Superkid

impressed with this implication. So the potion had done something to him after all!

  He grinned. “Cool! I’ve got superpowers!”

  “Oh, stop smirking. They’re not even that impressive.” With plenty of fight still left in him, the villainous doctor lunged once again at our hero, determined to finish him the good, old-fashioned way. But Superkid was ready for him this time, for he jumped backwards.

  If only he had looked before he leaped because that was when he knocked his head. It left him pretty dizzy—and vulnerable. But fortunately, he had knocked his head into a shelf full of precariously perched pitchers of potions, which wobbled wickedly. Fortunate because it distracted Dr. Red.

  “No!” Dr. Red lunged yet again--this time for the shelf to prevent the bottles from falling and shattering. After all, it was his life’s work in those small glass beakers and bottles! And he almost succeeded too. But he missed a bottle—a short, fat one full of lime-green syrup. It shattered on the concrete, splattering its contents on Dr. Red’s sneakers, causing them to swell up like popcorn.

  “YOU IDIOT!” the angry doctor screamed as he made sure all of the potions were settled back on the shelf. Superkid took advantage of this by dodging past him and sprinting for the door. He yanked the door open and dashed out. But then, to his shock, he felt Red grab his shoulder. Man, this evil, crazy, maniacal, mad scientist was fast!

  But he had made it, for just as the mad—mad, MAD!—scientist grabbed him, a line of police raised their guns.

  “FREEZE!”

  Dr. Red immediately turned tail and ran back into his lair. The police and Superkid went after him all at the same time. The result was a mess: everyone tripped over each other, pushed each other in every direction (except towards the door), and got in each other’s way.

  Superkid was the first to reach the door. He spotted Dr. Red running across the warehouse and chased after him.

  Dr. Red heard the youthful vigilante. He glanced back and scowled. Then he made a beeline for the shelf full of potions, jammed the heel of his hand on the underside of the shelf, and sent the potions flying into the air. The bottles all shattered on the ground and the mixtures combined with a loud hiss and began spewing thick black smoke, effectively covering Red’s escape.

  “He’s getting away!” Superkid yelled over his shoulder and ran faster. He jumped through the wall of smoke… or rather tried to but instead smacked into it and bounced off! It was like a solid brick wall!

  Superkid shook his head and blinked in surprise. The police eventually caught up to him, all of them out of breath.

  “What happened?” Officer Pamerin gasped.

  “He got away. Used smoke that’s like a solid wall!” Superkid pointed at the seemingly fluid smoke. One of the officers walked up to the smoke and extended his hand. His hand stopped at the smoke and wouldn’t go through. It just rode along the ripples of the smoke.

  “He’s right,” the officer replied. “We can’t pass through.”

  “We’ve got to get to the other side of the building,” said Superkid and immediately turned toward the door. The officers followed behind him, trying their best to keep up. They ran outside, dashed around the warehouse, and skidded to a stop.

  The evil doctor was nowhere to be seen.

  “He escaped!” Superkid grabbed his ears in fury. That’s when he spotted something flapping on the rear door. He approached it slowly and saw it was a small, yellow sticky note with words scrawled hastily on it. He yanked the paper off the door and read:

  I will get you someday, Superkid!

  He muttered, “Not if I get you first.”

  He turned to Officer Pamerin and showed him the note. Pamerin read it and then said, “It looks like he got away then. If you want, we could provide you with some protection…”

  “No, thank you,” Superkid responded. “This is between him and me. Let him come. I’ll beat him once and for all.”

  He had a hard glint in his eye as he turned toward the horizon. Dr. Red was somewhere out there. Keeping a low profile until things cooled down. Lurking in the shadows. Just waiting for his chance at revenge…

  Issue # 4: The Black Belt

  It had been several days and there were plenty of signs of the mad doctor—if you believed every paranoid kook that came up to you. Mrs. Oreal claimed to have seen him in the arts-and-crafts section of the Poolington Shopping Center. Mr. Ang claimed to have seen him breaking into his garden shed late the other night. And some youngsters claimed they saw him haunting the graveyard!

  Everyone had some pretty wild stories about their encounter with the nefarious Dr. Red. But they were nothing compared to the rumors about Superkid’s epic battle with the evil medic: Superkid defeating an army of the madman’s mutant monsters--Superkid battling the madman who was inside a giant mecha--Superkid defeating the madman in a game of chess…

  Like I said, wild stuff. Wild enough for Mrs. Purn to increase her already extreme measures. Policemen now regularly patrolled her block and she kept Aaron under lock and key. Poor Aaron could only guess at the reasons.

  Darrin and Derrick couldn’t clue him in, seeing as how he wasn’t allowed to talk to either of them.

  “Poor Aaron,” Darrin said sympathetically. “Being alone and constantly watched by his mom.”

  “And she’s probably a mean teacher too,” Derrick added. Aaron was now home-schooled.

  Darrin hung his head and said in a miserable tone, “It’s our fault, you know.”

  Derrick protested, “How is it our fault?”

  “If we had been better friends—if we hadn’t teased him so much, he probably wouldn’t have snapped. He probably wouldn’t have a split personality.”

  Derrick threw up his hands. “How were we supposed to know that would happen? We were just messing with him!”

  Darrin just shook his head.

  But were they truly to blame? Was it really their teasing that shaped Aaron into Superkid? Could they really have prevented the crazy things that had happened to their town: the giant spider’s rampage and the mad doctor’s attack? Could they really be responsible for turning a peaceful, boring, little town into a battleground for the greatest clashes of good and evil? It didn’t matter. Whatever the case, the excitement wasn’t going to let up anytime soon. For you see, there was someone on the way who was going to add to the insanity.

  Her name was Jennifer Ambers.

  She didn’t realize that she was on her way to creating more chaos in the punch-drunk town. In fact, before she had set out for Poolington she had browsed online maps, looking for a quiet, little town to settle down in. Poolington had sounded cozy to her so she had packed her stuff into a duffel bag, gotten into the car, and started on her way. Nobody had told her the town had recently become a target for villains, monsters and mayhem.

  Now while she’s blissfully driving toward the maelstrom of a town, I’ll describe her to you.

  She was a petite woman in her late twenties with blue eyes and shoulder-length blond hair. I’d advise you to hold off the blond jokes though. Sure she sounds plenty innocent but she was also a karate master and teacher.

  Now I can hear some of you getting interested in her, but chances were she wouldn’t be interested in you—especially if you’re a guy.

  That’s right. She didn’t like men. Actually, that’s a polite way to put it. Kids, cover your ears.

  SHE HATED THEM!

  She considered them to be cocky, arrogant, immature idiots who did stupid things to show off. Of course, if she had seen me performing that awesome bike jump, she would have changed her opinion instantly, but ah well.

  But she liked kids—particularly little girls. She would burst with pride when her female pupils demonstrated a successful shoulder throw on some admirer of hers who came to flirt. But I suppose her attitude was understandable, considering what her childhood was like. But we won’t go into that now. The important thing is that she knows karate and will become a villain.

  She arrived in Poo
lington. As she made her way through the streets, she thought, “What a charming, little town.” She mistook the repairs being made on many of the buildings to be new homes going up. She parked in front of the Poolington Business Building and entered.

  She approached a man who was reclining in a chair with his feet on the desk and reading a book. When she reached the desk, he glanced at her and then immediately sat up.

  “I was wondering if I could set up a karate class here,” she told the man as evenly as she could. Just because she didn’t like men didn’t mean she wouldn’t try to be at least civil.

  “Any particular place you had in mind?” the man responded, trying to look cool by casually flexing his arm.

  Her eyes narrowed but she managed to keep her voice even. “What buildings are available?”

  “Mmmmm… let’s see…” He rummaged through his desk, keeping her pretty figure in his sightline. She never tried to flatter her figure--today she was wearing faded jeans and a button shirt over a white blouse. Yet that didn’t prevent men from looking her over—another trait in men she found annoying.

  He was concentrated on trying to watch her discreetly and nearly missed the map he was looking for. Hoping she hadn’t noticed, he pulled it out and set it on the desk with great style… or so he thought. She could tell he was trying to impress her and she was, frankly, the opposite.

  “Let’s see…” He slid his finger around the map. “This building might be good for your classes. Uh, what kind