by Kara West
CONTENTS
CHAPTER 1 MIA MACAROONEY, THE SOCCER STAR!
CHAPTER 2 MEETING ALLIE OOMPH
CHAPTER 3 QT . . . NOT CUTIE
CHAPTER 4 THE RELAY RACE
CHAPTER 5 THE FINAL RESULTS
CHAPTER 6 THE LOST SHADOW
CHAPTER 7 THE BAD LUCK DAY
CHAPTER 8 SLOW AND STEADY
CHAPTER 9 CONNECTING THE PIECES
CHAPTER 10 THE FINAL RACE
‘MIA MAYHEM BREAKS DOWN WALLS’ TEASER
ABOUT THE AUTHOR AND ILLUSTRATOR
CHAPTER 1
MIA MACAROONEY, THE SOCCER STAR!
Oh boy. We’re totally going to lose this soccer game. I doubt we’ll be able to make a comeback before time runs out. If by some miracle we do score a goal, I definitely need to stay out of it.
Why? Well, because the last time I was on this field, I kicked the ball so hard that I broke the goalpost by mistake!
Weird things happen to me all the time. In fact, all my life I thought I was a super-klutz. No matter how hard I tried to avoid it, I always caused a lot of mayhem.
But here’s the kicker: I found out that I’m not a super-klutz. . . . I’m actually just SUPER!
Like for real!
I. Mia Macarooney. Am. A. Superhero!
Ever since I found out, I’ve had to juggle a lot. During the day, I go to Normal Elementary School. But as soon as the school bell rings, I head off to the Program for In Training Superheroes, aka the PITS. And at the PITS, I go by my superhero name, MIA MAYHEM!
My parents and my best friend are the only people who know the truth. Sometimes I wish I could tell everybody. But I’ve learned that keeping things quiet is the only way to protect my secret identity. My mom and dad would know best. They’ve been superheroes for much longer than me.
It’s been a crazy ride, so I’m glad that I still do a lot of ordinary things like playing soccer with my friends. But now that I’m in the middle of a losing game, I’m starting to panic.
My best friend, Eddie, is about to pass the ball to me!
Oh boy. Here we go.
“Run, Mia! Run!” he yells as he throws me the ball.
So I zigzagged my way around the other team and ran the ball all the way down the field . . . and kicked it straight into the goal!
By the end of the game, I scored ten goals all by myself—without even breaking a sweat!
I ran over to my teammates with the biggest grin on my face. For the first time ever, we totally beat the odds . . . thanks to me!
Now, I kind of wished everybody could have been happier for me. But for some reason, all my teammates were too tired. They didn’t even care that we won!
This wasn’t exactly how I hoped to finish the best game of my life, but I guess it was okay.
I’ve got something else to look forward to.
Today is my very first superspeed training class at the PITS.
And I have a feeling it’s going to be awesome.
CHAPTER 2
MEETING ALLIE OOMPH
At the entrance to the PITS, I took out my suit. Then I spun around three times. I finally mastered the quick-superhero-change trick!
On the outside, the PITS looks like an empty, old warehouse. There’s even a DO NOT ENTER sign dangling on the front. But when you walk in, it’s a top secret superhero training school!
I looked around the lobby, which was known as the Compass. A group of older students walked by. I stopped a tall, slender girl in a violet suit. Maybe she would know where Dr. Dash’s Fast class was.
“Oh sure!” she said, pointing to the back exit. “Fast class is outside. You need to go to the Super Cutie.”
“To the super . . . what?” I asked, confused. But when I turned around, she was already gone.
Did she really just say “the Super Cutie”? That didn’t sound right.
I walked in the direction she’d pointed, toward a big, arched door.
Maybe I needed to ask somebody else.
But then I’d have to ask if they’d seen the Super Cutie.
Um, yeah. No, thanks.
I opened the door and walked down a long tree-lined path. There was a clear, protective dome over the tall trees. Soon I saw a familiar blazing red cape up ahead.
“Hey, Penn!” I shouted excitedly, running to catch up.
When Penn Powers and I first met, we didn’t exactly get off on the right foot. I thought he was a major show-off. But luckily, we became friends after going on a flying mission to find my crazy cat.
We stood in front of a screen that looked like a robot. There were five superpower icons.
“Wow, even I’ve never been out here,” said Penn.
I pointed at the picture that looked like three forward arrows. “Looks like Fast class is to the right,” I said.
Just as we made the turn, someone knocked us down!
“Get out of the way, slowpokes!” the kid yelled, before he rushed on.
“Whoa. Are you guys okay?” asked a girl who ran over to help us up.
The girl was wearing a green supersuit that had silver zigzags on the elbows.
“Yeah, thanks,” I replied. Then I bent down to brush the dirt off my boots.
“Whoa—your silver leg blades are awesome!” I exclaimed, looking up. Starting from the base of the knee, each of her lower legs was made of metal. Then at the ankle, a curved blade completed each foot. They fit perfectly with her blazing green suit.
“Yeah, aren’t they cool?” she asked with a grin. “I call these my Blades of Glory! I’ve got all different kinds of legs depending on what I’m doing. These ones are great for running, so it’s perfect for Fast class. Are you going there too?”
I nodded, and then Penn and I introduced ourselves.
“Nice to meet you! I’m Allie Oomph,” she said warmly.
Once we got to the racetrack, there were many kids already there . . . including the rude kid who had knocked us over!
I wasn’t too excited about that, but I didn’t have time to worry.
Because out of nowhere, a swirl of wind blew past and pushed us over again.
This time, Penn fell onto me.
I fell onto Allie.
And Allie fell onto—uh-oh. It was the rude kid.
“Hey! Get off!” the boy said as he picked himself up.
Before we could say a word, the wind stopped. Then a man with a neat mustache and a golden whistle appeared in front of us.
“Sorry! Didn’t mean to knock you all over. I’m Dr. Dash—welcome to your first Fast class!”
CHAPTER 3
QT . . . NOT CUTIE
Dr. Dash smiled. “Welcome, students. This is the hidden course called the Super Quick Track—or QT, for short.”
Ha! So this is what the Super Cutie is! Penn gave me a thumbs-up.
“You will each learn how to control your speed by running around this beginner-level track,” Dr. Dash continued.
The rude kid raised his hand. “This track looks way too easy. Can we skip ahead to a harder lesson?”
“Ah, Hugo Fast. It’s good to see you,” Dr. Dash replied. “The track may look easy now. But once you start running, hurdles will pop up everywhere.”
Hugo didn’t look happy, but he didn’t argue.
“Now, let’s cover the superspeed basics. Does anyone know what the most important rule is?” Dr. Dash asked.
Allie shot her hand up. “Remembering to stretch?”
“Good guess! It is important to relax your body.” Dr. Dash smiled. “But the secret to becoming a good speedster is to take it slow and not go too fast. At least at first.”
Everyone looked very confused.
; “I know it doesn’t quite make sense. But think of it this way,” Dr. Dash began. “If you run several laps without preparing your body, you’re going to run out of breath, right?”
Everybody nodded.
“Well, with superspeed, you can’t push yourself before you’re ready. If you do, you might lose your own shadow. And without your shadow, you’ll lose your superspeed powers.”
Everyone gasped, except for Hugo.
“Yes, it’s very serious,” Dr. Dash said. “Without your shadow, your body will literally slow down. And finding a missing shadow is tricky business. Now, thankfully, there is a way to find it—but it’s not something you’ll need to learn now.”
Whoa. Who knew your shadow could leave your body?
I wonder if it hurts. Well, actually, let’s not think about that. I’m getting ahead of myself.
Once we finished covering the rules of speed, it was time to start a team relay race. My group included me, Penn, Allie . . . and, unfortunately, Hugo.
Each person had to run five laps while jumping over hurdles that popped up from the ground. As a penalty, every missed hurdle would be added to your team’s overall time. And this combined score would be each team’s final ranking for the race.
Talk about a lot of pressure, huh? But with Penn on my team, I was feeling pretty calm.
That is, until Hugo said he was taking charge. “That’s the only way we’ll actually place first,” he insisted.
Then he tapped Penn on the shoulder to start.
“Penn Powers—I’ve heard your name before. Don’t let me down,” Hugo muttered.
Penn let out a half-hearted laugh as he and I locked eyes. Then he gave me a quick wink.
“On your marks!” Dr. Dash called out as the first group lined up. “Get set!”
Penn leaned forward, his eyes focused straight ahead.
“Go!”
Dr. Dash blew his golden whistle, and Penn sped away.
CHAPTER 4
THE RELAY RACE
All the starters ran off at the speed of light. A swirling blur of color that matched each runner’s supersuit filled the lane. Allie and I cheered as Penn’s bright red streak zoomed around.
Penn came into focus as his first hurdle popped up from the ground. Without missing a beat, he leaped into the air.
Whoa. Did you just see that?
He made it! And now he’s in the lead!
From there, the first three laps were a piece of cake. Penn easily kept a large distance between him and the other runners. And things were looking really good . . . until a loud alarm started going off.
“Oh no!” I cried. “Penn’s getting tired.”
“I think everyone is,” said Allie.
She was right. Beeping sounds were going off in every lane.
I watched with one eye half shut as Penn missed five hurdles in a row.
But the good news?
Thanks to his strong start, we were still in the lead.
The problem was that now it was my turn.
As Penn began his last lap, I stepped up to the start line and leaned forward. My muscles tightened as Penn’s red blur came closer and closer. Then he tapped me in and off I went!
An awesome tingly feeling came over me. Right then I realized that I’d felt the same amazing rush during my soccer game earlier.
Soon, I could see my first set of hurdles coming up. I took a deep breath and jumped into the air. And leaped right over them!
From there, things were a piece of cake.
Well, at least until lap three.
By then, I ran out of all my energy—just like Penn.
I watched helplessly as a pink blur zoomed by on the right. Then a green streak edged past me on the left!
In an instant, we were in danger of losing our lead!
So I looked down and pounded my feet into the ground.
But looking down was a bad idea because my foot got caught on a long line of hurdles. And just like that, they all fell like dominos.
Then there was a lot of beeping.
But I still had to tag Allie in, so I ignored it and pushed to the end.
As soon as Allie blasted off, I dropped to the floor. It felt like the whole track was spinning! Luckily, things calmed down as Penn helped me up.
I checked the board at the back of the track.
Oh boy. Somehow, we were now in last place.
And I could tell Hugo was not happy about it.
CHAPTER 5
THE FINAL RESULTS
The QT race wasn’t over yet, and the chances of making a comeback were slim. But Penn and I cheered at the tops of our lungs every time Allie passed by.
Hugo, on the other hand, wasn’t a good cheerleader.
“Hey! You need to go faster!” he yelled as Allie came around a curve. “We’re in last place!”
But Allie stayed focused and steady. Keeping her own pace.
And guess what?
It was the perfect plan.
Because by lap three, everyone else was pooped. And that’s when she took her chance to get in front of a bunch of other kids.
When Allie tapped out, she was ten feet away from fourth place. She was also the only runner who hadn’t missed a single hurdle!
Then it was Hugo’s turn. He zoomed off in a bright orange streak.
I had to admit that as bossy as he was, he was a talented runner. He easily pushed forward and jumped over a string of moving hurdles.
In the end, Hugo got us up to second place.
For the first time during the whole race, I let out a sigh of relief.
“Great job, Allie! I’m so glad we made a comeback,” I said.
“Thanks! I told you my blades were good for running,” she replied.
“Yeah . . . well, they weren’t fast enough,” Hugo muttered as he walked by in a huff.
“Oh, don’t listen to him,” I assured her. “He’s just tired.”
She nodded with a bright smile.
Then Dr. Dash gathered the group. “Good job, class!” he cried. “You’ve finished your first race in record time. But we need to tally up the missed hurdles.” After a long pause, he announced the final scores. Then all the color drained from my face.
Because we weren’t in second.
We were still last . . . because of all the hurdles I missed!
“Ugh. Thanks a lot, Mia Mayhem,” Hugo growled. “You undid all my work.”
“No, it’s okay, Mia,” Allie said, patting me on the back. “This was a team effort. It’s not your fault.”
“Well, you ran like a slowpoke too. Never mind your Blades of Glory. They’re more like Blades of GRASS!” Hugo shot back.
“Ha! Well, actually my blades are made of metal. But maybe I should put green stripes on them! They’d match my suit,” Allie replied with a big grin.
But Hugo tried again.
“Oh, that won’t help. Because blades of grass can’t run,” Hugo said. “Like you.”
Allie’s smile didn’t waver. But I decided enough was enough.
“You know what, Hugo?” I said, jumping in. “Allie is not the problem. You are.”
“No, I’m not. I’m the only one who actually helped the team. Even Penn messed up,” he said, crossing his arms.
“Well, you sure aren’t acting like a team member. Putting the blame on us just makes you a sore loser,” I said.
“What did you say?” he asked as he got closer.
Penn tried to step in. But nothing was going to scare me—
Um, okay. Nothing except maybe for that loud blaring whistle sound.
CHAPTER 6
THE LOST SHADOW
“Great job today, everyone!” Dr. Dash cried. “Class is dismissed. Make sure to get lots of rest for next week.”
As the other kids left, I thought Hugo would make another snarky comeback. But I guess my plan worked because he just walked away.
“Don’t worry about him,” I said, turning to Allie.
“Oh, yeah, he do
esn’t bother me,” she said. “He’s just in a bad mood.”
“Yeah, and it might never change,” I said as we all laughed.
Then Penn, Allie, and I started the walk back to the PITS building. That’s when another dizzy spell hit me. I steadied myself against a tree.
“What’s wrong, Mia?” Penn asked as he came over.
“I don’t know. I’m just a little dizzy,” I replied.
“Oh no!” Dr. Dash suddenly chimed in from behind. “Mia, can I please see you for a moment? It won’t take long.”
So my friends left, and I followed Dr. Dash back to the track.
“Mia, would you please stand in sunlight?” he asked.
“Sure,” I said as I walked out of the shade. My legs suddenly felt heavy.
“Oh, Mia,” he said slowly. “I’m afraid what I’d warned about earlier has happened. You pushed your body too hard, and now your shadow is gone.”
What? He couldn’t be serious.
But I looked behind me . . . and he was right!
My shadow had vamoosed!
“Oh no! It really is gone! Does that mean I’ve lost my superpowers?” I asked.
“Yes, your superspeed powers are gone,” Dr. Dash said. “So your body will start to slow down. But don’t worry.”
“Are you sure?” I asked, trying to keep my voice steady.
“Yes, we’ll have to start a special search, and—” he began.