"The Golem Christopher":



(This is a story, the first of many, based on one of my favorite comics: Mage: The Hero Defined. 'Real' fanboys of this comic will have read the comics that preceded Mage, and will likely be disappointed in my lack of any knowledge about those previous works. Sorry, I don't have a comic book shop within a half hour of my house, and have only recently learned of Matt Wagner's great books.

Anyway, as there's like, NO other Mage stories on fanfiction.net (or anywhere on the internet, it would seem) it would seem that either I have finally thought of something remotely original – which would be good – or Wagner hunts down anyone who pulls fanfics from the fantastic universe he created, which I figure is too rich to let leave alone after he stopped writing for it years ago, at the end of the second arc, and began working on pre-production for a movie. Soooo, I aughta' let people know what Mage is all about.

Basically Mage is a comic about this fella', Kevin Matchstick, who happens to be the great King Arthur Pendragon of myth reincarnated. Him and a world populated with magical witches, mages, Avatars (who are mythical reincarnations like Kevin,) go around putting the smack down on the evil forces of, uhm, evil. The baddies are called 'Nasties,' and it's basically a world filled with magic and adventure and all that hoopla.

This story in particular is about the reincarnation of my favorite mythical hero, the Artificial Man, the Golem of Prague, into Christopher Hamilton, who's decided to study Jewish European history after his relationship with his girlfriend, Emily, began to get serious. The story begins with Christopher's discovery of his new found power and purpose in life, i.e. what is called – the 'Nasty Hunt.' In later stories I plan to have him meet Kevin, unless Mr. Wagner visits my home with a big ol' baseball bat (search Mage: The Hero Defined) or lawyers, telling me not to. Whew! Hopefully that's a good introduction, I'd REALLY like reviews, so long as you explain why it is that I suck.

Finally, I have no intention of profiting monetarily from any of these stories, my ultimate goal is to create so many based on Mage that they build a new comic section for me, like the 7 (HA!) they have for Iron Man or the 2 (Wow, should've saved the laugh) for Amalgam Comics.

Alrighty, So here's the start of my ongoing series, hopefully.

"The Golem Christopher."

Chapter I:

"Emet: Truth"

"Ayl melech ne-eman"

"Whuh??? Emily?"

"Shma, Yisroel…"

"No, not Emily… Who's there?" Whispered Chris Hamilton.

"Adonai, Elohenu…"

He'd known the moment he awoke to the voice that it was not hers, was not Emily's voice.

"Adonai Ehad."

This voice, that spoke even now that prayer she would sing before she went to sleep.

"Borouch Shem Kivod Malchuto Le-olum Vau-ed…"

This voice was old, and though the voice seemed far away, he smelled a hint of books, of old, privileged knowledge.

"Vene-emar et adonai eloheinu"

He felt that feeling he would feel in the dusty basement of the school library. Not the feeling of being with Emily, but of being encased in a hall of knowledge far older than anyone he knew personally.

"Bechol-levavecha, Uvchol-navshecha, Uvchol-me'odecha…"

He felt this feeling magnified a hundred fold, five hundred fold.

"Vhayu, Hadvarim Ha-aleh…"

And Chris felt, along with a strong feeling of awe and amazement, fear as something cool seemed to press against his head, -

"Vshinata-am levanecha…"

something cool and shaped that seemed to rise to a searing blue flame, that poured over his entire body, rising to pain incorrigable, then falling to the cold of December 26th again. He was alone, but the voice was still in his room, taunting him, finishing it's prayer.

"Adonai, Ehad, Emet." And the voice spoke English, in a European accent. "The Lord, your G-d, Is Truth."

And Chris, drunk with the pain of his experience, relieved with it's passing, fell unconscious.

---------------

"What the…FUCK!!!! DAVE!"

"Dude, It's 8 on a Saturday. You should not be screaming. Some of us have hangovers, y'know! From that party you didn't go do 'cause you're- "

"Owned? No, man, Emily doesn't own me. I just didn't want to be drunk on my ass so I could enjoy the next morning without – ANY – SCARS!!!!!" and apparently Chris could not even pull this off successfully, as he had awoken to see a Hebrew word scrawled across his head- black like a tattoo, raised like a scar. Chris was scared out of his mind. And Dave only know saw why.

"Dude. DUDE!!!!" Dave Jefferson burst into laughter- seeing Christopher with Hebrew scrawled on his forehead, the same Christopher that Dave had walked with to every Sunday Church Service at Walterson University for the past three years – was surely the greatest practical joke that Dave could ever hope to witness. He was hardly sorry that it was Chris who had to deal with predicament. "And who's not owned? Whooo!!!!! Emidy's gonna love this!"

"Emily's not going to know of this." Another change now rose in Chris, as he remembered the night before. He wondered what had happened, exactly. Had it been a dream? Was this scar real? He did not feel it. Chris poked at the raised letters. The bumps depressed themselves invisibly into his skull in response to Christopher's prodding.

"Dude! Whoa. Okay, I had too much to drink, man. I'm… ugh. I'm gonna get some coffee. Want some?"

"Dave?"

"Yeah, Chris?"

"Don't – Don't tell Emily." A new expression of worry arose on Christopher's face. Dave smiled, reassured Chris, and left.

Five minutes later, a mocking voice came from the hall of the dormitory. "Don't tell Emily, Dave, pullleeezzzeee!! She'll FREAK!"

"I KNOW that voice! Jim Knight! What are you doin' here, -uninvited?"

"Oh, Chris, sorry. I'm just here to acclimate you to your new life. You're an Avatar."

------------

So that's the first Chapter, I'd like any reviews, good, bad, just say something. Oh, and this is my first fanfic, if I didn't mention that already.