PUFFIN BOOKS
SUPER POWERS
THE CLASH OF CLAWS
Books by Alex Cliff
SUPERPOWERS series
SUPER POWERS
THE CLASH OF CLAWS
ALEX CLIFF
ILLUSTRATED BY LEO HARTAS
PUFFIN
PUFFIN BOOKS
Published by the Penguin Group
Penguin Books Ltd, 80 Strand, London WC2R 0RL, England
Penguin Group (USA) Inc., 375 Hudson Street, New York, New York 10014, USA
Penguin Group (Canada), 90 Eglinton Avenue East, Suite 700, Toronto, Ontario, Canada M4P 2Y3
(a division of Pearson Penguin Canada Inc.)
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(a division of Pearson Australia Group Pty Ltd)
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(a division of Pearson New Zealand Ltd)
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Penguin Books Ltd, Registered Offices: 80 Strand, London WC2R 0RL , England
puffinbooks.com
Published 2007
1
Text copyright © Alex Cliff, 2007
Illustrations copyright © Leo Hartas, 2007
All rights reserved
The moral right of the author and illustrator has been asserted
ISBN: 978â0â141â90238â8
To Steve Cole, for being a genius writer (ha!),
inspiration, source of silly jokes and best friend.
These books couldnât have been
written without you.
PS Youâre not always right, though,
I still think geese
are
scary and pigs
can
snort threateningly!
CONTENTS
Just imagineâ¦
One A Great Day Out
Two Bullseye!
Three In Troubleâ¦
Four In the Maze
Five Trapped!
Six
Thunk!
Seven Chased by a Bird
Eight Into Battle!
Nine Back to the Castle
JUST IMAGINEâ¦
a full moon shining down on a ruined castle. In the nearby village the church bells strike midnight. A hawk flies through the darkness into the castle. There is a loud crash of thunder. As the echo of the thunder fades, the evil goddess Juno appears in the doorway of the castleâs only remaining tower. She is twice as tall as a normal woman. Acloak of feathers swirls from her shoulders and her black eyes flash in anger.
âWorms!â she hisses, snapping her fingers. âMaggots!â
With a creaking, grinding noise some of the stones on the inside of the tower wall opposite her begin to crumble away.
A man looks out of the hole in the wall. His face is lined with deep wrinkles. It is the superhero Hercules. âI imagine you must be talking about the boys, Finlay and Max?â he asks. There is a note of amusement in his deep voice as he looks at the enraged goddess.
âPathetic humans!â Juno spits out.
âPathetic?â Hercules raises his eyebrows. âI hardly see how you can callthose two boys that, Juno. You have set them four tasks and they have completed each one, winning back four of my superpowers for me.â
âI still hold your three remaining superpowers,â Juno reminds him. âYou will not get
them
back!â
âI believe I will, Juno.â Hercules meets the goddessâs gaze squarely. âThe deal you made with them still stands. There are only three remaining tasks of the seven you set them and every time that they succeed in completing another task, they win back another of my superpowers. I believe that soon all my powers will be returned to me and I shall break free from this prison.â He thumps the wall of the tower.
âNever!â Juno shrieks in rage. âIn the morning, the boys must slay the Man-Eating Birds of Stymphalia. Are you really trying to tell me that they will be able to do that?â
âYes,â Hercules declares. âI am!â
The goddess and the superhero stare at each other.
When Juno speaks her voice is low and dangerous. âThey will fail.â Before Hercules can speak she clicks her fingers.