Free Rise of the Heroes by Andy Briggs Page A

how much have the police recovered?” the studio anchorman asked.
    â€œThe police recovered all the stolen money, estimated to be worth approximately ten million.”
    Toby sat up in his seat. “Ten million! Wow! What’s that amount of money doing in a local bank?”
    â€œI don’t know. They never mentioned us though,” said Lorna.
    â€œIsn’t that a good thing? How would they explain a bunch of superheroes flying around?”
    â€œThey didn’t even mention Doc Tempest. They said it was just a group of
ordinary
thieves.”
    Toby thought for a minute. “This might sound crazy, but what if this kind of thing happens all the time? Maybe it’s covered up, kept secret so people don’t panic.”
    Lorna nodded. “Do you think so?”
    â€œSomebody made that Web site. Those powers must come from somewhere, maybe even
someone
. And other people must be able to access the site too. So there must be other heroes out there.”
    Lorna looked thoughtful, twirling a strand of her hair as she always did when thinking. “Where do you think Hero.com comes from?”
    In the comic books, groups of heroes were always banding together for the greater good, and Toby remembered that Tempest had asked if they were part of the Invisible Brigade. “What if a group of superheroes got together to share their skills?”
    â€œWhy would they do that?”
    â€œI don’t know. For the greater good?”
    â€œOr maybe they’re all too old to run around and they just want to retire?”
    â€œYeah, or they discovered there were too many villains for them to fight alone.” He stopped. The thought of there being other villains troubled him.
    Lorna was thinking along the same lines. “Remember all those jobs on the Web site?” she said with concern. “There were a lot.”
    â€œAnd we stopped one of them. We did really well, Lorn. It’s something we should do again.”
    Lorna nodded, once again thoughtful. “You realize that with these powers … we could be famous.”
    Toby noticed the new copy of a celebrity gossip magazine next to her. She was becoming addicted to reading them once their mother had finished flicking through.
    â€œI don’t think that’s such a good idea,” he cautioned. “We can’t run the risk of people knowing who we are.”
    â€œWhy? Think of the money we could make. The parties we’d go to,” Lorna said in a dreamy voice.
    â€œWe have to be careful,” said Toby. “Imagine if somebody like Doc Tempest knew where we lived?”
    Lorna shuddered. The glamorous life was suddenly forgotten as the danger became apparent. “Then we’re going to need something to hide our identities. Like the costumes in Pete’s comics.”
    â€œNo! Absolutely not!” said Toby. This had been part of the angry conversation on the way home. Pete was enthusiastic about wearing a costume to hide theiridentity, and a Zorro mask over their faces. But Toby thought that was stupid. He
hated
dressing up—there was no way he was going to wear a costume.
    â€œI just think it’s for the best,” Lorna murmured. “Since you’re so against being famous.”
    Toby stood as his stomach rumbled again, reminding him that he had been on a quest for food. “Lorn, a caped costume is something that’s not going to happen. My find, remember? My rules. No way.”
    He walked out of the room, leaving Lorna biting her lip. For once she didn’t want to argue with her brother. The scale of the superpowers made these arguments seem petty.
    She looked at the clock and wondered when her mother would be off the computer, and preferably out of the house, so they could at least peek at the Web site one more time.
    She crossed her fingers, hoping it would be soon.
    Slamming the mouse angrily against the desk, Pete shut down his arthritic computer. Since his