Superkid

as Superkid?”

  Superkid’s brow rose to his forehead. “I still don’t follow.”

  “I mean…” Darrin struggled to explain it better but ended up clenching his fists and throwing them down in frustration. “Urgh! I don’t know what I mean! Just… why are you Superkid now and not… the other guy?”

  “Hmm,” Superkid mused with a wry smile. “Maybe what you need is some time to relax. I hear Terrence is throwing a party tonight.”

  Darrin stared at him.

  There was still some time before the party and Darrin still wanted to solve the mystery of Aaron’s split personality. He decided to recruit Derrick for this case since, as the saying goes, two heads are better than one… although Derrick’s head was not the best choice for combining.

  Darrin learned this the hard way. When he explained about their friend’s peculiar condition, Derrick decided to have fun with it by constantly changing Superkid to Aaron and back again. By the time Darrin managed to bring Derrick under control, Aaron (or Superkid—I’m not sure where he ended up) was reeling.

  “You’re supposed to be helping!” Darrin snapped.

  “With what?” Derrick asked. Then with a snicker at his dazed friend, he said, “Superkid.”

  Darrin was not amused. “Stop that! This is serious! He could have a serious problem!”

  Derrick shrugged. “He goes from one person to another. So what?” Then he added, “Aaron.”

  Darrin grabbed the front of Derrick’s shirt and with his other hand formed a fist that he drew back. “I’m serious! If you don’t quit that, I’m going to punch you so hard you’ll have a new place to store your junk.”

  “Okay! Okay! I’ll stop!” Derrick squealed.

  Darrin let him go. Then he asked him, “Derrick, do you remember anything strange that might have made Aaron like this?”

  Derrick strained his brain (must have been painful for him) but eventually confessed, “Nope. But I do remember how funny it was when Aaron screamed when I showed him Terrence’s tarantula.” He giggled.

  Darrin shook his head. They were getting nowhere. He should have known that Derrick wouldn’t be much help. And he had been the last one with Aaron before he developed a split personality. Maybe what they needed to do was retrace their steps. And that’s what he suggested.

  “But what if whatever did that to Aaron does it to us too?” Derrick asked nervously.

  “I’m not even sure where or when it happened,” Aaron added.

  “W-well maybe we can find a way to reverse it,” Darrin said, now nervous about the suggestion himself. Leave it to his friends to point out the dangers. “And I’m sure if we all stick together, we’ll be fine.”

  “Even me?” Aaron mumbled in an ironic tone.

  “Don’t forget Superkid,” Derrick said and then snickered.

  Darrin punched him. It wasn’t quite the hole he promised but it would have to do.

  They searched outside but it was just as fruitless as head-combining. Even Derrick was disappointed—as nervous as he had been about this escapade. There was a brief moment when Superkid seemed to be recalling something as they were walking to Derrick’s house, but that’s all it was: a brief moment. Soon Derrick was tired and bored and it was getting dark—about time to go to Terrence’s party. Darrin suggested that they stay home from the party but Derrick vetoed the idea loudly. Strangely enough, Aaron was just as loud (he was Superkid, actually; they had forgotten to change him back), insisting that he needed to go to the party and prove that he was fearless.

  Darrin was outvoted, so they all went to the party. The boy who opened the door was surprised when he spotted Aaron (Superkid, rather). The boy’s name was Jerry and he was a real snarky fellow. Thought himself pretty clever and witty.

  “You brought the chicken?” he asked with a grin.

  “And some teriyaki sauce to go with it,” Superkid responded with a glare.

  At this, Jerry laughed. “Good one! But aren’t you Aaron Purn—the guy who’s scared of his own shadow?”

  “Actually,” said Derrick , inadvertently drawing attention away from Aaron’s sudden convulsion, “he’s called Superkid.”

  “Superkid?!” Jerry cried and burst out laughing. “What kind of a name is that? Thinks he’s a superhero or something?”

  “Or something,” Superkid replied after shaking his head to clear it.

  Darrin saw the convulsions and shook his head. He could tell that this was a bad idea. Why wouldn’t Derrick and Aaron (or “Superkid,” whoever he was) listen to him?

  Jerry smiled. “Does that make you brave enough to come to this party then?”

  Superkid snorted, “I doubt this party would require me to summon any amount of gumption.”

  Jerry laughed. “Whatever you say… Superkid.”

  The three friends followed Jerry inside. Jerry wrapped an arm around Superkid and called out to everyone in the room, “Hey guys! Guess what! Aaron came to our scare party!”

  Superkid convulsed but no one noticed (except Darrin, who was shaking his head even harder). They had all burst into laughter and made comments like, “You sure he didn’t get lost on his way to the ‘wiener’ party?” and “I bet he’ll be crying in five minutes” and my personal favorite, “He’s gonna be like the little piggy who cried, ‘Wee wee wee’ all the way home!”

  “And guess what he’s calling himself?” Jerry continued, jeering at Aaron who was looking at him perplexedly.

  The group eagerly waited for the ridiculous name.

  Jerry obliged them with a goofy voice. “Sooooper-kiiiid!”

  They howled with laughter and made more comments like, “What kind of a name is that?” and “Did he get bitten by a radioactive scaredy-cat?” and my new favorite, “Superkid, defender of the wieners!”

  …What? It was funny!

  At any rate, it made for a great though not necessarily nice way to start the party. The boys enjoyed themselves laughing at Superkid. Superkid wasn’t quite enjoying the party the way the rest of them were, but he was here to prove to them that he really was fearless and not some scaredy-cat. He had forgotten why he needed to prove it but the need to prove it was burning strong. That hypnotist sure does his job thoroughly, doesn’t he? And doesn’t leave a trace! But Superkid did feel that need to prove his fearlessness and he was getting more impatient the more the boys teased him.

  At last, he got his chance. The boys popped in a zombie movie and they all gathered to watch… Aaron—that is, Superkid. The boys were certain that Aaron (Superkid) would be screaming within minutes and they were all dying to see it.

  Can you consider that a pun, what with the zombie show they were watching and all that? …Never mind.

  Imagine their growing surprise when Aaron the super kid remained stoically unfazed as the movie played. Imagine their jaws slowly dropping as the chicken they all knew and loved to tease made casual comments like, “Creepy little parasites, aren’t they?” and “You ought to hear me when I’m hungry!” and my absolute favorite, “The door’s a little more to your left!” Imagine their bulging eyes when the movie ended and the biggest wimp in Poolington whooped and said, “All right! Who’s up for the sequel?”

  “Wasn’t that show scary?” someone asked him.

  Superkid shrugged. “I’m sure I heard one of you scream.” He smirked.

  Someone else waved his hand at the window. “It’s pretty dark outside. Aren’t you worried a zombie might get you when you’re walking home?”

  Superkid snorted. “Please. I’d be more worried about tripping and breaking my ankle.”

  “What about--”

  Suddenly something slammed against the window, causing everyone to yelp and jump in fright—everyone except Superkid, as to be expected. He laughed and said, “Who’s willing to freeze out there just to scare us?”

  “Why don’t you go out there and see?” said someone slyly.

  Superkid gasped and clutched his face. “And get eaten by a zombie out there?” Then he st
raightened and grinned. “If you insist, sure. Far be it for me to allow someone to give himself cramps waiting for some poor sucker to come his way.” With that, he sauntered over to the door, whistling a merry tune. He opened it and peered out.

  A zombie popped into the doorway and roared into Superkid’s face. Superkid coughed and waved his hand in front of his nose. “Care for a breath mint?”

  Everyone gaped in astonishment. Not a single whimper from the biggest fraidy-cat in town. What had happened to him? What could have given him this newfound power to stare fear in the eye and laugh?

  We know how. And that’s what we call dramatic irony, folks.

  Issue # 2: Superkid the Superhero

  Thus far we witnessed Superkid’s origins and his first steps toward establishing his name. But a mere scare party is not going to be enough to showcase our diminutive hero in action. That’s what this issue is for. Let’s get right to it, shall we?

  Poolington woke up to a bright Saturday morning—never suspecting that its peace and quiet was soon to be shattered. Its defender was in Derrick’s backyard with Derrick himself and the other friend, Darrin, shooting baskets. Aaron attempted a swisher (and failed miserably, I’m sorry to say) when he and his friends heard some sort of commotion.

  “I wonder what’s going on.” Darrin said.

  They hurried to the front yard and froze.

  Women ran screaming through the streets. Aaron and his friends scanned further ahead and discovered the women streamed from Terrence’s house. Curiosity tugged at them (common sense was on break) so