It Was Them (John Smith 10)

Story
John is snoring on the couch, a blanket over him. It is dark in the room, it not daylight yet.

Elektra: John!

John: Ug, wha! (John rolls off the bed in fright, rolling off the couch. He raises his hand, it glowing with mana. The light from the mana reveals it was Elektra. John groans, as he stops the mana.) What do you want? It’s not even daylight.

Elektra: I request you show me around the city. I understand you have this thing called “scool” or something.

John: (Groggy) School. Yeah. Have to work double time to graduate with my class. Why do you want to see the city?

Elektra: I need to be able to navigate this place without you. But it is very confusing, much larger and complex than necessary.

John: (Sighs) Fine. Give me 10 minutes to get dressed and ready.

Elektra: But, you are already dressed.

John looks down at his attire, looking at his sports shorts and an old shirt.

John: What? This is my sleep wear.

Elektra: Sleep wear? You don’t dawn your armor to sleep? (John sees Elektra is in her orange armor.)

John: You don’t need to wear it to sleep. We don’t have to worry about being attacked during our sleep.

Elektra: But what if a threat emerges?

John: I’ll just transform and, (Sighs) Never mind. Just give me 10 minutes. End Scene

John and Elektra are walking through the park, the two arguing.

Elektra: Why won’t you let me kill them?

John: You are not allowed to kill the fangirls. No matter what they do. (John rolls out his shoulder.) Even if they dislocate your shoulder.

Elektra: In my time, warriors were treated with much more respect. Anyone who’d harm them would be killed.

John: (Serious) No killing.

Elektra: What about enemies?

John: We don’t kill them. We catch them and lock them away. Killing should only come as an absolute last resort.

Elektra: (Scoffs) You had no problem killing my brother.

John: That’s different. His face.

Elektra: What about his face?!

John: Just, forget it! Now, I have to go. Have to get to school before (They hear a man scream in the distance, the two turning.) that happens.

A giant mutant red fire ant is chasing a business man, who trips as he runs. He turns to see the ant, as he screams again. Earth disks hit the ant’s head, it looking up. John is in a boxing stance, stomping the ground rapidly, throwing punches which launches more earth disks. The ant takes them, and charge at him. Elektra charges forward, taking the Proto-Tool and morphing it into a battle staff. She swings and lifts a leg, as the ant turns, biting at her. She catches it with her staff, as she hops on top of it, Proto-tool turning into a blade, as she stabs it. The blade bounces off its body, as it throws her off.

Elektra: What kind of insect is this?

John: An ant. Big one at that.

Elektra: (Sarcastically) Gee, thanks. That helps so much.

The ant spits fire at her, as John moves in front of her, spinning his arm to break the attack. He stomps the ground, an earth spike hitting the ant from below, knocking it onto its back. It rolls over, spitting acid at them. John spirals his arms, water molecules in the air turning liquid, the water blocking the attack. Elektra morphs the Proto-Tool into a bow, firing energy arrows. It bounces off its body, as the ant charges them.

John: Okay. This is ridiculous. I’ve got school to get to.

John’s body glows, as he turns into Rumble Knuckles. He charges the ant, it charging at him. Rumble Knuckles swings his fist, punching the ant in the face, it exploding from the impact.

Elektra: Eh. Not bad.

Rumble Knuckles: More like the beginning. There are probably more ants that probably live in this city than there are humans in this country. I’ve always wanted to try this.

Rumble Knuckles closes his eyes, and stomps the ground. The world turns black and white, as vibration waves travel through the ground, forming a complete geographical map of the area. Deep underground is a large crater, a colony of giant ants building a metal tower, led by a man.

Elektra: What are you doing? (Rumble Knuckles reverts.)

John: You’re not going to believe this. End Scene

John and Elektra are making their way underground, seeing the large ray machine. Ants are traveling to and from the machine, carrying different parts to it.

Elektra: How do we do this?

John: I’ll handle the ants. You take out the crockpot in charge.

Elektra: You can’t handle all those ants.

John: I can long enough for you to destroy his mind control device.

Elektra: You make it sound like you know who the culprit is.

John: Mutates everyday animals to do his bidding, with a mutation ray. Only one guy I can think of. Plus, I know his mana anyway. You better hold on.

Elektra: To what?

John exhales, as he thrusts his hands forward. The boulder ledge they were on breaks off, as John motions his arms, it floating down toward the machine. The two jump off, landing on a level with a control panel, with Animo. His skin has turned green, a jar on his head with his brain visible. Two antennas are sticking out of the jar, and he’s wearing a green coat.

John: Dr. Animo. What a surprise. I thought Tack gave you credit for saving Earth, that you were a hero.

Animo: Yes I was. I was recognized for my duties, and live luxuriously for a while. Then, you disappeared! With the world missing one over glorified superhero, they turn to me. Now, I became friends with the President when I received my International Peace Award,

John: I never got that award.

Animo: Which meant he called on me whenever there was a problem YOU should’ve handled! Other heroes tried to rise. Julie, Billy Billions, the Forever Knights. But sooner or later, they eventually failed, which meant they turned to me to be the main hero! It’s so distressing! All that fighting! I’ve gone through dozens of animals who weren’t up to the task. I turned green from malnutrition and exhaustion, for crying out loud! And what do I get for all my sacrifice?! Absolutely nothing! Not even recognition that I’m the one who saves this miserable planet!

John: You don’t save lives for the recognition. It’s about doing what’s right. Julie would know that, but those other guys know nothing. I don’t even know who that Billions is.

Animo: I will gain the respect and recognition that I deserve! The respect Phantom gave me for turning the planet into his zombie army, and the respect I was once given for saving those miscreants from his reign! With this mutant ray, I will mutate all the ants in the world, turning them into my servants. (John and Elektra realize they are surrounded by mutant ants.) With this army, I will rule the world!

Elektra: Are all your enemies this stupid?

John: Very similar.

Animo: Attack! Destroy John Smith and his girlfriend!

Elektra: I am not his girlfriend!

Elektra fires energy shots at Animo, who ducks and dodges. He releases mind control waves from his antennas, as an ant charges at Elektra. Elektra jumps over it, as John is surrounded. John transforms into Water Hazard, spinning as he releases streams of water, forming a vortex that catches the ants, sending them over the edge. The ants spit fireballs and acid balls, Water Hazard swirling his arms, the water on the machine forming up, protecting him and attacking.

Water Hazard blasts several ants with water, as he is buried underneath them. He blasts through them, as he uses his water cannons to shoot up to the next level. An ant drops from above, hitting him as he crashes down. Water Hazard throws it off, as he’s caught in a pair of jaws.

Elektra gives chase to Animo, who makes his way to a console. He activates it, as Elektra blasts the console, the mutant ray activating.

Animo: You’re too late, girl! For now, the world will!

Elektra punches Animo in the face, him falling to the ground.

Elektra: Don’t call me girl.

Elektra runs over to the console, typing into it. Nothing happens, and she gets furious, pounding the console with her fists. It sparks and explodes.) So much for tech op class.

An ant charges at her, Elektra firing energy shots at it. It takes them, going to snap at her. Thorns rain down from above, the ant stopping as they hit the ground in front of it. Quilscade comes down, landing on its back. It tries to shake him off, when Quilscade extends a thorn from his palm, going into its neck. It howls, as Quilscade hops off, the ant charging off.

Quilscade: We’ve got to stop the ray.

Elektra: I tried to deactivate it, but the console is down. (Quilscade looks up, squinting his eyes.)

Quilscade: I’ve got an idea. Take Animo and get to safety.

Elektra: We should just leave him.

Quilscade: No one gets left behind. We don’t get to choose who lives or dies. The battle determines that. And this battle can have survivors.

Elektra groans, as she picks up Animo’s body. She mounts her Proto-Tool on her shoulder, firing a cable over to the cave entrance. She pulls herself and Animo away. Quilscade charges into the ant swarm, thorns growing out of his feet, heading up to the next level. An ant breaks the thorn, as Quilscade grows thorns on his arm, catching on the mutant ray, which reaches full power.

Quilscade: Close enough to the center.

Quilscade jumps off, shifting to Gravattack. He curls up into a planetary sphere, as ants get caught in his gravitational field, orbiting him. They spin fast, several of them exploding from the pressure. Parts of the mutant ray start breaking apart, as its power becomes unstable. Gravattack opens up, firing a gravity ball into the hole on the hull, which expands, breaking it in half. It detonates, Gravattack using his gravity pressure to keep the explosion focused downward, to not break the surface above. Everything is desolated, as Elektra watches from the cave mouth.

Elektra: John!

Gravattack floats up, surprising her. He lands next to them, the force of the landing waking Animo.

Animo: Uh! Huh? What? (He sees the empty underground gorge.) No! Curse you John Smith! You haven’t heard the last of me!

Animo takes off running, when he floats off the ground, back towards Gravattack.

Gravattack: Aw, leaving so soon? We were just catching up. And throwing you back in jail. (Turns to Elektra.) So you do care about me.

Elektra: Phhf! Please.

Elektra puts energy cuffs on Animo, as Gravattack drops him, reverting afterwards.

John: You know, this place is pretty spacious. Little cleaning up, you could make a good city here.

Elektra: Who would build a city underground?

John: (Jokingly) They’d name it Undertown.

Elektra: (Unenthusiastically) Ha ha. Let’s go, bozo. (She pushes Animo, forcing him to walk up the cave.)

John: You never know. Maybe someone will build a city. (John follows after Elektra.)

Characters

 * John Smith
 * Elektra
 * Man
 * Fangirls (Off-screen)

Villains

 * Dr. Animo
 * ​Mutant Ants

Aliens

 * Rumble Knuckles (first re-appearance)
 * Water Hazard (first re-appearance)
 * Quilscade (first re-appearance)
 * Gravattack (first re-appearance)

Trivia

 * This is the official return of alien forms being used.
 * It's revealed that Animo, Julie, Billy Billions and the Forever Knights became the main "alien fighting" heroes while John was gone.
 * This drove Animo mad, and turned his skin green from malnutrition.
 * John utilizes Seismic Sense for the first time.
 * This episode starts John and Elektra's battle strategy, John distracts the army while Elektra takes out the leader.
 * This episode starts the running gag of Elektra wanting to kill/harm the fangirls.