by Stan Kirby
Table of Contents
1. Boredom Patrol
2. Ka-Pow!
3. Base Camp
4. Camp Rules!
5. Bunk-Bed Bandits
6. The Breakers of Ice!
7. ZZZAPPED!
8. Food-Fight Frenzy
9. Knot Heroic
10. Superhero Team-Up
11. Amazingly Awesome!
‘Captain Awesome and The Mummy’s Treasure’ Excerpt
Give me a status update, team!” Captain Awesome called out from the head of the pack.
Captain Awesome, Supersonic Sal, and Nacho Cheese Man were pedaling their Cycles of Justice as fast as they could. They were on the lookout for danger.
“No alien invasion!” shouted Supersonic Sal.
“No vibrations from Mole Mandini and the Undergrounders!” Nacho Cheese Man yelled. “Whoa, stop sign!”
“I see it,” Captain Awesome said. The heroes braked and looked both ways. “All clear,” said their leader.
Morning patrol was what all great superheroes did. It was how Super Dude started every day. And Eugene McGillicudy was determined to follow his example.
That’s right.
SUPER DUDE.
You’ve never heard of him? He’s only the world’s greatest superhero. He once tucked the Sleepless Knight into a prison bed with his knockout punch. And another time he snapped the Ultimate Worrier’s Sword of Complaint right in half!
Super Dude was the star of the Super Dude comic books that Eugene and his friends Charlie Thomas Jones and Sally Williams read whenever they were not watching The Adventures of Super Dude cartoons.
And there was so much more time to read and watch Super Dude during summer vacation! It was eighty-five days of holiday happiness. And so far the first week had been perfect: Mr. Drools had been sent back to the Howling Paw Nebula, Dr. Yuck Spinach was chased out of town until September, and even Queen Stinkypants had a new brand of Solar Diapers to keep her Galactic Gas Bombs from gassing everyone.
But with most of the many supervillains already taken care of, summer vacation was starting to get boring.
If only there was something to do, Eugene thought.
FLASH!
What was that? Captain Awesome’s Awesome-Sense began to tingle.
Captain Awesome turned to look. Suddenly, he was blasted by dozens of bright pink sparkles. “Sparkle bomb!” he yelled as his bike hit the curb.
PLOP!
Captain Awesome landed on the ground right in front of his arch-nemesis: Meredith Mooney.
“Little Miss Stinky Pinky!” Captain Awesome cried. Meredith was standing in front of her family’s van. She had a bright-pink sleeping bag rolled up in her evil clutches. A sparkly pink suitcase was at her side.
But it was no ordinary suitcase. It was a Level-Four Stinky Pink Sparkle Laser!
“Don’t look, Squad! That ‘suitcase’ could give us pink eye and blind us forever!”
“I don’t have time for this, Puke-Gene,” Meredith said. “I’m going to the Sparkle Princess Camp-a-Thon.” She stuffed her sleeping bag into the backseat and climbed in next to it. “It’s girls only, so you’re not allowed!” she said. “Smell you later!” With that, she slammed the door, stuck out her tongue, and pressed it against the window. She looked like a pink flesh-eating suckerfish.
All quiet in the neighborhood, Mom,” Eugene said when he got home. “Too quiet! We’ve already defeated all the villains in Sunnyview, and ever since school got out, not one single bad guy has tried to take over the town.”
“Surely, something fun . . . I mean, bad, must have happened this morning,” Mrs. McGillicudy said.
“Well, I did see Meredith,” Eugene replied. “That was pretty evil. But even she’s leaving town for summer camp. Gross-me-out girly princess summer camp!”
“Camp sounds like fun,” Mrs. McGillicudy said.
“Yeah, but not girly princess camp!” Eugene said. “There should be crime-fighting tips and gadget labs to make your own gear and lessons on how to be invisible.”
“It would be nice if there was a place just like that,” Mrs. McGillicudy agreed.
“Nice? It would be awesome!” Eugene said. “Heroes from all over would gather. It would be the ultimate team-up of the Hero League Society and the Society League of Heroes!”
“Hmm. I wonder if there is a summer camp like that,” his mom said thoughtfully.
Eugene slowly shook his head. “Probably not,” he said. “But a kid can dream.”
• • •
That evening Eugene slumped toward the dinner table. He was still bored. Just as he was about to sit down . . .
“Ka-Pow!” said Mrs. McGillicudy. “Your dreams are about to come true: Your father and I did some research and we found the perfect summer camp for you.” She held out a brochure. “Surprise!”
Eugene scanned the piece of bright-blue paper. “ ‘Camp Ka-pow: fifty acres of superhero training for heroic boys and girls,” he recited.
Suddenly Eugene’s eyes lit up like fireballs. “I’ve got to tell Charlie and Sally! Can they come too?”
“I’ve already spoken to their parents. Everything is all set for tomorrow,” Mrs. McGillicudy said.
TOMORROW?!
Eugene couldn’t wait for dinner to end. He had to start packing! As soon as he finished the last evil pea on his plate, he raced up to his room, opened the secret drawer in his Fortress of Clothes, and pulled out his spare Captain Awesome uniform.
Camp Ka-Pow was Eugene’s chance. It would be his opportunity to learn every skill it took to be the MI-TEEest superhero ever.
Once he was packed and ready for bed, Eugene lay back on his pillow. What would he learn first? Would it be “Sidekicks: Your Best Friend!” or “How to Pick the Perfect Secret Identity!” or maybe “Costume Repair When Your Mom Isn’t Around”?
Eugene smiled and closed his eyes. Camp Ka-Pow was going to be the best camp ever!
A voice boomed over the loudspeaker: “Welcome to Camp Ka-Pow!”
The doors of several yellow buses hissed open. “Yay!” dozens of kids shouted with glee. Some were already wearing capes and masks as they poured out into the camp’s parking lot.
Eugene, Charlie, and Sally stepped off their bus. The wooden archway held a banner that read WELCOME HEROES. It was decorated with bright orange lightning bolts.
“We’re here!” Charlie shouted.
“This is already awesome!” Eugene cried.
“When can we learn how to fight evil better?” Sally asked.
“Whoa-ho-ho, little heroes! Not so fast!” A teenager stood at the entrance to the camp, holding a clipboard. He was dressed in a yellow mask and a yellow jumpsuit with black stripes. He had matching yellow boots, and he was wearing a whistle around his neck.
“I’m Super Todd, one of the many mighty counselors here at Camp Ka-Pow. Grab your bags, and we’ll head over to the Ka-Power Theater for a heroes’ welcome.”
All the bags were stacked outside the entrance. Eugene, Charlie, and Sally went over to pick them up.
“Stop!” Eugene cried out. “Bag thief!” Eugene ran to the bags. His Super Dude duffel bag was slung around the shoulder of another camper.
The boy carrying the duffel turned to face Eugene. “What’s your problem, dude?”
“That’s my Super Dude bag,” Eugene said. “I can tell because mine has a jelly stain on the side.”
“That’s not jelly,” the boy replied. “That’s grape juice. My grape juice.”
Eugene put his hand on one of the straps and held tight. “No, it’s my jelly.”
The boy pulled the duffel toward himself. “My juice!”
&n
bsp; The two boys pulled the bag back and forth. “My jelly! My juice! My jelly! My juice!” they said to each other.
I may have to use Captain Awesome’s Mi-Tee power, Eugene thought.
“Found it, Eric!” A smaller boy ran down the sidewalk toward the great Baggage Battle. He held up a Super Dude duffel bag. “I recognized the juice stain.”
Suddenly, the boy, Eric, let go of Eugene’s bag, and Eugene went flying! Eric didn’t even say sorry as he walked away.
“Let’s go, Eugene,” Sally said. They threw their bags over their shoulders and followed Super Todd and the other heroes in to the small amphitheater. Eugene kept his eye on Eric until they sat down on the wooden benches that surrounded the stage.
Drums started to beat. Music thump-thump-thumped. Smoke filled the stage. There was excitement in the air. No one was talking.
Then from out of the smoke stepped Super Todd. “Welcome, heroes!” he said. Everyone in the audience cheered. “In the life of a superhero there are three things you never forget: you never forget your first crime-fighting adventure. . . .”
Eugene knew that was true!
“You never forget the friends who help you in your time of need.”
Eugene, Charlie, and Sally looked at one another and smiled. That was definitely true.
“And you’ll never forget your time here at CAMP KA-POW!” he yelled.
The crowd of superheroes roared with excitement.
According to Super Todd, Camp Ka-Pow was fifty acres of prime superhero adventure. There were woods off to the north end of camp where the Tree House of Destiny lurked. Next to it was the Superhero Flight School, and at the edge of the woods was Lake Justice, “with a dock for any of you with special water powers,” Super Todd said. There were also climbing walls, obstacle courses, ropes to swing on, and so much more.
“Now let’s meet some of my super team!” Super Todd said.
Commander Chef stepped onstage wearing a red-white-and-blue apron and a star-studded chef’s hat. “Breakfast is every morning at seven a.m.,” Commander Chef said. There were groans from some of the campers, especially the kid dressed as a bat. “The Bat Knight doth not approveth of such early hours,” the kid complained.
Then Mary Marvelous said there were three main rules at camp:
(1) No littering. Keep the camp clean because a messy camp is like inviting evil to a party.
(2) Obey the curfew. It’s “Lights-out!” at eight p.m., and everyone has to be in their cabins. Night patrol will be handled by the Camp Ka-Pow Super Patrol Team.
And finally a rule that was actually pretty awesome:
(3) Team up! Camp Ka-Pow is all about teamwork and learning to work together.
After the announcements, the young heroes formed a line by the stage. Super Todd held up a list and started calling out names and cabins.
“Jim! You’re in cabin BOOM! Laura, WHAM! Samantha, BAM!”
Charlie and Eugene were given ZOOM! Sally got BAM!
“All right, campers. Head to your cabins!” Mary Marvelous shouted.
Eugene and Charlie stood in the doorway of ZOOM! the cabin that had been assigned to them. “Wow,” they said.
It was decorated like a superhero’s headquarters. The bathroom door looked like the entrance to a secret lair, the rug was shaped like a rocket, and the windows were round like the portholes on Super Admiral’s Flying Fortress.
But most important, there were bunk beds against the wall.
BUNK BEDS!
“I’ve always wanted to sleep on a top bunk!” Eugene said. He and Charlie both smiled and high-fived. Just as their palms slapped, two boys rushed in.
“Top bunk!” the taller one shouted. He ran to the bed and tossed his bag on top of the first bunk.
“Other top bunk!” the smaller one shouted. He climbed on to the first top bunk and leaped over to the second with a whoosh.
Eugene recognized the taller boy. It was Eric, the one who had tried to steal Eugene’s duffel bag.
“Hey, guys!” Eugene called out. “We were here first!”
“Yeah, we should get the top bunks,” Charlie said.
“No way. We called it from the bus in the parking lot,” Eric said. “Right, Chris?”
“Yep! We win!” Chris cheered.
Eugene and Charlie deflated.
Super Todd popped his head in the doorway. “You guys are needed outside in five minutes,” he said. “We’re going on our first mission.”
He disappeared, closing the door behind him. A moment later the door opened again. “Oh, and you might want to gear up,” he said with a wink. “This is superhero camp!”
“To the costumes!” Eugene grabbed his clothes and headed to the bathroom to change. It’s better if people don’t know I’m Captain Awesome yet, he thought.
BAGS!
UNZIP!
CAPE!
SUPERHEROES!
“We’re going to have to keep an eye on Chris and Eric,” Captain Awesome whispered to Nacho Cheese Man as he tied his cape. “First he tried to steal my Super Dude duffel bag, and now he’s stolen our beds. We might be bunking with secret bad guys.”
“I’ll bring my extra cheese,” Nacho Cheese Man said. “Evil hates cheese in a can.”
Captain Awesome and Nacho Cheese Man followed Super Todd past the Hero Recharging Station and the Commander General Store, which sold the latest crime-fighting gadgets. Then they turned left at the Crime Fighters’ Cafeteria, crossed the Lava Bridge, and went into a clearing, where several other heroes were already waiting. “Eug—I mean, Captain Awesome! Over here!” Supersonic Sal called.
Captain Awesome and Nacho Cheese Man sat next to her. “Wait until you hear who stole our beds!” Captain Awesome said. But he was interrupted by Super Todd.
“Okay, time for icebreakers!” Super Todd said.
“Ready!” said Captain Awesome. “Should we break the ice with Fists of Awesome Fury or Feet of Shoeless Force?” he asked.
Super Todd laughed. “Icebreakers is when we tell one another a little about ourselves and our powers.” He pointed to Captain Awesome. “How about you go first?”
Eugene sat up straight. “I’m Captain Awesome. My friends and I are the three members of the Sunnyview Superhero Squad,” he said as he pointed to Supersonic Sal and Nacho Cheese Man. “I have the MI-TEE powers of awesomeness,” he declared in his most heroic voice ever.
“Awesomeness? That’s not even a word!” Even with the speaker’s face hidden by a mask, Captain Awesome recognized the voice immediately.
ERIC.
The bunk-bed thief!
“I’m Amazing Man,” the masked boy continued. “I have Amazing Power and every time I use it, people come for miles around just to say, ‘That hero is amazing!’ ”
“It’s true,” said the boy next to Amazing Man. He had glasses and a purple shirt and wore a bicycle helmet that looked like a giant pink brain. “I’m Whiz Kid, and I have the brain power of ten kids,” he declared.
Whiz Kid pointed to the girl sitting next to Supersonic Sal. “And this is Super Silent Sam,” he said. “She’s quieter than the quietest mouse. You wouldn’t want her to sneak up on you.”
“We’re the proud crew members of the Cloudy Heights Super Crew!” Amazing Man said.
“Cloudy Heights! Cloudy Heights! No evil shall escape our sights!” Amazing Man and Whiz Kid chanted.
The others in the group introduced themselves and their powers. There was Bat Knight, who had the power to hang upside down without getting dizzy; Cartoon Carl, who could imitate any cartoon character; Sneaky Petra, who had spy powers; and Wanda Wonderful, a magician who pulled a quarter from behind Nacho Cheese Man’s ear.
Once everyone had finished, Super Todd stood up and said, “It’s time for our first challenge. This will test the skills of all superheroes. We’re headed to the Laser Beam Training Course!”
Every superhero in the group gasped with excitement.
GASP!
“Laser Bea
m Training!” Captain Awesome said. He looked at Supersonic Sal and Nacho Cheese Man. “This place just keeps getting better and better!”
The heroes lined up in front of two rock climbing walls. Orange yarn crisscrossed the space between the two walls like a crazy plate of spaghetti.
“Welcome to Lasertopia!” said Super Todd. “About a bazillion orange lasers are shooting between those walls to test your speed and balance. Your mission,” Super Todd continued, “is to get to the other side without touching a single beam. So, who wants to go first?”
Supersonic Sal stepped forward. “I’ll go!”
ROLL!
DIVE!
TWIST!
Not even orange yarn lasers shooting at the speed of light could catch Supersonic Sal! She made it through without touching a single one!
“Mi-Tee!” Captain Awesome cheered as Supersonic Sal waved to him from the far side.
Whiz Kid went next. He strolled up to the first row of crisscrossing lasers and gave a big yawn.
“Child’s play,” he muttered. “My Super Duper Brain can easily calculate the safest course through the lasers using simple geometry.”
Whiz Kid gave the Cloudy Heights Super Crew Salute. Then, with the grace of a ballet dancer and the speed of a turtle, Whiz Kid successfully made it through the lasers.
“Balance that equation!” he yelled back to the kids still on the other side.
“Awesome job, you two!” said Super Todd. “Okay, who wants to dare the Walls of Laser Zappiness next?”