FOUR SUPERHEROES ARE BETTER THAN TWO
“Why can’t I move?” Melvin said, still staring at the ceiling.
“Didn’t you hear that ZAP?” James replied. “Some kind of stun gun, I’m guessing.”
Candace came over. “They captured us the same way. One minute we were patrolling the skies above Lair Hill, the next we were on the ground staring at the clouds. It will wear off soon. You’ll be good as new.”
“Good as new, but still trapped,” Margaret said.
“Any ideas on how to get out of here?”
Melvin was unable to move, but that didn’t mean he couldn’t think. After all, he was known for his noggin power, his ability to think on his feet. He wasn’t exactly on his feet at the moment, but he was pretty sure he could do the job from his back.
“You tried breaking through the glass?” Melvin asked.
“Both of us did,” Candace explained. “Couldn’t even make a dent.”
“Maybe four superheroes working together can.” It was worth a try at least.
When Melvin and James regained their strength, they tried.
“On three,” Melvin said. “THREE!”
They threw themselves against the nearest wall. Crash!
A few seconds later, Shoe appeared in the doorway. “That’s glass from the planet Dork. It’s unbreakable.” He pointed to a button on the wall of the room—outside the glass cage. “Besides, there’s a force field holding it together. You won’t get out of there until I push that button.”
“Rats,” Candace said, shaking a fist. She wanted to say something much worse than “rats.” But this is a kids’ book.
“How can a planet called Dork invent unbreakable glass?” Melvin grumbled.
Shoe went back to the flight deck, and the four superheroes huddled together, thinking. “Now what?” Margaret asked. “Any ideas?”
“We wait,” Melvin said. “We can’t break through this glass. Let’s wait until they move us. They’ll have to turn off that force field to do it.”
It was the only thing Mr. Noggin Power could think of.
You may be wondering—if they are going to do nothing, how is the plot going to move forward? Good question.
* * *
The spaceship sped through space at Gamma Speed, which is pretty darn fast for an economy spaceship. It got closer and closer to their destination—planet Dork—stopping only once to refuel at Fast Freddy’s Gas Station and Pretzel Barn. If you’ve never tasted alien pretzels, you haven’t lived. They are flavor-packed, delicious, energized morsels, bursting with the aroma of heavenly and yummy—
Suddenly Melvin collapsed onto the floor of the glass room.
“What’s wrong?” James asked.
“It’s the narrator again.”
“Do you want me to tell him enough already?”
“No! I’m loving it. It just makes me hungry.”
It made him more than hungry. It also made him miss Hugo, his pet and partner-in-pretzel-eating, who at the moment was millions of miles away.
Or was he?
“Squeak.”
Melvin sat up. “Either someone’s shoes just squeaked or my favorite rat is nearby.”
Actually, it could be an alien rat … or alien mouse for that matter. The point is something squeaked, and it sounded an awful lot like Hugo.
The sound came again. “Squeak, squeak.”
Melvin began looking at his fellow superheroes’ shoes. None of them were making noise. Then—
“Squeakity, squeaker, squeak!” Shoes may be capable of making a squeak or two, but they couldn’t possible make a squeakity or a squeaker. And that meant only one thing.
“Hugo!”
It was Melvin’s rat, all right. He had climbed onto Melvin’s cape before he and James had set off for the Hollywood sign that morning. He’d been hiding in the transition room of the spaceship, waiting to make his move.
“Get us out of here, Hugo,” Melvin whispered. He sniffed. “And get me one of those pretzels.” Melvin’s nose knew a good thing when he smelled it.