Adventures of John: The Masters of Chaos One Shot
After all that business with the Void nearly consuming everything, I thought my dream visions were done. At first it seemed like they were, and I was glad for it. They usually showed me signs of impending doom, so I was glad to be rid of them. Unfortunately, I learned last night that I wasn't quite as done with them as I thought.
After a long day of enjoying Spring Break in this world and my time with Elsa in Arendelle, I settled down to sleep, curling up with my wife. That day I had spent a lot of time on my tumblr, where I post way too of random Disney stuff, and my other tumblr, where I role play as an alternate reality version of myself. Elsa and I had a good laugh about that, but first I had to explain to her what tumblr was. And roleplaying. And the internet. I still don't think she really understands it, and this is my seventh time trying to explain the internet to her. Anyways, just as I began to fall asleep, I was suddenly hit with a vision.
. . . . .
The room was dark, with only a single light from above to illuminate it. In the center of the light was a faceless man in Victorian garb, the Shadow Trickster. All around him were massive pedestals, a shrouded figure seated at each one.
"Where you successful?" one of the shrouded figures, a man from his voice, asked. "Did you complete your task?"
"Of course I was!" the Trickster spat. "He was able to put himself back together again, but I split him up."
"This is not fortuitous," another, this one sounding like an old woman, stated. "If he had remained separate, much more chaos could have been caused. As it is, he will try to fix whatever damage has been done."
"If you really think you can take out John the Adventurer that easily," the Trickster laughed. "You obviously haven't been paying attention. Now where is my reward?"
"You will get your reward when the time is right," the first figure answered. "And not before."
"I am not your obedient dog!" the Trickster declared. "I am a being of shadow and pain!"
"We all seek the same goal," the female figure pointed out. "The continual spread of chaos."
"You call this chaos?" the Trickster laughed. "All of you sitting on your pedestals, planning and plotting? That is not chaos. I will show you true chaos." He flicked his wrists, and each and every figure in the circle was suddenly impaled by a spear of shadow. "This is chaos. Random acts of pointless destruction. You call yourselves the 'Masters of Chaos' but you are a pack of fools. There is no 'controlled chaos'. You cannot direct it, cannot shape it, cannot master it, cannot control it. It simply is."
One of the figures tried to speak, only to cough up a glob of blood. "You want to know why I would know this?" he laughed. "I'm a Trickster! We thrive on chaos, whatever form we take. You fools thought you could control the spread of chaos, shape it to fit your own goals. You were idiots. Chaos will spread, uncontrolled and unrefined. Everything will be under its sway. There will be no more order, no more organization, no more structure. Only pure, unbridled Chaos."
The figure coughed up more blood and then was still. "You hear that!?" he shouted at the others, most of which had stopped moving already. "This is the true birth of Chaos! This is the beginning of the end of Order across the universe."
He turned, and somehow I could feel that he was looking directly at me. "I know you are watching this, little Adventurer. The rules have changed, Johnny Boy. Free will isn't restricted to those of you with souls any more. The creatures of magic can do whatever they want now. And that is just the beginning! Every law of magic, every rule of the universe, it's all changing. We're playing a whole new game now!" He burst into raucous laughter, its echoes filling my mind. "Are you ready to play?"
I saw a million images flash through my mind. Fire raining down on my high school. A second moon in the sky. Elsa, heavily pregnant and strapped to an altar, screaming in pain. A man in an army uniform, sweating profusely and holding a gun to my head, shouting gibberish. A strange flag standing in Washington D.C., London, Paris, and dozens of cities I didn't recognize. Horrendous creatures too horrifying to describe, the burning wreckage of skyscrapers falling to the earth. These images and countless more flashed through my head, and throughout it all those same words kept repeating, from a million different mouths. "Are you ready to play?"