Free Villain's Lair by Wendelin Van Draanen Page A

they doing here?” Dave whispered.

    â€œWhat do you think,
señor?”
And then, because Dave was just staring, Sticky shrugged and said, “They are looking for you.” His little gecko head bobbed like he’d been expecting this all along. “And for me.”
    They watched the Bandito Brothers speak with people on the street, then move on, strumming their guitars.
    Dave turned into a side street, keeping in the shadows as he watched the Brothers. “But the city is huge! How do they ever expect to find us?”
    Sticky pursed his little gecko lips.
    He pulled them back tight.
    He moved them to the right, to the left, and back again.
    And at last he frowned and said, “Most
hombres
would have shown off their gecko powers by now.”
    â€œGecko powers?
Gecko
powers? Is that what you call it?” Dave snorted. “What’s to show off?”
    But it was true. Most boys would have climbedevery wall in the neighborhood. Hung from every ceiling they could find. Scared their teachers. Impressed their friends. Done
something
with the ability. But all Dave could think about was what he couldn’t do.
    He couldn’t fly.
    He couldn’t go invisible.
    He couldn’t even lift heavy things.
    All he could do was walk on walls.
    Big deal.
    And sure, he had used it a couple of times. Once at school to get a ball off the cafeteria roof and once at home to freak his sister out. But at school he’d been careful that no one saw, and at home it had not had the desired effect.
    â€œShow-off” is all Evie had said before huffing off.
    And now Dave was glad that he hadn’t shown off more. He’d naively thought that his battle with Damien Black was over, but now he could see that he’d underestimated the determination of thedastardly, demented villain. (And if there’s one thing you should never do, it’s underestimate the determination of dastardly, demented villains.)
    Sticky saw the gears in Dave’s mind connecting. Saw the reality of the situation dawning on him. “You look a little green,
señor.”
    Dave
was
a little green. “He’s never going to stop looking for it, is he?” he whispered.
    â€œNever,” Sticky said.
    â€œWhat am I going to
do?”
    It was a good question.
    A very good question indeed.
    Sticky pursed his lips.
    He tapped his chin.
    And as the Bandito Brothers moved their loud, screechy, out-of-time, out-of-tune show farther along the street, he said, “I think,
señor
, it’s time for you to get a disguise.”

Chapter 15
THE DISGUISE
    Perhaps you’re wondering why Dave didn’t just chuck the powerband into the river and be done with it.
    He did, in fact, consider it. But then he realized that Damien Black would not know he had done this. Damien Black would still be after him!
    Or perhaps you’re wondering why Dave didn’t turn the powerband over to the police and tell them everything.
    He considered that, too. But in the end, he just couldn’t seem to part with it. After all, he finally admitted, even a lame power such as the ability to walk on walls was better than no power at all.
    And what if someday, some way, he could get his hands on the other ingots?
    What if someday, some way, he really could
fly?
    So instead of chucking the powerband into the river or turning it over to the police, he did what any boy in his predicament would do.
    He bought sunglasses.
    Sunglasses and hats and T-shirts.
    Now, granted, these things do not make for much of a disguise. But as I have said before, this is not a made-up story. This is a real story about a real boy, and real boys do not dress in shiny, stretchy fabrics sewn into embarrassingly tight and wholly ridiculous costumes. Real boys avoid shiny, stretchy fabrics at all costs. Real boys like sunglasses, hats, and T-shirts.
    Sticky watched patiently as Dave tried on every combination of hat, shirt, and sunglasses. But at last he said,