Metafreakz is a meta-fictional crossover, which brings together various unrelated elements from folklore, pop-culture and classic horror and reimagines them in an exciting new fictional universe for young readers.
Introduction Science and magic come together in a monster mash-up of epic proportions. Metafreakz is an unlikely team of multi-ethnic kids from across the globe. On the surface, they are not very different from other children of their age. Some of them go to school, sit through boring classes and avoid annoying bullies. But each of them also happens to be what we’d call - a classic monster,
gifted with super-duper powers and astounding abilities. And no, these are not your grandma’s classic monsters, for at their disposal are all sorts of awesome gizmos, an extremely handy robotic assistant and a hi-tech castle as their HQ. So when the world is in danger, who do you think saves the day?
The Witch Name: Beatriz Blanco Age: 11 (in all senses) From: Sao Paulo, Brazil In school, she’s the girl who doesn’t quite fit in. But in Metafreakz, she’s the leader who holds the bunch together. Now don’t expect cauldrons n broomsticks, for her mind is all this witch needs to do her tricks… move objects, shoot energy bolts, even levitate mid-air. With the looks of a doll and the shrewdness of a military strategist, Beatriz in the lead is nothing but trouble for the bad guys.
The Vampire Name: Radu Lugosi Age: 11 (for about 700 years) From: Moscow, Russia (originally from Transylvania) Beware the cute and cuddly looks, for underneath lies the most lethal warrior the world has ever known. Kidbrother of the dreaded Dracula, around for 700 action-packed years and adept in almost every weapon and martial art form on the planet, Radu is the real deal. Thank your stars he’s on our side.
The Man-made Monster Name: Boris Frankenstein Age: 10 (born as a 10 year old) From: Orkney Islands, UK The last descendant of Victor Frankenstein, Boris is a bionic boy created using a mix of modern robotics and the research that brought alive the legendary monster. He’s also the world’s richest kid and has the brains to match the most intelligent minds around. Add to it a penchant of invention, and you have the chap who brings the ‘Meta’ in Metafreakz.
The Mummy Name: Heka Hassan Age: 9 (resurrected after 3000 years) From: Cairo, Egypt Once a Pharaoh’s daughter, now a mummy reanimated into the modern world, Heka’s the go-to gal for all things magic - potions, occult sciences, forgotten texts, mythical creatures… She’s almost like a walking encyclopedia of the unknown. But don’t you go by her gentle demeanor, for this beautiful princess can kick some serious ass with her spells and the ability to conjure elemental golems.
The Werewolf Name: Li Mifune Age: 8 (and it doesn’t matter) From: Shanghai, China If you meet this frail and timid halfChinese half-Japanese boy, don’t ever… ever…rub him the wrong way. You never know when this shy little monstermovie lover will turn into a big bad wolf (and when we say big, we mean BIG… like Godzilla BIG!). Then it won’t matter whether you’re friend or foe. Coz no one, not even his teammates are spared when the wolf goes berserk.
The Sea Creature Name: Charlie ‘The Fin’ Gilman Age: 8 (time is not real) From: Gold Coast, Australia Fin’s the bomb! The jock, the surfer and the ultimate party animal! He’s also a merboy who can breathe underwater, swim at super speeds and communicate with marine animals. What’s more, he’s got SONAR (Sound navigation and ranging, like in whales and submarines) which makes him an ace shot with the spear gun; sort of an aquatic robin hood.
The Ghost Name: Roshan ‘Rosh’ Operawalla Age: 8 (for almost a century) From: Mumbai, India When he’s not up to his usual pranks, this impish poltergeist (or ‘bhoot’ as he’s locally called) is always in the thick of the action. He’s mostly invisible, can pass through walls and possess almost any living thing. And though he happens to be the deadest of the lot, he’s the spark that keeps the Metafreakz kicking, no matter how dark things get.
Beatriz Blanco
Li Mifune
Heka Hassan
Radu Lugosi
Boris Frankenstein
Charlie ‘The Fin’ Gilman
Roshan ‘Rosh’ Operawalla
The story outlines The kids are back in their normal lives giving us a glimpse into the part of the world they come from (lifestyle, culture, demographics etc.). Some of them even visit one another once in a while. But whenever the need arises (read ‘evil threats’) they are equipped to come together at the HQ, thanks to a few common gadgets, which enable them to: a. Communicate with each other via holographic projections b. Change into their superhero get-up c. Teleport to the Universal Teleporter at Castle Frankenstein. It’s not mandatory that all the kids have to come together for all the adventures. Someone might have an exam or someone might be busy with some thing else, but at any given time there’ll be at least 3 or more kids involved in an adventure. It helps us to balance out the characters and give each of them equal importance. Also, the team combos can raise the stakes and make things interesting. Keeping in tune with meta-fictional
crossover, the episodes should often present interesting takes on elements from folklore, classic horror literature and cinema, popculture etc. Each adventure has to have a good blend of slam-bang action, chills n thrills and most importantly, humor. Through out the series, there should also be an underlying theme of ‘self acceptance’. It is evident (at least in some of the markets we are targeting) that the younger generation is being conditioned to develop a herd mentality and wants to be anything but themselves. Subliminally, the series is all about not shying away from your origin, understanding one’s limitations and ultimately accepting who you are and being proud of it. The protagonists are a bunch of what the world would call ‘freaks’. Through out their lives they have been either been trying to change themselves to fit other people’s standards or been hiding away from the world. But now they have realized that they are ‘cool’ just the way they are.
Episodic springboards (for animated series) The following are random springboards for a few first season episodes. The season finale should of course have the main villain returning in big bad way and more than one of the characters ‘dying’ (only temporarily to be resurrected in the second season):
Close Encounters of the Shaver Kind One day while returning from school, Beatriz stops to help an old man cross the road and luckily misses a sinkhole that sucks in an entire city block right in front of her. It’s all over the news and scientists claim that sinkholes are natural phenomenon. But on returning home, she learns that one of her grand-aunts was also in that part of the town. The Blanco’s mourn her death and even hold a sort of wake in her memory. But to everyone’s surprise, the grand-aunt shows up to her own wake, all roughed up and delirious. She keeps raving about some monsters and machines, using her powers to fight her way out and that the abducted people need to be saved. Beatriz does some research and learns of the Hollow Earth theory and ‘A Warning to Future Man’ by Richard Shaver. Soon, news of another sinkhole
in Rio comes in. Beatriz knows it’s time to call in the team…Under Brazil, the kids battle an advanced subterranean race of evil aliens called ‘DeRo’s (Detrimental Robots) who have been abducting surface dwellers since time immemorial to experiment on them. Under the leadership of their demented emperor Xnor, the DeRos have discovered a way to use humans as an energy resource and have developed a huge machine that can suck in densely populated lanblocks. Helping the kids are remnants of another ancient subterranean race called ‘Teros’ who had created the DeRos as a slave race which eventually went rogue and destroyed them. Will the kids be able to stop the nefarious DeRo activity and restore power back to the Teros who believe in living in harmony with the surface dwellers?
Afternoon of the Living Dead On a usual Saturday afternoon, Rosh and his adoptive siblings are watching ‘Night of the Living Dead’ on television while their parents are away shopping. The doorbell rings and they answer it to find a zombie at the doorstep. Rosh protects his siblings and is somehow able to lock the zombie in the bathroom. But soon there is a throng of zombies roaming around the opera house compound and Rosh knows he can’t let them out on the ever-crowded streets of Mumbai. What does he do? He calls in the team. Beatriz, Boris, Charlie and Heka join Rosh to solve the mystery of this sudden zombie infestation which has something to do with the return of an evil ‘Aghori’ necromancer called Shoondi from a 1001 year old trance that has granted him dark powers. He
has somehow brought out the zombies from the movie into the real world and plans to unleash them on the people of Mumbai. All because in the ancient times the Kolis (original natives of Mumbai) had defeated Shoondi and brought down his ‘Vetal’ temple, upon whose ruins the Opera House now stands. Can the kids find and stop Shoondi before the zombies start spilling out on the streets of Mumbai?
Silent Night, Deadly Night It’s Christmas and Boris has invited the team to castle Frankenstein for a feast. Everyone’s having a good time until the power suddenly goes off and Boris falls unconscious. Soon a holographic projection of a kid in a Santa disguise appears from nowhere and tells them he’s a genius hacker. He has hacked into the castle’s mainframe and has a Christmas surprise in store
for them… He has turned every machine in there against the kids; including the Zombots, E-gor and Boris himself. With Boris and his hi-tech gadgetry working overtime to destroy them, the kids must find a way to stop the mad hacker. But little do they know that the mysterious kid is none other than Elevenus Pretorious, the prodigious offspring of
Dr. Decimus Pretorius, created with the same technology that created Boris Frankenstein. Will the kids overcome this hi-tech threat with no scientific expert by
their side? And more importantly can they protect themselves from one of their own without harming him?
Here There Be Dragons
Beatriz has her exams and Boris is out for an important conference. That leaves Radu responsible for the team in their absence, a job which he simply hates. He hopes that nothing eventful happens but just then a SOS message from an unknown location in the Himalayas is received. It’s from a young monk from the fabled city of Shambala and it says
that the city has been taken over by the mad scientist Fu Manchu II. Radu, Rosh, Charlie, Heka and Li infiltrate the city over run by Manchu’s Robotic army. They meet up the monk and learn that the situation is a lot worse. Fu Manchu II has gotten hold of the powerful mandala protected since the beginning of time by the denizens of Shambala, a powerful artifact that can enable it’s possessor to call forth an army of dragons. And Fu Manchu II plans to unleash it on our world. Can Radu, an unlikely leader, lead the kids on one of their most challenging missions ever… against a mad scientist, his robotic army and the mythical beasts he plans to conjure?
The Hour of the Wolf One day on his way to school Li is attacked with tranquilizer darts and kidnapped by some mysterious men. He wakes up to find himself in a large castle somewhere in icy Scandinavia. His abductor is Lord Grimback, head of a secret society of werewolves called the ‘Order of the Blue Fur’ which plans to use
Li’s DNA for their own diabolic purpose. They seek a way to overcome their limitation of transforming only on full moon nights so that they can embrace their wild side whenever they want. But unbeknownst to them Li has a tracker on him, which alerts the team of his location.
Beatriz, Boris, Radu and Heka there’s a rare lunar eclipse over immediately set out to rescue him. Scandinavia and the werewolves But will they reach Li in time, as are at their most powerful.
The Exorcism of Bella Bianchi A strange case has the school of exorcism in the Vatican perplexed. A little girl named Bella Bianchi seems to have been possessed but nothing works on her. A young priest and a doctor (who tried in vain to treat her scientifically) consult the team. Heka believes the girl might be possessed by some ancient elemental while Boris is convinced that the girl just suffers from some rare medical disorder. Boris, Heka and Rosh head to the Vatican to examine the girl and further continue their investigation in a rural Italian village from which the girl hails. What they discover is beyond their wildest imagination. There’s neither a possession nor a disease. The girl’s body has become
the host for a deadly alien parasite after coming in contact with a meteorite concealed in her family’s barn. What’s worse, the parasite is slowly killing the girl and is now looking for a new host? Can the three save Belle Bianchi and stop this menace from outer space before it’s too late?
Lemony Graaf’s Friend’s List Charlie is a bit young to use Facebook but he has recently got hooked to it; the main reason being his online friendship with a beautiful girl called Lemony Graaf. Lemony seems to have more than a million boys in her friend’s list and all seem to spend hours interacting with her. But soon Charlie becomes weaker and
weaker and doesn’t feel like doing anything but interact with Lemony all day. Gradually he even starts looking older. And the same thing is happening to the million other boys in Lemony’s friends list. Beatriz, Boris, Radu, Heka and Li begin investigating and soon discover that ‘Lemony Graaf’ is
an actually an anagram for the evil Morgan Le Fay. The now weakened sorceress Morgan of Arthurian legend is somehow using the social network to rob young boys of their youth with the objective of restoring her beauty and powers. The kids trace her to Palo Alto, where she has infiltrated the
Facebook HQ in the disguise of an old cleaning lady. But to get to her they’ll first have to face hundreds of young boys from Palo Alto who are completely under her spell. Can the kids stop the Le Fay from robbing a million facebook addicts of their youth and becoming invincible?
Heart of Darkness
(Build-up to the season finale) Though the team is busy tackling other threats, Boris has not given up on tracking down Decimus Pretorius. Boris’ surveillance bots finally track him down in Africa. The team heads there to discover that Pretorius is up to something in the Congo Basin and aiding him is a deadly cannibal tribe whom he has equipped with advanced weaponry. They are looking for the fabled King Solomon’s Mines. Upon further investigation the
team learns that Pretorius is after a particular black diamond called the ‘Heart of Darkness’, which if removed from the mines can cause a major volcanic eruption, destroying the ecosystem around. Though the kids manage to ambush the bad guys and take down the cannibal tribe, Pretorius escapes with the black diamond and the volcano erupts giving the team their first ever failure.
In an epilogue Pretorius hands over the ‘Heart of Darkness’ to a mysterious presence at the South Pole, who we realize was the mastermind of the operation all along. What is in store for the kids and can they learn the truth before it’s too late?
Something Wicked This Way Comes (Season finale) General Trumble escapes from the prison and musters a good amount of Obsidian Corps. The kids come to know of his mission to steal an advanced anti-matter generator from a high security research lab in Japan. At the same Pretorius leads another team of Osidian Corps to find the Tree of Life at a gateway between life and death under the deserts of Egypt. The kids break up into two teams - Boris, Radu and Li head to Japan while Beatriz, Hekka, Rosh and Charlie head to Egypt. The team in Japan fails miserably as Trumble overloads Boris’ system and Li loses his enhancements and goes berserk. Radu compromises the mission to save his team members and Trumble successfully steals the generator. But not before Radu has planted a tracker on it. In Egypt, a bigger tragedy strikes. At the gateway of life and death while trying to stop Pretorius from stealing a leaf from the Tree of Life, Anubis, the Egyptian god of death is evoked. Heka sacrifices herself to save the other team members and is claimed
by Anubis. Meanwhile, Pretorius is successful in his mission. As the team regroups at Castle Frankenstein, they learn that Trumble and Pretorius have headed to a secret research facility at the South Pole. And upon reaching there they get the shock of their lives. Van Zan’s ectoplasmic essence has survived and is held in a temporary containment suit. The Heart of Darkness, the antimatter generator and the leaf from the Tree of Life are raw materials needed to give him an omnipotent physical form. We know the kids will stop him but not without losing yet another member of their team and another getting severely handicapped. Season one ends dark with the team disassembling and some of the remaining kids losing their drive to fight evil in the face of heavy casualties. But the most unlikely member of them all doesn’t hang up and vows to reassemble the team. It’s Radu, the one guy capable of going to any extent to resurrect the team’s two deceased members.
The are:
The Werewolf
The Witch
The Mummy
The Man-m monste
made er
The Sea Creature
The Ghost
The Vampire
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