Rise of the Heroes Read Free Page B

Heplaced both hands firmly on the desk to steady himself. “I’m fine. Just a little dizzy.” The feeling passed as soon as he said it. He went to pull his hands from the desk.
    They wouldn’t budge.
    Toby frowned. He pulled harder. This time his hands peeled away like suction cups on a window, complete with a loud sucking noise. The others backed away from him, concern evident on their faces. Toby examined his hands. They seemed normal enough, if a little dirty.
    â€œWhat’s wrong?” asked Pete.
    Toby was silent. He stood up from his chair, hands held straight out with his palms up. His fingers tingled as if he’d been sleeping on them. Some inkling appeared at the back of his mind, spurred on by his over-active imagination.
    â€œSomething’s different,” he mumbled.
    Lorna raised her hand to his shoulder, but the expression on his face made her hesitate. “What is it?”
    Toby turned to the curtains and gingerly touched them with one hand. The material instantly stuck to his fingers like glue and would not drop away until he gave his fingers a sharp flick.
    â€œWhat’s on your hands?” Lorna asked.
    â€œSome kind of electrostatic charge?” asked Pete. “Like when paper sticks to a comb, or you rub a balloon on your hair and it sticks to the wall.”
    Lorna shot Pete a scornful glance. “Thanks for that, Professor. I’m in advanced science, okay?”
    Peter winced. He hated being called “Professor.” It was the nickname the bullies at school had given him.
    A million thoughts swirled around in Toby’s mind. He’d read enough comics and watched enough hours of cartoons to be able to put the pieces together. Even if the pieces were extremely unlikely, or even impossible.
    He turned to face a wall and extended his hands, palms up, fingers splayed. Toby licked his lips in anticipation; then thrust his hands forward.
    They stuck to the wall!
    Emily’s mouth opened in amazement. “What’s happening to you?”
    With a grunt Toby placed one foot against the wall, then the other. They stuck too. Whatever had happened to him had also affected the material of his sneakers.
    â€œWhat the heck?” exclaimed Lorna, astonished at the sight of her brother held fast against the wall.
    â€œI’m walking …
on
… the wall!” said Toby in astonishment.
    Using all his strength he managed to free his right hand and left foot, positioning them further up the wall. Then he followed with his opposite limbs—raising him higher up on the surface.
    Pete pushed his glasses firmly on his nose, as though it would dispel the illusion. “That’s completely impossible!”
    Pulling himself further up the wall, Toby positioned himself nose-to-nose with the ceiling.
    â€œImpossible or not … he’s doing it,” said Lorna in an awed voice. She was smart and, if she were being honest, she’d have to admit they all were. But Toby’s actions defied both physics and logic, at least to the best of her knowledge. Surely, she thought, if people could walk up walls then everybody would be doing it? She would have seen it on TV. A voice of reason chimed from the recesses of her mind: she must have fallen unconscious when the lightning struck. This
must
be a dream.
    But as her nails dug into the palms of her clenched fists the pain assured her she was still conscious, which meant this had to be
real
.
    â€œWe’ll be famous,” she murmured.
    â€œThat’s awesome!” exclaimed Pete.
    â€œNo, that is
so weird
!” Emily added.
    â€œWatch this then,” said Toby, now feeling a little more confident with his newfound skill.
    Leaning backward as much as he dared, he moved one hand to the ceiling, quickly followed by the other. Making the transition from vertical wall to upside-down ceiling with his feet was easier than he’d anticipated.
    â€œThis is awesome!” he exclaimed