Captain Nobody

Chapter 1 : Nobody Eats Breakfast

• It is last Friday in October, everybody in
Appleton is excited for the derby of an American
football game between the Ferocious Ferrets of
Fillmore High School and the Chargers of
Merrimac High - also known as the Big Game.
• Newton Newman (Newt) has a big brother, Chris
Newman (Chris), who is a local football star, who
plays for the Ferocious Ferrets after an
electrifying debut two years back.
• Newt is preparing breakfast for his family when
he comes across an article of his brother in
Sports section of the local newspaper.
Chapter 1 : Nobody Eats Breakfast
• At first, Newt is eager to show the article to Dad
but he held down when the phone rings.
• On the other hand, Mom is also busy receiving a
call from their neighbour.
• Newt gets frustrated as both of his parents have
not touched their breakfast.
• To make himself feel useful, Newt goes upstair
to wake his brother up.
• Annoyed with Newt's bellow, Chris throws a
pillow at him but ends up hitting the floor hard.
Chapter 2 : Halloween Plans Are Made
- Sort of
• Appleton Elementary is packed with different kinds of
kids and actions.
• At times, he tries to be friendly and greet his classmates
but often, they just stare back fiercely and ignore him.
• Before the classes start, Newt finds a quiet place for him
to settle down
• He takes one of his Secret Superhero Sketchbooks and
starts playing with his imagination
• Newt has never shown his sketching of the superhero
characters to anyone else except to his two best friends,
Cecil and JJ, who have utmost admiration towards
Newt's creativity.
Chapter 2 : Halloween Plans Are Made
- Sort of
• Cecil alerts them of the coming Halloween and suggest
that they celebrate it as usual.
• Talking about celebrating Halloween, the three of them
are bored with their own costumes as they have been
wearing the same outfit for years.
• Eventually, Cecil suggests that each of them needs to
come out with an outstanding Halloween costume based
on their 'inner other' that will catch everybody's attention.
 Chapter 3 : I Search for Somebody I
Am Not
• During social studies class, Newt is still searching for an
idea for his Halloween costume.
• He imagines himself as Zeus, the god of lightning
according to the Greek myth, but soon realises that he
does not fit in the description shown by his subject
teacher. Not giving up, he rises his hand asking Mrs.
Young what the American pioneers wore when they built
the country.
• Although Newt is ridiculed by his classmate, the answer
given by his teacher is more than enough for him to rule
out the possibility of having such costume for Halloween.
• The school ends early so the students and locals can
watch the Big Game Pep Parade on the street.
 Chapter 3 : I Search for Somebody I
Am Not
• Newton is estatic to attend his brother's last game of the
season.
• On the other hand, Cecil and JJ are more incline to their
Halloween costumes.
• That has put Newt back in dilemma as he is having hard
time thinking about his own Halloween costume.
• Newt falls asleep while figuring out the design of his
costume on to wake up after he has a terrible dream.
• It is time for the Big Game as his parents are getting
ready for it and with heavy heart, Newt has to put aside
his coming Halloween celebration and shift his focus on
the final game.
 Chapter 4 : Football is Played and
Mistakes Are Made
• Chris and Newt's parent host a pregame barbecue in
the stadium parking lot before the big game.
• At 7 p.m. when the Fillmore High School marching
band parades into the stadium, the Newmans load
their things into their SUVs and take their seats with
friends and neighbours in the stadium. Poor invisible
Newt is squeezed out of his seat and into the aisle by
excited and thoughtless adults.
• Newt is kicked out of the stadium by an over zealous
usher and ends up standing in the parking lot, but he
still able to watch the second half of the game through
the wire fence.
 Chapter 4 : Football is Played and
Mistakes Are Made
• Tension is at fever pitch and everything explodes
into fast motion as the teams, battle head-to-
head in Chris's final game. In the last moments
of the game, Chris sends the ball past the goal
line 'with a flying leap'!
• Immediately both team bury Chris in a
thunderous explosion of shoulder pads and
helmets. The audience goes wild, and amid the
cacophony of cheers, the players untangle
themselves from the pile... all but one.
Chapter 5 : The Bad Dreams Begin
• The two teams watch in silence as Chris is taken
away by an ambulance. Mom goes along. When the
siren fades away, the crowd leaves the stadium in
stunned silence.
• Dad meets Newt in the car park but waves away
Newt's questions. He arranges with the Hennesseys
to take Newt home while he goes to the hospital.
• At 11 p.m., Newt gets news that Chris is in coma but
he cannot visit. Dad and mom will take turns to be at
the hospital. Left alone , Newt recalls his chummy
times with Chris. He tries to sleep , but each time he
closes his eyes, his mind replays the nightmarish
moments after Chris's touchdown.
 Chapter 5 : The Bad Dreams
Begin
• All day, concerned friends and strangers call up
asking about Chris's condition. JJ and Cecil drop by
to cheer Newt up. They tell him that the Victory
Parade had been cancelled and that some Fillmore
Ferrets had vandalised Reggie Ratner's car, blaming
him for knocking Chris out.
• The trio (Newt, Cecil and JJ) decide to meet at 6
p.m. the next day for their trick-or-treat outing.
Chapter 6 : I Get a Terrible Idea
• Newt ransacks the house looking for inspiration
for his Halloween costume but fails. He has a
dream of a happy childhood moment with Chris.
However, the dream turns into another
nightmare about the last seconds of the Big
Game.
• In the morning Newt wants to have breakfast
with Dad, but Dad is in hurry to return to the
hospital.
• After a fruitless search in the garage, Newt
decides not to join his friend for the Halloween
that year.
Chapter 6 : I Get a Terrible Idea
• That afternoon he catches Mom weepin over
Chris's clothes and decides to cheer her up by
dressing up in Chris's hand -me-downs.
However, she rushes back to the hospital before
Newt could show her.
• At 6 p.m. his two best friends show up in their
amazing outfits - JJ as Splendida and Cecil as
Mozart.
 Chapter 7 : I Hide-and Find Myself
• Overcome by the events of the last two days, Newt
tells his friends that he will not be joining them for
Halloween as he has no costume.
• Newt's friend dress him in a purple baseball jersey
with a puffy grey cap flying from his shoulders and a
pair of red sweatpants tucked into Chris's old silver
track shoes striped with lightning bolts. Newt is
unimpressed with his costume until JJ adds the final
touch, a red mask made from a single short sleeve of
one of Chris's old red T-shirts.
• When Newton Newman looks at the mirror, he cannot
recognise himself. The mask has transformed his
identity. Now he feels protected and hidden.
 Chapter 12 : Captain Nobody First
Comes to the Rescue
• The hand belongs to an old, grey- whiskered
man huddled on the pavement. Newt recognises
the man as Mr Clay, a former locksmith Mom
used to employ.
• Mr Clay has dementia. Realising that the old
man is lost and has no medication, Captain
Nobody takes him home.
• From a low hedge, the two boys watch Mrs Clay
hug her husband as he tells her that 'Captain
Nobody walked me home.'
• The boys are very pleased and roll Cecil's bass
drum to his house.
 Chapter 13 : Dad Meets Captain Nobody
• Newt returns home by evening and is happy
to see Dad there.
• Dad sees Newt's outfit and apologises for
neglecting him. The school principal and
counsellor had called Dad and Mom at the
hospital to express their concern about Newt.
They felt that Newt must be so disturbed by
Chris's accident that he lost touch with reality.
• Newt explains to Dad that being Captain
Nobody gives him confidence. Dad asks
when he will drop his adopted identity. Newt
pats Dad on the shoulder and says, 'You'll be
the first to know.'
 Chapter 13 : Dad Meets Captain Nobody
• Father and son share some sloppy joes at
the kitchen counter. Dad tells Newt about
Chris's improvement. Dad then sends a
picture of Newt in his costume to Mum.
• Mom finds it amusing and shows it to
everyone at the hospital.
• Pleased, Newt asks Dad when he can visit
Chris. Dad explains the doctors' 'no visitors'
order but assures him that he will be the first
to visit when it is allowed.
• That night Newt dreams of the Big Tackle
again, but this time Captain Nobody saves
Chris from being crushed.
 Chapter 17 : I Cheat Death
• Two students from Fillmore High - Darryl Peeps
from the Ferrets championship team and head
cheerleader Colby Bryn - visit Fillmore Junior
School. As a token of thanks for their support for
Chris Newman, they bring their mascot,
Ferocious the Ferret to cheer everyone up. They
give one student a chance to keep the ferret for
a night. The student will then earn the title
'Friend of Ferocious'.
• They agree that Newt deserves to keep the
ferret. However, Newt is unhappy about having
to babysit ferret because it is no replacement for
his brother.
 Chapter 17 : I Cheat Death
• Ricky Ratner and his gang confront Newt again.
Ricky accuses Newt of not obeying orders.
Reggie is receiving crank calls and the Merrimac
Charger mascot has been vandalised. JJ and
Cecil defend Newt but Ricky continues his
harassment until he notices Ferocious in his
cage. Once they realise that the ferret is the
Fillmore High football mascot, Ricky's gang tries
to yank the cage out of Newt's arms. In the mad
tussle, the cage door flies open and the
Ferocious escape.
• The trio drop everything to pursue Ferocious
through the neighbourhood. The ferret suddenly
bolts right into the traffic.
 Chapter 17 : I Cheat Death
• Captain Nobody darts onto the highway, waving
his arms to stop the traffic. Ferocious weaves in
and out of traffic followed by Captain Nobody. All
four lanes of traffic grind to a halt. Suddenly, a
small aeroplane belching smoke appears, flying
so low that its wheels are nearly touching the
roofs of the stopped cars. The plane lands in the
middle of the freeway. Drivers gape in shock at
the sight.
• At Newt's ankle. Ferocious is gazing at the plane
ahead. Newt grabs Ferocious and flees from the
scene.
 Chapter 18 : I Learn an
Uncomfortable Truth
• The trio return Ferocious to his cage and collect
their backpacks. They all return to Newt's house,
still shaking from the unnerving adventure. Cecil
turns on the TV in time to catch the five o'clock
headline : 'Breaking News ! Airplane Tragedy
Averted!'
• Stunned, the friends hear the police declare that
the highway will be closed for three more hours.
Witness wonder when Captain Nobody is a 'little
bozo' trying to bring on the rain, a mental
patient, a villain or a hero.
 Chapter 18 : I Learn an
Uncomfortable Truth
• Newt wants to give up being Captain Nobody,
but JJ and Cecil remind him about the foiled
robbery and averted plane crash, which saved
lives. Unconvinced, Newt removes his mask and
complains that he cannot even save his own
brother. He puts the clothes away in a dresser
drawer.
• That night Newt has another dream - a replay of
the Big Tackle. He wakes up with the sudden
realisation that Darryl Peeps was the one who
put Chris in a coma.
Chapter 19 : Reggie Ratner Decides to
End It All
• Newt finds Mom looking worried. He inquires about
the newspaper article about Chris's 'six days before
we'd have to worry' and then announces his plan to
see Chris after school.
• He puts on normal clothes and packs the Captain
Nobody gear in his backpack.
• At lunchtime, sirens pierce the air as ambulances, fire
trucks and police cars thunder past their school. The
TV in the faculty lounge reports that the depressed
Reggie Ratner had climbed to the roof of the Appleton
Water tower, the tallest building in town, to commit
suicide.
• Newt is shaking as he is the only one who knows the
truth, and someone has to tell Reggie.
 Chapter 20 : I Climb Up to the Sky
• Newt decides that only Captain Nobody can persuade
Reggie not to commit suicide.
• He changes into the superhero outfit in the boy's bathroom
and secretly heads for the tower with his sidekicks.
• The wobbly old tower was condemned five years ago.
• The trio find a ladder running up a leg of the water tower to
the roof, but it is riskety and some of the rungs have
snapped.
• Supressing his fear of height, Captain Nobody climbs up. On
the roof, Newt crawls over to Reggie. Newt tells Reggie that
he knows Reggie did not hit Chris; it was Darryl Peeps's
helmet that hit Chris. Newt is about to tell Reggie not to jump
when he notices cans of spray paint in Reggie's pocket.
Reggie's plan is not to jump but to spray-paint a sign in
support of Merrimac on the tower.
 Chapter 20 : I Climb Up to the Sky
• Before Reggie could carry out his plan, his foot broke through
the rotten roof and got stuck. Newt helps Reggie to untie his
triple-knotted shoelace so that he can free his foot.
• The two then dicide to get off the tower. Because the ladder
cannot support the weight of both of them at once, Newt tells
Reggie to wait as he climbs down first.
• On his way down, the ladder begins to shake. Newt looks up
to see Reggie begin his descent! Reggie's foot snaps a rung
and pieces of wood fall on Newt.
• Newt dodges them and tries to regain his balance but is
suddenly hit by a chunk of Reggies's rung. He loses balance
and falls.
 Chapter 21 : I Finish Falling

• Newt drops fast and screams in terror. He is

saved by an inflated rubber mattress.
• He looks up and is horrified to see Reggie
falling down on top of him. A feels bolt of
pain on his right leg and he faints.
 Chapter 22 : I Finally Get to the Hospital
• Newt wakes up in the hospital recovery
room to find Mom holding his hand. Dad
tells him that Reggie is fine as Newt broke
his fall. However, Reggie broke Newt's
ankle and two ribs.
• Newt's leg is in a plaster cast. Dad tells him
that he will be sharing a room with Chris.
• Newt is surprised to see Cecil and JJ on Tv
and soon learns that his friends have been
telling the press 'how Captain Nobody got
mixed up in the most daring rescue in
Appleton history?'
 Chapter 22 : I Finally Get to the Hospital
• His parents recount events :
1. When Captain Nobody climbed onto the roof of Appleton
water tower , all the TV stations in the country sent their
news crews and helicopters there.
2. Dad and Mom saw the drama unfolding on the TV in
Chris's hospital room and immediately tried to drive
there. However, the streets were gridlocked and they
walk to the site. They just arrived just as Newt fell.
3. Mr Clay and the Sullivans spoke toTV presenters about
how Captain Nobody had helped them. People told
police how Captain Nobody 'stopped traffic on the West
Side Highway' and allowed a plane to make an
emergency landing and thus saved lives.
 Chapter 22 : I Finally Get to the Hospital
• Reggie Ratner arrives and Newt tell his surprised parents
that he saw Darryl Peeps knock out Chris.Reggie is
grateful.
• Newt is wheeled to Chris's room. He wakes up and thinks
about the recent incidents where he made a difference but
feels useless that he is unable to help his own brother.
• Frustrated and upset , he recalls the morning before the
Big Game . He had made a nice breakfast and Chris slept
through it. Annoyed, he had stormed upstairs and yelled at
Chris. 'HIT THE SHOWERS'
• When two nurses rush in, Newt realises that he had
shouted those words aloud. Suddenly, he is hit by a flying
pillow.
• From Chris' bed comes a hoarse groan, 'I am up. I am up.'
 Chapter 23 : I Wake Up in the News
• Doctors and nurses rush in. Excitement and
euphoria fill the air.
• Newt goes home in ambulance and wakes
up in his room. Cecil and JJ excitedly
update him on all the news, which
proclaims that' Captain Nobody is now a
somebody?'
• They switch on the TV and see Chris being
interviewed after meeting the mayor. When
the mayor asked him if he would ride in the
victory parade, Chris said, 'Parades should
be led by heroes...there's only one real hero
in Appleton today.'
 Chapter 23 : I Wake Up in the News
• Then, Chris turns to look directly into the
camera and asks, 'So what do you say,
Newt? Can I ride in your parade?'
• Eventually, Newt switches off the TV. At that
moment, Chris arrives home. They high-
five and all the hurting stops for Newt.
 Chapter 24 : A Little Old Lady Makes Me Laugh

• At the victory parade two days later, the bands of

both Fillmore and Merrimac High proudly march
and play. Newt, Cecil, JJ and Ferocious ride in an
open convertible followed by Chris and some
teammates, including Darryl.
• Newt hobbles onstage and Cecil does an air-drum
solo.
• Chris receives the championship throphy for his
team.
• JJ gets a pair of diamond eaarings from the
Sullivans.
• The pilot and passangers of the plane chip in to
buy Cecil a set of drums and a year of lessons.
 Chapter 24 : A Little Old Lady Makes Me Laugh
• The mayor presents Newt special golden key (made by
My Clay), they key to the City from the citizens of Appleton
for saving many lives and enriching many more.
• After the celebrations, the Newtons return home to a
normal routine.
• Chris sees Newt's sketchbooks of mutant crime fighters
and cemmends him : You're good.' Newt prizes the
compliment above everything he had received that day
and tells Chris that he is a legend
• Chris responds by sharing a story about an old couple
from out of town who had come to celebrate Newton
Newman and did not know that he had an older brother,
Chris Newman.
• The siblings laugh heartily,Mom and Dad say good night
and quiet. They high-five each other and go to bed
content.