CHAPTER 12
LASERS AND LIGHTNING AND LINT, OH MY!
Lasers streaked across the multi-purpose room. So did lightning bolts, streams of extra-hot taco sauce, snowballs, grappling hooks, bungee cords, sock lint, harpoons, and ping-pong balls.
Diving for cover, Larryboy made his way underneath the walkers, chairs, and tables, while deadly objects flew through the air right above him. It was like being in a war zone. Larryboy eventually squirmed his way to where Pruneman was sitting.
“Larryboy!” Pruneman shouted happily, looking down at his purple friend. “What a surprise! Wanna play Superhero Bingo with me!”
“This is Bingo?” Larryboy asked, crawling up and onto a chair. The weapons had finally stopped firing. “I thought Bingo was … uh … a quieter game.”
“Not with superheroes,” chuckled Pruneman. “See those giant Bingo cards over there by the wall?”
Larryboy nodded. On the far wall was a line of enormous Bingo cards. The cards were splattered, charred, and stuck with just about every superhero weapon imaginable—from mud-bombs and ice cream to darts and fireballs.
“My card is the third one from the left,” said Pruneman. “If they call a number that’s on my card, I fire my prune pits at it. I have to hit just the right spot on the card for it to count,” Pruneman giggled. “Unfortunately, a lot of us don’t have the aim we used to have.”
So true. Most of the shots were way off the mark. A lot of the superhero weapons misfired and missed the target altogether, doing deep damage to the wall behind the cards. In fact, an entire section of the multi-purpose room’s wall was missing.
“B-4,” said a voice over the intercom.
“That’s me!” shouted Pruneman, jumping out of his chair.
Weapons fired from all sides.
POW! KA-BLOOEY! SWOOSH! BA-BOOM! RAT-A-TAT! CLICK, CLICK, CLICK.
Pruneman tried to fire prune seeds from his ear, but nothing came out.
“Aw fiddlepits!” he said. “I’ve got B-4, but I’m fresh out of pit power.” Pruneman turned to Larryboy. “Quick, fire a plunger for me at B-4.”
“Huh?”
“Fire a plunger at B-4 on my Bingo card! If I win this game, I’ll get an all-expense paid trip to Flimflamhamshire for the annual polyester harvest!”
Larryboy stood up and stared at the Bingo card—like a gunslinger sizing up his enemy. His eyes narrowed as he took aim.
Larryboy’s plunger zipped across the room, threading its way through the barrage of weapons.
THWACK!
The plunger hit dead center on B-4.
“Hot diggity!” Pruneman shouted, jumping into the air. “Larryboy, you’re a natural at this game!”
“Nice shot, young fellow!” said an elderly superhero carrot from his rocking chair—which hovered in mid-air.
“That’s my partner,” said Pruneman proudly. He smiled at Larryboy.
As a couple of other senior superheroes nodded their approval, a smile grew on Larryboy’s face. He was actually beginning to like this.
Even more surprising, he was beginning to like Pruneman.
