Balloon Blow-Up Read online

  THE SHRINKING SUPERHERO

  The brothers followed the crowd to the Green Crawler balloon. A crew was pumping it up with helium from a huge tank.

  Frank and Joe watched, wide-eyed. It took lots of helium to fill those green muscles, but soon the boys’ favorite superhero was rising off the ground.

  “Whoa!” Frank exclaimed.

  The Green Crawler hovered a few inches above the grass—until he began shriveling right before everyone’s eyes!

  “Frank,” Joe gasped, “the Green Crawler is . . . shrinking!”

  CONTENTS

  1 MALL MADNESS

  2 SUPERHERO, SUPERZERO!

  3 GREEN CRAWLER FALLER

  4 BLAMED AND FRAMED

  5 CLAWS AND CLUES

  6 UNDERCOVER BROTHERS

  7 ZOOM AND GLOOM

  8 MUSICAL SCARES

  9 BURIED TREASURE

  10 RAID ON PARADE

  1

  Mall Madness

  Check it out, you guys!” nine-year-old Frank Hardy said. “Soon we’re going to meet the Crawler in the flesh!”

  “Green flesh!” Frank’s eight-year-old brother, Joe, said with a grin.

  It was Saturday morning. Frank and Joe were at the Bayport Mall. The boys’ friends Chet and Iola Morton were also there, along with about a hundred other kids.

  They weren’t at the mall to see the new electronic games or sneaker styles. They were there to meet the most awesome superhero, the Green Crawler!

  “Do you think the Crawler will do what he does in the movies?” Chet asked, digging into a bag of Cheesy Curls.

  “You mean grow extra legs five times the normal size?” Iola asked. “And climb walls and ceilings faster than a spider?”

  “Sure,” Frank said. “As long as Mo Mantis doesn’t try to stop him.”

  Chet let out a “Boo!” Mo Mantis was the Green Crawler’s biggest enemy. Mo was part human, part praying mantis, and his dream was to destroy the Green Crawler. Thanks to the Crawler, it was a dream that never came true.

  “Remember,” Iola said. “We’re not here just to see the Crawler. We’re here to find out who won the contest!”

  “How could we forget?” Joe said. “We all drew a picture of the Green Crawler. And the kid with the best picture wins the big prize,” he went on. “A chance to march with the Green Crawler balloon in the Fall Fest parade.”

  The Fall Fest parade happened every October in Bayport. It had floats and the high school marching band, plus one supersize balloon.

  “I’ve always wanted to be one of those balloon handlers,” Chet said, and sighed. He crossed his cheesy fingers. “I hope I win.”

  “Me too,” Joe said. He pulled something from his back pocket. It looked like a green claw on a stick. “That’s why I brought this.”

  “What is it?” Iola asked, wrinkling her nose.

  “It’s my Green Crawler snapping claw!” Joe said, squeezing the handle to make it open and close. “The Green Crawler is the only one who can use Mo Mantis’s own claw against him. It’s also my lucky charm!”

  “You don’t need luck to win this contest, Joe,” Frank said. “Just the best drawing of the Green Crawler.”

  Joe pictured himself as a balloon handler. Neat! But then he had a scary thought . . .

  “What if the balloon picks me up and carries me away?” Joe asked. “I’m just a kid!”

  “The other handlers will all be grown-ups,” Frank said with a chuckle. “That’s what it said in the rules.”

  “Hopefully, big and strong grown-ups,” Chet said. “I heard the Green Crawler balloon is humongous!”

  They were about to move closer to the stage when a bunch of voices began shouting: “We want Nutty! We want Nutty back in the parade!”

  “Who are they?” Chet asked as some kids marched by holding signs. “And why are they wearing squirrel hats?”

  “It’s the Nutty the Squirrel fan club,” Frank explained.

  “You mean that cartoon squirrel?” Iola asked. “The Nutty the Squirrel balloon was in the parade two years in a row.”

  “That’s why the fan club is here, I guess,” Frank decided. “They want the Nutty balloon back in the parade.”

  “They can dream on,” Chet declared. “The Green Crawler wipes the floor with that Nutty the Squirrel!”

  “Shh!” Iola warned. “They might hear you!”

  Too late. The fans stopped shouting. A boy wearing glasses and the biggest squirrel hat glared at Chet as he walked over.

  “Here comes Sammy Kernkraut,” Joe murmured. “He’s the president of the Nutty club.”

  “How do you know?” Frank asked.

  “He’s in my class,” Joe said. “He carries a Nutty lunchbox and wears a different Nutty T-shirt every day.”

  Sammy stopped in front of Chet. He planted his hands on his hips, then said, “Oh yeah? Nutty the Squirrel can stuff a hundred acorns into his mouth—and whistle the Nutty theme song at the same time.”

  “Oh yeah?” Chet shot back. “The Green Crawler can climb a skyscraper in thirty seconds!”

  “Nutty can do it in ten seconds!” Sammy snapped.

  As Chet and Sammy continued to argue, Joe turned to Frank. “Too bad there can’t be two balloons in the parade,” he whispered.

  “Oof!” Frank grunted as someone bumped past him. He frowned when he saw Adam Ackerman—the biggest bully at Bayport Elementary School. With him was his friend, the second-biggest bully, Tony Riccio.

  Adam and Tony pushed their way through the crowd toward the stage, stepping on several toes along the way.

  “Why don’t you look where you’re going?” Frank yelled.

  “Why don’t you mind your own business,” Adam shot back, “detectives Hardy and Hardy?”

  Frank rolled his eyes. Adam was always teasing him and Joe about solving mysteries. Probably because he was always the suspect.

  “What if Adam wins and gets to be a balloon handler?” Frank asked, and frowned.

  “Adam?” Joe snorted. “He’s got enough hot air to be his own balloon!”

  Sammy walked by, holding Chet’s bag of Cheesy Curls. Chet was holding a small bag of Nutty Squirrel Nuts.

  “What happened?” Frank asked.

  “We made a truce,” Chet said, popping a nut into his mouth. “But Sammy still wants Nutty in the parade.”

  A tune suddenly blared from the loudspeaker. It was the Green Crawler theme song.

  “We want the Green Crawler!” Joe yelled. Soon all the kids, except those in the Nutty the Squirrel fan club, were cheering for the Crawler too!

  The cheering grew louder as a trapdoor in the stage floor slowly opened.

  “Here he comes!” Joe shouted.

  A thick gray mist covered the stage. Through it the outline of a figure could be seen.

  “It’s him!” Chet said. “It’s the Crawler!”

  Joe looked harder, then shook his head.

  “That’s not the Green Crawler,” Joe said. “That’s the villain—Mo Mantis!”

  2

  Superhero, Superzero!

  Booooo!” the kids shouted as Mo stepped forward.

  “Greetings, Bayport!” Mo laughed, waving his steely sharp claws at the crowd. “Eeeeeevil greetings!”

  Joe stared at Mo. With his mantis mask and hood, he looked exactly like he did in the Green Crawler movies!

  “Boo and hiss all you want!” Mo declared. He pressed his pointy hands together. “I’m praaaaaaying that the Green Crawler balloon is destroyed so I can fly over Bayport in all my villainous glory!”

  Suddenly—poof! A thick cloud of green smoke swallowed up Mo Mantis.

  “Where did he go?” Frank wondered out loud.

  The smo
ke cleared. Mo was gone. In his place was—

  “The Green Crawler!” Joe exclaimed.

  Everyone cheered as the Green Crawler stepped out of the smoke. Tucked in his enormous muscled arm was a giant can marked PEST SPRAY.

  “You all know I’m one strong dude,” the Green Crawler told the crowd. “Well, I’m looking for a strong kid to hold down my balloon in the Fall Fest parade!”

  Hands shot up as kids shouted, “Me! Me! Me!”

  “Then what are we waiting for?” the Green Crawler said. “Let this mean green contest begin!”

  Another man joined the Green Crawler. He was introduced as Mitch Snyder, the owner of Snyder’s Department Store. The biggest department store in Bayport sponsored the Fall Fest parade every year.

  “Hey, kids,” Mitch said, holding up a big envelope. “I’ve got the winning drawing right here.”

  Joe wished he had X-ray vision. Was the winning drawing his?

  “Everyone take out your tickets,” Mitch went on. “The ones with the numbers printed on them.”

  Frank was already holding his ticket, number sixty-five. “Why don’t you take out your ticket?” he asked Joe.

  “I don’t have to,” Joe said. “I know it’s number sixty-six.”

  A hush fell over the crowd as Mitch opened the envelope. He looked inside, then said into the mike, “The winning drawing is . . . number sixty-six.”

  “Huh?” Joe said. Had he heard what he thought he’d just heard? His eyes lit up as Mitch pulled a drawing from the envelope. It was his drawing!

  “Way to go, Joe!” Frank said, patting Joe’s back. “Where’s your ticket?”

  Joe dug through his pockets. Where had he put his ticket?

  “Um . . . I don’t know.” Joe gulped.

  “What do you mean, you don’t know?” Frank cried. “You need the number to win!”

  Joe was about to panic when he remembered the pocket on the knee of his cargo pants. He reached in and—

  “Here it is!” Joe sighed with relief. He tossed his lucky claw to Frank and squeezed through the crowd to the stage.

  “And we have our winner!” the Crawler said after matching Joe’s ticket to the numbered drawing. “What’s your name, big guy?”

  “Joe Hardy!” Joe said into the mike.

  “Well, Joe,” the Green Crawler said, “who will you pick to march with you in the parade? You get to choose one friend or relative.”

  “That would be my brother, Frank,” Joe said. “We’re not just brothers, we’re detectives.”

  Frank smiled from the crowd. He and Joe made an awesome detective team—even though they were totally different. Frank was the serious, cautious type. Joe was serious too—about jumping into any mystery head-on!

  “Detectives, huh?” The Green Crawler chuckled. “Maybe you can help me battle Mo Mantis one of these days!”

  “Deal!” Joe said.

  “Here you go, Joe,” Mitch said, handing Joe a big brown envelope. “This will tell you all about the parade.”

  “Like what?” Joe asked excitedly.

  “Like that there’ll be a parade orientation next Saturday morning in the park at seven thirty,” Mitch said. “We’ll be blowing up the Green Crawler balloon for you to practice with.”

  “Thanks!” Joe said. He took the brown envelope and then ran offstage to meet Frank.

  “I guess this thing was lucky!” Frank said, tossing the Crawler claw back to Joe.

  Joe grinned as he stuck his claw into his back pocket. He was about to look for Chet and Iola when he saw someone else. . . .

  “Isn’t that Mo Mantis over there?” Joe asked.

  Frank followed Joe’s gaze. Sure enough, leaning against the wall was Mo, sipping from a cup through his mask. The hand holding the cup was free of its glove.

  “Cool,” Frank said. “Let’s go over and say hi.”

  The brothers hurried over to Mo.

  “Hey, Mo,” Joe said. “I’ll bet you’re drinking a sinister brew that’ll make you eviler with each sip!”

  Frank and Joe waited for Mo’s reply. Instead, he silently glared at Joe through his mantis mask. Gulp.

  “Let’s go,” Frank whispered.

  “Whoa,” Joe said as they walked away. “Did you see those scary eyes?”

  “And did you see the tattoo on his hand?” Frank asked.

  “A tattoo?” Joe said. “Of what?”

  “A praying mantis,” Frank replied. “What else?”

  Chet and Iola pushed through the crowd to get to Frank and Joe.

  “I can’t believe you won, Joe!” Iola said.

  “Believe it, because here it is,” Joe said as he held up the brown envelope. “The grand prize!”

  Suddenly—

  “Hey!” Joe cried as someone snatched the envelope out of his hand. Spinning around, Joe saw Adam and Tony. Adam was holding the brown envelope and grinning nastily.

  “Give it back!” Joe demanded.

  “No way!” Adam sneered. “I had the winning number!”

  “You did not!” Joe said. “I had number sixty-six.”

  Adam shook his head. He used his free hand to hold up his ticket. “See? . . . Number sixty-six.”

  “That’s number ninety-nine upside down,” Iola snapped. “Nice try, Ackerman.”

  Joe tried to take the envelope, but Adam held it back.

  “Come on, Adam!” Frank said angrily. “That was Joe’s drawing of the Green Crawler they picked, not yours.”

  “You probably drew Mo Mantis, Adam,” Chet said. “It takes a villain to know one.”

  Adam glared at Chet. He then raced off with the envelope, Tony right behind him.

  Joe froze as he watched the bullies get away. That envelope had everything he needed to be in the parade!

  “What are we waiting for, Joe?” Frank cried. “Let’s get Adam—and that envelope!”

  3

  Green Crawler Faller

  The Hardys and the Mortons chased the bullies through the mall. They darted past the sports store and the music shop, and even zigzagged through the tables in the food court.

  “Stop!” Joe yelled.

  Frank and Joe picked up speed. They were about to catch up with Adam and Tony when the two slipped inside an elevator.

  “Rats!” Frank said as the doors began to close.

  “Game over!” Adam laughed as he waved the envelope.

  “Not yet!” Joe said. He thrust his Crawler claw between the closing doors. Adam gasped as the claw snatched the envelope from his hand!

  “Hey!” Adam yelled as the doors closed.

  Joe turned to Frank and his friends. He waved his trusty gadget with the envelope.

  “I told you it was lucky!” Joe said.

  • • •

  The next Saturday morning couldn’t come quickly enough for Joe and Frank. They could hardly sit still in the backseat of their dad’s car as he drove them to parade practice.

  “Do you have the envelope?” Fenton Hardy asked. “And your IDs?”

  “Check!” Joe said, holding up the envelope.

  “Check!” Frank said, lifting the ID around his neck.

  “Your mom and I signed the permission slips,” Mr. Hardy said as he drove. “Now, remember the parade organization’s agreement that you both signed.”

  Frank nodded. “Any disrespectful behavior like vandalizing parade property means we’re out of the parade,” he said.

  “Who do they think we are?” Joe joked. “Adam and Tony?”

  Mr. Hardy dropped Frank and Joe off at the park. After saying good-bye, the brothers made their way toward the special parade tent. On the way the boys spotted a shiny red motorbike parked against a tree.

  “Somebody rode here in style,” Frank said.

  But Joe had his eye on something else. It was big and green, and stretched out over a nearby field.

  “Look, Frank!” Joe said. “That must be the Green Crawler balloon before it’s blown up.”

  Some workers s
pread out the balloon, while others tethered it to the ground. Joe wondered if they were balloon handlers—just like him and Frank.

  Also in the park were the parade floats. One was decorated to look like a pirate ship. Another had a castle with a big purple dragon on top.

  The biggest float carried a small red barn and a haystack. Teenagers and kids dressed up like scarecrows practiced a dance while a girl with long brown hair sang.

  “That’s Taylor Smyth!” Frank said. “She’s a huge star.”

  Joe shook his head as he pointed to the Crawler balloon. “That’s the biggest star in the parade,” he said.

  Frank and Joe were watching some clowns practicing handstands when they spotted Sammy and his Nutty the Squirrel fan club. The club members were walking quietly through the park, toward the balloon.

  “What are they doing here?” Joe wondered.

  The club stopped to stare at the Green Crawler balloon. After a signal from Sammy the kids turned and continued walking.

  “Did you see them staring at that balloon?” Frank asked. “I hope they’re not here to make trouble.”

  “Those kids?” Joe scoffed. “They make Nutty the Squirrel seem ferocious!”

  Frank’s eyes lit up as if he’d just remembered something. He pulled a camera out of his pocket. “I brought this to take pictures of the balloon.”

  “And I brought this,” Joe said, pulling the Green Crawler claw from his back pocket. “My lucky charm.”

  “But you already won the contest!” Frank said.

  Joe shrugged and said, “You can never be too lucky!”

  The brothers entered a tent set up for parade volunteers. There to greet them was the parade director, Kevin Lively.

  “Hi, guys,” Kevin said. “Welcome to—”

  “Excuse me, Mr. Lively!” a woman interrupted. She wore a blue-and-gold marching band uniform and a big scowl.

  “Boys,” Kevin said, “meet Kit Abernathy, the high school band director.”

  Kit nodded at Frank and Joe. She then turned to Kevin and said, “What’s this about my band being followed by the Green Crawler balloon?”

  “What’s wrong with that?” Kevin asked.

  “All eyes will be on the balloon, not on the Bayport Boomerangs!” Kit complained while waving her conductor’s baton in Kevin’s face.