Mouse and Emerald Take a Ride #5

Chapter One

Little Mouse’s Little Legs

Mouse ran across the field, pumping her legs with all her might. She was determined to get to the ball before her brothers and sisters, but as Lulu and Bandit thundered past her, she realized that once again, her short little legs were no match for her siblings. Her frustration turned to curiosity when she saw her brother, Gus, use his size-­shifting superpower to go big, bigger, and then really small. This usually happened when he got excited about something, and she needed to investigate. She, Lulu, and Bandit peered down at the mouse-­size puppy.

“You know, it’s really hard to read your mind when it’s all over the place like that. Ahh-­nnoying!” Lulu said, and Mouse knew that her sister was using her telepathic superpower to find out what Gus was thinking.

“If you want to read my mind so bad, then go ahead!” Gus responded in an itty-bitty voice that reminded Mouse how exciting it was to not be the smallest puppy...for once.

When Lulu gasped in her usual “the world is ending” kind of way, Mouse knew that she was still reading Gus’s mind and that it wasn’t good. “You know my stomach gets upset whenever I’m nervous,” she said with a huff.

“Which is, like, all the time,” Mouse added, trying to remember the last time she’d seen her sister really relax.

It still hadn’t come to her when she heard the summons. The air was filled with the sound of a voice so laden with magic that she could practically feel it. “Superpower puppies to the gathering room.”

Mouse didn’t hesitate. She took off running as fast as her little legs would take her. If she didn’t want to be the last to the gathering room...which she didn’t...she needed as big a head start as she could get. She’d barely taken a step when Bandit and Lulu raced past her with their long legs. Fine, she thought, Gus and his stubby legs can be last. But she was disappointed when even he galloped by her.

The race isn’t over yet, Mouse reminded herself, and as soon as her paws touched the long rug that ran the length of the hallway, she used her superpower, telekinesis, to make it move. This would be a lot easier if I could use my powers on myself, she thought as she rode the runner like a magic carpet and sailed down the hallway past Gus.

“Here I come!” Gus bellowed with a much larger voice box than before, and Mouse knew that he’d made himself bigger so he could catch up to her.

In front of her, Bandit responded to Gus’s size shift. “Not gonna be that easy,” he said, using his shape-­shifting superpower to turn into a cheetah with the same brown and white patches of fur. He moved like lightning to the gathering room door at the end of the hall.

“Uh-­oh!” Gus yelled from behind, and before Mouse could react, she felt his large head slip under her and the rug. She rode on top of him as they skidded down the hallway toward Lulu and Bandit.

“He’s not going to stop!” Lulu yelled, as if anyone needed telepathy to know what was about to happen. Mouse and Gus smashed into the other puppies at full speed. Mouse heard yelps and snarls. She felt fur, paws, and elbows, and then the door burst open, and they were on the floor of the gathering room.

Mouse extricated herself from the doggy pile and looked around. It was the pack’s fanciest room, where the most important dogs were celebrated. She couldn’t take her eyes off the portraits of her favorite superheroes—Moose, Sparkle, Rocky, and Tobey—hanging above them in fancy gold frames. It had always been the adult dogs who were in charge of protecting the human realm, but one time they went missing, and those four puppies braved the Earth realm and brought them back. Mouse sighed and wished for the umpteenth time that her superpuppy heroes had come back to the doggy realm with the rest of the pack. She wanted to meet them so badly, especially the extra-­big Moose. However, those superpuppies had chosen to stay on Earth with the humans they’d met there.

From the top of a tall cabinet, their cat magic instructor, Shadow, interrupted her thoughts. “It’s time for your first mission in the human realm.”

Mouse felt the other puppies instinctively inch closer to her and was proud. She might be the little one, but she was also the bravest.

Lulu was clearly reading Gus’s mind when she announced, “Gus doesn’t want to go because he can’t remember anything about the Earth realm or the humans who live there.” And, for the first time ever, Mouse wished that Lulu was reading her mind instead. She couldn’t wait for her first mission and wanted everyone else to know.

Mouse was ready to fill everyone in on how she was practically overflowing with courage when Shadow said, “I’d be happy to remind you all what your jobs as superpower puppies are.”

Mouse thumped her tail with impatience. She didn’t need any reminders about who and what they were. She already knew that she and the other dogs who lived in the canine realm were the protectors of the human beings in the Earth realm. Whenever there was a problem, a superpower dog would jump through a magical portal to the human world and take care of it, and now it was her turn! Mouse thought that humans seemed pretty helpless, but she was still looking forward to meeting one...and being faster than them. An image of how they had to get around on two legs popped into her head, and she snorted. So weird.

Mouse turned her focus back to the room when Bandit asked, “But why us? Saving humans is a job for the big dogs.”

Shadow answered, “Moose, Sparkle, Rocky, and Tobey showed us something that I find...” She paused for a moment, and Mouse thought it might be the first time she’d ever seen her magic instructor so mystified. “That I find hard to imagine. Apparently, humans love puppies so much that they’ll let them go anywhere and get away with anything, and you...are...puppies.”

Shadow flicked her paw and shot a burst of magic at the cabinet she was sitting on. The doors opened, and four spitting, sparkling, obviously magic balls floated out. “These are the magic balls the last litter of superpower puppies took from the Earth realm,” she said. “Each one contains a spark of magic from one of the four elements: earth, air, fire, and water. The Earth Elementals created them a long time ago when humans were more connected to nature. Now that they’re all about cell phones, cars, pollution, and pavement, the Elementals want them back. They’re too powerful to be out and about.”

Mouse nodded. If she needed to give a ball to the Elementals, she was ready!

Shadow eyeballed Mouse, shook her head, and continued, “I believe that there are some humans out there who will do good things for their planet with the magic in these balls. I want you to give them the balls.”

Mouse corrected herself. If she needed to give a ball to a good human, she was ready! “That should be easy, then, right?” she asked. “I mean, we’ll just take the balls to those people, drop them on their laps, and say goodbye. We’ll be home in time for dinner.”

“The Elementals will be coming for the balls, and if you’re in the way, they’ll be coming for you,” Shadow warned.

Let them come, Mouse thought as Bandit launched into the superpower puppy chant he made up. “Who are we?” Bandit asked.

Mouse knew. “We’re superpower puppies!”

Bandit was more enthusiastic this time. “What do we do?”

Mouse was just as excited when she replied, “We protect the human realm!” She was ready for the last question, “And why do we do it?” when Gus jumped in with his own response.

“Because we love them!” he said. Mouse knew the real answer was “Because it’s our job!” but there was no time to correct him. The room was filling with sparkles and colors. Mouse felt a surge of magic more powerful than anything she’d ever felt before, but she wasn’t afraid. When four magic portals to the human realm opened, she didn’t hesitate. She grabbed the green, earthy-­looking ball and leaped through the first one.