A Tale From Long Ago, and New Machinations

   My name is Gull. I have been locked away in a maximum security prison for the last 23 years. I have spent this time staring at the same four gray walls, the black and white tv serving as my only connection to the outside world. The one who put me here is an alien that looks like an Earthling, a fellow who is ten years younger than me. He bested me when he was a teenager, has enjoyed more adventures after our battle, and has spent the last 14 years building his own network to spread his heroic vision of world peace across the Earth. Every night since my defeat I dream about our encounter, and I am cursed by having to experience it from his perspective. I still question why he did what he did to me, and reliving the events of that day through his view over and over again has not helped me to make sense of it all. My eyes grow heavy, and I dread having to become that brat in my dreams again, but here we go....

*****

Hugh's perspective, 1998

   My name is Hugh. I am from a planet similar to Earth. I am a crime fighter. I left my old planet to come to Earth because I had helped to completely cleanse my home planet from evil, and I wanted to help do the same thing for Earth. I have superpowers from machinery. I have a dark helmet that covers my head. When I wear it, my body is fully armored, and I have access to a bunch of different weapons. If I want to use a certain weapon, I just have to think about it, and the weapon will appear in my hand. If I don't need the weapon anymore, it will just disappear when I think about it. Some weapons I have are a laser gun, a sword that lights up into a laser sword by request, and a grenade. I am sixteen years old. This is what my latest mission is about:

   I am after one of the earth's most wanted thugs. He is a dangerous psycho killer named Gull. He has armor and weapons much like mine. He is guilty of multiple killings and robberies. Right now I am in New York City chasing him down the crowded streets. He has just entered a deserted building that is in great need of repairs. I follow him in. I shut the door behind me and look around. The walls are crumbling and the floor has holes in it. The building is really dirty. I walk into another room and I see Gull, standing there, unarmed. I let my laser gun appear in my hand and I aim it at him.  

   "Put your hands up!" I yell. The fool doesn't listen.

   "There is something very special about this building." he says.

   "Okay, what?" I ask, feeling confused.

   "I heard there is a bottomless pit in this building." he says, confidently.  

   He steps back a little, and I walk forward, when suddenly, the floor beneath me gives way. Before I am plunged into darkness, I see Gull, and I know underneath his helmet he is smiling triumphantly.

   Now I'm falling down in a pit, and it could possibly be bottomless. It is completely dark. I fall onto a hard, dirty floor. I am in a dark corridor, but somehow I can still see around myself. I still have my laser gun in my hand, and I am prepared for anything. Just then I notice an armored figure heading my way. I shout a greeting, hoping he will be friendly, but when a laser shot is his response, I get the idea that he isn't. I dodge the shot and I shoot back, hitting the figure in the chest. The figure explodes. I realize it wasn't human, but was a robot. It wasn't a very good robot if one blast was all it took to destroy it. Just then I realize my troubles are far from over. More robots are coming out, surrounding me. I fire at robots all around me, jumping to dodge their fire. When there is a clear path, I run through, chased by robots. I then notice a trapdoor. I fire at robots coming toward me, dodging their fire. I open the trapdoor and find stairs. I begin to head down the stairs and shut the trapdoor so I won't be followed. It is now pitch black, and I feel my way around as I go down the stairs. Just then the stairs turn into a ramp, and I go sliding down. I soon slide into a chamber that is lit up. I look behind me and where the chamber was now stands a wall. There is no door to exit through. Being trapped in this chamber is the least of my problems, as the chamber is now completely filled with water, and my armor suit won't save me from drowning. I only have a few minutes to live.

   Just then I remember that I still have my laser gun in my hand. I never tried shooting it underwater, but I figure that there is always a first time for something, or in my case, a last time for something. So I fire the gun at the floor, and it works! I make a hole in the floor, and I am sucked right into it. I'm going down a sort of underwater slide. I have managed to get out of the water chamber, but I'm still not safe from drowning. Just then I notice a white chin-up bar ahead of me. I realize that I have one shot at this, and I reach out my hands and grab the bar. I have hold. I hold on really tightly as water flows by me. I hold on tighter, knowing that if I lose my grip I'll go flying further down the tunnel. Eventually all the water from the chamber has flowed past me, and I can finally breathe. I breathe a sigh of relief, but I realize that I am still not out of the hole, yet (no pun intended). Just then the part of the ceiling that the bar is attached to begins to move up. I hold on to the bar longer, hoping that this might be a way out. I rise upward into a tunnel. I go up and up, and finally look to my left and see a doorway. I realize I must be in the basement of the house that I entered when this whole thing began. I swing myself onto the basement floor, and I watch the bar that saved my life slowly move back down the tunnel that I rose from. I then wonder if Gull is still in the house. Just then I hear noise from a stairway ahead of me. I realize that someone is coming down. And I have a pretty good idea who it is.

   Gull is now in the basement facing me. He is still fully armored, and he is holding a sword in his hand.

   "So I see you survived your little drop." Gull says mockingly. "But now, you have me to deal with."

   "I know, you don't stand a chance." I say heatedly, as I let my sword appear in my hand. We begin clashing swords, trying to strike each other. We fight for a while, managing to go from the basement to the second floor.

   "You know, this is really boring. How about a little more difficulty?" Gull says, as he lights his sword up into a laser sword.

  "Sure, why not?" I say, doing the same with my sword. We begin clashing our laser swords. Just then we walk into the room where we originally confronted each other, and the room is now full of holes. Then the floor beneath Gull gives way and he is about to fall into a pit when I grab his arm.

   "Go ahead; drop me." he says, angrily. "Kill me, it doesn't matter. I'm nothing but a scumball anyway."  

   Instead, I let my laser sword disappear and I let my stun laser gun appear in my hand. I then shoot Gull in the head with it, smashing his helmet with my shot. Gull's armor disappears and he is out cold. I pull him up, then very carefully carry him out of the house. I take him to the police station and turn him in. I feel pretty good at this point. I have just succeeded at my first challenge on earth. I know this was only the tip of the iceberg, and I will have many more challenges ahead of me.....

*****

   I awaken, briefly relieved to be Gull again, back in the present day. I then remember that I am still imprisoned, and will be for the rest of my days until death. I will never understand Hugh's motivations for not letting me fall into that pit. Why save me, when all I would do is sit in this cell for the rest of my life doing nothing? Besides his other exploits, I had heard on the news that Hugh had created another world called the Reflection Dimension, a place where he and his network would send criminals. The criminals could leave that place if they vowed to change their ways, and they could return from that prison cleared of their charges, forgiven and free to start fresh. My sentence and imprisonment offered nothing like that. Did Hugh save me because he thought I could reform? How could I reform if I was locked away here? Did he even know I was still here? Over the past 23 years, did I cross his mind at all?

   I noticed a small crack in the corner that I had looked at many times over the years. I daydreamed about being small enough to go through that crack and go far away from here. Yeah right, like that would ever happen. A worm then slipped through the crack and entered my cell. I felt envious of the worm, as it was able to come and go as it pleased. I felt the desire to grab it and crush it, making it pay for gloating about being able to leave anytime, while I would never leave. I must be going insane, this worm is not gloating. But I swear that I saw a smirk on the worm. Before I could do a double take, the worm grew before me. Once it was my size, it was no longer a worm, but a somewhat overweight man dressed in black, his face covered by a ski mask. The man grabbed my shoulders, and we both began shrinking. My arms and legs vanished into my body, and once the world stopped getting bigger, I found myself in the form of a worm. In front of me was another worm, who I assumed was the man that did this to me.

   "I can explain, but first we need to get out of here!" The worm said.  

   I thought my fight with Hugh had been a strange experience, but a talking worm took the cake. Wondering if I could talk too, I gave it a try.

   "Who are you, and what have you done to me?" I asked. Well, looks like I can talk.

   "My name is Willy, and my boss sent me here to get you out of prison. I will turn us back into humans later, but right now we need to get out of here. Follow me through that crack in the wall."

   Although this Willy guy, or worm, or whatever he was didn't strike me as trustworthy, I had nothing to lose. Besides, I still needed him to change me back to normal. I reluctantly followed him through the crack and out of the prison. Once we were outside, a man in a fancy white suit picked us up and put us in a empty bait container. He then brought us into a car and sped away.

   "Good work Doctor Sic." Willy called out from the bait container. "Another successful jailbreak in the books."

  "Thank you Willy. Although I prefer the use of toxins, this scheme to recruit Gull is easily one of my favorites yet."

   "Scheme? Recruit?" I asked. "Who are you two, and what does this boss of yours want with me?"

   Willy laughed before answering. Although I was a worm myself, seeing another worm laugh out loud was jarring.

   "We'll get you up to speed once we are back at the base and human again. All you need to know right now is that my boss wants to kill the man that put you in prison for life. His ultimate goal is to destroy Hugh and his hero network."

*****

   My name is Lenny Overature, but my true name is now Leftover. Thanks to the failure of my former idol Hugh and his hero network, a traitor that stole my features and turned me into a silhouette is banished in the Reflection Dimension, and I am stuck in this form. Hugh's associate that failed me, a man whose name was Mirk, is now dead thanks to the ingenious trap I set up for him and his brother Tam. My associate Willy had turned Mirk into a worm, and I was granted the privilege of squeezing the life out of him. Through this act I have officially declared war on Hugh and his network, and when all is said and done, all that will be left will be me and my team. We will take over and become the hero organization that Hugh and his people failed to be. My numbers may be smaller than Hugh's worldwide network, but the associates I employ more than make up for our current lack of manpower. I have CCC, a man that can change the appearance of others for an hour. His work has helped me to deceive the kingdom into thinking that my silhouette affliction has been cured, and they all think I am just good old King Lenny. Hypnorc is not only a fearsomely giant goblin, but he has the ability to hypnotize others. We have my father under our control, and his influence as the former king is perfect for manipulating the kingdom into thinking I am completely back to normal as well. Doctor Sic, a master of toxins, and Willy, a man that can turn himself and others into worms by touch, are currently bringing me Gull. Gull is a man that has been imprisoned for the past couple decades thanks to Hugh's first mission on Earth. Gull will likely be eager to aid in my plans of destroying Hugh. I recently also recruited Hall, a man that can create his own dungeon traps for his victims, and Anti-Hero, a scorned woman who possesses the power of Hugh's helmets within her body. Her hatred for Hugh's heroes from their failure to protect her husband also makes for a powerful weapon. I am preparing to discuss future strategies with my allies in a secret underground lair below the castle, when I receive a call on my cell phone.

   "Master Leftover, we have a problem!"

   The guard at the gates is calling. I wonder what could be wrong?

   "Yes my friend, tell me what is going on."

   "There is a man with a gold helmet and emerald armor here. He says his name is Tam, and he demands an audience with you. He has me at his mercy, and is threatening to kill me if I don't comply. What should I do?"

   "Please send him in." I reply coolly. "We will give our guest here a proper welcome."

   I laugh with malicious excitement once the call is over. Tam is Mirk's brother, and he is most definitely here to avenge him. Having one of Hugh's heroes fall into my lap is a beautiful thing, and he is quite dumb to show up at my doorstep thinking he will have the advantage. Either Hugh has become desperate by sending him here, or Tam is acting alone. Regardless, It is time to gather my people and show Tam the foolishness of his decision to come here. Stay tuned for tales of my next victory coming soon, my friends!