Virus Attack by Andy Briggs

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.”
    â€œWe were the only ones who could. But they’re alittle glitchy.” The words were out of his mouth before he realized he’d given almost everything away.
    â€œMost interesting. Just you four left, eh?”
    â€œThere 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.
    â€œMost 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.
    â€œSo destroying the competition is what you had in mind?” asked Pete.
    â€œAn interesting way of putting it. Maybe you’re notas 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. Thenagain, 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