Chapter 1
The Rupture
It was a starry night, and the moon shined so bright it was like a spotlight through my windows. I stared at my clock and realized how late it was. It was 12:36, especially on a school night. I panicked for a moment, and turned off the TV and got under the covers. Every sound made me worry for some reason. I felt like any second my mom would barge in and yell at me for staying up so late. I closed my eyes and was just about to fall asleep when- It happened. The ground began rumbling, and the glass of my window broke. It was an earthquake. I stood up, and tired walking to my parent’s room, but the ground was shaking so hard I wasn’t able to stand. Also, the rumbling was unbearable too. Oh, sorry. I should have introduced myself. My name is Ryan. I am 13 years old, and I live in Londonderry, in Pinear, in North America. Never heard of Pinear?  It is a very small island country between America and Canada. It became a country after world war three when the east coast was demolished from nuclear war. I stopped thinking and realized the earthquake is over. 
I walked through the hallway to my mom’s room, and she was about as stunned as I was.
“Hey mom?”
“Yes Ryan?”
“Are you okay? There was a...” I looked out the window and people were running out of the apartment building to see what had happened. “Actually, mom? May I just go outside to check what has happened? Everyone is out there.” She turned around too.
“Well, I suppose. Just don’t get yourself hurt, okay?”
“Okay mom. Thanks.”
I grabbed my favorite hoodie and stepped outside our apartment. There were at least fifty people out there freaking out over the earthquake. Over a few houses I saw blue and red. The police were there. Something bad had happened. I was suddenly tapped on the shoulder and almost had a heart attack. I turned around, and saw my best friend Sean, but he liked to be called Slingshot for some reason. He was dressed as he usually was, white jacket and a blue shirt with jeans. 
“What happened!?” I said a little too loud.
“Dunno. It’ll be awesome if this gets school cancelled tomorrow though.” He replied. “C’mon, let’s check it out! I bet it is something like a robbery, or even better, aliens!”
He was obsessed with aliens for some reason. I never understood why.
“Dude, there is like a million police cars there! We will never be able to see!” I said with my teeth clenched. Even though he was my best friend since we were little, he was sometimes ridiculous.
“No, look.” He pointed at the lights over the houses. “That’s the abandoned factory. I know a ton of ways in there. Remember when we played hide and seek, and you could never find me?”
It was a faint memory, but I remember. I would always find him in places I checked in a million times, and saying he came here from his “Secret” hiding spot. Well I just found out what it was.
“Umm… Yeah?”
“Yep. I know a tunnel through the sewer to get in. Follow me!”
Yes, I know he said sewer. If I didn’t know Slingshot, I definitely would’ve said no. But I have known him forever, and I have been in the sewers with him before. It was not as bad as you think. You can get by the smell in a few minutes, and the rats were sleeping during the day. But this was night. I was scared, but I decided to go anyways, and picked up the grate and jumped in.

	We wandered around for a few minutes, shining the flashlight around looking for a specific ladder Sling said was just around here. After about 5 minutes of walking, we found the ladder. It was rusty, and had a green mark with WASTE DUCT stenciled on it. We climbed up into a kitchen that has probably not used in ten years. I placed the grate on the floor beneath the sink, and looked around. It was nasty. The walls were peeling, and the room still smelled like all kinds of foods that were burned. Feeling kind of thirsty, I turned the faucet on the sink. Nasty brown slime blasted out and I quickly shut the faucet off. I turned around to see Slingshot with his finger on his lips telling me that I should be quiet. I nodded and put my finger on my lips telling him that I know I should be quiet. He creeped towards the kitchen door with the foggy glass window were you could see the chefs cooking. I tip-toed towards and I saw the weirdest thing. 
Some middle aged guy, was surrounded by miners with dirty faces as if they have been digging for hours. The middle aged guy had some weird smirk on his face as he held up some wooden plank he had. I quickly realized it was a mask, with different colors panted on it and glowing eyes. He took off his latex gloves covered in coal and slowly touched the mask to his face. He started thrashing around on the ground, and then got up and took the mask off. He took a deep breath, as if he just inhaled a drug or something. I looked back at Sling and he was staring in disbelief. Sling did the “Be quiet” sign again and opened the door a crack. Are you crazy! I thought, my heart pounding out of my chest. We could now hear what the strange man and all of the miners were saying. 
“The power… I have it” The man said, grinning manically. 
“Well, was it worth it?” A miner said sarcastically like he felt this whole thing was a waste of time. The middle aged man frowned, and stepped towards the miner slowly. The man suddenly began smiling again, like a shark. I could tell the miner was cared out of his wits, like he did not know what he is dealing with. The man rolled up his sleeves. 
“I’ll let you find out.”” he said. The man took out a gun and shot the miner in the foot. The miner yelped and fell to the ground, moaning with pain. Slingshot must’ve got scared, and he screamed when the bullet was shot. The middle aged man turned around and saw us. It was over. We were dead. 
“GET THEM!!!” The middle aged man yelled, as all of the other miners ran after us as he stayed behind to torture the miner he shot. I tried to pry open the grate below the sink, but the weird slime glued it shut. I ran through the other door in the kitchen hoping to find an exit. We ran into this strange small area, with wood as the floor. Slingshot ran onto it. I knew I was screwed. The old wood snapped because of our weights combined and we were left hanging over a balcony. I looked down where Slingshot dropped the flashlight and saw the old assembly room. If we fell, we would break a leg if we were lucky. I knew this was the end. I tensed, and knew this was my time. I stared at Slingshot, and said,
“We drop on three.”


“One.”
“Two.”
“Three!”
I closed my eyes and let go of the balcony, falling forward the floor.

Chapter 2
Learning the truth
	I opened my eyes, in an area next to Slingshot that looked like Londonderry before the war. It was extremely green, and not a single crater in the hills the apartments were on. I stepped forwards, trying to see if it was real.
“Well well well, look who got saved. I turned around to see an old man resting in a chair. He had a raspy dry voice that sounded like a snake, hissing as he spoke. I blinked to see if this was real life, and sure enough it was. 
“What the heck?” Slingshot said in disbelief. He was blinking too; to try and make sure he wasn’t imagining this.
“I am Izod, protector of the mask of love.”
“So… What is this place?”
“It is the land of the first memory, Nevertheless. What do you see?”
“I see the beach I was with my grandfather at.” Slingshot blurted out. He told me this a million times. His first memory was him playing on the beach with his grandfather.
“I see… Old Londonderry” I said, not sure of what I am doing.
“Those are interesting memories.” Izod said. “You are lucky I saved you.”
“You… Saved us?” Slingshot said.
“Yes, you should be dead after falling off that balcony. I only saved you because I saw potential. You know that man with the mask you ran from?”
“Yes…” I said, still nervous.
“He was taking what was rightfully mine. Say, have you ever heard the tale of The Three Masks?”
Of course I have. The story was hundreds of years ago when Pinear was first settled, an explorer married a woman who was accused of witch trials. They had three kids who were… different. They had masks glued to their heads, right when they were born, and nobody had any clue why they had the masks at birth. So the explorer released his children into the wild and never saw them again. But this story wasn’t real. Or was it?
“Are… you one of the strange children?” Slingshot said like he was scared.
“Yes Sean. I am the protector of the mask of love. I can easily get any woman or man I want to marry and he or she will love me forever.” Izod said. Slingshot seemed kind of annoyed that Izod didn’t call him by his nickname, but Izod didn’t care. “I want you to get my mask back from that man. His ambition is to get the three masks: The mask of love, the mask of truth, and the mask of life and death. He will use the power of all three masks combined to do anything for his selfish, evil needs.”
“Sir… I will do this for you. Where is he?” Slingshot said, trying to be respectful to Izod in some way. Izod was now choking. I took another long look at him and he was only skin and bones. I ran up, scared. I didn’t want Izod to die!
“The man… is… in… Elleaf…”  Izod said, now barely breathing. I started to have tears running down my cheeks.
“Don’t die Izod!” I said, without breath.
“Don’t worry… I-I will be reincarnated…” Izod said, now basically a skeleton. “Goodbye… And I gave you magic… I will tell you when you need it…” Izod turned into dust and I had my arm on his shoulder. I blinked, and I wasn’t in Nevertheless anymore. I was back in the kitchen, with my hand on the faucet. Light showed through the foggy window we watched the man shoot his miner through. 
“Whoa.” Slingshot said, with his eyes wide open. “Did that just happen?”
“Yeah. We need to get down to Elleaf. This guy must be stopped.” I replied. We walked down into the square room where the miners where digging. We saw holes everywhere, and trucks. This is the room they shipped stuff out of the factory I supposed. We found the one miner who was shot on the ground, his leg soaked with dried blood. We approached him.
“He-help me” The miner said pointing at his foot. Slingshot took off the miner’s boot and sock and he saw the bullet stuck in his foot. Slingshot took a roll of gauze from his first aid kit and wrapped the miner’s foot with it.
“Who was that middle aged man?” I asked as Slingshot was wrapping the miner’s foot.
“Orrville Numbrus, code named Zero. What was he looking for here?” The miner said, suddenly feeling as if he was better.
“A mask. He can take over the world with it, and he needs to be stopped. Oh, and what is your name?” Slingshot said.
“My name is Atom. A-T-O-M Atom.” The miner said, as he slid his foot back on and brushed off his pants. “I work at the local convenience store in Londonderry, The Corner Store. I couldn’t refuse Orrville’s offer to mine here. He said he would give me five grand, and it was a deal. Now I regret ever seeing him.” We began walking to the door and Atom was limping. I opened the door and I was blinded by the light of the sun. The police were still there, and they spotted us as soon as we opened the door. The tallest officer approached us and was angry with a red face. He pushed Slingshot and I against a wall.
“YOU!” The police officer said. “YOU PUNKS BETTER BE SORRY! I WAS UP ALL NIGHT BECAUSE OF YOU!”
“It… wasn’t us!” Slingshot said.
“It wasn’t them.” Atom said, as the police officer shoved Sling and I to the ground. Sling and I quickly rushed away as the police officer started arguing with Atom. When we began walking through the woods and then onto a different street, I took one last look at my apartment. I closed my eyes and silently prayed that this will not be the last time I see it, and then walked towards the bus stop with change in my pocket, ready to go.

Chapter 3
Sullivan
	The bus ride was pretty short, considering Elleaf wasn’t that far away from Londonderry. The second we arrived I knew this was a trashy city. It had garbage all over the ground, and a newspaper was at my feet. I picked it up and saw the front headline:
Earthquake Hits Londonderry
Last night, citizens of Londonderry felt a high magnitude tremor at about 1:25 am. Go to page E6 for more info.
I just stuffed the newspaper into my pocket. Sling and I began searching around the city for a guy who matched Orrville Numbrus’s details. Finally, we came across a cemetery across the town. It was barren, with one boy in it. The boy was dressed in expensive clothes, a brown shirt with a plaid vest. The only non fancy part about him was his jeans, with holes so you could see his knees. I walked closer, and the boy turned and I saw tears running down his face. Slingshot and I walked closer and we saw the grave.
MARIANA SULLIVAN
19XX-2XXX
A LOVING MOTHER
The dates were etched off, and the boy seemed upset.
“Is that your mom?” Slingshot said. The boy nodded and sat back down against the grave again. We walked closer and the boy finally spoke.
“She always was the best. She always will be.” The boy said.
“How long has she been dead?” I said, nervous like he was going to kill me.
“Five years. Sadly I had to witness it.” The boy replied. “My name is Sully. Nice to meet you.”
“I am Ryan” I said. What was he trying to do?
“You can call me Slingshot.” Sling said.
“The police left me with my dad, the mayor of this town. I had to deal with him for years now, and I am done.” Sully said, angrily. I noticed he had a can of soda next to him and he crushed it, throwing it over the graveyard fence. “You guys have to help me. You’re the only ones that care.” I stared at Slingshot, and he nodded.
“Let’s go.” I said, ready to take something down.

	We arrived at Sully’s house, and stood in front of it. Sully took a bat out of his bag and handed it to Slingshot.
“You look strong. Break the door.” Sully said. Slingshot stopped for a second, then shrugged. Sully was the owner of this house technically, and Slingshot just got his permission. Slingshot took the bat and smashed the door until fell off its hinges. All three of us walked in and saw the beauty of the house.
“Grab anything. This guy needs payback.”
Slingshot rushed into the kitchen and started breaking drawers and taking pots and pans. I ran upstairs and grabbed some backpacks and stuffed them with clothes. Sure, it felt wrong, but we got permission. Plus nobody knew who we were in this town. I slung a backpack onto my back and rushed downstairs. I saw Sully in the living room grabbing strange weapons in a glass container. 
“Hey Sully.” I said, about to throw a backpack full of clothes. “Catch.” I threw the backpack and he caught it, beginning to put the weapons into it. I walked into the kitchen and tossed Slingshot the backpack, and he stuffed the pans, knives, and food into his backpack. I went into Sully’s garage, just about to leave, when I saw a big sledgehammer. It was huge, with “OL’ GLORY” carved into it. I picked it up, and then stuffed it into my backpack. I looked back inside and saw Slingshot fix the door back and head toward me. We got outside, with backpacks slung on our backs as we began heading down the street, looking for Orrville Numbrus.
Chapter 4
Orville Numbrus Plays With Fire
	It didn’t take us long to find him. In fact, Orrville Numbrus was right at the town common, making a speech. I thought too many people were there watching him. Sully started getting mad and began charging towards him, and we had to grab his shirt to stop him.
“That is him! That’s the jerk that left me with my dad!” Sully screamed. I had to put my hand over his mouth to make him stop talking. We paused for a moment, completely silent. Orrville was making a strange speech, something we’ve never heard about.
“I will promise to end any war that begins, and that is why you should elect me to be the WWS.” Orrville said, as everybody started cheering like crazy. I looked closer at Orrville and- That dirty cheater. He had the mask of love behind him, and he was obviously forcing these people to like him so they will vote for whatever he is going for.
“What is the WWS?” I said, confused. Slingshot and Sully looked at me like I had three heads.
“You don’t know what that is!?” Sully said in disbelief.
“After world war three, every country in the world decided that there should be a World War Supervisor. Each country will vote for a candidate, and all of the candidates will go to a final election of the century! Honestly, have you been watching the news lately?” Slingshot said, like I was an idiot. I tried to change the subject. 
“Look at him. He has the mask of love behind him, and he is forcing them to like him.” I said, sighing. We needed to get that mask back from him. As I turned back around Orrville Numbrus did his last wave and the curtains around the common stage closed. People began to clear away. I tensed, and walked up to the stage with Slingshot and Sully. We walked closer to the curtains and then looked through. There Orrville was, looking at the mask and pouring himself some wine. All three of us hit the floorboards of the stage and Orrville Numbrus turned to us and smiled.
“I thought you idiots were dead.” He said, taking a sip of wine. The wine stained his teeth, and looked like they were regularly red. “Oh, and who is that with you?! Oh, it can’t be… It is! Ha-ha! It is little old Sully!” Orrville stumbled towards Sully, and grabbed his chin. “Nice revenge on you for your dad winning against me isn’t it?” I suddenly hated this person so much.
“What do you even want with theses masks?” I said angrily.
“It’s called power kid. It is just human nature to want it.”
“You can already get the power you want if you just become the WWS!”
“Ha-ha, that’s not what I am looking for.” Orrville put his glass of wine on the mini able next to him and lit a cigarette. “See, I know you found out about the masks. I mean, it is just an inference.”
“Tell me, what are you looking for!” Sully yelled as he flipped the mini table and broke the wine bottle and glass.
“Whoa boy, don’t get so angry” Orrville said as he took the cigarette out his mouth and blew a perfect ring of smoke. “See, running for WWS is just a cover up. I can use the masks for the power most people need, and for WWS. It is a win-win situation.” Orrville said as he tossed the mask into the puddle of wine. “Any more stupid questions?”
“Umm… Can we have the mask?” Slingshot said slowly.
“Sure, go ahead.” Orrville said with a toothy wine stained smile. He tossed his lighter into the wine puddle and it immediately caught fire due to the alcohol. “Fetch boy.” I ran forward to get the mask before it lights and was pulled back by an extremely strong guy. I looked up and realized it was one of the miners from the factory.” I began to choke and looked back at Orrville, smiling as he threw the cigarette he had into the growing fire. “Have fun!” Orrville said as he got up and left the burning stage.
Use the magic… Concentrate… A voice said in my head. 
Okay? I said back through my mind. I concentrated as hard as I could, and soon I saw the coolest thing. Three spiraling electric lines in the shape of DNA were coming out of my hand and going into the evil miner. He let go of me and fell to the floor. I saw that Slingshot and Sully had miners choking them too, and I yelled, 
“Slingshot! Concentrate!” Slingshot closed his eyes and the same three beams came out his hand too. Soon, all three miners were paralyzed on the ground, and let go of Slingshot and Sully. I went over to the mask in the fire and grabbed it. I expected it to be searing hot, but it was cold actually.  It felt like any kind of cold metal. All three of us jumped off the stage and saw the stage burning down to the ground. It was now midday, and the sun was at full point. A ton of people were watching the fire and crying. 
We went into the woods and back into the other side of the town. I was starving. We got the food out of Slingshot’s backpack and ate all of the food. THAT was a bad decision, not knowing that was all we had. Sully said he had enough money, and we didn’t have to worry. I trusted him, and Slingshot did too. We set off downtown and towards the town hall. The bells were ringing, because it was noon.
“What are you doing?” I said, as he began to go up the stairs.
“I am going to tell my dad I am leaving with you guys. Come with me. Even if he does care, I will still go. I just can’t leave without telling him.” Sully said fast, like it was none of our business. Sling and I shrugged, and then head up the stairs. 

Chapter 5
Father Sullivan
	We came into the office to see a fat balding man with a handlebar mustache and glasses lying in a chair eating a cheeseburger.
“What do you want Paul.” The fat man said angrily.
“I am leaving this place.” Sully said, like he has been rehearsing this for years. Sully’s dad chuckled.
“Oh no you aren’t. You won’t stand a chance three feet from home. You mine as well drown yourself in the bathtub.” Sully’s dad said. I understood why Sully hated him.
“Oh really? Well I will come back and everyone will recognize me as a hero.” Sully said.
“You know what? Go ahead. You were always Mariana’s boy. It would be better because I won’t have to buy you food. Now scram, or I’ll call the cops.” We rushed out of that area in a flash, and Sully was staring down at the ground.
“I hope you understand why I hated Numbrus for leaving me with that jerk.” Sully said looking up to the sky. “My parents were divorced, and I was living with my mom. She was the nicest woman in the world.” Sully had tears in his eyes now “One day we were walking, and a car came right into the crosswalk. She pushed me aside, and took the hit. Numbrus was at the adoption area, and he sent me to my dad instead. I always thought he didn’t know they were divorced, but now I know he did it on purpose.” Sully was bawling. “That is the crosswalk where she died…” He pointed at the crosswalk right next to the town hall. Slingshot seemed upset too, and he took a flower out of the town hall garden, and put it on the crosswalk. Wind blew, and cars drove over the crosswalk like nothing happened.
“I… I feel sorry for you.” I said to Sully.
“Its- Its okay…” Sully responded we walked across the crosswalk into a convenience store. I grabbed a crumpled 5$ bill I found on the street, and grabbed a coke from the freezer. Sully took some money out his backpack and grabbed a bag of Cheez-Itz, and Slingshot picked up a Mountain Dew and went up to the register next to me. I saw the cash register guy, who had scraggily blond hair and braces. I saw his nametag, and it said, HELLO, MY NAME IS TIM on it. 
“Will that be all?” Tim said as he dropped the soda and Cheez-Itz into a bag. I have definitely seen this guy before.
“Have you ever been to Londonderry?” I said, as Sully and Slingshot looked at me like an idiot.
“Yes?” Tim said, like I was a weirdo. Slingshot started laughing. He probably found out who it was.
“You- You were that weird kid! Ha-ha-ha-ha! Remember Ryan! He was that guy who was two grades ahead of us, and worked at The Corner Store!” Slingshot said. Tim was embarrassed, and he looked down. I remembered Tim though. One year he just disappeared saying he was looking for “Fairies” everybody thought he was a weirdo.
“Shut up kid, what if I am! I came here to put everything behind me, and I am over it! Now get out!” Sully did not get any of this, because he didn’t know us until today.
“Did… You ever find the fairies?” Sully said. Now Slingshot and I were staring at him like he was an idiot. Tim hesitated.
“Just… Get out.” He had a cold stare, and I could tell he was hiding something from us.
“Let’s… Just go.” I said. We came out of the store, and started eating/drinking our snacks. I took the mask out of my bag, and it looked as if it was wood, but felt like steel.  It was shaped like a heart, and colored red green and yellow. I put it back in my bag, and wondered what we are supposed to do now.
“What should we do now?” I said, after I finished my coke. 
“Should we set up a tent or something in the woods?” Slingshot said. I thought it was a good idea myself. But the problem was: we had no tent. 
“Guys?” Sully said, annoyed we weren’t listening to him.” I have a tree house I built with my mom in the woods. I haven’t been in there for a while, but it would be a great place to spend the night.” All of us thought that was a great idea, so we head down through a trail behind Sully’s house. Then, there it was. A tree house hung high in a tree, with a rope ladder hanging from the door. We climbed up it and sat down by the walls. For the rest of the day we told stories and jokes, and soon fell asleep.
Chapter 6
Izod Returns
	I was awoken by a sound, a strange sound, a feeling I have felt before.  Nobody else seemed to hear it, probably because Sully was a heavy sleeper just like Slingshot. I carefully climbed down the ladder of the tree house, trying not to wake anybody up. It was a foggy night, and I could just see the faint brightness of the streetlights of Elleaf through the trees.
“Ryan…” The strange familiar voice said again.  Spun around, looking everywhere for where it was coming from. “You have made it far, and you will be one of the world’s greatest heroes…”
“Umm… Thanks?” I said, nervous as heck.
“Even being a hero comes with a price… Come closer…”
“Where are you?!” I yelled, watching my every move.
“Approach the tree, and you will be gifted…” the voice said, as if it was getting exited. I
“What tree? There is like a billion of them here!” I yelled to the voice. Leaves blew in the wind and hit my face. I turned around to see the branches and ladder swaying on the tree the tree house was on. No other trees were affected.  I walked towards the tree, and touched the smooth bark. A surge of energy was felt, and I was standing at the tree wide eyed. My veins were now glowing a deep pink, and sparked after a few seconds. I removed my hand from the tree and felt more refreshed than ever. I smiled, feeling healthy.
“Yeah!” I yelled as I turned my hand up into the air and concentrated like I did in the burning common. The same blue DNA like pulses of energy shot form my hand into the sky and made an amazing fire works show. A blue smiling face like Izod’s appeared in the sky, smiling as if looking muck younger.
“The next part of your quest awaits in Kandykayne. Ask for my deep ancestor, Nicole, daughter of King Helpings.” The smiling face in the sky said, as its lips moved fast. I moved my hand down, and blue sparks flew out of it.
“I accept.” I said smiling, ready.
	The next morning I was sleeping back in the tree house, and Slingshot got up along with me. 
“What the heck happened last night? I heard screaming, and crackling. It is not anywhere near the fourth of July; it’s the middle of October.” Slingshot said, half awake.
“We need to get to Kandykayne.” I said fast, making Sully and Slingshot act Suspicious. 
“We can’t get there, the road is very long and dangerous, and there is no transit route that goes directly there.” Sully said, somehow disappointed.
“Don’t worry, I have a plan.” I said with a smirk. The plan was to see my uncle that I haven’t seen since I was six. He was a trucker, and heard he was a pretty dang good one too. Since I was his relative he would probably drive us on his own to Kandykayne. I trusted him.
Chapter 7
Uncle Blue
	We were taking the bus back to Londonderry by 9:00 just like yesterday. My uncle lived in a place little ways north called Adriem city. After the bus arrived we stayed on it for another hour for the ride to Adriem.  At 10:00, we arrived in Adriem. The town was much trashed, with graffiti all over the walls. As we reached a payphone, I picked it up and dialed the number to 411.
“Paul Vizrox” I said to the operator, hoping she would know the name.
“Oh, Paul Vizrox! I have his number right here!” The operator responded, as she gave me the number. I wrote the number down, and dialed it in the payphone. I waited a few seconds and then his answering machine came on.
“Hey, this is Blue. I am probably somewhere else, or I don’t want to answer your call because I owe you money. Please leave a mess-“I hung up, and sighed. This was hopeless. We went around town asking people if they know Paul Vizrox. Finally, some important looking guy responded, angry.
“Yeah, I know the guy. That little jerk owes me 500$.”
“Do you know where he might be?” I said, exited that somebody finally responded.
“Yeah, He always hangs out at Derpy’s bar and show. It is just around the corner. And say, if you kids see him tell him that he owes I, John Daley 500 bucks.” The man said, looking down. 
I said thanks, and Sully, Sling and I ran around the corner to see the biggest bar I have ever seen. It was huge, and had a giant light up sign saying, “DERPY’S BAR AND SHOW” On the door there was a large poster that had fiery letters with “THE WHATEVAS PERFORMING ALL DAY TODAY!” all three of us approached in to see a fancy pace with a waiter with an apron on displaying the bar’s logo.
“Hey! You guys are only kids! You can’t drink alcohol!”  The waiter said.
“That is not what we need, say, have you ever heard of a guy named Paul Vizrox?” I said, nervous again.
“You mean Uncle Blue.” The waiter said, giving me the evil eye. “He comes here at least three times a week, and he is here at the moment.”
“Thanks.” Sully said, and walked through the little gate to the bar.
“I’m still not letting you in.” The waiter said, an eyebrow raised.
“Sir, I think you can make an exception.” Slingshot said, holding out a 50 dollar bill. The waiter scanned the area, and made sure no one else was looking.
“I think I can.” The waiter said, taking the bill when he was still looking around. He slid it in his pocket and said, “Go on through.”
This bar was actually a pretty cool place. There was a big stand where you could buy alcoholic drinks and a stage with guys that had long hair singing about freedom or something. I was sure they were the Whatevas. There was many tables occupied, but one was full of people. The three of us looked over to see what was happening, and a guy was chugging a bottle of beer while people were cheering. Interested, I walked towards to see what was going on. The guy had a large beard with a hat that had the “Bluebird” logo on it. He also had a nametag pinned to it that said, “Hi! My name is BLUE” on it. It didn’t take anyone of the right mind to figure out that was Paul Vizrox, also known as Uncle Blue.
“Hi… Uncle Paul…” I said after he finished his beer.
“Who are you kiddo?” Uncle Blue said, with an angry snarl. “And how do you know mah name?”
“I am your nephew, Ryan Vizrox.” I replied, backing away.
“Oh, Ryan, mah boy! I haven’t seen you since you were a wee turd!” Uncle Blue yelled over the loud playing of the Whatevas. “Whaddaya want!”
“We want a ride to Kandykayne.” I said, hoping to god he wouldn’t snap at me.
“Yeah, sure kid. How many passengers.” I looked back at Slingshot and Sully, and turned around to Uncle Blue.
“Three.” I said. Uncle Blue tensed, went back to normal.
“Okay, but you get the back. I just can’t stand kids.” Uncle Blue said, standing up and stretching.
“Wait, we are going now?!” I said in disbelief. “You are drunk Uncle Blue, you can’t drive us to Kandykayne!”
“Don’t worry mah boy, I gots a liver of steel.” Uncle Blue said, winking and pounding his stomach. I felt a little queasy having someone who just chugged like ten beers driving us on a rugged road to Kandykayne. Uncle Blue followed us out and we followed him to his house. It was in a trailer park, and he had a large school bus that he supposedly lived in. 
“Are we taking THAT to Kandykayne?” Slingshot said, disgusted. Uncle Blue was still in a trance.
“Ain’t she beautiful?” Uncle Blue said, going into the front seat to the driving wheel that was also a toilet. All three of us just sighed and climbed in to the back. 
“Oh yeah! You owe John Daley 500 dollars!” Sully yelled. The Idea made Uncle Blue mad, and he slammed his foot on the gas and hit a trailer ahead of us. Soon, Uncle Blue was swearing every two seconds as he drove out of the trailer park and onto the street. I soon noticed the bus was missing a wheel, and it was skidding sending sparks everywhere, as he drove onto the bumpy road that went to Kandykayne.
Chapter 8
Kandykayne
	The drive was very long, and I tried to concentrate and sleep. Slingshot was drawing on the fog on the window, and Sully was eating a bag of chips. I soon fell asleep when I got used to the rock music of Uncle Blue’s bus. Many hours later, I felt a horrible pinch on my wrist. Startled, I got up immediately and checked my watch. 5:00 PM. 
“Ryan, we are here. Get up or I’ll monkey bite you again.” Sully said angrily. I have been sleeping for seven hours. Probably because the loss of sleep I had last night. Looking out the window, I saw Kandykayne, brick houses lined up everywhere covered in snow. All three of us hopped out of the bus as we turned around to see Uncle Blue staring at us strangely. He closed the door and I heard him mutter something. The bus drove back down the rough highway and that was the last we saw of Uncle Blue. Walking down the street I heard Slingshot say,
“What are we even doing here? Nothing is here; it is just old houses and snow.”
“I don’t know. Izod said our quest continues here. He might as well…” I stopped speaking in an instant. The same feeling I got that night when I heard Izod say we should go to Kandykayne. A tree stood in a town square, with a paper stuck on it. I approached it, and the tree had the word Terracewood etched on the bottom. The note read, MISSING: NICOLE HELPINGS. REWARD: 500 DOLLARS, with a picture of a smiling girl who looked older than me. I took the note off and felt the bark on the tree. It was the same as it was on the tree house, very smooth and smelled like vanilla. The bark also gave me the same surge as last time, and I felt very well like last night.
“Guys, feel this tree!” I yelled. I looked around and people walking around the town square thought I was crazy. Sully and Slingshot walked forward, feeling the bark. Slingshot got the same reaction as I did, sparks flying out his hand. Sully just stood there, confused.
“I feel nothing. Is this some kind of joke?” Sully said. I understood now. Since Izod gave us the psychic powers and Sully had nothing to do with that, he couldn’t get healed due to these trees. I looked at the lost child note again, and flipped onto the back. There was a letter on the back. 
Dear Ryan and Sean, use the Terracewood trees to heal. They give out energy to fuel your power. –Izod.
“Guys!” Sully screamed, turning us around. I stuffed the note in my pocket, and turned to see what Sully was exited about. He was starting to run after a guy wearing a hood. I didn’t get a long time to see his face, but I figured out it was Orville Numbrus, and he had a gun in his hand. As he fired, we moved out of the way and he hit a store window, and everyone began panicking.  I began to chase him out of the town square, and he was fast too. He turned around and fired a few more rounds, while we ducked behind an alleyway. Sully pulled up his sleeves and pulled out a pistol from his backpack.
“What are you doing?!” I yelled, as Sully turned around and smiled.
“It’s called revenge.” Sully called, cocking his gun. He walked onto the street Orville Numbrus was reloading his gun on and fired many times with his eyes closed. I took a peek to see what was going on and Orville was clutching his hand and looked back at us and ran into a closed store.
“That’s for everything, beeotch!” Sully said, putting his gun back in his bag. We dashed into the store, completely dark and not seeing a thing. A gun shot and hit a glass door. Man, Orville had a bad aim. Walking through aisles, I watched my every move and suddenly, gunfire was heard. 
Orville Numbrus was right there, grimacing. I concentrated and held out my palm so the DNA like lines would come out. Somehow, he reflected it, and it hit me. I heard the sound of sparks shooting out and saw the redness of Slingshots DNA lines. Orville smashed through a glass window, and we were now stuck in this store, wounded. The lights finally turned on, revealing a familiar looking guy.
“Okay now, what was going on? He yelled, and I saw his name tag. ATOM. The guy we met in the factory. 
“This guy broke in to hide from us. We found him, and he shot at us. We need help.” Slingshot said, walking up the aisle.
“Oh, aren’t you those guys from the factory? Oh right! What do you need?” Atom said, now in a cheerful tone. He led us up into a special room that he came out of with all kinds of weapons. We picked some up from him and Sully showed him some of his money. “Oh, don’t worry. First time is always free. Stop by anytime. I have a large chain of stores everywhere. Seeya!” 
We exited the shop, and saw Orville’s footprints leading somewhere. As we followed them, a strange feeling in my gut began to stir. Finally, they were in front of a house, just like any other in Kandykayne. I grabbed the first thing I could in my backpack, and found Old Glory, the hammer from Sully’s house. As hard as I could, I hit the door. Sure enough, it came down. The first floor was strange, it was dusty with just a television and a couch. Old wrappers littered everywhere. We slowly walked up the stairs, trying not to make a single creaking noise. 
Finally, I opened the door to the upstairs room. In there was Orville and some person stuck on a raised table. I couldn’t tell who she was, because her ginger hair was over her face. 
“Orville, you let her go!” Sully yelled, running to probably tackle him. Orville took out a gun and gave Sully a serious look.
“I go by a new name now Sullivan. It’s Zero. I bet you probably heard it from that miner I should’ve killed.” Orville said, cocking his head.
“What are you doing to her?” I said, hoping he would answer. 
“It’s quite simple.” Zero walked up to the girl and pulled up her hair to reveal a face full of tears and still crying. I soon realized this is the girl form the missing child notice. “Meet Nicole. See, like you pests, Nicole can use psyche.”
“Psyche?” Slingshot said, confused.
“Psychic, yes. That weird you know Deoxyribonucleic acid like structure that comes out of your hands when you concentrate.” Zero said, mad that Slingshot interrupted his sentence. “I developed many devices to help me withstand or track psyche.” Zero showed us a rubbery card that could bend, probably the thing he used to reflect my psyche. “I have spent many years trying to develop a device that would let me get it, but I’ve soon given up. Nicole got it on her own at birth, and nobody knew how. All I want to know is how she got it. Now, leave me alone!” Zero yelled, stomping his foot.
“No.” I said, angry. This guy could think we were just bystanders, but we were going to put up a fight. 
“Very well then.” Zero said, pulling up his sleeves. I was especially nervous, because I couldn’t use psyche here. I pulled out Old Glory, and looked at him strait in the eyes. “Oh, you think I was planning to fight you here? No, I prefer a much more brutal way for you to go. See, the Aiutanti will take care of you.”
“Aiuntanti?” I said now, confused like Slingshot when Zero mentioned psyche.
“The so called ‘miners’ you saw in the factory. Itailian for helpers.” Zero said. He walked up to a egg like thing. “You have 1:30 to get everything and get her out of here. You are lucky I am giving you time, but mostly because once the Aiuntanti see this explosion, they know it is me, and you all are screwed. Bye!” Zero smiled and kicked his shoes, now hovering in the air. Heblasted up through the roof of the brick house we were in, leaving broken pieces of wood everywhere.
I dashed to Nicole as did Slingshot and Sully. We were breaking the chains with baseball bats, hammers, and Sully was even hitting his backpack full of guns on it. Finnaly, the chains broke, and Nicole grabbed on to our shoulders. Running down the stairs, the explosion happened. Fire began rushing down, and now Nicole got up and was running as fast as we could. Junping out the door, we saw a giant Zeppelin crossing over the burning house. The fire must have hit some sort of gas tank, because now the house really fell apart.
“Ladies and Gentlemen! Now for the grand old show!” Zero yelled through a speaker on the zeppilen. Now I could see the design on the side of the Zeppilen. It was a Z wrapped around a stick of dynamite. Police cars pulled up blocking the people trying to see what was happening. The zeppilen above sped away and while I was watching, four Aiuntanti shot their way through the police. Dropping their guns, they charged for us. I felt pumped, like I was ready for somthing big to happen. 
I shot out psyche and of course, the guards blocked it with the same rubbery card Zero did. Suddenly, I ducked because I didn’t want to get hit with psyche. The psyche reflected back, now just a large ball of blue. I turned around to see Nicole having a large green shield in front of her. She gave me a nod and the ball kept on reflecting. Now, the ball was so big it hit two Aiuntanti five feet back into a pile of snow. Now, there were only two left. Both of them took out baseball bats made of hard steel. Running at full speed, one almost hit me, and I flipped him over and slammed him in the back with Old Glory. The Aiuntaniti hit the ground clutching his back, and I turned around to see Slingshot struggling against one. 
I was about to help, and then Sully ran up to him and grabbed his arm. I heard a loud cracking sound, then the Aiuntanti fell dazed. I looked back at all of the police cars and the police stood there confused.  Could’ve bet five hundred dollars they were wondering,
“What the heck? How did four young teenages just beat the crap out of four extremely strong men after jumping out of a burning house?” But they didn’t question us. We ran off, hoping to never see this place again.
Chapter 9
Nicole’s Untold Prophecy

As I was running for my life hoping no more Aiuntanti would come up and try and kill us, Nicole stopped in her tracks, staring at this large mahogany colored house.
“C’mon Nicole! There is no time to just stand around! We need to go!” Slingshot yelled. Finally, Nicole spoke.
“This is where my parents live.” She turned around. “I have to say goodbye, my dad’s been hiding something from me since I was a baby, and today is the best day to find out. You guys can stay out here, I mean...” 
“No. I’ll come with you. “ Sully said real fast. Slingshot nuged me. 
“Well, I guess Nicole is pulling a Sully. Lets go inside. I am freaking freezing.” Slingshot said. We followed Nicole in to see a large dazzling hall wih guys in red shirts and ski caps saluting. 
“Hello, Princess Nicole, we havent seen you in days. Your dad is waiting for you down the hall.” A guard said, smiling giving me a warm look. Wait, what? Princess?
“You’re a princess?” I said in dispelief.
“Well of course I am, nimrod.” Nicole said, ignoring me.
“How!” I said back not caring that she was ignoring me. “Pinear is a Democratic Republic!”
“Princess of Kandykayne. This town has treated my family well since the original owner of the mask of love lived here... It... Just makes me glad to see that someone other than me can use psyche.” Nicole said, pushing on the door at the end of a long hallway. I expected to see some guy like Sully’s dad at the end, but no.There were two heartwarming smiling people at the end of the hall.
“Nicole!” her mother said, running towards Nicole and giving her a hug. “Where were you!”
“Some guy kidnapped me. Lets just cut to the point. This crazy guy wants to take over the world with the power of that old tale you told me when I was a little girl.”
“But Nicole... That is just a story. There is no way it can be real... Heh heh...” Nicoles dad said, uneasily.
“Oh yes, it’s quite real.” I said, taking the mask of love out of my bag to show them. Everybody backed up at the power it realeased.  even I was in awe, because I forgot how strong the aura was.
“Put that thing away.” Slingshot said, eying the area. He was probably looking for Aiuntanti.
“Well, to continue, I need to go on this little nerd adventure and save the world. Kapesh?” Nicole said. For some reason, Nicole’s father was crying.
“The prophecy was true...”  Nicoles father said. He held out his hand to reveal a glowing sphere. The room darkened. “I recieved a prophecy at Nicoles birth, and I never wanted her to go... But now is the time I guess.”
“End will be a disaster, with two friends lost. In her quest there will be a turning point, sending her to another quest with the same friends. His quest begins after she is lost and comes with three boys…” 
The gleaming ball spoke, and sputtered out into nothing. Hmm, three boys. I WONDER WHO THEY COULD BE.
“Well, you should go now. Please return Nicole.” 
“Yeah, sure dad.” Nicole said, nodding, with a tear in her eye. As we turned around and began walking, Nicole’s mom spoke.
“Oh, and by the way. Make your mom proud. Kick that little jerk right in the balls.” She winked, and I smiled.
“Will do.” Sully said, cocking his gun like he always does. We walked out to find the same snowy area, with a passed out Aiuntanti on the ground across the street. Other footprints led into a dark forest. I approached, hearing strange buzzing and whispering. Nervous, the four of us walked in expecting the worst.
Chapter 10
Flauxian
As we wandered around the forest looking for Zero, We looked left and right for Zero, but had no luck. Every few minutes I would see some green ball thing in a tree that would vanish instantly, but it was most likely nothing. Eventually we grew tired, and settled down near a large tree. All three of us were taking turns on guard duty. I fell asleep first, not to be waken up for a while.
	The next morning, I woke up with Nicole, Slingshot and Sully. We looked around to see this strange valley, with a large wall with several holes in it. This was strange, because this was absolutely not the place I fell asleep in. 
“Sorry.” Sully said, shrugging. Honestly, I was pretty pissed that Sully could have not been watching and had Zero come and kill us while sleeping. Just as I was about to scream at him, something happened.
“Ahem.” A voice said behind us. There was some guy in a sweater and a coffee shop apron on. No, it couldn’t be. This was Tim, the guy in the convenience store. “I took you out of the woods to serve you my hospitalities. Welcome to the Flauxian Village. These people are called the Flauxians. Highly intelligent beings that lived thousands of years before the humans. They were great building anything, such as building the pyramids in Egypt or Stonehenge in Great Britain. Once the Iron Age began, they began disappearing because of pollution. Now, one single tribe is left and it is right here in Pinear. Isn’t that dandy?” 
I got up, and stretched out. “Are these the fairies you were talking about?” I said. 
“Of course. The first time I saw one was on a vacation in Kandykayne. I got lost in these woods and nobody believed me because I had an ‘Over reactive imagination.’” Tim turned to all of the caves. “Their latest work of art. Flauxo wall. You can climb it to receive a conference with the king, easily the most highly intelligent being in the universe, next to Albert Einstein and Stephen Hawking. Few have ever made the challenge, especially because only I’ve tried it. I wish you luck if you would like to take the challenge.” Tim helped up Nicole as she just stared at him in the eyes.
I looked up at the large wall, apricot plated with gold chips. Torches stuck out on each individual small hole, and notches were everywhere signifying that it was a hardcore climbing wall.
“What are exactly these Flauxian things?” Nicole said, turning back to Tim after looking at the wall. Tim snapped his fingers, and then Green balls covered in freckles with two large eyes, just like the ones we saw in the woods, came out of all of the various holes. They flew down, and made buzzing sounds as they hovered in the air above Tim. One came next to me and nuzzled my cheek, and a zap feeling passed through me. The Flauxians flew back into the air, and ended up back in their holes.
“Does that explain it?” Tim said, giving Nicole a smirk. “Well, you guys can go, or if you will live up to the challenge of Flauxo wall you can just ask.”
“I want to go up!” Slingshot said, jumping in the air in happiness. He always loved to climb. He once climbed a 150 foot elevator shaft he said.
“I will go too.” I said, stepping forward. Honestly, I really wanted a conference with King Flauxian as well. Tim hoisted us up into harnesses and we began climbing. The first ten feet were even hard, having to stretch out grabbing Flauxian notches and holes. After that, I began to get used to climbing the wall. As I reached up to a notch, a spike came out of it and almost punctured my hand before I moved it. 
“Yeah, very funny Tim.” Slingshot said, holding his hand. Tim was on the ground laughing, and I was pretty mad that he didn’t tell me that this wall had giant knives sticking out of it. As we climbed even more, Knives and needles stuck out of the notches, us avoiding them constantly. Then, a needle stuck out and hit Slingshot in the hand, hard this time. He let go of the wall, screaming as he fell to the ground saved by the rope. Tim brought him down, and I kept climbing.
The knives were spaced tightly now, as I amazingly avoided them. I found out that the knives only show up in the middle, so my hands were on the sides of the notches and I was just fine. Then, as I was reaching for a notch expecting a blade to fly out, instead an entire six foot tall wall fell, me hanging with one hand about to fall.
“Guys! Help!” I yelled my heart racing. I tried pulling myself up, and then many knives rained from the wall raining down towards Tim and Slingshot. They got out of the way and all of the knives stuck in the ground. Their hearts were probably racing too. The knives must have been like a key or something, because the wall moved back to the right side so I was attached again.
“This is the farthest anyone has made!  The king’s cave is right there!” Tim yelled. I looked up to see a larger hole than most of the Flauxians. I was ready and climbed the last twenty feet with no walls sticking out, nothing to stop me. Well, except for the knives. I grabbed the last notched and climbed into King Flauxians cave with ease. I gave a salute to Tim who just stood in awe wondering how anybody could climb this wall.
	I took a deep breath and entered King Flauxians lair. It was an average place, with books lined on the walls and a small desk. It reminded me of the principles office in Londonderry. Oh, how much make up work I will have when I get back… Anyways, I looked up to see a bald man with a large beard sitting at the desk.
“Umm… Where is King Flauxian?” I said to the man at the table.
“He is right here.” The man said, smiling. “I’m glad you made it up my wall.”
“I thought you would be a Flauxian.” 
“In fact, I actually am. After ten thousand years, I learned English and found a way to transform into a human. Isn’t it amazing what science can do?” King Flauxian said. “So, what do you need, boy?”
“So I heard you basically know everything, so, do you know anything on the three masks?”
“I do all right.” King Flauxian leaned towards me. “There is one in the Crestle mountain range. It was hidden for many years, nobody trying to take it. The Flauxians were the first to find out, and one of us once tried to take it. The owner, of god-like strength mutated it and it recedes in its cave making sure nobody will try ever again… I suggest you don’t go.”
“I will. I just want to know how I can get there.”  King Flauxians eyes drifted off.
“The easiest way there is by train. I have money for you and your friends to get through. Just… I never gave this to you. Okay?”
“Right.” The moment I said that, the floor fell a foot down. It was an elevator. The elevator was going very slow, as I saw through the little holes of the Flauxian homes. Reaching the bottom, I crawled. The valley was right there, all of my friends waiting. Walking out, Tim put his hand on my shoulder.
“I have to give a hand to you Ryan. Nobody has ever climbed that wall.”
“Thanks.” I smiled. I flashed the fifty dollars King Flauxian gave me in Slingshot’s face. I walked into the woods with Nicole Slingshot and Sully, the wind brushed my cheek and I turned towards the direction it was blowing.
“C’mon guys, we’re going up the rails on a crazy train!”