Dark Hunter by Andy Briggs Page A

anybody about this. Let me investigate. I’ll be out of communication for a while.”
    Chameleon shut the door and looked thoughtfully around. He only needed a few hours’ sleep to feel in tip-top condition. It wasn’t a superpower, it was just his natural rhythm. He quickly changed clothes as he thought about his strategy.
    Though just schoolkids, Toby, Lorna, Emily, and Pete were important assets to the Foundation. Chameleon had become fond of them, although he always maintained a professional demeanor in his rare talks with Toby. He would much rather be out helping Toby’s team, but instead he was tasked with finding Hunter, the thorn in his side. If Toby’s team failed in their mission, then the Hero Foundation would fall.
    He cursed himself for not fighting harder to ensure that Mr. Grimm didn’t oversee Toby’s team. He couldn’t allow any harm to come to them—but he also couldn’t allow Jake Hunter to walk free and risk captureby the Council. By finding Hunter, Chameleon could stop Hunter’s friendship with Lorna from developing any further and potentially getting out of hand. And hopefully he’d discover if his suspicions about Mr. Grimm had any grains of truth.
    The last thing the Foundation needed was a spy in its ranks.

Air Force One
    Mr. Grimm had disappeared on urgent business, leaving Jake several hours to explore his new home. It was bigger than he’d thought. Almost every room had a television and a computer. He discovered an enormous kitchen that was equipped to feed an army, and luckily had a microwave in the corner. He could use it to nuke one of the many meals stashed in the walk-in freezer.
    Jake decided he needed a few diabolical plans of his own so that he could afford a catering staff and a butler. Already his mental tally of finances was adding up, and he understood why Basilisk was always complaining that he was broke. Evil lairs were expensive places to run. He wondered if he’d be expected to pay bills.
    The castle extended down, via one long staircase, to an underground hangar. It was empty and Jake imagined filling it up with all kinds of expensive toys.
    He felt a little lonely in the vast castle and, in an effort to keep his thoughts off his family, found that hewas thinking about Lorna. She was fun, and he enjoyed being with her even if their first date had turned into a wrestling match with a mutant.
    He’d like to see her again. That was a strange enough thought. Snooping around earlier, he’d found an adapter that fitted his phone. When it was fully recharged, he tried calling Lorna, but the phone just rang until it went to voice mail. He hung up, suddenly feeling stupid for calling. Perhaps he should wait for
her
to call first? But if
he
waited then maybe
she
would think …
    He shook his head. Bringing Lorna into the equation made things more complicated. Instead he tasked himself with finally getting the second enormous television working and channel-surfed through hours of reruns. He stopped at a news channel that was showing live reports from around the world. Everywhere there seemed to be fighting, looting, and explosions. It was utter chaos. The newscasters talked of trouble makers provoking crowds, organized criminals taking advantage of overstretched security, and terrorists coordinating attacks. But Jake knew it was the work of over zealous supervillains.
    Mr. Grimm finally appeared through a portal, so silently that he startled Jake. Grimm did not waste any further time as he explained Chromosome’s plan to kidnap the president.
    It was ambitious. In many ways it was the biggest task Jake had ever faced. Literally.
    Chromosome didn’t just want the president; she wanted him
and
Air Force One—the president’s private aircraft. Chromosome had designed the plan to cause maximum shock and awe to the population. Of course that made Jake’s task all the more difficult.
    â€œI still don’t