The Beginning M.I. High

This time it'll work, Crime Minister.

A machine that will melt through solid rock.

It had better work.

There should be a huge hole in this rock.

I've tried everything, Crime Minister,

but I just can't make it work

Then it's time for Operation Brainbox.

The 21st century faces a new kind of threat,

and MI9 must create a new breed of skilled undercover agent.

Hidden in a place no villain will think to look - welcome to MI High.

Well, what do you think?

I found it in the staff room - it's how the school looked in 1941.

Whoa!

Look at the size of her nose.

Look at those ears, they're massive!

Bro, that do is wicked!

Look sir, I'm from 1941.

Yes. Mrs King, I wonder if you could put this up, as well.

In case you'd all forgotten, today is the National Online IQ Test

to find the brainiest person in Britain.

-Oh, it's stuck in my hair.

-What?

Yes, well, everyone who wants to take part

should come back here at lunch time.

I'm sure we have some brains here somewhere.

Team, this is it - the big one.

We've had an anonymous tip off from inside KORPS.

It seems the Crime Minister has a WMD.

A weapon of mass destruction?

PM wants it found before news gets out. There'd be mass panic.

Every security force is on red alert.

Is this the tip off?

KORPS are building WMD Fox. What's Fox?

We've no idea. MI9 are interviewing

every known criminal with the surname Fox, just in case.

Frank, this might be nothing,

but I found a fox-like thing in the old KORPS lab under the playground.

Where Frank turned evil.

Destroy MI9. Destroy MI9.

It was a symbol, like a fox head.

Yeah, but Stella ordered us to stay away from the hatch, remember?

PHONE RINGS

That's Stella now.

You four get to the hatch, we'll keep it between us.

Stella, I was just about to report.

Guys, seriously,

the last time we went down there, Keri nearly got everyone killed.

Yeah, emphasis on the nearly.

At least this time we know what's down there.

It's over here on this letterhead. It's got a fox.

I wonder what's in here.

As if a KORPS base under the school wasn't weird enough.

Well, whatever they were doing here it was 70 years ago.

Can't be fox that KORPS are on about.

Hey...it's a WMD.

I meant on the walking stick.

WMD...and it's got a fox head!

What can I say? It's a gift.

Hidden tunnel - cool.

Hidden tunnel - not so cool.

Don't tell me you're afraid of the dark.

No. I just know how you feel about spiders.

It's a dead end.

Listen, I think there's more tunnel on the other side.

Here. We can use this.

What? Look, someone obviously doesn't want us to be down here,

and, hey, I am cool with that.

-On three...

-Dan.

-..two...

-Dan.

-..one!

-Dan!

ALARM

I can't believe MI9 didn't tell me about this.

First, there's a KORPS lab under the school,

-and now we find there's a tunnel...

-Frank!

We've found it.

It's the MI9 file on the bunker.

-It's still classified.

-That's it, I'm calling Stella.

And what? Tell her we went down the hatch against orders?

I've got to do something.

Yeah, well, Tom can open the file. Can you open the file?

Tom can open the file.

How long will it take?

This is my own decoding programme.

A file this size should probably take about an hour.

Well, you better get back, I'll get it started.

But one way or another, I want some answers.

Right, well, I'm off to get the IQ test underway.

You...you not joining us, Roland?

You said to exercise the old grey matter.

So, I'm thinking about sit-ups.

Gotcha!

"GS."

You and your stupid dancing.

Is you dissing me?

Is you dissing me in front of my crew?

Cos I will take that diss, fly it around the world double-diss,

back in your face big time.

You get me?

-Well, do you?

-No, not really.

I is watching you, Tupper.

It's gone. It must have evaporated.

Nice one, Einstein.

Guys, Frank managed to open the bunker file.

Eurgh.

That tunnel, the lab, MI9 knew alright, and I found our WMD.

-Walter M. Dainbridge.

-Who is he?

Well, he's not a weapon of mass destruction.

But that doesn't mean he didn't build one,

and you're not going to believe where he built it.

'It seemed the story begins in 1941.

'Walter Dainbridge was the school's Headmaster,

'and by all accounts he made Mrs King look like a pussy cat.'

Hmm...

Now then, last night's homework...

Useless!

Pathetic!

Slovenly!

Bagshaw?

Bagshaw!

What is the meaning of this?

Uh...sorry, Sir. my dog ate it.

Well, he more chewed it and spat it out, really.

I don't think he likes maths, either, Sir.

Oh, and I don't know what you're laughing at, Watkins -

two out of ten.

What?!

Cartwright, what do you think you're doing?

You told me to do your homework.

You never said to do it right.

So, if Walter was the Headmaster,

how come we found his cane in the lab?

Exactly.

What no-one knew about Dainbridge

was that he was also a scientist,

and he was designing machines for the original Crime Minister.

Yes, but, Crime Minister, please,

I can't just build them in the school, can I?

'Well, find somewhere!

'Or you will suffer the consequences!'

Yes.

Oh, sir, you're not going down the sewers.

I've got an idea. We could do a project on them.

Did you know that the first sewers were built

in 1859 in London by Joseph Bazalgette...

Yes, all right, Emily.

I didn't ask for a potted history of stinky old drains.

Now get inside, all three of you!

Well, go on, don't just stand there.

Dainbridge discovered that the way down to the sewers

was through the hatch in the playground.

It was here, hundreds of metres below the school, that he found

somewhere to build his machines.

It's perfect.

Right, well, it's a little bit early, but...

jolly good work everyone, so, um...

..class dismissed.

Dainbridge? Letting us go early...?

Oh, and, Watkins, go and post these in the village, will you?

There's a good lad.

Sir, I think you might need a new nib.

-This pen is completely corroded.

-Too many love letters?

Give me that.

HE LAUGHS AWKWARDLY

But no, just...just letters.

One minute he's biting our heads off for no reason,

now he's Jack's best friend? What's going on?

'So, tell me, where is the secret laboratory?'

-Oh, but then it wouldn't be a secret.

-'Agent Fox!'

I trust you got those designs I sent you, Crime Minister.

'The rock melting machine.'

Rock, walls, you name it.

It'll make any crime...a piece of cake.

HE LAUGHS

Come on. Come on!

Why is that rock still here?

Why do I keep failing?

'The problem was no matter how hard he tried,

'Dainbridge couldn't get the machine to work.

'Not only that, but the machine was giving off harmful gamma-rays,

'and they were beginning to affect some of the pupils above.'

Right, children, into position, please.

That's it, over to the right.

Look at Mila.

It looks like she's been stung by a wasp.

And by the look of Freddie's ears, she's not the only one.

I think we can rule out wasps.

All right, everyone, settle down, that's enough talking.

My apologies, I know I'm late.

He's never late.

Something's going on, and I'm going to find out what.

Who's with me?

Billy?

Jack?

Fine, but don't go telling anyone we're like friends or anything.

Everyone, smile.

IQ, maybe it should stand for Idiot Quiz.

Sir, these questions don't make any sense.

If one boy has 12 sweets, and he shares a third

with two boys who have four and five times as many.

How many sweets does each boy have?

Eight, 50 and 62...

I think.

He's right! How many square-sided objects are in this picture?

16?

-What's the missing number...?

-64.

-What pattern is next...?

-The third one.

-What sh...?

-Equilateral triangle.

Roland, maybe you should do your own test.

-Roland! How?!

-I don't know.

I'm just doing it.

Maybe I should do two at a time.

Idiot Quiz?

What news from Operation Brainbox?

I go to all the trouble of organising an IQ test, and nothing.

Country's full of complete numpties.

Crime Minister, look.

The computer's identified someone answering every question correctly,

and not just one test, but two at the same time.

An IQ level of 3,000?

A Roland Donaldson, ma'am,

and we know exactly where to find him.

Understood, Stella.

The press have got wind of the WMD.

We need to nail this before they go public.

KORPS are building WMD.

So...what are we thinking?

They can't really be talking about Dainbridge's machine.

Why not?

We know he sent the old designs to the Crime Minister.

Maybe they've still got them.

Oh, please, why would they want to build some manky machine

that's older than Frank?

Look, that weapon was way ahead of its time,

but like I said, Dainbridge couldn't get it to work.

The problem was clearly in the design.

But, he couldn't figure out how to fix it.

So, he began to develop a formula to increase his own intelligence -

a genius serum.

However, little did Dainbridge know, three of his pupils were on to him.

Hurry up, he could be back any minute.

Liquid starch, nitric acid...

Told you, a boring teacher, a boring desk.

Look at these pen nibs, they're completely worn down.

I mean, really, who writes that much?

Lemons.

Lemons, lemons, lemons.

Lemons, starch, nitrate of soda.

I read about it in my comic -

they're ingredients to make invisible ink.

Billy, this is Dainbridge we're talking about, not a German spy.

Oh, really? Invisible ink corrodes metal.

Dainbridge gave me this to post.

A blank postcard?

Yeah, I thought he'd given it me by mistake, but...

maybe Billy was right.

Invisible ink - to read the message, hold it under a light.

There's something on there.

'Dear Crime Minister,

'my next endeavour is to build a weapon that can melt

'through solid walls.

'This will make all of your future crimes possible. Yours, The Fox.'

The Fox?

Maybe it's some kind of code name to hide who he really is, you know,

so he doesn't get caught.

So Dainbridge is a criminal?

Maybe all this can explain what happened to them.

There's only one way to find out.

Jack!

Jack, are you sure about going down there?

You read the postcard, Dainbridge is building some kind of weapon.

Exactly, so are you coming or not?

No.

Just...keep a look out.

'As for Dainbridge,

'his serum would only make him a genius for a few hours.'

'That was long enough to figure out what was wrong with his designs.'

At last, it all makes sense.

Of course, the gamma-ray core, how can I have been so stupid?

Now we shall see...

Watkins!

Right, Billy that's it, we've got to go down and help him.

I know.

Let's give him five more minutes, maybe ten.

So, it's true?

You are working for some kind of weird crime lord.

Weird?

My boss is the greatest criminal mastermind

the world has ever seen.

But why? Why are you doing it?

The same reason you get other people to do your homework -

because you enjoy the power, Watkins,

just...like...me!

You're wrong, I'm nothing like you.

Admit it, Watkins,

you're a squirming, no good, nasty little toad.

I now have the mind of a genius.

You...you are nothing!

Yeah? Well, at least I've still got my friends.

No.

I would stay there if I was you.

Now, do I still have to call him Sir?

KORPS is enormous. It's an entire criminal network.

Yes, and you three prevented them

getting their hands on a very dangerous weapon.

In fact, my department was so impressed,

how would you like to work for MI9?

MI9?

You can work in secret here at the school,

and whilst this lab is being sealed up, through here is another room.

It'll make the perfect spy base.

No way.

Jack, Emily, and Billy were in here over 70 years ago?

Yeah, how come MI9 didn't tell us?

Why was the file kept classified?

All big cases are. Over time, these things just get forgotten about.

Yeah, until KORPS tried to build

Dainbridge's big weapon-y, zappidy thing.

They must still be working from his original designs,

and if Dainbridge couldn't finish it without some genius serum, then...

"GS" - genius serum.

-PHONE RINGS

-Which our genius lost.

Mr F!

Well, actually I'm just in the middle...

Calm down, Mr F.

Look I'll be right up.

It's Roly, come on.

Yous have got the wrong guy.

What's going on? Where am I?

Haven't I seen you somewhere before?

No, and your whereabouts are of no concern.

Now, listen.

We have here the designs for a weapon my so-called

top scientist can't make work.

We need a genius, Mr Donaldson and, apparently, that genius is you.

Me?

You have an hour, or you will suffer.

-Frank...

-Mr F...

-What are we going to do? I can't find him...

-Mr F!

Thank you.

Now, when did you last see him?

Well, not since the IQ test.

Can you believe it? Donaldson?

An IQ of 3,000?

3,000! I mean, mine's only 150

and I'm... Well, you know.

A big, giant swot head.

Come to think of it Roland, has been behaving strangely

ever since lunch time.

Right, come on, we'll organise a search.

Yes, you search the canteen

and I'll see if he's gone to the doughnut shop.

Lunch time... Wasn't Roly standing behind you when you lost the serum?

You lost the genius serum?

Yes, but...

You mean, what if it didn't evaporate and Roly drank some?

Hold on, Dainbridge needed a genius to make his device work.

What if KORPS need one to make their device work, too?

Roly scores 3,000 on a national IQ test

and then he disappears.

OK, say KORPS did set up the IQ test to find a genius,

if we can find out where it came from we may be able to find Roly.

Look, isn't it obvious?

It's a gamma-ray core, it's got way too many electrons

building up in the quantum accelerator.

It's never going to work.

But can you fix it?

Just need to redirect the particle flow and Bob's your uncle.

I've got this programme on my spy-pod, it can figure out

the source of any website, no matter how well hidden.

Why is it taking so long?

Probably because I have to deal with encryptions, firewalls

and a complete lack of appreciation.

Found it, only a couple of miles north of here.

Just as well,

when the serum stops working, Roly could be in really big trouble.

Thought so, the wires are the wrong way round.

The ratio of the negative energy is supposed to go to the...

..it's supposed to go to the...

To the what?

To the, erm...

Yes?

To the...thingy-oh, next to the...doodah.

The thingy-oh? Next to the doodah?

My mind's gone blank.

Which wire, you idiot? Which wire?

Please let it be this one.

What have you done?!

This is it. IQ test came from in there.

Let's do this.

Freeze! Let him go!

Well, don't just stand there!

Do I have to do everything myself?

LASER BLAST

That thing's going to destroy the building.

Crime Minister, the back door.

Who was that? She was worse than Mrs King.

Don't worry, you're safe.

I'll organise for an MI9 unit to take you home.

-What happened to the Crime Minister?

-Long gone, I imagine.

The main thing is we stopped KORPS getting that machine

and we found Roly.

Hello? Hiya, Mum.

Yeah, turns out I'm a genius.

Mum? Why are you laughing?

So, Frank, are you sure we're not in trouble for opening the file?

And by us, I mean Tom.

Well, Stella wasn't too pleased,

but the PM said we did what was necessary.

So, we're in the clear.

Are we, though? I mean, what if KORPS know about the lab?

Yeah, what if they come looking for it?

Ah, like the file said, Dainbridge kept the whereabouts

of his lab a secret. At least he did something to protect the school.

Just think, without all that happening...

..we wouldn't even be here.

So, we're going to be secret agents?

I've even thought of a name -

High School Spies.

Really? I thought it was rather good.

How about this?

SHE LAUGHS

In that case, agents,

welcome to MI High.

To Emily, Jack, and Billy.

To Emily, Jack, and Billy.

The very first spy team.

What about this one?

If a bus travels at 50 mph

and makes five stops of 30 minutes,

how far has the bus travelled?

I don't know. Ask me an easy one.

Like how many of these marshmallows can I catch in my mouth?

Roland, that is hardly an IQ question.

Ready, steady, go!

Oh, dear.

And this is the brainiest person in Britain?