by Greg James
‘What about warming things up a bit?’ Murph realised suddenly. ‘Fire beats ice, right?’
‘It’s risky,’ Mary wavered. ‘But it’s worth a try.’
‘Nellie, can you short out some of these electrics?’ Murph urged. ‘If we can just get some flames going …’
Nellie nodded and screwed up her face in concentration. The air seemed to thicken with static and thunder rolled, so loud that it sounded like it was actually inside the room.
Murph’s eyes widened as the ice monster looked for the source of the noise and roared. ‘C’mon, c’mon,’ he murmured. Drawing lightning down from the air was one thing, but summoning it all the way down into a secret bunker was quite another. Nellie was shaking with the effort.
As the monster refocused and prepared to charge again, the storm finally broke. Nellie’s lightning came crackling into the lab in forks of blinding white. It fizzed up and down the metal walls, which sparked and popped. It flowed around the ceiling and the lift, and at last it flew to Nellie’s outstretched hand, where it gathered in a ball of dancing blue fire.
Nellie slammed her hand into the electrical system closest to her – the Project Winter control panel. It exploded in a shower of bright white sparks.
The control panel was in flames, and small electrical fires had broken out across the lab, but the heat wasn’t enough to stop the ice monster. With a horrible nerve-smashing screech like splintering ice, it launched itself into the air towards them, arms outstretched and crystal fists clenched.
The Super Zeroes prepared for impact.
Murph braced himself, determined to fight back in any way he could.
Mary gripped her umbrella.
Hilda bent her knees in a kung-fu pose.
Nellie balled her fists, still bright with white energy.
Billy did the rabbit thing with his ears again.
But the impact never came. As the ice monster smashed down into their midst, two dazzling bolts of light shot over their heads. They hit the creature full in the chest with such force that it somersaulted backwards in the air, spinning round and round and, as it did, transforming back into the ragged shape of Magpie.
He hit the floor with a pleasing smack and lay still, surrounded by a ring of frost.
There were four seconds of complete silence. Count them.
The Super Zeroes slowly turned around.
Crouched in a combat stance, on top of the shattered remains of the glass cage that had held her prisoner for the last thirty years, was a teenage girl with long, silvery hair. Her eyes were wide and her hands outstretched. Clearly she had been the source of the beams of bright light.
‘Winter’s not for me,’ the girl exclaimed in a satisfied tone of voice. She dusted her hands together and regarded the fallen ice monster coolly. ‘I’ve always preferred springtime.’
‘Angel!’ breathed Murph.
‘Close your mouth, Cooper,’ Mary told him.
There was a sudden crunching of feet on the broken glass. Carl and Flora were racing towards Angel as fast as they could, limping but determined. They reached her at the same time and enfolded her in an enormous bear hug.
‘Mum! Dad! You found me!’ cried Angel. ‘All right, all right. Relax, dudes,’ she went on as the hug showed no signs of stopping. ‘It’s only been a couple of days. Anyone would think you hadn’t seen me in years!’
Flora sobbed.
Angel stopped and touched a hand gently to her mother’s face. ‘Mum, what’s the matter? And … why do you look so old?’
Any minute now, thought Murph, Angel is going to completely and utterly freak out.
‘Magpie! He’s up!’ warned Sir Jasper sharply, rolling towards them. His wheelchair was operational once more, and he and the Ex-Cape Committee were regrouping as best they could.
The Super Zeroes turned as one to face the spot where Magpie had fallen. He had got to his feet and was staring at Angel with a strange expression on his face. He caught Murph looking at him and his lip curled in contempt, before his gaze was drawn back to Angel once again, as if by a magnet.
He’s frightened, thought Murph with a thrill. He’s frightened of her.
Abruptly, Magpie turned and ran.
‘Stop him!’ shouted Murph, but it was too late. Grabbing the still-unconscious DoomWeasel, Magpie pelted across the lab towards the gloom in the far corner. As he went, one hand reached out and plucked the Proximity Detonator from its plinth. Then there was a metallic clanging and the pair of them vanished.
‘Escape hatch!’ shouted Lead Head, who had picked himself up off the floor not far away. ‘He’s made a run for it, the great big coward!’ He reached the hatch and banged on it urgently with his fists. ‘It’s sealed shut!’
‘He won’t get the jump on us,’ cried Sir Jasper. ‘Back to the vehicles.’
The Gemini Sisters were over by the lift. ‘We can’t go out the way we came,’ one of them said, jabbing its control button and gesturing towards its buckled doors. The combination of Jasper’s crash and Nellie’s electrical antics had proved too much. It was completely dead. ‘He’s slipped through our fingers, the snake.’
‘Don’t be downhearted!’ exulted Hilda. ‘We beat him! He’s left, tail between his legs! And we rescued Angel!’ She began a little jig of triumph, but it petered out after a few seconds when she realised nobody else was joining in. ‘Not joining me in the jigging?’ she asked in a small voice. ‘What’s the problem?’
Everybody else was looking at the plinth that had held the Proximity Detonator. It had lit up with pulsing red lights.
‘Does that mean what I think it means?’ said Hilda, all thoughts of triumph dancing out of her head like fleeing ballerinas of the mind.
‘He’s activated the bomb,’ Carl confirmed grimly, striding over to the pillar and inspecting a screen. ‘Three minutes till self-destruct.’
‘Would it be too much to ask,’ moaned Billy, ‘to go into just ONE building today that isn’t wired to explode?’
‘Well, it’s kind of Magpie’s thing,’ reasoned Murph. ‘So,’ he said, facing the group, ‘everyone ready to find a way out of this bunker before it self-destructs?’
‘No objections here!’ said Sir Jasper.
‘Right then, Ex-Capes, try those lift doors again! Quick! Zeroes, look for alternative escape routes.’
Angel joined the Super Zeroes as they desperately searched the walls for a way out. ‘So, what’s the 411 here?’ she asked. ‘Who are all of you? Your outfits are, like, totally tubular.’
‘I’m Mar– … Murph,’ said Murph, clearing his throat slightly and blushing. ‘I mean Murph. Just Murph. Haha.’
‘Shall we save the introductions for later?’ asked Mary a little tartly, as she used a handy fire extinguisher to try to bash in the escape hatch through which Magpie had vanished. But it wouldn’t budge.
‘Two minutes!’ shouted Carl.
The Ex-Cape Committee were puffing and panting with the effort of trying to dislodge the lift doors.
‘We’re gonna diiiiiieeeeee,’ moaned Billy. ‘The bunker’s gonna exploooooooooode.’
‘Not … helping …’ said Mary,
‘One minute twenty!’ yelled Carl, his arm around Flora protectively.
‘And it’s really draughty as well,’ Billy complained. ‘We’re gonna diiiiieeeee in a really chilly, draughty bunker.’
Murph stopped: ‘Wait! What did you say?’
‘We’re gonna diiiii–’
‘No, the other bit …’
‘It’s really draughty?’
‘That’s it! Billy,’ said Murph, rushing over to him and looking up, ‘I think you just saved everyone’s lives.’
‘Oh, cool,’ said Billy brightly.
‘Everyone here – NOW!’ Murph bellowed. He pointed up at the large circular air vent way above Billy’s head. It was in the centre of the ceiling, exactly where Angel’s glass prison had been. ‘That’s our way out. Mary, give me your umbrella! Billy, stand by. Every
one else, grab on to Jasper’s chair. Sir Jasper – get ready to take us up … fast!’
Whipping off his belt, Murph lashed Mary’s brolly to the back of the wheelchair and unfurled it.
‘Hold on and get ready to help us fly!’ Murph told Mary. ‘We’ll need all the lift we can muster.’
Eventually everyone managed to find a part of the wheelchair to hold on to. Lead Head was balancing on the back, and there was a Gemini Sister perched on each arm. Carl, Flora and Angel were all draped uncomfortably across Sir Jasper’s lap. The Zeroes were gripping whatever part of the umbrella handle they could reach. It was a physics-defying squash and far from dignified, but it worked.
‘Right, Billy,’ Murph ordered. ‘POP THE BROLLY!’
Billy concentrated. With a loud crack, Mary’s umbrella ballooned to many times its usual size.
‘SIR JASPER! NOW!’ yelled Murph. Sir Jasper’s chair lifted slowly into the air, the fans underneath it creaking and groaning with the weight. It began gathering pace as Mary added the strength of her own flying Cape to the mix, rising faster and faster still.
They all managed to hang on as the chair finally smashed through the grating covering the air duct and shot up the shaft like a champagne cork.
‘This is going to be close!’ said Jasper grimly.
‘Wouldn’t have it any other way,’ answered Carl, grinning wolfishly up at his old friend from where he was wedged by Flora’s elbow.
The giant umbrella smashed through another metal grating at the top of the ventilation shaft, and they spilled out on to the floor of the hangar where Magpie’s Alliance helicopter was parked – alongside the Banshee and Gertie.
‘Let’s move! Go go go!’ screamed Murph as they all scrambled for the vehicles. There were mere seconds to spare.
At that moment, there was a huge roar from beneath them and the entire floor shook. A lick of flame spouted from the top of the shaft.
The Super Zeroes made for the Banshee, but it was agonisingly slow going with Flora still so weak. Once inside, she collapsed to the floor. Carl was already at the controls, and Nellie joined him as co-pilot. Through the windows Murph could see huge flames pouring out of the air duct.
‘Come on, slowcoaches!’ crackled Sir Jasper’s voice out of the radio. Murph caught a flash of black as Gertie cleared the entrance, splashed through the waterfall and out of view. The Banshee’s jets screamed as it rose ponderously into the air, turning to face the exit, which was almost totally obscured by flames and choking black smoke.
‘We’ll never make it!’ squealed Hilda, looking out of the windscreen in horror. The hangar was disintegrating. As they watched, the huge black helicopter was crushed by falling debris and burst into flames.
‘We have literally a one in a billion chance of making it out of this alive,’ muttered Billy.
‘Never tell me the odds,’ replied Carl.
Bouncing from one side to another like a pinball, the Banshee made for the entrance, dodging explosions and falling concrete. A metal support fell from the roof, knocking into one of the jet engines and sending them spinning.
‘Keep her steady, Little Nell.’ Carl’s teeth were clenched. ‘Maximum thrust!’ He pushed a lever and the car leaped into the inferno.
A huge explosion filled the hangar, turning the waterfall to steam as the silvery-blue car shot through the mouth of the fire and away into the outside world, like a bread roll being spat out by a gluten-intolerant dragon.
Murph smooshed his face against the back window in time to see part of the dam collapsing in on itself. Water spilled over the top as it fell, quenching the fire that was still blazing from the hangar entrance. Before it was lost to view as the Banshee rounded a bend in the river, Murph saw the entire structure buried in a heap of rubble and smoke.
‘That was righteous!’ Angel exclaimed beside him.
All Murph could do in response was breathe a huge sigh of relief.
25
The Pilot
ONE WEEK LATER
‘On a ship full of rubbish?’ asked Flora for the third time, suppressing a smile.
‘Yes,’ answered Murph. ‘They found Miss Flint stuffed in a bin, quite a long way out to sea, apparently. She wasn’t very impressed.’
‘But she’s back in charge again?’ asked Carl, taking a sip of his tea.
‘As much as it’s possible to be,’ said Murph. ‘The HALO system has been useless since Magpie hacked it. But Miss Flint’s called all the Cleaners back to Shivering Sands to decide on their next move.’
‘Most of the prisoners were able to get away after the breakout,’ Mary continued. ‘Some made for the remaining helicopters; others managed to commandeer boats. They think Goldfish just swam for it. Assuming he could remember how, of course. So now the Alliance really has its work cut out.’
‘And so do we,’ added Murph determinedly. ‘All of us. Every Hero has been told to be on standby. Oh, and by the way, Miss Flint asked us to tell you that your status as a Rogue Hero has been officially revoked, Flora.’
‘Well, that’s nice,’ smiled the Blue Phantom.
The Super Zeroes were sitting on striped deckchairs in the garden of Flora and Carl’s cottage a mile or so from the outskirts of the town. It was surrounded by fields of golden wheat, and not far away Murph could see the silver ribbon of the canal sparkling as it ran between banks of tall rushes. It was the last sunny Sunday of the year, with a low sun bringing out the autumn colours of the trees and reflecting blue glints from the Banshee, which was parked on the lawn not far away.
‘How’s Angel getting on?’ Murph asked Carl, glancing at the cottage windows.
‘She’s doing OK,’ said Carl. ‘Whatever that technology was that Magpie had developed, it seems to have kind of frozen her in time. She has no memory of the years passing. When she broke out of her cage, she thought she’d been trapped by Magpie only moments before. She’s glad to be home – but it’s just a lot to get used to.’
‘So, she’s suddenly, like, travelled thirty years into the future?’ marvelled Billy. ‘Cool! Was she expecting everyone to have flying cars and stuff?’
‘Angel’s had a flying car since she was a baby,’ Mary pointed out, slightly sniffily. ‘And she’s the least of our worries. Magpie’s still out there. And thanks to him, just about every supervillain going is back at large.’
‘Sounds like the world needs Heroes more than ever,’ Hilda said proudly.
‘Well,’ said Flora, ‘we’re ready to fight beside you in the battles ahead. As Mary says, there are dangerous times coming. The Blue Phantom stands with you.’
‘Really?’ asked Murph, his heart beating faster. ‘But I thought you were retired?’
‘I was. I retired the day I lost Angel. I blamed myself, you know. But that was the wrong decision. I want to make up for lost time. The Ex-Cape Committee came out of retirement to help us, despite having no Capes. It looks like Miss Flint intends to carry on without hers. Well, I’ll do the same. Because if you’ve taught me one thing, Kid Normal,’ – she ruffled Murph’s hair – ‘it’s that you don’t need superpowers to be a Hero.’
There was an interval of feet-shuffling as everyone realised they weren’t sure what to say next.
Angel appeared at the back door of the cottage. ‘Wotcher!’ she said, seeing the Super Zeroes. ‘Ooh, tea and cakes, is it? Bad!’
‘What’s bad about them?’ Hilda queried.
‘No, I mean “they’re bad”. You know, like, they’re really good?’
Hilda looked blank.
‘We’re going to have to update her slang,’ said Mary acidly, looking a bit miffed as Murph got up to offer Angel his deckchair.
‘Oh, I know!’ said Carl, breaking the tension. ‘Talking of the battles ahead, there’s something that I wanted to give you all. Something I think you’ll find helpful.’ Eyes twinkling under his checked cap, he raised his eyebrows and inclined his head towards the flying car behind the Super Zeroes.
‘Is it …
something in the Banshee?’ asked Murph.
Carl opened his eyes wide, waiting for the penny to drop.
‘You’re … you’re giving her to us?’ said Mary, completely awestruck. ‘You’re giving us the Banshee?’
‘Well, you said you’re on constant standby for missions now. The Super Zeroes will need a way of getting places fast,’ said Carl. He sounded light-hearted enough, but his eyes were glistening. ‘I know you’ll take care of my old girl for me, won’t you?’
‘Of course!’ said Murph. ‘But who’s going to fly her?’
‘I would have thought that was the one question you didn’t have to ask,’ said Carl, pointing to Nellie. ‘You’ve got a very promising pilot right there.’
Nellie looked up at him as if there were fifty million things she wanted to say. But she only nodded, and Carl did the same, ending with a wink.
‘Off you go, then,’ he told them. ‘Haven’t you got homes to go to? Take her back to my workshop, and make sure you lock the garage door after you.’ He took a set of keys from his pocket and threw them to Nellie, who received them with a neat overarm catch.
The Super Zeroes climbed into the Banshee. Murph looked around the cockpit as if seeing it for the first time, breathing in the smell of oil and warm metal, and running his fingers over the well-worn rows of switches along the dashboard. He couldn’t quite believe that this incredible vehicle was theirs.
Nellie climbed into the pilot’s chair, pushing his hand out of the way and confidently flicking some of the switches down. The engines began to hum and the cabin lights flashed on.
At the doorway of the little cottage, Carl, Flora and Angel turned and waved.
‘Everybody ready?’ Nellie asked softly.
Murph looked around at his friends. ‘Kid Normal ready,’ he confirmed.
‘Mary Canary ready.’
‘Balloon Boy ready, but please don’t go too fast.’
‘Equana ready, pilot.’
Nellie met their eyes one by one, her face set and serious. ‘Rain Shadow ready,’ she said. Then, like the sun bursting from behind a cloud, her face broke into the biggest grin imaginable. ‘Hold on!’ she told her friends, narrowing her eyes and pulling a lever.
