CHAPTER TWELVE

A Frosty Foe

I rushed over to Mom to see if she was okay. She was still kind of zonked out from Lumpy’s sucker punch. “He’s big, and he’s got a mean right hook,” she said, rubbing her head. “I’m definitely going to be sore tomorrow.”

Felicia pulled a giant oak tree from the ground and swung it like a bat. It hit the giant Gila monster right in the nose. Lumpy roared.

And then he raised his foot and slammed it down on my sister.

“Felicia!” Mom and I screamed.

But my sister was fine. She pressed upward with her super strength, lifting the giant lizard’s claw.

“This beast messed up my favorite outfit,” Felicia growled. “Now I’m really mad!”

“It seems our sister is not only super strong, but super tough,” Gavin said. “Why do girls always get the coolest powers?”

“Focus!” I said. “We need to stop the Gila and the Lizardians.”

“I have an idea, Peter—” Mom started.

I knew she’d ask me to use my superpowers, I thought.

Instead, Mom said, “You know all about reptiles, don’t you? You wrote a whole report about them. How do we stop Lumpy?”

Okay, so maybe she didn’t want me to use my ice powers—but using my brain was just as important. It could help save the day.

“Lizards are cold blooded,” I said. “That means they thrive in warmth. You’ve got to get him somewhere chilly in order to throw him off. If you fly him into the upper atmosphere for just a minute or two, it might be enough to cool down his body temperature and calm him.”

“That’s brilliant, son,” Mom said.

Faster than a speeding bullet, Mom flew into the air. She grabbed Lumpy’s scaly neck and pulled him into the sky.

A minute later, Mom and the Gila monster returned, covered in a layer of frost. Mom lowered Lumpy into the giant hole he came from. He trudged away, back into the darkness.

“Brrrrrr.” Mom shuddered. “You’d love it up there, Peter. It’s just your temperature.”

Dad floated down from the sky, covered in flames. “I’m knocked out for five minutes, and my family takes care of the giant lizard,” Dad said with a smile. “Good job, everyone. Even if you kids were supposed to stay safe.…”

“I was helping people!” Gavin said.

“And apparently I’m super tough,” Felicia said. “You don’t have to worry about me anymore.”

“We’ll always worry about you,” Mom said. “But right now, we aren’t done. Lumpy has been dealt with, but the Powers family needs a plan to get the Lizard League out of everyone’s homes.”

Mom saved the city from the Gila monster, Dad’s powers were supercool, Gavin had been actually helpful, and Felicia had leveled up… and what had I done? Practically nothing. This was totally lame.

And I was ready for action. I could feel my ice power tingling up and down my arms, through my hands, and into my fingertips. Slowly but surely, my entire body became energized with the power of ice.

“You heroes may have defeated Lumpy, but y’all can’t do nothing to us!” Lizard Lenn announced from inside our house. His voice was trembling, and he seemed a little bit scared. “We ain’t budgin’ and you can’t make us!”

“That’s it,” Mom said. “I want them out of our home!” She was ready to kick down the door. But I grabbed her.

“Let me,” I said with a grin.