“But why do I have to do schoolwork?” moaned Cassie sitting at a table in a small Irish inn. Having heard the same complaint many times before Henri rolled her eyes. “Because it’s my responsibility to make sure you keep up with your studies while we’re traveling.”

“It isn’t fair,” grumbled the unhappy kitten. “I could be off exploring the Irish countryside and I’m stuck here doing math. It’s boring and I won’t even need it when I grow up.”

Henri gave a gentle laugh. “I thought the same thing when I was your age, but my mother set me straight.”

“Well you won’t change my mind,” vowed a defiant Cassie, “because I know I’m right.”

Henri just shook her head and gave a knowing smile. “All I can is that it’s a good thing Dynamics Cat doesn’t feel that way.”

“Dynamics Cat?” cried Cassie. “Does this mean there's a new story?”

'Well, I wouldn't want to interrupt your homework,” replied Henri mischievously. “I know how much you want to get it over with so you can go outside.”

'It's okay,' said Cassie, closing her math book. “I think a break is just what I need.”

Henri smiled. “In that case then...”

Returning to Newtonville after rescuing a ship stranded at sea, that champion of motion, Dynamics Cat makes a shocking discovery. Angry mobs roam the streets and long lines stream from all the stores and banks. “Ye gods!” exclaims our hero, “has the whole city gone mad?”

“What’s going on here?” he calls, landing in front of a large crowd. Angry shouts answer.

“The stores won’t sell us food.”

“The banks won’t give us our money.”

“We’ll take what we have to.”

Dynamics Cat knows many of these people and has no idea why they’re acting this way. “Everyone return to your homes,” he orders. “I’ll find out what going on and make sure everyone has what they need.”

The crowd hesitates for a moment, but then begins to disperse. However, our hero hears a lot of grumbling as people walk away. “I’d better find out what’s going on fast,” he mutters to himself, “or I’ll have a riot on my paws.”

Rushing to a nearby grocery store, our hero can’t believe the scene inside. The store is filled with people standing at the checkout, but the cashiers are just staring at their registers as if they’d never seen them before. People trying to pay just hold out money asking, “how much is this?” but no one can answer.

Dynamics Cat finds a similar scene at the bank where tellers and customers are unable to perform even the simplest mathematical calculations. Cries of “help us Dynamics Cat,” fill his ears, but all he can do is ask people to return to their homes while promising to find out what’s happening.

The feline of acceleration flies over to Newtonville University hoping the professors there can be of help. His hopes are dashed as he finds many of them in their labs staring blankly at their equipment. “When did this start?” he asks his friend Professor Branch who responses only with a shrug and a sad shake of his head.

It’s the same everywhere in Newtonville: bakers no longer know how to measure ingredients, math classes have been replaced with recess, people can’t figure out how much gas to put into their cars, and all construction has come to a halt as length has become an alien concept. Sitting on the top of the city’s tallest building, our hero ponders what could be causing the strange behavior.

“Nothing unusual in the air,” he mutters after sniffing the air, “and the water seems clear too.”

Sitting there high above the noise of the city, his super-hearing picks up a low hum. “Egads!” he exclaims, “I’ve never heard that before.” His ears turn as he seeks the source of the sound. “Seems to be coming from Mount Euler,” he concludes. “I’d better see what’s going on there.”

In a flash, Dynamics Cat is streaking towards the mountain which overlooks the city. Nearing the mountain, he notices a satellite dish, over twenty feet in diameter, near its summit. “That wasn’t there before,” he cries. “I’d better investigate!”

Twenty feet away from the dish, however, Dynamics Cat is thrown back by some invisible force. “What?!” he cries out in surprise.

“I’m sure you remember my Springtomic Field,” announces a man standing by the satellite dish. He’s dressed in a waistcoat, ruffled shirt, breeches, and a large hat. Removing his hat, he bows deeply. “Welcome Dynamics Cat, I’ve been expecting you.”

“Professor Hooke!” roars Dynamics Cat. “What have you done to Newtonville?”

“Tut-tut, Dynamics Cat,” scolds the professor. “A little decorum if you please.” Patting the satellite dish, he continues, “this is my Wrathematics Ray. It dulls the area of the brain that processes mathematical ideas. As I’m sure you’ve seen, it’s quite effective.”

“You fiend!” bellows our hero. “Without math, the people of Newtonville are virtually helpless.”

Professor Hooke gives a cruel laugh. “That’s the idea. How else would I be able to rule over them and erase every trace of that scoundrel Isaac Newton?”

With a whoosh, our hero shoots skyward and a moment later, a blur streaks downward right at the satellite dish. A loud boom echoes across the mountain, but once again Dynamics Cat is thrown back.

“You can’t win,” proclaims the professor. “Just give up and go find another town to protect because Newtonville is now mine.”

“I beat your Springtomic Field when we last met and I’ll do it again,” shoots back Dynamics Cat.

Professor Hooke takes off his hat and gives an exaggerated bow. “I bow to your confidence,” he says sarcastically. “However, my oversight from last time has been corrected. The field extends well underground so your little tunneling trick won’t work this time.”

With a smile, the professor continues, “the Wrathematics Ray doesn’t seem to have affected you.” Reaching over, he quickly turns a knob on the satellite dish. “However, let’s see what happens when I turn it to full power.”

Dynamics Cat tries to fly out of the way, but a bright yellow beam hits him in the chest. Suddenly, even the most basic dynamics concepts vanish from his mind. As he plummets earthward, he can’t even remember the name of the thing making him fall. Hitting the ground hard, Dynamics Cat rolls several hundred feet before coming to rest against a boulder.

“Farewell, Dynamics Cat,” declares Professor Hooke mockingly. “One might say you’re now as helpless as a kitten.”

Lying there battered and bruised, Dynamics Cat fights to remain conscious. “I must fight Professor Hooke’s ray,” he mutters through gritted teeth. Concentrating with all his might, Dynamics Cat tries to remember. After nearly an hour of effort, he pounds the ground in frustration.

Hearing the clattering of small stones, he looks down and picks one up. He knows there’s something that describes how many stones he’s holding, but what it is escapes him. Tossing it aside, he leans back and closes his eyes. It appears Professor Hooke has won.

“I will not give up!” he cries struggling to get to his feet. Pacing back and forth, our hero once again struggles to regain his knowledge of math. He continues pacing until the morning sun is high overhead. The rhythmic sound of his paws on the gravel finally awakens a dim memory. “When I pace, there’s something else I do,” Dynamics Cat mutters, “but what is it?”

As he continues to pace, a strange word comes to mind. “Wa .. wa..,” he gasps, before finally blurting out, “one.” Puzzled, he stops and wonders what it means. Taking a step, the word once again comes to mind. “That’s one step!” he exclaims. He begins pacing again, more quickly now while trying to remember what came after one. It takes time, but slowly additional number come to mind.

Knowing numbers alone won’t help him defeat Professor Hooke, Dynamic Cat sits against a boulder and picks up a stone the size of his paw. Holding it as high as he can, he lets go and watches it’s decent to the ground. There’s a faint hint of recognition, but nothing more. Again and again he drops the stone, putting every ounce of concentration he has into watching it fall. As the sun nears the western horizon, he begins to remember.

Getting to his feet, Dynamics Cat stares at the stone he’s holding before flinging it away. Watching the stone’s flight, it’s as if a dam has burst as images and equations flood his mind: ballistic trajectory, initial velocity, elevation angle, kinetic energy, gravitational potential energy …

A surge of power shoots through Dynamics Cat as everything suddenly makes sense. He knows the rock will land exactly 657 feet away after being in the air for 8.7 seconds. Professor Hooke’s Wrathematics Ray has lost its hold on him.

“Now to take care of Professor Hooke,” declares our hero as he streaks towards Newtonville.

Professor Hooke has spent the day lounging in a chair, basking in his victory. “Now what shall I call my new town,” he wonders. “Hookeville, nah. Hmmm, Hooketon’s not too bad, although I suspect most people will forget the ‘e’.”

His musings are interrupted as a large shadow blankets him and the satellite dish. “What’s going on?” he cries looking up in alarm. A terrified scream escapes his lips as he stares at the open maw of a giant metal tank falling towards him. Before he can move, there a mighty crash as the tower impacts the ground, enveloping the satellite dish and Springtomic Field.

Hovering above the tower is none other than that feline champion of speed and motion, Dynamics Cat. In a booming voice he calls out, “I may not be able to destroy your machine Professor, but the metal in this tank should prevent it from hurting Newtonville any longer.”

To the normal ear there was no reply, but Dynamics Cat’s super-hearing detects the professor’s angry reply from inside his metal prison. “Curse you Dynamics Cat,” he shouts. “You have interfered with my plans for the last time. When next we meet, victory shall be mine.”

“That will have to wait until after you’ve served a lengthy prison sentence,” replies our hero. “But first, I’d better check on Newtonville.”

By the time Dynamics Cat reaches the city, things are already returning to normal. People can once again do math and are working together to repair the damage. Promising to help upon his return, Dynamics Cat leads a police helicopter to Professor Hooke’s location.

Anger grips Dynamics Cat when he sees the gaping hole in the back of the tank. Professor Hooke has escaped him yet again. With the Springtomic Field no longer active, he’s able to quickly destroy the evil Wrathematics Ray. However, our hero knows that Newtonville will not be safe as long as Professor Hooke is at large.

Henri looked over at Cassie, “so what do you think about math now?”

“Do all those things in your story really use math?” asked the little kitten, sounding unconvinced.

“Oh that’s only a small sample,” laughed Henri. “Tell me something you think doesn’t use math.”

Cassie thought for a moment, “oh I know, painting.”

“A house or a picture?”

“Both.”

Henri gave a broad smile. “To know how much paint you need, you have to calculate the surface area of the house, which is math. When painting a picture you use geometric shapes and perspective, both which are based on math.”

“How about farming?”

“Farmers need to know how much seed to buy, how much feed they need for their animals, and have to keep careful track of their finances,” answered Henri. “Now what do you think they need for all that?”

“Math,” grumbled Cassie.

Henri gave her a gentle pat on the head. “That’s right. I know you think math is boring, but it really is important. Not only for the things we can use it for, but for the way it opens new worlds for us.”

Cassie’s ears perked up, “what do you mean?”

Henri gave a far-away look. “Math isn’t only about numbers. It also teaches us how to think logically and solve problems. With those skills we can be anything we want: a scientist, astronaut, or even an artist.”

“Wow,” marveled Cassie.

“Wow, indeed,” replied Henri. “Now why don’t you finish you math and then we’ll do some exploring.”