Larryboy and the New Year's Disaster
By Jennifer Breighner
Chapter 1
Snow better day to be a Tomato
December 28..
It was an average winter day in the city of Bumblyburg. Soft snowflakes were falling through the cold air. A snowball fight was brewing In Bumblyburg Park. And Bob the Tomato, Editor of the Daily Bumble, was snowboarding down Big Bumbly Mountain.
Bob had taken the day off from being the editor so that he could hit the slopes. He'd gotten a brand-new Turbo-Charged XVT-1700 Snowboard for Christmas from his Grandma Tomato. It was what he'd always wanted!
So, now he was out on the snow-covered mountain, finally getting to try his board out.
He leaned to the right, avoiding a trick dune, then he leaned to the left, avoiding a pine tree. He leaned back to pull a sloppy Joe over a skiing carrot who was in his way. But he was so busy doing stunts in mid-air that he didn't see what was coming up below him...a slight slope.
He came down onto the snow and yelled, "Yeah! two 360's and a hangman! Wahoo!"
Suddenly, he went flying through the air. Bob looked around him bewilderedly, then looked down. "Mommy...HELLLLP!" he howled.
THUD!
Everything went black around him as he started somersaulting down the mountainside, becoming a big snowball.
Chief Croswell, who was ice fishing, saw Bob and yelled, "That tomato needs a hero of some sort!"
Out of the blue, something purple and yellow flashed by his head.
The police officer looked and saw...
Chapter 2
A Hero for the Ages
Larryboy! A champion amongst all cucumbers! A plunger-headed superhero named Veggie of the Year by the S.H.O.T.A PLUNGER (that's the Superheroes Of Tomorrow Association; it's for superheroes with plunger weapons.), and the nicest guy you'll ever meet!
He swung down on his plunger ear, flying faster and faster to catch up to poor Bob, who by now was a huge ball of white.
"I AM THAT HERO!" he yelled.
He shot his remaining plunger ear towards the rolling orb of whiteness. It caught itself in the snow and became entangled in the ball.
Only then did Larryboy remember that you should never try to plunger a ball while it is rolling.
The tether cord started to reel Larryboy in and with a soft Pfit, he was pulled into the whirling catastrophe of terror that was tumbling down the hill at record speeds. (Chief Croswell clocked the speed of the snowball on his portable speedometer.)
"WOAHHHHH!" came Larryboy's muffled yelps from inside the growing snowball.
The people on the sidelines of the track became panicked. The abominable snowball was headed right for a group of unsuspecting kids from the Veggie Valley Daycare, who were learning the basics of root sledding. (that's sledding by steering with only your roots. It's very easy, if you're a potato or a carrot, that is.)
When the renegade snowball made a louie turn, a patch of snow was brushed off of the sphere and one of Larryboy's plungers stuck out like a neon sign. The ball rolled up onto a big rock, and the lone plunger stuck to the surface of the rock.
It stuck fast, although because of the speed and aerodynamics at which it was going, it slid up over the rock and onto the other side. All the while, Larryboy's faithful plunger stuck tight. The big snowball stopped just inches from creaming the kids.
A whole crowd of people ran to the snowball and started to shovel the snow off of the two veggiesicles.
Finally, after a few minutes of digging, Bob and Larryboy were freed from their icy prison. Bob was dazed and very dizzy, while Larryboy was still stuck to the rock by his plunger ear.
"You okay, Bob?" Larryboy dazedly asked the cold tomato.
"Y-y-y-yeah, I'm f-f-f-fine." Bob chattered. "T-t-thank you f-for s-s-saving my l-life."
Larryboy smiled and detached his frozen plunger ear from the big rock. "All in a day's work, my good citizen."
Chapter 3
Larryboy's report
Larryboy left the scene and headed back to the Larry-Mobile. He carefully detached his frozen plunger from his headpiece and put it in front of the Larry-heater.
Suddenly, the video screen on the dashboard came on and Archie, Larryboy's technical wizard and trusted servant, came into view.
"That rescue was excellent, Master Larry!" Archie said.
"It was nothin', Arch. Just doin' my duties." the cucumber replied.
Archie smiled. "You may want to be more careful. I think you forgot Lesson number 3 in the Superhero's Guide to being Heroic: 'Don't shoot your weapons into hurtling balls of snow.'"
Larryboy rolled his eyes. "What was I supposed to do? I couldn't let those kids get snowballed, now could I?"
"Well, no. You could've used the Larry-snowboard that I gave you last year for Christmas." Archie offered.
The superhero grinned. "Oh, yeah! I haven't gotten to try that out yet, have I?"
Archibald sighed. "Well, don't forget that you have an early superhero class tonight at 6:00 instead of 7:30."
Larryboy groaned. "Why so early?!"
"The weather report is calling for heavy snow tonight and Bok Choy doesn't want any of you superheroes caught out in it after class."
"Oh, okay. I'll be home as soon as I can. Over and out." With those words, Larryboy shut off his video screen.
Chapter 4
A Stormy Night in Superhero Class
In Superhero Class at the Bumblyburg College that night, Larryboy sat in the very back of the room, staring at the soft snowflakes falling outside.
He imagined himself swimming through a sea of snow, diving into it, making iced slushees out of it; maybe even a hot fudge sundae...
Up front, Professor Bok Choy was giving a speech about the dangers of getting revenge.
"Class, turn in your Superhero Handbooks to Section 45, Paragraph 12, Lines 19-21. It reads:
'Do not take revenge, my friends...if your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink. In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head. Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good."'
The teacher looked around the room, resting his eyes on Larryboy. "Larryboy, would you care to explain what 'heaping burning coals on one's head' means?"
Larryboy didn't answer. He was too busy daydreaming about snow.
"Ahem, Larryboy?" Bok Choy called again.
Still no response from the super cucumber.
Lemon Twist, who sat beside Larryboy, leaned over and nudged him. "Psst! Larryboy, wake up! The teacher is calling on you!"
Larryboy snapped back to attention. "Is the answer a snowball fight?" he sputtered.
Bok Choy took a deep breath and stared at Larryboy, whose cheeks were becoming bright red from embarrassment.
The hero tried again. "Okay, I guess not. Is it slushees and snicker doodles?"
The other students started to laugh uproariously.
The teacher glared at Larryboy. "No, Larryboy, I asked you whether or not you could tell me what it means to heap burning coals onto someone's head, but since you obviously weren't listening, don't bother."
Larryboy slumped down in his seat and tried in vain to disappear from the planet earth. How embarrassing!
Bok Choy continued the lesson. "Electro-melon, can you tell us all the answer to my question?"
Electro-melon, a large watermelon that needed an attitude adjustment, stood up and said gruffly, "It means that when we treat people nicely, even though they are not nice back, it will make them feel ashamed that they treated us badly. That shame feels like fire on their consciences, even though the Superhero Handbook says it as heads."
Bok Choy nodded. "Thank you, Electro-melon. Now class, I want you all to listen very carefully. I received word from the mayor today that there is a new supervillian on the loose."
All of the heroes gasped and started to talk amongst themselves.