“And our friend could use a mask,” Princess Lady Diva said. “Do you have any black plates, Mrs. Brown?”
“I actually have some orange and black plates for Halloween.”
“May I use them?” Princess Lady Diva asked.
“Sure.” Mom smiled and looked at us for a while. It was kind of uncomfortable, because I didn’t know what she was thinking.
We were looking at her funny, because she was looking at us funny. Then it became a weird cycle of funny looks for a while.
Then she finally broke it. “Speaking of Halloween, are you three going to use these costumes for Halloween?”
I’m not exactly sure how I felt when Mom said that to me. I was upset, but I needed a better word for it than that. I wasn’t mad at Mom. I just didn’t like that she would think it was all just a game. I knew that I wanted her to think that, but Superkid was not a costume! It was something everyone should take serious.
“My mom says I should,” Princess Lady Diva said. “She says there’s no point in buying or making another costume when I have a perfectly good one that I like a lot.”
Then I got more upset. Kiara was gonna be Princess Lady Diva for Halloween, and people were gonna think that we were dopes! “You sure you wanna do that?” I asked her.
“Either I’m Princess Lady Diva or I can’t be anything.”
I didn’t like it, but I wasn’t gonna be stubborn when it came to her. Trick-or-treating wouldn’t be any fun without her. “I guess we’ll be superheroes for Halloween.”
Mom gave us the black paper plates and got the ribbon from out of her closet. She still didn’t want me in there. I guess she had some nice Christmas presents for me that she wanted to keep secret.
When Princess Lady Diva finished the mask, Li put it on. He was already starting to look really cool, and I knew he had the heart of a hero. Li wanted to do good, and I would teach him how to be the best superhero he could be.
Li got out of his chair and picked up his stick. “What’s the first order of business?”
We needed to do lots of things with him. I didn’t know if he was ready to hit the streets and start saving the world. He would need a lot of training before we could do anything.
The only problem was that I didn’t have a good place to train him. We would need special equipment, like monkey bars and stuff. I needed some kind of giant playground.
Then I got a really good idea. I knew the perfect place where we could train Stickman and have a lot of fun. We had a problem though. We couldn’t get there on our own. “Mom, do you think we can go to Pizza World tonight?”
“I don’t think so, Felix.”
“Please, Mom!” I clasped my hands together and begged. “Please!”
I knew she wanted to say yes. I could see it in her eyes. “You didn’t go to school so you could go swimming yesterday with your dad. We bought you those shoes you wanted for no reason. I like doing things to make you happy, but I’m worried that I might be spoiling you sometimes, Felix.”
“I’m not spoiled. I promise, Mom.” I grabbed onto her skirt and tugged on it. “I just wanna play with Li and Kiara at one of the coolest places in the world!”
I knew that Mom really didn’t want to go, but I knew she didn’t really want to disappoint me either. Moms kind of can’t stand to see the pout. Dad was kind of invincible, but Mom could break sometimes. “I can take all three of you to Pizza World tonight—after we get permission from their parents—on one condition.”
“Anything!” I yelled.
“You three have to be my special helpers for a Halloween party that I am having.” Dad said sometimes when you want something; you have to work for it. He said he has a bunch of nice things because he worked hard for them. He said I got to have a bunch of nice things because he worked for them. He also said that if you give people too much, they get lazy and they forget how to take care of themselves. That’s why he’d make me do stuff before he’d give me certain things. Mom usually just took care of me, but sometimes she’d make me clean up or do something before taking me out for ice cream or something special. I guess going to Pizza World was just one of those things I’d have to work for.
I didn’t get why though. I didn’t see Mom and Dad really hanging out with any friends since we moved. “Who’s the party for?” I asked.
“We like it here in this neighborhood and you like your friends here, so I thought it would be important to have a nice party to invite over the neighbors. I want to get to know them better.”
I didn’t know Mom was having trouble making friends too. She was so nice. Grownups were crazy.
I was gonna do my best to get her some friends and help her have a great party. It was my duty as a superhero to help those in need. She didn’t know how much in need she was, but I did. It wasn’t a good feeling being alone and Mom was probably alone most of the time. Dad went to work, and I went to school. I had to help her find somebody. “Don’t worry, Mom. I’ll help you.”
She smiled. “So you don’t mind not going trick-or-treating this year?”
I gasped at the horrible thought. “I still wanna go trick-or-treating!”
“We’ll have plenty of candy and games here. Some of the neighbors are bringing their kids over. I thought you could keep them company. Besides, your dad doesn’t like when you eat too much candy.”
“But…” I wanted to give her my special look that made Mom do what I wanted, but I couldn’t. She started doing this funny thing with her eyes and she started pouting and it was all very confusing. She was using my ability against me. I couldn’t disappoint her.
“My sister is taking me,” Stickman said. “Maybe you guys can go with us.”
Yes, I still had a chance. Mom would be too busy to take me, but maybe I could still go. “Please, Mom.” I begged again.
Princess Lady Diva clasped her hands together and begged too. “Please! I already made plans to go trick-or-treating with Felix!”
It was a showdown. Mom was doing her look, and I was doing my look. It was way harder than fighting some kind of arch nemesis. She knew all my weaknesses, and she knew I still wanted to go to Pizza World. She had the upper hand, but my power was strong.
She finally gave up with a big sigh. “You still have to play with the other kids when you come back, and you have to help me with my party before you leave and afterwards.” She reached out her hand. “Do we have a deal?”
I smiled and grabbed her hand. “Yep,” I said. That was way harder than fighting a bad guy.
Mom got out of her chair and started walking toward the phone we had in the wall of the kitchen. “You two change into some normal play clothes. I’m gonna call Li’s parents.”
I frowned. I didn’t want to take off my cape or my special shirt, but I needed to train Stickman, and Mom still thought it was weird to wear my cape outside. I could still keep my shoes. “Okay. We’ll change.”
Mom got on the phone with Stickman’s parents while I changed back into Felix and while Princess Lady Diva became normal Kiara. Stickman took off his hat and mask, and put his stick down to become Li again.
Li’s mom already knew my mom. I guess they had tea one day or something, so she said it was okay for Li to come with us. Mom had to call Kiara’s mom too; she wasn’t so easy. She said no at first, but then Kiara called back home and begged her mom a lot. Then she said yes.
Mom called Dad and told her to meet us there after he got off work. I guess he wasn’t too happy about that. Dad didn’t like Pizza World for some strange reason. Who wouldn’t love a place where a bunch of little kids could run around screaming like it was the jungle or something? I bet God had a special playground in heaven that was just like Pizza World, only with clouds.
While she was getting ready to go, we all waited by the door. I felt like I was gonna explode! That’s how excited I was. I had only been to Pizza World when my cousin had a birthday party. I never had gotten to go just to go.
Kiara told me once that she had never been to Pizza World
. She had no idea what kind of fun was waiting for her in her future. The pizza was really great too, and I knew that she loved pizza. She ate it at school every chance she could get.
Li wasn’t excited, and he kept looking at me and Kiara funny. It was like he had never been around us before, so I asked him, “Why are you acting weird?”
Li put his head down real shy and spoke so quiet; it was kind of hard to understand him. “I didn’t know your names before today. I didn’t even know what you guys really looked like.”
I forgot that I only really went outside in my superhero costume. Li had just learned some big secrets about us. “You’re part of the team now.”
Then Kiara grabbed Li’s shoulder and squeezed it. “But if you betray us,” she raised a fist in his face and shook it, “I promise that I will end you!”
Li looked at Kiara’s fist, and his eyes got real big and he gulped. “I promise. I’m a good guy.”
I took Kiara’s fist and carefully lowered it down by her side. “We’re all friends and from this moment on, we’re best friends forever.”
“And you’re gonna train me to be a superhero?” I could see Li starting to get really excited, which was good. He had a reason to be excited.
“Not just any superhero,” I said. “You’ll be a legend.”
Chapter 13
Pizza World was just as awesome as I remembered. Tons of kids were there, and it had lots of cool games to play. Mom bought some tokens so she could play a bunch of games and win tickets so I could get prizes later. I was saving all my tickets for this really cool lava lamp. I knew I’d get it one day. Mom was really good at skeeball.
Before we went to play games, Mom asked us what kind of pizza we wanted. We all wanted pepperoni and lots of bread sticks. They had the best bread sticks!
The reason why I wanted to go to Pizza World was because it was like a huge playground, except it was indoors and everything was really soft. There were nets, stairs, slides, ropes, ball pits, and a bunch of other stuff. We could run, jump, climb, swing, bounce, and anything else we could think of. There was no better place to test out Li’s skills.
“Wow,” Li said. “This place is awesome!”
He was about to run in, but Kiara grabbed his arm and pulled him back. “Not yet!” She pointed to the special shelf where kids put their shoes. You weren’t allowed to go on the obstacle course with your shoes on. “You have to take them off.”
Li had on all black shoes. No way was anyone gonna confuse his shoes with anyone else. His shoes were safe.
Then I looked down at my shoes. No one was gonna confuse my shoes with anyone else’s because my shoes were special. They gave me super powers. I didn’t want to leave them all alone. “Maybe we should leave our shoes with my mom.”
“She doesn’t want to watch our shoes,” Kiara said. “She’ll be too busy winning tickets so we can get prizes and stuff.”
I looked down at my shoes on my feet. They were truly the coolest shoes ever. People sung songs about my shoes. Seriously! There was a song on a commercial and everything. If anything happened to my shoes, the world could be doomed.
“You have to take off your shoes. Those are the rules.” Kiara took off her shoes and put them on the shelf and Li followed her lead and put his away too.
I didn’t want to, but I stepped on the heel of my shoe and lifted my foot out of one shoe. Then I did the same to the other shoe. Then I picked them up and held them in my hands. I loved those shoes. They were a part of me.
“Come on, Felix.” Kiara started to poke me. “We need to go.”
I took a big gulp and put my shoes on the shelf. I didn’t want to leave them alone, but I had to. I was a leader, and it was important to train Li. I had to be right by his side.
“Li,” I said.
He stood up straight and gave me a salute. “Yes, Commander?”
Commander? I liked the sound of that. “The first order of business for your training is to complete the obstacle course.”
Kiara crossed her arms and looked really serious. “This is your test, Cadet.”
I didn’t know where to start with the training, but I knew how much fun the place was. “Everybody run in the obstacle course.”
We all headed for the entrance, which was a net. I got a good head start on Kiara and Li. Kiara was having a little bit of trouble. Her foot got snagged. No wonder why she had so much trouble climbing the tree. I turned around to help her out.
“Thank you, Felix.” She smiled, and then I got that mushy feeling on the inside.
“You’re welcome.”
Li didn’t stop to help Kiara. He kept going, and I noticed that he had gotten ahead of us.
“That worm!” Kiara yelled.
It’s not like Kiara’s life was in danger. It wasn’t a big deal that he didn’t stop to help her, but I didn’t want him to go down the slide before me. Even if it was because I stopped to help Kiara, I didn’t want that to be the reason. Kiara wasn’t really a lot of competition, because she was a girl. Li might have been a year younger than me, but he was still a boy. That meant that I had to prove that I was the fastest and the strongest.
“Come on!” I started going at full speed. After the net, there was this swing thing over a ball pit. Kids who weren’t strong enough to hold onto the swingy stick would always fall in. Some kids weren’t even tall enough to grab it. When I ran to it, Li was already almost to the end of the ball pit. I guess he was too small.
I was just tall enough, so I grabbed onto the handles and slid across the terrible ball pit and swung right over Li’s head.
“Wow! That’s cool!” he said.
I didn’t have time to stand there and act cool. I had to keep going. I had to win. Then I had to climb up these levels. I had to bend down and crawl a lot to climb up to the top. I looked below and saw Li climbing up too. He was pretty good. He could move around fast, probably because he was so small.
The next part was climbing through colored tubes. Some of the tubes had windows that I could see out of. I had a little bit of time, so I looked out of one to see if I could see Mom. I couldn’t see her or the games, but I did see someone else. I saw someone that I couldn’t trust.
I started to hurry through the tubes. I had to get to the slide. I could hear Li and Kiara close by, which was good. I might have needed their help.
The tubes were the last thing I had to go through before the slide. It was a big slide that was up pretty high, and it swirled and was fast. The speed was the most important. I couldn’t let another moment pass. As soon as I got to the slide, I leaped in belly first. It hurt, but I didn’t have time to waste.
I started laughing because it was so much fun. It was like I didn’t need my super speed to go super fast! I loved slides. Something about the rush always made the trip up worth it.
I stopped at the very bottom of the slide. I got up and started running to my enemy, who I knew must have been up to no good. He had to be stopped. “Brock!”
He was by the token machine with his two usual goons. When he saw me, he looked surprised. Then he had an evil smile, which meant that he was plotting evil things. “What are you doing here?” he asked.
“It’s a free country!” I said. “What about you?”
Kiara and Li came out from the slide and ran up behind me to back me up. Kiara might have been a girl and Li might have been a short kindergartner, but it was better than being evil. They evened up my score, plus we were good guys. We couldn’t lose a fight.
Brock looked at Li and Kiara behind me and chuckled. “I’m having a birthday party, and I think you came because you’re a jealous loser.”
“I didn’t even know you were having a birthday party.”
“And Felix wouldn’t want to go to your stupid birthday party anyway!” Kiara said. Then she started to laugh. “Besides, it looks like a lonely party. Those two dummies behind you only equal one brain.”
I was glad Kiara was my friend. What she said was mean, but Brock deser
ved it. He tried to make the whole class turn against me. It served him right that he only had his two usual friends show up. Birthday parties were supposed to be big.
Then Brock crossed his arms. “All the boys in our class—except you—were invited and everyone invited came.”
I started to look around and I noticed kids from class that I didn’t even notice before. They were in the ball pit, climbing through the tubes, playing games, and eating pizza. They were everywhere.
“How does it feel?” Brock asked. “Everyone you wanted to be friends with is my friend. I’m the coolest kid in school, and you’ll always be that kid who hurt your head and cried like a baby.”
I didn’t care that Brock didn’t invite me to his birthday party. I wouldn’t have come anyway. I would have made sure not to go to Pizza World that night. Then I would have been glad that I didn’t go, because he would have known what it felt like to be lonely.
So what if everyone supported him? I didn’t need them. I had Kiara and Li. They were enough.
Kiara got mad and pushed Brock a few steps back. “Back off!” she yelled.
Brock looked afraid. I guess she was intimidating for a girl. She was pretty tall. She might have been taller than me. We’d have to stand back to back to be sure. She had already beaten up Brock. Kick Butt was fierce stuff! I couldn’t blame Brock for being afraid. I mean, I wasn’t afraid of her, but it made sense for other boys to be scared.
Then Brock looked at me. “Are you gonna have your girlfriend fight your battles for you again?”
I was so mad. “She’s not my girlfriend. She’s my partner, and I didn’t need her to beat you up. I can do that myself!” I made a fist and I was about to punch him right in the nose. The only reason I didn’t was because Mom was around and Dad said that I should defend myself and not throw the first punch.
“Why don’t you try it?” Brock was making fun of me. I could tell by his voice.
I couldn’t take it anymore. I needed to teach him a lesson. “I’ll do more than try!”
Just before I could lift my fist so I could punch him, Mom called. “Felix!”
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