powerful forces on Earth.â
We filed back into the observatory and planned our next move. While Dr. Wackjöb crunched numbers into his computer, trying to determine the exact coordinates of the alien landing, Vivian, the Not-Right Brothers, and I talked things over. The first thing we addressed was my nightly visits by little gray space men. The more snores they harnessed, the more power they had.
âLetâs ambush them when they materialize from that dark shadow,â Vivian suggested.
âWhat do you mean?â TJ asked.
âYou guys have a sleepover at Schnozâs house. When the aliens appear to do their hose-up-the-nose ritual, you grab them and tie them up as prisoners.â
âThatâs stupid,â Jimmy said. âWhat are we supposed to do with them after we tie them up? Hold them for ransom until they agree to leave our planet alone?â
âWe should just conk them over the head,â Mumps said, flailing around like a ninja ready for battle. âOne quick karate chop to the skull and theyâd be history.â
âMumps, you pass out just seeing them on video,â I said. âIf you saw an alien in real life, youâd probably spontaneously combust. As far as Iâm concerned, Vivianâs on the right track.â
âHow so?â Jimmy asked.
âYou guys saw the aliens on tape.Theyâre about our size. Jimmy, do you think you can sew up a couple alien costumes?â
âSchnoz, thatâs a brilliant idea!â Vivian beamed. âWe should tie up the real aliens and then dress up like them. That way we can go on board Robo-Nose and sabotage it from the inside.â
I slapped Vivian a high-five. âExactly right. Wrap them up in duct tape.That stuff is good for practically everything.â
âThe dark shadow is some kind of passageway that transports them to our world and then back to Robo-Nose, their main booger ship,â TJ said. âWe just have to enter the shadow in place of the real aliens.â
Jimmy paced around the room, thinking. âIt sounds like a good plan to me, but who is going to take the trip from the shadow to Robo-Nose? This is a lot riskier than just sneaking into our school to battle ECU.â
âThereâs no way Iâm doing it,â Mumps said. âIâll stay down here on solid ground and work with Dr. Wackjöb.â
Vivian looked at Jimmy and TJ. âThen itâs up to us, partners. It canât be Schnoz because he has to battle them nostril to nostril from the outside.â She looked at her watch. âSchnoz, you better fly us home so Jimmy can stitch up some alien costumes. It looks like weâre going to have a busy night ahead of us.â
Just as we had done when we first formed our crime-fighting superhero team, we all bent over until our noses were touching.
âOn the count of three,â I said. âOne, two, threeâ¦â
â GrÃöarstór Nef! â we all screamed.
CHAPTER 15
SLEEPOVER
A fter an hour of begging, my mom and dad reluctantly agreed to allow Jimmy, Mumps, and TJ to sleep over. Of course, Vivian couldnât spend the night because sheâs a girl, but we had that all figured out. The two of us would be in constant walkie-talkie communication.When the Not-Right Brothers and I had subdued the aliens, Iâd let Vivian know and she would sneak over to my house. She, Jimmy, and TJ would then slip on the alien suits and disappear into Robo-Nose.
âThis is the fastest sewing job Iâve ever done in my life,â Jimmy said when he got to my house that night.
âLet me see your work,â I asked, anxious to see his creation.
âDonât worry, Schnoz,â TJ said. âYouâre going to be impressed by our fashion artist friend.â
Jimmy yanked out the three costumes from his gym bag. The outfits were awesome, right down to the silver-colored material to the slits for the mouth and