Normally, a young man in his late teens sitting on the back seat of a school bus wearing a tuxedo and a top hat would be a pretty unusual sight, even in California. However, no one even batted an eyelid or looked his direction as they concentrated on their own conversations and communicating on their phones and various devices. By now, everyone was more than used to seeing this, with the exception of his "David Copperfield" phase, where he insisted on wearing black shirts that he only buttoned halfway up his chest until he ended getting a serious chill, Preston Tien had dressed this way since he was six years old.
Preston loved magic. He didn't like it, he LOVED it. It was an obsession for the young man ever since he was five years old. He spent all his free time working on tricks and trying to figure out new illusions all in the hopes of one day being invited to join the elite and illustrious Magic Circle.
There was a catch of course, since he WASN'T a member of the Magic Circle, and as far as he knew he didn't know anyone that was, that meant Preston was pretty much on his own. There were books and kits, there were even online videos that explained how many tricks were done, but those were mostly the bread-and-butter, the tricks that had been performed so many times and by so many people that they were considered public domain. No one really cared anymore if someone gave away the secrets of how a Svengali Deck, a specially designed deck of cards worked or if anyone explained how to make the ball in the shell game disappear, but the real tricks, the ones people paid actual money to see, making buildings disappear, escaping a car being crushed...those were the kind of things that needed to be taught by a professional!
It was still pretty unusual for a kid to go to school dressed like a stage magician. That said, the Tien family name carried more than a little sway in the city. His father owned the largest business empire in the city. While it wasn't exactly a monopoly, it wasn't far off it! Public transport, soft drinks, confectionery, malls, rented accommodation, hotels, restaurants...there was virtually nothing that the Tien family didn't have a significant stake in. Preston had hated the private school his dad had wanted to send him to and his mom had outright refused to even entertain the thought of boarding school, which was the only reason he even went to a public school. Of course given the fact that his dad wrote five-figure donation checks like most people wrote out grocery lists, the school was more than a little willing to give Preston a little more flexibility than they normally would give their students.
As the bus pulled up to the front of Summer Cove High, he took in a deep breath and twirled his top hat onto his head, before attempting to walk away. He didn't get too far before he felt himself being tugged backwards. He looked back to see some girls tangled up in a string of scarves that were coming out of his sleeve, that had got caught in the door.
"Oh, sorry!" Preston said, disentangling them from the scarves, all the time lamenting the fact that he knew it would take at least half an hour to put them all back into his jacket. It was unlikely he would get a chance to do so between classes if he wanted to be ready for his show at lunch break. That reminded him! He pulled out some flyers, offering them to the girls that had been tangled in the scarves.
"I'm putting on a magic show at lunch time." He told them, offering them a flyer. The two girls just looked to them like he had offered them a used Kleenex and politely declined. Preston got that reaction alot. Sadly, he knew that his tricks were mostly the kind of thing that stopped impressing the average 12 year old, but he always held out hope that if he kept practicing them, if he perfected them, then perhaps in time it would come to him how to do more interesting tricks that would impress his peers. "Hey, you there! Anyone want to come to my magic show at lunchtime?"
A little way off, a yellow truck was stopped in a red zone just outside the front of the school. Normally most would be expecting to see a mom dropping off her kids, but in this instance, it was a couple of kids who had managed to break down literally just around the corner from the school car park. The look of impatience on the girl in the passenger seat's face told the story that this wasn't exactly a rare occurrence.
Hayley, sadly, was used to this. Calvin was a great mechanic, and he had all but built his truck, his beloved 'Nitro' from the tyres up, but he had done so as much because his family simply couldn't afford a car as he did for his love of mechanics. The fact that he couldn't afford particularly great parts meant that his engine was essentially a patchwork of patch jobs upon patch jobs. Sometimes, those patches just slipped.
"It's OK Cody." She assured her dog, who was sitting in the bed of the truck. Cody was a rescue dog that had been with her since it was a puppy. Well, it wasn't so much a rescue dog as a puppy they had found by the side of the road with no identification, having been left for dead after a careless motorist had side-swiped him. Hayley had taken him straight to the vet, and when it became clear that no one was looking for him, she had taken him in. Hayley was a warm-hearted girl, a genuine and loving person that always looked for ways to make the world a less cruel and unfeeling place. Cody now hardly ever left her side. While she was at school, he would content himself around the grounds, but he didn't want to be too far away from his mistress. Her boyfriend Calvin stuck his head out from under the truck.
"Alright Hayley, turn her over!" He called to her. Hayley reached for the key, turning it in the ignition, causing the engine to burst into life. "YES! I knew I could count on you girl!"
"You did it Calvin!" Hayley called down to him, knowing that he was talking to the truck and not her. She did occasionally have to remind him that although he did refer to Nitro as 'she' or 'her' that it was actually an inanimate object, but she never took it personally. She already knew how Calvin felt about her. They had been together for over a year. Something moving quickly caught her eye and she saw what looked like a girl on a skateboard coming straight for Calvin.
"Cal, look out!" She screamed as she saw the girl coming. Calvin yelled and lay down, covering his head, expecting to be hit, but the girl skipped over him without touching him. He cautiously looked around, seeing her continuing on her way. He thought it was odd that she seemed to be levitating above the ground.
"Sorry!" Sarah called back apologetically as she got to the school doors and kicked up her hoverboard. She took a long look at the building before her and smiled.
"It is a nice place." Preston greeted her, causing Sarah to jump a little, startled. "Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to..."
"No, it's alright, I wasn't paying attention." She told him. "Hi, I'm Sarah, I'm new around here!"
"Hi, I'm Preston." He answered, shaking her hand. "It's not the fanciest of places, but it's kind of cool. It's not especially strict. Here, they're letting me have a magic show on the grounds at lunch time. Do you want to come?"
"Magic show?" Sarah asked him. "Yeah, that sounds sweet. I'll be there!"
As she left, Preston just found herself staring at her in disbelief.
"She...she actually WANTS to come to one of my shows?" He asked, looking a little surprised by this. He shook his head and went back to handing out flyers. If he kept this up, he might beat his own record and actually get five kids watching today!
Up on the Warrior Dome, the fans were ecstatic as Korvaka, the champion of the Ninninjer Galaxy returned from Earth as the victor. The battle had been fierce, and the audience more than got their money's worth from it. He clutched a deep, grievous wound in his side, which was still bleeding heavily, but he drove his sword into the stage and held his fist aloft in victory to accept the crowd's cheers.
"Now how about that? Korvaka has done it! He's claimed today's ultimate prize!" Cosmo Royale greeted him, taking his hand and holding it up for the crowd. "That makes 25 victories for the Champion of the Ninninjer Galaxy, and you all know what that means. He now gets his choice of prize. He may either try to retrieve one of the legendary stars from the Nexus Prism, or...he can challenge the supreme fighter for the championship of the Warrior Dome!"
The crowd came alive as a door opened up and a massive shadow appeared in the darkness, one that started coming towards them.
"The victor of over 10,000 battles, the ravager of worlds, the desecrator of the defeated, the reigning and defending Galaxy Warriors Champion...GALVANAX!"
Galvanax stepped out of the door and into the light, holding his title belt high above his head. He was an immense creature, wearing heavy golden armour. He lived for the adulation of the crowd, and he had reigned supreme over the Warrior Dome for years. He made his way towards Korvaka, towering over the creature that had been given the prize of an opportunity to fight him. Standing, his knees buckling beneath him, Korvaka just gulped. Right now, the prospect of facing Galvanax didn't seem like much of a prize.
"I'll take the Prism!" Korvaka called out, following the long line of creatures that had been given the same choice.
"He's going to try the Prism!" Cosmo called out for the crowd. "Korvaka has been the victor over 25 of the deadliest warriors in the universe, but is he mighty enough to best the Ninja Nexus Prism?"
Korvaka approached the Ninja Nexus Prism, staring at the powerful artefact nervously. Just off stage, Mick, Redbot and Brody were watching on in interest. Korvaka reached his hand for the prism, but just as he touched it, he screamed out in agony and was thrown across the stage by a massive spark of lightning. The audience let their disappointment be known as he started twitching on the floor, and a couple of Kudabots dragged him away.
"Aw too bad! Still, he does win one thing, a trip to the hospital!" Cosmo stated as he addressed the audience. "And this concludes yet another thrilling episode of Galaxy Warriors! Be sure to tip your servers generously and stop by the merchandise stands for your officially branded merchandise! Accept no substitute! Remember, if it's counterfeit, then Galvanax will relieve you of your head! Good night!"
As he strode off the stage to music, he was met by a couple of Kudabots. One of them was carrying a cigar, while another was carrying a martini. He lit up his cigar and took a sip of his martini as Odius approached him.
"Go on; give me the good news Madame Odious!" He said as Ripcon and Galvanax approached.
"You were right; the mere mention of a championship match bumped the ratings by seventeen points." She told him. Cosmo started doing a madcap dance.
"Oh, I can already hear the profits rolling in!" He declared giddily. Galvanax just stomped in frustration.
"Who cares about ratings?" He yelled at him. "Ten years! For ten years we've been trying to get the Ninja Stars out of that prism and not one of these warriors has been able to do it!"
"Who...who cares about...ratings?" Cosmo stammered, clutching his chest like he was about to have a heart attack. He was interrupted as Madame Odious stepped in between them.
"Perhaps we don't need them. Perhaps we can make new Power Stars." She suggested.
"New power stars?" Ripcon asked her. "How would you propose we do that?"
"Well, I've done some research and when the Ninja Nexus Prism fell to Earth, it was covered in a substance known as Ninja Steel." She informed them. "It is the same substance that was used to forge those stars."
"But there was no Ninja Steel when we took this thing!" Ripcon reminded her. "We found it like this!"
"Then someone, most likely that ninja you destroyed when you took it, probably stripped it off." She told him. "Do you not find it odd that a mere steel sword would be capable of shattering the Ninja Nexus Star?"
"You mean..."
"What I mean is, the Ninja Steel must still be on Earth." She told him. "We can use it to forge new power stars!"
Not far off, as they were loading the Ninja Nexus Prism onto a trolley to take it away, Brody was listening to every word. One of the advantages of being a slave was that quickly people forgot you were there. Hardly anyone noticed the people who were cleaning their floors or serving their meals, but that didn't mean they didn't hear everything.
As they were taking the Nexus Prism away, Mick looked to him.
"They're going to Earth to look for the Ninja Steel your dad found." Mick stated. "If Galvanax gets it, he'll be unstoppable. Do you know where it is?"
"I don't...but my brother Aiden might. They never found him." Brody answered. "We need to get off this ship."
"That's going to be easier said than done." Mick told him.
"Not if you have the launch codes for the escape pods." Brody said with a smile, showing Mick a piece of paper. The alien just smirked.
"You...you really did pull a ninja trick on Ripcon didn't you?" He asked.
"Now all we need is that window..."
"Brody, Brody, come in!" A voice said through the Datacom. "The surveillance system is going down in five seconds. You'll have exactly thirty seconds to get off the ship!"
"That'll have to do." Brody answered. "Thanks Spanner."
"My name is WRENCH!" The intern corrected him. "Now get going!"
Brody and Mick took a quick detour, heading for the escape pods. They knew they might not get another chance like this, and they had to make the most of it.
They got to the escape pods and immediately spotted a problem. The escape pods were only designed for evacuations. They were never meant to transport cargo. There was no way all three of them were going to fit in one escape pod with the Nexus Prism. Mick just sighed.
"You go." He told Brody.
"Mick, I..."
"Brody, it's more important that we ensure Galvanax doesn't get that Ninja Steel." Mick told him. "You take the Prism and get off the ship."
"I'm not leaving you behind." Brody put down flatly.
"I'm telling you to go!" Mick responded.
"There's a bigger issue than that." Redbot said, examining the Prism and the escape pod. "The Nexus Prism won't fit through the door!"
"Great, so much for our plan." Mick commented. Just then, they heard an alarm sounding. "Great, and there goes our window! I don't suppose you have a plan B do you?"
"Um...yeah." Brody stated. "But you're not going to like it!"
As the door opened and some Kudabots came rushing in, Brody launched to the attack, taking them down with practiced ease. His training came to him instinctually, and quickly he had one of their weapons in his hand.
"Follow me!" He told them.
"Brody, just for the record...I didn't like your first plan either!" Mick called out as he and Redbot grabbed the Prism and started running.
Back on Earth, Sarah was at the main reception desk, getting her schedule. She thanked the receptionist and walked away, staring at it, trying to figure out where she was meant to be. She didn't even notice another kid walking towards her and accidentally knocked him over. He was a small, scrawny kid with curly hair and glasses that looked like every nerd cliché she had ever seen all rolled into one person.
"Oh, I'm so sorry!" She rushed out.
"It's alright, I should..."
"No, I totally wasn't paying attention! I'm a complete klutz!" She said, helping him get his things and get off the floor. "Um...I'm Sarah by the way...and I swear, I don't make a habit of knocking over complete strangers for fun!"
"I'm Monty." He answered, shaking her hand. "Are you..."
"Stop bothering the poor girl Monty. Have you done my homework?" Another kid asked, coming over and standing, staring at them. This kid couldn't have been any more different than Monty. He was blonde, stood at least six feet tall, and looked like he was straight out of the pages of an Abercrombie and Fitch catalogue, right down to the practiced pose he pulled, designed to accentuate his build and make the most of his good side. It was no surprise that he pushed this kid around and made him do his homework. He took only a cursory glance at 'his' homework, before thrusting it back into Monty's hands. "I am Victor Vincent!"
Sarah just blinked in disbelief at his bombastic nature and overstated gestures. She hated him already. She smiled politely.
"Oh...Nice to meet you!" She said in response, matching his over-stated gestures and voice to mock him. Victor appeared to either be too full of himself or too dense to get that she was making fun of him.
"You no doubt know my name as the Student Body President!" He said, flashing her a smile. Sarah again just blinked in total shock. That this man was elected President of ANYTHING was completely astounding to her.
"Uh...sorry, no. It's my first day actually!" She answered honestly.
"Well, you do now!" He said, spinning her around and shoving her towards a trophy case. "And if you ever forget it, just in here, because my name is engraved on every last one of them!"
He wasn't kidding! It seemed like he was something of a star in the school, with accomplishments from the archery club to the football championship all proudly on display. It gave Sarah a sense of satisfaction though when she found one trophy that didn't have his name on it.
"Dane Romero?" She asked, pointing to what looked like a Martial Arts trophy.
"D'ahhhhh...almost every one." He responded.
"Victor! I see you've met our new addition Sarah!" A woman announced, thankfully interrupting the awkward scene.
"Why...yes, of course Principal Hastings." Victor said proudly, putting his arm around Sarah, making her skin crawl. "And as Student Body President, I was about to take it upon myself to personally give her a guided tour of the school."
"Well, that is very school spirited of you, but as Student Body President, I was hoping instead you'd stand in for the shop teacher." She told him. "Apparently he found out how close we are to Amber Beach and decided he'd be safer staying in Detroit. I tried to tell him that those monsters are gone but...ugh, he won't budge, and since you're so school spirited, I felt you'd be only too happy to help out."
"Do I LOOK like a teacher?" He asked her.
"No, but you DO look like the Student Body President." She answered, before looking to the trophy case. "And correct me if I'm wrong, but that IS the engineering trophy isn't it?"
"Principal Hastings I..."
"Thank you, I knew I could count on you!" Principal Hastings told him. Victor just groaned and clicked his fingers, summoning Monty like a dog as he left. Sarah breathed a sigh of relief.
"Thank you for that." She stated.
"Victor's a...special...boy." She told him.
"Is Monty meant to be going with him?" Sarah asked. Principal Hasting just shrugged.
"He's on the honour roll; he's not going to miss anything he can't catch up on." She answered. "Now, how about I give you the tour and then you can go for lunch? I've seen your GPA, I know missing one morning of classes won't do any harm, and I think it's probably best I make sure you know where everything is.
"That would be very helpful!" Sarah answered cheerfully. "Lead the way!"
A/N: OK folks, fair warning. I decided to give you a double helping this time around to kick the story off, but I do have quite a number of commitments and demands on my time, so the updates WILL be slowing down. You can probably count on one update a week at least, but I'll try to make it more if I can. Just thought it was only fair to tell you. Hope you enjoyed the start of the new series!