Jack woke, his breathing heavy as pain coursed through his body, trying desperately to push it’s way through his bones and out of his flesh. He was held upright by a collection of straps made of a leathery material, keeping his body in a very comfortable position as it healed from the trauma it had received not long ago. Jack’s eyes opened, gazing through the haze his mind at several blinking lights and the outlines large, dark structures that rose up around him.

“You’re awake.”

A familiar woman’s voice cut through the air, smooth and calm as usual, causing Jack to sway his attention in the direction of the sound. A figure detached itself from one of the shadows, stepping into the light, though Jack still couldn’t see her.

“How long?”

Jack used all of his breath to force the two words out of his throat, catching the woman’s attention with the question. She hesitated, stepping back, and leaning up against the shadow she had previously detached from, considering her answer. A moment passed, only Jack’s ragged breath and the faint whirring of something far off filling the silence, until the woman finally spoke.

“Two days.”

Silence filled the room, a deafening ringing filled the boy’s ears as adrenaline pumped into him, realizing the weight of his situation and beginning to push against the restraints. There was no more clicking with his movements, but he found himself unable to break free from the straps restraining him with brute strength. The leathery restraints squeaked and the structure holding him down rattled as he pulled and jerked with all his might, still unsuccessful in his attempts to regain his freedom and save his friends.

Jack’s vision slowly cleared, enabling him to make out his captor. Standing before him was the tall, cat-eared woman that had shown up at his door several days ago, now dressed in a solid black form-fitting uniform with a deep blue line about three inches thick running from her left shoulder to her right hip. Her face reflected a deep and genuine sadness when looking at the boy, knowing enough about him to understand what he was feeling at this moment, and what would happen if she freed him.

“You’ll die if I release your restraints. I can’t let that happen.”

Jack had started using magic now, a thick line of magic threads wrapped itself around the straps, but still producing no results aside from furthering the boy’s frustration. Gritting his teeth, his left arm ignited, releasing an intense heat that forced the captor to step back and shield her face. Deep pink electricity ran up and down his arm while lashing out at nearby objects, but doing little to no damage to the boy’s surroundings. Jack released the magic, realizing his attempts were futile before slumping down, and letting the restraints hold him in place as he caught his breath.

“I know... that’s why I didn’t ask.”

Fae stepped back to where she was standing a moment ago, wary of him, but not letting her caution hamper her approach. Jack looked around, forcing his eyelids open while gazing past the woman to the image displayed through a massive clear window behind her.

‘Figures.’

There, drifting peacefully while contrasting with it’s dark surroundings was Earth, Jack’s home. The massive orb was beautiful, looking similar to a paradise from this distance, one filled with scenic landscapes and undiscovered phenomena. However, this innocent beauty could only exist from this distance, where details are easily overlooked and the dominating natural beauty shields one’s view. Jack was on an alien space ship.

‘Ellis?’

(Just checked your injuries, and you’re good to go.)

Ellis answered immediately with the best news Jack had heard in a while, her image materializing in front of him for barely a moment before vanishing so he could focus on the task at hand.

“I’m sorry, Jack...”

Fae spoke, her voice cracked from the pain of being the one that held him back from protecting the thing he cares about more than anything else. This was her responsibility since this is what her job required of her, but this justification didn’t help Jack’s situation and she knew it. The alien reached out her hand, and placed it gently on Jack’s head, clearing her throat and holding back tears that tried to press through the corners of her eyes.

“I can’t help you, even though I want to. I’m responsible for keeping you alive.”

She spoke more clearly now, regaining the confidence she was previously lacking while looking at Jack, who stared back with a steady gaze. The dark-haired boy then did something the cat-woman did not expect, and was even caught her off-guard for the first time since she was a child. He smiled.

“You’re a surprisingly good person, you know that?”

Fae was speechless, confusion rattled around in her head as she tried to understand why Jack would smile at a time like this, when hope could only survive with a quantity of naivety that not even he possessed. The woman took a step back, retracting her hand from the boy in surprise as his eyes lit up with a hot pink fire that flicked and waved as it grew more intense, the smile on his face growing right along with it.

“Sorry about your ship, but I’m afraid I won’t be able to wait. I suggest you get somewhere safe.”

His eyes were glowing now, similar to how a monster’s does, but much more intense, changing from hot pink to a blood red. The tattered remains of his clothes disintegrated, something slowly materializing underneath them, coating his body in a dark color that was hard to specify due to the intense light now erupting from his body. Realizing the danger she was in, Fae stepped back, vanishing into the air before reappearing some distance away inside a clear protective orb just big enough for her to stand in.

The entire ship was vibrating, bolts of bright red lightning exploded out from the left side of the boy’s body while fire enveloped his right, obliterating the straps holding him and blowing away everything nearby. Fae watched in awe at the dramatic increase in power tore apart the inside of her ship, and the owner of that power slowly rise, elevated by a supernatural force under his command as his attention turned toward Earth.

“What... is this guy?”

“Disobedient little-“

“Hey! I’d pay attention if I was you!”

Charles White interrupted the man grumbling at the girls next to him, catching his attention and redirecting his irritated gaze at himself. The two stood in a large field, just outside of a small town of people that were trembling in fear behind closed doors. The wraith led a sea of monsters, each with varying degrees of power and patience, waiting restlessly for the overconfident man Phthonus had chosen as the hero to defeat the rising demon king.

“Shut up!”

Turning to the wraith, the hero became even more agitated, dark green flakes detaching from his skin and leaving behind thin black lines that were barely visible to the naked eye. Phthonus’s chosen one lifted his arm, pointing an enraged finger at the demon king and his army as his magic began to form around him, taking the shape of small green orbs.

“I’ve used up all of my patience. After I kill you and become the savior of this world, I’ll celebrate with these girls whether they like it or not! I’m sick of all you losers looking down on me!”

The arrogant words of the jealous hero ignited a flame of anger in the eyes of Charles White, who had come showing nothing but respect for his opponent up until now. Black smoke leaked from the pours of the wraith’s skin in preparation for battle, while a small gathering of humans cowered quite some distance away, watching the interaction through their cameras. At this distance it did look like a hero facing the villain scene with the intention of protecting humanity from the recent uprising of a seemingly untouchable foe. Little did they know the one hailed as demon king held more interest in their well-being than the supposed “hero”.

“If you’d still your flapping face for a moment, then those more intelligent than yourself would have no ground on which to stand above you!”

The first strike was dealt by the wraith, bypassing the hero’s physical abilities and striking at his weakest point: his intellect. Recognizing the declaration as an insult, the hero flew into a fit of rage, lashing out with his dark green magic in an attempt to completely remove his target from the earth. The magic flew at incredible speed, taking the form of an orb that immediately began pulling in on the world around it, an ever-consuming void with an insatiable appetite.

Charles White was not slow to react, using his years of battle experience to immediately respond with an attack of his own using the magic he had summoned a moment ago. Black magic whipped through the air, twisting and spinning as it went, looking not unlike a phantom about to feed on the soul of the fooling man that challenged it. The air churned and grew thick with the excess magic as the earth beneath their feet cracked and exploded outward due to the intense energy being released from their bodies.

Collision. Both magics met in the middle before coming into contact with something stronger than itself and redirecting it’s flow back at the two fighters, causing them to shield their face as the momentum returned to them, weakened. Dust filled the air, temporarily hiding whatever had obstructed their battle behind a dark shroud of dirt. The more experienced of the combatants stepped back in shock, sensing the magic coming from within the cloud, and instantly recognizing it.

“No... how did he get so strong that fast?”

The wraith’s mind was racing, looking for an escape while afraid to turn his back to the new threat that had appeared out of nowhere.

“Coward! Fight me! If you won’t fight for yourselves, then do it for the girls’ sake, you don’t want me to take my frustration out on THEM do you!?”

Meanwhile the cocky young hero that knew nothing of the threat casually began yelling assorted insults at the wraith, thinking it was some ploy to weasel his way out of a fight. Rage came from in front of the young man, this time not originating from the wraith, but something much more powerful than either of them.

(You really cheat at life, you know that? Seriously, it’s like trying to fry beans with lightning.)

The dust began to settle, and the figure standing amid the wreckage smiled as the anger inside of him felt itself prepare to unleash on a particularly painful thorn in it’s ass.

‘You know, cheating at life is usually referred to as luck here. You do have a point though.’

Humans are considered lower existences, unable to use magic, and having an incredibly frail body that could die simply from falling over and landing wrong. Jack was now visible to the two, however there was a visible change to both his presence as well as his level of power, one that even a mere human could recognize at first glance. With his previous magical enhancement, he had done what no other lower existence had ever done without becoming the pawn of a higher existence. He was now an independent middle existence, wearing a black T-shirt and jeans made up of magic rather than physical material which is an ability only the more powerful middle existences have.

“You!? I thought I killed you! Damn bastard, I never thought YOU’D be the one annoying ME.”

Jack stared at the hero, the familiar face now twisted with corruption from the power that it had only tasted, creating delusions of grandeur in his mind to satisfy his lust for being at the top. Jack barely recognized the young man he had saved only a few days ago from the hands of a bloodthirsty ghoul that had set it’s sights on him due to his now perverse personality.

“I know you recognize me, Jack! I bet you still remember me as John, that pathetic guy half-dead on the street you so graciously decided to save! Well... look at me now.”

John raised his hands up to the sides as if to display his might so Jack would cower in fear, and know it was useless to challenge him to a fight. However, Jack didn’t respond, simply staring at the man with a bored expression while Ellis secretly filled him in on the details of what John had become.

(John was blessed by a deity, probably Phthonus from the looks of it, accepting the power and becoming, what is referred to as, a hero. What most likely happened was Phthonus found a seed of jealousy in this man’s heart, and exploited it to create something that would kill you. It’s a long story, but pretty much Phthonus was once the god of jealousy, but his disturbing methods were rejected, so he was critically wounded and demoted to a deity that can’t directly attack people. He hates my magic specifically because my mother was the one that critically wounded him, so he likely found you, recognized the magic, and now wants to kill you via this guy.)

‘Simple enough.’

Ellis finished, and Jack returned his attention to the still ranting hero in front of him who was only succeeding in riling himself up with every insult he hurled at his uninterested enemy. Jack started to feel bad for John, since he would probably just be a normal guy if it wasn’t for him... however, his opinion quickly changed.

“I am now standing where you once stood, with the same girls behind me that stood behind you! I can do what I want, with the girls and the rest of the world! There’s nothing you can do to stop me!”

John crossed the line, and Jack’s already thin strand of patience vanished completely at the taunting words that threatened Jenny and Val. Jack had taken a beating from these two during their previous encounters, but that didn’t matter to the boy who’s eyes were already showing a tinge of red. What mattered to him was the two girls frozen in shock behind the jealous hero, their eyes red from where they had been crying earlier, making Jack wonder what that man had done to hurt them.

Jack’s left arm didn’t glow entirely, it simply turned a scarlet red while veins of bright red energy became visible, the currents flowing further into his arm than it used to, all the way up to the middle of his bicep. His right hand opened as a long scarlet rope that burned brightly started to emerge from his palm, extending outward for about fifteen feet before stopping, allowing his fingers to wrap around it comfortably.

“Who do you think you are?”

Seeing Jack’s movements, and starting to sense the danger he was in, John stepped back and began to become flustered. Jack locked eyes with his target, not trying to hide his intent in the slightest as he took a step forward, initiating the first part of his attack.

“Name’s Jack.”