The A Team
Everyone started talking all at once. This was pointless because the alarm was REALLY loud. Everyone started SHOUTING at once instead.
Ms Turry called for quiet. ‘Listen, please!’
Nobody listened, obviously.
Ms Turry appealed to another teacher, Mr Marvello, for assistance. Mr Marvello stood up. Now, I can guarantee your teachers will be jealous of Mr Marvello’s power …
There was a whoosh. The children’s mouths all kept moving, but no sound came out. Mr Marvello had the power to control sound!
Mr Marvello folded his arms and looked pleased with himself. ‘I’ll only give you your voices back on one condition. You all need to be quiet.’
Sanjit was still moving his mouth and looked a bit like a goldfish.
A condition is something that must happen if something else is to happen.
Asma was trying to yell something.
Gradually, everyone calmed down. Whoosh! Suddenly, their voices were back!
The annoying fly was back, too. Asma batted it away again. ‘I hate it when Mr Marvello does that,’ she grumbled.
Ms Skipper, the sports teacher, stretched out an arm. Her arm stretched, stretched and stretched some more!
In fact, her arm stretched across the whole length of the assembly hall. There was a rumour that Ms Skipper once stretched it all the way to Italy. She must have wanted a real Italian pizza for her dinner that night!
A rumour is something that a lot of people are saying, although it may not be true.
Ms Skipper turned the alarm off.
‘That alarm means that someone has broken into the school,’ Ms Turry said grimly. ‘I need the A Team. Khalid, Willow and Camille, please come with me.’
‘Super-strength, moving things with your mind, and electro-power,’ Ned murmured.
While the A Team hurried out of the hall, Mr Marvello started giving the rest of the pupils instructions.
Ned tried to listen, but that fly was buzzing around again. He brushed it away.
Sanjit stared hard at the fly.
Ned stared at his friend. He knew that look.
Sanjit was reading the fly’s mind. From the expression on Sanjit’s face, he was learning something very interesting.
‘What’s going on?’ Ned asked Sanjit.
Mr Marvello stopped talking and stared at Ned. ‘Ned, I will take your voice again if I have to,’ he threatened.
Ned shut up.
Mr Marvello told everyone that they could go to break a bit early. ‘Be sensible, everyone. There’s no need to panic. Ms Turry has our top heroes on the case!’
Ned and the others hurried into the corridor.
Usually, the school had a strict “no powers” rule in the corridors. Today, the teachers were too distracted to notice.
One pupil took a shortcut by walking through a wall. Another avoided the crowds by climbing on the ceiling.
Ned dragged Sanjit into an empty classroom so they could talk. Jade and Asma quickly followed them.
‘What did the fly say?’ Ned asked as soon as the door had shut.
‘Well,’ said Sanjit, ‘the fly was buzzing around Ms Turry’s office. It was eyeing up the olive and onion sandwiches on her desk.’
‘Who eats olives with onion?’ squealed Ned. He wrinkled his nose in disgust.
Asma rolled her eyes. ‘Now’s not the time to question people’s lunch choices,’ she said. ‘What else did the fly say, Sanjit?’
‘It heard a noise at the window,’ Sanjit explained. ‘Someone was breaking in!’
Jade gasped. ‘Who?’
‘It was a woman,’ Sanjit said. ‘She climbed through the office window. Then she rummaged around in Ms Turry’s desk.’
‘What did she take?’ Ned asked.
Sanjit frowned. ‘The fly said it looked like one of our school ties.’
Ned looked puzzled. ‘I don’t get it. Why would someone go to the effort of breaking in to steal a school tie?’
Sanjit sighed. ‘Well, that’s the weird thing. The fly said the tie was glowing.’
‘It sounds like no ordinary tie,’ Asma said.
‘Yes, and this special tie is now in the hands of a villain,’ Sanjit said.
‘How can we work out what’s special about the tie?’ Jade asked.
‘By seeing what evidence there is in Ms Turry’s office,’ Asma answered. Jade gasped. ‘We can’t do that! We can’t just walk into her office!’
‘Of course we can,’ Asma replied. ‘She’s with the A Team. We’ve got about twenty minutes left of break time. No one will miss us until the next lesson starts.’
Once Jade had reluctantly agreed, our heroes headed towards Ms Turry’s office.
On the way, Mr Marvello marched past with Ms Skipper jogging alongside.
‘The tie is gone!’ Ms Skipper shrieked. ‘This could be the end of the academy!’
Ned looked at his friends in fear. They needed to hurry!
