Rise of the Heroes by Andy Briggs Page B

girl.” Emily noticed something in the sky above and gasped. Doc Tempest quickly followed her gaze, and smiled. “Ah, it appears my ride is here. I’ll have to cut our little party short.”
    A disc-shaped object descended from the sky; the gimbal-mounted antigravity thrusters underneath hummed gently as the craft landed. At first Emily had thought it was some kind of flying saucer—right now, nothing would surprise her—but it was a circular platform, some ten feet in diameter, with simple handrails around the edge: a “glider-disc.” Doc Tempest seemed to control the final descent by adjusting a toggle on his wristband.
    The skiff hovered inches from the ground and Tempest loaded the two cases on board, locking them magnetically to the floor. The skiff swayed from the additional weight, especially when Tempest climbed aboard. He threw a little salute toward Emily and the skiff ascended with a soft hum.
    â€œSee you in the next life!” he warbled.
    One of the injured mercenaries looked around. The henchmen’s getaway van had been trashed when Pete was hurled into it. He bolted past Emily and leaped for the skiff. His fingers caught the edge.
    â€œWait for me, boss!”
    The machine struggled to ascend any higher. Tempest looked down and saw his soldier hanging by one hand.
    â€œNot today,” Tempest purred, and he knelt down to grab the man’s wrist. An icy chill rolled down the mercenary’s arm. He howled in pain, but now could not let go as the frost slowly spread to consume him.
    Toby groaned as he saw Tempest escaping over the buildings. The man dangling underneath was rapidly turning white.
    â€œNo! Don’t let him get away!” Toby shouted.
    Once the mercenary was frozen through, Tempest stamped hard on his fingers. They broke like glass and his body fell. He hit the ground behind several parked vehicles, but Emily and Toby both heard it smash. Emily looked away in distress. When she opened her eyes again she saw Tempest quickly disappearing over the rooftops.
    Toby clambered unsteadily to his feet and approached her. “Are you okay?”
    â€œYeah, but the others are hurt.”
    They ran across to Pete who was on all fours, searchingfor his glasses. He had abrasions on his face, one nick above his eye bleeding badly from where his own ice blast had struck him.
    â€œPete!”
    â€œI’m fine!” Pete waved away any assistance as he found his glasses. One lens was shattered, the other badly scratched. He put them on anyway. “Where’s Lorna? She got hit pretty bad.”
    â€œI’m here,” she said.
    Everybody spun to see her. Like Pete, she had a few grazes on her face, and her black hair was full of dust and small pieces of concrete. Her face was pale, but she beamed with the thrill of it all. “Now
that
was terrifying.”
    Distant police sirens sounded.
    â€œHow are we going to explain this mess? We’d better leave before any more police arrive,” said Lorna.
    Toby peered in the direction Tempest had flown. “We’ve got to stop him.”
    â€œCome on, he just knocked us away like insects!” said Emily.
    â€œWe’re still alive, aren’t we?” Toby was surprised by his sudden conviction. The excitement had washed away the fear.
    â€œThat’s a bonus!” Pete said sarcastically. He took off his mangled glasses and examined them. “My dad’ll kill me for breaking another pair. They’re expensive, you know.”
    â€œWe can do this!” Toby said enthusiastically. “He took us by surprise. We can stop him.”
    Emily frowned. “Why are you so eager to get him?”
    â€œBecause it’s the right thing to do. We’ve been given a chance. A one in a million … billion … an opportunity to do something extraordinary. To have a
real
adventure. We have been chosen to do this. I say we do it. What do you all think?”
    Pete slid