroom and see Danny and Los Dedos standing by the worm case which has smashed on the floor.

Ladonna: Hh!

Brain: What's going on?!

Los Dedos: It was an accident!

Danny: We left lunch early...

Los Dedos: ...to check on the temperature of our ants' soil...

Danny: The table was crowded.

Los Dedos: It slipped.        

She wants to pick up a worm.

Brain: What do you think you're doing?!

Los Dedos: Just trying to help pick the worms up.

Brain: No, don't pick them up like that! You have to be very careful.   

He picks up a worm along with some soil.

Los Dedos: Okay, okay.    

She picks up a worm like Brain did.    

Los Dedos: But where will you put them? You can't use that soil, now. It could be contaminated with floor soap.

Ladonna: She's right.

Los Dedos: Hmm... They could live in here.    

She looks at the ant jar.

Brain: With your ants?

Los Dedos: Just temporarily.

Ladonna: Do we have a choice?

Buster: Mr. Wiggles may have something to say about all this... I think.    

He puts Mr. Wiggles in the glass jar.

Brain: (sighs)       

He puts another worm in the jar.

~~~

Brain and Muffy walk home from school. Brain is holding an electronic notepad.

Brain: I've drawn up some designs for a small but sturdy wall to keep our two science projects separated.

Muffy: Is that really necessary?

Brain: I believe it'll ensure the safety of both the ants and the worms while...    

He sees Danny and Los Dedos coming the other way, chatting with each other.   

Brain: Hmm... if I didn't know better, I'd say they're plotting something.    Quick, hide!     

Muffy: Huh. Whoa!     

Brain pulls Muffy into a bush. Danny and Los Dedos come closer.

Danny: (sighs)  Now the whole Lakewood class is angry at our class.

Los Dedos: I miss Mighty Mountain. It feels like everything we do here is treated with mistrust.

Danny: Hmm... Maybe if we help them?

Los Dedos: Yes! Let's do something to help them with their worm project. I know the perfect thing to move the worms! Let's see if it's still in our classroom back at Mighty Mountain!

Danny and Los Dedos run off. Brain and Muffy look out from behind the bush.

Brain: Did you hear that?! They're taking our worms! If we can prove they're trying to sabotage our project, they'll be disqualified! Come on!       

They run after Danny and Los Dedos.

~~~

Los Dedos and Danny stand outside Mighty Mountain School and looks through the window into their classroom.

Brain: There they are!      

Brain and Muffy confront Danny and Los Dedos.    

Brain: Don't deny it! You're here to retrieve your worm mover so you can take our worms!

Los Dedos: Yes, we didn't want to harm your worms while we transferred them to a new worm home we wanted to build.

Danny: So we came here to retrieve those!      

He points at tongues lying on a desk inside.

Los Dedos: Soft tongs to move the worms gently.

Brain: Oh!

Los Dedos: But I'm afraid our classroom is still too damaged to enter.

They all look into the classroom. There is water damage everywhere. A leaky waterpipe can be seen through a hole in the wall. A damaged complex ant farm stands on a desk in the back.

Brain: Wow. It's really bad.

Los Dedos: That was my desk. All my schoolwork.

Muffy: I had no idea so many things got ruined!

Los Dedos: And that was our ant farm.

Brain: It's so elaborate!

Los Dedos: We couldn't rebuild that at Lakewood, because we didn't know where to find the materials.

Muffy: Well... we could've been more help.

~~~

The kids walk together.

Brain: You were right. Your project was better than ours. I'm sorry, Los Dedos.

Los Dedos: Los Dedos is just my nickname for chess. Please, my name is Isabella.

Buster comes running.

Buster: There you are! Come quickly! The ants are attacking the worms, just as Bionic Bunny predicted!        

They all run after Buster.

~~~

Buster, Danny, Brain, Los Dedos, Muffy and Ladonna stand around the glass jar with the worms and ants.

Brain: The ants do seem to be engaging with the worms.

Ladonna: But I don't think they're attacking each other.

Brain: Fascinating! The ants and worms...

Los Dedos: Are working together...

Brain+Los Dedos: ...to distribute nutrients throughout the colony!

Brain: Isabella, do you know what this means?!

~~~

At the science fair in the auditorium, the kids stand by their projects while Mr. Ratburn, Miss Tingley and aMighty Mountain teacher are moving around. Kiefer presents a mold sandwich, Debbie an automated orange peeler and the rat boy presents 'Rocks near School'.

Brain and Los Dedos presents their joint project, ‘Worm and Ant Compost Hotel’, to the two principals.

Brain: And that's when we realized that we would have a stronger entry...

Los Dedos: ...if we combined the projects of our two schools!

Miss Tingley and the Mighty Mountain teacher look at each other and smile. They put the 1^st place trophy in front of the project. Brain and Los Dedos shake hands.

Los Dedos: Well, Brain... you and your classmates turned out to be worthy opponents.

Brain: But I think we all turned out to be worthier partners.

They both hold up the trophy and put an arm on each other’s shoulder. Someone takes a photo which appears in the Elwood City Times under the headline “Mighty Mountain, Lakewood share first prize!”