Co-authored by Ms. Lovett and DrIce

The sound of television snow/static filled the early morning air, and seemed to grow louder with each passing second. On the bed across the room from the television, a young man stirred but did not awake. He had gone to sleep with the light on for the first time in years, but not because he was afraid of the dark. He had been up late playing a new game until he cleared every last level. The sound of the "snow" on TV finally jarred him awake.

"Wuh, wuzzat?" he mumbled to himself, noticing how he fell asleep with the TV on.

That's weird, where'd the game go? And why is my light off?

He swung his legs over the side of the bed, and rubbed his eyes to try and finish waking up. It was so dark everything had a sort of grayscale tone to it, which he thought was strange.

Ugh! What time is it?

"Hey mom! Why didn't you wake me up? I've got school you know!" he called out, but didn't hear a response. Then, he looked over at the clock. There were no numbers flashing on the display.

I guess the power's out.

HISSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS

The TV finally caught his attention again, as if it was angry he hadn't paid attention to it.

He said to himself, starting to feel apprehensive, "If the power's out, how's my TV on?"

With a shove, he hops off the bed and goes over to shut off the power knob. It's already in the off position.

Why was I expecting that? he thought blandly

Another crackle issued from the speakers, and the screen went black except for a few miniscule words. He had to press his face to the screen to read them:

Choose a path and do your duty...

As the young man is scratching his head, the screen turns off with an especially violent hiss. The screen goes totally black, and he can see himself reflected in the glass. His icy blue eyes stare back at him and provide stark contrast to the inky black hair that covers his head. One strand of purest white at the very front however, hangs down over his forehead. He brushes it aside, and gets up from crouching in front of the TV.

I've got to be dreaming still. This is pretty dumb…

He turns back to his bed, and lets out a breath he didn't know he was holding in. There were three strange objects on his bed that definitely weren't there before he got up. A shining sword gleamed at the foot of his bed, next to a well polished magical looking staff. Lying across his two pillows was a large shield.