Tank & Fizz: The Case of the Battling Bots
By Liam O'Donnell and Mike Deas
3/5
()
About this ebook
www.tankandfizz.com.
Liam O'Donnell
Liam O'Donnell is an author and educator who has created over forty books and graphic novels for young readers, including the Max Finder Mystery, Graphic Guide Adventure and West Meadows Detectives series. He was born in Northern Ireland and came to Canada when he was five years old. He studied media at Ryerson University and has worked on film sets in Canada, Ireland and the United Kingdom. Liam lives in London, Ontario.
Read more from Liam O'donnell
The Shocking World of Electricity with Max Axiom Super Scientist: 4D An Augmented Reading Science Experience Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe World of Food Chains with Max Axiom Super Scientist: 4D An Augmented Reading Science Experience Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsTank & Fizz: The Case of the Missing Mage Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsUnderstanding Photosynthesis with Max Axiom Super Scientist: 4D An Augmented Reading Science Experience Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsBlackbeard's Sword: The Pirate King of the Carolinas Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsGet into Pirate Gear Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsHop on the Pirate History Boat Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsCrack the Pirate Code Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsSink or Swim with Pirate Ships Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratings
Related to Tank & Fizz
Related ebooks
Halo Jumpers, Human Traffickers, Tiger Zombies: Snog Team Six, #3 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsBattleTech Legends: Warrior: Riposte (The Warrior Trilogy, Book Two): BattleTech Legends, #58 Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Love Across the Tabletop Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Hostage Chronicles: Horror Stories and More Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe NES Encyclopedia: Every Game Released for the Nintendo Entertainment System Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Angels, Devils, and Boomsticks: The Making of Demons with Shotguns Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Malaise Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsTerrapin Sky Tango: a Beaks thriller: Beaks, #2 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Net Warriors Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsElimination Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsBlack Ops In Hell: Tales of a Slumlord's Maintenance Man Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsCyber War Attack!: The future comes rushing at us with all the inevitability of sundown Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsAtlas Fallen: Cyber Crown, #1 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsRacing Ransom Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsRecoil (Nick Stone Book 9): Andy McNab's best-selling series of Nick Stone thrillers - now available in the US, with bonus material Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsWarlock Rising Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Making of Tomb Raider Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Game Slaves Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Space Songs: Fear and Trembling in Bethesda/Ocean City Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsBeyond All Recognition: Brent Marks Legal Thriller Series, #9 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsUltima Online Chronicles, or My Adventures on Pacific in 2000 Year Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsEpic Tales of the Emerald Avenger Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsJudgment at Alcatraz: A Danya Biton Novel Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratings61 NES Games You Simply Gotta Play: You Simply Gotta Play Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsTwin Memoirs Volume 5 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsWild Cards Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsBatman Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsBrigands M.C. Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Becoming a Video Game Designer Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsOut of the Soylent Planet: Rex Nihilo, #3 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratings
Children's Comics & Graphic Novels For You
Charlie Brown and Friends: A PEANUTS Collection Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Dork Diaries 1: Tales from a Not-So-Fabulous Life Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Coraline Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Garfield Original Graphic Novel: The Thing in the Fridge Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Coraline 10th Anniversary Edition Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Smaller Sister Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Bad Kitty Gets a Bath Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5AAAA! (PagePerfect NOOK Book): A FoxTrot Kids Edition Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Big Nate Blasts Off Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Bad Kitty Meets the Baby Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Pete the Cat and the Sprinkle Stealer Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Bad Kitty vs the Babysitter Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Dork Diaries 2: Tales from a Not-So-Popular Party Girl Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Goldilocks and the Three Bears: A Discover Graphics Fairy Tale Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsCinderella: The Graphic Novel Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Goldie Vance Vol. 1 Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Garfield Vol. 3 Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Happy Birthday, Bad Kitty Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Snoopy: First Beagle in Space: A PEANUTS Collection Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Bad Kitty Gets a Phone (Graphic Novel) Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Anne of Green Gables: A Graphic Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Misadventures of Max Crumbly 1: Locker Hero Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Be Prepared Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Bad Kitty: Puppy's Big Day Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Big Nate: A Good Old-Fashioned Wedgie Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Garfield's Cheesy Holiday Special Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5All-Action Classics: Dracula Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Peanuts: The Gang's All Here! Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Snoopy to the Rescue: A PEANUTS Collection Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
Reviews for Tank & Fizz
2 ratings1 review
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Goofy, zany, and utterly original. I can honestly say I've never read a book with such a fantastic combination of monsters, detective work, libraries and archives, mythology, and robots. With the strong graphic element, this book has feet planted in both the text and graphic novel worlds. And it's fantastically odd and entertaining.
Book preview
Tank & Fizz - Liam O'Donnell
TRUTH
The robot was going to crush me.
I froze like a midwinter booger on a bike rack. The battle bot stomped closer with its massive feet. The ground shook with every step. It reached out with its long arms. Its sharp claws were perfect for crushing other bots. And smushing goblin detectives like me.
The name is Marlow. Fizz Marlow. Fourth-grade goblin, part-time detective and reluctant battle-bot bait.
It wasn’t my idea to step into the arena with the Rawlins Reaper, the toughest battle bot at Gravelmuck Elementary.
Miss Blinx dropped me on my tail. Tank Wrenchlin, my best friend and detective partner, lifted me to my feet.
That was close,
she said. Rizzo’s battle bot could have smushed you!
You said I needed to get close!
I said.
"There’s close and then there’s too close, Fizz."
Well, I’m not getting that close to Rizzo’s battle bot ever again.
I handed her the small metal ball she had given me only a few minutes ago. You can take your code smeller back.
"It’s a code sniffer, Fizz. Tank was the best troll tinkerer this side of the Dark Depths. Inside the ball were gears, circuits and a bunch of other stuff I didn’t understand. But Tank did, and that was all that mattered. She inspected the ball for damage.
And I didn’t tell you to nearly get stuck to the battle bot’s foot. We’re trying to solve a case, not turn you into goblin pancakes."
Solving a case was the reason I’d gotten into that battle in the first place. No one ever said being a detective would be easy. I just wished they would remind me to wear a helmet once in a while.
The whole mess had started two days earlier, when the Troll Patrol cornered us on our way home from school. Thankfully, they didn’t patrol for unfinished homework, or I would have been rounded up a lot earlier. The three grade-eight trolls were Gravelmuck Elementary’s champion battle-bot team. They were also our school’s best chance at winning this year’s Battle Bot Cup. That is, if everyone played fairly.
Rizzo Rawlins is a cheat,
said the tallest of the three trolls. His name was Daztan. He was the Troll Patrol captain.
And the Tuesday lunch special is a health hazard,
I said. Tell us something we don’t know, Daztan.
I’m normally not so snarky to older monsters. But I had a serious video-game session and a fresh batch of choco-slug cookies waiting for me at home. It’s never a good idea to get between me and my video games.
Rizzo Rawlins has put together his own battle-bot team to compete in the school finals,
said Ryla, the smallest of the three trolls. She was the coder of the group. It was her computer code that made the Troll Patrol’s battle bots the best in the school.
But Rizzo is only in fourth grade,
Tank said. How can he compete with you older monsters?
Rizzo gets whatever Rizzo wants,
said Zarkof. He was smaller than Daztan but larger than Ryla, and had bright-orange hair spiked up to look like he’d been electrocuted. Rizzo convinced Principal Weaver to let him compete, and then he hired some of the other kids in our class to build him a battle bot.
Normally, we would be able to defeat any bot they could scrape together,
Daztan said.
We’ve watched his bot in battle,
Zarkof said. We think he is cheating.
Word on the playground is that you two are detectives,
said Zarkof.
Best in the school,
Tank said with a smile.
Good,
Daztan said. We want to hire you.
Thoughts of cookies and video games vanished from my detective brain. I was always interested in a new case. But still, I had my doubts.
Everyone knows Rizzo Rawlins is a cheat,
I said. How can we prove he’s cheating in the battle-bot competition?
The flat piece of vizpaper in Zarkof ’s large hands sparked to life. The paper’s surface glowed softly with the words Rockfall Battle Bot Association: Rules and Regulations. Zarkof thumbed through the manual. He cleared his throat before speaking.
It states clearly in Section 12, Subsection D, that all essential mainframe apparatuses and sub-linear underlying frameworks must be—
Um, run that one by me again,
I said.
Certainly.
Zarkof smiled. It states clearly in Section 12—
Daztan stepped in to translate. What he means is, we have to build our battle bots using parts we make ourselves.
And run the bots using computer code that we write ourselves,
Ryla added. That way, participants can’t just buy the best equipment or hire some professional computer coder to make their battle bot.
And that’s what you think Rizzo has done?
Daztan nodded. "His bot moves too fast. It’s too smart to have been created by a bunch of monsters from elementary school. We think he got his battle-bot parts and code from a professional bot maker. And we want you to prove it."
It is quite important that the truth be known,
Zarkof said. The winner of our school battle-bot tournament will represent Gravelmuck in the Slick City Battle Bot Cup next week.
And you think Rizzo will win?
Tank asked.
If he does win, he won’t deserve it,
Ryla said.
We just want things to be fair,
Daztan said. All the other monsters have been working on their battle bots for a long time. It’s not right for Rizzo to use his money to get an advantage over us.
If you can prove he bought his computer parts, Principal Weaver will have to remove him from the tournament.
A chance to prove Rizzo Rawlins is a cheat?
I looked to my detective partner. Tank’s ears stood at attention like a pair of hungry flame hounds. She was in.
Two days later, Tank’s ears had started to sag.
Rizzo and his crew weren’t letting anyone near their battle bot. The kobold wouldn’t talk to me or Tank. Even Rizzo’s goons, the Gutro twins, were keeping tight-lipped about what made the Rawlins Reaper work.
When the Gravelmuck battle-bot finals rolled