Blue Devil: Hollywood Nights part 3 (of 3)
It was just like the sixth grade all over again Dan Cassidy recalled. His parents had divorced a few years before and his mother struggled to support them while working two fulltime jobs. He didn't realize it at the time but she sacrificed a lot to send him on a two-week summer camp with his school when he was twelve. He had never been more excited to go anywhere in his entire life, which made his mothers sacrifice all the more worth it in her eyes. What he didn't tell her was that he had just watched Friday the Thirteenth on videocassette at his best friends house the previous weekend. He was certain that his mother would not have approved him watching Jason Voorhees slash and kill unsuspecting camp goers. But it made him and his best friend David all that more interested in going to Camp Mishkincohn.
All thoughts of cool killers in hockey masks were quickly gone when Michelle Zeppelzauer waved at him on the first full day at camp. He had secretly been in love with Michelle since the third grade but she had never expressed any interest in him until just then. But one wave was all it took to bring all of those unrequited feelings to the surface. He was consumed with the idea that she might like him! Why else would she wave at him? For days he tried to find the courage to go speak with her. It was announced that there would be a dance at the end of the week at the main hall. It was there that he would make his move. That Friday evening was certain to be a magical night.
The evening began like a scene out of a John Hughes movie. The boys were on one side of the room and the girls on the other. There was an orchestrated group dance that was meant to break the ice for a room full of awkward preadolescent teens. The girls quickly formed a circle in the center of the hall and the boys lined up to form a circle on the outside. The music began and the girls and boys began a hand-clapping dance that if Dan would have been paying attention he would have realized that it was nothing more then a pop music version of patty cake. After a short time the girls would take a step to the left and repeat the clapping with the next boy. Dan became anxious with each turn bringing Michelle one person closer to him. This was the chance he had been looking for.
Just as Michelle was one person away from Dan, the music changed and the circles broke up. Dan watched as the boys and girls began to pair off. He looked over at Michelle and she saw him and smiled. 'Find me' He saw her mouth in his direction.
Twenty minutes had passed and Dan found his legs had finally mustered the courage to begin the long trek toward where Michelle was standing with a few of her friends in the corner of the hall. He didn't take his eyes off her as he moved in closer. She stood there in a beautiful red dress that had more sparkles then Dan could count. He wasn't paying attention when he bumped into one of his classmates, Paul. He looked up at the intimidating boy and muttered sorry. He kept going until he stood about three feet from Michelle. She looked up at him and smiled. Dan stood there trying to find those five elusive words, would you like to dance?
He opened his mouth to speak when he saw a few of the girls begin to giggle and the look on Michelle's face changed to that of disappointment. Dan stood there unaware as Paul now stood behind him as he raised a book over Dan and struck the top of his head with a mighty whap! Dan felt the blow as his brave legs quickly collapsed beneath him. Everything went black and he was knocked out as one thought lingered in his head. Why would someone have such a large book at a dance…
Nebiros towered over Daniel Patrick Cassidy who just seconds ago was driven to the ground by the monster. Marla Bloom, Sharon Scott, and Norm Paxton stood there seemingly unable to move as Nebiros eyed them curiously.
"Which of you called me to this place?" He spoke as he stepped over Dan Cassidy barely giving him a glance as he continued to eye his potential victims, less then ten feet in front of him.
"What is going on Marla?" Norm Paxton, the principle photographer, uttered as he began to slowly take a step backward, "This thing! What the hell is this thing?"
"Hell?" Nebiros growled, "Hell is where you will all spend your final days…as you slowly digest in my stomach!" An unearthly sound came from the creature as he began to laugh.
"It wasn't supposed to be like this." Marla began to cry as she tripped and fell onto her backside. "It wasn't supposed to be real!"
Sharon who had remained silent up to this point began to scream as the large bulky creature made his move toward her. She closed her eyes as Nebiros opened his large mouth to reveal hundreds of sharp teeth and long slithering tongue. There was a large thud as the creature fell face first on the ground just inches away from the trembling Sharon. She opened her eyes to see Dan Cassidy in the Blue Devil suit holding his trident into the back of the creature.
"Who brings a book to a dance?" Dan said as he reached up to adjust the headpiece on his custom.
"Dan!" Sharon yelled as she realized what had just happened. She jumped up as Dan pulled the trident out of Nebiros back and stepped over him.
"Dan I…" Marla began to say as Norm reached down to help her up.
"I don't care right now Marla. Lets get out of here before this thing wakes up." Dan said as he grabbed hold of Sharon arm and the group began to move quickly toward the exit of the movie lot. Dan hurt all over and was mad and confused. But his only concern right now was getting as much distance between them and whatever that creature was back there.
The ground beneath him rumbled and Cassidy turned as Nebiros stomped toward him. Marla and Sharon were already through the doorway and Norm paused and looked back at Dan.
"Go!" He ordered Norm, "Get them as far away from here as possible!" Without hesitation Norm took off and Dan closed the door behind him. He turned and with trident in hand stood there as Nebiros stopped and looked over at Cassidy.
"I was unaware that there would be another here looking to feast, little blue…devil."
It was then that Dan finally realized that he was still in the Blue Devil suit. Was it possible that this creature thought that he was a real demon?
"You came here to feed?" He yelled through the voice amplifier in his mask. "I found the humans first. You will just have to go back where you came from now."
"It doesn't work like that brother. This you must know." Nebiros stated, "I was called here by one of the humans and I won't leave until I have fed on her bones."
He must have been referring to Marla. What did she do? Dan slowly began to put the pieces together. Just a short while ago Marla causally let him know that it would be Wayne Tarrant in the lead role of the Blue Devil movie and the only work he would see on the picture would be from this suit that he wore. But then she came running onto the set, disrupting some still shots claiming that it all went wrong. She and Wayne were together and…My God! Did they call this creature up in hopes that he would grant wishes like a genie? Dan wasn't aware that such creatures existed outside of the Saturday afternoon matinees. He did know that he had to find a way to get rid of him then he was going to find Wayne Tarrant and kill him!
"I can't allow you to bring harm to the humans here!" Dan once again yelled trying to take advantage of the voice amplifier in the suit. He hoped that the creature would continue to believe he was the real deal and leave. He stared down the creature making the meanest face he could from inside the mask as he tried to keep himself from shaking with fear. Was the creature laughing at him? It appeared so.
"Little brother I tire of this. Do you truly not know who I am? I am Nebiros ruler of a vast empire in the dark world. In times past, the pathetic humans would worship me as their dark God and sacrifice their virgins onto my alter. I would in turn grant what they yearned for the most and led their armies in conquest over their enemies. I grew most powerful until I ruled the entire dark world. You will be wise to step aside little demon and let me pass. I will not ask again."
Daniel Cassidy felt his skin crawl as the creature began to move toward him. He had to make sure that Marla and the others had time to get far enough away from here. He would hold his ground as long as possible and hope for the best. Maybe then Superman or Green Lantern would stop this Nebiros once he left the movie lot. This big ugly can't be worse then the creatures they fight on a daily basis!
As the creature moved closer Dan gripped his trident and took a deep breath in hopes that it wouldn't be his last. "Bring your worst!" He uttered.
Nebiros grunted and his eyes began to glow a bright orange. Dan felt the heat of hell itself as the fire blasted from Nebrios's eyes and engulfed him. He fell to the ground unable to move and was surprised at what was quickly happening to him. It felt like someone had dropped him into a swimming pool fully dressed. The latex and kevlar in the suit began to crawl into Dan's skin. Everything came alive at once. The pain made Dan want to scream but he was unable to make a sound. As the pain began to subside he was unable to tell where the Blue Devil suit ended and he began.
Nebiros once again stepped over Dan Cassidy. He spoke as he continued past Dan who lay still on the ground. "I have removed any power you had on this earthly plane, little demon. Go home to lick your wounds aware of how generous I was to you on this day."
Dan slowly stood up and began to laugh hysterically which forced Nebiros to turn around.
"You laugh at me? I grant you a boon and let you live and you unwisely laugh at me?" Nebiros growled as he reached out and picked up Cassidy by the neck and lifted him off the ground.
His laughter subsided a bit, as he looked Nebrios in the eye. "For an all powerful, all knowing demon you sure are pretty dumb! You couldn't even tell I was just a human in a funny rubber suit. Whatever to did had no effect on me!" Dan pulled himself away from Nebrios with ease and dropped down to the ground.
Nebiros looked at him curiously. "But if you aren't a demon then why would you dress in the attire of a blue rogue?"
Dan reached over and picked up his fallen trident. "It's the magic of Hollywood baby! The place where a mouse can be king and nothing is ever what it seems!"
It appeared that Nebiros was completely stunned. Dan's body felt heavy and he tingled like every muscle in his body was going to rip through the suit. The idea of fighting a real life demon on a movie set seemed crazy to him just a short while ago suddenly seemed as natural to him as the suit did now! Adrenaline rushed through his veins and he decided to try something crazy while the demon stood there dumbfounded. He raised the trident in the air and began to shout. "Demon, I reverse the ahh…spell that brought you here and cast you back to the depths of hell never to return!" With that he slammed the point of the trident down into the ground in front of him.
"Little human! This has been amusing to say the least but now I think I will feast on your flesh before I go after…" Nebiros stopped as the ground beneath him began to open up. He screamed as he fell through. A moment later he was gone and the portal vanished.
Dan walked over to where Nebiros stood just moments ago. He poked at the ground with his trident a few times and began to laugh. "I'll be damned! It worked!"
Epilogue One: The Underworld
Nebiros stopped screaming when he hit the ground with a thud. He slowly raised his head up when he heard a voice speak from the throne in front of him.
"Such screaming from the…how did you put it? Ah yes, Nebiros ruler of a vast empire in the dark world."
"Many apologies my Lord. You know how I get when I am around humans. I wasn't aware that you were watching."
"You weren't aware of many things it seems. You weren't aware that you were dealing with a human and inadvertently empowered him with energy that didn't belong to you."
The demon prince spoke as he looked down onto the trembling Nebrios.
"I am sorry my lord. Allow me a chance to redeem myself."
"No. You have done enough damage for one day. And as for being sorry…yes you will be very sorry, as will Daniel Cassidy. Leave me now."
"As you wish Lord Neron Caesar."
Epilogue Two:Wintergate Mansion, Washington, D.C.
Baron Winters stood in front of the fireplace and watched the flames dance across the kindling. His longtime companion, Merlin walked into the room and stood alongside of him.
"The denizens of hell are now aware of our friend Daniel Cassidy's new place in the world, even if he hasn't fully grasped it yet. But he will soon enough." Baron spoke as he continued to stare into the flames.
"The others are in the other room sir. Shall I announce that you will see them now?"
"By all means, show them in."
A brief moment later, four individuals found there way into the room. One of them spoke as they entered and saw Baron Winters standing with his back to them. "Someone want to tell me what the hell we are doing here?"
Baron Winters turned around to address them. "Ladies and gentlemen, collectively you are four of the five individuals that make up the new Night Force."
"Night Force? What the hell are we suppose to do?" Another of them asked.
Baron smiled as he spoke, "What will you do? Die trying to save the world of course."
The end for now…