Star League 7 (3 page)

I stare at the spot where Ben was just a moment ago. I look around the theatre for him, but he's nowhere to be seen.

‘He just vanished into thin air,' chirps Chu from my shoulder. I'm so shocked that I don't know what to do. What did the Shadow Six do with Ben?

‘It must have something to do with those black crystals,' I say.

By this point the audience in the movie theatre is starting to grow restless.

‘Wow, those are some of the best special effects I've ever seen,' says a man in the third row. ‘And the movie hasn't even started yet!'

They all still think this is part of the act.

 

I glance at the other members of the Star League, but everyone else is as speechless as me. We're used to Professor Pestilence's goons coming after us, but this time the Shadow Six weren't interested in fighting. They seemed to think Ben had something they were after.

I jump as a loud ringing cuts through the cinema. I look down and find a mobile phone on the floor next to my feet. It seems familiar and as I reach down to pick it up I realise it's Ben's. He must've dropped it just before the Shadow Six took him. The caller ID says it's from a private number.

‘Should I answer it?'

Jay nods, so I press the accept button.

‘Hello?' I ask, my voice trembling a little.

‘Where's Ben?' The voice on the other end is deep and gruff.

‘I don't know … they took him.'

‘Who took him?' demands the voice.

‘The Shadow Six.'

The voice on the other end is silent for a moment.

‘We need to act fast,' it says finally. ‘A car will be waiting for you outside. Once you're here, we can talk.'

‘Wait, where are we going? I'm not about to get into some strange car without even knowing who I'm talking to!'

‘You're coming to GALACTIC headquarters,' says the voice, then the line goes dead. I close Ben's phone and slip it into my pocket.

The others stare at me. ‘Who was that, Leigh?' asks Jay. I'm about to explain when I realise that every person in the cinema is staring at me. I can't very well spill our secret identities in front of all of them.

‘We need to get out of here.' I turn to our family members. ‘Do you think you can keep this audience entertained until we get back?'

‘Don't worry, sweetheart,' says my mum. ‘You go do what you have to do.'

As we leave I catch a glimpse of Roger's witchdoctor father standing in front of the cinema. ‘So, does anyone here like magic tricks?'

We hurry into the foyer and go through a side door to avoid the crowds still gathered outside. Sure enough, a car is waiting for us at the door. We jump in and it speeds off.

‘Who was that on the phone?' Jay asks again.

‘It was GALACTIC,' I say. The others look surprised, and with good reason. We've received plenty of cases from GALACTIC, but we've never actually been there, or even met any members besides Ben. I'd be excited if I wasn't so worried.

The car pulls into a dark alleyway.

‘This is it,' barks the driver. We all climb out into what seems like a dead-end street and the car speeds off. Just as I'm starting to wonder if this is a very bad idea, the phone rings again. I put it on speakerphone so we can all hear.

‘You're almost here,' says the same gruff voice from before. ‘Now just walk straight ahead.'

We all glance up at the dead end.

‘Are you crazy?' asks Connor. ‘That's a solid brick wall!'

Sam steps forward and scans the wall. ‘It's a brick wall, but there's nothing solid about it.' He sticks his hand out and it passes right through. ‘It's just a projection.'

He steps forward and disappears. The others quickly file after him until it's just me and Chu.

‘This all seems really strange,' I say. ‘Why would Professor Pestilence take Ben and leave us?'

‘I don't know, Leigh,' chirps Chu. ‘But the only way to find out is through that brick wall.'

I nod, then I step forward into GALACTIC HQ.

We pass through the brick-wall projection and find a door with so many locks it looks like it leads to the queen's toilet. Jay steps up to knock, but before he can the locks slide back one by one and the door swings open. As we head inside, the door slams shut behind us.

‘If this is a trap we're not doing a very good job staying out of it.'

‘I know, Roger,' says Jay. ‘But we don't have any other options. We need to find out why the Shadow Six took Ben and, more importantly, where they've taken him.'

We make our way up a long corridor and a flight of stairs. At the top is a room filled from floor to ceiling with all kinds of gadgets, and standing in
the middle of the workshop is a kid who can't be older than five. He squints at us through a pair of glasses that look way too big for his face.

‘Star League, it's good to finally meet you.'

When the kid speaks, my jaw drops so low it almost falls off. His voice is deep – way deeper than a normal five-year-old's.

‘You were the one who called us,' says Leigh.

He nods. ‘My name is Ridley. Welcome to GALACTIC Headquarters.'

‘No offence, kid, but we're not here to play office with you,' I say. ‘Can you tell us where the rest of GALACTIC are so we can hunt down the creeps who took Ben?'

‘I am the sole member of GALACTIC HQ,' he says in his deep voice.

‘You?' I ask. ‘You look like you should be off playing with action figures instead of leading a secret organisation.'

‘Roger, don't be so rude!' hisses Asuka, but
Ridley just laughs.

‘You're right, Roger, I'm no ordinary five-year-old. I have the IQ of a genius. While other children my age were colouring in and building cubby houses, I was creating a team dedicated to stamping out crime. And so the General Anti-Lawbreaker Association Committed To Immobilising Criminals was born. I recruited Ben Beaumont, who in turn recruited you. After all, who better to recognise the potential of young agents than I? Together, we will bring down the force of evil that is Professor Pestilence!'

‘Speaking of which, do you have any information on the Shadow Six that might help us find Ben?' asks Jay.

Ridley's face clouds over. ‘Ah yes, the Shadow Six.' He shuffles over to a computer and hits some buttons. ‘Six kids with amazing powers, just like you. But unlike you, they got their powers from a darker source.'

A picture of a black crystal flashes up on screen.

‘Hey! They were all wearing pieces of that crystal!' I say.

Ridley nods. ‘I'd feared as much. The black crystals are shards of something known as the Shadow Stone. It was a powerful item that could give whoever held it unlimited power. Thankfully, the stone was smashed into pieces. Up until now I had thought those pieces were missing. But it looks like Professor Pestilence has found the shards and used them to create his own team of superheroes. These shards are where the Shadow Six draw their powers from, and it was how they were able to escape with Ben held prisoner.'

‘So how are we going to find Ben?' asks Sam.

‘I've been researching the clues left behind from your encounters with Professor Pestilence's minions and I've uncovered some new information,' Ridley says.

‘Does that mean you've got a lead on the professor's real identity?'

Ridley grins. ‘I'm very glad you asked that, Roger. Come with me.'

The one known as Ridley leads us into a large, circular room. Computer screens line every wall and I can't help but be impressed.

‘Wow! Is this the Model 3000 Cranium Chamber?' I ask, excitement creeping into my voice.

Ridley nods. ‘Yes, it is. I just installed it yesterday.'

‘I thought it wasn't due out for months. Can it really amplify the signature wave of time like they claim?'

Ridley grins. ‘Do you want to see?'

Asuka steps forward with her arms crossed over her chest, clearly unimpressed. ‘Uh, hello! There are some non-geeks among us who have no
idea what you're talking about and would really like to get on with finding Ben.'

Ridley nods. ‘You're right, Asuka. Fotunately the Model 3000 Cranium Chamber can do other things.' He points a remote at one of the screens and a very familiar image appears.

‘That's the mansion Professor Pestilence was based out of on our first mission,' says Jay. ‘He took Jefferson there and tried to blackmail me into endorsing his products, but luckily you all showed up and helped me out.'

‘Correct,' says Ridley. ‘We searched the house from top to bottom, but the biggest clue we found was the robot that was disguised as Professor Pestilence. We got the serial numbers from it and tracked it down to a particular robotics factory.'

Ridley presses the remote again and another image replaces the mansion on screen. This time it's a video recording. He hits play and a monkey starts to frolic around on screen. But instead of
screeching like Chu does, he's talking like a human.

‘I'd know that voice anywhere,' growls Connor. ‘That's Baron von Wulfheim, the guy who tried to turn himself into a werewolf. Thankfully, we were able to trick him and turn him into a monkey instead. So I guess his potion still hasn't worn off, huh?'

‘No, it hasn't,' says Ridley. ‘But he only transforms into a monkey on a full moon, and instead of craving blood, he craves bananas. He wasn't too cooperative at first, but after a while he told us where the professor instructed him to buy his chemicals so he could create his potions.'

He presses the remote again and the screen is filled with trees.

‘The Mori Mountain Fortress!' gasps Asuka. ‘That's where we defeated Fuzen after he tried to kidnap my brother, only it turned out that Fuzen was actually Pestilence and he got away!'

‘Right!' says Ridley. ‘He might have escaped,
but we were able to capture and question his ninja spies.'

Next, the screens show some surveillance footage from a museum. Then a very familiar figure comes into focus.

‘Nefertina!' cries Roger. ‘Thanks to her we almost ended up as part of the mummy exhibition!'

‘We took this footage and analysed it. We were able to track some of the video feeds that came through and identify another possible location for Professor Pestilence's hideout.'

Ridley pulls out a ripped-up lump of latex and fur.

‘The gorilla suit!' says Leigh. ‘I knew all along there was something strange about Aunt Petunia's gorilla, Sweetpea, but I never would've guessed it was Professor Pestilence in disguise!'

Finally Ridley opens a small door to reveal a pile of broken robot-parts.

‘That's iRis,' I mutter. ‘Or what's left of her.' I fall
silent for a moment as I remember the robot who tricked me into being her friend, only so she could turn me against my real friends.

‘We used the last footage recorded on this robot to track down another possible hideout,' says Ridley. ‘After combining all these clues, we've come up with some answers.'

‘Does that mean you've been able to figure out where Professor Pestilence is hiding?' I ask.

Ridley frowns. ‘Well, yes and no …'