Chapter 11: Down By The Bay...

Three months after Tyler first arrived on scene and became his alter ego, talk still ran rampant about The Magna Man, not just in the city, but around the world, with most of his moments being that of stopping criminals or rescuing people from peril.

Somewhere in the middle of Death Valley, California, where no person was, Tyler arranged three 20 foot tall, ten ton boulders into a neat row. Before he placed the last boulder into place, he gingerly tossed it up and down as if it was nothing more than a basket ball.

"I'm sure Eddie couldn't cross me up with this bad boy," Tyler thought aloud, referring to the times when he played a few games of basketball during lunch. Though Tyler had the height advantage, Eddie easily outmatched him in skill, though Tyler did enjoy constantly dunking the ball on him.

He dropped the boulder into place. The area shook from the massive rock as it thudded solidly into the dusty ground. A desert breeze blew in causing his cape to sway off to one side and his hair to blow in his masked face. Elegantly, he bounded into the air, then landed about a hundred yards from the boulders. Next, he held his right palm out in front of him.

"Hope this works," he said.

A couple weeks ago, he had foiled an attempted bank robbery. When he pointed to one of the criminals, his hands felt extremely warm and a brilliant glow began to radiate from his palm. Though it was somewhat small, a small beam of concentrated heat energy blasted from his hand, singing the hair from the perpetrators head's. At least that was the conclusion Tyler had come to.

Focusing on the targets some distance away, his hand began to feel warm, but tingly, as if it was asleep. Soon, an orb of orange-yellow-red phosphorescent matter materialized, then shot forth. Within the blink of an eye, the center boulder shattered into a mushrooming fireball. The resulting shockwave also destroyed the remaining two boulders, as well as knocked Tyler clean off his feet and onto his backside and skidding on the dust.

"That. Kicked. Ass." Tyler exclaimed, laying on his back and waiting for the blindness from the explosion to wear off. "Wish I could have did that to DuPont and that complex." he wished, referring to his first so-called "caretaker" in a life he wished would never enter his mind.

"One good placed shot, and boom."

Tyler and Jennifer walked through Chinatown. The small city within a city was bustling with activity as people walked into and out of stores and small restaurants. Foods like roasted duck, dumplings, and other exotic delicacies from China filled the air, causing Tyler's mouth to water with hunger. Beautiful statuettes of lions and dragons made of jade, ivory, or bronze filled the windows.

"Jay? I'm gonna grab something to eat. You want anything?" Tyler offered.

When she said no, Tyler shrugged, then jogged across the street to a small vendor cart. A withered old lady of Chinese decent looked up and smiled, her already evident cheek bones seeming to grow larger. The old lady's small, beady eyes then locked onto the ornamentation around Tyler's neck. Her eyes seemed to double in size.

"Ay yah! You are the one, young man. You are the Magna Man."

Tyler briefly looked from side to side out of the corner of his eyes, then he looked back at her. "Shh!" he hissed. "How did you know that?" he asked in a whisper.

"You have the Stones of Magna and Serenity around your neck, young one." she responded.

"How do you know about them? Who are you?" Tyler questioned, leaning forward and propping himself on the food cart.

"My name is Huen Fa. I am a prophet of Magnus. I'm here to warn you that you will have an encounter with another being who possesses mystical powers."

Tyler thought on this for a moment. "How do I find them? I can't check the whole city."

"Whoever the person is, they will find you." Huen Fa told Tyler. "Now is there anything else I can do for you young one?"

"Well, I was going to ask for a satay beef on a stick and an egg roll. But I don't think I'm hungry," Tyler sighed.

"Bah, you're a teenage boy. You're always hungry," Huen Fa snorted as she prepped his food, then handed it to him.

"One more thing, young one. Be careful. Though you have gifts and power one can only dream of, you are still human and you are not invincible." Huen Fa warned as she took his money.

Tyler wolfed down his food quickly, then met back up with Jennifer, who was busy purchasing a jade bracelet.

"Took you long enough," she complained as she took her newly purchased item and put it around her wrist. "I can smell that you had beef. I hope you thought about that poor cow while you were stuffing it into your gourd."

"Yeah, yeah, stow it super veggie. Listen, some old lady said that someone's looking for me." Tyler informed. "Some who's like me."

"What do you mean like you? Someone rela–"

Tyler pointed to the rocks on his necklace, which Jennifer caught on to. Her eyes shot wide open. "Well what are we gonna do?"

"Nothing we can do except wait.

"Let's head out. The guy's are waiting for us at Fisherman's Wharf."

The two walked down Washington Street, then turned north onto Hyde. Jennifer pulled out her cell phone and read a text message left by Chelsea.

"I guess we're going to Ghiradelli Square first." Jennifer informed, then asked, "So when are you and Chelsea gonna hook up?"

"What 'chu talkin' 'bout, Jay?"

"Oh don't deny it. You got a serious thing for Chelsea, it's as clear as day."

"Jay, you're outta gas."

"Yeah, whatever super boy. All I know is your ass perks right on up whenever you see Chelly. I bet you'd love to unwrap her for your birthday, huh?"

Tyler couldn't help but laugh at that thought. Why lie? It would be a nice gift, but present wise, he had his eye on a BMW Motorcycle. He brought it up with his mom a few times and she knew that he was responsible enough to have one. He hoped this would be the year he'd get it.

Raven, Chelsea, and Eddie waited at the corner of Embarcadero and Hyde. Eddie walked around the corner to try and get better reception for his cell phone so he could call his girlfriend and see if she was coming as well, giving Raven and Chelsea a little time to chat.

"So, girl, what's the deal with you and Tyler?" Raven asked. "I know you like him."

"You were reading my mind, weren't you?" Chelsea demanded to know.

"I'm nosy, girl, I can't help it," Raven said without a lick of guilt. "Plus, whenever you went to a baseball game, you'd always think 'I hate you Ben, rot in hell you jerk!'"

"Rae!"

"Girl, I told you I was nosy, damn."

"Yeah. But, gosh, I dunno, Rae."

"Don't know about what? Chelse, that boy is crushing on you. He's got a Chelsea jones."

"What? He know's a Chelsea Jones?"

Raven furrowed her brow. "No Chelsea. I mean he's 'jonesing' for you. He want's you."

"How do you know, Rae? Oh God, you haven't been reading his mind, have you? Cause–"

"Girl, I don't have to read his mind." Raven then saw him and Jennifer walking down the way. "It's all in his face. When he looks at you, he lights up like a hundred watt bulb. Just watch him when he comes up."

Chelsea observed Tyler, and sure enough, as soon as he greeted her, he did light up, which in turn caused her to blush and smile brightly.

"Told you, girl," Raven whispered in Chelsea's ear. "And look at you all happy and stuff."

Chelsea chuckled a bit. Raven was right, his face was like an open book and, apparently, so was hers. Her smile was soon interrupted by a loud crash somewhere off in the distance.

"My God, what was that?" Raven asked.

The group ran around the corner, right into Eddie.

"You guys hear that?" Eddie asked.

Just then, a mass of tourists came running from the attractions on the piers that Fisherman's Wharf offered. A small series of detonations then caused the whole area to sway as if there was a small earthquake. Screams and muffled cries for help rang out through the blasts.

"Guys, we gotta get outta here!" Eddie yelled.

Complying, Raven, Chelsea, Eddie, and Jennifer took off without another word. Once they felt they were a safe distance, they realized Tyler was no where in sight.

Tyler tried to make his way towards the piers, but the sheer mass of evacuating people made that impossible. Quickly, he ran into a nearby alley, found a fire escape ladder, and started to climb. Once on the roof of the building the fire escape was attached to, Tyler ran to the northeast corner and looked out, panning, trying to find out what was going on.

Then, hovering just above the tourist structures of Fisherman's Wharf, Tyler saw it. Someone, or something made completely of silver. Tyler's vision zoomed in on it. The 'it' turned out to be a 'her.' The sun high above reflected of her skin, if that was skin at all. Her complexion was a highly reflective chrome tint.

Whoever it was, she placed her palm straight out, and some type of projectile erupted from her hand, impaling into an F-Line streetcar. Luckily, no one in the streetcar was injured as they all managed to get out safely.

"She's gotta be the one Huen Fa was talking about," Tyler said. "Guess it's play time."

Tyler back pedaled about ten feet, took a couple quick breaths, then sprinted and leapt off the building. As he was in mid-air, he stuck his hands out to sides.

"It's go time!" he shouted.

Before he could free fall, he flipped head over heels, then transformed just as he landed on the street below, right into a mass of people who quickly made a circle of space around him, staring in awe, but all relieved that help had arrived. Before he could acknowledge anyone, he vaulted high into the air, then hovered right in front of the shiny girl.

"Yknow, pretty girl like yourself shouldn't be destroying stuff you don't own." his voice boomed as he hovered with his arms crossed and cape dancing in the sea breeze.

"Spare the talk Magna. I knew the cries of these insignificant animals would cause you to come. I am Lithium Flower and I will destroy you." she declared.

"I don't think I asked for your name, Precious." Tyler said, cocking his eyebrow.

Enraged, Lithium Flower twisted her body, then hurled herself towards Tyler, the nails on her fingers becoming elongated like a set of ten blades all vying to dismember him. There was a collective gasp from the people down below on the wharf.

Tyler's eyes went wide.

"Maybe I shouldn't have said that." he wondered aloud as she let forth a piercing battle cry.

A Few Notes: I don't know about the rest of y'all, but I like listening to music when I write this stuff. Heck, I even made up a soundtrack that I listen to dedicated just for Magna Man. If you're interested, check out the website gendou . com (A site filled with nothing but seriously good music from a ton of Anime shows and it's free),sign up, then look up the music for Ghost In The Shell, Cowboy Bebop, and Samurai Champloo. And keep those reviews coming. Without them, this would be pointless...

Ooh Rah!

Reposted Since I Forgot To Add In The Nifty Divider Lines. My Bad...