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“You OK?” she asked. She looked worried.
“Yeah, are you OK?” he asked.
“Sure,” she said, grabbing him in her arms. Their faces were closer than ever before. Then she fired her inhalers and they zipped upward, finally landing on the lawn outside the school.
They saw Albert. The man’s body had grown to four times its size and he had what looked like dozens of gadgets hooked into his ports, turning him into a walking dynamo of power.
Tiny Pufferfish stood toe-to-toe with the giant. He swung at her, but each time she hurled herself out of the way at just the right time. “Luckily, I’m allergic to getting squashed,” she said, scratching at her legs with each life-saving leap.
Albert, however, was becoming enraged. “I have to smash you all so I can go out and save the world!” he bellowed.
“You don’t become a superhero doing supervillain deeds, dude,” Jackson said as his braces became spikes that poked at Albert’s feet. Albert howled in pain, then shot a ball of fire from his hands right at Braceface. The boy’s braces twisted and turned into a massive shield that saved him from being broiled. Unfortunately, four more fireballs slammed into the side of the school, setting it on fire. Luckily, it seemed all of the children and staff had been evacuated. Duncan caught a glimpse of them on the other side of the building.
“Hey, loser,” Flinch cried as he hopped up and down for Albert’s attention.
Albert brought his two fists down hard on the ground, narrowly missing Flinch, who used his superspeed to run between the big man’s legs. Now behind Albert, Flinch leaped up and kicked the villain in the rear end. The force of the kick sent Albert flying forward and his head crashed into the cafeteria, breaking the wall and destroying the tables and chairs.
“OK, we can beat up on this guy all day, but what are we going to do to stop him?” Matilda cried. “All those gadgets he plugged into himself are supercharging him with powers. Is there any limit to what he can do?”
And at once, Duncan knew. “Benjamin,” he cried, “come with me.” And he took off ru
“Whatever we’re doing,” the orb said, “it seems like a very dangerous plan.”
“You’re the most powerful computer in the world, correct?” he asked as he sprinted onward.
“Correct.”
“It must take an awful lot of power to run you,” Duncan said.
“It does,” the orb replied.
Duncan snatched Benjamin out of the air. “Then let’s give Captain Upgrade all the power he can handle!”
By this time, Albert had staggered to his feet. Still dazed, he didn’t see Duncan’s approach, nor did he see him pull one of the gadgets out of the port on his ankle, remove it from its cable, and plug in the glowing blue ball.
But he felt it.
He let out a howl similar to one you might make if you stuck a fork in a light socket. Beams of bright green energy shot out of his eyes and flew up into the sky. All of the gadgets began to fizz and pop and suddenly blink out, all but Benjamin.
“It’s too much power,” Albert bellowed. “I can’t handle any more!”
“Exactly,” Duncan said.
Then, like a tree, Albert fell over and was still.
“What did you do to him?” Matilda cried when she rushed to Duncan’s side.
“I crashed his system,” Duncan said as he removed Benjamin from the cable. “If he’s a walking computer, then there’s a way to overwhelm his processors. Too many open applications fried his mainframe.”
“That problem is solved,” Pufferfish said.
“Now we have to stop Simon and Albert’s mother,” Jackson said.
“But where did they go?” Flinch cried.
Suddenly, they heard a rumbling from inside the school.
“The School Bus!” Flinch shouted.
He led the team back into the school and made a beeline to the gymnasium. Once there, they saw Ms. Holiday in her black spy gear. Brand was nearby in his tuxedo.
“Close the roof!” she shouted, but the rocket was already rising up into the air. Strapped to the side of it was a massive version of the ray gun.
“He’s going to activate his machine and there’s nothing we can do to stop him,” Matilda cried.
“Actually, there is,” Duncan said. “But I’ll need a ride.”
Matilda winked at him and snatched the boy off his feet. Together they rocketed into the air via her inhalers, soaring higher and faster than either had ever gone. In no time they were closing in on the ship.
Duncan looked down at his hands. “I hope there’s enough nanobytes in there.”
“What are you going to do?”
“Show everyone why I’m on this team,” he said, and he jumped onto the rocket, clinging to the metal skin of the School Bus. Matilda shouted at him.
“Um, when did you get so cool?” she cried, then did something startling. She zoomed up and kissed him on the nose. Then she darted away. Duncan didn’t have time to think about the kiss. He wasn’t sure how long he could stay attached to the rocket—gravity was pulling at him and the ship was shaking tremendously. He had to get inside fast.
He climbed along the ship’s hull until he found the hatch. Then, using every ounce of his strength, he turned the large wheel on the door and watched as the door fell away toward Earth. Moments later he was crawling inside the rocket, much to the surprise of Simon, Mama, the goon, and the squirrels.
“When will you listen to me?” Mama shouted at Simon. “I told you to kill the heroes, but no! What would I know?”
Simon shook his head. “So, old friend, here we are again. The world is on the brink of a disaster I created and only you can stop me.”
“I’m not your friend, Heathcliff,” Duncan said.
“Yes, you’re right. It’s been a long time since I could call you or any of the team ‘friends.’ You turned your backs on me, and that’s why I have made it my life’s work to destroy you. I’ve studied you all, inside and out, and I know your weaknesses. You, for instance, rely too heavily on gadgets and technology. You could never have guessed they would be your downfall.” Simon pulled out another ray gun. He fired it at Duncan, who could feel his nanobytes shutting down. Once again, he was powerless.
“Now you are without your little techy bag of tricks, and I’ve taken enough superprocessors for my machine. Soon I will have control over every computer in the world and there will be nothing that you or your goofy band of spies can do to stop me.”
“So you think you know me, huh?” Duncan said. “You might be surprised. My family doesn’t really know me. Agent Brand doesn’t even know me. Until very recently, I didn’t know myself, but what I’ve learned is very surprising.”
“Oh?” Simon laughed. “I highly doubt that.”
“It’s not the nanobytes or the gadgets that will help me stop your stupid plan. It’s my brain that’s going to help me kick your butt.” Duncan pulled back and punched Simon in the face. The bucktoothed boy fell backward and slid across the floor. When he got up, his mouth was full of blood and his hands were full of teeth. Two teeth, in fact.
“What have you done?” Simon lisped. His mouth had a huge hole where his big choppers used to be. “You’ve . . . you’ve—”
“My brain told me a good pop in the mouth would stop you,” Duncan said. “Pretty smart, huh?”
Simon turned to his squirrels. “Go get him, you good-for-nothing freeloaders.”
The squirrels stood still, shaking their heads back and forth and looking utterly confused.
“Didn’t you hear me? I commanded you to—” Then Duncan saw a flash of understanding in the villain’s eyes. The squirrels had been under his command for a long time. They weren’t his partners. They were his hostages. And now they were suddenly free and they wanted revenge.