CHAPTER TEN

Home Invasion

I stomped up to the front door of my house. I was ready to freeze Gavin in place over the note he wrote. I was furious! But when I grabbed the door handle, it was stuck. I pushed with all my might. The door wouldn’t budge.

Is this another one of Gavin’s pranks? I wondered.

“What’s the matter?” Gavin said. He was returning home from school at the same time as Felicia. “Open the door. I’m starving.”

“You’re up to something, aren’t you?” I said, pointing at Gavin. “This is a joke, isn’t it? I bet I’ll open the door and something bad will happen!”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Gavin said. I really wanted to turn him into a giant ice cube, but using our powers in public, without wearing a costume, was a big no-no. I wasn’t about to get in trouble over Gavin. He’d already ruined my life enough.

But then Gavin tried the door, and it didn’t open. “What gives?” he asked.

“Out of the way, weaklings,” Felicia said, pushing us aside. She pushed on the door as hard as she could, but it still wouldn’t budge.

FLAP! SWAP! WALLA WAUCKA SCHUCKTUNK! FLISH! FLASH! “HI-YAH!!!!!”

Loud fighting sounds and crashes were coming from inside the house. “Uh-oh. That’s not good,” Felicia said. The three of us ran to the window and looked inside. Grandpa was wrestling with two Lizard Leaguers.

“You won’t take me down, you scaly little sneakers!” Grandpa wailed. One lizard person grabbed him by the ankles, and another gripped his arms. They swung him back and forth, faster and faster, toward the window.

“DUCK!” I shouted, yanking my siblings by the backs of their shirts and pulling them down.

The Lizardians opened the window and tossed Grandpa out. But they didn’t know about his little secret. One second before Grandpa hit the ground, his gigantic wings burst out of his back and he swooped safely into the sky.

“WAHOO!” Grandpa exclaimed, zooming through the air. He loved showing off his loop-de-loop skills, even in the face of danger. “You can’t keep me down!”

“Grandpa is awesome,” I said. Felicia nudged my arm. The Lizardians were using hammers and nails to lock the windows to our house. Nothing was getting in or out.

“Dad, get down from there!” Mom shouted to Grandpa. She and Dad had just arrived, after picking up Ben from day care. “Someone will see your wings!”

Grandpa landed, shaking his fist in the air. “My wings aren’t the problem! I knew this day would come. The Lizardians are taking over!”

“What are you talking about, Dale?” Dad asked.

Before he could answer, we looked up and down the street. All of our neighbors had been pushed or locked out of their houses too.

A newly installed loudspeaker on top of our house sparked on. An announcement from Lizard Leader Lenn boomed from above. “The League of Lizards is taking over!” Lenn shouted. “The residents of Boulder City have been peacefully removed from their homes. We don’t want no trouble, so y’all just move along. Find yourselves a new city. The League of Lizards declares that Boulder City belongs to us!”

Mom and Dad looked so angry, I thought they might explode. But there was little they could do with so many neighbors around—not without exposing their superpowers.

“This is our house,” Gavin shouted. “You better not touch my video games!”

Lenn leaned out the second-floor window. “Y’all better get out of town, or else!”

“Or else what?” I shouted. “I know a couple superheroes who’ll remove you in an instant. You might’ve heard of them? Flygirl and Fireman! I hear they live nearby. Very nearby. Some might say very very nearby.”

Dad whispered, “Cool it, son. They’re called secret identities for a reason.”

Mom handed Ben to Grandpa and shouted, “Get out of my house before I remove you from it—permanently.”

“You’re more than welcome to try—after you’ve met our precious pet!” Lenn pulled out a strange horn and blew into it. Suddenly, the ground began to shake.

A hole opened up in the middle of the street. As the ground fell away, the biggest lizard I’d ever seen climbed out. It was as big as my school. It was a giant Gila monster!

“This is Lumpy. Ain’t he somethin’ else?” said Lenn. “Lumpy—DESTROY THE HUMANS!”