Superpowers (5 page)

Hercules stood inside the tower surrounded by fallen stones. As the dust cloud cleared he stepped forward over the rubble. His long hair fell down to his shoulders, his face looked young again – the deep wrinkles had gone – and his golden eyes glowed like a lion's. One hand held a sword and the other a shield.

‘You have released me!' he exclaimed, his strong voice ringing out across the keep. He strode out of the tower over the stones, a delighted smile on his face. ‘You have restored all seven of my superpowers! You are
true
heroes!'

But as he strode across the keep towards them, a fork of lightning cut jaggedly down through the sky and there was a thunderclap so loud that the walls of the castle seemed to shake.

Juno appeared. Her face was twisted with rage. In one hand she was holding a ball of white fire that blazed so brightly neither of the boys could look at it. ‘No!' she shrieked. ‘You shall not escape from me, Hercules!'

She swept the burning ball up into the air.

Within a second, Hercules had his shield up. ‘Get back, boys!' he yelled. Max and Finlay raced to take cover in the gatehouse. The fire bolt hit the shield and exploded in a shower of white burning arrows that shot through the air.

The boys watched as Hercules leapt towards the goddess, his sword at the ready. She clicked her fingers.

‘She's going to freeze him!' Max exclaimed. But Hercules was ready. In the same instant as Juno's fingers snapped a magic barrier formed around him.

‘That may have worked on the boys, but I know all your tricks, Juno,' he shouted, and as he did so he stooped to lift a heavy boulder in each hand. He catapulted the first boulder straight at Juno's head. And then before the first boulder had even reached her he had let the second boulder fly straight at her middle.

Juno did not even blink. With a deft flick of each arm, she turned her feather cloak into two wings, one raised in front
of her head, the other just below. She flexed her arms and the wings seemed to glow with a sharp metallic light. As the boulders hit each wing they bounced harmlessly, one to each side, leaving Juno with an exultant smile.

‘Ah yes, Hercules,' she gloated, letting her feather cloak fall back to her side. ‘You know my tricks. But I know
your
tricks even better. There isn't one of your powers that can harm me.'

‘We'll see about that!' Hercules ran to the tower wall. Without even slowing down he sprang effortlessly up it. A moment later a massive stone roof slab was hurtling down from the tower straight at the goddess.

The boys gasped. Hercules himself was balancing on the slab as if it were a
surfboard, using all his superpowers to keep it on course.

Finlay grabbed Max's arm. ‘He's going to land on her!'

The goddess tensed. A second before the slab was about to hit her she clicked the fingers of each hand. Where she

had been standing there was suddenly nothing but a flurry of brown feathers. Hercules yelled in alarm. He'd obviously expected the slab to hit Juno and not the ground. The slab smashed down and dust and shards of stone flew in every direction.

The boys stared at each other in shock – surely no one, not even a superhero, could survive that collision. And yet, moments later Hercules was rising groggily out of the dust cloud. But he got no further than to his knees before a whirlwind of feathers began and Juno reappeared. Without any hesitation she took one step towards the winded Hercules and kicked him savagely back to the ground. As she did so she clapped her fingers again and with a
sickening crack Hercules' body snapped helplessly flat on to the broken slab of rock.

‘We have fought this battle before. I will send you back into the tower wall,' Juno cried. ‘You are powerless now. One bolt of magic and you will be imprisoned forever!' She raised her hands, a smile playing around her mouth as she savoured the moment of having Hercules at her mercy. ‘And this time there will be no deals and
no
escape!'

‘Max! We've got to do something!' Finlay said desperately.

‘I know! But we haven't got any superpowers or weapons!' Max exclaimed.

Finlay saw Juno's hands clench.

They might not have any weapons or

superpowers but they couldn't stand by and watch as she sent Hercules back into the wall again – not after everything they had been through to free him. Finlay looked round. There must be something they could use. Suddenly he saw a nearby
flat rock. He grabbed it and raced out across the keep.

At exactly the same time, Max charged out, too, thinking that maybe if he could distract Juno then it would give Hercules a chance to recover. ‘Over here, Juno!' he shouted, just as he had done with the bull when Finlay had been injured.

The goddess started in surprise just as a lightning bolt shot out from her hand.

‘No!' yelled Finlay, leaping in front of Hercules, holding the rock up like a shield. It exploded into pieces, the force of the blast sending Finlay rolling over and over on the ground.

‘Brave but foolish boy!' Hercules gasped weakly.

Juno swung back round furiously. ‘How
dare
you interfere!' she hissed to Finlay.

‘Pathetic human!'

Finlay lay on the ground. The fall had knocked all the air out of his lungs. He felt like a ten-ton truck had just driven over his chest.

Juno stalked over to him. Her eyes glittered. ‘I have not been able to kill you before now because I had made a deal with you. But the deal is now over.'

‘Yes, cos we won!' Finlay gasped painfully.

Juno smiled. ‘And now it is I who shall win! You chose to get involved in this battle between me and Hercules, miserable human. Now accept the consequences. Alone, without superpowers, you have no chance against me!'

Finlay staggered to his feet just as Max raced to his side. ‘But he isn't alone!' Max yelled fiercely. ‘We're in this together!'

‘Then you will die together!' Juno exclaimed. She raised her hands, her eyes savage and triumphant.

Side by side, Max and Finlay braced themselves, and waited for the final blast…

Juno sent a ball of white lightning hurtling towards Max and Finlay's heads.

‘No!' Hercules roared as the boys screwed their eyes shut.

Finlay tensed, expecting his body to be blown into a million tiny pieces. But nothing happened. A strong force, like a whirlwind, seemed to be tearing round him, pulling at his hair and clothes, but
there was no pain. He opened his eyes. He and Max were surrounded from their head to their toes by a swirling dome of white light.

‘Max!' he gasped. ‘Look!'

Just as Max opened his eyes, the dome broke up and the light streamed past

them. It hit the gatehouse wall behind them. There was a loud bang and a crack spread out from the base of the wall across the ground.

Max and Finlay both jumped out of the way as the crack rapidly spread towards them. Max frowned. There seemed to be an underground chamber or something beneath the crack.

But before he could say anything or look further, Hercules was staggering to his feet, relief sweeping over his noble face. ‘Time and again you have broken the rules of the gods in your dealings with these boys this week, Juno, and now this is the price you pay!' he roared. ‘The gods have seen fit to protect them against your evil.' He swung round. ‘Run!' he urged Max and Finlay. ‘The gods have
looked after you this once to act as a lesson to Juno but I do not know if they will protect you again. Go! I will deal with her!'

‘Never!' Juno screamed furiously. She shot a ball of fire at him but Hercules was ready with his shield. The bolt exploded, sending arrows of deadly fire flying around the keep. Max grabbed Finlay's arm. ‘Quick!' he exclaimed. ‘We've got to take cover!'

Jumping over the crack in the ground and the underground chamber, they raced towards the gatehouse. As they did so, Finlay saw something shining on the wall. ‘What's that?' he exclaimed, pointing.

Max followed his gaze. Around the archway, just where Juno's lightning bolt
had hit, a new symbol was suddenly glowing. ‘I don't know,' he said. He ran closer and saw that it was a picture of two hands clutched around a sword.

‘Do you think it's another superpower?' Finlay said.

‘It can't be,' Max replied. ‘Hercules only had seven.'

‘So what is it, then?' demanded Finlay.

‘Maybe it's something to do with the gods,' Max answered. ‘You know, that stuff Hercules was saying about the gods protecting us.'

Finlay nodded. ‘It came when the light hit the wall. I know! Let's touch it and see what happens!'

‘Hang on,' Max said quickly. ‘What if it's not the gods? What if it's a trick of Juno's?' He frowned. ‘What if it
kills
whichever of us takes it?' They glanced round. Hercules was now wrestling with Juno, pinning her arms to her sides. She clicked her fingers and the next instant she had turned into a hawk and was streaking upwards out of his arms and away. With a savage cry, she circled in the sky in her hawk-like form and then swooped straight at Hercules' face, talons and beak outstretched. He ducked but her claws raked down his cheek. As she landed, she turned back into a woman in the blink of an eye and flung another bolt of fire at him. He staggered backwards with an alarmed cry.