Henry had managed to get to school on time, but only because he skipped breakfast and asked Charlotte to pick up something from the cafeteria lines for him. She discreetly passed him a package of Pop-Tarts before class, which Henry would have to hide from Ms. Shapen. Not because eating in her class is forbidden, but because she would take them and eat them herself. Loudly.
Ms. Shapen (who, by the way, somehow managed to teach different levels of history for the same class each year) was in a bad mood when she started class.
"Alright, you guys, I had a crappy date last night, so work on test corrections or whatever while I sue that crappy dating site." Only she didn't say "crappy" the second time, but whatever.
Ms. Shapen went around literally slapping test booklets on desks, starting with the class genius, who, of course, aced it. "How about you?" Charlotte asked Henry once their teacher slapped a test booklet onto his desk.
He took one look and nervously ran his fingers through his hair. "Aw, geez, my parents are gonna kill me."
"Why?" Henry showed it to her. "Uh, Hen, that's not your test."
"What?" He looked at the name scribbled at the top: Harold Kingsley.
Oops.
"Uh… Ms. Shapen?" Henry turned around in his desk. He knew this probably wasn't a very good idea, but he had no idea who Harold was.
"Yeah, what?!"
"Uh, this isn't my test." He held it out as she kind of stomped towards him. She sort of snatched it and held it on the air.
"Harold, you got a thirty-seven!" A bunch of students giggled as she chucked it across the room. Poor Harold looked really embarrassed as he picked up the purple crayon he dropped.
Ms. Shapen slapped another test booklet onto Henry's desk. This time, he looked at the name first.
"Cool, eighty-nine." He showed it to Charlotte, who said "Nice" and have him a high-five.
"Shut up," said Ms. Shapen as she crossed back to her desk.
Henry and Charlotte exchanged looks. That's when he remembered something. He mouthed Phones to both her and Jasper and opened his own under his desk.
After double checking that Ms. Shapen wasn't looking, he texted his friends what he and Ray (oh, and Schwoz) had discussed that morning.
What followed:
Charlotte: Got it.
Jasper: Can I Come?
Henry: NO.
Jasper: Are You Sure?
Henry: Yes, I am sure you are not going with us.
Jasper: Awwwww
Charlotte: Get over it.
They all looked up. Ms. Shapen was still clueless.
Henry: How do you guys think he escaped?
Charlotte: Well, you said there was a giant hole in the wall. What do you think?
Jasper: I Don't Know.
Charlotte: I'm mentally face palming at you right now.
Henry: What I meant was, how did that wall get there? Who made it? Why? Is someone helping him?
Jasper: That's A Lot Of Questions.
Charlotte: I don't know, Henry. Dozens of villains had escaped that prison before. The hole may have been there already. Or Jeff anticipated getting caught and shoved a laser into his pocket.
Henry: I don't think he's that smart, but that first one is a good theory.
Jasper: Yeah.
The sudden sound of a chair screeching startled them, and they all (meaning Henry, Charlotte, Jasper and 97% of the class) instinctively hid their phones. But it was just Ms. Shapen adjusting her chair. She got back to her… uh, work, after a hearty "What are you guys lookin' at?"
The trio (etc.) got back to their texts.
Charlotte: I don't have any other theories right now, I can't make a proper assessment until you guys have some evidence.
Henry: I'll let you know what we find.
Henry looked at the time on his phone. He always looked forward to his lunch periods, but that was one of those days where it couldn't come soon enough.
Schwoz was right; the area he was planning to sneak out from was absolutely void of people, including staff members. Sneaking out of school was so easy, Henry was able to relax a little about sneaking back in.
The Man Van was parked about half a block away (to minimize attention from the school), and the first door Henry saw was the back door, so that's the one he tried first. He had expected it to be locked, but it wasn't, so he swung inside.
He certainly hadn't been expecting his tube of gumballs to come flying at him.
"Ow!" He rubbed the spot of his head where it hit, the same place that was in pain this morning. "What is this, give Henry a concussion day?"
"Sorry about that."
Henry looked up. "Who- Schwoz?"
"Yeah! From work!"
It took Henry a moment to recognize his friend. Schwoz was wearing all blacks- pants, shoes, and a button down shirt- and was wearing makeup. Not that much, but enough that it took a minute for Schwoz himself to recognize himself in the mirror. His long blonde hair was in a low braid and slicked back with gel-
Wait- long blonde hair?
"Uh… Schwoz, what's with the new look? Are those… hair extensions?"
"He's coming with us," said Captain Man from the driver's seat. "Because all those fancy-smancy gadgets of his don't make sense to me. Only he and Charlotte understand them. Oh, and here's your lunch."
Captain Man tossed a plastic bag (that ban had been lifted, by the way) towards Henry, who noticed how light it was and peeked into it. "Uh, Ray, this bag is empty."
"Uh, yeah, I kind of ate it."
"Which I anticipated, so here," said Schwoz, holding up another bag. He handed it to a leaned-forward Henry, who gratefully discovered a grilled cheese sandwich, some plain Frittles and a bag of Skeeze-Its. Having always been a fast eater, he finished before they arrived at the jail, with enough time to transform.
Kid Danger climbed out of the van and stood next to Schwoz (who, by the way, had the disguise name of Sam and was carrying a small duffel bag) and Captain Man. A guard escorted them to the cell that Jeff had been in.
Captain Man talked to the guards who were on duty when Jeff escaped. "Sam" requested Kid Danger's assistance in investigating the hole.
"It's big" was what he initially said. "Like, Jeff-size."
"Good observation," said Schwoz sarcastically. He set his duffel bag onto the floor and dug something out of it.
"What is that?" Kid Danger thought it looked like a cross between a DS, a blaster and a rainbow. To be more specific, it had the body of a blaster and a screen at the end where lasers (et cetera) would come out, and was a rainbow of colors. Like pale tie-dye. Schwoz aimed it at the circle.
"Schwo-uhhhhh I mean Sam, what does that thing do?" Kid Danger asked, because, well, he had no idea.
"It tells me how old the cuts are; I have a theory. Here, help me out."
"Okay."
"Take it from me, hold it right there."
"Okay, now what?"
"Just hold it there until it beeps."
"Uh, okay, how long will that take?"
"A few minutes, probably five."
"Yay," muttered Kid Danger under his breath.
Most people wouldn't be able to stand holding that thing for very long, but years of being Kid Danger have built up the fibers in his arms, so they weren't very tired by the time the machine beeped.
"Okay, the data is being saved on the flash drive. As soon as it beeps again, safely remove it-" Schwoz/Sam taps the flash drive. "-and give it to me."
Kid Danger was starting to feel like he wasn't going to get to do much on this mission, but a quick glance at his phone confirmed that complaining meant not getting back to school on time, which meant getting caught.
So he did what he was told.
Captain Man spent the whole time talking with the cops and the guards, and Schwoz performed a number of tasks with Kid Danger's assistance. Eventually, both Schwoz and the superhero were satisfied with the information they got.
Kid Danger had about ten minutes to get back to school.
Henry sped behind some buildings to get back to the school. He glanced at his cell phone for a second before shoving it back in his pocket; Charlotte and Jasper knew he was on his way back and promised to let him know if anything happened that might get him caught.
Unfortunately, Henry didn't hear his phone buzzing as he ran.
*sings broadway songs loudly before noticing audience*
Hiiiiiiii! So, anyone find the Easter Egg I planted? (Hint: it's in the first chunk of this chapter.)
Ciao, and Happy Reading!