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Not part of Riordanverse
The following article/section is from the Race to the Sun continuity under Rick Riordan Presents and not the Riordanverse canon. |
| “ | I know it’s dangerous, Z, but when I used the water against Adrien and those other guys, it felt... [...] It felt awesome! I want to do more of that. I’m in! Hero Twin Powers! | ” |
–Mac telling his sister he wants to go on the quest with her in Race to the Sun. | ||
Marcus “Mac“ Begay is the co-deuteragonist, along with Davery Descheny, in the stand-alone novel Race to the Sun under the Rick Riordan Presents imprint. He is the latest inheritor of the powers of Born for Water, one of the sons of Changing Woman, his ancestor.
History[]
Early Life[]
Mac was the second child born to Mr. Begay and Bethany Begay of the Navajo tribe, born ten months after his older sister Nizhoni. When he was two or three years old his mother left him and his family.
When Mac was five, his father took him and Nizhoni trick-or-treating one Halloween and they saw someone in a creepy bird costume with a bucket of full sized chocolate bars. While his sister was brave enough to try and go for the chocolate bars, he stayed behind and started to cry from fear, forcing his sister to turn back.
While unaware of his ancestral powers, Mac would notice that he could make the water in the bathtub move, but he thought he was just imagining it.
Bullying Issues[]
In his school years Mac is constantly bullied by a boy name Adrien Cuttlebush. He knew Adrian from summer camp and once played a prank on the other boy that made him a target for his bullying.
Adrian once took a sketchbook Mac got for his birthday and flushed it down a toilet page by page and once tried to flush him before the vice principal arrived and put a stop to it. He tried to avoid Adrian to little success.
Race to the Sun[]
Mac went with his father to pick up his sister from her basketball game and he was riding shotgun, much to his sister’s dismay. Nizhoni told him about the monster and he became interested in a conversation, which changes when she sees his black eye, curtesy of Adrien. When they arrive at their house they see two armed bodyguards outside a black Cadillac and their father goes out to see Mr. Charles, his new boss. Nizhoni tells him that Mr. Charles was the monster at the basketball game and the siblings watch as their father shakes Mr. Charles’s hand. They reluctantly get out and his father notices his black eye. He tries to say his hands are full by holding his iPad close to his chest but his father takes it away and he is forced to shake hands with Mr. Charles and the two bodyguards. However nothing happens after he does so. The bodyguards distract him and his father while Mr. Charles tries to kill Nizhoni. He walks in to find Nizhoni attacking Mr. Charles and chuckles when his sister is grounded and he and his father go out to dinner with Mr. Charles and Mr. Rock. During the dinner Mr. Charles would complement Mac on his artwork and, in an attempt to learn more about the boy’s powers, asked Mac if he could swim.
As he and Nizhoni walk to school the following morning, he recounts the dinner she missed out on. Mac thinks she was wrong about Mr. Charles and calls his sister crazy before going into school to try and dodge Cuttlebush. Later that day Cuttlebush and his friends gang up on him at the baseball diamond, Nizhoni tries to protect him but she falls on her face. When Cuttlebush snaps one of his colored pencils, he snaps and has the sprinkler system attack his tormentors as they flee. Nizhoni helps him up and tells him Mr. Charles kidnapped their father and wants to use him for his business and kill her. She explains they have to catch a train to Gallup.
The siblings pool their money together to take a bus to the train station and Mac complains about hunger. As Nizhoni gets food he goes to the bathroom, scaring her when she returns to find him gone and angering his sister when she finds him. As the siblings wait on the train and narrowly avoid the conductor’s suspicions when a passenger asks him if she is on the right train. As they pull out of the station, Davery boards and explains that he was being chased by a shapeshifter in the form of Cuttlebush. As they eat lunch Nizhoni reads a note that came with their lunch. As he and Davery talk Nizhoni falls asleep. He and Davery fall asleep as well and they wake up to find themselves alone on the train, which is now traveling up the side of a mountain. Nizhoni pulls Mr. Yazzie out of her backpack and tells the three, with Mac and Davery being able to understand him, that the Begays are descendants of Changing Woman and her sons the hero twins, Monsterslayer and Born of Water. He explains the holy people know of their quest and are helping them reach Canyon de Chelly faster. He then tells the children what Mr. Charles and his bodyguards are and that they plan to release their kin and destroy the land, he goes on to say their is a real chance of them failing and dying but they agree to do it and the train stops.
They exit and Mr. Yazzie informs them they are on Sisnaajiní, eastern most mountain of Dinétah, the traditional Navajo homeland, and that they are there to find a perfect white shell for Spider Woman as well as three other items on the other three mountains.He shivers in the snow and has second thoughts about the quest. As his sister gives a pep talk an arrow lands near them. They put their hands up and a teenage boy made of crystals appears and asks what they are doing. When Nizhoni mentions Mr. Yazzie, he warms up to them and introduces himself as Rock Crystal Boy and takes them back to his hogan to warm up. When they introduce themselves by name and clan, the three explain they are looking for a perfect white shell for Spider Woman. He says he can point them in the right direction and shows them to the pile of shells three stories high. When RC leaves her, Davery and Mr. Yazzie climb the pile and Nizhoni finds the shell. As they climb down a large bird lands in front of them and Mr. Yazzie introduces her as Łizhin, the herald a Dibé Ntsaa, the northern most mountain. She tells them that Jet Girl, the mountain’s guardian, is missing and that Nizhoni must come with her to find her and defend the mountain. After stressing the danger and urgency of the situation, Mr. Yazzie feels it is best to split up and he sends Mac to Tsoodził, the southern most mountain, to get the turquoise and Łizhin calls the heralds of the mountains to take them. He gets on Dólii, the herald of Tsoodził, to talk with the mountain’s guardian Turquoise Boy. Nizhoni reassures him and sends Mr. Yazzie with him.
When they reach the mountain they have trouble finding Turquoise Boy and when they do a storm arrives. When Dólii makes a sharp turn Mr. Yazzie loses his grip and Mac is forced to abandon the turquoise to save the horned toad. When they reach Canyon de Chelly he tells the others what happens and blames himself. The others say it wasn’t his fault and his sister offers their mother’s necklace as an alternative and they head to Spider Woman.
They reach her trailer and Spider Woman lets them in. They give her the offerings and ask for the map to the Glittering World, however she reveals that she does not have it, but they are already their. She takes them outside and promises to take them to the sun in the morning, as it is to dangerous at night, where they will face four trials. She has them help with dinner, he cuts tomatoes until he nicks himself and switched with Davery as he then stirs the beans. After dinner they go to sleep and and his sister reveals their father has been kidnapped by Mr. Charles, but he is alright.
In the morning Spider Woman wakes them up before dawn and takes them to the rainbow road in the rain. At first they do not see it, but they manage to in a moment. Spider Woman wishes them luck and leaves them to complete the trials. They look over the song and find lyrics referring to the trial. As they set out his sister walks off a cliff. He and Davery slide down the slope to get to Nizhoni and they notice the rainbow road has vanished and a rock formation is calling out to them. When he wishes Mr. Yazzie, who they left at Spider Woman’s trailer, was with them the horned toad appears. Nizhoni realizes it’s not Mr. Yazzie and tries to warm him, but he does not hear her and vanishes into the rocks. He wonders around in the dark until he falls asleep. When Nizhoni reaches the House of the Sun, Jóhonaa'éí tells her he and Davery are in the lost and found where he and others are encased in amber. After his sister sacrifices her chance at glory, he and the others are freed. Nizhoni hugs him and gives him his weapon before introducing him to their mother. After expressing his shock at seeing someone he thought was dead, he tearfully embraces his mother. When the mountain guardians and heralds land outside, he and the others rush outside and learn the monsters have escaped. He, Davery, and his mother mount the heralds, with Mac riding Dólii, as the others fight from the ground. He is joined by Mr. Yazzie, when he asks his sister why she can’t join them she says she had to give up the opportunity to be a hero to save them. However she joins them when Mr. Yazzie says she only had to offer to stand aside.
As they reach Shiprock, all but his sister and mother avert their gaze as they work to blind the monsters and have the heralds finish them off. He saves his sister from a Bináá' yee aghání. However he is soon knocked off of Dólii and plummets to the earth. However he is saved by Spider Woman, but soon Mr. Charles arrives and sets his sites on the boy. He and Mr. Yazzie are brought back to the group by Spider Woman and they hug him. He and his sister embrace their father as he is returned to them. When his grandmother arrives they go back to her house for food. He talks with Spider Woman and Mr. Yazzie about hot Cheetos.
The Cursed Carnival and Other Calamities: New Stories About Mythic Heroes[]
The Demon Drum[]
After Mr. Charles is defeated, Mac takes up swimming and skateboarding in order to help him fight monsters. However he breaks his arm while skateboarding and his mom forces him to stay home while his sister and the school's Ancestors Club attend the All-Nations Assembly Powwow. Afterwards the Ancestors Club visits him to tell him about the powwow. Mac is surprised the monster was defeated so easily and is given what is left of it as a souvenir by his sister.
Appearance[]
Mac is an adolescent boy of Native American decent with dark hair cut into bangs, dark eyes, a dark complexion, and a skinny build.
Personality[]
Mac is a stubborn artist, not refusing to give up the passenger seat so easily and spends countless hours drawing on his iPad. He is also courageous, agreeing to go on a quest knowing he could die. However he tends to panic easily, such as when first meeting Spider Woman.
Abilities[]
- Art Skills: Mac is a talented artist, designing most of his graphic shirts.
- Bilingialism: Mac can speak English and at least basic Navajo.
Items[]
- Liquid Lightning: Given to Mac by Jóhonaa'éí at his sister’s request, the bottle contained lightning in a liquid form that could disintegrate anything it touched. However it can only be used once. He used it to save Nizhoni from a Bináá' yee aghání attacking his sister.
Relationships[]
Family[]
Mac loves his father, but due to the man’s workaholism his father does not spend that much time with him, usually only remembering to pick him up from somewhere if he has to impress a higher up in his job. When Nizhoni revealed he was kidnapped by Mr. Charles, he was upset.
Due to vanishing when he was two or three years old, Mac thought his mother was dead. When the two were freed from the lost and found, he was shocked to see her alive and tearfully embraced his mother.
After they defeat the Bináá' yee aghání, she constantly dotes on him since she missed watching him grow up, which he does not mind.
Nizhoni Begay, his elder sister.
Mac often teases his elder sister, but he loves her deep down. He was the first person she told about her ancestral powers. When she tried to talk him out of joining her on her quest to save their father, he insisted on joining her.
During their fight against the Bináá yee aghání, he saved her from one of the buzzards, using his only chance to use his liquid lightning.Friends[]
Davery Descheny, his friend.
Mac and Davery are friendly and civil with towards one another. They know each other through their fathers, who are college friends, and his sister, who is also Davery’s friend.
During the quest to save his dad, Mac would talk to him about hot Cheetos while he politely listened and Davery would try to cheer him up when he lost the turquoise when leaving Tsoodził.
Mr. Yazzie, his teacher and friend.
Enemies[]
At first, Mac was civil with Mr. Charles, however after his father was kidnapped he saw the Bináá' yee aghání as the threat he truly was.
Mac and Adrien Cuttlebush have had a bitter rivalry for years, he became Cuttlebush’s punching bag after an incident at summer camp. This bullying would continue until he attacked his bully and other tormentors with sprinklers in self-defense after he knocked Nizhoni over.
Etymology[]
- Marcus is a masculine given name of Latin origin that is derived from Mars.
- Begay is a surname of Navajo origin meaning “his son” or “her son”.
Trivia[]
- Mac enjoys riding in the passenger seat of the car.
- He and Nizhoni are descendants of three of the four Navajo clans.
- Their mother is of the Towering House Clan, their father is of the Bitter Water Clan, their maternal grandfather is of the Mud People Clan, and their paternal grandfather is of the Crystal Rock Group.
- Mac enjoys flaming hot Cheetos, he is the second character in the imprint to enjoy the snack after Hondo Obispo in the Storm Runner Trilogy.
- He is a fan of the New Mexico Lobos, the sports team of the University of New Mexico, specifically their football team.
- Mac has some similarities to Percy Jackson:
- Both never knew a parent until they were twelve years old (Bethany Begay, Poseidon).
- Both had to deal will bullies at school (Adrien Cuttlebush, Nancy Bobofit and Matt Sloan).
- Both are able to control water.
- Both have dealt with a bully using their control over water (Cuttlebush, Clarisse La Rue).
- He watches YouTube more than television.
- Mac, along with his sister and mother, are the first legacies to appear in the Rick Riordan Presents imprint.
- He has arachnophobia.
- Mac is the only named inheritor of the hero twins' powers to inherit the powers of Born for Water, with all others being inheritors of the powers of Monsterslayer.
| Race to the Sun | |
| Books: | Race to the Sun |
| Main Characters: | Nizhoni Begay | Mac Begay | Davery Descheny | Mr. Charles | Mr. Yazzie |
| Secondary Characters: | Bethany Begay | Mr. Rock | Ms. Bird | Rock Crystal Boy | Black Jet Girl |
| Minor Characters: | Coach | Adrien Cuttlebush | Mr. Begay | Darcy | Maya | Bethany Begay's mother | Bethany Begay's father | Eugene |
| Navajo Holy People: | Spider Woman | Jóhonaa'éí | Turquoise Boy | Yellow Corn Girl |
| Magical Creatures: | Bináá' yee aghání | Łizhin | Dólii | Tsídii | Łigai |
| Related Content: | Rebecca Roanhorse | Rick Riordan Presents | The Demon Drum |