Chapter Seven: The world’s coolest slide
Colors swirled all around them. As soon as one color flashed before their eyes, the next color would appear. Pinks and blues and greens and yellows. Turquoise and fuchsia and burnt umber and sea green. There was blue-green and green-blue. Then macaroni yellow and lavender. It was like all the colors from Nikki’s old box of crayons had fallen into a mixer and were being churned ceaselessly around them. It was beautiful, but terrifying, too, because they couldn’t see which way was up and which was down.
And then suddenly they were out of the colorful misting cloud and headed for the peak of the mountain. They were going to crash!
Nikki used every brain cell in her head, every thought, every bit of intelligence, to tell her flying gloves to STOP! It worked and her body jerked to a stop in midair, ten feet above the tip of the mountain. Spencer, who was clinging to her back, was thrown head first over Nikki’s head. He lost his grip around her neck and fell headlong toward the rocky cliffs below. “Augh!” he yelled
Without thinking, Nikki dashed after him, grabbing his shirt from behind and stopping his fall. “Gotcha!” she proclaimed.
“Oh my gosh, oh my gosh, oh my gosh,” Spencer said, trying to catch his breath.
“You okay, Spence?”
She could see Spencer’s head nod silently. Very slowly, Nikki lowered herself and Spencer to the tip top of the mountain peak. Nikki looked around the area for a clue as to where to go next, while Spencer slumped on the ground, breathing heavily. His face was as white as if he had seen a ghost.
They had landed on a small, circular area at the highest point on the mountain. On all sides, the elevation fell away sharply. An accidental trip could lead to a fall onto jagged cliffs. Above Nikki, the rainbow of foggy colors continued to swirl. As Nikki scanned her surroundings, something caught her eye. The ground was rocky and rough, but she noticed a smooth circle near the center of the area.
She glanced at Spencer. He was pulling himself to his feet. She put her arm around him. “Are you okay?” she said.
Spencer looked at her, his eyes wide and innocent. “You saved my life, Nikki.”
“It’s no big deal. We will probably save each other a lot of times before this is all over. That’s what friends are for.”
Spencer said, “I’ll be the best sidekick ever, I promise! Wickety wickety woo!!”
“I know you will, Spence. Now follow me, I think I found something.” Nikki approached the center of the mountain peak and knelt down. She ran her hand along the smooth circle she had noticed. It was cold and shiny and felt like it was made of metal.
Spencer squatted next to her. “What do you think it is?” Nikki asked?
“My guess is that it’s a way into the mountain, but I don’t see a door, or a handle, or even a latch. Maybe it’s only used as an exit and can only be opened from the inside.”
“Used as an exit by who?”
“The power kids, of course. You know, Samantha Powerbelts and anyone else she is friends with.”
Nikki nodded. It was all starting to come together. If there really were other kids like her, it only made sense that they would have a secret place to meet. But inside a mountain? Could Spencer be right?
While Spencer was thinking, a loud voice suddenly snapped, “Who goes there!?”
Nikki flinched and snaked her head around, looking for the person who had spoken. There was no one but her and Spencer.
“Weird,” Spencer said. “You’d better answer them or they might shoot us with poison darts or stun guns or something.”
Not knowing what to say, Nikki said, “Who…who are you?”
“It is my job to ask the questions,” the voice said tiredly. It seemed to be coming out of the metal hatch.
“Oh, sorry,” Nikki said. “I’m Nikki Powergloves and this is my friend…I mean, my sidekick, Spencer, certified genius.”
Spencer beamed when Nikki called him her sidekick.
“What’s the password?” the voice asked.
Password? Nikki thought. No one said anything about a password. She looked at Spencer, hoping he would miraculously have the answer. He shrugged. Nikki tried to think of all the potential passwords, but the list was too long, and what if she got it wrong? Was Spencer right? Would they be blown up by rockets or shot by lasers?
Not knowing the right answer, Nikki decided to be honest. “I wasn’t given any password,” she said timidly.
“That’s correct,” the voice said. “You may enter.”
Nikki’s face lit up into a smile. Spencer said, “Very clever. The password is that there isn’t a password. Even I wouldn’t have thought of that!”
“I didn’t really think of it, I was just being honest.”
Suddenly, the hatch sprang open, revealing a gaping, black hole. Their heads touching, Nikki and Spencer peered into the gloomy hole, trying to see any signs of life. Nothing. There were no lights, no sounds, and most certainly nothing to see.
“Do you think we’re supposed to go in there?” Nikki asked uncertainly.
Before Spencer could answer, the voice said, “Please remove your powergloves and jump into the hole.”
“I guess so,” Spencer said. “You first, you’re the superhero, I’m just the sidekick.”
For the first time since she had found the powergloves, Nikki wished she were the sidekick. But she knew Spencer was right. She had to be the leader if she wanted to be the superhero. After removing her powergloves and returning them to the powerchest for safekeeping, Nikki sat down and hung her feet over the side of the hole.
“Here goes nothing,” she said. “Follow right after me, sidekick.”
Nikki plugged her nose as if she was jumping into a swimming pool and then swung over the edge, allowing herself to fall into the hole. Her stomach lurched as she felt gravity sucking her downwards into the blackness. Her legs whipped forward and her head was thrown back as the tunnel curved forward , pinning her to the smooth metal piping. It felt like she was at the playground going down the slide, except it was much steeper, much faster, and much, much more fun. Leaving her fears behind, Nikki started to enjoy the ride, as she twisted and turned and slid down the most amazing slide she had even been on. “Woohoo!” she yelled.
Behind her, she heard “Yeehaw!!” Spencer had evidently followed her down the hole and was enjoying his ride too.
Suddenly, colors blazed all around her. Every color imaginable was displayed on the walls of the metal piping, creating various shapes and figures, which moved as if they were alive. A brown bear with a big belly rolled past her on a red, yellow and white beach ball. A pretty blue bird flew up and down and side to side. An orange sail boat floated past her, riding turquoise waves. The whole experience was amazing and seemed to last for hours.
Nikki looked between her feet and saw a circle of light approaching. The end of the slide, she thought. She tensed up, trying to get control of her flailing arms and legs before she got to the circle of light. Rushing into the light, Nikki was suddenly airborne and, despite her efforts, her body flipped and spun as she fell from the pipe. She landed on her side on something that was as soft as a thousand feathers, cushioning her fall. She didn’t bounce or even settle on the surface; instead, she sank deep into it. The snuggly material felt wonderful on her skin.
She turned over and looked up, where she could see the end of the dark pipe high above her. Then she saw Spencer emerge from the slide headfirst. He yelled, “Cowabunga!” and landed next to her, sinking down just as she had.
And then they both started laughing and couldn’t stop. The thrill of the ride and the colorful pictures and the soft landing was like laughing gas, making them snicker and then chuckle and then chortle and then guffaw. When they finally stopped laughing, they looked at each other, still smiling. “That was awesome, Pippy-Longstocking!” Spencer said.
Nikki nodded and tried to pull herself to her feet. But no matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t seem to stand up. Spencer tried to
o, and had the same problem.
They heard a buzzing sound and then they saw a huge metal claw moving overtop of them. “I’m guessing that’s for us,” Spencer said.
The claw stopped directly over Nikki and then fell toward her, its pincers opening up on the way down. It scooped underneath her and lifted her away from her friend. After a few minutes, it lowered her to the ground to the side of the giant cushion. Then it moved up and away and returned quickly with Spencer.
Nikki looked around her but there wasn’t much to see. They were in a huge cylindrical room with the giant cushion and the strange claw machine. No one else was there. A massive arched door stood at the far side of the room.
Nikki started to walk toward the door with Spencer following her. Before they could reach it, however, the door opened grandly, spilling bright orange light through the opening. A girl stood in the doorway, taller than Nikki but not by much. She had blond, curly hair and a mischievous smile. But the first thing Nikki noticed about her was her bright, multi-colored belt.
She immediately knew who it was: Samantha Powerbelts.
“Hi, Nikki. Hi, Spencer,” the girl said. “Welcome to the Power City.”