In the modern age of man there were many truths that the common people considered to be absolute. There was no such thing as magic. No monsters hid in either the closet, or under the bed. A man was only an animal, no more than a self-important ape who thought highly of itself. For such a simple creature, every facet of existence could be explained through the immutable laws of nature and scientific inquiry.

Humanity discovered far too late what little they actually knew about true reality. There came a day when monsters did stalk the land. Humanity was forced to prove itself capable of more than being a simple primate who thought too much of itself. There came a day when the self-righteous apes were forced to band together in the last great war to rage across the planet. It was a war not engendered for division, nor was it to conquer neighboring lands. No, it was a struggle for the survival of the human race. In the end, that struggle gave rise to the new modern age and to far greater potential for humanity.

In the year 2024, four years after the advent of the first interdimensional dungeon's appearance on Earth, supernatural monsters raged across the world. A new technology discovered in the depths of one of the most dangerous dungeons arose to combat the dark tide. This impossible device became known as the ID-Drive. It was a technological innovation capable of awakening the hidden power within a human being. It brought that power forth into the world through the use of virtual reality and spiritual manipulation.

Thus began the new era in the saga of humanity.

It was a time a glorious discovery. It was an era of newly unearthed magical technology.

It was an age ...of impossible devices.

Chapter 1: Dreams of a Small Boy

A simple cotton towel had many uses. It might be used to clean up a spill. Sometimes it would be used to dry a freshly bathed body. Since the early twentieth century, however, there was one use of the simple cotton towel that never ceased to amuse the innocent hearts of big-headed boy children the world over.

Scott Hennessy, a blue haired youth of six years of age, stood atop the slide at the local park and surveyed the world around him. Around his neck there was tied a simple device. Many would think of it as a simple cotton towel, but they would be wrong. It was not truly a towel. No, it was a cape.

At the moment young master Hennessy was not a mere child, but the Park Guardian. Hero to several other big-headed boys, and a small assortment of slightly more proportionate young girls, the Park Guardian stood for truth and honor in a world slowly going mad. He also stood for whenever the ice cream truck came around. Even heroes must take time for the little things.

A relatively responsible child, his parents were comfortable with the notion of allowing him to play alone at the park despite his age. It was not far from their home, and they lived in a town that was known to have little criminal activity. Even that small amount of crime rarely took place until late at night.

The towel-cape fluttered majestically behind him as a moderate breeze blew across the land. Few people chose to enter the park that day, but he came. He always came when he could, school and bed-time permitting.

A loud outcry caught his attention. The Park Guardian turned his head to heed the sound. In the distance the littlest superhero could see something strange. It looked to him as though a skinny kid, rather a villainous villain with a stick, was attacking a group of citizens.

"Not in my city, bub!" exclaimed Scott before dropping down and quickly sliding to the ground on the slide. It was time for the guardian to get to work guardian-ing!

The comic-book addled six year old ran toward danger with all of the care and concern of a child who knew nothing of true danger. He roared a wild cry as he came within the environs of the battle. Originally, he thought the wicked villain to be nothing more than a weird little kid with a stick attacking random people on the sidewalk. He quickly realized that he was wrong. He had been so very wrong.

The short green-skinned creature was the size of a child, but it wielded a spear with extreme speed and strength. Several people were currently lying on the ground moaning. Blood soaked the grass and dirt, the scent intermingling with the stench of urine and evacuated bowels.

Scott skidded to a stop as the truth settled in, this was no kid being a jerk. It was a monster, a real monster like in a comic or a game! He could feel the contents of his breakfast begin to rise up toward his throat. He did not know why, but his body began to shake and the rims of his eyes began to redden.

The Park Guardian watched in frozen terror as the twisted little man-thing made his next move. A terrified scream erupted through the air as the murderer leapt toward a blond woman. The creature moved with speed and agility far in excess of anything that a normal man might show.

The little boy stood there and stared at the scene in shock as the green monster rammed his spear through the screaming woman's body. The point shot out of her back along with several inches of the shaft, and a section squiggling meat that an older person would recognize as a bit of intestine.

The small crowd of people on the ground were a testament to the danger of the beast. But it was not until three big men came running toward the scene that little Scott truly understood the world of shit that he had run toward.

"God damn!" shouted one massive man-beast. He had a beard that reached down to his chest, and wore the denim jacket and pants some might associate with a biker. In fact, all three men looked to be the sort of big burly men who would ride cross country on a motorcycle while occasionally stopping to hassle local shop keepers.

"You're fuckin' dead!" snapped another big ole boy. He had a massive barrel-like chest and arms that were wider than Scott's oversized head.

The green skinned creature looked toward the on-running men then leaned back slightly and unleashed an incredibly loud shout. The air seemed to tremble as a wave of invisible force raced outward and clashed with the oncoming trio.

The first biker behemoth cried out and threw his arms across his face. It was not long before similar actions were taken by the other men. They fell to the ground and started to writhe while screaming in panic.

Scott could see it then, the wicked little smile. The twisted little green man ran forward and stabbed downward repeatedly. He skewered the screaming men and laughed each time they unleashed an agonized cry.

After those men stopped struggling there was no one left. Everyone else was down, or had long since fled the horrific scene. Only Scott and the little green killer remained. The little boy made an involuntary noise of fright as he took a step back. This was no comic book, that stuff was not real.

The creature turned toward Scott then tilted its head to the side. The large pointy nose perfectly matched the floppy pointed ears of the beast. It was like a man, but made wrong, a creature crafted in the dark by a drunken artisan who only half-remembered the features of a man. Even at the distance that they were from each other, the little boy could see its black beady eyes. He also saw the wicked little smile return briefly before it widened into a feral grin filled with sharp and jagged teeth.

In the heart of the small boy, fear gave way to panic. Frozen in place, all he could do was stare wide-eyed as the creature leveled its spear toward him then snarled in a gleeful manner.

He could not move, could barely breathe. The Park Guardian began to shake uncontrollably, urine trailed down his legs as he lost control of his bladder. He had always enjoyed pretending to be a hero, but he was old enough to know the truth. Comic books and games were not real. There were no heroes.

Somehow, he took a half-step back. He made an audible, but strangled noise of fright. Heroes were not real. The little boy faced a cold reality. He would be just like the people on the ground soon.

His strangled cry returned as the creature ran toward him with a wild shout. Spear raised up and angled downward, it would all be over soon. He needed a hero, but they did not exist.

The shock of the scene broke just long enough to reduce his overwhelming paralysis. He closed his eyes tight, and threw his hands up while he cried out, "No!"

Blood and bits of gore slipped off of the point of the wicked little spear as it slammed downward toward the unmoving body of the tiny little boy. Expecting nothing but pain and a terrible end, it took Scott a few precious seconds to realize what was happening.

His eyes were closed. He did not see how it happened from the start. However, he heard a thunderous roar and felt a gust of hot wind blast against him. The big-headed boy was sent flying through the air like a leaf caught in a storm.

Scott cried out in his panic and flailed at the air. He hit the ground hard and rolled several feet before he came to a stop. Unable to do anything but gasp like a fish tossed up onto dry land, he was only able to see part of what was going on around him.

The creature with the spear had been blown away as well, but now someone stood between Scott and his previously assured death. The strangely dressed woman wore a white skin-tight outfit, complete with flowing red cape, and bright red boots. Her blond hair waved dynamically in the breeze and almost seemed to sparkle in the light.

Face twisted even further than normal by its hatred for the newcomer, the hideous little man hopped up and lunged forward. For a brief instant Scott thought that the woman would be stabbed, but at the last moment she casually slipped to the side then snaked her arms outward to grip the monster tight.

Powerful hands grasped the monster's thin arms in a vice-like grip. The creature never even registered the change of events before it was snatched into the air and then slammed down onto the ground. The woman used the murderous little creature like a meat-flail. She relentlessly snatched the smaller beast up, whipped him over her head, and then repeatedly slammed him down onto the ground again over the course of the next few seconds.

She suddenly changed tactics after the sixth flailing motion and hurled the monster high into the air using one hand. A smile rose upon her lips as she gazed up at the rapidly ascending beast in an almost friendly way. The friendly expression passed just before she crouched down then leapt upward with incredible speed. She caught the beast mid-leap, flipped him upside down.

"Crashing Venus Overdrive!" she cried exultantly just before she somehow managed to completely reverse her momentum.

The strangely dressed woman rocketed down toward the earth far below and slammed into the ground with tremendous force. A brilliant light erupted outward from the impact zone that force Scott to cover his disbelieving eyes.

Dust and rocks flew upward into the air while forming a thick cloud of debris. A wave of force washed out that knocked a few of the closest corpses away. Down the street several car alarms began to go off. She had just successfully performed the most brutally devastating pile-driver little Scott had ever seen, and he had seen professional wrestlers do plenty of those!

By the time she was done, the monster was little more than a pile of broken meat and bad memories. The battle ended nearly as quickly as it had begun. Much like the people that the green man killed, it never stood a chance. It had been set upon by something far beyond its strength and ability.

After that things moved quickly. Rescue vehicles and a small army of people came onto the scene. While most of the people involved in the innocent were beyond saving without rare and expensive resurrection items, some of their lives were able to be saved.

Scott sat in the back of an ambulance, his little feet swinging in the air. Wrapped in a warm blanket, because that is the obvious way to treat everything when an emergency situation occurs, he did his best not to cry again. What he witnessed that day was something he had no way to deal with emotionally, he was simply too young to really understand it all.

While he sat on the back of the ambulance his childish mind raced. Heroes were real. They were not just fun little stories. He had known it all along! Had he ever streamed a news feed, or read news articles he might have known it sooner. Such things were boring, though. Comics and games were much better than boring old news shows.

He thought about what happened, and the way heroes acted. The stories that he read. Eventually, he came to one conclusion. He would become a real one, too! Scott never wanted to be unable to do anything again when some little green man tried to hurt people.

The woman who rescued him walked by, a few National Guard soldiers in tow. She saw Scott and offered him a warm smile. He shyly smiled back and continued to watch her as she walked away.

In the background noise of the rescue effort little bits and pieces of conversations offered information about what had happened. An F-class dungeon had appeared just outside of town. A concerted clean-up effort was made, but a few monsters escaped the firing lines. The property damage and loss of life were kept to minimal levels, but there would still me many heartbroken families that had to deal with the news that a loved one had been lost.

The voices continued to speak of things good and ill, and even spoke of fires that broke out throughout the town, but none of them knew of the greatest conflagration of all that occurred that day. They knew nothing of the fire that had been ignited in the heart of one small boy. It was time for the Park Guardian to retire. A true hero would rise, school and bed-time permitting.