Fan Fiction ❯ The Oritto Academy ❯ The Oritto Academy-Ch. 3 ( Chapter 3 )

[ Y - Young Adult: Not suitable for readers under 16 ]

The Oritto Academy-Ch.3

June 22, ****

Terry Norris sat in a seat on one of the local buses. Terry looked out the window. It was a picture perfect day. The sun was shining and there was nary a cloud in the sky. People were walking along without a care in the world. Terry watched all of this and felt like the weather should be dark and miserable. Then he could wallow in more self-pity.

Terry sighed as he thought about Lisa. Lisa was the main reason he was in such a bad mood. Throughout their last school week, he barely said two words to her. He knew that he was hurting her, but he just couldn't help it. She hurt him so much when she said she didn't love him. He just had to deal her some pain in return. A little voice in his head told him what he was doing was wrong. The voice was saying that he was putting a life-long friendship in jeopardy. But he wasn't thinking straight right now.

Terry saw that he was near his stop. Terry reached up and pulled on the chain. The bus stopped and Terry stepped out of the bus. Terry put on his shades and resolutely walked to his appointed place. Terry was on his way to the motorcycle shop to buy his motorcycle. Then he planned to go to a park nearby. He had Chikako tell his agents to watch out for him.

At the thought of Chikako, Terry's face broke into a small face. Chikako was turning out to be a good friend. It was strange to count a computer as a friend. But it just seemed to fit. Chikako let him rage and rant in anger over his fate. She wouldn't judge him. In fact, she managed to draw him into to soul-searching conversations. All of that made him feel a little better. However, he needed to get out of the house and think for a while.

Terry's thoughts turned toward his graduation. As of today, he had officially completed eight grades of education. He didn't feel any different. He just got his little certificate, shook good old Mr. Mack's hand and sat back down. He didn't remember much of anything else about the ceremony. In point of fact, he was ready to get the hell out of his good clothes and go away. Terry was ecstatic when the ceremony was completed. His parents took him back home. He quickly changed into his standard t-shirt and blue jeans combination, grabbed his saber and wristband, his wallet with his id card and ran right back out of the house. Terry smiled as he reached his first destination, the Westport Motorcycle Shop. Terry opened the door and walked into the shop.

Terry looked at all of the different motorcycles and smiled. He could see himself on some of these bikes. Of course, he'd have to get a custom made bike. The owner of the shop, Mr. Reich (short, slightly overweight man with a black biker shirt/pants) watched the kid browse through the motorcycles. He was wondering what the hell the kid was doing.

Mr. Reich walked up to Terry and said, "Hey, junior. Shouldn't you be looking at the mopeds over there?"

Terry looked back at Mr. Reich and smirked. The teen smiled and pulled out his id card.

Mr. Reich looked at Terry in amazement and said, "Oh, I'm sorry Mr. Norris. Do you see anything you like?"

Terry smiled and thought that he could get used to this. The man treated him with scorn a minute ago and now he's good to go. Terry said, "What's your name?"

Mr. Reich replied, "Mr. Reich."

Terry said in a cold tone, "Mr. Reich, do you always treat your customers like this?"

Mr. Reich replied, "Like what?"

Terry said, "At first, you called me Junior and implied that I should be on a moped. Now you're all set to help me."

Mr. Reich mumbled, "Uh, well."

Terry spat out, "What?"

Mr. Reich said, "Mr. Norris, it's not everyday I see a kid come in here with one of those cards. The only people that are supposed to have those are really important government officials or very rich people."

Terry said, "Well, I'm a very important person, now aren't I?"

Mr. Reich replied, "Yes, you are."

Terry grinned evilly and said, "Damn right I am. But as to the reason I'm here, I really like this one." Terry pointed at a very big black Harley Davidson motorcycle with red flames on the sides.

Mr. Reich looked at Terry and said, "You have good taste. That particular Harley is one of our finest models."

Terry said, "What's the name of it?"

Mr. Reich said, "Oh, the name of it is Inferno."

Terry smiled, "Cool, so can you get me a customized model of this bike before August 1?"

Mr. Reich replied, "I can, just tell me what you'd like and I'll get right on it."

Terry replied, "Good, do you have some papers for me to sign or something?"

Mr. Reich said, "Let's go to my office." Terry and Mr. Reich went to his office and the two worked on the particulars of the purchase. An hour later, Terry walked out of the shop pleased with just how much power he had. He had to admit that he would definitely be tempted to abuse the identification card.

Terry decided to go to Keystone Park. Keystone Park was always a place he went to think and relax. Keystone also had good basketball games on their courts. But he wasn't in the mood to play ball today. Terry went to a bus stop and a couple of minutes later, a bus picked him up. Meanwhile, two men had been trailing Terry throughout the day in a black car. One man was slim with blond hair, pale white skin and was wearing shades. The other man was short and stout with black hair, shades, and olive-colored skin. Both were wearing black three-piece suits.

The short man said, "The dumb kid hasn't even been paying attention."

The tall man said, "Nope, when are we going to take him out?"

The short man replied, "I say we take him out at the park. He's probably going to go to a place that's pretty secluded."

The tall man laughed and said, "This is going to be good. The SDF takes out another threat."

The light glinted off the other man's shades as he replied, "Indeed."

Terry stepped off the bus and stood in front of the entrance to Keystone Park. The park was very peaceful. No one was around but him. Terry walked past the basketball courts and walked on the sidewalk a bit. He watched blue jays fly in the air without a care in the world. A light breeze ruffled his long black hair as he reached his destination.

Terry sat down on a bench and looked out at a bronze statue of Joseph Westport, the founder of the city. Joseph, a slim man was holding a rifle charging at an unseen enemy. Terry wished that he had a justifiable reason to use a weapon like Joseph. Terry had been trying to stop thinking about his parents, but he found he had no choice.

Flashback-June 16, ****

Terry had woken up from his fitful slumber and heard his mom downstairs setting up for dinner. Terry listened to his mom sing softly. Terry always thought that his mom had a beautiful singing voice. He believed she could've had a big singing career. Instead, she decided to be a telemarketer and raise him. Now he had to wonder if she didn't pursue the career because of her powers.

Mrs. Norris (slim, black hair in a ponytail, blue eyes, stylish glasses, attired in a simple black dress) walked upstairs. Mrs. Norris knocked on Terry's door and said, "Dinner's ready."

Terry replied, "Okay, Mom. I'm coming." Mrs. Norris went back downstairs.

Terry sighed and got off the bed. Terry straightened his hair and clothes. Terry went into his bathroom and looked at his eyes in the mirror. They weren't that red, so his mom wouldn't worry. Terry walked out the bathroom and said, "Chikako, you can turn off the music."

Chikako turned off the Tony Rich CD. Terry said, "I've got to talk to my mom now so I'll see you later."

Chikako replied, "'Kay." Terry turned off Chikako and walked out of his room. Terry stepped down the stairs and walked into the dining room. Terry sat down in front of a steaming bowl of beef stew and a glass of Coke.

Mrs. Norris smiled and said, "One of your favorites, son."

Terry smiled and replied, "Thank you, Mom. How was your day?"

Mrs. Norris replied, "Oh same old, same old. I get on the phone stay on the phone, taking people's money. How was your day?"

Terry replied, "I got my package from the Oritto Academy today."

Mrs. Norris said, "Oh, what did you get?"

Terry grinned, "I got a laptop computer, a silver handle, a universal language translator, a communication wristband, two tickets for my passage to the Academy, and a virtual reality visor."

Mrs. Norris grinned, "Whoa, you got a lot of stuff. Why did you get two tickets for the passage?"

Terry answered, "Well, my laptop computer told me that I can bring a guest with me when I go there on August 1."

Mrs. Norris's eyebrows rose, "Your computer?"

Terry replied, "Oh yes, Chikako is a very advanced computer."

"Chikako?"

"Yep, that's her name. In fact, Chikako and I had a very enlightening conversation."

"What did you talk about?"

Terry shrugged, "Nothing much, just about school, life, and you."

Mrs. Norris stiffened up, "What did you say?"

Terry replied coldly, "I didn't say anything bad. But Chikako had some interesting comments about you and Dad."

Mrs. Norris replied, "I'm sorry, Son. We just didn't want to tell you and relive all of those horrible memories."

Terry's face darkened as he continued, "That's fine for you. But when were you going to tell me that I had powers?"

Mrs. Norris shrugged, "Well, we were hoping that we wouldn't have to say anything. Our powers didn't manifest until we were about your age. We hoped that you would end up being normal. Some members in our family don't show any powers whatsoever."

Terry shook his head, "Mom, if I came from you and Dad there's a pretty good chance I'm going to end up having some type of power. Am I right?"

Mrs. Norris sighed, "Yes."

Terry continued, "For the record, what can you do?"

Mrs. Norris said, "You don't know?"

Terry said angrily, "I didn't want to hear any more after Chikako told me about you and dad's sordid history."

Mrs. Norris raised her voice in anger, "You listen to me, young man. You're not going to raise your voice at me."

Terry growled, "Mom, I'm not having a good day. I finally confessed to Lisa that I loved her and she shot me down. I sat in my room and made a freaking lightsaber in my hand. I almost encountered serious bodily harm while I was working with the vr visor. Oh, did I mention my parents are apparently freaking super humans?"

Mrs. Norris slammed her hands on the table, "That's enough!" Mrs. Norris closed her eyes and her fists were bunched up on her sides. Terry felt ashamed that he raised his voice at his mother. Terry looked at his mom and said, "Mom, I'm sorry."

Mrs. Norris's eyes were still closed and her body was shaking. Terry's eyes widened as he said, "MOM!"

Mrs. Norris gritted her teeth and hissed, "Get away from me."

Terry ran over to his mom's side. Mrs. Norris said in a cold voice, "Get away from me!"

Terry put his hand on her shoulder. Mrs. Norris growled and blasted her son off of her with an energy blast. Mrs. Norris opened her eyes, which glowed with white energy and she said in a cold voice, "I told you to get away from me."

Terry moaned as the pain lanced through his body. Mrs. Norris went over and picked Terry up off the ground with one hand. Terry's blue eyes were widened in shock as his mom tossed him into a wall. Terry grimaced in pain as his back smashed into the wall. Terry slid down to the floor in pain.

Mrs. Norris went over and kicked Terry in the ribs. Terry screamed out in pain as his mother picked him up and backhanded him across the face. Terry fell to the floor again, blood flowing out of his lip. Mrs. Norris methodically strode toward her son and started choking him. Terry gasped and elbowed his mom in the side. Mrs. Norris didn't feel the blow and continued to choke him. Terry summoned all of his strength and managed to pull his mom off of him. Terry stumbled to his feet and ran upstairs, with his mom close behind. Terry opened his door and grabbed his saber. Terry closed his eyes and the blade appeared in his hands. Mrs. Norris blasted open the door. Terry said, "Stop it, Mom!" The white energy flashed out of her eyes for a second. Mrs. Norris looked at her son standing in front of her with a light saber in hand and said, "What are you doing?"

Terry said, "Is that you, Mom?" The short respite only lasted a second as the energy overpowered her again. Mrs. Norris cackled and put a hand in the pocket of her dress. She held a handle in her hand and closed her eyes. A big energy axe appeared in her hands. Mrs. Norris smiled as she slashed at Terry. Terry sidestepped the attack and said, "Damnit!"

Terry yelled, "Mom, if you can hear me, stop this now!" The only response he got was another attempt to take his head off. Terry decided to try and disarm his mom. But he didn't have a good idea of what to do. He'd never used a sword in his life before. His Mom managed to swing the axe even faster than before. Thus, Terry had to block the axe from taking his head off. Terry strained as his mom continued to bring down the axe on him. Terry looked into his mom's eyes and saw the white energy crackle instead of seeing her blue eyes. Her glasses were melted away from her face. Terry looked and saw his dad standing in the door.

Terry yelled, "Dad, help me!"

Mr. Norris (short, muscular man with short black hair, blue eyes, and attired in a business suit) closed his eyes and a light mist came from his hands. The mist hit his wife and the energy disappeared from her eyes. The axe disappeared too and Mrs. Norris rolled off of Terry and fell asleep. Terry turned off his saber and looked at his dad. Terry said, "Thanks, Dad."

Mr. Norris replied calmly, "I had to help my son. I'm sorry you had to deal with that."

Terry picked up his mother and put her down on his bed. Mrs. Norris was sleeping like a baby. Terry said, "I figured out that if she gets really upset, she can't control herself and goes into a berserker rage. What's the story with you?"

Mr. Norris sighed, "My power is the ability to create chemical gases. I can make a sleeping gas, nerve gas, etc. Whenever I got really ticked off, I would unleash a toxic gas on my enemies."

Terry said, "That means you're a walking chemical plant."

"Yes and I did a lot of bad things over the years. I don't want you to struggle like I did. My mom and myself killed a lot of people, just because we either couldn't control our powers or we hated people. The Oritto Academy will be a good thing for you."

Terry sighed and said, "Okay, Dad. So how long is she going to sleep?"

Mr. Norris shrugged, "It depends. She could wake up in a couple of hours or she could wake up on Monday. I never was good at measuring my doses."

Terry said, "So how come I'm not affected?"

Mr. Norris smirked, "Who said you weren't affected?"

Terry suddenly felt his eyes droop and he said tiredly, "I'm going to sleep now, Dad." Terry closed his eyes and fell asleep. His lightsaber turned off as he hit the floor. Mr. Norris picked up his wife and put her over his shoulder. Terry snored contentedly on the floor. Mr. Norris shook his head softly and walked downstairs with his wife on his shoulder.

End Flashback

Terry sighed softly to himself. He had finally woken up Sunday afternoon. His mom woke up on Monday morning. He just couldn't believe that his dad could probably make a bomb out of his power and nuke the world. His mom sure as hell beat the crap out of him when she was in that rage. Afterwards, both of his parents didn't talk anymore about his powers or their powers. He thought it was better that way. The best thing for all concerned was to try and live as normal a life as possible. Too bad his mind just couldn't stop thinking about all of this stuff. His mom almost killed him and his dad saved him by knocking her out with sleeping gas. Plus, he still had issues to deal with concerning Lisa. Now that he thought about it, he figured that he'd been acting like a jerk. He just hoped it wasn't too late to salvage a friendship out of this.

Terry got to his feet and smiled. Terry suddenly felt his blood run cold. Terry turned around and saw a tall man jump out at him with a knife from behind the trees. Terry caught the man by the hand and threw him to the ground. Terry didn't see another man come from behind and stab him in the side. Terry doubled over and the shorter man kicked him in the face. Terry flew back in the air and landed hard on the ground. Terry groaned and pulled his handle out of his pocket. Terry closed his eyes and tried to manifest the saber. The tall man had gotten up and kicked the handle out of his hands. Terry groaned as the handle skidded away from him. The tall man helped Terry to his feet. The tall man then held Terry open so the shorter man could punch him in his wounded side. Blood came out of Terry's mouth as the tall man threw him to the ground.

The tall man smirked and kicked Terry in the ribs. Terry coughed as the tall man said, "Bet you're wondering where your bodyguards are."

The short man laughed and said, "They're a bit indisposed at the moment."

Terry croaked, "What?"

The tall man kicked Terry again. The man yelled, "SHUT UP!"

The short man stabbed Terry again in the side. Terry's eyes widened as he felt the pain shoot through his side. The short man said, "You're about to be finished off by the SDF, bitch!"

Suddenly, a woman burst into the park on a motorcycle. The woman was wearing a black helmet and a leather jacket with spikes on the shoulders. She was wearing a black sports bra-like top and gray pants. The woman was tall, about 5"8 with a athletic frame. The woman pulled out an energy blaster and blasted the two men away from Terry. The SDF members fell to the ground unconscious as the woman picked up Terry's silver handle. The woman then put him on the motorcycle. The woman said, "Hold onto to me." Through the fog of pain, Terry held on as tight as he could to holding onto the woman's waist. The woman sped off. A couple of minutes later, the two SDF agents were awake and they kicked the ground in frustration. The tall man pulled out a cell phone and said, "Boss, we couldn't get him. Agent S stabbed him a couple of times, but he got away."

The taller man held the phone away from his ear as he heard a colorful amount of curses. The man said, "Some biker chick came and knocked us out. She had to be a Academy student." Tall Guy sighed as he remarked, "Yes, sir." The tall man got off the phone. The shorter man said, "What is it, A?"

Agent A replied, "The boss is pulling us off this case for now."

Agent S sighed, "At least we're not dead."

Agent A said, "Who says we're not? You know how the boss is. She changes moods like people change socks."

"Thanks for ruining my optimism, A."

"You're welcome. Let's go." The two men walked out of the park.

Terry opened his eyes slowly. A pleasant voice said, "Good, you're awake."

Terry looked at himself and saw that he was patched up and wearing a new white shirt. Terry looked at the woman in appreciation. She had short red hair, amber eyes, and pale skin. She was still wearing her black sports bra top/gray pants combination. The woman smiled, "My name is Lily."

"Hey, Lily." Terry's eyes widened and he said, "Where am I?"

Lily replied, "You're in my Oritto Academy hideout."

"Hideout?"

"Sure, everybody gets one when they become an upperclassman."

Terry took stock of his surroundings. He saw a small kitchen area. The hideout was sparsely furnished with a nice-sized TV and a CD player sitting on the table. He was lying on a soft red couch and the walls were colored in red and black.

Terry's eyes widened. He remembered dropping the handle during the battle against those two guys. The teen asked, "Damn, where's my handle?"

Lily smiled and handed Terry his handle. Terry smiled and said, "Thank you."

Lily shrugged, "No problem, cutie pie."

Terry blushed slightly and asked, "Do you always come on to people like that?"

Lily smirked, "Only the ones that deserve it. Besides, I had to save a fellow Oritto Academy student."

Terry said, "Ah, how did you know I was in trouble?"

Lily replied, "Sixth sense."

Terry said skeptically, "That's it?"

Lily said, "That's one of my powers, I can sense when something's wrong. To an extent, you have the same ability."

"How do you know?"

"I know all about other people who can figure out when something is going to happen."

Terry thought back, "Well, I did sense danger when that tall guy attacked me. Too bad I didn't see his partner come from behind."

Lily said, "Well, we lost those guys and you're okay."

Terry said, "Speaking of them, do you know anything about the SDF?"

Lily growled, "Those bastards are nothing but glorified Nazis. They've been hunting down people with special abilities like us and killing us."

"What does SDF mean?"

"Superhero Destruction Force."

"Okay, but we're not superheroes or anything."

"Not yet, but if they kill the students in the Academy there would be less superheroes to worry about in the future."

"Is it my destiny to be a superhero?"

Lily shrugged, "Well, you've got special powers and you have to use them for good. I'm sure your computer told you about what could happen if you turn evil."

"Yes, she did."

"So I can assume you're going to go to the Academy."

Terry shrugged, "Of course, I'll get to see beautiful women like you."

Lily smiled, "Nice flattery, Terry."

"Thank you, so are you a fellow freshman?"

Lily looked at Terry in shock, "Freshman? I'm a junior!"

Terry snapped his fingers and said, "Rats, I don't have a chance now."

Lily smiled and said, "Never say never, young man."

Terry replied, "Is that right?"

Lily grinned, "Of course, I have a thing for young guys."

Terry's eyebrows rose in surprise, "I'm not sure how to take that."

"Take it for what it's worth."

Terry thought that this was going to be interesting. Terry decided to take the conversation a bit off this track and move toward some questions.

Terry asked, "Is every student at the Academy blessed with special abilities?"

"Yep."

"How big is this place?"

"It's BIG. It's like a huge college."

"Cool, do you if you had any other powers?"

Lily smiled and said, "Just the ability to make anything into a weapon of mass destruction." Lily pulled out the energy blaster she used earlier on the agents. Terry looked at it and said, "I'm not seeing this. You created a live energy blaster out of one of these old Laser Tag guns."

Lily smirked, "It's a gift."

"Remind me not to piss you off."

Lily replied, "Good call. Shouldn't you call your parents or something?"

Terry smacked his head with his hand, "Of course. Do you have a phone somewhere?"

Lily pointed to a door away from where they sat. Lisa said, "Oh, let me go with you. You can use my computer to call your folks." Lisa and Terry went into the room. Lisa's computer (gold laptop) was sitting on a dresser. Lisa opened up the laptop and turned on her laptop. Lisa smiled and said, "Hey, Johnny."

Johnny replied in a light voice, "Hey, Lily. How are you doing, Terry?"

Terry smiled, "Doing good, Johnny. I need to call my folks."

Johnny said, "Okay, just type the number and I'll call for you." Terry typed the number and called up his parents. Mrs. Norris answered the phone. She said, "Terry, is that you?"

Terry said, "Yeah mom. I'm okay."

Mrs. Norris breathed a sigh of relief, "Thank goodness. Are you coming back home soon?"

Terry said, "Yeah, I'll be back home in a bit."

Mrs. Norris said, "Okay, honey. See you later."

"Bye." Johnny broke the connection.

Terry smiled and said, "Thank you, Lily."

Lily replied, "No problem. Do you want to go home now?"

Terry shrugged, "Not yet. Do you have any food for a guest?"

Lily smirked, "A man after my own heart. Looking out for your stomach."

Terry smirked in response, "That and I don't want to leave your lovely company."

Lily smiled, "You know what to say don't you? I bet you have all sorts of girls at your door."

Terry winced, "You had to remind me of her, didn't you?"

Lily saw the pain in Terry's face. Lily asked, "What's wrong?"

Terry then told her his current predicament with Lisa. After he finished, Lily commented, "Listen, all you need to do is apologize to her for your actions. If she pushes you away, you'll be hurt but at least you'll know in your heart that you did the right thing."

Terry said, "Thank you for the advice."

"No problem. Now let's go eat."

Terry and Lily went into the dining area and ate a filling dinner of spaghetti and meatballs. After the dinner, Lily said, "I think it is time for you to go home."

Terry sighed and thought that he had a lot of fun with Lily. The conversation they had during the meal was enjoyable. In fact, Lily almost pushed Lisa out of his mind for romantic attention. Almost. Terry commented, "Yeah, let's go."

Lily said quietly, "Oh, I would advise you to wear your wristband from now on to keep in touch with your computer and always look out for shady people. I've got a feeling the SDF will try and attack you again."

Terry replied, "You're right. Chikako told me that stuff, but I just wasn't thinking about it."

"You really need to think about that, Terry. Your life has changed and with this change comes new responsibilities."

Terry grumbled, "I know. At least I'll be okay."

Lily snorted, "You're lucky that agent didn't stab you any deeper or I would've had to take you to a hospital. As it is, you do need to be careful in the next couple of days."

Terry replied, "Okay, Lily. One more thing, is this place in the city?"

Lily said, "You'll see when we leave. Now shall we depart?"

Terry smirked, "We shall." The duo walked out of the hideout. Lily pressed a button on the wall outside and a door opened, showing her motorcycle. Lily and Terry got on the bike and put on helmets. The ground rose, elevating the bike up and out onto a street. Terry looked back and saw that they ended up in a back street somewhere. Lily smiled and hit the throttle. The bike purred as the duo sped off toward Terry's home.

A muscular, tall black haired man was wearing a black suit in a simple room. The man had fair skin and was wearing custom red shades. Most people didn't like coming into this room for fear of The Boss. However, he always enjoyed being called upon by The Boss. He knew that whenever The Boss called on him, he was going to be involved in a big time assignment.

The Boss appeared in front of the man. The Boss was sleek and trim, about 5"8 with red hair. She was wearing a tight black catsuit with gray eyes and tanned skin. The Boss said in a cool voice, "Agent H, your job is to eliminate this boy." A person appeared from out of nowhere and handed him a folder. Agent H opened the folder and looked at a picture of Terry. He quickly read all of the information and asked, "Boss, do you want me to off his parents?"

The Boss shook her head, "No, even we can't handle those two when they get ticked off. I would suggest that you mess with his friend Lisa Moore."

Agent H's face broke into a cruel grin. Agent H remarked, "This is going to be fun."

The Boss remarked coldly, "Don't fail me, H."

"I won't." Agent H walked out of the room. The Boss smiled evilly. The SDF needed to take out Terry Norris as soon as possible. His power was REALLY scary. The kid had enough power in him to take out the SDF by himself. She would have liked to have him in the fold but something told her that he wasn't going to jump onto the "dark" side. The Boss couldn't wait until she heard the glorious report that Terry Norris was dead.

Terry lay in his bed, thinking about all of the stuff that happened to him. He bought a motorcycle, been attacked by 2 men, and met a very appealing junior at The Oritto Academy. Overall, his life had changed and he wasn't sure if it was for the better. However, he had to admit that it was definitely going to be a lot more interesting. Terry closed his eyes and finally succumbed to slumber.

End Ch. 3

Author's Notes

Writing has basically been a big escape for me in the past year. I have a tendency to get depressed and or ticked off at any number of things. Writing has helped make me feel better inside. For the first time in a long time, I can honestly say that my writing has given entertained people. If I entertain one person it's worth it.

That of course leads to some thanks. Thanks to Ra'akone for being such a devoted reader, reviewer, buddy and the honor of letting me use some of his characters in my works. Thanks to the real Creaig Dunton for also reading, being my homeboy, and showing positive feedback for my stuff. Thanks to Lady Jay on the Yahoo Mailing List for enjoying the stuff that I've posted for her to read on said mailing list. She's also instrumental in a change in my writing style. Basically, she told me that I should go deeper into what my characters were thinking and to stop using the word said so much. Hence, I don't use said as much and you can pretty much guarantee that at least once in a chapter you'll know what my main characters are thinking/feeling. Thanks to the readers that do read this but don't review. I know they're out there, :). I should also thanks Jim Bader, the Battling Ring Angels writing staff, The Fauth Brothers, DB Sommer, Davner, Tenshi No Ai, Carrotglace, The Bishounen Stalker, Krin Dreamweaver, Chaya, Kaos Incarnate, b, Alicia Ashby, Jamie Jeans, J-Boogie, the Mystery Octagon Theater 3000 crew, Peter Suzuki, Literary Eagle, Michael McAvoy, Cevn McGuire, K'Thardin, John Biles, Wade Tristchler, Dreiser, Krista Perry, The Queen of Hearts and Queen and WarpWizard for all of their great writing which has entertained me and in some cases helped me in my writing.

Okay, now that I've done that I'll say that I'm enjoying the way this series is developing. As I've said, chapter 3 in my series usually has a big event. In this case, Terry had his first run-in one of the forces that wanted to take him out. He also met up with a fellow student at The Oritto Academy, Lily. I kind of like Lily, especially the ability she has to make weaponry out of just about anything. MacGuvyer flashed into my mind as I typed that. Umm, next chapter will have Terry and Lisa having another chat and Agent H will make his presence known.

That's all and I wish you all

Peace, love, and hair grease

Showstopper