[Brady]: Hey, guys, welcome to the Reading Regatta Update! I scored pretty big this week!
[Auntie Obvious]: I thought you were on vacation last week. Again.
[Brady]: I read at night! I flipped on Kendall (my e-Reader has a name – like yours is named Libby).
[Auntie Obvious]: Oooh, I’ll bet The Mommylorian loved that.
[Brady]: Dark Mode has a lot of useful properties.
[Auntie Obvious]: So what was your big haul?
[Brady]: I ready Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince and Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows this week, which were both “Whitewater Rafting”, which is 1,000 points each. BOOM! So with those and the Point Break, I have 6,860 points.
[Auntie Obvious]: Well done! I read The Adventures of Super Diaper Baby by George Beard and Harold Hutchins and St. Patrick’s Gargoyle by Katherine Kurtz.
[Brady]: Really??!!??
[Auntie Obvious]: Yes! St. Patrick’s Gargoyle is a great book!
[Brady]: I’m talking about the Kindergarten Book.
[Auntie Obvious]: I *told* you last week that I might read some Captain Underpants. He has an important cameo in this story. I just need to figure out how to do the points. Does it count as a book? Or a comic book?
[Brady]: It counts as a comic book. Small Splash, because it isn’t a collection.
[Auntie Obvious]: Dude, it was like 100 pages long.
[Brady]: I only see one comic.
[Auntie Obvious]: I can’t believe you are quibbling with me over 15 points when you have like fifty kajillion points, and I have, like, twelve.
[Brady]: Rules are rules. ::shrugs shoulders::
[Auntie Obvious]: Fine. So now I have 2,965 points. So what’s your final Point Break Selection for the Regatta?
[Auntie Obvious]: Mine is ‘Twas Three Weeks Before Christmas: MCU Edition. I know it isn’t Christmas, but we got loads of MCU scoop from San Diego ComicCon. I can’t believe you got to visit the The ComicCon Museum. I am sooooooo jelly. Grape jelly. Strawberry jelly. Raspberry Jelly.
[Brady]: It was really cool. I got to see a bunch of Marvel and DC props. But there’s no place like home.
[Auntie Obvious]: Unless your home is Uranus ::gigglesnort:: The Adventures of Super Diaper Baby had Uranus jokes! In fact, I wonder if there was a Super Diaper Baby callback in Geoff the Ghost 2: Finding Pumpkin.
[Brady]: I refuse to answer that question on the grounds that I might tend to incriminate myself.
[Auntie Kimberly]: Sir, have you at any point in your existence on Planet Earth laughed at a Uranus joke?
[Brady]: Yes.
[Auntie Obvious]: Thank you for your honesty. Uranus jokes are always funny! Time for us to run. Say the thing.
Nartha has walked into a large room and she walks over to a shelf with a sign: GRENADES. Nartha grabs a leather bag from the shelf and stuffs grenades inside the bag. Then she puts on a CRSC uniform found the CRSC arsenal and says, “ Wow, this place is huge.”, and walks out undetected. As she is walking away, a scientist sees Nartha in a uniform with the name tag WENDY. He asks, “Hey Wendy, did you hear that they are putting on a full-scale search for the crew of Primate 1? The rumor is that they teamed up with Alpha Python.” Nartha just smiles and keeps walking. The scientist points at a group that is fighting and says, “Hey look Wendy, I found them!”
Meanwhile, Wingy and Dr. Wining are facing off. Dr. Wining says, “This is the end, Wingy.” And the robot runs forward Wingy, but suddenly stops. They all hear a beeping. Then, KABOOM! And, the robot is blown to smithereens and the explosion knocks down the team and Dr. Wining. Nartha walks toward them and says, “The CRSC is weak and you are weak too, Wingy. I was always meant to be the one in control. My brother stole all of the thunder. But no more. My brother was always the favorite child, but no one cared about me. You have all been lied to. I have fooled you all. My name isn’t Renna.” She pulls off her blond wig to reveal greasy black hair and says, “It is time I introduced myself properly. The name is Nartha! Nice to meet you.”
Wingy and Dr. Wining yell at the same time: “WWWHHHAAATTT!!!”
Then, Nartha begins to throw more grenades into each part of the CSRS headquarters and they can all hear her maniacal laughter. Dr. Wining and the rest of the CRSC staff flee to their own mothership and our heroes run to the Primate 1. Wingy hears Nartha yell, “Wingy, wherever you go, I will always find you. Afterall, I am the first universal booksailor.”
Once all of them had left, Nartha was left standing in the ruins of the CRSC building. She pulled the Reaper’s Star out of her pocket and says, “What do you even do?” But Nartha had no time to ponder on this because the police began to show up, because someone reported the explosion. The police officer said, “Come with us.” Nartha said, “OK” as she surrendered and they took her to the prison bus. They asked her to turn in all of her possessions, so she gave the officer the predator mask, but when she reached for the Reaper’s Star, it was nowhere to be found. She knew she could not give up the Unisailor card as it was too powerful. The Police officer told her to sit down. When she sat down, she reached into her pocket and the Reaper Star had re-appeared! Then a whisper came from the Reaper’s Star and said, “We can do so much more than just sit on this prison bus.” Nartha said, “What can you do about it? The bus is already rolling.” Suddenly, the Star glowed and the bus overturned. Nartha and the rest of the prisoners climbed out, but the police officers were not quick enough to follow them.
Meanwhile, an alarm rings at a bank. Two masked figures walk out, each holding a bag of money, but before they could reach the street, someone stops them. He says, “Jay walking and robbing a bank? You two have a one-way ticket to prison. One of the robbers says, “Send US to prison, NOT happening, you’re just an ordinary monkey. The monkey says, “You got my name wrong, it’s not Ordinary Monkey its……Power Monkey!”
Power monkey took a bananarang out of his pocket and knocked the robbers down. He also took a portable net out his pocket and trapped the robbers and said, “I have to prepare for the San Jose Fair tomorrow. Thanks for side tracking me.” He walked back to the city to prepare for the fair just as the police arrived to arrest the robbers.
Later that night a hooded figure wearing ski goggles and a ski-mask walked to the prison cell with a lock pick and said, “You came here after fighting Power Monkey, didn’t you?” The robber said, “Who is asking?” She said, “the Predator.” He said, “What are you going to do? I won’t tell you, because revenge against him is mine.” She said, “If you tell me without complaining I will let you out. If you don’t, you might as well rot away in this cell.” The robber said, “Why would I know where he is?” The Predator said, “Because he has a really bad habit of bragging about what he is going to do next.” The robber said, “OK, I will tell you. He is going to the San Jose fair being held tomorrow. But it is going to take you a while to get all the way to the capitol of Costa Rica by then.” Nartha said, “I have my methods.” As she walked away, she put the lock-pick in her pocket and said, “What could I do? You complained!” And then she snickered.
The next day, everything was great at the San Jose fair. An announcer was speaking as all of the floats came by and Alex smiled as he saw one float with monkeys in masks, purple and green shirts with the letters PM embroidered, and dancing around an ice sculpture of Power Monkey. Alex thought, “I normally don’t wear a costume, but those look pretty good. I wonder if I could have Piggy………………” But his thought was interrupted when the announcer said, “I think this might be our last float. And, that is the treasure chest! There may be some special merchandise for the first person who can grab the chest after our lovely workers use the T-Shirt cannon.”
Meanwhile, the Predator was backstage with the workers who had the T-Shirt cannons and the Predator used the Reaper Star to change her face to look like one of the employees. She then told the others, “I don’t feel so good, so I am going home. Can you get one of the Power Monkey characters to be a stand in?” She the used the Reaper’s Star to again change her appearance to look like one of the dancing PM characters from the float. She says, “I can be of assistance” and she is given a T-shirt cannon along with some Power Monkey stuffed animals and T-shirts that said, “San Jose Fair XII.” She walked inside the Treasure Chest float. She picked up a rock and thought, “I have some merchandise for Power Monkey!”
She changed back into her regular appearance with the ski goggles and the ski-mask. She put the rock inside the t-shirt cannon and fired it at Alex, and took off her goggles and mask sure that she had hit him. But when she looked up, Alex had caught the rock, was holding it in the air and looking very confused. He looked over and saw her and said, “Going skiing, Nartha?” Nartha said, “No, I am going shooting. Thanks to you I now only have these t-shirts and plushies to fire at you.” Alex took someone’s blanket and jumped from his top box seat and floated down using the blanket as a parachute. He landed on the Treasure Chest float where he confronted Nartha.
Power Monkey said, “Yeah, Nanas confiscated all of your ammo when you were five.” Nartha said, “I remember it like it was yesterday.” Power Monkey took out one of his bananarangs and plunged it into the float. He jumped off of the gigantic balloon and ran backstage to warn everyone that the Predator was there. He said, “Run! The Predator is here.” Nartha follows him backstage and says, “You think you could fool me that easily?” Power Monkey says, “Yes.” Nartha says, “Prove it.” “OK” says Alex as he runs through the backstage area. Nartha runs after him and Power Monkey takes a small cord out of his utility belt and aims for Nartha’s feet. He throws the cord and it wraps around her feet and she falls over. The Reaper’s Star falls out of her hands and rolls toward Alex. He picks it up and says, “Nice trinket you have here Nartha, I think I will show it to Piggy.” Nartha screams, ‘NNNOOO!!!” Power Monkey walks away.
Power Monkey runs into a small monkey with black fur trying to help someone out of the wreckage from the float. Power Monkey stops and says, “Do you need a hand? ”The monkey says, “Yes please.” Power Monkey feels the Reaper’s Star vibrate in his hand, and the float begins to rumble and disappears. Power Monkey now realizes that the Star is dangerous and puts it in his pocket. Power Monkey asks the little monkey, “What is your name?” The Monkey replies, “I am Aaron. I always wanted to be like you so it is a pleasure to meet you, your Alexness.” Power Monkey says, “Alexander, actually. I think it was great of you to help those people at the float and I think you have what it takes to also be a hero.” The little monkey says, “I don’t think the people will accept a deaf hero, even though I can read lips.” Alex says, “I accept you!” Aaron replies, “Thank you, maybe I’ll give it a try, who knows?” Alex walks away and says, “I’ll see you around.”
Meanwhile, Nartha is very angry and is still thrashing around with her feet wrapped by the cord, when the police show up. The police officer says, “You have to come with us, you are facing some serious charges.” Nartha says, “You know I’ll find a way to get out.” Just then Alex walks by and says, “Don’t be so sure about it.” Alex walks all of the way to Piggy Industries, where his good friend, Scientist Piggy, works. Alex gives the Reaper’s Star to Piggy and asks, ‘Do you know what this is? Piggy takes it to the lab for analysis and when he returns, he says, “It looks like it came from a meteorite, it could be fifty eons old. I think it has a way of communicating through vibrations to whoever it is bonded to, or someone it is about to destroy it, and obviously that is not you or me. It also seems to hold all of the dimensions separate, and if it is destroyed, the dimensions will collapse into one. Someone could then become an all-powerful ruler commanding an immortal army. Where did you get this?” Power Monkey says, “I found it in my sister’s possession. That means that there is only one person that can help us at this point. ……………………..suspense……………….
Power Monkey walks into the prison where he sees Nartha. She says, “What are you here for this time, to laugh in my face?” Power Monkey says, “I can assure you that I am here on official business; but it is funny to see you behind bars. Nartha, can you talk to the Reaper’s Star?” She says with a smile, “I will if you get me out of here.” Alex says, “Please Nartha, this is a matter of life and death. This is your chance to be better than me.” Nartha says, “I never wanted to be better than you, I want rid of you!” The Star began to vibrate in Power Monkey’s pocket. Power Monkey says “Nartha, don’t!” Just then, three large fanged monsters that looked like a cross between an alligator and a bull appeared. “Oh no” said Alex, “Is that an allibull?” Nartha said, “None of your business, but if you must know, they are bulligators.”
Nartha pointed two of the strange dangerous bulligators toward Power Monkey and one of them goes to Nartha and bites the cord. Nartha throws the cord at Alex and it wraps up his feet. He quickly takes out his knife when he falls to cut the cord, but the Reaper’s star falls out of his pocket. One of the Bulligators brings the Star to Nartha and she uses it to melt the bars on her cell. As she left the prison she stopped and aimed laser beams at the building and it began to collapse. Power Monkey ran through the falling debris and just managed to get out the door. He knew he needed to form a team!
Alex was walking home when he saw some bullies in a dark alley-way beating up on someone. The bullies were yelling, “You will never be a good as Power Monkey.” The person they were beating yelled, “I know I probably can’t, you just have to accept me for what I am and what I want to do.” He threw a punch at one of the bullies, knocking him down. Just then Alex punches another bully and says, “You will never be as good as Power Monkey and that comes directly from the source!” Alex says to the victim, “I need your help, Aaron.” He asked, “With What?” Alex said, “Hero business.” The two walked away and Alex asked, “Do you have any ideas of others we could recruit?’ Aaron said, “When I first got news of Nartha’s deception a couple of weeks ago, and how she blew up the CRSC headquarters, I heard about a group of four who calls themselves the Crew of Primate 1 and they seem like a good option….if you like snakes. They are three monkeys and one snake!”
Power Monkey tracks down the crew of Primate 1 and asks them if they would join with him and Aaron to fight Nartha and get the Reaper’s Star and they all accept. They all go over to Power Monkey’s home to draw up a battle plan. Power Monkey says, “We have to get her back in prison and bury the Reaper’s Star deep in the ground. He also says, “Nartha will be in New York because I saw her plane ticket. Maybe we can lure her into Times Square.” Wingy, one of the crew members, says, “My friends and I can use the Primate 1 to get close to Nartha.” Aaron said, I could hang on the side of a building and throw one of Power Monkey’s special cords to wrap around her legs and feet.” Power Monkey says, “When Nartha falls, we can take the reapers Star and put Nartha in Primate 1 and take her back to prison, Hangy says, “How can we lure her where we want?” Power Monkey says, “I have a plan.”
Once they got to New York, Power Monkey recorded a video on his phone, “Nartha, meet me in Times Square tonight, and let’s settle this once and for all.” Nartha replies, “I will be there, and make sure you are alone!” After dark, Nartha showed up. Power Monkey was standing on top of one of the buildings and yelled down, “Nartha, there are too many people down there, you have to meet me up here.” Nartha used the Reaper’s Star to fly up. She says, “What do we do now?” Alex says, “You might as well follow me.” He then jumped across to another building and Nartha followed. He continued to jump from building, to building, to building, with Nartha following.
Power Monkey tightrope walks along power lines and Nartha says, “Its over Alex.” She uses the Reaper Star to catch the power lines on fire and, as the sparks and flames get closer to Alex, he pulls out a knife and cuts the cable. He holds on to one end and swings across to a nearby shorter building. He tosses the cable back to Nartha and jumps to the next building. Nartha uses the Reapers Star to transport herself to the building where Alex has landed. Power Monkey takes a nylon rope with a grappler hook and throws it to another building and climb his way to the top. Now he is on the rooftop of the building over which Primate 1 is hovering. Nartha uses the Star to join him and they prepare for battle. During the fight, Nartha drops the Reapers Star and Power Monkey grabs it. As Nartha runs toward Power Monkey, Aaron throws the special cord at Nartha but she dodges it and it hits Alex instead, and he trips, loosing his grip on the Reaper’s Star. It goes over the edge of the building. ……………………………..suspense……………..
Power Monkey jumps off the building to try to retrieve the Star. When he gets to the ground, he finds the Star shattered into pieces. “Uh oh,” thought Power Monkey, “I guess we will find out if Piggy was right and all the dimensions will burst into one. Just then he hears……KABOOM…….
Nartha looks over the edge of the building at Alex and the shattered remains of the Star and screams, “NNNOOOO!!! And jumps down too. Power Monkey runs into the Convenience Store which was on the ground floor of the building. He hears a voice on the intercom say, “It is time to shut down for the day. Remember customers, potato chips will be on sale tomorrow in aisle 4.” Then, the lights went off. Power Monkey was left in the dark and wandered around the store. Just then, the lights flickered on for a brief second and Nartha took advantage and got closer the Alex whose back was turned and he did not see her. The lights flickered again and she got closer. The lights flickered again, and at that moment the Predator pounced. Power Monkey blocked her knife with his bananarang, but she knocks him down. The alarm goes off in the store. She says, “Looks like I can’t finish you off tonight brother, but I will soon.” And Nartha walked away.
Power Monkey gets up and says, “Maybe there are some good monkeys from the other dimensions, but one way or the other, this is going to get pretty crazy.” He greets Aaron at the Primate 1 and tells the team about how they lost, they did not get Nartha back to prison, and the Reapers Star was destroyed.
That same tragic evening, something else happened. Piggy was at the PigTeck building and was on the phone. The person he was on the phone with said, “I think Alex is ready for greater responsibilities, what can you make for him.” Piggy replied, “I already have made him something.” He opened the door of his lab and inside a display a mannequin was wearing a purple and green suit, and on the front, it had two letters, P and M, which represented Power Monkey.
The End
Epilogue:
It was a dark and stormy night and Alex was walking home. Suddenly a hooded figure approaches him and Power Monkey takes out a bananarang and says, “Who are you?”
The hooded figure says, “Nope, me first. Have you been in contact with the Reapers Star in the last 24 hours? Because this thing has been vibrating like crazy.” He pulls out a Unisailor card for Alex to see. He continues, “Some civilians who weirdly were talking monkeys, told me to find you,….Alex Monkey! I am……….Hoodie Man!”
Look forward to Power Monkey: The Elusive Prey, where you will find Hoodie Man and other surprise cameos.
[Brady]: Well, only a couple more weeks left in the Reading Regatta, then I start Middle School! ::groans::
[Auntie Obvious]: Dude! Middle School is going to be awesome! Don’t you get special privileges like free coffee?
[Brady]: The only special privilege I’ve heard of from Middle School is boredom.
[Auntie Obvious]: I think you will be pleasantly surprised. So…I hear you had a book to read for your school. Did you finish it? And did you read anything else?
[Brady]: OK, I finished C.S. Lewis’s The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe, which was my school summer reading book and Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, which scored me 1,000 points! OotP is one of the best books ever!
[Auntie Obivous]: Dude, I was sad for like a week after I read that one! It was sadder than Old Yeller!
[Brady]: To continue my point from last week, Old Yeller was not sad. It was because the owners didn’t care enough about him to give him a stupid rabies shot. Well, that ends my temper tantrum of the week. Sooooo…I have a total of 4,460 points. Plus an extra 200 point for the Point Break selections, for a total of 4,660 points.
[Auntie Obvious]: Agree to disagree on Old Yeller. I also read The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe, plus I read my Book Club book, which was Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World. Whew, I definitely need some happy reading after that one. Maybe some Captain Underpants.
[Brady]: We’re too mature for Captain Underpants.
[Auntie Obvious]: Speak for yourself. Uranus jokes are ALWAYS funny. So my point total is 2,700. What’s your Point Break selection for the week?
[Brady]: Oh, like that time when we played tennis, and you forgot your phone, and we didn’t know what time it was and when I was supposed to be home. Anyway, Book Sailors, I sure hope you enjoyed this Reading Regatta Update from the first sentence to the last sentence.
[Auntie Obvious]: SAY THE LAST SENTENCE.
[Brady]: The last sentence.
[Auntie Obvious]: ::sighs:: Keep Reading…Sail On! ::slowly bangs head on desk::
Prologue: Kind Little Truck is well known for helping people and vehicles. But there was one time when he could have, but didn’t help someone; and he still feels bad about it. And he has never let anyone down since. In our very first story about Kind Little Truck, he saw that the Garbage Truck had a flat tire and he decided to help. But what if I told you that was not the entire story. The Garbage Truck had actually been bullying a small car, called a Kia Soul. Garbage Truck had made fun of the little car and smashed his windshield and ruined his bumper. The Kia Soul could not fight back but in a gesture of self-defense he picked up a long nail and stuck it in the tire of the garbage truck. Kind Little Truck had not seen the bullying, but only saw the Kia Soul stab the tire and yelled, “Get out of here, you vandal!’ Kind Little Truck helped fix the tire. Meantime, the Kia Soul was watching from behind a bush. The Garbage Truck began to feel bad and told Kind Little Truck that he had bullied the small Kia Soul and said, “Thank you for your kindness and I will never bully anyone again.” Now Kind Little Truck felt bad that he had yelled at Kia Soul and began to look for him. But Kia Soul had left the area and would never forgive Kind Little Truck.
The Kind Little Truck was walking away from Truckingham Palace in London, with his friends, Garbage Truck, Little Dipper, and Flat Head Car talking about their experience. Suddenly they heard a strange loud noise. They see five people lying on the ground and quickly roll over to the scene of the explosion. Kind Little Truck says to one of the people lying on the ground who is wearing an eccentric hoodie, “Hello friend, can I help you?” The man wearing the hoodie looks up and says, “Wait, you are a truck, you are not supposed to be talking.” The Kind Little Truck says, “Why not, this isn’t a library. Are you OK?” The man in the Hoodie says, “I am Hoodie Man, and I cannot believe I am asking a truck this, but what is your name?” The Kind Little Truck says, “I am Truckilious Exhaustpipe Truck, people say my name is almost bigger than I am. But people just call me Kind Little Truck.” Hoodie man says, “I need a little bit of help. First, can you give me confirmation that this is a dream?” The Kind Little Truck shakes his head and says, “Nope, this is totally real.” Hoodie Man says, “Good Grief!”
Meanwhile the Kia Soul was plotting against the Kind Little truck. He had already managed to take away Kind Little Truck’s fine hotel room, but he had even worse plans. He put down a newspaper with the headline, “Natural Disaster near London Crater-witnesses say explosion caused by a shiny black star!” Kia Soul said to himself in the mirror, “I hope my plan to get the Kind Little truck to the Crater will work, so revenge will be served. He will regret that he ever decided to not be kind to me!” There was a knock on the door to his hotel room. And the room service car says, “Mr. Soul, your scrambled eggs are here.” Kia Soul said, “About time, now get out of my sight before you wear them!” ……….suspense…….
Kind Little Truck takes Hoodie Man and his four friends to his home. The friends are introduced as, Windbreaker, Jill Monsoon, Masked Fleecer, and Sweater Guy. Kind Little Truck and says, “Welcome to my humble garage.” Hoodie Man says, “I need some help, my Unisailor Card is at low battery, and it is powered by uranium. By any chance do you know any meteor crash sites?” Kind Little Truck says, “Yes, it is called the London Crater and it was next on our tourist destination, because we got a surprise upgrade from some unknown person.” Hoodie Man says, “Doesn’t that sound a bit fishy?” One of his friends, called Windbreaker, says, “I agree, but we should go.” Kind Little Truck’s friends, Little Dipper, Garbage Truck and Flat Head Car join them and Windbreaker says, “It doesn’t sound fishy, it was probably from a nice car, we have met a lot of nice cars here in the past.” Hoodie Man said, “OK, let’s go to the Crater.”
On their way there on a tourist bus, Hoodie man sees a shiny dark star in the sky and says, “It can’t be!” He runs to the front and pulls a yellow cord. The Tourist bus says, “I guess I have to stop.” SSCCRREECCHHH! The bus stops. Kind Little Truck said, “Sorry if that was a quick stop, here are a couple of bucks for your trouble.” Meanwhile, Hoodie Man was yelling, “Everyone out right now.” Flat Head Car, says, “What is going on?” The ground started cracking beneath their feet and wheels. The Masked Fleecer says, “The Dark Star is coming, this dimension isn’t safe anymore.” Hoodie Man hopped into the bed of Kind Little who said, “Ouch, I wasn’t expecting that.” Hoodie Man says, “We all need to get back to your garage!” Hoodie Man explains that that the dark star had already destroyed his dimension and that is why they wound up the dimension with Kind Little truck and his friends. “Now said Hoodie Man, “The star is going to destroy every dimension until it finds a host. I may be able to save us using my Unisailor Card to create a portal to a new dimension, if there is enough juice left.” ………..suspense……….
Hoodie Man begins to make a large enough portal for everyone while Kind Little Truck announces to the world that everyone needs to come to the portal, which will be over the top of Big Ben as soon as possible. One person who hears the announcement is Kia Soul but he still only has revenge on his mind, but he has a plan. He is going to destroy the portal before Kind Little Truck can go through. Meanwhile Kind Little Truck heads for Big Ben and sees a Kia Soul but doesn’t recognize him as the one who stabbed the tire because he has a new bumper and windshield. Kia Soul says, “I see you don’t remember me. It must be easy for you to forget but I never forgot. Now, you have face me alone!” ……. Suspense…….
Kind Little Truck said, I do remember you now, and I have been very sorry for what happened. We need to look past our mistakes., because we should not be defined by them because no one is perfect. Now, I don’t want to fight you, but if you choose to fight, I won’t be alone.” As he spoke, Little Dipper, Garbage Truck, and Flat Head Car all roll up. Hoodie Man and his friend also jump in and Big RV, the Clown Car, the Mayor of Paradise Island, and everyone else who Kind Little Truck ever helped came up behind him. “Ooops,” said Kia Soul! As the ground cracks, Kia Soul slips into a crevasse…………suspense………..
As Kia Soul is falling, Kind Little Truck grabs him by the wheel and begins to pull him back up. When he is safe, Kia Soul, with a tear in his headlight asked, “Why did you save me.” Kind Little Truck said, “didn’t you just hear my ten minute speech about that?” Kia Souls replied, “Yes, I did and now I understand. Kia Soul then thanks the Kind Little Truck and goes through the portal. Kind Little Truck and all of his friends follow through the portal to a world they do not understand. As Hoodie Man enters the portal, he notices that the Reapers Star is missing from the sky. He thinks, “Oh no, it must have found a host!”
The End
Epilogue: A cat, whose name is really Cat, is talking to a cyborg snowman! Cat says, “Robot Snowman, I discovered something interesting, I think you will want to see. Have you ever seen a talking truck before?” Robot Snowman says, “Cat, what are you talking about?”
[Brady]: We are two months in to the Reading Regatta! I am back from vacation, which is why I let Obvious post last week.
[Auntie Obvious]: I have some news. About the scoring.
[Brady]: Oh.
[Auntie Obvious]: Remember when I told you I accidentally counted too many points for those two books? I actually didn’t, because I was including the *prior* week’s books in my total. So I’ve actually never made a mistake. I thought I made a mistake, but I was wrong. So it cancels out! And my point total is now 2,200 – including putting back the points I erased by mistake.
[Brady]: Isn’t thinking you made a mistake a mistake?
[Auntie Obvious]: No! The two wrongs make a right!
[Brady]: That’s not the saying.
[Auntie Obvious]: Agree to disagree.
[Brady]: Who totally fell for the fake Andor poster on the Internet?
[Auntie Obvious]: Good grief. I make one teeeeensy little slipup, and you never let me forget it.
[Brady]: It was five minutes ago.
[Auntie Obvious]: So aaaaaaaanyway, what did you read this week?
[Brady]: ….
[Auntie Obvious]: Is this another one of your “suspense” things?
[Brady]: …
[Auntie Obvious]: OK, so you still have 2,960.
[Brady]: I started a couple of books, but I didn’t finish, because I was on vacation. And I didn’t even read the Point Break selections
[Auntie Obvious]: Well, I wasn’t on vacation, so I read three Rowing books: The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek, The Christmas Pig, and The Ickabog. Thanks for loaning me those last two.
[Auntie Obvious]: My selection is SO SAD, you should definitely not read it without a WHOLE BOX OF KLEENEX NEARBY. It is sadder than Bambi, and sadder than Old Yeller. It’s Auntie Kimberly Runs Out of Coffee.
[Brady]: Old Yeller wasn’t very sad.
[Auntie Obvious]: Dude, what’s wrong with you???
[Brady]: How did he get rabies? The owners were too irresponsible to give him a shot. You should definitely watch Avengers: Endgame instead.
[Auntie Obvious]: Maybe they didn’t have rabies shots for dogs back then.
[Brady]: Everything in that movie was old and cheesey and needs to get in the 21st century.
[Auntie Obvious]: OK, time to sign off. SAY THE THING.
He is the Bearer of the Zipper. He is the Crusader of the Coats. No tank top is safe. Its Hoodie Man! But every hero has to have a nemesis and his is Winter Gear Girl who betrayed him and made his other enemy, Stinky Tank top, more powerful.
They framed Hoodie Man for it and he and his friends, Sweater Man and Jill Monsoon were sent to jail. But they escaped and they teamed up with Windbreaker to get information about taking away Stinky Tank Top’s new powers. They found a scientist at Economics Land who filled them in about how stinky Tank top became so powerful. Let’s just say the detergent didn’t work. As we left Hoodie Man 5, they had found a cure, a way to destroy Stinky Tank Top. But when they tried to use it, the Grim Reaper kidnapped Hoodie Man and sent him to the Dirt Mines.
When Hoodie Man woke up, he found himself with a pick axe in front of a mine opening with a sign that read, “All dirt miners enter here.” Hoodie Man thought, “This is not good at all!”
On with our story.
When Hoodie Man entered the dark mine, a man with a mustache and beard said, “Hello, prisoner 9999. Welcome to our humble corporation. Here we mine for dirt. It may sound like this institution is pointless but it is not. You will be serving here for the rest of your life. If you are wondering, I am Sergeant Grump. Now carry on into the mine!”
Hoodie Man walked in and drew his pick axe. He said, “Hello, is anybody there?” He walked down one tunnel and saw a pair of gleaming bright yellow eyes. ……..suspense………..
Hoodie Man saw a snake coiled up. He knew what it was instantly; a boa constrictor! It began to slither toward him, He tried to dodge it, but it head butted him back into one of the passage ways into the cave. Hoodie knew that his friends would have handled this problem better, so he really missed them, especially right now! The snake slithered toward him, and opened its mouth with teeth shinning with venom dripping. Suddenly, someone kicked the snake away! But Who?
The person started running away and Hoodie Man yelled, “Stop! Why are you running away?” Hoodie Man ran too! He banged his pick axe against a stalactite which fell down on the boa constrictor. Just then, the cave started rumbling and began to collapse. Hoodie man ran down another tunnel and waited there until rocks stopped falling. He heard a voice say, “What were you thinking? You could have gotten us killed.” Hoodie man knew that voice.
Hoodie Man said, “Surprised, Winter Gear Girl?” She replied, “No, not at all.” Hoodie asked, “Why are you here?” She said, “I got sent here for impersonating Scarfskin. How about you?” He said, “I was Messing with elderberry juice and Grim Reaper snatched me up.” Winter Gear Girl said, “Now we are both in trouble with Sergeant Crump. We ruined the mine.” They heard on a speaker, “All dirt miners return to your dormitories for bed time. Hoodie Man said, “I can’t believe they gave me this mess of a hoodie for a mining suit. I can’t sleep in this.”
So, Hoodie Man walked over to the lost and found bin. He could not find his old hoodie, but found a new one. Then he tried to find the dormitories, but did find one room with a door open, so he went in. He saw a shining black star sitting in a tank with water that was glowing. “Why would that be?”, he thought. He snuck in to get a closer look, as he got closer, he noticed that Sergeant Grump was now standing behind him. “Oops,” said Hoodie Man as he started breathing faster! Sergeant Grump said, “I see you found the Reaper’s Star; would you like to know what it is?”
Meanwhile, at Stinky Tank Top’s castle, one of his heralds is interrogating Wind Breaker who is sitting in an electric chair. The interrogator says, “Where is Hoodie Man?” Wind Breaker says, “I don’t know.” The interrogator zaps him! “Ouch,” Windbreaker yells. The interrogator says, “Don’t be silly, we know he was fighting Stinky Tank Top when he vanished into thin air.” Wind Breaker said, “I don’t know, I really don’t know!” “What a shame I have to zap you again,” said the interrogator. Another of Stinky Tank Top’s heralds walks in and says, “Winter Gear Girl has notified us of Hoodie Man’s location.” The interrogator says, “Should I send a squad?” The herald says, “I think Stinky Tank Top would like to finish this himself.”
The interrogator walks out of the room leaving the zapper on! Wind Breaker, gets another jolt and says, “You will never win!”
The Masked Fleecer, Sweater Guy, and Jill Monsoon walked into the room where Wind Breaker was being held. Jill Monsoon took out a hair clip which she used to free Wind Breaker from the electric chair. Wind Breaker says, “Thank You.” Sweater Guy asks, “What is our next move?” The Masked Fleecer says, “Find Hoodie Man, release him, and defeat Stinky Tank top once and for all.”
Back at the Mining Institute, Sergeant Grump says, “Two decades ago, what you see before you almost wiped out the universe. The Reaper’s Star, alongside its host, Caution Prime, together wiped out the Booksailors and stole their library cards. Recently, it was brought to our possession by Caution Prime because long term use of the radioactive star caused impact to his body. The Star needs a host in order to survive. We think with the right host, it could do a lot of good, like curing many diseases and could prevent wars by altering realities so that they never happen. It could also solve world hunger. And one last thing, you have not been mining dirt this whole time, you have been mining Uranium, which is the only thing with a radioactive signature that matches the Reaper’s Star. Hoodie Man asks what the liquid is. “It is water with radiation, combined with some essence of the Star.” Without Sergeant Grump noticing, Hoodie Man filled a small vial with the liquid. “Well, it was nice talking to you, Sergeant Grump. I had better head back to my dormitory.” Hoodie Man thinks he may be able use the liquid so that he can alter reality and escape. He returned to his room to assemble a device to hold the Star’s liquid so that it does not harm his body.
Stinky Tank Top is sitting on his throne and realizes that Hoodie Man disappeared in the attempt to use elderberry juice, one of the most powerful substances in the world. Stinky goes to the Elderphants temple and asks them, “Please bestow upon me the Elderberry juice.” The Elderphants say, “No, you are not worthy.” Stinky tells the Elderphants, “Do you not think that the most powerful person in the world is capable of handling the most powerful substance in the world?” The Elderphants replied, “Elderberry juice is not the most powerful substance in the world.” Stinky asks, “Then what is?” The Elderphants say, “The Reaper’s Star but you are too cowardly to possess it or elderberry juice.” Stinky gets angry and spontaneously combusts the Elderphants temple. But in the ruins, Stinky finds the Nemeses Portal, which Hoodie Man had used before to find Stinky. “I can get you now, Hoodie Man!”
Stinky goes through the Nemeses Portal and arrives at the Mining Institute. At the same time, Hoodie Man’s friends also figure out that he is at the Mining Institute and arrive at the same time as Stinky Tank Top.
In the meantime, Winter Gear Girl has confronted Hoodie Man and said, “Give me the Reaper’s Star serum or else.” Hoodie Man says, “No! This could do good things but you just want to give it to Stinky Tank Top so he can rule the world and you can be his commander-in-chief.” Hoodie Man has constructed a devise that is in the shape of a card to honor the Booksailors. The card in now capable of transporting and altering reality. He uses the transport function to quickly get behand winter Gear girls and punch her. Hoodie Man says, “We are not quite even yet, but that punch helped!” Winter Gear Girls grabs her pick axe to strike Hoodie Man, but he uses the card to alter reality and the pick axe turns to dust. Hoodie Man says, “Well, now we are getting close to even.” Winter Gear Girl says, “Well this was fun but now my master is here,” just as Stinky Tank Top enters the room. Hoodie Man runs out of the room and his friends see him. Wind Breaker says, “I see you have a new hoodie.” Hoodie Man says, “I see you have the same old jacket.” Wind Breaker says, “You know me so well.”
Hoodie Man takes his friends to the room with the Reaper’s Star and says, “We have to protect it or else Stinky Tank Top will steal it and control the world.” Masked Fleecer says, “That sounds pretty bad.” Stinky Tank Top and Winter Gear Girl appear behind him in the room where the Reaper’s Star is. Stinky Tank Top says, “Hand it over, right now.” Hoodie Man tries to punch Stinky, but Stinky grabs his arm and flings him at the tank with the Reaper’s Star. The tank breaks and the Star flies toward Stinky and land on him; then a voice comes from the Star and says, “You are weak, Stinky Tank Top.” Stinky was frightened and said, “No, I am not, well maybe a little bit” The Star says, “You come in greed, Stinky and in search of Power.” Stinky said, “So what.” The Reaper’s Star says, “Here is where your story ends. There will be no more of you. Your greed, selfishness, thirst for power, and lack of compassion is over. Goodbye Stinky Tank Top. Welcome to oblivion!” Suddenly Stinky Tank Top begins to turn black and gets bigger and bigger. “Oh no, says Hoodie Man, He is going to explode.” Hoodie Man uses the Unisailor card to transport everyone else, except Winter Gear Girl, to a new dimension where they will be safe, he hopes. KABOOM, the end of Stinky Tank Top.
What happens to Winter Gear Girl? Where is the Reaper’s Star? In what dimension did our heroes wind up in?
The End.
Epilogue: Hoodie Man and the others had passed out when the teleported. He wakes up and sees a sign “Welcome to London”. He is thankful that they arrived in civilization. Then he hears a strange sound. “Vvrrroooommmm” “That sounds like an engine,” he thought. “Maybe we can catch a ride to the nearest hotel.” A high-pitched voice says, Hello friend, can I help you.” Hoodie Man looks over and the voice is coming from………..suspense….….
Hello There, Book Sailors! Auntie Obvious here checking in on my lunch hour with a Reading Regatta update! You might not know this, but I have an actual job that does NOT involve doing all of Brady’s bidding. Who knew? Anyway, Boss Book Sailor texted me his new point total and his Point Break selection and told me to post this week’s update. I am DEFINITELY asking for AT LEAST a 10% pay raise.
So anyway, Brady finished Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (600 points), Gravity Falls: Lost Legends (60 points) and last week’s Point Break selections (200 points). So if my math is right – and Brady will FOR SURE double-check me on this – his point total is now 2,960. I finished Adam Christopher: Shadow of the Sith, which was really, really, awesome! Highly recommended! I now have a total of 1,200 points. Brady is reading Shadow of the Sith now, so we will compare notes next week!
Prologue: Ten years earlier. Piggy stares out the window at the PigTech Building. A monkey wearing an eye patch greets him and says, “Its time. Today is the big day.” Piggy says, “You should be proud of yourself, Tim. You deserve this.” Piggy walks away out of Tim’s sight and opens a chamber where Piggy walks in and grabs a small vial and a needle plunger, and says aloud but to himself (he thought), “Twenty years of work has all led up to this moment.” A monkey standing behind Piggy speaks, “And that is where it ends too!” Piggy says, “Tim deserves this and I am sorry it wasn’t you.” The monkey says, “Tim Grey is driven by pride and this knowledge will drive him insane.” Piggy says, “That is exactly where you have gone, my friend, you are the insane one!” Piggy and the monkey begin to fight!…………….Our story now moves ten years ahead in time, to the present.
It was an early Saturday morning. Alex bounces out of bed because today is a very special day! Nanas greets Alex by telling him, “Happy Monkey Day, Alex.” Monkey Day was a celebration to honor the day that the monkeys took over earth. Alex replies, “You too, uncle Nanas.” Alex goes into the living room and his I-phone buzzes and caller ID indicates it is from his sister, Nartha, but Alex sent the call to voice mail. Just then, there is a knock at the door, Alex says, “Come in.” It is Piggy, who says, “I hope you don’t mind my private jet in your driveway. I am here to see you, Alex, and I want to give you a Monkey Day present.” Nanas comes in and says, “I know what you are thinking, Piggy, but it is not going to happen. Alex won’t let it.” But Piggy says to Alex, “Are you ready to be Power Monkey again?”
Alex says, “I don’t know.” But Piggy takes Alex out to his jet and gives him a box. Alex opens it and sees a vial of green liquid. Piggy says, “This is for you, Alex, and it increases speed, strength, and intelligence. I call it the Immortal Genius Project. It is the most valuable substance in the world. And, I have your next mission.” Alex’s eyes divert from the vial in his hand to Piggy, who says, “There have been attacks in Paris, France, by a group called the War Hogs and we want you to stop them. And, we think you will need this….” Piggy pulls out another package and Alex instantly knows what it is. A new utility belt to replace the one taken by Nartha. Alex gives the green serum back to Piggy but proudly puts on the new utility belt.
Alex and Piggy go to Paris in Piggy’s jet and they find the War Hogs. He says, “Bonjour, the last time I checked, you guys were law breakers so you have to come with me.” The War Hogs do not move! Alex says, “I guess you want to do this the hard way.” Alex quickly dodges a punch from a War Hog and sees another one with an axe coming at him. “This is the last time I will “axe” you nicely to drop the axe.”, says Alex. The War Hog drops the axe, but looks up and watches a pig in a robot suit drop down from a building. The pig says, “Greetings, I am Oobie Doobie Pig Man and I am here to get the Immortal Genius serum. I come not as a friend, but as your enemy!”
Alex jumps on the top of the Robot suit and pulls out a component saying, “This looks important.” Oobie says, “Oh, no! That affects my left hand, so it’s a good thing I am right-handed.” Piggy runs over to the plane to protect the serum, but Oobie shoots a laser at Piggy’s jet and destroys it. Alex pulls a diamond bladed knife out of his new utility belt and when Oobie tries to punch Alex, our hero grabs Oobie’s large metallic arm and sticks the knife through it. Oobie can’t fight anymore until he can get his suit repaired. At this point, a monkey with an eye patch walks over to the damaged plane and says to Piggy, who is whimpering on the ground, “I want the serum, now. Ten years ago, you said I deserved the serum, why did you keep it from me?” He then kicks Piggy, hard, knocking him a few yards. The vial fell out of Piggy’s pocket and the attacker picks it up and says to Piggy, “Now that wasn’t so hard, was it?” The attacker then walks away. In the mean-time, Alex has tied up the War Hogs and Oobie and then goes to check on his friend, Piggy. “He took the serum,” said Piggy, with a stutter in his voice. Alex asks, “Who took the serum?” Piggy says, “my former personal body guard, who was once your uncle’s best friend, Tim Grey.”
Tim Grey steps into his laboratory and says to his lab assistant, “Roll out the medical bed.” Tim Grey lies down on the bed, the assistant puts metal restrains on his arms and legs, puts the serum into the needle plunger, and sticks it into Tim’s right arm, and Tim says, “Here goes nothing!” He feels a burning sensation start in his right arm, but soon moves to his head where it pains him the most; and he passes out. In his unconscious mind he sees Piggy telling him, “Tim, you deserve this.” Suddenly the lab assistant notices that Tim’s vital signs are dropping. Tim sees another memory of Piggy giving the vial to another monkey and tells him to keep it safe. The burning sensation has now traveled to his toes and he hears a whisper in the back of his head, “Get rid of the Power Monkey, he stole what was rightfully yours!” Tim mumbles, “Yes, I understand.” The whisperer continues, “You are better than him, you are the Immortal Genius!” Tim mumbles, “I am.” The Immortal Genius awakes and quickly breaks the metal restraints and says to the assistant, “Get every War Hog you can find and send them after Power Monkey! We must destroy him!”
It was the day of Oobie Doobie Pig Man’s trial and the police had chained him to a chair in the courtroom. Alex was present at the trial. The judge said, ‘You are charged with damaging Paris while running around in a robot suit. How do you plead?” Oobie says, “Not guilty,…….of that!” Oobie looks toward the door and the Immortal Genius kicks it in and storms into the courtroom. Alex jumps from his seat and the Immortal Genius says, “If it isn’t Power Monkey.” Alex says, “If it isn’t the man who is about to get arrested!” Immortal Genius said, “Don’t you know who I am?” Alex replies, “Not in the slightest!” The Immortal Genius picks up a chair from the galley and throws it at Alex and it hits him hard! “What makes Piggy think you are better than me?”, said Immortal Genius. Alex says, “Oh, maybe because I don’t knock down doors and throw chairs at people or monkeys. And also, the fact that I am not insane.”
Immortal Genius says, “You are a pathetic little monkey, Power Monkey, and you will not stand in my way of glory!” He then throws a match into the room and starts a fire and grabs Oobie and runs out of the court room. But Immortal Genius blocks the main courtroom door. Alex realizes that he must find an emergency exit so he goes to the stairwell but the door has also been blocked. He then heads for the elevator and tells the other courtroom guests to follow him so they can be saved. But, the doors to the elevator are stuck!………..suspense….
Alex tried to pry open the doors but they were really stuck hard. He saw a flag pole standing nearby and decided to use it to open the doors. Just as he gets the door open, he notices that it is a Costa Rica flag and says, “Costa Rica saves me again! The monkeys all crowd in the elevator and, Power Monkey closes the door and they start down. At the next floor, the doors start opening and there stands a War Hog. Power Monkey and the War Hog stare at each other and the War Hog says, “Hey I know you. You are the monkey the boss man wanted us to find. Power Monkey quickly closes the elevator doors. As the door closed, one of the other monkeys, who was the judge, pushes the open-door button and says, “that wasn’t polite, let him in.” Power Monkey closes the door again.
They find the emergency exit and escape the burning building. Alex sees the Immortal Genius and Oobie getting in a black convertible and runs after them. He jumps onto the back of the car and punches through the back window. Oobie says, “Oh no. Not again!” Power Monkey says, “Miss Me?” Power Monkey reached over and grabbed the steering and the car crashed on a bridge. Immortal Genius said, “Look what you made me do.” Then the Immortal Genius and Oobie jump from the car and Immortal Genius picks up a small car and throws it at Power Monkey. “Whaaattt!” said Power Monkey, “That guy is strong!” Then Oobie throws a bomb onto the bridge and Power Monkey has to hold on to a railing to keep from falling a long way down into the water. As he is barely hanging on, his Utility belt slips off and falls into the water below. Alex says, “Oh man, I go through so many of those.” When he climbs back on to the damaged bridge, he sees that Immortal Genius and Oobie are gone.
Alex returns to his house and Nanas comes over. Nanas explained that “The man who attacked you and freed Oobie was poisoned from the use of a serum called Immortal Genius developed at PigTech. I tried to stop Piggy from giving the serum to him and I thought I had succeeded until I saw him today. His name was Tim Grey, but he now calls himself Immortal Genius” Alex says, “I can’t defeat him, he is too strong.” Nanas says, “You have to find a way!” Alex yells, ‘No!” Then Nanas says, “You can leave behind the life of a hero, but you can never say you didn’t have a choice to fight or hide.”
Meanwhile at the Immortal Genius’s lair, Oobie goes on the police website and looks up how many criminals have been apprehended since Alex became Power Monkey. He finds that 70% more criminals have been brought to justice, now that Power Monkey is helping the police. However, every day since Tim Grey became the Immortal Genius, fewer and fewer criminals are being caught. Oobie now realizes that Immortal Genius is only looking out for himself and wants power. Oobie knew about a weak point of the serum which could make the molecules of the serum explode and be the end of the Immortal Genius. He knew he had to tell Alex, but first, Oobie goes to his outdoor lab and starts making a concoction that will trigger the molecule’s explosive reaction. Immortal Genius walks up behind Oobie and says, “What are you doing?” ……….suspense…….
Oobie says, “The right thing!” The Immortal Genius says, “You aren’t siding with that little brat of a monkey, are you?” Oobie says, “His name is Alex, and you are the brat!” Immortal Genius says, “That wasn’t wise.” The two begin to fight, but Oobie is no match for the strength of Immortal Genius, so he grabs the serum antidote, which is an electric blue color, and runs into the woods. He stops at the edge of a cliff and takes a small drone out of his pocket and programs it to go to Alex’s house. Oobie adds the antidote to the drone and records a voice message telling Alex the purpose of the antidote. Just as the drone lifts off, the Immortal Genius arrives and grabs Oobie by his tie and says, “Tell me where the antidote is and what it can do to me.” Oobie says, “I’ll never tell.” Oobie cuts his tie, slips away from Immortal Genius, and throws himself off the cliff. Immortal Genius says out loud, “What a pointless sacrifice.” I will still win!”
Meanwhile, at Alex’s house, Alex finally listens to voice mail from Nartha. She says, “Hey Alex, we have a lot to talk about. I understand you might not want to listen to this, but this is in no way a truce and we will still fight. However, maybe you are not as bad as I thought you were. I just wanted to wish you a Happy Monkey Day. Look under your bed, I left a present for you.” Alex looks under his bed and there is the old Utility Belt that Nartha had stolen from him. He puts the Utility Belt on and says, “Time to be Power Monkey again. At that time, Oobie’s glossy black drone flies into Power Monkey’s yard. He retrieves the antidote and listens to the recording. Oobies voice says, “It may feel like you are out of hope right now, but if you are looking for some hope, here it is. I call it the Anti-Genius antidote. You have to find a way to get the antidote into Immortal Genius’s body. If you can, it will destroy him. I am sure Piggy will figure that out. Do not give up! You can do anything you set your mind to. I am sorry I worked with Immortal Genius, but now I want to help you.
Piggy rounded up a bunch of weapons to deliver the antidote, but he thought the most effective would be a smoke bomb filled with the antidote that Immortal Genius would breathe in. Power Monkey goes to Immortal Genius’s lair and sneaks in. When he finds Immortal Genius in his laboratory, and he says, “Here I am.” Immortal Genius says, “Ah, if it isn’t Power Monkey, the Crusader of the Crescent Moon. Let this be the last battle. Immortal Genius quickly picks up Power Monkey and pins him to the ground and ties him up and straps him to a missile. “You were no match for me!” Power Monkey says, “True, but I do not give up hope. I leaned that from a wise man named Oobie.” Alex then releases the smoke bomb. The Immortal Genius tried to run away but breaths in the antidote. Alex hears the Immortal Genius yell, “No, what have you done to me.” Then the antidote works, Immortal Genius explodes, and Alex cuts the ropes binding him to the rocket and walks away.
After Alex returns home, Nanas and him watch a fireworks show. Nanas says, “What are you going to do now?” Alex says, I will go on the path of a hero!”
The End
Epilogue: Nartha is walking around the ruins of a large spaceship with the letter “CRSC” on it. She sees something gleaming in the rubble, She picks it up and sees that it is a glossy black star. She puts it in her bag and says, “Huh, nifty find.”
[Auntie Obvious]: Technically, it’s five weeks, but this is the 6th update. This is what you pay me the big bucks for!
[Brady]: I don’t recall paying you any bucks – or me having any
[Auntie Obvious]: It was a joke.
[Brady]: Oh, one of your cheesey ones. What are your point totals? I heard there were some discrepancies in your point total.
[Auntie Obvious]: Mistakes were made.
[Brady]: Tell me about what you did.
[Auntie Obvious]: What? Did I say that I made a mistake? No. I said MISTAKES WERE MADE. The mistakes made themselves.
[Brady]: I recall hearing that you gave yourself the amount of points that you would get for a Rowing book for TWO CRUISING BOOKS.
[Auntie Obvious]: Unfortunately, your sources are correct. My correct total from last week was actually 700 instead of 1,000. And this week, I finished Star Wars: A New Dawn by John Jackson Miller, which is 250 points, so I have a total of 950.
[Brady]: I read Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban – third time, thank you for asking. So I have 2,100 points. And I’m excited to be starting Shadow of the Sith, by Adam Christopher.
[Auntie Obvious]: I’m starting that one, too! Suuuuuuper excited!
It is midnight with a full moon. Two officers are talking inside the Central America Asylum for Dangerous Animals (CAADA). The first officer says, “You have no idea what you are doing letting this prisoner run free.” The second officer replies, “He has already served five years in here, so it is time to let him go.”
The officers go down to the solitary confinement level, to cell number 4, and slides open the small window and says, “Prisoner 2258, you have been pardoned and are free to go.” Hangy says, “Good! This place smells like rotten eggs.” The first officer says, “Now go before he changes his mind!”
Hangy walks out of the building and across the street he sees a lamp post with a sign attached. The sign reads, “SPECIAL OPPORTUNITY – Become an Astronaut – Become a hero to the world. Apply at the Costa Rica Space Center (CRSC). No experience required. Bring no weapons.”
The next day at the Costa Rica Space Center, a small monkey stands by the entrance, next to a frog. The monkey says, “Hi, I am Wingy, what is your name?” The frog replies, “I am Smorgas, are you here to be an astronaut too?” Wingy says, “Yeah, but I already have some experience in flying from the military, so at least I have a chance.” Smorgas says, “You are lucky. I come from the field of science. I am a biologist and geneticist, specializing is unidentified creatures, but I do not believe in space aliens. I think that is too much.”
Wingy and Smorgas walked toward the entrance to the CRSC, and looked at the line of applicants ahead of them. Wingy and Smorgas went inside, and several applicants came back out and almost all of them were sobbing.
Wingy said, “Wow, we are doomed, it must be hard.”
Just then a loudspeaker voice boomed, “Attention. Hangy, Wingy, Smorgas, and Renna, report to the testing room.” Wingy and Smorgus walked in and followed directions to the testing room. They went in and saw two other monkeys walk in. Then the door closed behind them and it was completely dark!
The loud speaker voice said, “This final test will be very dangerous and will find out if the four of you can work as a team. Now, you have to face the Destroyer.” When the light came back on, the three monkeys and the frog saw a large robot with gleaming red eyes. Suddenly, Renna pulls out a steak knife ad throws it at the robot’s foot and it topples over.
Renna said, “its just silverware, not a weapon.” Hangy said, “Great job, but who are you?”
“Obviously, the smartest one here! My name is Renna. Remember it!” Smorgas said, “if you guys will pin down the robot, I can disable it and reprogram it.” Renna looked a little angry and said, “I am not a guy, thank you very much.” “Oops, sorry” said Smorgas. Then Wingy said, “if you can re-program it, I can drive it.” And Hangy said, “I’ll pin it down.”
Hangy leapt onto the robot and pinned it down and Smorgas quickly reprograms it to obey Wingy’s orders. As a test, Wingy said, “Robot, run into that wall at full speed!” The robot jumps up and runs into the wall and makes a big hole. The loudspeaker voice says, “You four are the first ones to pass the teamwork test. Congratulations, you are now astronauts and will be the crew on Primate One.”
The Primate One – Part 2 (Alpha Python)
Meanwhile, it is near midnight and several people are crowded around a console at the CRSC hanger. An assistant says: “Check-ups on the Primate ships 1-5 are complete, Dr. Wining. The person in charge says, “Did you lock down the hanger?” The assistant looked guilty and replied, “Oh no, Dr. Wining, I forgot!” Just then a grenade flies into the hanger and Dr. Wining yells, “Get down!” The grenade explodes and smoke filled the room! Dr. Wining and his assistant opened their eyes and saw a coiled up snake in the middle of all the damage and fire.
Dr. Wining brushes himself off and says, “Alpha Python, we meet again!” The snake replies, “You have failed, Wining! These ships do not belong to you anymore.” At that, Dr. Wining got up and ran toward the snake, but he hears Alpha Python say, “Pathetic! Say hello to more of my amigos.” Dr. wingy looks over and three more snakes slithered into the hanger and got into Primates 5, 4, and 3. The assistant sees them and runs to the door and seals it so that more snakes cannot get in.
Dr. Winging said, “Alpha Python, you are not going anywhere. I alone have the keys needed to start the Primate ships.” But Alpha Python laughs and says, “Oh, you mean these keys. I found them on the floor after you dove away from the grenade blast.” Dr. Winning can only watch as the snake slithers up the boarding ramp to Primate 2 with the keys held by his tail.
The Primates 2,3,4 and five take off. Dr. Wining and his assistant are left with only Primate 1.
Two weeks later a group gathers at the damaged hanger. Wingy says, “Dr. Wining, so that is why you need us. But what is that sound?” They all look over at Renna who is loudly chewing her gum. Renna says, “You lost me when you were doing check-ups of the primate 1 ship. I got bored” Wingy said, “Renna, did you hear the part about us launching today?” Renna now interested says, “What, we are launching?” Hangy jumps in, “Finally some excitement from this day!” But Smorgas looking unhappy says, “Dr. Wining said, , I am not sure I trust you.”
“Nonsense” Dr. Wining replied, “ Hey, do you guys want to see your space suits?”
The group goes over to a wall with space suits hanging on hooks. Wingy, Hangy, Renna and Smorgas all begin to try on helmets. But Smorgas struggles to put on his helmet and says, “Can you guys see any thing out of your helmet?” They all laugh and Hangy says, “Smorgas, you have it on backwards!”
The four team members put on their space suits and head for the space ship. As they walk, they hear Dr. Wining’s voice in their helmet speakers saying, “Your mission will be challenging. You will need to attack the snake mothership and come back Primate ships 2,3,4, along with Primate 1 and sabotage Primate 5 to explode. You can find them because there is a tracking device on all of them. Do not stop fighting until you have won. I am counting on you to bring down the snakes once and for all!”
The Primate 1 blasts off into space with the four new astronauts on board. Smorgas says, “Did you notice that Dr. Wining did not give us any special weapons; so I made some substitutions. Since I am 100% smarter that Dr. Wining, you can trust my weapons will not be faulty like this space ship.” But Wingy disagrees and says, “I think she is a beauty.”
Smorgas ignores him and says, “That reminds me, Wingy here is your gift. I made you some weaponized drones that you can control from a wrist gauntlet. They will all fit on your belt.” Renna, I am giving you a knife with a holographic blade that will extend with a just a flick of your wrist and go where-ever you want it to with 100% accuracy. And Hangy, I am giving you a kinetic energy suit that will reflect back any punch or force that strikes you.”
After a while, our heroes see the snake mother ship coming into view, above their ship.
Wingy said, “Renna and Hangy use jet packs and spacewalk to fight the snakes on the Mothership. Smorgas and I will stay and guard primate 1.” Renna and Hangy exit Primate 1 and space walk to outside the mothership.
Renna says, “The sign on this door reads, Access Denied. But not for long.” She throws her knife at the door handle and the door flies open. The room is filled with snakes! Hangy says, “Doesn’t look like they want to play nice.” Renna replies, “Agreed.” A snake slithers toward Hangy and bites him on the arm, but on his new kinetic suit. There were not any holes! The snake looks surprised and says,“So you are the thugs the CRSC sent to take back our ships.”
Hangy said, “Ok snake, who is your leader?” The snake says, “His name is……………..”
……………..suspense………………
Meanwhile, Wingy and Smorgas are still back on Primate 1. The entry door quietly opens and a snake slithers inside. …………suspense………..
Back in the mother ship, Hangy and Renna confront the snakes. Renna yells, “Spit it out! What is his name?” Hangy quietly asks again, “If you won’t tell me your leaders name, I will have to ask one of your friends over there and I won’t be half as nice!” The snake gives up and says, “OK, his name is Alpha Python! But you will never guess where he is.” Renna, still angry asks, “Where is he?” But there was no answer.
However, back on Primate 1, the snake is sneaking up behind Wingy and Smorgas, and speaks, “Hello, amigos. Do you want to dance?” And they hear a loud “HHIIIIISSSSSSS.”
……………..suspense………………..
The Primate One – Part 3 (The Mothership)
Back in Primate 1, Wingy and Smorgas are confronted by a large snake. Wingy says, “Who are you?” The snake replies with a hiss, “Your doom!” Smorgas said, “maybe not! I was just thinking the same thing.” Wingy glances at his wrist controlled drones and yells, “Drones attack!” Immediately, the drones fly into Alpha Python’s face, but he easily smashes one with his tail and then swats away the rest. The large snake says, “I am Alpha Python and, too bad, I have seen this technology before. Amigos, capture them.” Suddenly five other snakes show up and spring on Wingy and Smorgas and wrap and coil around them! They then take them back to the mothership.
Back at the snake’s mothership Renna and Hangy are still in the room where they interrogated the snakes. Renna tells Hangy, “If I can get to the main console of the mother ship, I can sabotage it with my knife so it will crash after we get off. We can then get back to Primate 1 where Wingy and Smorgas are. Then we can get out of here.”
Hangy said, ”I like it.”
Snake 1 says, “You think you can get on our mother ship without getting my attention”
Renna throws her knife at the snake and knocks it out and says, “Sweet dreams.” Then Renna and Hangy make it to the console room but they find Wingy and Smorgas tied up to chairs and Alpha Python emerges. Alpha Python then holds up a bomb and attaches it to Wingy’s chair.
The big snake says, “Time is ticking!” Hangy says, “You may have a bomb, but we have a plan that your two brain cells can’t handle.” Renna says, “Yep, you snakes have tiny brains.” Alpha Python grins and says, “No smaller than yours, I presume.” While the two are mocking each other, Hangy runs to the chair and yells back, “Renna, pass me your knife.” Quickly Renna throws the knife to Hangy and he slices off the chair leg with the bomb attached. He throws it at the control panel for the mother ship. KABOOM!!
Alpha Python yells, “You idiots. Now we will all die!” The mothership spins out of control and crash lands on a deserted planet VH31. When the smoke clears, Wingy, Smorgas, Renna, and Hangy stumble out of the wreckage of the space ship. They see Alpha Python slithering slowly around the wreckage along with a few of his snake amigos. Wingy says, “Let’s see if the Primate 1 survived the crash. It was in the mother ship’s hanger.” They find the hanger, but the engines on the Primate 1 are damaged. Hangy says, “The Primate 1 isn’t going anywhere.” As Smorgas stares at the wreckage of a CRSC space ship he says, “You guys won’t believe what I found.”
Wingy calls out to Alpha Python and says, “If we all work together maybe we can find a way off this rock.” Alpha Python realizes Wingy is right and says, “OK.” Then Renna stares at the big snake and says, “OK, but I still think snakes have tiny brains.” Changing the subject, Wingy says, “Do think there is any food in that wreckage?” Alpha Python Good idea, let’s go see for ourselves if there is any food there.” And, they all begin to comb through the wreckage. Soon Hangy says, “I think I found some food,” Before the group can go over to see what Hangy found,
Wingy calls out, “Wait, everyone come here. I think I found the jackpot!” When Hangy gets there, he says, “What, a fully functional long range hologram projector!” Alpha Python says, “Do you want to know why we hate the CRSC so much? Just replay the last message.” Wingy starts the projector and Dr. Wining’s image appears. Dr. Wining begins to speak, “Technology is a marvel. Whoever has it, has power! That is what I want. Unfortunately, the best technology is in the hands of the snakes (no pun intended, ha, ha) and they only use it for goody two shoes reasons. Pathetic! I want it and I will get it at all costs. ………..suspense………..
FLASH-BACK to two weeks earlier
A grenade lands and Alpha Python yells, “Get Down!” As the dust settles, Alpha Python opens his eyes and sees Dr. Wining and realizes that Wining must have thrown the grenade and the CRSC was there to attack Alpha Python and his amigos. Alpha Python slithers toward Dr. Wining who says,“Pathetic.” Then Dr. Wining knocked out Alpha Python and steals Primate 1 and he takes off for parts unknown.
The Primate One – Part 4 Back to the present time: (The Traitor)
Back at the CRSC (Costa Rica Space Center) space ship on a deserted planet Alpha python explains what really happened and the group now knows that Dr. Wining had knocked out Alpha Python and stolen Primate 1. But they did not know where he went. Hangy says, “Alpha Python, that’s horrible!” Alpha Python replies, “The past is the past and we can’t change that.” Then Wingy says, “OK, let’s take down the CRSC, once and for all.” Renna says, “I hate to remind you guys but we are still stranded here.” Meanwhile, Smorgas is looking at the hologram projector, and says, “Then we ask for help.” Alpha Python says, “I have some amigos out there who would be willing to help us.” And Wingy agrees saying, “Then let’s do it, whatever it takes.”
Meanwhile back at CRSC headquarters, an assistant to Dr. wining says, “There is a message that we have intercepted from the missing ship.” Dr. Wining says, “Play it, now!”
Wingy’s Image appears on a hologram screen and Dr. Wining hears him say, “Friends of Alpha Python. We are stranded on the deserted planet VH38 and we need your help, so that we can take down the vain and corrupt CRSC once and for all.” Dr. Wining screams, “FIND THEM, NOW!”
Back on the small planet VH38, Alpha Python’s friends arrive to help. They bring tools to fix Primate 1 space ship.
One of Alpha Python’s amigos says, “Glad we are of assistance” Alpha Python says, “Thank you all. The CRSC won’t last much longer. Oh, Wingy, I want to show you something.” Alpha Python takes Wingy to a nearby cave. When there, Alpha Python says, “Us snakes stashed something away for safe keeping. We have the Primates 2,3,4 and 5 here and they are in working condition. We can use them for a fleet with a new mothership. We can rebuild Primate 1 into a mothership. with parts from our mothership.”
Suddenly, the cave rumbles! A grenade drops. There is one word painted on it….CRSC! Wingy notices that the grenade has a slow fuse. Wingy says to Alpha Python, “You fly Primate 2 out of here and I’ll fly Primate three. We can attach Primates 4 and take it with us before it blows. We will leave Primate 5 to blow-up.”
They quickly fly the four Primate ships out of the cave. Then…….KABOOM!
In the Meantime, the amigos have been converting Primate 1 into a mother ship, using parts of the original. The Mother ship will also be named Primate 1.
Suddenly a CRSC ship appears. The cabin door opens and Dr. Wining walks out and says, “I want Hangy!” Hangy says, “Come and get me.” Dr. Wining says, “I knew you would be part of this rebellion! It is hard to believe that you would betray us again after only five years in solitary confinement.” Hangy said, “That didn’t crush my spirit, you can’t either.” Dr. Wining replies, “And why is that?” Then Hangy points to the sky and says, “Because we have….THEM!” Just then Primates 2,3,4, and 5 fly out of the cave!
Dr. Wining yells, “Impossible!” Just then,Alpha Python slithers out of Primate 2 and says, “Anything is possible, Wining.” Shocked, Dr. Wining says, “You!” Alpha Python says, “Did you miss me?” Then Renna laughs, “ I guess the CRSC has tiny brains.” As Dr. Wining puts his hands up, a bomb shoots out of the CRSC ship. Dr. Wining laughs and says, “The population crusher, Snake Tech. I believe it is your design, Alpha Python.” Hangy says, Now I don’t know who to trust anymore.” Dr. Wining counts down, “Three-Two-one.” Then….. KABOOM, the bomb explodes somewhere in the distance and rubble goes flying up into the sky.
Dr. Wining says, “That’s my que!” and takes off in the CRSC space ship.
Turning to the group, Alpha Python asks, “How is our mother ship coming along. We don’t have much time.” They see rubble flying toward them and Wingy yells, “RUN! Get in one of the Primate ships while there is still time.” Renna yells, “Yeah, but not much. So get moving slowpokes.” Just then, a piece of rubble shoots down and destroys Primate 5.
Wingy says, “Oh no. Amigo, how much longer is that mother ship going to take?” The amigo replies, “Not much longer.” Another piece of rubble destroys Primate 4.
Amigo says, “I am almost……………..” Before he can finish, the primate 3 gets destroyed! Almost……….” He starts but then, Primate 2 gets destroyed. “DONE, let’s get out of here.” Everyone jumps into Primate 1, the mothership, which is the only one left, and it takes off.
As they depart, Hangy says, “I have to tell you all something. I knew about the CRSC, being the way it is. I was always on the snake’s side and I thought I could steal Primate and give it back to them. But then I realized that you guys were good and that you needed to know that the CRSC was bad. So, I stole a hologram projector from Dr. Wining and left it in the ruins of the CRSC ship for you to find.” Wingy said, “What? You knew all along?“ Hangy said, “ I betrayed the CRSC before. I guess it is time to do it again.”
The Primate One – Part 5 (The spy)
Meanwhile, on Primate 1, the new mothership, the team is planning their next move. Dr. Wining has destroyed the other primate space ships and the team is going after him to try to bring down the CRSC. Smorgas says, “Lets hit the CRSC where it really hurts. Its head base.” Alpha Python asks, “On what planet?” …………………..suspense……….
“Earth!” says Wingy. “We are coming up on Costa Rica.” Renna says, “Its good to be back.” As the approach CRSC headquarters, Alpha Python says, “I want to blow the doors straight off the building.” Hangy said, “Be my guest.” KABOOM! The team gets out of the Primate 1 mothership and heads for the open doorway. When they step inside they see………….A robot with gleaming eyes! Wingy says, “Impossible. I destroyed that thing.” Smorgas says, “You might still have control of it.” Looking at the robot, Wingy says, “Robot, Power down.” But it keeps coming and kicks Wingy back out of the doorway. Smorgas says, “I guess we will have to use the brute force tactic.” Renna says, “Allow me.” She throws her knife at the robot but it catches the knife and throws it back at her. Wingy walks back through the doorway and says, “Is it just me or is it smarter than it was last time?”
They hear Dr. Wining say, “Definitely!” Hangy says, “It’s you!” Dr, Wining grins and says, “It is stronger, and faster, and, as I just said, more intelligent. And, there is no reprogram button. So, you are stuck.” Wingy looks arouns and asks, “I know, but where is Renna?”
Renna has found the CRSC arsenal and says, “ Wow, this place is huge.” She walks over to a shelf with a sign: GRENADES. Renna grabs a leather bag from the shelf and stuffs grenades inside the bag. Then she puts on a CRSC uniform, and walks out undetected. As she is walking away, a scientist sees Renna in a uniform with the name tag WENDY. He asks, “Hey Wendy, did you hear that they are putting on a full scale search for the crew of Primate 1? The rumor is that they teamed up with Alpha Python.” Renna just smiles and keeps walking.
Meanwhile, Wingy and Dr. Wining are facing off. Dr. Wining says, “This is the end, Wingy.” And the robot runs forward Wingy, but suddenly stops. They all hear a beeping. Then, KABOOM! And, the robot is blown to smithereens and the explosion knocks down the team and Dr. Wining. Renna walks toward them and says, “The CRSC is weak and you are weak too, Wingy. I was always meant to be the one in control. My brother stole all of the thunder. But no more. My brother was always the favorite child, but no one cared about me. You have all been lied to. I have fooled you all. My name isn’t Renna.” She pulls off her blond wig to reveal greasy black hair and says, “It is time I introduced myself properly. The name is Nartha! Nice to meet you.”
Wingy and Dr. Wining yell at the same time: “WWWHHHAAATTT!!!”
Then, Nartha begins to throw more grenades into each part of the CSRS headquarters and they can all hear her maniacal laughter. Dr. Wining and the rest of the CRSC staff flee to their own mothership and our heroes run to the Primate 1. Wingy hears Nartha yell, “Wingy, wherever you go, I will always find you. Afterall, I am the first universal booksailor.”
The Primate 1 lifts off and picks up speed.
Meantime, on the CRSC mothership, Dr. Wining is angry because Primate 1 brought Nartha to CSRC headquarters. He plots a course to intercept and destroy Primate 1 and its crew. Dr. Wining says “We lost our base to those maniacs and now our entire staff is cramped up in the mothership. They may be our biggest enemy yet. We must destroy them so that CRSC can flourish again.”
Over on Primate 1, Smorgas says, “Where do we go now?” Wingy replies, “Wherever we go, the CRSC will find us.” Hangy said, “I am still thinking about what Nartha said, that she will be able to find us wherever we go. Maybe she is the one we should be afraid of?” Smorgas says, “I may understand now. It is a rough theory, but the most likely one we have. Nartha mentioned the booksailors. Right? I know who they are, or they were. Myth says that each booksailor has received a magic purple library card that can be used to bend reality, to time travel, and visit their favorite books. Unfortunately, an Artificial Intelligence called Caution Prime wiped out the booksailors and stole their magic purple library cards. But a couple of weeks ago, a scientist by the name of Piggy, founder and CEO of Pigtech and an honorary member of the breakfast league, invented what he called the Unisailor Card. This new card allows you to travel through time and space and theoretically into different dimensions. It is reported that one of the two Unisailor cards was stolen and maybe Nartha took it.”
Just then, on Primate 1, a hologram begins to play.
Dr. Wining image appears and says, “My ship is currently in front of yours. This message is just in case you have any last words. I would like to hear them.” Alpha Python says, “I recommend you should say yours!” Dr. Wining’s hologram says, “Do you think you have a chance of defeating me. I smashed your entire snake tech empire like a piece of glass.” Alpha Python replies, “That is why you will lose. Your tactics are too brutal and brutality never wins a fight in the end. It is won by brave men and women who know what is right; unlike you Wining!” Dr. Wining’s hologram says, “I may not know what is right, but I do know what is wrong; the fact that you are still alive. Goodbye!” The hologram ends.
Back on the CRSC mothership, Dr. Wining orders, “I want every missile we have fired at the Primate 1.” The mothership fires at Primate 1, but, unknown to Dr, Wining, Wingy has made Primate 1 bulletproof. The missiles bounce off Primate 1 and head back towards the mothership.
Suddenly Dr. Wining appears again on the hologram and is yelling, “What are you doing?” Wingy smiles and says, ‘We are the crew of Primate 1, Goodbye Dr. Wining!” And those were the last words that Dr. Wining and the CRSC staff ever heard as their own missiles hit their mothership.
Back on Primate 1, Wingy says, “We did it! But where is Nartha?” Hangy said, “Let’s not think about her for now. We accomplished our goal and defeated the CRSC.” Alpha Python says, “What do we do now?” Smorgas replies, “Lay low, I guess. Costa Rica is a beautiful place so we could go there, now that CRSC is gone.” Hangy spoke up, “I know some nice people who live in Costa Rica. “ Wingy added, “I don’t need to make new friends, I have you guys.” And Alpha Python said, “I think I will like like Costa Rica.” Wingy said, “So, Costa Rica it is, then.”
Two months later, the four friends, Wingy, Smorgas, Hangy, and Alpha Python are all living together on Primate 1. They hear a knock on the door.
Wingy said, “Come in.” A hooded monkey walks in and says, “I heard what you did with the CRSC. The world needs people like you. I suppose you have heard about Dr. Piggy’s Unisailor invention? “ Smorgas replies, “Yes we have.” The monkey continues, “Dr. Piggy entrusted me with the other Unisailor card and I want to use it to build a team of heroes around the Universe.” The Monkey takes off his hood and says, “My name is Alex. I go by Power Monkey!”
Wingy says, I am Wingy and these are my friends. If the Universe, or other dimensions, need help, they can have it. Who are we? The Unisailors!”
Brady The Book Sailor 