Chapter One
The Port of Entry
Kit looked at the strange, old man. Short with a long, flowing, white beard and hair, he was far from ordinary. He was crouched over from age and had teeth missing. He wore one long nightshirt with blue and white stripes.
"Who are you?" Elektra asked, raising her eyebrow.
The man's scraggly voice responded, "That's not important... Now, you must hurry! Time run's short!"
He pushed them forward towards the Great Sea, towards the wooden bridges that had formed between the islands.
"Wait! What are you doing?" Anna asked in her thick Transylvanian accent.
The man sighed. "Very well. Quickly, I will tell you about the Islands. As you know, we are in Port of Entry, yes?"
"How do you know?" Kit asked.
"That is not important! Now, these Islands have been connected... in a circle."
The three looked annoyed. "Ya, so?!"
The man ignored them and continued. "Six islands. But all is not well. Ten thousand years ago, these very islands were as they stand now. Together in harmony. But now, a great evil has cursed them! Plagued their land!"
He noticed how confused the three seemed. He began to explain. "The Nightmares... They have cursed the islands to an eternity of darkness. Each night, when the suns protective rays melt from the sky, the curse is fulfilled. The islands twist and reform into dark versions of their usual selves."
"Utter chaos spreads through the land! I tried to fight it so many years ago, but it was too much. Together, a legion of adventurers and myself found that the only way to save the innocent citizens of the islands was to place them deep beneath the waves, out of the reach of evil. I cast a spell over the islands, protecting them in large, glass domes. But my powers are weakening... The domes shattered, and the islands rose to the surface once more..."
"Now, I cannot recast the spell. But you three... I sense something in you... An energy. A love of adventure. A bravery beyond human standards..."
The man began hobbling in circles around them with the help of a small, wooden cane.
"Therefore, I'm sending you three into the Islands of Adventure! Alas, I cannot leave this port. My powers are weak. Defeat the Nightmares... Save the islands."
The three stood in place, staring at him, mouth agape. "So..." Elektra said, "Let me try to sum this up... You're a ten thousand year old wizard; these islands have been under the oceans for thousands of years; we've been chosen to protect the islands while traveling to each one and ridding it of an evil being known as a Nightmare that curses the island each night... Am I right?"
"No, that's all wron- Oh... Wait, no, you're right. Okay, well, let me know when you're back. I'll just be needin' the keys to someone's house and... oh, 20, 25 bucks in spending cash."
......
Later that day, Kit, Elektra and Anna met in Kit's apartment on the second floor of an adobe building. "Ok guys, maybe this guy's some kind of nutcase! We need to call someone." Kit announced.
"Or," Anna began, "perhaps he speaks the truth!"
"Come on, he's making this all up!" Kit declared.
"Kit," Elektra said, "maybe you didn't see the six drastically different islands rise out of the sea! Now listen, even if this guy is making it all up, it would still be fun to go on an adventure! Com'n guys!"
"Elektra, you just got home! I don't want you to leave. Now please... I'm not going. Don't go Elektra... Please..."
Anna stood up from the chair and walked over to the closet. She opened it and took out a thin, long, sword and placed it in her sheath. She took out a small pocketknife, flipped it up and then back down and then slid it into a series of straps along the side of the calf of her pants.
She picked up a wooden stake and put it in the straps on her other calf.
Elektra glanced at Kit, biting her bottom lip. "I'm sorry." She said. Elektra stood up and walked to the closet before grabbing a pair of Sais... long, pointed metal swords with curved crossguards.
Kit groaned and walked over to the closet. He took out who pistols and placed him is dual holsters on his pants.
"Let's go..." He sighed. Elektra and Anna cried, "Yes!"
Ten minutes later, they were "suited up." Elektra was in a black leather outfit with long wrist guards and a neck guard, both of which had Japanese symbols. She held the shimmering Sais.
Anna had on a black top with a deep red coat over it, and dark, long pants, upon which her held all of her numerous weapons.
Kit wore all black with a long black leather trench coat.
Anna and Elektra ran down the spiral stairs, cheering and emerged into the plaza out side the Great Sea, followed closely by a pouting Kit. The sky was light pink and yellow, shimmering off of the water. Elektra ran to the water's edge next to the peninsula that the lighthouse sat upon. She looked out into the sea at the new islands.
"It's really not much of a Great Sea anymore is it?" Elektra screamed at the dry voice. She turned around to see the old man.
"A Great Inland Sea. I see you've taken my advice. Good. You may just save us all. It is more than just Seven islands at stake here. Time is an ever-flowing river."
"Huh?" Anna asked, coming up behind him, "What does that mean?"
"Behold!" The man said as Kit approached.
"Marvel City," he gestured towards the metropolis of to the west of port of Entry. The bridge leading onto Marvel City was barely twenty paces from Alexandria's Lighthouse.
"Sunset Island," He pointed to the island that had the large brown building. As the sun continued to set, the large lettering on the façade lit up spelling out "The Hollywood Tower Hotel"
"Toon Lagoon," he nodded towards the next island where the ship had landed and the sailor had made the mountains appear.
"Jurassic Park" the three realized he meant the forested island on which the roars were emanating from. This island was directly in front of them across the sea.
"The Lost Continent," The Island of temples, statues, and the castle.
"Sleepy Hollow," A newly formed land kit had sworn was not there earlier, one of forests and small homes.
"And Suess Landing," The island directly east to Port of Entry on the opposite side of Marvel City.
"And now, your journey begins. Always, my children remember to Live the Adventure." The three looked out to the islands, now completely illuminated, some by torchlight, some by electrical lights, and others by flashes of lightning. They looked back to the old man... He was gone.