5:30 AM

The radio clicked on as Bryan lay in bed refusing to acknowledge the morning had come. The mage fumbled for his Harry Potter eyeglasses, and grumbled as Headline News reported an out of control fire in Denver.

"Figures." the mage muttered as he forced himself out of bed and to the closet where the Helmet of Fate rested.

Slipping on the helmet, he logged into the computer in the armor still in the closet. Within moments, he found the fire's location through emergency information and used the virtual landscape in the computer to cast digital runes around the area to secretly help the firemen put out the blaze.

Satisfied that the fire wouldn't last much longer, he slipped off the helmet and carried it with him into the bathroom, reluctantly deciding to start his day.

He glanced in the bathroom mirror. Rubbing his face, he realized that he was in need of a shave. He cocked a head at his reflection, and a spell began to form in his thoughts. "To change the direction of this frown, remove all hair from the lips on down." he cast in a whisper. He'd found magic to have it's uses, especially after several unpleasant experiences with a shaving razor.

6:15

"That is the THIRD time this week that... prepubescent paperboy threw the paper into my begonias!" Bryan's mother lamented as she came into the kitchen. Bryan sighed and made a mental note to cast another spell to heal crushed flowers on his way to school.

He was dressed in his Fate costume, but had glamored it to look like his private school uniform. The helmet itself, resting on the table as Bryan munched on his cereal, looked to non-magical eyes to be nothing more than an ordinary school cap.

"Will Dad be home any time soon?" Bryan asked to try and deflect his mother's attention.

"Not until Friday, he called while you were out with your friends last night. He's sorry he couldn't take you on the trip this time, but he promised to bring back a new artifact for you to examine." Bryan's dad, a relic hunter, often took the young mage with him on trips all over the world. In fact, that's how Bryan had obtained the Helmet of Fate in the first place.

"Can't be helped. Between school... and then volunteering with my friends? I hated to turn him down this time." Bryan admitted as hie finished the last of his cereal. "Speaking of... I'm late." He wiped his lips and grabbed the disguised helmet on his way out.

"I'll be home late tonight, dear. I'm helping a friend run a party at her museum." Bryan's mother mentioned.

Bryan groaned inwardly. Unsurprisingly, he'd forgotten about this. A few of the Titans were going to be there in disguise, too. The museum was hosting a new exhibit, and one likely to attract any one of at least three known Titans enemies hot to get their hands on it. Putting on his best gameface, Bryan cocked his head in mock curiosity. "Sounds cool... I'm free tonight, mind if I be your date?"

"Oh, I couldn't ask you to..." his mother chided, secretly proud that her son was willing to step up while his father was away on business.

"It's no trouble, Mom. Besides, it's free food."

"You're sweet, dear. Alright, the party starts at eight." his mother assented right before Bryan sailed out of the room to ATTEMPT to make it to school on time this morning.