Stink and The Ultimate Thumb-Wrestling Smackdown (7 page)

At last it was time. Time for the smackdown at Stink Moody’s house. The Ultimate Thumb-Wrestling
Thmack
down.

Stink could hardly wait to thumb-wrestle. This time, he had a not-so-secret secret weapon. Karate!

Stink put on his karate uniform and headband. Stink tied his yellow belt in a perfect reef knot. Stink wore his lucky shark tooth around his neck. “Shark Hammersmash, you and me are gonna be the ultimate thumb-wrestling champs of the world.”

The backyard was full of kids thumb-wrestling. Webster, Sophie, and Skunk. Ruby and Rooster. Heather Strong. Riley Rottenberger.

“Stink!”

“Finally!”

“Where were you?”

“What took you so long?”

“I already crushed Skunk. And that guy Rooster,” said Webster. “Stink. You gotta play me. If I beat you, T. Rex will be undefeated.”

Stink stood across from Webster. Stink swallowed. Stink checked the knot in his belt. It was about the size of the knot in his stomach. But Stink would stare down that knot. He would become a pool of water.

Skunk stood on an upside-down garbage can.
Ding! Ding! Ding!
He yelled into a ketchup-bottle microphone. “Hey, sports fans! Get ready for the final match of the Ultimate Thumb-Wrestling Thmackdown. On the left, we have T. Rex Wasabi. He’s strong. He’s sneaky. He’s the Superman of Thumb-Wrestling. He’s already smacked down six wrestlers. Will T. Rex Wasabi go undefeated?”

“No way!”

“Way!”

“T. Rex is dust! The Shark rules!”

“T. Rex rules more!”

“And on the right, we have underdog Shark Hammersmash. He may be shrimpy, but he’s as mighty as a great white. Slippery, too.”

Bend like the willow. Be still like the pond.
Stink did not feel like a pond. His belly felt like an ocean full of crashing waves.

“Knuckle up, boys,” called Skunk. “Ready to rumble?”

Webster slipped on his T. Rex Wasabi mask. Stink checked the Shark on his thumb. He rubbed his shark tooth for good luck.

“Let’s bow to each other with our thumbs.” The Shark bowed to T. Rex, just like in karate. T. Rex did the same.

“Lock ’em up and smash ’em down,” called Skunk, punching the air.

Webster dipped and ducked his thumb back and forth, up, down, and sideways, tempting Stink to go for a slam.

“Body slam! T. Rex almost makes sushi out of the Shark,” yelled Skunk. Stink slid his thumb out from under Webster’s. “But the Shark is slippery.”

I am strong like the willow,
Stink thought.
I am mighty like the oak. I am swift like the tiger. I am slippery like the eel.

“Head-butt!” called Skunk.

“Crush ’em, T. Rex!”

“C’mon, Shark. Don’t be a Thumbelina!”

Focus. Be a blank piece of paper.

“Oh, no! T. Rex came out of nowhere and pinned the Shark! One, two —”

T. Rex had a stranglehold on him. Stink slipped his thumb out in the nick of time. “And he’s back!” yelled Skunk. “He’s a slippery one. The Electric Eel.”

“Hammer him, Shark!”

“Bite back, T. Rex!” the kids yelled.

Stink was huffing. Webster was puffing. Stink was sweating. Webster’s glasses slid down his nose.

“Give up?” Webster asked Stink.

Never give up,
Stink heard Sensei Dan say. So far, the Shark had survived two standoffs, one face-off, and one almost-smackdown. He had sidestepped a Snake in the Grass, a Santa’s Little Helper, and a Tsunami Smash. And he’d come back from a Banana Split. “No way! Do you give up?”

“Never,” said Webster.

“TIME!” called Sophie. But Stink did not stop. Stink kept on dipping, ducking, and dodging. Webster kept sneaking in for a sideways slam.

Stink was the Electric Eel in a pool of water. He was as strong as a willow. He would not break. He was a crouching tiger, ready to pounce.

Out of nowhere, Stink made a way-tricky lightning-fast move. Shark Hammersmash flew off of his thumb.

“One, two, three!” Stink pinned Webster for three counts. At last, Shark Hammersmash had taken down the mighty T. Rex with his bare thumb. Stink had played his best game ever. Thumbs down.

“Good match, T. Rex,” said Stink.

“Great match! I never even saw you coming. What
was
that? A double-reverse Snake in the Grass? An upside-down sideways Tsunami Smash?”

“Just a little move I made up called Crouching Tiger, Hidden Thumb.”

“Wow!” said Webster. “You should enter the Thumb-Wrestling Olympics or something. You could get into the Thumb-Wrestling Hall of Fame with that move!”

Skunk held out the ketchup-bottle microphone. “So, Shark Hammersmash, you, and you alone, took down the mighty T. Rex. Tell us sports fans out here. How do you feel?”

“Absolutely, positively, thumb-tastic!” said Stink.

is the author of the popular series starring Judy Moody. She says, “Once, while I was visiting a class, the kids chanted, ‘Stink! Stink! Stink!’ as I entered the room. In that moment, I knew that Stink had to have a series all his own.” Megan McDonald lives in California.