"Is there popcorn?" Eleanor Sharpe asked her best friend, as she smoothed down her sparkly pink dress. She and the other preschoolers were doing a play of Cinderella, and Eleanor was playing the fairy godmother. Her best friend was playing the wicked step-mother.

"Nope," Susan Jones replied.

"Ice cream?"

"Nope."

"Cookies?"

"No."

"At least there are little cupcakes to nibble, right?"

"No, there's nothing like that!" Susan snapped, getting impatient.

"But what is the audience supposed to eat? Our play is so long, they'll starve to death!"

"Don't worry," Susan said. "Mommy brought lots of yummy things."

"What could be more yummy than popcorn, and ice cream, cookies, and cupcakes?" the four-year-old girl grumbled, crossing her arms across her chest. She looked a year older, because she was tall for her age.

"What about candy and chocolate?" Susan, who was five, asked.

"Maybe that," Eleanor agreed. Just then Lucy Quinn came up to them, already in her costume of poor Cinderella.

"Any of you nervous?" she asked.

"Not me," Susan announced. "I know all my lines, and I'm really good at being wicked!"

"I am slightly nervous," Eleanor admitted. "And Amelia's going to watching! She did her part perfectly in her last school play, so I want to show her I'm as good as her."

"I wonder if Jenny will be there," Lucy wondered. "She said she would."

"Then she will," Eleanor reassured her.

"Come boys and girls!" the teacher, Miss Douglas, called. "Time to get ready!" Eleanor bit her lip, and tugged the teacher's sleeve.

"I'm really nervous," she whispered in her ear. "Can we get my under-study to do it instead?" Miss Douglas laughed.

"You don't have an under-study, dear," she explained. "Don't worry; all the great actors and actresses get nervous. You'll do fine."

"But, what if the magic spells don't work on stage like they did when we practised?" Eleanor asked.

"They're going to work fine, Eleanor," Miss Douglas reassured her, trying not to laugh. "It'll be fine."

As the audience began entering the auditorium to get good seats, Eleanor, Susan and Lucy peeked from behind the curtain.

"There are a lot of them," Eleanor remarked.

"And most of them are just families," Lucy continued.

"I think my brother invited his best friend, who invited some of her friends, who invited some of their friends," Susan considered. Eleanor and Lucy glared at her.

"Why'd you let them do that?" Eleanor asked.

"I did tell him he can let his best friend come, but no-one else. Guess I forgot to tell Janet the same thing."

"I'm not sure whether Amelia invited Cooper, but I don't see him," Eleanor mused.

"Come on children!" Miss Douglas announced, clapping her hands. "It's almost time to begin."

"Miss Douglas!" a girl who was playing a step-sister called. "Am I allowed to take my teddy bear with me?"

"That's Jasmine," Susan whispered to Lucy and Eleanor. "She's such a baby; always taking that teddy bear around."

"I don't think she's a baby," Eleanor defended. "I sometimes need my special blanket still."

"That makes you a baby!" Susan laughed, walking off. Eleanor frowned after her friend.

"Not a very good friend, is she?" Lucy asked.

"I used to look up to her," Eleanor explained. "I mean, she's going to kindergarten next year! But she's mean, even though she says she's not being mean."

"What has she done?" Lucy asked.

"Well, she never shares our crayons, even though they're ours. She only lets me have three colours; black, red, and green. But that's only because there are two blacks and reds and greens. And she's always bossing me around. I have grandma and Amelia to do that at home!" She sighed. "Looks like I'll have to find a new best friend."

"I could be your best friend," Lucy suggested, slipping her small hand into Eleanor's slightly larger one. "I know I'm only three, and you four-year-olds think we're babies, but that doesn't matter, does it?"

"No," Eleanor agreed with a smile. "Three-year-olds are every bit as grown-up as four-year-olds. Just maybe slightly lesser."

"Where's my Cinderella?" Miss Douglas called. Lucy bit her lip, and tightened her fists until her knuckles turned white.

"Coming, Miss Douglas!" she called back, going towards their teacher. Eleanor took one more peek at the crowd, trying to stop her sister and grandmother. They were in the third row of seats.

As Amelia waited in her seat, she felt on edge. Something wasn't right, but she couldn't be sure what it was. Her grandmother noticed her fidgeting, and gave her a tap on the shoulder.

"Be still," she hissed. Why was her grandmother so strict? The curtains opened, and the play began, so Amelia decided to just relax, and enjoy the show. One of her classmates, who was sitting next to her, leaned over and whispered in her ear.

"Why didn't your friend, Cooper come?" she asked.

"He had to visit with cousins," Amelia whispered back. "Now, shush!" After five minutes, Amelia happened to look up, and gasped. Three black figures were climbing through the glass in the roof, through a hole they cut out, and lowered themselves with ropes. Thankfully, no-one else had noticed, and Amelia whipped out her phone.

"What are you doing, you lady?" Mrs Sharpe asked. "Put that phone away."

'Sorry Grandma," Amelia sighed, obeying. "I gotta go to the bathroom." And she quickly hurried out the door before her grandmother could stop her.

In the girls' room, Amelia pulled out her phone again.

"Make me wise, Cooper; who do we know who has ninjas?"

"Ninjas? At a kids' play?" Cooper gasped. "It's not like they know where you are."

"Cooper!" Amelia snapped. "Who has ninjas, and why are they here?"

"The only villain I can think of is The Candy Man," Cooper replied. "And his ninjas swipe all the candy from little kids."

"What an evil thing to do," Amelia growled sarcastically. "Do we have all of the crazy villains?"

"From my research, yes," Cooper said. "Only one seems sane compared to the others, but compared to normal people, she's even creepy."

"No kidding," Amelia agreed with a shudder. "Anywho, why does Candy Man send his ninjas to a preschooler's play?"

"Apparently there's an enormous quantity of candy and sweets for the audience to eat during the performance," Cooper observed. "And Candy Man wants."

"Of course he does, and on the night Grandma wants me to be an ordinary girl." She sighed. "Alright, let's stop the Candy Man." Quickly hiding in a stall, Amelia pulled off her green dress, revealing the pink super-suit underneath, becoming the Crimson Angel.

"Always ready for action," she muttered, and flew straight up, using her new and improved hover-soles, breaking through the ceiling. She looked down, grinned, seeing the blue glow discharged from her boots.

"Cooper, I need the exact location of the ninjas," she said.

"They're in the hall outside the auditorium," Cooper replied.

"Snack snatchers," Angel groaned. "I was looking forward to those lollipops at intermission!" She hung up the phone, and landed outside the school. Running up the front steps, she pushed on the door, only to find it was locked.

"Great," she gasped, after several unsuccessful attempts, and pulling out her phone. "Cooper, got any wonderful gadgets I can use to get inside?"

"You busted through the roof, didn't you?" Cooper asked.

"Yes, and I'll have a headache tomorrow for it," Angel complained, rubbing her head. "Anything that doesn't involve a concussion would be nice."

"Fine, fine," Cooper laughed. "Laser pen implanted in your boot should do the trick." Angel pulled the small, rectangular pen-like object from the side of her boot.

"Cooper, you amaze me sometimes," she said, shaking her head in disbelief.

"Why, thank you- Wait, sometimes?! Angel, I-" Angel hung up the phone, and pointed the laser at the door, cutting a nice little circle she could crawl through. Then she ran down the dark, empty hallways to find the ninjas of The Candy Man, her boots making a soft tapping noise of the tile floor.

Peering cautiously around a corner, she saw two ninjas, all wearing black, and masks covering all of their faces, except for their eyes. They seemed distracted with the candy that was sitting on a table outside the auditorium door. Silently sneaking up behind them, she pulled out her star-shaped bubble wand, bringing it to her mouth. Before she could blow any bubbles, someone behind her hit her on the head, knocking her unconscious. Angel collapsed to the floor at their feet. Just then, the door handle was being turned. The three ninjas disappeared out of sight, as Eleanor opened the door, and stepped out. She gasped when she saw the super-hero on the floor.

"The Crimson Angel came to my school play!" she said in awe, her blue eyes widening. She rolled Angel onto her back. "I wonder if I take off her mask I'll know who it is," she thought. Temptation overcame her, and she quickly removed the pink mask, and gasped.