Blast from the Past (John Smith 10)

Story
The next morning, Elektra wakes up, a camp set up. Gwen had been allowed to sleep in the camp, John and Kevin sleeping at the edge of it. She sees John, and reaches for her knife, which was gone.

John: Didn’t want you killing me in my sleep. (John throws the knife, sticking into the ground by Elektra. She takes it and puts it away.) Why’d you join the hunters?

Elektra: (Ashamed) To become stronger. Strong enough to kill you.

John: Yeah, well, Phoebe agreed to work with us, so you can’t kill me.

Elektra: What?! She doesn’t have the authority!

Phoebe: As second in command, I can. (Elektra turns, seeing Gwen and Phoebe.) You lost control of your emotions, due to this boy. And when you can’t be trusted to make the best decisions, the command falls to me. Understood?

Elektra: (Softly) Yes.

Phoebe: Help the others take apart camp. We leave in 5. (Elektra gets up and goes to disassemble camp.)

Gwen: I feel sorry for her.

Kevin: Only because they talk to you. They haven’t even looked at me.

John: They have sworn off all men. I earned Artemis’ respect, so they tolerate me. They don’t like me, though. End Scene

The group continues their travel, John and Kevin being forced to walk behind the hunters. They approach the base of the mountain.

Kevin: Finally! We’re there!

John: Yep. Now we get to climb the mountain.

Kevin: Ugh.

Gwen: I can’t believe how stupid boys can be.

Phoebe: There is nothing stupider. While you are one of the wisest women I’ve seen. There is a place for you in the Hunters if you wanted to join us.

Gwen: I’d have to swear off men, right? Thanks, but no thanks.

Phoebe: Shame. You’re too old to hold that oath. Either way, good to have you with us. (Then, they hear a hissing sound. The Hunters ares surrounded by an army of dracaenas, John and Kevin outside the circle.) An ambush!

Kevin: What are they?

John: Dracaena. Snake women.

Voice: And their sssupreme leader. (John and Kevin turn, seeing Ssserpent, in full greek armor, sword in hand.)

John: You? Why are you here?

Ssserpent: I am here to lead this army. Apparently, they will follow a male of their ssspeciesss. I was ssspecifically recruited for thisss job. Kill them all!

The dracaena charge in, the hunters firing arrows at them, eliminating them by the dozens. Gwen fires mana discs to assist, but they are quickly overwhelmed. John summons Rustic, allowing Kevin to absorb the bronze.

John: Help the others. I’ve got him. (John transforms into Blaze Spear.)

Blaze Spear: Bring it on, Ssserpent.

Blaze Spear dashes forward, spiraling at Ssserpent. Ssserpent blocks the attack with his shield, pushing Blaze Spear back. He spits acid from his mouth, and Blaze Spear spins, releasing fire which cancels the acid. Blaze Spear then swings Rustic, his sword ablaze. Ssserpent curls back, parrying the blade with his.

Ssserpent: You are ssskilled with a blade.

Blaze Spear: You are apparently stronger than before.

Blaze Spear jumps back, and goes for a thrust. Ssserpent slithers out of the way, quickly getting behind Blaze Spear. He goes for a slash, and Blaze Spear body lights on fire, forcing Ssserpent back. Blaze Spear spins and strikes Ssserpent on the shield, knocking him back.

Kevin slashes through a dracaena, it turning into golden dust. The Hunters were firing their arrows at the dracaena, Elektra charging through and stabbing them with arrows before firing them. Kevin makes his way to Gwen, who blasts a dracaena with mana.

Gwen: There’s so many!

Kevin: It’s worse than that. Ssserpent is leading these things, and he’s working for someone.

Gwen: Ssserpent? Wasn’t expecting him. We fought him like what? Once? (She fires a mana blast, scattering dracaena.)

Kevin: (Stabs a dracaena) John says he fought him another time after that. So technically twice. One of the least appearing villains in this series. John will wipe the floor with him.

Ssserpent’s tail wraps around Blaze Spear’s leg, lifting him off the ground. Blaze Spear lights his body on fire, freeing him from his grasp. Ssserpent swings his sword rapidly, Blaze Spear stepping back and parrying when needed. Blaze Spear lights Rustic on fire again, as he swings at Ssserpent. The attack dents Ssserpent’s shield, and he tosses it. He spits acid again, and Blaze Spear jumps spinning and going for an axe slice. Ssserpent parries it, the two deadlocked. Blaze Spear’s sword is on fire, and he breaks the sword, slicing through Ssserpent’s head. The body falls to the ground, and Blaze Spear reverts.

John: That took much more time then desired. (He puts Rustic away. Then, Ssserpent’s tail slams into John’s chest, sending him flying back. John looks up, seeing Ssserpent over him.) How did you?

Ssserpent: I can ssshed my ssskin, and I did to dodge your attack. (A swarm of dracaenas join around Ssserpent, one of them handing Ssserpent a sword.) You ssshall die today.

Then, the ground shakes violently, an earthquake occurring. A fissure forms in the earth,  with John, Ssserpent and the dracaenas falling down the fissure. End Scene

John is traveling through underground caverns, looking lost.

John: That was a long fall. Now, I have to find Ssserpent before heading back to the surface. Where could he have gone? (He looks down the cavern, seeing several paths he could take.) Is this the labyrinth? It’s as big and confusing as it. (Then, stone creatures come out of the ground, surrounding John. Unlike before, their runes are dark purple, releasing a dark mana presence.) Oh, man!

Stone Creature: We will serve you until Master Gaia is revived.

John: Not good.

Then, a roar echoes through the caverns, the stone creatures stopping. Leo the automaton jumps over John’s head, being larger than before, landing and crushing a stone creature. Rook was on his back, and jumps off, charging into the stone creature army. A stone creature goes to punch Rook, but Rook dodges and punches the stone creature in the chest, shattering it. More stone creatures come at him, and he jumps, kicking two of them in the head, destroying them. Leo charges through, destroying stone creatures with the swipe of his paws.

John: Rook! What ha

Rook: Behind you! (John turns and transforms into Humungousaur, catching a stone creature fist. He then then throws the stone creature, it hitting a stone creature that was charging at Rook.) Thanks.

Humungousaur: No problem. You have a lot of explaining to do when this is over.

Humungousaur swings his tail, tearing through stone creatures. Rook lifts a stone creature and throws it, hitting two more stone creatures. Leo bites into a stone creature, shaking it like a rage doll. A stone creature punches Leo, its fist being destroyed in the process.

Humungousaur: Rook! Take to the air! (Rook runs over to Leo, which jumps into the air. Humungousaur slams his arms into the ground, destroying the ground and the remaining stone creatures. Leo lands.)

Rook: Stay in alien form. Unfortunately, it’s not over.

Rook points to the ground, and Humungousaur looks down. The ground was fixing itself, the remains of the stone creatures merging with it. Then, a large dinosaur looking stone creature comes out of the ground, enveloping the room and towering over Humungousaur. It has a large body, long tail and a long neck.

Humungousaur: A brontosaurus.

Rook: Actually, that is an apatosaurus.

Humungousaur: Whatever. It’s still a long neck.

The apatosaurus raises its foot, going to step on them. Its foot was big enough to squish all three of them. Humungousaur turns into Ultimate Humungousaur, and catches the foot, stopping it while the ground breaks under him.

Rook: Keep it busy!

Ultimate Humungousaur: I’m a hero whose saved the universe more times than I can count! I don’t just “keep things busy!”

Leo’s legs retract into its body, releasing thrusters that activate, propelling Leo into the air. Leo flies at the apatosaurus’ head, ramming into it. The apatosaurus roars in retaliation, snapping at Leo. Rook gets up, and kicks the apatosaurus head away. Leo then turns and faces the apatosaurus, opening its mouth. It charges and fires a powerful laser, striking the main body, destroying it. Its body collapses, falling down onto Ultimate Humungousaur.

Ultimate Humungousaur: Oh, man! (Ultimate Humungousaur raises his arms, firing bone fragments at the falling debris coming for him. However, he is still buried. Leo lands, and Rook gets off him.)

Rook: John! (Rook goes over to where Ultimate Humungousaur, and starts moving debris to unbury him. Then, Ultimate Humungousaur breaks free from the rubble, roaring. He then reverts.) You okay?

John: Time to start answering questions. How are you still alive? When did you get so strong? What is going on?! What has Leo been eating to get so big?

Rook: (Pets Leo) I am sorry to say that it is not my place to answer. There is someone who is waiting for you. He will answer as many questions as he can. (Rook walks off, with Leo following.)

John: Seriously? He lives 2,000 years past when he should be dead, and he doesn’t even explain how. (John runs after Rook, to follow him.)

Characters

 * John Spacewalker
 * Gwen Tennyson
 * Kevin Levin
 * Hunters of Artemis
 * Elektra
 * Phoebe
 * Rook
 * Leo the Automaton

Villains

 * Ssserpent (first re-appearance)
 * Dracaenaes
 * Stone Creatures
 * Apatosaurus

Aliens

 * Blaze Spear
 * Humungousaur
 * Ultimate Humungousaur (first re-appearance)

Trivia

 * Rook is alive, after 2,000 years, stronger than ever.
 * It's revealed that the dracaenaes are female members of Ssserpent's species.
 * The argument between a brontosaurus and an apatosaurus is from the fact that the brontosaurus never existed, instead having th wrong bones put back into it. After the mixup was fixed, it was really an apatosaurus.
 * John's quote of "I don't keep things busy" is based off Paradox's quote when told to hold off the Trans-Dimensional creature in his first appearance.