by Kara West
CONTENTS
CHAPTER 1 THE GOOD LUCK CHARM
CHAPTER 2 THE CAT-TASTROPHE
CHAPTER 3 THE POWER HOUR
CHAPTER 4 HOW STRONG IS TOO STRONG?
CHAPTER 5 EDDIE’S SUPERPOWER
CHAPTER 6 THE CRASH CLASS
CHAPTER 7 THE SAVE-THE-DAY DISASTER
CHAPTER 8 CODE MAROON
CHAPTER 9 THE BIG PITS CLEAN
CHAPTER 10 ONE LAST THING
‘MIA MAYHEM STOPS TIME!’ TEASER
ABOUT THE AUTHOR AND ILLUSTRATOR
CHAPTER 1
THE GOOD LUCK CHARM
My room is a mess. I’m digging around in my closet because I’ve ripped another shoelace. For some reason, they keep tearing in half when I try to pull the bunny ears through the loop.
Don’t ask me why. The only answer I’ve got is this: Disasters, even tiny little shoelace-size disasters, follow me around everywhere.
They happen during the day at regular school. And they also happen after school, at the Program for In Training Superheroes, aka the PITS. That’s the top secret training academy where I learn how to use my superpowers!
Yeah, you heard me right.
My name is Mia Macarooney, and I. Am. A. Superhero!
But at the PITS, I go by Mia Mayhem.
And guess what? So far, I’ve learned how to fly and run with superspeed.
But here’s the thing: Even superheroes sometimes have shoelace trouble.
So that’s why there was a huge mess on my floor when my mom walked into my room.
“Hey, sweetie. There’s something I want to give you,” she said as she sat down.
“Is it a new shoelace?” I asked.
“No, it’s way better than a shoelace,” she replied.
Then she held out a small box.
I took it from her hand and opened it. Inside, on top of a tiny cushion, was a shiny star pendant with a single blue stone in the middle, and lightning bolts on either side. It was the coolest necklace I’d ever seen.
“Wow, this is so cool!” I cried. “Is it my birthday today?”
“Ha! No, it isn’t,” she said, smiling. “But I know how hard you’ve been working lately. Going to regular school and juggling PITS training is a lot.”
I nodded. It was a lot sometimes.
“Your grandma gave this to me after I started training at the PITS. This was her necklace when she was a girl, and I think you’re ready to have it. It’s a family good luck charm!”
Good luck charm? Perfect. I needed all the luck I could get right now.
I thanked my mom and gave her a huge hug before she left.
Then I took a better look at the necklace. It was the perfect shade of blue and would even go with my suit.
It was so pretty that I couldn’t stop staring at it.
But then I had to. Because my cat suddenly jumped up, pushed me down, and started licking me like crazy before running off.
“Oh, Chaos! I can’t play right now!” I told her, sitting back up.
I love my cat, but sometimes she is a handful. Even for me.
I opened my hands to put the necklace on.
But then my stomach dropped.
My hands were empty.
I got up and did a quick scan of the floor. Then I checked all my pockets, took off my socks, and even looked inside my dirty old shoe.
But the necklace was gone!
CHAPTER 2
THE CAT-TASTROPHE
I’d been distracted for only one minute. That’s it. One minute!
But somehow, a tiny shoelace disaster had become an epic missing necklace search.
“Hey, Chaos!” I yelled, totally panicked. “Where is my necklace?”
I got down on my knees and looked at her face-to-face.
“You hid the necklace, didn’t you? Just so I’d play?”
She gave no response. But trust me. I know a cat smirk when I see one.
And the necklace had to be somewhere in my room. I just needed to know where to look.
I threw my favorite cat pillow off my bed.
Nope, not there.
So I picked up the bed itself and peeked under.
Lots of dust bunnies, but nope . . . not there either.
So next, I dumped all the dirty clothes out of my hamper.
Lots of smelly clothes, but again, no necklace.
Right then, as if on cue, Chaos dragged a pair of dirty pants across the floor, while wearing one of my socks!
Now usually, I’d run around chasing her . . . and make an even bigger mess.
But today, I really didn’t have time. So I stayed focused and kept searching.
I lifted up my dresser with one hand and checked under there.
Then I tossed it next to my dirty clothes.
Then I threw my chair on top.
Then my desk.
Then my bookcase, too.
Before I knew it, everything was stacked on top of one another.
But I still had no necklace.
Oh boy.
What was I supposed to tell my mom?
I looked up and saw Chaos lying on top of the bookcase near the ceiling. And that’s when I remembered: I’d been too busy looking under my stuff that I forgot that Chaos actually loves climbing to the very top of things . . . even if she can’t get back down.
My parents don’t usually use their powers inside the house.
So I’m guessing I shouldn’t either. But this was an emergency.
I flew to the top of the bookcase and grabbed Chaos with both hands.
And that’s when I saw it: The shiny star necklace was around her neck, hanging right in front of me this whole time.
Now, don’t ask me how she got the necklace on. I have no idea. But it doesn’t matter. I finally found it!
When we were back on the floor, I took the necklace from Chaos. Then I put it back inside the tiny jewelry box. After all that mayhem, I definitely was not going to wear it today.
I tucked the box safely underneath my blanket and then looked around. My room was a total disaster.
Hopefully, my mom wouldn’t notice because this mess would have to wait.
Right now, it was time for Power Hour at the PITS!
CHAPTER 3
THE POWER HOUR
You know what’s awesome about having superspeed? It really comes in handy when I’m late for my PITS training.
See what I mean? I’m already here! With even a few minutes to spare.
I did my quick superhero change trick and turned the DO NOT ENTER sign. A hidden screen popped up and scanned my face.
Pretty cool, right?
Well, let me tell you. It’s even cooler on the inside. From the outside, no one would ever guess that this building is a top secret training academy for superheroes . . . just like me!
The front entrance slid open, and I walked in. The main lobby, also known as the Compass, was really crowded today. Luckily, I was able to squeeze into the elevator going to the second level. That was where all the junior level classes were held.
Once I hopped off the elevator, I found Professor Dina Myte’s classroom. When I walked in, my jaw dropped to the floor. There was a full-size airplane right in front of me! But that wasn’t all. Next to it, there was a big rig with seven cars, a cruise ship, a submarine, a tractor, random telephone poles, and even a Ferris wheel.
“I hope we get to ride that,” whispered a friendly voice.
I turned around. It was Allie Oomph!
“Yeah, that’d be AWESOME!” I agreed.
I gave Allie a huge hug just as Penn Powers walked over.
“Hey, guys!” Penn said. “Ready for the Power Hour?”
We both nodded excitedly.
When Penn and I first met, we didn’t exactly get along. But luckily, that changed after he helped me in flying class. And then came Allie. Penn and I met her in superspeed class, and we became friends in a flash.
The bell rang just as Professor Myte appeared. “Welcome to your first Power Hour, everyone!” she said warmly.
I smiled at Penn and Allie.
“I hope you’re all excited. We’re going to start the lesson with some special guests. Please give them a warm welcome!” Professor Myte cheered.
Then, right on cue, a giant potbellied pig, three hippos, two camels, and an elephant walked in.
Now, believe it or not, I’ve already lifted an elephant before. It was part of my PITS placement exam. But I have no idea how I did it last time. Honestly, I think I was just lucky. So I kind of wish I had brought my new good luck charm.
But it was too late to worry now.
“All right, class,” Professor Myte continued. “There’s only one very important rule to controlling your strength: Keep your feet grounded and focus your energy in one place. Focus is key. Without it, this superpower can be very dangerous. But if you lift correctly, even the heaviest objects will be as light as a feather.”
Everyone then broke up into groups of three. And Allie, Penn, and I got to work.
Penn walked over, bent down, and easily picked up one of the camels.
Just like that!
Then Allie did the same . . . but with double the weight!
One camel was impressive. But one in each arm? That was crazy.
I wasn’t sure I could follow her.
But luckily, Professor Myte was right! The hippo really was as light as a feather.
After that, unlike some of the other kids in class, we breezed through everything.
From the cars, to the cruise ship, to the submarine, and even to the tractor.
At this rate, maybe I didn’t even need a good luck charm?
Or maybe I did.
CHAPTER 4
HOW STRONG IS TOO STRONG?
So, the next morning, I wore my new good luck charm around my neck. Then I walked to regular school, with my best friend, Eddie, just like always.
Now, Eddie’s my only friend who knows my super-secret. I admit, sometimes I wish I could tell the whole world. But as a superhero, I need to protect my secret identity.
I’m so glad I don’t have to keep it from Eddie, though.
Having someone on my side is really nice. Because when you’re just discovering that you have superpowers, weird things can happen.
Like pulling off a doorknob by mistake.
I looked at Eddie. And Eddie looked at me.
“Oh, how weird!” Eddie said so everybody could hear. “What a flimsy old doorknob!”
I gave Eddie a knowing shrug and handed the loose knob to my teacher.
At my desk, I plopped my backpack down like I always did.
But then one of the desk legs snapped right in two!
Luckily, my teacher moved me to an empty desk . . . without asking any questions. Sitting in the back, I hoped that I was in the clear for a normal-ish day. Until I broke every single one of my pencils.
I had no idea what was going on, but I needed to take a break.
In the bathroom, I splashed some water on my face and looked at the shiny blue necklace in the mirror. It looked awesome, but so far, it was not bringing me any luck.
I leaned over to turn off the water. When I touched the faucet, the whole thing snapped off! Spraying water EVERYWHERE!
I backed away from the sink and bumped into the stalls behind me.
Now, I really didn’t hit them that hard. But the next thing I knew, there was a loud creaking sound . . . and then the entire row of stalls toppled over! Within seconds, I was standing in the middle of a giant bathroom disaster.
Uh-oh. I had no idea what was happening. But I knew I had to leave before I made things worse.
Out in the hall, Mrs. Cruz, the principal, was passing by.
“Um, excuse me,” I said with a shaky voice. “There’s . . . a plumbing problem in that bathroom.”
Oh boy. I know I have a bit of a reputation for causing mayhem. But this has got to be one of my worse disasters ever.
CHAPTER 5
EDDIE’S SUPERPOWER
As I walked back into class, I took a deep breath and tried to look as normal as possible. I wanted to tell Eddie what happened. But with everyone around, it would have to wait.
For the rest of the morning, I moved as little as possible to keep from causing more mayhem.
But when it was time for gym class, I knew it’d be a very bad idea for me to play volleyball. That is, unless I wanted to punch a hole in the gym ceiling.
So I stood in the very back and didn’t dare to touch anything.
“Hey, Mia! What’s going on?” Eddie asked during a break. “You usually love volleyball.”
Before I opened my mouth, I made sure nobody was near us.
Then I took a deep breath and let it all out.
“My superpowers are out of whack. I keep breaking every single thing I touch!”
“Hmm, is this related to that time you broke the soccer goalposts by mistake?” Eddie asked.
“Yes, but that happened before I knew I was a superhero. Things are different this time,” I explained. “I would never try to use my powers here. But earlier this morning, I broke everything in the girls’ bathroom . . . by mistake!”
“No way! How bad do things look?” he asked.
“Really bad. That bathroom is going to be out of order for a long time,” I replied.
Eddie scrunched up his face. I could tell he was thinking hard.
“Hey, remember the nifty helper bot I built?” he finally asked after a long pause.
Of course I did. Eddie was the smartest person I knew. And he loved building and designing robots.
“Yeah, that robot was supposed to be a cleaning helper, but it nearly destroyed your house!” I replied.
He nodded and let out a small laugh.
“I know you’re feeling unlucky. And I have to admit, mayhem really does follow you around. But I’ve had my own trouble too . . . and I’m not even super!” he said. “Things might be crazy now, but trust me. Everything will be okay.”
“You think so?” I asked quietly.
“Totally,” he said. “I know how hard learning to fly was. But I believed in you. With practice, you figured out how to fly! We even tracked all those puppies together, remember?”
I was still really embarrassed. But I knew he was right.
Because like Eddie just said, he might not be literally super like me . . . but as we did our secret handshake, I realized that if he did have powers, it’d be that he could be a super-awesome friend.
CHAPTER 6
THE CRASH CLASS
I arrived at the PITS in a much better mood thanks to Eddie’s pep talk. Allie and Penn were already there. When I sat down, Penn noticed that there was something different about my suit.
“Hey, Mia! Cool necklace!” he said.
“Oh, thanks!” I said proudly. “It was my mother’s. And my grandmother’s before her. It’s a good luck charm!”
“How neat!” Allie exclaimed. “I wish I had a good luck charm too.”
I nodded. It was certainly nice to have.
But as far as physical strength goes, Allie didn’t need any luck.
I mean, come on. Did you see her lifting those camels? If anyone needed luck, it was me.
Right then, our teacher came bursting through the doors.
“All right, class. Yesterday we found out how strong you all are,” she began. “But today is the real test—when you’ll learn how to control your strength.”
My ears perked up. This was definitely something I needed to learn.
We got into the same groups as yesterday. Then Professor Myte explained the rules.
“You’ll need to lift and move the vehicle in front of you to the other sid
e of the room. But here’s the catch: The floor of every parking spot is covered in glass. So you must put each car down very gently.”
Oh boy. I’m totally not ready for this. Lucky for me, there were no rules on how fast or slow we had to move.
So Penn tried to fly.
Allie decided to run.
And me?
I walked. Really slowly.
And at first, I wasn’t that bad!
I easily lifted my car up into the air. I was about halfway across the room when my hands started to get really sweaty. And then I lost my grip.
A headlight and windshield wiper went flying off. And I dropped the car two more times before I even got to the glass floor. Now I just needed to figure out how to let go of the car without dropping it.
I looked over at Allie. She was already on her second round! I watched as she gently placed her car in the spot.
Wow. I didn’t know how much practice it was going to take for me to match her level of control. But it was not going to happen today.
Just when I thought my luck couldn’t get any worse . . . it did.
By the end of class, my car was in really bad shape. It was missing a door, had no tires, and had a broken steering wheel.
