Rise of the Heroes (15 page)

When he looked around he saw that they were all lying in his backyard, the familiar oak tree behind them.

“What happened?” Lorna asked as she got her bearings.

“Teleportation,” Emily answered knowingly.

Chameleon stood up, dusting himself off. “The Council initiated a self-destruct sequence. We had to get out of there. Is this where you live?” he asked with a note of doubt as he studied the remains of the house covered in plastic sheeting.

“Yeah,” Toby answered. “That's my home. What's left of it.”

Chameleon gave Pete and Toby a look of gratitude. “You saved my life back there. If it weren't for you two, Tempest would have killed me for sure. You really do have the courage of a hero. All of you.”

“Anytime,” said Pete, trying to stand as heroically as possible despite feeling completely nauseous.

Chameleon turned to go, then seemed to be distracted by the remains of Pete's improvised superhero costume.
“But I think you should reconsider your outfit.” Lorna and Emily giggled, as Pete blushed.

Toby sighed deeply, making Chameleon hesitate. “So we're on our own again?”

“You have the Hero.com community at your fingertips. You're not alone.”

“Feels like it. We seem to keep failing.”

Chameleon looked at each of them. “You have come from being ordinary people, with ordinary lives, and you are slowly becoming true heroes. It's a path with many obstacles ahead and many challenges to face. But you must remember that being a hero is not about winning or losing. It's about courage and doing the right thing against the temptation to take the path of least resistance. When you have faced that final challenge, then you will have risen to the status of hero.”

Toby mulled over the words.

Chameleon continued. “I'm sorry we couldn't apprehend Tempest today. But I assure you, the moment I discover anything about the location of your mother, I will let you know.”

He teleported away with a bang.

Toby looked at his friends dejectedly. “What a complete waste of time that was.”

“Oh, it hasn't been a
complete
waste,” said Pete. “I think we'll be able to track Tempest, without Mister Know-It-All, if we get this thing working.”

He held up Doc Tempest's broken wristband.

Sarah Wilkinson sat in a railcar that shot through a tunnel system. She was starting to feel weak. After pleading with a soldier, she got word to Tempest that she needed her insulin shots. But he was unsympathetic to her condition.

A bored-looking guard sat opposite Sarah. He seemed more intent on pulling at his tight uniform, which was riding up his butt, than anything else. At one point the dark walls of the tunnel gave way to glass and she saw an awe-inspiring view: an immense snowfield stretching as far as the eye could see. Then they were plunged back into darkness.

She had been kept in the hangar for almost two hours while the guards patched up the damage caused by the superheroes. She was glad of the change of surroundings, but it was no more than a minute before they arrived at their destination. The guard shoved her up a corridor carved from solid ice, metal grids on the floor preventing Sarah from slipping. She shivered against the cold, but noticed small heating ducts were blowing in warm air. She was led to a small cell, furnished with nothing but a bed and a single fluorescent tube for light. The guard uncuffed her hands and shoved her inside.

Sarah sat on the edge of the bed, no longer feeling
scared, but angry. She thought of her husband somewhere out in Mexico, and then Lorna and Toby. She hoped somebody was looking after them. They surely couldn't look after themselves.

Toby was tired but couldn't sleep. He was worried about his mother—not just how they'd get her back, but also about her insulin. Without it she could die.

Through heavy eyelids, he examined Doc Tempest's digital wristband. He wondered how they could use it to find his mother, but no matter how much he poked and prodded he couldn't get the thing to work. He put it down and lay flat on the uncomfortable air mattress; what he wouldn't give to be back in his own bed … with his mother safely home.

Staring at the array of posters on Pete's wall, strategically positioned to hide the peeling wallpaper, Toby felt a wave of regret about every argument he'd ever had with his mother. At the time the fights seemed justified and important—but in the grand scheme of things he could now see every argument was just a waste of time. And if they didn't rescue her and Tempest killed her … then he would never have the chance to say sorry.

He refused to cry. Instead he listened to the elephantlike snores coming from Pete and, for the first
time, he envied his friend. Pete's parents might always be struggling for money, but at least they were safe and sound and not in the hands of a megalomaniac.…

Lorna couldn't sleep either. She had her own room at Emily's, which was comfortable, but it wasn't home. Lorna realized that she was feeling homesick. She climbed out of bed and crept downstairs into the kitchen to get a glass of milk. She was surprised to find Emily already at the kitchen table, staring thoughtfully at her own drink.

“Can't sleep,” said Lorna. She didn't have the strength for a more detailed explanation.

“Me neither. I just kept going over today's events in my mind. It didn't seem so scary at the time … but now, I feel terrified, being up there as the ship broke apart …”

Lorna poured her drink and sat opposite her friend. They both kept their voices low so they wouldn't wake anyone.

“I guess it hasn't sunk in for me,” said Lorna. “Not yet anyway. I just keep feeling … responsible for everything that's happening to Mom.”

Emily shook her head. Her parents had raised her to see the world logically. She knew that with hindsight anybody could blame themselves for almost anything. Why hadn't they been at home to stop Tempest? Why
did they download the superpowers in the first place? The list was endless, but Emily knew they could only act now to affect the future.

“You're not responsible, Lorn. Doc Tempest is. And we are going to save your mom. No matter how difficult it's going to be.”

Lorna managed a smile. Even though Emily was wearing ridiculous pink pajamas, she still made sense. Tomorrow would undoubtedly bring a new, unexpected adventure. And, hopefully, a step closer to ending her nightmare.

Toby was forced to go to school by Pete's parents, who were finally insisting that it would be “good for him.” Toby sensed that he was getting on their nerves. He suspected too that they normally spent their time arguing, and not being able to do so in front of him was adding to the strain.

At lunchtime Toby and Pete sat in the corner of the cafeteria, picking at their food as they examined Tempest's wristband. No matter how they pressed and poked, nothing seemed to activate it. Pete placed it on his wrist to see if it would suit him, and suddenly it lit up like a Christmas tree.

“What did you do?” asked Toby.

“Just put it on. Maybe that powers it?”

The broken screen flashed the message: “STORM ENGINE: FULL THROTTLE.”

“Storm Engine?” echoed Pete. “Isn't that what Tempest called his weather-control machine?”

“At least we know this thing is still connected to his network. It's too bad we can't find a way to make it stop the Storm Engine. But I bet if we can somehow trace the signal, we can find my mom.”

Pete was keeping a watchful eye out for Jake Hunter and his gang, who were all mercifully absent. He noticed Lorna and Emily approaching. They looked more cheerful than they should be. They sat in the plastic seats opposite and whispered conspiratorially.

“We've found Tempest!” stated Lorna.

Toby held the fork halfway to his mouth, the food now forgotten. “Where? How did you do that?”

“He's heading toward Florida,” said Lorna in a harsh whisper. “Em and I had an IT lesson, so we checked out the Internet news. That's when we saw the hurricane!”

“It formed unnaturally quickly and is moving faster than anything else on record,” Emily added in breathless excitement. “Almost like it's been artificially created!”

Pete's eyes went wide and he showed them the activated wristband. “The Storm Engine! That's how he created the tornado and hurricane!”

“Which he then uses as cover for his attacks,” Toby added thoughtfully. “What's in Florida?”

“Disney World. Some great roller coasters,” said Pete.

“Not the kind of thing you'd expect Tempest to steal, though,” said Toby.

“Does it matter?” snapped Lorna. “Point is, we know where he'll be! Find him, we can find Mom!”

Toby nodded, feeling the sudden fire of adventure in his stomach. It was Pete's voice that brought him back down to earth.

“One problem—we're in school. We can't possibly leave now.”

“Why not?” asked Toby.

“It's not right! I felt bad enough skipping yesterday. If we get caught—”

“We need to find Tempest in order to find our mother!” Toby shot back, a little louder than he intended, attracting attention from the kids around them. He lowered his voice. “If we went to the police they wouldn't believe us, and right now the only thing that has been useful is Hero.com. We have to skip the afternoon. After all this is over, we can explain and people will understand.”

Pete looked doubtful. “If my parents found out, they wouldn't be so understanding. Trust me on that. Maybe I should stay here?” Pete closely examined the wristband, avoiding everybody's gaze. He didn't dare look up. He was feeling torn between not risking antagonizing his parents—who seemed to be less a part of his life
than his friends—and the selfish fact that he was afraid of getting hurt. Years of being at the end of Jake Hunter's fist had made him a coward.

Toby looked at his friend in shock. This was the second time Pete had needed persuading, and he was beginning to doubt the strength of their friendship. “You're not going to help? We need you! We're a team!”

Emily grabbed Pete's arm. “Pete, please. This is for your friends! Toby's right. We need you.”

Pete looked at Toby, whose face was grave, and then to Lorna, who nodded encouragingly. Drawing a deep breath he nodded, making his decision against his own better judgment.

“Okay. Let's do it.”

Toby exhaled a long breath and patted Pete on the back, but he couldn't summon the words to thank him.

The four of them got up and cleared the table before discreetly heading toward the school gates. Freedom was just a few more steps.

“Toby Wilkinson!” a deep voice shouted.

Toby froze mid-stride. It was the principal, Mr. Harris. He must have been in his late fifties, and was shaped roughly like an egg. When his voice boomed across the school, it was usually because
somebody
was in trouble. Mr. Harris walked over to them, wheezing heavily, his hand raised in the air like he was about to hail a taxi.

“Sir?” Toby said as casually as he possibly could, and wondered if the man had some kind of truant radar.

The principal scrutinized the motley crew as he caught his breath. Like a magician's trick, a handkerchief appeared in his hand and he dabbed the sweat from his brow. “Ah … the Wilkinsons. I see you're heading … um … home. I mean … wherever it is that you're both staying.”

“Um …,” was all Toby could manage. What could he possibly say? That they were on their way home to download superpowers, in order to stop a supervillain from destroying Florida with his Storm Engine, so they could rescue their kidnapped mother? Somehow, Toby thought, Mr. Harris wouldn't believe him.

“Good,” said Mr. Harris.

It took a moment for Toby to process what he'd just heard. “Good?”

Mr. Harris didn't hear as he dabbed his brow again. “Your father has both Emily's and Pete's numbers, and he was very eager to speak to you both.”

Lorna stepped forward. “You heard from Dad?”

“Yes, of course,” said Mr. Harris, a sudden crease of suspicion forming on his sweaty brow. “I thought you knew, that's why you're—”

Toby seized the moment. “Of course, Lorn. I just didn't want to tell you, in case you got overexcited. He called, isn't that right, sir?”

Mr. Harris nodded. “Yes, yes. Well, go on. Don't keep him waiting!”

It was now obvious to Toby that his father was not a superhero—otherwise he would have flown to their aid. And he saw little point in talking to him now that they seemed close to tracking their mother down. By the time they had arrived at Pete's house both Toby and Pete had decided to avoid answering the phone. Instead they booted up Pete's laptop and headed straight for Hero.com.

“Wait,” said Emily. “Go to the news first.”

“Why?”

“I just want to know how bad that storm is.”

Pete navigated to the CNN news site. The main story was the unnaturally fast-forming storm that was raging across America, which had in fact completely skipped Florida without causing any damage. Weather forecasters were baffled as they showed a satellite image tracking the storm over Alabama—and it was
still
not causing damage as the sinister black clouds zoomed northward.

“So he's not going to Florida,” Lorna said, twirling her hair thoughtfully.

“What's in Alabama?” asked Pete.

“That big bank?” said Toby.

“The biggest …,” mumbled Emily under her breath. “Move over.”

Emily slid half onto Pete's seat until he gave it up and stood next to her.

“What're you doing?” he asked, a little peeved that he had been pushed off his own computer.

“Looking for something,” Emily said. She suddenly tapped the screen. “Here!”

“Don't touch the screen, you'll get it dirty,” Pete complained, even though the screen was covered with his own greasy fingerprints.