Free The Extraordinary Adventures of Ordinary Boy, Book One: The Hero Revealed by William Boniface Page B
Authors: William Boniface
freezing the lava that erupted into the air. For five minutes he kept at it, turning molten lava into—well, igneous rock. Finally, right on schedule, the volcano calmed down. After waving to the cheering crowd that had stopped to watch his performance, the Weatherman glided off on an air current into the late afternoon sky.
“I could save Superopolis, too,” the Inkblot grumbled, “if the consarned thing ever erupted in ink.”
This brought me back to the issue at hand.
“Inkblot, are these all the cards that you have?” I asked, trying not to sound desperate.
“Sure are,” he replied. “I just put ’em out about an hour ago. Only sold one other pack, so far.”
We all looked at each other in despair. Could it have been the one with our card?
“In fact,” the Inkblot continued, “there’s the little tyke that I sold it to, right over there.”
He pointed to a kid who couldn’t have been much older than four. He was standing near a park bench with his mother and was just opening a pack of cards. We all gasped as we saw him reveal first one card with AI on it and then a second that clearly showed Professor Brain-Drain himself. The little kid snarled.
“Professor Brain-Drain?” he growled. “I hate Professor Brain-Drain. He’s evil!”
Then, as we stood there helplessly, the kid took the card, crumpled it up, and tossed it into his mouth. That’s when we noticed that his teeth were all sharp points of metal. It only took a couple of chews before he spit the completely ground-up card onto the sidewalk.
One Professor Brain-Drain card destroyed—only two left in all Superopolis.
CHAPTER TWELVE
The Anthill of Terror
We all stood looking down at the chewed-up remains of one of the only three Professor Brain-Drain collector cards in existence. The little monster who had left it in this state was now strolling away with his mother. As I stared after him, I thought I saw a shadowy figure moving in the trees nearby. But then I blinked, and it was gone.
“We were so close!” wailed Tadpole.
“But at least it proves that O Boy’s theory is correct,” Plasma Girl added, trying to sound optimistic. “Now we just have to figure out where the next one is and get to it first.”
“Do you know where it is, O Boy?” Hal asked hopefully.
“Well, I’ve been thinking about the second type of rock, sedimentary,” I said. “You guys all remember what sedimentary rock is, right?”
“Um, sure,” said Stench. “But go ahead and remind us anyway.”
The rest of the gang nodded.
“Right,” I said, even though I could tell they had no idea. “Sedimentary rock is made up of small particles that accumulate over long periods of time. As weight presses them down, these particles, or sediment, fuse together and become rock. So the next location to check is obvious.”
“It is?” said Hal.
“Of course,” I replied. “We can’t get at the sedimentary rock that is buried under layers and layers of earth, but it always has to start out as a top layer at some point.”
“I’m not sure I’m following you,” said Stench.
“Let me give you one more hint. One of the most common types of sedimentary rock is sandstone.”
“The beach!” said Plasma Girl.
“Right,” I replied. “The sedimentary rock of the future exists right now in the form of sand all over MegaManly Beach.”
“There’s only one place at the beach that might have AI Collector Cards,” said Plasma Girl, “and that’s Aunty Penny’s Arcade.”
A boardwalk separates downtown from the beach, and there’s an entire strip of cool shops set up along it. The one we were heading for was Aunty Penny’s Arcade. You could get all sorts of neat things there. But you couldn’t buy them—you had to win them. There were dozens of different games to play to win tickets, which you could exchange for incredible prizes. Well, okay, most of the prizes were pretty chintzy. But who cares! The fun was in winning them.
The first
“I could save Superopolis, too,” the Inkblot grumbled, “if the consarned thing ever erupted in ink.”
This brought me back to the issue at hand.
“Inkblot, are these all the cards that you have?” I asked, trying not to sound desperate.
“Sure are,” he replied. “I just put ’em out about an hour ago. Only sold one other pack, so far.”
We all looked at each other in despair. Could it have been the one with our card?
“In fact,” the Inkblot continued, “there’s the little tyke that I sold it to, right over there.”
He pointed to a kid who couldn’t have been much older than four. He was standing near a park bench with his mother and was just opening a pack of cards. We all gasped as we saw him reveal first one card with AI on it and then a second that clearly showed Professor Brain-Drain himself. The little kid snarled.
“Professor Brain-Drain?” he growled. “I hate Professor Brain-Drain. He’s evil!”
Then, as we stood there helplessly, the kid took the card, crumpled it up, and tossed it into his mouth. That’s when we noticed that his teeth were all sharp points of metal. It only took a couple of chews before he spit the completely ground-up card onto the sidewalk.
One Professor Brain-Drain card destroyed—only two left in all Superopolis.
CHAPTER TWELVE
The Anthill of Terror
We all stood looking down at the chewed-up remains of one of the only three Professor Brain-Drain collector cards in existence. The little monster who had left it in this state was now strolling away with his mother. As I stared after him, I thought I saw a shadowy figure moving in the trees nearby. But then I blinked, and it was gone.
“We were so close!” wailed Tadpole.
“But at least it proves that O Boy’s theory is correct,” Plasma Girl added, trying to sound optimistic. “Now we just have to figure out where the next one is and get to it first.”
“Do you know where it is, O Boy?” Hal asked hopefully.
“Well, I’ve been thinking about the second type of rock, sedimentary,” I said. “You guys all remember what sedimentary rock is, right?”
“Um, sure,” said Stench. “But go ahead and remind us anyway.”
The rest of the gang nodded.
“Right,” I said, even though I could tell they had no idea. “Sedimentary rock is made up of small particles that accumulate over long periods of time. As weight presses them down, these particles, or sediment, fuse together and become rock. So the next location to check is obvious.”
“It is?” said Hal.
“Of course,” I replied. “We can’t get at the sedimentary rock that is buried under layers and layers of earth, but it always has to start out as a top layer at some point.”
“I’m not sure I’m following you,” said Stench.
“Let me give you one more hint. One of the most common types of sedimentary rock is sandstone.”
“The beach!” said Plasma Girl.
“Right,” I replied. “The sedimentary rock of the future exists right now in the form of sand all over MegaManly Beach.”
“There’s only one place at the beach that might have AI Collector Cards,” said Plasma Girl, “and that’s Aunty Penny’s Arcade.”
A boardwalk separates downtown from the beach, and there’s an entire strip of cool shops set up along it. The one we were heading for was Aunty Penny’s Arcade. You could get all sorts of neat things there. But you couldn’t buy them—you had to win them. There were dozens of different games to play to win tickets, which you could exchange for incredible prizes. Well, okay, most of the prizes were pretty chintzy. But who cares! The fun was in winning them.
The first