CHAPTER 2

Ruff!

In her room, Ellie held out the Ultra Animator. Then she stared down the piles of clothes, comic books, and other clutter.

“All right, Choredom,” she said. “You might think I, Ellie Ultra, am no match for a messy room, but I’ll prove I’m the queen of clean.”

Click! Ellie flipped the animator’s switch to ANIMATE. Out blasted a green ray. It fired on a pair of pajama pants.

The pants sat upright. They twitched. They turned. Then they went skipping off her bed.

When the pants hopped into Ellie’s laundry basket, she switched the animator to REVERSE. She zapped them with a red ray, and they stopped moving.

“With the Ultra Animator, cleaning is a snap,” she said. “Or, I should say, a zap!”

Ellie took aim at the rest of the mess. She animated her Butterfly Girl action figure. It went fluttering back into her toy chest. She animated her piggy bank. It wiggled across the floor and hopped onto her bookshelf.

Aiming the Ultra Animator at her desk, Ellie zapped her entire collection of Cupcake Friends pencil toppers. Then she opened the desk drawer. In went Vanilla, Sprinkles, Red Velvet, and Carrot Cake.

“In you go, Cookies and Cream,” Ellie said as the last one hopped inside. She hit REVERSE and gave them a blast with the ray. Then she pushed the drawer closed.

After a few more blasts, the room was spotless.

Ellie flopped down on her bed to read. She might have defeated her chores, but she still had to get through the lonely hours of Saturdoom. Escaping into a comic book seemed like the only way.

“Now, where is Princess Power, Protector of Sparkle Kingdom: Tiara of Truth?” Ellie muttered. She looked for her comic under her blanket. It had been there before she’d started playing cards.

Checking behind her pillow, Ellie spotted her stuffed dog. “Super Fluffy!” she gasped. She swept him up and smoothed his shaggy mop of white hair.

If ever there was a super companion, it was Super Fluffy. He’d been at Ellie’s side since she was a baby. He had joined Ellie when she took her first steps and flew out of her crib. He had helped Ellie fight her first villain — a bad dream. When Ellie had saved her school on her first day, Super Fluffy had been at the celebration — along with Mom, Dad, the mayor, and the citizens of Winkopolis.

Ellie looked into the stuffed dog’s big, round eyes. “I wish you were real,” she said as he stared back blankly. “If you could play, I’d never be lonely.”

Suddenly — POW! — a super idea struck Ellie’s brain. She could use the Ultra Animator to bring Super Fluffy to life! It had worked on everything else in her room!

After clearing a spot on her bed, Ellie plunked down her furry target. “Here it goes,” she said. She took aim with the Ultra Animator. Holding her breath, she flicked the switch to ANIMATE.

ZAP! A burst of green hit Super Fluffy square on the nose.

The room was silent.

Ellie listened closely, waiting for him to speak. For a long moment, her super ears picked up only the sounds of an ant crawling behind the bookshelf, until…

“Ruff!”

Next thing Ellie knew, she was getting drenched in doggy drool. “Super Fluffy!” she cheered as he covered her in wet kisses. “You’re alive!”

With a lively pounce, Super Fluffy leaped to the floor. He stuck out his paws and stretched a long, waking-up stretch. Then he went sniffing around the room.

Ellie double-blinked. She couldn’t believe her eyes. Her stuffed-with-fluff animal was a dog — a tail-stretching, room-sniffing, face-licking dog!

Super Fluffy sneezed at some scented markers. When he got to Ellie’s backpack, he dug his nose into the pocket. Then he pulled out a tennis ball, trotted over, and dropped the ball at Ellie’s feet.

Ellie picked up the ball curiously. “Are you trying to tell me something?” she asked.

Super Fluffy wagged his tail with excitement.

“Hmm…” Ellie wondered what he wanted to say. Usually, she used her brainpower to read somebody’s mind. But that trick didn’t work on animals. It looked like she’d have to use another super skill and guess.

“Does the evil super-villain Finders Keepers want a tennis ball for his collection?” she asked. Finders Keepers was famous for snatching things around Winkopolis. He added them to his Mine-All-Mine Gallery.

Super Fluffy’s tail drooped.

“Okay, wrong guess. Let me try again.” Ellie thought hard. Her eyebrows squeezed together and then shot up. “Oh, no! Is the ball really a spaceship from Planet Sphere? I hope it’s not here to invade Winkopolis!”

Super Fluffy’s ears flattened, and he let out a whimper.

Ellie bit her lip. The ball wasn’t a villain’s prized collectible or a UIO — unidentified invading object. Then what was Super Fluffy trying to tell her?

Super Fluffy jumped up and snatched the ball out of Ellie’s hand. He tossed it into the air and chased after it as it bounced across the floor.

He sure is in a playful mood, Ellie thought.

“Oh, I know!” she suddenly realized. “You want to play! Am I right?”

“Ruff!” Super Fluffy snapped up the ball and wagged his tail happily.

Ellie left the animator on her bed and flew to the door. “That’s exactly what I wanted to do,” she said. “Super minds think alike!”