The Power of Teamwork!

by Katrina Kahler

  “So that’s good, right?”

  Doctor Gem’s eyes shot open wide, almost taking up the top half of her head. “My gosh, yes! So so good! They will have the power, yet they’ll also have control. They can remove their shoes without knocking out a mall!”

  “Ah, I think Super Teen just knocked out a part of the mall,” I said defensively, probably more so than I should have.

  Doctor Gem looked at me with a tilted head. “Yes, knocking out part of a mall with super stink foot is SO much better!”

  “Actually, many of the people that Super Teen put to sleep claimed it was a pleasant experience,” I pointed out, unable to stop myself.

  “Yes, well their heads were most likely spinning from whatever pheromones Super Teen zapped them with!” Doctor Gem retorted.

  Before I could respond, Jason came popping out of the lab. He had an extra kick in his step. Jason must have heard our conversation as he seemed anxious to break it up.

  “Ah, hi, Lia and Doctor Gem! It’s been a great morning and now I’m ready to walk home.” Jason grabbed me by the arm. “Come on Lia, let’s get moving.”

  I didn’t budge. Jason pulled back. He knew if I didn’t want to move, he couldn’t move me. Still, he knew he had to make me move. Jason gave me a friendly nudge. “Come on, ice cream is on me! I’m so anxious to tell you about all I saw in this amazing lab!”

  Somehow that brought me back to my senses. I took a deep breath. I took another deep breath. I looked Doctor Gem in her green eyes. “I really look forward to learning more about your amazing technology!”

  “I’d love to demo it for you any time!” Doctor Gem told me. She pulled an old pocket watch out of her lab coat pocket. “Look at the time, I have an appointment with a potential patient!”

  Doctor Gem walked into her lab. Jason and I started walking home. Jason pretty much rushed me out of the hospital, just in case I was tempted to start up my conversation with Doctor Gem again.

  “So, how was your morning?” Jason asked, giving me a little nudge.

  “You know, same old, same old,” I told him. “Met a few nice people, including this older gentleman named Anthony, who wanted to be a patient of Doctor Dangerfield’s. Oh, and of course I had to carry a GIANT HUMONGOUS lab rat back into his maze!”

  “Oh man, you got to meet Algernon!” Jason sighed in a weird mix of sadness and jealousy and awe.

  I stopped walking. “Wait, you know about this?”

  He nodded. “Yes, of course. Doctor Dangerfield is very open about all her research with us. She says she wants to encourage great young minds like ours to go to college and do amazing things.”

  “So the good doctor does cyber implants and grows giant rats?” I asked.

  “Well yes, she’s more interested in the intelligence aspect of it though. She’s all about helping people to improve. She’s also into robotics,” Jason spat his words with excitement. He was talking a million words a minute.

  I wiped a bit of spit from my face.

  “Oops, sorry,” Jason said. “I do get excited sometimes.” He paused. “Wait, you met one of our potential patients?”

  “Yeah, a nice man named Anthony. He was cool. But Doctor Dangerfield didn’t think he was a good fit.”

  “She said the same thing to the lady we met today,” Jason told me.

  “Okay, can you get her name and address?” I asked Jason.

  “Sure, I think so, but why?” he asked.

  “I want to talk to her, to see if Doctor Gem offered her anything,” I said. “My gut tells me something is rotten. Now I’m not sure if it’s Doctor Gem or Doctor Dangerfield!”

  Jason looked at me. “So you’ve opened up your mind?”

  “I’m willing to consider other options.”

  Jason smiled. “I’ll see what I can find.” He tapped me on the shoulder. “You know you can use google too!”

  I nodded. “Yes, I am aware of that. I just don’t have your flair for it. I believe your superpower is being a wiz with computers,” I smiled.

  “You’re flattering me, Lia.”

  “With the truth, Jason.”

  He sighed. “I’ll see what I can do.”

  We arrived at our home. “Okay Jason, thanks. When you find out that info, please let me know as soon as possible.”

  Jason nodded. “I think her last name was Gold… but I’ll check.”

  As I headed into my house, I thought Gold? I wonder if she’s related to Brandon.

  Strange Visit…

  I walked into my house and kicked off my shoes. Funny thing, Shep didn’t rush up to meet me. I picked up my shoes and sniffed them. Could they have knocked Shep out from a distance? “No, they weren’t THAT bad….”

  I moved into the living room. I dropped down on the couch. Sure, I had only spent a half day at the hospital but it had been an eventful half a day. I saw Shep sleeping in the kitchen. Now that struck me as strange. Shep usually got up as soon as he saw me enter the house.

  “Man, I didn’t think my shoes smelled that bad?” I said out loud.

  “Actually I don’t believe they are near lethal to mammals,” I heard a familiar voice say. “Your father’s and my nano-technology is working just great.”

  I turned to see Hana coming in from the kitchen. I jumped up. “What the heck are you doing here?”

  Hana looked at me. “Your father wanted me to check in on you,” Hana said innocently.

  I pointed at Shep. “If you hurt my dog!”

  Hana shook her head. She turned her head totally around to look at Shep. That creeped me out. She looked at me. “No, he seemed nervous about me being in your home so I used a sonic beam to put him to sleep.”

  “Why?” I asked.

  Hana grinned. “I don’t want him to interfere with our testing.”

  I tilted my head. “Wait, are you checking in or testing me?” I asked, sounding far more confused than I wanted to.

  Hana walked towards me. “For me, checking in and testing is the same.” Her arms expanded outwards. She grabbed me and lifted me up. “Remember, yesterday you said we could spar!”

  “Put me down!” I ordered.

  “If you insist!” Hana said. She flung me across the room. I crashed into a wall, leaving a big dent. I rolled down the wall and landed on my feet. Before I could say ‘what the heck?’ I saw two fists racing towards me. I ducked. The fists each left more dents in the wall.

  I looked over my shoulder at the dents. “If I don’t rip you to shreds my mom will.”

  Hana walked towards me slowly. “Don’t worry, our construction people will make all repairs.”

  I rolled my sleeves up. “Let’s hope they can put you back together again!” I said. I leaped at her, “Actually let’s hope they can’t!”

  I hit Hana so hard her head popped off. The head flew up, crashed off the ceiling, then hit the floor. Her eyes looked up. Her hands on her now separated body pointed to the new cracks in the ceiling. “Now that is your fault!” she said. Her body walked over, reached down and picked up her head. The head molded itself back to the body.

  Hana took a fighting position. “I hope you can do better!”

  My initial reaction was to flatten her with a fart, but Shep was behind her and I didn’t want to risk hurting (or killing) him. I dropped back into a fighting stance. I waved her forward with my front hand. “Come on, machine, let’s see what you have!”

  Actually, I felt kind of excited about the chance to be able to really test out my powers. Normally, I have to be extra cautious when dealing with people or animals. But here and now I could let it rip. And boy, did I!

  I flashed forward at Hana. I pummeled her with at least a hundred punches in less than ten seconds. Each punch, I felt her body bending and contorting a bit. I pulled back. Hana looked like a beat up trashcan. But I had to give her credit, she stayed on her feet.

  I blew on her. She fell to the ground. Just to make sure she stayed there, I thought cold thoughts: ice, ice cream, icebergs. I cov
ered her with a blast of frozen super breath.

  My watch beeped. I put it up to my face. Dad’s face appeared on the watch face. He smiled. “Wow, that was amazing!”

  “Dad, why did you send your Android assistant after me?”

  Dad didn’t stop grinning. “I wanted to test you and help you let your power out! I knew she couldn’t hurt you.”

  I showed him the house. “Yeah, well our house isn’t nearly as indestructible as I am!”

  Dad still had that grin on his face. “Repair crew will be there in five. They will also return Hana to me.”

  “Yeah, I don’t think all the king’s horses and all the king’s men will be able to put Hana together again…,” I said. “She won’t be rebooting!”

  “Don’t fret!” Dad said. “I’ve got Hana 2.0 here!” Behind Dad, I saw another Hana stick her head over his shoulder. She gave me a thumbs up. Gee whenever I think my life can’t get any weirder it does.

  Dear Diary: my dad sent a super Android out to test me, and by testing me I mean attempting to rip me apart. Luckily for both of us, I’m pretty darn strong and tough. Extra lucky for Dad that his crew was able to put our house back together before mom got home. They worked fast, I give them that. I must admit, I did enjoy cutting loose. I guess Dad knew I would. After all, this wasn’t the first time I’d battled a super machine made by Dad’s company. I wonder if I should worry about that?

  TXT U…

  That night after dinner, I sat on the couch. Mom rested next to me pretending to be reading a medical journal, but I knew she would sneak peaks at what I was watching. I planned to veg out and just watch some of my favorite TV shows. I wanted to turn my mind off and relax. That’s when I got a text from Jason.

  JASON>Got her name, it’s Greta Gold

  LIA>Great! Thks! Address?

  JASON>She’s unlisted

  LIA>Think she’s related to Brandon????

  JASON>Want me to ask him?

  I had to think about this reply for all of one second.

  LIA>I’ll txt him

  JASON>U sure? U’ll risk the wrath of Wendi!

  LIA>I’ll take my chances

  JASON>Good luck.

  Mom looked at me. “What’s going on?” she asked.

  I shrugged. “Just a text from Jason…”

  I could tell Mom wanted to pry more. So I gave her just enough information to keep her happy. “Just work stuff!” I smiled.

  “I hope you’re not asking Jason to be your spy on Doctor Dangerfield!” Mom said. Yeah, Mom read me well.

  “No, no,” I assured her. “This isn’t about Doctor Dangerfield!” I didn’t lie.

  Okay, I had to be careful with this text to Brandon. I mean, after all, Brandon was the best looking boy in the school. Yeah, he went out with Wendi, proving he wasn’t perfect. But outside of that, he seemed pretty darn close. I found him to be smart, handsome and really nice. Plus, he seemed to enjoy being school president. And I know Jason says Brandon makes a great teammate in LAX. But still, he does go out with Wendi. Well, like Grandma Betsy says, “no accounting for taste…”

  I wanted to word my text carefully. My phone gave me an alert.

  JASON> Don’t over think this. Just ask him about his grandma. Tell him it’s 4 work

  Man, Jason knew me well too.

  LIA>I am not over thinking!

  JASON> Have you sent it yet?

  LIA>Been talking to my mom…

  JASON>Sure…sure

  Oh man, he really did know me

  LIA>Sending it now

  LIA>Just want to make sure it’s perfect!

  JASON> You know I like the guy, but he’s not perfect. He farts like everybody else!

  JASON>Okay, actually I’ve never heard him fart

  JASON>Oh NM

  JASON>C U 2morrow

  My my, did I detect a bit of jealousy from Jason? Jason is so darn nice though. Even when he’s jealous, he still can’t put a guy down. I smiled. But I got off track.

  I sent this text: LIA STRONG>Hey Brandon, this is Lia, just wondering if your grandma’s name is Greta?

  But I didn’t expect an immediate reply. My eyes popped open when I received a sudden alert from my phone. From the sound, I knew it wasn’t Jason. Looking down I saw…

  BRANDON GOLD>Hey Lia, yes as a matter of fact Grams is named Greta. Why?

  Oh how cute! He called his grandma, Grams. Could that Brandon get any more adorable?

  LIA STRONG> She left her reading glasses at the hospital. I’d like to return them to her. After all, she is such a sweet woman.

  BRANDON GOLD>Yeah, Grams is the best! But yes, she’s forgetful. I can pick up the glasses from u and bring them to her!

  OMG, Brandon offered to come to my house! That would be great. I took a breath. Except of course for the fact that I didn’t really have any glasses to return, and I needed to talk to Grandma Gold. I pressed back the urge to say, sure.

  LIA STRONG> That’s so nice of u but I better do this myself. It’s my job

  BRANDON GOLD>Ok that’s great!

  LIA STRONG>Can I have her address?

  BRANDON GOLD>Doesn’t the hospital have it?

  Oh, that was a good point. Brandon wasn’t just a handsome face. Think, Lia, think. Come on, brain.

  LIA STRONG>Yes of course they do. But silly me, I was so excited about my first day, I misplaced it. I don’t want to look bad. Sorry…. 

  BRANDON GOLD>No, I get it. She lives at 72 Creek Street

  LIA STRONG>Thanks Brandon, ur great. Please don’t tell anybody

  BRANDON GOLD>I think most people know I’m great

  What the?

  BRANDON GOLD>LOL 

  So I had it.

  I texted Jason.

  LIA> I got it. 72 Creek Street

  JASON> Great

  LIA> We can visit her before work tomorrow…Creek Street is on the way 2 the hospital.

  JASON>Sure

  LIA>Oh by any chance do you have an extra pair of reading glasses?

  JASON>I will c what I cn do!

  Dear Diary: How did kids talk before texting? I mean yeah, they probably used the phone and talked in person but texting is so fast and fun.

  Morning has broken…

  I got up, grabbed a quick breakfast and left mom a note saying because it was such a nice day, Jason and I had decided to walk to the hospital. I knew she’d suspect something was up, but she wouldn’t be able to ask me about it until after she got off her shift. By then, the deed would have been done. Nothing to be done about it after that, I don’t think even Tanya can reverse time.

  Heading out my door, I noticed none other than Wendi pacing up and down in front of my house. I swear I could see steam coming out of her ears. My first instinct was to super speed by her. But no, I couldn’t do that. This was a real-world problem and I needed to deal with in a real way. My second instinct was to just knock her out. One fart in her general direction and she’d be toast for the day. But nope, as good as that might have felt and as tempting as it may have been, I needed to face Wendi. Heck, I had done nothing wrong.

  I took a deep breath as I opened the door. Wendi shot across the yard towards me. Her face growing redder and her eyes growing smaller with each step. “Strong, what are you doing texting Brandon?” she shouted.

  I walked towards her slowly, like I’d approach a very dangerous cobra.

  “Ah, Wendi…” I said.

  Wendy got in my face, so close that I could smell her breath. Of course, it smelled pleasant. “Don’t oh hi me! I invented the innocent, oh hi!”

  I put up a hand. “Wendi, I just texted Brandon about his Grandma Greta…”

  “Wait. What? Who? Why?”

  I took a step back. “Wendi, we had some contact with Grandma Greta at the hospital. She left her reading glasses there. Jason and I were going to return them to her in person. She seemed like such a sweet lady.”

  Wendi put a finger in my face. She really wanted me to get upset and lose my calm. “Of cour
se she’s sweet! She’s related to Brandon. The guy is as sweet as they come.”

  I fought back the urge to say, “yeah what the heck does he see in you?” Wendi dropped back, slouched and sighed. “Sometimes I think he’s even too sweet for me…” She took a breath. She looked up at me. “I mean I’ve never even seen him in a bad mood or complain. He got a 90 on a test once, and told me how it was his fault for not working harder.”

  “Yeah, I can see where that could be annoying,” I said, stopping myself from rolling my eyes.

  Wendi put a hand on my shoulder. She looked me in the eyes. “Good, I’m glad. Most people think it must be great having a perfect boyfriend. But I tell you, it’s a lot of pressure. I guess that’s why I get so defensive I’m always afraid he’ll see I’m not good enough for him and leave me.”

  I’d never seen this vulnerable side to Wendi before. I kind of liked it. I put my hand on her shoulder. “I assure you, Wendi, the texts were purely business. His grandma seems like a nice lady who Jason and I want to help out. That’s it. I’m sure Brandon won’t break up with you.” I took a step back and pointed at her. “Look at you, you’re pretty, you’re smart, you’re a great LAX player! You’re pretty perfect yourself.” Okay, my stomach churned with nausea just a little, saying those last words.

  Wendi looked at me. “I’ve got nothing to worry about?”

  I shook my head. “Nope,” I told her. Then added. “Well, except maybe global warming. I think we should all be worried about that.”

  Wendi laughed. “That’s what I like about you Lia, you’re funny in your own simple way!”

  “Gee thanks…” I said.

  She patted me on the shoulder. “I don’t know WHAT I was thinking! No way Brandon would ever leave me for anybody. And certainly not you! Woah, sorry to bother you, girl. Thanks for returning Grandma’s glasses.”

  Wendi turned and walked away. I fought back the huge urge I had to burn her in the butt with my heat ray vision. I gave myself a pat on the back. Not only for not burning Wendi’s butt, instead, for solving a real-world problem without using any superpowers.