shampoo.
Lucy adjusted the water. "Somebody's got to look after you, kiddo. You're just a lamb among the hyenas. Isn't this shower great? I could stay in the shower all day . . . Boy, Linda, sometimes I wonder how you got to be seventeen and tall as you are, and still so, uh, untouched."
Linda Lee rinsed her hair. She wanted to tell Lucy she wasn't that inexperienced, but something had caught her attention. Her super-vision pierced the tiles, and on the other side of the wall, she saw the Mad Pear in the pipe room, fooling with the plumbing. Her super-hearing picked up every word.
"I can't wait to hear their screams," Myra gloated. She was trying to shut off the cold water valve with a huge wrench. "Help me with this, idiot!"
"But, Myra," Muffy said (her mother always said she had a soft heart), "if you shut off the cold water, you'll scald them. They'll get blisters and burns. Why don't you shut off the hot water and give them an ice bath. They'll scream just as loud. It'll be so much fun."
Myra gave her warty friend a withering look. Scald or nothin' was her motto. "So they lose a little skin," she said, giving the wrench a final twist. "It'll break my heart."
In the shower, Lucy was chattering about the game. "Uh-huh, uh-huh," Linda Lee said and shot a beam of heat vision through the tiled wall and directly onto Myra's wrench, which instantly turned blazing hot.
Myra screamed. "Help! I'm on fire! Water!" She threw the white-hot wrench across the room, hitting a pipe. Water gushed out of the pipes, drenching Myra and Muffy, soaking their uniforms and plastering their hair to their heads.
"Waaaa!" Muffy protested.
"Shut up!" Myra said considerately.
Lucy and Linda Lee were drying themselves off when Myra and Muffy squished soggily past the locker room.
"Gee, they're all wet. I wonder what happened to them," Linda Lee said.
Lucy shrugged. "Maybe they fell in a cesspool."
Chapter Nine
"Love . . . hate . . . love . . . hate . . . love !" Selena said. "The cards have decided." She was reclining in the backseat of her Cadillac, tarot cards, an ancient book, and the Coffer of Shadow all spread out beside her on the counter of the built-in bar. Leaning forward, she tapped the driver on the shoulder. "Beee-anca! Did you hear me? The cards say love. Selena's new weapon. People will jump off cliffs for love, they'll try to fly for love, they'll drown themselves like lemmings. Sooo . . . I will make everybody love me.
"Who's going to love an awful person like you? Do you really want to ruin your reputation?"
Selena tapped Bianca harder on the shoulder. "Love in the service of evil. A revolutionary concept that'Il take me to the heights. Remember, Bianca, you heard it first."
The Caddy cruised past Midvale School. A serene scene of education in progress. Nigel could be seen at the window, striding up and down as he harassed his students. On the playing field, another hockey game (but minus Lucy and Linda Lee) was in progress. Stripped to the waist, Ethan, the young pest-control man (whose grass was greener), was busy planting shrubs.
Bianca jammed on the brakes, sending Selena hurtling forward. "Why are we stopping?" Selena demanded, and remembering that soon she was going to take over the world, she added imperially, "I gave no such command."
Bianca draped herself over the steering wheel and stared out the window. Her breathing was strange. "Don't talk to me . . . I'm in love."
Selena followed Bianca's unwavering gaze to Ethan, bare-chested and beautiful. Ah, sooo . . . "He is cute," Selena said thoughtfully.
"Oh, no!" Bianca wailed. "I saw him first."
Nigel was scribbling an equation which crossed the blackboard from one end to the other. " XP3 to the tenth power x 53238585958 + MR3 to the exponential 38575765639030," he finished with a flourish. "Now, then," he said, turning to the class, "focus your tiny minds on this problem—a problem which used to require weeks of serious thought." He checked to see if he
Lucy adjusted the water. "Somebody's got to look after you, kiddo. You're just a lamb among the hyenas. Isn't this shower great? I could stay in the shower all day . . . Boy, Linda, sometimes I wonder how you got to be seventeen and tall as you are, and still so, uh, untouched."
Linda Lee rinsed her hair. She wanted to tell Lucy she wasn't that inexperienced, but something had caught her attention. Her super-vision pierced the tiles, and on the other side of the wall, she saw the Mad Pear in the pipe room, fooling with the plumbing. Her super-hearing picked up every word.
"I can't wait to hear their screams," Myra gloated. She was trying to shut off the cold water valve with a huge wrench. "Help me with this, idiot!"
"But, Myra," Muffy said (her mother always said she had a soft heart), "if you shut off the cold water, you'll scald them. They'll get blisters and burns. Why don't you shut off the hot water and give them an ice bath. They'll scream just as loud. It'll be so much fun."
Myra gave her warty friend a withering look. Scald or nothin' was her motto. "So they lose a little skin," she said, giving the wrench a final twist. "It'll break my heart."
In the shower, Lucy was chattering about the game. "Uh-huh, uh-huh," Linda Lee said and shot a beam of heat vision through the tiled wall and directly onto Myra's wrench, which instantly turned blazing hot.
Myra screamed. "Help! I'm on fire! Water!" She threw the white-hot wrench across the room, hitting a pipe. Water gushed out of the pipes, drenching Myra and Muffy, soaking their uniforms and plastering their hair to their heads.
"Waaaa!" Muffy protested.
"Shut up!" Myra said considerately.
Lucy and Linda Lee were drying themselves off when Myra and Muffy squished soggily past the locker room.
"Gee, they're all wet. I wonder what happened to them," Linda Lee said.
Lucy shrugged. "Maybe they fell in a cesspool."
Chapter Nine
"Love . . . hate . . . love . . . hate . . . love !" Selena said. "The cards have decided." She was reclining in the backseat of her Cadillac, tarot cards, an ancient book, and the Coffer of Shadow all spread out beside her on the counter of the built-in bar. Leaning forward, she tapped the driver on the shoulder. "Beee-anca! Did you hear me? The cards say love. Selena's new weapon. People will jump off cliffs for love, they'll try to fly for love, they'll drown themselves like lemmings. Sooo . . . I will make everybody love me.
"Who's going to love an awful person like you? Do you really want to ruin your reputation?"
Selena tapped Bianca harder on the shoulder. "Love in the service of evil. A revolutionary concept that'Il take me to the heights. Remember, Bianca, you heard it first."
The Caddy cruised past Midvale School. A serene scene of education in progress. Nigel could be seen at the window, striding up and down as he harassed his students. On the playing field, another hockey game (but minus Lucy and Linda Lee) was in progress. Stripped to the waist, Ethan, the young pest-control man (whose grass was greener), was busy planting shrubs.
Bianca jammed on the brakes, sending Selena hurtling forward. "Why are we stopping?" Selena demanded, and remembering that soon she was going to take over the world, she added imperially, "I gave no such command."
Bianca draped herself over the steering wheel and stared out the window. Her breathing was strange. "Don't talk to me . . . I'm in love."
Selena followed Bianca's unwavering gaze to Ethan, bare-chested and beautiful. Ah, sooo . . . "He is cute," Selena said thoughtfully.
"Oh, no!" Bianca wailed. "I saw him first."
Nigel was scribbling an equation which crossed the blackboard from one end to the other. " XP3 to the tenth power x 53238585958 + MR3 to the exponential 38575765639030," he finished with a flourish. "Now, then," he said, turning to the class, "focus your tiny minds on this problem—a problem which used to require weeks of serious thought." He checked to see if he
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