The Superpower Project (10 page)

Megan walked over with her tray and sat down next to Cam. “Looks like you made a mess of that,” she said. “It's no wonder we're outnumbered if we're making enemies wherever we go.”

Cam scowled and stole some of her chips.

“Mind you,” said Megan, “I've been wondering about that… maybe we aren't as outnumbered as you think.”

“How do you mean?” said Cam, taking his secret bottle of tomato sauce out of his schoolbag and squirting it all over Megan's chips.

“If my gran knew other kids with superpowers, and you and I both have superpowers… should we be looking for others?”

“I think we have enough to be getting on with,” said Cam.

“But Cam, don't you think other people could maybe help?” said Megan.

“Yeah, only if they're nice,” said Cam. “Other people are mostly a pain.”

Megan smiled and dipped her chips in the tomato sauce.

“Also, I've had an idea,” said Cam. “If I can figure out how to half-transform into things, I could have, like, cheetah legs and totally clean up on sports day this year.”

“I think people might notice the spotty legs,” said Megan.

“You could do it too,” said Cam. “Flying during basketball and long jump?”

“Tempting,” said Megan, “I've got double PE next.”

***

The day dragged on in the special way that days with double PE and French do. What made it even worse was how dark it was getting when they finished school, which made the walk home to do homework all the more grim.

On the plus side, it meant that they could sneak around old buildings in the dark without making their parents suspicious. And it meant that it was dark enough for people not to notice unusual things hiding in the shadows. Things like the robot that was hiding in a back street, waiting for Megan and Cam.

TJ couldn't do subtle. He shouted Megan's name and waved.

“TJ! You're supposed to be at home. I left that software installing.”

“It has installed.”

“Well that's great, but you're not supposed to move about during the day! Someone might see you. Why are you out?”

“We need to go somewhere,” said TJ. “Now.”

“Why?” said Megan. “Have you blown my house up?”

“No, not yet. My new programming is working. I am remembering,” said TJ. “It is the list from the hospital. The names have reminded me of somewhere. A place.”

“Somewhere from Gran's map?” asked Megan.

“I bet it's the graveyard,” said Cam. “Is it the graveyard?”

“A place not on the map,” said TJ. “We must go now. While I remember.”

Megan looked at Cam. He looked as tired as she was, but he nodded. They both instinctively turned to their phones to text their usual excuses:

“Right, let's go!” said Megan.

“Just let me get a chocolate biscuit first,” said Cam, reaching into his schoolbag. “If I'm going to get attacked by another giant robot, I don't want to die hungry. And there's nothing to eat at home anyway.”

Glancing quickly around to check no one was watching, Cam clambered over the fence and peered down the dark embankment. The remains of an old railway line, now broken and overgrown, disappeared into woodland.

“It's like we're just wandering around looking for the darkest, scariest places in town. And then getting ambushed in them.”

Megan shrugged. “Everyone should have a hobby.”

“Collecting stamps is a hobby. This is more like a death wish.”

Megan and Cam steadied each other as they slipped and skidded down the hill towards the trees. Eventually Megan had to let go of Cam to stop herself from falling over with him.

“Cheers,” said Cam, not even attempting to wipe the mud from his trousers.

“Wait for TJ.”

The robot was still clambering over the broken play-park fence above the embankment, doing a very awkward job of keeping a low profile.

“TJ, be careful on the hill, it's…”

The robot tripped, skidded and sludged messily down towards the trees. Without a flicker, he stood back up again.

Megan ran over, concerned. “You ok?”

“I am fine. Cameron also fell.”

“Yeah, but not quite all the way.” Cam grinned.

“It looked like you fell quite far to me,” TJ replied.

“Enough!” said Megan. “Is this definitely the place TJ? Can you remember anything yet?”

TJ stared at the old track. Torn cans and old bottles littered the inky darkness. “It is familiar,” he said, which was as good as they were going to get.

Together, the three of them started into the woods.

“What is this place anyway?”

“There used to be playing fields round here somewhere,” said Cam. “My granda said they used to play football, cricket, all sorts up here when he was wee. Had its own stop on the train and everything. But it just got left and ended up all ruined and overgrown.”

“I don't think I'd be playing up here now,” said Megan, “even during the day. It feels weird. Creepy.”

“Yeah. I remember in primary school Andy McLafferty got dared to run into the middle of the forest. Hardest guy in school. Ran out crying. Brilliant. But I'm starting to think he had a point.”

“Are you going to start crying Cameron?” asked TJ.

Megan stifled a giggle.

“Well maybe he saw the Catman,” said Cam. “You'd be crying then too.”

“Don't start, Cam.” Megan kicked an old can, which rattled and echoed around the cutting. “Whoops, didn't mean to do that.”

The three of them stood still and silent, waiting for the noise to have woken some sort of monster, because, to be fair, that's the sort of thing that had been happening recently. But the forest stayed quiet, nothing fiendish lunged out of the dark.

“Who is the Catman?” asked TJ.

“I'm not sure I want to tell you,” said Cam. “Unless you want to spend the next five minutes being terrified in the dark.”

“I do not feel fear. Are you scared, Cameron?”

“The Catman,” interrupted Megan, “is supposed to be this old tramp who sleeps in abandoned train tunnels and garages, but some folk think he has a cave up the hills, where he stays with dozens of stray cats.”

“That makes him sound nice,” said Cam. “You missed out the bit where he kidnaps and eats children.”

“No one is totally sure that's true, Cameron,” said Megan, rolling her eyes. “I was sure I saw him once, down by the bins in Gran's back garden. She said shipyards round here used to employ a ‘cat man', usually just a nice old guy who kept cats to scare the rats away from the warehouses.”

Cam jumped in. “Then after the shipyards closed, he went feral, and all his cats followed him, looking for food – and Catman would do anything to keep them well fed.
Anything
.” He frowned darkly.

“But no one has seen him for years, Cam. My dad said he used to see him back in the eighties. He'd be ancient now.”

TJ clicked and whirred. “Prolonged exposure to the elements reduces life expectancy, especially in a town with so much rain.”

“Why is a Catman so hard to believe in?” said Cam. “If I could do cats, I could be Catboy.”

“Yes, but you wouldn't live in the dark and eat your classmates,” said Megan.

“Dunno,” said Cam, “I reckon Big Stevie McGhee would keep you going for a while. He's already sixty per cent hamburger. How far in do you think we are now?”

As they had progressed into the forest, the sky had darkened, there were fewer cans and crisp packets, and the old track had disappeared.

“Keeps his forest tidy at least.” Megan smiled.

Cam was checking his phone. “That's me lost my signal. So if he gets us now, I won't be able to call for help.”

It was really dark, even with the torchlight and eyebeams, and Cam and Megan realised they hadn't been paying attention to where they were walking. “TJ,” said Megan, “I don't think I want to walk on much further. Have you remembered what you're looking for yet?”

“We have missed something,” said TJ.

“That's what I was thinking,” said Megan.

“Really? I was thinking if we leave now I could still be home in time to watch
River City
,” said Cam.

Tin Jimmy stomped forward, further into the dark. Soon they could hear him in the distance, banging and tapping on a rocky mound covered in foliage.

“It is here,” he said eventually.

“What is?” asked Megan.

“The secret door.”

By the time Megan and Cam had tripped and scuttled out of the trees to where TJ was standing, he had already managed to haul the old door open. It had been disguised with moss and nettles, easy to overlook at a glance, especially in the dark.

Megan peered inside to see light flickering distantly.

“I will go first,” suggested TJ.

“Uhm… yep,” said Megan, “sounds good.”

TJ stepped through into a large cave, with Megan and Cam following a short distance behind. The cave curved around to the left, then sloped downwards. Cam tapped Megan's shoulder and pointed silently at the top of the cave. There were electrical cables running all the way round and down to the light in the distance.

At the far end of the cave, someone had made a little living room, with an old sofa, a gigantic old wooden-framed television set and a bookcase. A ragged and torn curtain hung at the back of this room. TJ stepped towards it to investigate further.

“Ok,
now
do we believe there's someone living up the hills in a cave?” whispered Cam.

Before either TJ or Megan could answer, there was a low growl from behind the curtain.

Nobody had time to react.

The curtain was torn from its hooks as a huge tiger sprung from behind it. Cam and Megan both screamed – Cam just a bit louder. The tiger snarled angrily, displaying impressively massive fangs.

TJ positioned himself directly between the snarling tiger and Megan and Cam.

“Wait, wait, shoosh,” whispered Megan, “we're upsetting it.”

“Really?” said Cam. “Only I'm quite upset as well.”

Cam and Megan began backing towards the mouth of the cave.

The tiger remained ready to pounce, now looking directly at TJ. It wasn't calming down even though they were retreating.

And then it pounced, knocking TJ over and pinning Cam to the cave wall with its massive paws.

Megan took off and launched straight towards the tiger. Cam had instinctively turned gorilla, and was now, along with the tiger, taking up almost half the space in this tiny makeshift room. He pushed out, forcing the tiger back, while TJ scrambled to his feet and together with Megan, hauled the beast away from Cam.

It took them both a moment to realise the big cat wasn't fighting back. The tiger looked from TJ to Megan to Cam. Gorilla-Cam raised his fists, preparing to end the argument, and knocked over the TV.

The tiger growled once more, then began to change, its teeth and fur retracting until only a straggle-haired, scrawny old man remained. He stood up slowly, steadying himself against the bookcase, sweeping his grey hair from his eyes. Seeing this, Cam also transformed back to his human form, staring at the old man all the while.

The old man stepped towards TJ first.

Megan stepped protectively in between them, holding a hand out as if to keep him away. “Stop right there!”

“Careful Megan, he's stronger than he looks,” said Cam, still shaking slightly from the transformation.

“Sorry… you surprised me,” said the old man, shaking his head. “Really sorry… are you all ok?”

“No, a tiger just attacked me!” shouted Cam, checking himself for tiger cuts.

“Yeah… and then a gorilla knocked over my telly.”

“Who are you?” said Megan.

The old man looked at the robot and shuffled awkwardly.

Cam glared at him as he dusted himself down. “Megan, I think this is the Catman.”

The dishevelled man shot Cam an angry glance. “Don't call me that.”

“Come on! Giant cat that roams the hills, strange old man that lives in a cave.” Cam pointed. “Catman.”

“But I don't eat children,” said the Catman. “Though I'm considering making exceptions.”

TJ had not spoken or moved since the tiger had transformed. He just stared at the Catman, clicking and whirring in thought.

“You left me,” said TJ at last. “You tied me up in the bomb shelter and left me.”

The Catman hung his head.

“
You
did that?” said Megan.

“There was no light. Only the damp air, and my body slowly rusting. Thoughts disappearing,” said TJ. “You told me to wait. I did not know how long for.”

Megan took the robot's hand.

“I was trying to keep him safe,” protested the Catman. “Is TJ still here? Yes. Did they find him? No. See? Safe.”