Max: Ooh! Love me a good limbo! (Max goes under the bo staff that Phoebe holds, as if he's doing the limbo) How low can you go? How low can you go-- (in pain) Ohhh!!!
Phoebe smacks Max hard with the bo staff. Max falls to the floor.
Max: (displeased) Why?!
Phoebe: It's a bo staff. I'm training with it so I can add it as one of my special skills to our Z-Force application. Wanna see some more moves? (makes a battle pose)
Max: (horrified) No, no, I like my bones.
Max uses Phoebe's bo staff to help him up.
Phoebe: Check it out. We list enough amazing talents on this baby, we'll stand out from our competition.
Max: Well, I was gonna give you my list of special skills. You know, before you went all kung fu Phoebe on me.
Phoebe unfolds a paper that listed her special skills.
Phoebe: (reads the list) Let's see, freeze breath, telekinesis... (stops) Max, we both have these powers. Special skills are what you bring to the Z-Force that no one else does.
Max: Well, then put down "slow-motion arm farting". (farts in his armpit slowly.)
Phoebe looks at Max in disgust.
Phoebe: I will not. (sits on the couch)
Max: Okay, fine. What'd you got on your list?
Phoebe: Well, to name a few... (reads the list in faster speed) Code-breaking, conversational Japanese, hardcore turkey calls, knot-tying, space-jumping, spelunking, accents, photographic memory, (slows down) and speed-talking.
Max: Well, you didn't read the last special skill on my list, "inventing gadgets".
Phoebe: (scoffs) Yeah.
Max gives Phoebe a look on his face.
Phoebe: Oh, you're serious? Come on, Max. Name one of your gadgets that didn't backfire.
Max: The "Nose Hair-alyzer".
Phoebe: Gave Nora a beard.
Max: The "super villain eye patch".
Phoebe: Turned a child evil.
Max: The "BrainMelt".
Phoebe: Speaks for itself.
Max: Well, you haven't seen my newest gadget. (Takes out a brush. The back of the brush had a tube of a turquoise-colored hair gel substance inside)
Phoebe: A brush?
Max: It's not just a brush, Phoebe. It's a gel brush. Hair gel and a brush together at last!
Phoebe: Wow. Can't wait to see how this blows up in your face.
The hair gel squirts out of the tube, into Max's face.
Phoebe: And, that's out.
As Max tries to turn his head away from the messiness, he falls down.
***
Hank: Barb, I keep getting mean chirps from that guy on my bowling league. Look. (shows the phone to Barb, reads) "You put the gut in gutter ball."
Billy: Why is someone sending you mean chirps, Dad?
Barb: Ever since everyone found out your dad's Thunder Man, this guy Nico is saying he used his powers to win last year's bowling championship.
Hank's phone chirps.
Hank: "Butthead"? (angry) No, you're the butthead!!!
Barb: Uh, Hank, watch your language.
Chloe: (putting both of her arms up) Butthead!
Hank: Sorry. It's just that... (takes out the trophy out of a shelf) I won this trophy fair and square and there's nothing that two-faced magician can say to change that.
Billy: A magician? Named Nico? As in "The Amazing Nico"?
Chloe stares at Billy and Nora, with an excited look on her face.
Nora: He's our favorite!
Billy: Yeah, he's way better than that magician you got for my birthday, "Good-Enough Greg".
Chloe: That guy made the fun disappear.
Nora: Nico's big trick is that he can walk through walls.
Hank: Whoop-dee-doo, I fly through the ceiling every day.
Barb: Yeah, about that, please stop.
Billy: Dad, can you take us to meet Nico?
Hank: Absolutely not.
Nora: (gets up from her chair) Guys, Dad's taking us to meet The Amazing Nico!
Hank: No, no, no, no, no. I did not say that.
The kids get up from their seats.
Kids: (cheering) Dad! Dad! Dad! Dad! Dad! Dad!
Barb: So sweet of you, Hank!
Barb and the kids leave the dining room.
Hank: What just happened?
***
Max: She says I stink at gadgets? She's the one that stinks.
Dr. Colosso: Yeah, she does.
Max: I worked all night on this.
Dr. Colosso: Yeah, you did.
Max: Don't tell me I don't have any special skills.
Dr. Colosso: (talking on the phone) Okay, Mommy. Love you too.
Max checks up on Colosso.
Dr. Colosso: Oh, sorry. Were you talking to me?
Max: Yes! I've been talking to you for the past 12 hours while I've been working on my most amazing project yet.
Dr. Colosso: I ignored you for 12 hours? I gotta call and tell my mom.
Max: Stop calling your mom!
Phoebe enters the lair on the slide. She makes a flip as she approaches Max's bed.
Phoebe: Like my new skill?
Max: Annoying entrances? That's not new.
Phoebe: Whatever. What'd you wanna talk about?
Max: Phoebe, what's the best way to fight crime?
Phoebe: Oh, well, the Hero League manual says--
Max: (yells in Phoebe's face) WRONG!
Phoebe: (whimpers)
Max: The best way, is to stop it, before it happens. I give you... (lifts up the sheet) ...The "Crimecaster"!
The Crimecaster was a box-shaped device. The front had a picture of Max's face, with red lights flashing from the eyes. Several other lights flashed on there. The front reads "Crimecaster" on the bottom.
Max: It's a gadget, that crunches years of crime statistics through a state-of-the-art algorithm.
Max turns to Phoebe and shakes her.
Max: (yells in Phoebe's face) AL-GO-RITHM!
Phoebe: Did you sleep last night?
Max: NO.
Phoebe: Oh, okay.
Max: Point is, it predicts future crimes so we can use it to catch criminals in the act. (yells) IN THE ACT! (normal) I'm sorry. I really need a nap.
Phoebe: That gadget sounds unbelievable. As in I am unable to believe that it works.
The Crimecaster beeped. Lights flashed, and a paper prints out.
Crimecaster: (in Max's voice, computerized) It's crime time.
Max: Looks like it's about to prove you wrong. (takes out the paper) It says, Hiddenville High will be vandalized tonight. Unless we're there to stop it.
