At school, Leo walks up to Janelle in the hallway. She was sitting at a table trying to sign up students for the one-on-one basketball tournament. "Hey, Janelle, how about that lunch special today?" Leo asks her.

"Really? That's your opener?" Janelle says.

"Well, I was gonna go with "where have you been all my life?" but I'm only fourteen, so..." Leo says. "What are you up to?"

"I'm signing people up for the annual one-on-one basketball tourney," Janelle says.

"Ew. How'd you get stuck doing that?" Leo says.

"I love basketball," Janelle says.

"Me, too! I too love the basketball." Leo says. "In fact, they call me Hoop Master Leo."

"No, they don't," Janelle says bluntly.

"No, they don't," Leo says. "Hey, check this out." Leo picks up his water bottle and tries to make it into the trash can, but it accidentally hits Trent in the head. "Where'd that come from? Who threw that?"

As students pass by, Janelle tries to get them to sign up for the basketball tournament. "Oh, hey, do you wanna sign up for the one-on-one tourney? We need people badly."

"Oh. Sign me up." Leo says.

"Not that badly," Janelle says.

"One-on-one tourney? Don't you mean the Trent show?" Trent says, walking up to Leo and Janelle. "Starring Trent...with a special appearance by...Trent."

"Trent, you're the five-time champ. I already signed you up." Janelle says.

"You've been in high school for five years?" Leo says.

"No," Trent says. He turns around and counts how many years he's been in high school with his fingers. He turns back to Leo and Janelle. "Yeah. Hey, little guy...think fast!" Trent tries to make Leo flinch by pretending to throw the basketball at him.

"Okay, you got me," Leo says.

"Ah, that never gets old," Trent says, walking away.

"Yes. Yes, it does." Leo says.

"No one's signing up for the tournament because he wins every year," Janelle says.

"Hey, guys, what's happening?" I say as Kyle and I walk up to Janelle and Leo.

"Janelle is trying to get people to sign up for the basketball tourney," Leo says.

"Cool, sign me up!" I say.

"You play basketball?" Janelle asks, shocked.

"I love basketball! It's my second favorite sport." I say.

"What's your first?" Leo asks.

"Football," I say. "Not many people know this, but I can be very competitive."

"It's true. The other day we were playing a card game during study hall, and she practically flipped the table over after losing one game." Kyle says. "I had no idea there could be so much anger in one small person."

"What can I say? I don't like to lose," I say.

"Okay, Cassie. You're in." Janelle says, signing my name onto the clipboard.

"Yes!" I say.

"Oh, look how sweet. Trent is autographing that kid's cheek." Leo says as we look over at Trent, who was writing on some random kid's cheek.

"I am literally all up in your face," Trent says. "And I used his freckle to dot the I."

"If he just spelt Trent with an I, he's gonna be here a lot longer than five years," Leo says. We all nod our heads in agreement.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

"And no matter what I do, Trent always makes me look like a fool in front of Janelle," Leo says to Chase and me as we were in the lab.

"Well, he does get a little help from you in that area," I say.

Leo laughs sarcastically. "How awesome would it be if I could beat him in that basketball tournament?" Suddenly, Chase's face lights up, and he looks at Leo.

"Wait a second," Chase says.

"Uh-oh, you just turned on that Chase I'm smarter than you and I have a big idea light bulb face!" Leo says. "It's not your best look, by the way."

"Davenport has been working on an anti-gravity high-top sneaker for astronaut training," Chase says. "Maybe the sneakers will up your game with a few gravity-defying slam dunks."

"Chase, not to play the obvious card, but there is no way my compact kickers are gonna fit into those shoe canoes," Leo says.

"Just put 'em on," Chase says. He hands Leo the shoes, and when he puts them on, they shrink to his size.

"Whoa!" Leo says. He walks around in the lab to test out the shoes. "Oh, yeah, baby!" Leo starts to jump up and down. "Say hello to Air Leo!"

"Now for the real test," Chase says. The three of us play basketball, and as Chase dribbles the basketball, Leo grabs the ball, bounces off the wall, and dunks the basketball into the hoop.

"Yes!" Leo says.

"Nice, Leo!" I say as he jumps down from the hoop.

"Did you guys see that? I don't need these shoes. That was all me." Leo says. "Watch." He takes off the shoes, and Chase throws him the basketball. When Leo tries to throw the basketball into the hoop, he misses and falls to the floor. Chase and I laugh. "Okay, it was the shoes." Chase helps him up.

In the living room, Bree was practicing her cheerleading. "Ready! Okay! We're dynamite! We're dynamite! We're tick-tick-tick-tick-boom! Dynamite! We're boom! Dynamite! Whoo! Boom! Boom!"

Adam runs into the living room. "Bree, you scared me! I thought you blew up!"

"No, I was practicing my cheer," Bree says.

"Oh, you mean...tick-tick-tick-tick-boom! We're dynamite! We're boom!" Adam says. "Also, what is boom dynamite? I'm all excited and I don't even know what it is!"

"Adam, that's the beauty of cheerleading. You don't have to think." Bree says.

"Then it's perfect for me!" Adam says. "I cannot wait for tryouts."

"Wait, you're trying out?" Bree says.

"Duh, you just saw my mad tick-boom-pow skills," Adam says. "Pow! That's the pow part."

"You can't try out for cheerleading. That's my thing." Bree says. "And besides, there's only one spot open on the squad, and you do not wanna compete against me."

"Yes, I do. See, cheerleading is one of the few sports that isn't competitive enough to raise my adrenaline and make me glitch out." Adam says. "So primp your pompoms, girly. 'Cause I'm about to..." Adam grabs Bree's pompoms and starts doing a cheer. "Be aggressive! Be-e aggressive! Again, I'm all excited and I don't even know why!" Adam hands Bree her pompoms back and leaves the living room.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

"Attention, everyone! Trent is now in session! All bow to the honorable Trent!" Trent says. He walks up to Janelle in the hallway. "Is there anyone brave enough to challenge me in the tourney yet?" He grabs the clipboard from Janelle. "Oh, I've got an itch to crush a dream or two. Who's gonna be my ointment?"

"Ladies and gentlemen, if I may have your attention, I present to you the soon-to-be champion of the one-on-one basketball tourney...Dunkin' Leo Dooley!" Chase shouts over a megaphone. Leo runs into the school wearing a yellow robe with the name Dunkin' Dooley written on the back of it.

"Will assist, flick your wrist, win the game, and pump a fist! You think it'll go down smoothly? Well, you've never played a champ like Dooley!" Leo says to Trent. "Yes, that just happened!" We all start to cheer for Leo.

"Oh, yeah? Well, I'm the dude who's gonna...somebody give me some words that rhyme!" Trent says. Chase, Leo, Kyle, and I walk up to Janelle.

"Leo, what are you doing?" Janelle asks.

"He is signing up for the Hoop-a-Palooza," I say, handing Leo a pencil.

"Don't miss the event of the school year, where Trent will be destroyed by a scrawny underdog 1/16th his size!" Chase says over the bullhorn.

"Laying it on a little thick, aren't ya?" Leo says to Chase. He signs his name onto the clipboard. "Here."

"Let me help you with that," Janelle says. She erases his name on the paper.

"Hey! I wanna sign up! I can play ball!" Leo says.

"He can play ball!" Chase shouts into the bullhorn.

"I've been practicing," Leo says.

"He has been practicing!" Chase says.

"Miracles do happen," Leo says.

"Miracles do hap..."

I grab the bullhorn from Chase. "Shut up!" I shout into the bullhorn. Leo writes his name on the clipboard. Janelle quickly erases it. For a few moments, they keep doing the same thing over and over again.

"Stop it!" Leo says.

"Yeah, stop it! I wanna play!" Trent says.

"Okay, fine. Trent, I guess you finally have an opponent...Leo." Janelle says, writing his name on the clipboard.

"I'll see you on the court. And try not to be so short." Trent says, getting into Leo's face. "Just rhymed!" Trent gives a random kid a high five and he walks away from us.

"Leo, you and Cassie don't have to do this," Janelle says.

"I don't have to do a lot of things, Janelle," Leo says.

"I don't know what that means," Janelle says.

"Neither do I," Leo says.

In the gym, a group of girls were getting ready to try out for the cheerleading squad. Adam and Bree walk into the gym. "No! No!" Bree says to Adam.

"Please, please, please?" Adam begs.

"Okay, fine!" Bree says.

"Yes!" Adam says.

"I'll think of a number between one and five and if you guess it right, you can try out before me," Bree says.

"Hmm...four!" Adam says.

"Nope, you lose!" Bree says.

"How do you always win that game?" Adam says.

"Next we have Riley, Bella, Olive, Siri, and Tommy." A blonde-haired cheerleader says. "Uh, that's a no. No. Never. Nice try. You might wanna think about tennis. Bye! Totes, thanks for coming! Next we have Adam and Bree. Well, they got two points for lame names. And cheer."

"We're dynamite! We're dynamite! We're tick-tick-tick..."

"Okay, okay, I've heard enough. Better luck next year." The blonde cheerleader says. She looks at Adam. "And welcome to the squad!" When Adam was about to hug her, she stopped him. "Oh, pinky hug." Adam gives her a pinky hug.

"How is that possible?!" Bree shouts. "He spent all morning wearing my pompoms as a wig!"

"Oh, not a wig! Secret agent disguise." Adam whispers.

"We need someone to catch us when we dismantle the pyramid. There have been a few problems." The blonde cheerleader says, looking at another cheerleader, who was wearing a neckbrace. "It's ironic 'cause she's a total pain in the neck. See you at rehearsal! Him, not you."

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Back at school, Trent was in the boy's locker room looking for things to steal. "It's almost tournament time, boys! I'm going nerd shopping!" He walks up to a student and takes his gum. "Oh, nice! Spearmint's my fav, bro. Oh, you guys, who's behind this? I love a big logo. You have nothing that I want." Trent walks up to Chase and sees the shoes Mr. Davenport created. Chase hides the shoes behind his back. "What ya hiding there?"

"Nothing," Chase says. "How ya doing, Trent?" Trent makes Chase flinch by slamming his fist on the lockers, and he takes the shoes.

"Oh! These are some cool kicks! Thanks for donating to the Trent-likes-your-stuff fund!" Trent says. He sits down on a bench and puts the shoes on.

"Trent, those are Leo's. You can't..."

"Well, not anymore," Trent says.

"They're not even your size," Chase says. The shoes shrink, and they were the perfect fit for Trent. "Yet they fit perfectly."

"Thank you for providing me with the proper footwear to kick your friend's and sister's butt," Trent says. He ruffles Chase's hair and leaves the locker room. In the gym, Chase runs up to Leo and me.

"We have a major problem," Chase says. "Trent stole your sneakers."

"No. No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no!" Leo says.

"Calm down, calm down, calm down. Let's look at the bright side." Chase says.

"What's the bright side?" Leo asks.

"He is gonna kick your guys' butts much faster now," Chase says.

"All right, thirty seconds until game time. Trent's got first ball." Janelle says, walking up to us.

"Trent is wearing my sneakers! What am I supposed to do?!" Leo asks.

"Run. Run far, far away. Cry like a baby and hope for sympathy. Fake a cramp!" Chase says.

"Is that all you've got?" Leo asks. "Where's that unattractive light-bulb face when I need it?" Chase makes the light-bulb face. "Oh, there it is."

"I'll be right back. You two stall." Chase says, running out of the gym.

"All right, play to 11. Best two out of three games wins." Janelle says, handing the basketball to Trent.

"Wait, wait, wait, wait. How many is that?" I ask.

"Two out of three," Janelle says.

"Okay, so somebody wins three..."

"No, Cassie. It's two out of three." Janelle says. "I thought you knew how to play basketball."

"I do. It's just that...are you sure it's two and not three..." Suddenly, the whistle blows.

"Game on!" Trent says. He shoots a basket. "Oh! These shoes are so springy! They're the best things I swiped all day!"

"Oh! Charlie horse!" Leo says, faking a leg cramp.

"Oh, what a faker. Walk it off." Trent says.

"Aah! Double charlie horse!" Leo says.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

In the hallway, Adam was practicing his cheer with the other cheerleaders. "Ready! Okay!" The blonde cheerleader begins.

"Two, four, six, seven, who do we appreciate?!" Adam says.

"That was great, Adam. My favorite part was when you stopped talking." The blonde cheerleader says. "Now get ready. We're about to perform at the Hoop-a-Palooza, and I don't need to tell you how important this is." Adam stares at her, not understanding what she was saying. "This is important."

"Got it," Adam says. He looks over at Bree, sitting by herself on the bleachers. "Hey, I know I took the last spot on the squad, but do you think you could make room for my sister Bree? I think she's kinda mad at me."

"Yeah, not gonna happen." The blonde cheerleader says. "If we let her join, she won't feel the true sting of rejection. And I generously try to give everyone that experience. Girls, come look at this. Ew. She looks like my pet pug when I paint her paw nails against her will." The cheerleaders laugh.

"Hey, stop talking about my sister like that," Adam says.

"Um, I'm cheer captain. I talk, you listen." The blonde cheerleader says.

"No, when it comes to defending my sister, I'm gonna talk all I want. In fact, I quit the squad." Adam says, throwing his pompoms on the floor. When the cheerleader with the neck brace tries to pick up the pompoms, Adam stops her and picks them up. "Hey! Back off, neck brace! Those babies are mine!" He walks into the gym.

"Game one, shut out! How about a shout-out for the shut-out?!" Trent says. "Whoo! Still rhyming!" He gives a random student a high five. Adam walks up to Bree and sits next to her.

"Shouldn't you be off somewhere juggling airheads?" Bree says.

"Yeah, but I quit the squad," Adam says.

"What? Why?" Bree asks.

"I can't say why because it will hurt your feelings that they were making fun of you," Adam says.

"Wait, you quit the team because they were making fun of me?" Bree says.

"I just told you I can't say that," Adam says.

"Adam, we have moves that are way better than anything they have," Bree says. "We should just do our own cheer!"

"Oh, good idea! We'll see how they like it when we hit 'em with the turbo booty shake!" Adam says. He gets up and shakes his booty. Chase runs back into the gym.

"Where have you been?" Leo asks. "Cassie and I tried to stall, but we've run out of injuries to fake."

"The compound in the sneakers is highly susceptible to electron beams. So I ran home and got these electron-beam generators from the lab." Chase says.

"And those will mess up the shoes?" I ask.

"Mm-hmm," Chase says, nodding his head. "Say hello to attract and repel. I'll make Trent dance like a puppet. If I were less mature, I'd have an evil laugh." Leo and I give him a weird look when Chase does an evil laugh.

"Okay, first player to score eleven points wins the second game," Janelle says. "Go!" She blows her whistle. Once the game starts, Trent shoots a basket.

"Oh! Did you see my hang time on that one?!" Trent says. "I'm even greater than I thought!" Chase turns on the electron generators and makes Trent dance. He drops the basketball, and Leo picks it up. He dribbles the ball and tries to shoot it into the basket, but he misses. "Nice try!" Trent says. When he picks up the basketball, Chase continues to make Trent dance.

"What is this?! What is this magic?!" Trent says. Everyone in the gym starts laughing as they watch Trent dance.

"Hey! You're not a cheerleader!" Adam says. "Quit stealing our boom-pow!"

"Hey! Stop laughing at me! I'm supposed to laugh at you!" Trent says. As Leo was laughing, he turned to Janelle, who wasn't laughing, and he stopped. Janelle walks over to Chase and sees him using the electron generators.

"What are you doing?" She asks.

"I am...cheering," Chase says. "Go, Leo and Cassie!" Trent takes off the shoes.

"I want my old shoes back!" Trent says, leaving the gym.

"Okay, since Trent left the court, I guess game two goes to Leo and Cassie," Janelle says. Everyone in the gym cheers.

"Yes!" I say, giving Leo a high five.

"That's right! Leo, me, winner! Small's the new tall, y'all!" Leo says. "Bam!"

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

When it was time for a quick timeout, Chase, Leo, and I sat at the bleachers with Kyle. The cheerleaders walked into the gym and began to cheer. "Go, Dingoes!" The blonde cheerleader says. "Move back! I'm in front! Ready! Okay! We're dynamite! We're dynamite! We're tick-tick-tick-tick-boom! Dynamite!"

"Cheer bomb!" Adam and Bree both shout. Bree uses her super speed and cartwheels into the middle of the court.

"Oh, Stephanie, can you do that? No, I didn't think so!" Adam says.

"Whoo!" Adam and Bree both shout.

"Ready! Okay!" Bree says. "Ooh, what's that? What do I see? Bree cheers better than Stephanie!"

"Hold up there! Not so fast! Stephanie's a thing of the past!" Adam says.

"Better call your mom! It's a cheer bomb! Huh!" Adam and Bree both say.

"Ring, ring! Hello? Oh, it's your mom!" Adam says.

"Hey, there, mom! It's a cheer bomb!" Bree says. She steps onto Adam's leg and lifts her leg into the air while Adam shoots a plasma grenade into the ceiling.

"Uh...yeah, that's right. Special effects. When we say boom, we mean boom!" Bree says.

"Yeah, and when we say brunch, we mean a delicious combination of breakfast and lunch!" Adam says. The blonde cheerleader, Stephanie, and her squad storm out of the gym as we clap and cheer for Adam and Bree. Janelle walks up to Chase, Leo, Kyle, and me.

"Did you have anything to do with that little display of dancing with the jocks?" Janelle asks Chase, Leo, and me.

"What makes you think that I would be responsible for giving Trent his comeuppance for always picking on smaller, smarter, cuter people?" Leo says.

"Yeah, not Leo. Nope." Chase says. He does the evil laugh again, and I hit him in the chest.

"You're right. It's crazy to think the guy with the inventor dad and genius brother would somehow use electron beams to manipulate Trent's shoes so you'd win." Janelle says, holding out Mr. Davenport's shoes.

"Don't be ridiculous," Leo says. Janelle drops the shoes and they bounce up to the ceiling.

"Huh. Will you look at that?" Leo says.

"Good luck, buddy," Chase says, patting Leo on the back.

"Leo...you know why I can't stand Trent? Because all he does is make people look bad. And now you're doing the exact same thing." Janelle says. She walks away from us.

"She's right, guys. I don't like Trent just as much as you guys, but there's a better way to go about this." Kyle says.

"Yeah, I guess you're right," I say.

"Well, I guess there's only one thing left to do," Leo says.

"Yep, I agree," Chase says.

"Me, too," I say.

"Get out there and lose fair and square," Leo says.

"What?! No! That's a terrible idea!" Chase says. "I was gonna say slip out the back door."

Leo and I walk up to Trent and Janelle. "Okay. Let's finish this thing." Leo says. "And this time, you're getting the real Leo."

"Okay. First one to eleven wins." Janelle says, handing the basketball to Trent. "Good luck, Leo."

"Good luck, Leo." Trent mocks. Janelle blows her whistle. Once the game starts, Trent shoots every basket each game. During the game, I was trying to get the basketball from Trent, but he pushed me out of the way. I fall to the ground and hurt my knee.

"Ow, my knee!" I say.

"Cassie!" Chase says as he and Kyle run over to me and help me to the bleachers. Leo looked like he was about to give up.

"Come on, Leo. Don't give up." Janelle says. "Leo! Leo!" Everyone in the gym starts chanting his name. As Trent was about to make the next shot, Leo grabbed the ball and shoots it into the hoop, scoring a point. We all cheer for him.

"Yes! I did it! I scored a point! That was nothing but net!" Leo shouts. Adam, Bree, Chase, Kyle, and I give him weird looks. "And rim and backboard, but it went in!" Trent grabs the basketball, shoots it into the basket, and wins the final game.

"Yes! Winner, right here! I'll be signing foreheads in the hallway!" Trent shouts, running out of the gym.

"Leo, you may have lost, but that shot was awesome!" Janelle says. "And you did it on your own, without any gimmicks or gadgets."

"Nope, I just relied on the other g...greatness!" Leo says, doing a superhero pose.

Once everyone had left the gym, Kyle and I were still sitting on the bleachers.

"How's your knee doing?" Kyle asks me.

"Still hurts a little. I don't think it looks that bad, though. I think I might've just sprained it." I say, putting an ice pack on my knee.

"Hey, maybe later. Do you wanna get some ice cream and play a card game or two?" Kyle asks.

"Are you asking me out on a date?" I ask.

"Uh...no...it's just a friendly gesture," Kyle says.

"Then, sure. I would love that." I say with a smile.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

In the lab, Chase was working on the computer while Adam and Bree were doing a cheer behind him. "Chase! Chase! He's our man! Typing on the keyboard like no one can! Chase! Chase! He's..."

"Guys. Guys! Do you really have to do that? It is so annoying!" Chase says.

"Chase, you don't understand. It's part of our creative process and you're our muse." Bree says.

"In your shoes," Adam says. "Shaking your head like you got bad news!"

"Don't just sit there, clap and cheer!" Bree says.

"You can't be a downer every day of the year!" Adam says.

"Stop!" Chase yells. He gets up from his seat and runs out of the lab.

"Chase is sad," Bree says.

"Chase is mad," Adam says.

"Chase needs a cheer to make him glad!" Bree and Adam both say. "Whoo! Chase! Chase! He's our man!"