by Mike Jung
“Vincent! And Captain Stupendous?” she said. Before I could stop myself I ran over and hugged her, and she hugged me back hard. It should have felt embarrassing and annoying to do that in front of Stupendous, but it didn’t. Mom leaned back and put her hands on my cheeks, which was embarrassing and annoying for her to do in front of Stupendous. I twisted my head out of her grip.
“Geez, Mom, don’t do that.”
“What are you doing here?”
What kind of stupid question was that?
“I got caught in the middle of a fight,” I said.
“Are you, um, okay … ma’am?” Stupendous asked.
“I’m fine, I’m fine. Dennis is psychologically unstable but I don’t believe he’d actually hurt me,” Mom said, brushing off her skirt. She tilted her head to look at Stupendous. “What possessed you to bring my son down here, Captain?”
Oh, for crying out loud …
Stupendous shifted from one foot to the other.
“I don’t know,” he said.
“Mom, did you and Dad really go to high school with Professor Mayhem?”
“Yes, Vincent, and I’ll tell you all the details, I promise. But we should get to safety first, don’t you think?”
“Um, yeah, let’s get out of here,” I said. “I think—”
“Did you hear something?” Stupendous said. He spun around and walked out of the room. Mom and I hustled after him.
We were halfway across the giant room, so the robot was pretty far away. We were still close enough to see a tiny person reach the top of the ladder and stagger into the robot’s head, though. The tongue walkway pulled back into the head, the robot’s face slid down into place, and the glassy robot eyes lit up.
“Oh, you’ve gotta be kidding,” I said.
“Why didn’t we tie him up?” Stupendous held his hands in front of his face, like claws, then clenched them into fists and lowered them down to chest level. He stepped backward with one foot, looking ready to fly, but Mom grabbed his arm.
“Wait,” she said. “Look at him.”
The robot took a couple of lurching steps forward, looking like it might lose its balance.
“He doesn’t look so good,” I said.
“Duh,” Stupendous said. “He was bleeding all over the place, you know.”
“What happened?” Mom’s head swiveled back and forth between me and Stupendous.
“Um, Captain Stupendous knocked out Professor Mayhem,” I said, trying to think fast. “Mayhem hit his head on the floor.”
“He must have a concussion,” Mom said. “And a cut on his scalp—head wounds bleed a lot.”
“Good,” Stupendous said. “Makes it easy to take him down.”
Mom smiled at Stupendous in a tight-lipped way. “Dennis is a fighter, Captain. He always has been, even if he hasn’t always looked the part.”
“Also, he’s still inside an indestructible giant robot,” I said. “That kind of makes up for the concussion.”
It took the robot three steps to reach the spot where the tables full of mad scientist junk started, and it stopped there, looking down. For a crazy second I wondered if he was looking for his missing gyroscope. Gyroscope … gyroscope …
DING, DING, DING! I dug into my pocket in a panic, and as I pulled out Mayhem’s gyroscope I thought of the clearest plan I’d ever thought of, all the way from start to finish, like a movie inside my brain. The gyroscope was the key to defeating Professor Mayhem!
I looked around frantically and saw the spare robot head. BING! That was our way out. “The spare head!”
“What about the spare head?” Stupendous said, keeping his eyes on the robot.
“You can give us a ride out of here inside it,” I said.
Mom looked over at the head. “It’s a shame it’s not made of indestructium,” she said.
“You know about indestructium too?” Stupendous said.
“I’ve been here for a while, remember. And Dennis has always loved the sound of his own voice.”
Mayhem’s robot took one step between the tables and stopped, like Mayhem didn’t want to bust up his own stuff.
“Once we’re outside, we launch Plan B,” I said, hoping Stupendous would just go along with it.
“Plan B? You wanna refresh my memory?”
Sheesh. Max and George would have taken the hint the first time.
“Plan B! Remember?”
Professor Mayhem, of all people, saved me from having to bluff it out any longer. “CURSES!” he yelled, and totally stomped one of his own mad scientist tables into bits as he came after us.
“Now!” I said. “Bash a hole in the ceiling and get us out of here—go!”
Stupendous launched straight up while Mom and I sprinted for the table with the spare head. There was a CRASH overhead, and as I climbed onto the table I felt a few drops of water sprinkle down on me. There was a THUMP on the floor behind me, then another CRASH from the ceiling. I climbed up into the spare head and pawed all around the inside, looking for some way to close up the face as Mom climbed in after me.
“NO!” Mayhem’s voice yelled. “WHERE ARE YOU GOING, VIOLET? STAY WITH ME!” I heard a glassy CRUNCH, a metallic RRRRIPPP, and the CLANG of giant robot footsteps.
I also heard one more CRASH from the ceiling, and I saw a stinky, green waterfall appear over Mom’s shoulder. Then Stupendous’s upside-down head appeared, looking into the spare head from above.
“Get inside!” he said. There was a big, padded chair in the middle of the head, with a big egg-shaped helmet on the seat.
“You take the seat, Vincent,” Mom said.
Fine by me! I tossed the helmet to the side and sat in the chair. Stupendous’s head disappeared, and the face suddenly clamped shut, BANG. Of course, it was totally dark inside the spare head. I had the feeling that putting on a seat belt wasn’t a bad idea, so I felt all around the seat for straps and buckles. Nothing. A spare head that Mayhem wasn’t finished making—well, that was just super.
KACHUGGANUNK!
KAWHUMP!
KAWHAAAAMMMMM!
It sounded like Stupendous and the robot were really cracking skulls out there. The spare head jerked around like crazy. I grabbed at the sides of the chair, but I missed my grip and toppled out. If I had a dollar for every time I’d fallen over since meeting Polly Winnicott-Lee, I could have bought a new porcupine car.
Mom kept her balance at first, but she tried to grab me as I fell out of the chair, which made her lose her grip on the chair and fall over too.
“Mom!”
“I’m oka—OW! I mean, I’m okay!”
The spare head was suddenly filled with creaking, squealing sounds, like metal being scraped against metal. Then the whole thing lurched up like a nightmare elevator. I fell forward, smacked into the wall with both hands and the side of my face, tumbled sideways, and collided with Mom. She went “OOF” when my head hit her in the side. Finally I got hung up in a mess of wires, my head spinning, as the feeling of going up started again. When my head cleared I felt water soaking through the back of my clothes.
How deep was Lake Higgleman? It couldn’t be that deep, right? I grabbed a bunch of the wires and dragged myself more or less upright, so at least I wouldn’t drown.
“Vincent, keep your head above water!” Mom screamed. No kidding, Mom.
We must have reached the surface, because I heard a PFOOMPF as we tilted and speeded up. I fell and landed butt first, and momentum pinned me against the wall as lake water flooded my pants.
THUNK! It felt like we’d reached dry ground! Hallelujah! Stupendous tore the face right off of the robot’s head, and water spilled out onto the greenish mud of the lakeshore. I saw the sky—oh, it was awesome to see the sky—and Stupendous was shouting.
“OVER HERE! OVER HERE!”
“Over where?” I yelled. “What are you—”
But Stupendous blasted off without answering. The spare robot head was looking mostly up, so I couldn’t see the surface of
the lake, but the robot appeared like an evil sun coming up over the horizon. Stupendous flew out to meet it, with his cape swooping out behind him.
“COME BACK, YOU COWARD!” Mayhem’s voice said.
“YOU GOT IT!” Stupendous said.
Mom and I flailed our way out of the tangled-up wires. I used the chair to climb out of the spare head, while Mom just hoisted herself up over the edge and hopped down into the mud, looking pretty smooth while she did it. I stared at her as she straightened out her skirt.
“Nice jump, Mom.”
“Don’t sound so surprised! I played volleyball in college, you know.”
Mom glanced over my shoulder and her eyes opened up really wide. “HEY! OVER HERE!”
I turned around to see who Mom was yelling “over here” to. Running toward the robot head were Max, George, and … Bobby?
Yep, it was Detective Boyfriend Bobby Carpenter. Behind them, parked right in front of the trees, was a police helicopter. What? Why? Huh? It was light out, but the sun was definitely on its way down. We’d been locked up in Mayhem’s headquarters for a whole freaking day.
“Vincent!” George yelled as the three of them slipped and slid up to us.
“What’s up, dude?” Max said. He punched me in the arm. I was so amped up that I barely felt it. Then George punched me on the arm too, which I did feel, if only from surprise. George never hits anybody.
“I told you!” he said to Max. “I told you Vincent would make it out of there!”
“You were right, little dude,” Max said, giving George a fist bump.
“Don’t call me little dude, dude.”
It was cool that George and Max were so happy about me not being dead, but I was also a little distracted by the sight of Bobby going to Mom without a word and hugging her really, really tightly. She hugged him back and pressed her face into his shoulder, and it was a quick hug, but still SO, SO embarrassing. They let go of each other, and Bobby turned to look at me and the guys.
“What do you know,” Bobby said, with a grin. “You boys were absolutely right.”
I looked at Bobby, and he grabbed my shoulders with both hands and gave me a little shake.
“Vincent, you amaze me,” Bobby said, and how many people ever said that to me before then? That’s right, exactly zero. I didn’t want a goofy smile to take over my whole face, but I couldn’t help it.
“You’re alive!” George said. “And you’re inside a giant robot head, that’s so cool!”
“George was really worried,” Max said, leaning in close to me and cupping the side of his mouth with one hand.
“Oh, and what, you were cool as a cucumber? Vincent, Max totally cried when Mayhem grabbed you!”
“Oh, that’s it, I’m gonna kill you, little dude.”
“Boys, please. Are you hurt, Vincent?” Bobby said with a frown. He reached out a hand and gently turned my face to one side.
“I’m fine,” I said, leaning back just far enough to pull away from his hand. “Just a couple of bruises. Professor Mayhem’s the one who’s in really bad shape.” I pointed at the sky.
Captain Stupendous was fighting, and not just flailing away like he was in the first three robot battles—he was going off. The Corkscrew, the Double Helix, the Double-clutch Piston Kick, he was throwing everything in the book out there. Mayhem was definitely hurting, because the robot was a little slower and less coordinated than before. Stupendous was landing every single one of his punches.
And none of it mattered, because the robot didn’t even have a tiny, little dent on it. Stupid indestructible metal.
“So it’s true,” Mom said. “He really did create an impervious alloy.”
“Imperviwhat?” Max said in a low voice. George leaned over to listen while I filled Max in.
“Violet, we have to get these boys to safety,” Bobby said in a total I’m-taking-command-of-the-situation voice.
“I agree, Detective,” Mom said. It was a relief to see them shift out of hugging mode.
“NO,” I said. “Not yet.” I yanked Mayhem’s gyroscope out of my pocket and held it up.
“Hey, I have an idea,” Max said. “We should—”
“You know what, I wanna—” George was talking more to Max than anybody else.
“Boys, now isn’t—” Mom said.
“Vincent, is this the time for—” Bobby said.
Everyone was talking at the same time, and I was so over it. Mom was standing on the beach instead of inside Mayhem’s HQ because of me. Okay, because of Stupendous too, but he couldn’t have done it without me. It was time for everybody to listen to me!
“LISTEN UP!” I hollered. Max let his mouth hang open for a second, then clamped it shut.
“The robot’s designed like one of these. I saw the drawings in Mayhem’s headquarters.” I barked it out like a sadistic drill sergeant in a war movie, held up Mayhem’s gyroscope, and spun the centerpiece with my finger. “That’s how we can beat it, by tangling it with a string like I always do with my gyroscope!”
CLANG! Stupendous went whizzing by overhead. He did a cartwheel in the air, reversed direction, and flew back into battle.
“Are we thinking the same thing, Vincent?” Mom said, taking me by surprise. “Your father’s work, right?”
My eyes must have bulged out of my head or something, because she chuckled.
“I still know your father pretty well. You’re thinking about a special kind of filament.”
“Yeah. A carbon nanotube monofilament.”
You could almost see the lightbulb appear over Max’s and George’s heads.
“Mad scientist versus regular scientist, winner take all,” Max said. “Awesome.”
Bobby had an intense, crinkled-eyebrow expression, and I realized how smart it was for Max and George to bring him along. I have the most awesome friends ever.
“How are you going to get the monofilament to Captain Stupendous, Vincent?” Bobby said. “And will he know what to do with it?”
“Yeah, yeah, we have a backup plan,” I said. “But we have to get to Corwin Towers right away, can you take us?”
And what do you know, Bobby came through with exactly the right answer. After a second he gave me a fast, crisp nod.
“Let’s go.”
The helicopter pilot didn’t say a word when the five of us climbed in. He just nodded when Bobby gave the order to take off, and up we went.
“This is the Corwin ViperStrike,” Mom said as she buckled up. “Janet really went all out.”
Mom, coming through with the knowledge about military aircraft! I was starting to wonder if I knew her at all.
“Ms. Corwin spared no expense to ensure your safety, Violet,” Bobby said.
Wanna know what a crazy week it’d been? I was actually a little bored taking off in a police helicopter, although I had to admit it was more comfortable than flying with Stupendous. At least I was inside the helicopter instead of flapping around in the breeze. Also, I was with George and Max and my mom this time.
“How did you guys get Bobby to come to the lake?” I said.
Max held something out in one hand. It was Bobby’s card, with a little mud smeared on it.
“You dropped that during the robot’s sneak attack,” Max said.
“It’s kind of a miracle that we found it,” George said.
“Bobby waited with us at the lake for a long time,” Max said. “George wouldn’t let him leave.”
George shrugged. “I told him about all the times law enforcement officers actually helped save superheroes, and he told us about Hummingbird, and I don’t know, we just kept talking.”
“Did you really cry?” I asked Max.
“Uh, yeah, let’s not talk about that.”
“Okay, Vincent,” Bobby said, looking at me over his shoulder. “What’s your plan for delivering the filame—”
“Carpenter,” Tom the Pilot said. He tapped a screen in front of him. “Behind us.”
Bobby was in the seat ne
xt to the pilot, Mom was next to Bobby, and George, Max, and I were in the seats behind them. Max was right behind Bobby, and George and I craned our necks to look out the window on Max’s side of the helicopter.
“Oh man, gimme a break,” I said.
It figured. The robot was following us.
“GO, TOM!” Bobby shouted.
Tom the Silent Helicopter Pilot nodded, and we banked hard to the side, straightened out, and headed toward downtown. I caught a glimpse of Mayhem’s robot with its hands reaching out. Then it was behind us, which made me even more nervous.
Bobby punched a few buttons on the helicopter radio.
“Corwin Towers security, this is Detective Carpenter of the Copperplate City Police Force!” he barked. “I have the superintendent of schools!”
“Copy, Detective,” a bored-sounding voice said after a quick burst of static. “You’re cleared for landing.”
“Evasive maneuvers!” Silent Tom yelled. He sent the helicopter into some kind of insane tilt-a-whirl move. The guys and I all screamed hysterically as our seat belts locked in place. A giant robot hand appeared outside my window for a second, then jerked out of sight.
“Stupendous has engaged the robot,” Tom the Suddenly Talkative Pilot said. “We’re in the clear.”
“I told you!” Bobby said. He grinned at us.
The towers came into view, casting huge shadows across the length of Corwin Plaza. The two buildings were connected by a fancy-pants glass-and-metal bridge. One roof was covered with plants and grass, like it was a fake park, with benches and streetlights and even a pond. The other rooftop was mostly empty. There was a railing and a set of steps going down into the roof at each corner, a bunch of giant metal tubes for air-conditioning, or whatever those giant tubes are used for. Most of the rooftop was taken up by a big square of empty cement with a circle painted in its center.
We landed, and Bobby popped the door open while the chopper was still running. A bunch of serious-looking guys in dark suits ran up the steps, coming at us from all four corners of the building. They all had the same buzz cuts and superstraight posture.
