Blake Elliott has been abused since he's had memories.
his only release was the freedom he felt when talking to his only friend about comic books, he loved reading about the superpowers heroes running unobstructed through life doing what they were born to do.

until one day when he and his friend are crossing the street talking reading a Spiderman comic when he hears a loud honk and instinctually shoves his friend backwards.

Just two months had passed since me and my mom signed the deal, and now the release date of my first book was about to happen.

At the end I decided that 'The princess collection volumen one' will be formed by: 'Sleeping beauty', 'Cinderella', 'Aladdin', 'The princess and the frog' and 'Beauty and the beast'.

What leaves: 'Mulan', 'The little mermaid', 'Moana', 'Rapunzel' and 'Frozen' for the second volume. Which release date will depend on how well does the first one. 

Those were all the 'Disney' princesses I could somehow remember, which made easier the decision to not doing more in the future. For the other two books, I planned to use 'DreamWorks' or 'Illumination' movies as a reference. What was clear, is that those books will not be compilations, I needed to start practicing writing longer books. And that's what I am doing lately, besides working on my comic with Hanna of course. 

"Girls I have a surprise for you" I said to the girls when we were on recess. 

"Thank you Sam!" the twins said when I gave them copies of my book. Each one gave me a tight hug and a quick kiss on the forehead. 

"Thank you!" Claire smiled cutely at me, and gave me a hug. Her hazel eyes are captivating, which always made me look at her for a slightly longer period of time. 

For someone as antisocial as me, I should count myself lucky to have three friends already. Although I couldn't really take any merit in my friendship with Claire, the twins were just too nice with everyone, so this kind of conclusion was an understanding. 

"The book will be on sale in about a week, so you better like it because I can't change anything now" I joked. 

"That's impossible" Emma replied quickly with a face that showed her conviction. 

"Ummmm. It'll depend if the stories are as good as the ones we have read before" Ellie smiled slyly at me. I think that her sense of humor has evolved thanks to me. I don't know if that's a good thing though. 

"That's why Emma is my favorite twin" I winked at Ellie, who pouted at me while I gave the clueless Emma a hug. 

"Me too" Said Claire, who played along and joined us. Ellie's face was hilarious, she looked at Claire as if she had committed the ultimate betrayal. 

"... Ok, I surrender. I will love it" Ellie finally said, and hugged us all while we all laughed. 

"Sammy, stop flirting with your girlfriends" It was my sister voice who interrupted us. The twins and Claire flinched at my sister words, and a blush appeared on their faces while they moved back a couple of steps. 

"Hehe, you are cute" My sister simply said to them before giving me a hug of her own. 

"Sis, how are you? Did something happen?" I asked in curiosity. I wanted to know why was she here, considering that we don't share the recess periods with the kids on her grade. 

"I'm fine... Sam, I came here to give you some good news, and also to ask for permission" She started with a tone showing a mix of emotions. 

It seemed that she was happy and guilty at the same time. I just looked at her eyes prompting her to continue, and that she did "... Do you remember my best friend?" She asked. 

I do. It's really hard to forget the only ginger on school, and one that adorable too. Besides, Hannah has already introduced us before. 

"Kate. Of course I remember her. You have even told me that today you'll be going to her house to a pijama party" 

"That's true... Well the thing is, her uncle works at this network that focus on making cartoons. And thanks to Kate, he got to know about our comic" She smiled widely. 

"'Power puff girls' will be on tv!" The twins and Claire said excitedly. They were even happier than me. 

That was great news. I would have preferred to somehow make the cartoon myself, so I could've own it. But I know that it was impossible for now.

"Yep. And he's currently at Kate's house, so I wanted to talk to him about it today... Unless you want to be there too?" 

So she's worried about that. It was cute from her, but like the minor she is my sister can't sign any deal, so there is no danger with her being alone.

"Oh, don't worry big sis. I know that you'll be fine on your own. I trust you" I encouraged her. 

"Sammy!" She simply said, before lifting me up and spinning around a couple of times. 

"Yeah Hannah, you'll do great" My friends said encouragingly. 

"Thanks girls" My sister said happily, "You are all so great. I would be happy with any of you being Sam' s girlfriend" she added playfully after a while. 

At that my friends just flushed and lowered their heads shyly. Which I just couldn't ignore. 

"But Hannah, the three of them are my girlfriends already" I said with innocence. 

It seems that I went too far, because the three of them just ran away before I could continue with my act. 

"You're cruel little brother" Hannah said with a smirk on her face when we realized that they wouldn't come back. 

"Hehe, I learned from the best" I replied with a little smile. 

Then we discussed about her 'meeting'. Basically I just told her to not worry that much for the money, and to just offer the TV rights for a limited amount of time. Maybe that would make Kate's uncle reconsider his idea to make the show to begin with, but for starters it was a good baseline. 

When the recess was over I said my goodbyes to Hannah, whom I'll not see until tomorrow. Then I reunited with my friends who acted like nothing happened, and because I didn't want to make things awkward I didn't say anything. 

In class, like I've doing lately, I focused in creating my 'own' comic universe. I wanted to have a continuous story line, with a lot of characters. And the timeline was what's making me work so hard on it. 

Until now, the characters I had that I wanted to do, and that were coherent with the world I planned, were: 'Batman', 'Spiderman', 'Powergirl', 'Hulk', 'Static', 'Black panther', 'Scarlett witch', 'Wonder woman', 'Aquaman', 'Guardians of the galaxy', 'Doctor strange', and mutants (in a certain degree). 

Dedicating myself to organize the comic world, my day passed quickly with no major incident. There was a math test, but it's not even worth mentioning. And like it was already planned, my father picked me up at the school gates. 

"How was your day?" I asked my father. I knew that he has been working on a game for this 'new' hand-held console, for about four months now. 

"Not that well to be honest. But that's to be expected considering that this is the first time we are doing a game for this new console" He said with his usual energetic nature. 

"Well, if you have any problem with the game, just remember that my offer is still in place" I joked. 

I wanted to make a certain game, especially for this time an age. But I wouldn't just hande it like that, I wanted to own it myself. 

"About that. In the past I may have talked about your proposal to my boss, and now with how I been talking about you, and the news of your book being a week away only... Let's say that it wouldn't be an impossibility in a couple of years" He said casually. 

"Are you saying that I'll be able to make my own game under the company you work for, and still conserve the rights to it?" I asked. I wanted to be excited, but it was just too good to be true. 

"Like I've said to you before. If you are willing to share the ownership of any game you do, I would be able to help you with getting published... But yes. The times are changing, and it wouldn't be impossible for it to be real. Especially if the games we'll develope are not well received.

Although there's things you need to learn first. I have teached you the basics, but there's much more to learn before you can even think on making your own game" He finished jokingly. He's aware of how good I really am, it wasn't just arrogance. 

In my past life I made a living making games, so letting my family know of my 'talent' in that regard, was one of my first priorities when I realized that this was not the world I once knew. Which turned out to be an easy job with my dad's profession. 

"Of course dad. You can teach me whenever you want" I simply said with a confident smile. I didn't even refer to the ownership topic, there was no way I would change my mind about it.

Samuel Bane, a guy who was just a normal 23 year old in another life, was living in a new world with his memory intact. 

The new world is almost exactly the same as the one he lived before, except that the period of time was similar to the mid 80's that he knew by the movies and tv shows he watched.

This story will focus on how Sam enters the entertainment business. Getting his works published and meeting new people on his way towards an unheard level of success. 

The concept of the story has inspiration in "I'm really a super star", but it's nothing alike.


> Currently I'm posting a chapter every Tuesday.

"‘Warcraft II: Beyond the Dark Portal,’ released in 1996, collector’s edition. I can’t believe we have a copy. Actually, during my childhood, I had a copy, but I didn’t take care of it and threw it away.
"‘Warcraft II’ was awarded the ‘Best Multiplayer Game of The Year’ by PC-Game, and ‘Best Online Game of The Year’ by CNET. Blizzard Entertainment started being successful from there…
"Look, behind the packaging, there’s a preview of an upcoming game. That would be ‘StarCraft,’ which would become a future hit. Oh, and there’s also a part promoting ‘Diablo’—but why is it so small?
"Seems like Blizzard Entertainment didn’t have high expectations for ‘Diablo.’ However, it turned out to be a dark horse. Eighteen days after it launched, it had sold one million copies."
When it came to these games, Potter was not shy anymore. He spoke with confidence, and was knowledgeable on every disc.
After flipping through them, he said, "Alright, sirs. I would like to buy these, with confirmation that it’s all the original discs in them."
"After negotiating the price," Hans said, "you can open them for validation."
Potter asked, "How much would you like for them?"
Hans placed down his coffee cup and said in a firm tone, "I believe 25,000 is a reasonable price. Look at how well they have been maintained. With the age—"
"Alright," Potter said amiably, "if they are the original discs, then 25,000 it is."
Hans was about to let loose of a wave of logic and arguments, but in the end, he bottled it all up.
Li Du couldn’t help but laugh; he had seen that look from Hans before.
When they had first started working together, they picked up a Harley Davidson motorcycle from a unit and sold it to Cylinder Head. He was also like this: when Hans had stated his initial price, the other party accepted it immediately.
In fact, that was a negotiable price. The lowest he would go was 20,000.
However, the higher the better. Hans shrugged to Li Du and said with a bitter laugh, "I should have just said 50,000."
Potter clearly was one of those born with a silver spoon in his mouth; one could tell just from his clothes.
He wore an Armani casual shirt; just this piece of clothing could possibly be worth the combined cost of all the clothes Li Du had worn in his entire life.
Potter opened the games and checked the discs. He had a laptop in his bag. After putting the discs in, it revealed that they were functioning properly.
He randomly picked a few, and after validating that none of them had any issues, he said, "Nice working with you guys—tell me your account number, and I’ll transfer the money to you now."
It was indeed a pleasant deal.
Hans shook hands with him and said, "Thank you, buddy. I’m happy to have found a suitable owner for these discs. Forgive my bluntness, but only a handful of people are worthy of having them, and clearly you are one of those few."
Potter smiled politely and said, "I like to collect games discs and comic books. If you have any comic books that are worth collecting, you can also come and find me. I’ll give you guys a good price."
"Deal!"
After selling the game discs, what was left for them to sell was the old Winchester gun.
For the gun, Hans had also found a few potential buyers. The early morning of the next day they went scout out the place where the storage facility was.
Hans spoke as they traveled. "Movie storage units don’t belong to a storage company. Every movie company in the whole of America has their own facilities, each holding onto a huge amount of useful and useless stuff. Our job, is to find the useful stuff, and profit from it."
Li Du nodded, and said, "This storage company belongs to who then?"
"Warner Bros."
Li Du laughed and said, "They’re a colossus of the entertainment world—I hope they leave some scraps behind for us."
Warner Bros. was Time Warner’s flagship company, with their headquarters in Burbank and New York.
They were a powerhouse in the entertainment industry, with several other large subsidiaries much like Warner Bros. They were a television company, they did animations, home videos, games, and owned the CW Channel cable company.
Li Du had watched several movies from Warner Bros. In fact, the movies from this entertainment company had a strong influence in China. As long as a movie had "WB" in the opening credits, it was one of their works.
After setting out, the large stretch of units that they saw twenty minutes later, was their destination. Although the storage units of this entertainment company didn’t establish its own storage company, the scale of it was still huge.
"A total of 118 storage units: the large ones are over thousands of square feet, while some of the smaller ones are only a few dozen square feet. However, the smaller the unit is, the more valuable it is: those are the ones holding the special items."
Hans continued explaining to Li Du, "This time, almost half of the storage units here are going to be auctioned. I heard that Warner Bros. is going to set up a new subsidiary, so they are clearing out their storage to raise funds for a movie on heroes."
"What movie about heroes?" Li Du asked. "Didn’t ‘The Lord of the Rings’ series earn them a fortune?"
"Who would mind getting more money?" Hans said. "I’ve seen the news—it seems that they are planning to change DC comics into DC entertainment and venture into the movie industry, television, and other media industries to go against Walt Disney."
While Hans spoke, he also shook his head. "That doesn’t concern us, but according to the info that I heard, there is stuff from Batman and Superman."
The units were surrounded by walls. A few cars were parked outside, while some people were trying to look inside with their binoculars.
Hans laughed, "Those in the same business as us have come. See? The early bird gets the worm; looks like everyone understands that."
Using the binoculars to peek, Li Du couldn’t see anything useful. After he alighted, he waved his hand to let the bug out, and started examining the first unit.
There were 45 units to be auctioned this time, in the ascending order of unit 1 to 45.
The first unit was huge, with thousands of square feet of space. The inside was messy. After the bug entered, there was nothing in particular that attracted its attention.
There were some torn posters near the storage entrance. Li Du looked, and on them was a man with his arms outstretched, his head raised up toward the raining sky, his mouth opened in a scream.
This poster was famous. Without seeing the words printed on it, he knew what movie this was: "The Shawshank Redemption!"
Besides those posters, there was some other stuff from a movie set: wooden shelves, stone slabs, tables, chairs, doors, and windows. All of this was neatly organized, making it less difficult for the bug to examine everything.
After going around the unit once, Li Du finally found some things that seemed valuable.
On a shelf were a bunch of thin, plastic boards. There were patterns on them. Li Du knew these were all polystyrene splints, important props for "The Lord of the Rings."


They love gold, and they love silver. Even more so, they love gems that dazzle, like stars across the skies. 
Firearms, jewelleries, and precious metals; A collector’s world will not be complete without antiques.  
Storage auctions, old goods trade, re-estate sales and gold-digging. But the truth is, if one wants to make money, then the supreme way is through searching for the legendary treasures. 
Holding the fort, there’s an ocelot, a wolf, and an Andes condor. At the side, there’s a loyal hound, an irascible ape, and an African honey badger. Who said that you can only rely on humans when treasure hunting?! 

Staying with Eva certainly wasn't boring. On the first night they were at her house she insisted they were going to burn through as many Disney movies as possible so Hazel would know who all they bothered standing in line to take pictures with. 
She hadn't realized her lack of knowledge had been so apparent. But Eva wasn't unkind about it. It seemed more like she wanted to share something fun that she liked than she thought Hazel was crazy for not knowing before. 
Most of the movies were pretty cute. Exactly the sort of things kids tended to eat up. 
Hazel had enjoyed it too once upon a time. Her parents used to put those types of movies on for her and sometimes even take her to see them in theaters. 
She used to wish they would play movies while she was in the mental hospital. But after meeting Will and hearing all of the amazing things there were to know about the real world, the fictional one hadn't appealed to her as much anymore. 
Besides, once she got out her uncle wasn't the type to allow children's movies in his house. He didn't like the slightest bit of noise indicating she existed most of the time. That was the only reason he supplied her with minimal art supplies. 
Drawing was always an effective way to shut her up. As she went back to school and was able to check out books from its library she tried to draw the things she read about. There were even some guides on how to draw that helped her a lot as she tried to improve. 
Hazel spent the remainder of her elementary school days and most of middle school as well refining her technique. She was so absorbed by all there was to learn that she had no interest in friends so it wasn't like anybody other than her uncle would have taken her to the movies either. 
When they weren't watching movies, Eva wanted to hear more about Hazel's life. There really wasn't much to tell leaving out her juicy past. She was a pretty boring person. 
Talking about her art was a fairly safe topic. She mentioned that she had been interested in it basically her whole life so it was the obvious career choice even though people advised her against it. 
Everything had worked out in the end. She landed this comic job, which looked great on her resume. And after that she ended up married to someone who was willing and able to buy her all the art supplies she could ever want. Will had kept his promise quite well even if it was later than she had hoped. 
Getting here had been a rough road though. Her uncle didn't support her dreams and refused to pay for her to go to art school. He had barely acknowledged her when she got a scholarship by buying her a school sweatshirt. 
All of her high school teachers (except the art teacher) were against it too. They thought she was wasting her brains on a field that wouldn't pay well or offer a consistent job unless she decided to be a graphic designer. 
Hazel didn't want to spend her entire life creating lifeless things for other people. She refused to go down that road, even if it meant picking up a bunch of odd jobs to get by. 
Graphic designers didn't have any sort of creative freedom whatsoever in her mind. She needed to be unrestrained and free in her art or she felt choked. Even working with a finicky author like Eva was far superior to making logos all day. 
The nice thing was that Eva understood how she felt about taking the easy road. She could have gone to grad school to become a social worker like every other psychology major she knew because it was the 'smart choice' with that degree. Social workers, like graphic designers, were in high demand. 
But she was one to take the road less traveled by. If she went back to grad school it would be to specialize in the very specific field she wanted and nothing less. 
She had told Hazel how she ended up where she was now, in what her mother called 'a career dead end.' Yes, she was working two jobs and didn't have the most glamorous lifestyle but she made enough to do fun things every so often like their trip in Florida. 
The point was that she was doing what she wanted and didn't feel a rush to change that. Hazel could respect that. 
What she was less fond of was that Eva's interest in true crime and serial killers was because she was genuinely intrigued by criminology. Her eventual goal was to work for the FBI as a profiler. 
Wanting to catch people like her parents' killer wasn't the part she was upset by. It was how she consumed countless amounts of media about serial killers and other famous criminals and helped perpetuate sales and popularity for those things. 
It was people like her who kept the market for such grotesque things open. Those she truly despised—the people who capitalized on other people's pain by writing books picking apart the sick minds of killers—made money off of people like Eva. It was why they kept doing it. 
She had seen the book on the Bay Area Blade that had largely inspired his inclusion in that docuseries in a stack on the coffee table. It had taken all of her willpower to keep her mouth shut about it.
The series had already started airing and Hazel desperately hoped Eva wouldn't want to watch it while she was stuck here. She wasn't sure she would calmly be able to explain why she couldn't bear to watch that crap. 
Three days passed and there was no sign of the snow letting up back home so she would have to stay here a while longer. That show aired on Sundays and it was Thursday now. More than anything she wanted the airport to be cleared for travel before then.

“I’ll marry anyone who will take me!” Hazel declared loudly. “I don’t need love!”

“Get down!” Will hissed. “You don’t know what kind of people are lurking around in here! Talking like that might get you killed!”

==

Hazel Dixon thought she was putting her troubled past behind her. But when the person she thought she trusted most betrays her, she loses her head and proposes to an entire bar full of strangers. 

Enter Will Sheffield, a charming stranger who decides to take her up on her offer to save her from herself. 

He spoils her rotten without expecting anything in return and Hazel's confusion only grows. She doesn't know why he is acting this way. Or why he reminds her so much of the 'dangerous' childhood friend she thought was gone forever...

As Austen had predicted, Seyla awoke a little over five hours following their conversation in The Cortex, by which time night was fast approaching. She moved gingerly upstairs and into the Dining Hall and found everyone sitting at the laden table, helping themselves to a feast of roast chicken, mashed potatoes, fat sausages, bacon, fries and pudding, each with a different drink in their hands — Austen was a wonderful chef, though he often said that he was nowhere near his mother's level. Malik pulled out the empty chair beside him and Seyla sat down.

"How are you feeling?" Austen asked.

"Fine." Seyla said, though she looked rather pale.

Austen looked unconvinced, but before he could voice his uncertainty, Malik said, "Choice drink? We have lemonade, pumpkin juice, coconut water or you can have a glass of what Austen's having."

"Watch it." Austen said, pulling his glass of red wine away and casting Malik a dark look.

"Don't be stupid." Claire said sharply. She needs something hot, not cold." She disappeared into the kitchen and returned a few minutes later with a steaming mug of chocolate milk. "Here, take this." Seyla drank; heat flushed through her body. She could feel the stiffness of her limbs caused by the cold burning away as she swallowed.

"Better?" Claire asked.

"A lot better." Seyla said, colour returning to her face. "So what did I miss?"

Raul explained briefly; Austen's orders, how he and Malik teamed up to defeat Stronghold and the white rhino, how he took her home and returned for Malik, how they knocked down Ryu and the pale skinned girl, how Metal Maniac and several other heroes showed up, their conversation in the Cortex about Sinistra and finally, Metal Maniac's message — he left out Malik's strange behaviour.

For a moment Seyla said nothing, then she spoke rather softly. "Sinistra, huh?"

"Yeah," Malik said, taking a swig of his carrot juice. She fell silent again. Raul thought that she was now thinking over what he said about Austen.

A few more moments passed, then, when he was sure that she was going to explode on Austen about his ridiculous decision to choose Malik over her, she simply stated that she was feeling chilly again. After several seconds of staring at Seyla in utter disbelief, Raul sped off, knocking over Malik's glass of carrot juice, and returned, clutching a thick fur coat that he threw to Seyla.

"Where did you get that?" Austen asked, his eyebrows raised.

"From a store in the city called 'The Wool-E Mammoth.'" Raul said coldly, refusing to look at Austen. He watched as Seyla, somewhat flustered, put on the coat. Surely she would deal with Austen once she was feeling a bit warmer? To his surprise she simply tucked into the meal, not saying another word or looking even slightly troubled. He gaped, open-mouthed, at Seyla, oblivious to the fact that Malik was staring at him, trying to resist the urge to rip him apart for spilling his drink.

After dinner that evening, Raul went to bed swearing loudly and muttering that girls were the strangest creatures he'd ever seen, while Austen, looking quite unbothered, recommended Seyla stay under dimmed thermopanels that night.

Three days passed and he had still not forgiven Austen for what he had done. He didn't utter a single word to him when he could help it, and when he couldn't, he spoke with venom in his tongue. Austen however, remained quite cheerful and Seyla, to Raul's surprise and annoyance, was still not bursting with fury.

On the fourth day after, Austen had left to collect material he would be acquiring from a mysterious source for the repair of Malik's suit, and Raul began to rant — for the seventh time so far — about what a horrible decision he made and how he didn't care to apologize even once.

"Who does he think he is, honestly? No, better question, who does he think we are? His expendable playthings that he can just toss away whenever it suits him?"

"I'm sure that's not what happened, Raul." Seyla said in a bored voice.

Raul was so furious he couldn't string the words he needed together. How could she, of all people, take his side?

"Right you are, Seyla." Austen said, pushing open the front door and swinging a small black bag. "Though I'm willing to leave him be and let him vent his frustration for as long as he wishes."

"Yeah, only because you're not the one who has to listen to him!" Malik spat.

"Exactly!" He strode over to Malik, pulled a small, flimsy book from the bag and threw it onto Malik's lap.

"What's this?" Malik asked, bewildered.

"Your comic book." Austen said.

"What?" Everyone yelled simultaneously.

Malik grabbed up the book. "'Fist of Providence'?" He repeated incredulously.

Seyla, Raul, Claire, Vernon and Jayden all scrambled up and gathered around him.

Malik skipped through the pages, flipping them so hard he tore one. There on the pages before him, were detailed drawings of his fight with Stronghold, almost exactly as it had happened. Malik punching his face with no effect, him grabbing Malik and throwing him onto the ground, Malik escaping one of Stronghold's next blows narrowly, clutching his chest —

"What is this?" Malik asked.

"I'll get to that," he said, pulling out two more books and throwing them to Seyla and Raul. "There are some for you as well."

The stories depicted in their books ("Queen of The Dark Arts" and "Dash") showed their battles with 0-Zone and the white rhino almost exactly as they happened, as Malik's had done with him and Stronghold.

"What are these?" Seyla asked, repeating Malik's earlier question.

"Comic books, depicting very near perfectly — as I'm sure you've noticed — your various fights at the museum the other day. The authors, rightfully so, seeing as though they don't know much about you, have dubbed you "The Unknowns." The greatest mystery case in Phoenix City's most recent news."

"But —" Malik began, but Austen cut across him.

"Apparently, the author obtained a video of your respective fights between members of The Council and Sinistra, and were so deeply interested by what they saw that they decided to create their own original comic line, "The Unknowns." Quite popular in fact."

"Where did you get these?" Vernon asked, looking at Austen.

"From a comic book store in Tavern City called Rumbanks."

"You went to a comic book store?" Raul asked, so surprised he forgot to be cold and fierce.

"Yes. But not for the comics though." He added quickly, at the shocked looks he was getting. "The owners are relatives. It so happens, that they are the writers."

"You never told us that you had family near here." Malik said curtly.

"Yes. There are indeed a lot of things that we don't tell others, Malik." He gave Malik a significant look; he must have understood what it meant, because he fell silent immediately.

No one said anything, they were all looking at Austen with expressions of confusion and anger.

"Of course, you don't like this idea. I don't either — this type of attention is something that may prove very irksome to us. Unfortunately, I have no current fixes. I cannot go to my cousins in Tavern City and ask them to stop publishing these books, as I'm sure you can understand why. The only solution I can think of right now is simply to try to take off some of the pressure, "lay low" if you will."

"So that means no more going out to save people then?" Malik asked, with a hint of hopefulness.

"No." Austen replied. "It simply means you will be more subtle with your future missions. And look, you can start practicing right now! I have an assignment for you."

"Finally." Claire said, cutting across Malik and Raul's groans of protest. "I've been bored silly sitting here doing nothing. So, where are we going?"

Austen smiled broadly and strode towards the door leading to The Cortex, gesturing to them to follow.

The days of Heroes and Villains are over; Corruption runs where virtue once thrived, and empathy now resides in the minds of the unjust. In a world threatened by otherworldly danger, only 6 unlikely teenagers rise to the occasion. Under the wing of a rogue superhero, they must band together to face an oncoming apocalypse.

With the rising of the morning sun, Trent knew he was screwed. Putting down the game controller, he quickly grabbed his phone to check the time. Thank God, it's only 6:30. He has to be ready in thirty minutes to make for his bus. He's made it to the bus at later times. Just some things need to be sacrificed. Trent rushed to clean up his room. There were chip bags and sodas all over the floor. There was also an unidentified young man lying on the floor.

"Micah! Come on man wake up. We'll be late if we don't get up," Trent said as he kicked his little brother awake. Startled, Micah shot up from his spot on the floor. Looking around, he also realized what time it was as he sped back to his own room.

The Davis family is made up of four members. There is Trent, the oldest son at seventeen, Micah the youngest son at sixteen, Arielle, the only daughter at fourteen, and Debra, their mother at thirty-four. Their father died when Trent was four but their mother raised them well on her own. After his father died, Trent turned to comic books to keep his spirits up. He didn't care about the franchise feud that went on. He just cared about the stories and what the heroes would do with their powers and abilities. Growing up as the oldest, the other siblings began to take on his love for comic books as well, causing the house to be a den of comic books, action figures, and various comic paraphernalia.

Their mother Debra, was out of state on a business trip, so Trent and Micah decided they'd play the new Spiderman game and didn't realize how late it got.

Hurrying to get themselves ready, there was a knock on the door.

"Trent, Micah, I finished making breakfast so hurry up or you'll miss the bus." Their sister Arielle said through the door before leaving. Knowing he didn't want to skip breakfast, Trent kicked himself into overdrive, hopping out of the room with half his clothes on. As he stumbled out of the room, Trent tripped down the steps leading down to the first floor.

"Fuck! Fuck! Shit! Fuck!" Screaming swears on the way down, Trent finally reached the ground.

"Man that hurt a bit." Trent got off the floor and rubbed his sore ankle. On the way down it banged on the steps a couple of times so he would probably have to put more pressure on the other foot. Quickly finishing readjusting his clothes, he limped into the kitchen.

"Are you alright? That sounded painful." Arielle said in a teasing tone, but not completely able to hide the hint of concern in her voice.

"Nah I'm good. I've dealt with a whole lot worse than that." Trent slid onto a chair and began to eat his breakfast. Despite her age, Arielle was the best cook in the house. Trent was well enough to cook for himself, but it wouldn't taste more than average. Not to mention his culinarily inept brother.

As he finished up his breakfast in less than two minutes, not even breaking his record, Micah came down the stairs, ready to leave.

"Bruh you good? Cause it sounded like a cartoon. I thought I was gonna have to call somebody." Micah looked at his brother with a smile on the corner of his lips, barely keeping in his laughter.

"You're just mad cause I only died once on my play-through." Trent retorted back to Micah with a satisfied smile on his face.

"It was all just luck. It'll never happen again in a million years." Micah walked in and sat down to eat his own breakfast.

"Don't need it to Micah, don't need it to."

Finishing up their food, Trent and Micah moved to wash the dishes. They followed a set of unspoken rules. Whoever cooks is exempt from washing the dishes. They looked at the clock. They had two minutes left before their bus got to their street.

"Alright let's head out, I'll lock up behind us." Trent grabbed his bag and the keys from beside the entrance and waited for his siblings. As a high school senior, Trent didn't have much work he had in his bag so he would leave at the door so he wouldn't have to pack it everyday. Thankfully, they made it to their bus. Other than Trent falling, there was no accidents throughout their ride.

As their bus pulled into the high school, Trent made sure to step off first. He had the habit of sitting at the front of every bus he got on so he was always first off. Although he had a license himself, he wasn't allowed to drive his mother's car when she wasn't there. 

Standing a little ways from the bus, Trent waited for his siblings to get off. As they got close to the entrance of the bus, shouting was heard from the side of the school. Suddenly, a car drove on the sidewalk of the school, scattering some students and bulldozing over others.

Realizing that he was in the pathway of the car, Trent tried to run to the safest area near him, his bus. Taking a step, ready to sprint to the bus, a shock ran up his leg and he fell. His ankle was still hurt from the fall! Looking up and seeing the horrified face of his brother and sister, Trent rushed to stand back up but, he was too late. The car's bumper smashed directly into Trent's head and darkness engulfed his surroundings.

[System integration 50%...75%...100%]

[System Integration complete]

Before completely losing consciousness, Trent heard a mechanical voice echoing in his head before he embraced the darkness.

After a freak accident, Trent wakes up in a new world of magic. Along with a system that gives him the powers of heroes and villains from comic books, Trent fights monsters, bandits, and nobles to find a way back home and to prove that powers are better than magic. (Note: Uses strong language throughout the book so if any are offended, just know that this is the way the character's personalities are made.)

Dusty is riding his bike to the Comic Shop with his money clinched in his sweaty palm. He parks his bike in front of the shop and walks in, he is greeted with a smile by the old man. " Why hello Dusty How are you? I just got a new selection of books last night" Said the man, Dusty replied " Hi Mr. Samuel, Sure I'll take a look". Mr. Samuel said " Dusty how many times do I have to tell you to call me Sammy? Any ways follow me I'll show you where the comics are". As Dusty followed Mr. Samuel he wondered what the shop would have looked like back in the day when people had interest in books, they came to a stop and Mr. Samuel showed Dusty the selection . " well there you go, I'll be up front if you need anything". Five minutes went by and Dusty went through almost half of the novels ,skimming the first pages to see if they are interesting. Dusty picked up a book and read the title out loud " Imaginary Demise, hmmmm
 I'll take a look", Dusty began to read the back of the cover to read a summery of the book. It was about a child who had an imaginary friend, all though he says that his friend is imaginary it doesn't look that way. Dusty liked it, took it to the front, payed, got on his bike and went home. When he got home there were two cars in the drive way which means his dad is home from work, Dusty parks his bike in the back yard and goes through the back door. " DUSTY IS THAT YOU?" His mom yells from across the kitchen, "YEA MOM"Dusty replied as he is running up stairs to read the new comic he had just bought. He reads the book until his mom calls him for dinner, than he runs down stairs and sits at the table. His mom hands him his dinner and they all sat down. "so dusty how was school today?" Said his mom "fine" replied dusty. His mom asked" did you learn anything new?" Dusty replied "nope, but guess what? I got a new book from Mr. Samuel! It's called Imaginary Demise" his mom said " cool now finish your dinner ok?". Dusty finished eating his food and went upstairs to finish reading his comic. Right before he reached the end his phone rang, dusty picked it up " hello?" A voice replied" Hey dusty it's Michael" sounding a bit relieved he replied " Hey Michael how are you? So I got this new book from Mr. Samuel, it's good! It's called Imaginary Demise, I'll bring to school tomorrow so you can borrow it" Michael said" wow really? I would love to but my family is going on vacation for a few days and I'm not gonna be able to get it tomorrow, I only live a few houses away so can I come get it real quick?" " sure thing!" Dusty said that they hung up. A few minutes later Michael came to get the book and left. Dusty went to bed unaware about what would happen the next day....

Earth is finally visible from the Twin Dragon's escape pod, looming large in the round window.
<Oh my gods, it's so beautiful> Kari says, almost crying at the view.
<I've seen worse> is all Torn is willing to concede.
<We need to decelerate. Max, can you hear me?> Noriko asks, talking to her N-Phone.
<Loud and clear> is the answer coming from the phone.
<How is he talking in space?> Kari wonders aloud.
<By turning into radio waves. You know, we're going really fast out here. Vesta is doing her best to slow down, but we could really use some direction here.>
<Relax, it's an uncontrolled atmospheric re-entry. Just rocket science> Noriko replies.
<If you're trying to reassure me, maybe you should switch to "piece of cake".>
<Same thing for me, really. Alright, here's what we gonna do.>
There's a bright flash in Noriko's silver eyes, the same kind that always accompany the use of her superhuman mind. Only this time it's so bright it makes her eyes disappear in a pool of white fire, and she falls to her knees.
<Not now…need to…hold back…>
Kari doesn't waste any time to help her, even though it hurts her mind to look at her eyes.
<What's wrong, Nori? Hold back what?>
<Humanity> Noriko says with a thousand voices.
<Guys? We have a situation here!> the N-Phone shouts.
Outside, Vesta is plunging into the atmosphere feet first, carrying the escape pod on her back; the friction is already surrounding it with flames. But it's not what worries her: she's the goddess of the hearth, and no flame will touch her friends if she doesn't want to.
But there's a storm brewing over the skies. A lightning storm that spans the entire planet…until all the electricity starts to rise and shoot a single, colossal bolt towards the prodigal sons of Earth.
<No. Freakin'. Way> are the words on Vesta's mouth.
Max turns his body into a pure electron flow, trying to somehow lead the lighting somewhere else. It's useless: the bolt carefully avoids both him and Vesta, moving as if it has a mind of its own, and hits the escape pod.
Inside it, the sparkles creep over the walls and leap straight towards Noriko. Torn quickly pushes Kari aside, but it's not necessary: the lightning strike isn't intended for her, and it's no lightning strike at all.
It's an update.
Noriko screams in pain as six weeks of information are fed directly into her brain; her body shakes uncontrollably, making the whole process similar to an epileptic seizure.
<What's going on!?> Kari screams.
<Looks like the same thing that killed Demeter> Torn answers, materializing a red energy sword in his hand and using it to cut the lightning.
Noriko's body goes limp.

Route 283
Ness County, Kansas
The escape pod is a bus-sized cylinder made mostly of titanium and aluminum; it should've disintegrated long before touching the ground. Instead, the drivers can see a red-haired goddess gently lay it down in the middle of a field.
<What the f##k happened!?> Max asks, materializing in front of the pod; he's so upset that he forgets to put on his Quantum mask. Torn cuts a hole in the pod's walls, and two Kari carry Noriko outside.
<The lightning attacked her. So I cut it> Torn answers.
<She's breathing, but something's not right> Kari says taking her pulse. A duplicate checks her eyes: the pupils are fully dilated. The eyes are more unpolished grey metal than silver.
<We need to take her back home> Max decides.
<A 1400 miles flight? In her conditions?> Vesta asks.
 Kari says happily. Noriko finally opens her eyes; their silver light is dim and intermittent, but it's back.
She gets back on her feet, leaning on Kari to avoid falling down, and she points her finger at Torn.
<Never…cut the signal…again.>
<If you say so> Torn answers bluntly.
<You almost killed her, you idiot> Max says, giving him a soft punch to the shoulder. Torn doesn't flinch, which might explain why it's like punching a wall.
<Hardly. He simply disconnected me from the worldmind during my monthly update; I had to reboot my brain to fix the damage.>
<Wait, you can reboot your brain!?> Max repeats, impressed.
<"Monthly"? You mean you have to be struck by lightning like that every month!?> Vesta asks; Noriko was in a lot of pain during the whole process. She can't imagine having to do it regularly.
<Why do you think I live on the top floor? Unfortunately, this means I have no knowledge on anything that happened on Earth during the last six weeks.>
<Just great. So…now what?> Max asks.
<We head back to Null Tower. Normally I'd ask Vesta to fly me there, but with Torn and Kari…>
<We need a vehicle. Gotcha> the Myridian girl nods, walking towards the road.
At every step, two duplicates appear by her side. When the first car approaches a few seconds later, twelve Kari have formed a human chain that prevent it from going any further.
The car comes to a screeching halt to avoid hitting any of them, and the driver starts to sound the horn and to shout:
<Hey, what's the holdup!? Stupid kids…>
The driver walks out of the car, ready to deliver an ear-splitting rant to the purple-haired twins that are blocking the street. Instead he comes face to face with the most beautiful woman he's ever met.
<Excuse me, sir, but we need a ride to New York City. Would you mind taking us there?> Vesta asks with the most warm and kind voice the man has ever heard.
<No, I…I wouldn't mind at all, I guess> the man stutters.
Then something punches a fist-sized hole through the car's hood. The Genius Gun is still hot from the shot when Noriko aims it at the driver.
<Scram.>
The driver doesn't need to hear the order twice, and starts running for his life. Vesta grabs the gun from Noriko's hand, like a mother scolding her child.
<What are you doing!?>
<We just need the car. What if I told you he's a registered sex offender?>
<How would you know?> Vesta asks, shocked.
 Noriko answers, sitting in the car. Torn follows riding shotgun; Kari makes her duplicates disappear and takes the back seat.
While Max turns into energy disappearing at the speed of light and Vesta lifts the car over her head, Torn asks softly:
<Was he really a criminal, or did you just need some space?>
 is Noriko's only comment on the matter.
She then just looks at the ground moving farther and farther away when Vesta starts flying, carrying the car on her shoulders in a 1400 miles trip back home.

New York City
It takes Max much, much less than the blink of an eye to be back: as usual, changing from flesh to energy and vice-versa takes most of the time. He flips the switch, but he can't turn on the lights: the apartment is still in the dark.
<Of course, it's been six weeks. Fighting space gods doesn't pay the bills.>
It's easy to fix when Max's entire body changes into pure light. Now he can see that the room has been stripped down to little more than walls and floor.
There's no more shelves of comic books, no boxes of DVDs and comic books, no furniture with action figures sitting on top, and the comic books are also gone.
Not since fighting a killer goddess on an alien planet has Quantum been so mad.
Just outside the building, a man is holding a black plastic bag, mumbling to himself.
<What's the point of owning a building if you gotta take out the thrash?>
A laser beam disintegrates his garbage. Terrified, the man's gaze follows the beam's trajectory…where a masked man is scowling at him.
<31B. What happened?>

The man shields his eyes from the massive release of light, and finds himself with Quantum's hands holding his jacket.
<Apartment 31B. It's empty. Why?>
<The black kid's room? He disappeared weeks ago. Dunno where he went.>
<What about his stuff?>
<Why do you care? Bunch of crap. Dunno why the suckers paid so much for it.>
<"Suckers"?>
<Chinese guys. Paid a couple grand to buy everything an' keep my mouth shut.>
<Chinese. Why would the Chinese pay to get my…wait. You sure they weren't Japanese?>
<Maybe. What am I, immigration? Look, I don't want any trouble, okay?>
<You're not the one who needs to worry.>
Quantum disappears in yet another flash of light, leaving his former landlord to wonder what in the world just happened, standing in front of the ashes of disintegrated garbage.


Null Tower, Upper East Side
The sun is setting, and the giant Ø symbol on the top of the latest addition of the Big Apple's skyline is casting its shadow over the city.
Vesta carefully puts down the car right in front of the building; after sustained flight over half the country, the vehicle's definitely seen better days.
A duplicate of Kari appears in front of the car, opening the door.
<Nice ride> Noriko says, looking like she's seconds from throwing up.
<Sorry it took so long. I couldn't go supersonic without killing you> Vesta apologizes.
<We should do it again!!!> the original Kari says, jumping out of the car with the joy of an eight year old that's just been on her first roller coaster.
<Indeed> says Torn, with the enthusiasm of an eighty year old queued at the post office.
Suddenly Quantum appears in front of them, practically shouting at Noriko's face:
<You mother stole my comic books!!!>
Noriko sights, rubbing her eyes. On top of her migraine, now this.
<Ma…Quantum. I'm gonna check whether the most powerful weapon in the galaxy is still where I left it. If everything's alright, then I'll worry about more trivial things. And after that I'll worry about your stuff.>
Without saying another word, she reaches the front door…where two armed guards are waiting.
<I'm sorry, miss, but the Tower is in lockdown. No unauthorized guests.>

Suddenly, a hologram appears in front of the guards. It's another Noriko Null.
<Unless you want things to go ugly, impostor, you will leave this place at once.>
<How dare you impersonate me!? I am Null!!!>
<Not anymore> the hologram says with an evil smile.
<I'm never getting my comic books back> Quantum whines.

Noriko Null was a seemingly ordinary Asian-American teen, until the goddess Athena decided to make her Earth's first line of defense against the impossible.
Now armed only with superhuman intelligence and instant access to all of humanity's knowledge, Noriko will have to solve the world's problems, face the secrets behind her transformation, and fight Greek gods in space in her spare time.
Will the world's smartest girl be able to defeat the all-powerful gods?

Announcement!!!
...
This is not a new chapter but its important you read...
...
Guys, remember one time, i said i had a scifi themed novel in mind?
And that i just needed some advice whether or not to write it alongside with Trailing Shadows?
Remember?


Well, i have started it already. Although its something quite different from sci-fi.
Its still Fantasy.
Although, i published it for the filipino writing contest(which i have no hopes on winning. Just participated to push myself to the limits. )
But it really is important for you to read.
.
Published with permission from The Comican Arts, 'The Curse Of The First Sword Bearer' is a series of a one year event under ONA ORISHA, centralising on a young man called Abiodun.
Abbey for short.

It is the involvement of the awakened orisha in the life of men, while darkness begins to cloud Orun Rere in 'Trailing Shadows'
(Yes, Trailing Shadows, read it too. Both titles are linked into one almighty  event)

While Trailing Shadows focuses on what happens in the spirit realms, The Curse Of The First Sword Bearer(Ona Orisha) focuses on what happens in the physical due to the activities in Trailing Shadows.
So you see, they really are linked together.

However,TCOFSB is merely a one year event in the 7 year series that Ona Orisha is centered on.
The other series, despite the fact that i created them, i do not have permission to publish them on any platforms until the Comic Books are out.
.
Yes, Comics!
These chapters you read are undergoing 'comic scripting'.
Which means soon enough, you may be reading TS and TCOFSB in comic book format.
To stay abreast of all the developments, follow On IG
@comicanarts.
Theres even a new comic coming out this month already. '30 days Vigilante'
.
.
Anyways, i apologise to everyone following TS. 
School has resumed,trying to settle down amongst the hustle and bustle.
I know i said, if the worst comes to the worst, topublish new chapters weekly.

Its one week gone and few days,i think and i have not published a.new chapter yet.
Well aside from writing novels,i do lot of other things.
programming, illustration ecetera. 
And so far, its been really tough on me, considering that school has resumed and that 30 days Vigilante is coming soon.
Please , bear with me.
And thanks for reading.
Arigato 😌😌😌

Leorio returns, looking defeated.
Leorio: "Sorry, I thought I was a rock paper scissors pro."
Esther: "…Oh well, even if we lost 50 hours. We still have about 15 left. I think if we rush, we can make it."
A door from the side wall opens. An announcement is sounded.
"Please cross the bridge. On the other side, you'll find a small room. That's where you will be spending the 50 hours you gambled away."
The announcement cuts.
Killua: "Well. Come on."
We enter the room. The door automatically locks behind us. Looking around, I see some books, chairs, a fridge, a table, and a tv.
Leorio: "Come on, give me a break. Can't believe we just got to sit around for 50 hours."
Killua: "Alright then, we got more than 2 days."
Gon: "So, what do you want to do?"
Killua: "Let's search the room and see if there is anything to play with."
Esther: "Ok."
We run around the room, we spot a TV. Killua turns it on while I read books. They're comic books? Why are they here?
Esther: "Hey guys, check this out."
Killua: "What is it?"
I show them the book.
Gon: "Oh, wow! They're comic books!"
Killua: "Cool, let's read them."
Esther: "Hahaha! Oh man, did you see this part? The red frog put a grenade in his captain's mouth and blue him up. His hair looks like a smoke cloud."
Killua: "Really? Let me see."
Gon: "Me too!"
After reading for some time now, Killua looks up at me.
Killua: "Hey Esther, I forgot to ask this. How did your dad meet your mom?"
I stop reading. I sigh.
Esther: "Mom only once told me about this when I was small. So, sorry if I get some information mixed up. You see, before mother met father, she said she worked as a guard. Her job was to make sure no stranger entered the village. I do not know where that village is exactly, but she said that when we escaped, she'd show me. Anyways, while doing her job, a man, tattered and beaten, somehow found her village."
Gon: "Was that man your dad?"
Esther: "Bingo! And while mother's job was to make sure no stranger entered the village, she still had pity on him. Taking him in despite the villagers saying don't, she nursed and cared for him. At that point, you can say she fell in love. After father got better, he proposed to her. But the thing is, in that village, you are forbidden to marry someone whom is not of that village. My mother went against it, leading to her being thrown away. They said she can come back, but only when she learns how bad of a decision she made."
KIllua: "It was pretty bad."
Esther: "After living with father for some time, I was born. Things changed after that cause when I cried, well, you know. Mother slowly started regretting marrying him. Things got physical when she saw he was deliberately making me cry. That's when the lock up happens. Even back then, we never once left father's home. Not even when mother was giving birth to me. That place is a prison. But I got to go back to see mother. She promised me we both escape."
Killua: "How can she escape if she's dead?"
Esther: "…I do not know, but, when I get there…I'll find a way to help her."
Killua: "Man, you make no sense. Wouldn't it be better to just move on with your life instead of for the past?"
Esther: "That may be true, but it's a task I must accomplish. Even if I lose my life."
Gon: "Don't say things like that. You'll jinx yourself."
Esther: "Yeah, you're right. Let's continue reading."
I can feel everyone looking at me. Their gazes hurt. After reading for a long time, Killua shows Gon some tricks on his skateboard. Leorio and Kurapika are conversing. I'm still reading. I feel danger. Ducking my head instinctively, a skateboard flies past me and hits Leorio's head.
Leorio: "What are you doing?! You can't skateboard in here!"
Gon: "Sorry."
After lots of time passes, we go to bed.

Haitus

Follow Esther as he travels with Gon and the gang. 

ps: I'll write what I watch, changes are inevitable. Of course, the beginning is not much different.

If you find errors, please inform me so that I can make corrections.

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