Chapter Fourteen: Let the power games begin!
After Spencer showed Nikki his gadgets, Samantha said, “Now it’s time for the power games.”
“What are the power games?” Nikki asked.
“You’ll see,” Samantha said with a wink. She led the group out of The Lab and into the tunnel. While they walked, Nikki tried to figure out what Samantha meant by power games. She liked games, but somehow she didn’t think it would be like playing Monopoly or Clue. Whatever they were going to be doing, she would have to use her powers.
Eventually, Samantha stopped at a small door. It was about half as tall as Nikki was. She remembered from the tour that the door opened into the training area. She wanted to look inside before, but Samantha had said she could see it later. Now it was later, she guessed.
Samantha opened the small door and then got on her stomach and crawled through. Following Samantha’s example, Nikki wriggled her way through the door using only her elbows and knees. When she poked her head through the opening, she gasped. Amazing! It was the biggest room she had ever seen. Bigger than the Big Mart back in Cragglyville. Bigger than a football stadium. Humungous!
She got to her feet and looked around. There was cool equipment everywhere. There were giant robots walking around, electronic targets on the walls and ceilings, punching bags and conveyer belts, hoops and bells and obstacles and ropes and walls. It was incredible! She never imagined the training room would be this awesome. Getting more and more excited by the minute, Nikki didn’t notice that Spencer had crawled into the room, too, and was standing next to her gawking at the room just like she was.
“It’s….beautiful,” he said.
“Sure is,” Nikki said.
Smiling, Samantha said, “Okay. Now for the power games. The power games are a chance for all us power kids to practice our powers and abilities against each other in a safe environment. As you can see, there is padding almost everywhere, so you don’t need to be afraid of falling down and getting hurt. It’s a chance to experiment and train. There is only one rule: no sidekick assistance!”
Nikki’s heart sank. She was hoping her and Spencer could be a team.
Samantha must have noticed the disappointment on Nikki’s face, because she said, “Sorry, Nikki, but we all have to learn to use our powers without sidekick help, just in case they aren’t around. However, they will be watching the power games from the seating area.” She motioned over her shoulder to a stretch of bleachers with room for more than a hundred kids. Nikki wondered why there was so much space when there were only three sidekicks who would be watching.
Her question was answered when a round door opened behind the bleachers and a brown, furry creature rolled through. A Weeble! Then another ball of fur scampered in, this one gray. The Weeble parade continued, as Weeble after Weeble rolled, crawled, bounced, or dove through the door. Each one promptly moved up into the bleachers, taking their seats in an orderly fashion, like they had just come to watch a movie or a play. It was one of the oddest scenes Nikki had ever seen in her life.
“Hooray!” Spencer exclaimed. “We get to watch with the Weebles!” Suddenly Nikki was really nervous. She didn’t know why. They were just kooky, talking animals. It didn’t matter how well she performed in front of them. But for some reason she was nervous. It was as if she knew they would be judging her, critiquing her performance, checking to see how she stacked up against the other power kids.
While Nikki was still puzzling over the random appearance of the Weebles, Samantha yelled, “Let the power games begin!”
Nikki saw Chilly grab Spencer’s hand and pull him over to the bleachers with Dexter right behind them. They took a seat in the front row. They were squished between two of the larger Weebles. Spencer had a big smile on his face. He gave Nikki a thumb’s up sign.
Clunk! Clunk! Clunk! Nikki heard three loud noises behind her and spun around to see what had caused the commotion. The other three power kids had already opened their powerchests, thrusting the heavy lids off in a hurry. Oh no! Nikki thought. She needed to catch up. She quickly opened her own chest and sifted through the gloves. Without really thinking about it, she plucked out two gloves, one brown and one pink. The brown glove had a paw print on it, and etched on the pink glove was a tarot card.
She looked around, trying to find the other power kids. Samantha was fastening a peach belt around her waist. As soon as the belt was on, four new arms burst from her skin, two on each side. Samantha now had six arms!
Mike and Freddy were gone, so Nikki scanned the room, trying to find them amongst all the equipment. She spotted Mike quickly. He was whirling through the air like a human tornado. She only knew it was him because he was wearing a brown-striped scarf that was flapping around his body with each spin. He looked like the Tasmanian Devil from the cartoons she sometimes watched.
Freddy was harder to find, but eventually she saw him crouching behind a wall. She could barely make out the colors of his socks. One was green and the other was black. But there was something different about him. Something was covering his front and back. It almost looked like a green suit of armor. Nikki realized what it was: a turtle shell! He would be well-protected. Nikki wondered what power the other sock would give him.
While Nikki was watching Freddy, she felt herself being lifted into the air by at least three people. She looked down. It was only one person. But the one person had three sets of arms. Samantha was spinning Nikki above her head. “Augh!” Nikki screamed, getting dizzier by the minute.
Luckily, at that moment Nikki remembered that she was a power kid, too. And she was wearing a very powerful glove—the pink one with the tarot card. She closed her eyes and tried to think about what was about to happen to her—what would happen to her…in the future. That was the power of the pink glove, being able to see the future. An image flashed into her mind: Samantha spinning her through the air and then throwing her across the room; Nikki crashing into the wall, falling to the floor, eliminated from the power games. She couldn’t let it happen!
Nikki opened her eyes and knew that Samantha was about to throw her. But Nikki was ready for it. Right when Samantha Powerbelts launched her, Nikki used her brown glove to change. She changed into a cat, sort of. More than a cat, really. A lion! The biggest and strongest of all cats. And cats always landed on their feet. With a roar, Nikki the lion planted all four of her paws firmly on the wall and bounded off, springing back at Samantha. She landed on top of her, pinning all six of her arms to the floor.
“Say uncle!” Nikki tried to say, but instead she just roared loudly. Samantha seemed to get the message, however, and yelped, “Uncle, uncle, you win, Nikki!” Nikki heard a cheer from the bleachers. The Weebles were standing up, screaming and yelling and cheering. The three sidekicks were on their feet too, clapping and whistling. Spencer yelled, “Way to go, Mufasa!”
Nikki smiled a big, catlike smile and released her friend. Rearing up on her hind legs, Nikki looked around for Mike and Freddy. She found them locked in battle halfway across the room.
Mike was spinning toward Freddy, trying to suck him up like a tornado. Freddy was dancing around, moving faster than Nikki would have thought possible for a boy carrying the weight of a heavy, green turtle shell. He was flipping and kicking and karate-chopping around Mike, who couldn’t seem to catch up with him. Mike charged him again, but Freddy was too fast. He spun out of the way and then kicked Mike the tornado from behind, knocking him to the floor. Mike stopped spinning, his brown-striped scarf coming to rest over his face. Freddy sat on top of Mike and Nikki could distinctly hear him say, “Uncle! You win, Freddy!”
Nikki knew it was down to her and Freddy. He was fast. He was smart. And he was protected by a turtle shell. But Nikki was a lion who could predict the future! She knew she could beat him.
Before Freddy had a chance to look for her, Nikki the lion closed her big, brown eyes and tried to think about how Freddy would try to defeat her. A picture entered her mind. It was as if she was w
atching a movie. She saw Freddy duck inside his turtle shell, pulling his arms, legs and head inside to protect himself. Nikki was prowling around him, waiting for him to come out. She got bored and sat on her haunches to wait. When she wasn’t ready for it, Freddy sprang from his shell and leapt on her, using his ninja skills to kick and punch her until she fell onto her back. Freddy was the winner.
Nikki opened her eyes and cringed. She didn’t want to lose that way. Knowing what she had to do, she took off, running toward Freddy, baring her teeth and growling. As expected, Freddy’s trick was to pull himself inside his shell, so she couldn’t hurt him. Like in her vision, Nikki prowled around him, but instead of sitting down next to him to wait for him to come out, she sat directly on top of his shell.
A few minutes passed and Nikki waited patiently. Finally, she felt a hand reach out of the shell, probing with its fingers. Freddy’s hand. Leaping into action, Nikki the lion grabbed Freddy’s hands between her two paws and pulled with all her might. “Eeek!” Freddy squealed. With a sharp crack! Freddy popped from his shell, which had broken down the middle. Nikki towered over the chubby, dark-skinned boy, who was sweating and trembling.
“Okay, okay!” he said. “You win.”
Nikki growled.
“Uncle, uncle, I said it, I said it!” Freddy screamed.
The section of bleachers with a hundred Weebles and the three sidekicks erupted again, with cheers, whistles, claps, and shouts of “Huzzah! Huzzah!” from Spencer. Still in lion form, Nikki bowed to her audience, a huge animal smile forming on her face.
Samantha, Mike and Freddy ran up, looking like they wanted to pat her on the back and congratulate her, but wary of touching her while she was still a lion. After letting out a final Roar! Nikki changed back into herself and let her friends approach her.
“Well done, Nikki!” Samantha said, giving her a light hug.
Mike nodded in agreement, patting her on the back.
Freddy extended a hand and Nikki took it. As they shook hands, Freddy said, “I almost always beat these two with my combination of ninja and turtle shell. Really good job, Nikki.”
Nikki smiled, excited and relieved that she had performed so well in her first power games.