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  ‘I’m going to sneak in there and take a look,’ Tagg whispered. ‘I’m not sure where Rowdy is …’

  He crept into the room, belly low on the floor as if he was stalking prey. The imprisoned super cats were still inside their cage and the rest of the laboratory seemed the same. There was no sign of his brother. Nemesissy and her human were standing beside the strange machine, loading darts into a weird gun that looked like a cross between a toy rifle and an extra-large water pistol.

  Nemesissy suddenly let out a vicious hiss. ‘HEY!’

  Tagg jumped and just managed to stay quiet as he realised she wasn’t yelling at him. Rowdy had come swaggering in through the door as if he owned the place.

  ‘I went to have a little talk with the other bodyguards,’ he told Nemesissy as he headed for the cage where the prisoners were being held. ‘Gave them a demonstration of my superpower and told them to SCRAM!’ He glanced out of the window and gave a satisfied purr. ‘Good. I see they’re following my advice.’

  Nemesissy let out a nasty growl as she jumped down to confront him at floor level. ‘You’ve got nerve, I’ll give you that.’

  Rowdy turned his back on her, using his super strength to bend the metal bars of the cage and create an opening big enough for the cats to escape through. But before he could release the imprisoned cats, Nemesissy rubbed her silky body against her human’s ankle and ordered him to shoot.

  As the human pointed the rifle, Tagg raced forward and leaped up to bite his arm, sinking his sharp teeth deep into the hairy flesh. The human was so shocked that he screamed and let go of the gun, which fell straight down on to Nemesissy’s head, temporarily stunning her.

  Then suddenly, from the open doorway, Sugarfoot let out an ear-piercing, high-pitched sound that grew and grew in volume, causing test tubes and glass jars and bottles of liquid to start rattling on their shelves. Even the big glass incubators were shaking.

  ‘My experiments!’ the human wailed, his attention diverted from Nemesissy, whose weak cries for help were blocked out by the racket Sugarfoot was making.

  Meanwhile, inside the cage, Rowdy was using his super strength to release the captured cats. He made short work of the chains around Flash and the muzzle tied over Glamour’s mouth, then he went to free Thumper, Bendy and Slinky. The whole time the room shook, as if in the throes of a diabolical earthquake.

  ‘Please STOP IT!’ the human was pleading hysterically as his precious glass bottles and jars full of long-nurtured experiments smashed and spilt their contents over the floor.

  But Sugarfoot stayed rooted to the spot, mouth open and teeth bared, as her terrifying YOWL filled not just the entire room but the whole building.

  ‘Tagg, take everyone out down the fire escape,’ Rowdy yelled as cracks began to appear in the walls. ‘Sugarfoot, tone it down a bit, will you?’

  But Sugarfoot couldn’t hear him.

  ‘Uh-oh!’ Tagg watched through the window as the rusty fire escape fell off the wall with a clatter.

  ‘Don’t worry. We can stretch our bodies out of the window and make slides down to the ground,’ offered Bendy. Slinky nodded.

  ‘Better still, I’ll use my super speed to whizz us all away from here,’ said Flash.

  ‘Well, hurry. I think the building might be about to cave in!’ For the first time Rowdy sounded nervous – and that in turn scared Tagg, who tried to cross the room to Sugarfoot but found himself unable to get through the barrage of falling objects.

  Glamour, Thumper, Bendy and Slinky were soon clear of the building. As Flash returned to collect the others, Rowdy used his superpower to bat away falling bricks and big lumps of ceiling as he crossed the collapsing laboratory to grab Sugarfoot.

  Nemesissy and her human had taken shelter behind what was left of their precious extraction machine. The human must have finally heard Nemesissy’s instructions above the din because suddenly he darted out from their hiding place and bent down to lift the gun from the floor.

  Tagg spotted it, but by the time he’d yelled ‘GUN!’ Flash was already super-speeding him to safety, depositing him outside on the ground with the other super cats.

  ‘Gun?’ Flash queried in alarm, but just at that moment Sugarfoot’s deafening super yowl stopped abruptly.

  Tagg gave a hiss of fear and Flash didn’t wait to ask any more questions before super-speeding off again in a cloud of dust.

  Glamour came to stand with Tagg and the two of them held their breath as they spotted Rowdy out on the window ledge, his mouth holding a limp ball of black fur by the scruff.

  ‘Is that Sugarfoot?’ Tagg asked uncertainly.

  ‘Yes. But why isn’t she moving?’

  Rowdy’s front legs were stretched out and he was pushing against the window frame with all his might. Tagg realised Rowdy was literally holding up the ceiling.

  Flash was a blur of dark fur as he swept towards the pair on the window ledge, coming into focus briefly as he slowed enough to grab them. Then they were whizzing away again, through the falling debris, as the rest of the super cats stood willing them to make it.

  Glamour and Tagg rushed to Sugarfoot’s side as soon as Flash placed her and Rowdy gently beside them.

  ‘She got hit,’ Rowdy explained shakily. ‘They were aiming for me, trying to stop us escaping … she threw herself in front of me … I think it was a tranquilliser dart.’

  ‘Look!’ gasped Bendy and Slinky as the whole building rumbled loudly. The next thing they knew there was a dark, uneven mass on the ground and thick grey dust filled the space where the building had just been.

  ‘Bye-bye, crazy bad guys,’ murmured Thumper.

  ‘You’re sure they didn’t escape?’ Bendy asked with a frown.

  ‘Don’t see how they could,’ Slinky answered, coughing as he inhaled some dust.

  ‘Ooh,’ complained a small voice, and to everyone’s relief Sugarfoot was suddenly awake again, trying to escape her mother’s icy lick.

  ‘Thank goodness you’re OK,’ Tagg gasped, bending down and licking her too.

  ‘I think we’d better leave,’ Flash said as they heard sirens in the distance. ‘The humans are on their way, and you know what a fuss they’re bound to make.’

  A PURR-FECTLY AWESOME ENDING

  ‘Mum!’ Tagg cried in relief when they got home to find Melody resting in her cat bed in the kitchen. Her middle was completely bandaged up, with shaved skin visible on each side. She looked tired and glassy-eyed. But at least she was safe.

  ‘Are you all right, Mum?’ Rowdy asked, coming through the cat flap behind Tagg.

  ‘I’m still a bit woozy,’ Melody replied. ‘The vet gave me an injection for the pain.’

  Since it was still the middle of the night their humans were upstairs in bed and the cats had taken over the kitchen. Wild Bill was over by the sink trying to open some food pouches, but he was having trouble using only his gums.

  ‘Shall I do that?’ Flash offered, his mouth watering at the prospect of food. ‘Nemesissy hardly fed us and when she did it was always the same thing …’ He closed his eyes as if trying to block out the memory. ‘If I never see a fish head for the rest of my life it’ll be too soon.’

  Thumper, Bendy and Slinky had gone home, but Sugarfoot’s family had decided to stay at Tagg’s house.

  ‘We’ll help too,’ Glamour and Sugarfoot offered. Soon all three cats were ripping open the pouches for everyone to feast on.

  ‘So where have you been?’ Melody asked them curiously as Tagg snuggled up to her, taking care not to put any pressure on her injured side. ‘Where did you find Flash?’

  Mewing at top speed and constantly interrupting each other, Tagg and Sugarfoot explained everything. ‘So, you see, our superpowers came in just in time!’ Tagg finished off breathlessly.

  ‘Thank goodness,’ Melody miaowed with a gentle purr. ‘Though missions don’t rely solely on superpowers, you know. You two also used your heads and worked together.’ She gave Tagg a fond lick as she added, ‘I’m rea
lly proud of you.’

  ‘Thanks,’ Tagg said, feeling a bit embarrassed by the lick. ‘And … well … Rowdy helped a bit too.’

  ‘After we saved him from that shark,’ Sugarfoot clarified cheekily.

  ‘For which I will be forever grateful,’ Rowdy assured her with a dramatic shudder.

  ‘There’s one thing I don’t understand,’ Tagg said in a puzzled voice. ‘How come you were working for Nemesissy in the first place, Rowdy? Didn’t you know she was evil?’

  ‘Well, actually, I did. That was the whole point …’ He gave an apologetic mew. ‘I couldn’t tell you before but I’ve been working undercover. My mission was to spy on her.’

  ‘Mission? You mean like a secret-agent mission?’ Tagg felt an excited tingle run down his spine.

  ‘Yes. I was recruited by Topaz Top Cat a few months ago … but it’s all been top secret until now.’

  ‘Topaz Top Cat? Isn’t that the cat Mum and Dad and Uncle Bill used to work for?’

  ‘Yep! She’s been putting together a new team of cat agents and—’

  ‘Wait … Topaz is back in action? Why didn’t she contact me?’ Wild Bill snorted crossly.

  ‘Well … you kind of need to be able to stay awake to rescue other cats and do all that spy stuff, Uncle Bill. And what with all your super teeth falling out …’ Rowdy said.

  Wild Bill gave him a fiery glare. ‘Cheeky youngster! I’ll have you know my gums are still capable of giving you a good nip!’ He broke some rather smelly wind, shooting a glare at Rowdy as he barged through the cat flap.

  ‘What made Topaz suspect Nemesissy?’ Melody asked curiously.

  ‘She got a tip-off from one of her other agents, who’s deep undercover in a gang of hit cats. She sent me to work for Nemesissy so I could gather more information.’

  Remembering the big white hit cat who had warned them about Nemesissy, Tagg mewed, ‘Is the undercover agent called Marshmallow?’

  ‘You met him, didn’t you? Nerves of steel, that one. If they found out who he was, they’d kill him in an instant. So you mustn’t mention his name to anyone, OK?’

  Suddenly, they heard a noise outside. They all turned to look as a big orange head pushed in through the cat flap.

  ‘Dad!’ Tagg mewed in delight, running to greet his father.

  ‘Chester! You’re home!’

  ‘Melody? What happened?’

  After Chester had been reassured about Melody’s condition and had been reunited with Rowdy and the others, he announced proudly, ‘We have an important visitor. She has just been waylaid by Uncle Bill, who spotted us in the garden, but she’ll be here any minute.’

  ‘Who is it? Not Topaz?’ Melody winced as she tried to sit up straighter. ‘Chester, don’t leave her out there with Uncle Bill, for goodness sake! Escort her in.’

  But before he could, their cat flap opened and a most unusual cat made her entrance. She had short grey fur, a round face and the biggest greeny-blue eyes Tagg had ever seen. He guessed she was older than his parents, but not as old as Great-Uncle Bill.

  ‘Topaz!’ Melody greeted her in delight. ‘How wonderful!’

  ‘Topaz Top Cat!’ Tagg blurted in awe.

  ‘Good evening, ma’am,’ said an unusually polite and serious Rowdy.

  ‘Agent Rowdy!’ their visitor exclaimed. ‘What news of our target?’

  ‘Eliminated, ma’am,’ Rowdy replied solemnly.

  ‘We’re sure? We actually have a body?’

  ‘The humans are there at the moment but—’

  ‘A whole building’s squashing her, so she’s got to be as flat as a pancake by now,’ put in Sugarfoot helpfully.

  Topaz turned her gaze to the young cat. ‘And you are … ?’

  Rowdy quickly introduced Sugarfoot and Tagg. Topaz was clearly impressed when she heard how they had rescued Rowdy and helped thwart Nemesissy’s evil plot.

  ‘It sounds like we have two new recruits in the making,’ she said with a surprisingly Cheshire-cat-style grin. ‘How would you kittens like to join my new team of agents? I have another mission that I think you two would be perfect for.’

  Sugarfoot and Tagg both immediately leaped up, their tails bushy with excitement.

  ‘Yes, please!’ Sugarfoot mewed. ‘That would be brilliant!’

  ‘She means SUPER!’ Tagg added, twitching his whiskers cheekily.

  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 2019 by Bloomsbury Publishing Plc

  This electronic edition published in February 2019

  Text copyright © Gwyneth Rees, 2019

  Illustrations copyright © Becka Moor, 2019

  Gwyneth Rees and Becka Moor have asserted their rights under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act, 1988, to be identified as Author and Illustrator of this work

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  A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library

  ISBN: PB: 978-1-4088-9419-4; eBook: 978-1-4088-9420-0

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