Somewhere in the sea near the West Shores of the US, debris started falling out of the sky above - they were pieces of shiny metal and glass, many of which had a golden shine on them.
"Boom!" something punched a hole in the space above the sea, and from behind the spacial hole came a smoking dark purple SUV with many damaged parts and deep dents on the exterior. It was as if the SUV had gone through several car accidents while it was traveling in the space that led it to this space.
The dark purple SUV fell towards the sea while leaving a trail of smoke behind like a damaged fighter jet. And just before it crashed into the water, its driver pulled it as much as he could to lessen the impact. When it crash landed on the water, it still created quite a big wave and even knocked some fish out of the water.
"Go! Go!" Garret Peyton opened the driver's side door with a scepter in his hand and yelled: "They're still after us! Go!"
The passengers' door opened, Caroline, Jason, Thomas and Aimee came out with their own backpacks and even some tactical gear. Caroline threw a long black tube/capsule-like thing into the water, and it instantly became a dark blue and sharp looking mini submarine with a pointy head.
"Should be room for all of us." Garret Peyton nodded and said: "Get in! I will start the self-destruct sequence."
The mini submarine looked like it could barely fit one person from the inside, but like all things magical and enchanted, it had a much bigger room inside - it was smaller than that inside of the dark purple SUV, but still enough to fit five adults, just a little crowded like a commercial train cabbin.
"Okay, done, go." Garret Peyton came into the mini submarine last, and closed the door.
The exterior of the mini submarine started changing in color and almost completely disappeared from sight, then it jetted a stream of water out from its tail and started moving into the water as well as towards the nearest shores nearby.
"This thing could only go a few miles." Garret Peyton said to the four students: "It's designed for maximum protection and stealthiness, so long range travel is not exactly its best suit. But it should be enough to lead us to the safe house."
"That's great." Aimee sighed and laid back on her seat: "Thank you very much, Garret. If it weren't for you we wouldn't even be out of the academy."
"Don't mention it." Garret Peyton smiled: "Since we might be seeing more of each other and might even be working together, I figured that making sure you are alive would be good for our future."
"Hmm - what - what do you mean by we working together?" Thomas asked while playing with some of the tactical gear he salvaged from the stranded dark purple SUV, Garret Peyton told them to grab as many as they could before the crashed into the ocean, seeing as they were still new to the magical world and had only limited knowledge and experience with magic and magical battles: "Are you going to work with Ms. Wong as well?"
"Well, since I am her driver and errand boy, I think that'd be pretty obvious, isn't it?" Garret Peyton chuckled: "And what kind of deal did you get with Ms. Wong? I assume you would need to be working for her for a few years right?"
"... as a matter of fact, she did offer something like that." Aimee nodded: "But - but we didn't take it right away, we agreed that we would be her student for the time being until we could find better teachers and take courses from the academy, and in exchange we would utilize our detective skills to repay her in the future. "
"Better teachers, okay." Garret Peyton snickered: "But still, that sounds like a reasonable deal. And I guess the magical world is still just an option for you right? You still have that bridge leading you back into the SJPD."
"Well - I'd call it having a safety net." Thomas shrugged: "You know it's been months and we are still having trouble casting a decent spell right?"
"Speak for yourself Thomas, I could make a killer bowl of shaved ice any time I want." Aimee scratched her head: "But Garret, tell me more - does Ms. Wong usually - how do I put this - recruit members for her team this way?"
"Boom!" a muffled but still loud explosion came from the direction from which they came.
"Oh, that would be the self-destruct sequence." Garret Peyton shook his head: "Ms. Wong's gonna be upset. I hope at least it got a few of those bastards."
"So, can you tell me - does she recruit like this?" Aimee followed up on her question.
"Well, sometimes. The thing is - this is the relatively common way to bring civilian-born mages into the magic world. Someone will usher you in, and the ones being brought in usually have to offer something in return, be it going on some excavations, being on certain employment arrangements, or payment through monetary means." Garret Peyton sighed and said: "I know you may have some reservations about this - I would tell you it's an honor to work for her, but I know in the civilian world she's just an action actress - "
"She's also very close to our master, we came from civilian backgrounds as well, so no need to beat around the bush." Caroline interjected: "And our master found us basically the same way as the friendly owner of a local inn: 'Hey, little girl, I am offering you a chance to reinvent yourself and become much more than you could ever imagine, wanna come into my inn and see for yourself? All I ask in return is you help me in the future'."
"Ouch, Caroline, I thought you like your shiny axe and shield." Jason laughed.
"I love them. But you gotta admit it was a little weird."
"So - how are you liking the deal now?" Aimee and Thomas looked at Caroline at the same time: "Any regrets?"
"No - no." Caroline thought for a short while and smiled: "No regrets - the only regret I have is I didn't practice and train harder - I almost got a chance to kill my son of a bitch ex who tried to hurt my brother and my nephew."
"Woah, woah." Garret Peyton sat straight on his seat: "You didn't hurt a civilian on purpose right? That's a really serious offence - "
"Nonono, he joined some murderous supernatural cult." Jason explained: "It was like an evil initiation ritual, so if you asked me it's pretty much a fair game, mostly."
"Evil murderous cult, you say?" Thomas asked with a curious look on his face.