Luca Miceli

The Weird Classroom

So there I was slouching in my chair in Mrs. Steinen's 4th period English. I was trying not to die of boredom reading The Great Fire. "Man this book is super boring." I said to myself. It was at about that point when, my awesome buddy Jeremy, got up, and started doing handstands and flips all the while yelling at the top of his lungs "I like bananas, and homburawa, and potato's are dumb!!" (He jumped like a junebug it was ridiculous.)

"Uhhhh?" "Jeremy are you OK?" I asked in voice that could only be described as confused but trying to hold in laughter at the time. At that point Jeremy did an awesome flip into his chair. He turned his head to face me and said " I'm fine my boy!" "Are you OK" Jeremy said in a voice that could defiantly not have been Jeremy's. Then he lifted up his hands and slapped me across the face twice. He then proceeded to back flip out the window on the other side of the classroom.

"What the heck was that?" I said dumbfounded by what just unfolded. I looked around. It seemed as though nobody noticed what had just happened. I asked Will who was sitting behind me if he saw what just happened. He said
"What do you mean what just happened?" "Nothing happened."
"What do you mean nothing happened" I said. "Jeremy just back flipped put the window!" Will stared at me with cold dead eyes. His cheeks turned red like a fire engine. So did the rest of his face. He exploded into confetti. "What the heck was that?!" I yelled in anger and confusion. I looked around the room the desks flew up to the ceiling. "What the heck was- oh who am I kidding nobody noticed that." Every one got up and started spinning except for 2 people. My buddy Stevo who turned into a giant spider. "AHHHHH!!!" "I HATE SPIDERS!!!!!!" "I SKEEVE!" (Yes I have arachnophobia don't judge) I looked over at Mrs. Steinen who had turned into a super hero. (I assume while Stevo turned into a giant spider) I hoped she would beat the spider or something but nope she jumped out the window. "What a surprise" I said sarcastically. Stevo spider began eating every one. "OH NO!" I realized some people jumped out the window and started spinning. Stevo had already eaten every body but me and the people who jumped out the window. And there I stood about to be eaten by a spider when suddenly Jeremy jumped through the window flipped onto the spider's head and started slapping it. "Oh you have to be kidding me." I said in a low almost whisper voice. Then are principal came through on a seg way banging a bell yelling free pine apples. Every one left yelled with happiness, and then they exploded into pineapples including the giant spider and Jeremy. "OH MY GLOB!!!!!!" This is driving me nuts can anything make any sense at all!!??" I yelled in anger. I'm gonna - why am I oh great now I'm gonna explode into pineapples. POP! "Wha - where am I? I looked around I saw Mrs. Steinen in front of my desk. She slipped me a piece of paper. It said detention for Luca Miceli. Reason falling asleep in class. Oh thank the lord it was just a dream. I said in my head. I was happy to be back.

The World of Many Oddities

So their I was sitting in Miss Steinen's 4th period English class. I was actually enjoying reading ROT. "Man this book is awesome I said to myself." Then all of a sudden Everyone got up like robots and marched over to the door and began bowing down to it. Then Brandon stopped bowing and jumped on a desk and began reciting the pramble (what I call the preamble) Then I realized he was dressed as James Madison. I walked over. "Brandon, what in the name of Mio God are you doing?!!"
"I'm telling you how to end world hunger." He said and back handed me.
"OWWWWW! WHAT WAS THAT FOR!?!?!?!?" I yelled. Then he back handed me again. "I can't take this and ran over to find Jeremy! Wait why did I say that last part? Oh who cares." I said and ran. Then among the crowd of people I saw Brendan who at the body of body builder on steroids saying I'm so strong and breaking rulers. "Umm?" Brendan are you alright?" I asked awkwardly. He looked at me with a stern face and said "I"M SO STRONG!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" POP. And he exploded into a banana.
"YAYYAYAY!" Everyone yelled and picked up Banana Brendan and threw him (or it what do I call it) right at Brandon who was backhanding the air still reciting the pramble. The banana hit Brandon and he went flying threw the window. Then Brandon got up and started punching Banana Brendan. I looked over at everyone else. They were eating books except for 2 people. Will who was over at the corner of the room liquefying into goo and then back into a human saying in a dry voice "Hahahha I can't breath." And I'm goo, now I'm human, now I'm goo, now I'm your mother."
"I got to find Jeremy!" I said in completely confused. I didn't have to look long because Jeremy back flipped out of the book eating crowd came over to me and said "What do you think of my flappy feet?" In a voice that could not have been Jeremy's.
"Uhhh." I raised one eyebrow and Jeremy back flipped to the back of the room and his feet grew about 30 sizes.
"I always said his foot looked huge in LeBron ." I said aloud.
"What's that my boy? O'mmma slap you silly!" He said and began slapping me across the face. Then he jumped and began flapping his feet so fast he started hovering and began shooting sparkles from his fingers. His feet flapped so fast he flew through the roof and was joined by Nyon Cat.
"How is this all happening?!" I yelled frustrated. Just then as I was about to run for the door, Nicholas Cage came threw the door in a leather jacket and said "YOU WILL ALL HAVE MY FACE!" And a bunch of other Nicholas Cages came threw like the police trying to get to the donut shop (horrible analogy I know). Then they started zapping peoples faces which after being zapped they had his face. I quickly ran threw the door. I saw even more Nicholas Cages zapping everything they could.
"I CAN'T TAKE THIS ANYMORE!!!!!!" I yelled in frustration while sprinting passed the Cages and into the science room. There I saw Birdchild (BC is Michael Gurnne) being held up by a bunch of Nicholas Cages to the window. Birdchild had a green tint. Oh my glob is he photosynthesizing?!?!?!?!" Birdchild looked from the window to me. He made a bird calling sound, grew wings and flew out the window. Then a bunch more birdchild clones flew in right towards me. I ran for the door but bumped into Bob Ross. Isn't he dead. I said in my head.
"Let me hide you in my Afro so you can experience the joys of painting." He said very calm.
"What?!?! NO! DON'T DO THAT!!" I said but he picked me up anyways and put me in his fro. "How do I fit in this?!?!?" I grumbled.
"Here you go." Bob Ross said and he took me out of his Afro. Then he ran out of the room arms flailing. I looked around I was back in Miss Steinen's.
"Oh joy." Said in the most sarcastic tone ever.
Then a Nicholas Cage jumped and said "I'm the real Nicholas Cage." Then he jumped up and yelled "FEAR THE POWER OF PICKOLAS CAGE!" and jumped up and blue white alternating streams of lighted flash around him. Just then my Rapper Dude persona came through the door (Rapper Dude teaches kids about sun safety)
"Let's defeat this foe with sun safety! Yo! Whikka whikka boom!" Rapper Dude said.
"Yeah I'm sure that will work." I said in a low sarcastic tone while rolling my. "I've lost faith in humanity."
"I got some funky fresh new beats and sun safety tips! Yo!" Rapper Dude said while doing the most stereo typical rapper moves. He began to rap.
"Yo yo sun safety is the thing that kids know, but it's important because you can get cansa, or you even might burst into fiya -
"PICKOLAS CAGE POWERS ACTIVATE!!!!!!!!" Everyone turned into a pickle with Nicholas Cage's face on it.
"Oh yay now I'm gonna be a pickle instead of a pineapple." And I turned into a pickle. "Huh?! Wuh?! Gaaaaaaaaah!" I smacked my head against the back of a desk. I looked over at my own and saw Miss Steinen who slipped me a piece of paper that read "Detention for Luca Miceli Reason: Sleeping in class. **AGAIN!** Oh thank god things make sense again.

And the moral of the story is I can't stay awake while reading books.

Zero Escape Retrospective Thing.

*9 Hours 9 Persons 9 Doors*

*Zero Escape: 9 Hours 9 Persons 9 Doors* was released in Japan on December 10, 2009 and was released here in the states about a year later on November, 2010. The game was developed by Chunsoft, and published in Japan by Spike. In the U.S. it was published by Aksys Games. *999* is a visual novel puzzle game written by Kotaro Uchikioski.The story is about **9 people** trapped on a boat that will sink in **9 hours.** You play as Junpei, a college student, who wakes up in a cabin on a ship only to realize the glass on the nearby window breaks and it begins to flood. Once Junpei escapes the cabin he meets up with 8 others and is forced to play the nonary game organised by a man in a gas mask named Zero. Junpei and the rest of the characters have to go through **9 different doors** and look for a door with a 9 on it. However getting through the doors is not that easy as the only way the characters can get through the doors is the bracelet each person has. To get through a door at least three people need to go through and open the door with the digital root of the bracelet numbers. For example if you wanted to go through door 6 you could use the combination 2, 4, and 9. (further explained in game) If the wrong combination of people go through they explode via the bomb implanted in their intestines. The bulk of the game is reading and choosing what you want to say to others to influence the others, but once you go through a door you will do an escape room puzzle where you need to use clues and things around the room to escape. These puzzles are rather challenging and they give you a real sense of accomplishment so I an encourage you to **NOT** look up the solution. The game also features 6 different endings based on what you say to certain characters and which doors you go through. Only one of the endings is canon, and to get the true ending you'll need to get one of the bad endings. I recommend you get all the bad endings before the true ending as it really enhances the experience. I also recommend you go through every door because you'll learn a lot about the different characters and things pertaining to the story. You will especially learn things from other characters. *999* also features an amazing sound track composed by Shinjie Hoso. The sound track is chilling when it needs to be and up beat when has to, sad at just the right time and just does everything right. The sound track does it's job very very good. Some notable ones are Morphogenetic Sorrow, and Chill and Rigor The game was critically acclaimed, and even won a couple awards. Despite this it only sold 39,653 copies. Which isn't much compared to some of these games (Link Below). 999 also released not only on the Nintendo DS but on the app store as well. The iOS version was released in Japan on May 29 2013, and world wide on March 17, 2014. The iOS version stayed very similar to it's DS counterpart it has a few noticeable differences. The game has added a flow chart that let's you skip to places you have already been or to where you make decisions. Another thing that's lacking is the puzzle rooms. Instead the game gives a short explanation of how the characters solved the puzzle. The game abandons the sprites found in the DS version. This time it uses comic book cutouts of the characters. One other thing they added was a new ending. The ending is known as the syringe ending and adds absolutely nothing to the plot. It is also not nearly as well done as the other bad endings. A side from all of that it's still *999* just on an iphone or ipad. If you can the DS version is superior, but between both the iOS port and the original DS version there is no excuse not to play these games. Especially since because the iOS only costs 5$ and the DS version costs about 20$. Who knows you might be able to pass them on as reading for school because the bulk of the game is reading. Fans of *999* didn't have to wait long before getting a sequel though.

*Zero Escape: Virtue's Last Reward*

After a short 2 years the sequel to the critically acclaimed *9 Hours 9 Persons 9 Doors, Zero Escape: Virtue's Last Reward w*as released. The release date for VLR in Japan Feb 16, 2012 and was again published by Chunsoft. The North American release date followed a couple months later on Oct. 23, 2012 and once again published by Aksys Games. *Virtue's Last Reward* was written by Kotaro Uchikioski, has a sound track again composed by Shinji Hosoe, and Kinu Nishimura returns as the artist.

VLR takes place one year after 999, and this time you play as Sigma. Another 22 year old college student who is also abducted by a man in a gas mask named Zero. Sigma wakes up in an elevator with a girl he doesn't know the name of, but somehow she knows his name. After this a bunny who calls himself Zero appears on a monitor and tells Sigma and the girl that they need to escape the elevator in 9 minutes or it will fall and kill them, and that they are playing the nonary game: Ambidex Edition. Sigma and the girl escape find 7 other people outside the elevator. The zero rabbit tells them that the only way to escape the warehouse is through the number 9 door, which can only be opened once, and by someone with 9 bracelet points. If someone tries to go through without 9 bracelet points they get druged with soporil beta which puts the person to sleep and 9 minutes later the person is killed with tubourarine. The only way to get bracelet points is to play the ambidex game, but more on that later as that's part of the gameplay. In terms of the music, the game is very solid in that department. It's all very good and some tracks return from 999 like Chill and Rigor. The games big original song though is Blue Bird Lamentation. Which is one of most emotion invoking songs you will ever here especially in certain endings. In terms of game play not a lot has changed. It's still a visual novel puzzle game. VLR also has multiple endings, in fact they bumped the ending count from 6 to 24. Now you may be wondering "How do I keep track of all the endings?" The game added a flow chart that let's you jump to the different branching timelines and let's you keep track of where you have been and what endings you've gotten. The game also has puzzle rooms again. The puzzle rooms in this game have ramped up the difficulty. These puzzles are some of the most difficult puzzles I have ever done in a video game. I had to use a guide for a lot of them. Thankfully though the game does include an easy mode that you can turn on in the rooms. Something I didn't use because I wanted to get the gold files, and if you switch it to easy you can only get the silver file. That's another thing added to puzzle rooms. In every puzzle room there is a safe that has the escape key, in addition to the escape key that's in every safe if you input a different pass code you'll get the gold or silver file. Overall the puzzle rooms are very well done, but I prefer the 999 puzzle rooms because some of the VLR ones are pull you hair out throw your 3ds against the wall difficult. You can also still choose what doors to go through and what to say to the different characters. Now back to the ambidex game. To start everyone has a bracelet that shows their BP and the color they are. It also shows if you are a pair or solo. You will play the ambidex game with whoever you go through the doors with, and if you are a pair you have to play together with the person who has the pair of your color in the ambidex room. In the ambidex game you have to choose whether to ally or betray who ever your playing against. If you and the other person both ally you both get 2 points. If one person chooses betray and the other chooses ally. The person who choose ally loses 2 points and whoever picked betray gets 3. If both people chose betray neither gains or loses any points. That's how the ambidex game works. What you chose effects the story and what characters think of you. There even some people you will actually feel bad to betray. You will actually feel like the worst person in the world sometimes, but you have to explore every possible out come to find out everything the game has to offer. Virtue's Last Reward does a few things differently then 999. For starters the game for the most part dumps the 2d anime style sprites in favor of the 3d models of the characters. This works well for the most part, but some of the characters animations look very awkward. Aside from that Virtue's Last Reward's atmosphere is different then that of it's predecessor. The atmosphere in VLR is a lot less suspenseful then 999's. Instead it's much more relaxed. The story of the game is better then 999. And don't get me wrong 999 has an amazing story to, it's just VLR covers something bigger then 999 did. I can't really describe it, but you will know if you play it. VLR has an amazing cast of characters but, 999 has better characters then VLR in my opinion. VLR still has awesome characters but 999 has better ones. Maybe it's because 999 is centered more around the characters then VLR is. Again I don't really know how to describe it but if you play both of them you will get what I'm talking about. Something they added was voice acting. The voice acting is very good, and plays throughout the game. The only exceptions are in puzzle rooms and Sigma. The game also has an option to use the Japanese voices. SOmething you probably won't use, but it's nice touch anyways, Overall Virtue's Last Reward is an outstanding game that would not have been made if it wasn't for fan support of 999. Now do I think Virtue's Last Reward is better then 999? No. I think 999 is the better game. VLR also had an animated OVA which you can find really easy subbed and dubbed. Just type in Virtue's Last Reward OVA. Sadly this time around though even though another sequel was announced it was put on hold and fans would have to wait 4 more years to have another game made.

Zero Escape: Zero Time Dilemma

*I RECOMMEND YOU DO NOT READ THIS IF YOU ARE GOING TO PLAY IT! IT IS BETTER TO GO IN COMPLETELY BLIND!*

Zero Escape: Zero Time Dilemma is the yet to be released sequel to Virtue's Last Reward. Yes I said yet to be released. It's coming out June 28, 2016. In North America, and in Japan on June 30, 2016. It's again going to be published by Aksys games. ZTD is again written by Kotaro Uhckioski, the composer is again Shinji Hosoe, but the artist is now Rui Tomono. Zero Time Dilemma will be released on the PSvita and 3DS. As well as windows. **The plot heavily requires that you play the previous games! I will try to explain the plot as best I can without spoilers.** 9 people are sent to the Mars mission test site. At the test the 9 people will basically live under the conditions they would live on if they were on Mars. 6 days into the test the people wake up and find they have on bracelets, which every 90 minutes the characters will lose their memory. A man named Zero again shows up this time dressed as plague doctor, tells them that they will start the decision game and that the fate of all humanity hinges on the game. The 9 people are divided into 3 teams. C, Q, and D. They are all moved to a bomb shelter and told the only way out is to open the X Door. The X Door only open when they collect all 6 X-Passes. An X-pass is only given out when someone dies. Meaning that only 3 people will escape. What's odd about this one is that their is no nonary game. Instead a decision game where things are based out of luck. So say one character is forced to play Russian Ru let, that person has a fifty fifty chance of diing in that time line. Onto the gameplay. It's got novel sections, and puzzle sections, but the novel sections are fully animated and voice acted. At the moment their isn't to much known about puzzle sections, but the game will have them. In ZTD you can also play as the leaders of all 3 teams. The game doesn't have a flow chart, but instead a floating fragment system. The player will be given a fragment which represents 90 minutes. Every time you complete one though another will open up. The fragments can be played out of order leaving you just as confused as the other characters. There isn't to much else to say because the game is not out yet, but their are a few things. The animation looks very choppy although it could seem that way because of the trailer or because the voices aren't lined up. Secondly I'm not a fan of the art style. This either from trying to combine the art styles of 999 VLR, or it could be because Tomono is the new artist. Another thing, this game has the intentional to be the absolute best game in the series or, it could be the worst. I say this because the story has to answer so many questions from both games and because it handles something absolutely huge. If they do both things right it can be the best if not, it's probably gonna be the worst. Zero Escape: Zero Time Dilemma is the game that has me the most hyped out of everything else. Not only that it will be the long awaited conclusion to the critically acclaimed series.

Sources:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List\_of\_best-selling\_Nintendo\_DS\_video\_games

http://www.statista.com/statistics/248205/top-selling-nintendo-ds-titles-worldwide/

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/f/f1/Nine\_Hours,\_Nine\_Persons,\_Nine\_Doors\_Cover\_Art.jpg

http://www.siliconera.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2010/09/image100708\_1452\_000\_thumb.png

http://www.siliconera.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2010/09/image100708\_1437\_001\_thumb.png

http://media.gamerevolution.com/images/games/ds/999-nine-hours-nine-persons-nine-doors/999-nine-hours-nine-persons-nine-doors\_002.jpg

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nine\_Hours,\_Nine\_Persons,\_Nine\_Doors#Release

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zero\_Escape:\_Virtue%27s\_Last\_Reward

http://gematsu.com/2012/03/zero-escape-virtues-last-reward-box-art

http://www.nintendolife.com/games/3ds/zero\_escape\_virtues\_last\_reward

http://www.gamefaqs.com/vita/641335-zero-escape-virtues-last-reward/images/25

http://pixelperfectgaming.com/2013/10/21/zero-escape-virtues-last-reward-receives-new-holiday-price/

http://gematsu.com/2016/03/first-look-zero-time-dilemma

http://zerotimedilemma.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/ZTD\_GameBoxes-632x399.png

On Brandon Tsai's Wiki we are doing a story together called "The Rathbone Papers" Everything I wrote is underlined. Brandon's Wiki
https://steinencwj.wikispaces.com/Brandon+Tsai

Scary Street

It was Halloween night when my friends I made the biggest mistake of our lives, but we also solved the biggest mystery of our lives. It was October 31st and my friends and I had planned since the beginning of Oct. to score the biggest amount of candy in the shortest amount of time. We had Jack and Drew look for houses and neighborhoods that we hadn't seen before. Nick had plotted maps with the data Jack and Drew brought back as well as print out maps of Philly to find the most efficient ways to get the most candy. Jack and Drew tested these methods and I got costumes that everyone one wanted. I was the Santa of Halloween (This story will probably not be finished do to Halloween being over.)

Marking Period 2

THE VINNY! in: I will have my spaghetti!

My name is Vinny and I am a dog. Everybody loves me. And my mum won't let me and Vanna (the other dog) have spaghetti. So I am gonna get it. I ran and jumped like a grass hopper to steal the spaghetti pot off the table. I missed. "Get out of there Vinster!" She yelled as she picked up a ball.
"Oh know not a ball!" I thought. I can't stand when she throws it. I always have to go get it because of my stupid animal instinct. She chucked the ball across the room. I ran to catch the ball slipping and sliding all over the place like a baby who can't skate. I was to fast I couldn't control myself and I smashed into the banzai tree table. "Oh know I thought to myself." The banzai flipped and landed on my head. \*CLONK\* The pot landed on my head the banzai and dirt fell out. "Ahhh step stool." I thought, and ran back to the counter. I took the step stool and flipped it over my head looked around and jumped on the pot and grabbed the spaghetti ran and got stopped by Mrs.Mom. "Put that down Vinny!" I shook my head no. "Fine." "This means war pup." She pulled a cowboy hat off the table as well as a cap gun. I pulled out 2 cap guns and a cowboy hat stood on my hind legs and got ready to fire. I got ready to pull the trigger and \*bang\* She beat me to it. I ran for cover slinging the guns over my back. I hid under the table and fired. She dodged like a ghost, but luckily I had an ace. Vana. She would do anything for spaghetti. I looked around and saw her behind the couch. She aimed at Mrs.Mom and fired, but Mrs.Mom dodged again. I gave Vana the que of raising My back hind legs. We both fired til we were out and we still didn't hit her, and Vana and I were out of ammo. She aimed at me and fired. "OH I'VE BEEN HIT!" I barked and rolled over and kept yelling. "Huh?" I barked and realized I wasn't bleeding. "THESE GUNS ARE BOGUS!!!!!" "FAKE! I tell you FAKE!" I gave Vana a very special cue. We came out from our cover. I went to the nearest cabinet. Vana went on the couch. I lifted my leg And peed. My last ditch effort. Vana peed on the couch.
"VINNY, VANA!" She yelled. "GET IN THE CRATE!" We ran but not before grabbing the spaghetti. She didn't notice me snagging it. We both went in the crate and she locked us in. Mom stomped off.
"Great now we don't have spaghetti." Vana sighed.
"Yes we do." I said and showed her the spaghetti. We split up the spaghetti and chowed down happily ever after.

The Worlds Strongest (temporary title)

(Can't fix photo. Keep this belt photo in mind so that you know how high ranked certain belts are.)
"I WILL BE THE STRONGEST MARTIAL ARTIST EVER!" Leone yelled in rage.
"Kid you can barely throw a punch." An older teenager said.
"Just you watch I'll become stronger then you ever will!" Leone yelled sobbing like an open fire hydrant and angry as bull.
"Sure whatever." The teenager said in sarcastic tone and kicked Leone in the face sending him rolling backward into a puddle. The teenager walked off into the rain snarling. Leone looked around desperately trying to find a place he got run to and hide, but then he saw something. Martial arts studio. It was called Lawlers Kempo karate. He knew at that moment that was where he needed to go.

6 Years Later.

"I can't believe I found a place I can do karate!" The girl exclaimed bolting down the street. "Oh there it is." She said and walked in. She wore a red shirt with a white gi over top. She also wore white pants. Her belt was white. She had dark black hair and light blue eyes. She sprinted up the stairs as fast as a cheeta and threw the next door. She saw a few people when she walked through. A boy who looked about 15 with long straight dark hair and glasses. He wore a green belt. Another boy sitting in a chair who looked to be about her age around 11 or 12. He had red hair and pale skin. He had black pants and a black gi. His belt was advanced green. (Green with long black stripe running through the belt. Not listed on chart) She saw three instructors. One was very tall and shaved his head. He had 2nd degree black belt. Another one was short and kinda chubby. He had a standard black belt. Then another one. He was much older then the other 2 and was much fatter then the one with the standard black belt. He had an 8th degree black belt. Then she saw one more student standing towards the door to get into the dojo. He had dark black hair. A red shirt under a white gi. He also had white pants that covered his feet. She stared at the boy for a long time. Then he turned his head locked eyes with her. His eyes were determined. Like something he was working towards something to redeem himself. His belt was green with 2 brown stripes. The old fat man cam up to the girl and said "You must be Jordan."

The Red Trinity

Fourth marking period.

Chapter one: The Start of a Sadistic Game.

I woke up and smacked my head on to a large metal pipe hanging above me. "OWWWW! Jeese that hurt like a bi-" I stopped and realized the poor lighting in the room. "Wait where am I?" I asked. I looked around and saw there were a large amount of metal pipes, and saw the whole room was concrete. I also realized the awful smell that filled the room. It was truly vile like someone who had terrible foot odor vomited in there shoes and kept walking in them. I quickly pinched my nose and scrambled to find an exit. It was dark and I almost hit my head multiple times. I looked back to where I woke up and found a large piece of thick bamboo. I crouched down so I didn't whack myself in the head again, and picked up the piece of bamboo. I turned the piece so it was vertical to the ground. I lifted it up and blade came fell out from the bottom with part of the bamboo.
"What the." I said as I lifted the bamboo so that the blade came completely out. "Oh so the handle is part of the bamboo." I said.
I couldn't see what kind of blade it was so I sheathed it and went back to investigating the room.
"God this smell is freaking killing me!" I said trying my hardest not to vomit.
I was able to track the smell to a portion of the room that was pitch black. I decided not to go because the smell would get a lot worse, and it was completely dark. I went to the opposite side of the room and found what looked to be some kind of metal door, but I couldn't tell because of the light and there weren't any door knobs so I wasn't sure. I quickly went to examine the pipes. There wasn't anything out of the ordinary there so I checked the room one more time, and just as I was about to give up a loud groan came from what turned out to be a door rose upwards and a bright light like a solar flare came from behind it. I took a moment to let my eyes just and like a bullet fire from a gun I took off for the light. Once I was out I saw lush green forests and a hill just in front of me.
"Where am I?" I said panicking.
Just then the familiar groan came from behind fallowed by a large smash. I looked behind me and the door slammed shut.
"Whatever." I said and ran up the hill through the forest and into a clearing in the trees. What stood before me was an open field of grass and best of all people. I was about to call over when I realized that they all had weapons. There were eleven of them. One of them looked over.
"HEY! COME OVER HERE!" She yelled.
I stopped. Should I go over.
"COME ON DON'T KEEP US WAITING!"
I hesitantly walked over.
"He's the last one right?" A short blonde haired said. I noticed her weapon. A pair of razor sharp like you almost feel like your gonna be cut looking at them sharp scissors.
"He should be." A tall skinny man with silver hair said. I saw a pair of spiked brass knuckles hanging from his waste.
"Umm what's going on?" I asked in a small voice.
"Not sure." Another man of relatively normal height dressed in a long trench coat.
I glanced around at the people in front of me, and I saw 2 people who caught my eye. A girl with dirty blonde hair about the same age is me with European long sword. And a man about the same age as me with brown hair and a spear. I guess they must have noticed me as well because they ran through the crowed of people straight for me.
"DOMINICK!" She yelled and tackle hugged me.
"GAHH!" The sound escaped my lips.
We fell to the ground and I was not only tackled but crushed by her hug. I looked over at the man who had crouched down beside us, and instantly recognized him. It was my best friend Jack. I'd known him him my whole 21 years of life that I was now afraid of losing being crushed like a child who had been found by their mother and hadn't seen her in 3 years.
"You're crushing me." I barely squeaked out.
"Oh sorry." She said as she sat up and got off me.
I instantly recognized her as well. It was Alice. My other friend I had known for all 21 years of my life.

Awakening

This was it. It was all over before it began. I'm sorry Kagura. May. Ace. Jacks. And most of all Clover. I'm sorry. Looks like I'll be seeing you soon.

Chapter 1: The first battle

"Hey Clover I'm back!" Leo yelled as he kicked the door open. Huh? "Clover?" "That's weird usually she'd come get the groceries from me." He walked inside and put the groceries on our small counter. "I guess I'll just go through her box of books about the martial artists she doesn't want me to know about." (It's box full of the martial artists she think are hot. Leo knew because he'd gone through the box like a billion times and she still thinks he hasn't.) "Here we go."
"LEO!!!" "GET OUT OF THERE!" Clover yelled as she gave him a good roundhouse kick to the nose, and he tumbled across the room.
"OWWW!" "Man that hurts." "Really bad." "WOULD YOU LAY OFF CLOVER THAT HURTS!!!" Her kicks were like getting it with a canon ball he thought.
"How many times have I told you not to go in that box?"
"Shut up!" I yelled. A loud clapping sound soon followed. "OWW!" "WHY THE HECK DID YOU SLAP ME?!"
"Man you're such an idiot sometimes Leo." Clover said with her face still beat red from anger and embarrassment.
"Well excuuse me princess." Leo said with a sarcastic tone. BOOM! A loud almost explosion sound happened. "What the heck was that?!"
"Well let's go check it out." Leo didn't move. "What are you waiting for?"
"Nothing lets go." "Wait where did it come from." Heh heh. Leo laughed at his own stupidity.
"I don' t know lets go look!" Clover almost yelled. Leo didn't say anything. They bolted out of the house at top speed. They were the fastest runners in the village of Camrock. They kept running faster, faster, faster till they were like bullets. More explosion like sounds followed. BOOM! "I think were getting closer." Clover said through a pant.
"Yeah almost." "Wait is that- Leo was interrupted as a giant spiked iron pull came through a house right towards them like a bullet. "JUMP!" He yelled. However Leo couldn't jump. In fact he was barely able to say jump he was so paralyzed with fear. However Clover quickly noticed this. She grabbed Leo by the arm and hurled him to a safe distance. "Clvr." Leo was shocked and barely able to talk. The words came out in a jumbled mess.
"AHHH!" She yelled. To Leo it was all a blur. He ran over to check on Clover.
"Clover are you alright?" Leo said with clear worry in his voice.
"Yeah I'll be fine." She said.
"Your arm." "It's bleeding." "Are you gonna be-
"I'll be fine Leo." "It's just a flesh wound nothing to worry about." "OK." Clover tried to reassure him. "Lets go see what's going on."
He hesitated. "Yeah, lets go." Leo helped Clover up. They followed the big iron pole to see where it came from. When they got passed the building they saw their friend Jacks the samurai fighting with a man they never saw before. The man had white mask on. It had eye holes and a symbol near the bottom of the mask. It looked like the Earth symbol with prime meridian and the equator. He was covered in bandages like a mummy, but unlike a mummy he was alive and moving faster anyone Leo and Clover had ever seen. Jacks looked over and saw Leo and Clover standing there.
"Leo, Clover, GET OUT OF HERE NOW!" Jacks lifted his sword and rushed towards the mask man. When he was close enough he brought sword down at diagonal angle. The masked man dodged and did a spinning round house kick into Jacks' gut. He went flying and tumbled on the ground.
"Cuaahhh!" Jacks yelled in pain. "He's the strongest opponent I've ever fought." "I don't think I can beat him."
"Is that the best you got?" "You are going to need a lot more then what you just displayed." "A spiked iron pole?" "You can't do anything more?" The Masked man said disappointed. He laughed. Leo and Clover looked around a little more. They saw smashed buildings and bodies in some of the buildings.
"This is terrible!" "We have to do something!" Leo yelled.
The masked man looked over at them. "I guess you're the brats this fool was yelling about." "I kill you after I finish him off." The masked man raised his arm towards Jacks who was still trying to recover from the kick the Masked Man hit him with. The Masked Man's hand began to glow with a bright yellow aura.
"Leo we have to get Jacks out of there!"
"I know." Leo said determined
"Oh and you brats over there, if you try to save him you'll be killed." Clover ran as fast as she could to Jacks to get him out of the way of the blast, but she was to slow. "YOU IGNORAMUS!" The masked men yelled. He was about to fire the energy blast. At that moment something in Leo snapped.
"GET AWAY FROM THEM NOW YOU JERK!!!!!!!!!" A burst of bright blue light came from Leo and engulfed him. He charged at the Masked Man. He was a blue comment. When he reached the Masked Man he formed a ball of energy and let it explode into a huge stream of energy hitting the Masked Man and sending him flying. It also did some heavy damage. The energy around Leo died down a bit and became a glowing blue aura. "I'LL DESTROY YOU!!!!" Leo yelled at the Masked Man in fury. Clover and Jacks looked up at Leo in amazement. Jacks supersized expression turned into a grin. Leo charged towards the Masked Man. "Where did that power come from?" The Masked Man said. He began to get up onto his knees.
"DIE!!!" Leo yelled and kicked him up into the air. Leo jumped jump with him but the this time the Masked Man was ready and slipped a kunai knife from his bandages. Leo charged up another ball of energy of energy, but it was cut short when the masked man slashed at Leo with it. From his shoulder down to his waste at a diagonal.
"Fool you can't hit me with the same technique twice." The Masked Man said smug. Leo's aura disappeared and he began to fall.
"NOOOO!" "I won't lose anyone else!" Her eyes became completely blue and returned to there normal green color. She placed her hands together and a huge string of glowing red kanji spread all over her body and she jumped with such force the ground below her cracked and fell creating a giant pothole. When Clover reached the Masked Man she let some energy build between her hands and she discharged it shocking the Masked Man.
"Gahh!" The Masked Man yelped.
"TAKE THIS!" She yelled and flipped around dropping her heel in his stomach.
"Cuaaa." The Masked Man was flung down towards the ground. Right before he hit the ground though, like lightning Leo zoomed at him charging up more energy. This time it was different. A blue glow illuminated from his hands. He pressed his palm against the Masked Man's chest a blow circle formed around Leo's hand and on the Masked Man's back the same circle appeared. In addition a few blue energy spikes came out of the Masked Man. These didn't leave holes in the Masked Man but it severely damaged him. As Leo hit the Masked Man he yelled (Leo yelled) energy prongs. After the the energy from Leo's hand dissipated he through the Masked Man. The Masked Man tumbled across the town square. He stood up. "I found what I was looking for." "So I'll be going now bye bye." The Masked Man said.
"So your just gonna leave?!" I thought you'd be tougher." Leo said mocking him.
"Oh believe me when I say this I was holding back." "I only used 3% of my strength on you." "I could easily kill every one here." The Masked Man said. "Oh and you can call me 9." I'd hate to be called whatever name you guys come up with." "And I can't use my real name." I have a feeling will be meeting again soon." "Good bye." The Masked Man said and vanished in a flash of energy.

MArking Period 2

Chapter 2: The Secret Room

What the heck was that?! Who was he?! Why was he fighting you?! "What the heck did we do?! Leo bombarded Jacks with questions. Jacks coughed.
"I'll explain what happened to you first but first we need to recover." "Your energy levels have depleted almost completely." "The village also needs to be cleaned up as well, but first I need to hide you both." Jacks said clearly making an effort to talk.
"Why the heck do we need to hide?" Clover asked puzzled.
"I'll explain later but we don't have much time now go!" Jacks said getting more agitated every second. Jacks picked up his sword and said "Go or I will cut both of you into tiny pieces!"
"AHHHH!" Leo and Clover both yelled.
"Take this map and go." "Once you get there look for the symbol under the floor mat and force your energy on it."
"Wait what the heck do you mean force our energy on it?" Clover asked.
"You'll figure it out when you get there just go or I won't be able so save you!" Jacks said. \*Clomp\* \*Clomp\* "THEY ARE COMING NOW GO!!!!!!" Jacks yelled. Leo and Clover didn't question they ran as fast as they could away from town square to the nearest forest. Once they got to the forest they climbed up a tree and took a minute or so to catch their breath.
"Hey \*pant pant\* "Leo take a look at that map Jacks gave you."
"Ok \*pant pant\*" Leo pulled the map out looked it over, and passed it to Clover.
"Where does the map want us to go?" Leo asked panting like a dog on a hot summer day.
"Gee I don't know maybe the big red x on it." Clover replied sarcastically.
"Ya know you don't have to be so mean about it." He said.
"Fine, but lets just go to the big red x." "I think it points to Jacks' dojo." She said.
"Ok then!" Leo said. Clover grabbed Leo's shoulder before he jumped out of the tree. "Now what, I wanna get going."
"We should probably stay away from the villagers." Clover said.
"Why?"
"Maybe because Jacks said they were coming, and nobody ever comes here except the occasional merchant." "He was probably referring to the villagers." "Don't question it right now lets just go." Clover explained. Without saying a word Leo jumped out of the trees, and Clover followed. They followed the map being sure to stay out of sight from the other villagers.
"Were almost there." Clover said.
"Cool" Leo said back. "I hope no one got there first."
"Yeah." Clover said back. As they approached the dojo Clover fell to her knees and clenched her head. Her eyes went blank. She screamed for a what seemed like an eternity.
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" She yelled. When she finally stopped she was gasping for air like a vacuum cleaner in reverse. Leo rushed too her side.
"Clover are you alright?!?!" Leo asked clearly worried. She didn't respond. "Clover!" Still she said nothing. "CLOVER!"
"I'm alright ." She said. Her face was as pale as a ghost.
"Then what the heck was that?" Leo asked.
"I don't know I just had a weird vision." "I think." Clover said confused. Leo helped Clover up. \*crunch\* \*crunch\*
"We need to go and fast." "I'm pretty sure no ones eating potato chips." Leo said. They began to walk. Clover fell to her knees again. "I'm gonna carry you." "Alright." Leo said. Clover gave a quick nod and Leo picked her up and ran the door. He grabbed the door handle with his teeth and dragged the door open. Leo stepped in side in an awkward position trying not to hurt Clover. Once inside he gently laid his sister on the ground and shut the door. "I gotta move fast." "I think Jacks said look for the symbol under the floor mat and force your energy onto it." "Whatever the heck that means?" Leo got to work throwing up the floor mats looking for the symbol Jacks was talking about. "Crap, crap, crap, crap where the heck is it!?! Leo said frantically throwing up the floor mats. He threw up another and noticed part of the floor was darker. "That must be it!" He exclaimed and threw up the other floor mats around it. He stared at the symbol for a few seconds trying to figure out what "force you energy onto it" meant. "Maybe it means uhhh that I should p-
"No it doesn't mean you should pee on it!" "It probably means that we should maybe use what ever we did to beat 9 and touch the symbol!" Leo turned around and saw Clover standing.
"Clover!" Leo shouted and ran and hugged her. "Thank god you're alright!"
"Why wouldn't I be?" "It was just a little shock." Clover said slightly cocky.
"You're a tank." Leo said.
"There!" "Let's check in there!" "I can almost guarantee that they're hiding in the dojo!" An old man's voice said from outside the dojo.
"oh know!" Leo whispered.
"let's go!" Clover whispered. They both dashed across the dojo floor to the symbol. Clover put her hand together and the red kanji spread across her body and she laid her hand on the symbol. "oh crap!" "It didn't work!"
"HAAAH!" Leo yelled and his bright blue aura appeared, and he used his energy prongs and used it on the symbol. Both the kanji and the aura of Leo and Clover dissipated. The symbol lit up bright blue and disappeared and a handle appeared. Leo didn't hesitate to pull up the handle and saw a small opening and a latter. He let Clover go first and he jumped and grabbed the latter. He closed the door and heard a noise. Presumably the seal coming back and sealing them in. The latter was in a large downward tunnel. Someone could jump down here and not even come close to touching the people on the latter. They began to descend down the latter.
"WOOAAH!" Leo yelled and grabbed back on to the latter. "I must have taken my hands off for a second."
"Well you don't want to do that again." Clover said. They started to climb down the latter again. Leo's head dropped and he let go of the latter. He began to fall.
"AHHHHHHHHH!" He yelled as fell way past Clover gaining speed. He couldn't get to the latter because his body wouldn't move. "BANG!" "GAhh." Leo let the sound slip through his mouth as his back hit the ground. He looked around and saw 4 water falls and lots of bamboo standing much taller then he'd ever seen. He also saw sand around the big square of tile he was laying on. He couldn't really tell but it looked as if at the edges of room they were in the sand started to curve down like a ball.
"LEO!" Clover shouted in panicking and scared voice. Leo passed out from exhaustion and the pain from the fall. Clover bulleted down the latter, and realized the latter stopped before there was ground. She hesitated to jump but she did and landed on her feet on the tile. Regaining her balance she ran over to Leo. She got down to her knees and shook Leo."Leo!" "Wake up!" "Come on Leo!" "I can't lose you to!" She cried. She picked him up and ran him to one of the nearby streams laid him down next to it. She cupped her hands and dipped them in the water."This is really cold." She muttered. She carefully moved her hands over Leo's face and dropped the water on to it hoping it would wake him up. It didn't work. She placed her head on his chest and listened for his heartbeat. "It's normal." She said puzzled. "Shouldn't it be really fast or really slow."
"Nope." A voice said. Clover whipped her head around and saw Jacks standing on the tiled part of the room.
"Jacks?" She said happily. "You're finally here." She said. He walked over without saying a word and picked Leo.
"Follow me." He said and began to walk. Clover followed.
"So where are we going?" She asked.
Jacks coughed and said "In the water fall to the South of the room." Clover looked around and saw that there were 4 water falls, one on each side of the room. They trudged through the sand and ended up at the water fall. "This is the one." He said. "Just jump through and then I'll explain everything when he gets up." He leaped through the water fall so fast you could barely see him.
"Now I'm gonna be drenched she complained." Clover complained.
"Not if you're fast when you jump through." Jack yelled from behind the water fall.
"How fast?" She asked.
"Just jump." He said getting slightly annoyed. She jumped and didn't get all the way through the water fall. Luckily she grabbed on to a ledge that seem to lead to a cave.
"Oh crap!" Jacks said and ran out to the water fall. He looked down at Clover hanging on for dear life and scooped up her hand and pulled it up through the waterfall. Clover coughed and thanked Jacks. She looked around in the new found cave and saw three beds lined up against next to each other at the end of the cave. She saw Leo in one of them. "Are you ok?" Jacks asked.
"Yeah I'll be fine." She said.
"You should get some rest." "You used a lot of energy fighting 9." Jacks said.
"But I'm fine really." Clover said.
"You fell in the water fall because your jump was to weak." "Get some rest." He said.
"Fine." She sighed and trudged to one of the beds and fell asleep the moment her head hit the pillow.

Chapter 3: The Explanation.

"Huh?" "Where the heck am I?" Leo asked still very groggy from 2 day sleep.
"So you guys are finally awake." Jacks said.
"Where am I?" Leo asked.
"Your in my training grounds." Jacks said. Clover rose slowly and let out a yawn so loud it could shake the heavens.
"Hey guys." "Whats happenin?" Clover said more groggy then Leo.
"Once you guys wake up a little more I'll explain everything." Jacks said. Leo shot up.
"ALLLLLLLRIGHT!" Leo cheered and jumped out of his bed, ran to Clover and shook her till she was all the way awake.
"Quit it!"Clover yelled.
"That was faster then I expected." Jacks said as he pulled out a flask.
"What's that?" Leo asked. Jacks pointed to the flask and Leo nodded.
"Try it." Jacks said as he tossed the flask to Leo. "It's called lohocla milk." Jacks said.
"OK then." "Down the hatch!" Leo said and drank it. 'Oh." "Oh." "This is heaven!" Leo exclaimed and took a few more sips.
"Pretty good right?" Jacks said with a smile on his face.
"Hey Clover try this stuff it's extraordinary!" Leo cheered.
"Ok." She said and grabbed the flask from Leo. "Bottoms up." She said and took a sip.
"So how is it?" Jacks asked. Clover stopped sipping. She spit the lohocla out all over the stone floor.
"This stuff is acrid!" Clover yelled in disgust.
"WHAT?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!" Leo and Jacks yelled in unison. Clover tossed the flask back to Leo.
"Your kidding right?" Leo asked.
"Nope." Clover said.
"I like you this much less now Clover." Jacks said and put out his thumb and pointer finger and created a gap with them.
"WEEEELLL Ecuuuze ME Princess!" Clover said sarcastically. Leo gulped down the rest of the lohocla milk. Jacks stared at Leo.
"LEO YOU IDIOT!!!!" " WE WERE SUPPOSED TO SHARE THAT!!!" Jacks yelled now furious.
"Hey Jacks I feel kinda fuzzy inside." "I also feel really warm." Leo said.
"Great now he's almost drunk." Jacks said sardonically.
"Oh well thanks a lot Jacks!" Clover said in a sarcastic tone.
"Either way I think I should tell you guys what happened." "Follow me." Jacks said and began walking.
"Fine." "Leo lets go." Clover said grabbed Leo's arm and followed Jacks.
"So I assume we are going to that tile square in the center." Clover said.
"Yep." Jacks said. They arrived at the large central tile square. "Take a seat." "This will be quite a long explanation." Jacks said.
"Ok." Clover said and they both sat down.
"I suppose I should tell you what happened to you first." Jacks said. "Your ability to harness and use energy has awakened."
"How does that work." Leo asked.
"Everyone has energy that lays dormant inside of their bodies." It awakens when an extreme happens." "I guess that's the best way to put it."
"What's an extreme?" Leo asked,
"Guys don't interrupt I'll explain everything." Plus it will go quicker." Jacks said. "An extreme is basically any feeling you have that you really have a strong attachment too." "For example an extreme desire to protect someone, or an extreme desire for power." "Some people are just able to use energy from birth." "Others can train to be able to do that." "Which I guess is an "extreme"." "Now, the energy passes through your body in a way you can control outside of your body." "And that's what happend to you guys." "However you can't just use it as you please because you have a limited amount." "Granite it can increase, but that's besides the point because you guys have very little energy reserves with very little control." "To increase it you need to train and use it to build up how much control and the amount of energy you have." "Now you can also harness your energy in different ways, such as styles and techniques." "It's like a tool kit." Jacks stood up and unsheathed his kattana. "This would be an example of a different style." Jacks put the pointed end of the kattana on the ground and drug it up across the ground and a large spiked iron pole came rocketing out of the the ground and barely missed Clover.
"YOU JERK WHAT WAS THAT FOR?!?!?!" Clover yelled furiously.
Jacks stepped back and put his hands up. "Sorry about that my aim aim is really terrible when I try to shoot those upward." He said.
"I DON'T CARE YOU SHOULD HAVE AT LEAST WARNED US!" Clover yelled and was ready to charge but, Leo grabbed her arm and told her to calm down.
"Can we continue?" Jacks asked.
"Sure fine whatever." Clover said.
"Let's do it." Leo said still half drunk.
"Now as I said that was a different style, or use." "I don't use energy like you guys do." "I manipulate the energy through my kattana." Jacks explained.
"That's insane." Leo said.
"No actually it's quite common to see someone manipulate energy through their swords or other weapons." Jacks said.
"No I meant the fact you can create giant spiked iron poles from almost nothing." Leo said starting to think Jacks was a little too excited about this.
"Right right." Jacks said." "Now you can use energy to create different techniques such as your energy palm ability." Jacks said as he looked at Leo. That about wraps up my explanation of how energy works." "Oh no actually I forgot to talked about your aura." "That represents the amount of energy you out put. Using more energy increases the the size of your aura." "You can also combine energy with punches and kicks to make them more powerful." "And I don't think I need to say this but the more energy you put into physical attacks the more your aura grows." "I think I'm finished now." Jacks explained. "Any questions?" Jacks asked. (Author note: If you have any questions about how energy works add a discussion and I'll answer it.) Leo and Clover shook their heads. They didn't really have any questions as this was a brand new concept and they had very little experience with it. They also thought Jacks had given a pretty thorough explanation. "Good, now I'm gonna ask you guys a question." Jacks said to Leo and Clover.
"What the heck do you wanna ask us?" Leo asked.
"I'm with Leo on this one." Clover said.
"Do you wonder why you have never heard of the concept of energy before?" Jacks asked. Leo and Clover thought about what Jacks had said, and they began to wonder why that never heard of it. They figured energy must be a big thing so why hadn't they heard of it before. They also began to wonder why no one ever came to the village. Leo and Clover started to feel like caged birds. Isolated from the rest of their world. "Do you ever wonder why no one ever leaves the village?" Jacks asked. Leo and Clover began to think why no one seemed ever leave or enter the village.
Clover hesitated "Why?"
"Camrock Village is almost completely isolated from the rest of the world. It's one of the few villages not effected by anything outside it. It's completely self-sufficient. And no ever leaves because they don't know anything is outside the village. They also band energy. The village choose to isolate them selves from the rest of the world years ago. The decision was made over 500 years ago.
"Why?" Clover asked puzzled.
"Because of an incident that was supposedly a turning point in the way every one lived, and band energy in the village." Jacks said.
"What was this turning point?" She asked.
"That's something I don't know." Jacks said clearly trying to hide his frustration. "I do however believe it has something to do with the darkness."
"Darkness? You mean like the kinda darkness in books?" Leo asked.
"Yes exactly." Jacks said. "I'll explain what it was, or rather what it is." "The darkness is evil as you know." Jacks said. "Darkness is like another form of energy and takes over in place of your own energy A.K.A. the light. At first the darkness doesn't affect your aura but it will be there if it starts to take over you become tainted. After that the darkness grows and becomes stronger." Jacks explained. "That's about the most basic explanation I can give you." He said.
"So why do you think this event had something to do with darkness?" Clover asked.
"Really it's just an assumption. Just a gut feeling." "So whatever the incident was it made the village isolate themselves."
"Wait Jacks, why do you know all this?" Clover asked and started to believe something was up.
"I'm the only one allowed out of the village. Although it's isolated there's one person who knows about the outside world and he hired me to go and keep any one from coming into the village. However I failed this time. 9 was the only one who could ever get passed me and into the village." Jacks said.
"Why would he want to come to this village?" Clover asked.
"Not sure." Jacks said. Honestly I don't have clue. He said threw an obvious lie.
"Dude, you are a terrible liar. You obviously know something." Leo said.
"What know I don't." Jacks panicked.
"Yes you d- Leo tried to say but was taken by Clover in a head lock and then turned away from Jacks.
"Leo I think it's best we don't pursue the lie. I think it's something he needs to hide." Clover whispered.
"F-fine." Leo said.
"Good. Now play along." "NOW LET JACKS FINISH THE EXPLANATION YOU BOZO!" Clover yelled.
"YA KNOW YOU DIDN'T HAVE TO YELL!!!!!!" Leo screamed like a ban chi.
"You guys are probably wondering who was chasing after you after 9 left." Jacks said as he took out a cloth and unsheathed his sword and began burning the blade.
"The villagers right?" Clover asked.
"Yeah." Jacks responded.
"Why though?" Clover asked.
"It has to do with the incident. Remember the village band energy. They would have killed both of you because of the fear they have of energy users." Jacks explained.
"Why?" Leo asked.
"Leo I don't know." Jacks replied.
"Hey wait a second! Leo weren't you slashed with that kunai knife?" Clover asked.
"Oh yeah. You're right I did. I don't even feel it." He said.
"At first you didn't feel it because of the adrenaline rush, but I forgot to mention once your ability to manipulate energy awakens you heal faster. I don't imagine it was a very deep slash in the first place." Jacks said.
"That's awesome we heal faster!" Leo exclaimed."
"How much faster do we heal?" Clover asked.
"I don't know, my guess would be double though." Jacks said.
"Cool." She said.
"Now there is one more important thing. You guys can't stay here in the village so you need to leave, but before that you need to become stronger and control your energy. So I'll train you and then I'm going to stop 9." Jacks said.
"Were gonna help stop 9." Leo said with his face over confident like someone who had all the evidence to convict a killer.
"What are you crazy!? Clover inquired.
"Yeah, there's no way you can stop him." Jacks said.
"Neither can you Jacks, Clover and I destroyed him while you got beat like a dog." Leo said again way over confident.
"I couldn't go all out on him. The village could have been destroyed. Not to mention the fact he only used 3% of his power." Jacks explained.
"Point taken, but we have a better chance if we fight together then separately right?" Leo asked.
"Yeah your right. If we fight together then we can beat him." Clover said. "You know Leo sometimes your not as dumb as I think."
"Shut up." Leo growled.
"I guess there won't be much of a chance to stop you so we might as well." Jacks said.
"Good. Now when's training?" Leo asked.
"Now." Jacks said. "I hope you can dodge my attacks."
"RUN!" Clover yelled.

Chapter 4: The Pursuit With No Leads.

Fourth marking period.

Where I'm From

I am from catching butterflies,
blowing bubbles and hiding in bushes,
that have been lost
and traveling between houses that I wished were one.

I'm from collecting toys, and imagining games,
from Nonna's cooking and care.
I'm from pointless property wars with Frankie and Joe,
that was always brutal and never had a victor.

I'm from climbing the old cherry blossom,
from getting stuck like a cat in a tree.
I'm from eating apples, and pears,
yogurt smoothies, and country captain.

I'm having sword fighting with cousins,
from pretending we had powers and fighting each other.
I'm from a vivid imagination that took me anywhere,
from an imagination I would never leave.