Adventures of John: Into the Void
Chapter 1: Voyagers of the Void
I stood on the helm of my new vessel, my cloak billowing with the sails as I stared out into the emptiness of the Void. I could feel its hatred of me, its desire to devour my vessel and me along with it, until nothing remained. The Void guy in the cloak had said that they were trying to end creation because it was "the will of the Void", and being here now I believed him. My very existence was an intrusion to the vast nothingness, and I knew that if it wasn't for my aura of creation energy, I would have ceased to exist long ago.
It is said that matter can neither be created nor destroyed, only changed. Well, in my experience I have to say that is a load of horse crap. I created a bunch of miniature suns from nothing, and then created this massive vessel from more nothing. I had also seen Void demons erase matter from the universe, destroying it utterly. When you live my life, all the regular rules are thrown out the window.
Suddenly there was a massive flash of light, from which what looked like an old Elizabethan pirate ship appeared. But that was impossible. This was the Void, nothing exists here. It was emptiness, absolute nothing. But despite that, there it was, a pirate ship flying straight for me.
"Give up yer vessel and all yer valuables!" a voice cried from the other ship, sounding very much like a stereotypical pirate. "Ye be the property of Captain Scrawl, the greatest pirate to ever live!"
"Great," I muttered. "Void pirates. What's next?" I cleared my throat, and magically enhancing the volume of my voice, responded, "I don't think I'll be doing that. I like myself right where I am, and I don't plan on giving my ship up to anyone."
"It's nothing personal mate," another, more English-sounding voice called. "But there aren't very many people cruisin' through this Void ya see. If we don't take your ship, we won't be having anything to eat."
"In the Void, you don't need to eat," I countered. "There is no time here. No aging, no dying of hunger or thirst, no death other than being devoured by the Void. Speaking of which, how is it that you and your vessel haven't been devoured yet?"
"I could ask the same of yours," the English one responded.
"How about we come together and speak civilly?" I asked. "If you try anything, I get to kill you, and if I try anything, you get to kill me."
"Sounds fair enough," Captain Scrawl laughed. "Prepare for boarding, mates!" We steered the two ships together, and once we came close the other ship's crew tossed hooks over, grabbing onto the Great Adventure and binding it to the other ship. "Welcome!" Scrawl exclaimed as I jumped aboard his vessel. "Welcome to the Woman Scorned, the most feared ship in the seven seas!" Scrawl was an ugly one for sure, with a large matted beard, a sunburnt face, and several large warts. He was also big, nearly as tall as I was and far wider. He looked like you'd image Blackbeard to look like, if he was incredibly ugly.
"You aren't in the seven seas anymore," I told him. "Now tell me, what are a bunch of pirates doing sailing through the Void? More importantly, how are a bunch of pirates sailing through the Void?"
"Yer quick to ask questions, matey," Scrawl commented. "Why don't ye come te me quarters and we can discuss this?"
"And leave your crew alone with my ship?" I responded. "I think not."
"Ye need not worry," Scrawl assured me. "As long as we parley, I vow that my crew will not lay a hand on yer vessel."
"You hear that lads?" the English one, a young, athletic blonde man, shouted. "Not a hand on that ship!" I placed a warning spell on my ship just in case.
"Come with me," Scrawl told me, putting his arm across my shoulder. He reeked like a sewer, and I quickly shrugged off the arm and stepped several feet away.
"Lead on."
Scrawl laughed. "This be Jack, me handy first mate." He gestured to the Englishman, who had followed us into the Captain's Quarters. "We don't see many people out here ye know, so it was quite the surprise when we discovered you."
"That's what I'm curious about," I told him. "You appeared in a flash of light. How did you know where I was, how did you get here, and how has your ship kept from being devoured by the Void?"
"We got ourselves a sorcerer!" Scrawl answered proudly. A good one too. Outfitted me vessel to sail the winds o' the Void. We've found some pretty valuable treasures since comin' here, we did, what wasn't eaten up by the Void anyway."
"Can I meet this sorcerer?" I inquired.
"Of course! Jack over here can take ye to him. I shall go and make sure any of me crew haven't decided to try out yer ship against me orders."
"You'll 'ave to excuse the Captain," Jack told me as he led me to the other side of the ship. "His mind's been going a bit, you see, what with us being stuck in all this endless nothin'."
"What's with the accent?" I asked him. "His, not yours."
"He thinks it makes his seem more frightening," he answered. "More like how you'd expect a pirate to be like. It's also why he has that nasty beard."
"And the smell?"
"That can't be helped," he answered with a laugh. "He's a good man, all-in-all. That's why he took this job. Nearly all of the things we find here are unguarded, so we 'aven't had to kill anyone. You're the first living soul we've since entering this pit." He stopped in front of a wooden door with a sign proclaiming, "No Entrance!" in bold letters. "Well, 'ere we are, the mage's quarters. Don't startle 'im though, he's made several men who tried to come in here disappear."
"I'll remember that." I opened the door and walked inside, immediately finding myself in the most cluttered room I had ever seen. Shelves were everywhere, with each shelf overburdened with various chests, boxes, and jars. Wherever there weren't shelves, various arcane and ancient books lay in towering piles. I examined some of the jars, discovering various unsavory ingredients. I also found several jars that seemed to contain pieces of the Void itself, blank emptiness contained inside the containers.
"Don't touch that!" a shrill voice exclaimed. "It's very sensitive! We can't have just anyone messing around with the very essence of the Void!"
"Good thing I'm not just anyone," I replied, turning to the speaker. He was a shriveled gnome of a man, barely five feet tall and covered with wrinkles, a shock of snowy Einstein-like hair covering his head. "I'm John the Adventurer," I told him, offering my hand. "And you are?"
"None of your business!" he exclaimed testily. "And I don't care who you are, Void magic is delicate business, and I won't have you messing it up!"
"You're a Void wizard," I muttered. As if I didn't already have enough Void-related problems. First a secret Void society, then Void demons, and now Void wizards. I really hoped this guy wasn't a part of the society.
"I prefer to think of myself as a pioneer," he told me. "I, Wiznet Fizzcrackle, shall be the first human being to delve into the secrets of the Void."
"And what is all this for?" I asked.
"I plan on recreating the process to forge Voidstones," he answered proudly. "There are so few of them that in most universes they are viewed as myth, or are completely foreign to those in that universe. If I am successful, then that will no longer be a problem! Everyone will have the power of the Void at their fingertips."
"That's not a smart idea," I told him. "I understand that you think you are doing something good, but things are happening. The Void itself has begun to strike out against creation. Nothing good can come from your work."
"If it weren't for my work, this ship would have been devoured long ago!" he announced. "I was able to decipher how to repel the power of the Void, encasing this entire ship in a protective shell. How is that not a good thing?"
Suddenly there was an explosion of sound. "My ship!" I exclaimed. "Someone's on it!" We ran out to find the captain and his crew coming off of my ship towards us, staring blankly into space. "What happened to keeping your crew away from my ship?" I shouted.
Scrawl turned to me, his eyes empty of emotion. Void energy poured from his mouth as he said in an eerie voice, "The Void has them now. You are done, adventurer."
"What in the blazes is going on?!" Jack exclaimed as he saw what was happening. "Captain, what's bloody gotten into you?"
"No time to explain," I told him, grabbing both his and Wiznet's arms. "Time to get out of here." I closed my eyes and we teleported us to the helm of the Great Adventure. The Void-possessed pirates turned to follow us, but I spun the wheel, breaking my ship away from the Woman Scorned and leaving them behind, with several of them dropping into the emptiness of the Void.
"What is going on?" Jack questioned. "What happened to the Captain?"
"He and the others probably got possessed by the Void," I answered. "How that happened I have no idea."
"Wait," Wiznet commanded. "How is it that your ship isn't being devoured?"
"It's imbued with pure creation energy," I responded. "It cancels out the effects of the Void."
"That's it!" he exclaimed. "When they came on board, they must have been temporarily exposed to the Void between exiting my anti-Void shield and stepping foot on your ship. Not long enough to be consumed, but maybe long enough for this possession to take place."
"Lads," Jack said concernedly, "we've got trouble!" Turning around, I saw the Woman Scorned catching towards us. "I thought mind controlled people were supposed to be all zombie-like."
"Well you were wrong," I answered. I tried to speed away, but they began to slowly catch up to us. "We aren't going to be able to outrun them!" I exclaimed. "Time to go on the offensive."
"You've got no bloody crew!" Jack exclaimed. "How the blazes are we supposed to man all these cannons?!"
"You're not," I responded, grinning. "Just sit down and watch the show." I turned the ship to the side until the starboard bow was facing the enemy ship. "Load cannons!" I shouted. Nothing happened. "Oh right," I muttered. "Already loaded. Okay then. Ready cannons!" The cannons seemed to shift slightly, as if readying themselves. "Fire!"
The starboard side was suddenly engulfed in smoke as every starboard cannon fired, releasing a volley of cannonballs, each of which radiated an aura of creation energy. The cannonballs ripped through the Woman Scorned, but it still flew. It began to turn, readying to release a volley of its own.
"Nice ship you 'ave 'ere," Jack praised. "But I don't think she stands a chance against the Woman Scorned."
"We'll see about that," I responded. "Ready main cannon!" The ship's bow opened up, a massive, sci-fi-looking cannon rose out of it. It was made of some silvery metal, with golden energy glowing through from the inside. "Prepare Megaton Ion Blast!"
"What is that?!" Wiznet asked in amazement.
"A cool-looking gun with a fancy name," I answered. "And it packs quite a wallop." The gun began to glow brighter, energy pouring off of it in waves. "Fire!" A massive blast of energy erupted from the massive cannon, tearing the Woman Scorned to shreds. "Well," I said, turning to my new crew, "that was exciting."
. . . . .
Sometime later I was below decks, enjoying a nice game of bowling in the game room. Yes my ship has a game room. It is my ship after all. Suddenly there were frenzied shouts from above. I immediately teleported to the helm, where I found both Jack and Wiznet.
"What's going on?" I asked.
"That." Jack pointed straight up.
I looked up and was stunned into silence. When I could finally speak, all I could say was, "That's not possible!"