Star League 8 Page 4

  ‘Stop,’ I say. Doppelganger’s hand jerks like he’s been burnt and the Shadow Stone skitters to the floor.

  ‘How did you do that?’ he snarls. Doppelganger bends down to pick up the crystal and tries to send out another wave of dark energy, but I’m not going to let that happen.

  I concentrate and feel the power building inside me. ‘Put down the crystal, Doppelganger.’ He slowly starts to lower the crystal, fighting it the whole way.

  ‘What’s … happening?’ he grunts between clenched teeth. I keep my eyes on him, willing him to drop the crystal.

  ‘Those Shadow Shards have strange powers,’ I say. ‘They can be dangerous in the wrong hands. They can give power and take it away. I guess when I touched the seventh shard it awoke some kind of power in me – the power to stop you!’

  ‘But … but I have the Shadow Stone!’ he roars. ‘I’m the one with all the power!’ He straightens and starts to raise the stone, but I shake my head.

  ‘There are different kinds of power, Doppelganger, and the power to do good will always triumph over evil!’

  Doppelganger tries to fight back, but he’s no match for my new powers. Slowly, inch by inch, Doppelganger lowers the crystal until the Shadow Stone is pointed towards him. Then a beam of darkness erupts from its point and surrounds him. His eyes glow red and he screeches as the crystal’s power engulfs him.

  ‘I’ll get you, Star League! I will win!’

  ‘Not this time, Doppelganger.’ I glance at the Star League, my friends who have fought by my side every step of the way, and together we say:

  ‘ABSORB POWERS!’

  There’s a bright flash and Doppelganger is gone. The Shadow Stone clatters to the ground and all that’s left of our arch-enemy is a curl of dark smoke.

  ‘I guess he was so eaten up by his powers that there was nothing left of the old Thaddeus Tench,’ I say.

  I bend down and pick up the Shadow Stone. I can feel the pull of it, trying to draw me in, trying to lure me towards evil with its dark powers. But I close my mind to it. I won’t be tempted.

  ‘Goodbye, Doppelganger,’ I say. Then I turn back to the others. ‘Come on, let’s use this stone one last time to turn my parents and Ben back to normal.’ The others nod, huge grins on their faces. ‘If we’re lucky, we can still make it back to the film premiere in time for the credits!’

  Believe me, getting turned to stone isn’t everything it’s cracked up to be. My nose was itchy the whole time, and I kept wondering if I’d spend the rest of my life in a park somewhere as a toilet for birds.

  But the worst part was that I couldn’t do anything except watch as the Star League put their lives on the line to help me out. I had to stand there still as a statue and watch as they fought their arch-enemy, that horrible Doppelganger. I was petrified!

  Still, I should’ve known Jay, Connor, Asuka, Leigh, Roger and Sam could handle themselves. After all, that’s why I recruited them in the first place, and thanks to them the world is safe from maniacs like Doppelganger, whose only aim in life is to make others suffer.

  After the Star League used the power of the Shadow Stone to release me and Jay’s parents from our stony prisons, they created a portal to a black hole. They threw the Shadow Stone into it, destroying it and closing the portal forever. Now there’s no chance it will ever fall into the wrong hands again.

  Of course, they could’ve done that after we’d used it to teleport back home. As it was, we had to wait a few hours for Ridley to send over one of GALACTIC’s helicopters to pick us up. But during that time, Jay got to know his long-lost parents a bit better. After all, there’s a lot to catch up on after ten years apart. Prue and Peter Casey were delighted that their son had followed in their footsteps as a secret agent.

  And now that we’re back, I’ve promised the Star League a proper holiday, which is why we’re here at the Sunshine Stars Holiday Resort, where everyone can spend a bit of time with their families without the constant threat of evil showing up to ruin their day.

  If I lean over and look out the window I can see Leigh and Chu talking to the resort wildlife, Asuka trying to sunbake under the world’s largest umbrella, Sam tinkering with the automated food service unit, Connor showing off next to the pool and Roger sneaking up behind him, about to push Connor in. Just as I’m wondering where Jay has got to, the door to my office slides open.

  ‘Still hard at work, Ben?’ asks Jay. ‘You’re missing all the fun!’ There’s a loud splash outside my window followed by some angry yelling from Connor.

  I sigh. ‘There’s so much to do. Ridley and I are still searching for sightings of the Shadow Six. They disappeared after you lot were through with them.’

  ‘But we took their powers,’ says Jay. ‘How dangerous can they be? They won’t be causing much trouble without the Shadow Stone.’

  ‘I guess you’re right. Though speaking of powers, I still have lots of research to do on the secondary powers you six developed. There’s so much more to discover about Connor’s telekinesis, Asuka’s invisibility, Sam’s super speed, Leigh’s morphing ability, Roger’s future sight and your psychic powers. Have any of you had more luck with using them again?’

  Jay shakes his head. ‘None of us have been able to activate our secondary powers since we destroyed the Shadow Stone. Perhaps they’re gone for good?’

  ‘Maybe,’ I say, rubbing my chin. ‘Or maybe you just haven’t mastered them yet. With more practice, who knows what the six of you could do?’

  Jay shrugs. ‘Sure, but for now, it’s holiday time! Come on, we should get out there before Connor and Roger start a fight that makes Doppelganger look like a warm-up match.’

  ‘I’ll be out in a minute,’ I say, shuffling some papers. ‘I’m just putting the finishing touches on the script for the Star League’s next movie. I’ve based it on your fight with Doppelganger, but I can’t figure out how to finish it.’

  Jay plucks the script out of my hands and glances over it. ‘I’ve got an idea.’ He picks up a pen and writes down two words:

  THE END

  randomhouse.com.au/starleague

  H.J. Harper isn’t sure if books are stalking her, or if she’s stalking books. Either way, she’s had various jobs in bookstores and libraries, and now works as an author. Her favourite part about being an author is that staring out the window and imagining things is no longer something she can get in trouble for – in fact, it’s required! When she’s not writing books about werewolves, zombies and ninjas, she’s usually playing video games … about werewolves, zombies and ninjas. She lives in Melbourne with her partner and a very spoilt cat who cannot be controlled by animancer powers.

  Nahum Ziersch was born and raised in the Clare Valley in South Australia. From a very young age he knew he wanted to draw for a living, surrounded by very artistic parents who encouraged and nurtured his passion. As a kid he would watch Astro Boy and stacks of other cartoons in his PJs, devour comics and draw his own imaginative worlds and characters. Nahum works as a freelance illustrator in Adelaide. While his main areas of work include editorial, advertising and educational illustrations, he still has a mad passion for creating quirky and expressive characters.