Side Quests (The Life of Ace Journeyman)

Ace Journeyman and the Warriors of POW Pt 3

"Don't mind me." Voodoo Ace shoved people out of the way on his way to the stage. "Just your average occult master making his way to an inter-dimensional extraction point." He still had Toby Rowe in tow. Row still babbled nonsense. "I'll be out of your hair..." He stopped. "YOU?!" He pointed my way. Danny pointed at himself which got a slap on the back of his head from Brain. "How is it possible that you aren't dead?"
"Are you two acquainted?" asked Brain.
"Not really. He just abducted a famous comic book creator. He's the reason I'm here."
"Joe?!" Brain suddenly said. He turned to the Voodoo Man. "What did you do to him? Why does he look older?"
Voodoo Man stroked his chin. "So that's his name in this world? Fascinating."
"This world?" I said.
Voodoo Man laughed. It was a mix of a mean-spirited laugh and a jocular one. "You still haven't figured it out. Well, I obviously got the brains." He rested a hand on Danny's shoulder while he broke into another fit of laughter. "You still have no clue as to where I came from...even now? Oh, that is rich."
"You're obviously a clone or some kind of shapeshifter," I said. "You're not the first one I've encountered."
"Noooo." He said the world like it had five syllables. "I'm you."
"I'd never be like you," I said with determination. I even threw in a sweeping hand gesture to emphasize the statement.
"That's for sure," Voodoo Man muttered. "No. I'm you from another world. One parallel to this one."
"Another Earth?" whispered Brain. "Could it be possible?"
"You bet your brain, uh..." He looked Brain over. "You, person that I don't know. And not just one but billions. As many as there are grains of sand on all the beaches. The things you think are stories are history."
I stepped in front of Brain. "What's your game? Why did you take Toby Rowe?"
The voodoo priest picked at his fingers like he wasn't paying attention or that I was a nuisance. "Why payment of course. I provided a service and now his soul belongs to me."
"He sold his soul?" Brain sounded a little concerned for some reason.
"No." The voodoo man than smiled wickedly. He pointed at Danny. "He did." Everyone turned to Danny. By everyone I mean everyone. This is when I remembered that we were in a convention center. Instead of running, everyone stayed to watch what would happen. Apparently people were used to this sort of thing happening. "Well, not him exactly. The other him. Denis Symthe."
"The CEO of MegaCorp Comics?" I said. "Why?"
"To get an edge up on the competition of course. MegaCorp has been losing sales to POW Ink for a while now. Symthe sold me the soul of his best friend in order to come up with something that would finally end POW."
I rubbed a hand through my hair. "Seems kind of stupid to sell the soul of your biggest seller."
"Now that I played my part and created an event so spectacular that POW will be utterly destroyed, Toby is mine. And I will take him to my masters so that he can join us as the Gathering continues."
"The Gathering?" Brain and I said.
"That's enough!" said a voice. Everyone in the room, including Voodoo Ace, turned. It belonged to Billy Tang, creator of Couch Potato League Assemble. "I cannot allow this to continue!"
"And who do you think you are that you can stop me?" Billy Tang pointed to the button on his shirt. It was an image of a cartoon stylized POW. Voodoo Man hissed. "You are part of POW?"
The audience was captivated by these turns of events. Someone said something about this being better than streaming wrestling. Billy walked around the table with the confidence and stature of a man accustomed to battle. "That's right, you vile villain, I am a Warrior of POW, sworn to protect the multiverse from the likes of MegaCorp and the Unum. The Chosen will Gather and defeat you. You're plans for the multiverse will fail."
"And what do you know of our plans?" He pointed his cane at Billy. A red and black energy shot out and knocked Billy against the wall. Voodoo Man held his hands to the sky. "Let's have some fun!" he proclaimed. Suddenly strange neon totem masks sucked themselves onto the faces of the Couch Potato Leaguers much like the chains had wrapped around me. The CPL turned towards us, slowly. "Let's see how long you last against them without your powers."
    Nightspud produced his guns. Lady Masher's weapons whirled with the sound of charging power. Commander Tuber's arms became potato sprouts and he slashed them around like whips. Spudtor just stood there. Ace Voodoo stepped in front of them. "In accordance with the ancient rules, my Champions will battle the Champions of this reality. If mine shall win, this world will be drained. What remains of it and its inhabitants will be cast into the Void or at best the Wastelands. I will then destroy Ace and absorb his chi, his life-force, and move one step closer to becoming an Unum, a multiverse god." He waved his hand across the crowd. "Out of many, I will become one."
    Billy Tang coughed as he came to. "How can we possibly fight them?" I asked. "I don't have my powers."
    Billy coughed some more. "Here." He removed his button. "This'll mark you as a Champion of this world. You would become a Warrior of POW. It will remove whatever spell he has place on you. You must *cough* see that Rowe makes it to the...Gathering..." He then collapsed.
    "Is he?"I asked.
    Billy opened his eyes. "No, of course not. I'm making the story more dramatic. Now, finish this."
    I stuck the button on my shirt and immediately felt an energy pass through me. It was like a bubble bath mixed with warm milk and cookies. I was like a hug time 1,000. White, heavenly light began to pour out of me.
    "His power," said Danny, "it's over—"
    "Do not even go there," said Brain.
     Peaceful music began to ring in my ears. Then I felt a blast of power and collapsed to the ground.
    "Uh..." said Brain and Danny.
    But this was good. I was standing over my body! I was in my normal white attire. My hands had a soft glow to them. I was back! I turned to Brain and Danny just in time to see them put on some kind of aviator-like goggles.
    "Looking good, Ace," said Danny.
    "You can see me?"
    "Of course we can," said Brain. "You are not much use to the team if we cannot see you. These," he tapped the googles, "are an invention of mine. We can see you, hear you, and..." Danny gave me a big bear hug, lifting me off the ground, "touch you."
    After Danny sat me down, I turned to the brainwashed Potatoes. "I bet all I need to do is remove those masks."
    "No need for such toys." Ace Voodoo again smacked the ground and a colorful bubble appeared around the room. "All will see their fate unfurl." He snapped his fingers and pointed at me. The CPL attacked.
    Nightspud fired pats of butter at me, but I took to the air. Expertly dodging the butter blasts. He switched to a stream of sour cream; I summoned a wall of rock to block it. Some of the sour cream creamed an attendee. He wiped some of it off his face and tasted it. "Hmm, could I get..." This is when Commander Tuber unleashed his chive vision on me. Beams of chopped chives shot towards me. I easily deflected it with a blast of wind. The chives hit the same attendee. He mixed the chives and sour cream. "Thanks, man." He gave me a thumbs up.
    Tuber's sprouts erupted from the ground and grabbed hold of me mid-air. I couldn't go up or down. Nightspud aimed his blaster at me. "You know," I smiled. "You're not the only one with roots." The two tilted their heads like confused puppies. During the battle, I commanded some plant vines to slowly grow around the two; they now were in position to strike. The vines popped off the masks.
    The two stumbled in confusion as Lady Masher roared passed thanks to her jet boots. The Aluminum Wonder managed to hit me with a missile. I tumbled through the air and crashed on the ground. Thousands of red dots appeared across my body. If I wanted to survive, I would have to turn up the heat. I held out my hands making a stream of fire shot out. The blast of heat and fire staggered her. I kept the heat on. She groaned as the fire baked her tinfoil exo-suit. Finally, she fell with a smash. I still kept on her. To escape the heat, she began stripping off her armor, including the mask. Once it was off, I turned off the heat and began unleashing the water in the sprinkler system. She was warm but not baked.
    Finally, it was just Spudtor and me. I approached. Immediately he began transforming into a mash potato monster. He smashed through the roof as he roared. I couldn't even see the mask anymore. Globs of potato began raining down cocooning people and changing them into french fry and potato chip minions.
If there was anything I've learned from reading comic books and playing video games it's when dealing with a giant beast, the object I seek (in this case the mask) will be in the belly of the beast. I have to...ugh, get eaten. Well, I took a deep breath, no time like the present. I flew into the air heading for Spudtor's maw. I dodged the globs. I dodged the swipes from Spudtor. I dodged the salt missiles and blasts of ketchup that the minions threw at me. Finally I reached the mouth and the glowing white eyes of Spudtor. I really didn't want to do this, but I knew that if this continued, Spudtor could cover the whole planet in a blob of potato goo.
I took another deep breath to steady myself and dived in.
It was dark and mushy in there. All I could hear was the slop-mush of mashed potatoes. All I could smell was baked potato and an hint of onions. I finally remembered I could summon firelight. A small ball of flames hovered over my hand as I journeyed further.
What seemed like a mile later, I found the stomach and a tower of mashed potatoes with a flat top. It seemed out of place and looked important. The neon-like lines of the mask were about the only other light in this place. I landed, weary of an encounter with some kind of resistance within Spudtor. But...nothing happened. I picked up the mask.
"Well, that was easy."
The potato walls began to shake and crumble as goop rained down with sounds of splat.
"I had to jinx it, didn't I?"
Spudtor was collapsing back down to his normal form. I shot into the air and headed for the exit. Glops of gunk sloshed and plopped as I darted right and left and up and down! The walls were closing in on me! The place was getting smaller by the second! Light! I thought. Rays of light shined down from Spudtor's open mouth. I flew out and Spudtor shrank and collapsed behind me (the people were also returning to normal).
I landed near Danny and Brain. I smashed the mask on the ground and turned to Ace Voodoo. "You've lost. Leave."
His eyes narrowed, he snarled, and in a flash of moment, he pounced while screaming something. I was too stunned to react. I saw a glint from his cane. No, it was a sword. He had some kind of blade in his cane and now he was using it.
Normally, while in my Astral form I wouldn't be afraid of a knife. Normal knives would just pass through me, since I was a ghost. But, like the Couch Potato League, this knife probably operated on the same "wavelength" as me and thus could hurt me.
All I could do was watch. Then, like lightning, another blade connected with Voodoo Man's blade. It belonged to Billy Tang.
"You have lost, creature," said Billy. He was barely straining from pushing against Voodoo Ace.
"I will have my power!" Voodoo Man said. "Nothing can stop me!"
In a blast of strength Billy knocked back Voodoo Man. Billy held his cane-blade, much like Voodoo Ace's, towards the voodoo doctor. "Begone, vile fiend! You shall not precede any further!" Billy then slashed the air. A tear opened...in the air! Voodoo Man stuck his blade into the ground and tried to hold on as the rift pulled at him. The dark doctor screamed as the rift pulled him in. It then slammed shut like some mouth that'd just had its fill. 
Everyone just stared. Finally someone said, "Best Geek Con ever!!" The crowd broke into a riotous round of applause.
Billy joined Danny, Brain, and me. He held out his hand for the button. "I don't get to keep it?"
"Maybe one day, Ace; but for now, it is time for you to go home. You and Rowe."
Rowe held his head in shock. "What just happened?!" He finally seemed to break out of his stupor. But he still looked terrified. His hair stood on end and his clothes looked rumpled.
Billy just continued, ignoring Toby. "It is not yet time for him to join the Gathering. One day soon though."
"What is this Gathering?" Brain asked.
"And who is POW?" I asked.
"I suppose you've earned that much. The Gathering is a time when the 12 groups shall once again join to decide the fate of the multiverse through ancient battle. And POW is a collection of those from the 12 groups who wish to protect the multiverse. We are far and wide across the multiverse. We are gamers and athletes, builders and artists, politicians and soldiers, dreamers and scientists. We are young and old, black and white, rich and poor, male and female."
"How do I get back home?"
"I will take you," he placed a hand on my shoulder and looked into my eyes, "because, Ace, there's no place like your homeworld."
I suddenly felt really sleepy. I felt a fog scratching at my head. But it was inviting. And wonderful. Peaceful.
Everything...
Faded...
Away...
...
"Ace?"
Sandy?
"Ace?" said another voice.
Glen?
I opened my eyes.
"There you are," said Sandy. "You almost missed the best part."
I yawned, sat up, and stretched. I felt like I'd just had the best nap in my life. "What?" Sandy pointed.
"This is News 13 reporting live from the Newton Convention Center," said the reporter. "We have an update into the abduction of Toby Rowe. Rowe has been found, in the bushes outside the convention center of all places. The abductor, unfortunately, has escaped and police are looking into it. But it seems that Rowe himself will not be much help as he continues to go on about other worlds and strange, magical creatures. He also states that a young man who could leave his body and become a ghost saved him from, get this, a potato monster. It sounds like someone's been reading his own comics..." The reporter turned slightly to us and gave a cheeky wink. As she turned back, I could see a certain button attached to her belt.
"But it's true!" said Rowe while the EMT workers checked him over. "I was in some futuristic world!"
"Save it for your next book," said the EMT. He sat his medical bag down next to Rowe. A POW button clicked softly against the lip.
"Humph. Maybe I will."
Sandy lightly touched my shoulder. "I have to say...that was a more interesting Geek Con than I thought it would be."
"Nothing like a monster attack to liven up an event," said Glen.
The reporter continued her story. The EMTs continued working on Rowe. People continued texting and talking on their phones about what they experienced. The police continued to interview people. I looked up at the stars. I was lost in thought about what Billy said and what might be coming next. "Hmm. Yeah. Interesting."

The End

For more adventures with Ace, check out The Life of Ace Journeyman book(s) at Barnes & Noble
http://goo.gl/uBgLmB.
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BZZTT! BZZTT!!
*Static*
    A shadowy figure loomed over a pool of water. The strange water was divided into three parts. In one the mystery being could see Ace looking at the stars. In another section Max and his friends sat in a tavern laughing and eating. In the last section, the figure could see Joe climbing out from underground. He helped Sally out and then reached down to help another person out.
    "That's right," said the figure, "play your little game. Your fighting only weakens the veil that protects the multiverse. Soon it'll fall and my army of darkness will attack. Heh-heh-heh...Mmm-hahaha...Ah-hahahaHAHA!!!"

Until the next wormhole...
End of Transmission.