Adventures of John: World War Magic

Chapter 3: The Way to Washington

"So," Annie began as we flew. "You made it back to Arendelle then." She nodded over to Elsa, who was flying a bit behind us. She seemed to have to most difficulty with flying, and so we had to go slower than I would have liked to stay with her.

"Yes," I answered, "I did make it back. Pixie came with me." I looked around then, realizing that I had forgotten all about her what with the catastrophe Jack had unknowingly unleashed. "By the way, if you see Pixie, tell me. She might be a little angry with me right now."

"Why?"

"No reason," I answered.

"What was it like?" she asked. "Going back, I mean."

"Oh, you know," I responded nonchalantly. "A cup of adventure, a tablespoon of danger, and just a dash of romance."

She gave me a disbelieving look. "Seriously, John. You finally found your way back. For the past month you've been spending every moment of your free time either looking for her, moping over her, or fangirling over her."

"I do not fangirl!" I exclaimed.

"Of course you don't," she answered. "Now tell me the truth. And then you can explain exactly what happened to throw the world into chaos."

"Well that part is easy," I told her. "Frosty Boy over there hijacked my portal spell to draw magic from other universes into this one. He thought that he would be making the world a better place by making it so that everyone could see him and his fellow guardians. Apparently he forgot about all the other magical creatures in the universe."

"What'ya talking about?" Jack inquired, flying over to us. "Not me, I hope."

"Yes Frosty Boy," I answered. "We were talking about you, and your complete lack of a brain."

"Okay then," he said, backing off. "I'll leave you to it."

"You could be easier on him, you know," she told me. My response to that was cut off as Jack cried out.

"Hey, I know you're busy and all, but it looks like there's some trouble down below!"

We were flying over an inter-state highway, all lanes of which were clogged with people hoping that other cities were better off than their own. Judging from the amount of traffic in both directions, they weren't. But besides the traffic, looking down I noticed something else. Flying lower, until we were almost skimming the roofs of the cars, we saw a massive pillar of dust rushing up the highway. Once we got close enough to discern what it was, we stopped in our tracks.

Oh, come on! I thought. Really? Rushing towards us, slamming cars out of the way as it went, was a massive horned beast. Standing about nine feet tall, with three feet of height added by its horns, was a creature covered from head-to-foot in reddish brown hair. Its feet were actually cloven hooves, its legs bent backwards. Its head was that of a massive bull, and its body was covered with layer upon layer of muscle. In other words, we were getting run down by the Minotaur.

Using my magic I created a wall of solid rock to block the creature's path, a wall that it smashed through just as easily as it tossed aside the cars in its path. I created wall after wall, each of which it smashed through, momentum not halted in the slightest. Elsa and Jack tried to help, sending frigid energy at it, but its constant movement broke apart any ice and frost that tried to form around it. Finally I used my magic to shape-shift, increasing my own muscle mass immensely until I was even larger than the creature bearing down on me. Digging my feet into the ground, I readied myself for the impact.

Or at least I thought I did. When we collided I felt like I had been hit by an oncoming train. I flew backwards several hundred feet, landing on the hood of an expensive sports car, smashing it in. Luckily the only occupant, a middle aged man, had been able to jump out before I landed. Sitting up, I let the added muscles fade away until I was my semi-regular adult me once again.

"Remind me to never do that again," I told the others, forcing myself up. In front of me, the Minotaur was preparing another charge.

"Oh no you don't," Elsa cried, flash-freezing the Minotaur. It stood there for a moment in the ice, then the ice started cracking and then shattered, showering us all with bits of broken ice. The creature roared, then turned and charged towards Elsa.

"Oh no you don't!" I cried, echoing Elsa's battle cry from a moment before. I drew out my flaming sword, slashing at the creature's neck as it passed. Even without a head its momentum carried it forward, but Elsa was able to jump out of the way before it could crush her. Looking around, we saw that for as far as we could see in the direction the beast had come all the cars and other vehicles had been tossed aside like children's toys.

"This is not going to get any easier, is it?" Annie asked solemnly.

"No," I answered. "No it's not." We did what we could for those left in the Minotaur's wake, but we soon had to leave and continue on our way to Washington D.C.

As we left, a creature watched us through a glowing orb from a realm of darkness and shadows. "So these are the ones who will be pitted against me?" he asked himself. "They dealt with the Greek monster well enough, I suppose. They work well together when they have a mind to." He stood there for a moment thinking. "I think it would be best if I had a little help myself." He looked down at me, flaming sword in hand. "And I know the perfect partner." The being leaned closer, revealing dead grey skin and eyes, slicked back black hair, and a neckline that blurred the line between clothing and flesh.

"What better a companion for nightmares than a bit of trickery?" Pitch asked himself, a chill laugh splitting the air. "Come on then, Jack Frost. Let's see how your new 'friends' fare against me!"

As we flew, I began to wonder about the creature. Where had it been headed? It had attacked us when it saw us, but it wasn't coming for us originally. We were flying, and it was on the ground. If we hadn't come down, it couldn't have gotten us no matter how hard it tried. So where was it going in such a rush?

I was broken from these thoughts by Elsa tapping me on the shoulder. Losing my concentration, I almost fell out of the sky.

"Sorry about that," Elsa giggled. "I was just trying to get your attention."

"No worries," I told her, regaining altitude. "I was just absorbed in my thoughts, that's all. What did you want to talk about?"

"Jack," she answered. "When you told me about him, you made it sound as if the two of you were good friends. Now you can barely speak to him without beheading him."

"He took advantage of me," I explained. "He helped me get back to you, but he didn't do it because he wanted to help. He did it because he wanted to use my spell to bring magic back. He was just using me to get what he wanted."

"And so you think that he was never really your friend in the first place."

"That is correct."

She laughed at my pigheadedness. "You may not have noticed, but your hostile behavior has really hurt him. Whatever he did, for whatever reason, he did become your friend, and knowing that he hurt you hurts him. You need to tell him that you forgive him. Didn't the Christ say that we need to forgive people their trespasses?"

I laughed. "And here I thought you weren't one for religion."

"Organized religion, no," she responded. "Churches tend to become corrupted too easily. But the words of Christ are words of wisdom, ones that I think you of all people should know to follow."

"Alright then," I assented. "I'll talk to the Frosty Boy."

Suddenly there was a great chopping sound, drowning out all other noise. We stopped in our tracks, halting in the air as we were suddenly surrounded on all sides by black military helicopters, each of them aiming their weapons directly at us.

"Hands in the air!" came a megaphone-enhanced voice. "Come quietly or we will be forced to use lethal force!"

Of course, Elsa couldn't put her hands in the air as she was busy blasting her magic downwards to keep her airborne. The rest of us put our hands in the air. Jack looked at me, asking me with his eyes the question, "Should we take them on?"

I shook my head, telling him no. "Besides," I muttered. "I have a feeling that they're going to be taking exactly where we wanted to go." So we joined them, each of us in a different copter. Before long we headed eastward, on our way to Washington D.C.