Part 6 (1/2)
”He wasn't talking about rock music,” I said, interrupting a discussion about the difference between Light Rock and Soft Rock. ”He was talking about rocks rocks!”
”What do you mean?” Plasma Girl asked.
”I mean regular, ordinary, old everyday rocks. The kind you find on the ground.”
”That doesn't make any sense,” Tadpole said. ”There are millions of different rocks.”
”No,” I corrected him, ”there are only three. Don't you remember in science cla.s.s when we learned the three types?”
They all looked at me blankly, indicating how little they had absorbed of Miss Marble's recent lessons on geology.
”I sort of remember a little about it,” Plasma Girl offered. ”Just not very much.”
”Okay, fine,” I said. ”Let me refresh your memories. Rocks are divided into three types-igneous, sedimentary, and metamorphic.”
The blank looks remained in place.
”Let's start with igneous,” I said. ”Igneous rocks are crystal or gla.s.sy types of rocks that are created by molten lava when it cools.”
As they stood there silently, I realized I wasn't getting through to them. So I jumped ahead.
”What it means,” I said triumphantly, ”is that I know exactly where one of the cards is located.”
CHAPTER ELEVEN.
Lava's Labors Lost
In the heart of downtown Superopolis is Lava Park. It's called that because there is a live volcano smack in the middle of it. The volcano, Mount Reliable, erupts every day at exactly five o'clock. And without fail, one of Superopolis's many heroes arrives on the scene and prevents it from doing any damage.
”The best example of igneous rock in all Superopolis is in Lava Park,” I informed my teammates. ”Igneous rock comes from lava that has hardened. It makes perfect sense.”
”But how do we find a card that's hidden in a live volcano?” Halogen Boy asked, glowing dimly.
”It's not in the volcano,” I responded. ”Can you think of a place that normally sells this sort of thing and also happens to be located right near the volcano?”
[image]
LAVA PARK.
After early attempts to sell the land around Mount Reliable as housing lots failed, the city leaders gave up and declared the area a munic.i.p.al park. At over two hundred acres, the park now provides a needed oasis of green (and bubbling red) in the heart of the Superopolis business district. The numerous thermal vents throughout the park make it particularly popular for barbecues.
”Inkblot's Newsstand!” Plasma Girl cried.
”Exactly!” I said.
The Inkblot has had his newsstand on a corner of Lava Park for over fifty years. In that time he's watched lots of major historical events pa.s.s by on the front pages of the newspapers he sells there. Today's headlines weren't all that earthshaking, though. The Hero Herald The Hero Herald had a headline about an investigation into the unusually large number of solid gold thimbles that Mayor Whitewash recently received as gifts-”They're only thimbles of appreciation” the headline quoted the mayor as saying. had a headline about an investigation into the unusually large number of solid gold thimbles that Mayor Whitewash recently received as gifts-”They're only thimbles of appreciation” the headline quoted the mayor as saying. The Weekly Daily The Weekly Daily had a story about the enormous jackpot available in the Superopolis Lottery, which of course was pointless since the drawing had already happened three days ago, and had a story about the enormous jackpot available in the Superopolis Lottery, which of course was pointless since the drawing had already happened three days ago, and The Superopolis Times The Superopolis Times had a piece on AI's capture of the Multiplier. They reported the Multiplier's dramatic increase in power, but there was no mention of the fact that my dad and the Big Bouncer had really brought him down. had a piece on AI's capture of the Multiplier. They reported the Multiplier's dramatic increase in power, but there was no mention of the fact that my dad and the Big Bouncer had really brought him down.
In addition to papers and magazines, the Inkblot's stand also has a wide array of snack-size bags of potato chips, a selection of candy bars and breath mints, and, sure enough, a small a.s.sortment of card packs. Among them was a stack of Amazing Indestructo Collector Cards.
”h.e.l.lo, young uns,” the Inkblot greeted us as we made straight for the cards. ”Can't get enough of that AI stuff, can you? When I was just a sprout, I was the same way about Captain Radio. You kids probably don't remember him, but he was the Amazing Indestructo of his day. He could ride the radio waves like one o' them surfer dudes. Now that was a power! I still remember the day I met him. I must have been about the age you whippersnappers are now. I couldn't wait to show him my power.”
Hal illuminated his hand and I tried to both check out the cards and look like I was listening politely.
”I was still young enough to think my power was pretty impressive,” the Inkblot continued. ”I was in my brand-new costume. White as snow it was, except for the shape of a dark blot of ink smack in the middle of my chest. My boots, belt, and cape were the same dark color as the blot. I felt like I could take on every villain in Superopolis! That's when I met the captain.”
We were halfway through the cards at this point, but there was no sign of a Professor Brain-Drain card. The Inkblot kept rambling on, now seemingly telling his story to a pigeon that had landed on the far edge of his counter.
”'Well, sir,' I said to him, 'wait' 'til you see this!' Then I took out my bottle of ink and poured it into my hand. Of course, it didn't land there, ya see, because that's my power. I can repel ink from my body, ya know! So I held out my hand to Captain Radio and the blob of ink hovered in the air above my palm. I moved that blob from hand to hand, working up its speed, and then, wham! wham! I sent that inkblot flying through the air until it went I sent that inkblot flying through the air until it went splat splat against a wall over ten feet away.” against a wall over ten feet away.”
I only heard a portion of this. We were down to the last couple of packs, and there was still no sign of the card.
”I turned to the captain,” the Inkblot continued, ”sure that he would be as impressed with my power as I was. He stood there silently for a few moments as my heart beat with excitement. I figured my skill had left him speechless. Then he burst out laughing, hopped onto a radio wave, and surfed away without saying a word to me. I felt pretty lousy for a while, but I also grew up a little that day. It wasn't long after that I got my first job selling newspapers. And in sixty years, I haven't once gotten my hands dirty handling them.”
The Inkblot finished his story and held out his ink-free hands for me to inspect. We had gone through all the packs, and none of them contained a Professor Brain-Drain card. Before I could ask him about it, though, an enormous rumble suddenly threw us all to the ground. Mount Reliable began to spit b.a.l.l.s of fire into the sky. Tadpole shouted, ”Hey, guys, look! It's the Weatherman!”
Sure enough, the Weatherman himself was taking on today's volcano duty. Soaring to the top of the peak, he whipped up a blizzard over the mouth of the volcano, instantly 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.