Rio Hitzamure: Welcome to one of my newest written, yet longest planned fan fictions. This tale is mainly based in the COH/COV world, with a few of my own personal favorite universes spliced in. I won’t waste your time for now, so welcome to The Vigilantes.

Issue #1: Becoming Yourself

Bowlcreek, Colorado

“I still hate college,” Marcus Linear said as he tore into his eggs.

“Honey, hate is such a strong word,” his mother commented from across the table. “The only people who truly have a hatred for things tend to be the scoundrels of the Rogue Isles.”

“Your mother’s right son,” added his father, who was scanning through the newspaper headlines.

“But I do,” Marcus continued, putting down his fork and knife. “I don’t see why I should waste time in school when I could be out helping other with…”

“With what, your powers?” his father interrupted.

“Yes, my powers,” affirmed Marcus.

“At least you have powers,” said his younger brother, Leon, dejectedly.

“Oh, don’t worry sweetie,” Mrs. Linear comforted. “Every Linear has always had powers of some sort. Yours are probably close to revealing themselves.”

“I really doubt that Mom,” Leon replied. “I’m eighteen and don’t have any powers, where as Marcus is twenty-one and discovered his at six. Besides, he inherited his powers from you and Dad.”

“It’s not all that great,” Marcus said. “Being able to create poisonous, spiky quills from my body, as well as being able to regenerate from any wound doesn’t help that much in college, especially when you can’t play sports for fear of revealing your powers.”

“Don’t forget the better stamina, increased speed, and super leaping,” Leon added. “But still, what will my powers be if you received all of Mom and Dad’s powers?”

Good question Leon; I hope you figure that out,” Marcus said as he got up from the table. “As for me, I need to get ready for class. I have only one today, but it’s my favorite one of the week, Psychology.”

“That’s just because you have class with Isis Violet,” Leon taunted.

“Shut it!” Marcus snapped. “I like the class because my three friends are in it, not just because of one.”

“Boys,” said Mr. Linear sternly.

“Sorry Dad,” they replied.

“Well Leon, think of things this way,” Marcus said, ruffling his brother’s hair, “since you have the Linear trait of blonde hair, you at least know that you're a Linear.”

Before he could hear a reprimand form his parents, Marcus leapt up the stairs in a single jump. He quickly strolled into his room, where he changed into his regular attire of a collared black shirt and blue jeans. He hastily pulled on his socks and slipped into his familiar black sneakers. He then dashed into his bathroom. Once in, he combed his blonde hair into its regular shape, short and spiky. He also shaved around his goatee, keeping the line of the beard straight and clean. He checked his blue eyes for crusts, and then grabbed his tape recorder with “Psychology Class” on the side off the counter. Now ready to go, Marcus sprung out of the bathroom window, nearly hitting a figure standing outside wearing a gray, collared shirt, blue jeans, and gray sneakers.

“Sorry ‘bout that Joey,” Marcus said, regaining his composure.

“Bad morning again?” Joey inquired as he straightened his gray beanie over his short, mahogany-colored hair.

“Kinda,” Marcus answered. “We got into a small argument over college and powers.”

“So, sounds like Leon hasn’t discovered any powers yet,” Joey said.

“Yeah,” Marcus replied, his face a bit downcast. “I feel bad for him. I mean, my powers came from my parents, and it almost seems as if I may have taken his chance for his own powers.”

“Well, he can count one blessing; at least his father wouldn’t try to kill him if he knew about his mutant brain,” Joey said with a dry laugh.

“Your dad still isn’t keeping up his hunting, is he?”

“Unfortunately, yes. He’s working on a new batch of devices that should be able to distinguish humans from aliens, mutants, and any other kind of super-powered being.”

“You're still sabotaging those toys of his, right?” Marcus asked, cracking his knuckles. “I don’t want to have him find out about my family. We both know the evils he did Rocky and the rest of the Adams family.”

“Don’t worry, I wouldn’t let him,” Joey replied sternly. “I still clearly remember everything. He formed a mob and chased them out of town, but not before they had captured Rocky’s sister, raped her, and killed her. Not only that, but no one stood up to him because they’re all afraid of him thanks to his ties to The Family. If I couldn’t already stand to have him do that to one of my best friends, I wouldn’t let him do that to the girl I love.”

“So I see you and my cousin are still close,” Marcus said with a sly smile. “I guess I should be able to tell since you haven’t gone back to glasses yet.”

“Yeah, she likes it better when I wear contacts,” Joey said, turning slightly red. “Anyways, it’s not like I’m the only one to change a bit for a girl, Mr. Clean-Cut.”

Marcus began to glow a light red as Joey got a few good chuckles in. Just before he was about to get back at Joey, a voice called him out of his plan.

“Hey guys, what’s so funny?” a raven haired girl asked.

“And why are you blushing cous’?” said the short-haired blonde girl besides her.

“Isis, Chloe, nice to see you two on time today,” Marcus said. “We were just laughing about Mr. Smith’s crazy schemes.”

“You dad still at it sweetie?” Chloe asked Joey with concern in her eyes.

“Don’t worry about it; his ideas are way too faulty to work,” Joey said with a wink. “He wouldn’t be able to find out about a single super-powered individual in this town with the way I wreak havoc on his machines.”

“Good thing to hear that,” she replied with a smile. “Oh, and Joey, I love your green eyes when you wink like that. They go well with my own emerald eyes.”

Joey’s cheeks turned crimson with a goofy smile trying to mask it. Marcus and Isis both gave a short groan.

“Why don’t you two get a room cous’?” Marcus asked jokingly.

“Seriously Chloe, you two flirt way too much,” added Isis.

“Oh, you two are just like that cause you ain’t together yet,” Chloe replied with a devious smile.

“We don’t like each other like that!” answered the two of them in unison, their cheeks reddened.

“Sure you don’t,” Joey replied, laughing. “Let’s hurry along though, or we might be late to class.”

The others nodded in agreement. The group then started to scurry down the sidewalk towards a group of buildings in the distance.

Leon watched as his brother, cousin, Joey, and Isis began to hurry away from the house. He always had fun listening to their morning conversations if he got the chance. This morning though, he had received a bit of comfort after he had his brother’s concern for him.

“I wish I knew too bro,” he thought as he sat down in front of his Apple laptop.

Leon grinned as he looked at the two weeks of break he had started today, marked in gold on his computer’s calendar. He quickly moved the mouse’s cursor, over to the iChat icon and opened the application. After it had logged him in, he checked over his friend list.

“Please be on,” he said silently to the machine as he scanned through.

As he was doing that, the friend he was looking for logged in. He clicked on the name, SpectreGirl, and then opened a video chat. The video screen popped up, and a teenage girl who looked around the same age as Leon appeared on the video box.

“Morning, sleepyhead,” Leon said with a quick laugh. “Did you just wake up?”

“Why do you say that?” the girl asked in reply.

“Well,” Leon said, “considering your hair is completely messed up, and the fact you’re wearing a white tank top and your P.E. shorts, I have to say the evidence speaks for itself.”

“Nice call, detective,” she said, giggling. “Give me a few seconds t at least take care of my hair then.”

Leon gave a wink to the screen and watched the girl comb through her long, black hair. After she had straightened it to her liking, she took out a hair band and put her hair back into a ponytail.

“Better?” she inquired, modeling her styling job.

“Danielle, you should know you always look the same to me,” Leon said with a grin.

“I should stop expecting you to understand,” Danielle replied, sticking her tongue out. “So, how’re you doing Leon?”

“Alright, nothing much has changed,” Leon said, his amethyst colored eyes downcast.

“How about we change that then, Mr. Gloomy?” Danielle said, her blue eyes beaming. “I got permission from my aunt and uncle to come pick you up! We can hangout together during your entire break!”

“Seriously?!” Leon inquired. ‘How’d you get them to agree to let a boy come over, especially since I’m staying at your house, too.”

“Well, I got my cousin to vouch for me,” Danielle said with a wink. “You’ll be sleeping in his room.”

“He’s not going to mess with me, is he?” Leon asked nervously.

“You should be more worried about me, not him,” Danielle replied with a playful grin.

“Sure,” Leon said, rolling his eyes. “Well, I’m off to let my parents know, and then start packing. How long until you’ll get here?”

“Should take me no more than two hours, depending on conditions,” Danielle said.

“Alright; see you in a bit.”

‘See ya!”

Leon closed iChat and began to shutdown his laptop.

“Guess this break is going to be pretty exciting,” Leon thought as he headed out of his room, off to tell his parents the news.

San Diego, California

“Moving on, today was another clear victory for California Senator Lauren Verdan.”

Andrew’s ears perked up as he heard his sister’s name being said. He jumped off of the computer and crashed onto the couch. Andrew then snatched up the remote control and turned up the volume of the television to listen.

“The young Republican Senator,” the anchorwoman continued, “has been making an impact on Congress since she was elected two years ago. Today marked another achievement to be added to her record, and we have Catherine Nguyen in Washington, D.C., with Senator Verdan right now. Catherine?”

The screen transitioned to a young Asian woman. Next to her sat another young woman, dressed in a suit. She had long, red hair and hazel eyes.

“Hello Susan,” the Asian reporter replied. “I am here right now with Senator Verdan. Senator, would you like to explain to our viewers the significance of the bill you have gotten passed through Congress today?”

“I’d love to Catherine,” Lauren replied in a sweet-sounding voice. “The new law that Congress had voted on is the Super-being Anti-Governmental Registration Act, or as some had been calling it, S.A.G.R.A.”

“So Senator, what is the purpose of this ground-breaking act?”

“This act was designed to protect the many super-beings living in our country from any form of governmental registration,” Lauren continued. “Basically, the federal, state, and even local governments of the United States cannot obtain the private information of any superhero or heroine. The only times where it will be legal is if the super-being works for the government, or if the super-being is a super villain or villainess. The only agencies operating within the states that may legally collect the private information of a superhero or heroine are the Freedom Phalanx, the Longbow, and the Vanguard of the United Nations.”

“Thank you for your explanation and time Senator,” reporter Nguyen said as she shook hands with Lauren.

“The pleasure was mine,” replied Lauren with a soft smile.

“Good job Lauren!” Andrew yelled at the TV, almost hoping Lauren would be able to hear him.

Andrew took a glance over at Lauren’s achievement wall. On it hung several law degrees, twenty-two federal act cover pages, her high school diploma, and her photo of when she was sworn into Congress.

“Number twenty-three will soon be hanging there,” Andrew thought. “A lot better than…”

Before he could finish his thought train, another news headline caught his attention.

“Moving now to entertainment news,” anchorwoman Susan said. “Eighteen year old actress Cecily Whitaker has announced today her plans to take a break from the spotlight. The award-winning actress has said she is going to take some time to visit friends and enjoy stress-free days. Cecily is known for…”

“What the hell?!” Andrew shouted as the TV screen went black. “I know Lauren and I paid all the bills for this month.”

Andrew stood up and checked the TV buttons and cables. Everything was still plugged in. Andrew sighed and started to walk back to the computer chair he had been in earlier. As he walked, the lights began to rapidly flicker before finally shutting off. Andrew, not wanting to sit in a pitch black house, headed for the sliding glass door to the backyard. He shoved it open and made his way to one of the lounge chairs around the pool.

“Might as well relax outside if the inside is down,” Andrew thought.

He stretched and laid back in the chair, closing his eyes as he prepared for a nap. Before he could drift off, he began to feel his chair move.

“What’s going on?” he thought as he opened his eyes, annoyed at being disturbed.

As he looked up, however, he saw something that scared him. An object in the sky was rapidly falling straight at him. Andrew bolted out of the chair, narrowly escaping the object as it smashed into the ground.

“What is it?” he wondered as he turned around and peered into the newly made crater.

At the bottom of the hole sat a small, metal sphere. Andrew made his way down to it for a closer look. As he did, the sphere’s top half began to open up. Andrew peeked into the opening. Inside say a device that look like a wristband watch. It was black with white lines on the sides. In the center lens was a green hourglass with black sides. Small green buttons adorned the lens’s sides, and two big green buttons sat on the wristwatch’s sides.

“I think I’ve seen this somewhere before,” he thought as he reached into the sphere.

However, before he could grab the watch, it leapt up, opened its strap, and snapped on to his left wrist. As it did, he felt a shock pass through his body. The device began to glow green, flashing the color brightly. The lens shot out of the middle, and the hourglass crossed over, making a green diamond with the silhouette of a creature in the middle. At that moment, Andrew realized what he had found.

“This is an Omnitrix,” he said silently to himself, reflecting on his amazing find.

Tokyo, Japan

“Again!”

Yumi readied herself, moving her katana, Kiyoikaze, back into its ready position, straight in front of her. She watched her opponent warily. Suddenly, the other girl leapt at her, stabbing at her chest. Yumi narrowly dodged the strike.

“I hate this new outfit,” she thought as she used her blade to block a follow-up slash.

Yumi was wearing a full mesh suit underneath her new uniform, which consisted of a rugged ninja jacket and a pair of tight robe pants. She also wore vambraces on her arms, new boots, and a piece of cloth around her mouth, chin, and upper neck. The entire outfit was black and pink, as per her requests. Another strike at her face reminded her of her mask, as well as the battle.

“Focus, Igen-san, or I might accidently end up killing you,” the other girl joked, her own katana twirling in her hand.

Yumi focused, just as the girl had asked. She stood, ready and waiting, her blade steady in front of her. Yumi pushed all of her thoughts aside and listened. She heard the twitch of a footstep, then a swing. Yumi ducked, the blade cutting off a few of her pink-dyed hairs. She jabbed Kiyoikaze forward, stopping inches from the other girl’s throat.

“Good job Yumi,” the voice from earlier said. “Ayame-san, you may leave us now.”

“Hai, Igen-sama,” the girl said; and, with a bow, she disappeared.

Yumi faced the man who had been speaking, her father. She bowed towards him, and then sat down on a mat opposite of him. Her father was a fierce-looking man; he was dressed similar to her, except his attire had silver linings instead of pink.

“Yumi, you are improving,” Senshi Igen commented, much to the joy of Yumi.

“Arigatō Otō-sama,” she replied, bowing again.

“However, I do not comment only on your skill with a blade,” Senshi continued. “Your English is vastly improving, and soon you will be able to carry on your mother’s mission for our clan.”

The two of them turned their heads and stared solemnly at the tombstone in their garden.

“But father,” Yumi said as she turned back, “what was mother’s mission? You never told me anything about it before.”

“Well, I believe you are now ready to understand it,” Senshi stated firmly. “You are to go to the Rogue Isles and assist our ally, Arachnos, and their leader, Lord Recluse, in the destruction of Paragon City and its wretched heroes!”

Mercy Island, Rogue Isles

“Nicholai! Deborah!”

“Those two can’t help you anymore Amelia,” a scientist said with a disturbing laugh. “You will now be transformed into the weapon we’ve wanted, the weapon that they tried to stop the creation of!”

The scientist began flipping switches on a large machine, which caused a series of needles to move toward Amelia. She was unable to escape them, as she was shackled to a surgery table. She was wearing only a white bikini and a crimson mask that she had been forced to wear.

“Nicholai!” Amelia screamed louder than before. “Deborah! Help me!”

“Silly girl, I already told you they couldn’t help you,” the scientist repeated. “We got rid of the two of them so we could proceed with this project.”

Amelia froze in shock.

“They’re…dead,” she thought, tears welling in her eyes.

Amelia quit struggling and let her body slump. She had lost her will to escape, and could find no way to stop the experiment.

“Perfect,” the scientist thought as he pressed the last button.

The needles moved closer to her left arm and began to align themselves along her veins. Without warning, the needles simultaneously jabbed themselves into her arm, brining a scream of pain forth from Amelia’s mouth.

“Good luck Amelia,” the scientist said jeeringly as he took a seat on a chair. “Hopefully you will survive.”

Amelia shook back and forth, wailing loudly, as her body felt as if it were on fire. She felt something breaking out of her arms, shoulders, legs, and waist. Then she felt something furry grow around the strapless bikini top and the bottoms. Finally, something burst forth from her chest. She could barely make out the scientist’s form as he placed something over the thing on her chest, locking the object on to her body.

“Now my dear,” the scientist said as he pressed another button, “would you like to see your beautiful transformation?”

Amelia felt the table move as it flipped upright, giving her a view of herself in the mirror. She saw that the entirety of her body was glossy, as if it were a leaf. Her body was now a much softer peach color, except for her face, which had remained overall close to the same in skin tone. Her arms and legs had large, white leaves growing out of them. Her shoulders and had hard, crimson thorns; the shoulder thorns were bendy, but pointed out, and the ones on her waist curled around her. As for where the bikini pieces had been, a whitish-green moss grew forth. The moss seemed as thick as clothing, protecting her body from any exposure. She also noticed her brown hair had turned crimson, and the color became lighter as her hair neared her scalp. The last thing she checked, though she truthfully didn’t want to, was her chest. She let out a gasp at the sight; a gold cylinder sat on her chest, and inside was a small, red rose.

“What have you done to me?!” Amelia screamed, demanding an answer.

“I have made a successful fusion of multiple plant DNAs with a human host,” the scientist replied with a devious smile. “You can now control plants to aid you, and the rose DNA will let you grow thorns from you body for combat.”

“Really,” Amelia said, her now crimson eyes looking at the shackles restraining her.

Before the scientist could realize what he had done, Amelia focused and released the thorns from her body. Thousands of the dark brown thorns covered her, making he look like the stem of a rose. They were harder than steel, evidenced by the shattering of her shackles. The scientist, apprehending what was about to happen, sprinted for the door. Before he could reach for the knob, vines shot out of the ground and covered it.

“Goodbye, Doctor Trapper,” Amelia said in a soft, eerie voice.

Trapper ran towards his machine, but a vine shot out from the ground tangled around him. It began to squeeze him slowly, crushing his body. Several cracks came forth from his body. Finally, a loud pop sounded. The vine uncoiled, letting the freshly killed doctor slump to the ground. The vine slinked back down into the ground as Amelia sat down in Trapper’s chair, a twisted smile adorning her visage.

“It looks as if the transformation was a success,” a large, elderly doctor commented, watching Amelia’s slaying of Trapper from a windowed box at the top of the room.

“Yes, we were hoping Doctor Thornwood’s research would pay off,” a younger man sitting next to him said.

“Doctor Thornwood?” the large man inquired. “Who was he, Doctor O’Hara?”

“He was the brother of young Amelia in there,” O’Hara replied. “He was eliminated today out of necessity for the project, as well as his fiancée, Doctor Deborah Rosen.”

“Thank you for this showing then O’Hara,” the man commented. “Do you have any other subjects you wish to show me?”

“Well, there is one other important subject we can show you right now, Doctor Skelter,” O’Hara responded. “Come with me down the hall to the next viewing area.”

The two doctors moved towards exiting the room. As they left, O’Hara hit a button on the wall, releasing sleeping gas into Amelia’s room. O’Hara caught a glimpse of her as he exited, sleeping soundly on the chair.

“Damn it!” Dominique shouted as he hurled a device to the ground. “Why did you have to break on me?! Now I have only one left to work with!”

Dom picked up a metal band from the table next to him. He slipped it around his neck and held it there. The band began to hold on to his neck and cheeks as a small needle shot out of the back, connecting the device to his spinal cord. The metal hanging out in front of his face folded over and over, finally making two thick blocks by his mouth. Two thin rods shot out of the thick parts, staying just two inches apart from the other.

“So far so good,” Dom thought, a small sense of relief passing over him.

Dom lowered his blast goggles as he turned towards a bulls-eye painted on a dish, held up by a metal cord, to his left. He prepared to test his device, but a voice caught his attention.

“Mr. Resonance, how are you doing today?”

Dom turned and looked up to the windowed box above his lab. He lifted his goggles and peered into the space.

“O’Hara, how nice to see you,” Dom said with a grin. “I’m actually a bit busy right now, so would you prefer to come back at a later time?”

“But Dominique,” O’Hara replied, “I’m actually here with Doctor Skelter today to see how your work is coming along.”

“Oh, I’m quite sorry, I didn’t know that someone important was here,” Dom nervously said, a light grin on his face. “It’s nice to finally meet you, sir.”

“The feelings are mutual,” the bulbous doctor replied heartily. “I have heard much about you from O’Hara here. Would you mind explaining your work to me, Mr. Resonance?”

“Of course sir,” Dom quickly replied. “I am working on a device that would enable humans to use their own vocal projections as a weapon.”

“Interesting,” Skelter said. “I’m guessing said device is the one attached to you right now?”

“That it is,” Dom said, touching the device. “It’s called the Vocal Emission Magnification and Resonation Attack Weapon, or V.E.M.R.A.W., for short.”

Dom turned his body around swiftly to give them a look at the whole of the device.

“The V.E.M.R.A.W.,” Dom continued, “attaches itself into the spine, where it accesses the brain and downloads all the information on how to use it into the mind. Then, it should activate the tuning rods, which in turn should let the wearer begin to use it.”

“Should?” inquired Skelter.

“Well, so far, not one of the V.E.M.R.A.W. have worked,” Dom answered, shame washing over his face.

“What about the one you are wearing right now?” Skelter asked.

“I was just about to test it, as I reconfigured this V.E.M.R.A.W. to my voice,” Dom informed. “As for the other ones, I had left them open to any vocal settings so as to make them usable for anyone Arachnos was planning on distributing them to. Now, may I try this one out now, sir?”

Skelter nodded his head. Dom positioned himself back in front of the bulls-eye and re-lowered his goggles.

“Focus Dom,” he thought. “Just think of everything you’ve programmed it to do, and you can pull this off.”

Dom ran through the codes in his head for a couple of seconds. He activated a low powered attack and then crossed his fingers.

“Here goes everything,” Dom thought.

Dom let out a short whistle, barely scraping across his lips. The tips of the V.E.M.R.A.W. glowed a bright purple, and simultaneously, what looked like a focused gust of air rushed across the lab. It hit the bulls-eye dead center, shattering the plate into pieces.

“Yes!” Dom shouted in joy.

“Wait a second, why didn’t an attack happen right after that outburst?” O’Hara inquired.

“My brain has to process that I’m telling it to attack,” Dom replied slowly, “or else I would never be able to talk.”

“Fascinating demonstration Mr. Resonance,” Skelter said, congratulating him. “I’m glad to see you have perfected you work. Just one question before I leave; why did you hair turn a dark purple just now?”

Dom glanced into his labs mirror. He almost laughed as his wine colored eyes stared at his head. His hair had shot up, as if he had spiked it, and the color had turned from his usual dark brown to a dark purple.

“Must just be a side effect, sir,” Dom said, letting a small laugh out.

“Alright then,” Skelter returned his lop-sided smile on his face, “thank you for your time Mr. Resonance. I’ll be sure to check up with your progress more often.”

Dom nodded his head, then turned around to play with his new toy more. Skelter and O’Hara turned around and slipped out of the room.

“Well O’Hara, I am very impressed with you work so far,” Skelter commented.

The two of them were walking down a hallway, doors lining each side with the plaques next to the doors.

“Why thank you sir,” O’Hara replied, a devious smile on his face. “If you will excuse me though, I need to contact Lord Shinobi about his operative he will be adding to our little team.”

“It is fine O’Hara, you may leave,” Skelter said. “We’re already at my office anyways.”

O’Hara gave a quick bow and sped off, leaving Skelter alone as he entered his office. Inside, on his large office chair, sat a young man around sixteen years of age. His clothes were tattered, and blood ran down his arms from cuts on his shoulders.

“I found the location for the device” the teenager said, pushing forward a clipboard. “Wyvern agents had it, but they just recently handed it over to the Longbow, who shipped it off to Atlas Park. I’m going to get Mikey the Ear to sneak me in to Paragon City so I can retrieve it.”

“Excellent work,” Skelter replied, a dark grin on his face. “You are cleared to retrieve it.”

“Thank you sir,” he replied. “Clothes and weapons in the same place?”

“Yes,” answered the doctor. “Report back when you have returned with the package.”

“Alright, see ya later Doc.”

The boy slipped out through the front door, leaving Skelter in his room, plotting his next move.

Bowlcreek, Colorado

“So, do I look nice?” Isis inquired.

“Of course,” Marcus replied. “A black tank top with a gold mystic design, plus a pair of black jeans, is perfect on you.”

“Couple,” Chloe and Joey tauntingly said in unison.

“Shut it Joey,” Marcus retorted. “You two are just as bad, if not worse. I mean, you call each other at night to decide what to wear.”

“Well cous’, it’s just cause I love my boy looking sharp,” Chloe joked, pulling on Joey’s collar. “As for him, he loves me in a green shirt with a collar and a pair of grey jeans.”

“That I do,” Joey added with a grin.

Marcus and Isis sighed.

“Well, it looks like we’re finally here,” Marcus said, indicating the college in front of him.

“Good; I could use a little Psychology after dealing with these two for the morning,” Isis said happily.

Chloe and Joey stuck out their tongues at her, causing the group to laugh. They then headed off to the buildings in their view, moving quickly so they could make it to class on time. As they rushed, they didn’t notice a distortion on top of the school’s clock tower. A rift formed, and a being stepped through, dressed in futuristic armor. As he did, the hands of the clock stopped.

“This land seems to have changed quite a bit since I was last here,” it thought. “I guess I should go take a look around the universe and see what else is new.”

The being opened another rift, then stepped through. As he did, the clock hands began to tick again as a bird finally passed by the tower.

Rio: Thanks for taking the time to read. I hope you enjoyed reading this story. Please review, as I accept all criticism to help improve my writing.