Super Cats v Maximus Fang Page 4

  NEMESISSY

  Superpower: Hypnosis! Can bring any human under her power and make them do her bidding

  Status: Missing, presumed dead

  MAXIMUS FANG

  Superpower: Weather control! Ability to create devastating storms and strike lightning at will

  Status: Locked up in Cat’s End Prison

  GORY GUS

  Superpower: Telekinesis! Can move any object with his mind. Very dangerous!

  Status: Locked up in Cat’s End Prison

  MARSHMALLOW

  Superpower: Unknown. Member of the Secret Super Cat Agency, keeping cats everywhere safe

  Status: Active agent

  TOPAZ TOP CAT

  Superpower: Unknown. In charge of the Secret Super Cat Agency, keeping cats everywhere safe

  Status: Active agent

  HAMISH HIT CAT

  Superpower: Unknown. Runs a deadly hit-cat service. Doesn’t need a superpower to be lethal!

  Status: Missing, whereabouts unknown

  Take this quick quiz!

  1.Does your pet mostly …

  a)Sleep?

  b)Play?

  c)Spend time outdoors?

  2.What does your pet like doing most?

  a)Sleeping

  b)Trying out new things

  c)Getting into mischief

  3.Does your pet have lots of friends?

  a)No, it’s quite solitary

  b)Maybe. Certainly lots of different animals visit our garden

  c)Yes! So many I lose track

  4.Have you ever seen your pet do something incredible?

  a)Not really, they just sleep a lot

  b)Once I thought they had completely disappeared, but when I looked again they were right there ...

  c)Yes! My pet once ran out of the garden so fast it burst through the fence!

  Mostly a — Your pet might have had superpowers once, but they have probably retired now, like Uncle Bill

  Mostly b — Your pet could have superpowers ... keep watching to see if any develop

  Mostly c — Your pet definitely has superpowers! Wow!

  HAVE YOU READ TAGG AND SUGARFOOT’S FIRST ADVENTURE?

  OUT NOW!

  Turn over for a sneak peek ...

  CHAPTER ONE

  A PURR-FECTLY ORDINARY FAMILY OF FELINES

  Tagg was born in the spring – the first of five tabby kittens born to his mother, Melody, and father, Chester. It was Melody’s second litter and this time she had her kittens in the family wardrobe, on top of her human’s cleanest and most comfortable sweater.

  Melody and Chester were fairly laid back when it came to kitten-rearing. Melody prided herself on being able to lick a kitten spotless in two minutes flat, and Chester didn’t bat an eyelid if one of his offspring tried to climb a tree or went to investigate next-door’s cat flap without asking. All kittens got into trouble, he said – especially the adventurous ones. They either learned from their mistakes, or they lost their nine lives rather quickly.

  ‘I know that sounds harsh,’ Melody told the kittens, ‘but your father is right.

  The sooner you realise how perilous the outside world can be, the sooner you will learn not to do stupid or dangerous things.’

  Tagg, who was a handsome tabby kitten with a white tummy, white paws and a thick stripy tail, glanced shyly at his father. All the kittens were in awe of Chester – a huge stocky ginger cat with dark green eyes. ‘Did you do any stupid or dangerous things when you were young, Dad?’ he asked curiously.

  ‘I don’t believe I did many stupid things,’ Chester replied. ‘Dangerous perhaps – at least for an ordinary cat.’

  ‘What sort of dangerous things?’ Tagg was so excited to hear more that he forgot to ask what his father meant by ‘ordinary’.

  ‘Nothing you need to know about at the moment,’ Melody told him swiftly.

  As the months passed, Tagg noticed that his parents were treating him differently to the other kittens. He wouldn’t say he was their favourite exactly, but he was certainly the one they scolded and fussed over the most, and he was always the one Chester took hunting.

  It wasn’t long before Tagg knew far more than his siblings about the arts of catching mice, stalking birds and correctly judging whether your prey would fit through the cat flap before you made a complete fool of yourself with a dead squirrel.

  As Tagg approached six months of age, he was the only kitten of his litter still living with his parents, and it wasn’t because no humans had wanted him. Twice Tagg had been rehomed to a new human household, and twice his parents had come that same night to retrieve him. Each time his father had carried him home by the scruff of his neck, until in the end their humans had given up and let him stay.

  Tagg didn’t really mind. He liked their comfortable home in its quiet, tree-lined street. He had a cat flap to come and go as he pleased, a plentiful supply of food and water and a well-stocked fish pond in the garden (even if it was covered with an irritating metal mesh).

  On his six-month birthday, Tagg was excited as he scampered out into the garden.

  ‘Uncle Bill has caught a mouse for me to play with,’ he called out to his parents, who were curled up together on the grass. Wild Bill, who was Tagg’s great-uncle, lived on his own in the rickety summer house at the bottom of their garden.

  ‘Wait, Tagg,’ Chester said urgently. ‘We need to talk to you.’

  ‘Yes, Dad.’ Tagg sat down obediently, hoping this wouldn’t take too long. His great-uncle wasn’t as sprightly as he used to be and Tagg was worried the elderly cat might not be able to stop his gift from scampering away if he didn’t get there quickly. That was if Wild Bill could manage to refrain from eating it. After all, it was no secret that he was extremely partial to a bit of fresh mouse.

  ‘Now that you are six months old, we want to tell you something about our family,’ Melody began. ‘It’s a secret you must never repeat to anyone. Do you understand?’

  Tagg’s ears pricked up immediately. He loved secrets. ‘Of course, Mum.’

  ‘Good.’ She looked at Chester to continue.

  ‘Although your mother and I may seem like ordinary cats,’ Chester began, ‘we both have a very special ability. A super ability, if you like.’

  ‘Wow!’ Tagg was even more excited. ‘Do you mean you have superpowers?’ His mother had often told him bedtime stories about cats with superpowers, but he had always assumed the adventures were made up.

  ‘That is exactly what I mean,’ Chester replied.

  ‘Wow!’ Tagg exclaimed again. ‘So what can you do?’ Maybe his mother and father could fly! Or turn invisible! That would explain how they were so good at creeping up on him whenever he was scratching at the carpet or stealing food from the kitchen table.

  ‘Well …’ Chester sounded like he was making the most serious of announcements as he stated, ‘your mother has extremely sharp claws.’

  Tagg let out a spluttery mew of mirth. He couldn’t help it.

  Chester hissed. ‘This is not a laughing matter!’

  ‘Sorry.’ Tagg struggled to get his face straight again as he stammered, ‘It’s just … well … surely … don’t all cats have those?’

  ‘Allow me to demonstrate,’ Melody said with a twinkle in her eye as she lifted one of her paws and stretched out the digits. Her claws seemed to go blurry for a few moments, then, all of a sudden, they changed into curved blades that radiated an odd, gleaming energy. The miniature swords looked totally unreal on the ends of her dainty white paws.‘

  Yikes!’ Tagg blurted out. ‘I mean, that’s … awesome!’

  Melody turned around to face her kitten. ‘My super claws will cut through anything, Tagg,’ she said. ‘And I mean anything.’

  Tagg gulped. Looking nervously at his father, he asked, ‘So what can you do, Dad?’

  Chester crouched down on his back legs and began to swing his hindquarters like any cat preparing to spring. But then he leaped off the ground and up, up, up, as high as th
e roof of the house and right over it.

  Tagg raced around to the front of the house as fast as he could, but by the time he got there his father had vanished. ‘Where is he?’ Tagg mewed in wonder as he searched the sky.

  ‘Oh … several streets away by now, I expect,’ Melody replied as she joined him. ‘His back legs are extremely powerful.’ She gave Tagg’s head a gentle lick. ‘I know it’s a lot to take in, but don’t worry. You’ll be used to the idea by the time your own power develops.’

  ‘M-my own p-power … ?’ Tagg gasped.

  ‘That’s right. You might have super claws or super strength, or you may develop something completely different. Whatever your power is, your father and I will be here to teach you how to use it properly. That is why we couldn’t let you leave us like your brothers and sisters.’

  Tagg suddenly thought of something. ‘But how come I’m the only one? What makes me so special?’

  ‘Nobody knows why only one kitten in each litter is born with superpowers,’ Melody explained. ‘But I knew you were the one from the moment you were born. It was exactly how I felt when your brother Rowdy was born. He was the super kitten from our first litter.’

  ‘Rowdy?’ It was the first time Tagg had heard the name. ‘What superpower does he have? Where is he now?’

  ‘He decided that he wanted to go off on his own and explore other places. He has super strength, like Chester.’ Her voice was light but Tagg thought she looked sad. ‘Now, didn’t you say something about a mouse?’

  ‘Oh yes … wait … does Uncle Bill know about this?’

  ‘Of course. He’s a super cat too – at least he was.’

  ‘Really?’ Tagg immediately thought of the impressive stench of cat wee in the summer house. His mother had told him that it was just as well Uncle Bill’s wee was so powerful because it meant any strange cats steered well clear. Tagg asked uncertainly, ‘So does he have super wee?’

  Melody let out a little snort. ‘Of course not. His wee is quite ordinary, believe it or not. There’s nothing unusual about a male cat spraying his territory, though your uncle does take it a bit far. No … Wild Bill had super teeth. They could bite through anything – glass, wood, metal, vets’ instruments … And if he clamped on to something – or somebody – there wasn’t anything you could do to shake him loose!’

  ‘Wow! That sounds mega awesome.’

  ‘It was. Unfortunately, all his teeth have fallen out now and he has no superpower left. And speaking of Uncle Bill …’

  ‘I’d better go!’ Tagg gasped, suddenly thinking of his promised mouse.

  ‘Make sure you eat it all up afterwards, Tagg,’ his mother reminded him. ‘You know how I feel about cats who only play with their food.’

  Tagg found his great-uncle sitting outside the summer-house door, thoroughly washing his whiskers.

  ‘Oh no,’ Tagg miaowed crossly. ‘You’ve eaten it already, haven’t you?’

  The older cat looked up and gave him a calm blink. ‘I most certainly have, young fella. Fresh mouse can be extremely hard to resist if you’re that way inclined. That’s why I told you to come straight away. Now off you go while I take my nap.’ Wild Bill napped after every meal these days, saying that at his age he couldn’t be expected to digest food and stay awake at the same time.

  Looking at his great-uncle now, Tagg found it hard to believe that the elderly tabby cat with absent teeth and patchy fur had once been a super cat.

  He couldn’t keep the excitement from his voice as he blurted, ‘Mum and Dad just told me about their superpowers!’

  ‘Time you knew,’ the older cat grunted matter-of-factly. ‘So how does it feel to be the son of Feline Force One?’

  ‘Feline Force One?’ Tagg asked.

  ‘That was their secret-agent code name. Of course, there were others – Feline Force Two, Feline Force Three, Feline Force Four and such like. Me – I always worked alone. My code name was The Gnasher.’ He gave a purr of pride.

  ‘Wait – you were secret agents?’ Tagg wondered what other information his parents had left out.

  ‘That’s right. Our boss, the top cat, was called Topaz. She lived at HH with the leader of the humans.’

  ‘HH?’ Tagg asked.

  ‘Human Headquarters. It’s in the middle of the biggest human city. Anyway, the top human at the time was a real cat lover and he often talked to Topaz about his worries. She learned about all the problems in this country, and that’s how we got our missions. When a different human leader came into power, Topaz was prepared to stay and help her too, only this one was allergic to cats and she found herself banished.’

  ‘That’s terrible!’

  ‘It certainly was. Topaz was forced to close down the whole operation. After that we moved here. Your parents had kittens and I lost my last few teeth.’ He belched and Tagg caught a strong whiff of freshly devoured mouse.

  ‘Mum told me about Rowdy,’ Tagg said.

  Wild Bill grunted. ‘Too headstrong for his own good, that one. Took off without a mew to anyone. Haven’t heard from him for almost two summers now – goodness knows where he went.’ Wild Bill yawned. ‘Now … if you don’t mind, I’ve some serious sleeping to do.’ And two minutes later Wild Bill was gently snoring.

  GWYNETH REES

  Gwyneth Rees is half Welsh and half English and grew up in Scotland. She studied medicine and qualified as a doctor before she became a full-time writer. She lives near London with her husband, two young daughters and one noisy cat.

  BECKA MOOR

  Becka Moor is a children’s book illustrator and storyteller living in Manchester. You can find her illustrations in a variety of fiction books and series as well as picture books. She has an obsession with cats and loves anything a bit on the quirky side.

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  First published in Great Britain in 2020 by Bloomsbury Publishing Plc

  Text copyright © Gwyneth Rees, 2020

  Illustrations copyright © Becka Moor, 2020

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