LIFESPRITES: Origins

Chapter 4: Sprint

May 17th, 2009
Name: Charlie Jack "CJ" Forte
Birthdate: August 3rd, 1995
Birthplace: Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Ciao, the name is Charlie Jack Forte or CJ Forte. Growing up in the largest city of Canada, there are special attractions that no one can avoid, most notable is the CN tower. I lived with my mother, Chelsea and sister, Guinevere or Guin in short. My father, went missing when I was 5 and when Mom was pregnant with Melody. Since then, we placed missing signs in hope for his return. I would later learn the truth as I got older. My favourite hobby is collecting the rarest stamps across Canada which I placed in a large red scrapbook. I aim on becoming a world philatelist. Sure, it got me a lot of jabs at the time, but what due to their historic backstories, it's worth a fortune.

It was the night before the end of the school year. My mother, sister, and I were having dinner. I noticed Mom's troubled expression. "So, CJ, Guin," she fret. "I heard you two have a sprite test at school tomorrow,". "Yeah, why do you ask,?" I responded. Mom's dead silence echoed the room. "Mom, are you alright,?" asked Guin. Mom extended her hands to us I held her left hand and Guin held her right. "Kids," she sobbed. "promise me that you'll be there for each other going forward,". Those were the last word we heard from her before recent.

The next day, Guin and I picked out the list of what we planned to do that summer. "As we discussed, we'll be travelling across Canada to take pictures of all the famous tourist attractions," she noted. "and to collect the historic stamps,". " Exactly," replied Guin. The thing about Guin was she always dreamed of becoming a Travel Vlogger, starting with Canada. We took a deep breath as the bus reached Sandstone Jr -Sr school. " Well, looks like we're here. See you after the test," .

I entered into the high school section on the right, while Guin entered the junior high on the left.

As I entered the front door, I was greeted by elevators surrounding us as the atmosphere looked like outer space. In front of us, a screen appeared. The screen turns on, showing a dark red girl with blue eyes who was around my age.
The instant I saw her, I immediately fell in love.

"Hey, everyone. My name is Fern Roux," introduced the girl on the screen. "I hope you're having a great day and hoping for an awesome summer. As stated in the booklets provided by your teachers. Each of you will be called for the Sprite Exam,". I sat at a nearby seat with other students. Around me were whispers.

"Why did we have to take this stupid test, anyway?"

"The teachers didn't even tell us what the test was about,"

"Is this even necessary for our curriculum?,"

One by one, students entered the elevators. Some made it out okay, while others didn't. And it puzzled me why it was the case, until it was my turn.

"CJ Forte, you're up," called one teacher.

As I walked into the elevator, it automatically moved down to a large white room with a wooden entrance in front of an opaque window.

"Please step forward to the blue circle to towards the window. All jewelry and accessories must be removed prior to entry,"

As I had no actual accessories or jewelry on me, I walked down directly to the blue circle where a glass dome appeared at the with a blue and red magnet inside.

"The rules are simple. All you need to do is pick up magnet inside the dome when the test begins. The results will be presented after the test is done," .

"A magnet?" I thought. "Well, that's sounds easy,".

But by the time the test began, I didn't expect to black out. By, the time I woke up, I was greeted by T.O.U. agents with magnetic launchers. "What happened?," I stuttered. "It's simple," said a familiar voice. Emerging from the group was Fern Roux, the girl red head from the screen. "You failed,". I stared at her in confusion, but thought this was a joke. "H-hey, let's talk more about this," I tittered. "What's there to talk about,?" seethed Fern, giving a disgusted look. She signaled her agents towards me.

Distraught of Fern's harsh words, I prepared for the worst, thinking about my mother and sister, when I found myself in a green setting with numbers. "Welcome, CJ Forte," said a vibrant cube, appearing towards me. Stunned, I looked around the room. "Is this part of the test?," I asked. "Fortunately, no," laughed Cubie. "This is your login page,". "Say what?," I puzzled. "Yes, the place you are standing in right now is called a login page," replied Cubie."It is activated when a sprite is in contact with a magnet, thus an avatar for a specific sprite. In touching the magnet presented to you, you have unlocked the basilisk lizard Lifesprite, Sprint. Now, please place your hand under the DNA chain before you," . I looked at the floating a green holographic chain . "Now repeat after me; Sprite, log on! "Hold it," I interrupted. "How do I know it's not a trap? For all I know, it could be part of the T.O.U's plan,". "Well, luckily for you, this system is not affiliated with the T.O.U.," noted Cubie. "Here's the copyright,". I was presented with the following information, relieved by the results, yet curious for more answers. "What's Érable Academy?," I asked. "Save those questions for later," prompted Cubie. "Right now, you have to transform or else the T.O.U. takes you in,". Seeing how dire my situation was and seeing Fern's true nature, I immediately made up my mind. "Sprite, log-on!," I cried.

I was then sent back to the same room to see agents scattered around the room as if they were injured. "Madam, one of the participants has transformed into their avatar," reported Fern on her radio. "Initiating magnetic gauntlets,". "noted," said a female voice. With that, Fern and many sprites behind her activated their magnetic gauntlets and lunge at me. It was around this time where I felt my feet tingle as I swiftly dodged every blow towards me.

Before I knew it, I was outsmarting every agent that charged against me. One tried to run behind me, only for me to dodge it, grab them, and flip them over my back to their comrades, while two tried to jump me from each side, just them to strike each other. It looked like I would stand out victorious, until a power laser struck me. It was there I noticed Fern with a magnetic laser around her wrists. Just when I thought I was a goner as she approached my paralyzed body, a giant worm appeared from the floor and knocked her over. It then picked me up with mouth before leaving the room.

As I gained conscious, I was greeted by a bird trying to wake me up by lick my helmet. I immediately got up. "Wha?," I interjected. Surrounding me was a green atmosphere as I sat on a large tongue much to my disgust "Oh, you're up!," said a voice echoing the area. "Impressive fight, but there's always room for improvement,". I looked around frantically. "Where am I?!," I asked. "Where's my sister and what's with the hummingbird?,". "That's sunbird?," corrected the bird, with a familiar voice. Within seconds, I recognized that voice. "Guin!?," I exclaimed. "CJ?!," gasped Guin after flying closer. "What to you," I shrieked. "What happened to me, what happened to you?!" panted Guin. She landed on foot before picking out her pocket mirror. I jumped back upon witnessing a lizard like suit in front of me. "Oh joy, you know each other," chimed in the voice. "Also, my name is Tyson Cross, or my avatar, Army,". I took a deep breath. "Ok, Army," I pressed. "Where are we going and what happened to our mother?,". "Well, there's good news, and bad news," he explained. "The good news we'll be heading to the L'Érable Academy. The bad news is that after you bombed that test, your mother's been arrested and your place is off limits to the public and your presence have been made public across the country,". My stomach dropped upon hearing this. "Here's a letter," explained Army through a holograph message,". The message read as followed;

" Dear CJ and Guin,

This may be my final message before I'm taken in by the T.O.U. The reason why I expressed my concerns about the Sprite test was that your father went through the same thing at work before being taken in by the T.O.U. Your father told me that if anything bad happened, that I moved to an area far away from the Toronto. Well, fast forward 14 years, the expansion began and many people who were sprites. As I join your father, promise that you take care of each other,".

Tears flowed behind my mask as I comforted Guin.

We're now starting anew at l'Érable. Guin is making new friends here, while I currently found new companions, with Ashley Bilodeau catching my attention. We started off on the wrong foot, but we started to warm up a little bit. As I promised to Mom, that I'll protect Guin and reunite our family.