CHAPTER FIVE

Bank Business

After school, Chloe, Sandro, and I walked to the closest unrobbed bank. If Captain Tornado tried to rob it, I wanted to be ready and waiting for him. At least that was the plan. As we got closer, I started to think this wasn’t such a good idea.

“This is a really bad idea,” said Chloe, as if reading my mind. “You are so not ready to fight a real supervillain, Peter.”

I wanted to disagree, but my friend wasn’t wrong. This could go very badly if I wasn’t careful.

“I totally disagree,” Sandro said to Chloe. “Remember the time Peter stuck a cat in a tree just so he could save it? That was a great idea!”

“No, it wasn’t,” I said. “Operation: Kitty Time resulted in me having my face scratched almost completely off!”

“Peter, at least tell me you have an actual plan,” Chloe said.

“Of course I do!” I lied. “But my plan is very detailed and complicated, so I can’t tell you everything about it.”

Chloe gave me the side eye. She wasn’t buying it. She knew me too well.

As we walked into the bank, the snooty bank manager gave us a glare. Mr. Kramer continued to watch us like a hawk as we pretended to be waiting for a parent. The manager looked like an angry toothpick with a mustache, and as he stared, I became even more nervous. But people (and their hard-earned money) were depending on me! I had to be brave. Right?

Mr. Kramer straightened his tie and started walking our way. Uh-oh.

“Here comes the manager! What do we do now, smarty-pants?” asked Chloe.

“Be cool,” I whispered.

“That’s easy for you to say, Mr. I-Can-Make-Ice-Cubes!” Sandro whispered.

“May I help you with something?” asked Mr. Kramer. He was smiling, but his eyes couldn’t hide his annoyance.

“We were…uh…” I was terrible at coming up with stories on the spot. “Uh…”

“This is a bank”—the manager squinted—“not a playground.”

“It’s not? Oh. That makes more sense. We were wondering where the swings and slides were,” Chloe said. “Our mistake. We’re going now.” Chloe tried to leave, but I caught her hand and gave her a pleading look.

“I think I need to contact your parents,” scoffed Mr. Kramer. This guy wasn’t fooling around. My parents would be furious if they knew what I was up to. But saving the city came first—especially when it meant earning some respect.

But then Sandro opened his big mouth. “Captain Tornado is on the loose! You do realize that, right? He could be heading here right now!” he shouted. So much for being cool. It was time to come clean.

“We aren’t sure, but you might be in terrible danger, Mr. Kramer,” I said. “A supervillain named Captain Tornado has been robbing every bank in town. We think your bank is next on his list.”

“You silly little boy. You have been reading too many of those comical books with the colorful art!” Mr. Kramer laughed. “Thank you for your concern, but we have top-notch security.”

“I think you mean comic books,” I said respectfully. “And your security doesn’t look top-notch.” I pointed to the security guards in the corners. They’d fallen asleep and were snoring like freight trains.

WHOOSH!

Suddenly, a giant gust of wind blew the front doors of the bank wide open. Papers went swirling everywhere, and Mr. Kramer’s hair flew right off his head! A roar filled the room as Captain Tornado arrived. His blustery presence even woke up the sleeping security guards.

“You know how this goes,” Captain Tornado announced. “Don’t try anything. Just give me all the money, and I won’t use my powers to blow this bank all the way to Oz!”

I ducked behind Chloe and Sandro. Then I put on my homemade hero mask and pulled up my hood. I didn’t have a real costume, but I still had to keep my secret identity secret.

“NOT SO FAST, CAPTAIN TORNADO!” is what I wanted to say. But it didn’t quite come out of my mouth that way. Instead, I said, “FAST NOT SO, TORNADO CAPTAIN!”

It was far from my finest moment. I was so scared, my knees were clicking together like two broomsticks. But it was time for me to stand my ground and be the hero I was meant to be—that is, if I didn’t poop my pants first.