Aldin and The Power Keys

Aldin and The Surfing Tournament

"What did he say?" Aldin asked.

"He said, he's closing the portals. He's keeping everyone who's in Antarctica here, and won't give them the option to leave." Jamie hummed.

"Why?"

"I don't really know. He also said something that confused me. He said he's closing the portals so we could, 'stay loyal to who we were'. It's very interesting. It doesnt make much sense."

"Why not?"

"You don't know him, but that mayor...well, he wasn't always the mayor."

"What do you mean?"

"Quite simply, there was someone else in his place, I was here a week ago, and I don't remember seeing his face."

"Do you not like him or something?"

Jamie got ready to answer, but his voice was quickly taken over by a very loud commercial over the town. A large screen appeared on the opposite side of the last one they saw. Lots of sports music began playing, and the screen showed the beach and two people with surfboards.

The advertisement came with a voice. "How's it going, Antarticans? Its Wednesday! We appreciate your residence, and for Mayor Clarence's first rule of order, he will issue a weekly event every Wednesday!!"

Aldin cringed. "His name....is Clarence?"

Some of the residents gathered once again to listen and watch the commercial.

"We encourage you to join us in our...Amateur...Surfing...Tournament! Anyone between 15 and 25 may enter. We have limited spots for the contestants, so be quick and sign up! We hope you all enjoy yourselves!"

"Surfing?" Aldin asked. "Hmm...that sounds pretty cool."

"Yeah, it does." Jamie said. "It WOULD be fun to watch people go surfing, huh? Maybe we should go. We might as well take our minds off of today."

Aldin sighed. "Yeah, that would be nice. I suppose it would be fun to meet new people...." Aldin stopped talking in the middle of his sentence and began spacing out.

Jamie knew this was a sign that he was contemplating on something. "Aldin?"

Aldin suddenly started smiling. "I wanna join."

"You do? That is interesting. Did anything spark you?"

"Well...you know if you were anyone else, I wouldn't say this..."

"Mhmm...."

"I just...I wanna try to get good at something. Show off my skills, ya know? So people will know that I'm really smart."

Jamie chuckled. "That's good, I'm glad. But aren't you worried about your key?"

Aldin's smile slightly faded. "I mean...look it doesn't even make sense. Like 'The Key of Failure?' It doesn't mean I can't do ANYTHING, right? I mean, how would I be breathing then, ya know what I mean?"

Jamie softly laughed. "Yes. Yes I do."

"Besides, I'm not really good at anything when I start off, I'll admit that, but I can really get good at it-like a video game! I just wish I could learn some tips before the tournament so I can understand it enough."

"Well, if practice is what you need, then I know the people you should meet. Come with me." Jamie walked forward in the direction of a parked car next to the hotels that stayed in.

"To where?"

"You'll see, just come on."

It made sense that he had his own residence in Antarctica, given he had been so familiar with it. When Aldin got in the passenger seat, he examined the vehicle. It had soft seats and a large opening space for his legs, giving him plenty of room to be comfortable. The car was painted a slick black with the only white being the reflection of the light. Aldin had to climb up to reach his seat, but he got comfortable quickly.