The OK Team 2 (9 page)

‘A Heroic Tailor can fix that,' he says.

‘More to the point, why do you have a tattoo of a willy on your arm?' asks The Gamer.

‘A what?' says Torch. ‘It's a finger pointing, with flame.'

He strains his neck to get a better look at the tattoo.

‘It's a doodle, Torch.' Cannonball is shaking with laughter.

‘It's a “stylised” finger – pointing. With a flame shooting out of it.'

‘This is why your arm has been sore?' I say. ‘Because you had a “sausage and two veg” tattooed onto your arm?'

‘It's a Heroically clenched fist. It's a pointing finger. Look how cool the flame is.'

‘Torch,' says Logi-Gal. ‘Torch, Torch, Torch.'

‘You guys are just jealous because you don't have a cool Hero tattoo,' he fumes.

‘I wonder if my agent would approve of ink?' Cannonball wonders, but then stops dead. ‘Oh no, look who's coming.'

Five girls are standing at the end of the alley. They're all about 12 years old and when they spot us, they automatically strike dramatic poses. Then the lead girl snaps her fingers and they walk, in a pre-arranged choreographed routine using an exaggerated stride that makes their hips and hair and capes sway a half-beat off their step. A couple of metres from us, the lead girl raises a hand and twirls a finger and, as one, they stop and pose again.

‘Like, the OK losers. Wassup?'

The lead girl, the one doing the talking, is wearing a deep blue costume that looks more like a dancer uniform than Hero wear. She has a bowler hat tilted over her left eye and a shimmering sequinned T on her chest. Her face has a light dusting of glitter and she's wearing flashy sequinned gloves.

‘How's it going, Yesterday?' I ask.

‘It's Tomorrow Girl now, Focus. You know that, or has your brain gone fuzzy too?' she says.

‘Tomorrow Girl!' Cannonball snorts. ‘I can't believe you changed your name after one very debatable future vision over a year ago.'

‘Not debatable. Confirmed. I can see the future,' she says, ‘And yours isn't pretty.'

She clicks her fingers and the five girls synchronise their shift to a different pose.

‘Man, are you pimple-heads Heroes or a girl band?' Torch sneers.

‘You can be Heroes
and
performers, Torch,' she says. ‘Anyway, there are plenty of Heroes catching bad guys. We have better things to do.'

‘Like Hero make-up,' says one of the G
rl-Stars.

‘And Hero fingernails,' says another.

Tomorrow Girl flicks her hair and squints at Torch. ‘Um, like, why have you got a tattoo of a . . . you know . . . on your arm, Candle? I hope it's one of those temporary tatts.'

‘You wouldn't understand. It's a grown-up concept,' says Torch.

She leers at him. ‘Hey, I hear Switchy is pursuing individual projects. Another Hero too good for Cannonball and his loser gang.'

‘You used to be one of us, Yesterday,' I say.

‘Yeah, but now I have my own crew. Right, G
rl-Stars?'

The other four nod in carefully choreographed unison.

‘Totally.'

‘S'right!'

‘Damn straight, girlfriend!'

‘Sweet.'

‘Word!'

Cannonball can barely contain himself. ‘If you weren't my sister, Yest – sorry, Tomorrow Girl, I'd laugh you and the G
rl-Stars out of town.'

‘But Mum would be mad, so you won't,' she says sweetly. ‘Anyway, like, later, C-graders. We're heading to Northland. Hit it, sistas!'

As one, they break into song, while performing a choreographed dance step.

G
rl-Stars

That's who we are

Girls and stars

Yes we are!

Her-oes!

And we're girls

We like to fly

And we like to twirl

‘And the winner for worst song ever is . . .' says Cannonball.

Tomorrow Girl examines a finger nail. ‘Like you'd even know popular culture if it smacked you across your unfashionable black helmet, brother dearest.'

‘Actually,' says Logi-Gal, ‘pop culture, as an entity, isn't a solid, physical being and therefore would be incapable of actually making contact with another object, per se. Plus I think this time Cannonball has got it right.'

‘Whatevs, Library-Head,' says Tomorrow Girl. And on an invisible signal all five strut past us with their synchronised swagger, staring moodily into the middle distance like catwalk models.

‘They appear to be channelling their youthful insecurity into ridiculous posing,' Logi-Gal says, nodding. ‘Ineffective against mature criminals.'

‘Logi-Gal, I've never been happier that you're in our Team,' I say.

We turn a corner and I get hit in the chest by a lemon. I see the ear of an elephant head disappear around another corner.

‘Boy, is that Elephant Head a sore loser,' I say.

‘At least Mum is happy about all the lemons I keep bringing home,' Cannonball says. ‘She's been making lemon tart, lemonade, preserved lemons . . .'

We keep up with our crime-beat, but we aren't feeling very Heroic today. Torch keeps sneaking uncertain glances at his tattoo. And apart from a dog stealing smelly sausages from a skip at the back of the butchers, there's not much crime to be thwarted.

Torch shoots a flame at the dog, but misses it, and instead cooks the sausages. The dog gratefully gulps down the unexpected hot meal. Torch looks even less pleased with the world.

‘Gee Two Gee,' he says.

‘Huh?' says Cannonball.

‘It's L8. G2G for me,' Torch shrugs.

We all stare at him as though he's an alien.

‘What language is that, Candle-Boy?' says Cannonball.

‘Get with the lingo,' he sighs. ‘Honestly, you lot are so small town. Tune into
herohints.com
. Hang out at the Hero forums. The Heroes OS know how to speak.

Anyway, G2G.'

‘Give to Gorillas?' Logi-Gal suggests.

‘Great to grow?' I try.

‘Goal to goal?' Cannonball says.

‘Guest to Game?' Of course it's The Gamer.

‘Got To Go,' says Torch. ‘L8. Late. Jeez.'

‘What's shorthand for Complete Tosser?' Cannon -ball asks.

Torch takes a step towards him. ‘I've just about had enough of you, Water Pistol.'

‘Oh yeah, Human Lighter?'

‘Play nice, Hero hopefuls!' We all jump in shock, but when I narrow my eyes, I can see Chameleon's outline, his Superpower blending him almost perfectly into the background which is poster of a woman smiling hugely, advertising a new dishwashing powder she's discovered.

‘Hey OKers, did you hear about Volt?'

‘I knew it was you, Chameleon,' I say.

‘Which is why you involuntarily turned into a cloud when I first spoke,' he says and I can tell he's grinning, even if the model's beaming smile is disguising his actual face. ‘You recovered from the Flying Tigers' humiliation yet?'

‘You got lucky on the night,' I say, hoping my blurriness covers my blushing. ‘What about Volt?'

‘You know who he is, right?' Chameleon asks.

Logi-Gal frowns and doesn't let us down. ‘Category 5 Villain, famous for holding hostage the town of Yallourn – source of most of the Victoria's coal-based electricity production – with threats to surge the state's power. Sentenced to twelve years imprisonment in 1997, but escaped during the blackout of the big storms of 2003.'

‘Yes' says Chameleon, now merged into the brick wall of the Commonwealth Bank. ‘He surfaced yesterday, trying to plug into the power grid, to boost his electricity reserves and therefore increase his ability to zap Heroes. Golden Boy tracked him and they went toe to toe. But far from being a Category 5, Volt was souped to the max on S.T.O.M.P. and mainlining the state's power. The second he and Golden Boy connected, it blew nine generators, blacked out more than 50 per cent of the state and formed a crater so deep it's probably going to be a tourist attraction to rival the Grand Canyon.'

‘How's Golden Boy?' I ask, my heart thumping.

Chameleon pauses. ‘He suffered an injury to his arm – a graze that almost broke the skin. Unusual for him to be so wounded.'

‘That sounds much more powerful than Category 5,' says The Gamer. ‘Aren't they supposed to be mid-powered Villains?'

‘Exactly,' says Chameleon. ‘This S.T.O.M.P. is dangerous. For everybody. Gotham says it's a synthetic compound that boosts energy and muscle-mass, artificially enhancing Hero or Super-Villain powers . It also enables fast physical recovery and the production of more red blood cells, giving the heart extra oxygen and therefore greater aerobic capacity.'

‘Huh?' says Cannonball.

The Gamer swipes some gold coins that appear when he kicks a patch of grass.
Bling. Bling. Blorrrrp.
‘It makes you bigger and stronger and less tired,' he translates.

‘Exactly,' agrees Chameleon.

‘Why S.T.O.M.P.?' Logi-Gal asks.

‘Serum That Overly Magnifies Powers,' Chameleon says. ‘It's powerful stuff. Very powerful, and potentially dangerous. Nobody knows what its side effects are. But we're definitely seeing increased S.T.O.M.P. effects in battle. It's a worry.'

We all ponder this.

‘I wonder if that's why the Bushranger was so good?' says Logi-Gal.

‘And what about Blink?' I say, although I haven't wanted to talk about it since the fight. ‘How is he so good at appearing and disappearing?'

‘What's wrong, Focus?' Torch is smirking. ‘This town not big enough for two invisible boys?'

‘I'm just saying he was very good at it. For a Category 2 Villain.'

‘We'll just have to him 'em harder,' says Cannonball.

‘Yeah, exactly,' The Gamer agrees. ‘They can juice up with this stuff all they like, but we've got real muscles. Well, actually, I've got W.O.W. Hand of A'dal-level body armour, but you know . . . same thing.'