States Magic United: Hawaii p16

States Magic United: Hawaii

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By: David Alexander Speaker

While every precaution has been taken in the preparation of this book, the publisher assumes no responsibility for errors or omissions, or for damages resulting from the use of the information contained herein.

STATES MAGIC UNITED: HAWAII

First edition. April 5, 2021.

Copyright © 2021 David Speaker.

ISBN: 979-8729276172

Written by David Speaker.

Table of Contents

Title Page

Copyright Page

PROLOGUE

Part One: Idaho

Part Two: The Sea

Part Three: Hawaii

PROLOGUE

60 years ago, magic suddenly appeared in the United States of America. No one knows where it came from or how the phenomenon started. At first people merely used their newfound powers for fame and fortune. They used it to impress their friends and family , make videos online, and perform shows. They became celebrities, but soon after some people found out they could use their magic abilities for crime and power. Normal weapons and law enforcement couldn't handle most of the people with magic, so some individuals and gangs rose in prominence. Soon the United States of America became divided into territories ruled by dictators with the strongest magic abilities. The government tried to enact new laws, rules, and regulations, but nothing worked. It was the dawn of a new age for America.

Part One: Idaho

The day is July 4th, 2121. The Fourth of July used to mean something in the United States, but those days are long gone. It’s barely even celebrated anymore. Ever since magic suddenly appeared and the states turned into territories, people have forgotten about the importance of Independence Day. On a university football field in Boise, Idaho, a student, Trady, and a teacher, Reed, stand across from each other. About 30 yards separates them. They are sparring. They aren't trying to hurt each other, but they want to test each other's abilities. The student, Trady, has the power to summon energy forms of different animals. The teacher, Reed, has the power to throw strong fireballs. “Today's the day. I've trained long and hard. I know I can take you down now.” Trady yells across the field. Reed yells back “You've come a long way, but you haven't perfected your ability. You've still got some growing to do.” Trady is 18 years old and of Native American ancestry. He has dark brown eyes and dark brown hair. He always walks around with a shaggy haircut. He is a good athlete; almost 6 feet tall and about 180lbs. Reed is an older, heavyset man. He has balding hair and a big mustache. Trady and him train together and spar almost every morning before school. They have been doing this for the past two years. Trady has never been able to best Reed. Trady starts off the session by summoning a pack of energy dogs. They run to attack Reed, but he blasts them away with a fireball. “Playing defensive huh? Well take this!” Trady yells confidently as he summons an energy bear. Reed blasts it with multiple fireballs, but it keeps coming at him. The energy bear takes a swipe at Reed, but he rolls out of the way. He’s lucky to not get hit. He engulfs it in flames and it disappears. “Wow! That was a strong one. It almost got me. You're going to be incredibly

strong one day.” Reed replies out of breath. “Let's see how you handle this.” Reed makes it rain down fireballs overtop Trady. He dodges most of them. One does hit his arm though. It hurts. “Ouch!” Trady shouts in pain. “Even at sparring level your fireballs still pack a punch.” Reed’s attack stung Trady’s arm. He is cautious now. He decides to launch an attack of his own. He summons a bunch of energy squirrels. They scurry to Reed and climb up his body. Reed panics for a second, but then engulfs his body in flames eliminating the squirrels. He’s wearing a special suit that he designed so his clothes don’t get burned. “That was a close one. I sure didn't like having those little critters on me.” Reed says relieved. “Yeah. Well let's see how you like something smaller.” Trady says. He sounds like he has a plan. He summons a bunch of energy spiders. They approach Reed fast. He freaks out. He’s never seen so many spiders in his life. He's running and jumping trying to avoid them. It’s almost comical. The sight puts a smile on Trady’s face. “This isn't fair. No one likes spiders. You're fighting dirty.” Reed screams in terror. He creates fire on the bottom of his feet and squishes all of the energy spiders. They disappear one by one. Even though the spiders didn’t work, confidence builds in Trady. “I think I found your weakness. It's taken a lot of sparring, but I might finally know how to defeat you.” “I've had enough of this. I'm tired of being scared by all of your insect summons. It's time to end this.” Reed says commandingly. He starts rolling fireballs at Trady as if they were bowling balls. As Trady jumps over the fireballs, Reed throws regular fireballs through the air. A few of them connect. Trady falls to the ground, but gets back up quickly. The fireballs hurt, but he doesn’t want to show weakness to his opponent. “That was good, but wait until you see this!” Trady says with vigor in his voice. He tries to summon something, but it is not to be seen. “Uh oh! That didn't work. I must be getting low on energy.” Trady says with an

almost embarrassed look on his face. Reed can tell he has the win within his grasp. “Well, this is the end then...” Reed starts to power up a big fireball when out a nowhere an energy eagle flies into his back causing a big explosion. It’s a direct hit! Reed gets knocked over. He’s out of energy and can’t get up. Trady walks over to him and stands above him. “Yup. This is the end. I finally got you.” proclaims Trady. “Good job Trady. Well deserved. Now help me up.” Trady extends his hand and helps Reed off of the ground. Reed wipes himself off and they start walking towards Trady’s school. This is the first time Trady has ever won a battle against Reed. He’s full of joy. Reed congratulates Trady. “That was a nice move. I wasn't expecting that. You pulled a fast one on me.” “Thanks. It's something new I've been working on. I knew you'd just destroy anything I put in front of you, so I had to go behind you.” Trady replies still full of joy. Reed feels like a parent after witnessing his child accomplish something great. He’s okay with losing to his pupil. He did have a two-year win streak after all. “It was good. It was unexpected. I'm proud that you were finally able to best me. We've been sparring for years and you've come close a few times, but now you finally got me.” “Thank you for all of your help. I've been able to summon things faster, have them last longer, and be stronger because of us sparring. I wouldn't have been able to get this good without you.” Trady says. Trady has never been one to brag. Just as Reed has been humble in victory over the last two years, Trady is humble in his first victory. On the inside though, his

adrenaline is still pumping. “It's my pleasure. It's been amazing to see your growth. You've still only scratched the surface of your potential though. Keep up the hard work.” “Thanks. I will. Okay, I've got to get to class. I'll see you around. Bye Reed.” Trady says as he runs into his school. Reed waves “Bye Trady.” Trady attends Boise University. While magic has made many jobs easier or obsolete, the territory of Idaho still believes in education. They believe knowledge is power and education is the key to knowledge. In Idaho, students are required to go through grade school and college. Education is mandatory so people are as smart as possible. College is free to everyone. The intelligence of Idaho is part of the reason they have never been invaded or taken control of by any of the regional dictators. They are well versed in different fighting techniques and strategies. Trady is a good student. He gets good grades on all of his assignments and is knowledgeable in every subject. He takes his education seriously. He doesn’t know what he wants to do once his college education is complete, but he knows he wants to better the world. He thinks about the future often, but is uncertain of what the best path for himself is. After a day full of classes Trady is sitting in his final class listening to his Professor speak. Professor Alstein is going over theories about where magic came from and how it has changed the world. Professor Alstein is an older man with crazy grey hair and a mustache. He looks as if he doesn’t cut or comb his hair very often. He is considered one of the smartest men in Idaho though. He is very well respected and many people seek out his guidance on a number of different subjects. “Okay class, before you head off to training, we are going to go over theories of where our magical powers came from. Who knows what the prevailing theories are?” Professor Alstein asks the class. Professor Alstein points to a girl who raises her hand.

“No one knows for sure, but different theories have suggested that our magic power came from natural human evolution, some kind of release in the environment by Mother Nature, a gift from God or Gods, or some kind of alien experiment.” “Good. Does anyone care to share their own personal theory on where our magical powers came from?” Professor Alstein asks. No one raises their hand, so Professor Alstein calls on a random student. It’s Trady. “Trady. Please tell us your thoughts. What do you think?” “I don't know. I know it all happened suddenly about 60 years ago. So much has changed since then. There have been so many changes in education, medicine, technology, and even government policy. People born without magic can now have surgery, study magic books, and can only eat certain magical foods if they want powers, but not everyone commits to that lifestyle.” replies Trady. Professor Alstein can sense Trady may be a few steps ahead of the class. “Okay Trady, you're getting off topic a little. Thank you for your participation though. Anyone else?” Trady’s best friend Obin. chimes in. Obin is of Asian descent. He has a similar look to Trady, but dyes his hair bright yellow. He’s always been a fan of Japanese anime and feels the bright yellow air makes him stand out like characters in the anime he watches. Obin is smart, but doesn’t always give the best effort. He likes to mess around when it comes to school. He is fiercely loyal to his friends and Idaho though. “I think this is all just a simulation. I think we're in some kind of computer program and adding magic was just the next step in the process.” Obin exclaims. The rest of the class laughs at him. Obin is always saying crazy things, so they don’t know when to take him seriously. Professor Alstein defends Obin’s outside the box thinking. “Settle down kids. Until we have definitive answers, one theory is just as good

as another. The truth is we have no idea where magic came from and we may never know. 60 years is not a lot of time in the grand scheme of things” A bell rings and students prepare to leave the classroom. They start clearing their desks and packing their bags. “Alright kids. Time for training. Practice hard, get strong, and be safe.” says Professor Alstein. Another reason that Idaho has never been invaded is because once students are done with school, they attend mandatory magic training. Once the United States split into territories, sports’ leagues evaporated. Idaho took advantage of this and started training their magic abilities as seriously as athletes would train for different sports. Idaho is thought to be the strongest of the territories due to how rigorously they train in magic. While people still enjoy personal hobbies, studying and training are the way of life in Idaho. Trady is an extremely gifted magic . He routinely beats his sparring partners and even does well against more experienced adults. He’s much more powerful than he realizes. Many coaches and professors see his potential, but are sure to not fill his mind with overconfidence. Given how hard of a worker Trady is, everyone realizes he will reach his full potential faster than most others. During training sessions, Trady practices with Obin. He does this, because Obin’s ability to fly makes Trady have to get creative with his energy summons. Obin is not as strong as Trady, but his ability to fly and dodge attacks tends to give people trouble during sparring sessions. Today’s training is similar to most other days. Students usually start by warming up their bodies and magical abilities. They then practice their individual powers. After that, they spar against each other. Once the sparring is complete, they work on their weaknesses. Like most days, Trady and Obin are practicing against each other. They are both extremely focused. Obin is working on flying in close to attack and Trady is working on maintaining his energy animals long enough to catch up to Obin in order to damage him. Their abilities compliment each other since Trady is more of an offensive fighter and Obin is more of a defensive fighter. They are constantly helping each other become better. After practicing for a while, the head coach calls everyone together. Coach Check is the head magic coach at Boise University. He’s an older, average

looking man. He’s clean shaven with a rough look about him. He’s thought to be the best magic trainer around. He’s well-respected among everyone for his ability to get the most out of his students. Even students with weaker abilities have excelled under his tutelage. He’s a master at figuring out how someone’s magic ability can best be used and how to make sure everyone reaches their full potential. “Alright everyone, bring it in. We've done some individual training and some sparring. Now it's time to work on our weaknesses.” Coach Check instructs. Trady interrupts Coach Check. “Coach, what are we doing? Why are we training? We don't fight other states and we haven't been attacked in 40 years. I don't understand what we are doing.” This is new for Trady. He never interrupts and is always very respectful. Talking out of turn is something that Coach Check hasn’t see from him before. “Excuse me? We are staying ready. A wise man once said, “if you want peace, prepare for war”. I'd rather we train hard and become strong for no reason, than be lazy and get invaded.” responds Coach Check. “I get that, but we are so strong already that we could end the reign of all of the dangerous rulers out there and unite the states once more.” “That's not our place though. I’m worried about Idaho and only Idaho.” “People are suffering though. They don't really have a choice, but to live in horrible territories. They have to follow the rules of the strongest magic or be killed. Those rulers have taken advantage of their power and the weakness of the people. We should do something.” “Stop! We’re here to train, not talk about other territories.” yells Coach Check. “But....” “No but! I have spoken. This is how things are. If you're going to interrupt practice and question our ways, then just go home for the day. Go!” Trady gets up and leaves practice. Even though this is the first time he’s acted

this way, Coach Check is a no-nonsense person and doesn’t put up with distractions. With Trady randomly acting this way, Coach Check can sense that something is off about him and that he probably needs some time to himself. Obin watches as his best friend leaves practice in anger. He’s worried. He’s not used to seeing him act like this. Trady walks home and immediately takes a nap. Taking a nap has always been what he has done to relieve stress. It’s a great way to calm down and start over fresh. As Trady is sleeping, he has a vision. It’s not quite a dream and it’s not quite a nightmare. He gets them almost every time he sleeps though. This time, his vision is of him floating in a sea of nothingness. There is a giant, indescribable being before him. It is emitting some kind of glow. It has a strange aura to it. Trady can’t feel anything, but it’s as if he is bathing in it. Soaking it in. Eventually, the vision es and Trady’s sleep becomes normal. He’s never told anyone about his visions. He barely re them after they happen. He can usually only describe a few tiny parts of them. He doesn’t know if the visions mean anything or if they are all connected. He feels nothing in them. He just knows that they happened. Shortly after waking up, Trady hears a knock on the door. It’s Obin. “Hey. What's up man?” Trady says, welcoming Obin. “I just wanted to come by and check on you. You were acting a little weird today. Is everything all right?” “Come inside and have some water. I'll run everything by you. I've just been doing some thinking lately.” Obin walks inside and sits in a chair. Trady gets him a bottled water. “So, what’s going on with you? What was today all about?” asks Obin. “Well lately I've been thinking about some stuff. Our powers, our world, the future, everything.” Trady replies. ”I don't think I'm going to like where this is going?”

”You know I beat Reed today? I finally did it. It wasn't even that hard.” ”Wow! Congrats. That's impressive. He's one of the stronger people in our city.” Obin was genuinely surprised by this news. He knew Trady and Reed would spar almost daily before school, but he wasn’t aware at just how much Trady had progressed recently. ”Yeah. I think I'm ready for more. I'm ready to do something with this power. I'm ready to make some real change in the world.” Trady says with ion in his voice. ”What are you getting at Trady?” ”I'm thinking about leaving. Leaving the city and traveling. I want to go all over the territories and take out every ruthless dictator. I want to unite our nation again.” Obin puts his water down and stands up. He’s shocked. He can’t believe what he’s hearing. It’s unheard of to leave the safety of Idaho. ”You can't be serious, right? You want to go all one-man gang and take out the most powerful dictators our world has ever seen?” ”Yeah. Well, actually, I want you to come with me. With our abilities combined I think we really stand a chance.” Obin is truly shocked now. He’s never even thought about leaving Idaho. He’s never thought about being a hero. So many thoughts begin to flood his mind. He’s a little overwhelmed by the idea of leaving Idaho with his best friend. ”Trady....You’re my best friend and we've known each other for a long time, but I can't go with you. It's a death wish. Not only will you have to battle dangerous dictators, but you'll encounter gangs, armies, and just all-around evil people. This is a bad idea. I know once you put your mind to something there is no stopping you, but please don't go.” Obin pleads with his friend. ”I have to. I have this power and I have to use it for good. I can't just stay here and train all day every day. I need to make a difference. I can do good. We've learned so much about how the States used to be. I think we should try to make

things that way again.” Obin starts to walk to the door to leave. He’s heard enough. He knows when Trady gets this way there is no convincing him otherwise. He’s worried about his friend. ”I think you should sleep on it. Get some sleep and tell me how you feel tomorrow. I think you just had a bad time at training today and you think leaving is the solution. Let's talk tomorrow.” Obin says, trying to reason with his friend. ”Okay. Deal. See you tomorrow buddy.” Trady and Obin hug as Obin leaves. Trady shuts the door behind him. He feels as though a weight has been lifted from his shoulders. He’s been having these thoughts for a long time and being able to verbalize them to his best friend feels amazing. Later in the night as Trady is sleeping, he has another vision. This one is weird though. The vision is of Trady’s body transforming into different animals. The animals he transforms into are random. There is no rhyme or reason to their order. He goes from a snake to a bird to a bear to a cow to a lion to a spider to a whale to a dog to an ant to a fish. This continues for some time. Eventually, the vision es and Trady’s sleep becomes normal. The next morning Trady begins his walk to school. He doesn’t have training with Reed today. He still feels the same as yesterday. He wants to leave Idaho and defeat every dictator in order to unite the states as they once were. He hopes Obin understands. As he approaches school, he sees Coach Check, Professor Alstein, Obin, and some others standing around. It looks like they are waiting for him. “Coach? What's this all about? Why are all of you here?” asks Trady. “Obin came to us this morning. He told us about your chat last night. He's worried about you.” replies Coach Check. “So, you all are here to change my mind?” “Nope. I'm here to test you and they're here to observe. Here's the deal; you beat me in battle, we'll let you leave the city and help you any way we can. But if you

lose, you forget about leaving and stay to protect the city. Fair?” That wasn’t the response Trady was expecting. It throws him off for a second. He was expecting an intervention. Battling Coach Check is completely different. He’s not the best fighter around, but his skill is still in the elite category. He’s definitely a step up from Reed. He has the power to create explosions. If a few hit their target, that person is likely getting knocked out. “Hmmm....I guess that sounds fair. So here and now?” replies Trady. “Here and now. Get ready Trady. I'm not going to go easy on you.” The two prepare to battle. Trady throws his bookbag down and gets in a fighting stance. Coach Check looks ready. The rest of the professors back off. Obin covers his eyes and turns around. He’s afraid to see his friend hurt. “Oh my God! I can’t look.” Says Obin. “I'm ready. Let's start with this!” proclaims Trady. Trady starts off by sending a bunch of energy rats at Coach Check. Coach Check counters by blowing up each rat. He then creates explosions around Trady as a distraction and runs toward him. He punches him in the face when he’s close enough. Trady falls down. He hasn’t really dealt with regular physical attacks before. He wasn’t expecting a punch. As Trady gets off the ground he says “Ouch. I didn't see that coming. Nice attack. Dogs, get him!”. He summons some energy dogs to attack Coach Check. Coach Check blows them up easily. So far, the fight is easily in Coach Check’s favor. “Is this all you have? I heard you beat Reed yesterday. I was expecting more. If this is your current power level you won't last a day outside of the city.” “I've got more in store for you.” states Trady. Coach Check creates some explosions around Trady. He dodges them and summons some energy birds behind Coach Check. He's trying the same move he did on Reed yesterday. Coach Check doesn't fall for it. He explodes the energy birds without even turning around. Trady is shocked. It’s as if Coach Check

knew that attack was coming. “That's a cheap trick. It might work on some unexpecting people, but Reed told me all about it. You're not ready Trady.” Coach Check says confidently. It’s not looking good for Trady. Coach Check starts to hit Trady with explosion after explosion. Trady is slow to get up. He can’t take much more. “Are you done kid? You ready to it defeat?” “Never! I'm not done yet. I have you right where I want you.” Trady says, barely standing. Trady summons lots of tiny ants, but Coach Check doesn't notice. He runs towards Trady, but tiny explosions hit him. Coach Check is confused. “What are these? What are you hitting me with?” “Just a little something I've been working on. Come at me bro!” Coach Check continues to run towards Trady, but the ant explosions are knocking him over. They are starting to take their toll on Coach Check. They are giving Trady a chance to recover some. “I don't know what's happening here, but I'm putting an end to this now.” Coach Check says with anger in his voice. Coach Check explodes the ground in front of him. There is smoke everywhere. He runs through the smoke and punches Trady in the face again. Trady falls to the ground. He doesn’t look good. His face is bruised and his clothes are dirty. This is the first true fight he’s been in. “I ire your toughness Trady, but I'm calling it. It's over. You’re not ready.” declares Coach Check. “Oh really?” says Trady with a grin on his face. Out of nowhere the ground starts to shake. Coach Check looks around, but doesn't see anything. Neither do any of the onlookers. All of a sudden, an energy T-Rex runs from behind the school. It lets out a big roar. Everyone is shocked. It

looks at Coach Check and runs at him. He is scared and frozen in place. It bites down on Coach Check and explodes. Coach Check is knocked down and can't move. The other professors look on in amazement. No one expected the fight to end like that. “That's it. I win!” says Trady as he walks over to Coach Check’s unconscious body. Obin has had his eyes closed and ears covered the entire time. He opens his eyes and sees Coach Check on the ground. “Is it over? What did I miss?” Professor Alstein replies, “It’s over. Trady won. Go help them out.” Obin runs over to help Coach Check and make sure Trady is okay too. Professor Alstein whispers to himself, “I knew it. He's the one.” After the battle, both Trady and Coach Check are helped to a nearby classroom to recover. One of the other professors uses her healing ability to make sure neither man is injured. With their clothes dirty and ripped, they change outfits. They are both extremely worn out. Reed, Obin, Professor Alstein, and some others have a seat in the classroom. There is an awkward silence in the classroom. No one is sure what to say. Obin decides to break the silence. “Trady, I'm sorry, but I had to tell them. I figured it would be better to have their help than for you to go alone.” Professor Alstein also makes his voice heard. “So Trady....Are you certain you want to leave the city?” Trady is exhausted, but looks around the room. He can feel that after beating Coach Check his words carry more weight than before. “Yeah. I'm pretty beat up right now, but I'm certain. I have to do this.” Coach Check smiles. He ires Trady’s will. He makes his opinion known.

“Well, Trady, I was wrong. Congrats on your win. Looks like I trained you well. If you wish to leave the city than you’ve earned that right.” Trady is amazed at what he is hearing. He expected everyone would still try to convince him to stay. “Thanks. So, you said you would help me. You're going to come with me than?” “No. We have to stay here and protect the city. We will help you plan everything though. You'll need our guidance if you want to pull this off.” Coach Check replies. Trady feels pretty deflated. That’s not the news he had hoped for. Part of him is scared to go out into the world alone. There are so many unknowns waiting for him. “That's a pretty big letdown. I'll take any help I can get though, so thank you. What kind of help will I be getting?” “Well first, what was your original plan? After we know that we can work on improving it.” responds Professor Alstein. Trady starts laughing. The room is confused by his laughter. Everyone thought this was going to be a serious, life-altering conversation. Finally, Trady stops laughing. “Ummm....I didn't really have a plan to be honest. I guess I thought I’d leave Idaho, travel, and the rest would take care of itself.” Everyone is shocked to hear this. After seeing Trady battle, they figured he would have a well thought out plan. To hear he has no plan is a little upsetting to some in the classroom. Obin is the first to voice his displeasure. “Wait! Were you just gonna leave the city and wander around picking fights with people until you reached a dictator?” Trady replies “When you put it that way, it sounds kind of reckless. It seems to work in old western movies and samurai movies though. Maybe I should have planned a little better.”

“I take back what I said. You're an idiot.” Coach Check says angrily. Professor Alstein decides to interject before things get out of hand. “Calm down everyone. That's why we're here. We want to figure out the best course of action. Trady has earned his right to leave and we all want him to be successful.” Reed decides to speak for the first time. “You know. I've thought about this quite a bit. I think Hawaii is where you want to start. I know you’re thinking, “Why Hawaii?” Well, let me tell you. If there is going to be a revolution, that's the best place to start. It's not densely populated anymore, so you may not encounter many unnecessary battles. Their leader Colt is also probably the weakest of all the dictators, so you may stand a chance. If you succeed Hawaii is isolated from the mainland, so news won’t travel very fast. You can free Hawaii and they can still defend themselves afterwards.” The room becomes silent again. Everyone is thinking about Reed’s words. They are trying to quickly examine what he said before speaking up. Trady decides its time to break the silence. “So, Hawaii and then Alaska, since Alaska is isolated from the mainland too. Got it. Sounds like a plan. Thank you.” Reed adds on “You will need supplies. I can help with that. Let’s head to my place.” With that said, everyone goes to Reed’s house. It isn’t a long walk from the University, but with the weight of what Trady is trying to accomplish, it feels like miles. Everyone is thinking about the possibilities, both good and bad. What if he fails? What if he succeeds? What if he dies? So many thoughts are racing through everyone’s minds as they walk to Reed’s house. Eventually they arrive. Reed lives in what looks to be a nice neighborhood. He owns a ranch style house with a garage. Everyone follows Reed into the house and down into the basement. It looks to be a weapons supply area created by Reed. All types of different armor and weapons are around. It looks like he’s prepared for a war. Everyone is shocked by what they see. No one had any idea that Reed was a tinkerer with weapons.

“Whoa! What are all of these?” says Trady. “These are some special toys I've been working on over the years. They're experimental, but they should work for you Trady.” replies Reed. “And me!” exclaims Obin. Everyone is shocked. They stare at Obin in confusion. “I'm going with Trady. He shouldn't go alone. He's my best friend and I couldn't live with myself if I let him fight this war without some help.” Coach Check speaks up “I would say let's fight and test your abilities, but I'm pretty beat. Trady, you spar with him every day. Will he be safe?” “Oh yeah! He'll be fine. Thanks, Obin. This means a lot to me. I know we'll succeed now.” replies Trady. “Okay, now that's settled, looks like I'm gonna have to load you both up. You’ll both need weapons, armor, and supplies for your quest.” Reed says, taking control of the room. He points to some armor hanging on a wall. “You both can take the armor hanging up. It'll weaken incoming physical based attacks and protect you against magical attacks. It's light weight and flexible, so it should be a big asset for you.” Obin and Trady both look excited. They are like kids in a candy store. They are acting like it’s Christmas. Reed continues and points to a closet door. “All right, now here are some weapons that should help you out. For Obin, I have two things. Open that closet and grab those two weapons. One is a pair of wrist blasters you can use while flying and the other is a small jet belt to help you fly faster.” “Those look pretty cool. All of this is awesome. What about for me? Anything to help my abilities?” asks Trady. Reed points to a desk drawer. “Patience Trady. Open that drawer over there. That should be good for you. Those are bracelets that help conserve magic energy and

will enhance your abilities when used. Everything I've given both of you is solar powered, so they shouldn't wear out. The designs are pretty simple, so if they get damaged you should be able to fix them pretty easily.” “All right. Great job Reed. I'll get supplies together for Trady and Obin. Phones, maps, food, tools. Those should all help. Professor Alstein will arrange for a helicopter to take them to the west coast and then for a ship to take them to Hawaii.” says Coach Check. Obin replies with “Thank you everyone. I'm really nervous and pretty scared, but all of your help is putting my nerves at ease.” Professor Alstein ends the day with “All right go back to your houses and pack up. Meet back at the school in a few hours.” Everyone is excited, but also nervous before dispersing. Trady heads back to his apartment. He starts walking around his house packing things in a bookbag to take with him. He sees a picture of his parents and picks it up. He speaks to the picture. “It's time Mom. It's time Dad. I'm off to change the world. I'm going to unite the states and bring peace to America. Hopefully I can make you proud.” Trady hears a knock at his door. He goes to see who it is. It’s Obin. Obin initiates the conversation. “Hey man. You ready? I have nothing to pack, so I figured I would head this way...and I just want you to know that I'm mentally ready for whatever comes our way.” Trady is always happy to see Obin. They’ve been friends for a long time. He thinks of Obin as more of a brother than a friend. “Okay. So, tell me something. What made you change your mind?” Trady says, as he welcomes Obin into his apartment. Obin replies with “I thought about it last night and you're right. We have these powers and abilities. We should use them for good. The states have been at war for years. If not us, then who? If not now, then when?” “I agree. What better place than here? What better time than now? Anyways, I'm glad you changed your mind. I'd hate to have to do this alone.” says Trady. “Us orphans have to stick together. Always have, always will. I couldn't let you

do this alone. I couldn't have you be alone again. And this is probably my best chance to do something and be ed in history. I can’t that up, so if you’re ready, let's get going.” Trady and Obin leave Trady’s apartment and go back to the school. Reed, Coach Check, and Professor Alstein are waiting. They all have serious looks on their face. This is a huge moment. It’s easy to see they are scared and nervous. They are not sure if they are making the right decision by letting Trady and Obin leave Idaho. “About time you got back here. We've arranged for a helicopter to take you to a dock in Oregon. Professor Alstein has an old friend with a ship at the dock. Look for an all-black ship. She will sail you to Hawaii. And no, nothing from here on out is safe, but this helicopter should be invisible to radar. Professor Javis will be flying you. Good luck kids. Be safe and make us proud.” says Coach Check A helicopter flies in and lands. Trady and Obin have never see a helicopter up close. They didn’t realize how loud it would be and how much wind it would cause. They get in and wave goodbye to everyone. The realness of the moment sets in and they realize there is no turning back. The helicopter is being flown by a man named Javis. He’s a black man in his mid-30’s with dreadlocks flowing down his back. He has the ability to turn whatever he touches invisible. Not even radar can detect him and whatever he touches. After flying for a bit, Javis speaks to Trady and Obin. “Alright boys. We're almost at the dock. I can still turn around if you want me to?” “No turning back now. We have to unite the states.” replies Trady. “But say, how did we get into Oregon without being detected?” “It's my ability. Anything I touch becomes invisible. I can’t even be detected by radar. Basically, you can only hear me coming, but by then, it’s too late. Makes me great for stealth missions. I’ve been told to take you to a black ship, so I’m just going to land as close as possible. Your should be there.” The helicopter lands near the dock in an open field. Trady and Obin get out and

Javis flies off. They don’t realize the dock is being guarded by a man named Ming. Ming is a large, white man with a big beard. He looks to be over seven feet tall. He has the ability to stretch all parts of his body. He is stationed in a nearby watchtower and hears the helicopter. He sees Trady and Obin appear out of nowhere. He runs to investigate and catches up to Trady and Obin. “Hey! Who are you two? Where did you come from?” Trady jokes “Umm....We're just meeting a friend here to look into buying her boat.” “Do I look dumb to you? First of all, no one is scheduled to be on the boats today and secondly, I saw you suddenly appear out of thin air. You trying to steal something?” replies Ming. Trady continues “No. No. I promise. We're just meeting someone here and we're going to take a trip on her boat.” “This is my dock. I've been put in charge of it by the state of Oregon. No one is supposed to leave without government approval. Looks like I'm going to have to take you in.” Obin senses that things are very heated at that moment. He doesn’t see a way of tricking Ming. He knows there is only one option. “I'm sorry, but we can't have that. Trady, get ready to fight.” Ming doesn’t waste a second after hearing Obin’s words. He stretches both arms to attack Trady and Obin. They are quick to react though. They dodge the punches. “Dogs, get him!” Trady yells, as he summons energy dogs. At the same time, Obin flies high into the air. Ming does a spin move and hits the dogs. They disappear. Obin tries to blast him from the air using his new weapons, but Ming pulls him down with his arms. He hits the ground hard. “Ouch! This guy is gonna be tough.” Obin says as he gets off the ground. Trady summons energy birds as Obin flies straight at Ming. Ming stops Obin with a kick, but the energy birds hit him. It’s at this point that Trady realizes they

will need to use some teamwork to defeat Ming. He’s a very strong fighter. Trady summons some energy bears as Obin flies into the air and starts shooting Ming. Ming spin kicks the bears and stretches out both of his arms to wrap up Trady and Obin. They can’t get out. He slams them to the ground over and over again. “For people breaking and entering, I thought you'd be stronger.” says Ming in a laughing manner. He continues “You two are really annoying. I'm going to enjoy this.” Even while getting slammed Trady is able to summon some energy snakes that bite Ming's legs. “Ah! Snakes! I hate snakes!” screams Ming. The energy snakes cause him to release Trady and Obin from his grasp. They recover quickly. Trady is focusing his energy. He's about to summon something big. “Now Obin! Shoot him with everything you've got. Buy me some time.” Trady yells. Obin starts to fly super-fast around Ming while shooting him. Ming knocks Obin out with a big slam. Trady is done focusing his energy. His focus has allowed him to summon down a pterodactyl. It flies down and hits Ming. The of such a big hit knocks him out. The pterodactyl grabs him in his mouth and flies off. Trady goes to check on Obin. “Hey. Hey, wake up. Obin! Wake up. He's gone. We've got to find the ship captain.” “Oh, my head....Did we win? Wait! How did we win?” Obin says, as he recovers. “I summoned a pterodactyl. I had to get creative, but it worked. It took him away somewhere.” “I always miss the big summons.” says an exhausted Obin.

Part Two: The Sea

Trady helps Obin up and they search around the dock to find the black ship. There are lots of ships and boats of all sizes scattered around, but they eventually find what they’re looking for. The ship is very big. It looks like a yacht. It’s completely black. If it was night time, it’d be almost impossible to see it. They board the ship and begin looking for the Captain. “Hello! Anyone here? We're supposed to meet someone. We're looking for the captain of this ship.” Obin says in a heightened voice. “Why didn't we ask for her name? Why didn't Professor Alstein tell us her name?” Trady says to Obin. Out of nowhere a lady pops out and scares Trady and Obin. She's holding a tennis racket. She’s a tall black woman, with long dark hair and a muscular body. “Oh my God! You scared us. Are you the captain?” shouts a scared Obin. “We were sent by Professor Alstein. You're supposed to sail us to Hawaii.” The lady introduces herself. “Yeah, I’m the Captain. My name is Serenus. You must be the little rebel kids. Were you seen? Does anyone know you're here?” “Yup. That's us. Little rebel kids.... Ummm you didn't hear us fighting the boat security dude?” asks Trady. “Ming? You two beat Ming? Excellent! We can be on our way then.” Serenus walks away to begin prepping the ship to sail. She makes sure there is enough fuel to get them to Hawaii. Trady and Obin follow her around the ship as she checks everything. They are worn out from their battle. Once Serenus finishes her work and the ship is sailing the three have a seat on the deck. They begin talking. “When you popped up out of nowhere, we were shocked. I can't believe we were

scared of a lady with a tennis racket, especially after we just got done battling that Ming guy.” Obin says. Serenus is a little offended at being called “a lady with a tennis racket”. She stands up and swings the tennis racket. Huge beams fly out of it. Obin and Trady are amazed. They can tell she’s really strong. “Here's a tip for your journey. Never underestimate anyone. You've been sheltered in Idaho for a long time. The world is a big place and you'll face lots of strong enemies along your way. Always be ready.” says Serenus. “Hey! Wait a minute. If you're so strong why didn't you take out Ming before we arrived? You could have saved us a lot of trouble. And how did you get into the dock in the first place? Oh, how do you know Professor Alstein anyways? I have so many questions!” says an energetic Obin. “I’ll answer those eventually. So, tell me a little about yourselves. I should know who I'm transporting.” replies Serenus. Trady and Obin both look at each other. They get nervous when talking about themselves. They aren’t sure who should go first. Eventually Obin speaks up. “Well, my name is Obin Gray. My power is flight. I'm from Idaho. I'm an orphan. And I've known Trady since we were kids.” Trady goes next “Guess it's my turn. I'm not great at talking about myself. My name is Trady Six. My power is the ability to summon energy animals. I'm an orphan from Idaho too. And yeah, Obin is my best friend.” Serenus can see that the two boys are a little awkward. She has a good sense about them though. She feels like they are good people and obviously strong since they’ve made it to her. “Okay. Great. Well, I know you have some questions about me, so allow me to answer them for you. My name is Serenus Iams. I'm from Idaho as well. I was originally a student of Professor Alsteins. There is a lot you two don't know. Idaho hasn't been invaded in 50 years because of the precautions they take. They train and train and train and protect the borders, but they also have spies like me.”

Trady and Obin are shocked. They’d heard rumors of people leaving Idaho, but they never thought Idaho would have spies. Trady chimes in “Wait! You're from Idaho as well? How did you get out? And you're a spy? That's so cool.” “Yup. Just one of many. I keep an eye on west coast territories and make sure none of the dictators are planning anything that could hurt Idaho. It's how we protect our people. Javis got me out and I've been on my own for about 5 years now. I check in every once in a while, but I have to be careful not to get caught.” As Trady, Obin, and Serenus are talking, they see some dolphins swimming in the distance. Trady and Obin are amazed. They've never seen the ocean or ocean animals before. They are mesmerized by the effortless swimming ability of the dolphins. “Oh wow! Obin, look over there. Dolphins! How cool. I've never seen sea animals before.” says an excited Trady. “Yeah. We've never seen the ocean before either. This is awesome. Trady, could you summon energy dolphins?” says Obin. Trady summons some energy dolphins. They swim with the real ones. At first, he mimics the real dolphin’s movement, but then he makes his energy dolphins do some tricks. He’s putting on a show for Obin, Serenus, and himself. Serenus is impressed with Trady’s ability to control his magic. She can tell that he is very talented. “Ha-ha. That's a great trick. Those constructs of yours are pretty adorable. This is why I love the ocean. The open sea is such a beautiful place to be.” Obin flies into the air to see the dolphins and the rest of the ocean. He’s stunned by how massive and open it is. He feels free being so high up and in the middle of nothing. He starts to look around and spots another boat way in the distance. He lands back down to tell everyone. “Ummm....We may have a problem. It may be nothing, but while I was flying, I saw another ship. It's a long way away though.” Serenus responds “Here's another tip. Everything is always something. It's far

enough away that it hasn't alerted our radar yet. What direction was the ship?” “I don't really know north, south, east, and west, but it's behind us. Is that bad?” “Crap! Yes. If it was in front of us or to the sides it could be a coincidence, but coming from behind us means we are being followed. They're after us. I'm not sure who it could be. Ming probably. I thought you took care of him?” “I thought we did. What do we do?” says Trady. All of a sudden, the ship’s radar starts to go off. It makes a loud noise since everyone is on the deck and the ship is in cruise control. Everyone is surprised. Serenus says “Why is the radar going off? I thought they were way behind us?” “They were! Let me see again.” Obin says as he flies into the air. He sees the oncoming ship is a lot closer than before. He sees someone with wind power making the ship go faster. He’s shocked. He flies back down. “Okay. It is Ming. I found out how the ship is moving so fast. A wind is increasing its speed.” “They are definitely after us than. Looks like we're gonna have a fight on our hands. Get ready everyone!” commands Trady. While Trady, Obin, and Serenus get ready for a fight, Ming and his partner Dee Lucky fast approach. Dee Lucky is a skinny, white, male. He’s in his 30s. He has a very lanky frame. He’s shirtless and has an “X” scar on his stomach. Ming anger increases as they get closer to the ship. “Keep up the wind Dee. We've almost caught up. I need to get my revenge. I can't believe those punks beat me.” Dee replies “I'm using all of my power. We can't go any faster. We’ll take out those punks this time. You've got me now. They can't take us both on.” Back aboard Serenus’ ship, she is giving out commands as Ming’s boat gets closer and closer. She says “Obin, fly into the air and shoot at their ship. Trady summon something to attack them. I’ll take control of the ship and start sailing.”

Obin flies into the air towards the ship and starts shooting. Trady summons some energy birds. Ming and Dee Lucky see Obin flying and Trady's energy birds. They prepare for battle also since they are close to the ship now. Ming shouts “Okay Dee we're close enough. Take care of those two until we can board their ship.” Dee Lucky uses his wind power to get rid of the energy birds and knock Obin back to Serenus' ship. The wind blasts are very strong. Obin recovers quickly. “Maybe attacking head on isn't the best idea against that wind guy.” Serenus can see Ming and Dee Lucky are going to be tough, so she puts the ship back on cruise control. “You're right Obin. I'll attack their ship. Trady summon something they won't see while I distract them.” Trady summons some energy sharks to hit Ming's ship. Serenus starts swinging her racket sending huge beams towards Ming's ship. Ming and Dee Lucky see Serenus' huge beams coming at them. Dee Lucky uses his wind power to knock the huge beams in another direction. Trady's energy sharks start exploding, doing damage to Ming's ship. The explosions get their attention. “What was that? I thought you took care of those beams. Did one get through and hit us?” questions Ming. “No. Those explosions came from beneath us. They aren't attacking us. They're attacking the ship. They want to sink us.” says Dee Lucky. “If you can use your wind power to get us a little closer, I can stretch us onto the ship.” Dee Lucky unleashes a huge wind blast to get the ship closer to Serenus'. From there Ming stretches himself and Dee Lucky onto Serenus' ship. They land on the deck. Serenus, Trady, and Obin are standing there at the ready. They all stare each other down. “Alright kids. Now is the time to fight.” says Serenus. Trady chimes in, while pointing at Dee Lucky “Looks like we have a couple of

pirates here. So, I know Ming, but who are you?” “I'm an associate of Ming’s. You can call me Dee Lucky. And by now you should know you’re no match for my wind magic.” says Dee Lucky. Ming is all business. He’s not one for talking or monologues. He knows how those usually end up in the movies. “No more chit chat. It's time to fight. I want payback for last time.” Dee Lucky starts off the fight by using his wind power to summon a tornado close to the ship. It's big and powerful looking. Some fish and sharks are in the tornado. For a split second Serenus, Obin, and Trady are amazed at what they are seeing. “It's a tornado with sharks. It's a....It's a sharknado!” exclaims Obin. While they gawk at the tornado, Ming stretches out, grabs Obin, and throws him into the tornado. Dee Lucky moves the tornado far away. Obin is out of sight. Trady fears for his friend. He shouts out “Obin!”. Serenus tells him to keep his head on straight. “Don't worry about him. He can fly. He'll be fine. Focus on what's in front of you.” The odds have been evened. It’s now two versus two. Serenus starts attacking by using her racket and fires off a huge beam at Dee Lucky. He uses his wind power to blow it in a different direction. Trady focuses on Ming. He summons an energy bear. He runs behind it. As Ming knocks the bear away Trady punches him in the face. It stings, but doesn’t hurt too badly. Ming is surprised by the new attack. “That's a new move. You didn't use that last time.” Trady continues his attack. He summons an energy tiger. It lets off a big roar. Ming squashes it. It creates a hole in the deck. Everyone is able to see the level below. Serenus is unhappy about the damage to her ship. “Trady, you're going to have to think outside of the box and beat him quick. Don’t let him put anymore holes in my ship!”

Dee Lucky hits Serenus with a big wind blast. She falls down, but jumps right back to her feet. She fires off multiple beam shots with her racket. Dee Lucky uses his wind power to alter their direction. Serenus searches for a way to end the fight. “Any ideas Trady? I don’t want them to destroy my ship.” Trady replies “I have one idea. It's a long shot, but it's the only idea I've got.” Serenus doesn’t have a plan of her own, so she urges Trady “Do it! I'll distract these two.” Trady instantly runs away from the fight. He sprints to the other side of the ship and hides. Serenus is confused. “Running away? That was your one idea? Are you serious?”. Serenus fires a couple of racket beams at Ming and Dee Lucky. Ming gets hit and falls down, but Dee Lucky continues to dodge her beams. All of a sudden, the ship begins to shake. Ming, Dee Lucky, and Serenus all fall down. Then it becomes clear what Trady’s plan was. Out of nowhere giant octopus tentacles come out of the ocean. The tentacles grab Ming and Dee Lucky. They are captured and can't move. Ming yells “What? What is this? Let us down! Let us go!” The giant octopus slams Ming and Dee Lucky into each other repeatedly. They go unconscious. The giant octopus then drops them on the deck and disappears. Trady runs back over to Serenus. She is happy the fighting is over. “Giant octopus! I love it. Great idea.” “Thanks. I'm not great at summoning huge animals yet, so I need some time and space to focus.” replies Trady. “Well, it worked, so I can't complain too much.” Obin comes flying in from out of nowhere. He’s very tired and falls to the ground. “Sorry everyone. I woke up floating in the middle of the ocean. I flew up as high as I could and still couldn't see the ship. I had to fly in all directions. I'm beat.”

“I’m glad you’re okay. I was worried about you. We really could have used your help though. Those two were tough.” says Trady. “Yeah, we got lucky that we won. Your amazing summon really saved us.” adds Serenus. Obin is upset that he missed another amazing summon. “What was it this time? How'd we win?” “Giant octopus.” Trady says casually. “A giant octopus? Oh man! I always miss the cool summons.” says a bummed Obin. Serenus decides the team needs to get back on track. She lays out what the team needs to do now that the fighting is over. “It's over now. I have some magic restraints and a holding cell down below. Let's put Ming and Dee Lucky down there. We then need to do some repairs before we get to Hawaii.” After a few minutes of rest, everyone catches their breath. They proceed to carry Ming and Dee Lucky to holding cells beneath the ship. Ming’s weightless body is heavy and hard to carry given his size, while Dee Lucky is easily carried. The holding cells are good size. They have toilets and sinks. They don’t look as if they’ve been used before. After being placed, Ming and Dee Lucky wake up. They are a little groggy, but don’t appear badly injured. “Just you wait. We're not done yet. As soon as I get out of here, I'm taking you all down.” says Ming. “Yeah, you'll pay for hurting the famous pirate Dee Lucky.” adds Dee Lucky. “You're not a famous pirate you dummy.” says Ming. Dee Lucky menacingly points at Trady, Obin, and Serenus. He’s obviously not a fan of being held captive. “You're just lucky we are on the ocean. I could blow this ship to pieces if I was

allowed to use my true power.” Serenus tries to quiet the chatter. “I'm going to need you two to be quiet. If you two don't behave I'll throw you into the middle of the ocean and let the sharks have their way with you.” Ming and Dee Lucky both go quiet instantly. They have a worried look on their faces. They can tell Serenus means business. Serenus continues “Great. That's what I like to see. After we get to our destination, I'll take you both back to Oregon where you’ll be free to go. Right now, I need to tend to my ship. Later.” She walks back to the top deck. Trady and Obin are repairing the ship. They are doing a surprisingly good job. Even though they’ve never been on a ship before, the skills they learned while in Idaho are paying off. Serenus compliments them. “Looking good boys. I know you're tired, but we have to make sure the ship is in shape to complete our trip. We only have a couple of more days. In the past going from Oregon to Hawaii by ship would take a couple of weeks, but with magic technology the trip only takes a few days.” “Okay. That will give us some time to rest up. It's been fight after fight, but we need to get used to it. This is just the beginning.” says Trady. Trady and Obin finish repairing the ship after a bit. Once completed they decide to take a nap in order to recover. Trady’s nap lasts a few hours. He has another vision. This one is different from the last. It is definitely more of a nightmare. In this vision Trady is walking through a flat open field. There are dead bodies everywhere. Dead bodies as far as he can see. They are all around him. It looks like a battle or a war was fought. He can’t make out the faces or clothes of anyone. It’s a scary sight to behold. Eventually, the vision es and Trady’s sleep becomes normal. When he wakes up, it’s night time. Trady goes to the boat's deck. He is staring at the ocean and the stars. He’s wondering if he’ll see some dolphins or other sea life like earlier. Serenus walks over to him. She is worried about him. “You holding up okay Trady?”

“Yeah. I'm just iring the view. The ocean is really beautiful at night time. The stars are so bright.” replies Trady. “Yeah, it's quite a view. I never get tired of it. You really can lose yourself in thought out here. So why aren't you sleeping?” asks Serenus. “I'm just thinking. This is really happening. There is no going back.” “Yeah. I was kind of shocked when Professor Alstein told me about you and Obin. You two really are a couple of crazy kids.” “How did he sound? Was he worried ?” “I'm sure he is worried about both of you, but he actually sounded pretty confident. He really believes in you two. So do I. You both handled yourselves really well today. I'm proud of both of you. I'll be ing you both from afar, but I can't wait to see what you accomplish.” “Thanks. Knowing so many people have faith in us makes me a little less nervous. I just don't know what's going to happen in the future.” “No one does. That's life. Just try to prepare the best you can and be ready for anything. You two will be fine. I know it. You really should get some sleep though. You have a long journey ahead of you.” Serenus pats Trady on the back and the two walk off. Serenus goes to her room and Trady goes to his. They both go to sleep. Trady once again has a vision. Two in one day is really rare. It’s only happened a few times before. This is one that many people have had before. The vision is just of Trady falling. He’s not falling from anywhere in particular, but just continuously falling. This is a little bit different from the way most people experience it. Trady doesn’t feel anything. He doesn’t feel like he’s falling and he doesn’t eventually stop or hit anything. It’s just him falling. Eventually, the vision es and Trady’s sleep becomes normal. The next morning as Trady and Obin are sleeping, Serenus walks into the bedroom hitting a pot and pan together. It’s loud. It shocks Trady and Obin awake.

“Wakey wakey. Eggs and bakey. Time to wake up. I made breakfast. We should arrive at Hawaii by this afternoon.” yells Serenus. “Mmm. It smells so good! Hurry up Trady. Let's go!” says Obin. Trady and Obin run out of the room. It’s as if they haven’t eaten in days. Serenus follows. They run into the dining room and all kinds of delicious food are on the table. Trady is amazed at what he sees. “Oh wow! This looks and smells amazing.” “Oh my God. You are so nice. I can't believe you made us breakfast.” adds Obin. “Thank you, but I didn't make it for you two. I made it for Ming and Dee Lucky. These are their leftovers.” replies Serenus. “I thought you cared .” says a sad Obin. “I do, but they are in a holding cell in restraints. They need food too. , they are not bad people. They were just doing their job and guarding the ships.” responds Serenus. “That's true. I didn't think about that. Well, this is still great. Thank you so much Serenus.” says Trady. Everyone sits down and starts eating. Trady starts thinking about what Serenus just said to him. He now realizes everyone he fights might not be a bad person like a Dictator. He may have to defeat some innocent people just doing their job. For a split moment he second guesses his decision to unite the states, but he quickly comes to a compromise; as long as he doesn’t permanently injure or kill anyone than he will battle and defeat whoever stands in his way. Obin stops eating for a moment to strike up a conversation. “So Trady, what's our plan once we reach shore?” “Well, we'll be docking in the capital city, Honolulu. We'll have to sneak past some guards I assume. The dictator Colt is somewhere in the city. We just need to find where and take him down.” replies Trady. “Ummm Serenus will you be okay? This is a new state. Won't you get taken in

by the guards if they see you?” asks Obin. “Hmmm. I'll just have to use my beauty to woo the guards. Maybe something like, "oh mister guard. I'm lost. I was just out sailing in my bathing suit and I don't know how I ended up here. Can you help me out?"” says Serenus in her best damsel in distress voice. Obin is confused “What! And that will work?” “No, you dummy! I'm a spy. As we get close enough, I'll scout the area, look for blind spots, get you two on shore, and then disappear without ever being seen. Actually, with your flight ability, it should make scouting pretty easy.” “I like the first option better. I’m not a spy. I have no idea what spies do. How will I be of any help?” “Do you have eyes? Do you have lips? All you have to do is fly into the air, look around, come down, and tell me what you see. Easy peezy.” “Sounds like being a spy is pretty easy.” “Easy! What! Excuse me!” “Mmm.... these eggs are delicious. Thank you so much again.” Trady laughs and everyone continues eating. When they finish, they clean the table, and do the dishes. Eventually the ship approaches Hawaii. As they get close to Honolulu, Serenus stops the ship. Her, Trady, and Obin are standing on the deck. They stare at Hawaii and its scenery. Serenus is the first to talk. “All right boys. There she is. The beautiful state of Hawaii. Obin, fly up and report back what you see.” Obin flies into the air with binoculars. He looks around the ship yard. He sees two security guards in a tower. He notices they aren't paying much attention. He sees a path for Trady and himself to sneak through. He flies back down. “It looks like there is just one security tower with two guards in there. They don't seem to be paying much attention to the far-right side of the yard. We might be able to loop around and sneak in that way.”

“Great job! You're a natural. Maybe being a spy is pretty easy.” says Serenus. “Hey! Don’t we need to worry about a radar detecting us?” “Again boys, I'm a professional spy. This ship can't be detected by radar. We'll be fine.” “Okay. Let's loop around to the far-right side and then we'll sneak on shore and out of the yard.” says Trady. Serenus runs back to start sailing the ship to the far-right side of the yard. She slows the engine to not make as much sound. Trady and Obin are nervous. They don’t want another Ming and Dee Lucky situation to happen. Once the ship pulls into the ship yard, Trady and Obin hop off. They give thanks to Serenus for all of her help. They don’t know if they’ll see her again, but they want her to know how much they appreciate her help. “Thank you for everything Serenus. You're the greatest. Have a safe trip back.” says Obin. Trady adds “Yeah. Thank you so much. We couldn't have done this without you.” Serenus can hear in their voice that they really mean what they say. She can also sense that they are a little nervous. “It's been my pleasure. I've really loved your company these last few days. Be safe boys! I believe in you.” Trady and Obin wave goodbye as Serenus sails away. As she is sailing away, she puts the ship on auto-pilot. She decides to call Professor Alstein and keep him up to date. “Hello Professor. It’s Serenus. I just wanted to give you an update. Trady and Obin are in Hawaii and I’m on my way back to Oregon with a couple of prisoners.” “Since you have prisoners, I’m guessing you encountered some trouble. How did the kids do?” asks Professor Alstein.

“They did well. They aren’t used to real life combat yet, but they take direction well, are able to think on their feet, and are really strong. Trady is especially strong.” “Yes. I am aware. He’s a lot stronger than he knows. As is Obin. I suspect they will reach their full potential at some point in their journey to unite the states.” “Once I get back to Oregon, I’ll use my short-term memory wiper on these prisoners and get back to my duties. You can me if you need anything else.” “Actually, I’ve already talked to the Governor. Once you return the prisoners, go back to Hawaii. Trady and Obin will need a ride to Alaska once they are finished.” says Professor Alstein. “Okay. I can do that. It’s great that you have so much faith in those kids. I’ll report back if anything comes up. Talk to you later Professor.” Serenus ends communication and continues sailing back to Oregon.

Part Three: Hawaii

Once Serenus is a safe distance away from Hawaii, Trady and Obin start moving. After looking around a bit they start to sneak out of the ship yard. Trady is using his hands to do faux military commands and Obin is walking on his tippy toes. They notice each other’s eccentricities. “Obin, what are you doing? Walking on your tippy toes? Really?” “What do you mean? I'm sneaking. What are you doing with your hands?” replies Obin. “That's not how you sneak. Just be quiet and stay low.” “You be quiet and stay low. I'm sneaking. Couldn't I just fly up high and be out of here?” “Come on. Let's go. Don’t fly away and leave me alone. I thought we were best friends. What if I got caught? You'd never know.” “Yeah. Good point. I need to get stronger. Then I could fly you out of here too.” “That would be nice. You'd be like my chauffeur.” “Chauffeur? Forget that. I'm nobody’s chauffeur.” Trady and Obin go silent and continue sneaking through the ship yard. They take cover behind objects until they reach the exit. When they finally exit the ship yard, they start walking the streets of Honolulu. They are shocked by what they see. All of the people are in old, worn out clothes. The vehicles are old and beat up. There are a lot of homeless looking people wandering around. Their shock quickly turns to sadness. “This is so sad. Hawaii is such a beautiful state. I can't believe it's turned into this.” says Obin whispering to Trady. “This is Colt's doing. He and his cronies take from all of the citizens and keep

everything for themselves.” replies a whispering Trady. “Yeah, I know. That's why we're here. We have to stop him. We can't allow this to go on. These people deserve so much better.” As Trady and Obin are whispering to each other, an old lady, Elvi, sitting at a table next to a little shop, interrupts the conversation. “Thinking of starting a revolution eh? You're wondering where Colt lives, right?” Elvi is an older lady. She looks to be in her 80s. She’s a native Hawaiian. She’s short and carries a little bit of extra weight on her. She has long, curly gray hair and is wearing a red flowered dress. “Ummm....Who are you? What are you talking about?” questions Trady. “My name is Elvi. I Honolulu before magic ever appeared. The cities were so vibrant and alive. Colt killed all of that when he took over.” “I'm sorry to hear that. We're just ing through the city. We won't be here long.” says Trady. “LIES! You're wondering if just the two of you can take down Colt and his warriors.” Obin starts to get frustrated. He begins “Listen old lady....” but is immediately stopped. “My name is Elvi! Respect your elders!” “Sorry Elvi. Listen, we're just ing through the city. We don't want any trouble.” continues Obin. “You're full of the lies! I can tell what you're thinking.” At this point both Trady and Obin are starting to get frustrated with Elvi. They really didn’t want to draw attention to themselves. Trady whispers to Obin “I think we stumbled across a crazy old lady.”

Elvi interjects “I'm not crazy!” “Ha-ha sorry. I guess you have pretty good hearing, even at your advanced age. Is that your power?” “No, I didn't hear you. I told you, I can read your mind.” Obin has never met someone with a mind reading ability. He doesn’t believe Elvi. He decides to test her. “Oh yeah? Well, what am I thinking about right now?” “You're wondering if Hawaiian pizza is even better if it's from Hawaii.” “Oh my God! She can read minds!” Trady apologies “Ah! So that's your magic power. Sorry we doubted you Elvi. Let me introduce ourselves; I’m Trady and this is my friend Obin.” “I know. Apology accepted! Now, I think I can help you out. I believe I have the answers to all of your questions.” Trady and Obin sit down at the table with Elvi. Their chairs are uncomfortable and the table is a little wobbly. Elvi starts the conversation now that everyone is on the same page. “Let me tell you what I know. Colt lives in a palace at the edge of town. He only ever comes out or travels if the people get rowdy. Normally his gang of warriors and the police handle everything for him. They have factions all throughout the state to handle his dirty work. They divvy out rations of food and collect taxes from the people and their businesses. They’ve taken most of the nice things that people once owned. We’re all essentially poor now. Colt has been bleeding us dry for years.” “I'm so sorry this is happening. You're right. That is why we're here. We want to stop him and return Hawaii back to the way it once was.” says Trady. “You'll need help. A small group of rebels has been forming recently. Every once-in-a-while they have a run in with Colt's warriors. If they can distract them it would give you two a chance to take down Colt.”

Obin is happy to have all of this information, but he is still skeptical of Elvi. “Why do you want to help us? You just met us? How do we know we can trust you?” “I knew you were going to say that. I read your minds as you were looking around the city. You both are pure of heart and free of hate. You want everyone to happy, healthy, and successful. Hawaii needs people like you. I want my state to be free, so yes, you can trust me.” “Where can we find this group of rebels?” asks Trady. “They are on the edge of town, in an old junk yard. You'll need a to enter. The is "Haka".” “Great! Thank you so much Elvi. We won't forget you.” “My pleasure young ones. May the odds be ever in your favor.” Trady and Obin stand up from the table. They wave bye to Elvi as they walk off. As they are walking, Obin asks “Hey. What's Colt's power anyways? Is he really the weakest of all the dictators?” Trady responds “That's what we were told. My research says his power is to turn his body into a diamond. I don’t really know too much else about him.” Colt is a white male, about 6 feet, 3 inches tall and weighs about 215lbs. He has short, bleach blond hair. You can tell he dyes it. He’s also very athletic. One story that the locals know of is how he trains. He usually trains against his gang. He uses his power of turning his body into a diamond. People shoot him with guns, but do no damage. People use magic powers on him and do no damage that way either. When he does finally fight back, he can knock out each individual gang member with only one punch. Stories like this are why no one has risen up against him. They fear what will happen if they try. Trady and Obin continue walking towards the junkyard where Elvi told them a small group of rebels would be. Obin is still skeptical of everything. “Hey. I was thinking. How do we know this isn’t a trap? Like what if Elvi is a spy for Colt like Serenus is a spy for Idaho? Maybe we are walking into a trap?”

“I don’t think she’s a spy. I got a good vibe from her. I think we can trust her.” responds Trady. “Okay, well maybe she isn’t a spy for Colt, but what if she’s like an agent for this gang and we’re walking into an ambush?” “You worry too much. We’ll be fine. If anything happens, we know how to defend ourselves and we have no other leads. This is the best place for us to start.” They finally reach the junkyard. The sign says Junk Junction. The gated entrance is closed. Trady pushes an intercom button he spots and speaks into it. “Hello. Is anyone there? We were sent by Elvi. She said you could possibly help us.” The intercom voice replies “We don’t know anyone named Elvi. You have the wrong place.” “Oh. Sorry. The is “Haka”.” There is a moment of silence, then the gated entrance opens. A beautiful lady wearing a grass skirt is standing alone. She starts to perform a traditional Hawaiian hula dance. Trady and Obin are confused by what they are seeing. They’ve never been greeted this way. The dancing lady introduces herself. “Hello. My name is Eden. Welcome to our junkyard. How may we assist you today?” Obin is near mesmerized by Eden’s dancing. He is still able to muster complete sentences though. “Hi Eden. Ummm....We were told to come here by an old lady in town named Elvi. She said to say the “Haka”.” “Yes. Your was accepted. How may we be of service to you though?” Trady senses Obin is a little distracted, so he intervenes. “We want to take down Colt. We were told a small group of rebels was using this junkyard as their base. We wanted to meet everyone, forces, and get to work on taking down Colt.” “Why would you want to take down Colt? He is the leader of Hawaii. He gives

us food rations and allows us to operate our shops. Without him we could be invaded or have a truly evil ruler take over.” “He is a truly evil ruler. He has to be stopped. He has turned the beautiful state of Hawaii into a wasteland. Have you walked around town recently? People are poor. People are sad. People are hungry. If we take down Colt, everyone could flourish again and things could go back to the way they once were. It’s time for a change and we need your help.” Eden stops dancing all of a sudden and her voice changes to a more serious tone. “I ire your ion. Your awareness could use some work though. You were so distracted by my dancing that you didn’t notice the three men behind you. We could have jumped you at any time had we felt like it.” Trady and Obin turn around. They are surprised. They notice three muscular men standing behind them. The men snuck up on them while they were distracted watching Eden dance. Obin shouts at Trady. “See Trady! I told you this was an ambush!” One of the three muscular men replies, “This isn’t an ambush. We just needed to be prepared in case you two turned out to be with Colt or something.” “We’re not with Colt, but how could you tell we weren’t with Colt?” says Trady. “Anyone who speaks that ionately about wanting to change things is not working with the enemy. Those were words of a true rebel. Welcome to the Junkyard Dogs! Follow us inside and we’ll get you up to speed.” replies the muscular man. Everyone walks inside an office building inside the junkyard. It’s Trady, Obin, Eden, and the three muscular men. After everyone is situated one of the muscular men points out the different of the group. “I suppose I should introduce you to all of us first. I’m Ed. That’s Edward. That’s Eddy. And Eden has already introduced herself. Do you see the whole pattern thing we’re going for? Cool right? Which of you wants to be Edwin and Eduardo?”

“No thank you. We’ll go by our normal names. My name is Trady and this is Obin. We’re from Idaho.” Everyone is shocked to hear Trady and Obin are from Idaho. They’ve never met someone from another state. Eddy jumps with excitement. “Whoa! Idaho? Are you serious? You came here all the way from Idaho? You two must be pretty strong. You must have powers.” “Yeah. I can summon energy forms of animals and Obin can fly.” “That is so cool! The Junkyard Dogs finally have some with powers.” “Wait a second. Hold on. You four don’t have any powers? Well, this isn’t good. We heard you all have been fighting against the police and Colt’s gang. How did you do that with no powers? Did we go to the wrong junkyard?” says Trady. “No. You didn’t go to the wrong junkyard. We’re very good at planning, we’re creative, we’re prepared, and we get lucky from time-to-time.” says Edward. Ed adds “Yeah, Colt is dangerous and scary. He also has control of the police and his own personal gang of warriors to do his bidding for him, but we’re willing to stand against Colt, even without powers.” Trady and Obin are both shocked and impressed at the same time. They are worried about how much help the Junkyard Dogs will be, but also optimistic since they’ve survived as long as they have. Obin decides to dig for some more information. He wants to be as prepared as possible. “How many warriors does Colt have?” “He has four. They are really strong too. They all use elemental powers. Earth, wind, fire, and water.” replies Eden. “We’ve trained against and fought plenty of elemental s, so we should be able to do fine against them. So, what’s your plan for taking down Colt?” says Trady. “We’ve had a plan in place for a while, but we’ve lacked the man power to put it into action. With you two here now though, we can finally get the ball rolling.”

Ed adds on “So here’s our plan. We first need to break into the University’s science and technology department. They have a frequency disrupter. That will allow us to hack the police frequencies and send them all to some far-off location. After doing that, we can break into Colt’s palace, take out his gang of warriors, and then take him out.” “How do you plan on fighting against Colt and his gang without any powers?” asks Obin. “We have weapons, armor, and shields. We’ve been able to hold our own against them in small bursts. I think the best way to go about this is we distract the gang and you two take out Colt.” says Edward. Trady is intrigued by their plan. “That could work. We just need that frequency disrupter to make sure police reinforcements don’t ruin the plan. When were you all planning on stealing that?” “Well, actually, I think you two should do that. Consider this a test to see if you’re ready for Colt. It would be really bad if we had everything in place just to learn you two couldn’t actually fight and hold your own.” says a snarky Eden. Eddy comes to their defense though. “Eden. They are from Idaho though. All they’ve done their whole life is train and study magic. No one has even attempted to invade Idaho in 50 years due to how strong everyone is.” Trady is up to the challenge though. “No. No. It’s okay. We’ll do this. We’ll prove ourselves. We’ll do it tonight.” “Okay. Perfect. Well, help yourselves to our food, drinks, supplies, and beds. Be ready for tonight. This is the most important part of our plan.” says Eden. Trady and Obin decide to relax for a little bit before their mission. They get some food in them, check their equipment, and map out how to get to the University. They are still nervous even after all they have been through, but this is a different kind of nervousness they are experiencing. They are no longer nervous about the unknown or possibly getting hurt, they are nervous about failing. They’ve come so far already and are so close to battling their first dictator. Their goal is in sight and they don’t want to lose. Once it gets dark Trady and Obin walk up to the university. As they get closer,

they hide behind a bush to devise a plan now that they have an actual view of the university. “I’ve never broken into a building before or stolen anything. I have no idea what I’m doing here.” says Obin. “Yeah. Me either. I thought we’d be doing more fighting, not all of this spy stuff. This is Serenus work.” replies Trady. “Let’s think about this rationally. We can’t use the front or back door, because there will probably be cameras and security, so that leaves entering from underneath or from above.” “I can’t believe you’re the rational one right now. I was sure you were going to recommend dres and sneaking in...Wait... That was plan B wasn’t it?” “Yup, that was plan B.” says Obin. “Okay, well I don’t know the sewer system or if anything even runs underneath the university, so let’s try entering from above. Can you fly up to see if there is an opening?” Obin flies into the air above the university. He spots a door and a nearby ladder. He flies back down to give the news to Trady. “Okay, we’re in luck. There looks to be a door on top of the university. There is also a ladder nearby, so we both can get up there. I’ll see ya up there. Later!” Obin flies off immediately. Trady leaves the bush and sneaks around the side of the university to start climbing the ladder. As he’s climbing, Obin lands on top of the university. He tries the door, but it’s locked. He’s now waiting on Trady. He’s getting bored though. He walks over to the side of the building where the ladder is to check on his friend. Trady is still climbing the ladder to the top of the university. It is a long climb. Trady eventually gets to the top of the university. Obin blasts open the door. Him and Trady enter. They have to walk down multiple flights of stairs. “Uh oh. Trady, I forgot what floor we need to go to. Was it the thirteenth or fourteenth floor?”

“I thought it was the thirteenth floor, but now that you mention that you forgot, I’m questioning myself. I guess we have to check both now. I can’t believe your forgetfulness has mixed me up. We’ll go to the fourteenth floor first.” Trady and Obin eventually get to the fourteenth floor and open a door to start walking around. The university kind of looks like theirs. It reminds them of home a little bit. “I wish there was like a sign that said Science and Technology, so I could tell if we were on the right floor or not.” says Obin. “Come one, that would make it too easy for us. Where is your sense of adventure?” replies Trady. “Don’t you start with me. By now you should know about my sense of adventure.” Trady senses something is off and stops walking and motions for Obin to do the same. He’s concerned about their situation. “Hold on a second Obin. Stop walking. Look around a little bit. I don’t see any alarm systems or cameras.” “Yeah. I don’t either. That’s strange. Do you think the rebels set us up? Is this a trap?” says Obin. “No. Elvi believes in them and she can read minds. It’s just weird right? Let’s keep looking around.” Trady and Obin keep looking around. They see all kinds of gadgets. None are what they are looking for though. They eventually come across a university directory that shows where they are. “Hey Trady! Here is a directory. It says this floor is for Research and Development. Below us is the thirteenth floor. That’s Science and Technology.” “Cool. Let’s get back to the stairwell and go down a floor.” “I think we should explore a little. Around the corner is a magic robotics division.” says Obin.

“No. While that does sound cool. We don’t have time to waste. We’re on a mission here. After we beat Colt, we can come back and check out the magic robot. Let’s go.” “Now who’s the one without a sense of adventure?” says Obin sarcastically. Trady and Obin walk back over to the staircase. They open the door and go down to the thirteenth floor. From there they start walking around. Obin is a little weary about being on the thirteenth floor. “Don’t a lot of buildings not have a thirteenth floor because it’s bad luck?” “Great. Thanks for reminding me. Now I’m going to be thinking about that. Just focus on finding another directory so we can get the frequency disrupter and get out of here.” says Trady. They continue walking around. They eventually find a floor directory. Even after looking at the floor directory Obin is unsure where the frequency disrupter may be. “Hmmm....I’m not sure where this thing might be. I’m guessing it would be in one of these technology departments. Maybe let’s try the prototype area.” Trady and Obin go to the prototype area. Luckily everything is labeled. They quickly spot the frequency disrupter and grab it. It’s a tiny little box with a radius dial on it. They don’t know how it works, but are happy they found it. Obin expresses his happiness with the mission. “Awesome. We got it. This was pretty easy. I don’t know how this mission was a test.” “Quit saying stuff like that. It’s bad luck to point out how easy something is. That’s when things go bad. Let’s just be happy and get out of here.” replies Trady. Trady and Obin walk back to the stairwell and go to the roof. It takes a little bit of time. There are quite a few stairs. Once they open the door to the roof, they see a man, June, standing before them. He has a big robot with him. June is an average looking white male. He’s clean shaven and balding. He

doesn’t appear to be much of a threat. His big robot looks like a shorter version of the Iron Giant from the 1999 movie. Trady and Obin are surprised to see someone waiting on the roof for them. “Darnit Obin. See I told you this would happen.” says Trady. “MAGIC ROBOT!” exclaims Obin. June announces “You two have broken and entered the university and stolen an item that isn’t yours. I can’t let you leave here. Actually, I won’t be doing too much. My robot will be doing the majority of the work. My power is just being able to sense when people are in the vicinity. It’s not very good for fighting, but it is great for security work.” “Not that great. We roamed freely and got what we came for.” replies Obin. “That was by design. I needed to know why you were here and what you were after. Stopping you before now would have left me clueless. Now I know that you came here with a purpose and that you wanted the frequency disrupter. Colt would like to know this.” says June. “I’m assuming now is the part where we fight. Mind telling me what that robot can do first though? We’ve never heard of a magic robot.” asks Trady. June instructs his RoboGuard to attack Trady and Obin. It has the power of electricity. It shoots a bolt at Trady and Obin, but they dodge out of the way. Trady realizes the RoboGuard’s electricity could damage the frequency disrupter. He yells to Obin “One of those shots could short circuit the frequency disrupter. Obin, fly away with it. I’ll handle this thing.” Obin grabs the frequency disrupter from Trady and flies into the air. The RoboGuard hits him with electricity. He starts to fall from the sky. Trady summons an energy bear to catch him though. The RoboGuard keeps shooting electricity at Trady and Obin. They are able to dodge the attacks. Trady recalls his energy bear and summons a pack of energy wolves. They run towards and explode on impact with the RoboGuard. They do no damage though. Trady voices his frustration out loud. “How do we beat a metal magic robot?” June answers the question “I’ll tell you what. Surrender and turn yourself in and

my RoboGuard won’t destroy you.” Trady refuses the offer and summons some energy birds to attack June. The RoboGuard shoots them with electricity before they get to him. June understands what Trady was trying to do and acknowledges it. “Not a bad idea, but taking me out won’t stop my RoboGuard. I’m not controlling him. He’s programed with advance AI to take out whoever he targets.” Obin takes cover behind an air conditioner box. Trady summons an energy lion this time. It takes multiple swipes at the RoboGuard, but does no damage. His frustration is growing. “Really? Still nothing? This is a really bad matchup for me.” “Well, all I can do is hide right now. He’s an aimbot. If I take to the air, I risk getting hit and falling to my death. Fighting up this high is bad for me too.” says Obin. The RoboGuard shoots multiple electricity shots. They both hit Trady. He’s injured. This inspires Obin to put down the frequency disrupter and take to the air. He has to help out his best friend. He blasts June and the RoboGuard. June is knocked out, but the RoboGuard sustains no damage. So far it still looks brand new. You couldn’t even tell it had been in a fight. All of a sudden Obin comes up with a plan though. “Okay Trady. I have an idea. Let’s destroy the ground of the roof and a few levels of the building and bury it underneath everything.” “My summons aren’t working on it and its armor is too thick. Your plan might actually work. Let’s give it a shot.” replies Trady. Trady decides to summon some energy ants that explode underneath the RoboGuard. The top of the roof where the RoboGuard was standing crumbles. It falls down a level. Trady drops a bunch of energy frogs on the robotic guard. They explode, sending the machine lower while burying it even more. It appears to Obin as if the plan was a success. “Okay. I think that’s enough. What do we do with June though? We can’t just

leave him up here. He’ll go straight to Colt when he wakes up.” “Good question. I guess I’ll carry him down the ladder and we’ll take him back to the junkyard. What happened with the frequency disrupter? Did it break when you were hit with electricity?” asks Trady. “No. The bolt only hit me. I’m not too badly hurt though. This armor from Reed is really well made. Obin flies off the roof to the ground and Trady picks up June. He puts him over his shoulder and starts to climb down the nearby ladder. It takes a while, but he eventually reaches the ground safely. From there, the two friends begin walking back to the junkyard. Trady is walking while carrying June over his shoulder and Obin is walking holding the frequency disrupter when out of nowhere, the RoboGuard busts through a middle level of the University. It takes the two by surprise. It strikes Obin with a giant electricity bolt. Obin is knocked out. The RoboGuard keeps firing electricity bolts. Trady puts June on the ground and dodges some bolts fired his way. He quickly jumps behind a big truck he spots. He focuses his energy and starts to summon something. It’s an energy version of Big Foot. It jumps on the RoboGuard and pounds on it. The Big Foot is putting all kinds of holes and dents in the robot. It starts to malfunction, but Big Foot keeps hitting it until it is destroyed. Trady falls to the ground from exhaustion. The Big Foot disappears. He used a lot of energy to summon it. He rests for a moment, but goes to check on his friend once he has enough energy. Obin wakes up shortly after Trady approaches him. “Ouch! That bolt hurt. How long was I out?” says Obin. “Not too long. Just a few minutes. Are you okay to walk? We need to get out of here. I’m sure the police will be here soon.” replies Trady. “I’m fine. Let’s go. I just can’t believe I missed your final summon again. What was it this time?” “Big Foot.” “You summoned Big Foot? I thought you could only do animals?” “I guess Big Foot is real.” says Trady

Trady picks up June, who is still knocked out and Obin grabs the frequency disrupter. They leave the university and head back to the junkyard. They walk gingerly. Battling a magic robot took a lot out of them. Eventually they arrive back at the junkyard. Ed, Eddy, Edward, and Eden all greet them. They can see how banged up the two are. They are curious about if the mission was accomplished and who the ed-out man is. They all have a lot of questions. Eden says “Oh my God! Are you two okay? You look hurt.” Eddy adds “Who’s that guy? Why is he here?” Ed continues “Did you get the frequency disrupter? Were you followed back here?” Trady and Obin weren’t expecting to be bombarded with questions upon their return. They are a little shook by it all. Obin decides to explain everything. “We’re fine. We’re just really beat up and tired. This is the security guard from the University. We need to lock him up until we take down Colt. There was a magic robot and Big Foot and we destroyed a lot of the University and I’m really sleepy. I’m gonna get some rest.” Obin es out. He falls to the floor and everyone is concerned. They can see that he’s banged up, but they didn’t know the extent of the damage to him. “It’s alright. We’ll take care of him. I’ll take the security guard to a holding cell we’ve put together. Eden, please watch after Obin okay?” says Edward. “I’m sure he’ll be fine. We both just need to rest and recover. That was a tough mission. We got the frequency disrupter though, so YAY!” says an exhausted Trady. After speaking Trady es out as well. All of the Junkyard Dogs can see how tough the mission must have been and how much it took out of the two young friends. Ed decides to take charge of the situation. “Alright team. Let’s take care of these two. It’s almost time for the big showdown with Colt. We’ll need Trady and Obin to be at one hundred percent if we’re going to succeed. Care for them like they’re family.”

The Junkyard Dogs spring into action. They take Trady and Obin to some beds and grab some first aid kits. They clean and bandage their wounds. They grab some water and snacks for when they wake up and put them next to their beds. On top of taking care of Trady and Obin, they also care for June. They put him in a makeshift holding cell. They clean and bandage his wound as well. They use some smelling salts to wake up him and make sure he is alright. He doesn’t appear too injured. As Trady is sleeping, a vision comes to him. In this vision he is trapped in a room full of mirrors. All of the mirrors distort his image. Some make him look tall, some make him look short, some make him like heavy, and some make him look skinny. None of the mirrors are a true reflection of him though and his face is blurry everywhere he looks. Eventually, the vision es and Trady’s sleep becomes normal. After a while Trady wakes up. He sees Obin is still asleep. Ed, Eddy, Edward, and Eden are all working around the office. Eden greets him “Oh hey! Good morning. You’re finally awake.” “Finally awake?” asks Trady. “Yeah. You two have been asleep for three days straight. We didn’t want to wake you. We know it takes magic s longer to recover.” “Three days! Oh man. I must have been really tired. We’ve been going pretty hard since we left Idaho. I guess our bodies needed some time to recover.” Obin starts to wake up as well. Trady is happy that his friend is doing well. Since leaving Idaho was his idea, he feels responsible for Obin’s safety. Seeing him wake up lets him know that everything is okay. “Oh man. I slept like a baby. I needed that.” says Obin. “It’s been three days.” replies Trady. Obin just shrugs his shoulders. He feels fully recovered and newly energized. Now that both of them are awake, Trady tells everyone to meet him in the office. Everyone follows his lead. He’s the first to speak. “Thank you for taking care of us while we were out of commission. We did

some damage to the university. Is anyone aware of us yet?” “No. Authorities are theorizing that a prototype may have exploded or that the robotic guard may have malfunctioned. They don’t suspect foul play. There is a missing person’s case open for June though.” says Ed. “Okay. Now that we are healed, it’s time to attack Colt and take back Hawaii. What should our plan be?” Edward speaks up “We should do it tonight. We recorded a fake police distress signal and re-wired the frequency disrupter, so we can broadcast on all police signals and then disrupt the frequencies, so no one can communicate afterwards.” Eddy adds “Yup, so we’ll call all available police officers away from the city and say an officer has been taken hostage. Then we’ll storm Colt’s palace.” “From there, we will battle against Colt’s gang and you two can take out Colt. After that, we will use the re-wired frequency disrupter to broadcast to all available signals that he’s been defeated and that we are going to change Hawaii back to a democracy.” says Eden. “I like it. Sounds like a plan. Let’s get geared up and prepared. We launch our plan tonight at 7:00pm.” says Obin. Everyone disperses to get ready. They check their gear, make sure their armor and weapons are good, double check the re-wired frequency disrupter, and grab supplies they will need. Obin decides to load his backpack with some magic restraints. He also declares to everyone that he will be in charge of the frequency disrupter once the fighting starts. Everyone knows how important this mission is. They only have one shot to take back Hawaii. They can’t fail. Once they are ready and it’s close to 7:00pm they head to Colt’s palace. Colt’s palace used to be called the Iolani Palace. It is huge and majestic looking. You can tell that royalty used to live there. Everyone gets in place. They are all hiding behind giant bushes and trees. Eden turns on the re-wired frequency disrupter. First it broadcasts a signal to all police personal. “Attention all police personal. There is a hostage situation in Moanalua. Please report to the Moanalua Golf Club for further instructions. All police personal is

required. Assistance is needed ASAP. Please report as fast as you can. Multiple officers have been taken hostage.” says the broadcast. After the broadcast goes out, the Junkyard Dogs wait. They start to hear police sirens blaring from all over the city. Every officer is listening to the broadcast. They are all speeding to Moanalua. Once they can no longer hear police sirens, they make the frequency disrupter distort everything for a 20-mile radius. If the police try to each other, they won’t be able to. If Colt or his gang try to get in touch with the police, they won’t be able to either. So far everything is working. The next step is to draw out Colt and his gang. Ed starts to throw grenades at the front door of the palace. They explode and blow open a giant hole. It works. Out come the four warriors of Colt’s gang; Earth, Wind, Fire, and Water. No one knows their real names, so they always call them by their powers. Eddy gets their attention by throwing a molotov cocktail. The front porch to the palace is on fire. Eddy screams “Come get us. We’re ending this tonight. Revolution!” The rest of the Junkyard Dogs scream in unison and begin to do battle with the warriors. They continue to throw explosives to distract them. While the warrior’s attention is focused on the Junkyard Dogs, Trady and Obin sneak behind them and enter the palace through the giant hole in the wall. They waste no time looking for Colt. “Colt, we’re here to take you down. Come fight us.” yells Trady. They hear no response. They continue walking around the palace until they come to what looks like a throne room. There is a giant chair in the middle of a wide-open room. Colt is sitting in the chair. He says nothing. “Colt, we’re here to end your reign. It’s over. Surrender.” says Trady. Colt finally decides to speak. “I am Hawaii’s King. I am Hawaii’s ruler. I will not surrender. If you want my reign to be over, you’ll have to kill me.” Trady is a nervous by his words. He can sense how serious he is. He may have to really kill him if he wants to take back Hawaii. He made a promise to himself that he wouldn’t kill anyone though. He’s not sure he could actually force

himself to do it if he must. Obin can feel what his best friend is thinking. He gets him to refocus. “Come on Trady. Focus! Let’s just worry about winning the battle first. Let’s go.” Obin throws his backpack to the side and flies into the air to start blasting Colt. He dodges the blasts though. He quickly turns his body into a diamond. Trady summons an energy tiger to attack him, but Colts swats it away with a powerful backhand. Obin continues to shoot from above. The shots are having no effect on Colt though. It’s as if he doesn’t even acknowledge someone is trying to hurt him. Trady goes for something bigger this time. He summons an energy elephant. The energy elephant swings its trunk at Colt, but it does nothing. When the summon tries it again, Colt grabs the trunk and swings it into a wall. It disappears. Trady and Obin are used to being down in fights early, but this time feels different. Colt is barely acknowledging their existence. They don’t know how to do damage against him or wear him down. Obin tries a physical attack. He speeds towards Colt ready to punch him. Colt is expecting it though. He grabs Obin by the neck and throws him down. Trady tries another large animal. He summons an energy hippopotamus. It charges at Colt, but he stops it in its tracks. He makes it disappear with a mighty hammer fist punch. Obin recovers and flies over to Trady. “We could really use one of your more powerful creations right now.” Obin says. “I’m not sure what would even work right now. He seems invincible. Any crazy outside the box ideas?” Colt slowly walks towards Trady and Obin. It’s as if a Terminator was approaching them. Obin keeps using his blasters, but they are useless. Trady summons some energy ants to act as mines, but Colt walks right through the explosions. Colt nearly repeats what he said earlier “I am Hawaii’s Emperor. I am Hawaii’s Dictator. I will not stop. If you want my reign to be over, you’ll have to kill me.” Colt speeds up and catches Trady with a punch. Trady is knocked back a few feet. It feels like he was hit by a truck. Obin flies into the air to avoid being hit

too. Colt grabs Trady by his shirt. He punches him over and over again. Each one hurts more than the last. The armor is reducing some of the impact from Colt’s blows, but it can’t sustain the damage it’s taking. It’s starting to lose its effectiveness. While Colt continues to punch Trady, Obin continues to blast him from above. It does nothing though. Obin isn’t sure how to help his friend. He feels powerless. Trady is taking a beating. His face is starting to get battered and bruised. He can’t defend himself or focus long enough to summon anything. Colt has a sick smile on his face as he continues to punch him. Obin flies down and attempts to pull Colt off of his friend. It’s no good though. He’s not strong enough. Colt isn’t even acknowledging his existence. Obin is overcome with emotion. Part of him is on the verge of crying, while another part of him is on the verge of exploding. He jogs a few feet back. He’s going to try to fly as fast as he can into Colt to knock him off of Trady. He flies into the air. As Obin rises into the air, he feels a strange energy. It starts to take over his whole body. He feels stronger and faster. It’s as if he’s in a video game and he’s leveled up. He flies towards Colt. He going faster than he’s ever gone before. He collides into Colt’s back and sends him rolling off of Trady. Obin is amazed by his new power. He’s glowing with energy. Colt rises to his feet and finally acknowledges him. He shoots him a death stare. He’s shocked and upset that Obin stopped him. He starts to walk towards him. He stops after a few steps though. His diamond exterior starts to crack. Everyone is shocked, especially Colt. He’s never been hurt before. He didn’t even know it was possible. Obin doesn’t waste any time once he sees cracks form in Colt’s diamond exterior. Since he is still powered up, he speeds towards Colt again. He collides with him head-on. The hit really does some damage this time. Colt’s powers start to flicker. Trady, still conscious, notices this and musters all of his remaining energy. He summons an energy anaconda. It wraps itself around Colt and begins exploding. The force puts Colt down for good. Trady and Obin have won. Obin runs over to immediately put some magic restraints on Colt. He then rushes over to check on his friend. “Trady are you okay?”

“I’m okay. I’m just pretty banged up and pretty drained right now.” Trady replies. “It’s over. We won! We did it!” “Not yet. The Junkyard Dogs are still fighting. We need to find the communications room and let everyone know that Colt is defeated.” Obin helps Trady off the ground and grabs his backpack. They begin searching for the communications room. The palace is huge and they don’t know the layout of the inside of it. They open a lot of doors, but no luck. It takes a little bit of time, but eventually they find the communications room. They hook up the frequency disrupter and begin to broadcast to all available signals. “Hello. This is Trady Six and Obin Gray. This message is for all citizens of the great state of Hawaii. We are broadcasting from Colt’s palace. We have defeated him. Hawaii is free. I repeat, Colt is defeated and in magic restraints. Hawaii is free. You are all free now.” After broadcasting, they hear a faint noise coming from outside. They can’t quite make it out. They leave the communications room and walk towards the entrance of the palace. The noise is a lot clearer. They hear people cheering. The entire city of Honolulu is cheering Colt’s defeat. Many people have left their homes and come to the palace to celebrate. They are chanting “FREE! FREE! FREE!” in unison. Trady and Obin can see that they made the right decision coming to Hawaii. They start looking for the Junkyard Dogs. They want to make sure their friends are okay. They spot them. The Junkyard Dogs are banged up, but look to be safe. They were able to hold off Earth, Wind, Fire, and Water. Colt’s warriors are now in magic restraints and not resisting. Trady and Obin rush over to their friends. “Hey, are you all safe? Are you all alright?” says Trady. “We did it! Look around you. We did it! Hawaii is free.” replies Eden. Ed adds “Yeah, we’re all safe. We’re fine. A little sore, but no major injuries.” Eddy is jumping up and down with joy. “We beat Earth, Wind, Fire, Water, and Colt. It’s time to celebrate. This is a good time in Hawaii’s history.”

“The war is over, but there are still battles ahead of us. We need to elect a new leader for Hawaii and we still need to defeat those who are loyal to Colt. Today is a huge win, but it’s not entirely over yet.” says Edward. “I have an idea about that. I was thinking we should get Elvi involved. Since she can read minds, she will be able to tell who really wants to help Hawaii and who is loyal to Colt. She could be a huge asset moving forward.” responds Trady. “That’s a great idea Trady. Elvi’s magic power would be perfect for helping Hawaii. We’ll get in touch with her right away.” says Ed. “So, what’s next for you two?” asks Eden. “We need to take some time to rest and recover, but after that we need to move on to Alaska. We need to free all of the states from dictators. We want to unite the states again.” says Trady. “Well, let’s worry about that tomorrow. Right now, we need to celebrate our victory. Come on. Let’s go be with the people. We’re free!” The Junkyard Dogs, Trady, and Obin move Earth, Wind, Fire, and Water into the palace prison cells and go mingle with the growing crowd of Hawaiian citizens. Everyone is elated. Everyone is excited for what the future holds. They haven’t had a real democracy is so long. Once the celebrating dies down Trady and Obin decide to sleep at the palace. They ask the Junkyard Dogs to watch over them in case their sleep lasts multiple days. During Trady’s sleep, a vision comes to him. It’s the opposite of the falling vision he once had. This time he is rising continuously. He rises up and sees all of Idaho. He rises up and sees all of the states. He rises up and sees Earth. He rises up and sees the galaxy. Then he stops. He’s just floating. He stays in this position for a while. Eventually, the vision es and Trady’s sleep becomes normal. He wakes up shortly after. He smells food and hears lots of chatter. Trady goes to see what it is all about. He enters the dining room and sees the Junkyard Dogs and Obin sitting around a giant table eating food. “Hey Trady. You’re awake. That’s great timing.” says Obin. “Yeah, you two weren’t out long this time. Only one day. You’re right in time for

breakfast.” says Ed. “How do you feel? Come sit down and have some food. People have been bringing us meals the last couple of days as a “thank you”.” says Eddy. Trady approaches the table and sits down next to Obin. He grabs a plate and looks over the food selection. Everything looks so tasty. He decides to grab some pancakes, eggs, bacon, sausage, and toast. “I’m actually feeling really well. Once we’re done eating, we need to call our friends back in Idaho, check in, and see what the plan for Alaska is.” says Trady. He continues “So how did the battle against Earth, Wind, Fire, and Water go down?” “It was tough. Let me tell you what happened.” says Eden. As everyone is eating Eden tells Trady and Obin about the battle. “After you two snuck into the palace, we all started throwing every grenade we had. Some would come close to hitting the warriors, while they would use their magic to stop the others. Once we were out of grenades, we started throwing molotov cocktails to create fire everywhere. We really just wanted to distract them, so they couldn’t attack us. Water put those out pretty quickly. We used the trees as cover and blocked what attacks we could with our shields. They weren’t being too aggressive. I don’t think they were very afraid of us since we’ve run into a bunch of times before. We had a few tranquilizer darts, but our aim wasn’t very good. None of them hit. After they started pressuring us, we used some strategic movement to surround them. From there, we threw some tear gas to get their attention and then some sleeping gas to knock them out. After that we put them in magic restraints.” Obin is impressed. “Wow! You four work really well together. You really were well prepared. That’s an awesome strategy you had.” “Thanks. What happened with you two? How did you beat Colt?” Trady and Obin go into detail about how they defeated Colt. Everyone is amazed. They are especially impressed with how Obin unlocked a new version of his powers. After telling the story of how they beat Colt and finishing breakfast, Trady and Obin go to the communications room to call everyone in

Idaho. They are able to get a hold of Professor Alstein. “Kids! It’s so great to hear from you. How are you doing?” “We’re good. We called to let you know our mission was a success. Hawaii is free. There is still some work to be done here, but Colt has been defeated and is in jail.” says Trady. “That’s great news. We all knew you could do it. We were so confident in you that we’ve had Serenus waiting nearby for when you are ready to go to Alaska.” “Really? You knew we’d win? You had that much faith in us? That makes us feel so good. I don’t know about Trady, but I’ve been nervous this whole time. Of course, I haven’t wanted to get hurt and fail, but I also haven’t wanted to let Idaho down.” Says Obin. “Well get ready to leave. Serenus will be waiting where she dropped you off at. She’ll have all of the details you need to know about Alaska and their dictator Shill.” Trady, Obin, and Professor Alstein say their goodbyes to each other and Trady and Obin go deliver the news of their departure to the Junkyard Dogs. “Alright everyone. Looks like the time has come for us to leave. We have a friend waiting at sea for us. She’ll be taking us to Alaska. I just want to say goodbye and thank you for everything. We wouldn’t have been able to accomplish any of this without you. Please take good care of Hawaii while we are gone.” says Trady. Everyone is sad Trady and Obin are leaving. They all exchange hugs and goodbyes. Ed leaves the friends with some final words. “Freedom was achieved because of you two. Thank you for your bravery and courage. We will continue to fight here in your honor. Hawaii will now forever be a beacon of hope and freedom. Our docks and airports are forever open to you both. Please be safe and good luck on your journey. We all believe in you.” After those words, Trady and Obin leave the palace. There is still a giant hole in the front entrance. They walk back to the ship yard where Serenus originally dropped them off at. They are walking with pride. They are proud of the freedom

they’ve helped Hawaii obtain. They look around and see Serenus’ black ship. As they are walking through the ship yard, they sport two guards. They both immediately get defensive, but the guards just give a friendly wave. It’s at this point that Trady and Obin both feel that things have truly changed for the better in Hawaii. They board Serenus’ ship and start to sail away. As they begin to sail to Alaska they look back at the beautiful scenery of Hawaii. They realize they have a long journey ahead of them. They will have to fight many more battles and defeat many more dictators. To give people freedom and democracy though, the long road ahead of them will be worth it. For now, though, it’s on to Alaska.

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To Be Continued: Alaska.