by Stan Kirby
“Is it saying, ‘Help! A supervillain stole all the paint off me?!’ ” Captain Awesome asked with a chuckle.
“No one stole the paint. It’s supposed to look like that,” Supersonic Sal said.
“Really?” Captain Awesome said in disbelief. “It’s blank.”
Captain Awesome dug into his utility pocket, which was filled with random super items that he might need in the case of a super emergency: string, a stick of gum, a button, and a folded-up piece of paper. He unfolded the paper to reveal a drawing of Super Dude he had secretly made in school. He chewed up a small piece of the gum, attached it to the back of his drawing, and stuck it on an empty space on the wall.
“Now that’s art!” he said.
With the art gallery made even more awesome by Captain Awesome’s awesome drawing of awesomeness, the heroes passed one final painting, which was even bigger than the blank canvas.
“Oh, check it out,” Captain Awesome said. “The whole painting is made of, like, a jillion dots.”
“It says it was painted by some guy named, uh, it says, uh, ‘Sewer Rat,’ ” Nacho Cheese Man stammered as he tried to read the name.
“His name is S-e-u-r-a-t. It’s pronounced ‘Sir-ah,’ ” Supersonic Sal said, correcting him. “We learned about him in art class. Remember?”
“I like Sewer Rat.” Nacho Cheese Man pulled out his canned cheese but it slipped from his fingers and rolled across the floor.
He raced after his runaway cheese can, and when he turned around, he saw something amazing.
“Guys! I found the boat!” he called out.
“Where?!” asked a confused Captain Awesome, looking around.
“You’re standing right in front of it!” Nacho Cheese Man pointed at the painting across the room. “Look!”
Captain Awesome scanned the dots in the Seurat painting. “You see any boat?” he asked Sal.
“I see dots. Lots and lots and lots of dots,” Supersonic Sal replied.
“I think you’re full of canned cheese,” Captain Awesome called out to Nacho Cheese Man.
“No! Come here! You can’t see it close up,” Nacho Cheese Man grabbed Captain Awesome and Supersonic Sal and led them to the other side of the room.
“Mi-tee . . .” Captain Awesome said the moment he turned to look at the Seurat painting.
CLUE!
It may have looked like a mess of dots when they were standing close to the painting, but when they looked at it from across the room, the dots formed a picture of a boat!
“This guy must’ve painted it in code to hide the clue from bad guys looking for the treasure,” said Supersonic Sal. “Good thing a superhero figured it out first!”
“My super brain tells me we should go to the right because that’s the way the boat’s facing,” Captain Awesome suggested.
“HALT! Step away from the Sewer Rat!” The security guard from before stood at the far side of the room, pointing his flashlight at them.
“Will your evil ways never end?! It’s pronounced ‘Sir-ah!’ ” Captain Awesome called back.
“We can’t let him get the treasure before we do!” Supersonic Sal grabbed Captain Awesome.
RUN!
DIVE!
HIDE!
The three heroes ran into the next room and dove behind the nearest display. They squished themselves down as low as they could and held their breath. The security guard stopped in front of them and scanned the room.
“I know you guys are in here!” he called. “Come on out!”
Trapped like the peas I hide under my mashed potatoes! Captain Awesome thought. What would Super Dude do? Unleash his Super Dude Double Super Karate Chop? Or use his Super Dude Supertacular Heat Vision?
But then Captain Awesome had a better idea.
He grabbed Nacho Cheese Man’s can of cheese and threw it toward the door.
CLANG!
BANG!
CLATTER!
SPRAY!
The security guard spun toward the noise and raced from the room.
“Whew!” Captain Awesome sighed. “That was closer than the time Super Dude was almost tricked into eating Brussels Sproutonium by the Veggie Terrible!”
“But did you have to throw my can of cheese? That was a limited edition bacon and cheddar flavor.” Nacho Cheese Man sighed.
“I’m sorry, chum,” Captain Awesome said in a heroic voice. “We all have to make some cheesy sacrifices in the battle against evil.”
Captain Awesome peeked out from their hiding place. The guard was gone, but now he was face-to-face with the ugliest dude he had ever seen!
“Ahhh!” Captain Awesome yelled. He toppled into Nacho Cheese Man, who toppled into Supersonic Sal.
He was HAIRY!
He was UGLY!
He was CAVEMAN-Y!
“S-sorry, sir! I didn’t see you,” Captain Awesome stammered.
But the hairy, ugly, caveman-y dude didn’t answer. He just stood, club clenched in his hand, wearing an animal skin and looking hairy, ugly, and caveman-y.
“What’s he staring at?” Nacho Cheese Man whispered.
“He’s . . . he’s not staring,” Supersonic Sal realized. “He’s frozen!”
And it wasn’t just the caveman that was frozen. A saber-toothed tiger stood motionless next to him.
POKE! POKE!
The saber-toothed tiger didn’t move.
POKE! POKE! POKE!
“I’ll bet the security guard turned them into statues to stop them from finding the treasure,” Supersonic Sal suggested.
POKE-POKE-POKE-POKE-POKE-POKE-POKE-POKE!
“Why didn’t I see it before?!” Captain Awesome said as Nacho Cheese Man continued poking the saber-toothed tiger. “That’s no security guard! He’s really the fiendish Freeze Tagger and his Freeze Light turned all these wild animals into statues!”
“We’ve gotta find that treasure and get out of here before we’re frozen too!” Nacho Cheese Man cried.
Supersonic Sal whipped out her notebook. “We need to find an eagle next!”
The superheroes scanned the room, their super senses focused like kids watching the clock tick off the final seconds of school. There were wooly mammoths, one with its trunk lifted high. Monkeys swung from fake trees and a polar bear stood on a plastic iceberg, but there was no eagle.
“Well, looks like the Freeze Tagger turned all these animals into statues too,” Captain Awesome said.
“Guys! Look at the mammoth’s trunk!” Supersonic Sal said.
There, high up on the wooly mammoth’s trunk, sat an eagle!
CLUE!
“We’re on the right path!” Captain Awesome grinned. “What’s the next clue?”
Before Supersonic Sal could reply, a light shone down on them. It was the Freeze Tagger with his Freeze Light!
“Finally! I found you guys!” the Freeze Tagger said. “Come with me.”
“C-can’t . . . m-move . . .,” Nacho Cheese Man stammered. “Legs g-getting frozen by . . . Freeze Light!”
“Fight it with all your cheesy power!” Captain Awesome yelled.
“Brain freezing is worse than drinking ten Super Dude Super-Size Slushies in an igloo!” Supersonic Sal tried to fight the effects of the Freeze Tagger’s Freeze Light, with no luck.
Must muster all my superhero-ness in one mighty superhero-y superchop! Captain Awesome thought as he willed his freezing arms to move.
SWING!
SMACK!
WHOOSH!
Captain Awesome spun and knocked the Freeze Tagger’s Freeze Light from his hand. It sailed across the room and landed on top of a wooly mammoth.
“You’ll never turn us into statues, Freeze Tagger!” Captain Awesome shouted as the three heroes ran from the room.
The security guard slumped and rubbed his forehead with his hand. “I really hate when the museum has school field trips,” he said aloud to no one.
Captain Awesome, Supersonic Sal, and Nacho Cheese Man raced into the next room. Safe
from the freeziness of the Freeze Tagger, Supersonic Sal whipped out her notebook to check for the next clue.
“Nothing,” she said flipping to the last page. “The eagle was the final clue.”
“So that means the treasure is here!” Captain Awesome used his Awesome Vision Power to scan the room.
And that’s when he saw it. . . .
Jewels the size of eggs and golden statues bigger than Super Dude. And Super Dude was one big dude!
“It’s the mummy’s treasure!” Nacho Cheese Man gasped, noticing the treasure too.
Captain Awesome led the charge!
“MI-TEEEEEE!”
“Wait!” Supersonic Sal called out.
SKID!
STOP!
TEACHERED!
With the mummy’s treasure mere feet away from the superpowered fingers of the Sunnyview Superhero Squad, Ms. Beasley and their classmates were led into the room by Ms. Van Winkel.
RUN!
DIVE!
HIDE AGAIN!
“Welcome to the treasure room!” the guide said.
The class oooohed and aaaahed.
“We’ve got to get the treasure before the Freeze Tagger finds us,” Captain Awesome whispered.
“We can’t!” Supersonic Sal whispered back. “We don’t want to interrupt the tour, that’d just be rude.”
“But the treasure’s too treasureful to fall into the hands of bad guys,” Captain Awesome whispered back.
The three heroes huddled.
WHISPER!
POINT!
PLAN!
Captain Awesome, Nacho Cheese Man, and Supersonic Sal broke away from the huddle. They gave a silent three-way Sunnyview Super Squad Super Mission Salute before they quietly scattered around the room and awaited the signal.
Captain Awesome slooowly raised his hand, ready to give the signal.
Supersonic Sal nervously bit her fingers.
Nacho Cheese Man reached for his can of cheese . . . but then remembered it was gone.
Come on . . . almost ready . . . Captain Awesome thought. Three . . . two . . . one . . .
But just as Captain Awesome was about to leap from his hiding place, the Freeze Tagger marched into the room, his Freeze Light clenched in his hand.
“They ran off again. I’m not sure where they went,” the Freeze Tagger said to Ms. Van Winkel.
SHOCK!
GASP!
DOUBLE SHOCK!
Captain Awesome realized the truth. That’s no normal tour guide! She must be the Miss Leader, the evil villain who misleads kids on field trips so they never get out of museums without being bored to sleep!
“That’s it! Sunnyview Superhero Squad CHAAAARRRRRRRGE!” Captain Awesome called out.
In a flash Supersonic Sal, Nacho Cheese Man, and Captain Awesome raced from their hiding places and ran straight for the treasure.
“Hands off that treasure, super-villains!” Captain Awesome called out. “We’ll never let you take it!”
“Here we go again,” Meredith groaned. “Can’t we leave them on the bus next time?”
“Eugene—I mean, uh, Captain Awesome—I know I’m going to regret asking, but what’s going on?” Ms. Beasley asked.
“That’s Freeze Tagger and the Miss Leader! They’re here to steal the mummy’s treasure!” Captain Awesome thrust an accusing finger at the security guard and the tour guide.
“Steal the treasure?” a shocked Ms. Van Winkel asked. “We’d never do that! We guard the treasure and make sure everyone can see it. That’s what makes museums so special. They share the world’s treasures for everyone to enjoy.”
“Then why was the Freeze Tagger—I mean the security guy—after us?” Captain Awesome asked.
“I thought you were lost and I wanted to help you get back to your class,” the security guard explained.
“Sounds like this was all one big misunderstanding,” Ms. Beasley said.
“Not the first time.” Meredith sneered and crossed her arms.
“Now why don’t you three rejoin our tour?” the tour guide asked. “I was about to tell everyone the amazing history of the treasure and the pharaoh who buried it. . . .”
“That would be MI-TEE!” Captain Awesome cheered. Although he, Nacho Cheese Man, and Supersonic Sal were pretty sure they already knew that story.
Worst day of the week?” Captain Awesome asked the Sunnyview Superhero Squad. The team had gathered at its top-secret headquarters in the tree at Captain Awesome’s house. The other two members of the squad, Nacho Cheese Man and Supersonic Sal, raised their hands.
Nacho Cheese Man said, “Any day I run out of spray cheese and have to fight evil the old fashioned way. With American Cheese slices.”
But Captain Awesome knew what the real worst day was. “It’s Sunday,” he said. “It’s the last day of the weekend, and our crime-fighting stops since we have to go to school.”
“But crime-fighting never stops,” Supersonic Sal pointed out.
When STAN KIRBY was six years old, he tied a beach towel around his neck and became Super Commander Beach Boy. He tried his best to protect sand castles from the waves, keep seagulls away from his french fries, and keep the beach clean. When Stan’s not creating the awesome adventures of Captain Awesome, he loves reading comic books, eating okra, and hang gliding (but not at the same time).
GEORGE O’CONNOR’S cover—as a mild-mannered clerk in one of Gotham’s most beloved children’s bookstores—was completely blown when his first picture book, KAPOW!, exploded onto the scene. Forced to leave the bookselling world behind, he now spends even more time in his secret Brooklyn, New York, hideout—where he uses his amazing artistic powers to strike fear in the hearts of bad guys everywhere!
Little Simon
Simon & Schuster · New York
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This book is a work of fiction. Any references to historical events, real people, or real places are used fictitiously. Other names, characters, places, and events are products of the author’s imagination, and any resemblance to actual events or places or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
LITTLE SIMON
An imprint of Simon & Schuster Children’s Publishing Division • 1230 Avenue of the Americas, New York, New York 10020 • www.SimonandSchuster.com • First Little Simon paperback edition November 2015. Copyright © 2015 by Simon & Schuster, Inc. All rights reserved, including the right of reproduction in whole or in part in any form. LITTLE SIMON is a registered trademark of Simon & Schuster, Inc., and associated colophon is a trademark of Simon & Schuster, Inc. For information about special discounts for bulk purchases, please contact Simon & Schuster Special Sales at 1-866-506-1949 or [email protected]. The Simon & Schuster Speakers Bureau can bring authors to your live event. For more information or to book an event contact the Simon & Schuster Speakers Bureau at 1-866-248-3049 or visit our website at www.simonspeakers.com. Designed by Jay Colvin. The text of this book was set in Little Simon Gazette.
Cataloguing-in-Publication Data for this title is available from the Library of Congress.
ISBN 978-1-4814-4439-2 (hc)
ISBN 978-1-4814-4438-5 (pbk)
ISBN 978-1-4814-4440-8 (eBook)
