“Aw, man!” Mike said. “Do you think we need time to recharge our powers?”

“Maybe,” Johnny said. “But, how long do we wait? You think the time keeps resetting every time we try?”

“Dude, I have no idea. We just found out about this power 20 seconds ago.”

“True. So what do we do?”

“Well, I say, we go home, make some costumes-”

“And I get a cape,” Johnny added.

“Yes, fine. And then we go to the bank.”

“Alright! We are gonna make some moola!!!”

“No, not to rob it. I need cash. Unless you wanna pay for lunch?”

Johnny thought for a moment. “Can’t you just use a credit card?”

Mike ignored Johnny, ran off the side of the building and then started to walk home at a normal pace. Johnny picked up the fox, flew down, caught up with Mike, and the three began their return home, soon to embark on a great adventure. Well, first to the bank, then lunch, then a great adventure.

“Interesting,” Mike said. “Do you think we freeze time, or does time keep moving and we just freeze the person?”

“Time keeps on slippin’, slippin’, slippin’. Into the future…” Johnny replied.

“Meaning…?” Mike asked, as he had not yet mastered interpreting Johnny’s song lyrics.

“It means that freezing time is impossible. So we must just be freezing the people around us.”

“Oh, so only the people who hear our, shall we say, ’secret phrase,’ get frozen?” Mike asked, using air quotes.

“Dude, it is a secret phrase. You don’t have to put it in quotes. But, I’m not sure how it works yet. We have to figure it all out. First, we have to know exactly how long it lasts. It seemed like it was about five or ten seconds last time. But, to know for sure, we’re gonna have to experiment.” The two turned to the fox.

“Aw, man!” the fox said.

“Alright, so this is what you have to,” Johnny explained. “Say ‘now’ when you are no longer frozen. We’ll time it.”

“Oh, fine.”

“Okay, Mike, ready? One. Two. Three!”

“Stenchman!” the two brothers said in unison.

“Now!” the fox replied immediately.

“Hmm,” the two brothers said in unison.

“Hey, do you think we have a power like that?” Johnny asked.

“You mean a totally useless one?”

“No, I know we have those,” Johnny replied, as Mike was now wearing Mickey Mouse ears. “I mean a power that we can’t use unless we are both around.”

“I don’t know, let’s try!” Mike said.

“So, how do we test it out?”

“Well, the Wonder Twins say, ‘Wonder Twin powers activate!’, but we are not Wonder Twins.”

“Or losers. What if we say, ‘Sniggity snap – it’s time for a clap!’, and then we clap our hands?” Johnny suggested.

“I thought you said we weren’t losers.”

The fox shook his head.

“Stench man!” The two shouted at fox simultaneously. Then they high-fived each other for their cleverness. The fox stopped shaking his head midshake, his head facing left.

“What, do you see something?” Mike asked. The fox remained motionless. A few seconds later. He spoke.

“What the heck did you guys do to me? I was frozen there.”

“Really?” Johnny said. “Our magic phrase is “Stench man”?”

“Our father will be so proud!”

“Okay, I do have a cape, and I plan on wearing it!!”

“Dude, chill out. You can wear a cape.”

“Yes! I am victorious!” Johnny said.

Mike rolled his eyes. “But that is only part of the costume. We need masks.”

“Maybe you need a mask, but I wear glasses, so all I have to do is take off by glasses and no one will recognize me.”

“1. That only works if you are Superman, and you are not Superman. You’re more like a Wonder Twin. 2. Superman could do it because he didn’t really need glasses.”

Johnny interrupted. “Yeah, but I could just put in my contacts.”

“Oh, yeah, that would work. ‘Johnny! Time to go save the world!’ ‘Hold on, Mike, I need my eye drops!’” Johnny frowned.

“Besides,” Mike continued, “3. You sometimes wear contacts when you are not a super hero so people would recognize you.”

Johnny sighed. “I guess you are right. But, if I’m like a Wonder Twin, then you are the other Wonder Twin.”

“Ooh! Then I’m Zan! Wait, was Zan the boy or the girl?” Mike asked.

“I think Jayna was the girl and Zan was the boy.”

“Right, then I’m Jayna!”

“Haha, you’re a girl!”

“Yes,” Mike replied, “But a girl who can take the form of any creature, where as you, can only be an ice bucket. Enjoy that.”

“Ooh, that makes you Gleek,” Johnny said to the fox.

The fox, who had been reading a newspaper, looked up. “Guys, you aren’t really the Wonder Twins. Mike was just using that as an example for illustrative purposes, to say that you are not Supermen. As is becoming more apparent by the minute.”

“Gleek seems a little angry.”

“Animal sidekicks can be ornery sometimes.”

“If I can’t have a cape,” Mike said, “then I’m going to wear one of these.”

And Mike waved his hand to make a silly looking hat appear on his head.

“What is that?” Johnny asked.

“It’s my cape-hat.” Mike replied. “It’s what they wear in the desert in DuckTales the Movie.”

“I can’t let you wear that.”

“Why not?” Mike complained. “You get to wear your stupid cape.”

“Capes aren’t stupid. They’re comfortable. You can wrap yourself in them, and you can wave them around when you dance, and –”

“Wait a second. This is the worst argument for capes I’ve ever heard.”

“Oh you have arguments about capes often?”

“You’d be surprised man. Anyway, by the way you’re talking about them, it sounds like you already own a cape.

Johnny looked away guiltily, kicked the ground, and started to whistle all at once.

“Great,” Mike said. “Now we can both get into our hideaway. That means we can start being super heroes!”

“No, we can’t. We’re not ready yet.”

“Why?” Mike asked.

“We need costumes.”

“Oh my gosh. You’re right!”

“I know. I’m always right,” Johnny said.

“I get a cape!”

“No, I get a cape. Fast people can’t have capes. It slows them down.”

“But Superman has a cape,” Mike said. “He has super speed.”

“Superman has a cape for when he’s flying, not when he’s running.”

“What does that mean? He takes off his cape for running?”

“No, it means I get a cape and you don’t.”

“Hmm.”

“Um, this looks the same,” Mike said. “Except the ramp of death over there.”

“For many, a ramp of death,” the fox replied. “But for a speed demon…”

“A ramp of life!” Johnny said.

“No, just a ramp,” said the fox.

“How does it work?”

“Stand there, and then start using your super speed.”

“Won’t I smash into the ground?”

“I put another ramp down there.”

“Oh!” Johnny exclaimed. “Like in Mario!”

“Alright! Do I have to put my arms out to my side like he does?”

“Yes!” said Johnny.

“No,” said the fox.

“But can I?”

The fox rolled his eyes. “Sure.”

And with that, Mike stood up on the ramp, stretched his arms out, and started to run. Johnny and the fox watched as he went over the side of the warehouse. They then moved to the edge and peered down. They saw Mike looking back up at them. He was giving the thumbs up.

“Alright!” said the fox. “I am awesome!”

“Mike, you stink at throwing, man! They are going miles over my head!”

“Well, maybe it’s because on American Gladiators, the target I’m supposed to hit is over your head.”

Johnny stopped shooting for a second. “Okay, if that’s really what you’re aiming for, try to hit me now. I won’t shoot.”

Mike stopped running, picked up a ball, and threw it at Johnny. It went twenty feet over his head.

“See? You just stink!”

Mike frowned as was about to think of a comeback, when they heard footsteps. They both stopped cold. As the steps got closer, it began to sound like two pairs. Johnny motioned for Mike to go hide. Mike sped off instantly, and Johnny flew up to the shadows of the ceiling. Finally the identity was revealed. It was their friend the fox, looking wet, dirty, and tired, but very content.

“Hey, guys! I did it!”

“Did what?” Mike asked. “Won on Double Dare?”

“No, I made an entrance for you, ” the fox replied. “And I found a really cool back entrance too, one that no one will be able to get from.”

“Nice, let’s go see them!” And the two heroes followed the fox, as he led them to show off his fine work.

“Whoa,” Mike said, hs eyes wide in amazement. “How do you have the gun from the Assault event from American Gladiators??”

“Well, I threw an American Gladiator Party once, and Gemini gave it to me as a gift.”

“WHAT?? 1. Why wasn’t I invited? 2. How did you get Gemini to come? And 3. Why have you never shown this to me before??”

“I think you were out of town for some reason. It was all kind of spur of the moment. I ran into Gemini at the grocery store. Literally. He knocked me unconscious. I think that’s why he gave me the assault gun. Anyway, we can use it to test your speed and agility. The balls come out at like 100 miles an hour.”

Mike looked a little suspicious. “Won’t it hurt if I get hit?”

“Then don’t get hit,” Johnny said as he hooked the assault weapon up to the overhead catwalk. “Now I’m going to shoot these tennis balls at you, and you have to try to dodge them.”

“Um, I gues-OW!” Johnny had shot a ball that smack Mike right in the head. “Dude, you beaned me!”

“Hey, I told you I was gonna shoot it.”

“Alright, well, next time say “Go” or something.”

“Go!” Johnny said and shot three more balls right at Mike’s head. This time, Mike reacted quickly, side stepping two of them and catching the third one.

“Oh, it’s on now,” Mike said, as he and Johnny prepared to embark on a rigorous training regimen. Not far away, their friend the fox was finishing a regimen of his own.

“Yeah, I know. Like easy cheesy.”

“First, I meant that to be a bad thing. Secondly, I think you mean, like easy peasy.”

“But I prefer cheese to peas.”

Johnny thought for a second, then nodded in agreement. “Alright, I think part of the problem was it wasn’t really an obstacle course. Nothing was moving or anything, so it must have felt just like walking around boxes.”

“Well, to be honest, I’m not sure I’ve ever done that.”

“But you could imagine that sensation,” Johnny replied. This time it was Mike nodding in agreement. “I have an idea to make it harder, but I have to go get something. You have to wait here since I am not flying you up here again.”

“Fine. I’ll amuse myself with my hats,” Mike said.

So, Johnny flew off, literally, while Mike amused himself with his hats. About 15 minutes later, Johnny returned. Several hats were on the floor beside Mike as he now had a beret on.

“Ho ho! Ah hope yew brought une baguette per moi,” Mike said in a poor French accent.

“Hey, that’s a pretty good imitation of a poor Frenchman!”

“Merci! Oooh, what you got there??”

“Well, I figured we needed to train you on how to dodge stuff coming at you fast, but shooting a gun at you would be dangerous, and we don’t have a gun anyway. But, I remembered I did have this.”

Mike’s eyes got wide. “Whoa!”

What was it? A rubber band ball? One of those weird pizza shooter toys from the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles? Tune in next week, when you find out what exactly Johnny had.