Issue 1Spring 2014

west adams( s c ) i e n c e f i c t i o n r e v i e w

Table ofcontents“MC LA” & Editor’s Note By Julian De Ocampo

“The Barricade” & Illustration by Andres Izaguirre

“Infamous: Final Clash” &Illustrations by My’Cole Augborne

Magazine made in collaboration between West Adams Preperatory and USC for IML 420.

Cover art: “Until Tomorrow Comes, Part IV” by Robert Minervini

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EDITOR’S NOTEBy Julian De Ocampo

When I was a kid, I wrote a novel. It was about a band of wizards and warriors traversing a great land to save their homes from destruction at the hands of an evil ty-rant with dark magic on his side. I had nev-er before undertaken a task with such epic scope, and I never would again. While the document was lost in the Great Hard Drive Crash of 2005, the mere fact that I started and completed the epic was a highlight of my elementary school years. Now, I write often-melodramatic re-alist fiction with some magical elements. I have lists of influences I can rattle off, au-thors who have inspired me and ultimately worm their inspiration into anything I write. I also have goals and expectations and this nagging self-doubt that makes it difficult to finish anything I start. Writing an epic high fantasy novel is not on my list of things to do over the next year. But I think, really, that’s why fantasy and science fiction – often relegated to the realms of specialty magazines and sub-cultures by hoity-toity literary critics and scholars – is so remarkable. The audacity of building an entire universe on your own is something that most adults balk at. It’s not an easy task once you start thinking about it too much. But for younger people, includ-ing my nine-year-old self, sci-fi and fantasy is the ultimate in creative expression. When you don’t overthink it, you’re afforded the

freedom to break away from this universe entirely. Perhaps this is why I enjoyed working on this magazine so much with my two West Adams Preparatory School collaborators, Andres Izaguirre and My’Cole Auborne. In their writing, I saw sparks of uninhibit-ed creativity that I seek in my own writing. Anyone who can make it to high school and still have the creative audacity to try and build universes from scratch has something going for them. Although this project had many twists and turns, we ultimately decid-ed that showcasing their writing in a sleek and elegant way was the best way to go. We originally conceived of this magazine as a comic book about a superhero rapper who used his artistic ability to save a dystopian version of Los Angeles. The drawing to the left is an excerpt of that idea which never came to fruition. We ended up abandoning it for was something far richer – imaginative worlds and rich characters devised by An-dres and My’Cole. I hope that this magazine helps pre-serve their creativity and commemorate our collaboration together. Working with them on developing and editing these stories was an exciting process for me. It’s a shame I don’t have access to that book I wrote ten years ago. It would be fascinating to look back into my mind. With any luck, this mag-azine can be a sort of sci-fi time capsule for Andres and My’Cole in the futures that only they can imagine.

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The Blockade

By Andres Izaguirre

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PrologueIn the early 80s, a young Latino boy named

Joshua Aguirre was born in Los Angeles, Cali-fornia. He lived with the people who were ne-

glected by government and the rich. The city of Los Angeles has been divided into two sections.

The rich lived in one section called Utopia, and the the poor lived in another section called Dystopia. Unfortunately, Joshua was born into

Dystopia. Separating these two sections of the cities is “The Barricade”. The Barricade is a giant wall full of soldiers guarding the wall.

The guards of The Barricade are allowed to kill anyone if they raise suspicion. Inside Dystopia

is violence, robbery, and crime. Now, it’s the mid 90’s where the crime rate has gone higher

than ever and Dystopia is doomed if it does not change.

Chapter 1:

Kicking BackJoshua kicks back at his best friend’s porch.

His best friend is Frank. Joshua and Frank are doing the usual -- talking about girls.

“So wassup with you and Jasmine?” Frank asks.

“Aha -- I don’t know, we’re just friends,” Josh-ua replies.

Frank gives him a sinister smile. “Shut up, I’ve seen the way you guys look at each other,” Fran-co says sarcastically.

Joshua starts to blush and giggle. “That doesn’t mean anything,” he says, “but she is pretty though.”

“Aye foo!” exclaims Daniel as he walks up to the porch.

“Aha, what up,” Joshua and Frank say. “We’re going to have a rumble with some of

the Utopian kids down by the Mozart Theater,” Daniel says.

“Hell yea!” Franco says. “I don’t want any problems,” Joshua says,

“and plus, what if we get caught by the guards at The Barricade? The punishment is death.”

“We’re not going to get caught,” Daniel says. “Trust me bro.”

“Bro we only got one shot at being 15, I don’t know about you but I’m not going to put it to waste by not doing what I want to do,” Frank says.

“Fine I’ll go, but I’ma go pick up my board. I’ll meet you guys up back over here,” Joshua says.

Chapter 2:

Home Sweet

HomeJoshua arrives home to find his grandmother,

Maria, asleep on the couch, and his grandfather, Manuel, inside the garage.

“Are you hungry? Your grandma made chick-en,” Grandpa asks.

“No,” Joshua replies. “I ate at Frank’s house.”“Why do you hang out with that boy? He’s

nothing but trouble,” Grandpa says.“I know he can be a troublemaker sometimes,

but he’s like another brother to me,” Joshua says. “He’s been there for me when I needed him.”

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Grandpa shoots him a disappointed look. “You know you should be spending more time with your older brother then spending time with Frank,” Grandpa says.

Joshua gives his grandfather a confused look. “My brother is twice as worse as Frank, and

where is my brother anyway?” Joshua asks. “Maybe you can help him set through the

right path,” Grandpa replies. “He said he was going out with his friends to the movies.”

“Nah, I doubt it… Oh, well I’ma be out too. I just came to pick up my board.”

“You’re not going out with Frank right?”Joshua has no choice but to lie to him.“Uhh, no I’m going out with someone else,”

he says nervously. “Ohh you’re going on a date with that one

girl -- what’s her name -- ahh Jasmine, right?” Grandpa says happily.

“Aha no, I’ll be back soon” Joshua says as he gets on his skateboard.

“Be home by 10! I don’t want your grand-mother to get worried,” Grandpa yells.

Chapter 3:

Hell of a

NightJoshua and his friends skate to The Barricade.

When they arrive, they find most of the Dysto-pian kids waiting for the Utopian kids. There are a lot of kids from school that Joshua rec-ognizes. As he looks around, he sees his older brother Kevin.

“What the hell are you doing here?” Joshua

asks.“Go home, Joshua. You’re going to get hurt,”

Kevin says.Joshua, starting to get mad, makes a fist. “Look I know we may not get along, but I still

care for you,” Kevin says. “So go home before I take you there.”

All of the sudden tear gas fills the air. The guards from the Barricade start shooting at the Dystopian kids. Everybody runs in panic.

“Joshua! Joshua!” yells Frank.Joshua leaves his brother for Frank.“I’m here!” Joshua says.“We need to get out of here!” Frank yells.Joshua, Frank, and Daniel run. As they look

behind, two guards chase them carrying night-sticks.

“2 guards behind us!” Daniel yells.“Cut through the alley” Frank yells. The

Guards start to gain on them.“Where the hell are our boards?” Joshua asks.“My homie hid them for us, don’t trip,” Frank

yells As they run down the alley they see a gate.“Oh boy we got them now,” Joshua hears one

of the guards yell.“Jump the gate!” Frank yells. Joshua and his

friends struggle to climb the 10 ft. tall gate, but the gate is nothing to the well trained guards.

“Split up!” Joshua yells. He’s left hoping to capture the guards attention. He succeeds, but they chase him until he then slips on a puddle of water.

Chapter 4:

Mysterious

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SaviorJoshua tries to get back up on his feet. As

he does, the guard points the gun at him. He thinks, “This is it, the moment I am going to die.” But as soon as all hope is lost, a man yells, “Shoot me not him!”

“Whatever you wish for, buddy,” the guard replies.

The guards shoot at him, but the bullets can’t pierce his skin.

“What the heck?” one of the guards says. The strangers moves as fast as lighting as the guards shoot at him. He socks one of the guard and sends him flying, completely. knocking him out. The other guard runs off in fear.

“You’re hurt,” the strange man says.“It’s just a scab,” Joshua replies.“No, when they shot me, the bullet ricochet

and the bullet hit you,” the stranger replies. Joshua lifts his shirt to looks at his stomach

and, he starts bleeding ounces of blood. Joshua blacks out into a sleep.

Chapter 5:

The Shock-

ing Truth Joshua awakes from when he blacked out.

in a museum that looks to have been aban-doned. “Where am I?”

“You shouldn’t be asking where you are, but

rather what are you?” the strange man says Joshua looks at him in confusion. “What do you mean? Who are you?” Joshua

asks.“My name is Henry, and what I mean is you’re

not human,” he says, “or should I say not ordi-nary.”

“Neither are you, and how am I not human?” Joshua asks, shocked.

“When I was taking you to the hospital, I looked for the bullet hole and found you com-pletely healed,” Henry says.

Joshua lifts up his shirt to look at his wound only to find it completely gone.

“Well, do you know what you are?” asks Hen-ry.

“I don’t have a clue,” Joshua replies, confused.“You’re like me,” Henry says. “We’re what

most people call archangels”“Archangel? What’s an archangel?!” Joshua

asks nervously.“An Archangel is a Mythical Warrior sent to

do biddings that are too dark for regular Angels to do. The gift is passed down from generation from father to son,” Henry replies.

To Be

Continued...

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inFamous

Final ClashBased on the video game infamous

by My'cole augborneEditor's Note: The author has written the story in the style of a video game with branching paths. At certain

points in the story, there are multiple outcomes that could potentailly occur depending on the "player’s" choices.

Prologue Seven years after the events of New Maris and Empire City, The Beast (formerly known as Cole Macgrath) had spread the Plague, turning almost half the U.S.A’s population into Conduits, people with superhuman abilities ranging from energy or matter manipulation, to flying, enhanced senses, strength, or any other physical enhance-ments. Michael White, the son of John White (de-ceased,) is now 18 years old. He has discovered his new found powers by absorbing a large amount of fire from a burning building. After being unconscious in the hospital for several days, the city of Los Angeles has started to fall apart. The Plague has struck: followed by riots and thefts. Civilization itself is committing suicide. In an attempt to contain the biological threat, the federal government has locked down all access in and out of the city. Since the law-enforcers are "out of business," they can't do anything to save the city. The gangs in L.A. and the Conduits run the city now. Once Michael awakes, he learns how to use

his new powers, which he obtained from his father. Now he must use his power to save the city of Los Angeles from being under quarantine by the US government and find out who the person behind this crisis is -- all while hoping his powers don’t corrupt him.

Chapter 1Freaks?

After 5 weeks in quarentined Los Angeles, while walking to school, Michael’s powers have become noticeable to people. They throw thrash at him, calling him a freak and a bioterrorist. He starts to question himself: Why does he have his fathers’ powers? Then, he sees lightening strike a building and goes to the top of the building to find out where the lightning came from. He sees his long-lost best friend, Max Macgrath, the younger brother of Cole Macgrath. He asks what happened to him and why he is he doing this, but Max does not answer him. Instead he strikes him, resulting in a battle between the two friends.

Michael: What has happened to you, man?Max: Why do you care? Michael: ’Cause you're my friend and you’re hurt-ing people. I can’t let you do it anymore.Max: I won’t you or anyone stop me. Not even him.Michael: Who do you mean “Him”?

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As the battle ends, Michael takes Max’s powers away from him. Now he has the power to manipulate lightning, and discovers that he can fuse it with his own fire powers. After that, he encounter Cole Macgrath in person. Cole asks Michael how he was able to stop his brother. When Michael refuses to answer, Cole strikes a lightning bolt in Michael’s legs, causing Michael great pain. Still, he doesn’t talk. So Cole makes a threat to him: Unless he tells Michael how he beat Max, he will strike the lightning storm on top of his brother, killing him in the process.

(Good) Michael reveals himself to be a Conduit and says he got his powers from his father. Cole does not believe his story. Before Cole can do anything, michael uses a lightning dash to get Max and every-one in the building out of there. Cole leaves with a smile and keeps the build-ing intact after seeing what Michael can do. Michael thinks to himself, "Is he the one that caused all of this to happen? I’ve got to stop him at any cost!"

(Neutral) Michael still refuses to talk, so Cole uses the lightning storm to take down the building. Once he does it, Michael use his Fire Dash to get Max out of there. Cole then leaves as the building is being destroyed. After that, max tries to run away from Michael, but he grab ahold of him and asks why he has these powers. Before he can talk, he is stabbed by a light-ning blade from his own brother. Horrified from seeing friend’s blood on his face, Michael backs away from the dead body, then ask Cole why he killed his own brother. “His kind don’t belong in this world any more,” Cole says before leaving.

(Evil) Michael stands up and sets Max on fire, watching as he screams in pain. Then, he use his own Fire Storm to set the whole building on fire with everyone inside.

He looks at Cole and says, “That is how I killed him.” Michael promises that Cole will end up that too if he doesn’t back off. “You really are just like us, aren’t you?” Cole says before taking off.

(Story Resumes)

Soon after that, Michael meets up with his brother Quinn Bond, who asks “What was all that about?” Michael didn’t want to answer him, but re-sponds, “Why do you care anyway?” “I don’t. But your so-called girlfriend asked about you and is wondering where you are,” Quinn says. “Josalynn was looking for me?” Michael says with a surprised look on his face. “Ever since you got out from that building alive.” Michael finally sees Josalynn for the first time in three and a half years before the accident happened. She walks up to him, punches him in the stomach and shouts. “Why?! why didn’t you tell me you were one of them? Why?” she says. Before Josalynn can punch him in the face, Michael blocks her punch and tells her with a bitter look on his face, “I’m sorry, okay. I -- I didn’t know that my father was the Beast okay? So let me ex-plain, all right?”

Chapter 2 Knowing who

you are The three take a walk around the city. Mi-chael hopes that Quinn and Josalynn can help him get used to his powers. While walking, they see a ball of energy. Michael grabs it and absorbs the energy flowing through his body. After collecting several of these “Blast Cores,” Michael finally gets used to and accepts his powers. Then, an ambush shows up out nowhere. An

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ambush of Reaper Conduits: A faction of thugs, criminals and drug dealers that operate in the city. When the Quarantine was erected, the group grew rapidly in both size and aggression. A fierce battle begins between michael and the reapers, with Quinn and Josalynn in the cross-fire. The battle ends. Michael beats one the Reapers trying to escape. He asks him who sent them to attack him. The police arrive and ask who is responsible for the damage around the area. The police accuse Quinn and Josalynn of being bioter-rorists, but Michael says, “It wasn’t them that did it!” “Then who did?” one of the cops says.

(Good) Michael tells the police that Reapers were the ones that started it and that they ambushed them. The police believe his story and take the wounded Reapers away to where they belong: in prison. “Are you guys all right?” Michael asks. “They didn’t hurt you, did they, Josalynn?” “Yeah, I’m fine,” Josalynn replies. “Thank you.” They kiss. Quinn is disgusted. “Hey, you’re still my main homie, all right?” Michael says to Quinn. Quinn smiles as Michael and Josalynn laugh. (Evil)

Michael sells out Quinn and Josalynn to the police. As the police takes them away, Quinn and Josalynn shout out, “How could you do this to us?! Why would you do this?” Michael asks the police to stop for one min-ute to talk to them. He punches Quinn hard in the face and slaps Josalynn as well. Then, he says to them, “You guys our nothing but dead Wwight to me now.” Then the police take them away, Quinn, with an angry look on his face, and Josalynn with tears running down her face. Once that is over, Michael gives the Reapers a choice: To follow and obey him, or to die a slow and painful death. One of the Reapers rebel against

him, so Michael uses a fire blade and stabs him in the chest. As the Reaper breathes his last dying breath, Michael tells him that he does not like that answer. Michael burns him with a fire punch, before asking the others, “Does anyone else want to end up this guy? No?” Then he burns the rest of the reapers feet to make them stand up. “Then come with me you wanna stay alive,” Michael says.

(Neutral)

Michael turns himself into the police by saying that he’s the one started it. Josalynn begs the police to let him go, but Quinn holds her back, saying, “There’s nothing we can do for him now!” One of the Reapers sees what michael did for them and convinces the other Reapers to join on his side to fight for what’s really right for the city. The Reapers beg forgiveness for what they did. “Who was it that sent you guys to attack us?” Quinn asks. “It was --” a Reaper says. But before he can finish his sentence, a group of swamp monsters show up. The Reapers say that they'll take care of them, asking, “Will doing this make you guys for-give us?” “Only if you promise to help out michael,” Josalynn says. “Then and only then will I forgive you guys, all right?” “Yeah, of course!” the Reapers say. “We are in his debt.”

(Story Resumes)

After that, Michael breaks out of jail and starts an all-out war against the whole police de-partment. After he destroys the entire the police force, Michael wants one of the cops to send a mes-sage to Cole Macgrath:

(Good)"You don't own this city."

(Neutral)"I’ll make you see what I'm really made of."

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(Evil)"I'll show what real power is."

(Story Resumes)

Chapter 3 Let the people

know 10 weeks pass. Los Angeles is still under quarentine.

With the Reapers by his side, michael want to show Los Angeles who's really there to save them. The reapers suggest that he should side with The Militia.

Michael: Are you kidding me?The Reapers: What’s the problem? Michael: They were hunters back in New Maris, terrorizing and killing innocent people. And you want them on our side? Not happening! Forget it!The Reapers: Look, they may not be the best, but they can help us in finding Cole Macgrath.Michael: For real? The Reapers: Yeah. They also said that they found “A New Conduit” in the city. Which means…Michael: A new power, huh...

Quinn calls Michael to tell him something.

*Phone rings*

Michael: Yeah?Quinn: Guess what I found out, man?Michael: What?Quinn: The police want to work with us.Michael: What?!Quinn: What’s up?Michael: Last time we trusted the police, they threw us in a cage!Quinn: Don’t you mean that we trusted YOU and you threw us in a cage?!!Michael: Let that go, punk. And besides, those cops are crooked anyways. Later.

(Good)

Michael takes Quinn’s advice and joins the police force, gaining the respect of the people.

(Evil)

Michael accepts the Reapers’ offer in siding with the militia, making his army bigger and mak-ing the people fear him.

(Story Resumes)

After completing several tacks, Michael gets information about the troublesome new conduit in the city. But before he can start finding the conduit, his mother calls:

Michael: Yeah?Michael’s Mother: Michael, son, are you all right?Michael: Yeah. And mom, how come you never told me about Dad?Michael’s Mother: I didn't think it mattered to you, since he was never there for us.Michael: And you knew that he was a Conduit, knowing that I might be one of them?Michael’s Mother: Yes... I am so sorry, son.(she tears up)Michael: It’s all right, okay, Mom? And besides, I have powers now! So don’t worry, all right? I’m gon-na make everything right.Michael’s Mother: Okay….Michael: All right, I gotta go... See ya later!Michael’s Mother: All right. Love ya, son.Michael: Love you too, Mom.

Chapter 4: Where the shad-

ows come to live.

Michael still continues his search for the unknown conduit. Before he can give up on the search, he finds some strange shadow-like “tag-

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gings” on the walls of a building. That’s where I’ll find that Conduit I’ve been looking for, he thinks to himself. After several hours in hiding, Michael final-ly found the Conduit. Once michael grabs ahold of him, he manages to absorb some of the Conduits’ powers.

Michael: Hey wait! Stop for a sec, okay?!Unknown: Forget it! I’m not going to be slave again!Michael: I am not trying to hurt you. At least tell me your name.Israel: Israel, but everyone calls me “Stryker”.Michael: Why?Israel: You're about to find out why…..!

Michael, with his new shadow powers, fights against the Conduit in a nearby alley. Once the fight is over, Michael tries to ab-sorb his powers again -- all of the powers this time. Once he does that he can see inside Stryker’s head, as well as seeing his past. “ As a little kid, I never knew it could be me. That I could be one of them? My family lives in El salvador, and in there, things were already bad as hell. The gangbangers showed up at my door. They treated my family like trash. They didn’t care at all. And it was all because... all because...of me! Oh my god. Did I do this? I…” “Soon after that, the Beast had found me, took me under his wing. But he was brutal. He trained me to kill, how to use my powers. So, when I came to L.A., I knew -- I knew that this was my chance to use my skills make things right again.” “My family, I promise you, that I will find every gangbanger in this city, and send them to their graves! I’ll make sure that no one else suffers like we did.’ No more killing, no more gangs, no more.”

Quinn: Mike! Hey Mike! You all right?Michael: Yeah...Quinn: Come on! Get up, get up! Easy there. You did good. And I know just where to put trash like this. Somewhere that the Beast can’t find him, and he won’t be hurting anyone else.Michael: Whoa, Whoa, hey. He's just killing gang-bangers man...Quinn: Killing? Michael, murdering gangbaners.Michael: What the hell you think i doing to these

cops?Quinn: What you have to in order to save this city.Michael: No, man. He stays free.Quinn: No man. Wait. Just because you guys have the same assets -- not gifts -- assets, don't mean we're going to pick up every little "trash" that we find.

Michael, with a mad look on his face, steps back after hearing the word trash (meaning Con-duits) coming out of his brother's mouth.

Quinn: Look, I'm never going to leave in the dust, okay? Not ever. Just trust me: This one goes in the cage.

Michael wants Israel to join his side to sav-ing the city, by unleashing his power

Michael: If it weren’t for me and my kind, you would have been dead. Lying under six feet of dirt, if it weren’t for me!Quinn: Oh really? So Mr. Freewheeling Badass fi-nally wants to take change huh? And who, A Bioter-rorist freak with body count?Michael: You know I love you bro. So don’t make me have break that face of yours.Quinn: Fine... But he kills someone’s brother the the day after that, or someone’s sister the next, and you’ll be responsible!

The two brothers walk away from each oth-er.

To be continued...

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