Stink_ Solar System Superhero - Megan Mcdonald [5]
“Let’s make signs, too,” said Skunk.
“‘Cuckoo for Pluto’” said Webster, waving his marker in the air.
“We can march around school and wave our Pluto signs.”
“We can have a Pluto parade on the playground,” said Stink.
For a long time, all that could be heard in the tent was the squeaking of markers.
At last, the signs were finished. The Underdogs went home. Stink ate supper and thought about Pluto. He took a bath and thought about Pluto. He did his not-science homework and thought about Pluto. Stink Moody, aka Captain Pluto, had Pluto on the brain!
Stink went to bed and couldn’t sleep a wink. He sneaked outside to the tent. He shone his flashlight on the signs lined up in a quiet parade. Next thing he knew, a bright light was shining back at him, right smack in his eyes. “Hey!” called Stink, shielding his eyes.
“Stink Moody,” said a deep voice, “this is the Pluto police. Come out with your hands up.”
But it was not the Pluto police. It was just Judy.
“You scared me half to death,” said Stink. “What are you doing out here in the middle of the night?”
“What do you think? I’m spying on what you’re doing out here in the middle of the night.” Judy’s flashlight hit the signs. PLUTO IS KIND OF A BIG DEAL. “Wow! Did you guys make all these?”
“Yep. Today. What do you think?”
“I think you have Pluto-itis. You need a Pluto-ectomy,” said Dr. Judy.
“I couldn’t sleep,” said Stink. “Just think,” he half-whispered, pointing to the night sky. “Pluto’s up there, right now, billions of miles away, just waiting for us to save it. To earthlings, it just looks like a golf ball with dimples. But it’s spinning out there with tons of other hunks of rock and chunks of ice. And it needs us.”
“And don’t forget space junk,” said Judy. “You know, the trash astronauts throw away. Like fridges and stuff.”
“They don’t have refrigerators flying around in outer space!”
“Yah-huh. And paper clips and sneakers and decks of cards and empty jars of Tang and all sorts of stuff.”
Judy and Stink tilted their heads back and stared up at the sky.
“Killer rocks are out there, too,” said Stink, “streaking through space. One could smash into Earth at any second. A big giant asteroid like the one that wiped out the dinosaurs could be on its way, headed right for Planet Earth.”
“Cosmic,” said Judy. “You better hope an asteroid hits before Mom and Dad find you out here in your PJs on a school night when you’re supposed to be in bed.”
Stink and Judy headed back to bed. But before they did, Stink turned off his flashlight. He held two fingers up to the sky. “Urp!” he said. “We come in peace.”
Early the next morning, Stink’s team stood out in front of the school. As the buses pulled up, Captain Pluto and the Underdogs waved their signs.
Rotten Riley marched up to Stink, hands on hips. “School hasn’t even started yet,” she said. “Mrs. D. said we could do this only during recess.”
“Who can wait?” said Stink.
Riley turned and stomped away. “Oh, you just wait. I’ll get you for this, Stink Moody.”
“That’s Captain Pluto to you!” yelled Stink.
“And the Underdogs!” yelled the Underdogs.
At recess, Captain P. and the Underdogs waved signs again. They shouted stuff. They even sang songs. “R-E-S-P-E-C-T! That’s what Pluto needs from me,” Stink sang at the top of his lungs.
“Give me a P!” Skunk yelled. “Give me an L! Give me a U! Give me a T! Give me an O! What have you got?”
“PLUTO!” yelled the Underdogs.
“I can’t hear you!”
“PLUTO!” screamed the Underdogs. Soon nearly half the whole playground was screaming, too.
Then out came Rotten Riley and the KPBs. They were dressed in black from head to toe and carrying shovels.
“Are they wearing garbage bags?” asked Sophie. Sure enough, Riley and the KPBs had on black garbage bags with holes cut where their heads and arms poked through.
Somebody yelled, “Who forgot to take out the trash?”
“We’re not trash,” said Riley. “We’re dressed in black because we’re going to a funeral.”
“Huh? Wha?”
“FYI, Pluto died. Pluto is D-E-A-D dead.”
Then Riley and her rotten team began to