At 6:30 AM, Hamza suddenly woke up, a strange sensation pulling him from sleep. He had felt his father's presence before even hearing a knock. Getting out of bed, he opened the door just as his father was about to walk in.
His father raised an eyebrow. "How did you know I was about to come in?"
Hamza blinked, just as surprised. "I'm shocked too, Dad."
The two stared at each other for a few awkward seconds before Hamza broke the silence with a nervous smile. "Well… I've got school, and you've got work, so… mind if I get dressed?"
His father chuckled. "Alright alright." He stepped back, closing the door behind him as he headed to his own room to change.
A few minutes later, Hamza tried to open his door but the handle snapped off in his hand. "Uhhh… Dad? I think the door handle just broke…"
Shaking his head, he walked toward his father's room. But suddenly, he found himself moving too quickly far too quickly. He couldn't stop in time and slammed face-first into the door. "OUCH!" he yelled, stumbling backward and collapsing to the ground.
His father, startled by the noise, opened the door and was stunned to see a cartoonish imprint of Hamza's face smudged onto the wood. "What the hell happened?!"
Then he saw Hamza lying on the floor, unconscious.
Without a second thought, he scooped him up, placed him gently on the bed, and ran to the kitchen. He yanked open the fridge, grabbed an ice pack, and sprinted back down the hall.
hamza's mother blinked in confusion. "What the?"
But her husband was already gone, rushing back to Hamza's side and pressing the ice to his son's bruised face.
hamza's mother walked in and saw Hamza unconscious while his father tended to him.
Hamza's dad muttered, "I don't think he's going to school today," then sighed. "I honestly don't even know what just happened to him."
His wife gasped, "not again…" and fainted from the shock.
Hamza's father caught her just in time. "Well, at least you don't have work or anything important today," he said, picking her up and gently laying her beside their son and leaves the room.
Six hours later
Hamza slowly woke up, lying alone in his parents' bedroom.
"How did I end up here?" he wondered, his thoughts still groggy. He sat up and looked at his arms and legs. "Am I dreaming?"
He got up and walked toward the mirror across the room. His face was bruised.
"Well… I guess I wasn't dreaming after all," he mumbled. "Hope it heals quickly…"
But then, right before his eyes, the bruise began fading rapidly.
"What the hell?" he whispered, staring in disbelief. "No way… I must be hallucinating."
Still confused, he walked out of the room and headed downstairs. That's when he spotted someone who looked exactly like his father from behind.
"Hello, Father," Hamza called out.
But without warning, the man turned and punched him straight in the face. Blood splattered across the floor as Hamza hit the ground.
"AGH!" clutching his face. Then he looked up and realized it wasn't his dad at all. The man now had a gun pointed at his mother's head.
"What!?" Hamza gasped.
His mother, equally shocked, asked, "Is this a robbery?!"
The man didn't answer at first then smirked. "Kinda." He shifted his aim from her to Hamza.
"We know you've got something that interests us" he said coldly. "And no… it's not money. So hand it over, or the kid dies."
Hamza, stalling for time, looked around in panic. "Where are the guards?"
The intruder raised a finger, pointed to his own neck, then to the other side clearly indicating they had already been taken out.
Hamza's mother stepped forward, her voice trembling. "What do you mean 'something that interests you'? We don't have anything more valuable than money in this house. Just tell me what you want take it, and leave my son alone."
The man snapped "Stop lying! That energy shockwave from six days ago it came from your husband's museum. Explain that!"
"What are you talking about?!" she shouted back. "If there really was some kind of energy shockwave, wouldn't it have killed people nearby or something?!"
The man scoffed. "That shockwave was harmless, you idiot."
Hamza stood frozen, trying to make sense of the chaos. What shockwave? What are they talking about? And most of all, Where is Dad?
While the argument escalated, a shadowy figure suddenly emerged from behind the robber and with one powerful punch, knocked him out cold.
The figure stood tall, his voice calm but edged with disappointment "Shouldn't the Light Syndicate at least show up when there's a criminal threatening innocent people?" He sighed, glancing at the unconscious man on the floor. "Cops are outside. Get out of the house and go to them."
He stepped into the light.
It was Hamza's father.
As Hamza and his mother rushed toward the police, an FBI agent standing nearby watched them closely before quickly looking away, pretending not to notice. Moments later, Hamza's father appeared, dragging the so-called "robber" with him and handing him over to the authorities.
By the second day, things didn't feel as normal as they seemed. There was an odd tension in the air, like something was off but no one could quite put their finger on it.
Hamza tried to shake the feeling. He went outside to the playground in his backyard, hoping to clear his mind by playing a bit of football. But as he kicked the ball, it rocketed across the yard with incredible force, slamming into a tree and bouncing far out of reach.
"What the…?" he muttered.
He ran after it and in seconds, he was already beside it. His eyes widened. "No way… super strength? Super speed?"
Heart pounding with excitement, he looked around and whispered, "I think I have powers…"
Curious to test more, he crouched and jumped straight up—only to land on the roof of his house.
"I made it up here? This is insane!"
Grinning, he prepared to hop back down, thinking he'd try a smaller jump this time. But the moment he pushed off the roof, his legs launched him into another powerful leap not as high, but still dangerously fast. His heart dropped as he realized: a fall like that could seriously hurt him.
In mid-air, panic surged through Hamza as the ground rushed up toward him. I want to fly seriously I WANT TO FLY. FOR GOD'S SAKE, I WANT TO FLY!he screamed in his thoughts, eyes clenched shut, bracing for the crash.
But the crash never came.
He felt nothing, no impact, no wind, nothing touching him at all except the fabric of his clothes.
Slowly, he opened his eyes… and froze.
The ground was far below him.
He was floating hovering in the air.
"I… I can fly," he whispered in awe, then shouted with joy, "I CAN FLY!!"
Excited, he gently descended, landing with a dramatic superhero pose.
Just then, his mother came rushing out, concern in her eyes. "What happened? Why did you scream!?"
Hamza stood tall, beaming. "I got superpowers, Mom!"
She looked at him and smirked. "Yeah, sure you do" she replied sarcastically.
"No, seriously!" he insisted, eyes wide with excitement.
"Alright, alright," she said, chuckling "Go to sleep you've got school tomorrow."
"…Okay…" he mumbled, his excitement fading as he trudged inside.
The next day, Hamza went to school, doing everything he could to control his powers. Just stay normal, he told himself. I don't have powers… I don't have powers…
And strangely it worked. His abilities didn't activate at all.
He quietly got on the bus, sat by the window, and stared outside in silence the entire ride. When he got to school, he went straight to his sixth-grade classroom.
Without hesitation, he walked over to his friends Ali, his cousin Noor, and Saed and sat down.
"I got powers" Hamza blurted out.
Just like that.
They all burst into laughter.
"You're delusional, dude" they said together.
"JINX!" they added in unison.
"No, I'm serious- on God I've got powers," Hamza insisted.
"Prove it then" one of them challenged.
"JINX!" they said again at the same time.
"Later, not now," Hamza said. "Meet me at my house."
"I'm not available," Saed and Noor both said at once.
"JINX!" they shouted again.
"Aghhh, I hate when we get like this" Saed groaned
"Yeah, seriously who even says 'jinx' anymore in this class?" Noor said.
"Everyone in the classroom" Saed replied confidently.
"Only us," Hamza pointed out.
"No one else?" Saed asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Exactly," Noor said with a smirk.
"Who cares," Hamza muttered.
"Yeah, who even cares," Saed agreed.
"I actually agree with Hamza… and that's probably the first time ever," Noor added, pointing his thumb at Hamza.
Hamza gave him a side-eye. "Mhm, sure."
Ali chuckled. "Alright, who cares."
"So, I guess it's just Ali coming over to my house, huh?" Hamza asked, looking at him.
"Yeah, obviously I'm your cousin, remember?" Ali replied, staring him back.
"Yeeee," Hamza said with a grin, and the two of them shook hands.
"Let's go to the assembly, guys," Saed said, getting up from his seat.
"Yeah, alright," Hamza replied, stretching a little.
"Absolutely," Noor added, following behind.
The trio made their way to the morning assembly, blending in with the crowd of students heading toward the schoolyard. As they stood among their classmates, Hamza's eyes scanned the area—then suddenly locked onto someone.
A man.
The same man who had been watching him and his mother when they were running to the police the day before. He was standing near the edge of the crowd, wearing a formal black coat.
Before Hamza could even process what he was seeing, the music teacher handed over the microphone to the man.
The stranger stepped forward and cleared his throat.
"gentlemen," he began, his voice calm but serious, "I'm an agent with the FBI. Alongside me today are medical professionals nurses and doctors. We're here because of something that happened seven days ago… something the government noticed."
A murmur rippled through the crowd. One student raised his hand and shouted, "What is it? And why would the government send an FBI agent and doctors just to check on us?"
The agent looked directly at the student. "I can only answer one question," he said. "The reason we brought nurses and doctors today is because the… incident involved a virus. A virus we believe could spread if we don't act quickly."
He paused, his gaze sweeping across the students.
"And no, the nature of the 'thing' we discovered hasn't been made public. Not yet."
The agent paused for a moment, then looked back at the student who had spoken up. "Please… I can't answer any more questions right now," he said firmly, before handing the microphone back to the music teacher.
The music teacher took a breath and addressed the crowd. "Alright, thank you, sir. Each class will be called one by one to be checked by the medical team. But for now, let's continue with our morning assembly."
The assembly carried on, but a strange unease lingered in the air.
As each class was called up to be checked, Hamza felt his stomach twist with nerves. He crossed his arms, watching the nurses and doctors as they examined other students.
Finally, it was his turn. A nurse checked him quickly—temperature, eyes, heartbeat. After a moment, she nodded and said "You're all clear."
Hamza gave a small, relieved smile. "Thanks" he whispered.
But deep inside… he was still skeptical. What if they missed something? What if the virus isn't normal?
He walked back to his spot, eyes narrowed, brain ticking.
Something still didn't feel right.
As Hamza was heading back to class with his friends and the rest of his classmates, a sudden and serious emergency hit him.
He darted toward the bathroom, muttering, "Gotta go, gotta go!" under his breath.
A few minutes later, he stepped out feeling relieved. "Whew," he sighed. "The teacher's boring anyway, and I already know the lesson…"
He smirked. "I can walk around a little."
He wandered casually through the hallway, hands tucked into his pockets, when something caught his eye.
Through a small window with a crack open, he spotted the "FBI agent" lounging on a couch in the teachers' lounge. Hamza froze, eyes narrowing.
There were no cameras in that room. No microphones. Just silence and the man on the phone.
Hamza leaned in, staying hidden, and listened.
"Yep, mission accomplished, boss" the agent said, his voice low but smug. "This dumbass principal seriously thought I was FBI, sent from the government."
He let out a small laugh, shaking his head. "Don't worry, I checked every student and teacher. Nothing. Same results as the last schools. That energy shockwave didn't affect anyone."
Hamza's heart thumped.
Energy shockwave?
The man kept talking. "Yeah, this is the last school we had on the list. No signs. Nothing weird. Just normal kids."
Hamza's breath caught in his throat.
hmmm...
He took a silent step back, eyes wide.
so hes a fake agent... says in hes thoughts
Hamza rushed back into class and slid into his seat next to his friends, eyes wide with excitement.
"Bro, bro, bro—I got some shocking news," he whispered urgently.
Ali, Noor, and Saed turned to him. "What is it now?" Noor asked, raising an eyebrow.
"That guy—the so-called 'FBI agent'? He's not even real. He wasn't sent by the government," Hamza said, his voice low but intense.
They all stared at him.
"Dude… what are you talking about?" Noor asked again, leaning in.
The group laughed quietly, trying not to catch the math teacher's attention.
"No, I'm serious! I overheard him talking on the phone. He told his boss that the principal actually believed he was an FBI agent. He literally laughed about it," Hamza explained, trying to stay calm.
Saed squinted at him. "Wait, what?"
"And get this," Hamza continued "he said this is the last school they were checking. That means other schools were checked before ours too."
They all looked at each other expressions slowly shifting from disbelief to concern.
"You're telling me… they've been searching for something," Ali said slowly, "and pretending it's just some virus check."
"Exactly," Hamza nodded. "But it's not just that. He mentioned something about an 'energy shockwave' not affecting anyone."
Their eyes widened.
"Okay… now that's weird," Saed muttered.
"I'll prove everything at my house," Hamza said confidently, dabbing up Ali. "But since none of y'all are coming except my boy Ali, he gets the exclusive."
Ali grinned. "You already know."
The day passed like usual, and by late afternoon, Ali finally arrived at Hamza's house. He was warmly welcomed by Hamza's family, but Hamza didn't waste any time he grabbed Ali and led him straight to the backyard.
"You ready for this?" Hamza asked, eyes gleaming with excitement.
Ali shrugged. "I guess?"
Hamza stepped back, took a deep breath… and then lifted off the ground, hovering right in front of him like it was nothing.
Ali's jaw dropped.
"Oh… my… God…" he muttered, frozen in shock. "You weren't lying…"
Ali laughed nervously. "Imagine if you could share your powers though."
"Yeah… imagine that," Hamza chuckled—right before a wave of sudden weakness hit him. His body wobbled, and he dropped to the ground with a thud.
"Yo- Hamza!" Ali shouted, lunging forward to catch him—but in that exact moment, he blurred forward at lightning speed, overshooting and crashing straight into the backyard wall.
"AAAWCH!" they both groaned in unison Hamza on the ground, Ali embedded halfway in the bushes.
They looked at each other, stunned.
"…Did I just...?" Ali began.
Hamza blinked. "Bro… I think I just gave you powers."
tbc