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Justice,” Exact Change Kid told him. “Just put it in the microwave on high for four minutes, okay?”
    “I know! I know!” Latchkey Kid spat back.
    “You know, it’s a beautiful day out. Maybe you could go to the park or something?”
    “Yeah. Whatever.”
    “Okay. We’ll see you around nine o’clock,” Exact Change Kid told him. “If it’s any later, we’ll call, and then maybe you can have Mrs. Johnson come over.”
    Latchkey Kid didn’t answer. He stared at the TV and took a swig from his soda. Exact Change Kid slowly closed the door.
    “Maybe we should call a sitter?” he asked.
    “Come on!” I urged and pulled Exact Change Kid through the gaping hole in the wall.
    We raced across the Sidekick Super Additional-Parking Parking Lot of Justice.
    “Where’s the rocket?” I asked.
    Exact Change Kid raced up to a cardboard box and crawled inside.
    What awaited me inside was not an elevator that would take us down to the ultra-technology level of the Sidekick Super Clubhouse. It wasn’t a transporter that would beam us to the bridge of the rocket. It wasn’t even a go-cart with a chipmunk running on a treadmill as the engine.
    “This isn’t a rocket!” I yelled. “This is just a cardboard box with knobs and dials painted on the inside!”
    Exact Change Kid hung his head, broken by the pounding hammer of reality. “I know, I know,” he sobbed. “I was hoping no one would notice.”
    I crawled out of the box and kicked it. My foot broke through the cardboard side.
    “Oh, great!” Exact Change Kid shouted from inside. “Now it’ll never get off the ground!”
    Spelling Beatrice’s tracking tile beeped in my hand. It grew faint. “Come on! The signal’s fading! They’ll be out of range soon!”
    The two of us raced from the parking lot and stood on the street corner. I could run there myself, but my ankle was still hurting from being buried under the rubble, and I had to save all my strength for the final battle.
    And there
would
be a final battle. I wasn’t about to give up.
    “There!” Exact Change Kid shouted, pointing down the street.
    “What?” I said. “It’s just a bus.”
    “Just a bus to you. A fortress of solitude to me!”
    The bus pulled over at the curb and we raced inside.
    “Sir, by the power vested in me through the use of Spandex, I’m commandeering this bus for the battle against evil!” Exact Change Kid told the driver.
    “Whatever,” the driver said, pulling from the curb. “That’ll be two dollars and ten cents. Each.
Exact change only
.”
    Exact Change Kid leaped in front of me and thrust out his arms as if he was protecting me from a charging bull.
    “Stand back, Speedy,” he said, filled with determination and purpose. “Stand back and watch me shine!”
    Back at the Sidekick Super Clubhouse, Earlobe Lad raced into the main room.
    “EVERYBODY! LOOK!” He shouted and pointed to a pair of giant lead earmuffs wrapped around his head. “NOW YOU CAN TALK AS LOUD AS — HEY... WHERE IS EVERYBODY?”
    The microwave beeped. Latchkey Kid looked up from behind the open door of the fridge.
    “They’ll be back around nine,” he said, popping open another can of soda.

Chapter Seven
    These Chapter Titles Make No Sense

    “Amazing.”
    “What?” Exact Change Kid asked, raising his sullen head from his hands.
    “It’s just amazing, that’s all. Absolutely amazing.”
    “What is?” he asked again.
    “Nothing. It’s nothing,” I replied.
    Exact Change Kid hung his head again. This time it sunk a little lower between his knees than before.
    “Let me ask you a question,” I began, trying my best to not yell. “If I could
not
run fast, and I mean really,
really
fast, do you think I’d call myself Speedy!?”
    “No.” Exact Change Kid whimpered.
    “Then why in the world does a sidekick named Exact Change Kid NOT have one hundred percent exact change the only time in his stupid life he’ll ever really need it!?”
    Okay. I was shouting now.
    “I