Reasoning (John Smith 10)

Story
John is walking on an island, and he enters a garden. He walks down the path, stone statues on each side. Their faces are struck with horror. He enters a temple at the end of the path, and sees a woman with snakes for hair.

Woman: Are you really coming for me here? This is simply a test, dear boy, one that the gods will measure you by. Several want to see you fail, while some will ensure your success. Either way. (The woman turns, her skin scaly like stone. Her eyes are a bright blue color, and they glow brightly. John’s body starts to turn to stone.) You are just a pawn in this story. It will continue, with or without you. (John turns completely to stone.)

John wakes up violently, still on the boat.

Eirene: John? What’s wrong?

Rook: You had a realistic dream, didn’t you?

John: Yeah. How’d you?

Rook: It is common for demigods. It is the gods giving them a message, a clue to what must be done. So, what did yours say?

John: We’ve been searching for the wrong place. I was in Medusa’s garden. But it wasn’t a garden made of stone. It was a grass garden, filled with stone statues, her victims.

Eirene: Then we’ll stop at the next island with grass we see. End Scene

They dock at the next island, and walk to the garden, seeing the temple in the distance.

Rook: There it is.

John: Alright. Stay here.

Eirene: What? But you need

John: You guys to stay. This is my quest, and I don’t want you turned to stone. (John summons Rustic, and starts heading inside. He then spots a shield on the ground, and picks it up.)

John is walking backwards, looking at the reflection from the shield to see where he was going.

John: ''I know if I look in her eyes, I’m dead. So I’ve got to keep my eyes focused on the shield.''

John sees Medusa in the reflection, facing the opposite direction. John raises his sword, getting ready to strike. The snakes in her hair hiss, as John goes to swing. Medusa ducks and dodges, as John spins around, facing the direction of Medusa. He squeezes his eyes tightly shut, as Medusa stands up.

Medusa: Why, hello young hero. (Medusa lunges forward, and John raises his shield. She strikes it, her fist breaking it, and hitting the Omnitrix. John tears off the shield.)

Omnitrix: DNA sample obtained.

John: I can turn into Medusa? For another time!

John uses his mana sensing powers to detect Medusa, who lunges forward again, going to scratch at him. John jumps back, and fires mana disks at her. Medusa dodges with ease, and the snakes stretch at him, hissing with delight. John slices through them with his sword.

Medusa: I assume that Athena sent you to kill me. She always hated me.

John: Why Athena? (His eyes were still closed, but he was walking in step with Medusa.) I’m not as familiar with the affairs of the gods.

Medusa: Ha! What a phrase. Athena was envious of my beauty, so she turned me into this. She’s most likely trying to prove to the others that you are a worthy investment. If you kill me, then you will become their pawn. Is that what you really want?

John: Why’d your snakes stretch? They shouldn’t reach me that far.

Medusa: Oh, I received a “blessing” by one who requires my services. And once you’re dead, I can take my revenge on Athena.

Medusa raises her arm, and fires an energy ray. John counters with a mana blast, but Medusa’s attack breaks through, grazing John’s arm. John screams in pain, as his left arm starts to turn to stone. John turns around and runs, leaving the temple.

Medusa: So, he’s going to make this hard. Very well. You can’t escape. You must face me. (Medusa walks after him.) End Scene

John runs out of the temple, Eirene and Rook waiting.

Eirene: John!

John: Move! She’s coming! (Eirene and Rook follow, and they head to the forest nearby. Medusa then comes out, apparent by the hissing of her snake hair. Rook starts to look.)

John: No! She’ll turn you to stone!

Medusa: Come on out, Jonathan Smith. (Shivers go down John’s spine.) We both know one of us will die here.

Rook: What do we do?

John: I don’t know.

Eirene: Did you fight before with your eyes closed?

John: Yeah. But I can’t fight blind. Blind?

Oracle: Blind to its gaze you must, or else your skin will become harden.

John: Blind to its gaze. I have a form that is blind. Or at least (activates Omnitrix) doesn’t have eyes. (Slaps down Omnitrix.)

Wildmutt: (Roars)

Eirene: EEEEEEEEEEEHHHHH! A hellhound!

Rook: He can turn into the monsters as well? (Wildmutt snarls at the two of them, grabs Rustic, and runs out, snarling at Medusa.)

Medusa: What is this? A hellhound? No matter.

Medusa raises her arm, firing stone rays at Wildmutt. Wildmutt’s senses go off, and he dodges with ease. He charges forward, as the snakes stretch at Wildmutt. Wildmutt dodges and slices through the snakes, continuing to charge forward. Medusa starts to panic, and dashes forward, going to scratch him. Wildmutt blocks it with his sword, and Medusa fires another stone ray. Wildmutt jumps overhead, and lands behind Medusa. Medusa turns around, seeing Wildmutt swinging Rustic, slicing Medusa’s head off. Medusa’s body turns into gold dust, while her head falls to the ground.

Rook: He did it!

Eirene: Not yet. The head can still turn us to stone. (Wildmutt then digs a hole, and throws Medusa’s head into the hole. He buries the head, and reverts. He returns Rustic to its pocket dimension.)

John: Mission accomplished. End Scene

John is standing in a dark room, with no light. John looks back and forth, trying to see something.

John: Hello? Is there anyone here? (Then, light from magma appears, and John looks down, seeing a large pit.) Is this Tartarus? It feels evil. (John thens sees Medusa, flying back into the pit.)

Cold, Dark Voice: 'Well done, hero. You accomplished that much sooner than I anticipated.'

John: You! You’re the one who brought me back to this time! Who are you?!

Cold, Dark Voice: 'You cannot trust the gods. All they want is for you to serve them, faithfully and unquestioning, as all heroes before you. They don’t take insults well, and the slightest disrespect to them could spell your death. Join me, Jonathan Smith. Free me, and I can free you from their wrath, their control.'

John: Sounds like you want to control me as much as the gods do. And I say no. No one can tell me what to do.

Cold, Dark Voice: You will regret this. (John is then sucked into the pit, falling to the inferno below.)

John wakes up in a panic, sweat pouring down his face. They were sleeping outside Medusa’s stone garden, closer to the forest.

John: I don’t like these dreams. (Then, John hears something, a sound in the forest. He gets up, and goes into the forest.) End Scene

John is going deeper into the forest, as if following something.

John: I can still sense it, but it seems to be gone. Maybe. (Slaps down Omnitrix.)

Wildmutt: (Roars.)

Wildmutt sniffs the ground, trying to pick up a scent. He goes in a circle, then scratches his head, confused. Then, he senses something, and jumps to dodge. An arrow whizzes past his head, getting stuck in a tree. Several arrows fly at him. Wildmutt runs and dodges, going behind a tree.

Wildmutt: ''Not good. Come on, revert! (Wildmutt hits the Omnitrix, but nothing happens.) Oh, man!''

Wildmutt detects around nine people, all firing arrows at him. Wildmutt dodges the arrows, when someone appears in front of him, kicking him in the face, knocking Wildmutt down. She steps on him, raising her bow at him. John reverts, frightening the young girl.

John: A young girl? (The girl was no older than 14. She was wearing a hunting outfit, with long dark hair. She regains her senses, and fires her arrow. John rolls out of the way, barely dodging.)

John looks around, seeing that all the hunters were girls. They all raise their bows, and John slaps down the Omnitrix. Big Chill turns intangible, the arrows going through him and freezing the arrows. The girls lower their bows, whispering amongst themselves.

Girl 1: That is our Patron's power.

Girl 2: Strength with the night.

Dark Haired Girl: Do not stop! Kill it! (The hunters fire at him, and he flies up into the trees. He then fires a freeze ray from his hand, intentionally missing the dark haired girl.)

Big Chill: I don’t want to fight you. Stand down, and you won’t get hurt. (The dark haired girl raises her bow, when another girl, younger than the other, with silver hair, touches her shoulder.)

Silver Haired Girl: Stand down.

Dark Haired Girl: But, M’lady.

Big Chill: Good choice. (Big Chill turns intangible, going to fly through the tree. In the blink of an eye, the silver haired girl nocks an arrow and fires, hitting and tearing through Big Chill’s arm.) Ow! (He phases through the tree, coming out the other side.) That hit me! (The silver haired girls smirks, as she draws another arrow. Big Chill hits the Omnitrix.)

Ultimate Big Chill: Ultimate Big Chill! (His injury is healed.)

All the girls start firing arrows at once, and Ultimate Big Chill releases ice flames, freezing them all. He breathes ice flames at the girls, freezing all but the two leader girls.

Silver Haired Girl: You made your point. What do you want?

Ultimate Big Chill: For this fight to stop. I’ve already gone further than I wanted to go.

Silver Haired Girl: Are you afraid of hurting us?

Ultimate Big Chill: Yes, but I fear you guys killing me more.

Silver Haired Girl: Ha! Honesty. Interesting trait, John. I am Artemis, goddess of the moon and the hunt. This is Zoë, my second in command.

Ultimate Big Chill: What do you want?

Artemis: To represent you. Although you are a boy, you have an unusual power. There are gods who don’t like you, and you need protection. If you swear to follow me, I will give you that protection.

Ultimate Big Chill ponders that for a second, considering it.

John: ''No one can tell me what to do. (''Artemis frowns, as if hearing Ultimate Big Chill’s thoughts.)

Ultimate Big Chill: Thanks, but no thanks. I want to live by my own terms.

Artemis: I understand. Boys have very limited intelligence when it comes to these kinds of things.

Ultimate Big Chill: That’s why I’m successful. I don’t see the true danger, so I can rise to the occasion. (Ultimate Big Chill reverts.)

John: Your girls will be fine. I’d thaw them soon though. (John runs off.)

John makes it back to where Rook and Eirene were, and they were waiting for him. It was morning now.

Eirene: Where were you?!

John: Oh, I was being hunted like an animal by Artemis and her hunters.

Rook: How did you survive?

John: Instincts. But they were all young girls.

Eirene: Artemis is a maiden goddess, meaning she’ll never marry. She recruits young girls, in exchange for them swearing off boys for all eternity. They get magic weapons, and immortality.

Rook: Are you ready to go?

John: Yeah. Let’s get out of here.

Characters

 * John Spacewalker
 * Eirene
 * Rook
 * Artemis
 * Hunters of Artemis
 * Zoë

Villains

 * Medusa (death)

Aliens

 * Wildmutt (x2)
 * Big Chill
 * Ultimate Big Chill (first re-appearance)

Aliens Unlocked

 * Toepick

Trivia

 * Medusa's form gave her the DNA of Toepick's species, allowing for him to be unlocked.
 * Big Chill represents Artemis.
 * John refuses to serve the gods.
 * Artemis is the first god John has had to fight head on.
 * She won't be the last.