Our heroines had finally made it to the park, where Zeke, Mac and Chrissy were waiting for them.
"Bout time ya'll arrived, we've been waiting for two minutes" Zeke remarked.
"Sorry, but Penny's been acting weird this morning" Chrissy explained.
"No I have not!" Penny placed her hands on her hips "I am just acting a bit out-of-character. Maybe I'm just tired"
"Right" Chrissy raised an eyebrow "Anyways, let's get to practicing"
Penny, Bridget and Brain sat down with Zeke and they started to watch Chrissy, Mac and Ping practice their cheer.
"Wildcats, we're the best" they cheered "We're so much better than the rest"
"No, no, no" said Chrissy "That was lame! Let's try that 'Go Back' cheer"
"Sure thing, mademoiselle" Mac remarked.
They began to cheer again "Go back! Go back! Go back to the woods! Cause we're the greatest cheer squad in the neighborhood"
"That's pretty catchy" Penny remarked.
"No, no, no!" Chrissy said, frustrated "That cheer is a no-show as well. Maybe we should just give up on the competition altogether"
"Don't feel bad Chrissy, sports aren't everything" said Ping "You shouldn't be so stressed or irritable because of it"
"Yeah, so what if you lose and end up hated by the other girls? You'll have tried" Penny said.
Everyone glared at Penny.
"Sorry" Penny gulped.
"You know Penny, it's not like you to be so brutally honest or insensitive" said Bridget "What's going on?"
"Nothing's going on, Bridget, I'm just trying to help" said Penny.
"Maybe you're just bummed that we lost our powers" suggested Ping.
"Yeah, maybe that's it" said Penny "And maybe that's why Chrissy's stressed and frustrated"
"Yeah, I miss my powers" Chrissy nodded "I wish I could've kept them longer. It was so awesome being super strong"
"But you girls can't let it get the best of you" Bridget told them "After all, Penny and I have a paper to worry about and you amiga's have to worry about the championships"
"Yeah, you're right I'll get over it...in a few years" Chrissy sighed.
"I won't" Penny remarked.
Chrissy tried thinking of something to do, then got an idea.
"I've got it!" she snapped her fingers "Why don't we try the Triple Flip?"
Ping gasped "Oh my God! The Triple Flip?"
"The Triple Flip?" gasped Mac.
"Not the Triple Flip! Anything but the Triple Flip!" Penny panicked "What's the Triple Flip?"
"It's when two trios of girls start flipping in unison" Chrissy explained "It's like the hardest cheer move in the history of cheerleading"
"Sounds like a challenge, I'm up for it" said Mac.
"This I gotta see" Zeke remarked.
Just then, some guy arrived. It was none other than Fernando, looking for Chrissy.
"Uh oh, here comes the parade of evil" Zeke rolled his eyes.
"Hola Seniorita Chrissy" he said as he approached Chrissy.
Chrissy gasped "Oh my God! It's Fernando"
"Where were you last night?" asked Fernando "I called your house wondering where the buena chica was"
Chrissy turned to the reader "Buena chica? I think that's some kind of desert"
"Actually Chrissy, he's saying that you're very pretty" Bridget pointed out.
"Score one for the C-Girl" he whispered to herself "Sorry Fernando, I guess I lost track of time, but maybe we can get together sometime tonight?"
"Hola, Fernando" said someone walking by "Que pasta?"
"Great, the Parade of Evil now has a second show" Bridget sarcastically said.
It was Star and her posse of twins.
"I see you girls chickened out on the dye jobs" Star smirked "Too bad. I think Herbert did a pretty awesome job"
"Yeah, awesome" said Stacy and Roxanne.
"You know Star, I'd love to stay and chat, but we're kind of occupied right now" Chrissy retorted.
"Oh Fernando, I could really use your help with something" Star said as she grabbed onto Fernando's arm "I packed a tasty picnic lunch, but I think I brought too much food. Would you like to join us? I'd ask Chrissy to join us, but it looks like she's on a diet"
"Um...okay" Fernando said before turning to Chrissy "Fernando will call you later, okay?"
"Okay" Chrissy sighed as she watched Star and the twins leave with Fernando "Man, if I still had my powers, I'd toss her right into the pond"
"Why do foreign guys always have the luck?" Zeke asked Brain.
Brain shrugged and shook his head.
"Maybe it's because of their accents and the fact that they sometimes don't speak our language" Bridget remarked "Right Penny?"
"Uh, yeah...probably" Penny said, not paying attention.
"Penny, what is wrong?" asked Bridget "It's not like you not to fawn over an attractive foreign guy or not listen to me. Then again, you never listen to my reasoning"
"I just can't figure out what's wrong with me" said Penny "I know there's something wrong, but I really don't know"
"You'll figure it out soon, Penny. Don't worry" said Chrissy "Maybe we could use some refreshments. How about some ice cream?"
"No thanks, my mom doesn't want me eating anything sugary because it makes me too hyper" said Ping "After all, she is a therapist. Though it is kind of weird when she says my time is up and she'll me next week"
"And Penny's lactose intolerant" Bridget added.
"Lactose intolerant? What's that mean?" asked Ping.
"Lactose intolerant means that Penny is allergic to dairy products such as milk, cheese, yogurt and ice cream" Mac explained.
"Okay then...how about some smoothies?" suggested Mackenzie "I'm buying!"
"I'll go get em" said Zeke "Wanna come, Ping?"
"Sure" Ping smiled.
Zeke and Ping walked over to a nearby juice bar and bought some smoothies. While the bartender was bringing them, Zeke was trying to ask Ping something.
"So...uh...Ping..." he nervously gulped "I know this isn't the best time and all, but I think that well...if you're not doing anything sometime after the championships, would you like to hang out...just the two of us as...friends?"
"As...friends?" asked Ping.
"Sure...as friends" Zeke nervously chuckled.
The two puppy lovers started to get close to each other's faces when all of a sudden, something ruined their romantic moment.
"Smoothies are ready!" the bartender said as he placed a tray of six smoothies on the bar.
"Uh, thanks" said Zeke as he grabbed the tray.
Zeke and Ping walked back to their friends with the smoothies, one of which Ping started to drink. Just then, she felt some sort of weird sensation in her stomach.
"Are you okay, Ping?" asked Zeke.
"I don't know, Zeke" Ping felt her stomach "I just feel kind of funny..."
All of a sudden, Ping underwent an awesome transformation; her outfit transformed into a blue jumpsuit with matching glasses, her hair changed into a ponytail and she started to fly in the air.
"Oh my God! Oh my God!" she gasped "What's going on?"
"Great Gatsby!" exclaimed Zeke "We'd better get back the others"
At that same time, Penny, Bridget and Brain were watching Chrissy and Mac practice their cheering.
"Not so bad, but I think ya'll could use a bit more stretching" said Bridget "What do you think, Penny?"
"I don't know" Penny shrugged "Maybe they could sound more cheery or something"
Just then, Zeke and Ping arrived with the smoothies.
"Hey Ping, nice outfit" said Bridget, who then realized something "Wait a second! How did you?"
"I transformed again" Ping explained.
"And she can somehow fly again" added Zeke.
"But how?" wondered Penny "I thought that superpowers thing was temporary"
"What we need is to retrace our steps to figure out this riddle" said Mac "Ping, what were you doing before you got your powers back?"
Ping started to explain "Well I was just drinking a smoothing, then I suddenly got some sort weird sensation in my stomach and next thing you know, I am floating right in the air"
"Smoothie?" Chrissy raised an eyebrow, then suddenly snapped her fingers "Of course! Adrienne's drink! We were drinking it when we got zapped! That's probably how we got our powers back"
"That's just plain ridiculous, Chrissy" Penny folded her arms.
"Only one way to find out" proclaimed Chrissy.
Chrissy grabbed a smoothie cup and started to drink it. Upon drinking it, she transformed back into her superhero suit (complete with her hair standing up with a green streak) and walked over to a really big rock.
She breathed in "If this doesn't work, prepare to call 911"
Chrissy then made a fist and smashed the boulder into smithereens.
"Dude, that was freakin' awesome" Bridget remarked.
"Those smoothies must act like some sort of activation mechanism" Mac inquired "Like some sort of magic potion"
Mac grabbed another smoothie and drank it, undergoing the same transformation and was her superhero self again.
"Now to put it to the test" she proclaimed.
Mac squinted her eyes and saw though Zeke's clothes, which showed he was wearing Get Along Gang underwear and Mac started to chuckle.
"Hey! No fair!" Zeke said as he covered himself.
"Now for moi" said Bridget.
Bridget grabbed another drink and started to chug it down. She started to undergo an awesome transformation, which caused her to transform into her blue-green spandex and matching mask. She then snapped her fingers and disappeared.
"Bridget? Where'd you go?" Penny looked around.
Just then, Penny started to float up and spin around like a basketball until she was then put down to the floor.
"Bridget is that you?" she asked.
"Yes, Penny" she reappeared into thin air "I'm an invisible sista again! Your turn, Penn"
Penny chugged down the last smoothie cup and started to transform back into her red and white jumpsuit and mask and her pigtails to stand up. She put her hands on her forehead and concentrated on a nearby squirrel. Suddenly, she caused the squirrel to float in mid-air and made it go right into a tree hole.
"This is like so totally freakin' awesome, guys!" said Chrissy "We've gotta go tell Adrienne!"
"Right behind you, Chrissy" said Ping.
"Isn't this great, Penny?" Bridget asked her pigtailed best friend "We've got our powers back! You must be cured by now"
"This is great, Bridge" said Penny "But I don't think losing our powers is what's been wrong with me. I just can't figure out and no matter hard I think about it, my brain keeps hurting"
"Especially since you've got psychic powers now" Mac remarked.
"Don't worry, Penny" Chrissy assured her "I'm sure you'll figure it out, eventually. Now let's go tell my cousin the good news"
"Sure" Penny shrugged "Come on, Brain!"
"Ruff!" Brain barked as he followed Zeke and the girls.
Author's Note:
Looks like our heroines have got their powers back! But as they say, "With great power comes responsibility at a moderate speed", so it looks like our superpowered friends will have to use their new gifts for good. But what is wrong with Penny? And what gives me the distinct feeling that we're going to learn more about Chrissy's nemesis and her groovy cousin? Stay tuned!
