Superpowers by Alex Cliff Page A

‘
Doubly
dangerous in fact.’
    Hercules frowns. ‘What do you mean?’
    â€˜You’ll find out soon enough!’ Juno’scruel mouth curves into a smile. ‘And so will they!’ She claps her hands. There is a crash of thunder and the stones re-form over Hercules, trapping him once again in his magical prison. ‘Who’s powerless now, Hercules?’ Juno breathes. A flash of lightning strikes down. As it hits the ground, the goddess transforms into a hawk again.
    Beating her powerful wings, she speeds away across the dawn-streaked sky.

CHAPTER ONE

STONE, PAPER, SCISSORS
    Max Hayward and Finlay Yates were facing each other in the lounge in Max’s house. Their hands were balled into fists. ‘After three,’ Max said, looking at Finlay.
    Finlay nodded.
    Max counted them in. ‘One, two…
three
!’
    Their fists moved lightning fast and they shouted at the same time.
    â€˜Scissors!’ said Finlay, his fingers making a scissors shape.
    â€˜Paper!’ said Max, his hand flattening.
    â€˜I win!’ Finlay exclaimed triumphantly.
    â€˜Scissors cut paper. Let’s do it again.
    One, two…
three
!’
    â€˜Scissors!’ he shouted.
    â€˜Stone!’ Max shouted at the same time, keeping his fingers curled into a ball. ‘I win! Stone blunts scissors!’
    â€˜Best of three?’ Finlay suggested.
    Max nodded. This time Finlay called out ‘paper’ and Max went for stone again.
    â€˜I win this time,’ Finlay said. ‘Paper wraps stone.’ He grabbed Max’s hand, and made his voice sound all creepy. ‘I am the evil hand of paper. I will destroy you!’ He changed to a dalek’s voicefrom
Doctor Who
. ‘I will exterminate!’ He grabbed Max round the neck.
    Max ducked and grabbed Finlay’s legs behind the knees.
    â€˜Oof !’ Finlay exclaimed as he lost his balance. He yanked Max’s ankles as he fell, and Max crashed down with him. They wrestled for a moment and then Finlay suddenly pulled away, his thick blonde hair sticking up.
    â€˜Hey, I’ve had an idea! Let’s change the game. How about cannonball, sword and net instead of stone, scissors, paper?’
    Max realized what he was getting at. ‘Yeah! So a sword could cut a net but be blown up by a cannonball?’ he said.
    Finlay nodded. ‘And a net could catch a cannonball. What d’you reckon?’
    â€˜It’s cool!’ Max replied. ‘Better thanthe real game. I’ve never got that bit about paper beating stone by wrapping round it, but a net
could
actually catch a cannonball. What hand shapes should we use?’

    They were just working them out, when Max’s dad came into the room. ‘Hi, you two. Got any plans for today?’
    â€˜We’re going to the castle again,’ Max replied, glancing at the clock above the mantelpiece. It was eight-thirty. ‘We should go soon,’ he said to Finlay.
    â€˜You’ve been at the castle every day this half-term,’ Mr Hayward said curiously. ‘What are you doing there?’
    Finlay wondered what Mr Hayward would say if they told him the truth – that they were helping the superhero Hercules escape from his castle prison.
    â€˜Just stuff,’ Max replied vaguely.
    â€˜Oh, well, so long as you’re having fun and not getting into any trouble,’ said Mr Hayward.
    â€˜Oh, no trouble, Dad,’ Max answered quickly.
    Not much
, Finlay thought, picturing the Man-Eating Birds they had killed the day before. Max still had a wound on his arm from where one of the birds had slashed at him with its razor-sharp beak. Every day, either Finlay or Max seemed to end up with a scar from facing Juno’s challenges.
    â€˜Have I told you that the castle used to be a Roman temple for the goddess Juno,’ Mr Hayward said to Finlay.
    Finlay nodded.
About twenty million times
, he thought to himself. Max’s dad was