Star League 5 (4 page)

It's a risky plan, but if it works we'll have full access to whatever is beyond these gates.

‘Sam, can you do a scan on this collar and see if there are any electronic devices attached to it?' I ask.

He takes the collar and closes his eyes. There's a faint whirring sound and then he opens them.

‘Affirmative. There is an electronic device implanted within the pendant on this collar,' he says. ‘It appears to be some kind of radio transmitter, though the frequency is too high for human ears.'

‘I bet it's not too high for animal ears, though,' I say.

‘Huh?' ask Connor and Roger at the same time.

‘I think I know what you're saying,' says Jay. ‘Aunt Petunia has implanted the collars with some kind of radio device that emits a signal only heard by animals.'

Asuka rubs her chin. ‘So the signal has been controlling them and making them act differently?'

I nod.

Jay turns to me. ‘I think we owe you an apology, Leigh. We should've believed you from the start.'

I smile. ‘That's okay. The important thing is that we rescue all the animals Aunt Petunia kidnapped, and I know how we can do it. Sam, can you disable the device inside the collar?'

He closes his eyes again. There's a crackle of electricity that makes the hairs on my arms stand on end. ‘It is done,' he says, handing me back the collar.

‘Okay, Chu, I need you to put the collar on,' I say.

Chu looks at me doubtfully, but eventually he takes the collar and puts it on. I'm hoping as much as he is that the collar really is deactivated, and I hold my breath as he pulls it over his head.

‘How do you feel?' I ask.

‘I feel like a monkey in an ugly collar,' he says. ‘But otherwise I'm okay. I guess that means the signal stopped working.'

I nod, then step up to the front gates and hit the buzzer on the intercom.

‘What are you doing?' hisses Roger. ‘If we ring the doorbell they'll definitely know we're here!'

‘That's the idea,' I say. A screen switches on, and I can see a lady in a guard uniform sitting behind a desk.

‘Can I help you?' she asks.

‘Yes, we're the new animal catchers Aunt Petunia ordered,' I say, bluffing my way through it. ‘We've just recaptured one of the animals that escaped. We put a collar on him and now he's
under our control again.' I hold Chu up for her to see.

She takes a good look at him before nodding. ‘Good. We can't let any of the animal experiments escape in case they go back to their owners and somebody figures out what's going on in here.' The gates buzz and then start to open. ‘Come on in.'

We all file through the gates, which clang shut behind us.

‘Good thinking, Leigh,' whispers Jay.

‘Yeah, I guess all that acting practice really paid off,' I say.

We follow a long, winding driveway towards some sheds in the distance. I can hear a low, murmuring sound coming from the sheds. At first I can't make out what it is, but as we get closer to the sheds, I realise it's the sound of voices chanting all at the same time.

‘Can anyone else hear that?' I ask.

‘Hear what?' asks Roger.

‘I'll take that as a no.'

‘I can hear it,' says Chu. ‘It's animals, all different kinds.'

‘What are they saying?'

Chu shakes his head. ‘I don't know. It's too faint.'

We sneak closer to the sheds and it becomes clear what the animals are saying:

‘We must obey Aunt Petunia! We must obey Aunt Petunia! We must obey Aunt Petunia!'

‘The animals are in those sheds and they're being brainwashed!' I tell the others. ‘We have got to do something!'

We run into the shed and what I see there makes me feel sick. Hundreds of animals of all different kinds are being held prisoner in cages. I see dogs, cats, rabbits, guinea pigs, birds and even snakes, all wearing Aunt Petunia's collars and chanting in time with each other.

‘WE MUST OBEY AUNT PETUNIA!'

‘Ahhh, look at my precious ones,' says a voice that I instantly recognise as Aunt Petunia's. We all spin around, ready to confront her and end her evil scheme, but then we discover that her voice is coming from a huge screen at one end of the shed.

‘It's just a recording,' says Asuka.

‘Pay attention, you mangy animals!' screeches the recording. All of the animals obediently turn and watch the screen, and the chanting stops. ‘Now that you have your collars on, you will obey my every command. I want you to go back to your homes and spy on your owners. When I have as much dirt on everyone as I can get, I'll be able to blackmail people into doing whatever I tell them to. And if that doesn't work, I've still got my very own army of animals to force them into submission!'

Aunt Petunia cackles, and the animals start chanting again.

‘We must obey Aunt Petunia! We must obey Aunt Petunia!'

‘We've got to get those collars off!' I turn to the first cage and unlatch it. It contains two dogs, a guinea pig and five cats, one of which is Lana. The rest of the Star League rush in and help me get the collars off the animals.

‘Phew! Thanks for that,' says Lana as soon as I've unbuckled her collar. ‘The guards caught me when I came in here to rescue Scrapper. As soon as they slapped one of those collars on me I couldn't control what I was saying or doing. That old lady completely took over my brain!'

‘It's okay now,' I say. ‘But you should probably get out of here before the guards come back.'

Lana shakes her head. ‘Not until I've found Scrapper.'

I glance up at the rows of cages and my heart sinks. There's no way we'll be able to get the collars off all these animals before someone notices!

‘Uh oh! Looks like we've got company,' says Jay. I glance up to find a group of guards standing at one end of the shed, blocking our escape route. They're brandishing clubs and glaring at us with less-than-friendly looks on their faces.

‘If these guys want a fight then they're going to get one!' says Connor. As I watch, his skin
starts to grow thick, brown fur, and soon he has transformed into a werewolf. He snarls and the guards hesitate, but only for a second.

‘We'll teach them to hurt innocent animals,' says Asuka, whipping out her ninja staff.

‘You kids shouldn't have stuck your noses in!' says one of the guards. ‘It's none of your business!'

‘Well, we just made it our business!' yells Roger, pulling out one of his magic potions.

‘We will readjust the wrongs you have committed,' says Sam, his voice humming as electricity crackles around his hands.

‘Who are you, the do-good police?' scoffs one of the guards, and the others laugh.

‘No, we're the Star League, and you're going to wish you'd never heard that name,' says Jay.

‘Why do you even care?' asks another guard. ‘They're just stupid animals!'

I feel my blood boil with anger as I think about everything these animals have gone through.

One word pulses through my brain.

I step forward and yell at the top of my lungs, ‘ATTACK!'

We all surge forward at once, hurtling towards the guards. The guards are taken aback at first but then they launch themselves at us and we practically collide.

Through the tangle of limbs I catch glimpses of the others out of the corner of my eye. Jay quickly disarms his opponent and tackles him to the ground, despite the fact the guard is about twice his size. Asuka darts around her guard, easily dodging his attacks while landing plenty of her own. Roger tosses a sleeping potion at his target and she's out like a light. Connor's ferocious jaws rip one of the guard's clubs from his hands and bite it in two, causing him to flee in terror, but Connor is right on his heels. And Sam is delivering zaps of electricity
to his opponent, making her yelp each time.

As I look up I see a guard swinging his club right at my head. My brain screams at me to duck, but my body just freezes. Then, just as I think it's all over for me, the guard shrieks and drops his club. He spins around and I see that Chu has sunk his teeth deep into the guard's buttocks.

‘Thanks, Chu!' I say.

‘You owe me big time,' he says, spitting the taste out of his mouth. ‘That was beyond disgusting!'

By this point the guard has recovered and is looking around for his dropped club. I spot it next to my foot and pick it up.

‘Are you looking for this?' I ask. The guard looks up and glares, then his eyes widen as he spots something behind me.

‘Fetch?' asks an excited voice. I turn to see one of the dogs we released before, an enormous Great Dane. He cocks his head at the club, wanting to play.

‘Sure, doggy, I'll play with you. Fetch!' I throw the club right at the guard's head, and he has no choice but to catch it. The moment he does, the Great Dane barrels into the guard, knocking him to the ground.

‘This isn't over yet, not by a long shot!' shouts another one of the guards. She whips out a remote control and points it at the cages, which swing open. The animals inside pour out into the shed, confused looks on their faces. Then the guard presses another button on the remote control and their collars start to beep.

‘Attack the intruders!' shrieks the guard.

The animals snarl and hiss, glaring at us with rage in their eyes. The rest of the Star League get ready to defend themselves with their powers, but I put out a hand to stop them.

‘No, don't hurt them! They don't know what they're doing!'

‘What are we supposed to do, let ourselves
become chew toys?' asks Roger.

I look around desperately for some way out of this situation, but it seems pretty hopeless. Chu senses my despair and grips my shoulder.

‘Don't give up, Leigh. I know you can think of something,' he chirps softly.

Chu's words fill me with hope and I nod. I look at the pack of animals and my eyes fall on one huge, mean-looking bull terrier at the front of the pack. I realise he's the pack leader and the rest of the animals will follow him wherever he goes.

‘Please,' I say, ‘you don't have to do this, you're being controlled!' But the bull terrier just snarls at me.

‘It's not working!' says Chu. ‘Got any other ideas?'

I look at the pack of animals as they round up the other Star League members. If only I could get them to focus on me and leave the others alone, my plan might work. Then I get another idea.

‘Hey, ugly!' I shout at the bull terrier. He turns. ‘Yeah, that's right, I'm talking to you! You're the ugliest dog I've ever seen!'

He snarls at me and starts to advance, ignoring the others. I back towards the open door.

‘I hope this works,' says Chu. ‘Or we're dog food!'