Avatar: Bending the Universe

BENDING THE UNIVERSE

CHAPTER ONE: ORIGINS

Date: July 25, 2012    

==================== MILES J. NOVAK =======================
"Hey, Travis! Hand me that memory card. The green one," said Miles, flicking his hand in the direction of a pile of PS1 memory cards. "It's got my Tekken 3 save file on it."

"This one?"

Miles nodded. "Yeah that one."

The two best friends set up the PS1 and got to playing Tekken 3. Miles was clearly the better player, but Travis was able to hold his own to allow for friendly competition. At the end, however, Miles came out the victor once again.

"Damn, dude," said Travis, taking a sip of his Mountain Dew. "Kicked my ass. When's the last time you played it?"

Miles shrugged, turning off the game console. "Eh, I dunno. Maybe five or six months."

"I haven't played it for like a year."

"Excuses."

"Hey you wanna drive down to the beach? Your house is way too hot."

"And, uh..." started Miles, a bewildered look on his face. "You wanna go to the beach to escape the heat?"

Travis suddenly caught the foolishness of his reasoning. "That's not what I meant, smartass. We could go cool off swimming."

"I know, I know. Alright, sounds good."

"Maybe there'll be some hotties."

"Dude, this is Cali. There are always hotties on the beach," Miles replied, smiling.

* * *

And they were right. The sand was lined with beautiful young women in swimsuits, along with a few unsightly, hairy men in their forties. Nevertheless, the sight was candy to the two young men as they made their way to the ocean, taking in the girls and the ocean air.

Hours passed as they surfed and even met a few girls to chat with. The girls invited them to a bonfire at the other end of the beach later that night. Miles and Travis both agreed to go.

The party was easy to spot, especially in the night. The fire in the middle glowed bright and it's warmth spread outward, enveloping all who needed it in the cold darkness. About a dozen people were already there, from the cute girls they had met to a few athletic-looking guys. Everyone was eating, laughing, and having a good time.

"Looks fun," said Travis, the first to make his way for the fire. Miles was a bit more reluctant, but at the beckoning of a well-endowed redhead, he followed suit and entered the camp.

* * *

A few more hours went by as Miles enjoyed the party. He had managed to make a few friends, and got the red headed girl's number. It was nearing midnight when they finally decided it was time to head home.

"Hey, Miles!" called one of the other boys; a peer from his Chemistry class.

"What?"

The boy was holding a beach ball in his hands. "Before you guys go, I wanna show you this. I'm gonna throw this in the air, do a backflip, and catch it in between my ankles!"

Travis turned to Miles, nodding. "I saw him do it when my brother and I came here last week. It's pretty badass."

Miles nodded. It wouldn't hurt to see it.

The boy smiled and motioned for those nearby to back up. He took a deep breath, and launched the ball into the air as high as he could. He waited for a few seconds, then started his back flip. It looked as if he was actually going to catch it...

But he made a miscalculation in his flip. The ball connected with his ankles and flew straight at the logs of the fire, sending one of them spinning into the air, straight at Miles.

It was too sudden for him to dodge, but in reflex, Miles put his hands in front of his face. The log itself didn't connect with his hands, but the edge of the flame did.

As the fire licked at his hand, he twisted around in a half circle, swinging his arm like a heavy punch with a flat hand. The fire from the log seemed to flow in his hands, and soared in the direction he swung for a good seven feet before dying out.

Miles...hadn't felt a thing...

What the hell did I just do?



==================== WARREN D. FARRIS =======================
"Hey Warren!" Warren turned to see Josh, his boss running toward him.

"Yeah Josh?" Warren knew he was about to get saddled with even more work. "Do you need something?"

"Can you run this letter over to Carey," Josh began, handing an envelope to his employee. "And then I need you to wash the hippos."

Warren took the envelope and smiled, like a good employee. "Of course, sir." he started heading for the main Zoo office in search of Carey. He opened the door and almost collided with the very person he was looking for. "Oh sorry, Carey," he stammered.

"No, problem," she assured. "Just be more careful next time."

She started to walk around Warren when he remembered why he was there. "Wait, I have a letter for you, from Josh."

"Oh god that little twerp," she murmured under her breath. "What is it this time?" She swiped the letter and ripped it open. "God this is unbelieveable! That little- Where is he?" Ram pointed toward the reptile house, where he had came from. "Thank you," she said before marching there in a huff.

"Hmm, poor guy," Warren said to himself "I'd hate to be in his shoes. Now, time for hippo duty."

He walked through the penguin tunnel, full of small children and their parents pointing and laughing at the silly penguins. Warren stopped in front of a vacant window and looked through. He could see a small baby emperor penguin sitting alone in a small crater made out of fake ice. "Hey little guy," He called as he tapped on the gas, knowing he wouldn't be heard. "You just get to sit there all day, not a care in the world, no money problems, no crazy bosses..." Warren let out a laugh loud enough that those closest to him turned their heads in his direction. "I can't believe I'm talking to a penguin about my problems." Warren looked around and realized he had made a little scene. "Sorry, Ummm... Penguin needed a pep talk." He stammered out quickly, and rushed for the exit.

Once outside Warren hurried with his head down toward the Hippo Hut, he knew people must've been looking at the weird kid running toward the hippos but he didn't really care what some random people thought. He opened the employees only door and saw it empty so he let himself in and locked the door behind him. "Ahh, privacy, finally," he said thankful to be alone.

He sat down in the single chair in the room and began to relax before he was interrupted by a loud roar of a dirty hippo. "Bwaroararahuah!" The unsettling sound shot Warren out of his seat and propelled him toward the water tap.

"Okay, okay calm down, big guy," Warren quickly spun the tap until he hit the max level, he pulled the hose the hose toward him and was welcomed with a face full of water. Ah crap, he thought as he closed his eyes and raised his right hand to protect his face from the flow.

"Bwagronakderp!" The next thing Warren knows, there's a wet hippo shouting for more water, and a hose squirting water on at the other side of the room. He patted all over his body looking for some moisture but to no avail.

What just happened?

Warren left the hut, and headed to the main office. Carey was still gone so he left her a note, telling her that he was heading home early. He got into his car and put his head on the wheel. What happened in there? Warren couldn't wrap his head around it. One second he was about to get wet, and the next the hippo was wet instead. He shook his head and turned the ignition on. I can worry after I get home.

+++

Warren closed his front door behind him and locked it. "Hey there monster," he said, kissing his four year old, passed out sister on the forehead. Warren dropped off the bag full of his work stuff into his room, then headed to the bathroom. He knelt over the sink, and looked at his reflection in the mirror. "You're not going crazy, you're not going crazy!" He practically shouted.

He turned the sink on and splashed some water in his face. "Oh great now I'm getting wet," he said with a slight laugh. "But, when I want to wash a hippo..." That gave Warren an idea. Maybe it was one of those powers of positive thinking things. He wanted to wash a hippo so it happened.

Warren looked down and saw his sister's new water pistol. "Perfect!" He picked it up and filled it to the brim in the sink. Then, he walked into the living room and focused on his sister sleeping on the couch.

I want to squirt Becky, I want to squirt Becky. Warren put the pistol to his head and pulled the trigger. "Ahhh, DAMN that's hot!" He screamed, waking Becky.

"War War?" Becky murmured, sleepy eyed.

"Yeah, it's me hun, go back to sleep." Warren laid her back down and tucked her in.

"Alright." Just like that she was out.

Warren walked back to his room and collapsed onto his bed. "What happened with that hippo?" He just couldn't forget about something like that, it was one of those things that you hear about and immediately assume is fake. "Maybe I am just going crazy."

Out of boredom Warren started shooting his door from, his bed across the room. He was a good shot, each time hitting the imaginary bullseye he had painted on the door. He shot again and again until the spray of water began to dissipate to mere dripping. "Well, now I'm bored again."

Warren threw the gun at the door, without thinking about how heavy the gun was, or how fragile the doors in his apartment were. "Oh Fu-" Warren shouted as the gun left his hands. He reached his hand toward the projectile, as if he could catch the gun before it broke the door. But, he looked at the door the water dripping down the fake wood paneling began to pool together and caught the gun before it impacted with the door.

"Holy Shit." He said breathless. Then the pool of water collapsed to the ground, taking the gun with it.



==================== JORGE A. REYES =======================
"Faster, mijo!"

"I'm running coach, this is my limit!"

"It's not enough! Faster!"

Jorge pushed his legs to their max but they wouldn't go any faster.

"C'mon c'mon c'mon c'mon c'mon c'mon c'mon c'mon C'MOOONNNNN!!"

"You got this!"

"A bit faster and you can break the record for the fastest guy in school!"


Hearing his true friends cheering him on, he gained a little hope. Then he noticed a cute girl staring at him from behind the gates; which made him feel embarrassed because he started to feel slow.

He hated feeling slow. This alone gave Jorge what strength he needed to successfully break his limit.

"Yes!! You got this bro!"

Jorge ran faster and faster. A bit too fast, actually. He felt as if he could fly with the speed he was going. It took him 5 minutes to sprint around the soccer field twice; thus making jorge the new record holder. At the stop he was forced to jump up and plant his feet.  He was perfectly still, but the moment Jorge had just experienced forced him to keep moving until finally he reached the gate where the girl was. To avoid crashing into the gate, Jorge gave his legs one last strain before they failed him. This last amount of force send him flying past the gate and into a tree.

"Ouch! ...Ugh... I'm done for today.... Ah ah."


Jorge let out a big sneeze and all the leaves from the direction he faced flew away leaving empty branches on part of a nearby tree. Jorge failed to notice it, though, because his legs were still in pain..

"Whoa are you okay, dude?" said a random student passing by.

"What? Oh...yeah I'm fine." said Jorge.

~ ~ ~  

"Mom! I'm gonna go outside to practice!"

His mother walked into the room with a puzzled look.

"But it's raining. Don't tell me you recovered already? It's only been about four hours."

Jorge looked at his mother, visibly annoyed.

"Soccer isn't limited to when it rains. You know that."

Despite her puzzled look, she allowed Jorge to go outside. Thunder could be heard rolling outside but Jorge seemed unfazed.

~ ~ ~
30 minutes later Jorge was outside under the pouring rain, practicing some soccer drills.

"Number 9 has the ball... He dribbles, he jumps, AND...."

Jorge prepared to kick the ball towards a tree with all his might. A lightning bolt suddenly struck the tree.

It didn't stop him from going through with the kick.

The ball flew with so much speed it appeared as if wind started to form around it, like a horizontal tornado. As Jorge watched in amazement, the ball struck the tree with such a might that it ricocheted back to him, sending him to the ground, almost knocking him unconscious.

The rain poured harder as he muttered, "What the hell..."

He fainted shortly after.


==================== MILES J. NOVAK =======================
"Okay, dude, what the hell was that?" Travis asked, quickly snapping in his seatbelt and turning on the car.

"I...I dunno. It just sort of...happened!" Miles replied, breathing heavily in a mixture of panic and thrill. He couldn't help but look at his hand every few seconds. It wasn't blackened at all, or even red from burns. It was...just fine.

"You're alright, though?" Travis said, starting to reverse the car. "It didn't burn or anything?"

"Nope. I didn't feel anything except a little warmth."

"Damn," said Travis, chuckling a bit. "That was much cooler than catching a beach ball!"

Miles grinned. "Yeah I guess. Hey, maybe it's just like what those fire jugglers do. Like a lucky fluke?"

"That's probably it."

"Yeah..." He studied his hand again.

* * *

When he woke up late in the morning, he had to rub his red eyes to relieve some of the irritation. He hadn't been able to get much sleep; his mind was still stuck on what he had done. Could it really have been a big fluke? Maybe the fire caught his sleeve and the momentum of his swing flung it off? Miles still didn't have any answers.

"Miles!" his dad called from downstairs. He groaned in annoyance and stretched his arms, yawning.

"I'll be down there!"

His feet slammed against each step of the stairs, heavy with his summer laziness. His dad was on the phone, nodding and speaking into it, but Miles couldn't hear what he was saying. He finally hung up the phone.

"That was Travis's mom. She told me to tell you that Travis is waiting at the beach."

"Um...alright." Miles made his way to his car, puzzled. If Travis wanted to hang out, why didn't he just call him with his phone? Did he have to tell his mom to do it?

Was something wrong?

* * *

Miles slowly walked down the sandy beaches of California, looking around the crowded place for his friend. He finally located him near where the fire had been, as he could still see the charred logs sitting in a circle. "Hey, Travis! What's up?"

Travis had his back to Miles, but he did indeed hear him. He beckoned to Miles with his left hand, never showing his front.

"Uh, dude, is something wrong?" asked Miles, slowly stepping to his friend.

Travis shook his head, and he was actually....laughing. "Oh my God, you gotta see this!"

As Miles moved to the side to see what Travis was doing, his eyes widened. Travis moved his hand up and down, slowly, and with each pull upward, a small pillar of sand lifted up towards it. It fell back into the beach ground as his hand lowered.

"W-what are you doing? Is that like some kinda magic trick?"

"No, no! I just started doing this with my hand and the sand started moving! Look, I can do it over here, too!" He demonstrated by moving a few feet over, repeating the pattern. He started to move his hand up and down, and once again, the sand started to move with it.

"Holy shit, man! Do...do you think this has anything to do with what I did last night? With the log?"

Travis shrugged, moving to his feet. "That's what I wanted to test out. I brought my dad's lighter. Catch."

The lighter landed in Miles's waiting hands. "Oh, by the way. Why'd your mom call my house and not you yourself?"

"Oh," said Travis, scratching the back of his head. "When I was, uh, playing in the sand... I dropped it in and buried it. Can't find it anymore. So I sent my sister home to tell my mom to call you."

"Spazz," muttered Miles. He held the lighter before him, taking in a deep breath. "This better not burn my fingers off."

"I actually hope you can do cool stuff with it."

"That'd be dope." He flicked the lighter wheel a few times until he finally managed to get a small flame. He slowly moved his right hand over the fire, hesitant to touch it. Finally, he swiped it across the flame.
The fire was floating just above his palm, away from the lighter.

"Holy shit."

Miles started to carefully move his hand left and right, turning it upside down too. The flame thinned as he moved, following his palm like a stray dog and a child who recently fed it. It never once burned him, and it actually felt...comforting.

"This is too crazy," Miles said, admiring the flame.

"Here!" Travis said, lifting a small pillar of sand. "Throw it at this."

Miles shrugged, and reared his hand back like a baseball pitch. He threw the flame as hard as he could, and watched it dash forward, taking the shape of a ball with a small tail. It struck the pillar, and died, causing the sand to return to flat ground as it did.

A smile appeared on his face. "This is too awesome..."



==================== WARREN D. FARRIS =======================
Warren walked to the puddle and picked up the gun. "That settles it," he started. "I'm going crazy." He put the gun in his pocket and laid back down on his bed. "Maybe if I go to sleep everything will be alright in the morning."

Warren closed his eyes and slowly settled into sleep.

+++

"Wake up, Wake up, Wake up!" Becky jumped on to her brother and started pulling on his hair. "Wake up, silly!"

"Aggh, get off," Warren picked up the four year old girl and threw her to the other side of the bed. She giggled as Warren proceeded to tickle her squirming figure. "Had enough?"

"I give up!" The little girl squealed. Warren released her from his tickles of death and got out of bed. "Want breakfast?"

He looked at his sister, and ruffled her hair. "I'm good, is mom still home?"

"Nah, she left for work early." She ran out of the room, and a moment later screamed.

Shocked, Warren ran out of the room, into the kitchen. "What?"

"Milk!" The little girl cried out with a smile. "I love milk."

Warren exhaled in relief. "Then pour yourself a glass, I have to go change my clothes."
He walked back to his room and started changing his clothes, while the sounds of his sister struggling with the milk sounded in the background. "Be careful," he shouted through the paper thin walls.

When Warren got to his pants he felt the gun in his pocket, he took it out and inspected it. Did that really happen? He turned to the front of the door and looked for any sign of moisture. There was nothing, not even a glistening to prove there had ever been a pool of water there.

"Knew it," he said, as he got back to changing. "I'm crazy."

Warren walked out of his room, in fresh clothes, and into the kitchen. "I knew you'd make a mess," he grabbed a napkin and began dabbing at his milk covered sister. She merely smiled, proud of her work, as her brother cleaned up her mess.

"You should've helped." She picked up a bright blue cup and sipped. "Mmmm Milk."

"At least you got your milk." Warren picked up the cup in one hand and his sister in the other and walked to the living room. "Hey, I'm going to head out early," he said as he sat her down on the couch, and handed her her cup. "Your sitter will be here in an hour to watch you. Do you think you can handle the house for that long?"

Becky took a long sip of her milk and stared at her brother. "Sure," she said after a moment. "Just give me a refill." She smiled and handed him her now empty cup.

Warren laughed and took the cup. "Fine, Monster," he walked to the kitchen and grabbed the, now almost empty, milk jug and began pouring. He could hear the TV as Becky grabbed the remote and began switching through channels. "Just pick one and stick to it," he said, turning his head to look behind him.

"Fine," she pouted. "Hmmm, Nick or Disney?"

"I don't know... Disney," he said remembering how much he had loved that mouse.

"Okay, where's my milk?"

"Oh crap!" Warren had forgotten about the milk and was sure the cup had overflown. He turned his head back and was surprised to see the milk right at the top of the glass. It wasn't changing at all, not even a ripple moved across the milk from where he was pouring from the jug.

Warren swallowed the lump in his throat and placed the jug back on the counter. "Hey, Becks, your milk is on the counter. I'll be home soon." Warren rushed out the door, without waiting for his sister's response.

+++

Before he knew it Warren was back at the zoo, standing in front of the duck pond. If this doesn't work I'll look like an idiot... He walked up to the fence separating the people from the ducks, … If it does I'll look crazy... He gripped the fence, knowing he'd already made up his mind. … Let's do this.

He, quickly, reached over the fence and dipped his hand into the pond. Cupping his hand, he brought up his face. Looking around, he was assured that no one had noticed what he had done, in fact there didn't seem to be anyone around at all.

His sudden privacy making him a bit bolder, he threw the water into the air and focused on keeping it up. "Holy shit," above him rotated a small ball of water, small bubbles of air could be seen through the outside layer of liquid. It slowly floated down to Warren's eye level, where he held it there with both hands, he watched as a the orb continued to move around and around, staying perfectly spherical.

"Warren?" Came a voice from behind him. The water collapsed through his fingers and spread out to the floor. He put his wet hands into his pockets and turned around to see Carey walking toward him. "I thought you were sick."

"Ummm, I am," Warren was panicked, he didn't know how to explain this to his boss. "I just had to come back to get," he grabbed the first object he could get a hold of in his pocket and pulled it out. "This water pistol..."

Carey put her hands on her hips. "You came back for a water pistol?"

"Yep," Warren started to back away from his boss, toward the exit. "Now, if you don't mind, I need to get going." He turned around and ran for the exit, too freaked out to worry about what she'd think, and too excited to get home and try it again.



==================== JORGE A. REYES =======================
"Jorge, wake up!"

"M-mom?"

Jorge's mother gave a sigh of relief.

"What... happened?" Jorge asked with much confusion. He tried to get up but was stopped by a doctor pressing his hand against his shoulder.

"Well," his mother began, "I heard the thunder boom in the backyard. I smelled something burning, so I ran outside. Looked like lightning hit that tree, and when I found you passed out, I had to call a doctor... What happened back there?"

"All I remember was kicking my ball towards the tree after the lightning hit it. Then it ricocheted, hittin' me in the head..." Jorge explained

The doctor took a few notes and finally came to a conclusion, he looked up to explain his results. "Well Mr. Reyes, it's obvious you took a real hit; are you sure it was a ball that hit you? This injury seems a bit too much to b-"

"ARE YOU CALLING ME A LIAR?!" Jorge yelled immediately after the doctor's implication with his right eyebrow raised.

"JORGE ALEXIS REYES! WHERE ARE YOUR MANNERS?!" his mother yelled in response...

"I LEFT THEM BEHIND, 5 SECONDS AGO! AROUND THE SAME TIME HE CALLED ME A LIAR!" Jorge screamed back.

Jorge admitted he was a bit more irritable than usual; but he had his reasons.

"Uhh" interrupted the doctor "It's fine. Really. Here...just a prescription for antibiotics. That ball was a little hot when it hit you; it burned your core Nothing serious, but you'll need to rest to recover from those injuries."

"Can I ask what the 'other' injuries are?" asked Jorge's mother, now concerned more than ever.

"Well, he has a slight head damage and will probably fall much more easily. That means--"

Jorge interrupted yet again "No..."

"Excuse me?" asked the doctor, probably a little offended that his suggestion was just pushed aside by a 17-year-old.

"NO!" Jorge proceeded to get up despite his mother trying to hold him down. "I have a semi-finals match and I'm the captain of the team! Nothing's gonna stop me from leading my team to victory!"

The room filled with silence for a while. Jorge refused to move from where he stood.

"Fine... rest and nothing but warm massage therapy on your head, core, and legs. Starting today," the doctor said, finally breaking the silence.

"Thank you doctor..."

~ ~ ~

Before long it was midnight, and as soon as he heard his mother start to snore, Jorge made his way to the roof of the building. Tired he sat to look at the moon and the buildings of Brooklyn. He wanted to see stars, but with all the light pollution and what not in new york, it wasn't going to happen.

"What was that steroided crap I did?"

Jorge started to push his palm outwards and kick the air.

"Could've sworn I blew air out of my foot when I kicked that ball. Maybe the wind just blew while I kicked.... no that wind was directly behind my ball... Whatever the hell that was; no it wasn't anything... too much protein in my diet and that caused me to over do it... need to lay off those walnuts and chicken. From now on I'm giving my meats to Moose; dog will eat anything I give him."

Jorge started to breathe in and out to calm down and rethink the events that happened. He kept doing this for awhile until he got up to do the drills he did in the fields.

"That girl... who was she? She sure was cute. Definitely didn't attend Gramercy Arts..."

Jorge pondered that thought. He wanted to regain control of his breathing. He seemed to be getting a habit where he held his breath when he worked out, causing him to lose energy more quickly.

Jorge inhaled in and out.

It might have been him but he felt like his breaths were getting louder despite him not making any more effort than what he usually does for inhaling. By the time Jorge noticed, he opened his eyes to find a small pile of leaves around where he was sitting.

"Was... this here before? Dah...I'm just tired...."

Jorge made his way downstairs then went straight to bed. He just wanted this weird day to end.