Virus Attack

by Andy Briggs

  Basilisk took flight but Pete swooped in and tackled him. Entwined, they both spun through the air, trading punches.

  Basilisk used his petrification power on the boy, but Pete’s face suddenly burned blank and featureless like a mask. It was a mass of golden energy making him resemble a living statue. He didn’t feel the effect of Basilisk’s powers.

  “That’s all you’ve got?” he taunted the villain.

  Basilisk was amazed. “What’s happened to you?”

  “I’ve become more powerful than you can imagine!” said Pete.

  They were not just empty words. Pete felt it.

  Basilisk knew he was outclassed. But he had one trick left. He concentrated on his own body. While he could turn others to stone, Basilisk also had the power to increase his own density. He grabbed Pete around the neck and willed himself heavier.

  Even with the new power he felt, Pete couldn’t prevent himself from being dragged to the deck like a meteorite. He hit the steel superstructure with such force that the entire carrier rocked. The impact caused dozens of other holding tanks to smash in a wide shock wave around them. The thick fluids surged over Pete and Basilisk in a kaleidoscope of sizzling superpowers.

  Toby raced toward Viral, and found the man lying at an awkward angle amid the pipes. Anywhere his body touched it, the metal was rapidly corroding, and the colorful superpower liquids squirted out at high pressure. Toby avoided the spray and prepared a fireball … but he hesitated. Viral looked pathetic, just like a neglected kid. He was an outcast. Toby felt a pang of sympathy. His adventures were beginning to make him wiser, and he now realized that not every situation was a black-and-white one. His sense of compassion and reasoning was truly developing.

  “Don’t move, we’ll get you help when this is over.”

  Viral laughed, but the action caused pain. “Course I believe you. A nice cell on Diablo Island, right?”

  “That’s not what I mean.”

  “You were just yelling that you were a hero. You’re all the same. Lock away what you don’t understand.”

  “That’s not true.”

  The deck shuddered again as Pete and Basilisk rolled around, locked in a deadly struggle. A loose pipe fell across Viral, causing him to howl in pain and crushing his arm.

  “Understand this,” he said through gritted teeth. “I have set a virus in the main computer. Something I can control remotely.”

  “Don’t do it!”

  “I never liked flying. Always preferred to have my feet on the ground.”

  Viral closed his eyes—and at that exact moment the whole Foundation carrier lumbered to one side as Viral’s infection deactivated the anti-gravity system. It was like being on the deck of the Titanic as it sank—the carrier plummeted through the clouds, earthbound. Everybody slid down the incline.

  * * *

  Lorna was still holding Emily as she hovered over the Foundation complex. Smashed pipes and utility vehicles around the complex rolled down the slope and off the edge of the floating carrier.

  Toby took to the air with his sister. A waterfall of debris flowed off the edge of the carrier and poured into the clouds.

  Pete and Basilisk were still embraced in combat. The superpowered liquid clung to them both in thick, gloopy strands.

  Then Pete suddenly extinguished his glowing appearance, reverting to normal as the carrier lurched, pouring the liquid over the edge and almost driving him and Basilisk with it.

  Basilisk pushed Pete aside and took to the air, leaving the boy to slide down the slope. Pete smashed through tank after tank, more powers washing over him.

  Toby darted forward like a missile to save him.

  At the same moment Emily came to and noticed that Eric Kirby was sliding off the edge. He was bleeding badly but still alive. She broke from Lorna’s grasp and flew toward him, grabbing his hand just as he sailed off the side.

  “Em, wait a minute,” shouted Lorna. Then she noticed that the Worm twins were hanging from a pipe, feet flailing in the air as the incline increased. She shot forward, but before she could do anything to help, a heavy steel tower that supported pressure pipes broke away with a screech of steel and slammed into the twins. Lorna saw them burst into particles, but then a wave of congealing superpowers washed over them with an acidic hiss.

  “Lorn, help me!” It was Emily. Eric Kirby’s weight was dragging her back down to the sloping carrier. Lorna flew across and helped her friend.

  Toby was an arm’s length away from Pete as Pete smashed through another vat. A rainbow of gunk clung to Pete, and he no longer seemed conscious.

  “Pete! I’m here!” screamed Toby.

  He clutched his friend’s sleeve, which was slick with ooze—and then felt a blast knock him sideways into a gantry. He had to shield his eyes from the sun as Basilisk dropped on him.

  “You’ve lost!” roared Basilisk. “Don’t you see I’ve won? The Hero Foundation is falling apart around you!”

  The fact hit Toby like a physical blow. Basilisk was right. The moment they hit the ground the Foundation and Hero.com would be no more.

  Basilisk pinned Toby against the pipes with his full weight. “I just wanted you to know how badly you’ve been defeated, before I kill you!”

  Toby noticed two things at once. Pete’s body was slipping over the edge in a waterfall of artificial superpowers, and that Basilisk looked vaguely like Pete, which alarmed him.

  Basilisk’s eyes started to glow. Toby felt his skin become instantly dry and he screamed as it cracked. Toby held up his arm to try to block Basilisk’s eyes, but all that happened was that the skin on his forearm turned gray.

  Toby took a deep breath—then teleported away. Basilisk stumbled and looked around, furious that he had been cheated out of the kill.

  Toby reappeared slightly below the carrier, at its edge. Teleporting in the middle of the sky was an unpleasant experience as he immediately plunged, and had to initiate his flying power. He looked around for Pete and spotted him falling faster than the carrier, amid a sea of debris.

  Toby spurred forward and swept up Pete, unsure if his friend was still alive. He blanked out those negative thoughts and concentrated on staying airborne with his friend’s weight. Commander Courage had said the powers packed a punch. Toby just hoped he was right about that.

  He was relieved to see Emily and Lorna swoop down with Eric Kirby strung between them.

  “We have to get out of here!” warned Lorna.

  “What?”

  “The carrier … has a nuclear reactor …,” wheezed Kirby. He mimed an explosion with his fingers.

  “I just used my teleport!” said Toby. He knew with Pete’s additional weight there was no way he could outrun an explosion—and the carrier was seconds away from impact with the desert.

  “Grab hold!” said Emily.

  Toby kept a firm grip on Pete and clutched Emily’s shoulder …

  Just as the city fell from the sky.

  Explosions popped across the deck as power plants overloaded. As the central hub hit the ground, the elegant towers toppled into one another like dominoes and the nuclear reactor exploded with a blinding flash.

  The heroes teleported away just as an expanding radioactive shock wave tore the Hero Foundation into billions of pieces. A mushroom cloud punched a fist toward the sky as the explosion echoed across the Gobi desert.

  Basilisk had been defeated for now, but the Hero command center had been destroyed.

  * * *

  The rhythmic bleep of a life-support machine was the only sound in the room. Toby, Lorna, and Emily stared at Pete, who was covered in bandages and motionless. They were in a sterile private room in one of the Foundation’s private hospitals.

  “How long will he be like this?” said Emily. Her eyes were bloodshot from crying. Toby had been surprised when she hugged him tight for comfort.

  Eric Kirby stood behind them. His wounds were healed, and he wore a fresh linen suit. He still had his cane for support. He shook his h
ead. “We don’t know. He’s in a very deep coma, after direct contact with so much raw hyper energy.”

  “I thought these powers were supposed to be safe?” snapped Lorna.

  “In small doses, yes. And even in higher quantities, we Primes have a certain natural tolerance. But in a normal person … well, we simply don’t know what effect that is going to have on him. This is unprecedented. To be honest, I’m amazed he’s still alive.”

  Toby left the room, and stood on the small balcony that overlooked the hospital grounds. Since they had returned he had thought of nothing but the welfare of his friend. They had all contacted their parents to say they were safe and had given convincing alibis. Kirby had assured them that he would contact Pete’s parents directly and inform them of their son’s condition.

  Toby thought about how out of control things had become during the events leading to the downfall of the Hero Foundation, and he felt guilty. They had had a responsibility and they had failed.

  Eric Kirby laid a hand on his shoulder.

  “You did well, you know.”

  “We failed.”

  “You all saved my life. That’s no failure. And you interfered with Basilisk’s plans just enough to give us time to evacuate our staff to other bases.”

  Toby didn’t understand immediately. Then he frowned. “What other bases? I thought that was the end of the Hero Foundation?”

  “If I had died, it would have been. That was the Foundation’s headquarters. The very first we made. And it was the main storage area for our powers. With those gone it’s going to take a while to rebuild the collection. From that location you could control everything, which is why Basilisk wanted it. But we have other subbases—ones Basilisk didn’t know about. They’re smaller, and not as efficient, but we’ll manage to get Hero.com back online soon, even if it runs at a limited capacity until we can rebuild a new HQ.”

  “The other bases, where are they?” said Toby, relieved to find a glimmer of hope.

  “We created them around the four elements. That’s air destroyed. But the location of the others is a secret for now, I’m sorry. Once we get the satellite back we can reach other Downloaders so they can finally begin to fight back. And their bravery will bring the Primes out of hiding and ready to fight. If it hadn’t been for you four stalling Basilisk, we would have lost everything.”

  Toby grinned, relieved that they had made a difference. Mr. Grimm stepped onto the balcony and whispered something in Kirby’s ear. Then they both excused themselves.

  Everybody was surprised that Grimm had survived, although Toby guessed that he’d probably teleported away at the first sign of danger.

  Kirby paused before he left the room.

  “You should all go home and rest. We’ll let you know the moment Pete’s condition changes.”

  Toby only wished his friend was better, then life would be back to normal. Well, normal for them. He was convinced Pete would pull through, and when he did, Toby promised himself that he wouldn’t be such a control freak over using Hero.com. His friendship was more important. And they could be a team once more—doing what they did best.

  The door opened again. Toby was expecting another nurse to enter, but was surprised when he heard Lorna shriek with delight. Her boyfriend had arrived.

  Toby took a deep breath and walked into the room. He stopped in utter shock when he saw the new arrival. The last person he had expected to see.

  Jake Hunter.

  Toby didn’t yet know that Lorna had just led them all into a world of trouble—one that would alter their lives forever.…

  A Note from the Author

  From: Andy Briggs

  To: HERO.COM readers everywhere

  Subject: Careful on the Web!

  As you know, the Internet is a brilliant invention, but you need to be careful when using it.

  In this awesome book, the heroes (and villains!) download their powers from different Web sites. But HERO.COM and VILLAIN.NET don’t really exist. :-( I thought them up when I was dreaming about how cool mind control would be. The idea for HERO.COM suddenly came to me—especially the scene where Lorna and Emily … Oh wait! You haven’t read it yet so I’d better shut up! :-) Anyway, I began writing and before I knew it, the idea had spiraled into VILLAIN.NET as well. But I had to make up all of the Internet stuff. None of it is really out there on the Web.

  Here are my tips for safe surfing on the Web: keep your identity secret (like all good superheroes do); stick to safe Web sites; make sure a parent, teacher, or guardian knows that you’re online—and if anyone sends you anything that makes you feel uncomfortable, don’t reply, and tell an adult you trust.

  I do have my own Web site, and it’s totally safe (even without superpowers!):

  www.heroorvillainbooks.com

  Be safe out there!

  :-)

  About the Author

  Andy Briggs was born in Liverpool, England. Having endured many careers, ranging from pizza delivery and running his own multimedia company to teaching IT and filmmaking (though not all at the same time), he eventually remembered the constant encouragement he had received at an early age about his writing. That led him to launch himself on a poor, unsuspecting Hollywood. In between having fun writing movie scripts, Andy now has far too much fun writing novels.

  He lives in a secret lair somewhere in the southeast of England—attempting to work despite his two crazy cats. His claims about possessing superpowers may be somewhat exaggerated….

  Don’t miss the stories of how

  Hero.com and Villain.net got started!

  THE WORLD IS

  COUNTING ON YOU!

  Tired of being a goody-goody all the time?

  Ready to get in touch with your dark side?

  Luckily, Andy Briggs, the courageous mastermind behind VIRUS ATTACK, has a dark side too. Join him in the continued struggle for world domination in:

  VILLAIN.NET

  Dark Hunter

  Turn the page for a teaser chapter, and prepare to find your inner supervillain!

  Log on for your own superadventure at:

  www.heroorvillainbooks.com

  Superpowers are just a click away.…

  CAN’T GET ENOUGH OF SAVING THE WORLD? DISCOVER THE WORLD OF THE SEEMS.

  You know the rain we had two weeks ago or that nightmare you had last night? Becker Drane can tell you exactly who or what was responsible, because Becker works as a Fixer for The Seems. From the Department of Weather to the Department of Time, The Seems keeps our world running smoothly—at least, it’s supposed to…

  www.theseems.com

  www.bloomsburykids.com

  Also by

  ANDY BRIGGS

  VILLAIN.NET

  Dark Hunter

  the nemesis of HERO.COM

  WHICH SIDE ARE YOU ON?

  Read an exclusive excerpt at the back of this book!

  AND FIND OUT HOW IT ALL BEGAN …

  The Great Escape

  WHAM! Jake’s head jerked back with the powerful blow to his cheek. He had a metallic taste in his mouth: his lip must be bleeding. Through a swollen eye he looked at Chameleon sitting across the table.

  The superhero had been interrogating Jake since he’d arrived at Diablo Island Penitentiary, three … four weeks ago? Maybe more—days had blurred into one another.

  Chameleon motioned for the heavy Enforcer to stop hitting the boy. The man was huge, dressed in the uniform worn by the United Nations’ secret army whose mission was to conceal superheroes from public awareness and to capture supervillains. Like Jake.

  “Had enough, Hunter?” said Chameleon.

  Jake glared at the young man across the table, who was dressed in immaculate black and sporting a sharp haircut with a widow’s peak. Chameleon could shape-shift, but this seemed to be his normal form.

  “When I get out of here,” Jake said through cracked lips, “I’ll kill you.”

  A ghost of a smile flickered across the hero’s face. “Fine. But you
understand you will never get out of here. The outside world doesn’t care and your family have forgotten you ever existed.”

  Jake tried to lunge forward, but he was bound to the chair and feeling weak because he hadn’t been able to download powers from Villain.net. Those superpowers kept him alive. Whatever powerless replacement Chameleon was pumping into him was doing nothing more than keeping him tired and weak.

  “I saved your family,” continued the hero. “They will no longer have the heartbreak of suffering such an insolent son as you.”

  Jake jerked futilely in the chair and the Enforcer raised a threatening hand to strike again, but pulled away when Chameleon gave a slight shake of the head. The hero had never physically struck Jake during the interrogations, but he was more than happy to allow the Enforcers to be heavy-handed.

  “I’ll get them back,” spat Jake. “Then I’ll kill you and all your little superfriends when I tear this place apart!”

  Chameleon smiled, and Jake wanted to rip his smug face off.

  “Your family is gone, Hunter. And restoring their memories is not a power that even you possess.” He paused. “I think by now I’m starting to believe you don’t know the location of the Council of Evil.”

  The Council of Evil was a dedicated group of supervillains who had created an empire in retaliation to the Hero Foundation. Classic evil versus good. Both sides had started recruiting heroes and villains through Hero.com and Villain.net, and both sides had successfully hidden their headquarters away from the other.

  “I’ve never been,” growled Jake. “And if I had, I’d slaughter them too! Basilisk did this to me, made me dependent on that stupid Web site!”