Piper watched Henry's dot on her phone for a second. He was in Swellview Park, on or near the playground.
Piper hadn't wasted any time. As soon as Henry and his friends were gone, she ran upstairs and threw on some clothes- a purple tee with the words I Don't Care in pale blue letters, skinny-ish jeans and sneakers- and then ran to the garage.
Unfortunately, her parents had taken her mom's car and she didn't have the keys to her dad's. Cursing to herself, Piper donned a bike helmet and rode toward the park.
Right now, she was about halfway there. Before leaving, her phone showed Henry's dot about a block from Junk 'N Stuff. Now he was in the park.
You're not getting away from me this time, Henry. Not a chance.
"You're not getting away from me this time, Kid Danger. Not a chance."
Okay, backing up a bit. Henry, Charlotte and Jasper arrived in the Man Cave to find Captain Man loading his belt with little handheld traps, such as the corn dog that shot giant nets. He yelled at Henry to blow a bubble, and they took off. Charlotte stayed behind with Schwoz on the monitors, and Jasper helped a bit.
It turns out Minyak had gathered some of his henchmen and they had broken Nurse Cohort out of prison. They had gotten as far as Swellview Park before Captain Man and Kid Danger showed up.
Minyak henchmen actually turned out to be pretty good fighters. They probably weren't very street smart and had dropped out of school in the seventh grade, but those guys (and girls) knew how to throw a punch.
Anyway, long story short, Captain Man was fighting about nine henchmen at once, while another two had Kid Danger on the ground.
"You're not getting away from me this time Kid Danger. Not a chance."
Okay, everyone's caught up.
Kid Danger glared at the villain and spit on his face. Minyak simply wiped it off.
"So childish. I guess you can't handle words, either, huh?" Dr. Minyak smirked.
"Kid? A little help over here?!"
Kid Danger could barely turn his head far enough to see the fight. "Um, actually I'm the one who could use a little help here, dude."
Dr. Minyak smiled again. "This is what you get for throwing my dear Nurse Cohort in jail."
"I am not your dear." Nurse Cohort rolled her eyes. She had put on a black leather jacket over her orange jumpsuit in order to make herself a little less noticeable.
Dr. Minyak pretended her comment didn't sting. "Sure. Maurice," he turned to the beefy guys who was helping hold Kid Danger down, "you and Mary go give Kid Danger a piece of my mind."
I am so going to give him a piece of my mind, thought Piper as she stuck her bike in the rack. She was close enough to the playground to hear the fight but far enough away she couldn't see who was where.
Piper jogged for a minute and parked herself behind a tree. This is what she saw: a bunch of people in dark clothing trying to keep down Captain Man (she saw his masked face at some point), and Dr. Minyak talking to Nurse Cohort. But no Henry/Kid Danger.
Somehow, over all the commotion, a little noise caught Piper's ear. It was a twig snapping. Piper slowly creeped in the direction it came from and gasped.
Maurice and Mary had done their job well; Kid Danger was rolled on his side, completely knocked out. His face was swollen and he was definitely going to have a black eye later.
Piper looked around. She could see Maurice and Mary (although she didn't know who exactly they were) jogging toward the group fight in an effort to help. There was a broken stick a few feet away.
Piper looked back at Kid Danger. She looked around her one more time. Then, slowly but surely, she peeled back Kid Danger's mask.
My brother is Kid Danger. Piper knew that. But seeing him like this- beaten and in his suit without the mask- made Piper feel a little nauseous. The ground seemed to shift for a moment and she used it for support.
If it hadn't sunk in before, it sure was now.
Piper suddenly remembered where she was. As gently as she could, she put the mask back on him. He was Kid Danger again.
I can't just leave him here. Piper suddenly felt panicked. No one had spotted her yet, but she felt like she was really pushing her luck.
Adrenaline coursing through her body, Piper jumped up and grabbed her brother's arm, dragging him and propping him up against a large tree. There wasn't much else she could do, but now he was out of sight of the villains.
As Piper stood up (not really knowing why), something caught her eye. A small metal tool was glistening in the sunlight. Piper cautiously picked it up. It looked like a tube.
A dart gun. Kid Danger or one of the villains must have been holding it.
Piper had an idea. She slowly crept over toward where Dr. Minyak and Nurse Cohort were standing, watching the fight. Taking a deep breath (and trying not to think about germs), Piper blew a dark out.
She hadn't intended for it to hit Minyak's left butt cheek, but that's where it landed. He cried out in pain, distracting most of his henchmen. Captain Man elbowed someone in what must have been a very sensitive area, because they screamed incredibly loudly and fell to the ground, shrieking in pain.
Half of the henchmen (and Nurse Cohort) we're attempting to carry Minyak away, and he other half were helping the shrieking man or still fighting Captain Man. The superhero threw a few more punches before he was able to run for Kid Danger.
Somehow, he found him immediately. Kid Danger was starting to wake up. Piper, unnoticed by either of them, ducked behind another tree and watched.
"Kid? Kid Danger? Are you okay?" Kid Danger groaned and opened his eyes a little.
"Ughhhhh… what happened?" He rubbed his eye and jerked in pain. Then, without warning, his mask fell off.
Everyone- meaning all three people in that area- gasped. Kid Danger grabbed it and slapped it back on so hard he cried out in pain. Captain Man looked around. Except for Piper (whom he didn't even know was there), everyone was running in the opposite direction. Or unconscious about fifteen feet away.
Piper bit her lip. I must not have put it back on right somehow. She shook her head and watched Captain Man try to comfort his sidekick.
"Kid, we've got to go. Here, get on my back." With great effort, Captain Man managed to help Kid Danger get onto his back and he ran off in the direction of where the Man Van was parked.
Piper hadn't realized how heavy her breathing was until it had returned to normal. She looked around. Everyone involved was either gone or knocked out.
In the distance, she heard sirens. She gasped and ran to her bike. She almost didn't bother to put her helmet on before riding home as fast as she could.
As she rode, one thought ran through her mind: I have to tell him.
IlvNGTNSBFWFIYMHDisNickGirl: Nice!
Alright, I'm giving y'all the answer: the Easter Egg I hid in Chapter 11 was the "dad's friend's cousin's dog's neighbor" quote and it was a line from the Disney TV show Jessie.
Ciao, and Happy Reading!