Melvin had felt strange all day. After returning from his pretzel run … uh, mission … he had eaten breakfast with his rat, Hugo, while watching an episode of The Adventures of Thunderman. Thunderman and his assistant, Thunder Thighs, always ended up on top. This inspired Melvin to get out there and save the world, even on rainy days!
But today he felt something was off. Something was coming—something devious, something sinister, something that smelled bad.
Melvin could hardly keep his mind on his work, which, of course, was catching bad guys. He had been flying over the city all morning. Finally, he landed on one of the tall buildings downtown and reached for his pretzel phone. He dialed Superhero James, his best friend from his days at the Superhero Academy.
“James, it’s Melvin,” Melvin said.
“Buddy!” James was the superhero in charge of Atlanta and hadn’t seen Melvin since the Superhero Convention in Las Vegas. “What’s up?”
“Trouble is brewing,” Melvin said. “Feels like bigger-than-normal trouble. I was wondering if you sensed it, too.”
“Hmm, now that you mention it, I do feel something. I thought maybe I was imagining it.”
All the graduates of the Superhero Academy could sense evil a mile away. In this case, it seemed that Melvin and James could sense it when it was still millions of miles away.
“Better call Margaret and patch her in,” James suggested. They’d known Superhero Margaret at the academy, too. The trio had been best friends ever since.
“Right.” Melvin dialed Margaret’s number. A few seconds later her voice came through.
“Superhero Margaret, villain thumper with a smile.”
“Margaret, it’s Melvin.”
“And James.”
A superhero conference call was a very cool thing! It impresses the narrator, anyway. But back to our story.
“Hey, Melvin and James. Can you hold on a second?” Her voice moved away from the phone. “Not so fast!”
Thump!
“Ah … that felt good. There’s nothing like catching bad guys. What’s up?”
“Trouble is heading our way,” Melvin said. “Can you feel it?”
“Wow … now that you mention it, I think I do. I thought it was heartburn, but trouble brewing makes more sense. Cool! I don’t have to go to the doctor.” Margaret hated going to the doctor almost as much as she hated bad guys.
Almost.
“We may have to team up on this one,” Melvin said. “Can you two come out to the West Coast? I’ve got extra sleeping bags.”
“I’m on my way,” said James.
“Me too,” added Margaret.