He had guessed correctly and when Nikki put on the gloves she was able to bring time to a crawl, like she was watching a slow motion replay on TV. The coolest thing though, was that she could still move at her normal speed. They had agreed before the test that Spencer would run laps around the chest so that Nikki could see what it would look like if a bad guy was trying to run from her when she used her gold gloves.

  Spencer’s running was so slow that she could walk next to him and easily keep up. Nikki could even run circles around him while he was running around in a circle. It was like he was the planet earth circling the sun and she was the moon circling the earth. She could probably circle him 365 times before he could make 1 revolution around the chest.

  Eventually she tired of watching him move in slow-mo, so Nikki stopped time altogether. His body was stuck in place, with one foot out in front of the other, in mid-stride. Deciding now was the time to play another joke on her friend, Nikki bent down and tied his shoelaces together. This is gonna be good, she thought.

  Allowing time to start again and go back to its normal speed, Nikki watched eagerly as Spencer took his next step. His legs locked together as his front foot tried to pull his back foot forward because of the shoelace. He went sprawling head-first onto the ground and rolled a couple of times before coming to a stop in the grass.

  “Geez, Spence, what happened?” Nikki asked. “You must have tripped on something.”

  Spencer looked down at his shoes to find they were shackled together. “Very funny, Geek-Squad. They certainly didn’t tie themselves together did they?”

  Nikki feigned innocence and said, “I don’t know what you mean.”

  Spencer stood up and brushed himself off. Turning serious, he said, “It was weird, I was moving at normal speed, but I could barely see you. It was like you were moving at the speed of light, flashing in and out of my vision.”

  “That power will definitely come in handy,” Nikki noted.

  She swapped the gold ones for the last pair of gloves. They were peach colored, almost exactly the color of her skin, and had pictures of two stick figures drawn on them. The stick figures were identical. “What do you think these gloves do?” she asked Spencer.

  “My first guess is that you could clone yourself or something,” he said.

  Nikki rubbed her hands together. “Oooh, I hope you’re right. The only thing better than one Nikki Powergloves, is two Nikki Powergloves.”

  She imagined that there were two of her, and that she and Nikki number two were standing next to each other. When she opened her eyes, she looked around excitedly, but it was still just she and Spence. “I don’t think the power is cloning,” she said.

  Spencer laughed. “I’m glad, I can barely survive one Nikki’s pranks, two would be more than I could handle. Hmmm, what else could it be?”

  “What about the power to clone other people?” Nikki suggested.

  A look of understanding crossed Spencer’s face. “I don’t think that’s quite right, but you’re on the right track. It’s not that you can clone yourself or others, but that you can make yourself look like someone else! Yip yip yip!”

  “I think you’re right, Spence. Unfortunately the only one here is you, and not in a million years would I ever want to look like you,” she said with a sly grin.

  “Ha…Ha,” Spencer said dully. “Just try it, would you?”

  Chuckling to herself, Nikki concentrated on transforming into a Spencer look-a-like. She heard Spencer exclaim, “Oh my gosh, Nikki, it’s like I have a twin brother!”

  She opened her eyes. She was wearing Spencer’s clothes and her legs looked funny with tiny little hairs growing on them. “Do I really look like you, Spence?”

  “Yep, you’re my spitting image. I bet you could even fool my mother. Hey, you know how you’re much better in history class than I am? Maybe next year you could take a few of my tests for me, whaddya think?”

  “I think that would be considered misuse of my powers and would be inappropriate conduct for a superhero,” she replied. “You can take your own tests just like every other kid.”

  Spencer groaned. “Okay fine, but you can’t fault me for trying!”

  Nikki ran her tongue along her front teeth; she even had Spencer’s braces! “Ewww, having metal in your mouth feels weird!” she said.

  “Tell me about it. You’re lucky your teeth are straight.”

  Nikki pulled off the gloves and changed back to her normal self. Returning the last pair of gloves to the chest, she said, “Well, that’s it. We’ve tested them all! That was fun, wasn’t it?”

  Spencer groaned. “Maybe for you! I’ve been electrocuted, picked up, nearly smashed by a giant statue, tripped, attacked by a lion, and had my pants pulled down. Not one of my best days!”

  “True, but you’ve also been hired as the genius sidekick for a brand new superhero.”

  “Good point,” Spencer replied.

  Spencer made a few more scribbles on the paper and showed the finished product to her. It looked like this:

  Powergloves Inventory

  Glove Color---Symbol---Power!

  White---Snowflake---Ability to create ice

  Red---Flame---Ability to create fire

  Light blue---Bird---Ability to fly

  Black & yellow---Lightning bolt---Ability to control the weather

  Green---Leaf---Ability to grow plants quickly

  Purple---Muscly arm making a fist---Super-strength

  Orange---Shoes---Super-speed

  Gray---No drawing---Invisibility

  Brown---Paw print---Ability to transform into animals

  Pink---Tarot card---Ability to see the future (and change it)

  Gold---Clock---Ability to stop or slow down time

  Skin-colored---Two identical stick figures---Ability to look like someone else

  Satisfied that Spencer had listed the powers correctly, Nikki said, “Looks good, can we go back to my house and work on the costume now?”

  Spencer agreed and Nikki took one last look into the chest. Something unusual caught her eye.

  Chapter Sixteen: Powerbracelets: pretty AND useful

  Nikki could see something shiny tucked underneath one of the gloves. She reached in and extracted a simple bracelet. It had a thin, silver band inlaid with a single, blue jewel. The jewel was circular and inside of it, Nikki could see the form of a glove, like one of her powergloves, but clear, absent of any color.

  “What do you think it does?” Spencer asked, looking over her shoulder at the bracelet.

  “I have no idea. The jewel just shows a picture of a powerglove, which could mean anything really. Maybe when I wear it with the powergloves, it makes the abilities even stronger. I would be afraid to try it though, considering how strong the powers are already.”

  “Why don’t you try it on by itself?”

  Tentatively, Nikki slipped the bracelet over her hand and onto her wrist. A perfect fit. It wasn’t one of those loose fitting bracelets that some girls liked to let jingle and jangle on their arms; rather, it hugged her arm, with no space between the metal and her skin.

  Nothing happened. They waited a few minutes, looking at it expectantly. Still nothing. “Maybe it’s just for looks, a symbol of my superhero-ness,” Nikki suggested.

  “Maybe,” Spencer said, “but I think you should leave it on.”

  “I was planning to,” Nikki said.

  Spencer helped Nikki replace the lid on the chest and watched in awe as the chest became pocket-size seconds later. Nikki was used to the shrinking and growing chest by now and it had completely lost its novelty for her.

  After they dropped from the tree branches safely past the thorny guardians of The Clubhouse, Spencer said, “I don’t know why we’re walking, you could have just flown us home.”

  “Don’t get lazy on me already, Spence. I’m not gonna be giving you flying rides all over town, you know. The powergloves are strictly to be used for hero activities.”

  Unexpectedly, the silver on her bracelet turned bright white and the jewel lost all of its blue color, becoming completely clear. Nikki and Spencer gazed down at it in amazement, as the image of the powerglove began to spin faster and faster. As it slowly came to a stop, the image turned green and glowed through the clear crystal.

  “Wow,” Spencer marveled. “We should have known everything that came out of that chest would be magic. Get out your green gloves.”

  “Why?” Nikki asked.

  “I don’t know, but the powerbracelet seems to be telling you to. Maybe you are about to need them.”

  Nikki re-expanded and opened the chest, sifting through the colored gloves until she found the green ones. After donning them, she looked at Spencer and firmly pressed her thumb into the leaf symbol. This time, both of the gloves sparkled as if they were covered in millions of tiny emeralds, reflecting the rays of the sun in every direction. The gloves glowed brighter and brighter, and then, to Spencer’s amazement, Nikki disappeared.

  Chapter Seventeen: Nikki becomes a farmer (minus the overalls)

  Nikki had been watching with fascination as her green gloves sparkled with beauty. With a jolt, she was aware that something was different. When she looked up, she was confused. Where was Spencer?

  She could tell she was still on a farm, on the side of a barn, but she didn’t think it was Farmer Miller’s place anymore. How did she get here?

  Nikki could hear voices nearby, so she crept toward them and peeked around the corner of the red barn.

  “What are we going to do this year, Jerry?” A woman was talking to a man; he was probably her husband.

  Her probably-husband responded, “We’ll make it through, dear, we always do.”

  “No, not this year. We could barely pay our bills last year with a full harvest and now look at it,” she motioned to the fields. Nikki followed her gesture to see a wide expanse of land. There was something lying on the ground, covering the entire field. “The storm destroyed every single stalk of corn before we could get anything from them. It’s too late in the season to plant again. We are going to have to sell the farm, Jerry!”

  Jerry the farmer pulled his wife to him and hugged her as she wept.

  Nikki felt sick to her stomach. This farmer and his wife had lost their livelihood because of her. She had to do something. The growing gloves! She watched as the couple walked into the house, and then she scurried across the lawn and onto the fields. In order to keep this a secret, she was going to have to work fast.

  Nikki went all the way to the furthest corner of the cornfield before closing her eyes and, using every brain cell she had, imagined the corn growing again, into tall, strong stalks. She was careful not to overdo it; she didn’t want suspicions to be raised by unbelievably tall cornfields.

  Opening her eyes, she almost screamed with happiness when she saw the result. The fallen stalks were lifting themselves up and dusting themselves off, as if they were humans that had fallen over. The bent stalks were magically straightened and then the growing began. The stalks looked like new as they grew taller, and Nikki watched with delight as green ears of corn popped out from every side.

  She knew that soon the farmer and his wife would notice that something was different and come running out. Wanting to see their reaction, Nikki ran along the side of the field so she could watch from afar. Sure enough, a few minutes later Nikki observed as the woman opened the door to let their dog out. When she did, she glanced up at the field and nearly keeled over backwards in surprise.

  The woman let out a loud “Ooooweee!” and yelled, “Jerry, Jerry, come quick!” The farmer emerged and the two of them ran to the fields. They touched the stalks delicately, as if they were worried that the slightest disturbance might knock the crops over again.

  “This is just the miracle we needed, honey. Someone is looking out for us after all. We’re going to be just fine,” Jerry said, embracing his wife once again. The couple wept tears of joy together and Nikki found herself tearing up just watching them.

  Nikki felt good about what she had done, but was careful not to have too much pride, as she knew she had caused their problems in the first place. But she was excited for the next day, when she would be able to try to use her new powers to clean up the rest of the mess she had made. Only then would she be ready to start learning how to become a real hero.

  Not knowing exactly where she was, Nikki swapped her green gloves for the light blue flying ones and shot off into the air. The farmer and his wife were too busy counting their blessings to see her rocket upwards and across the sky.

  Nikki quickly found her bearings and headed in the direction of her house. She was very careful to stay high enough so that anyone that happened to spot her would mistake her for a bird. She helicopter-landed in her backyard—behind her dad’s tool shed—and dialed Spencer’s cell number.

  “Come to my house right away, Spence. Do I have a story for you,” she said.

  Chapter Eighteen: Ponytails: childish hairdo, or hidden identity?

  Nikki opened the front door to wait for her friend. Moments later, she saw him dashing down the street. When he arrived at her door he was out of breath.

  “C’mon in, Spence! My mom’s cooking dinner and she said you can join us if you want to!” She practically shouted, so that her mom could hear what she was saying.

  “What happened?” he whispered sharply.

  “I’ll tell you in a minute,” she hissed back. Returning to her loud voice, she asked again, “So, can you stay for dinner?”

  Playing the game now, too, Spencer shouted, “I think so, I’ll call my mom to ask. Yay!” He called his mom and easily obtained permission to eat at the Nickerson’s. Nikki knew that Spence’s mom always appreciated a night off from cooking dinner, as her shift at the hospital didn’t give her much time for domestic responsibilities.

  Nikki liked Spencer’s mom. In some ways, she looked up to her too. Janet Quick was a doctor and Nikki knew she liked being able to provide for Spencer, but because of her busy schedule, whenever Nikki ate at Spencer’s house it was usually frozen meals, a staple in the Quick household. Nikki liked her mom’s home cooking much better.

  Nikki ran into the kitchen and informed her mom that Spencer was allowed to stay for dinner. Mrs. Nickerson said, “Well, it’s a good thing. I made enough food to feed a small army.”

  Nikki and Spencer’s mouths watered, but they would have to wait to satisfy their hunger. Dinner wouldn’t be ready for thirty minutes and besides, Nikki wanted to tell Spencer her latest story. She led him up the stairs to her room, where she told him what had happened.

  Spencer listened in awe until she had finished, and then said, “Master-Yoda, you saved the day. I would say you are officially a hero. Zoooom!”

  Nikki frowned. “That’s like saying someone who robs a bank and then returns the money is a hero,” Nikki replied smartly. “It was my storm that destroyed their crops, so I am definitely not a hero for fixing it.”

  “I guess you’re right. Well, in any case, you’re headed in the right direction now at least. Once you’ve made up for all the damage you caused you can start to do real hero things, like dealing with Jimmy. And it seems like that bracelet you’re wearing will help you to know when you are needed.”

  Nikki looked at the magical bracelet thoughtfully. She wondered how often it would burst into light to guide her to her next mission. She thought about all the wonderful adventures she would have. Nikki Nickerson had never been this happy in her entire life.

  Spencer snapped her out of her daydreaming by saying, “Earth to Nikki...” He waved his hand across her face.

  “What?” Nikki asked.

  “Do you want to work on your hero costume?”

  Excitedly, Nikki said, “Yes!”

  “Okay, I have a lot of experience with this considering the ridiculous number of comic books I have read in my life. The first and most important thing is that you cover your face somehow, so that your true identity can remain a secret. Do you have any masks or should we make one?”

  Nikki thought about it for a minute. “I have some old masks from Halloween, but they are all scary looking. I don’t think they’re what we’re looking for. Do I have to wear a mask or is there something else we can do?”

  Spencer cocked his head to the side and began to hum to himself, the telltale sign that he was doing some serious thinking. After a few minutes his head jolted up and he exclaimed, “What about your hair?”

  Nikki looked confused. “What do you mean, ‘my hair’?”

  “Okay, picture this. You always wear your hair in a long ponytail, right Goldilocks?”

  “Yeah, so what?” she replied, grabbing her ponytail defensively. Nikki had been made fun of a few times for her ponytail. Most of the girls at school thought it looked childish and wore their hair down.

  “We could use your ponytail to cover your eyes, like a natural mask. We just have to figure out a way to create eye-holes so you can see.”

  Nikki loved the idea as soon as she heard it and she even knew how to create the eye-holes. She raised her pointer finger as a sign that Spencer should hold on for a minute, and then ducked down and began rummaging under her bed. Within moments, she found what she was looking for: an old shoebox.

  After opening the cardboard box, she plucked out two black, plastic circles. The circles were a few centimeters wide and had an indentation around the entire perimeter, large enough to wrap a ponytail around.

  Spencer inspected one of them, “This just might work, Nikki. Where’d you get these anyway?”

  “I just found them in the dirt at the park last week. I have no idea what they are, but I brought them home and cleaned them off and stuck them in my shoebox in case I ever needed them.”

  “It’s like fate,” Spencer suggested.

  Nikki shrugged and said, “Now help me put them in my hair.” She re-braided her ponytail, making each crisscross tight enough to hold the plastic discs in place.

 

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