You may be asking yourself why, with all the extra-sensitive hearing at the academy, no one was popping up, saying “Not so fast” or some other superhero lingo. The answer is that superheroes don’t sleep with their capes on. The ones at the academy didn’t, anyway. No cape, no sensitive hearing. It was as simple as that.
Wait a minute. Was that simple?
The three bad guys crept down the hall of the second floor. This was indeed where the students slept. They checked every room until they found a kid with a J hairdo. This was Superhero James, of course. On the other side of the room slept Melvin Beederman.
Goofball and his companions didn’t know this. They just saw a lump under the covers. Goofball pulled the blanket back, and there he was—the younger, uncaped version of Melvin Beederman.
Max grabbed him by the ankle and lifted him. He tried to cover Melvin’s mouth with his other hand, but not before Melvin yelped. This woke up James, who looked like he was on the verge of yelping himself. Max quickly tossed Melvin over to Goofball and Calamity, who gagged him, then he went after James.
But James was no match for the thick-necked Max. One swat and James was out cold.
“Let’s go before anyone wakes up,” Goofball said.
They hurried down the hall with the now bound-and-gagged Melvin. Then they shot down the stairs and out the front door. You should have seen three bad guys and a future superhero make their getaway on a single bike.
In fact, Mr. Illustrator, you’re on!
* * *
The sun was just coming up when Melvin and Candace arrived at the Superhero Academy. The front door was wide open. “Not a good sign,” Melvin said.
They raced inside and up the stairs to Melvin’s former bedroom. James still lay unconscious on the floor. A few slaps brought him to. “James, what happened?”
“Melvin, you’re okay. How’d you get away? How’d you— Hey, where’d you get the cape?”
This wasn’t going to be easy to explain. Should Melvin tell him that he was from the future and had come back to save his younger self? After some thought, he decided that would take too long.
“I’m Melvin’s uncle … uh … Fred.”
“Melvin has an uncle? Hmm. Well, you look like him, that’s for sure. You look exactly like him.” James stared at Melvin. Everything about him was the same. The hair. The freckles. The buckteeth.
“Yep, that’s me. Uncle Fred. Where’s Melvin?”
“There were three of them,” James said. “One of them had an enormous neck and an even bigger fist.” He touched his head lightly where it still hurt. “One punch is all it took.”
Melvin and Candace exchanged looks. “Max the Wonder Thug,” they said together. They’d know that oversized neck and fist anywhere.
“Which way did they go?” Melvin asked.
James shook his head. “Beats me. I was unconscious, remember?”
“Do you have a Lair Hill in town, by any chance?” Candace asked.
“No, but we have a Sinister Street, which is right next to Devious Drive,” James said. “Will that work?”
“Lead the way,” Melvin said.
James, Melvin, and Candace left the building. The question was: Were they already too late?