“Anything new today?” “Nope, killed a couple more karni klowns last week, same old same old. How about you?” “They added a new game where you try to roll a ball in your goal on a field full of pillars and walls while you control one tipping axis and your opponent controls the other.” “Any tough contenders?” “Almost lost the first couple of times, after that I never had any problems.”

The months had passed by quickly. Nick had managed to hunt and kill two dozen karni klowns throughout the park. Yohan had become a bit of a local legend as the reigning champion of all the game shows. Currently, they were eating cream cookie funnel cakes, an experiment the fried bread vendor was hoping to add to the menu, for lunch. It was a sunny day on the main terrace. Each of the tables had shapes and colors like a circus’s big top. In the center was a fresco of a giant clown’s face, likely another one of Mr. Workle’s homages to his famous ancestor. Mr. Workle had given them free room and board at one of the dimension’s many hotels and after a few weeks was so impressed with how they did that he gave them unlimited free access to all the rides.

“About my PK training, I just can’t seem to find a good use for Leprechaun’s Cornucopia. I played with the pellets for hours and the most complicated thing I could make them do was build a scale model of the O’Mann mansion. My uncle had dozens of Powers he used every day. Can’t I start to learn something else?” “I have a hunch that your Trick has more to it than meets the eye. It’s always best to at least get a complete understanding of one’s first Power, even for Tricks. It’s the point where beginning PK Masters derive from to learn all manner of applications for PK. A Master spends their whole life refining and adding new facets to their Powers. Attempting to develop Powers that don’t come naturally is like driving in reverse, it’s better to have a solid foundation in the normal way of doing things before attempting.” “Wow, with wisdom like that, you could open up a PK Temple somewhere if this Master thing doesn’t work out.” “Thanks, I got it all from my Dad. So, what do you want to do today? We’re leaving for Helgram in a couple of days.” “Want to ride a rollercoaster? I have to work on my fears, so I might as well start on one of the more irrational ones.” “Sweet, I can’t’ wait to see the view!”

***

They approached the back of the line. The entry building was mostly wood planks covered by a quilt-patterned tarp. It was the only roller coaster without a theme or gimmick, so therefore to Yohan, it was the least visually intimidating. As they were taking their place in line, a man yelled out, “Hey, it’s Man O’Mann!” People started looking around interested while Yohan attempted to look inconspicuous by putting his head down. A park worker, easily identified by his purple jeans and suspenders, red shoes, and a yellow t-shirt with a clown’s face on the front, came up to them and said, “It’s you! What are you doin’ waitin’ in line for? C’mon, heroes get cutsies.” The park worker motioned them to follow him directly to the front as the people cheered him, much to Yohan’s dismay.

Sitting at the front of the coaster, Nick asked a knee-shaking Yohan, “Man O’Mann?” “Yes... It’s what they call me... On stage.” “Wow, they must treat people who win as much as you like celebrities!” “Well, I did pledge to donate all the gold I’m being paid to a visiting group of orphan kids.” “What?" “It’snotmyfault! I know you wanted to use that money for HCs, but when I’m under the spotlight everything falls out of perspective. I just felt so heroic and I wanted to make those sad kids happy and..." “That sounds awesome!” “Huh?” “When you get caught up in the drama of the stage you turn brave! If we could just figure out how to apply that, you could be on the fast track to being a Master. And kudos on that donating thing, the bigger the reputation, the better!”

Yohan was confused, he had expected Nick to lash out at him like when his uncle found him feeding scraps to wild animals. He was so confused that he forgot to remember to be scared when the ride started.

Suddenly, as they approached the top of the first drop, the track at the bottom of the hill erupted into five explosions in a straight line. The people started screaming out of panic rather than thrill as they dropped. Yohan was about to scream louder than any of them when somehow Nick slipped out of his harness, stretched his arms to grip the bottom of the front car and, using the g-force of the drop, stretched his body so that his feet were gripping the back cart and expanded his body several times the size of the train of carts. As Nick’s body caught the wind, the carts began to slow their descent. Once they reached the missing portion of the track, they all safely glided to the ground.

The carts landed in the gap between the scaffolding of the coaster on a pile of smoking rubble. The area was filled with the sound of panicking people and crying children as a rescue crew dressed in thick helmets and heavy yellow coats broke down the wall that separated the coaster from the crowd with a series of cracks from axes and proceeded to tend to the victims. After they were all safely outside of ground zero, Yohan, in between hyperventilating breaths, asked Nick, “Whatwasthat?" “Something I picked up from the karni klowns.” “That was some accident! I didn’t even know roller coasters had gas running that far down the track.” “That wasn’t an accident, that was PK. I could sense Aura in those explosions.” “Who would do something like that? Why would someone do something like that?” “That’s what I’d like to know.”

Nick closed his eyes and attempted to reach out with his Aura. He imagined a tendril of it coming from his body and sweeping all around him, extending a little at a time, feeling out the Auras of the people it made contact with. Most of the Auras he detected from the horrified yet enthralled onlookers were unrefined, but about one out of every twelve showed signs of training. Suddenly, he managed to identify an Aura way more massive than any within his range in the middle of a crowd.

Nick opened his eyes and looked right at the source of the large Aura. A man with features obscured by a trench coat and fedora suddenly started pushing through the crowd and fleeing in the opposite direction. “There! Follow me!” Shouted Nick before diving into the crowd himself before a confused Yohan followed.

They chased the man throughout the park, feet clacking on the bricked ground as evenly-spaced trees, park goers, and colorful buildings housing attractions rushed by. He attempted to shake them off by tipping carts and other things into their path, but Nick managed to quickly leap over them with practiced grace. Yohan, meanwhile, was panting trying to keep up with Nick.

Eventually, the man ducked inside a show theater through an entrance that was one of two flanked by a flat box office below a large sign. Closed for maintenance, check back soon! Nick ran through a foyer decorated by potted plants and mirrored walls past an entrance to the left of a small concession stand.

He arrived at the back of the theater at the top of a slope with three square sections of simple theater seats between two empty walkways. The stage at the bottom of the slope rose above the floor up to Nick’s neck and looked large enough to accommodate twenty performers, fifty if they were a stationary band. In between the drawn back front curtain and the back curtain hiding the backstage was the man with his back to Nick, his form completely obscured by his coat and hat.

“Hey!” Yelled Nick. The man remained silent. “Why did you blow up that rollercoaster?” Said Nick as he was making his way down the aisles. Nick jumped, grabbed the ledge, and climbed onto the stage. “You can’t use PK that recklessly! You could have gotten someone hurt, or worse!” Nick reached out to the man’s shoulder with his left hand. “Say something, you-” Nick realized too late what he was walking into when he touched the man and only felt empty space.

The coat erupted into an explosion, forcing Nick to leap back with a sharp pain on his palm as the dress stand fell in pieces. “Darn, that was pathetic. Though I can hardly expect much from a rush job.” said a voice from stage left.

Nick looked and saw a man with black hair in a white T-shirt, khakis, and leather loafers walking steadily towards him. He was half a head shorter than Nick, had five o’clock shadow on his chin, and looked to be in his early thirties.

“Who are you?” Demanded Nick. “Me? I’m Louie Zacchmo, Terror Master extraordinaire.” “What’s a Terror Master doing here?” “Well, there’s money to be made in population centers like this one. I’ve been here for over two years after slipping that ransom note in the main office. The first few bombings were at night, but when that didn’t get any results, I decided to go all the way and shed some blood. Who could have predicted a kid with a crazy Power would come along and ruin things for me? Eh, I guess it would shake things up if I killed you. Nothing personal, just business.”

Nick was about to retort with an, I’d like to see you try. But unfortunately, Louie decided to make the first move. He jumped backward while swinging his arm in an arc. Nick rolled out of the way as a curved object sailed over his body, curved around in midair, and flew back to Louie’s hand.

A boomerang? He must have void pockets on those pants! There’s no telling what he’ll use on me! Nick quickly decided to calm down and assess the situation. He recalled some words spoken by his mother during his training years. “When fighting other PK Masters, try to pick out little details on how they fight. If you can understand their Powers and their mechanics, then you instantly gain an advantage.”

He’s clearly able to turn solid objects into bombs that he can trigger at will. He mentioned something about a rush job. His coat’s explosion was tiny compared to the ones on the rollercoaster. If he prefers to use throwing weapons then he must need constant contact with whatever he wants to turn into a bomb for a certain amount of time for it to be effective. To beat a Power like that, I’ll need to get close.

Nick charged at Louie, turned two fingers on his uninjured hand into the claws of a neevil, and started slashing at him. Louie dodged most of the strikes but Nick managed to feint with his other hand and cut him on the side of his stomach.

Louie backed away before throwing some marbles at Nick’s feet. Nick jumped back as the marbles exploded, prompting Louie to throw a couple of knives into Nick’s chest, exploding his hollow shell apart.

Nick reappeared behind Louie, wrapped him in the tentacles of a seven-tailed treemaster, used Aura to reinforce his body, and grabbed his neck to put him in a sleeper hold.

Just as Louie’s body was beginning to go slack, his back erupted in a powerful explosion, burning Nick’s arms and chest while sending him flying back.

While Louie was catching his breath, Nick struggled through the pain to get a look at him. The back of his shirt ripped apart and the skin on his back was red, raw, and bruised. He must have used a Forbidden Power to turn his own body into a bomb! Forbidden Powers have Limits that harm their Masters, but in exchange, they tend to produce the strongest or most complex results!

Nick tried to get up, but the pain was so intense that he nearly went into shock. Louie turned around, walked forward, and kneeled beside Nick, held up a dagger over his chest and was about to plunge it down when suddenly something yellow struck his head and he fell over.

Nick looked at him and to his surprise, a gold-colored weasel beetle made of solid energy was clinging to his would-be assailant’s body with its proboscis buried halfway in his head. Suddenly, Yohan appeared from the corner of Nick’s vision and knelt next to him as he lost consciousness.