Star League 6 (5 page)

I spin around.

‘iRis!' She's standing just behind me in the shadows. ‘What are you doing here?'

‘What kind of a hello is that?' asks iRis with a grin.

‘S-sorry,' I stammer. ‘I'm just surprised to see you. I didn't even hear you come down the ladder.' I peer up the ladder looking for the rest of the Star League. ‘Where are the others?'

‘They're busy,' says iRis quickly. ‘So why don't you and I take a look around?'

I shrug. I guess the others are probably still trying to convince Roger that there aren't any giant bugs down here. ‘You snooze, you lose.' I follow iRis into the secret lab.

As soon as I'm inside, my jaw drops open in amazement.

‘I've never seen anything like this in my life!' I mutter.

Staring at me over the top of a giant hole in the ground are two enormous metallic heads. I peer over the edge of the hole to find that the heads are attached to equally enormous metallic bodies.

‘They're giant robots!' I whisper.

‘You're almost right,' says iRis. ‘They're not robots. They're Megadroids.'

‘Megadroids?' I ask. ‘These are what the Sentrybots were searching for! But what are they?'

‘They're a top-secret experiment,' says iRis. ‘They can't function on their own like you or me. I guess you could say they're just the bodies for a robot.'

‘Huh? What do you mean?'

‘See that command panel down there?' iRis asks, pointing to a seat in the chest of one of the
Megadroids. ‘The panel is designed for a robot to connect with so he or she can control the Megadroid.'

‘Are you telling me that I can sit in that seat, connect to the mainframe and control that thing like a giant puppet? That is so cool!' I'm so excited I feel like my circuitry is going to overheat!

‘Let's take them for a test run, shall we?' asks iRis.

I don't need to be told twice! I rush towards a ladder leading down into the pit and jump onto a platform the same height as the Megadroid's controls. I climb into the chair and strap myself in, but nothing happens. I glance across at iRis, who is strapping herself into the other Megadroid.

‘Uh, how do I get this thing to work?'

‘Connect your circuitry with the access panel,' says iRis. She shows me how by slotting her hand into a pair of gloves by her side, which are connected to the Megadroid by a bunch of wires.

I look down and see a similar pair of gloves next to my seat, plus two straps for my feet. I slip into them, and a jolt of electricity courses through my body. I raise my hand to stretch it and as I do I see the enormous hand of the Megadroid rise as well.

‘It's alive!' I yell in surprise.

‘Relax,' says iRis with a smirk. ‘You're just controlling it with your body. See?' She raises her hand in the control seat to wave at me, and as she does her Megadroid raises its hand and waves as well. ‘Now come on, we've got a job to do.' iRis turns her Megadroid around and raises one of its giant arms to grab the side of the pit. Then she pulls herself up and stands on the edge. ‘Are you coming or not, Sam?'

I stare up at her. ‘What is it we're doing, exactly? Are we going after whoever sent those Sentrybots into your factory?'

iRis laughs. ‘Wake up, Sam! I'm the one who
sent the Sentrybots!'

‘What?'

‘They were following my orders. At first I was going to destroy you and your friends, but then I realised that you and I could make a good team. Together we can take out our enemies!'

‘Enemies?' I ask. There's a sinking feeling in my stomach as I wonder what I've gotten myself into. ‘What kind of enemies?'

‘All those humans who stood in the way of robot greatness!'

As iRis talks I feel my mind start to fizz. Pictures flash past my eyes of the time I was kept in Pestilence Labs and I start to get angry. But the pictures don't stop there. I see images of Jay, Connor, Asuka, Leigh and Roger – my so-called friends – laughing at me for making a mistake or getting angry at me for not understanding something.

My anger boils until it builds into a tidal wave
of rage. Then a voice calls from the doorway.

‘Sam? Are you in there?' It's Jay. He stops dead at the sight of iRis and me in our Megadroids. ‘What's going on?'

‘Ah, perfect timing!' says iRis. ‘Here are some of our enemies now. Why don't you test out the destructive capabilities of your Megadroid, Sam?'

I stare at the human before me. In the back of my mind I know that it's Jay, but I'm lost inside a cloud of anger. All I can think about are the times I've been treated badly or misunderstood.

‘That's right, Sam, he doesn't understand our kind,' croons iRis. ‘Use the missiles on your Megadroid to blow him to smithereens!'

I find the missile controls right next to my hand. Jay looks up at me in disbelief.

‘Sam, what are you doing? Don't listen to her!'

My hand hovers over the missile controls. A small voice in my mind is telling me that Jay is my friend. Another, much louder, voice is yelling at me to push the button, but I can't do it. I freeze, not knowing what to do.

‘Fine! If you won't do it, I will,' says iRis. She pushes the launch button on her Megadroid and shoots a missile straight at Jay.

‘No!' I dive towards the missile and reach out with one of my Megadroid's enormous hands. Just as the missile is about to explode I grab it out of the air and snap it in two, throwing the useless pieces to the ground. Then I turn towards iRis.

‘I thought you were trying to help me, but I guess I was wrong,' I tell her. ‘You tried to hurt one of my friends, and now I'm going to stop you!'

iRis just smirks at me. ‘Oh dear, it looks as though the brainwashing program I installed in the Emotochip has stopped working. No matter, I'll just update it quickly …'

iRis presses a button on her wrist and my anger returns even stronger than before. I turn to face Jay, except now he's not alone. The rest of the Star League have piled in behind him, ready for a fight. They look at each other uneasily, not wanting to
attack me since I'm their friend.

Is that the reason?
asks the voice in my mind. O
r are they just wondering how to bring you down?

I roar and rush towards the Star League. Connor leaps up and slashes at my Megadroid with his werewolf claws.

‘Sam, you need to stop!' he says. ‘It's not really you doing this!'

‘How would you know who I really am?' I snarl. ‘You were all too busy getting mad at me to know the real me!'

‘That's not true, we're your friends!' says Asuka, who has climbed up the back of my Megadroid. I can't see what she's doing, but I think it's something to do with the wiring. I spin around to knock her off but she's too quick for me and jumps out of the way.

‘The real Sam is clever and patient and wouldn't attack his friends,' says Leigh.

‘Well, that Sam is gone, replaced by the new
and improved Sam version 2.0!' I aim a swipe at her but she dodges it.

‘Bro, that Sam isn't really gone, he's just being controlled by the real bad guy,' says Roger, pointing at iRis.

‘Enough of this nonsense!' screams iRis. ‘Either capture our enemies or I'll do it for you!'

Jay stands in front of me with the rest of the Star League at his back.

‘Sam, we can't fight you because you're our friend. I hope that somewhere, deep down, there's enough of the old Sam left to realise that we're not your enemies.'

I look at the others, and for a brief moment my mind is flooded with happy memories of us joining together to fight the bad guys. With the help of the Star League, I'd really started to feel like I was making a difference against evil villains like Professor Pestilence.

Then the Emotochip kicks in again. I see red.
I slam my Megadroid's fist down in front of them.

‘It's no use, he's too strong!' yells Jay. ‘Retreat!'

They rush out of the room and I start to follow them but iRis calls me back.

‘Let them run. I bet I know where they're going and it's the same place we're heading too,' she says.

‘And where's that?' I can't wait to find our enemies and make them pay.

iRis sneers. ‘Why, Beaumont Studios, of course!'