Virus Attack (10 page)

First, Basilisk lay unconscious on the ground, his cape still smoldering. Toby had automatically assumed the bracelet would teleport just them; he hadn't expected the supervillain to accompany them, even though Pete was holding him. The second surprise was to see Pete had still not returned to normal. It was a bizarre sight to watch a flaming giant fall to his knees, trying not to throw up from the dizzying effect of the teleportation. Even transformed, teleportation was an experience Pete just couldn't get used to.

Emily and Lorna could only watch as the flames flickered from Pete and lit the grass around him. Toby joined them in stamping out the fires that were popping up, and they shouted at him to calm down and try to kill his power.

It took a few minutes for Pete to relax. He tried to douse the flames by rolling in a rain puddle, but the liquid vaporized in a cloud of steam. It wasn't until he sat down and took a deep breath that the flames fizzled out and he shrank back to normal size.

But that still left the unconscious supervillain. Pete and Toby used their belts to bind his hands together and hoped he wouldn't wake up anytime soon. Pete was about to pull the fiend's hood off—but Toby stopped him, reminding them all of Basilisk's petrification powers. Instead Pete tied his jacket over Basilisk's head as extra security.

It took all four of them to carry Basilisk, and the going was slow as they crossed the fields. Emily had tried to invoke some kind of superstrength, but it appeared that their powers were lying dormant for the time being.

The next problem was what to do with Basilisk. Pete and Toby both agreed that they could put him in Toby's garage, at least for a couple of hours, and gag him so that he wouldn't alert Toby's parents—but Lorna was adamantly against the idea. Toby was surprised at his sister's reaction and assumed the thought of having a supervillain in the house terrified her.

Emily's garage was in constant use. That left Pete, who pointed out that his family didn't even have a garage, let alone a car. Toby knew that they had a large shed, though, which Pete's parents never used. Pete had flat out refused—but eventually he gave in to his friends' constant pressure, even though he felt it was borderline bullying.

An hour later, Pete found himself in his dark shed
with nothing but a flashlight. Basilisk was still unconscious, now with a sack over his head, and a gag around that. He was bound with a thick electrical extension cable they had used instead of rope. Pete was angry that his friends had predictably all made excuses to return home, leaving him alone to guard the prisoner.

He sat, stewing in his own misery and rage. From here he could hear shouting coming from the open kitchen window of his house. Yet again his parents were fighting. It had become a regular thing, and he was finding it harder and harder to ignore. Even though they stopped shouting if he was in the room, he could feel the bitter tension between them. He decided that being cooped up in a shed with a captive supervillain was better than facing the wrath of his parents.

Toby was going to lend Pete his cell phone, but discovered that he had lost it in the tussle with Viral. Lorna volunteered her phone in case Pete needed any help. Now he stared at the screen, wondering if he should call Toby to chat about
something
to relieve the boredom, but decided against it. If anything, finding Hero.com had weakened their bond of friendship.

Access to Hero.com was a constant sticking point. Pete was also starting to resent Toby's automatic assumption that he was team leader. When Pete had suggested creating a team name and a set of superhero costumes, Toby had been the first to shoot the idea down. The more he
thought about it, the more obvious it became that Hero.com was not a gift—it was a curse, ruining friendships and placing them constantly in danger.

But it was also an escape route out of his problems at home and at school. Pete speculated how much more fun it would have been if he'd found the Web site alone. It would have been his secret and he could have used those powers to help himself out of the miserable life he currently had.

He thought of calling Emily, but lately he had found himself becoming nervous when talking to her. He hoped he wasn't developing a crush—that would be
awful
. But then again, she seemed to be interested in Toby.

Typical—his friend was taking
everything
from him.

That left nobody else he could call. The hollow feeling that had been growing inside his stomach seemed that much bigger.

Basilisk stirred and immediately struggled against his bonds, his angry cursing muffled by the gag.

“Take it easy,” said Pete, trying to keep the tremor of fear from his voice. “You're being held captive by … by … “

He was stuck for a superhero name. Because none of them possessed specific powers, it was difficult to brand themselves. But
“Pete”
was hardly threatening.

“We're working for the Hero Foundation so don't
try anything. Unless you want me to smother you in flames again.”

Basilisk calmed down and mumbled something incoherent. Pete hesitated. He had promised the others he wouldn't remove the sack or the gag, but right now he had nobody to talk to. He might as well interrogate the prisoner.

“I'm going to remove your gag. Scream out and you'll get a, uh, lightning bolt to the head. Understand?”

“Urgh-uh,” Basilisk replied.

Pete took that for a yes and tentatively walked around Basilisk and untied the gag, though he made sure to keep the sack firmly over Basilisk's face. The villain took a deep breath.

“You're a Downloader?”

“Yes. And a lot of very angry people want to talk to you about putting the virus into our system.” He moved a large, dingy, cracked bathroom mirror from a stool and sat down.

“The virus was a mere taste of things to come,” said Basilisk levelly. “Nothing compared to the imminent downfall of your precious little Foundation. Then you will once again be nothing more than an ordinary child.”

The words stung Pete, especially the word
ordinary
.

Basilisk continued. “In fact I'm surprised you're still able to download powers.”

“We were the only ones who could. But they're a
little glitchy.” The words were out of his mouth before he realized he'd given almost everything away.

“Most interesting. Just you four left, eh?”

“There are others,” retorted Pete sharply.

Basilisk knew he had the upper hand despite the circumstances. He poured on the scorn. “You mean the Primes? The
real
heroes, not toy heroes like you and your friends. Well, I didn't see the Primes flying around Diablo Island. And I don't hear them rushing to your aid now.”

Pete nervously checked the knots that held Basilisk in place and hoped they were strong enough. No matter how much superstrength Basilisk possessed he did not have the leverage to snap the wire, at least that's what Lorna had explained. Pete was beginning to have doubts about that and he fingered the mobile in his pocket.

“Most Primes are nothing but cowards; well, the so-called heroic ones. Not like me and my oppressed brethren. We put our necks on the line whereas the people you work for hide behind children like you.”

Pete hated to admit it, but he agreed with the villain's viewpoint. Their mission to Diablo Island had just confirmed that.

“So destroying the competition is what you had in mind?” asked Pete.

“An interesting way of putting it. Maybe you're not
as simpleminded as your friends …” Basilisk paused for a long moment, his head moving around as though he could clearly see around the shed, “who are not here. I take it then that you must be their leader. The brave one to interrogate the archvillain before handing him in?” He paused for effect. “I assume that to be the truth as no hero would leave their friend alone with a notorious criminal such as I. Would they?”

Pete remained silent for fear of openly agreeing with him. He thought about his friends sitting in their comfortable homes, and bet that they didn't have their parents arguing in the background.

He had never felt so lonely.

Toby thumped the mouse hard; the Web site was still off-line. He had tried to search for “VIRAL” as a supervillain, but the regular Internet turned up nothing useful. He needed the rogues' gallery on Hero.com to find more information about who they had faced. Plus, he needed to tell the authorities that they had captured Basilisk, but the site's e-mail was down and there had been no sign of Mr. Grimm. Toby was beginning to think he must have died in the crash.

Toby stifled a yawn and felt incredibly tired—it had been a long day after all. He knew he should call Pete to make sure things were okay with Basilisk. Then
again, Pete hadn't called him, so he took that as a sign all was well.

His thoughts were interrupted as his e-mail pinged. Toby saw the message was from UNKNOWN. He hesitated; it looked like spam—unwanted e-mails sent to thousands of in-boxes, either coaxing people's bank details from them or containing viruses. Usually he deleted such messages as soon as they arrived. His finger hovered over the delete key, but again he hesitated. It could be somebody trying to get in touch with him. He clicked on the e-mail.

A message flashed across the screen. “VIDEO FEED ACTIVATED.” Toby blinked in surprise. He glanced at the Webcam sitting on top of the monitor and quickly tried to flatten his hair, which was wild after his shower. A video window opened on-screen and Chameleon's serious face appeared. Toby's elation at seeing the superhero was quickly flattened when he realized he was dressed in very unheroic pajamas.

“Toby, good to see you in one piece,” said Chameleon with a curt nod. “I must be brief, there is much happening. First of all, congratulations. Not many face Viral and live to tell the tale.”

Toby unconsciously rubbed his wrist, just under the wristband they all still wore. The encounter with Viral had left two black marks where the villain's fingers had touched. They didn't feel like bruises and no amount of
scrubbing would get rid of them. “So you know about what happened? That we have Basilisk?”

“Yes. That is why I had to contact you. Basilisk is a lethal customer. Do you have him in a secure facility?”

Toby hesitated. He wasn't so sure a garden shed counted as secure. “He's with Pete. Locked up tight.”

“Good. It is imperative you let nobody see him, and don't talk to him; he can be silver-tongued when it suits him. Mr. Grimm will be on his way with a retrieval force, but it won't be until daylight.”

“Grimm's alive? I thought he'd abandoned us. And why not until tomorrow?”

“Mr. Grimm is not a fighter, so he had no part to play. That was
your
duty.” He was a typical Prime then, a coward at heart, not a hero. “And because things are so chaotic we cannot rally enough forces to retrieve him any sooner. The disaster on Diablo Island means more Enforcers are needed to try and secure the rest of the prison. We have a riot situation there now. The Hero Foundation is stretched thin. And while you may have captured Basilisk, Worm and Trojan escaped with Viral.”

Toby thought he detected a note of blame in Chameleon's voice. “We were unprepared for Diablo Island, and your guards there didn't exactly help the situation by shooting at us. So what's so special about this team anyway?”

“Trojan is able to infiltrate very secure areas with ease. Worm can now enter computer systems and override them. And Viral's skills are not just confined to the physical world—he has the ability to create digital viruses that cannot be stopped. The three of them together are a recipe for disaster. With Hero.com off-line it is probable they will try to locate our headquarters, infiltrate our physical defenses, and topple the Foundation … leaving them access to our stored superpowers.”

The reality hit Toby. “That's terrible!”

“It gets worse. They could twist Hero.com, transforming it into a private Villain.net, under their control.”

Toby didn't know what to say. It was because of his team's failure that these villains were still loose.

Chameleon continued. “That is why, once we have Basilisk safely in custody, your team will have to locate Worm and the others.”

“They could be anywhere in the world!”

“Your primary mission is to defend the Foundation. The Enforcers, and a few Primes not in hiding, are trying to protect the public from increasingly hostile villainous activity. The rest of it is up to you. Find Worm and the others and stop their plan. Worm will have a hideout somewhere. You just have to locate it.”

“Do you have any leads?”

“I'm afraid not. Commander Courage, the hero who runs the Foundation, was the one who fought Worm in
the past and imprisoned him—but something truly awful happened to Courage shortly afterward and he fell into a coma, suffering severe amnesia for a number of years. When he finally woke, he had no recollection of what had happened or
where
he'd imprisoned Worm.”

“How is that possible?”

“There are many terrible things in this world we still don't fully understand. And Courage was a victim of that.” Chameleon stared straight at the camera. “I know this is a great burden, but whether you feel ready or not,
you're
our only hope out there.”

Toby awoke the next morning still feeling exhausted. His conversation with Chameleon had not lifted his spirits.

Toby's mother was shouting at him to get dressed and his eyes shot to the clock: 9:00 a.m. He bolted from bed at an incredible speed. In a split second he was standing at his bedroom door fully dressed as his blankets were still falling from the bed—that assured him he still had superpowers. Then he realized that he wasn't late for school—it was the scheduled day off.

He should have phoned Pete last night but instead had gone straight to bed and fallen asleep the moment his head hit the pillow.