Star League 8 (3 page)

A familiar furry face pops up over the edge of the tunnel followed by three equally familiar faces, though with less fur.

‘Chu! You found Asuka, Connor and Sam!'

Chu chirps his monkey sounds and I feel my heart twist. For the first time in my life, I can't understand him. Chu rubs his head against my chin to comfort me, which cheers me up a bit but it's not the same as hearing his voice.

The others climb out of the tunnel looking pale and a bit dirty, but otherwise fine.

‘It's great to see you three,' I say. ‘I bet the Caseys separated us on purpose, hoping we'd be lost down here forever.'

Connor growls. ‘They might have taken our
powers away, but that can't stop us from working together to find a way out of here!'

‘That is sound reasoning,' says Sam. ‘But which way is out?'

I point towards one end of the tunnel. ‘I think we should go down there. The ground slopes up, and if we're underground the only way to go is up!'

I lead the way along the narrow tunnel, none of us saying much. I can tell they feel as miserable as I do. It's horrible to be separated from the powers that make us who we are. I scratch Chu's head, wishing I could hear him tell me that everything is going to be okay.

I can't help but wonder – what if we never get out? How long will we last wandering around down here? And even if we do escape, how will we get our powers back? Chu is my best friend in the whole world, and the thought of never being able to speak to him again makes me feel sick. I sniff and blink back tears, trying to keep it together.
Chu puts a paw on my cheek and I smile. I don't always have to hear Chu speak to know what he's thinking.

‘You're right, Chu,' I whisper. ‘We will get through this.'

Chu stiffens on my shoulder and lets out a low warning chirp. I glance up and spot someone ahead of us.

‘It's Jay's mum,' I mutter. Mrs Casey looks different to how she did up in the tower – her clothes are torn and dirty and her hair is messy as if it hasn't been brushed in years. I wonder what happened to her to make her look so rough? I don't know what she's doing down here, but my guess is it can't mean anything good for us.

Mrs Casey freezes when she sees us and her eyes widen. She's about to make a run for it when a voice calls out.

‘Sorry, my love, I can't find much else to eat and we might …' Jay's dad stops as he pokes
his head out of a tunnel and spots us. There's a moment of shocked silence, then all my feelings of anger bubble to the surface.

‘What are you doing here?' I yell, my voice bouncing around the cave. ‘Turning Ben into a statue and taking our powers wasn't enough? Did you come down here to finish us off for good? Well, I've had enough!' I point a trembling finger at Prue and Peter Casey. ‘Come on, guys, let's get them!'

The others don't need to be told twice. We rush towards the Caseys, but rather than fight back they look terrified.

‘Wait!' cries Jay's mum. ‘Don't hurt us! We're not who you think we are!'

‘Okay, buddy, it's just you and me,' I mutter, staring my enemy down. ‘I always knew it would come to this. One final battle to settle the score.'

My enemy stares at me with a look that betrays nothing. I don't know what he's thinking. All I can think about is what I'm thinking, and what I'm thinking is ohnoohnoohnoohnoohno!

As I wait for one of us to make the first move I hear a very welcome sound. The voices of my friends echo up the tunnel.

I turn to my enemy. ‘Sorry, you're a worthy adversary, but sometimes you just have to conquer your fears.' I lift my foot up. ‘See you later, cockroach!' The bug crunches under my shoe and I
try to ignore my shivers of disgust.

‘Hey, guys, wait up!' I rush out of the tunnel, hoping I haven't missed them already. ‘I was wondering when you'd finally …'

I freeze when I see the Star League are not alone. ‘Watch out behind you! It's Prue and Peter Casey!' I whip out an acid potion and toss it at their feet. It smashes and the green liquid splashes all over them, but they don't react at all.

‘Oh, right,' I mutter. ‘No powers. Forgot about that. Well, that can't stop my fists from flying!' I try to pull my hand off my wrist and throw it at them, but it doesn't budge. ‘OW! Well, I guess that can stop my fists from flying. Okay then.'

‘Are you done?' frowns Connor. ‘Lucky for us you're even less of a threat than usual because you've got the wrong people. These aren't Jay's parents.'

‘Well, actually, we are Jay's parents,' says Mr Casey. ‘That's the problem.'

I scratch my head. ‘Huh?'

‘These are Jay's real parents,' says Asuka. ‘Those two people in the tower are fakes.'

‘Actually, it's just one person,' adds Mrs Casey.

I gawk at her. ‘Sorry to repeat myself, but huh?'

‘I don't even know where to start.' Mr Casey takes a deep breath. ‘I'm sure you've heard the story that Mrs Casey and I went hiking in the mountains one day and never returned.'

‘Well, there's more to it than that,' continues Mrs Casey. ‘We weren't just hiking. We were secret agents on a mission to recover a powerful object from these mountains.'

‘Let me guess – was that powerful object the Shadow Stone?' I ask.

Mr and Mrs Casey nod. ‘We were supposed to destroy it so it never fell into the wrong hands. But we had another agent with us by the name of Thaddeus Tench.' Mr Casey frowns like even saying the name leaves a bad taste in his mouth.

‘Thaddeus had other plans. He wanted to keep the crystal for himself and use it to rule the world. The Shadow Stone gave him dark powers so that he was able to transform into any shape he wanted.'

‘So those versions of you up there, that's actually just Thaddeus Tench?' asks Connor.

The Caseys nod. ‘Except he goes by the name Doppelganger now. He's been the one behind all the evil schemes you've had to foil – he's the real Professor Pestilence.'

‘But why?' asks Leigh. ‘What did we ever do to him?'

‘It's to punish us,' says Mrs Casey, dropping her head. ‘He wanted us to suffer so he went after our son.

‘You see, after Thaddeus transformed into Doppelganger we were able to get the Shadow Stone away from him. We knew that his next step would be to use it to enslave the minds of everyone in the world. We tried to destroy it, splitting it into
seven shards. He eventually recovered six of the shards, but the seventh we hid in the back of our compass before we were captured, and he's been looking for it ever since.'

‘We realised later the mistake we'd made,' adds Mr Casey. ‘Only the power of the whole Shadow Stone can defeat Doppelganger. We need to reassemble the pieces and use it to absorb Doppelganger's powers.'

‘Reassemble the Shadow Shards to defeat Doppelganger, get our powers back and turn Ben back to normal,' I say. ‘Got it. But how are we getting out of here?'

Mr and Mrs Casey glance at each other. ‘We're not,' says Mrs Casey. ‘We've been stuck down here for ten years. We've explored every inch of these caves. The only way out is through a portal created by one of the Shadow Shards.'

Mr Casey sighs. ‘It's all up to Jay now.'

My parents smirk at me as they hold the seventh shard between them. ‘Come on, Jay, you know what the sensible choice is,' says my father. ‘Join us or be destroyed.'

‘And hurry up about it,' scolds my mother. ‘We've got a crystal to reunite and a world to take over!'

I take another slow step forward, feeling like the weight of the world is on my shoulders. I don't want to join my parents, but I don't have any choice. I glance at Cale, still unconscious on the floor, and the seed of an idea starts to grow in my mind. Maybe I have a choice after all?

I keep walking forward, but when I get to Cale I crouch down.

My parents watch suspiciously. ‘I just want to make sure he's okay,' I tell them.

‘Oh, how sweet,' sneers my mother. ‘We'll have to crush that kindness out of you later. It's a sign of weakness!'

I check Cale's breathing. He's okay, but he'll wake up with one big headache. I grab his hand and pretend to check his wrist for a pulse, but as I do I slip the ring with the Shadow Shard off his finger and hide it in my hand. Then I straighten up and walk the rest of the way towards my parents.

‘So, what's your answer, Jay?' I eye off the seventh shard, which swirls with the stolen powers of my friends. My parents each hold one end, careful to keep it out of reach, just in case I make a grab for it.

‘My answer is …' They stare at me eagerly. ‘NO!'

I whip Cale's ring out and aim it at my parents. Before they can react, a beam of energy shoots out and strikes them both. As my parents are knocked to the ground, the seventh shard flies out of their hands.

Out of the corner of my eye I can see the remaining members of the Shadow Six rush towards the crystal, but they'll never get to it in time. I reach up and catch it.

‘Seventh shard! Release my friends from the dungeons and give them back their powers!'

‘Nooo!' shriek my mother and father. The Shadow Six knock the seventh shard from my hands and my parents scramble to pick it up, but the damage is already done.

A spinning portal of light opens up in the middle of the room and from out of it step five welcome faces: Connor, Asuka, Roger, Sam and Leigh. Five beams of light erupt from the seventh shard and surround my friends, returning their powers. Then
two more figures step through the portal and the smile of triumph is wiped from my face.

‘Mum? Dad?' I gape at the two newcomers, who look exactly like my parents. ‘What's going on?'

Roger grins. ‘Jay, let us introduce you to your parents. Your REAL parents!'

‘I-I don't understand …' I stammer.

My father – the one Roger called my real father – steps forward.

‘Oh, Jay, I can't tell you how happy we are to see you!'

My mother nods with tears in her eyes. ‘We've been trapped in those underground caves for years! We never thought we'd see you again!'

‘What's going on?' I turn back to my evil parents, but they look strange. A shimmering light surrounds them and they morph together into one man. His skin is lumpy and grey and his blood-red eyes shine.

‘Who are you?' I snarl.

‘I'm Doppelganger, and that will be the last name you ever hear, Jay Casey!' He raises the seventh shard and aims it straight at me.

I freeze. I can't do anything except stare as the energy beam, which will surely finish me off once and for all, streaks straight towards me. Then I feel two pairs of hands shove me out the way. I turn just in time to see the beam hit my parents and turn them instantly to stone.

It feels like I've been punched in the stomach. First Ben, now my parents! I've only just met my mum and dad, and I've already lost them again.

‘You monster!' I scream. ‘I'm going to destroy you, Doppelganger!'

He just laughs. ‘Only the shards have the power to do that, and it looks like they're getting away!'

I glance up in time to see Vlad, Greta, Rach, Zeke and Ursula using their shards to escape through five different portals. But the Star League
are hot on their trails and follow them through the portals, leaving me alone with Doppelganger.

‘I guess it's just you and me, Jay,' he says.

I look him straight in the eye. ‘Bring it on.'