X-plosion Read online

  And that was just the beginning. Lenni did kickflips and spins, tricks I’d never seen anyone do before. He even did a McTwist, flying up above the edge of the ramp and spinning over and over before coming back down and hurtling toward the center of the ramp, like a front flip while on a skateboard. For his final move, he leaped into the air on his way down the ramp, grabbed his board, and landed upside down in a one-handed handstand.

  I whistled softly to myself.

  “Wow,” I said. “He totally blew me away.”

  “Yeah,” said David. He’d come up from behind me, and I hadn’t noticed him standing next to me. He had a nasty smirk on his face. “She did.”

  Beaten by a girl in the first round?

  Burn!

  FRANK

  7

  A Wolff in Sheep’s Clothing

  From the stands, I watched Joe get blown out of the water by his competition. By the end of the day, her name was on everyone’s lips. Lenni Wolff. None of the other skaters had even heard of her, although that seemed impossible. Some people said she was as good as Cody himself. Others said she was better. One by one, she knocked down each of the skaters who came against her in the first round of trials. At first, people were paying attention to all the skating matches, but soon everyone was gathered around, waiting for her. Even Cody and London came down off the stage to get a better look. She had the highest standing by far when the competition ended for the day. There were a few other skaters who were in her league, but she was the odds-on favorite to win.

  I went back and forth between watching her and watching the crowd, looking for any sign of Sk8rH8r, or the punks who had disrupted the park yesterday. But there was nothing, just an endless parade of people in Cody Zane shirts and hats. The competition seemed to go as smoothly as Tyrone could have wanted, and everyone seemed to be having a great time. Everyone except for Joe.

  He was mopey all day after his loss. When I found him by the purple ramp right after he had skated and lost, he seemed in shock. He was standing there with his helmet in hand, mouth hanging open.

  “You did well,” I said, trying to cheer him up. It didn’t work.

  “Whatever,” he said. “Besides, we’re not really here for the competition. This was just so I could get close to Cody, remember?”

  That wasn’t what he’d said earlier, but I let it go. He and Lenni shook hands, and we walked off into the crowd. At first we split up, trying to cover more ground that way. Plus, I think Joe wanted some time to himself. But after an hour or two, he came and found me. He seemed to be in a much better mood. It’s hard to stay sad for long when your day job is being an undercover detective and superspy. As the day went on, it became more and more obvious that nothing was going to happen, and we could take our time and watch the competition. Sk8rH8r and 4Real, whoever they were, seemed to be taking the day off.

  Maybe, I thought, the explosion of Mount McKenzie was a bomb planted long ago. It could be that the case was over and we just didn’t know it yet. But that didn’t account for the razor-sharp metal strips on the ramp. Or the skateboarding protesters. Still, I could hope.

  At the end of the day, Cody invited Lenni up on stage with him to congratulate her for winning the first round of the competition. Instead of using the stairs, she grabbed the front of the stage and hurtled up onto it, still wearing her skating pads and clutching her board. When she took off her helmet, she revealed short, spiky hair dyed a brilliant blue. Something about her looked familiar, but I couldn’t think of what it was. Cody stepped up to the microphone.

  “How about a big hand for today’s top skater, Lenni Wolff!”

  The crowd cheered, and Lenni waved once. She seemed tense—probably nervous over all the attention. This must have been her first time in a competition like this, which would explain why none of the other skaters had ever heard of her. Judging from her performance today, we’d be hearing a lot about her in the future.

  “Lenni, eh? Funny name for a girl!”

  Cody smiled his big celebrity grin at Lenni, but she just rolled her eyes at him. I imagined she heard jokes about her name a lot. He waited for a moment, expecting her to laugh or say something, but she just stood there silently.

  “Well, yeah. Uh, as I was saying. A big hand for Lenni! She did some amazing stuff out there today. Truly impressive skating. The kind of thing I need to see for my new video game, Cody Zane: Skate or Die.”

  The crowd cheered at the mention of the game.

  “In fact, the only way she could have skated better today would have been with a Hubris brand board. They’re my brand of choice—in fact, I love them so much I’m the official spokes-skater for Hubris. Remember, with Hubris, you’ll never fall!”

  Jeez, I thought. If he spent as much time skating as he does trying to sell stuff, he really would be an amazing skater. So far I hadn’t seen him skate even once!

  Lenni seemed pretty bored by all his talk as well. She kept looking up and around the stage. She was clearly uncomfortable up there. I almost felt bad for her. Being a great skater didn’t automatically make you great at being the center of attention. Although it certainly seemed to help Cody….

  Finally Lenni had enough of Cody’s speech. Right as Cody started talking about the benefits of drinking PowerUp, she walked over and took the mic from him. Cody looked shocked as she shooed him out of the way and took the podium for herself. For a moment the crowd went silent. Her nervousness suddenly took on a sinister feeling, as though she were waiting for something.

  “Joe, look!” I pointed up above Lenni’s head.

  Two figures had appeared on the scaffolding above the stage, one on either side. Something was definitely wrong. Right as Lenni began to speak, they dropped something down.

  A banner spread out below them, covering the entire back of the stage. In giant letters it read GALAXY X: ADVENTURE, OR ADVERTISING VENTURE?

  “Cody here might tell you all about the companies that sponsor him,” Lenni began to yell. “But what he isn’t telling you is that Tyrone McKenzie stole this land! Myself and a bunch of other local skaters built a skate park here all by ourselves, and Tyrone McKenzie knocked it down and built a place where we have to pay to skate!”

  I could see security guards looking around in confusion. In a few seconds Tyrone would have them charging the stage. But Lenni made the most of her moment.

  “Cody Zane is a sellout for supporting Galaxy X! Has anyone here even seen him skate? All he cares about is the money—just like Tyrone McKenzie!”

  They were coming for her now, a pack of guards on either side of the stage running her way. Joe and I were caught in the crowd and couldn’t get near her. Lenni Wolff was about to go from top skater to top prisoner.

  Or at least, it seemed that way. Right before the first of the guards reached her, Lenni threw the microphone down and shoved her helmet on. She took a running leap off the stage, throwing her board down in front of her. The crowd scattered to get out of her way.

  The two figures on top of the scaffolding did the same thing, one jumping into the crowd on the right and one on the left. Suddenly I realized they were all dressed identically, in matching black outfits and the same helmet and knee pads. The crowd was moving to avoid being run over by Lenni and her friends or trampled by the guards, so Joe and I had a clear sight on the three of them.

  “Come on!” I yelled to Joe. “We have to stop her—I mean, them—before they get away.”

  We ran toward Lenni and the other skaters. But we weren’t the only ones. Out of the crowd came a dozen other skaters, all dressed in black with matching blue helmets. Within seconds it was impossible to tell which one of them was Lenni Wolff.

  One came close to me and I tackled him. But once I got him to the ground, he pulled off his helmet and it was just some random boy. He stuck his tongue out at me and hopped back on his board, flying off in the direction the other skaters had gone. Joe had no luck either. He’d managed to get someone else off their skateboard, but though it was a
girl, it certainly wasn’t Lenni.

  The security guards weren’t even that successful. Once again, the skaters were flying rings around them, making the guards look like lumbering gorillas. Above it all I could hear Tyrone screaming, yelling abuse at the guards and Joe and me, offering a reward to anyone who could capture Lenni. But the crowd wasn’t listening to him. They were too busy watching us make fools of ourselves.

  Within a minute, all the skaters were gone. Up on the stage, Cody was still standing by the podium, shocked. The banner flapped in the wind above him. I could hear London’s high, obnoxious laugh in the background. It looked like we had a new suspect number one.

  * * *

  Suspect Profile

  Name: Lenni Wolff

  Hometown: Right here on Coral Island, North Carolina-or what’s left of it, after Tyrone demolished most of it to build Galaxy X.

  Occupation: Professional troublemaker and amateur skater.

  Physical description: 5?5?; 115 lbs; age 15; short, bright blue hair. Dresses like a skater: baggy jeans, big black boots, pins and patches on everything.

  Suspicious behavior: She’d already disrupted Galaxy X and the Skate or Die Competition twice, and she clearly had an ax to grind with Cody Zane and Tyrone McKenzie. Maybe this skater was also a Sk8rH8r?

  Suspected of: Murdering Bret Johnston, and trying to sabotage the Cody Zane Skate or Die Competition.

  Possible motives: Tyrone Smith leveled the skate park she had created in order to build Galaxy X. Plus, she seemed pretty angry at all the “poseurs” and “fakes” who were coming to skate at the competition.

  * * *

  JOE

  8

  The Ride of Their Lives

  “Let’s go after her! I mean, uh, them!” I yelled. In the distance, I could see the last of the blue-helmeted skaters zooming away through the park. But which one was Lenni? I couldn’t tell them apart at all. It was a clever trick, that was for sure.

  “Forget it, Joe,” said Frank. “There’s no way we can catch up with them. Besides, it looks like Cody is heading off into the park—we should follow him.”

  I turned around and saw that Frank was right—Cody, London, and David seemed to be heading out of the competition area and into the heart of Galaxy X. Cody’s bodyguards had been distracted by chasing Lenni, and it looked like Cody was taking advantage of their absence to get some time on his own. We couldn’t let him wander off in the park with Lenni and her gang of skaters on the loose. I also saw Tyrone heading our way, looking madder than ever. Luckily, he was having a hard time getting through the crowd. With Frank right behind me, I hustled over to reach Cody and get out of Tyrone’s way. I don’t think he was too pleased with how the competition had gone. We leaped up onto the stage and followed Cody out the back exit before Tyrone could reach us.

  “Hey, guys!” As usual, Cody seemed to be in a good—if somewhat spacey—mood. If he was upset by what had happened at the competition, he didn’t show it.

  “That was far out!” London laughed. “All that ‘blah blah blah’ speech making…and that crazy chase was like…wow!”

  David grunted sourly.

  It was business as usual with the Zaniacs.

  “Want to come ride some roller coasters with us?” Cody asked. “We’re going to see if we can hit all the major ones in a single afternoon. First person to puke owes everyone ice cream!”

  “Sounds great,” I agreed. Frank looked a little green at the mention of the rides, but he agreed to come too. Only David hung back.

  “I was thinking maybe we could, I don’t know—skate or something?” David sounded irritated. “Remember, that thing we used to do together?”

  Cody just laughed. “That’s cool, dude. Have fun practicing.”

  He held up his hand for a high five, but David was already stalking off toward the VIP area. I don’t think I’d seen him smile once yet. Cody shrugged and tried to laugh it off, but I could tell he was kind of upset. All the magazines and websites said David and Cody had been best friends who grew up skating together, but it certainly seemed like their relationship had gone sour.

  Cody had a map of the park and a list of rides he wanted to go on. He wasn’t kidding—he really loved roller coasters. The scarier the better. He skipped all the easy ones. If it didn’t flip upside down or drop you a hundred feet, he wasn’t really interested. London, too—the crazier the ride, the more into it she was.

  “We’ll do this one as a warm-up,” Cody said, pointing to a ride called the Whirligig.

  “Lead the way,” said Frank. He was definitely looking a little woozy. He could fly a plane or go on a motorcycle chase, no problem, but he wasn’t a big fan of roller coasters.

  The Whirligig turned out to be a giant tower that rose forty feet up in the air. Dozens of cables hung down from it like tentacles off of a giant squid. Each person was suited up in a special vest, and a cable was connected to their back. When the ride started, the tower began to twist in place, spinning faster and faster until Cody, Joe, London, and I were all dragged off our feet. Soon we were flying through midair like Superman.

  “YEAAAHHH!”

  I could hear Cody whooping and hollering. The faster we went, the louder he yelled. London’s mockingbird laugh could be heard even over his yelling. I was dizzy by the time the ride finally let us down, and Frank could barely stand up. But Cody and London got off and immediately started running to the next ride.

  “Let’s do that one!” London pointed to a ride where the cars were all shaped like giant snakes. The whole roller coaster looked vaguely snakelike, all shiny black and green with an S-shaped track. Appropriately, it was called the Cobra.

  It whipped around the track so fast I thought it was going to break my neck. I’d flown in jets that I would swear hadn’t gone that fast. As you rode, the car made a terrible hissing noise, exactly like a giant snake. It was awesome!

  We went on four or five more rides in rapid succession. The best part about being with Cody was that everyone got right out of his way—we never waited on a single line. Sometimes we got mobbed by autograph seekers, but mostly people were excited just to point at Cody and whisper to their friends. Every boy in the park wanted a picture with London. And some girl even asked Cody to marry her!

  “I’m hungry,” London announced as we got off a ride that was like a cross between a Ferris wheel and a roller coaster—each car rotated around in a circle while zooming down a giant track. Frank seemed nauseated at even the mention of food.

  “I want to keep riding. Joe, bud, would you take London to get something to eat? I wouldn’t want her to get lonely.” Cody threw his arm around London’s shoulders, and she giggled.

  “Sure.” I was having a blast riding the coasters with Cody, and I didn’t really want to stop. But he asked me specifically, so I didn’t feel like I could say no. Besides, we were buds now, and this was the sort of thing buds did for each other.

  “Uh…I could get food with London.” Frank tried to break in, but everyone ignored him.

  Soon London and I were on our way to the All-You-Can-Eat Fried Everything stand, while Frank and Cody wandered over to the entrance of the Leap.

  The Leap was Galaxy X’s most infamous roller coaster. It was one of a kind. From a distance, it looked like two roller coasters standing next to each other. The cars zoomed around the first one, building up speed until they were sent rocketing off in midair, before landing safely on the second coaster.

  At least, that was how it was supposed to be. It looked like the Leap wasn’t open yet. But while London debated between getting a fried Twinkie on a stick or a breaded and deep-fried chicken wing, I watched as a maintenance man ran down to let Cody and Frank into the ride. I guess being Cody Zane had its perks.

  London and I sat by one of the tall tables and watched as the Leap cranked itself to life to send its first riders over its “Chasm of Doom.” I had to admit, I was kind of jealous of Frank at that moment.

  “That’s funny,” Londo
n said to herself as she chowed down on her Twinkie stick.

  “What?”

  “The angle of the roller coaster. If I were approaching that jump on my board, I would say there was no way I could make it.”

  I looked at the place where the two halves of the Leap faced each other. London was right. The launching half was much lower than the landing half. If the coaster actually went around the track and over the jump, it would be cut in two by the steel rails on the other side—along with anyone in the car!

  I was running toward the ride before I even had time to think about what I was going to do. I heard London yelling after me, but I didn’t have time to explain. If I didn’t hurry, Frank and Cody were going to have the ride of their lives—the last ride of their lives, that is.

  Before I could get to the Leap, the cars began moving. Cody and Joe were in the second car sent around the coaster. There was an empty car halfway around the track already. I tried yelling up to the operator, but the little booth was perched too far up for them to hear me. Frank and Cody began to gain speed, flying through the first loop of the track. I could hear Cody screaming with joy. I had maybe fifteen seconds to save them. Maybe.

  My eyes darted around the roller coaster, looking for some way to stop it. By the time I climbed up to the operator’s booth, it would be too late. How could I stop a thousand pounds of speeding metal?

  Suddenly I spotted a series of thick cables leading from the machinery of the coaster to a giant power generator nearby. If I could cut off the electricity, it might stop the car before it was too late.

  I was closing in on the generator when the first empty car shot out between the two halves of the Leap. For a second it looked as though it was going to make it—then it dipped too low and rammed straight into the other side of the ride. With a horrible screeching noise, the track went through the car like a knife through butter. A rain of sparks and shrapnel came hailing down on me. Something sharp sliced my arm, but I kept running. All around me, people were pointing and screaming.