Adventures of John: Heroes
Chapter 1: Innocents
The earth was black and charred, spikes of obsidian sprouting out at irregular intervals. Lakes of lava boiled lazily and flames erupted in the air sporadically before dying down. There were also numerous pikes sticking out of the ground, each of which was adorned with a head. Scattered around the realm were various abandoned torture implements, all of which were covered in dried blood, many of which still held the mangled bodies of those that had been tortured. Various tunnels opened up, leading down into caverns where even more scenes of horror awaited.
John materialized in a flash of light, cloak billowing behind him despite the absence of any wind. He took a light whiff and grimaced, looking down on the surrounding land in disgust. "I despise demon dimensions," he sighed. He strode purposefully towards one of the tunnels and made his way down. After several minutes of walking he found himself in a massive cavern, surrounded by thousands of shrieking demonic imps.
"The Terror!" the imps screamed in fear as he entered the cavern. They jumped and clawed over each other in the effort to get as far away from him as possible. John continued walking, ignoring the terrified frenzy of the fleeing imps. At the far end of the cavern, a cloud of black smoke hung suspended in the air, seeming to fill the massive space with malice.
"John the Adventurer," a deep voice called from the smoke. "I was wondering when you'd get here."
"Where is the society's base of operations?" John questioned. "I know that you know the location."
"You'll have to be more specific," the cloud responded. "There are a lot of societies in this universe, some of them magical, others mundane."
"You know of what I speak," John insisted. "No more games, Elzael. Greater demon or no, you know that you cannot defeat me."
"I know that," Elzael responded. "That was why I took certain precautionary measures." The cloud of smoke parted, revealing a young girl, bound securely by ropes. The smoke suddenly shifted, pouring down her throat, until none remained outside her body. The girl opened her eyes then, eyes that were as black as the smoke that composed the demon's form. "What do you think of my meat suit?" the demon asked through the girl's lips.
"Impossible!" John exclaimed.
"Not impossible," Elzael replied. "Just improbable. You are not the only mortal to find their way into the magical realms, you know. Sometimes one of your kind accidently find their way here. This little morsel dropped into my realm only a few days ago. I kept her alive just for your arrival. You see, despite your fearsome reputation, I've noticed that it is only us on the darker side of the magical realms that you go after, and you never kill humans, especially the innocent, like this little girl." The girl's head suddenly jerked to the side with a sickening crack.
A laugh gurgled from the girl's throat as the demon saw the look of horror come over John's face. "Now I am the only thing keeping this girl alive. I know that you have some small skill at healing, but it is far from your specialty, and even one as powerful as you cannot bring someone back from the dead. If you try to kill me, or even simply exorcise me from the poor girl's body, she will die."
For a moment John looked lost, despair coloring his features. Then his face grew hard, barely contained rage displacing the despair. "The girl is already dead," he stated. "All I would do by sparing you now is delay the inevitable." He clenched his hand into a fist, and the girl's back arched in pain, black smoke flying out of her mouth. When all the smoke was out she crumpled to the ground, cold and pale. "Now," John said, his energies binding the demonic smoke and keeping it from escaping, "you are going to tell me everything. But first, you are going to pay for what you did to that girl sevenfold." Golden light began to pour from his eyes, and the demon's screams of pain were echoed throughout the entire dimension.
. . . . .
"Happy birthday!" I exclaimed, bursting into the room. Inside Anna, Kristoff, Elsa, Olaf, Sven, Rapunzel, Eugene, Pascal, Maximus, and all the children were already gathered around Anna and Kristoff's son Avan, who was just beginning to open up his presents.
"Uncle John!" he exclaimed, jumping up and wrapping my legs in a tight little hug. "You're here!"
"Of course I'm here!" I laughed. "Did you really think I would miss you turning four? This is a very important part of your life, you know."
"I'm glad you were able to make it," Elsa said, wrapping me in a cool, soothing hug.
"I am too," I told her. "Hey," I said, turning back to Avan. "Want to see what I got you?"
"Of course!" he exclaimed.
"Here," I said, flipping a coin through the air, which he managed to catch.
"It's a coin," he said disappointedly. I guess growing up a royal he didn't have all too much appreciation for money.
"Not just a coin," I assured him. "Flip it up in the air."
He did, and when he caught the coin it suddenly changed, becoming a golden short sword. "Wow!" he exclaimed, swinging the sword about. "This is SO cool! Thanks Uncle John!"
"Isn't that a little dangerous for a boy his age to have?" Anna asked with the fear only a mother can fully understand.
"Don't worry," I assured her. "It's magical. Come on Avan, give me your best swing." After a moment's hesitation he did, and the sword passed harmlessly through me. "See? The blade is completely harmless, and with another flip in the air is completely portable." Seeing the jealous looks in Sammy and Jimmy's faces, I chuckled. "I'll make sure to get these rascals a pair on their birthday as well. Then they can all battle each other."
"I'm not sure I like the sound of that," Rapunzel told me.
"They're completely harmless," I assured her. "They're forged by a dwarf friend of mine specifically for the use of children. They'll have all the fun of swordfights without any of the danger."
"I think it's great," Elsa agreed. "It'll give them something other to do then messing with the staff."
The day continued, and Avan's birthday went on. He opened the rest of his presents, which included a set of toy soldiers, a model castle for them to battle over, and a new puppy. I'm fairly certain that we're spoiling him, and the rest of the kids too. Then we ate massive amounts of chocolate cake(he inherited his mother's sweet tooth), which Kara and Dawn managed to get all over themselves, and played games until it was the children's bedtime.
"Today was a good day," I stated as Elsa and I stood on our balcony, staring out into the night sky.
"I really am glad you came," Elsa told me. "I miss you every second you are gone."
"Same here," I responded. Suddenly a rift appeared in the air before us, a tear in the fabric of the universe.
"Remember your promise?" she asked.
"Yep," I answered. "I promised to take you with me next time I get sucked into a swirling vortex of doom. I guess it's time to keep my promise then." We held each other's hand, and the two of us jumped through the portal, ready for whatever was on the other side.
. . . . .
When we fell through the rift, what we found was nothing like I expected. There were no scorched ruins, no monsters made of nothingness ready to attack, and no characters I had previously believed to be fictional suddenly staring me in the face. At least, not at first. Instead Elsa and I suddenly found ourselves in the middle of a bustling city. I couldn't see any identifiable landmarks at first, but it looked a lot like New York City.
"Is this your world?" Elsa asked, looking around in wonder. "It looks a lot different when there aren't a bunch of monsters crashing through it."
"I don't think it is," I responded. Actually I knew it wasn't, because I feel the magic in the air. A lot of it. "It looks a lot like it, but there is something not quite right…" We walked around the city, many of the civilians turning and staring at our unusual attire(I was still wearing my old-fashioned clothes, and Elsa's usual dress is pretty noticeable. We turned a corner and I halted in shock, staring up at the building before us. It wasn't quite as tall as the skyscrapers around it, and looked to be a bit older as well, but it stood out from the others in a way no other building could. On the top of the building there was a giant, slowly spinning model of the earth, and emblazoned on a band around that globe were two words: Daily Planet.
"You have got to be kidding me!" I exclaimed. This was impossible. Never in my wildest dreams had I imagined I would end up here. I was in the city of Metropolis, home of the greatest superhero in history, the one and only Superman.
