Searching for Super

by Marion Jensen

  The Dirt Hog roared and jerked at the same time. The front end of the motorcycle rose into the air and the bike lunged forward. We shimmied from side to side and I was certain we were about to crash, but then the front wheel landed on the ground and we straightened out. Benny opened the throttle and we tore across the front of the parking lot.

  “Fly, fly, fly!” I yelled into my microphone. I was talking to Dirk, but Benny thought I was talking to him and gunned the bike, racing even faster.

  I had the sudden image of Benny and me dragging the helicopter across the roof of the parking garage, or else being flung from the bike as the cable went tight and the helicopter yanked us back.

  But Dirk was already on the move. The helicopter roared and climbed into the air.

  “Where am I going?” Benny asked. “I could use some direction.”

  He seemed awfully calm for somebody who was already doing forty miles per hour across the top of a four-story parking garage, headed for a three-foot wall.

  “Pull us up,” I yelled into the radio. “Lift us over that wall!”

  The helicopter blades sliced through the air. The cable was long, the helicopter was high, and the wind tore around us like rushing water. Dust flew everywhere. I watched two things with complete and total concentration: the wall racing toward us at a frightening speed, and the cable, snaking up into the air.

  “Hang on!” I yelled as the cable went tight. I locked my arms around Benny, who held on to the motorcycle with his hydraulic gloves. The bike rose into the air and lurched sickeningly to the left as Dirk banked toward the hotel. As soon as we were over the wall, Dirk dropped the helicopter.

  In another moment we were on the ground. Benny gunned the engine and straightened the motorcycle out like he’d done this every day of his life. After a few wobbles, we were racing down the road toward the hotel, the cable still attached to the helicopter but no longer tight.

  Benny whooped in elation. I whooped, too, although I think my whoop sounded more like a scream of terror and relief.

  The cable had held, but now came the hard part.

  “You two are crazy, you know that?” Dirk’s voice sounded at once angry and impressed.

  “Why, thank you,” Benny said.

  “Rafter, you have about ninety seconds before we get to the hotel,” Dirk said. “If you’re going to tell us your plan, you’d better do it fast.”

  I was glad I only had ninety seconds. Dirk wasn’t going to like it and I didn’t want to give him time to argue.

  Taking a deep breath, I opened my mouth to explain. Something caught the corner of my eye.

  I whipped my head around. For a split second I was certain I was seeing things.

  Stepping down from a bus was Monroe Johnson. He was followed by the Johnson who had been assigned as his babysitter. And behind them walked three other figures, all in bathrobes. One of them had a walker.

  Merry, Judith, and Barbara from the senior-citizen center.

  Whatever plan Monroe had, it involved waking up three former superheroes and hauling them down to the Baylor Hotel.

  I didn’t have time to give a second thought to Monroe. I hoped his babysitter and the ladies would all stay safe.

  I had more pressing concerns. The hotel was getting closer and closer with every passing second.

  I shouted into my radio. “Okay, this may sound a little crazy, but we’re going to drive the Dirt Hog into the hotel. Right through the windows.”

  “Honestly, that doesn’t sound any crazier than leaping from the top of a parking garage,” Dirk said. “The Dirt Hog’s armor should crash right through the glass front doors. But why—”

  “That’s good to hear,” I said. “But we’re not aiming for the front doors. We’re going to crash through the windows . . . on the thirteenth floor.”

  Benny swerved to miss a car, gunned the engine, and continued to drive toward the hotel. I could hear the sounds of the city, the roar of the Dirt Hog, and the chopping of the helicopter, but no one said anything for half a block.

  And then there was screaming.

  Benny screamed that it was the best idea he’d ever heard. Dirk screamed at us to pull the Dirt Hog over and park it right now.

  “Listen!” I screamed back. “There isn’t any time to argue. Benny, your job is to drive at the hotel as fast as you can.”

  Even as I said it, Benny opened the throttle, causing the bike to pop a wheelie. I held on tight and the hotel loomed in front of us as we raced forward.

  “Dirk,” I said. “You have to fly the helicopter up so that we crash through the thirteenth floor.”

  “That’s impossible,” Dirk shouted. “If I’m off by even a few feet you’ll be smashed against the side of the Baylor.”

  We only had a few more seconds.

  “It’s not impossible,” I said. “It’s simple mathematics. As soon as we leave the ground, you check the altitude of the helicopter. Each floor of a building is ten feet, right? Just fly up a hundred thirty feet, and that will put us through the windows on the thirteenth floor.”

  Dirk would tell me later that it wasn’t anywhere near that simple. But I’d said something that convinced him. It’s simple mathematics. In fact, it was extremely complicated geometry. But Dirk knew numbers. Even without his power, he could do this problem on the fly—literally.

  Dirk was one of many heroes that night. He did several things at once, and in an incredibly short amount of time. He pushed the helicopter forward and up. As soon as the cable went tight, he noted his altitude.

  Then he pulled out his phone. While Benny and I hung on to the Dirt Hog for dear life, Dirk looked at the blueprints of the Baylor Hotel. He found out that the main floor was in fact nineteen feet, and all the other floors were each twelve feet, eight inches.

  As soon as he had this, the rest was simple.

  He gunned the engines, flew the helicopter forward, and slammed Benny and me into the thirteenth floor of the Baylor Hotel.

  22

  YEEEEEEEEHAAAAAW

  Dirk’s aim was true.

  The nose of the Dirt Hog crashed through the window. The armored metal struck the glass, and the window exploded into a thousand sparkling bits. Time seemed to slow down.

  Benny and I sailed through a pastel-colored hotel room. I caught images as I flew. Two beds. A minifridge. A TV sitting on top of a dresser. A painting of an Italian village on the wall.

  Everything glittered from the pebbles of glass that filled the space in the room. Benny had let go of the Dirt Hog and flew, fists out, through the air.

  He was screaming yeeeeeeehaaaaw.

  I was upside down.

  Time returned to regular speed. The Dirt Hog smashed against the far wall and crashed to the floor. Benny slammed into a coffee table and then bounced off a couch. I flew through a doorway, struck a shower, rebounded off the tile, and then crushed a toilet.

  As soon as I’d stopped moving, I hollered to my brother. “Benny! Benny, are you okay?”

  I heard a groan, and then the hiss of hydraulics. Benny’s voice came from the main room. “I am totally changing my middle name to Dirt Hog. I’m not even joking.”

  I breathed a sigh of relief, and then went about checking everywhere I hurt.

  The supersuits had saved us. They were built for protection. The suits kept our arms and legs and heads from bending the wrong way. They kept the glass from cutting us. They kept our heads attached to our bodies, which I appreciated very much.

  I crawled to my feet, white porcelain crunching under my boots. My head was spinning and my heart was beating fast, but other than that, I felt fine. Much better than one could reasonably expect to feel after flying a quarter mile through the air and being sling-shot into a skyscraper.

  The helicopter still flew outside. I ran to the Dirt Hog and untied the cable. I tossed the cable out of the gaping hole in the side of the hotel, and waved to let Dirk know we were okay. He saluted us, and then the helicopter rose into the night sky.

>   I turned and found Benny brushing off his supersuit. He looked at me, a broad grin on his face.

  “We did it, right, Rafter?” he said. “We rode a Dirt Hog through the air. We crashed through the window and survived. We’re heroes, right? We’re super, just like last time!”

  I could see elation in his eyes.

  I’m afraid of being a nobody.

  I had to tell him the truth.

  “Not yet, Benny,” I said, and Benny’s face fell. “Anybody can drive a Dirt Hog through the thirteenth floor of a hotel. Well . . . anybody who is crazy or not very bright. But that doesn’t make us heroes. Not just yet. Juanita had it right. We hunkered down, but she helped others. Maybe it didn’t look heroic, but it was. And now it’s our turn. Let’s find some people to help. Then we’ll be heroes.”

  Benny thought about that, and then nodded. “Point me in the right direction, and tell me what to do.”

  It took me a second to determine what that direction was. To be honest, I was surprised that nobody had found us yet. Crashing through the window had caused quite a bit of noise.

  I opened a channel to Mrs. Johnson. “Are you still in contact with Juanita?” I asked. “Do you have her location?”

  She must have been busy coordinating other things because it took a moment for her to answer me. When she spoke, it was quick and no nonsense. “She’s hiding in the linen closet on the thirteenth floor. Southeast corner.”

  “Southeast,” I said, pointing. “That’s the right direction.”

  I looked out the peephole of the door. I saw figures racing past. Men and women, most of them in pajamas, but some of them in hotel-staff uniforms. A few times, I thought I saw a flash of metal. If it was what I thought it was, these people were Joneses.

  I didn’t know if the noise from the Dirt Hog had awoken everybody, or if they were already running around before we got there. Either way, it looked like we’d caught them by surprise.

  We had to move fast.

  My brain raced. I remembered my promise to Dad. If anything happens, call for backup.

  “Hey!” Benny had the door to the minifridge open. “Chocolate milk!”

  “No time for chocolate milk,” I said. “It’s time to move.”

  Benny quickly joined my side.

  “This is the plan,” I explained. “Juanita is out this door and to the left. There are a bunch of supervillains out there. None of them are in supersuits, but they probably have powers.”

  Benny looked grim, but nodded.

  “The elevators are also to the left. When we go past them, press the buttons. Both up and down.”

  “I like to press the buttons,” Benny said. “What do we do after we get Juanita?”

  I hadn’t thought that far ahead. Maybe because I didn’t think we’d even make it that far. “I have no idea.”

  I turned on my radio and opened a channel to everybody.

  “This is Rafter and Benny Bailey. We’re on the thirteenth floor, and we’re going to call the elevators to us. If anybody is in the lobby, please get in and ride up with them. We could use the help.”

  I knew there were going to be a thousand questions. Maybe my family would even tell me to stop, and wait for them.

  But Juanita was in trouble.

  So I threw open the door to the hotel room and ran.

  23

  DID YOU HIT YOUR HEAD ON THE WAY HERE?

  The Joneses were in a panic. Men and women ran down the hall, everyone trying to get . . . somewhere. I couldn’t tell if people were running for their supersuits, trying to escape, or if it was just chaos.

  But at the sight of me and Benny in our supersuits, the chaos intensified. Joneses shouted. They ducked out of the way, or into hotel rooms.

  We ran.

  I lowered my shoulder like I was running with a football. Nobody tried to stop us.

  We paused at the elevators just long enough for Benny to push the buttons. Hopefully my family had had time to get in the elevators below.

  Then we were running again. I waited for an explosion of fire. A bolt of electricity. Or somebody with strength to step in and stop us.

  No one did. And so we kept running.

  At the end of the hall was a door labeled LAUNDRY. It was locked.

  Benny took three steps back, then ran and hit the door with a crash. The frame splintered and the hinges gave way. The door ended up on the floor.

  The room was empty. Cupboards held bath towels, hand towels, and washrags. Several large laundry bins on wheels held dirty laundry, along with hand soap and bottles of shampoo and conditioner. A sink rested against one wall of the room. A clock hung on the wall.

  “Juanita?” I said. “It’s me, Rafter.”

  There weren’t many places to hide, but as soon as I said her name, one of the laundry bins exploded. Dirty linen shot up and out like lava from a volcano. Juanita pushed herself out of the bin and tossed a towel that was stuck on her head to the floor.

  “It’s about time you guys got here.” She tried to sound stern, but she was too clearly relieved. “Where’s everybody else?”

  “It’s just us for now,” Benny said. “Everyone else is trying to figure out how to get up here.”

  Juanita looked like she wanted to ask more questions, but I knew we didn’t have much time. So far nobody had followed us into the linen closet, but I expected that to change any minute.

  “Where are the rest of the missing relatives? Are they here in the hotel?” I asked.

  Juanita nodded. “They are in rooms 1301 to 1305. Also, as far as I can tell, none of the Joneses have real powers. Their powers are all worthless, just like ours. And there are about fifty Joneses altogether.”

  It took me a moment to fully grasp what this meant.

  That’s why nobody stopped us running down the hall. They had dud powers, too. We had more people, and we had supersuits.

  A moment ago it had felt like we were on a doomed mission, but we’d been given a miracle—we were superheroes charging a castle expecting to fight dragons, but finding only cute little puppies. We were going to win.

  “Juanita,” I said. “Do you want us to get you to safety?”

  Juanita looked at me like I had a gopher crawling out of my ear.

  “Did you hit your head on the way here?” she asked. She sounded offended. “Why in the world would I want to get to safety?”

  I looked at Benny for help. He shrugged.

  “I didn’t think you wanted to be a superhero,” I said. “You know, you were doing things like helping out at the senior center and stuff.”

  Juanita reached over and knocked on my helmet. “Uh, hello. I love being a superhero. I just didn’t want to be a superhero that sat around and did nothing. If I couldn’t do something big, I was at least going to do something.”

  “Now you’re talking,” Benny said. He reached out and knocked on my helmet too. I guess because he thought it looked fun.

  “My mom was a superhero,” Juanita said. “And I am too. Big or small, I’ll help where I can.” Juanita looked shy for just a second. Then she pushed me gently on the shoulder. “Get me up to speed. What’s happening downstairs?”

  I told Juanita what had happened. I even told her quickly about Thimon and how he’d tricked us.

  I heard the elevator ding. I backed up to the door and peered around the corner. There were fewer Joneses in the hall now. Doors were slamming. I heard another ding and held my breath.

  Johnsons and Baileys started pouring out into the hall.

  Grandpa led the charge. He hollered orders to those following him. I radioed the room numbers Juanita had given me. In a moment we’d gone from being alone on the thirteenth floor to being surrounded by superheroes racing to save the day.

  Even if the suits looked a little similar, you could easily tell who were Baileys and who were Johnsons. The Baileys were already kicking in doors, shouldering their way into rooms, and generally shouting and crashing around. All of them held jet injectors. Some of
them held two.

  The Johnsons, on the other hand, worked together. They’d taken just a moment to plan, and now explored rooms methodically in two and threes.

  One of the Johnsons spotted us. He pointed toward the elevator. “Juanita, your supersuit is over by the elevator.” Juanita ran to get it.

  Dad spotted me. “Rafter, can you keep shuttling up superheroes? The battle is already under way, and I don’t want to miss any of it.”

  “Aw, man,” Benny whined. “We’re going to get stuck chauffeuring superheroes.” He watched the action in the hall hungrily. “We’re the ones who got everybody up here—can’t we do the fun stuff?”

  I felt the same way, but I liked to think I’d learned a few things.

  “Sometimes we get to do the big stuff,” I said. “And sometimes we need to do the small stuff. Come on, we can move fast, and maybe there will still be some villains to capture.”

  We passed Juanita racing back to the linen closet to change. We started bringing heroes up the elevators. By the time we had everybody up on the thirteenth floor, a few superheroes were already bringing Joneses over to be sent down. The jet injectors must have worked fine because the unconscious Joneses looked like they were taking Sunday afternoon naps.

  These supervillains had evaded us for decades, but now I could see them, and they looked like regular people, especially when they were asleep.

  Well, regular except for the fact that every one of them had a metal plate attached to their head. That explained the flashes of metal I’d seen earlier. The plates were the size of a medium pancake, and were molded to their skulls. Many of the men were bald, and the women had hair growing around the metal. It was beyond creepy, but at least it was an easy way to keep track of who the bad guys were.

  A man in pajamas turned the corner. He didn’t have a metal plate. He carried a supervillain.

  “Uncle Buford!” I said. “We found you!”

  Uncle Buford gave me a thumbs-up. “Worst shopping trip ever! But I like how it’s ending.”

  Uncle Buford turned and left.

  “If we don’t get out of here,” Benny said, “they’re going to ask us to shuttle the bad guys downstairs.”