The same disclaimer is applied to all chapters.
Chapter 2
Trip To California
The Rodent's Gazette, 17 Swiss Lane
1550 hours
After school ended, another one of my cars came to pick us up from school and drove us to The Rodent's Gazette. This time, a BMW M6 Grand Coupé I named Geschwind. We rode the elevator up from basement parking, then headed straight to Geronimo's office.
The door was wide open, coming out of the office was the sound from the wall-mounted flatscreen. Geronimo was watching his favorite afternoon drama series again while his staff works elsewhere in the building and his correspondents out and searching for a scoop, not including myself.
As we entered, I noted the absence of certain mice in the room which I was trying to get used to. Trap was running his store a few blocks down the street, Pandora's aunt, Patty Springs which usually comes by to pick her up after I gave her and Benjamin a ride here (Geronimo could get a little nervous when he's with her because he has a crush on her) but Pandora told her that she'd stay at the office and have Geronimo send her home.
And the most noticeable absence of all was Thea. She wasn't anywhere around New Mouse City ever since she was sent back to Whale Island to teach her students at Mouseford Academy for the new semester. I was trying to get use to her being gone for 14 weeks, yet I failed miserably. It's been only two weeks since she left and I missed her already! She's my friend and stepsister, how couldn't I? Plus, it does get really boring sometimes when Geronimo assigns me to search for scoops with him after school.
Geronimo was on his chair at his desk when he saw us come in. "Ah! You're all back from school," he squeaked.
Without a reply, I started to give out orders to everyone as we stepped in. "Pandora, close the curtains. Benjamin, shut the door, lock it, then make sure that the room is secure. I don't want any ears spying on us."
Pandora without question knew what the orders were for, and got to the windows behind Geronimo's desk and pulled the green curtains. Benjamin with an "Affirmative!" as a response and locked the door behind him shut, and went to check all the corners of the office to look out for any spying bugs.
Geronimo in mysteriousness demanded to know what was going on. "Mouselings? Danny? What's the meaning of this?" he asked as the office turned dark after Pandora got the curtains to shut.
I got him cheesed off when I waved my hand out to the TV and sent out neurosignals from the microchip to the TV that channeled out my hand by neurotransmitters planted in my fingers. "Hey! I was watching that!" he reacted.
"Benjamin! Is this place safe to talk?" I said.
He was looking inside the big grandfather clock by the fireplace. "The room is secure," he reported.
"Danny, may I ask what is going on?" demanded Geronimo.
I went to in front of him. "First, I want all electronics turned off. Huddle up everyone's iPhones to the desk." Our pockets were emptied of our iPhone 5Ss, and we gathered them on the desktop. I waved my hand above all of them, sending out commands to the phones and shut them off.
"Alright, NOW are you going to tell me?" asked Geronimo again, unable to hold his curiosity.
I explained the whole thing briefly. "Okay, at school, Benjamin and Pandora got into trouble with Punk Rat again. I was there to save him, got Punk Rat slammed and pinned to the lockers, and this happened." Waving my hand at the flatscreen, I played the digital memory I stored in the chip.
Geronimo witnessed me use Force Lightning in the clip, and he frowned at it. "Force Lightning? As a Jedi, I thought you weren't supposed to have that power," he said.
"That's what had me worried. I don't know if I'm turning Sith or something, but this is why I need to get to California to consult with Professor Philips. Only he knows what's going on," I explained.
As expected, he knows. "You're making an excuse to not search scoops with me again, aren't you?" I'll tell you readers why.
"That's besides the point. Plus, you drive really slow!" I emphasized.
1 week ago...
"Geronimo? Can you drive a little bit faster?"
"Why should I?"
"We need to get to the scoop before Rasmoussen and Squealer do."
"I think we will get there before them at this speed. After all, better to be safe that's sorry."
"I get that, but...sigh...G? I built Terra (Geronimo's Cadillac CTS-V Sedan) so the she has thousand horsepower from her V8! Specifically meant to be used for these situations! And you're saying that you're refusing to use the remaining 934 horsepower."
"Danny, I'll only use Terra's full power output on pursuits. I'm currently a member of the media, so I tend to abide the law when I'm not working as an Interpol agent."
"...Geronimo? You do that the speed limits in the city are 55 miles an hour, right?"
"Yeah? So?"
"You're driving on 10." (Could drive a little faster?)
See what I mean when I said boring?
"When are you leaving?" Benjamin interrupted.
"I'll fly out soon...tonight, maybe. So I won't be around to chase scoops with you till Sunday probably."
"I suggest that you better pack up now if you're leaving tonight," said Geronimo.
"Sounds good..."
"One more thing, would you like me to arrange a private jet for you from Interpol?"
"That'd be great. Thanks."
I went home with Geschwind, packed up light and waited for the night. Later that day, I went to Angorat International Airport and flew off for California in one of Interpol's private jets.
Los Angeles, California
March 21, 2014
12.45 p.m.
RING! "Professor Graham Philips speaking."
"Professor, it's me."
"Danial! It's good to hear from you again! It's been so long! Is everything okay? Because sixteen hours ago, I felt a disturbance in the Force."
"Uh, about that...I need to see you."
"When?"
"ASAP. I just landed in Los Angeles, and right now I'm at LAX. We'll meet at Caltech. I've got a huge problem."
"How huge?"
"ENORMOUS. It involves my Force powers. I'll explain when we get to the research lab."
"I'm on my way."
"I'll see you in half an hour."
I landed in California several hours later, having myself jet lagged after flying across the United States. I wanted to see the Professor immediately, so I never bothered to settle in first and hired a cab straight to Caltech.
California Institute of Technology, 1200 E California Blvd
1.18 p.m.
The cab dropped me off at the sidewalk just at the front entrance of the campus. I paid a huge tip with a sincere smile to the driver, and watched him drive away to look for more fares.
I stood in the middle of the afternoon heat as my eyes followed the cab go, they stopped when it overtook the fiery red Porsche 911 GT2 RS parked in front of where the cab stopped. It was the Professor's car, his own. The driver, which was Prof Philips, stepped out and turned around at me as he closed the door. He wore his usual formal outfit, a blue shirt tucked in his black pair of slacks. He's aged a bit now at 41 years old, but he still managed to maintain the tone of his blonde hair. Either that or he dyed it.
"Danny! It's good to see you again," he greeted as he remotely locked his car, going 'beep'.
He approached me and held his arms wide open. "It's good to see you too, dad," I said. We gave each other a tight hug. I called him 'dad' because he's been my foster parent ever since my parents passed away.
Letting go of the embrace, he asked; "So, what happened in New Mouse City?"
"I'll explain on the way to the lab," I proposed.
We walked the campus grounds starting from its front entrance as I pulled my compact carry on, in the same time explaining what happened.
"It happened yesterday. I just arrived at school as usual, saw my two best friends, Benjamin and Pandora. After talking to them for a bit, I went for a drink at the water fountain down the hall. Then the school bully, Punk Rat, he came and bothered them, so I decided to help. I confronted him, got him pinned against the lockers, and it happened."
"What happened?" he asked.
"Not did I only use a Force power in public, it was nothing from the Light Side of the Force. I exerted Force Lightning out of my index finger."
He began to look worried. "Force Lightning? Are you sure?"
"Benjamin and Pandora saw me use it, and when I recalled from my replay-able memory, I did see that I used the Force Lightning."
"Then we must not waste time. Race-walk with me, lad," he ordered.
After a minute of speed walking, we got to the entrance of Caltech's secret research labs. On top was a disguise of a shop while the labs are underground. We entered the shop, and the Professor greeted the cashier/guard of the secret entrance. We proceeded to the stockroom, where the elevator was located.
Camouflaged as a solid wall, we rode the elevator 30 stories down to the labs. It took a minute, but we got there. No one was seen but us in the labs as the doors opened, the professor said that all of the labs' staff was given a day off.
We continued to venture deeper into the lab until we reached the room that I haven't been into in a while ever since the chip's last upgrade, the microchip's development room. Only a few people can access it, including Professor Philips and myself.
An iris recognition scan was needed for us to enter. A panel where the prof placed his eye in front of scanned, and unlocked the high-density, but thin, solid steel vault door.
Inside was a large cube glass testing chamber with an area of 100 square meters, where I test all my powers (Force powers specifically). Black walls and floor decorated by blue streaks of LED lighting, and the room itself was lit by the lights installed in the floor of the testing chamber, covered by another layer of glass.
"Now, let's get on with the SDRB procedure first," he said as the door behind us shut itself. The procedure was to scan, detect and repair any weaknesses or deformities to the chip. When the procedure detects any, the professor will inject a few thousand microscopic nanobots into my blood stream and make their way to the brain, and they will repair the damage in the chip. Thus the 'SDR' part of the acronym. The 'B' stood for 'backup', as in memory backup. All digital memories I had in the chip will be uploaded to a server in the lab itself.
"Professor, do we have to?" I whined. The procedure could take up to half an hour with the memory backup.
"We must...it's standard procedure," he told me. For the 12th time.
The scan took fifteen minutes to make sure that the neurotransmitters were functioning properly (which they did), and to ensure that a device called the dark matter (scientific for the Force) collector was fully operating as well. (It used to assist me whenever I used the Force before I became a strong Jedi and before I discovered my ultimate Jedi form.)
"Hmm...everything's in perfect condition. And now for the backup. I'll have your chip connected to the server and you may relax while the backup is in process," said the professor. And so, I sat down at the lounge space sofa as I played video games on my iPhone.
15 minutes later, the backup was done. And it was time to show the professor what happened. "The backups done, now you can demonstrate the Force Lightning," he said.
"Okay, if you say so..." But I forgot to step into the glass testing chamber. ALL Force powers must be tested inside the 4-inch thick glass chamber.
"Danny, you have to..." But before the professor could even finish his protest, blue lightning bolts shot out of my ten fingers, directed to a glass flask on a metal table. The lightning was so strong, the prof had to back off, shielding his eyes for the light was too bright and wind was blowing inside the room. What was left of the flask was thousands of shattered glass pieces.
"I'll be honest, I wasn't even angry at that time," I told, raising my hands up.
"...I say, that was really strong. Even for a young Jedi like you," he stated. "Are you sure that wasn't fueled with anger or hatred?"
"Now that you reminded me, I still have a bit of hatred toward Punk Rat. But I didn't think of him when I deployed Force Lightning," I told.
"Hmm...step into the test chamber. We'll test more Force powers and see if your strength has improved."
While I marched to the entrance of the chamber that was sealed off, Professor Philips stood still and voice commanded the AI to unseal the chamber's entrance. When I was already in, he told me; "I'll name you the Force power, and you deploy it," he said through built-in microphones in the lab.
I heard his words from the speakers inside the chamber. "I'm ready," I signaled, cracking my fingers and jumping around to get the blood pumping.
"Force Push."
I deployed the Force power with my right hand, and it felt really strong indeed. I was almost pushed backwards and the wall stopped the push with a loud bang.
The glass wall of the chamber was also used to sense the impact of the Force power using nanotechnology built in the glass itself. The female computer voice in the room said; "Magnitude: 7 Gs."
"My, my... Your powers have certainly grown stronger," the prof said from the other side of the glass. "Let's test more to see how much strong they've become."
"Gimme your best shot," I replied, hopping around energetically.
He named all the Force abilities that Jedi normally use in combat situations, meaning all destructive powers like Electric Judgement. I scored 12000 volts, twice the juice than what it used to be. In terms of Telekinesis, Prof Philips gave me a tennis ball to Force Throw at the wall. Motion sensors in the chamber detected that I threw the ball at 267 miles an hour, nearly thrice the speed than before. And my Force Repulse was recorded to push away at 8 Gs of force.
Next, he brought down a popup turret from the ceiling, basically a robot holding an FN M240 SAW machine gun. Fed with a belt of 200 7.62 NATO rounds, he told me to deflect every bullet that came to me at ten meters across. Result: none of the rounds hit me. Then, he brought down another robot turret armed with a Barrett M82 anti-materiel rifle. Prof told me to catch the bullet at Mach 3 with Telekinesis, which I did. Before, I could only stop until .308 rounds. I could now stop .50 BMG rounds.
"I sense that the Force is strong within you, lad," the professor said. "Now, let's try your dark powers."
A few minutes went by as I deployed the dark Force powers, and discovered that I could use do all of them. We recorded that my Force Lightning reached 20000 volts, almost twice than the Electric Judgement. The Force Whirlwind, a Force Push combined with Force Lightning, recorded 7.2 Gs along with 20100 volts. And Force Storm got to 28000 volts.
"Your dark matter collector didn't even aid you. Tell me, do you feel weak or fatigued?" He asked that because in the past when I tried to use certain powers, I'd pass out.
"No, I feel normal," I said.
"And do you feel any anger in you?"
"None."
He made his conclusion. "My word... Danny my boy, you are not an average Jedi."
I felt intrigued. "Is that good?" I asked.
"It's great, in fact. You're a rare type of Jedi, a special one. You're a Jedi that posses powers from both sides of the Force. And you're guaranteed to not fall to the dark side."
"Oh thank God... I thought I was turning Sith."
"No, absolutely not."
Relief immediately cooled down my worries. "Wow...it feels good to be told that..."
He frowned yet wore a smug face to his fascination of my development. "It definitely is," he said. "Let's continue the test, shall we?"
"What do you want me to do now?"
"Transform into your ultimate Jedi form. I want to see if your power's strength in your normal state affects the powers in your ultimate form."
How I did it was simple: cross my arms over my chest and threw them out. In a flash of light, my appearance changed. Clothes were replaced with a Jedi robe, my eyes turned from deep brown to angel blue, and my hair was colored in light brown.
"Are we starting the test all over again?"
"Yes, we are."
"Okay then..."
We continued the test in my ultimate Jedi form. And yes, the strength of every power increased greatly. Force Push went up to 8 Gs, Force Repulse now at 10 Gs (almost fatal), Electric Judgement recorded 28000 volts while Force Lightning achieved 32000 volts. Finally, Force Storm reached 50000 volts.
We tested every Force power the professor could think of. Running out of ideas, he kept stroking his chin. "What else have I missed..." he said, brainstorming of what should I do next. Then he had a thought, and snapped his fingers. "That's it! Danial, I want you to do Force Maelstrom."
I repelled in disbelief. "Force Maelstrom?! But Prof! Have you seen what I did to Concourse D at McCarran International?" I was referring to the events that happened in my past and first adventure with the Stiltons a few months ago. Stopping an old (and hopefully dead) enemy by trying to sacrifice myself to save Thea from being electrocuted to death. But I survived, and demolished Concourse D in the process by using the Maelstrom.
"Yes, it was all in the news. Yes, I know the risk and I'll be willing to take it. And don't worry, I've reinforced the glass...and hopefully it survives the blast," he rhymed, concerned about the test chamber.
"If you say so..."
I began by focusing all my energy on the Force around me. I stood with a stance with my legs and arms spread out, my back bent, then I started to form a Protection Bubble. Flashes of lightning appeared around me, and Telekinesis made the tennis ball and all the spent shells from the turrets levitate and spin around me. As I focused even harder, the lightning flashed brighter and more frequent. It made tthe professor worried of his own safety, so he toppled the coffee table at the lounge with its top facing the test chamber and ducked behind it for cover. Then as I was trying to soak up more of the Force in the chamber, the glass walls began to crack because it was being sucked in. Unaware that it was already majorly cracked like tempered glass, I let it all out in one big, violent, and catastrophic Repulse. In the process, the test chamber was completely destroyed, scattering tiny bits of glass everywhere.
I was left bug-eyed and slack-jawed after realizing that I had busted a 2-million dollar piece of high-tech research equipment. "I did NOT expect that..." I said to my surprise.
"I did..." Professor Philips trembled slightly, peeping out from behind the table to see the destruction I caused.
Despite the glass being gone, the computer managed to record the magnitude of the Repulse. "Magnitude: 12 Gs," it said. Remember, every force reacting above 10 Gs can KILL you.
Professor Philips came out of cover and walked on the wreckage, making crackling sounds as the sole of his shoes stepped on the broken glass. "12 Gs?" he said in disbelief. "Gracious...conclusion! Never use a Force power that strong in a building."
"Agreed," I said, closing in on each other. "So, what would I tell The Crew?"
He put his arms akimbo. "Tell them that you're not Sith. That's important." I nodded to his words. "So, where are you staying?"
"I don't have a place to stay yet, and my old beach house is a long way from here. Figure that I'd stay at your place?"
"Sounds like an idea, and it'll be a pleasure to have you back at my home."
We proceeded to head to the professor's home and rest, and leave the cleaning up to the other scientists.
"Say, Danny, where do your normal clothes go when you transform?" he asked on the way out.
And honestly, I don't have a clue. "Dunno, but they usually end up in places where clothes usually are..."
We hopped into the prof's Porsche, and sped to his home to rest for my return to New Mouse City in the morning.
