WILDCARD

"There's the president!" I hissed.

"What's the president doing here?" Missy whispered.

"I don't know, but--"

"So they're really in here?" the president said.

"Sh, sh, sh!"

"Yes."

"And how long until the takeover begins?"

He looked at the timer.

"Don't worry about it. The supreme commander knows exactly how it's gonna unfold."

"She always knows."

It clicked. The president was a spy.

"So... what is that thing?"

"You heard him! It's a rocket! Stuffed to the gills with aliens! In less than an hour they're gonna send it down to Earth and begin the takeover!"

Suddenly, the doors slid open and there stood Miss Granada.

"Do you know what you children have done?" she glared, "Sneaking out of headquarters? Stealing a tram?" We all waited for her to snap. "Well done!"

"What?"

"Looks like we underestimated your abilities! And now you've led us to the heart of this alien spaceship? So proud... so proud..."

"Missy! Wildcard!" Wheels hissed, "Her vital signs are all over the place!"

Ojo showed us her iPad. It was of Miss Granada's purple silhouette and her alien tentacles. Missy's eyes widened and I subconsciously stepped closer to her.

"Save your breath, Granada. They know," the president was here.

Suddenly, they all sprouted purple tentacles.

"Well then. Take them."

And we were wrapped in the sticky and disgusting purple tentacles.

___

"Watch it!"

We were all thrown into a room. Slo-mo was dropped and he made the dramatic pantomime.

"Quit the pantomime. You didn't even scrape a knee," I rolled my eyes.

Slo-mo shrugged before getting up again.

"Oh, look! You kids are just like your parents. The same with fighting... the same vigor... putting your own egos ahead of her team..."

Guppy reached for her water.

"Take away her water!"

Guppy gasped as they took her water.

"They're too powerful together," she pointed at Rewind and Fast Forward.

They were separated. Ojo tightened her grip on her iPad. And for a second, I almost reached to tighten my grip on Missy, scared they'd say 'oh Missy's their leader she has to be put in another room'.

"Don't worry," Miss Granada leaned down until she was face to face with Ojo, "I won't take away your little toy. I already know what your future is... imprisonment. Life long."

And she left, locking us in here like a savage sociopath.

"Now what?"

Missy looked confident.

"I..." her confidence fell, "don't know."

Back with the Heroics...

"What do you mean you don't know?" Miracle Guy asked Marcus Moreno, who was miserably staring at the floor.

"I mean... I don't know. I'm thinking."

"Well stop thinking. I'm gonna punch my way out of here. I have to save my son!" he exclaimed, beginning to ram his fists into the wall.

"Not gonna work," Blinding Fast said, shaking his head.

"And why not?" Miracle Guy challenged.

"Because while you were blinking your eyes I went around and tried everything," Blinding Fast said.

Suddenly, the door opened.

"You were saying?"

It was a thing... covered in a... towel?

"What the fuc--"

"Miracle Guy! Keeps this PG!"

"Sorry! Sorry!"

The wrapped figure growled and Blinding Fast approached it.

"I wouldn't do that," Tech-no warned.

"Don't worry... won't even know I touched it."

He put his hand on the towel and he was flung across the room. Quickly, Miracle Guy attacked. Nope, he was thrown, too. Same with Sharkboy, who barreled into the others like bowling pins. Finally, the toweled figure threw off the disguise.

"AHA!" she yelled.

"Anita Moreno?"

"Hi... Hi Mom," Marcus said, awkwardly.

"No, no, no, no, no, don't hi mom me," Anita said firmly, "THAT WAS PATHETIC! You stopped training for a year! YOU DROPPED YOUR GUARD! AND YOU ATTACKED WHEN YOU SHOULD HAVE BLOCKED! I hope your kids paid more attention to me!"

"Thanks, Mom," Marcus said again, giving her the 'seriously' look.

Back with the kids...

"I bet Miss Granada's been working there for years," Facemaker said, pacing around.

"Yeah! They must've hacked the elections and put an alien in as president so they could... set a trap for the Heroics!"

Missy eyed me sadly and looked back at the floor. I walked over to her.

"You didn't expect to get us out on your first try, did you?"

"Now we're all imprisoned," Missy said, "Maybe I'm not meant to be part of this team."

At first thought, it sounded kinda nice. Not really, though, but only because I wanted to be leader. But when I ignored that fact and thought about it again, I wanted Missy here. She was pretty, nice, sweet... things a person should have that few girls have today. She was someone you would never meet again. And I wouldn't be stupid enough to let her go.

"Maybe not right now as you think," I decided to say, "But this is your first mission--"

"Same with you!"

"But we're not leading it. You're leading and you're doing a pretty good job right now, considering our parents got captured way sooner than us."

"You think so?"

"Yep. I believe in you. Doesn't that mean something to you?" I asked, silently hoping it did.

I looked away before my cheeks could become any redder.

"Yeah," she said softly from behind me, "Yeah it does."

So as my cheeks flushed hot and red and the others all began to smirk and give me teasing looks.

"Any luck?" Missy called to Guppy, who was desperately trying to pry the doors open.

"No. I need water. Or my powers won't work," she said, sitting down and fiercely swinging her leg over her other leg.

"And who's idea was it to trap us up here?" I turned on Missy, who gave me a 'seriously' look.

"You're welcome," she said and I saw everyone facepalm.

Wheels pulled me over.

"Okay, man. What up? You can't just start blushing when you see a girl and then go full out bullying her!"

"I'm not bullying her. I'm being mean to her."

"That's the same thing! I don't care what kindergarten teachers tell kids in normal school!"

"What do you want me to do about it? It's not my fault she's so pretty but so annoying!"

"Really?" Facemaker raised an eyebrow, "You seemed pretty happy talking to her a moment ago."

"Shut it."