Dedicated to Sarika, for being such a good little sister
Chapter Won
was never good at spelling. Neither was my father. Or my grandfather. Or my great-great grandfather. And so on. My father says that when his ancestors were in the time of when people learned to write, my great-great-great-great-great-great (I don’t know how many ‘greats’) grandfather got a ‘0’ on his first spelling test when he was 18. Yeah, you heard me right. He botched a spelling test at age 18. Absolute failure.
And so, I was not surprised when I got a 60% on a spelling test with words like, ‘clap,’ ‘poke,’ and so on. Tsk, tsk, tsk. That was last Monday.
(Oh, and by the way, if you’re wondering why I haven’t made any mistakes on this paper is because the computer I’m using automatically fixes any mistakes I make. So there.)
This is why generations of my family, the Jones family, always became inventors. I think my great (Once again, I don’t know how many greats) grandfather was associated with Edison. You know, Thomas Edison. Thomas Alva Edison, the guy who invented the light bulb and the phonograph.
So anyway, that doesn’t matter. The point is, my family was made up of bunch of inventors. See, that was a good idea. Since my family was so horrible at spelling, they could now make up new names for inventions.
Like for example, my Aunt Jane made up an invention that could dig up fossils. It was originally going to be called, “The Archaeology Digger of Fun that Finds Fossils” (Or the T.A.D.F.F.F. for short) but Auntie didn’t know how to spell ‘archaeology,’ and she was too arrogant to search the Internet or ask a neighbor. So, she just changed it to “The Digginator” and stuck with that. Her idea paid off. The government gave her The Nobel Prize and 500,000 dollars for her machine.
And, 5 years before the invention of “The Digginator,” my dad created a machine that could play and copy beautiful music (It actually worked). At first, he called it The Creative Concoction that Copies Cosmic Music Sheets and Plays Music (Or the C.C.C.C.M.S.P.M. for short). Unfortunately, he couldn’t spell ‘concoction,’ so he changed it instead to: “The Music Player 300” in its place. He was paid 1,000,000 in the form of a check.
So, if my dad and my aunt did those marvelous things, and got so much money, what did I do?
I was originally planning for my contraption to travel through to different dimensions. Yes, it did work (Although it did cost me $5,000). (I’ll explain why and how later.) It was a small cardboard box that I modified. The machine had all sorts of dials installed into it. If you entered a certain combination, the machine would turn on. Then you would enter the dimension or planet into an electronic keypad that was attached to the box. The cardboard box provided all the equipment. For example, if you wanted to go to Jupiter, you would type in, “Jupiter.” Then, right before you went off, a panel would open and a folded spacesuit would be there, oxygen tank and all. Then, if you were ready, you would press a dial that says Go, and then you would go to Jupiter.
So, anyway, one day my brother decided to play with my cardboard box. He noticed a little card with the number “3565” on it, and subsequently noticed a certain electronic keypad. So of course he typed in “3565.” As he was about to get in and start playing, Mom called. “Come on, boys! Time for dinner!” So, of course my brother forgot to turn the Dimension Machine off.
Later, I decided to play around with the Super Fantastic Super Fantastic Dimension Machine. (S.F.S.F.D.M. for short.) I sat in the cardboard box and pretended to go to another dimension. I pushed the keypad and typed in “Dimension #3.” Then, I pushed the “Go” button. As soon as I pressed that button, I knew that I had made a fatal mistake when I heard the humming noise. I stood up to get out, but it was too late.
Chapter Too
I soon zoomed through hyperspace and entered Dimension #3. All I saw were planets, stars, space, and planets. In Earth time, I’d say it took about
three minutes.
Chapter Twee
The first thing I noticed was that Dimension #3 was much, much worse than I imagined it to be. In my imagination, Dimension #3 was full of bright, sparkly pink cities and floating hovercraft cars. In my imagination, Dimension #3 was a bustling place with rich culture.
However, the real Dimension #3 was not like my imagination at all. It was a cold, dark swamp. Nothing moved. I did not even hear a bird singing or the wind blowing. I kicked a small pebble. The pebble didn’t even move. I tried to pick it up. The small rock didn’t budge. This was a pure example of...well, you know, where the devil lives. (You didn’t actually think I would print that in this book, did you?)
The second thing I noticed is that the S.F.S.F.D.M. was gone. Now, I couldn’t get home.
The third thing I noticed was that the only ‘sparkly’ object in Dimension #3 was an enormous, shiny, and white building that stood in the middle of the swamp. It was then that I noticed a small city rising from behind the enormous, shiny, and white building. I decided that the enormous, shiny, and white building would have to come later.
* * * * * * * *
Later, at the small village, I noticed that the entire little city was made up of straw huts. A poor, ragged old man came running out of his straw hut as I approached. His face turned pale when he saw me.
“Aye, lad, what you be doin’ out here in the streets at this hour, and wearin’ those fancy clothes, are ‘ya.” He studied my face closely. “Ah, I see ‘ere! It seems from your face and your outrageous clothes that you wish to be trained by the great Ax noble himself, Lord Hemeltain.”
“Er, why yes sir. I’ve come to be, uh, eh, trained by, er, um, Lord Hemington.”
“Hemeltain.”
“Yeah, Hemeltain.”
“All rightee, I, eh, see.” The man cast me a suspicious glance. “I...I shall show you to his hut. Come.” He waved his wrinkled old hand in the direction of a vast hut that looked grander than the others. And so I followed.
* * * * * * *
“Who is this?” demanded Lord Hemeltain. He looked flabbergasted.
“It looks like another student, my lord.” said the thin old man.
“Well, Thomas, why didn’t you say so? Come; tell me your name, my friend!”
“Uh, my name is Edward Jones III, an—”
“That’s quite enough. Come, I shall take you to your fantastic fellow fighting friends!”
* * * * * * * * “Class, this is your new classmate, Edward Jones III. Why don’t you introduce yourselves while I sharpen my ax?” Lord Hemeltain left the room, muttering about needing a new weapon.
“Hello, Jones, I’m Thomas II, and I am in league with Lord Hemeltain. I would just love the crash of The (cussword) and (cussword) Central Headquarters, and do you know why? Because I said so.” said a thin boy in a purple cloak. He had a compact rocket launcher in one hand.
“I’m Tobor.” said a robot in a thick black cloak. “I agree with Deceiver, although he shouldn’t cuss out loud. I mean, really, who swears nowadays? Answer: Only hobos.” (By ‘Deceiver’ he must have meant Thomas’s last name.) Tobor had no face but instead an impressive display of dials and gears of all sorts, with dozens of scratches showing a hint of adventure. In his right hand he held a club with a hole on top that I later learned also served as a J-72 Heavy Blaster. In Tobor’s left hand was...well, in place of Tobor’s hand, there was a razor-sharp claw. I studied him carefully. Was that a sinister gleam on his face? I blinked, and then looked again. Tobor was not even looking at me. No, I must have imagined it, or perhaps hallucinated. I need serious help. I thought.
Thomas looked flushed when Tobor mentioned ‘hobos’ and ‘swear words’. “Er, yes. What he said.”
“I have no idea what y
ou just said, so please tell me who this ‘Mastermind’ is and where in this outlandish, bizarre universe I am.” I said out loud.
* * * * * * * *
Thomas and Tobor had to explain to me that I was currently in Dimension #3 (Although I kind of knew that) and that The Mastermind was an evil, twisted man in a dark shroud that carried a lightning staff, a powerful Class A weapon that is the most dangerous of its kind. He also has a concealed ‘Exterminator’ Class B blaster in his belt that he has used in emergencies to counterattack and win many hard-fought battles.
Soon, Lord Hemeltain entered the room. You know I recently purchased an Orb of Destiny from one of my friends. Well, an Orb tells you what the future is going to be like, you know, Edward. It said to me that you have a traitor among three, and that ‘your greatest danger is nothing.’ Well, why are you looking at me like that? Oh yes, you think that that thing is fake, don’t you? A farce? Geez let a man predict the future in peace!” And he stormed to his room, muttering all the way.
After that, I was sent to train with Tobor and Thomas II. They gave me all sorts of different weapons, from concealed daggers to rocket launchers, but in the end I was suited best with the classic steel sword. So the sword became my primary weapon, although I had to learn other techniques too, like using a blaster and pressing a switch and stuff like that.
* * * * * * * *
Meanwhile, at The Mastermind’s secret building...
“WHY, YOU DIRTY FOOL!” The Mastermind screamed. “YOU LET ANOTHER STRAY INTO MY KINGDOM! MY KINGDOM IS polluted WITH THOSE HUMAN PESTS!!! WHAT DO HAVE TO SAY FOR YOUSELF?! WELL, WHAT IS YOUR USELESS, MISERABLE EXCUSE?!! SAY IT, I SAY! SAY IT NOW!!” The Mastermind drew his lightning staff. “DIE, YOU PATHETIC, WIMPY LITTLE (cussword)!” A bolt of lightning streaked from the staff and just barely missed the poor guard’s ear.
“I...I didn’t know! They sneaked in when I went off d-duty!” howled the frightened sentinel.
The Mastermind smiled cruelly. His cold stare fixed the horror-struck scout. “YOU DIDN’T KNOW, EH? WE’LL TALK ABOUT THIS MATTER VERY SOON, I ASSURE YOU.”
Chapter Foor
I went through a whole variety of tests, to see what ship I was best with. I ended up with a strange-looking ship called The Newfound One. For a cockpit, it had a comfortable looking plush chair with a steering wheel and a glass door that lifted up to reveal the seat. The whole cockpit was the shape of a box. It had quite a variety of weapons that included a twin double laser blaster cannon, a Death Laser, a Monotrone Hyper Bullet machine gun, and two engines in the back that also served as a flamethrower meant to scorch a ship that came too close to the backside of The Newfound One, or so my friends claimed.
In a nutshell, The Newfound One was a modified T-43 “Aeroblaster” Gunner Vessel, which was built by Jate Manufacturing. Still, I felt happy and content with my vehicle compared to Tobor and Thomas’s crafts.
Thomas had a simple white speeder craft that reminded me of something from Star Wars. It was quite delicate. One hit from its backside would explode the ship’s inner mechanisms, resulting in about 3.5 seconds’ worth of self destruct. However, it was much faster than any ship The Mastermind could dream up, and had twin laser 360 Jate high-speed firing cannons.
However, I felt even sorrier for Tobor. His ship was just an upgraded piece of armor that was as fast as Thomas’s speeder. However, Tobor’s aircraft required thought to direct the ship’s actions. For example, if you wanted to go somewhere, you would simply say out loud, “I want to go to The Mastermind’s headquarters,” and then the ship would go into hyperspace and arrive 2.3 seconds later at your destination. However, there had to be no other ships nearby. If any other ship appeared on the armor’s simple projector screen, Tobor’s ship would not move into hyperspace, although it would be able to move around with a mobile control pad the size of an iPad. This was why it was equipped with two compact lasers for defense. On a scale of 1 to 10 (1 being lowest), Tobor’s ship would get a firepower rate of 1.5.
However, just as Thomas and Tobor finished explaining our current situation, we heard a loud BOOM! It shook Lord Hemeltain’s large hut like an earthquake would shake a tiny cottage.
Suddenly, Hemeltain burst into the room. “All of you! Get into your ships and prepare for liftoff! The Mastermind has found our main headquarters! Go! GO! GO!” he roared. We scrambled to our aircrafts. Since all of us had been trained in using our ships, we lifted off immediately.
* * * * * * * *
It seemed that our air vessels could communicate by radio. My friends, with a somewhat rocky start, compelled me to go to the Marketplace.
“Why?” I asked.
“It’s where Hemeltain’s other training base is!” announced Tobor.
Chapter Fibe
When we arrived at The Marketplace, I noticed that it was an active city, just like in my previous imagination (See chapter twee) of Dimension #3. Every person who saw us waved and shouted, pointing to the nearest air base. We just smiled and waved back. Unlike most places in Dimension #3, The Marketplace had not been conquered by The Mastermind...yet.
When we arrived at the base, we were escorted into one large room with one king sized bed and a bunk bed.
“I call the top bunk!” called Thomas, and he swiftly climbed the ladder with the agility of a cheetah.
“No fair!” I started to protest, thought better of it, and then sat down onto the lowest bunk with a sigh.
“Cheer up, Edward. After all, it is just a bunk.” Tobor said. Since Tobor was a robot, he didn’t care about bunks and mattresses and that sort of thing. All he cared about was the things that really mattered. “Anyway, I’ve got to leave now. I have something very, very important to do.”
I tried in vain to keep Tobor from leaving, but all the robot said was that he must leave NOW. And so he did. Thomas and I tried to pass the time away by telling jokes or explaining about the latest aircraft. Although most of the ships Thomas mentioned were quite monotonous, The Kosak III was the most tedious ship that my newfound friend had mentioned. “It was made by Sleek Co., and is a highly sleek and shiny silver ship. It has lots of weapons and is very popular. Oh dear, I’m afraid that I have already come to the end of my summary of what I know of The Kosak III. Let me start again...”
And so on it went, backtracking and sidetracking and who knows what else until Thomas finished. “You may be wondering what The Garden Demolisher might be, so I’ll—”
“No, no! Of course I know what The Garden Destroyer”
“Demolisher.”
“Whatever! Anyway, I know what The Garden Destroyer”
“Demolisher!”
“Whatever! Anyway, I know what The Garden Destroyer”
“DEMOLISHER!”
“Whatever! Anyway, I know what The Garden Destroyer”
“DEMOLISHER!!!” roared Thomas. His fists were white from clenching, and if you can imagine the reddest radish in the world, then you can imagine the color Thomas’s face had turned by now.
* * * * * * * * And so, while the heated argument between ‘Destroyer!’ and ‘Demolisher!’ continued, a very important meeting took place.
“AHH, I SEE YOU HAVE ARRIVED, BOLT. I AM GUESSING THAT YOU USED A CLEVER METHOD OF STEALTH, MY APPRENTICE.”
“Yes, master.” answered Bolt. “But of course there must be a reason that you have summoned me, sir.” He straightened the green plasma disk on top of his head.
The dark figure laughed, although another might have thought it as the screech of a raptor. When he finally finished, he was still smiling, but it was a cold, cruel grin, full of madness and fury, and hatred. “AH, OF COURSE, MY FRIEND! YOU MUST BE WONDERING WHY YOU ARE HERE, BOLT.”
“YOU SEE, I NOTICED A GROUP OF YOUNG PEOPLE...AND I THINK YOU KNOW WHO THEY ARE. YES, YOU MUST KNOW THEM.”
“Yes, I know them. May I...?”
“NO, BOLT, YOU CANNOT KILL THEM. THEY ARE TO FACE ME AND BE UTTERLY DESTROYED, J
UST AS THE PREVIOUS FOOLS WHO SOUGHT TO DEFEAT ME. IF YOU FINISH YOUR NEXT MISSION WELL, YOU SHALL FIGHT THEM FIRST. IF YOU DEFEAT THEM...” The Mastermind chuckled. “A SPECIAL REWARD WILL BE GRANTED. YOU WILL HAVE UPGRADES AND HAVE BETTER WEAPONS... BUT OF COURSE, BOLT, IT IS YOUR CHOICE. ANYTHING, EXCEPT FOR TO TAKE MY CURRENT POSITION. THAT IS NOT ALLOWED UNLESS I HAPPEN TO...” The Mastermind paused as he tried to find the right words to his servant. ...EXPIRE. THEN, YOU WILL TAKE OVER DIMENSION #3, AND THEREFORE YOU MUST HANDLE A VAST RESPONSIBILITY.
“BUT, I MUST NOT TALK ABOUT LATER. I MUST TALK ABOUT NOW. HERE IS YOUR MISSION: FIND A SPY DROID WORKING FOR GAVIN IV. HAVE IT SEARCH FOR THE YOUNG HEROES. THE SPY WILL LEAD THEM TO THE MARSH, WHERE THEY WILL FIND GAVIN IV. IF THEY KILL HIM, I WILL PROVIDE YOU ON FURTHER INSTRUCTIONS. IS THAT CLEAR, BOLT?”
“Yes, my lord.”
“GOOD. YOU MAY START YOUR MISSION NOW.”
* * * * * * * * And so Bolt found Gavin IV and sent a spy droid to a certain Marketplace.
Meanwhile, the frenzied and seemingly unending discussion of robots and shiny new spaceships and the like continued when Thomas Deceiver II lastly ended with the conclusion of The Garden Demolisher, which was simply a buzz saw connected to a small hovercraft that followed commands from a remote control, with instructions like: ‘Destroy weed,’ or ‘Move right,’ and that sort of thing. Just as Thomas was about to start a speech about the importance of Gaston Corporation’s Home Security Device (H.S.D.), Tobor returned.
“Hey, guys! Let’s go look for items in The Marketplace!” Tobor exclaimed. “I’m quite bored,” he added hastily.
“What else can we do? I mean other than shopping.” I groaned. Shopping was not exactly my sort of thing to do in my spare time.
“Well, perhaps I could tell you more about the H.S.D. and—”
“Let’s go buy ‘useless junk and accessories that we don’t even need’ instead!” I shouted eagerly, perhaps a little too eagerly.
Thomas and Tobor gave me weary looks, and so we went to The Marketplace.
Chapter Sixx
Although The Marketplace was indeed a noisy and loud place, I sensed something was wrong, as if...someone was following us.
Thomas noticed my look and therefore stated: “Is there something that you’re not telling me about?”