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EBOOK ISBN 9781524790127
Version_1
Contents
Title Page
Copyright
1-2 PUNCH! LIGHTS OUT
1-2 PUNCH! SALEM’S LOT
About the Authors
THE SUN HAD SET LONG BEFORE THE RUST BUCKET PULLED INTO THE SPRAWLING PARKING LOT.
The clock on the Rust Bucket dashboard showed it was Ben and Gwen’s bedtime. But Ben and Gwen weren’t getting ready for sleep. Instead, they stared out the window, their eyes blinking from the bright lights around them.
Nighttime was the best time for Neon Land.
The sign for the park rose high above them, five thousand blaring bulbs filling the darkness with brilliant light. Large spotlights waved back and forth through the sky.
Grandpa Max, sitting in the driver’s seat of the Rust Bucket, had to squint. “Wow. This is even brighter than I imagined.”
“Neon Land uses more electricity in one night than some small countries use in an entire year,” said Gwen, reading the park brochure. “They have their own electrical grid right in the park, so they never have blackouts. Neon Land is the only structure on Earth that can be seen at night from outer space. This brochure says astronauts use Neon Land to guide their rocket ships.”
“I bet aliens do, too,” said Ben, his finger dangling over the Omnitrix clamped on his wrist. With the press of a finger, Ben’s Omnitrix could turn him into any of ten alien creatures.
“Keep your hands off that, Ben,” said Grandpa Max. “We’re here to have fun, not fight bad guys.”
“As long as the bad guys know that,” said Ben.
Grandpa Max laughed. “Sounds like a deal, Ben. No villains, no aliens. Agreed?” Ben nodded. “You guys ready?” Grandpa Max said.
“You bet,” said Ben, jumping up from his cot. He yawned.
Grandpa Max arched his eyebrows. “Are you sure, Ben? I saw that yawn. It’s pretty late, you know.”
“That wasn’t a yawn, it was just a, um, mouth stretch,” said Ben. Gwen rolled her eyes. “Besides, I doubt I could sleep with all that light pouring in through our windows.”
“Then let’s go, kids!” shouted Grandpa Max, opening the Rust Bucket doors. Ben sprinted out of the vehicle, slowing down only to let his grandfather and Gwen catch up to him. They all squinted from the bright lights as they walked across the parking lot.
Grandpa Max bought three tickets from the ticket booth. He then handed Ben and Gwen dark sunglasses. He put a pair over his own eyes, too. “They gave me these. The lights here are so bright, you’ll hurt your eyes if you don’t wear them.”
“Wearing sunglasses at night? Awesome!” said Ben. He put on his shades and then struck a pose. “Do I look cool?”
“No, you still look like a dork, as always,” said Gwen with a laugh. When Ben shot her a dirty look, Gwen smiled. “You’re a dork, but a cool dork.” Ben continued frowning, but Gwen ignored her cousin’s icy stare. “What ride should we go on first?”
They stood at the front of the park, in a large open space surrounded by twinkling thrill rides, gleaming snack huts, shimmering souvenir shops, and glittering game stands. Ben was thankful he wore sunglasses. “Let’s go on that ride!”
Ben pointed to a long, tall coaster. Its tracks climbed up and up and up before sloping nearly straight down and then rising up into three consecutive loops.
The coaster’s metal support beams glowed red, the cars on the track glowed orange, and giant purple strobe lights blinked on and off, on and off. Just staring at it hurt Ben’s head, even with sunglasses. The glowing sign next to the ride read:
THE LUMINOUS LIGHT COASTER
Ben and Gwen took a step toward the ride when a loud CRRAACK filled the park. All the lights on the Luminous Light Coaster shut off.
The coaster wasn’t the only thing plunged into darkness. The lights turned off at a small hot-dog stand and then at a small carousel.
“I thought you said this place couldn’t have blackouts,” said Ben.
“That’s what the brochure said,” explained Gwen, scratching her head.
Screams pierced through the now-dark air. One of the cars on the Luminous Light Coaster had stopped upside down, at the top of its largest loop. In the faint glow from other nearby lights, Ben could see a hat and sunglasses fall.
“Luckily they’re strapped into their seats,” said Grandpa Max. “Can you get them down, Ben?”
“I thought you didn’t want me to turn into an alien unless a villain showed up?”
“Never mind that, Ben. Some rules are meant to be broken.”
“I’ll remember that the next time you tell me to stop eating potato chips in bed.” Ben hit his palm against the Omnitrix and then, with a flash, he turned into the alien known as Stinkfly.
TIME IN!
The blue-and-orange winged alien was glad the remaining Neon Land lights didn’t bother his fly-like alien eyes. He didn’t think he could find sunglasses big enough to fit his insect head.
He soared into the air. Fortunately, Stinkfly glowed in the dark. It helped him see where he was going as he flew higher and higher.
“Hold on tight, guys,” Stinkfly said to the front seat passengers as he turned to face the others still strapped in the car. “I’ll be back in a moment to help the rest of you down.”
“Let me out now!” cried a large man in the back of the coaster. “I don’t want to wait!”
“Oh stop creating a stink,” said Stinkfly, who then laughed at his joke. “Get it? Stink? My name is Stinkfly! It’s funny, right?”
The man didn’t laugh.
“I need better material,” complained Stinkfly. He soared down, released the passengers on the ground, and flew back up to rescue more.
A minute later, just as Stinkfly lowered the final group of passengers, a loud grumbling motor sound began. The noise grew louder and louder, closer and closer. The ground vibrated.
“Look!” shouted Grandpa Max.
“What is that?” cried Gwen.
A gigantic tractor barreled through the front gates. The vehicle was as big as three, no, four regular-size tractors. It pulled a large cargo carrier, with a red-and-silver machine on top of it. The machine had a tub base as tall as a person and twice as wide, and a long rubber hose. It reminded Ben of an oversize vacuum cleaner.
The machine vibrated and rocked in place as lightning-bolt-shaped sparks flew into the hose. The air around it crackled. A large man stood next to the machine.
Stinkfly’s mouth dropped open. The man next to the machine was Steam Smythe! The powerful and past-loving villain’s bright red beard and mustache were impossible to miss.
“Hello, dear citizens,” Steam Smythe cried out.
“I am here to put an end to this ridiculous Neon Land. All this electricity! All this waste! Soon my Power Defibrillating Vacuum will suck up all the energy from this park. But this is only my first stop. I will then plunge the entire world into darkness.
Imagine! A world without electricity! No namby-pamby cell phones! No fancy-pancy televisions! No accursed video games!”
Stinkfly gulped. His eyes watered and his lips quivered. “No video games? A world without video games isn’t a world I want to live in.”
“You have to stop him, Ben,” said Gwen, pointing at Steam Smythe.
“No problem for me.” Stinkfly jumped up. He soared toward the villain, a fist held out.
Steam Smythe merely laughed. “You think you can stop me, you round-headed insect? My Power Defibrillating Vacuum doesn’t merely suck electricity. It shoots it!”
The villain grabbed a lever on the base of the machine that was pointed to the word IN. He lifted it with a rusty CREAK so it was pointed to the word OUT. Steam Smythe pointed the hose at Stinkfly. “This Power Defibrillating Vacuum is now a Power Fibrillating Blaster!” Sizzling lightning darts shot out of the end of the hose and straight toward Stinkfly.
KZZT! KZZT!
The powerful projectiles whizzed through the air. A bolt shot over Stinkfly’s head. The lightning darts flew to the right and left of him.
“You’re a terrible shot,” laughed Stinkfly, zigzagging up and down. “I can dodge those bolts all day long.”
“Then it’s a good thing it’s nighttime!”
ZZZING!
A dart grazed Stinkfly’s wing. Stinkfly sizzled from electricity, vibrating and shaking. He glowed bright orange. Then he fell from the sky like a lead balloon.
CRRAASH!
Stinkfly lay on the hard concrete ground, a soft moan sputtering from his lips. Gwen ran up to her cousin. “Ben? Ben? Are you okay?”
“I want my mommy,” mumbled a dazed Stinkfly, his eyes spinning.
TIME OUT!
Still dazed, Stinkfly transformed back into Ben.
“Well, that stinks,” he groaned.
Meanwhile, Steam Smythe had moved the vacuum’s lever back down and was sucking power from the park once again. As the Power Defibrillating Vacuum gobbled up electricity, more and more of the park plunged into darkness. Passengers were trapped on rides. Lights blinked off. Panicked, frightened screams filled the park.
Ben sat up, his arms and legs aching from his fall.
“Don’t worry, Ben,” said Gwen. “If you can’t stop him, I will.” She grabbed a rock from the ground and threw it at Steam Smythe. “Take that, you fiend!”
The rock bounced harmlessly at Steam Smythe’s feet. The villain laughed. Gwen hurled another rock. This one bounced off the villain’s head. “I admire your old-fashioned weaponry, lass. But you are irritating me,” spat the villain. He aimed the nozzle of his weapon at Gwen and raised the lever of the machine.
Lightning darts flew from the hose once again. Stinkfly had been right: Steam Smythe did have terrible aim. But while the darts hit the ground near Gwen, one small spark bounced up and hit her leg. Gwen shook from the electricity filling her.
She gritted her teeth. “ZZZZZZ!” Her hair stood straight up and she glowed blue.
“Gwen! Look at me!” shouted Grandpa Max.
“ZZZZZZ . . .” grunted Gwen.
“Well, this is shocking,” said Ben. “Get it? Shocking?”
Grandpa Max did not laugh.
“I really need to work on my jokes,” complained Ben. “But no more funny business; I’ll stop Steam Smythe.” Ben hit his Omnitrix, but nothing happened. He hit it again, and again nothing happened. “I guess it’s still powered down. Which is sort of funny if you think about it, right? It’s out of power, and Steam Smythe is sucking up power.” Grandpa Max stared at Ben, blankly. “A little funny? No?” He sighed. “Never mind.”
More electricity filled the oversize vacuum cleaner weapon. The machine seemed to grow a little bigger with every new bit of electricity. Lights around the park shut off, one after another.
Meanwhile, Gwen stopped vibrating, although her hair still stood straight up.
“Are you okay, Gwen?” asked Grandpa Max.
“Nice hairdo,” giggled Ben.
“With all that electricity, I felt like I was going to explode.” She scratched her head and stared at Steam Smythe and his Power Defibrillating Vacuum, which rocked and reeled, pulsated and vibrated, the metal bulging from the power inside it. “That machine looks pretty full, doesn’t it? Maybe too full?”
“What do you mean, Gwen?” asked Grandpa Max.
“I have an idea.” Ben could almost imagine a bright lightbulb appearing over his cousin’s head. “Ben, follow me!” Gwen sprinted across the park and Ben followed, while more and more of Neon Land fell into darkness.
“Where are we going?” asked Ben.
“I doubt that vacuum has a surge protector,” said Gwen. She pointed to a small sign with an arrow that read:
POWER GENERATOR. THAT WAY.
“A surge what?” asked Ben, running as fast as he could to keep up with his speedy cousin. It was much easier and faster to run or fly as an alien.
“A surge protector. That’s what we plug computers into so they don’t overload and short-circuit when they’re plugged in. Did you see how much that defibrillating thingy was vibrating? If we can just overload that vacuum with too much electricity—”
“It might explode!” finished Ben.
“Exactly.”
Ben and Gwen slowed down as they reached a small grey metal generator at the side of the park, partly hidden behind a cluster of bushes. It looked like a giant air-conditioning unit. Next to it was a sign with a small drawing of a lightning bolt and the words WARNING! HIGH VOLTAGE!
The door to its control panel was on the side. Gwen grabbed a black handle and swung the door open.
Ben and Gwen stared at a slew of wires and buttons. A single gauge read: LOW / MEDIUM / HIGH / WAY TOO HIGH. A needle fluctuated between MEDIUM and HIGH.
“Do you have your sunglasses on?” she asked Ben. Ben nodded. Gwen grabbed a small knob beneath the gauge and twisted it. The needle sprung to the right, past HIGH and all the way to the end, pointing to WAY TOO HIGH. The needle wiggled. The generator hummed loudly. Two wires sparked.
Most of the park’s lights were without power, but not all of them. Those lights, the lights that still worked, glowed brighter. They wheezed and crackled and sizzled like bacon. A few lightbulbs popped from the intense power surging inside them.
“Let’s see how that oversize vacuum cleaner likes eating all that,” said Gwen.
Gwen and Ben ran back to the front of the park. When they reached Grandpa Max, they knew their plan was working. The Power Defibrillating Vacuum grew bigger and brighter. It shook faster and faster. Steam Smythe looked worried.
“No! It’s taking too much power! What’s happening?” cried Steam Smythe. He grabbed the lever that controlled the machine and began pushing it up, from IN to OUT. The lever broke off in his hand with a loud SNAP!
“No!” cried Steam Smythe. “What have I done?”
The machine bounced in place, higher and higher. Some metal screws burst off as the machine bulged like a tire. But there weren’t many lights left in the park for the Power Defibrillating Vacuum to suck.
“We need one more quick surge of power,” said Gwen, biting her lip.
ZZZAPP!
What seemed to be the final burst of light flew into the Power Defibrillating Vacuum nozzle. The machine rattled in place like some sort of crazy rocking chair. But despite its glowing and crackling, the machine did not explode.
“I’ve done it!” cried Steam Smythe in triumph.
Gwen shook her
head. “So close, so close,” she muttered. Then she looked at Ben. For a second, Ben was certain he had seen another lightbulb pop on over his cousin’s head. “Ben, quick! Turn into Stinkfly again!”
Ben didn’t know why Gwen wanted him to become Stinkfly, but he knew better than to argue with her. She was right about things far more often than she was wrong.
BEN TAPPED HIS OMNITRIX AND—TIME IN!—HE WAS STINKFLY ONCE MORE.
The alien insect glowed. He was the only bright light in the park other than the brightly shining Power Defibrillating Vacuum next to Steam Smythe.
The red-bearded-and-mustached villain did not notice. He cackled with villainous pleasure. “Where should I go next? New York? Los Angeles? I will sap the energy from every city!”
“Now, Ben! Jump in front of the machine,” shouted Gwen.
“But won’t it suck all my power?” protested Stinkfly, admiring his own radiant glow.
“Exactly!”
Stinkfly soared toward the humming, rattling, and shaking machine. He flew right toward the nozzle in Steam Smythe’s hands. Stinkfly slowed. He felt his power being drained. The nozzle in Steam Smythe’s hands shook as electricity flew inside it. Stinkfly felt weak. He felt woozy. He tingled and shook. The light surrounding him dimmed. But the Power Defibrillating Vacuum was shaking even more than it had, its metal seams threatening to pop off.
“What are you doing, you scoundrel?” Steam Smythe cried to Stinkfly. “Get away! Shoo fly! Shoo!”
But it was too late. Stinkfly’s power had been sucked dry and he landed on the ground. The Power Defibrillating Vacuum stopped glowing for a moment. It stopped vibrating. A strange calm came over the machine. Then suddenly . . . KABOOM!!!
1-2 Punch: Stinkfly and Cannonbolt Page 1
