Melvin flew between the tall buildings of Los Angeles. The moon was out and he could see his reflection in the glass. He hovered and flexed, then continued on. Flexing was not part of the Superhero’s Code. It was just a Melvin thing.
He tumbled to a stop on Candace’s front lawn, then went around back and threw a few pebbles at her bedroom window. He had once seen Romeo do this in the play Romeo and Juliet.
Candace opened the window and looked out.
“Hark!” Melvin said.
“What?”
“Oh, sorry, wrong story. Candace, I need your help.”
“You know I can’t save the world after dinnertime,” she said. And it was way beyond dinnertime. Candace was in her pajamas.
“Get your cape and let’s go,” Melvin said. “If we wait till tomorrow the trail will be cold and we’ll never catch him.”
“Catch who?”
“Someone is trying to kill The Grateful Fred!”
Candace looked shocked. She began to hum the melody of “Baby, Yeah, Yeah.”
Then she caught herself and said, “I love those guys.”
“Well, someone doesn’t. We have to find whoever it is before they try it again.”
“Meet me after school at the library,” Candace said. “Don’t you worry, Melvin Beederman. We’ll catch him, right after we do my math homework.”
This was their agreement. Melvin helped Candace with math, and she helped him save the world … one bad guy at a time.
Candace closed the window and disappeared behind the curtains, leaving Melvin alone in the backyard. Should he go off and try to find the bad guy tonight? Melvin thought this over, then shook his head. No, he was part of a team. He’d wait until his partner in uncrime could join him.
“Up, up, and away.”
Crash!
Splat!
Thud!
Kabonk!
Melvin flew home to his tree house. Hugo the rat was there waiting for him. “Squeaker squeakity?” Hugo said.
“Squeak,” Melvin replied. He didn’t feel like talking. Or squeaking, for that matter.