by David Estes
Chapter Twenty-Two: The bomb
When Nikki woke up the next day, she was worried. All her jubilation from the previous day’s rescue was gone and she was scared of being captured by the government, or Russian spies, or maybe even the mafia. Hoping to take her mind off of things, she logged onto her laptop.
The top local news headline was, “Nikki Powergloves Performs Astonishing Rescue.” She read through the article. Most of it was as expected, with quotes from witnesses, a link to the video, and commentary on the event. She reached the last line, which read, “Nikki Powergloves and our town have become major National news and have captured the attention of people across the country.” Oh no, she thought.
Switching to a National news website, Nikki found that her video had made the top-ten list for the day; she was currently sitting at number four. Needing to talk to the only other person that knew the truth, Nikki logged onto her instant messenger. As usual, Spencer was online. Their conversation went like this:
NikkNack14: hi spence
SpicNSpence29: hi N, u r big news, crikey!
NikkNack14: i saw, not happy
SpicNSpence29: don’t worry
NikkNack14: how can i not worry? they will come 4 me soon
SpicNSpence29: u r 2 fast, they will never catch u. vroom vroom!
NikkNack14: thx, but still worried they will
SpicNSpence29: hang in there. we can lay low for now, come over later and we can play a game or something
NikkNack14: ok, be there soon
Nikki logged out and slammed the laptop lid shut. Tucking the laptop under her arm she rushed out of her room without doing any of her morning chores. She skipped breakfast and was barely able to answer her mom’s question of “Where are you off to, Nikki?” with “Spencer’s, be back soon,” before she had run out the door.
When she arrived at Spencer’s, he was eating a bowl of Chocolate Covered Sugar Wheats. He called it his brain food. Wheat was good for you, he reasoned. Nikki poured herself a bowl, too.
Between munch’s, she said, “What am I going to do, Spence? I’ve been defeated by Jimmy twice now, destroyed half the town with my powers, and now there are all kinds of government people looking for me!”
Spencer tried to calm her down. “Look, Darkwing-Duck, I have never been involved in anything like this before, so I don’t have all the answers. But what if you could ask anyone in the world, living or dead, what to do, who would you ask?”
Without hesitation she replied, “Grandpa Bernard.”
“You knew your grandpa pretty well, Nikki. What do you think he would say to you?”
She hesitated. Closing her eyes, she tried to remember some of her favorite memories of her grandpa. Various images swirled through her mind, spinning and fading away. One image stuck with her and played clearly in her memory, like an old movie, in black and white. She was in a crowd of people lining a street. Children were laughing and running around. Some were eating ice cream or cotton candy. Somehow she was able to see everything clearly; it felt like she was above the crowd, levitating. Looking down, she noticed a familiar shiny head, ringed by wispy, gray hair. Grandpa Bernard! The details came whooshing back into her mind. She was sitting on his shoulders; it was the day of the 50th Annual Cragglyville 4th of July Parade, the year before her Grandpa died. When the mounted policemen passed by, she and Grandpa cheered especially loud. Next came the high school marching band and some other floats built by local business owners. Last was the Mayor’s car, a shiny, black, classic Mercedes Benz convertible—“the finest car in the world,” her grandpa called it. The mayor waved and honked his horn at the roaring crowds. Grandpa Bernard lifted Nikki high above his head and strode forward away from the townspeople and onto the road, on a collision course with the Mayor’s car. The Mercedes stopped and he lifted her over the side, setting her down in the passenger’s seat. Mayor Apple tousled her hair and said, “Welcome to the Parade, Nikki.” She just smiled, in awe of the town leader. The crowd cheered louder. Later that day, Grandpa Bernard had said to her, “Today, Nikki, you were a star. But you will always be a star. My shining star. No matter what life throws at you, you will be able to handle it, because you are a star!”
“Nikki? Helloooo?”
Nikki shook her head and opened her eyes. Spencer was staring at her, waving a hand across her face. “I thought you fell asleep, zzzzzz,” he said.
“No, I was just remembering something.”
“About your grandpa?”
“Yes. He would have believed in me. He said I was a star.”
“You are, Nikks. He was right.”
“Thanks, Spence,” she said, giving her friend a quick but warm hug. Her face was relaxed; there was no trace of the stress that had plagued her earlier.
At that moment, a blinding light burst from her powerbracelet and her face changed, a look of determination replacing her previously calm face.
“You’re right, Spencer. As you said before, ‘With great power comes great responsibility.’ I can do this. Can I use your bathroom?”
Less than a minute later, she emerged as Nikki Powergloves, child superhero. Her hands were covered, one with a peach glove and the other with a gold glove. “Time to go,” she said.
“Good luck, Ping-Pong-Ball,” Spencer replied.
Nikki pressed the clock symbol on her gold glove and in a flash, the powerbracelet transported her to Main Street, outside of the bank. Unsure of what to do next, Nikki looked all around her, hoping to find a clue. She heard the door to the bank swing open and an old security guard with a bald head and a gray, curly mustache exited onto the sidewalk. Her bracelet pulsed in excitement; Nikki could feel the energy streaming through her bones.
Knowing by some instinct what she needed to do next, she followed the security guard halfway down the block, where he slipped into an alley and lit up a cigarette. Apparently, it was time for his break. Rather than follow him into the alley, Nikki pressed the identical stick figures symbol on her peach glove and rapidly transformed into the old security guard.
As she strode back down the sidewalk toward the bank, she couldn’t help but to giggle when she saw her reflection in the shop windows that she passed. She looked so old…and so wrinkly!
Upon arriving at the bank, she entered quietly and tried to look like she belonged there. After all, she was the security guard and was probably allowed anywhere in the bank. She tried to close her mind off to all thoughts, except for why she had been brought to this place. As she allowed her instincts to guide her, she could feel the bracelet pulsing softly on her wrist.
Nikki strolled through the “Employees Only” gate, and a black man with glasses sitting at a teller’s window, said, “Hey, Boggs, I thought you were going for a smoke.”
Keeping her cool, Nikki replied in a voice that was foreign to her: the old man’s voice. “Nah, tryin’ to quit. That stuff will kill ya.” She kept walking past the tellers and through a doorway that led into the bank offices. As she walked down the narrow hallway, the bracelet began to pulse faster. I must be heading in the right direction, she thought.
The hall ended in a “T” and she let her instincts turn her to the right, which led her to a door with a sign on it that read, “Restricted Access to Authorized Personnel Only.” Now she was getting somewhere.
She noticed that when she took on the appearance of the old man, she obtained not only his clothes, but everything that was in his pockets, including his keys and ID card. She swiped the ID against a small electronic reader on the wall, and the door made a clicking sound. Pushing the door open slowly, she peeked into the area beyond. It was the bank vault!
The massive steel vault door appeared to be more secure than Fort Knox and for a second, she wondered why she could possibly have been brought here. If someone was going to try to rob the bank, they would need a small army to get through the door. But the bracelet was pulsing wildly now, so she knew she was in the right place. There was nowhere else to go but into the vaul
t. But how would she get in?
She sat down behind a large water pipe in the corner to think, hoping that the answer might present itself. Just in the nick of time, she pulled her knees to her chest, obscuring her entire body from view. She heard the closed door open again, and a short man wearing spectacles and carrying a cane entered the room. Nikki poked one eye out from behind the pipe and watched the man.
He was mumbling something, most of which Nikki couldn’t hear, but she was able to pick up a few words. “Darn Mrs Peppers….she always…got to get her diamonds…” Nikki heard a series of beeps as the man entered the code for the vault. The steel door groaned open. Just as Nikki was considering leaving her hiding spot to follow him into the vault, the man gasped.
“Oh my gosh. A bomb? But how? Ten seconds?” He rushed out of the vault and through the door into the hallway, not bothering to close the vault door. The words, “a bomb…ten seconds,” rang through Nikki’s head. How could she diffuse a bomb in only ten seconds?
