Nice jump, loser. What was that, like, three inches off the ground? said Craig.

It was better than yours, replied Jake.

Whatever, guys, it's just the stupid bike. It's too small for us, said Lincoln, trying to calm his friends down, as he took the stolen bike from Jake. It was getting dark and he didn't want to get home late again because of his two bickering friends. The three boys were on the far west end of the park and it would take some time to get home before the sun went down.

Yeah, it's time to get going anyway, said Craig.

Just as the three 14-year-old boys turned to go, a figure dropped down from the trees, startling them. It wasn't the figure that startled them as much as the way she had appeared. She had dropped 10 feet from the trees in front of them but landed as softly as if she had just taken a step.

Good evening, boys. It looks like you're headed for home, but I'm afraid I'm going to need you to hand over the bike, said the girl.

Craig spoke first. What the heck err, I mean, who the heck are you?

The girl looked like something straight out of comic-con. She couldn't have been more than 12 years old, judging by her voice and her less than five-foot height. The girl was wearing a pastel colored outfit that looked like a pale blue leotard, but it wasn't just blue the elbows pads, belt, gloves, boots, and a large S on her chest were all orange. Branching off from the S were thin orange lines connecting all the other orange parts of the outfit together. There were also purple lines spread like veins all over the blue leotard. A very unique decoration, thought Lincoln. No, not just decoration, Lincoln decided; those strands of purple and orange almost looked like thin, long snakes, slowly moving around the blue leotard. The flare didn't stop there: she had a yellow, glowing face mask on. Lincoln was wondering if it was battery powered or just glow-in-the-dark material it was pretty impressive, regardless. She also had a red cape on but, again, the material was odd, like it was a soft liquid that seemed to always be slightly shifting. Finally, she held what looked like a green whip. However, as Lincoln looked closer, he saw it was more like a larger version of the orange and purple snakes on her outfit. She held one end of the green material in her hand and the other end draped down to the ground.

I'm Slime Girl, replied the girl in the outrageous costume.

Jake laughed. Ha! Slime girl? Cool costume, little girl, but we don't have time to play dress-up, so step aside.

Slime Girl sighed. I'd like to do this the easy way. I know that is Sandra Peterson's bike you stole. You will return it to me now and I'll do you three thieves the favor of taking it back to her.

Alright, enough of this. Grab the bike, guys, we're leaving! Now, move out of the... Craig wasn't able to finish, for as he tried to move the girl out of the way, his arm was thrown back with quite a bit of force, making him stumble.

Craig was surprised but more embarrassed; he was the biggest kid in his class and wasn't about to be laughed at by his friends because he got pushed around by a little girl.

Oh dear, looks like the hard way it is, said Slime Girl as she watched Craig begin to charge her.

With what looked like no effort, Slime Girl jumped eight feet in the air, completely over the charging Craig, and landed gracefully behind him. Craig was so startled that he tripped and fell.

Oh no, this is not going to end well, thought Lincoln, who unlike his two friends had already figured out that this was no ordinary little girl.

That's it! shouted Jake as he shoved the girl in the back as hard as he could. The poor girl fell flat on her face but, wait Lincoln's face turned from a cringe to a look of surprise as he realized she had never actually hit the ground! She seemed so close but hovered for only a moment, her nose just an inch from the ground. By some unknown force, she was suddenly raised straight back up to her feet and then quickly spun to face Jake. Lincoln blinked to be sure he was seeing okay, as the maneuver she had just performed shouldn't have been possible.

What the heck? said Jake, astonished. He moved to shove her again. This time, the girl was facing him, but she still made no move to stop him and Jake shoved hard but the girl didn't move, poor Jake did! He was rebounded off the girl, flying several feet through the air and landing in the grass.

Lincoln was so shocked at first, he couldn't move. Then he looked at the girl and, still holding the bike, started to back away.

Sorry, still need that bike. She then moved faster than seemed possible for such a small girl. Her right hand, still holding that strange green material, shot forward and the end of the whip-thing struck Lincoln right in the chest. He was baffled as he realized several things at once:

First, he realized he needed to stop pulling. The green whip was stuck to his clothes so strongly he feared pulling away any harder would rip his shirt. His mother would kill him if he ruined his new shirt. The second thing he realized was the green whip was no whip at all. He would have laughed if he wasn't so terrified. It was slime! Green slime! Slime Girl. Duh, he thought to himself. The terrifying situation got even scarier as he saw the green slime shoot out twice more from her hand. Once to latch onto Craig, who had just finished getting up, and once onto Jake, who was still trying to catch his breath. Lincoln watched as this little girl pulled all three boys to their feet, dragging them closer to her. Lincoln swallowed as he watched the purple slime strands flow down her blue slime suit, down to her feet. All three boys' jaws dropped as they watched the purple slime strands push her into the air. Lincoln could not believe his eyes. There she was, hovering, feet off the ground, staring them down.

Here is what's going to happen, boys. You're going to leave Sandra's bike and then you're going to leave. Tomorrow at school, the three of you will walk up to Sandra and ask for her forgiveness for stealing her bike. You had better be sincere about your apology, and I'll know if you don't apologize, Slime Girl told them. Then her red cape split into three strands, stretching out to touch each of the boys. Jake's and Craig's terrified faces slowly faded away. Lincoln immediately wasn't as scared anymore; in fact, he was actually happy to see her now. He did feel bad for stealing the bike after all, and this girl was just making them set things right. All three boys relaxed and nodded their heads to Slime Girl.

Now, it's time for you three to be heading home, Slime Girl said as the green slime released the boys. The green slime whipped out again to grab the bike, which was then brought quickly back to Slime Girl, who caught it effortlessly with her other hand. The three boys continued to watch her in awe as she threw the green slime whip upward. It stretched and then stuck to the tall trees.

Goodnight, boys! she called, and with a final amazing act, the purple slime strands shot her higher into the air, just as the green slime yanked her into the trees. She zipped from their view into the air. Lincoln could have sworn her glowing mask winked out and she literally disappeared, but that was probably just his eyes playing tricks on him with the fading sunlight. Then again, he had just witnessed the impossible. The three boys stared at each other sheepishly.

It was Craig who spoke first. Tell no one about this tomorrow! Everyone will think we are crazy.

Lincoln replied, I think you're right about that, Craig. But we are going to apologize to Sandra tomorrow. Surprisingly, both Jake and Craig nodded without hesitation. The three boys said their goodbyes and began running home. Lincoln noticed after he had gone a block that he was smiling as he ran. He had stopped wishing to see a real superhero when he was eight because he had realized then that there was no such thing. But now, anything seemed possible; his dream of one day seeing a real superhero had just come true.

***

Slime Girl sat at the top of the tree, watching the three boys run off. She smiled at the thought of the encounter she had just had with them. For a moment, she had worried Jake Thompson may have hurt himself, but he seemed no worse for the wear as he ran off towards home. It wasn't just finding Sandra's bike she felt good about, but the way she thought the encounter would have a positive effect on the three boys.

She sighed with content and started towards home. Her camouflage had been working well so far; no reports of a girl being flung through the air had been seen or heard on the news.

As she placed Sandra's bike on the girl's patio and flung back into the air, she smiled again at the thought of how far she had come in just a few weeks. After hiding her slimes, of course, and walking back in her front door from playing, after dinner, and then finally after being tucked in by her parents, she dreamed of the beginning, when she and the slimes had found each other.