Hot sun burned down on Pensacola, Florida as Danny Sinclair walked to school. The avenue was shaded in some parts by leafy palm trees, but he could feel the heat of late August scorching the back of his neck.

Why does school have to start this early in the year anyway? Danny complained to himself. Summer just wasn't a long enough break. He'd rather be back at home sleeping in, and then go explore the mangrove swamps and reefs later on in the day.

Danny had always hated school. It wasn't the classes or the homework that he hated, in fact that was the only part he liked, but it was the other kids that made him uncomfortable. Danny had never fit in, and he had always felt as if he was the biggest freak in the school. No one could relate to him, he was just the school weirdo. Summer was the only time when he could actually get away from it all to be by himself.

It had started ever since kindergarten. At the school talent show, all the other kids had sung, danced, or played a musical instrument. Not Danny. He was the nerd who did magic tricks for everyone. In 1st grade, in the play, everyone else had gotten leading roles in the cast, except for Danny, who worked back stage with the tech stuff. Ever since Elementary School he had been the different weird kid.

But Danny's thoughts were interrupted when he walked past Pensacola's local skate shop: Urban Sk8 Florida. It was Danny's favorite place to go.

I've got a little time before school, Danny thought. I could go in and check things out for just a little bit.

"Hello Danny," said the shopkeeper. Danny was a regular costumer at the shop, because in addition to his fascination in magic, he enjoyed biking, roller skating, and skateboarding. "I've gotten a new shipment. You can check it out for a little but I'll have to kick you out in a little since school will be starting soon for you."

"Uh, thanks," Danny replied. "I'll probably come back after school."

That's when a cool new skateboard over on display in the shop window caught his eye. On the bottom side of the board, was a black and orange image of a Chinese dragon.

"Wow, how much is that one?" Danny asked, with great interest.

"Seventy-five dollars," the shopkeeper answered flatly.

"Damn it," Danny muttered under his breath.

"Excuse me?" said the shopkeeper.

"Uh…I mean darn it," Danny corrected himself quickly. "Uh, I gotta go, so I'll see you this afternoon. Bye!"

If only I had enough money to buy that thing, Danny thought. It was the coolest skateboard he had ever seen, and the one he currently owned was falling apart anyway.

Suddenly, without warning, Danny felt something beneath his feet, and realized that he was starting to slide down the pavement. Looking down, he was astounded to see a skateboard under his feet. Looking back into the shop window, the Dragon skateboard was gone. How could this be? What the frick was happening?

Hopping off the skateboard, Danny flipped it over to see it's underside. Sure enough, there was the orange and black image of the dragon. How could it just have appeared like that under my feet?

Danny nervously glanced over at the shop. The shopkeeper was still at his desk, helping another customer as if nothing had even happened. Had anyone else noticed? Danny didn't want to be accused of stealing. A criminal record was the last thing he wanted right now.

But I have the skateboard now. YES!!! This rocks!

Quickly, Danny looked back again at the shop to make sure that no one noticed the missing skateboard. It's not technically stealing, Danny told himself. And without another thought about it, he skated away down the street.

This is so great, Danny thought, excited. I feels like I'm flying. He grinded down benches, across staircases, and on the rails. The new skateboard felt perfect under his feet. It was almost like…magic.

But as Danny rode towards the school, his reverie was interrupted when a large brown object flying at him hit him in the side of the head. He was completely tossed off the board, and fell onto the hard pavement, scraping his elbow so that it bled. Looking at the object that had hit him, he saw that it was a football. That could only mean one thing.

Turning around, Danny saw Terrance Dorrance, the meanest kid in the school. He lived to watch kids bleed and suffer. In fact, Danny was surprised to know that no one had died under his wrath yet. Not yet, but they will, Danny knew. Please not me.

"Waz up, Sinclair?" Terrance asked in a mock voice. "I see you have a new skateboard. Pretty cool, huh? What would you do if I did this?"

Without warning, Terrance grabbed the skateboard, and with his bare hands, cracked it in half!

"What are you going to do about that?" he asked, in a cruel voice.

Danny just glared up at Terrance. There was no way he could fight this kid, he was so strong that he could crush a person's head like a grapefruit. He just gave him the nastiest look he could muster.

"I hope you rot in hell," Danny muttered under his breath, glaring at the mean kid.

"What's that you said?" Terrance asked, chuckling. "I don't plan on going to hell anytime soon, but I can arrange a one way ticket for you there right now!"

With that, Terrance seized Danny's throat in his large vice like hands, and began to squeeze, choking him.

"Stop! Please somebody! Help me!" Danny tried to shout out, but all that came out of his strangled voice were a few muffled grunts. Terrance was killing him!

Danny could do nothing, as the edges of his peripheral vision began to fade, becoming dark shadows. He began to lose consciousness as the darkness surrounded him and the sound of Terrance's taunting voice began to fade away. It was a nightmare come true!

I wish he would just leave me alone, Danny thought in desperation. I wish he would just go away! I'm too young to die.

And that's when the strangling stopped. Danny didn't even know what had happened. Terrance was gone! Where could he have gone? Something damn strange was going on here.

For a few minutes Danny just sat there in the street. Blood was oozing onto the asphalt from a place where the vain had popped and cut open in his neck. Terrance had done some serious damage to him! But he was alive! Danny reveled in the thought. He had been positive that he would never live to tell this story.

But what had happened? That was the strange part. The piece of the puzzle that just didn't fit. Why was Terrance gone? Danny was more than happy that he was, but it seemed strange. He hadn't even seen him run away, or loosen his grip. He had just vanished into thin air.

Danny glanced over at the skateboard, a few feet away. It lay where Terrance had left it, broken in half on the sidewalk. That didn't make sense either, how the skateboard had just appeared under his feet. Something supernatural seemed to be going on here, maybe even…magic?

Danny brushed the thought away, magic wasn't real, and everyone knew it. It was just some strange phenomenon, that's all.

His strength slowly coming back to him, Danny got up and grabbed his backpack, glancing at the broken skateboard. Sighing, he picked up the two broken halves and tossed them in to the garbage can on the corner of the block. Then, he resumed his journey to school. He was already late, he knew it, but after a life and death situation such as the one that had happened this morning, being tardy was the least of his worries.

Walking into the schoolyard, of Pensacola High School, he noticed that a large group of students were all gathered around a tall oak tree, and looking up.

What are they looking at? Danny wondered.

That's when he saw who was in the tree. Terrance! He was hanging from a high branch, by only a belt loop!

Terrance was flailing his arms and legs around, in an unsuccessful effort to free himself. Danny had never seen him in this type of situation. It was rather amusing. All the other kids seemed to think so too, because they were pointing and laughing. Terrance picked on a lot of kids at school, so for them and Danny, this was almost like payback.

When Terrance caught sight of Danny, his eyes bulged out of their sockets, in what was that? Fear? Yes! It was fear in Terrance's eyes. He seemed to think that this was Danny's doing. Was it?

"You…Sinclair," he shouted from the tree, pointing fearfully at Danny. "You're…you're a… a sorcerer! You put me up here! You're a…a…demon!"

"Right back at you," Danny shouted back. "You just tried to choke me to death."

"This isn't over, Sinclair," Terrance shouted, but with anxiousness in his voice. "You're a wizard! Black magic!"

"I am not," Danny shouted back. "You've gone crazy. How could I have done that to you?"

Still, in the back of his mind, Danny couldn't help but wonder if Terrance was right. Could he really be a wizard? No, that was impossible. But again, several "impossible" things had happened this morning. What did it all mean?

It was the beginning of the end of the "normal" Danny Sinclair.

"Danny, I know all about you," said Max, years later in a hidden room in the Magic Mansion. "I know about you're powers, and you're struggles."

"But aren't you the one who said I was faking to get attention?" Danny asked. "Aren't you the president of the World Wide Skeptics Society?"

"A perfect cover, don't you think? You see, every few generations a few truly powerful sorcerers are born with powers that would boggle the imaginations of ordinary men. I'm one of those sorcerers. And Danny, so are you."

"But if I'm so great and powerful, then how come my powers are always totally out of check?"

"Well, you're young yet, you've got a lot to learn. But we'll work on it. We'll work on it together. Now, I want to show you something."

Max pulled out the two miniature knights and the two began to battle each other, wit against wit. Despite the tragedy that was about to, Danny understood himself a little better than before. And for now, that was all that mattered.

The End