2015 Summer Reading Challenge

2015 Summer Reading Challenge
Completed 

by 

Maryam Mohamed Ismail

Ayyub Mohamed Ismail 

and 

Haajar Mohamed Ismail

Winning in 2015 Islah Quran Competition

Two more trophies for two of our children at 
2015 Islah Quran Competition
Ayyub 2nd (school group year 5-6)
Haajar 1st (school group year 3-4)


Haajar Mohamed Ismail




Ayyub Mohamed Ismail

 Ayyub was one of the winner in science project. I wrote about our trip to the Demontfort University in our school news letter. April 2015

Ayyub receiving his gift for become first in his class of Islamic studies. We were delighted for his excellent achievement. 
ما شاء الله. December 2014 
الحمد لله رب العالمين

Maryam won 3rd place in Qirath competition organised by Ramadan Radio Leicester in 2012 August. My gift was ipod nano.

Being Good to Our Parents

Being Good to Our Parents

Bismillahir Rahmanir Raheem. Alhamdulillah. Assalatu Wassalamu ‘Alaa Rasoolillah, Amma Ba’d.

Honourable judges, respected elders, and my dear brothers and sisters, Assalamu Alaikum Warahmatullahi Wabarakatuh.

Before I start my speech, I want to make sure I’m speaking to the right audience. So, among the audience, whoever wants to go Paradise, put your hands up. Whoever has their parents with them right now, put your hands up. And, whoever has been born or brought up in a Western society, put your hands up. Alhamdulillah, I’ve got the right audience.

So today I am standing in front of you to deliver a speech on the topic of ‘Being good to your parents’, Insha Allah.

I’ll begin my speech with a quick glance at the society, how do they be good to their parents? Most of the elderly people are neglected and regarded as a burden to society, people only appreciate their parents’ work on Mother’s Day or Father’s Day and children have no respect for their parents whatsoever, etc. A’udhubillah.

Some people might think that at least I am better than them. But let’s see what Allah (swt) says about being good to your parents. In Suratul ‘Israh, verse 23, Allah (swt) says:

وَقَضَىٰ رَبُّكَ أَلَّا تَعۡبُدُوٓاْ إِلَّآ إِيَّاهُ وَبِٱلۡوَٲلِدَيۡنِ إِحۡسَـٰنًا‌ۚ

Which means: And your Lord had decreed to worship none but him, and be the best to your parents.

What did Allah (swt) say? Not good, not better, but the best. Allah (swt) gives us a complete and comprehensive guideline in one word:

إِحۡسَـٰنًا‌ۚ : the best.

Which means everything we do towards our parents should be the best whether it could be politeness, humbleness, kindness, whatever the thought, action, attitude, behaviour should be the best.

If I want to explain to you in a nutshell, think, how would we behave in front of the Queen? We would be polite and kind and do what she asks right away. We must be even better than that to our parents. When they ask us to do something, we should do it right away with love, not with a long face or asking them ‘why me?’ You know what I’m talking about? Anyway, they don’t ask us to do anything for themselves, all they ask is to do our own stuff or something which benefits us. They ask us to study. Why? For a bright future when we grow up. They don’t let us watch movies. Why? To protect our brain and soul. They ask us to pray. Why? So we can become good Muslims.

In the same ayah, Allah (SWT) says:

فَلَا تَقُل لَّهُمَآ أُفٍّ۬

Which means: Don’t utter the word of ‘uff’ to them.

The word ‘uff’ means ‘aww’ or groaning and grumbling. Allah says that you can’t even say ‘aww’ to your parents. We can’t even think of doing it. This is how polite we should be to our parents. It is heart-wrenching to see some people raise their voice at their parents, swear, talk back, argue with them and make fun of their accent. A’udhubillah. My dear brothers and sisters, these are not jokes! Who taught you how to speak in the first place?

My dear brothers and sisters, we all take our parents for granted. That’s why we don’t understand their value, their unconditional love and kindness and unparalleled sacrifices. Most of us don’t even appreciate what their parents do for them, and think that their parents are servants and expect their parents to do stuff for them, then find faults in them and complain. Why do you always have to make rice? Why don’t you buy me a phone? My dear brothers and sisters, even before we were born our parents sacrificed everything for us and they still are sacrificing for us. Our parents left their country, their home town, their house, their parents and everything and living here for one reason, only one reason, because of us, to give us a bright future. They curb their desires in order to attain our desires. They cry in order to make us happy. You know exactly what I’m talking about. We should take heed in when Allah tells us in Surah Luqman, verse 14:

ٱشۡڪُرۡ لِى وَلِوَٲلِدَيۡكَ

This means: Show gratitude to me and to your parents.

So we can see that our gratitude to Allah is incomplete unless we show gratitude to our parents. Subhanallah.         

We will never be able to pay back our debt to our parents. The only thing we can do is be thankful to them. My dear brothers and sisters, we should be thankful to our parents for all the things they have done for us. My dear brothers and sisters, I can understand where all these attitudes are coming from because I was born and bred in this Western society. Our society’s opinion of life is different. They want to seek out the happiness here and now. So if their parents are a barrier, blocking their way, they will disobey them or get rid of them or do whatever their mind orders them to do.

My dear brothers and sisters, we should not be trapped in this idea and opinion. The happiness can be achieved by attaining Jannah and pleasing Allah (swt). The happiness that we get here is temporary, it won’t last for long. So, what’s the point of sacrificing a eternal happiness for an temporary one?

My dear brothers and sisters, we are Muslims and Allah (swt) has already given us a perfect way of life and we don’t need to copy anybody else. All I can say is, it is a very serious matter in the sight of Allah. So what I can say in a nutshell is trust your parents and be obedient, help them, make them your best friend, treat them with the best possible manner and try to please them in every possible way and fulfil their aspirations and desires and should never hurt their feelings. Because the Prophet (SAW) said in a Hadith, ‘He who wishes to enter Paradise through its best door must please his parents.’ Subhanallah.

My dear brothers and sisters we are so lucky, we have our parents with us but there are so many orphans around the world so let’s be good to our parents before it’s too late.

Finally, I conclude my speech by asking Allah (swt)to guide us and help us treat our parents in the way that he told us to and attain the pleasure of Allah through pleasing our own parents. Ameen. Ameen. Ya rabbal ‘aalameen.

Maryam (RA)

Maryam (RA)

March 2015 

Bismillahhirahmaniraheem. Alhamdulillah Asalatu wasalamu alaa Rasoolillah amma bad.

Honourable judges, respected elders and my dear brothers and sisters:

Assalamu Alaikum Warahmatullahi wa barakatuh!

I begin my speech by asking a few questions to my audience:

·        Whoever has been the odd-one, out put your hands up.

·        Whoever has been bullied put your hands up.

·        Whoever has to battle everyday in order to keep their modesty put your hands up.

·        Whoever wants to know a perfect role-model to overcome these situations listen to my speech attentively.

Today I’m standing in front of you to talk about one of the greatest women who lived on the face of this earth. She is the only women whose name is mentioned in the Quran, and there is a whole chapter in the Quran named on her name. Yes, she is Maryam Bint Imran the mother of Isa (AS).

She is the women described by Allah (SWT) as the purest and the chosen one.

Allah (SWT) says in Surah Ala-Imran Verse 42:

Which means:

Oh Maryam, indeed Allah has chosen you and purified you, and chosen you above the women of the worlds.

Subhanallah!

So when I came to know all about her status in Islam and with Allah (SWT), it really made me think:

Why Allah (SWT) has given her such a high status?

How did she attain this?

OK let’s find out;

Maryam (RA) was born into a noble family In Jerusalem. Her father was Imran Bin Mathan who was a pious scholar from the Bani Isra’eel. Her mother was Hannah Bint Faqudh who was a pious woman from the Bani Isra’eel. When her mother was pregnant, she made a promise to Allah (SWT) to dedicate her unborn child to the service of Bayt Al Maqdis. When Maryam (RA) was born, her mother didn’t break the promise, because at that time it was a role of a boy to serve in the Masjid. As the promise of her mother Maryam (RA) began to serve In the Masjid. This service included worshiping Allah (SWT) and taking care of the Masjid at all time. I just want you to think for a moment; Maryam (RA) was a child, while the rest of the children were playing outside, she (RA) was worshipping Allah (SWT) all day and night! And it was a role of a boy after all! Wasn’t she the odd one out amongst her society? But Subhanallah! Look at her devotion to Allah (SWT), she (RA) didn’t care about what other people thought of her, or being out from her society. Rather she loved the worship of Allah (SWT), as what her name meant, she was the one that worshiped, why? Because she understood that she is nothing but a slave of Allah (SWT). My dear brothers and sisters, we also need to understand that we are nothing but slaves of Allah (SWT). We should always follow the commands of Allah (SWT) even if we have to be the odd on out. Insha Allah!

Maryam (RA) was brought up under the care and guardianship of Zakariyyah (AS), because her father passed away before she was born.

Time passed by, and one day Maryam (RA) was encounted by Jibra’eel (AS) to give her the news of having a baby in a miraculous way. Jibra’eel (AS) came in a beautiful human form. As soon as she (RA) noticed that somebody was looking at her she said:

“Indeed I seek refuge in the Most Merciful from you, if you should be fearing of Allah.”

Subhanallah! Look at her level of haya and Taqwa. She (RA) immediately said what was in her mind, she (RA) didn’t even wait to listen to what he wanted to say and also reminded him to fear Allah (SWT).

My dear brothers and sisters, there is a greater lesson in Maryam (RA), especially where the society we live in views boys and girls relationships as normal! And not only that! Whomever stays away from this fitnah their view as abnormal! A’oodhu Billah!

I know it’s a battle, but as Muslims we should always keep in mind that Allah (SWT) has set boundaries for us. We should never ever surpass these boundaries. We should keep the two shields of Maryam (RA), which are her God conscious and Haya to battle against this fitnah. May Allah (SWT) protect all of us from this fitnah.  Aameen.

So now, we all know what happened afterwards, Maryam (RA) became pregnant, and went through all the sufferings all by herself. There wasn’t anyone to help her or console her. The only things she had was patience, Tawakkul, trust in Allah and she accepted the Qadr of Allah (SWT).

So when the baby Isa (AS) was born, Allah (SWT) ordered her to take the baby to the society, and even ordered her not to speak! The society at that time is no where near to todays… it’s totally opposite! Even if you smell like adultery you’ll be punished, bullied and abused! Now you can’t even explain that you’re innocent. And Maryam (RA) knew this very well! But she didn’t avoid the situation! She didn’t give up! Rather she faced the situation without any hesitation! How? Because she obeyed the commands of her creator, Allah (SWT), and she (RA) had a high level of Tawakkul, trust in Allah. ”If Allah is with me, then I don’t care, he (SWT) will show me a way out of it!”

And Allah (SWT) did show her a way out of it, by making the baby speak and prove the people that she was innocent! Subhanallah!

My dear brothers and sisters, remember, Maryam (RA) went through all of this only because she followed the commands of Allah (SWT)! Sometimes we also face situations, where people bully, abuse and reject us only because we follow the command of Allah (SWT). We also shouldn’t hesitate, give up or avoid the situation. Rather we should face the situation with Tawakkul. Insha Allah.

So now it made me clear, that Maryam (RA) attained her high status, not because she was a mother of a prophet, but because of who she was. Because of her high level of Haya, Taqwa, Obedience, devotion, submission, purity, e.t.c.! That’s how she (RA) attained perfection! Nabi (SAW) has said, that:

“Many amongst men attain perfection, but amongst women none attain perfection, except Maryam the daughter of Imran and Aasiyah the wife of Fir’ awn.”

That’s why Allah has mentioned her name in the Quran, and telling me and you to take her as our role models.

Finally, I conclude my speech by sharing this advice with you: Maryam (RA) gained all these qualities through knowing about Allah (SWT) and having a close relationship with him. So in order for us to gain these qualities, first of all we should get to know Allah (SWT), learn our deen and put it into practice. Insha Allah.

“May we all take Maryam (RA) as our role-models in every aspect of our lives.” Aameen!

Wa Aakhiru Da’wana Anilhamdulillahi rabbil Alameen.

Jazakallah Khairan.

Wasalamu Alaikum Warahmatullahi Wabarakaatuh.  

 

  

Tiger War

Tiger War 

By Ayyub Mohamed Ismail

Chapter 1

 “What shall we play today, guys?” George Hill asked. George was not known as ‘George’ among his friends. They all had nicknames. George was called ‘Rally’ as he was good at finding shortcuts.

“I dunno, Rally.” Chris or ‘Hammer’ as he was known, answered. Hammer was a huge, muscular boy who was very fast at running.

Max or ‘X-Ray’ said “Well, we can’t wait around, waiting for school to start.”

“I can.” Hammer grunted.

“I know! I know!” Karl or ‘The Brain’ shouted. “We’ll play ‘Hunt the Cats’!”

“Great idea!” Hammer grinned. “Right, I’m counting. Go hide you lot!”

5 minutes later

Once they were inside the classroom, Rally noticed a boy. A new boy. He sat there at the front of the class in front of Mr Haylings.

“Mornin’ class!” Mr Haylings boomed in his Scottish accent. “Ta dae I wid like tae inrodees you to Alan. He is a new boy so I wid like ye to be a wee bit nice tae him. A’right, class?”

“Yes, Mr Haylings.” The class chorused.

Hammer, Rally, X-Ray and the Brain stared at the boy. He was very, very tall, probably taller than Hammer. His hair was a sleek blonde colour, his eyes very hazel. He looked fit enough to outrun Trap, and as you will find, out he does...

Chapter 2

A NEW MEMBER

 Outside, in the playground, Hammer approached the new boy, Alan.

“Hello.” He began “Um, my name’s Christopher but everyone calls me Chris.”

Alan smiled. “Hi, Chris. I’m Alan. Alan Davies.”

“Oh. Do you want to come and play with us?”

“Of course.”

So Hammer took Alan to his friends.

“Hello, I’m Rally.”

“Wotcha, I’m X-Ray.”

“Nice to meet you, I’m The Brain.”

Alan stared. “Funny names, you’ve got.” He said.

“Oh their not real names, just nicknames.” The Brain said. Alan looked at Trap. “What’s your nickname?”

“I’m Hammer.”

“If I were one of you I wonder what I would be called.” Alan said to no one in particular.

“I reckon you’ll be called G Giraffe.” The Brain said, “You’re legs are so long and thin.”

Alan looked down at his legs, as if seeing them for the first time.

“I s’pose they are.” He shrugged.

“Tell you what. Let’s have a race. Then I think we might find you a name.” Hammer winked at his friends. Alan looked as though Hammer were talking rubbish. But he skipped off to have a race with him. The three others watched. They were sure that Hammer was going to win. But if he lost, they would call Alan either, Flash or Speedo.

Rally put three fingers up. “3...2...1...GO!”

Alan shot of like a human missile and reached the end of the playground in six seconds. When he turned around he saw Hammer staring with his jaw hanging open.

Alan laughed. He jogged back to the others.

“Right then, I think we’ve found you a name, Cheetah Boy,” the Brain said. “We could call you Speedo.”

“Right then, Speedo it is.” Alan said.

The whistle blew and the gang and the new member Speedo ran back to class.

Chapter 3

COACH JOHN

“Mornin’ Alan. I dinna see you there. Class, have ye dun the essays I told ye tae do fae ‘ome work?”

There was a chorus of grumbling as the class took their essays out of their rucksacks.

“I will choose wun of ye tae read out ye essay about the lartnin’ fast cheetah.”

Mr Haylings scanned the class.

“Max, dinna put ye pencil up ye norse.” Mr Haylings said as the rest of the class giggled.

“Christine, come up ‘ere and read ye essay.”

Christine Fleckman came to stand next to Mr Haylings. Then she read out her essay. She kept repeating stuff like ‘the cheetah is the fastest land animal’ and ‘it can run faster than a sports car’.

When she finished everyone applauded. Mr Haylings looked at his watch.

“Time for gym, class. Pack up ye pencils and rubbers and go to the hall. Coach John will be waiting for you.”

Coach John was P.S 42’s gym teacher back in the day. He’s retired but they keep bringing him back as a sub.

“Hold it, Ray.” Rally called as he ran down to the hall. “Old ‘Aylin’ wants to speak to you.”

 “What’s he want now?” X-Ray grumbled as he walked to the classroom.

“Another detention for putting a pencil up ye norse.” The Brain said, mimicking Mr Haylings. The others howled with laughter.

10 minutes later...

“HEY, YOU! PORCUPINE!” Coach John yelled. “You’re late, fella! Lateness is for losers!”

X-Ray looked at him. ‘He’s insane,’ he thought. Actually, Coach John is insane. Have you watched those military movies where the drill sergeant is a total maniac and keeps shouting at everybody? Take away the uniform and you’ve got Coach John. That’s one explanation. #2 Coach John isn’t good with names. He names people by their looks or personality. E.g Porcupine, X-Ray’s got spiky brown hair. #3 He shows all the scars that he got at his knee surgeries. #4 He’s extremely rude.

“What you staring at then! Change, move it. Hup, hup, hup!”

Chapter 4

GYM WITH ALAN

“RUN, MAGGOTS, RUN!”

The whole sixth grade class was puffing around the hall. They weren’t running, though. They were almost fainting. Even Hammer was trailing around the room. Soon everybody was on the floor except for one person. Alan was sprinting around the hall at seventy miles an hour.

“GET UP, YOU FLEA RIDDEN MUTTS!” Coach John yelled.

They got up and starting chanting, “A-lan, A-lan, A-lan.”

Then a sudden change came over the boy. He bended his back over and put his hands on the floor. Then he started going in circles sprinting on all fours. A blue tide ripped out of his body and his skin began to change. Fur bristled on his back. Not just any old fur. Orangey brown fur with black stripes on it.

Then the blue tide wrapped around everybody in the room. Everybody except Hammer, Rally, X-Ray and the Brain.

“Come on, quick!” Alan hissed. “We don’t have time.

Alan’s voice had changed. Instead of a calm, steady voice, his voice had changed into, a low, gravelly kind of voice.

“No time for what?” asked a bewildered X-Ray.

“No time to answer your questions.” Alan growled. Now everyone realised the truth. Alan was no human boy. He was a wild, male tiger, huge and powerful.

“Err, Are you sure you won’t eat us up?” A terrified Rally asked.

“Of course I won’t.” Alan paused to lick his paws. “Without you boys, there is no way my people will survive this attack...”

These words were enough for the four boys. They swung their legs over the tiger’s stripy backside, and held on tight.

“Jungle Base, send in the portal,” Alan requested, to no one in particular.

Instantly, the air was filled with a bright red light. With a mighty roar, Alan leapt into it. There was a flash, and then blackness...

“Err, are you sure this is working, Alan?!” Hammer cried. “We’re falling!”

“Don’t worry,” Alan growled. “We’re nearly there.”

Chapter 5

  

Supper hero 

Byy Ayyub M0hamed Ismail

Chapter 1

Hey, I’m Jake Kent and right now I’m pacing around my flat. My sidekick, Fred Wright said he had some news and he was coming right over. He’s taking a really long time. Looks like he’s going to McDonalds for a feast of chocolate doughnuts and then coming over. Normally, you would think that I am a regular twelve year old kid. Right? I’m kinda tall for my age and my blonde hair is really spiky. I have glinting green eyes and I am a black belt in ninjutsu or karate, whatever you want to call it. And I live a normal life. My sidekick, Fred is even taller than me and his eyes are so pale blue they look like ice. His blonde hair is spiky as well. He has super powers, just like me which makes us not as regular as you thought, huh? He can freeze someone with ultra-ice powers. Yep. You have super powers according to your eye colour. He can freeze you even if he’s not wearing gloves. He just wears them to fool the supervillians in thinking that his gloves have superpowers. When he turns superhero his eyes go white like you know Batman and Robin? Yeah it’s totally cool.

Rat-a-tat-tat!

Ah, he’s here. Better open the door hadn’t I?

“You took your time. What took you so long?”

Fred simply replies,

“Traffic.”

Yeah, right. Like I’m supposed to believe that. Fred doesn’t even drive here, he walks. I give him one of my ‘are you sure?’ looks.

“Okay, okay. I’ll tell you. I was going to buy a newspaper but the newsagents shop was closed so I had to go to edge of town to buy one.”

“Huh? Whadd’ya need a newspaper for?”

Fred rolls his eyes.

“Duh! For the news I was going to bring you!”

Oh yeah, I forgot to give you a little background. Me and Fred are a superhero team. Like Batman and Robin. Or Sherlock Holmes and that other dude, whathisname? Oh yeah, Dr Walter or something like that. I’m the main one. To answer your question, why are you the main superhero, Fred or Ice Shock, has always been a ‘get on with it behind the scenes’ kind of guy. I’m better at presenting, I have more powers and I normally win the fights. And my superhero name is ‘Earthraptor.’ Huh? Oh, Fred’s talking again.

“Yeah, so as I was saying Evil Weevil just stole the Scrolls from the Hero Museum…”

“WHAAAAAAAAT? The Weevil just stole my grandfather’s Superhero Scrolls? Their priceless! And I haven’t learned how to master the Death Touch and the Sword of Justice!”

“Hey, calm down, man, we’re gonna bring the Weevil down. We’ve beat him before and he’s come back for revenge.”

The Weevil is the planet’s #1 enemy. He comes from the planet of Genesis which was under Martian rule. The Weevil and his family fled when he was 12 years old but his family died from a laser blast from Earth. He fell out of the spaceship and fell unconscious and the Crabs found him. They took him aboard and treated him and they’ve been best buds ever since.

“Hello, Fred! What’s up?”

Hey, that’s my Granddad. He’s awesome. I live with him now because my dad died before I was born and Mum died of cancer. I can still remember the howl of sadness erupting from me when Granddad told me. But that was 5 years ago, when I was 7 years old. My Granddad trained me how to use my powers that I was born with. Then he wrote the Scrolls down. Fred read them and trained and trained until he got those powers. But we still have weaknesses. Mine are cats and pigeons and mice. Fred’s is seeing blood and wasp stings. Granddad’s used to be fish but he’s lost his powers now. And he’s too old. But for a man his age he is cool.

“Oh, hi, Mr Kent. I was telling Jake about our next mission.”

“Hey, wait, you never said anything about a miss…”

Fred shuts my mouth with his hand.

“So what’s going on? Another robbery? Or somebody stole your baby sister’s diapers?”

That’s Granddad for you. He’s always got something funny up his sleeve.

Fred shakes his head. “It’s a robbery but it was committed by one of our worst enemies.”

“Who was it?”

“The Weevil.”

“The Weevil? Evil Weevil?”

“Yep,” I butt in. “And we gotta get on this case as soon as possible. Fred, tomorrow, meet me in the tree house.”

Fred grins. “Gotcha.”

But Granddad shakes his head. “You two have got school tomorrow. You can’t let being a superhero be top priority. Education comes first.”

But superheroes like me don’t go down without a fight. “But Granddad, if the Weevil has the Scrolls he has the power to defeat anyone on Earth.”

“Not if they are a superhero.” Granddad says.

“All right, you win. We’re going school.”

Chapter 2

“So what do you think we should do about it?” Fred asks as we walk to school.

“About what?” I say stubbornly.

“About Evil Weevil and his Crazy Crab team, doofus!” Fred exclaims, tapping me on the head. “What did you eat for breakfast? Forget everything on toast?”

I laugh. “Don’t talk about it now. Old Fossil Face is coming in our direction.”

Mr Bradman comes straight at us. “I don’t suppose you boys know anything about a lost pair of jogging bottoms?”

“Huh?” Fred blurts out before he could stop himself.

Mr Bradman mutters something and then walks away. Mr Bradman is our Science teacher, and according to all of our school yearbooks, he’s been teaching since the Jurassic Period.

That’s why we call him Fossil Face. Sometimes Mr Bratman when we get annoyed with him.

As we walk into the classroom, we stare in horror as Principal Alex strides to the whiteboard. He grabs a pen and writes: ‘Why are you late?’

Then he turns around and gives me the pen.

Oh, I get it. He wants me to tell everyone why we are late.

I write on the board: ‘I ate forget everything on toast and I forgot it was school until my granddad knocked me on the head and said it was school so that’s why I was late.’

Everyone behind me roars with laughter and Fred falls of his chair.

“Go to your seat, Jake.” Says Principal Alex. “School is not the place to display your silly jokes.”

My jokes? My jokes? That was Fred’s joke and I get the blame? Fred you chicken, you’ve got me into trouble!

Chapter 3

The rest of school goes pretty bad. I won’t bore you with all the details. Basically, I get yelled at by all of the teachers. Enough said.

In the tree house, the one me and Fred built in summer vacation, 3 years ago, Ice Shock and Earthraptor are ready to do battle with the Weevil.

I’ve got my black ninjutsu suit on with my black belt hanging just below my bellybutton. My silver Tornado Katana is strapped to my back. My cape falls just above my knees. I’m ready to go.

Ice Shock has his electric ice gloves on, (even though he doesn’t need them) his cape hanging from a lightning shaped pin that my Granddad gave him. On his cape is the picture of two swords crossed over each other. It is the symbol of our ancestor’s superhero clan. His brown belt is tied on his waist. In a few weeks he’ll have his black belt test.

We can’t fly because we haven’t yet achieved that super ability so Ice Shock shoots ropes of ice into the air, where they cling to the roof of buildings. My whole body can feel the sensation of being a superhero again.

My mum and dad were superheroes too. Mighty Mark and Lightning Lucy. My dad died in a battle against Pirate Blackbones. Me, Fred, Mum and Granddad challenged Blackbones’ crew to battle. When it looked like Fred was going to get struck in the chest by Blackbones, the Sword of Justice appeared in Granddad’s hands and he struck Blackbones. But the pirate was so evil even the Sword of Justice couldn’t make him good. That was the only time I had seen the Sword of Justice, and I know it looks awesome.

“So how do you think we’re gonna beat the Weevil?” I ask Fred as we swing on the Ice Ropes.

“It’s gonna be tough even if we use our best weapons. He’s evil by name, evil by nature.”

For a moment we swing in silence. Then suddenly Fred exclaims, “We have been donkeys lately! Where is the Weevil’s hideout?”

“I know. On the cliffs in New Jersey, there’s a huge cave. That’s where his Crab team sleeps and he has a massive lecture hall, hollowed out from the walls. He announces his victories there.”

“What about his defeats?”

“I don’t know about that.”

We live in New York so New Jersey is just a few miles away.

As we near the beach, we hear the sounds of seagulls and waves crashing on the shore. And if you’re a superhero, you can just hear the voice of Evil Weevil talking to his Crazy Crab team.

We attempt to sneak over to the caves because if the people see us they’ll go crazy. Everybody knows about Earthraptor and Ice Shock. They even draw comics about us, but they are soooo lame. They’re just about rescuing cats from trees and catching bubblegum thieves. But nobody knows we are the superheroes except Granddad. That’s why we keep out of sight.

I switch to invisible mode and grab a rock jutting out of the cliff. Then I haul myself onto another rock and kick a hole into the cliff so my feet can stand. Fred copies me and soon we are at the caves.

“Which one is it?” Fred whispers.

I point to a large cave and putting my finger to my lips I beckon Fred over to where I am standing. On the right hand side of the cave wall there is a painting of a cockroach with fire coming out of its wings. I shudder. That is the symbol of the Weevil’s breed.

I step inside the cave, remembering to let my toes touch the ground first. It is one of the stealth skills of a ninja and I got it wrong on my first attempt at the Black Belt Test. You have to go into the Temple of the Grandmaster, head of ninjutsu. The aim is to take a flower out of the Grandmaster’s hand without him knowing. He is old and blind but the task is far from easy. It is the ultimate test of stealth and my granddad and dad were the only ninja to pass their Black Belt Test 1^st time. I completed mine on my third attempt when I was 9 years old.

The inside of the cave is rocky and the walls a pasted with slime. The further we walk the bigger the passage gets and I notice some rooms opposite each other. They were probably for the Crazy Crabs. At the end of the passage there is a large opening, and leading to what looks like a gladiator arena, are some wide stone steps. I lean forward and hear the voice of the Weevil. This time, his words are very clear.

“You see, boys, all I did was take fifty of you Crabs with loads of equipment loaded in the Nightclaw. We left ten crabs in flight control and ten crabs at the battle stations. So if we take twenty crabs away from fifty that leaves us thirty…”

“Brilliant Maths.” mutters Fred, “Did he get all A plusses in his tests?”

“Shut up.”

The Crabs in the hall look like they had been cloned. They are so alike! They have a red exoskeleton on their back, their skin on their tummies are a pale red, almost pink. They are wearing a tight black long- sleeved T-shirt with the words CRAZY CRAB TEAM in Italic red. Their trousers were blue with red stripes on the side.

The Weevil was quite a different feature! His face was green with pointy, elf ears and pale blue eyes. He had a long red scar across his cheek, the one my Granddad gave him 2 years ago. He was wearing a black cloak with those long collar that come up to your neck. You know the one that Dracula wears? Yeah, them. His trousers looked like they had been stitched with black ink. And he didn’t have anything on underneath his cloak, so you could see his green, bony body.

Suddenly a Crazy Crab jerks his face in the direction of us! We are on invisible mode but any supervillian can see us! And the Weevil’s probably gave them some power!

I push Fred down to the ground and press myself against the wall. Any moment now there is going to be a cry from the Weevil and all the Crabs will charge at us.

I pull Fred over to one of the rooms and hide behind the door.

“Why are we…”Fred started to say, but I shut his mouth. Keeping my voice as low as I can, I whisper in his ear.

“One of the Crabs saw us, so when they come looking for us in the rooms, all you have to do is Power Punch the Crab and we take care of the rest.”

Fred breaths in deeply. “Okay. Sounds all right to me.”

Suddenly, a stampede of feet smashes the door open, banging Fred on the nose. I can hear a Crab’s voice saying,

“I can’t find ‘em anywhere, Master Weevil but I coulda sworn on me mum’s life that I saw ‘em meddlin’ superwhatsits.”

The Weevil says, “Don’t be too hasty, Griffin they could be hiding in the wardrobe or behind the door…”

“Get ready,” I say to Fred.

The door swings aside and CRUNCH! The Crab, Griffin staggers backward, cradling its bleeding nose. Then he falls flat on his back, unconscious.

The Weevil, who was standing behind Griffin, bawls “ATTACK! SMASH THEM SUPERHEROES TO DUST!”

The Crabs charge at us and I whip out with my leg, catching a Crab on his arm. Fred electric-shocks another one and the red ruffian slumps to the floor. I kick another Crab repeatedly in the face and he flails his arms about wildly, his face streaked with blood. 3 Crabs leap at me from behind but I flip out of the way and land on the top of the wardrobe. Then I dive on their backs, giving a very nasty sounding SMASH!

Then suddenly, Fred’s eyes bulge and he crashes to the floor. Behind him stands Evil Weevil, grinning from ear to ear.

I attempt to jump kick at him but he pokes his finger at my arm, sending off static electricity. I draw my arm back quickly, as if a wasp had stung me. The Weevil smiles, but instead of leaping at me he walks out of the room. The Crabs follow him, struck dumb at the reaction of their leader.

Chapter 4

The lights go off in the room and I stand in pitch darkness. I haven’t yet mastered the powers to see in the dark. Then without warning, I feel a stinging pain in my head and I fall to the ground…

When I wake up I find myself in a hall made of rock. My hands are shackled and I am chained to a stone pillar. The first thing that comes to my mind is: “Fred?”

“Right here, Jake.” A faint and weak voice answers. I pull at my chains but it’s no good. My powers have gone, drained out of my body and I’m sitting here like a lonely wolf. Wait a sec… maybe my powers are gone but what if Fred’s are still there?

“Fred,” I call out, “D’you still have your powers?”

“Lemme check.” There is a clanking and rustling of metal sound and then silence.

“Fred?”

“Yeah?”

“Does it work?”

“Does what work?”

Really, Fred can be so forgetful sometimes!

“Does your power work, you doofus!”

“I really don’t want to say anything.”

“Oh. Okay.”

Fred doesn’t want to talk because the Weevil is voice recording us. Don’t ask me how I know that. I have my ways. Luckily, Bullet, our school’s computer nerd, made a gadget for exactly this reason. And before you ask, we did bring them.

I take mines out from under my belt and switch it on.

“Fred, Fred! Can you hear me?” I whisper into the mouthpiece. “Get your C.W.A.K gadget out and talk to me, you fool!”

C.W.A.K stands for Communication Without Anyone Knowing. It works just like a phone but there is no loudspeaker and it sends silent radio waves over to the other earpiece. It has a keypad and your gadget has a special code number. You just type in your friend’s gadget’s code number and, bingo! You can happily talk to your friend without anyone knowing. And it’s free if you happen to be Bullet’s friend, which we are. You can talk normally but the radio waves make your voice quieter. It only communicates with the numbers on the device, so you can’t talk to any random person. It looks just like a mobile phone but it is grey and is much smaller  and you only use it for talking. And if you are talking in a room full of people, there’s a little mike that connects with the gadget’s network. All you have to do is slip the gadget in your pocket and whisper into the mike. It’s cool; you should try it out sometime.

“Hey, Best Cakes. Whadd’ya want?”

Best Cakes is my nickname at school. I got it in 3^rd grade at the annual cake sale when I started gobbling up all the best cakes without paying. Man, I got into proper trouble for that one!

“What’s up, Ice Shock? I just called to see if you have your powers, which I hope you do.”

“Well about that. I can freeze the chains and then shake them off. I can’t do anything about the shackles… yet. After I’ve freed myself I’ll come and get your butt of the floor”

There’s a crash then groans and then someone dusting himself down. A moment later, I see Fred coming over and undoing my chains.

“Not so hard… OWWW! Fred, you madman, you CUT MY HAND!”

Sure enough, there was a line of blood on my wrist. Fred had tried to get my shackles off and he had but he also cut some of my skin off. Thanks and no thanks, Fred. Let’s move on.

“Not so loud, man, the Weevil will hear you! Let’s get out of here. I’ll put some ice on that scar.”

If superheroes get wounded, the injuries do two things:#1 If the injury is not that bad it will just go away in a few days. #2 If the is bad then it will turn into a scar. From the information above I’m sure you can work out what my injury is. Unless you’re just plain lazy that you don’t even bother.

I pick myself up and walk down the hall with Fred. There is a double door at the end of it. I push the door open and step out… onto nothing. Me and Fred drop through the darkness and land on wooden floorboards.

“Cripes! It’s a trap!” Fred exclaims.

“Well, duh?” I say, rolling my eyes and giving Fred one of my ‘tell me something I don’t know’ looks.

“Errrr…….. Jake?”

“Yeah?”

“I’ve got a bad feeling about this, dude.”

“So do I.”

It is one of the skills in the SuperHeroes’ Scrolls to sense your weakness coming. I can hear the pattering of cat’s feet and he beat of pigeons wings. Fred can hear the buzz of wasps and the smell of blood. We both scream out at the same: “AAAAAAAAAAAAAGGGGGGGGGHHHHHH!”

I grab my Tornado Katana and spin it round in the air. The last time I was trapped with cats I had no Katana but I was saved by Granddad. This time I have a Katana but no Granddad. I spin my sword faster and faster…

C’mon, faster, faster!

The cats spring on me inside the room, the wasps swarm all around Fred, the pigeons flap in carrying bottles of blood in their claws.

We’re dead. I think. Dead as dead leaves.

Fred’s face is swelling up with wasp stings.

My face is scratched with claw marks.

But it’s Fred who’s suffering most. Wasp stings aren’t just his weakness… they’re his allergy too.

I untie my belt and fling off the top of my ninjutsu suit. I cover Fred’s face with it, trying to stop the wasps. When I see that it doesn’t work I take off my T-shirt and cover him. Then I take off my vest. I’m wearing nothing except my underwear and ninjutsu trousers. But at least Fred is staying alive. That’s enough for me. The wasps stop trying to sting Fred and start on me. The wasps keep coming at me and I can barely breath now.

“Can’t…………….. breath…” I choke.

The last sight I will ever see in this world is a swarm of wasps. No, wait. I can see Fred’s hand reaching out to me. There’s no point. I’m dying. I’m………..  Wait…

“NOOOOO!”

Chapter 5

I wake up feeling like my butt’s been kicked by the whole world. I slowly sit up and look around. I am on top of a cliff sitting on the grass. Fred is lying next to me, his face bloated with wasp stings and scars.

“Rise and shine, Jake. How you feeling?”

I whip my head around and see Granddad pouring this purple potion on my wasp stings.

“Uh, I feel like I’ve been ripped apart then stitched together by blind mice with no paws.” I say. “Otherwise, I’m fine.”

Granddad takes a bottle of water from his pocket. That’s when I notice what he’s wearing. His SuperHero costume!

“Awesome! Did you fly all the way here, dude?”

Granddad looks puzzled. “No I came in the Supermobile.” He points to his old taco truck which he has decorated into his own awesome car.

“Pour this on Freddie’s face, will ya?” Granddad says.

 I open the lid and splash the liquid on Fred’s bloated face. Amazingly, the swelled up wasp stings