Read Rise of the Heroes for Free Online

enthusiasm: “Flying?”
    The excitement was infectious, and Toby caught it again. “Okay. Let’s do this.”
    Lorna closed the box and hovered the mouse over a variety of icons.
    â€œWhat do they all mean?”
    Pete pointed to one icon that had wavy lines emanating from a stick figure’s head.
    â€œThis looks like some kind of vision power.”
    â€œVision power?” said Emily. She was feeling a little lost, as she hadn’t read a comic book in her life.
    Toby waved his hand dismissively, as though the answer was obvious. “The lines are around his head. X-ray vision, that kind of thing.”
    Emily blushed. “So you could see through clothes?”
    Toby hesitated. That hadn’t occurred to him; he was thinking more along the lines of walls and bank vaults. Although seeing through clothing could be another cool application.Lorna pointed to a similar icon, but this time the lines were straight and dashed, not wavy. “What’s this one? Looks almost the same. Or this one over here?” There were half a dozen icons, all subtly different.
    Toby shrugged. “You’ll know when you try.”
    â€œThat’s not very helpful.”
    â€œCome on, hurry up!” said Pete impatiently.
    Lorna circled the mouse, then clicked on her original choice, the figure sporting wavy lines around the head. The screen flickered, funnelling out slightly as though it was made from liquid metal. But this time it snaked at an angle—as Lorna was not directly in front of the screen—and poked her temple. She stepped away from the computer as she felt
something
course through her.
    Toby looked at her curiously. “How do you feel?”
    â€œCan you see through my clothes?” asked Pete with a nervous tremor in his voice.
    Lorna thought for a moment as she stretched her arms as though yawning. “Tingling all over. What do you think will happen if I—?”
    â€œNot in here,” Toby interrupted. “Remember what Pete did to the rug? I’m sure Mom would ground us if you blew the study apart. Well, she’d ground me at least. She thinks you can’t do anything wrong.”
    Lorna ignored the last sentence, but had to agree with his logic. Trepidation made her voice quaverslightly. “Okay, we’ll try outside. Hurry up and get yours.”
    Toby nodded to Emily and gestured toward the computer. “You haven’t tried yet.”
    Emily examined Lorna, as though double-checking that she was still alive. She scanned the icons, searching more for a pleasurable picture than trying to decipher their meaning. One depicted a figure with horizontal lines crossing the length of the body. She liked it. She clicked and the screen warped toward her like a living entity.
    She backed away, shivering slightly as an agreeable tingle shot down her spine. Other than that, she seemed fine.
    â€œDo you think it worked?” Emily asked the group.
    â€œWe’ll find out soon enough,” said Lorna. “Somebody better watch the time. We only have an hour, remember.”
    Pete tapped his watch. “I got it.”
    Toby was still feeling wary. He gestured to Pete. “You’re up.”
    Pete eagerly grabbed the mouse. He hungrily studied the icons and chose one that depicted a figure with circles coming from its hands.
    â€œLet’s see what this is.” Intrigued, Pete clicked and shut his eyes—the moving screen unnerved him. A second later a prickling feeling rushed through him fromhis head to his feet, followed by a warmth, similar to a hot bath.
    Lorna looked impatiently out of the window, all too eager to step outside. “Hurry, Tobe.”
    Toby had had a little longer to take in the pictograms than the others. He slid the pointer across the screen and clicked quickly before anybody could see what he’d chosen.
    Click. Tingle
. The gift was transferred.
    Toby rose from the chair a little unsteadily, and moved