The Impossibles reached Mount Stiffnek in record time. They parked the jet at the foot of the mountain, and stared up at it.
"Now I know why they call it Mount Stiffnek," Fluey commented. "I'm getting a stiff neck just looking at it!"
"Well, what are we waiting for?" Coiley asked. "Let's get to it!"
Multi started up the Impossi-Jet again, and flew to the top of the mountain. Once the boys parked, they climbed out of their car, and walked into the building. At that moment, Old Glory was just finishing up with roll call.
"Now then, first on the agenda . . . . ." he started, when the doors suddenly opened, and the Impossibles walked in.
"Hi," Coiley said. "Is this the Superhero Association of the World headquarters?"
"Uhhh . . . . ." Old Glory said. "Yes it is . . . . . ."
"Brother, who are these jokers?" Mer Man asked.
"Look at the short one," Spider Monkey said with a smirk. "He kinda looks like a bowling ball."
"The redhead looks like an old English sheepdog with that haircut," Techno Geek said.
"Oh, look at the little doggie in the super suit!" Stardust shouted. "Isn't that the cutest thing you ever did see?"
"We're the Impossibles," Coiley said. "Coil Man!"
"Fluid Man!" Fluey shouted.
"Multi Man!" Multi shouted. Then he picked up Impossi-Pup and held her up so the others could see her. "And this is our mascot, Impossi-Pup."
"And we want to join the association," Coiley said.
"Impossibles?" Old Glory repeated. "And you want to join our association, do you?"
The other members of the association began snickering just then. The Impossibles just stood there and looked at each other.
"Did we say something funny?" Fluey asked.
"Aren't they cute?" the Purple Pussycat asked. "How old are you boys?"
"We're sixteen," Coiley said.
"Sixteen," Old Glory repeated. "Hmmmm . . . . ."
"Teenagers, hoo boy . . . ." Spider Monkey chuckled. "Fan boys if I ever saw 'em."
"Yes, boys, see, you can't join the Superhero Association of the World unless you have super powers," Old Glory said.
"But we do have super powers," Coiley said. "Watch this. Rally ho!"
Coiley then sprang upward toward the ceiling, demonstrating his powers.
"Rally ho!" Multi shouted, duplicating to show off his powers.
"Rally ho-ho!" Fluey called out, converting to liquid just then. Impossi-Pup barked and circled the room at lightning speed.
"Hmm . . . . ." Old Glory said again. "Well, boys, it seems you do have super powers all right."
"Right on, man," Fluey said. "So can we join or what?"
"Well, now, gentlemen," Old Glory said. "As you know, every superhero wants to join our association, but we can only accept the best of the best, you see. And the entrance exam is a bit . . . . mmmm, challenging."
"We're ready for anything!" Coiley shouted, enthusiastically.
"Yeah, man, we'll take whatever challenge you throw at us!" Fluey shouted.
"Let's do it!" Multi shouted.
"They're spirited," Speed Demon commented. "I'll give 'em credit for that."
"Well, what do you say, ladies and gentlemen?" Old Glory asked. "Should we let these boys face the test?"
"Yeah, why not?" Captain Muscle said.
"This oughta be a riot," Spider Monkey commented.
"Very well, then," Old Glory said. "Our first test will be a test of strength. Now, which of you thinks they can out match Captain Muscle?"
"I'll take the challenge!" Coiley shouted.
"Very well, then," Old Glory said, pushing a button. The seats were pushed back, and plexiglass walls rose from the floor, blocking Captain Muscle and Coiley from the rest of the superheroes.
"What's this for?" Fluey asked.
"Safety issues," Stardust said, reaching over to pet Impossi-Pup. "Just in case something heavy should go flying."
"Best of luck to you, Captain Muscle," Coiley said.
"Same to you, shorty," Captain Muscle said, flexing a bicep. "You'll need it. I can lift anything without even messing up my hair."
"All right, heroes," Old Glory said. "Get ready, get set . . . . get lifting!"
A door opened up in the ceiling, and a two hundred pound barbell fell from it. Captain Muscle caught it before it hit the ground, and held it up with only one finger. Then, a two ton steal safe fell from the compartment in the ceiling, right on top of Coiley. The members of the association thought it had crushed him, until they heard Coiley grunting, and he sprang upward, holding the safe in his hands. An elephant was dropped from the ceiling then, and Captain Muscle caught it, holding it up with one hand. The next thing dropped was a blue whale, and, like the safe, it seemingly squashed Coiley. But Coiley, straining a bit, managed to lift the giant sea mammal up using the power in his springs.
"What the . . . . ." Captain Muscle said, completely dumbfounded. He couldn't believe this short, fat teenager was out-lifting him. Finally, he flew outside of the building, and dug through the mountain. Then he began pushing on the inside until he managed to lift the top of the mountain, complete with the SHAW headquarters building clean off the mountain.
"Tah-dah!" he shouted. "How's my hair?"
Suddenly, Captain Muscle heard groaning coming from underneath him, and he felt himself being slowly lifted into the air. He looked down, and he saw Coiley standing underneath him, his feet in the teenage superhero's hands. Coiley managed to spring upward at least a hundred feet.
"Stars and stripes . . . . ." Old Glory said, completely amazed.
Captain Muscle suddenly lost his grip on the section of the mountain he tore off and it crash landed right on his back. Coiley sprang away in the nick of time. Fluey and Multi were cheering for their team mate. Captain Muscle trudged back into the building.
"Oooh, my aching back!" he groaned. "And my hair is ruined!"
"He really got you good, didn't he?" Honeybee giggled.
"Yeah, you lost by a hair," Stardust laughed.
"That's what I call a spring break," the Purple Pussycat teased.
"All right, all right," Old Glory said. "Next up, a test of speed."
"Sounds like a job for Impossi-Pup," Fluey said, scratching the super puppy behind the ears.
"No, no, no," Old Glory said. "One of you boys has to perform the test. No fair using a mascot, you know."
"Okay, then," Fluey said. "I'll take on the challenge."
"Very well, then," Old Glory said. "You versus Speed Demon, one lap around the country."
In a flash, Speed Demon suddenly appeared at the starting line. He and Fluey took their marks.
"On your mark!" Old Glory shouted. "Get set! GO!"
Speed Demon took off like a shot, creating a bit of a breeze as he went.
"Rally ho-ho, and away I go-go!" Fluey shouted, converting to his liquid form and blasting off after Speed Demon.
"I hope your friend knows what he's doing," Honeybee said.
"He does," Multi said. "People don't realize how much pressure can be built up in water."
While this was going on, Speed Demon was enjoying the lead he had. He figured, since he was the fastest person in the world, Fluey would never be able to catch up to him. Or so he thought. He turned to look to see how far Fluey was behind him, and was shocked to discover he was neck and neck with him!
"What the . . . ." he started.
"Never underestimate the powers of water pressure," Fluey said, flying along side the running Speed Demon.
"But . . . . how . . . . ." Speed Demon stammered.
"Haven't you ever seen how fast and how hard water comes out of a fire hose?" Fluey asked. "See ya back at Mount Stiffnek!"
And with that being said, Fluey shot forward. Speed Demon gave it everything he could.
Back at SHAW HQ, Old Glory was checking his watch.
"It takes Speed Demon to circle the town in exactly six point twenty-five seconds," he said. "So he should be here in five, four, three . . . . ."
Suddenly, the doors flung open, and Fluey streamed into the main room of SHAW HQ and converted back to solid. Coiley and Multi began cheering as Speed Demon came in two seconds later, completely wiped out. Stardust, the Purple Pussycat, and Honeybee were trying, unsuccessfully, not to laugh.
"Hmm . . . . impressive, boys, very impressive," Old Glory said. "But the final test won't be as easy as the other two."
Old Glory pushed another button, and the room suddenly changed to what appeared to be an outer space setting of sorts.
"What's this?" Multi asked, as the plexiglass barriers were raised, blocking him off from the others for the moment.
"The final test," Old Glory said. "This is a virtual reality simulated world disaster."
"I'm ready for anything!" Multi shouted.
"Very good, very good," Old Glory said. "Then let the test begin!"
The lights went out suddenly, and then, they came back on, revealing a flaming asteroid shower.
"Rally ho!" Multi shouted, duplicating himself. This allowed him to catch several of the hurtling asteroids. He used a few more to punch the asteroids into smaller pieces until they were too small to do any real damage. Then came the big one. Multi propelled himself toward it, using as many duplicates as he possibly could, and crashed dead center into the virtual asteroid, smashing it to smithereens. Once the big asteroid was destroyed, the simulation ended, though Multi was a bit singed.
"Boy, those virtual reality simulations sure are realistic!" he shouted.
Coiley and Fluey began cheering loudly for their teammate, while Old Glory just looked on, stunned.
"That's what I call keeping cool under pressure," Honeybee commented.
"All right, all right, all right," Old Glory said. "You boys have passed the entrance exam with flying colors."
"All right!" Coiley shouted.
"We did it!" Multi shouted.
"Yeah, man!" Fluey cheered. Impossi-Pup barked happily and began wagging her tail.
"Well, group, what do you say to that?" Old Glory said. The other heroes just sat there.
"You have got to be kidding," Mer Man said. "What kind of powers are those?!"
"Those have got to be the lamest super powers I've ever seen in my entire life," Spider Monkey commented.
"Besides which, sixteen year olds aren't very reliable," Techno Geek said. "The only things they ever think about are cars and girls."
"Yeah, we don't need any twerpy kids cramping our style," Captain Muscle said.
"Well, they passed the tests, didn't they?" Honeybee asked.
"That's right," Stardust replied. "They proved themselves worthy!"
"And they are superheroes, after all," the Purple Pussycat commented.
"Very well, then," Old Glory said. "I suggest we put it to a vote. All in favor of the Impossibles joining the Superhero Association of the World, say aye!"
"Aye!" Stardust, Honeybee, and the Purple Pussycat shouted.
"All opposed, say nay," Old Glory said.
"Nay!" Spider Monkey, Techno Geek, Mer Man, Speed Demon, and Captain Muscle shouted.
"Well, there you have it, majority rules," Old Glory said. "Membership denied. You're just too young to join. Thank you for dropping by. Come back in a few years once you turn twenty-one. Maybe we'll let you in then."
"But we passed all the tests!" Fluey protested.
"I'm sorry, children, but you're just not good enough heroes for us," Old Glory said.
"But . . . . ." Coiley started.
"Bye-bye, kiddies," Old Glory interrupted, pushing a button labeled "Eject." A tile in the floor sprang upward, and the Impossibles were ejected out of the SHAW HQ.
"Whooooaaaaa!" they shouted as they were flung into the Impossi-Jet. Multi landed first, Fluey landed on top of him, Coiley landed on top of Fluey, and Impossi-Pup landed on top of Coiley.
"Can you believe them?!" Fluey shouted. "Not letting us join up because we're too young?! We passed all the tests! We've proven ourselves! I've got a good mind to go back in there and . . . . ."
"Save it, Fluey," Coiley said. "There's nothing we can do. It was a four against three vote. Let's head home."
"Yeah, who cares about joining some superhero organization, anyway?" Multi asked.
Dejected, Coiley started the Impossi-Jet, and the boys headed back to Megatropolis.