Shadows, Shields, and Shocks

Shadows, Shields and Shocks is the first episode of season 1 of Poseidon Creek. It is also the first part of the Changes storyline. It introduces the main characters: Darren Trego, Erica Blackwater and Warner Pelligrino. It also introduces the side characters: Dane Trego, Fiona Trego and mention of Dustin Trego and Lance Pelligrino. It shows the story of Darren, Warner, and Erica gaining their powers. The episode alternates between the years 1999 and 2013 to fit in some of the background of the story. During the story, it then switches to 2002, 2004, 2008, and 2011.

Plot
Darren Trego, Warner Pelligrino, and Erica Blackwater find a strange entity which grants them abilities to fight oncoming disasters. But someone wants the powers for themselves.

Synposis
1999. An angler fish passes by in the depths of the ocean. Going deeper, there are remains of a craft dug deep into the sea floor. Suddenly, the fish scatter as a light rises from the craft.

2013. A teacher is watching her class complete their work. She shifts her attention to the sand timer on her desk. She examines it closely until the last grain of sand is in the other half. She tells her class to stop and their pencils hit the ground. The teacher, whose name is revealed to be Mrs. Brannen, tells Darren Trego to put his pen down. The bell then rings and the class leaves. Darren waits at the door for his freind Warner Pelligrino. They then discuss the maths test they just completed. The boys then waited outside another math class; Mr Riley Greenidge's. The class then leaves, and Erica Blackwater comes out of it. She explains that the test they got was simple in her mind while the other two looked surprised.

1999. The light emitting from the craft leaves the craft and moves next to it. Fish gather around it to see what it is. They scatter again as another light, this time from above, sets down on the sea bed.

2013. Darren, Warner and Erica make their way to the cafeteria where they purchase their lunch. They sit down at a table where they discuss the test. They then begin to think about what they're doing after school. Erica suggests that they visit The Creek, a popular swimming location that has incredible depths. They agree to go to the Creek. Warner asks Erica if she knows why it has been closed for several months. Darren explains his mom read in the newspaper there was some sort of rock fall from the quarry around it.

1999. The Submarine (called the Deepsea Handt) lands on the bed and turns the lights on to full. The entity next to the craft stares at the Handt. Suddenly, the door opens and a figure wearing a heavy suit and a large helmet exited. He approached the entity.

2013. Darren and his friends make their way to the door to exit the school, but Mr. Greenidge intervenes and sends them back to the Dining Hall. At the end of the school day, they exit the school and make their way through town. They pass a lot of their school friends and some buildings. They then pass the police station where Darren's parents Dane and Fiona are situated. They approach them. Dane explains that Warner's father Lance may have some information about the location of Darren's brother Dustin Trego which may be connected with an incident in Florida. Dustin Trego disappeared when Darren was 7. He does not know where he is, but has a feeling his parents know what happened.

1999. The figure stopped a metre ahead of the figure. The entity began to writhe and wriggle with the light thrashing around the ocean. It then adopted a humanoid look. The nametag on the figure read: Fergason, Cliff. The entity then developed speech and asked about the pressure levels. Cliff explains that Handt scientists have developed anti-pressure suits which allow people to reach high pressure levels without danger. He then pulls out a gun and points it at the entity.

2013. They reach the creek. It is a huge circular basin filled to the top with water. They change into their swimsuits and dive in. They decide to try to see how far each of them can swim down. Erica goes the furthest but swims back when she sees a light flashing on and off. She tells the others, but Warner dismays it. They dry off, then Darren spots an open cave entrance at the opposite end of the cave. They decide to explore.

1999. The entity doesn't move. A woman comes out of the submarine. Her tag reads Abegg, Hertha. She circles around the entity but an angler fish lunges for her. Fergason shoots it dead. The entity is angry at him as it does not believe in killing anything that was doing no harm. The entity then asks why they are there. Abegg explains that they found readings of an object crashing rapidly into the pacific ocean and thought they would check it out. The information was apparently off-scale. Fergason then shoots the entity multiple times after speaking through a com-link to an unknown authority.

2013. The trio begin to make their way across the steep cliffs to the cave at the opposite end. Warner is leading, Darren in middle which Erica brings up the rear. Warner slips and he is suspended over the water and sharp rocks. Darren rushes to help him but it takes the combined efforts of him and Erica to pull him up. They look down into the water where the light Erica saw is more prominent. As they progress, the light gets more and more violent. Eventually, they reach the cave. Darren asks them if any others felt a shiver run down then as they came. Nervous, they enter the cave.

1999. The bullets go through the entity and wander into the dark reachness of the ocean. The Entity gets angry and fades through their submarine. It seems not to come out, but suddenly surges upwards and the submarine explodes. The impact of the explosion lifts them up, disabling their Gravity Boots. Abegg, who was closer to the Sub was engulfed in flames until the water extinguished them. The Entity flew upwards until it came to an opening. It went through for what seemed for miles.

2013. The cave walls were dripping with rain from the previous night's downpour. There were many passageways leading off of the main cave, but they kept to the path they were following. Warner repeatedly turned around, saying he heard someone speak, whilst the others heard nothing. A glow at the end of the tunnel shone bright ahead of them. Erica moved forward, and the others cautiously followed.

1999. The entity slashed through the water through the tunnel. It then appeared in a small pool enclosed by rocks and mudslides. It had entered a small quarry. It looked around the rocks then stared at one with a crack down the middle in it. It disappeared through it.

2002. The forestation near the quarry leads to a tree falling down into the quarry due to a careless worker. It destroys a chunk of the rocks, opening an entrance to the previously secluded quarry.

2004. Four teenagers climb the rocks to see what's behind the wall. One of their legs hits a rock and disrupts the balance, making the wall seem lopsided from the rockfall.

2008. Heavy rains appear over the quarry and make the water rise extremely. The water overflows and floods Poseidon Creek. Some of the stone wall crumbles and rolls into the town damaging some buildings and cars.

2011. An earthquake hits Poseidon Creek which destroys several buildings. The earthquake also destroys the entire front wall that hides the quarry and spreads all of the rocks through the area. The quarry is now completely open. Police seal it off while Damage Control clears the rock mess.

2013. Darren steps forward, ahead of Erica where they enter a room with no one in it filled with machinery and control panels. Warner steps around it, examining the machinery. The others follow him in. The Entity appears behind them and welcomes them to the Creek. They are alarmed by its presence, but it insists that it means no harm to them. it explains that it is called The Voice and that Darren, Erica and Warner have been chosen to gain powers and fight the Oncoming Darkness. Warner asks what they must do, and the Voice holds her hand up to a lever, which automatically switches on. The wall opens up to reveal three tubes attatched to wires on the wall with steps leading up to them. The Voice explains that they must step into the tubes and abilities will be designed for them depending on their personalities. Cautiously, they enter the tubes and they are sealed in. Erica begins to panic and wishes she was safe. Warner then made fun of her saying she would go to her bubble. Erica has a thing that when she was scared, she would go to her little bubble. The Voice asked if they were ready. They all nodded and the lever was pulled.

1999. Three days after The Voice settled in the cave, a Handt submarine submerged in the water. A man came out of the submarine and ordered three other men named Byron Wesolick, Carey Muthig and Elwood Henscheid to search the area. After a complete search of the surrounding areas, Wesolick reported back to the man and told him that there were no signs of the ET readings they got days earlier. The man removed his badge in disgust and walked back into the sub. The tag read Fergason, Cliff.

2013. The tubes then filled with non-toxic gas. Darren starts yelling at the Voice, but it reassures them that the gas is safe. Suddenly, the gas turns different for each tube. Darren's turns black, Erica's turns pink, and Warner's turns white. The gas engulfes the tube to the extent that the person inside is invisible. Erica's tube begins to emit a shrilling sound. Erica's gas had turned to metal. Suddenly, a lightning sound comes from Warner's tube. His gas had turned to electricity, somehow. 10 minutes later, The Voice pulls the lever again and waits until the tubes are ready to open. Erica's opens first. She steps out of the tube, a little shakily and wonders what has happened to her. She turns around and cries out at the electricity surging from one side of Warner's tube to another. She accuses the Voice of murder, but soon after, Warner wakes up. The electricity disappears when he wakes up. He steps out. Erica runs to Darren who is engulfed in what seems like smoke. The smoke disappears and Darren opens his eyes, which are seen to be black. They quickly disappear before anyone notices. He steps out and they gather around the Voice. The Voice explains that their powers will need to augment before they can use them. After that, they leave pondering what has happened to them.

After they leave, two strangers are watching the Creek from a building nearby. They watch the teens leave. The man of the two jumps down to the Creek with the woman in tow. They break through the cave and find the tubes open. The woman clarifies they have been used minutes before their arrival. The man then figures out that the trio they saw leaving have what they desire...