Abel grabbed a pair of binoculars from the table, and peered through them, looking at the waters of the Hudson.  Sure enough, several large boats were closing fast.  By Abel’s estimate, they were about ten miles away, and closing fast.  Already, a small truck driven by a Player had pulled up.  Leil ran over and opened the back.  Inside were stacks of javelins and primitive crossbows.  Weapons, in case the people manning the boats weren’t friendly.  Abel ran up to Leil, gently grabbing her wrist.  Leil looked at him, her face all serious.  The odds were good that these guys were invaders.  There was no time for jokes.  Abel asked another question: “When did these guys show up?”

“A guy in Queens saw them around five in the morning, and they should be here in roughly half an hour.  We’re already prepping for war, but we don’t know what they’re doing here.”

“How many are there?”

“Three hundred-footers, and from what we’ve seen, they each have a small boat or two.  These are either adults, or kids from someplace else who happen to be smart.”

For the next twenty minutes, Abel watched the fleet through binoculars, and tried to glean some information from Sham.  He got nowhere.  Then, when the boats were about half a mile away, everyone’s fears were confirmed-they were invaders.  A high whistling sound rang through the air, and something flew off of the largest boat’s deck.  Sham shouted “Flare!”, and everyone dove to the side.  Suddenly, there was a small explosion, and a foot-wide circle of the ground a few meters from Abel was singed.  The crew of the boat had fired a signal flare at them.  Six Players ran for the truck, grabbed crossbows, and assembled on the edge of the docks.  Sham raised one arm into the air, and the archers each nocked an arrow.  Then, Sham brought the arm down sharply, and the archers fired.

Most of the arrows bounced harmlessly off the boats’ hull, but one of them hit the largest boat’s bridge window, shattering it.  In response, each boat fired another signal flare.  Everyone ducked, trying to avoid the killer projectiles.  Sham shouted orders, and another dozen archers started firing arrows.  Out of the blue, seven kids armed with spears jumped up on the largest boat’s deck, and started firing.  All of the kids had healthy tans, and most had bleached blonde hair.  All of a sudden, a small portable radio sitting on the map desk crackled to life.  Abel, Leil, and Sham ran over, anxious to hear the transmission.  “Aggressive citizens of New York City, you are interrupting a regular pillage.  Stay back or risk the consequences.”  Sham looked at the biggest boat and shouted.  “It’s gonna take more than that to scare us!”

Then, something plum-shaped and bumpy flew onto the dock.  Abel recognized it instantly, and shouted “Grenade!  Everybody down!”  Sure enough, ten seconds later, the grenade blew.  The crowd of Players retreated into the train station, arming their crossbows for a second assault.  From behind a faded Ellis Island ferry service sign, Abel saw the ships docking.  A group of kids got off, most of which were carrying flare launchers.  The rest had knives strapped to their wrists.  Sham looked at Abel from behind a nearby sign.  “So,” Abel said.  “These are the guys we need to be worrying about?”  Sham nodded, motioning for five of the crossbow-wielding soldiers to fire.  Instantly, another skirmish erupted.

The arrows whizzed through the air, clipping several of the kids in the shoulder or arm.  It didn’t seem to have much effect on them, but they were definitely in pain.  In response, the tallest teenager brought his arm up, and then down, like Sham did.  Two flare launchers fired, and everyone scattered.  Abel found Leil in the panic, and the two scrambled into a minivan parked near the train tracks.  In the trunk was a stack of thick books.  While rifling through them, Abel shouted back to Leil “What’s going on out there?”

“Said it once, gonna say it again, Dante’s Inferno.  Most of Sham’s guys hightailed it out of there, but these sailors are turning over anything that can be turned over.”

“I’m guessing Johnny Depp and Orlando Bloom aren’t in that crowd”

“Nada, but these guys are about as piratey as you can get, minus the peglegs and parrots.”

Abel looked out the window.  What must have been the entire crew of all three ships were combing the train station, busting open car doors and walking between the train tracks.  Leil grabbed a copy of War and Peace from the trunk and grinned at Abel.  “Wanna take a shot at a few?”  Abel smiled back, tossing a couple of books into the front seat.  Leil cranked down the window, and threw a complete collection of Shakespeare at a nearby pirate.  He instantly collapsed, and the rest of the tribe began shouting, looking around for whoever had taken one of their own out.  Then, one turned his head towards the minivan.  Abel and Leil had been spotted.

Instantly, Abel hit the gas.  Luckily, the keys were still in it, and the pair raced out of the train station.  Twenty minutes later, they were back at the Toys R Us.  Inside, dozens of Players and other members of Sham’s militia were looking at photos and talking nervously.  Sham was talking with three teenagers whom Abel recognized as tribe leaders.  Abel and Leil walked over to the four leaders.  Sham was just finishing off a strategy proposal.  “So,” Leil said.  “Anything new?”  Sham answered without looking up.  “Just made radio contact ten minutes ago.  The tribe is called the Sea Kings, they’re looking to pillage NYC, they have captives-and they’re from halfway across the world.  These guys are from New Zealand.”

The streets of NYC were eerily quiet.  Even after over ten months post-Virus, Abel couldn’t get over the freakiness of what was once a bustling city suddenly becoming a near-ghost town.  He and Leil were walking to the Unisphere park, which had been turned into a primitive market.  Leil turned to Abel.  “So,” she said.  “Sham wanted us to do what again?”  Abel stopped.  “Simple,” he replied.  “All we need to do is go to the market, get a few cans of gasoline, and get back to the store with our lives.”  Leil grinned.  It was unlikely that anyone would ambush them, but the odds were constantly tilting.

Finally, they got to the market.  The Unisphere Trading Market was comprised of about fifty stalls, most of which went on either side of the paths surrounding the giant metal earth.  It was always crowded, with at least a couple hundred people trying to get food, or water, or just about anything for their tribe.  Greeting them at one of the signposts that advertised one of the merchants was a pair of kids, a boy and a girl.  The boy seemed to be about twelve or thirteen, and wore wire-rim glasses and thin multicolored stripes that dappled his cheeks.  The girl, who seemed to be his sister, looked to be a few years younger, with a childish grin and a blue diamond on her forehead.  Immediately, the girl shrieked and ran behind her brother.  The older boy just chuckled to himself and shook both Abel and Leil’s hands.

“Name’s Wells.  The girl behind me is my sister, Maya.  Sorry if she seems a little skittish.  Last time she saw you-”

He gestured towards Leil.

“Last time she saw you, you were riding in a police car with Krios at the helm.  Nothing personal.”

Leil shook her head.  “Get that a lot, actually.”  Wells started walking into the market.

“Well, are you planning to get anything?”

Leil looked up.  “Some gasoline, actually.”  Wells smiled, leading Abel and Leil through the crowd of kids and teens that were haggling and bartering.  Finally, they got to a stall.  A sign that hung from the roof read: Mally’s Auto Parts.  Inside, there were a couple wooden shelves loaded with tires, gasoline cans, and a few car manuals.  At the back of the stall, two people, one boy and one girl, were arguing.  Wells pointed at the girl.  “That’s Mally.  Spunkiest girl I have yet to meet.”  Mally was around fifteen, with long brown hair set in three braids, a backwards baseball cap, and a face stained with engine grease.  She was shouting at the boy, something about a faulty transmission.  Wells pretended to loudly cough.  Mally turned, and Wells mouthed “customers”.  She put on a grin and walked over to them.

Ten minutes later, Abel and Leil were walking away from Mally’s shop carrying four cans of gasoline.  Walking alongside them were Wells and Maya, and the four were eagerly chatting.  While Abel and Wells talked about some of the rumors of tribe activity, Leil was telling Maya a few of her Cyberpunk adventures, which alternately made her grin and look terrified.  Just when Leil was getting to the part where Wingnut almost fell from the Hayden Planetarium roof, there was a smattering of screams as two stalls crashed to the ground.  Parked in the rubble was an ATV.  Sitting on the ATV was Wingnut himself, grinning like a metal patient.  Behind him were two more ATVs, and behind those was a graffiti-covered police car.  The car’s door flew open, and a teenager stepped out.  There was a moment of silence as the crowd figured out what was happening.  Krios, along with the rest of the Cyberpunks, had arrived.  Then the panic started.

Everyone scattered, screaming their heads off.  The Cyberpunks advanced, grabbing people at random and knocking them to the ground.  It was complete mayhem, which was just how Krios liked it.  Abel, Leil, Wells, and Maya ducked behind a food stall, staying as quiet as possible.  Then, the stall was uprooted by a Cyberpunk.  Leil recognized her as one of the lower-ranking subordinates, a girl named Terra.  There was no getting out of this one without a fight.  Leil shot her a sarcastic grin.  “Once a Cyberpunk,” she said.  “Always a Cyberpunk?”  Terra looked puzzled for a moment, trying to place Leil’s face, giving Wells the perfect opportunity to leap at her.  The two hit the ground, but not for long.  Terra picked herself up and started to beat Wells to a pulp.  She didn’t get the chance though, because Maya latched onto her back, and held her around the neck, screaming “Don’t touch my brother!”

Meanwhile, Abel and Leil each grabbed onto one of Terra’s legs, and the Cyberpunk went down again.  The four kids made a break for it, losing Terra in the crowd.  The Cyberpunks were attempting to drive everyone to the exits.  Leil assumed that once everybody else was gone, they were going to pillage the market for supplies.  Unfortunately, it wasn’t going to be that easy for them.  A group of teenagers had blockaded the main exit, and were fighting off Krios and his goons.  Wells grabbed his sister’s hand, and the two made a dash for one of the smaller exits.  Abel and Leil followed, and in minutes, the two were a block away from the park.  Panic had spread, and kids were running through the streets like mad.  Chasing them was a Cyberpunk on an ATV, who kept throwing black objects that Abel suspected were flash grenades.  Sure enough, two seconds after the ATV rider threw an object, it emitted a deafening noise and a blinding flash of light.  Wells turned to the three, and said “Those things won’t give off shrapnel, but they will disorient you long enough for them to catch you, and you know what they say-”  The rest of the group responded in unison.

“Cybers take no prisoners.”

Abel, Leil, Wells, and Maya ducked into an alley, while the ATV driver passed by.  The group waited a few minutes, then ran out, prepared to make a break across the street, when a flash grenade flew towards them, hitting Wells in the temple.  He went down, and the grenade blew, knocking the other three to the ground.  The Cyberpunk grabbed Maya’s wrist, pulling her up and putting a Swiss army knife to her throat.  Abel and Leil got up, tackling the Cyberpunk, and freeing Maya.  Wells looked up, dazed, and saw that the Cyberpunk had almost immediately gotten to his feet, and had started to fight with Abel and Leil, while Maya watched from the doorstep of a nearby building.

Wells grabbed a plank of wood that was lying in the street and threw it at the Cyberpunk.  It hit him dead on, right in the forehead, and he stumbled.  Leil took the opportunity to kick him in the shin, and the guy collapsed.  All four ran for it, not wanting to find out if he’d get up.  When they got to the Queensboro Bridge, they found a police barricade.  Krios had been planning this.  Luckily, there were no guards, which was odd.  But when they started running across the bridge, they heard a familiar siren wailing behind them.  The Cyberpunks were catching up.  Maya, thinking fast, grabbed some wood and tossed it at the wheel.  The wood splintered, and flattened the tire, sending the police car skidding to a halt.  Krios and half a dozen of his goons got out and started chasing the four on foot.

Abel led the others over to the edge of the bridge.  Leil looked at him, realizing what he was about to do.  “Are you nuts?”  Abel shook his head, nervous.  In seconds, the Cyberpunks would have caught them.  Without saying anything, he grabbed Leil’s hand and the two jumped three hundred feet into the river below.  Wells and Maya hesitantly followed, leaping over the side.  The moment the kids hit the water, they swam for shore as fast as they could.  Running through the streets, they saw that despite the flat tire, the police car was still following them, albeit slightly slower than before.  The group ran onto a sidewalk, but the car kept chasing them from the streets.  After a few blocks, everyone ducked into a small convenience store.  Seeing that they had escaped, the Cyberpunks stopped the car and ran inside after them.  But they were nowhere to be found.

Two stories above the street, Wells looked down and grinned at Maya, ruffling her hair.  “Good thing you found the loft, eh?” he said, while Maya proudly grinned up at him.  Meanwhile, Abel and Leil were looking for a way out.  A minute later, all four were hightailing it down the fire escape.  Krios, cursing Leil, stomped back to the police car.  In the alleyway behind the building, the group that the Cyberpunks were chasing had already gone their separate ways.

#10.  Room of Requirement.  Okay, this is an actual space, rather than an item, but come on-what moron would turn down a room that becomes whatever they want it to be?  What would I make it?  To be honest, I just can’t decide!  Good thing it can change from Dumbledore’s Army training room to a magical artifact warehouse in an instant.

#9. Durational Spectrometer.  This is a piece of old tech from the SyFy show Warehouse 13.  It’s basically a security camera that records holographic images of whatever passes through its line of sight.  In other words, it’s totally awesome.  Why would I want to have this?  Because my little brother, Eli, likes to rampage through my room.  Maybe I could record a message or something and seriously freak him out.  Mwa-ha-ha-ha-ha, I’m so evil!

#8. Sultan Mimicker.  This awesome giant robot is from Scott Westerfield’s book Behemoth.  In the story, the ruler of Istanbul/Constantinople (same city, different names) sits in front of a giant robot that’s dressed in the same clothes that he’s wearing.  Now here’s the fun part: every time the sultan moves, the robot mimicks it.  It’s kind of like Buddha meets a giant metallic mime.  Usage?  Besides being able to ominously gesture at people?  C’mon, how awesome would it be to have a robot that copies your every move?  It’s like Mini-Me, only it’s huge and not as disgusting.

#7. The Tablet of Akhmenrah.  This is from the cheesy-but-awesome Night at the Museum.  Think a device that allows you to bring models, skeletons, paintings, basically anything inanimate, to life.  If I’m not wrong, the tablet is constructed of PURE AWESOME.  Just think of the possibilities!  Mannequins serving you breakfast, the Mona Lisa striking up a conversation with you, giant statues rampaging through Times Square while crushing pedestrians… sorry, my brain was stuck on Godzilla mode for a second there.

#6. Genie’s Lamp.  Maybe I’m still getting over Post-Disney World Withdrawl, but there’s no denying it-any three wishes is PURE AWESOME.  My three wishes would probably be: omnipotence, rule over the world, and for Hannah Graybeal to like me.  Ooops, that was wrong!  Three wishes: omnipotence, rule over the world, and… nah, I’ve got nothing else.

#5. Sonic cannon.  Imagine this: you walk up to my front door, ring the doorbell, and BAM! you’re hit with a pulse of force like nothing else.  That, my friend, is a Terra Nova sonic cannon.  Those babies can non-lethally take out an enemy in battle, break into a cabinet, or stun an angry Carnotaurus.  There are also sonic rifles and pistols, all of which are pretty dang cool.

#4. Reaper Bookmark.  This is from a pretty obscure, yet not half bad anime known as Black Butler.  Basically, it’s set in Victorian England, where a twelve-year-old business magnate named Ciel Phantomhive (I mentioned him before) makes a deal with a demon to avenge the death of his parents.  There’s just one small stipulation in the contract-once the death is avenged, the demon gets to eat Ciel’s soul.  The Reaper Bookmark is a magical thingamajig that can be used to control the present and change the past.  In other words, you would have complete control of world history.  PURE AWESOME.

#3. Animation Spell.  Hailing from Rick Riordan’s The Throne of Fire, it’s an animation spell, which is more like an animation potion.  All you do is drink it and poof, everything around you comes to life and goes under your control.  The only downside is that the potion tastes like dung+swamp water divided by Twilight (which is the stinkiest, worst thing ever made, other than Justin Bieber albums).  So, if you had to drink a downright awful beaker of who-knows-what, but it turns briefcases into guerilla soldiers, would you?  For me, maybe.

#2. The Eye.  Another piece of Terra Nova technology, the Eye is a supercomputer that allows you to sit in a cool-looking chair and access pretty much every piece of information ever recorded, including simulations of roller coasters.  Plus, you can do it all via hologram.  Now, I don’t know about you, but what part of that isn’t PURE AWESOME?  No part, that’s what.

#1. Plexpad.  More Terra Nova!  Think of an iPad frame that can project a sheet of holographic info into the air between it.  If that description confuses you, just look at this photo:

It’s portable, energy-efficent (at least, that’s what the ads say), and best of all, it can store almost anything on it!  Books, homework, medical data on killer parasites, and so much more!

So, are you guys drooling over these magical/technological/just plain cool items and whatnot!  Don’t forget, each and every one of them is (Running gag alert!) PURE FREAKIN’ AWESOME.

1. Season one.  Unless the past couple of months have all been a dream, we just finished this one!  We are introduced to most of the major characters, we learn to loathe (and love, if you’re sadistic) the Moles, and, for the first time ever on this blog, actual romance!
2. Season two.  In the upcoming season, the Sea Kings invade, to kidnap and ravage and not give a hoot (drink up, me hearties, yo ho).  We’re also going to see a romance-based B plot starring a Sea King named Gil, Abel, and Leil.  Plus, I plan to solidify the ties between Abandoned and The Tribe, though it probably won’t be as originally planned.
3. Season three.  This time, the clockwork-obsessed Timekeepers attack, bringing with them a pair of twins (Kismet and Tisket) that turn out to be more trouble than they’re worth, a hypochondriac dude named Tock, and a lot of steampunk apparel.
4. Season four.  The Coalition of Remakers, a tribe dedicated to remaking the world in their image, swoop in and set off quite a few firecrackers.  While these guys are actually sort of reasonable, that doesn’t keep them from being a threat.
5. Season five.  The final season.  Most of my plans for this one are under wraps, and for a good reason-not that I’m telling you, of course!  But what I will tell you is that an all-powerful tribe called the Judges invade, and we go beyond the sprawling cityscape of NYC to uncover the truth about the Virus.

This season got a ton of good input (at least from one of my friends, who has read every episode), and I hope for next season to be any better.  If I could make a bunch of Abandoned music videos, trailers, etc, I totally would, but that’s kind of beyond my capacity (Cut me some slack, I’m eleven!).  So take my word for it: season two will be the best yet.  Of course, that’s not much, but just wait!

P.S. Did any of you guys spot the two hidden references to the first two episodes in the finale?  If so, comment!

Errol figured that his watch was almost over.  Then again, as the head of the Tropic Dock Guard, he was required to put in at least four hours a day, so maybe not.  It didn’t really matter-neither did time, these days.  Day and night, that was all that mattered.  Suddenly, a twig snapped behind a stack of crates.  Errol jumped, his leather whip cracking as he spun around to see what had made the noise.  Then again, that could have been the late afternoon watch.  That theory was disproven as soon as the person walked out.  Her hair was blonde, almost white, dyed in some places with blue.  She was wearing some sort of armor, and shadows of green surrounded her sharp gray eyes.  Errol recognized her the exact second she raised her staff.  ”Moles,” he whispered.  Famous last words.

An hour later

“So, who was this guy?” Leil said.  Abel and Leil’s search party had found no trace of Martina, except for a body on the docks where the Ellis Island ferries used to operate.  Abel responded with a shrug of the shoulders.  ”Dunno.  Probably a Tropic, they own these docks.  He has a badge, so he’s one of the Dock Guard.  Maybe even the leader.  Either way, we’re a little too late.  My guess is, Martina killed him and hijacked one of the ferries.”  He waved his hand, motioning to the pair of big white boats with the words ELLIS ISLAND FERRY SERVICE. Both were in various states of disrepair, but the Tropics had managed to get a few running, and used those to get from their home on the harbor’s islands to Manhattan.  One of the soldiers had been looking one of the ferries up and down since they had arrived.  She looked up, a sly smile on her face.  ”I think I can get her working,” she said cheerfully.  In a couple of minutes, they were motoring through the water, towards the turquoise Statue of Liberty.

Meanwhile, on the island itself, Martina was walking around the grassy park that surrounded the statue.  Not a lot of people came here anymore, since without the adults keeping the statue in top shape, there was always the threat of Lady Liberty crashing down.  All of a sudden, Martina heard running footsteps coming from a nearby path, close to an information kiosk.  She turned to see a group of soldiers bearing down on her.  One of them, a girl with an eye of Horus on one cheek, threw a makeshift spear at her.  Martina ducked, running at them and punching one in the face.  The girl ran over to him, helping him back up.  Martina and the team continued fighting for a few minutes, until the Mole leader leaped over the rail and dived into the water.

The soldiers ran over to the metal rail, looking over the side.  Abel looked at Leil, and said, “She can’t possibly get to the other side.”  Leil pointed towards Ellis Island.  “Yeah,” she said.  “But maybe she could make it there.  If she was lucky.”  Sure enough, a second later, Martina’s head popped up about halfway between the two shores.  Abel shouted “Fire!”, and the other soldiers threw their spears at her.  Noticing her vulnerability, Martina shot underwater again.  One of the soldiers, a girl named Jenn, leaped over the side.  The others followed suit, and soon they were searching the area outside the Ellis Island facility.

It must have been a couple hours before they found any sign of her-muddy footprints leading into the building.  They were about to head inside, but Abel realized something.  “Wait a sec,” he said.  “Martina’s shoes would be dry by now, assuming she didn’t do go for another dip.”  Sure enough, they heard something drop down from a tree.  Spinning 360, the group saw Martina standing not five meters in front of them, tittering with delight, exactly like that prisoner, Zalla.  Jenn charged her, but Martina took a sharp sheet of metal out of her pocket, and slapped Jenn upside the head with it.  Blood instantly began to flow from her cheek, and another soldier named Brian ran to her side, pressing a washcloth to her face.

That left Abel, Leil, and a guy who called himself Zip fighting Martina.  Leil grabbed at Martina’s shoulder, pulling her down while Abel and Zip kicked at her knees.  In seconds, she was down, but not for long.  She sliced at Zip’s wrist with her makeshift knife, making him yowl out in pain, and causing him to stagger away.  Abel and Leil fell back into the Ellis Island museum, but charged back into the open.  Martina had vanished yet again.  Zip, who was leaning against a tree, cursing, said he saw Martina headed for the docks, but nothing more.  Abel wrapped Zip’s wrist in a cloth bandage, gathered Jenn and Brian, and combed the island, looking for a way back to the mainland.  Finally, a Tropic named Huck let them use his speedboat to try and find Martina again.  Luckily, Huck had also seen somebody swimming in the water towards the Statue of Liberty, so the soldiers headed back towards the island, stopping at the shaded docks where the ferries used to dock, before the Virus.

The group split up, Abel and Leil searching the arrival area where people used to buy Statue of Liberty merchandise, and Jenn, Zip, and Brian searching the green parks behind the statue.  Leil was wandering through the torn remains of a gift shop when she heard Martina’s voice echoing throughout the main plaza.  “Oh, Leil.”  Leil jumped out of the gift shop and ran through the island, trying to find Martina.  Then, she stepped out of the treeline, one arm around Abel’s neck.  Leil screamed “Get away from him!” and charged her.  Martina drew a pocket knife from her pocket and held it against Abel’s jugular vein.  “I wouldn’t be so sure, little Leil,” she said.  “One false move, and your friend won’t last a minute.”

All of a sudden, a voice came out from the trees.  “Fifty-nine, fifty-eight, fifty-seven…”  The voice counted down, while Martina stood.  She might have looked fierce, except for the nervous look in her eyes.  She was in a bad place, and she knew it.  When the voice reached one, Sham and about two dozen of his militia leaped out from the trees, spears raised, aimed at Martina.  Instead of surrendering, which Leil would have done in that position, she just laughed, threw the knife down, and released Abel.  He ran back to Leil, and the two hugged, Abel gasping for breath.  They looked at Martina, trying to guess her next move.  Martina cleared her throat, and began to talk.

“I suppose you’re going to kill me now, and I wouldn’t blame you.  After all, look at all the chaos and death me and the Moles have caused.  But I shouldn’t be what you’re worried about.  You see, I’m but a pawn on the board of a person that could change the course of this planet’s history forever.  You see, he’s still out there.”

And with that, she slammed her fist against her chest.  Her eyes went wide, and then suddenly lifeless.  She slumped to the ground, a sick grin still on her face.  Sham and another soldier ran up and crouched down next to her.  The other soldier, who Abel recognized as a kid named Wells, placed two fingers against her neck, feeling for a pulse.  He shook his head.  A hollow, but not exactly sad, look crossed Sham’s face.  NYC’s worst enemy yet was dead, and he had no idea how.  What’s more, her last words made no sense.  Leil whispered something into Abel’s ear.  “You think… you think she was talking about an adult?  Saying that he was back and all?”  Abel whispered back.  “If so, there’s a whole lot going on in this world that we don’t know yet.”

“Isn’t there always?”

Sham and Wells stood up from examining Martina’s body, and announced their findings.  Apparently, Martina had committed suicide.  There was a somewhat blunt blade inside her chest plate.  By slamming it, she had shoved a knife directly into her heart, killing her instantly.  Wells walked away, followed by Sham, the soldiers, and finally Abel and Leil.  On the way out, Abel caught one last glance at the body.  Already, her skin was pale, almost greenish, but her smile was as twisted as ever.  Fitting, Abel thought.  Disturbingly fitting.

He’s still out there…..

#10. Die.  Yup, that’s right.  No pain, no gain.  And since there are so many ways to get six feet under in Spore, why not make the most of it?  Death isn’t funny in real life, but in Spore, you can die by getting hit by money bags, and that’s just plain goofy.  I mean, just look at how popular Dia de los Muertos is in Mexico!  Follow that example!

#9. Make things go boom.  There are a billion ways to destroy things in Spore, and part of what I like to do is unlock those secrets.  I mean, just shooting an explosive barrel is one thing, but how about poisoning a building?  Or stepping on a mine disguised as a pie?  The idea of Spore is to unleash your creative potential, and with creating mass destruction in the most unique way possible, you’re doing just that!

#8. Turn on the lights, wake up Mother Nature.  One of the cool bits about SGA is how many different special effects you can use, some of which would put your average Hollywood production to shame.  So set up holograms, searchlights, and fiery infernos, and get to it!  Effects serve a variety of purposes.  For example, when creating a dystopia battlefield, I often use black smoke and massive fires to decorate the buildings.  Once, when I was creating a prehistoric wildlife preserve, I used dust devils to emulate the desert feel of Cretaceous Mongolia.

#7. Experiment.  Ninety-five percent of the fun I have in SGA is merely experimentation.  Whether it’s new arena monsters, or trying to figure out if you can automatically teleport between devices, it’s fun to ask a question and then try to answer it yourself.  Or you could do something similar and challenge yourself to do something.  Recently, I challenged myself to build a glowing, Tron-like city with only creations by Maxis and my own.  When the whole thing was done, I had created a U-shaped city (Okay, so I cheated a little and used a city template, but cleared it of everything except the street-guilty as charged!) glowing with holographic DNA, massive searchlights, and a dazzling swarm of police drones.

#6. Download.  One of the neat features in Spore is that you can download user-made packs of creations called Sporecasts.  Each one contains anything from dozens to thousands of creatures, buildings, vehicles, and adventures, normally with a specific theme.  What’s neat about is A) you can find cool stuff and B) you can marvel at said cool stuff.  Once, I found a Darth Vader building.  I’m not kidding-it was an entire building done up to look like Darth Vader.  And it looked great, too.  True story.

#5. Go nuts.  Ever harbored secret ambitions to rule a country as an evil dictator?  Okay, well not a dictator, but a ruler?  Well, in SGA, you can do that, and you can be as crazy and tyrannical as you want to be.  I’ve created about a billion twisted arenas, some with equal odds, but most not.  Why?  Because it’s there, and you can.  So relax and rule the world!  Just remember-every great dictator in history has died of unnatural causes.

#4. Go to war.  One of my favorite Spore past times is grabbing a couple of armies and putting them head-to-head.  Why is this fun?  The battle will probably never to the same way!  In one version, your general might wield a ceremonial sword and lead his troops to victory, but in another, he dies in the field of battle.  But another reason ingame war is so much fun is how much variety there can be.  I mean, I have a few stock creations just in case I want to set up for steampunk warfare!  Or how about a well-organized invading force facing rebellious citizens with giant metal machines in the middle of a ruined city?  It’s awesome!

#3. Go out on the town.  It’s a lot of fun to build Spore civilizations, because it’s a little different each time.  Once, I created a world with three different tribes: one made of nomadic tent dwellers, one with fishing tribesmen, and one where all of the citizens lived in the mountains.  Such fun!

#2. Go on safari.  It’s really easy to build a wildlife preserve: build a planet with vegetation and a couple of different biomes, and place a bunch of different creatures in herds, packs, etc.  Then, drop yourself into the middle and explore!

#1. Create.  That’s what Spore is all about-letting your imagination run wild.  You can create anything: creatures, vehicles, buildings, even whole planets.  Just watch out for that darn complexity meter!

THREE’S A CHARM, WHEN IT COMES TO MUPPETS

MORE ABANDONED WHATNOT

FOLLOW ME!

OUR SEASON FINALE APPROACHES!

First of all, happy tenth issue of MAHF Magazine!  It’s been a ton of fun reporting the latest news/personal happenings/ideas with you guys.  And with that, let’s go to our first-ever opinionated article about FOX News.

Recently, FOX News released a news clip about the new (and very awesome) film The Muppets.  Apparently, just because it portrays an oil exec as the main villain, it’s anti-corporate.  Wow.  I mean, wow.  How unspeakably, idiotically, unfathomably dumb is that?  The fact that he’s looking for oil isn’t nearly as important as it is that he wants to tear down the Muppet Theater!  Okay, for oil, but the oil is not the centerpiece!  Besides, haven’t there been evil execs before?  I mean, there’s Doc Hopper from The Muppet Movie, J.P. Grosse from the original show, and maybe even that newspaper guy from The Great Muppet Caper!  So, here’s my point: is a villainous rich guy really that anti-corporate, or does it just make the most sense for a plot to destroy the Muppet Theater?  When you think about it, it’s pretty dumb, right?

Okay, to finish off our Museum of the Moving Image Muppet trifecta, we went to Queens yet again to see none other than the master’s son himself, Brian Henson!  Basically, he did a really funny and very informative lecture on the history of Henson puppetry and how far it’s come.  Naturally, we began with some simple hand puppetry, and the various methods used.  To do this, he got a monitor, a camera that displayed what it saw on the monitor, and a neat armadillo puppet from the highly adult improv show Stuffed and Unstrung.  The monitor’s view was displayed up on the screen behind him, and we got a fun, behind-the-scenes look at things like movement, specifically the contrast between the Crazy Kermit and the Walkin’ Goelz, and of course, the weird and unrealistic early method that looks like you’re skating.

Along with that, we got to see a bunch of clips, which strayed far beyond the realm of The Muppet Show and Fraggle Rock, and more into the realm of modern Henson animatronics and digital puppetry.  For example, Brian told us all about the dwarf from Labyrinth, Hoggle.  There’s an interesting story behind his grumbling mannerisms, in fact.  You see, Hoggle is a highly complex mechanism that’s like a cross between Big Bird and an Xbox.  An actress wore a Hoggle suit, while a bunch of other people controlled the various facial movements, including a younger Brian!  So why does Hoggle always mumble?  Well, the actress in the suit didn’t have a monitor, so the only way she could see was when the mouth was open.  In other words, if Hoggle didn’t mutter to himself all the time, we would have a very clumsy dwarf on our hands.  After that, Brian strayed into the popular sci-fi series Farscape, and showed a couple of animatronic successes from that show.  Eventually, we got to the PBS series Sid the Science Kid, and just how intensely complicated digital puppetry like that is.  Plus, there was a Men in Black gag, so we got a few laughs.  All in all, that evening was one of the best of my life.  Oh, and Eli got to ask Brian just how you make Kermit look miffed.  It isn’t all that hard, actually.

Finally, time for more a mixed bag of assorted Abandoned items, ideas, and whatnot!  So, here are a few interluding episode ideas.  BTW, interluding episodes are basically just episodes that are their own adventure, not tying into any multi-episode storyline.  And they’re just ideas, so don’t get your hopes up.  Roll the list!

• Bounty.  This is a pretty Leil-centric episode.  Basically, she’s hired by a guy named Adrian (who has the weirdest makeup job this side of New Zealand) to hunt down and capture Mana, a sly girl with ninja-like skills and a bad reputation.  The only problem?  Leil hasn’t exactly had much experience in the way of being a bounty hunter ever since she got booted out of the Cyberpunks.  To complicate things, an assassin named Erik  is also after Mana, putting all three in a very strange situation.
• Gala.  Sham may be the most diplomacy-obsessed guy in NYC, but even he has some trouble being in two places at once.  Hence, he sends Abel and Leil to the territory of the resourceful Historians, who live in the American Museum of Natural History.  Of course, everything crashes down around them when the local tribe locks the place down due to some nomadic invaders.  Will Abel and Leil make it out alive, and if so, will they kiss?
• Sensibilities.  Another Leil episode, but this time, it’s a prequel, too!  It chronicles some of Leil’s many adventures in the Cyberpunks, and gives you a firsthand look at the moment it all fell apart.
• Agency.  The unthinkable has happened-Leil has been contacted by the Cyberpunks.  It turns out that they need her and Abel to take back what’s rightfully theirs-a nightclub/casino taken from them by a rival tribe called the Greys.  But to get it back and keep the Players alive, Leil has to 1) get drunk, 2) cause a riot, and 3) get out with her head between her shoulders.
• Rebellion.  When the Players are visited by Leo, a member of a tribe they aren’t too friendly with, they get caught up in a vast conspiracy to murder Krios and retake NYC.

Believe it or not, I, an eleven year old boy, have a Twitter account.  My official name is MandHF.  Basically, by following me, you can get updates on when new stories are up on both MAHF and Confronting Creation, as well as funny tidbits from my life.  So, in other words-follow me!

In case you haven’t been reading Abandoned much, we’re only one episode away from the season finale!  So the question remains: what happens next?  Well, Martina and her Moles are followed by the Sea Kings and their leader, who I have finally figured out a name for-Orson!  Along with that, we’ll get the Gil B-plot, which will definitely harken back to one of The Tribe‘s main concepts-complex relationships.  Of course, we won’t jump into another main villain just yet.  I’m thinking of writing the prequel episode Gasoline next, or maybe the other prequel, Sensibilities.  Either way, expect plenty of fun!

Abel staggered back, surprised.  But then, from just down the street, came a familiar voice.

“Somehow I doubt that, Martina.”

Sham.  Sure enough, the entire Player population came charging from Seventh Avenue, and flooded into the station.  Paco ran up to Abel and Leil, and filled them in on the plan.  First, they had been missing for five days, and in that time, seven Manhattan tribes and countless strays had been eliminated.  The situation was desperate.  So, along with Sham’s makeshift militia, the Players were attacking the Moles head-on.  The plan was to hijack a train and invade Grand Central Station, the Moles’ main hub.  From there, they would radiate throughout New York City and wipe out the Mole menace once and for all.  Of course, there was one small technicality-Abel and Leil going missing.  Luckily, they had a night guard who, in a daze, remembered some people sneaking into the Toys R Us.  There was no other explanation-the Moles had kidnapped them.  It was sheer dumb luck that they had planned to attack from the exact same station that Abel and Leil were escaping from.  Leil grabbed Abel’s shoulder and the two ran into the subway station, where a battle was in full swing.  A transport train had arrived to provide backup, but it wasn’t doing much good.  In fact, Sham was leading an assault, attempting to get everyone onboard for step two of the invasion.  Abel, Leil, and Paco jumped onto onto one of the cars.  Leil quickly kicked a guard in the face, crossing his eyes and knocking him about.  Abel got punched in the face, but responded with a quick kidney shot.  Paco leaped onto a guard, tackling him.  A scout in the next car over reported that the train was taken-all they needed to do was head to Grand Central.

It took about an hour, since they were traveling at top speeds, but trying to shake off the Moles that tried to jump onboard at every stop.  Eventually, they made it to the station, and charged into the main area, which was more like a cathedral than a train station.  At least a hundred feet above them was a stained-glass window.  Of course, that was nothing compared to what must have been at least seventy-five Moles standing in phalanx formation in front of the exit.  There was no other way to go.  Standing at the head of the army was Martina, except that she wasn’t wearing regal black robes anymore.  She had donned what looked like football gear (minus the helmet), only it had been spray painted green and blue, with black diamond insignias on the shoulders.  And, of course, the bo staff wrapped in barbed wire that she was holding.  She raised it, screaming some sort of battle cry, and charged.

Considering that the total number of soldiers in Sham’s militia totaled about a hundred and fifty, the odds were against the Moles.  But about two seconds into the battle, Martina swung her deadly staff at Sham’s head.  It connected, throwing him to the ground.  Abel could see blood streaming from his ear.  Leil noticed it, too, and ran over to help him.  Sham grunted and tried to pick himself up, but just collapsed onto the marble floor.  One of the Player guards noticed and dragged him off to the side.  Meanwhile, the Mole soldiers were pushing further and further into the militia’s lines, even though they were holding fast.  That’s when Sham yelled one last order before he passed out.

“Close the wings!”

Instantly, Sham’s militia moved around the Mole forces, trapping them.  It took about five minutes before the enemy tribe was on their knees, hands in the air.  Abel leisurely kicked one in the leg, knocking him over.  The guy growled, and tried to get up, but one of the guards pointed his javelin at him, and the Mole reluctantly settled back into his original position.  Sham, head partially bandaged, staggered over using a bo staff as a makeshift walking stick.  He asked a guard, “Martina?”  The guard shook his head.

“Don’t ask me how, but she got away.”

Sham cursed, then tried to stand up straight and moaned.  ”I can’t go after her like this,” he said, rubbing his temple.  ”Think you two can capture her?”  Abel and Leil simultaneously nodded.

“Good.  I’ll give you guys a few soldiers.  Meanwhile, I’ll be tied up supervising the transport of these guys to one of the Tropics’ hangouts near the harbor.  Good luck.”

Leil saluted.  The two, along with six other warriors, ran out of Grand Central and into the street.  Standing at the end of the block was none other than Martina, in full battle armor.  The group started to charge her, but at least a dozen Moles intercepted them, dashing out of the alleys.  When they had cleared the troops, Martina had disappeared.  In her place was a single manilla envelope.  Leil ran over and picked it up, opening it and reading the attached message.  ”I am at the place where the dream came alive.  Wow.  Sounds like Martina’s a Carmen Sandiego fan.”  Abel started pacing back and forth, until finally, his eyes lit up.  ”Got it,” he said.  He told Leil and the others his plan.  One of the soldiers hotwired a Dodge pickup and they set out to find the most evil tribe leader they had yet to face.

TERRA NOVA DYNAMICS, OR REALLY OVERDOING IT

MASS BOOK REVIEW!

Okay, aside from killer dinosaurs and government officials, the number one thing the Time Institute fears is somebody else building a time portal and using it for their own diabolical schemes.  That fear already came true with the Sigma Institute, but it can’t possibly happen again-right?  Well, guess what?  It did happen again, in a story arc that I’m calling Focus Omega.  The plot is this: a crime scene with traces of prehistoric proto-grass leads to a question-does somebody else have a time portal?  As it turns out, somebody else does.  There’s only one little problem-our perpetrator is fourteen years old, and he’s going to be harder to stop than you’d think.  But can I tell you more?  No, partially for fun’s sake, partially because this is going to be a post-Dreadnought arc.

You know what I’m really hooked on this year?  Terra Nova, that innovative new Fox show.  I did a review of it in an earlier issue, and now I have a major question: what are the occupation dynamics in the colony?  I know that the colony’s population is just over 1,000, but what percentage of that is security, what percentage are farmers, etc.  So, I’m going to do a little thought experiment here.  Let’s have a look at a shot of Terra Nova.  This photo isn’t mine, it’s from one of the two Terra Nova Wikis.  Kudos to them for having it.

Terra Nova

Wow.  Let’s examine each major part.  First, there’s the colony itself.  It’s shaped like a giant ring, situated in a nice valley, surrounded by forest and some plains (Gripe #1: There was no grass 85 million years ago.).  There’s a market, a big wind farm, and in the center of the ring, a huge agricultural field.  That automatically tells us something: there are a substantial amount of farmers in Terra Nova.  This point is revealed in several pieces of promotional material.  So, if there are a thousand (rounded) people in Terra Nova, there would have to be at least a couple hundred farmers.  We’re down to eight hundred.  Next priority: soldiers and security.  At regular intervals throughout the colony fence, there are sonic weapon turrets, each manned by, at estimate, two men.  We of course have people guarding workers outside the gates, and guards for the brig, which is the Terra Nova version of a small-town jail.  By my estimate, there could be 100 to 150 security people manning turrets and assisting work crews.  The final major population block would be minors.  We know for a fact that Terra Nova has an actual school, which tells us that there are enough kids and young teens (older kids often already work in Terra Nova, or have apprenticeships) to constitute something other than a correspondence-like program.  So, seventy-five to a hundred kids.  That leaves us with, and this is only an estimation:

• Two hundred farmers.
• One hundred fifty soldiers.
• One hundred children
• Fifty to seventy-five nurses and doctors
• All the other people would most likely fill roles like fishermen, market salesmen, mechanics, bar workers, and scientists

For our final article, let’s get some more bullet points!  This time, I’m going to be doing a mass book review, which is basically reviewing all the books I’ve read by one author.  Let’s give it up for New York Times bestselling author Scott Westerfield!

• Peeps.  This book is about the life of a boy named Cal, who just happens to be a vampire.  Well, sort of.  Long story short, he has a disease that gives him cravings for meat, along with weird, lizard-like eyes.  He works for an underground organization that stops peeps, infected creatures that are like Cal on steroids.  He teams up with a girl named Lace to stop what may be a bigger, more devastating disease.  All in all, this book was pretty good, if hard to understand sometimes.  It’s definitely not a kids book, but it’s an interesting book for young adults.  Not for the faint of heart, given that there are interluding chapters where we get to learn about the fun world of parasites!
• Uglies.  This is book one of the bestselling series, and it happens to be the only one of the four that I’ve read entirely.  Taking place in a distant future where everybody undergoes plastic surgery at age sixteen that makes them a Pretty, it follows the epic quest of Tally Youngblood, who is recruited by the government to find a refugee village called The Smoke.  Basically, it’s like The Twilight Zone episodes “Eye of the Beholder” and “Number Twelve Looks Just Like You”.  I liked it, but the next book, Pretties, was a little hard to follow.
• Leviathan.  Oh, yeah.  Leviathan is a bestselling novel of alternate history, which takes place in 1914.  Europe is about to launch World War II, but things are a little different.  The world is split into two factions: the Clankers, who use iron war machines in their battles, while the Darwinists (Woo-hoo!) use genetically created creatures called beasties to fight their wars.  It follows the adventures of Alek, an Austro-Hungarian prince on the run from his own people, and Deryn/Dylan Sharp, a girl posing as a boy in the British Air Navy.  The two meet in the Swiss Alps, after Deryn’s whale airship, the Leviathan, crashes.  I’m going to have to give this book four stars, even though out of the trilogy, it’s my least (if not second) favorite.  Why?  It’s kind of, well, bland.  Not bland in a bad way, just bland in the way that Up was bland.
• Behemoth.  Yay, it’s the sequel to Leviathan!  This one follows Alek and Deryn as they venture to the Clanker city of Constantinople (Whew!), and the mysterious eggs that were brought aboard the Leviathan in the first book hatch into… what?  Something pretty neat and extremely funny!  Along with mystery beasties, we get to see giant mechanical elephant battles, the Orient Express, and Clanker propaganda.  While it’s a fun-filled ride, I just don’t think that it can stand up to Leviathan and the last book in the trilogy.  Still, I liked it as much as any Leviathan book.
• Goliath.  It is awesome.  Calling it great is like calling the Mariana Trench deep.  It just doesn’t do it justice.  Here’s the plot: Alek and Deryn (whose secret is finally discovered) wind up transporting a mad scientist named-guess who?-Nikola Tesla to his lab in New York City.  Yeah, that’s right!  Along with the good ol’ US of A, we get to visit Siberia, a small Chinese port under siege, Tokyo, and Mexico.  Each place has its own unique story or characteristics.  For example, in Russia, we get to see the mother of all fighting beasties, the Russian bears-literally.  In the port of Tsingtao, we find intense scenes of battle with zeppelin dogfights and vicious Japanese beasties tearing soldiers apart.  Tokyo is neat, because of the exquisite blend between Clanker and Darwinist styles.  In Mexico, we find our heroes caught in the middle of a rebel encampment led by General “Pancho” Villa.  And in America, we see everything from rocket attacks to roving reporters to the golden age of film.  We get to see the whole world from this one book, and that’s what makes it one of the best books I ever read.

Well, that’s all for now.  Stay tuned for our tenth issue!

• Core-X.  This series takes place in the far-off future (in the year 3000, or so), where the world has made remarkable advances in technology, particularly that of the eco-friendly type.  But when villains strike (as will inevitably happen in this super-sci fi world), it’s up to Alan Krillon, head of the Core-X police force, to stop them.  Cheesy?  You bet, but hey, there are even more possibilities than writing about time travel!
• Vastly Unknown.  This series is actually a follow-up to the series finale of Prehistoric Universe, and follows Howard Lee as he is transferred from the Time Institute to Delta Operations, an Antarctica-based cryptozoology society.  Together with a team both familiar and new, he must hunt down new species and keep them from causing chaos.

Take your pick-futuristic police or cryptid-hunting characters?