Lunella, Devil, and I were tracking down a thief at a nearby soda factory. "Okay, guys, based on the break in patterns, the thief should be busting out of that building in three, two..." Lunella said, just as the thief was making her escape. "Eh, close enough." "Let's go!" I exclaimed. "We can't let her get away!"
Shopaholic Linh Pham was a fanatic for fancy heels. Just one problem. She's broke, y'all. Unable to afford her habit, she engineered some designer grade extendable heels and turned to a life of thievery as Stiletto!
All of a sudden, I heard a little bit of glitching coming from my headphones inside my helmet. "Yo! My headphones are picking up some funky interference." Lunella confessed. "I thought I was imagining something." I explained. "Betcha'd have better reception up here, Moon Girl and Sun Boy!" Stiletto taunted.
While Devil swipes at Stiletto's, well, stiletto, Moon Girl and Sun Boy fire off their signature boxing gloves!
"What the?!" Lunella wondered. "The voice is literally describing everything that's happening right now!" "Almost like some kind of narrator." I added. "Did I drink too much espresso?"
You really wanna be playin' with your gadgets right now?
"Are you talking to us?" I asked. "Or am I just going insane?"
No. I'm talking to the other distracted superheroes letting a villain get away!
"Huh?" Lunella asked. "Thanks for the heel up, Moon Girl and Sun Boy!" Stiletto shouted, just as Lunella and I trapped her with the bubble blaster. And just like that, the strange voice was gone. "Uh, hello? Weird stalker voice?" I called out. "It's gone." Devil communicated with us, looking very concerned. "Okay, you might have a point." I agreed. "Let's just go home. We gotta rest up for the big day tomorrow!" Devil licked his lips. "No, no, no, no! Not National Hot Dog Day!" Lunella explained. "Even better!"
"The official launch of this year's science fair!" Principal Nelson announced in our class the next morning. "And this year, we have a special prize for our first place winner. Can I get a drumroll?" Eduardo uses his pencils to drum at his desk. "This year's grand prize will be... uh, Eduardo?" "Eduardo!" Coach Hrbek exclaims, confiscating his pencils. "Hey! I was just getting into it!" Eduardo complained. "As I was saying, this year's grand prize will be a personal tour of the most technologically advanced building here in Manhattan, the Wakandan Outreach Center!" "What?! Are you serious!" Lunella and I gasped with excitement. "As usual, the competition will be a 48 hour challenge. This year, we'll be doing it in randomly assigned teams." Principal Nelson continued. "So, Brooklyn, you're with Geri. Anand, you're with Robbie. Lamar, you're with our new student, Mila Thompson. And Lunella, you're with... Eduardo." "No!" Lunella gasped. "Yeah! Look out, y'all! This about to be the best combo since bread and butter, baby!" Eduardo exclaimed. Ouch.
After school, we invited Casey over and headed down to the lab. Lunella was still processing getting paired up with Eduardo for the science fair. "You must've done something pretty bad in a past life to get paired with Ed-weirdo." Casey said. "And of all years! We're talking about the Wakandans! Some of the most brilliant Black minds on the planet!" Lunella complained. ""Best combo since bread and butter."" I scoffed. "Has he met Moon Girl, Sun Boy, and Devil Dinosaur?" "This day couldn't get any worse!" Lunella groaned. "Lu! Lamar!" We heard Dad gasp. Oh, snap! We're in trouble now. "What is all of this?!" "Dad, um, it's just a little underground tech! Nothing weird!" Lunella lied, just as Devil came in, eating a hot dog. "Okay, we admit. That was weird but please don't get upset!" I begged. "Oh, I'm more than upset." Mimi said. "Kids, I am disappointed." Pops added. "I'm telling everybody!" Eduardo exclaimed, shapeshifting into a stylish man, laughing maniacally. "You should see the look on your faces right now!" "What is going on?!" I panicked. "Wha- who on Earth are you?" Lunella asked. "Oh, I'm not from Earth at all." He replied as the doors of the abandoned train closed, revealing his name. "I am, The Beyonder!" "I think I just had an accident." I mumbled, feeling embarrassed. "Whoa, has that always been there?" Lunella wondered. "Wait, That voice! You're the one who was in our ears last night. Some funky shapeshifting wizard with a bad stage name?" "Funky?" The Beyonder asked. "Yes. Wizard? No! I got more going on than that. Lemme clue you in with a little... what do you humans call it? Swagger!"
I'm from way way beyond time and space,
It's my job to study planets and their meaning.
Then one day, I was tasked. Trust, I did not ask,
To come to Earth and learn about human beings.
I need the smartest on the planet to help me understand it, and that's why I've come to you!
Now, teach me all about humans!
Everything about humans!
Congrats on your promotion, let's get this thing in motion,
There's so much for me to understand.
You're welcome, Lunella. Now it's time to help this fella, decide the fate...
Lunella unplugged the speakers that played his song. "I do not have time for this!" Lunella exclaimed. "Ayy! How dare you interrupt someone as powerful as me!" The Beyonder complained. "No shade, but Lunella and Lamar ripped a hole in space and time, so it takes a lot to impress us, pal." Casey said. Next thing I know, Devil is suddenly buff and Casey was staring at her phone, checking her notifications. "Selena Gomez just followed me! Do whatever this magical creature says, guys." "Now, let's get started!" The Beyonder exclaimed. "Uh, pump your brakes, pal! I got a science fair to win." "With Eduardo?" I scoffed. "Forget it." "But, I need your help to decide..." The Beyonder explained. "...where the exit is? It's right over there." Lunella interrupted. "Bye, Beyonder!" "Alright, fine. But I'm taking these with me." The Beyonder said, taking away Devil's muscles and Selena Gomez unfollowed Casey. "No! Selena, come back!" Casey cried.
The next day at school, I was grabbing my stuff for class from my locker. As soon as I shut my locker door, I saw Mila, my science fair partner. From what I heard, she moved here from the Upper West Side and has partial hearing loss from the superhero battles that she witnessed there. "Hi, Lamar." She greeted. "Did you brainstorm some ideas for the project?" "I'm still working on that." I replied, using a little bit of sign language that I learned. "What about you?" "The only thing I could think of was a silly little homemade speaker." She explained. "No way! That's awesome!" I exclaimed. "I'm good with whatever we come up with, so let's go with that." "Cool beans." Mila smiled. "See you around."
I met up with Lunella and Casey at lunch not long after, telling them about the project I was gonna do with Mila. "So, how's your project coming along?" I asked. "Did you and Eduardo figure out what to make?" "Well, I just convinced Ed-weirdo to do my brilliant science fair idea." Lunella replied. "I call it, The Big "E" Vent! A household ventilation system that sucks in air, removes CO2, and combines it with hydrogen to create solid reusable carbon! I can smell the Wakandan swag bag already!" All of a sudden, The Beyonder stood in front of our lunch table disguised as a student our age. "'Sup?" He greeted. "It's me. The Beyonder. Miss me?" "Hey, yo, Beyonder! I thought I told you to be-gone-der!" Lunella exclaimed. "No, you told me you were busy with school, so I figured I'd just come here to learn human stuff." The Beyonder explained. "Why do you humans eat all this junk? Y'know, I could make a single pellet with all the nutrients your body needs." "That actually sounds marketable." Casey commented. "And nasty!" Lunella added. "Eating is supposed to be enjoyable." The Beyonder takes Lunella's sandwich and shoves it down his throat without chewing on it. "That was not enjoyable at all." The Beyonder gasped. "You're supposed to chew on the sandwich before eating it." I explained, feeling disgusted. "One, you better bippity boppity boop me a new sandwich, okay?" Lunella said. "And two, my brother is right, you're supposed to take small human bites. Break it down into little pieces. Which is how I'll make sure Eduardo doesn't mess up the project! Gotta go!" Once Lunella left the lunch room, The Beyonder took her advice and took smaller bites of the sandwich he almost choked on. Casey and I immediately left disgusted.
I met up with Mila during free period to sketch out a plan for our homemade speaker. "I was thinking we could add a plastic bowl in addition to some wire and magnets." Mila suggested. "What do you think we should add?" "Maybe we could add a paper plate and an empty roll of toilet paper attached to the other side of the bowl." I said. "That way, we could see whether the frequency would sound better on either side." "Love that, but where are we going to find an empty roll of toilet paper?" Mila asked. Right before I could answer her question, my phone got an alert about an apartment complex that caught on fire. "Sorry, I gotta go, Mila." I explained.
After suiting up in my Sun Boy suit, I met up with Lunella and Devil by the burning building. "There's still people trapped inside!" I gasped. "Hmm, this should be informative." The Beyonder said. "Look, just stay out of our way, okay?" Lunella asked. "Let's do this, guys! D, Sonic Boom Blast!" Devil roared powerful enough to put out the fire as Lunella and I went into the building to rescue the trapped civilians.
After everyone was saved, crisis erupted everywhere and civilians were being put in danger by The Beyonder, who was delighted by the chaos of humanity in peril. Lunella shot his hand with the bubble blaster to stop his shenanigans. "Beyonder! You are getting beyond my last nerve!" Lunella snapped. "You know what? I'm going to call Mila and see if she wants me to come work on the project." I sighed, flying back towards our school. I gotta admit, I feel a bit calmer with heights after becoming Sun Boy.
Later that night, I came home from Mila's house and headed down to the lab. I walked in to see Lunella and Eduardo's project, which basically looked like a sculpture made from trash. "Whoa! That's an interesting project, Lulu." I commented. "Yes, Lamar, I agree. It is an interesting project." She grunted. "Oh, he had one job! One! To just follow the manual!" "I don't get it. What is the human obsession with remakes?" The Beyonder asked while watching a classic movie with Devil. I don't think I've seen that one before. Maybe I'll watch it one of these days. "This animated version is way better." "Hello?" Lunella asked. "The science fair is to-mor-row! I tried to be a team player. And look what happened! What is the point of working with other people if they don't bring anything to the table? Useless!" Lunella knocked down her project in frustration. "You're right, humans are useless." The Beyonder agreed. "Especially Eduardo!" Lunella complained. "Just useless! Useless! Useless! Useless!" "Well, that settles it, then." The Beyonder said. "I'm gonna erase humanity." "Say what now?!" I gasped. "That's why I wanted to learn about humans in the first place." The Beyonder explained. "To figure out whether they're worthy of existence. Your know-it-all sister cut me off before I could get to that part of the song."
So, thanks so much, Lunella.
For convincing this fella
To get rid of all humans!
"Whoa, whoa, whoa! But I was just venting." Lunella explained, unplugging his music again. "You can't erase everyone!" "No, no, not everyone." The Beyonder said. "I'm sparing you, obviously. Your intellect is invaluable!" "Come again?!" I exclaimed. "I'll spare you as well." The Beyonder reassured me. "It wouldn't be much fun if it was just your sister." Devil grunted at The Beyonder. "Oh, yes. I'm sparing you, too." He said. "Let's get this over with so we can grab some dinner. I'm thinking tacos." "No! No, no, no. Stop! Please!" Lunella begged as The Beyonder was warming up his power. "Just give me a chance to change your mind!" He paused for a moment, but eventually agreed. "Okay, tell you what. A species is only as good as its weakest link." He agreed. "And according to you, Eduardo is the most useless human of them all. So, if you can prove his value by winning the science fair with him, then I'll spare humanity." "You're going to hang the fate of humanity on a science fair trophy?" I asked. "When you put it like that, yup." The Beyonder replied.
The next day was the day of the science fair, which apparently if anyone, including Mila and I win, humanity will go extinct. "All of humanity?" Casey gasped. "You gotta win this competition, Lu!" "The only way to win is to execute my idea without Eduardo around to mess it up." Lunella explained. "How in the world am I gonna work on it all alone without The Beyonder finding out." "I don't think you're going to." I replied as Lunella opened her locker to find The Beyonder inside. Casey fainted, but I was able to catch her before she fell to the ground. "What's poppin'?" He greeted. "It's crazy, we were just talking about you." Lunella chuckled nervously. "Of course you were." He said. "I'm fascinating." "And, uh, Casey was just saying how much she wanted to show you cool human stuff!" I lied. "Right, Case?" "Yeah. I mean lots of cool stuff." Casey played along. "Like pedicures or..." "Well, if it serves to distract you from your impending doom, whatever." The Beyonder agreed. "Come with me." Casey said, taking The Beyonder somewhere else just as Eduardo came by. "Yo, Lafayettes!" Eduardo greeted. "Hey, Eduardo." I replied, about to head to class. "See you later, Lulu."
A few hours before the fair, Mila invited me over to finish modifying the speaker. "I think we're almost done. Now, for the moment of truth." Mila said, rummaging through her drawer. "Let's pair it with this adapter." I wrapped the wires around the adapter's wires. "Now what?" I asked, signing along. "Here's the fun part." Mila replied, plugging the adapter into her phone and playing a classical piano compilation with a pretty decent sound. "Yes! It works!" I cheered. Uh, oh. It works. I'm definitely in a pickle now.
That night, at the science fair, I checked in with Lunella after I finished setting up the speaker project with Mila. However, her entire station was loaded with lots of pickles. "Whoa, I thought I was in a pickle." I said. "What happened here, Lulu?" "The Beyonder figured out that I ditched Eduardo." She sighed. "You ditched him?" I asked. "Yeah, but I feel terrible about how I treated him." Lunella replied. "I'd help you rebuild your project, but I don't think I'm allowed to." I said. "It's okay." Lunella reassured me. "I'll figure something out. Good luck, little bro."
I went back over to the speaker as Mila and I waited for the judges to grade our project. We got everything plugged in just as the judges arrived. "We gathered some household objects paired with some magnets, wire, and this old adapter to create a homemade speaker strong enough to make sound." I explained as Mila played a piano compilation on her computer, which played through the speaker. The judges wrote down their notes just as everyone and everything started floating. The Beyonder was definitely behind this.
I did a quick change into my Sun Boy suit and caught up with Lunella, who was trying to confront The Beyonder. "Beyonder! Stop!" Lunella shouted. "Nah! I don't think so." The Beyonder refused. Lunella and I shot a glove at the same time, but went right through him like he was a ghost. "Ooh! These ones are fighters!" The Beyonder chuckled. The more gloves we shot at him, he turned them into confetti. "Thank you. Thank you so much." While following The Beyonder, he made a dumpster appear, causing us to crash. "Gross!" I complained. "Why are you fighting me?" The Beyonder asked. "You proved humans are useless!" "No, I didn't!" Lunella argued. "I proved that people are brilliant in their own different ways! I wouldn't even have a project if it weren't for Eduardo!" Devil joined the fight, but was quickly shrunk to the size of a plush toy. The Beyonder tied us up with our propellers. "A deal's a deal." He said. "No! Stop!" I shouted as he made everything disappear. "What have I done?" Lunella whimpered. "Why?" All of a sudden, everything was restored, as if nothing happened in the first place. "Oh, man, I had you goin'!" The Beyonder chuckled. "You look so scared." "What's going on?" Lunella and I asked in unison. "I'm not really going to erase humanity. I was just having some fun." He explained. "I actually changed my mind when I saw both of your cool projects. Sure, you clearly weren't going to win the contest, but between Lunella's smarts and Eduardo's creativity, you two made something surprisingly beautiful. And I gotta get me one of those speakers. You showed me that everybody is valuable." "Then what was that whole terrifying song and dance for?" Lunella asked. "Actually, I thought that slapped." I commented. "You get it, brother. You know I love a good musical number." The Beyonder explained. "I gotta work that Brap-pap-pap machine into my next song when I come back." "What do you mean, "come back"?" I asked. "You humans are way more complicated than I thought." The Beyonder replied. "There's still so much more to learn! So, I'll be watching you, Moon Girl and Sun Boy." Our propellers were fixed and Devil returned to normal size once The Beyonder disappeared. "That is one strange space wizard, guys." "Agreed." I nodded. "Uh, still watching." We heard The Beyonder say.
We headed back to school just in time to hear the results of the science fair. "And for a project so powerful it lifted the room like Mariah Carey's voice lifts my soul, first place goes to... the magnet team!" Principal Nelson announced, as Brooklyn and Geri were rewarded with a trophy. Lunella and I both got honorable mentions for our projects. "I've never got honorable mention before." Lunella admitted. "Me neither!" Eduardo exclaimed, kissing his award. "I have." I said. "But it's still cool." "Well, your idea was brilliant." Lunella complimented. "Oh, thanks." Eduardo said. "Means a lot coming from you, Lafayette. And since you put your name on my project, that makes me the smartest kid in school!" "Um, that's not how it works!" Lunella exclaimed. "Just let him have this." I said.
This project of Lamar and Mila's was inspired by the actual speaker that I made in my physics class my junior year of high school. Probably one of my favorite school projects I've done in high school. I actually ran into my teacher a few weeks ago and told her about the chapter. She was so excited! -Mal.