The More Things Change (John Smith 10)

Story
A green portal opens, John appearing on a dirt road, in the middle of the desert.

John: Ah! Good to be home! (He looks around, confused about his surroundings.) I think. (John’s stomach then grumbles loudly, him doubling over.) Oh. I feel like I haven’t eaten in weeks! That’s probably accurate too.

John hears the sounds of sirens wailing, as he turns down the road. Three cars are driving towards him, picking up speed. The lead car is a blue monster truck, the second an orange muscle car, and the third a brown colored tow truck. The monster truck is driven by Baron Highway, a large man with a skull and crossbones tattoo. The muscle car is driven by Turbine, a woman with black hair. And the tow truck is being driven by Road Rage, a man in overalls and missing most of his teeth. The cars are being chased by police cars, sirens wailing.

John: (Sigh) Great.

The cars pick up speed, John standing in the middle of the road in front of them.

Baron: (Honks at him.) Get out of the way or we’ll run you over!

John stomps the ground, earth spikes shooting out of the ground. They impale the fronts of the cars, destroying their engines. The cars are suspended in the air, as Baron, Turbine and Road Rage get out of the cars.

Road Rage: What happened?

Turbine: Forget that, run!

The trio tries to make a break for it, when sand wraps around them, trapping them. The police arrive, catching the Road Crew. John lowers his grip, as an officer approaches him.

Officer: (Confused) Uh, thanks. Can, we uh, repay you or something?

John’s stomach growls again, everyone looking at him.

John: Uh, you know a good diner?

John has his plate loaded with food from a buffet table, devouring it. Shelby, the elderly waitress, brings him a glass of water, John wolfing it down.

Shelby: How long were you out in the desert there, son?

John: (Mouth full) Uh, few weeks.

Shelby: Heard you’re the one to defeat the Road Crew.

John: (Stuffing a handful of food in his mouth) If that’s what they called them. (John looks up, seeing the news on TV. He sees Will Harangue, live at a scene where Humungousaur is attacking.) Huh? (He swallows.) Can you turn the volume up on that?

Shelby: Sure thing, kiddo. (She pulls out a remote, turning up the volume.) Harangue: I am here on scene, where the menace known as John Smith has made his return. After a long period of inactivity, he is back, and as violent as, whoa!

A car flies over them, Harangue and the cameraman ducking. They get back up.

Shelby: That’s that John Smith boy. He’s been all over the news, apparently terrorizing his hometown. Doesn’t make much sense in all honesty. (She turns, seeing John was gone. He runs away from the window outside, glowing and teleporting away.) Now that’s an interesting boy there. End Scene

A swat team fires their weapons at Humungousaur, who’s body takes it with ease. Humungousaur grabs a truck, throwing it at them. The soldiers retreat, Humungousaur laughing.

Humungousaur: Haha! Come on! Is that all you little humans can throw at me! (He picks up another truck, throwing it, people screaming. Several people are recording it on their phones.) I can do this all day long!

Harangue: As you can see, John Smith has made his return, continuing his destruction of our beautiful city of Bellwood. And with his return, we have no one who can stand up to him.

Voice: Not so fast! (The crowd turns, seeing a young boy wearing a maroon colored suit, his black hair styled in the form of devil horns.) I, Billy Billions, shall stop the villain John Smith!

Harangue: And it is one of the new heroes of this town! Billy Billions!

Billy Billions pulls out a blaster, firing it, it exploding on Humungousaur. Humungousaur comes out unharmed, as he charges Billy. Billy activates his jetpack, flying into the air, firing another shot at him. Humungousaur dodges with ease, reaching up and grabbing Billy by the jetpack.

Billy: Hey! Let me go, you little big meanie!

Humungousaur: A kid? (He breaks the jetpack, tossing Billy aside.) Is that the best they can send at the great John Smith!

Mom: Just what do you think you’re doing, young man?! (Everyone turns, John’s mom walking up to Humungousaur, furious.) You disappear for a month, you don’t call, you don’t let me know that you’re okay, and you just appear and destroy everything? Let me tell you something! You are grounded! Now march yourself back home this, ah!

Humungousaur lifts her up, squeezing her.

Humungousaur: You think you can order me around? Ha! Good luck with that.

Humungousaur tosses Mom, her screaming as she falls. A wind vortex catches her, lowering her slowly to the ground. She looks to see John next to her.

Mom: John? Then, who?

John: Doesn’t matter. Everything will be alright now. (John walks forward, giving off an angry aura. Humungousaur takes a step back in fear, as the street is silent.) You can ruin my reputation, you can destroy my city, but touching my mother? (His fists glow with mana.) You’ll regret every moment of it.

John fires a mana blast, hitting Humungousaur and knocking him to the ground. Humungousaur turns purple, as he morphs into Wildvine. Wildvine stretches his arm at John, who fire bends, a stream of flames severing Wildvine’s arm. Wildvine pulls his arm back, it regenerating. John thrusts his fists forwards, releasing bursts of fire, Wildvine jumping back and dodging.

Wildvine: What are you? (John doesn’t respond, firing more fire bursts.)

Wildvine morphs into Cannonbolt, rolling at John. John stomps the ground, thrusting his palms forward. An earth ramp forms, Cannonbolt rolling up it, being launched into the sky. John uses air bending to fly after him. Cannonbolt falls towards John, and John stomps the air, it launching him into the air. He spins, axe kicking Cannonbolt with an air scythe, rocketing Cannonbolt into a crash course into the ground, shattering the infrastructure.

John gently lands with air, as Kickin Hawk comes out of the smoke, scratching at John. John dodges and punches at Kickin Hawk, Kickin Hawk blocking it with ease. Kickin Hawk kicks at John, John flipping backwards to dodge. Kickin Hawk thrusts his arm talon at John, who swings his arm, summoning Rustic which cuts Kickin Hawk’s arm off. Kickin Hawk steps back, looking at the purple part of where the arm was severed.

John: Kickin Hawk can’t regenerate. So reveal your true face, before I do it for you.

Kickin Hawk turns purple, as his body turns into purple sludge. He has a big belly, and his form is less defined than regular Sludgepuppies.

Sludgepuppy: (Cowering) Please! Don’t hurt me! I’m just an actor!

John: Who are you? And who hired you for this, “acting job?”

Sludgepuppy: Deefus Veeblepister. And I was hired by my brethren.

John: The sludges?

Deefus: (Slightly angered) Now wait just a minute, you insultive ingrate!

John: Now you listen to me. Tell your “brethren” that John Smith is back, and that if they try to mess with my again, they’ll know my full wrath. Now get out of here. (Deefus runs away, screaming and crying. John walks over to his mom, who was standing in amazement.) Hey mom.

John’s mom hugs John, crying. End Scene

John knocks on the door to Julie’s house, sighing with anxiety.

John: Okay, easy. You can do it. It’s only been a few months since the argument. (The door opens, Julie coming out.) Hey.

Julie: (Closing the door) Hey.

The two are standing on the porch, in an awkward silence.

John: Uh,

Julie: I saw you on the news today. Still feeling helpless? (John gives a nervous chuckle.)

John: No, no. I definetely don’t feel useless anymore. Or that I’m letting anyone down.

Julie: I can tell. You found a new power, meaning you don’t want to be normal.

John: Listen. I wanted to, apologize for what i said before. Me yelling at you. I know you were just trying to help.

Julie: And I know you were distressed. Listen, you were gone for quite a long time.

John: I know, and I’m sor

Julie: And I had plenty of time to think. Of everything. Especially something you said last year. “It’s time we move on, and it’s time you did too.”

John closes his eyes, mouthing as he tries to remember the incident. He opens his eyes.

John: You do remember that I was mutated and out of my mind at the time, right?

Julie: But you were lucid for that moment, and you really meant it. All you’ve ever done was think about me. You broke up with me to keep me safe.

John: And I’m sor

Julie: Don’t be. I reacted too harshly to that. I was so angry, I didn’t think straight. It let me get controlled by Diagon. You risked your life to save me from something that was my mistake. You’re back, you’re a hero again, and you have more important things to worry about than me.

John: But,

Julie: I’ve moved on, John. I’m sorry. I just can’t do this. Goodbye.

Julie goes back inside, closing the door and leaving John on the porch.

John is speechless, as he walks away, looking back at the porch.

John: Goodbye. And I’m sorry. For everything.

Characters

 * John Smith
 * John's Mom (first re-appearance)
 * Shelby
 * Police Officers
 * Will Harangue (first re-appearance)
 * Billy Billions (first appearance)
 * Julie Yamamoto

Villains

 * Deefus Veeblepister (in form of John)

By Deefus

 * Humungousaur
 * Wildvine
 * Cannonbolt
 * Kickin Hawk

Trivia

 * John finally returns to his home dimension.
 * It seems there are others who have attempted to fill his role as hero, such as Billy Billions.
 * Deefus attempts to tell John that the term Sludge Puppy is offensive.
 * All of Deefus' transformations were fake, and are technically not official debuts.
 * Julie breaks up with John, starting the Breakup Arc again.