//------------------------------// // Future Story: Superheroes PT1 // Story: Flash Sentry One-Shots // by Banshee531 //------------------------------// "A wise man once said, that we are the ground. Our choices, the wind that blows. And destiny, a leaf falling from a tree. Every choice that's made, makes the wind shift and blows that leaf in a different direction. Eventually, the leaf lands on the ground. In the same way, the choice of every living thing alters the course of destiny. Your destiny might lead to you being a doctor, or a crossing guard, or a teacher. Destiny is not set in stone, but shaped by the choices you and everyone else makes. Some destinies are simple and easy, while some require great strength and will to complete. But some destinies...some are like nothing you can possibly imagine. And my destiny was one of those, no matter how much I didn't want it." The vast cosmos No light, no sound, no air. There was nothing there, except a ship. A black ship with red streaks covering it. The ship was decked out for battle, with guns sticking out of every side. The front was shaped like a giant V with a large lance-like weapon on the end. Below it was a series of long thin tubes and the back had a pair of squares that were emitting light. Inside the main bridge of the ship, multiple humanoid robots could be seen running around and working at consoles of on wiring sticking out of holes in the floor and walls. The only biological creature in the room was sitting in a throne in the very center of the bridge. This creature was humanoid with black scaly skin with red spots here and there. He wore a black sleeveless shirt and baggy pants. He was bold with bright red eyes and two large wavy horns above each eye that ended in a Y shape. "Report!" He growled out, one of the robots moving over to him. "Master Darklight," it said in a robotic manner. "All sensors indicate the opening will appear here." "Good," he smiled as he looked at the screen. All it was showing was space, nothing but stars filling it. "Finally, I will have what should have been mine a long time ago." Then it happened. In the middle of the screen, a spark of blue lightning suddenly appeared. It was then followed by another one, then another and another until they blended together into one large discharge. And after several seconds, the discharge exploded to form a whirling vortex of blue energy with the lightning sparking around the edge. "At last," Darklight turned to a robot. "Prepare for extraction." The robots nodded and turned to their stations, ready to do as they were ordered. But before anyone could do anything, the entire ship jerked as a loud boom and alarms filled their ears. "Report?" A robot turned to him, "we are under attack." "Thank you captain obvious! On-screen!" The screen changed to show the image of a much smaller jet-like ship flying around the larger one, firing its laser and causing several explosions. "Magna Guardians," he growled. "Return fire!" The robots did so, the larger ship's weapons turning to point at the smaller one before shooting. But the jet easily managed to outmaneuver the lasers while hitting the bigger target with its own. But as they traded blows, the vortex's sparking became more constant. This did not go unnoticed. "Master Darklight," the alien turned to the robot. "Sensors indicate the portal will close in fifteen seconds." "I will not be denied!" Darklight stood up. "Get us to the portal! Ignore the other ship!" The larger vessel flew forwards, the light coming from the back squares glowing brighter. The smaller ship continued to chase after it while firing, but Darklight didn't seem to even remember it was there. The two ships grew closer and closer to the portal. But as they got within only a few hundred feet of it, the vortex gave our one last mighty discharge before completely imploding. "NOOOOO!" Darklight screamed, it taking everything he had not to damage something in his rage. And as he was about to lose it, another beep filled the room. "Report!" "Master," a robot typed away at a console, "sensors indicate an object was propelled from the portal before it closed." "On screen!" The screen showed the area to portal had previously bee, with a small speck of blue light up the middle. "Magnify!" That area of the screen zoomed in until the image showed what the speck was. "A meteor?" Floating through space at incredible speeds, a small chunk of rock could be seen. And from it sparked the same blue lightning as the portal. "Scans indicate it is basic rock, not native to the MagnaZone. Theory indicates that it fell into another portal and has been absorbing MagnaForce. A MagnaForce core has formed within it. Unstable and likely to explode soon." "Not if I get it first," Darklight growled. But before he could order them to go after it, the other ship shot passed and headed for the meteor. "After him!" The larger ship flew forward, "charge the forward lance." The front-most weapon began to spark with lightning, ready to blast the smaller ship to kingdom come. But before it could fire, the smaller ship launched a torpedo made of light out of its back. The torpedo flew towards the larger ship before Darklight could react, hitting the forward lance and causing a chain reaction. KABOOM! The entire front half of the ship exploded, including the bridge. The explosion pushed the ship backward as the light cut out, the vessel dead in the water. The smaller ship continued to fly towards the meteor, but the bigger one wasn't done yet. Its front weapons fired a blast right at the smaller ship, which saw it and quickly shifted out of the way. Doing so caused the blast to hit the meteor instead, causing it to mostly explode. But a much smaller junk still remained, continuing to fall through space. But something else happened. The energy from the blast seemed to mix with the energy around the meteor, causing a strange reaction. A cone of the energy began to form around meteor, appearing to cause the space around it to glitch and warp. Then, as the ship was inches away from it, there was a bright flash and the meteor vanished. The little ship pulled itself to a stop, the pilot scanning the area but finding no trace. One could only wonder where it had ended up and who's hands it would fall into. Canterlot City. The early morning sun beamed down onto the city, as many people were beginning to awaken for the start of the day. Said city was quite the metropolis, which was split into two parts. The first was the more city-like district, with hundreds of towering skyscrapers, stadiums, concert halls, and a giant harbour built into the side of a giant river that lead to an estuary and then the ocean. Then there was the suburban district, where many quaint houses were located along with parks, small establishments, and the several high credited schools. On the edge of the suburban city was a well-known farm known as Sweet Apple Acres, with multiple fields that eventually lead to a large woodland. And in the opposite corner of the city, there was a junkyard filled with many different vehicles. And it was the city area of Canterlot that our scene begins, within a three-bedroom apartment building. Inside one of the rooms, the sole inhabitant was fast asleep. He was a teenage boy of around sixteen, with yellow-orange skin and dark blue hair. His room was plastered with posters of different rock bands and in the corner of his room was a guitar case. The teen looked happy as he dozed there, but that happiness was soon shattered by the sound of his alarm. "Grah," he moaned before rolling over to slap his hand down on it. After a few more seconds, he got up and stretched. Five minutes later, he was exiting his room dressed in with a white shirt under a black jacket with blue jeans. The teen poured himself some cereal and enjoyed his breakfast until the phone suddenly began to ring. "Answer," he said out loud before the home system answered it. "Brad?" He instantly knew that voice. It was his mother, Michelle Sengood. "Hey mom," the boy named Brad replied. "Let me guess, you and dad left something here?" His mother laughed in response. "You dad left the X-ray camera in our office. Do you think you could bring it to us after school?" "No prob. X-ray camera. That's the blue one, right? "Red one." "Right. Well, I'll see you later." "Later hun." The phone beeped as the call was cut, Brad finishing his breakfast and washing his bowl before heading into his parents office. The room had many bookshelves, computers, files and different scientific equipment in it. On the desk were a bunch of cameras. He grabbed the blue one and headed back out to the living room, where his backpack was sitting. Once he made sure he had everything, he headed out of the apartment and rode the elevator down to the parking garage. He whistled while walking over to his family's lot, unlocking it and rolling it up to reveal a black camaro. Three minutes later, that car drove out of the garage and onto the busy street. Brad tuned his radio to his favourite station before turning on the inbuilt phone. "Call Micro." The phone rang for several seconds until it was finally picked up. "Morning Bradly!" A voice dripping with intellect replied, "I assume you're calling to inform me you're on your way." "You know it. Be there in five." "I'll be waiting." The call ended as Brad continued to drive, eventually arriving infront of another apartment building. And sending infront of it was a purple-skinned teen wearing black glasses, a yellow and green jumper with white suspenders holding up grey pants. This was one of Flash's best friends: Micheal Chambers, or Micro Chips as almost everyone called him. "You're late," he announced as Brad pulled up infront of him. "That took five minutes, twelve seconds." "Sorry," Brad laughed, "traffic." Micro got in and they pulled away, the bespectacled teen taking out his phone. "I hope Sandalwood hasn't gotten lost in zen mode again." On the roof of another apartment building, a beautiful garden had been built atop it. There were several potted plants, an indoor water fountain and a circle of rocks with sand inside of it. In the middle of the garden was a stone bench, where a teenage boy in the lotus position. He had cream-coloured skin and green hair, wearing a red shirt under a brown leather vest, blue jeans and a beanie hat. He let out a hum as he tried to become one with the universe, letting his mind fly free. But before he could do it again, his phone rang and he cracked an eye open to stare down at it. Seeing Micro's name on the screen, he stood up and answered it. "What's up homey?" Santiago Woods asked as he headed for the door. "Sandalwood, you'd better be ready when he come to pick you up in exactly seven minutes and twenty-four seconds." "Don't worry little buddy, I'll be there. You know, all that careful planning can't be good for your aura." "My aura's fine. Just be there or we're leaving you behind." Micro hung up as Sandal descended the stairway, eventually arriving at the front of the building to find Micro leaning against Brad's car. "You're twenty seconds later." "Thought you said you were gonna leave without me?" Micro frowned before glancing at Brad, who was patting his hands against the wheel to the music. "He's too nice sometimes." Sandal laughed and climbed into the back while Micro got back in, Brad beginning the drive to school. "Would it kill you to be on time for once?" "I don't know," Sandal shrugged. "Never been on time, so it might. So it's probably a good idea to not start." "That doesn't make any sense." "It makes total sense. Brad rolled his eyes at the two of them, knowing an argument was about to start. "Remind me again why I hang out with you two?" Micro laughed, "our personality differences are what make us such a good team. If we were all the same, we wouldn't be perfectly balanced. But in our current forms, we create equilibrium." The look on Brad and Sandal's face showed they didn't understand a word he was saying, Sandal turning to Brad. "There's always gonna be different types of people in a group." He reached into his backpack and pulled out several comics, showing them to Brad. "Look at the Justice Legion and Revengers. They're all completely different from one another, but they always manage to save the universe somehow." "As unconventional as his analogy is, Sandalwood is correct. Different skills, personalities and ways of combating issues has more chance of succeeding against an obstacle that might get in the way." Brad rolled his eyes. "Cute theory guys, but there's no such thing as superheroes. We live in the real world." Micro and Sandal rolled their eyes. "Do you ever let your imagination free?" "Only when I'm writing songs. Other than that, it's locked up tight so it doesn't run wild." This got a laugh from his friends as they left the metropolis sector, heading into the suburban section of Canterlot. As they did, their destination came into view. Canterlot High was stationed on the very edge of the suburban sector, a stones throw away from the city, making it the perfect place for a school that students from both sections could get to without issue. As Brad pulled into the parking lot, he looked out the window and saw many students walking around the grounds. Despite knowing all of them in a semi-personal manor, he only knew a few of their names. That was mainly because most students at CHS went by nicknames that everybody called them by. Brad was one of the few people in the school who didn't have one, mainly due to no name appearing to be a good fit for him. Other then him and a select few, everyone was known by their nicknames and those were the names Brad knew everyone he wasn't super close to by. They parked up and got on, moving towards the front of the school and spotting a group Brad knew all too well. The Rainbooms were a group of girls that formed the best band in all of CHS, though only because the band Brad had formed broke up after freshmen year due to his bandmate's parents being relocated. And like almost everyone else in school, they had their own nicknames due to their interests. The quote-unquote leader of the group was Riana Dawson, known as Rainbow Dash due to her rainbow-coloured hair and love of physical activity. There was also Jacqueline Orchard, a blond girl wearing a stetson whose family ran Sweet Apple Acres. This had lead to her earning the nickname, Applejack. Rachel Jewels was the most elegant of the group, always wearing some kind of fashionable clothing that she'd likely made herself. She had come to be known as Rarity, due to her love of one of a kind accessories and fashions. Then there was the group's wild child, Diane Pie. Due to her pink skin and puffy pink hair, she'd earned the nickname Pinkie and absolutely loved it. And in stark contrast to Pinkie was Felicity Shyer, known as Fluttershy due to her love of butterfly patterned clothing and her introverted nature. And last but not least was Summer Simpson, known as Sunset Shimmer and Brad's ex-girlfriend. Sunset had moved to Canterlot last year and it had been love at first sight for Brad when he met her, leading to a date that led to several more dates until they were an official item. At first, she'd been a sweet girl but Brad soon learned that was all an act she used to wrap him around her finger. She had just been using him to boost her own popularity, becoming queen of the school, but that just turned her into a conceited bully. Flash dumped her after finding her trying to intimidate Fluttershy, leading to the rest of the Rainbooms coming together and destroying her hold over the school. But for whatever reason, they chose to take Sunset in and help her change for the better after that. And it did seem to work, though a lot of the school had still not forgiven the girl. That partially included Brad, the two of them still not really talking to one another. "HEY GUYS!" Pinkie cried while waving at them frantically. "Hey girls," the three stepped up to them. "How's everyone's favourite band today?" "As awesome as always," Rainbow smirked with crossed arms. "Shouldn't you all be getting to class?" Micro checked the time and saw it was almost time for homeroom. "Oh," Rarity flicked her hair back, "we are. We're just keeping Sunset company as long as we can until the new girl arrives." "New girl?" Sandal asked. "Eyup," Applejack tipped her hat, "she's transferring in from Crystal Prep." That got the boys on edge, considering Crystal Prep was their school's biggest rival. "Sunset offered to show her around on her first day." Flash raised an eyebrow, "Isn't that usually Principal Celestia's job?" Principal Celestia and her sister, Vice-Principal Luna, had been running the school together for almost ten years now. I wasn't a stretch to call those ten years the school's golden decade, test scores and athletic accomplishments going up with trouble-making plummeting. "She would," Brad was surprised that Sunset was the one who said it. "But she's been called into court today. It's Sludger's trail." Everyone shuddered at the mention of that name, their mind remembering the creeping janitor that had been arrested several weeks ago. Turns out he'd been using the school as a place to stash drugs until he could distribute them to the many criminal gangs that littered the beautiful streets of their city. Celestia had grown suspicious of the janitor and had secretly looked into him, eventually managing to find the stash he'd hid in the school basement and getting him arrested. Rarity let out a sound of disgust. "I must say I'll be much happier once I know he's safely behind bars." "Me too," Fluttershy agreed while hiding behind her hair. "He used to look at me funny. Like he was undressing me." "He did that to everyone darling," Rarity patted her shoulder. "Well, every girl he found attractive." "Really?" Rainbow asked, "I don't remember seeing him look at me like that." "Or me," Applejack nodded. The two then shared a glance before realizing what that meant, "HEY!" "Let's forget about that meanie!" Pinkie jumped up and down, "we're getting a new friend today. Oooh, I hope she likes parties. I'm gonna throw her the bestest welcome party ever, as soon as I learn exactly what kind of parties she likes." Everyone smiled at this, knowing Pinkie's parties were always the best. It was then the bell rang, warning students they had five minutes before homeroom. "Well" Brad stepped up the stairs, "we'd better get going." The others nodded and everyone except Sunset stood up to head inside. "You sure you're gonna be okay on your own?" Rainbow asked the bacon haired girl. "Yeah," Sunset nodded, "I'll be fine. She shouldn't be that much longer." Rainbow nodded and soon Sunset was on her own, the girl huffing as she sat back to wait. It wasn't a minute before a bus pulled up to the school, Sunset watching while remembering the image Celestia had shown her. Three people stepped out of the bus, two of them being old people obviously heading for the nearby park. But the third was the girl Sunset was set to show around. She had light purple skin and a dark purple ponytail with a pink stripe running through it. She wore a blue button-up shirt under a pink vest with a pink bowtie, along with a dark purple skirt, knee-high blue socks and purple shoes. She also had a pair of black glasses on her face, which she pushed up her nose as she took in the school. "Hey," the girl flinched while turning to her, "welcome." "Err...hi," Sunset could tell the girl was nervous. "I'm Summer, but you can call me Sunset." The girl looked at her like she was insane, "I'll be showing you around the school today." "Oh, right. Sorry, little nervous being in a new school." "I get it. I was new here last year. Don't worry, the people here are really nice." "Can't be any worse then CPA," the girl whispered under her breath. "What was that." "Nothing. Anyway, I didn't introduce myself, did I?" Sunset shook her head, "I'm Tracy. Tracy Spencer." Back in the city section, in the town's court of law, we find court was in session. Many people were in the room, but only three were of consequence. The first was a middle-aged woman with pinkish white skin and rainbow-coloured hair, wearing a gold jacket with purple pants. The second was a man in his early twenties, with white skin and blue hair. He wore a purple shirt and black tie under a white overcoat and black pants. Finally, the third man was the one in the prisoner's box. He was a brown-skinned man with greasy black hair. "All rise," the guard spoke as the judge entered. Once he was sat down, everyone else did the same with the judge speaking up. "Court is now in session. Case three eight six five-eight, the city of Canterlot against Nicolas Sludger." He turned to the man in the box, "how do you plead?" "Not guilty your honour," Sludger's lawyer replied. The judge nodded, "Then let us begin. Prosecution, call your first witness." "Thank you, your honour," the lawyer replied. "I call Detective Shawn Spencer to the stands." The white-skinned man got up and headed for the witness stand. After giving his pledge, the man sat down. "Please explain to the court exactly how Mr. Sludger's arrest went down." "Of course," Shawn replied. "We'd had several leads that lead us to believe the source of the drugs were coming from the Canterlot High area. It was then that Principal Celestia called us, explaining how she suspected Sludger of doing something illegal. We performed a raid on the school and found a secret stash, Sludger's prints being all over it." It was clear that the jury were believing him, causing the man in the box to glare at the woman who'd done this. If he went down for this, he was gonna make sure he got her back. The bell rang and everyone headed out for lunch, while Brad decided to head to the music room. He wasn't a big fan of sloppy joe, so he'd brought his own lunch and was planning to eat it in the music room while practising. He let out a sigh as he turned a corner, only to suddenly run into someone and fall to the ground with a loud "outh!" Once the world stopped spinning, he looked around and saw who he'd bumped into and found it was a girl he didn't know. She was currently patting the floor, trying to find the glasses that had fallen from her face. "Sorry," he reached down to grab the glasses and place them in her hands. The girl put them on and when she saw who she was talking too, she suddenly grew very nervous. "It's fine. Completely my fault. I'm really sorry. It won't happen again." Brad looked at her in almost worry, getting a sense that she was almost scared of him. He might dress like a bad boy, but most people could tell he was a pussycat just by looking at his face. "It's fine." He noticed the books she'd dropped in their collision and began to pick them up, continuing to notice how worried she looked. "You're the new girl, right?" "Yes," she nodded while crouching down to pick up her books. "Well, I hope you're enjoying your first day here." "It's...good. Not as well equipped as my old school, but it's nice." Brad nodded and stood up, "I'm Brad. Bradly Sengood." "Tracy Spenser," she stood up as well before Brad handed her books over. "So what are you doing out here? Isn't Sunset supposed to be showing you around." "She was, but I was feeling a little...overwhelmed. She introduced me to a bunch of girls and this one girl kept asking me a million questions." "Yeah, Pinkie does that. So you escaped at the first chance you got?" She nodded, a blush appearing on her face that Brad couldn't help but find cute. "They're really nice you know. Sure, Pinkie can be a bit much but she'd understand if you tell her she's getting a bit close." "Maybe, but I'm more use to being alone." "Sounds lonely," he told her. "Did you not have any friends at your old school?" "No. Friendship wasn't really something Crystal Prep's known for. They say it gets in the way of academics." "Well that's stupid," she looked at him in absolute shock. "Sure, academics are important. But a life without friends, no matter how much you accomplish, is a waste in my opinion." He saw Tracy looking worried as she turned away. "You're alone right now. Why aren't you in the cafeteria right now, with all your friends?" Brad laughed, seeing she'd caught him out. "I'm not saying you have to spend every day with your friends. Most days I would be eating with them, but I'm not a fan of sloppy joes." He saw a disgusted look on her face, "exactly. So just this one day I'm eating while I practice in the music room." "Oh." "Trust me, you'll be surprised how much you enjoy other people's company if you just give them a chance." "But I don't have anything in common with any of those girls." "Well that's the thing about this school, it has a way of bringing people of different clicks together." Brad remembered back when Sunset was ruling the place. Everyone only stuck to their own groups, never wanting to interact with anyone who wasn't like them. That was until five vary different girls came together and decided they liked being friends. But Tracy still didn't look convinced. "I don't know." Brad then smiled when an idea popped into his head. "Tell you what. I'll make you a deal." He reached into his pocket, "spend the rest of the day and some time hanging out with the Rainbooms. If, after that, you still don't think you could be friends with them, I'll give you this." He held out a piece of paper with ten boxes, nine of which were filled up. Tracy's eyes went wide seeing this, drool appearing on the edge of her mouth. "Is that..." "A Sugarcube Corner rewards card that's one stamp away from a free super-deluxe mega milkshake." "You'd really give me that?" "If you hang out with the Rainbooms and still think you can't be friends with them." Tracy raised an eyebrow. "And if I do decide I'd like to be friends with them, then what. What makes you think I won't just lie?" "You won't. Because that would mean you'd have to fake not being friends with them and I know that's not gonna happen." Tracy gave him a coy smile for a few seconds before turning to head back towards the cafeteria, glancing over at him before she turned a corner. "Say goodbye to your mega milkshake." "We'll see," he confirmed as she stepped around the corner and disappeared. Brad let out a laugh as he turned to head down the other corridor towards the music room. Back in the courtroom, Celestia had been called up to the stands. "And what made you suspect Mr Sludger was up to something illegal?" His lawyer asked her, the woman thinking carefully so he couldn't turn her words against her. "It's not like I suspected him right from the start. I just started noticing some odd things about him from time to time." "Such as?" "He always seemed to be looking over his shoulder. And whenever someone got to close to the basement doors, he'd go ballistic on them and threatened to throw mop water on them." "So, he has a temper and he was paranoid. Well I guess it would be anger and suspicion inducing to have their boss constantly watching them like a dog." "Excuse me?" "You said you noticed this stuff, that meant you had to have been keeping an eye on him. Am I right." "I keep an eye on all my staff, it's my job." "Yet you spent a large amount of time surveying my client, almost as if you were singling him out." "I didn't single him out." "You call the police to investigate him and no one else." "Because he was acting suspicious. If anyone else on my staff had been doing the same thing, I'd have called the police After all, isn't that what you're supposed to do. That whole, 'If you see something say something' saying the force has." The lawyer didn't respond to that. "Besides, I only called the police because I was beginning to fear for my students safety. Everyone saw how protective he was of the basement, so much so that when I asked to take a look in it he kept coming up with a hundred excuses not to let me in and even had the locks changed. That's when I realized that if he was doing something illegal, I had to know before one of my students decided to be a rule-breaker and sneak into the basement. If Sludger was up to something illegal, which he was, then what was stopping him from doing something to make sure that student wouldn't tell anyone. As a teacher, it's my duty to protect my students from any harm. Even if I was wrong, I wouldn't have regretted calling the police." The lawyer remained silent and eventually turned to walk away, "no further questions." The bell rang to signal the end of the school day, with Brad heading off to his car so he could deliver the camera to his parents. "Hey," he looked over and saw Micro and Sandal rush over to him. "Bro, we're gonna hit up Sugarcube Corner. Wanna hang?" "Can't," Flash explained what he needed to do. "Understood," Micro pushed his glasses back up his nose, "tell your parents we said hello." "Will do," Flash got into the car and started it up. "This should only take an hour. I'll head over to Sugarcube Corner after." "Great," Sandal smiled, "why don't you give us your rewards card. Then we can order your mega milkshake before you get there." Brad smirked, "nice try." The two pouted before Brad pulled away, turning out of the school. As he drove passed the front, he spotted Tracy and the Rainbooms walking along the street laughing at something Pinkie had said. Tracy looked around and spotted him driving passed, pouting when she saw the triumphant look on his face before he zoomed off. "Guilty." Celestia sighed in relief as he heard the jury's decision, while Sludger's eyes bugged out. After that, the judge sentenced Sludger to fifteen years imprisonment and a twenty thousand dollar fine. To say the man was angry would be an understatement. "YOU'D BETTER HOPE THEY NEVER LET ME OUT!" Sludger yelled at Celestia as the guards began to pull him away, "I'LL MAKE YOU PAY FOR THIS. IF IT'S THE LAST THING I DO!" The guards pulled him out of the room, off to be shipped to the nearest maximum security prison. Once he was gone, Detective Shawn stepped over to Celestia. "You gonna be okay?" "Yes," Celestia nodded, "I'm fine now that he's safely behind bars." "He seemed to be serious about what he said. Maybe it'd be better if we put you into protection." "Absolutely not. I'm not leaving my life behind, just because of the ravings of a madman. Letting him intimidate me into giving up everything I love would mean he's won." Shawn nodded, having expected this. "Besides, he doesn't have the guts to really do anything." "You're right." The two began to make their way out of the courtroom, Shawn turning on his phone. "Can't wait to hear how my sister's first day went." "Oh, that's right. Your sister just transferred to CHS. I'm glad to see my school's recent...embarrassment, didn't put you off." "Tracy's smart. Even if the school was drug central, she wouldn't have anything to do with it. Besides, there was no way she could stay at Crystal Prep. With all the bullying that happened to her, my wife and I were scared she'd end up having a nervous breakdown or something." "Well don't worry, she won't have any problems like that at my school." "Hope you're right." Brad had just left the city limits and was now driving down the road that leads to the forest, several large empty fields surrounding him as he drove. After several minutes, he finally arrived at the entrance to the forest. The turn off to a track into the forest then came up and Brad drove through it, being careful as he drove down it so as to not damage his precious car. Several more minutes of driving had him coming out into a clearing, where several tents, holes, and trucks could be found. He spotted his dad's red, flame patterned pickup and parked next to it before getting out, heading into the tent, and spotting his parents looking over some photos. His father, Tray Sengood, looked like an older version of Brad who was wearing a yellow button-up shirt, grey pants and a red overcoat. His mother had silver skin and purple hair, wearing a white blouse and pink skirt. The two parents heard his entrance and looking up, smiling at the sight of him. "Special delivery." He held up the camera. placing it infront of them. "Thanks, champ," Tray told him while Michelle gave him a hug. Brad smiled as he pulled away before looking over at the pictures on the table, seeing they showed different pots and arrowheads. "So, what did you need to X-ray camera for anyway?" "Over here," Michelle grabbed the camera before heading outside. Brad followed her out to a section of the clearing full of holes, watching as the woman held up the camera and pointed it to a bit of untouched earth. She pressed the button and the camera's lens shot out a red light that formed a square on the ground, Michelle keeping it there for several seconds until the light stopped. They both looked at the screen and watched as an X-ray image appeared on it. That image showed a fully intact clay pot. "Cool." "Yup. A discovery like that might even get your dad and I invited to a dig going on in Europe." Brad knew his parents had been hoping to get invited to that for a long time. Knowing their dream might soon be coming true made him just as happy as them. Brad didn't have as much interest in this stuff, but he didn't enjoy spending time with his parents. So he decided to stick around and listen to them talk about the pieces of history they and their team had unearthed while Brad told them about his day. They were both intrigued by his conversation with the new girl, but Brad saw where this was going and quickly chose this moment to leave the dig site. "Sure you'll be okay driving back alone?" His mother asked as he got into the car. She looked up at the clouds and saw several dark clouds beginning to form above them. "Looks like a storms coming." "I'll be fine," Brad assured her as he started up his car. "A bit of rain's never killed anyone." "Well call us when you get home," Tray told him. Brad agreed and headed out of the clearing, through the forest and out onto the road leading up to the field roads. He had to turn up the music from his radio since the clouds above him started rumbling. As he drove, he couldn't help but look up at the sky. The weather hadn't mentioned anything about rain. But as he looked up at the clouds, he couldn't help but notice the lightning that sparked within them had a dark bluish colour to them. Up in the clouds, they were spiralling around a single point in the sky. Around and around they swirled, as sparks of blue lightning pulsed in the eye. Quicker and quicker they fired, until eventually it was a single long discharge of energy. The discharge lasted several long seconds until, finally, the cloud exploded with the radiant boom of a firework. Brad saw this was and marvelled at the sight, only to see something solid suddenly fly out of the cloud. It moved in a downwards horizontal fashion, even flying passed the road and forcing Brad to stop as it shot by. It then flew into the field before finally crashing down with a loud crash, upturning a bunch of dirt and earth to creating a smoking crater. Brad sat in his car, completely shocked by what had just happened. He stared into the field, seeing the crater, his brain at war with himself. One side wanted to drive away as fast as he could, while the other half wanted to go investigate. And eventually, his curiosity got the best of him and he turned his car to drive into the field. Parking just a few feet away, Brad got out and moved over to the edge of the crater. The smoke began to fade, letting him see what was inside of it. And what was in the crater was a giant hunk of round rock. "A meteor?" He tried to lean in to get a better look, only for the edge of the crater to give way. "WHOA!" Brad felt the ground beneath him collapsed, causing him to roll into the crater, the ditch being just as tall as him. He managed to stop himself a few inches away from the meteor, his face a breath away from the rock. Picking himself up, he looked over it and saw how it seemed to have an aura to it. Then, out of nowhere, a spark of blue lightning erupted from it and Brad pulled himself away before it hit. "Yikes!" More lightning began to shoot off the rock, the blue aura growing brighter and brighter by the second. "Oh no," he was getting a very strong kablamo vibe from this thing. Not wanting to see what was about to happen, the teen turned to run up the crater. But the steep walls were making this difficult, Brad just managing to grab onto the edge as slowly pull himself up while the meteor's energy grew more and more volatile. He eventually managed to pull himself up onto the side of the crater and stand up, spotting what looked like a large grey bus rolling down the road he'd been on, then looked back at the meteor and saw the energy reach his peak. And before he could turn to run, it happened. KABOOOOOM! The energy exploded out of the meteor, creating a blue shockwave that flew out of the crater. It struck Brad and sent him flying backwards through the air, the shockwave continuing to fly through the field. It struck Brad's car and sent it flying too, while the teen crashed down on the ground a good hundred feet from the crater. Brad's entire body was burning, like goosebumps but a million times more painful. The world around him went dark as he slowly succumb to his unconsciousness, having no idea what was happening around him. All he could do was lay in the mud, all the while his body began sparking with the same lightning that had struck him.