See?”
Sure-Burt tapped a triangular patch on the chest of his silver suit. It read, “U.F.O. Sure-Burt. Universal Flavors Officer.”
“Your truck is still sweet,” Andrew interjected. “And so is your alien costume. Can I order now?”
Sure-Burt blinked slowly before turning to Andrew. Something mysterious flashed in his single eye. Something that made Abigail’s spine tingle.
Maybe the man wasn’t pretending to be an alien, she worried. Maybe he really was an alien. His mysterious look had been too unfriendly to ignore.
5: Out-of-This-World Flavors
“Which flavor do you wish to consume, Earthling?” Sure-Burt asked in his mechanical voice. “Please select a treat by name.”
With both hands, he pointed at the broad sign of flavors and treats posted on the side of his ship.
The list of ice creams and flavors was like none they had seen before. Cosmic Crunchies and Laserberries? They sounded like snacks for robots, not human foods.
“Asteroids!” Zoë blurted, taking no time to decide. Who knew baby superheroes liked robot food?
Abigail stepped up to the window. She half-expected to see the mysterious look on Sure-Burt’s face again. Thankfully, he only smiled.
“I … uh … I’d like a Pickled Saucer Sandwich, please,” she said hesitantly. “My baby sister wants Asteroid Zoids.”
“And I’ll have a Frozen Solar Flare,” Andrew added. “Along with two Comet-covered Sundaes for our parents.”
That was the rule at home. When the kids got treats from the ice cream truck, so did Mom and Dad. That went for ice cream spaceships, too. It was only fair.
Sure-Burt handed them their treats.
“That will be nine hundred and ninety-nine of your Earth dollars,” he announced with a straight face.
Andrew, Abigail, and Zoë’s jaws dropped. Nine hundred and ninety-nine dollars! They didn’t have that kind of money. It was probably enough to buy a whole ice cream truck. Maybe even an ice cream spaceship.
“And ninety-nine cents,” Sure-Burt added.
When the heroes didn’t budge, Sure-Burt laughed his robot’s laugh.
“He. He. He,” he snickered. “I am a U.F.O. An Ultimate Funny Operative. I made a humorous joke.”
The heroes and the rest of the crowd breathed a sigh of relief. Then they cheered when Sure-Burt spoke next.
“Today is Out-of-This-World-Savings Day. All ice cream is free. Eat up, Earthlings. Eat as much as you can.”
No one noticed the mysterious look return to his face, not even Abigail. Everyone was too interested in ice cream. But the more Sure-Burt served, the darker his look became.
“Eat up, Earthlings,” he repeated. “He. He. He.”
6: Villainous Vegetables
Ice cream in hand, the heroes zoomed home as quickly as they could. Even so, Mom met them on the front porch before they took a single lick.
“Put the ice cream in the freezer,” she instructed. “It’s time for dinner.”
“Aww,” the heroes complained.
“After?” Zoë asked hopefully.
Mom nodded. “Yes, we’ll eat our treats after dinner. For dessert. Now go wash up, and no grumbling.”
Even washing up could be fun for our heroes. They had great imaginations. It was the one superpower that every kid has.
For Andrew, the soap and water became racing gloves and the steering wheel of a hot rod.
For Abigail, a pair of boxing gloves.
Even Zoë got into the act. She made herself look like Santa Claus.
“Ho, ho, ho! It’s a T.K.O.!” Abigail exclaimed, dancing around her sister.
The heroes might have played all evening if Dad hadn’t called them to dinner. “Who wants ice cream?” he asked.
“Me!” Abigail replied, sprinting to the dinner table.
“Me!” Andrew echoed close behind.
“Applesauce!” Zoë chirped, naming her favorite food.
But there was no applesauce for dinner tonight. The heroes weren’t so lucky. Tonight their parents served meat, potatoes, fruit, drinks, and a green nightmare. Broccoli. Yuck! Dinner was ruined. How could their parents be so cruel?
Andrew pushed the food around on his plate. Even with ice cream waiting, he couldn’t make himself eat broccoli quickly.
“Are you trying to poison us?” he complained.
“A!” Zoë piped up, and Mom smiled.
“Vitamin A—that’s right, Zoë,” she agreed. “Broccoli is full of Vitamin A. It’s very good for your eyes.”
Speaking of eyes, Zoë had a secret weapon. Laser beams. She could fire them from her eyes. When Mom and Dad weren’t looking—Zzzzap!—her broccoli was vaporized in an instant.
Abigail and Andrew weren’t so lucky. They held their noses. They made faces. They did anything they could to force the broccoli down.
When Mom finally announced that it was time for dessert, the heroes cheered. Unfortunately, it would be their last good feeling for quite some time.
Because just then there came a knock on the front door. Answering it would change their lives forever.
7: Eat Your Ice Cream
“Last one to the door has alligator breath!” Andrew challenged, leaping to his feet.
The race was on, and you can guess who won—Abigail without breaking a sweat. She just couldn’t be beaten in a foot race.
Zoë arrived second and Andrew last. Give him some wheels and the outcome would be different.
“Alligator,” Zoë gloated the way only a little sister can.
At the door were the heroes’ friends Princess and Rabbit. Those weren’t their real names, of course, but the nicknames fit.
Rabbit had freckles, big front teeth, and a small nose that twitched constantly. Princess owned a tricycle as tall as a horse. She rode it proudly around the neighborhood as if it were a unicorn and she a real princess. The two were brother and sister.
Today, however, Princess and Rabbit weren’t acting like themselves. Princess wasn’t riding, and Rabbit’s nose wasn’t twitching. Something was definitely wrong.
“Eat your ice cream,” Princess said. Her voice sounded strange like Sure-Burt’s.
“Eat your ice cream,” Rabbit repeated in the same robotic voice.
It wasn’t just their voices that concerned Abigail. “Look at their eyes!” she cried. “W-what’s happened to them?”
Rabbit and Princess tried to push their way into the house. They thrust their desserts forward and continued to chant.
“Eat your ice cream. Eat your ice cream.”
Worst of all, their eyes weren’t round and colorful anymore. They were as white as vanilla and shaped like tiny ice cream cones.
Thinking fast, Andrew slammed the door before his friends could squeeze inside. Something was wrong with them. Something downright cold. They looked hypnotized and were acting crazy about ice cream.
“Let’s get Mom and Dad,” he said. “They’ll know what to do.”
Halfway to the kitchen, the heroes spotted their parents. The pair was shuffling clumsily through the house, arms stiff and straight in front of them like zombies. In their cold fingers they clutched Sure-Burt’s frosty treats.
“Eat your ice cream,” they chanted chillily.
Seeing them, the heroes gasped. Their parents’ eyes were shaped like ice cream cones. They had been hypnotized, too!
8. The Deep Brain-Freeze
Abigail and Andrew knew instantly what had happened. It didn’t take superheroes to figure it out. Sure-Burt’s ice cream had hypnotized their parents and friends. It had given them the worst brain freezes ever and turned them into zombies! Brain freeze zombies.
“Snap out of it!” Andrew shouted at Mom.
“Wake up!” Abigail tried on Dad.
Nothing worked, and their zombie-parents shuffled closer.
Zoë didn’t catch on as quickly as her siblings. She was very
young and automatically did whatever her parents asked.
“Eat your ice cream,” Mom and Dad said like robots.
So she buzzed over to do just that. To eat her ice cream all gone. She accepted her Asteroid Zoids from Mom and prepared to take a bite.
Abigail saved her. With superhero speed and aim, she snatched a baseball from her duffle bag and threw.
Splack!
The ball struck Zoë’s ice cream and knocked it harmlessly from her hand.
“Strike three!” Abigail cheered. “You’re outta there!”
“The ice cream is bad, Zoë,” Andrew explained. “It’s alien ice cream. Anyone who eats it becomes hypnotized.”
“They turn into brain-freeze zombies!” Abigail added.
“Automatons!” Zoë gasped, catching on. She knew what mindless zombies were all about.
But knowing didn’t help just then. The front door suddenly burst open, and in staggered Rabbit and Princess.
“Eat your ice cream,” they said mechanically.
From the other side of the room, Mom and Dad echoed them. “Eat your ice cream.”
The heroes were trapped in the middle with nowhere to run.
9: Zombies, Zombie Everywhere
There were zombies to the left and zombies to the right. Zombie parents and zombie friends. Our heroes couldn’t fight them. The only thing worse would be fighting zombie grandparents.
“Abandon!” Zoë cried, as in abandon ship. She grabbed her siblings by the elbows and started to drag them to safety.
Into the fireplace she dragged them. Over the logs, up the chimney, and then onto the roof. It was a daring, narrow escape, but mostly it was messy.
Ploop!
Covered in soot and ash, the heroes burst from the chimney. They were free and away from the zombies. They had traded