The screen flickers, tinted red, skewed images of bubble text and costumed individual flip over each other like pages in a book,

*Flip-Flip-fli-fli-fli-fli-fliflifliflifliflifli*,

From the pages forms a title of cosmic origin and before it could fill in from it's semi-opaque nature the channel was changed, it went on past a cooking channel, two news anchors taking about some corporate hotshot, then past an early morning child cartoons not given a second thought. There was never anything good on in the morning; that was the hard part of waking up earlier, his mind needed karate action for sustenance like the planet devourer he would read about, Doom-Bringer cosmic taster of the stars. That was how he got through regular life; he would compare the world to the symmetries of the fictional worlds created on the paperback mediums he so religiously collected. That was Fred, know as Fredzilla to…himself, and this was he's origin story. Well, it's not much of an origin story, it was a little too late for that, and if he didn't hurry he'd be late for his gig at San F'okyo Tech.

But he wasn't the only one starting their morning; across town another young man was beginning his day with excising himself from overly tight comforter he tucked himself into the night before. Sitting up in the bed he took a look around his room, it wasn't too big and every corner was a perfect 90-degree angle the bed, the lamp, even the desk chair everything was definite and cut to perfection. Rising from his bed and stretching his back, he headed for the bathroom. Turning on the light and opening the cabinet he pulled a green toiletry bag. Inside was his toothbrush, paste, a razor, everything he needed to complete his morning rituals. Placing them in a straight line he spaced them horizontal so that they all had the exact amount of space between them.

"There's a place of everything, and everything in its place," Wasabi said smiling, looking down he adjusted a toothbrush making sure it aligned with outlining he marked on the counter. This was Wasabi, a neatnik with an eye for everything being controlled and regulated. Not to say he was a compulsive neurotic suffering from apparent OCD with a hint of anxiety, he just enjoyed the normalcy of life and didn't like to step outside it's natural boundaries. Versus his group of friends, he was the one who like to keep grounded when making decisions, testing limitations? That wasn't who Wasabi was,

"I like living thank you very much," he thought while dressing himself, sliding his favorite sweatshirt over his dreads. He checked the entirety of his outfit in the mirror, he's sweatshirt was ironed his pants, crisp, and his athletic shoes polished. He felt complete, grabbing his backpack; he grabbed the keys to his van and closed the door to his apartment taking a few steps forward to the bottom of his stoop while smelling the cool spring air.

"Ahhhhhh that's what I'm talking," taking in a deep breath, "nice and cool, can't get better than this," now on the sidewalk he looked to his left and then to his right for passing pedestrians, seeing that his path was unobstructed, he made the walk to his van parked on the street placing his backpack in the second row seats from the passenger side of the vehicle. Readying himself, he looked to see if it was okay to passed by the front of the van to get to the drivers seat, you couldn't be too careful, the streets for tight and opening your door or being out to far could end badly. Seeing that the coast of clear he started to make his way to the other side,

"VROOOOOOOOoooooooommm!"

"Woah!" before Wasabi could take another step past the hood a black sports car zoomed past him without disregard before it made it to the end of the street. Making a stop that he thought could be heard for blocks, the sports car made a sharp turn and veered left disappearing out of sight still able to be heard for a few seconds afterwards. Back in the middle of the street Wasabi was fuming,

"Who was that!? They could kill someone!" Someone including him, heart beating fast he held the hood of his car before calming down, taking an even deeper breath than before he got into the van, After checking his mirror, then his side mirrors, checking his back window, he figured he'd run the wiper, "Safety first" he thought, and after completing his painstaking vehicular checklist he started the engine. Choosing to forget the situation Wasabi made his way to school, yeah that was a close one but at least he was okay. Reaching the parking garage next to the university he decided to park on the second level knowing that the bridge that connected the garage to the university would lead straight to his lab. While crossing the bridge Wasabi could see majority of the campus, to the northwest he could see the exhibition building where they hold the yearly showcase, a lips grew into a smile as he remembered how he won his way into SFIT.

"Ah yes my magnetic confinement accelerator," He thought with a smirk,

-Flashback-

Standing on stage, Wasabi stood in front of a induction panel of SFIT's finest professor's their eyes scanning the area around him to see what he would be presenting. Nervous he gave a look to his friend near a panel that controlled the lights turning off all but one that was directly on him. Beginning his presentation he let his body go into autopilot then spoke,

"In the beginning, Homo erectus emerged from their shelters with tools fashioned from stone and rock, primitive, flash forward a few million years, Europe revolutionized the way we live with the coming of the Iron Age. Since then we've discovered the means to control even the untamable of elements, tonight I'm here to show you human ingenuity at it's finest."

The light on Wasabi went out, in the darkness Wasabi pulled a rod from behind him, looking down at it he knew how jittery he felt, this was the one chance he had to impress people he's never even met so he could come here, he didn't want to let anyone down. Pushing through his emotions he felt the grooves and buttons until he found what he was looking for.

*ZHYYYYYYYYYYYA!*

From the dark came a beam of light rose from Wasabi's hand like flame. Growing to around three feet, the beam stopped close to his face, illuminating his smile. The panel and on-lookers gasped, no one has seen anything like it; it was a sword made of light! A little untamed, the light rose in a flame-like column, bubbling in a tight moving cylinder, swinging the blade around, Wasabi lit up the stage with a swooshing light show.

*SHMMMMMM!* *SHMMMMMM*!

The sound was a scientific hum drawing the eyes of the panel as it moved around the stage. Wasabi wasn't a novice when the subject involved Kendo, a modern version of the ancient style of Kenjutsu. It was a quiet passion of his; Japanese swordsmanship was a celebrated culture that required discipline, fortitude, and the will of a warrior. These three things Wasabi did…not actually have but precision was a particular wheelhouse of his and that has gotten him that far, hopefully it was enough for the judges. To his sides large rectangular columns of titanium rose from the stage, spinning with the blade above his head,

*Scrrrrrrrrrrrr-THUD!*

Wasabi brought it down towards the metal in a diagonal slash causing the top half of the slab fall gracefully with a large thud, not forgetting the other slab he turned and rushed through the air with a strong forward leap, passing the column he stopped two feet behind it. It took a couple of seconds but soon the slab split horizontal and started to fall in the path of where Wasabi was standing, in fear that a young man who doesn't even go here might die, the panel gasped in fear. Smirking, Wasabi was ready; before the falling slab could make contact he sliced upwards allowing the now split pieces to fall to the front and behind him.

*Boom!* *Bam!*

After the pieces banged to the floor there was nothing but silences throughout the hall, everyone was amazed at what they just saw this kid just went all ninja-esque cutting through that metal it like was butter. It was getting to him though, the silence,

"Okaaaaaay I'd hope there'd be some applaud by now," starting to falter in the pose he stuck with that last attack, Wasabi was starting to sweat. Unable to handle the pressure anymore he collected himself, gave a short bow, and walked off the stage with a melancholy look and sigh. Walking up to him was another individual who presented at the Showcase; his was a rather sophisticated A.I that he modeled after his own brainwaves. Looking in his eyes, he could tell Wasabi was rather flustered after the lack of applauds from the crowd,

"Wasabi, you good?"

"Yeah I'm pretty my chances of going here are non-existent," looking down, "Maybe my presentation was too danger," at first he thought his stunt was a bit unorthodox but he knew he had to do something amazing, now he was regretting that decision.

"I thought it was pretty good, you really put the "Ninja" in the SFIT ninja," The other boy chuckled out loud, Wasabi smiled, just the reaction the boy wanted to get out of him.

Walking up to the two, Professor Callaghan, Director of the Applied Robotic Sciences, with two envelopes in his hand and a smile he handed each of them acceptance letter,

"That was quite a display there, Wasabi was it?"

He was in awe from being handed his future, sure that his dangerous display would be too much for the judges to bare, it took him a minute to return to reality,

"Ha yeah, it might have been a little over the top…" Wasabi nervously said while rubbing the back of neck, easing the tension the other boy chuckled to the air,

"Professor Callaghan this is a huge honor, from the both of us we'd like to say thank you and do the best we can with opportunity," Wasabi smiling and nodding in agreement.

"That's all we ask of you boys, Callaghan said before shaking their hands, "I look forward to seeing you two in class," he said, walking off back to the panel preparing for the next segment.

Watching as Callaghan walked away Wasabi again looked down at his acceptance letter, "I still…can't believe this," he thought smiling to himself…

-Present time-

Continuing on pass the bridge, Wasabi could see the robotics lab coming into view, as he got closer he wondered where is friend was they'll, or he usually, met Wasabi as he come over the bridge, "I wonder where he could be?"

-Across town-

["We either say they go together like peanut butter-n-jelly or peanut butter and chocolate, peas and carrots be disqualified for just making no god damn sense. While PB&Js and peanut butter cups are delicious, so are peanut butter and: crackers, marsh-mellows, &%$ 'ing celery; peanut butter goes well with everything, and chocolate tastes good on everything and nothing, so you can stop announcing your auteurship of every peanut butter cup you sell with an apostrophe s',"]

-PAUSE-

Tapping his finger against the screen of his phone, Fred paused the web video he was watching to look out the window of a very dark chauffer sedan.

"VROOOOOOOOoooooooommm!"

The dark supercar from earlier that nearly took out Wasabi came barreling down the street in Fred's direction; at the speed it was going Fred couldn't turn his head fast enough.

"Hol-e cow!" He thought as the black coupe passed him, zooming through an intersection at the same time the light turned red, cars were barely able to slam on their brakes in time.

"Heathcliff did you see that! Man that thing was flying!" Giddy from adrenaline, Fred leaned on the front headrests talking in the ear of his trusty companion and butler.

"Why yes I did sir," Heathcliff said nonchalant keeping his eyes on the road.

Leaning back into his seat, Fred wonder who was in that car, couldn't be someone from around here, San F'okyo wasn't all that exciting, it was nice and all, but it wasn't like the cities Fred would read about in his comics,

"Man if only I could fly or something…" He thought looking up, imagining running across the rooftops or swinging from building to building. Going back to his video, Fred slouched in the seat, retreating from reality back into his video until Heathcliff made it to SFIT.

-Cut-

Most people hate dressing up as a mascot, you'd always get sweaty in the first five minutes of having the suit on, no one takes you seriously as you lumber around, and you can barely use your arms or move your legs. It was hell, but Fred enjoyed it immensely, putting the suit on, he slipped through the back, putting one leg in after the other, before stuffing his arms in to pull the rest over his back. Zipping up the front he stepped in front of a mirror to eye his transformation, the skin was a slime, earthy green with a dark yellowish belly, the head was large fish head, the huge eyes had a slit pupil. He loved his suit, it wasn't too big, he had a lot of control with his body and he could get pretty fancy with the spin sign, still the heat was killer at times.

Walking through the back of the Robotics lab, juggling his spin sign, Fred wanted to see a few of his friends before started his gig, he was a few minutes late so he could meet his best bud where they usually did. He loved his goof troop, they all were students here at the university that came together after meeting at the same café at the being of the year, he being the only one not enrolled there, or anywhere really. Not to say Fred wasn't intelligent, he just couldn't see his calling from inside a classroom; they didn't judge him for it though, they accepted him for who he was, a lovable oaf with a cartoonish demeanor. Reaching the main lab as students started to disperse to their own devices, Fred could see his buddies, Wasabi and Tadashi standing the middle of the floor talking,

"…can't get enough of your Aunt's doughnuts."

"Oh yeah man those thinks are killer the best thing I've tasted since sugar smacks," he said while walking up to the two. This was a general occurrence for them; he'd see a couple of friends in their lab before heading towards his favorite spot to spin his advertisement sign outside the campus. Enticing Wasabi to continuing working on the shrink ray he asked for, he began walking through campus towards the Torii arch that separated the campus from the downtown Fransokyo area, Wasabi walked with him still trying to convince him that shrinking something just couldn't be done. Wasabi's argument fell on deaf ears as Fred continued to walk his mind going back to earlier where he saw that dark sports car.

"Wasabi you won't believe what I say this morning,"

"A flying koi-fish again? Cause you know those are the city's wind turbines remember."

"No man I was coming to school and this supercar came zooming down the street like a jet man," making a zipping motion with his hand with a serious face following the path of his hand.

Confused at first, the face Wasabi was making melted into an expression of realization; the car that almost took him out was the same car that Fred saw,

"That guy almost killed me this morning!"

"Whoooooa cool," Fred chuckled a lot which Wasabi thought was ludicrous,

"Not cool you can't just speed through streets like that, there are rules!"

"Still it was like a nightrider, the death rider of the Apocalypse or something!"

Stopping mid-step with a dumb expression on his face, Wasabi couldn't believe that his close friend would think him almost dying was cool,

"Ugggggghhhhhh I have to get back my lab," throwing hands in the air, Wasabi turned around and started to walk back to his lab why he tried to reason with Fred, he'd never know. The lab was in eyeshot from where he was, from the main doors he saw a young man exit and pull something from his pocket and check it,

"Must be his phone," He thought continuing on to the front doors. As he passed the young man standing next to the doors Wasabi was able to pull open one of the doors before the young man asked him a question,

"Hey buddy I'm new around here do you know where Malibu Point is?" He asked past tinted sunglasses,

Looking at his own reflection in the other guy's glasses, he took a moment to respond, "Ahhhh yeah I think if you take a left once exit the university that should take you into the hills," with a thanks, the guy made his ways to the stairs. Watching the retreating back of the enigmatic young man walking on the path that lead to the exit of the university, Wasabi felt that something was off about that guy, he just didn't what.

-Cut-

Fred was having a dope time, nothing but him and his sign, spinning, flipping, not just the sign but him also, and that's all he needed. See Fred had a lot, at the time of the second great earthquake his father invested in much San Fransokyo's clean energy and structural infrastructure. Gaining much return on his investments, Fred's dad fortune greatly flourished enabling his family to partake in many ventures, but all Fred really liked were his superheroes and comics. Sadly, because many of his interests didn't aligned with the extravagant but frugal interest of his parents he wouldn't see them as often as he would like. That's why he regularly delved into the pages of his comics, they would become like his second family, he'd laugh when they were joyful, cry from their pain, join in their adventure, and grow as they did. It may be a childish arrangement, but Fred enjoyed it.

"Figured flipping signs would be better than flipping burgers?"

Seeking the owner of the question Fred looking behind him, through the huge lizard eyes of his suit, he saw it was a young man in a snazzy leather jacket and sun glasses.

"I actually tried fast food but they fired me for eating the food before it got to the customer," he said while flipping up the suit's head revealing his face.

"It was just a suit? I wasn't expecting that," The young man exaggerating an expression of utter surprise, pulling one of the legs of his glasses down, he looked harder in Fred's direction, "You look…familiar."

"Me? Well people say I do look like T.J. Miller, He said with a concentrated look forgetting he was just taking to someone, "But the names Fred nice to meet ya," holding a hand out for a shake.

Pushing his glasses back in place, the young man reciprocated Fred's greeting before walking passed him towards the edge of the sidewalk, several blocks away he could see a large unmarked building midway through construction.

"What can you tell about that building down the road?"

"That? I think it belongs to some old guy who likes to invest into the city" Looking away from the young man's direction with a melancholy,

"Hmmm…well anyways hey can you tell how I can get to Malibu Point?"

"Totally just follow this street past the 12th district and make your way up the hill then make a left, from there it's the second right which will bring you to cliffs on the other side of the mountain," Fred said while pointing to his right, the street leading towards the hills.

Looking out in that direction, the young man was satisfied with the path given, pulling out a phone, he pressed a button and around the corner a motorcycle autonomously rolled up in front of the two kicking out it's own kickstand. Swinging his leg across, the guy pressed a button that started up the ignition; out of the corner of his eye he saw Fred geeking out over his bike.

"I'm assuming your ogling is sign that you like my ride?"

Fred was losing it, he'd never seen anything like it, it was matte back street bike with a huge rear tyre. It looked heavily modified, the seat was shortened leaving only enough room for one rider, on the front of bike, the head was removed and replaced with a mask like cover for the lights, much of the engine was visible and the bottom of the bike was interchanged with a rib like cover so nothing would scrap. Fred was in love,

'It's Glooooorious!"

Chuckling the young man revved the engine to warm the cylinders, adjusting his glasses he looked one last time at the unfinished building then to Fred,

"Black Lagoon," the young man said before peeling off to his destination leaving Fred in a catatonic state of wonderment before coming out of it with a puzzled look.

"I wonder who that was," taking a moment before he shrugged his shoulders, "It's cool I'm sure I'll see him around if he goes here," Going back to his sign flipping he made the most of his time in the suit before he had to return back to regular life.