by Tony Abbott
Jeff lowered his gaze to the circle of friends. “Yes … it is up to us!”
Thud!
Mike fell to the floor. Hard.
6
Cosmic Boy!
“To the alien tower!” cried Sean. “Let’s get Zaltoo from Kladoon!”
Mike sprang up from the floor, rubbing his shoulder. “Rev up your head, Jeff, and get him!”
“Yeah!” said Holly. “We’re taking back our town!”
Jeff watched his friend bolt from the X-ray clinic and rush the enormous alien tower that rose hundreds of feet over Grover’s Mill. They were very excited. But suddenly he wasn’t sure about anything. “Uh, guys? Wait a minute. Don’t we need a plan?”
Sean stopped and turned. “Don’t waste your incredible brain on that. I’ve already got a plan.”
“You do?” asked Liz, a surprised look on her face.
“Sure,” said Sean. He smiled. “We march up there and Jeff zaps him with his new head. It’ll be great.”
Mike slapped Sean a high-five. “Great plan.”
Holly smiled. Liz shrugged.
Terrific, thought Jeff. His friends were all counting on him. As if he was the only chance they had. Well, maybe he was. He took a deep breath. He adjusted his knobs. Zzzzt! “Okay, I guess I’m ready.”
He joined his friends, and they ran up to the base of the giant alien tower.
Thooop! The doors of a modern-looking elevator opened. It was all velvet inside. The kids piled in and the elevator began to rise.
Weee-ooo-weee-ooo! Musical sounds floated all around them.
“The way I see it,” said Sean, starting to use his hands a lot, “we scope out the place, see what the alien guy is up to, then our boy takes him out. Zap and pow!” He slapped his fist into his palm. He nudged Jeff and smiled.
Liz frowned. “Our boy? You mean Jeff?”
Sean gave her a look as if she were from another planet. “Jeff? That was his old name. I’m talking about Cosmic Boy here. The Antenna Avenger, Buzz Brain, the Capped Crusader, the Domed Defender, Electrified Enforcer, the—”
“Sean!” cried Holly. “You don’t have to run through the whole alphabet. We get the idea.”
“Somebody’s gotta manage the kid,” Sean said. He nudged Jeff. “Right, Cosmic Boy?”
Jeff’s helmet sparked and sizzled. Klatoo’s futuristic Mezmo Head helmet was much scarier-looking than his own. It had way more knobs and nozzles than his own plastic toy. Sure, Jeff could lift people up in the air and maybe some other cool things. But would it be enough?
Thooop! The elevator doors opened and the five kids stepped out. Big windows on each side of the tower looked down on Main Street.
“Incredible,” Liz said. “I always wanted to look out over Grover’s Mill.”
“Too bad it’s from an alien tower,” said Holly.
Slowly the kids turned to see a large room. In the center was a silver chair with its back to them. A green leafy bulge was visible over the top.
Weee-ooo-weee-ooo! Music rose from behind the chair.
“It’s Klatoo!” whispered Sean.
Against the far wall was a giant shimmering screen.
“Wide-screen TV!” whispered Mike. “Do you think he gets cable?”
Pfft! The screen flickered and two alien heads appeared.
Liz gulped. “Two heads, one body!”
“Ah! King Greblak!” announced Klatoo from the chair. “Your kingly heads are looking very ripe today.”
One head smiled back. “Well, thank you, Klatoo. I try to keep my leaves moist and—”
“Silence!” snapped the other head. He turned to the screen. “Klatoo, you’ve got two hours to conquer their minds!”
“Yes, my king, I will let you know when—”
“Just do it!” snapped the second head.
Pfft! The screen went dark.
“That one head has a bad temper!” said Holly.
Suddenly the chair spun around and there sat Klatoo. On his lap was something that looked like a futuristic accordion.
“So!” he said in a raspy voice. “The boy with the bowl on his head and his friends. You dare to confront me? I’m impressed.”
Klatoo set his accordion on the floor and rose. “I’d offer you all a seat, except that I lost some furniture yesterday, along with my helmet. In any case, welcome to my penthouse overlooking the first Zaldoonian Earth Colony!”
“Zaldoonian Earth Colony?” scowled Sean.
Jeff didn’t like the sound of it, either. “We saw King Greblak—“ he started.
“Where?” Klatoo whirled on his heels, His green face went pale. “Is he here already? Did you see him? I’m not ready for King Greblak yet!” Then he glared at Jeff. “Do not utter his kingly name. It’s your fault I’m late with my mission!”
“Me?” said Jeff. “It’s my fault?”
“You and your helmet!” Klatoo sputtered, thrusting his finger at Jeff. His own helmet went nuts, whirring and buzzing and blinking faster and faster and louder and louder. The veins on his big leafy head quivered and twitched.
“Bweeep!” the alien finally howled. Then he breathed deeply a few times and his sputtering helmet died down to a low hum.
“Late with your mission?” said Sean. “That’s nothing. Cosmic Boy is going to stop you cold! Show him, Jeff. Fly around.”
Jeff shut his eyes and focused his brain waves.
Zang! Zang! Zang! Light blue beams sprayed wildly off his head.
“Ow!” cried Mike, grabbing his arm and diving for the floor. “Why is it always me?”
Crash! A lamp fell over. An ashtray broke.
“Sorry,” said Jeff. He shut his eyes tighter. Slowly he began to rise into the air.
“See? See?” said Sean. “Our boy is tough.”
“Ah, you can fly. Nice. But can you do this?” Klatoo looked down over Grover’s Mill. His Mezmo Head helmet lit up.
Zzzzt! Kkkkk! Wrrrr! Suddenly the perfectly straight Main Street began to turn. It bent itself into a perfect S, right down the middle of town!
Jeff touched down. “I can’t do that. No way.”
A smile stretched across the alien’s mouth as he adjusted a knob or two on his head. “Just a small show of my power. Let’s meet in one hour, to settle this for good.”
“You’re on!” cried Sean. “One hour! Our boy will be ready for you!”
The alien smirked. “Wear something you’d be caught dead in. Because you will be! Now GET OUT!”
A few minutes later, the five kids were in the elevator traveling down. “What just happened there?” asked Jeff. “Can anybody tell me?”
Sean beamed. “I just arranged for you to battle Mezmo the Zaldoon Head from Klatoo. Superhero against super alien. Just the two of you!”
“But you heard Klatoo,” said Holly. “The others are on their way. Thousands of them.”
“Millions, probably,” offered Mike. “And all of them with cabbage heads and buggy eyes.”
Thoop! The doors opened and hundreds of creatures with green faces and bulging yellow eyes lunged at the kids!
“Aliens!” gasped Holly. “They’re already here!”
7
Almost Aliens
The green-faced yellow-eyed creatures surrounded Jeff and his friends. They pointed their weapons at them and prepared to fire.
“Don’t vaporize us!” said Sean, ducking behind his sister, Holly. “We’ll do anything you say! We love Klamo the Toozal from Mezdoon!”
One of the creatures came toward them. It removed its green face.
“It’s …” gasped Liz, “it’s … a mask!”
The face underneath the mask smiled at Jeff.
“Mom!” said Jeff.
It was Mrs. Ryan! She was dressed in a shiny black body suit and green gas mask.
Jeff saw the look in her eyes. “I know, Mom.” He hung his helmeted head in shame. “I gave the alien your super brain helmet.”
“It was his, anyway,” said his mother.
“We saw his saucer last night and fired at it. We always fire at saucers. We thought it crashed but all we found were a couple chairs and that strange helmet. It was only a matter of time before he came looking for it.”
“In case you didn’t know, Mrs. Ryan,” said Sean, “the alien’s name is Meztoo or something. He started controlling brains, but he can’t do kid brains because we’re too filled up with all kinds of neat stuff.”
“How did you survive?” Mike asked.
“Our gas masks keep us safe,” Mrs. Ryan said.
“But the worst part,” said Jeff, “is that a whole bunch more like him are coming to take over.”
Mrs. Ryan smiled, then turned to the soldiers. “Troops, we’ve been waiting for this. Aliens want to take over? The official U.S. Government response is—ha!”
Snap! Snap! Mrs. Ryan snapped her fingers.
In an instant, soldiers rushed up and down the streets of Grover’s Mill, setting up big barricades. Army trucks, tanks, and jeeps rumbled down every road and alley and took up positions around the alien tower. Thousands of eyes were trained on the saucer at the top.
“Boys and girls, I’d like to introduce Plan A!” said Mrs. Ryan. She smiled as she said this, pointing to the hills.
Rrrrrrr!
Fighter jets, dozens of them, headed in from the mountains north of town. Flying in battle formation, they made their way toward the giant alien tower.
Jeff’s heart swelled with pride as the rumbling sound filled the sky. He crouched in front of Duffey’s Diner with his friends. “You know,” he said, “I’m sort of glad I don’t have to use my powers, because I’m not really sure—”
BLAM! BOOM! KA-VOOSH! The jets began firing missiles at the alien tower, sending streams of black smoke shooting through the air!
Just then, the top of the saucer opened and Klatoo stuck out his Mezmo Head.
“He’s coming out!” yelled Jeff.
“Perfect!” cried Sean. “One fried Mezmo Head coming up!”
“Blast that alien!” shouted Holly. “And keep Grover’s Mill for the people!”
But as Jeff watched, he wondered if it was too soon to start celebrating.
KA-VOOSH! BOOM! BLAM!
It was too soon. Way too soon. All the missiles exploded in the air above the tower, and the energy from the blasts was sucked right down into Klatoo’s helmet!
“Uh-oh!” gasped Mrs. Ryan, looking through binoculars. “Plan B, quick!”
Instantly, all the guns on all the tanks and jeeps and trucks started pumping blast after blast at the tower!
BOOM-BOOM-BOOM!
Same thing! The big explosions were sucked right into Klatoo’s Mezmo Head!
The alien’s helmut sizzled with all the dark and powerful energy he had gotten from the missile and bomb explosions.
“He’s even stronger now!” cried Liz.
“He’s invincible!” cried Mike. “We’re doomed! We’ll be in his control by supper-time! It’s too late! All is lost!”
Mrs. Ryan frowned. “Well, then—Plan C!” She dashed back to her jeep and snatched her combat phone. “I want the top-secret weapon! Yes, that’s right! What? Oh, it is? When did that happen? Uh-huh? Oh, well, maybe next time. Bye-bye!”
“That didn’t sound good,” said Liz.
“What is the secret weapon?” asked Holly.
“It’s a nuclear-powered negative proton beam that—“ Mrs. Ryan stopped. “Wait! It’s top secret! Forget what I just said. And that’s an order!”
Jeff knew what this was all leading to.
Him. By himself. Alone against the crazy alien.
Klatoo leaned over the top of the tower. His head buzzed wildly from its new power.
“It’s no use, Mom,” Jeff told his mother sadly. “Klatoo is super smart and powerful. And his creatures are on the way. Thousands like him.”
“Millions!” said Mike. “Maybe billions!”
“They’ll take over our minds,” Jeff went on. “They’ll make us all aliens in our own town.”
A shudder ran through the troops of soldiers.
Mrs. Ryan looked at Jeff. “I didn’t want to resort to Plan D, but now there’s no choice.”
“Excellent! There’s still hope!” said Sean. “What’s Plan D?”
Mrs. Ryan called her troops together. “Plan D. RUN FOR YOUR LIVES!”
“But M-M-M … Mom!” stuttered Jeff.
Within seconds the streets were empty. The army was gone. The tanks were gone, the trucks were gone, the jeeps and jets were gone.
Mrs. Ryan was gone.
The kids were alone.
Klatoo stared down from the giant alien tower. He began to laugh. He tapped a futuristic watch on his green wrist.
“Ten minutes, Cosmic Boy!”
He laughed some more. An ugly, alien laugh, that drifted down slowly, along with the weee-ooo-weee-ooo sounds of his accordion.
8
Showdown!
Sean turned to Jeff. “Can you do this? I mean, can you defeat the evil Mezmo-Headed dude?”
The lights on Jeff’s plastic helmet blinked as he looked at Sean and the others. One after the other, each of his friends—Sean, Liz, Holly, Mike—gave him hopeful nods.
“I guess I can,” said Jeff. “I mean, I’ll try.”
Sean beamed. “All right! The kid is turned on and ready for action!” He looked at the others. “See? What did I tell you?”
Mike frowned. “I still don’t think we’re going to make it this time. Those aliens are going to force us to listen to accordions all the time.”
“Listen, guys,” said Jeff. “We’ve got to short out Klatoo’s head before he sends any more signals to the others.”
“Short out?” said Holly. “How? You saw how his helmet sucked in that huge explosion. He’s super smart and super powerful. I think maybe we’d better do like your mom. You know, Plan D?”
Jeff took a deep breath. “There’s got to be a way to short circuit that helmet. He’s probably just a normal everyday alien without it.”
“Right!” said Liz. “Normal.”
Suddenly Jeff’s helmet buzzed and blinked and whirred as he stared at the giant tower. “Stand back!” he shouted. “A plan is beginning to form in my brain!”
“Go, Cosmic Boy!” Sean cheered. “A plan!”
Jeff shut his eyes tight and pinched his temples. Blue sparks flew off his helmet. His face glowed. His fingers felt electric.
“Yes …” said Jeff. “Good … okay … really? Got it!”
He turned to his friends. “There’s only one way to stop Klatoo. Let’s put on a show!”
“A show?” said Mike.
Liz was staring at Jeff. Suddenly her face brightened. “In school. The stage in the auditorium. Jeff, you’ve got something up your sleeve!”
Jeff smiled a little. “On my head, really.” He adjusted the knobs on his helmet and straightened his antennas for the attack. “Yes, our school. Our turf.”
VRRR! The top of the saucer began to open.
“Everybody back to school,” said Jeff calmly. “Mike, you go to the kitchen.”
“Cool,” said Mike.
“And get me a cabbage… .” Jeff stopped and looked at Sean’s head. “Better make it two cabbages. Sean, I need a roll of duct tape. Holly, lights. Liz, music.”
Jeff’s friends just stared at him.
“I’ll explain it all when I get there,” he said. “Now go!”
They went.
And as they went, Jeff felt as if big music were pounding in the air all around him. Not accordion music, but action music. He looked at the giant alien tower with the saucer at its summit.
The top was completely open now. Jeff’s friends were rushing away up Main Street to school.
He was alone.
Battleground U.S.A., he thought, his plastic helmet still buzzing on his head. Grover’s Mill was the first line of defense against the alien invasion of Zalmo from Klamez. Doontoo from Mokla. Oozal from Zemom. Whatever.
“First battleground,” Jeff said to himself, turning his knobs to maximum. “Final showdown!”
Bong! The giant donut chimed the hour.
Sssss! The pancake pan hissed it, too.
Time was almost up.
9
Take That! And That!
Suddenly there he was, floating down to the street. Klatoo the alien. His leafy head fluttered in the breeze.
Slap! Slap! His large green feet slapped the ground. His large yellow eyes in his large green head stared at Jeff from under his large mind control helmet. “Now I will destroy you!” he growled.
Zzzzzt! A spark flared from the cone at the top of Klatoo’s finned helmet. It slowly massed itself into a giant purple ball of energy.
Jeff braced himself as dust swirled up on the empty pavement. Klatoo shot his fireball at Jeff.
ZANNNNNNG! BLAM!
Jeff reeled backward as Klatoo’s first blast zapped his twin wire antennas. “Oh, that hurts!”
But that blast was just a trick! When Jeff staggered back, Klatoo swung and jerked his head at his friends running toward the school.
KKKKK! VA-SHOOOM!
“Oh, no you don’t!” Jeff cried out.
ZZZZ! Jeff’s light blue bolt shot across the street and met Klatoo’s purple ray in midair.
KA-BOONG! The two fireballs collided and exploded harmlessly in the air. But the blast sent both Jeff and the alien faltering backward. His friends disappeared safely around the corner.
WHAMMO! Another alien blast came quickly. Jeff leaped up off the street as Klatoo’s shot hit near his sneakers, scorching them. Hsssss! It scorched them!
VLANG! KA-JOOM! The battle went on.
Jeff kept trying to dodge the purple blasts. The only thing stopping the total destruction of Grover’s Mill was Jeff’s plastic helmet. And boy was it giving him a headache!
He floated over Duffey’s Diner and hurled another blast. BLAM! It exploded at Klatoo’s large green feet.
Suddenly the alien stopped. His Mezmo Head sputtered softly. “You are powerful, Cosmic Boy. Why not stop fighting and rule together? You can be the last human. We will be your Zaldoonian alien friends.”
Jeff looked Klatoo right in his bulging yellow eyes. “I don’t want to be the only human. I sort of like the way things are. My friends and stuff.”