School Daze

Jimmy Lightning ollied onto the hand rail and then grinded down it before dropping to the ground. Extreme! He swerved in between the other students and ducked to avoid a cafeteria diner's tray. "Sorry!" he called out, as he whizzed past the kid.

He turned back around just in time to see Master Hu, who was standing in the middle of the hallway and looking very grumpy. Jimmy was so startled that he fell off his board and went sliding down the hallway, stopping just short of Master Hu's feet. His board went rolling off in the other direction.

"Mr. Lightning!" Master Hu said. "What have I told you about skateboarding in school?"

"Not to do it?" Jimmy replied, looking up at his teacher.

"Then perhaps you can explain why I just caught you skateboarding in school?"

"Er..." Jimmy said, stalling as he picked himself off the ground. "You didn't?"

"You're suggesting I don't remember what I saw?"

"Er... Yes?"

Master Hu put a wing to his chin and stroked his feathers. "Yes. Perhaps I am confusing the actual reality with reality as I remember it. How could any person ever truly know which events have conspired and which events one merely possesses the memory of? Perhaps it is impossible."

Jimmy smiled. Another detention dodged at the Peggle Institute. He trotted over to pick up his skateboard, hoping the Master would be so lost in meditative contemplation that he would forget the entire matter. He walked to school, holding his board in one of his paws, and hoped the rest of the day would go as well as the beginning of it.

An Unlikely Hero

As soon as the bell started ringing, Jimmy Lightning was on his skateboard, and by the time the last ring died away, he was shooting through the front doors of the high school, already on his way to the skate park.

Jimmy's mind wasn't as clear as one would think, though. He was in the middle of a dilemma. He couldn't decide whether he'd rather be a professional skateboarder, surfer, or snowboarder, and the indecision was eating him away on the inside.

On one hand, he liked the universality of skateboarding. He could take his skateboard anywhere and skate anywhere (on land, that was), and he liked that. He could skate to school. He could skate home. It was useful.

On the other hand, snowboarding was fast. And the place you visit to snowboard, they're so beautiful they're extremely beautiful. Unfortunately, they're also extremely expensive. He was going to be making a lot of prize money in his prime, of course, but he still didn't want to widdle that away on lift tickets and high-class-hotel stays.

Surfing had a lot of stuff in the Pro category. Like snowboarding, it took place in beautiful places. (However, with surfing, it was also warm!) And like skateboarding, it was free: nobody owned the Ocean. It was everybody's, man.

One draw-back, though: he didn't know how to surf. Had never done it. Didn't know the first thing about it.

And so not only was his mind troubled, but his soul was crowded with that secret. Jimmy Lightning, the most extreme student at Peggle University, didn't know how to surf.

A Rude Awakening...

He was surfing! He had finally done it! Jimmy Lightning had learned to surf! He was goo, too. Unstoppable on the waves. He was doing tricks up there, grinding on the crest of the wave and waving to his fans on the shore.

He jumped into the air and grabbed onto his board during the aerial. The crowd went wild! He surfed in the rest of the way and came up smoothly to the sandy beach. He ran off the board and into the arms of another beautiful chipmunk, and they began to make out pretty hard. Then, she started shaking him and asking, "Are you all right? Are you okay?"

"I'm fine!" he mumbled, as he opened his eyes and stared up into the face of Master Hu and about ten strangers. "Where am I?" he asked, still mumbling. "Where's that chipmunkess?"

"I don't know who you're talking about," Master Hu replied. "Though it is possible that is because we do not share the same set of experiences. The world is subjective, you know! All I am aware of, and it is very little, is that the moment you saw me coming, you seemed to panic and then tumbled off your board. You struck your head pretty hard against the ground."

"Oh," Jimmy replied. So it had just been a dream. Rats. He climbed to his feet, but it was difficult. As soon as his head was above the rest of his body, the entire world began to wobble and Jimmy had to sit down to get it to stop. "Whoah," he said. He was sitting in a bench, and the people who had gathered around his unconscious body began to disperse back into the skateboarding crowd. If there was no death or grevious injury, we aren't interested. Call us when something breaks.

"Are you okay?" the Master asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Just need a few moments." He took a few breaths, trying to get back into the routine of consciousness, and then asked, "What brought you here?"

"I'm afraid bad news."

"I'm in trouble for something."

"Oh, no, no, no. I'm afraid it is far worse than that."

Jimmy Lightning nodded. He had known this moment was coming for many weeks now, but he was okay with it. "I'm being expelled from the Peggle Institute," he said, nodding. It was no biggie. He needed to get away from that place anyway. Needed the extra time it would give him to practice his skills, maybe even get into surfing.

"No, I'm afraid it's worse than that."

"What do you mean? What could be worse than that?" Jimmy's imagination was racing, thinking of one extreme possibility after another, each more extreme and horrific than the last.

Finally, his guessing was cut-off, and completely topped, by Master Hu's pronouncement, "We need you to play in the Peggle Tournament for all of the Empire."

Jimmy Lightning's jaw dropped.

Now that was extreme.

The Stage of Denial

Jimmy Lightning said the first thing that popped into his extreme skull: "What?"

Master Hu replied, "You are to represent the entire Empire in a Peggle Tournament against Kat Tut. If he wins, all of the Empire shall be his. If you win, the land of the Great Empire will double in size. Also, we'll gain some nice pyramids, too. Very nice for burials. Very intimidating, too. I know I'm intimidated, just looking at him."

"Huh?"

"Did you not hear what I said, or is it difficult to grasp?"

"Huh?"

"I shall assume the latter."

"Why me?"

"Why you? Because there are no others. Those who have participated in the Tournament before cannot be chosen this time. You are the best hope we have."

"But I... But I... I'm not even that good. I'm a C-student! You should ask Cynthia! She's way better than I am! I don't want this kind of pressure."

"Cynthia is good, but you are better. I have been watching you. I see what is inside of you. The stars and the cards tell me that you shall be the next great Peggle legend." Master Hu put a wing on Jimmy Lightning. "You shall be victorious, and you shall bring great glory to the Empire."

"I... I don't know."

"Will you help us, Jimmy Lightning? You are our only hope."

"I... I... I'm gonna need some time to think about it."

"Suit yourself, Jimmy Lightning. But you will participate in the tournament. It is your destiny."

"I don't know..."