“I need a wee.”
“Then go,” said Zack without looking up from his textbook. Following his poor results earlier that year he wasn’t taking any chances. Tonight’s study session was part of an intensive plan to prepare for his end-of-term tests, even though school had just begun. I know. If he hadn’t saved the world it’d be off-putting.
I clambered down the rope ladder and headed for the house. Above the old oak tree the sky was striped with dazzling oranges and yellows, feathered with white like the wings of a giant bird that could easily bite your head off in one go. Nemesis had left a lot of dust in the atmosphere and everyone agreed that while our narrow scrape with extinction had been terrifying, the sunsets were spectacular.
As I crossed the garden an uneasy feeling crept up on me. Something strange was in the air, and it wasn’t just asteroid dust. Could it be Zorbon the Decider? What if he chose this exact moment to return? I had been expecting him for some time. After all, he had given Zack powers in order to defeat Nemesis, but that mission was over and out.
I wondered if the representative of the High Council of Frodax Wonthreen Rrr’n’fargh would return in order to remove Zack’s powers. A little over a month ago I might have been pleased to find him stripped of his superpowers, but not now. I’d even stopped making my list of Zack’s irritating points.
The truth was I liked having a brother with a cool secret superhero identity. The alternative was Maths Lad, and that didn’t bear thinking about. Of course, I’d prefer if it was me who had the superpowers, but if I really can’t have them then I’m glad it’s Zack who does. And in the end, I’d rather be living in a one-superhero household than a no-superhero household.
I did a wee, and as I reached for the flush I heard a distinctive sound.
Bloop-whoosh!
Without pausing to wash my hands I bolted out of the house. I reached the foot of the rope ladder in time to see the flick of a purple and gold cape disappearing inside a blue oval trans-dimensional craft. A second later there was another bloop-whoosh – and the craft was gone. Zorbon the Decider had returned. And I’d missed him.
Again.
I found Zack sitting silently in the darkening tree house, surrounded by shadows. He’d put aside his maths book. In front of him lay a sponge cake.
“It’s from Zorbon,” he said, biting into a slice. “It tastes different,” he mused. “But not entirely different.”
I didn’t care about the stupid sponge cake. I had to know. “Did Zorbon take away your powers?”
He took another bite. “Um, no. But you’ll never guess what did happen.”
Gah! He’s so annoying. “So tell me!”
He glanced over his shoulder. From out of the shadows stepped a familiar figure. It was Lara. She wore an expression of pure astonishment. I hadn’t seen anything like it since … oh no.
Surely not.
“Luke,” she said, staring at her hands, turning them over and over, “I think I have superpowers.”
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Ideally, these acknowledgements would be zooming out of the page at you in massive 3D titles, accompanied by a stirring orchestral score. Budgetary constraints, however, mean that instead I have this list. Also, I shall hum. Thanks to my editor Kirsty Stansfield, publisher Kate Wilson, and the team at the Crow’s Nest (take a left at the Batcave, first road after the Fortress of Solitude); illustrator Laura Ellen Anderson and designer Nicola Theobald for a cover as impactful as Giant-Sized X-Men Number 1; Agent Stan (literary, not S.H.I.E.L.D., sadly) for his cool-headed guidance. As ever, thanks to my wife Natasha, who puts the dynamic in our duo. Above all, this story is for my son, Luke. I know you won’t be able to read it for quite a few years, but when you’re old enough to understand, the answer is no, you can’t borrow the car.
Copyright
For Luke, of course
MY BROTHER IS A SUPERHERO
First published in the UK in 2015 by Nosy Crow Ltd
The Crow’s Nest, 10a Lant Street
London SE1 1QR, UK
This ebook edition first published in 2015
Nosy Crow and associated logos are trademarks and / or registered trademarks of
Nosy Crow Ltd
Text copyright © David Solomons, 2015
Cover illustration © Laura Ellen Anderson 2015
The right of David Solomons and Laura Ellen Anderson to be identified as the author and illustrator respectively of this work has been asserted by them in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act, 1988
All rights reserved.
This ebook is copyright material and must not be copied, reproduced, transferred, distributed, leased, licensed or publicly performed or used in any way except as specifically permitted in writing by the publishers, as allowed under the terms and conditions under which it was purchased or as strictly permitted by applicable copyright law. Any unauthorised distribution or use of this text may be a direct infringement of the author’s and publisher’s rights, and those responsible may be liable in law accordingly.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, incidents and dialogues are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictiously. Any resemblence to actual people, living or dead, events or locales is entirely coincidental.
ISBN: 978 0 85763 479 5
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