It was a day that no one would ever forget.
John was relaxing and driving his Charger down the street. He was dressed in his '8-bit' T-shirt, jeans, and hi-tops. His buzz cut was short and perfect. He was just minding his own business, waiting for the light to change at a four-way intersection, when a woman suddenly landed on his car. She had long white hair and was dressed in all white spandex and boots. But what really caught his attention, was her glowing white eyes. She rolled off the hood of his car and with a limp ran down the left street along the sidewalk. Before John could do anything, a group of five men appeared and quickly ran after the woman.
Not liking their look, or the direction they were taking, John turned his car to the left and gave chase as well.
The woman with the white-hair was Galaxia, and she was in West Newberry trying to find out why Arachnos was there. But she had been caught by his men, and in a pitched fight had barely managed to escape.
I need to get away, she thought, ducking into an abandoned warehouse, her hand pressing down on her wound to keep the bleeding down. Regardless, she knew it was only a matter of time before she died.
"Spread Out And Find Her!" the apparent leader of the group of men shouted.
No time to call for any help. John thought, parking his car a block back and following the ground into the warehouse. His one advantage was that he knew this warehouse he had played in as a kid.
Arachnos solders were looking for Galaxia when all of the sudden one of them was grabbed, pulled into the shadows, and knocked out.
"What was that?" the thug leader asked, hearing the blows landing. "Kars? KARS!!!"
Just then, another thug was grabbed and knocked out.
"Could it be her?" the third thug asked.
"I don't think so. She was too injured!" the leader said.
"So she's got an accomplice. Find him!" the leader shouter, only to have the other two get knocked out in less than a minute.
The leader was the last man standing.
Walking into the middle of the large warehouse, the gang leader started shouting.
"Alright! I know you're here and I know you can hear me! I don't know who you are, but come on out so that we can talk about this!" he shouted.
"Just like you wanted to talk to that girl right?" a voice said.
The man pulled out a gun and started firing. However, he had no idea where the voice was coming from inside the large warehouse.
"WHERE ARE YOU?!!!" he shouted, firing wildly around the warehouse until his gun was empty.
"As if I'd tell you, look for me!" the voice said.
Frustrated and annoyed, the man started searching for the voice, peering behind the various crates and boxes that were around him. He suddenly around and found a muscular man behind him.
"Night." he said, right as a fist impacted his face, sending him to the ground, unconscious.
That done, John started rounding up the rest of the goons before he could go look for the woman.
As it was, Galaxia was on the upper level and had seen the fight.
He's perfect. Perhaps he can help me. She thought and left her hiding place.
John was tying up the goons for the police when the woman with white hair emerged from the shadows. Seeing that she was injured, he went over to help her. He laid her down, taking off his shirt to stop the bleeding.
"It is too late for me." she said weakly, stopping his attempt to help her. "You tried your best to help me, Jonathan Cena, and for that I thank you." she said, seeing him gasp. "Yes, I know your name. May I ask one more favor of you?"
"Sure, anything. What?" he asked.
"Kiss me one final time."
He looked at her, slightly stunned. It was a weird request to be sure, but seeing how she was dying, it wasn't as if he could refuse. Holding her gently he moved his lips towards her, pressing against them firmly. Her lips were soft, gentle and moist, a slight hint of vanilla could be tasted. But while he enjoyed the kiss, he could sense two things happening. The first was her energy beginning to leave her body as death loomed over like a vulture. The second thing he felt, and he would have thought it odd and even discouraging, was his own body getting stronger, as if filling with energy.
He paid little mind to it, thinking that it was the adrenaline from kissing a beautiful woman.
The kiss stopped, and John looked into her eyes seeing no life within them. Yet he was comforted by the fact that she had a soft smile upon her lips. Lying her down gently, he closed her eyelids with his fingers before taking out his cellphone and calling the police.
Within minutes police and an ambulance arrived. After giving them a statement on what had happened, he was allowed to leave. Getting back to his Charger, he got in and headed home to get cleaned up.
It was nearly 8:00 when he arrived at the apartment building of Maria and Candice, his dates for the evening, dressed in a tight black shirt, tan slacks, and black boots.
When he arrived at the front door, on time for once, he noticed the pair coming right out, dressed to kill. Maria was decked out in a short-skirted black dress with thin shoulder straps that complimented her long raven-dark hair. Candice, with her bright red hair, was dressed in a similar white dress and matching shoes. They jumped into his car, Candice kissing him passionately.
"Damn, John, you look great." the redhead said.
"Thanks. I wanted to look my best." John smiled back and gunned the engine.
Their first stop was a restaurant of their choice, an Italian restaurant, where John got a pretty decent lasagna. After dinner they headed out to the club where for more than five hours John never left the dance floor. John had never felt so energized in his life. It was as if nothing could kill the high he was on. The same could not be said for his dates, whose energy left them after five hours of nearly non-stop dancing.
Taking pity on them, John took the girls back to their apartment. Both of them were still rather weak, so John helped the pair back up to their apartment. Once they were inside, they both kissed him, one girl per cheek, he said goodnight, and then took off for a drive.
He ended up at the cliffs overlooking the city.
What is wrong with me? I feel 10 times stronger, like I can take on the whole world. He thought, sitting on the hood of his car.
Just then he heard a voice in his head.
It's because of the power inside of you. a woman's voice said.
Startled, John jumped off his car and looked around, not seeing anyone for miles.
"Who's there?" He said out loud.
I am sorry for startling you John. I am inside of your head.
Suddenly, his vision blurred and he was in a place that looked like some kind of national park, filled with tall sequoia-like trees. In the middle of a small clearing he saw a gorgeous woman with long platinum blonde hair, glowing white eyes, beautiful pale skin, and a tall, busty and athletic figure. She was dressed in white robes and slippers, a pale purple flower in his hair behind her left ear. All around him floated soccer ball-sized bubbles, each one containing memories from his life.
"Whoa. We're... Inside my head?"
"Yes, we are.""Okay. I'll buy that. Since I haven't been to Yosemite National Park since I was ten years old, and I was overlooking a city that's on the other side of the country just a second ago. So, who are you?"
"My name is Galaxia. The woman you tried to help, and who died in your arms, was named Gena Tomas. She was my previous host, a woman of great compassion and will. In my hour of need she willingly came to my aid."
"So.... you were in her head?"
"Yes.""And now you're in mine."
"Correct.""Why?"
"I am here to ask you to help me defeat her killers. A group of vicious beings called Arachnos, headed by a man of the same name."John sighed. "Alright. I'll help you."
"Thank you.""But! I want to know everything! I have a right to know what I signed on for."
"Of course."
While Galaxia started telling John the story of her life, he had little idea just how much his life had and would change.
HHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH
It started at a RAW event. Carlito and Santino had won the WWE tag team championship from Cody Rhodes and Hardcore Holly and they were challenging anyone in the back to face them.
'No More Words' by EndeverafteR started playing as the crowd started cheering.
Jeff Hardy emerged from the curtains and strolled down the ramp to the ring as if he owned it, or would own it. He was in a black shirt, ripped pants and boots. Glaring at Carlito and Santino he stood by the side of the ring patiently to see who his tag team partner was going to be.
'My Time Is Now' by John Cena w/Trimarc answered that question.
Jeff looked up to see John stroll out and down the ramp towards the ring. Both men slammed their elbows against each other, before jumping into the ring.
"Ready to tear it up?" Jeff asked.
"Always." John replied.
The match was nothing short of brutal yet spectacular, and in the end, John managed to hit Santino with an F-U while Jeff came in with a Swanton Bomb and got the pin, making them the new tag team champions.
Meanwhile, in the backstage dressing rooms, a group of Arachnos soldiers were holding three people hostage. The hostages were in fact Maria, Candice and Ashley. They were tied up to chairs next to each other as a large bald man, dressed in a black bodysuit with red trim, gloves, boots, a monocle over his right eye and a huge scar on the left side of his face stepped before the six assembled men.
"Now, ladies," the large man said with a German accent. "I wish to know, where is Mr. Cena?"
"We don't know!" Maria spoke up.
"And if you did?" the man asked.
".....we still wouldn't tell you." Ashley spat.
One of his goons moved forward and backhanded her.
"My fair fraulein, I do not like seeing women in pain. But if you continue to lie to me you will feel pain."
Unbeknownst to them, John had come back from the ring sooner than expected, and overhead what was being said.
"Why are you doing this?" Candice cried out.
"He has something my master wants, and we shall get it!" the bald man said.
That was all he needed to hear. Raising his foot up he kicked the door right off it's hinges, sending it into two of the goons and knocking them cold, before rushing in and body-checking three of the others. The sixth thug barely had time to dry his gun on the wrestler as he grabbed a chair and threw it at the goon, knocking the goon in the head.
However, while John had the thugs handled, the leader had grabbed Ashley and pointed some kind of bizarre-looking knife at her.
"Surrender now or I kill her!" the bald man shouted.
"You won't get the chance!" John said as he rushed forward suddenly, grabbing the man's knife arm with his left, pushing it away while he pulled Ashley away from the man with his right. However, the man took the opportunity to flick the button on the side of the knife, sending a bolt of energy from the knife, through John, and blasting Ashley, Maria and Candice with what looked like blue lightning bolts. The bolts suddenly tossed the girls, still tied to their chairs, backwards and into Jeff who had come to see what all the racket was. They slammed into Jeff and were hurled outside the dressing room.
John groaned, barely able to stand up as the man walked over to him with his weapon armed.
"Not dead? I'm pleasantly surprised. The master did want you alive." the large man said.
'John he's going to kill you! Galaxia said from his own mind.
'Tell me something I don't know." John groaned. "Makes me think that Regal hired this goon."
'No, I recognize him now. His name is Baron Death.' Galaxia said.
"An Arachnos goon?" John said as he struggled to get to his feet. The blast having taken a lot out of him, Galaxia was actually pleased her last-second plan had worked. John's eyes narrowed as he lunged at the bald man. Punches and kicks flew back and forth as John pushed the Baron back, neither noticing John's hair already short hair starting to change to a much paler shade. He also didn't notice that one of the thugs had gotten back up, grabbed a chair and slammed a chair into John's back. John kicked the Baron away and spun around the backhand the thug. Jeff looked in and saw the other thugs starting to revive. They were on their feet as Jeff rushed in and body checked them like a hockey player, using enough force to knock them back into unconsciousness.
"What the hell...?" Jeff gasped when he realized what he had done.
Baron Death lunged at John, right hand holding the strange knife and aimed for his chest. John swiftly moved to dodge the blade, grabbed the Baron by his wrist, and started spinning him around and around, before launching him through the air and through the wall of his dressing room.
This was a good move on John's part, since the place he had unintentionally aimed for was a concrete section of the wall.
When the police officers arrived, John was a little confused to see the same officers from his delayed rescue of Gena. They took his statement and hauled the Baron and his thugs away. It was only after the fact that they had learned that Baron Death and his thugs had killed several of the security guards so that they could take Candice and the others prisoner.
HHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH
Later at the hospital, John stopped in to see if his friends were alright.
"What brings you by?" Jeff asked, sitting on the medical bed.
"Just wanted to say thanks for saving my neck back there." John said.
"No problem," Jeff said. But.... what exactly happened to me?"
John looked at Jeff, squinting his eyes, he saw a strange glow in his muscles. It looked to John like the same power that he felt in his own body.
'Tell him to get a check up. Just to be safe.' Galaxia said. 'And maybe the girls as well.'
HHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH
(Five hours later)
"How are they doc?" John asked as the doctor came back with Jeff and the girls tests results.
"Well, their muscular structure has completely changed. Their muscle mass has increased, though the density seems to be a little above normal." the doctor said. "More than a little."
'Could mean one thing.' Galaxia said.
And that is? John asked.
'They are as strong as you are now.'
How is that possible?
'When you lunged at Baron Death, forcing the knife away from your friend, I took the opportunity to switch the polarity on the weapon. It was a long-shot, but I'm glad it was successful.' You reversed.... and if you hadn't? So what did it do? 'Basically, the beam shot through you, taking some of the enhanced abilities I gave you, and transferred it to them when they were struck.' Is this good or bad?
"So, are they cleared to leave?" John asked the doctor.
"Yes. The nurses are giving them their discharge papers, so they can leave at any time."
John nodded and went over to where the girls were.
Having been given their discharge, the girls were getting dressed. John knocked on the door and Ashley went to answer it. When she saw John, she smiled and jumped into his arms, giving him a big hug and kiss.
"Thank you for saving my life, John." She said while hugging him.
"You're welcome Ash." He said as Jeff came over to them. "You alright, man?"
"Yeah, thanks." Jeff replied. "You?"
"I'm good. I just wanted to make sure you guys were alright after everything that went down."
Fully dressed and with a clean bill of health, the quintet left the hospital and headed for their hotel, unaware of how much their lives were going to change now.
End for now.