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suddenly finds himself in the strange new world of the 21st century, as well as having to adjust to the limitations of being alive. Fortunately, he finds allies in a group of teenage superheroes, who aid him against the designs of DEMON, a cabal of evil magicians who want their wish back.", "description_bbcode_parsed": "When a magical wishing ring accidentally turns Supersonic Squirrel--a character from an early 1960s cartoon--into a living creature, he suddenly finds himself in the strange new world of the 21st century, as well as having to adjust to the limitations of being alive. Fortunately, he finds allies in a group of teenage superheroes, who aid him against the designs of DEMON, a cabal of evil magicians who want their wish back.", "writing": "[center]When You Wish Upon a Squirrel[/center]\n\n[center]a story set in the universe of Champions Online[/center]\n\n\tThe apartment was small, and cluttered with the paraphernalia associated with stage magic—trick cabinets, colored scarfs, interlocking metal rings, wands, hats, and most especially playing cards, some as tall as a man. The walls were adorned with garish posters featuring various famous magicians going as far back as the 19th century. In one corner lay a large steamer trunk with the initials \"J.R.\" on it. At the center of all this theatrical bric-a-brac, in a large, moth-eaten easy chair, slouched a man.\n\tHe was in his middle years, with a pronounced paunch and a neatly trimmed salt-and-pepper beard and moustache. His face was wide, round, and soft, contrasting with his sharp, hawk-like nose. His eyes were very dark, almost black. His apparel consisted of a pinstripe suit and top hat, white gloves, and well-shined shoes with spats. A pink carnation sprouted from his lapel. At his feet, a black cat meowed and rubbed itself against his legs, demanding attention, which it wasn't getting. The man's eyes were focused upon the glittering object he was holding up between his thumb and index finger.\n\tIt was a gold ring set with a blood-red jewel, and it required no great powers of observation for the man to tell that the ring was genuine, though the identity of the gemstone eluded him. It was not a ruby or a garnet, he could tell that. It almost seemed to glow with a light of its own in the darkened room, and its interior appeared to be fluid, shifting and swirling as he turned the ring between his fingers. Very strange.\n\tThe man narrowed his dark eyes as he stared at the ring, and a glowing sigil appeared in the air before him, a twisting Moebius strip of a thing. His eyes widened as he gazed through it, now able to see the enchantment intertwined with the substance of the ring. He couldn't discern its nature, but he could tell it was powerful. That the ring was magical didn't particularly surprise him. He had lifted it off a DEMON cultist in downtown Millennium City, and they usually carried magical trinkets of various types—typically charms of protection, wards against good magic, glamors, and mind-altering dweomers. But rarely did they carry anything as potent as this, unless they were members of DEMON's inner circle, in which case he took pains to give them as wide a berth as possible. Those were always bad news.\n\tHis concentration was broken by the cat clawing at his leg, causing the sigil to vanish, and he reached down with his free hand and fuzzled the beast's black head. \"Hungry, eh, Mephisto?\" he asked it, and received a purr and a pair of glowing green eyes looking up at him in response. He chuckled, set the ring down, got up from the chair, and went into the kitchen to open a can of tuna.\n\tAs he watched the cat eat, he considered what to do about the ring. He didn't feel comfortable trying to sell it without knowing exactly what it was, and therein lay the rub. He could take it to Alicia Blackmun at the Magic Lantern Book Shop, who was better versed in these matters than he was, but she might decide it was too powerful for someone like him to possess, and keep it for herself. It wouldn't be the first time. He remembered the Moonrot tarot deck, another item he'd appropriated from DEMON. What a mess that had been, what with DEMON cultists searching for the deck and the city's heroes getting involved. He'd had to hide out in the Magic Lantern for a week until it had all blown over. Alicia had not been pleased.\n\tHe went back to his chair, sat down, picked up the ring again, and regarded it thoughtfully. There was another option, of course. He could try to figure out what it did himself. That was potentially risky, however. Fooling around with magic you didn't understand always was. He had a realistic assessment of his own abilities: He was good, but not great. He lacked the mystical attunement necessary to be a true sorcerer. He employed magic—along with regular stagecraft—to amuse and entertain crowds on the streets of Millennium City, and he earned a modest but comfortable living that way. He had no stomach for fighting mystical supervillains or cosmic entities. He left that sort of thing to the big boys and girls.\n\tHe decided to let fate decide. He picked up a deck of playing cards, shuffled it, and drew one at random. It was the ace of spades, because of course it was. He held the card horizontally between his thumb and index finger and raised it above his head. Hanging on the wall across the room was a corkboard made up of alternating squares labeled \"yes\" and \"no,\" with several cards already embedded in it. He closed his eyes and hurled the ace at the board. It struck with a soft thunk. He opened his eyes. The ace was sticking in a \"yes\" square.\n\tHe sighed. \"The cards never lie,\" he said. He removed his gloves and picked up the ring with his left hand. \"Once more into the breach, my friends,\" he said, and slid it onto the ring finger of his right hand.\n\tHe sat still, waiting for a surge of power or mystical awareness, or to be transformed into a demon, or something. Nothing happened. The ring just sat there on his finger, sparkling. He tried a few incantations he knew that commonly activated magic items. The ring didn't react to any of them. Disappointed and yet relieved, he picked up the remote for his television set and turned it on. Clearly, this was going to require more research, but that could wait. Right now he just wanted to relax. He flipped to a channel that showed cartoons.\n\tThe screen lit up with a scene from an old cartoon from the '60s, \"The Adventures of Supersonic Squirrel and B.J. Moose.\" He chuckled, remembering how much he'd enjoyed that show as a child, following the exploits of the heroic squirrel and his bumbling moose companion. Supersonic Squirrel had been a childhood hero of his. He'd always admired the plucky little fellow's courage, honesty, and forthrightness, and wanted to be like him. A pity he wasn't real, and so many less worthy people were. He slumped in his chair and sighed. \"I wish you were here, Supersonic,\" he said.\n\tThe gemstone in the ring glowed brightly, and he shielded his eyes from the glare with his other hand. The crimson light filled the whole room, making it impossible to see anything for a moment. Then it slowly faded. As his eyesight returned, the man realized he was no longer alone. There was someone standing between him and the television set.\n\tThe newcomer was about three feet tall and squatly built, covered from head to toe in gray fur. He had huge, round, black eyes, and a blunt muzzle with protruding buck teeth. A big, fluffy question mark of a tail rose up from his backside to above his head. Fur-covered membranes stretched from his wrists to his ankles, presently hanging limply on either side of his torso. He wore no clothing save for an old-fashioned leather flying helmet and goggles. He looked around, blinking those enormous eyes, an astonished expression on his fuzzy face. \"Holy cow!\" he exclaimed in a nasal whine. \"Where am I?\"\n\tThe man sat in his chair, staring at the apparition, and then looked down at the ring on his right hand. The gemstone was now as clear and as colorless as glass. He turned his eyes back to the new arrival and opened his mouth to speak, but words failed him. \n\tThe creature had turned away from him, his attention caught by the images and sounds coming from the television screen. \"Hey! That's me!\"\n\tThe man nodded, and managed to find his voice. \"Yes, it is. You're Supersonic Squirrel,\" he said wonderingly.\n\tThe squirrel turned back toward him, regarding him in puzzlement. \"You know who I am? Who are you? What is this place? And why does everything look so weird?\"\n\tThe man cleared his throat. \"This is going to be a bit hard to explain.\"\n\tSupersonic Squirrel folded his arms across his furry chest defiantly. \"Try me.\"\n\t\"Very well. My name is Jay Richards, and I'm a magician. However, unlike most magicians, I actually know some real magic. You're in my apartment in Millennium City. And everything looks weird because, well, you're in the real world now. Apparently, I just accidentally wished you to life.\"\n\tThe squirrel stared at him. \"Real world? Wished me to life? I don't understand.\"\n\tRichards got up from his chair and went over to the squirrel, got down on one knee beside him to be face to face with him, and put a hand upon his furry shoulder, gently turning him around to face the television screen where the cartoon was still playing. \"See that? That's you; you said so yourself. And until a few seconds ago, that's all you were: a two-dimensional image on a television screen. You didn't really exist. You were just an idea in people's heads. But now you're real. I brought you to life.\"\n\tThe squirrel stared at the screen. Then he looked down at himself and reached down to feel his body. \"I don't look like myself. I'm all hairy!\"\n\tRichards nodded. \"That's because the animators drew you as simply and cheaply as they could—just flat shapes and patches of color. But something like that couldn't exist in the real world, so the wish must have given your body depth and substance. A three-dimensional creature for a three-dimensional world.\"\n\t\"What wish?\" Supersonic asked, still baffled.\n\t\"The one that was stored in this ring,\" said Richards, showing it to him. \"I pinched it from a DEMON cultist earlier today. I didn't know what it did, though. I guess I just found out.\"\n\tThe squirrel peered at the ring suspiciously. \"A ring that grants wishes? Sounds like something out of a fairy tale!\"\n\t\"A fractured fairy tale, perhaps,\" Richards said, grinning. \"I assure you, magic is quite real. I'm only a minor practitioner, though. There are people much better at it than me.\" He smiled and held out his hand to the squirrel. \"Welcome to reality, Supersonic Squirrel. It's an honor to finally meet you.\"\n\tThe squirrel took the offered hand in his own much smaller one and shook it dubiously. \"It's good to be here, I guess. But where is this Millennium City? I've never heard of it.\"\n\tRichards was busy examining Supersonic's four furry fingers. They were warm to the touch and tipped with claw-like nails. \"Hmm? Oh, it's where Detroit used to be.\"\n\tSupersonic blinked. \"Used to be?\"\n\t\"Yes. May I listen to your chest?\"\n\tThe squirrel nodded, and Richards pressed an ear to his fuzzy chest. \"You have a heartbeat. You're alive, no doubt about it, as real as anyone.\"\n\tSupersonic looked annoyed. \"Of course I'm alive! What did you mean when you said it's where Detroit used to be? What happened to it?\"\n\t\"It was attacked and razed to the ground in 1992 by Doctor Destroyer, the world's most terrible supervillain.\"\n\tThe squirrel gasped. \"1992? But that's in the future!\"\n\tRichards sighed and shook his head. \"Of course, you wouldn't know about anything that's happened since your show went off the air. What year do you think this is, Supersonic?\"\n\tThe squirrel swallowed. \"1964?\"\n\t\"I'm afraid you're over fifty years behind the times.\"\n\tSupersonic's jaw dropped. \"Fifty years? Holy cow!\"\n\tRichards nodded. \"It's a very different world from the one you knew, Supersonic.\" He stood up. \"Look, I know this is a lot to take in all at once. Why don't you sit down and relax, and I'll make us both a cup of tea.\"\n\t\"Th-that would be nice!\" The squirrel climbed up into the easy chair and sat watching the old cartoon as Richards went to the kitchen and busied himself making a pot of tea. The magician noticed that his hands were shaking as he put the kettle on to boil. Well, that was hardly surprising. It wasn't every day one wished one's childhood cartoon hero to life. He looked down at the ring and summoned the sigil again. There was no sign of any magic in it now. Apparently, making the wish had depleted its power. Pity; he could have used it to become fabulously wealthy. Oh well, better this than whatever DEMON would have done with it. He shuddered to think about that.\n\t\"Do you take sugar in yours?\" Richards called to Supersonic.\n\t\"Yes, please,\" the squirrel replied.\n\tHe stirred in the sugar and brought the cups of tea back to the living room, handing one to Supersonic. \"It's Earl Grey. Careful, it's hot.\"\n\tThe squirrel nodded, taking the cup and gulping from it, and immediately yelped and dropped the cup on the floor, spilling its contents across the rug. \"Yow! What's that?\"\n\t\"What's what?\" asked Richards.\n\t\"That awful feeling on my tongue!\"\n\t\"Oh. I believe that's called pain. You've never felt pain before, have you?\"\n\tThe squirrel shook his head, rubbing his tongue with his fingers. \"It's terrible!\"\n\tRichards knelt down to mop up the spilled tea with a handkerchief from his jacket pocket. \"Sorry, I should have realized. One of the drawbacks of being real is that you feel pain. It's your body's way of warning you that you're doing something that could harm it. Don't worry, it will fade quickly.\"\n\tSupersonic swallowed. \"Is that going to happen every time I eat or drink something?\"\n\t\"No, only if it's hot. Then you have to be careful and sip it slowly, like this.\" He demonstrated with his own cup.\n\tSupersonic nodded. \"I'll remember that.\" He turned his attention back to the television set. \"So, none of it was real?\"\n\t\"None of what?\" Richards asked.\n\t\"My friends, my family, everything I remember. None of it really happened? It's all just stuff somebody made up?\"\n\tRichards bit his lip. \"I'm afraid so, Supersonic.\"\n\tThe squirrel sighed, and Richards suddenly felt very sorry for him, imagining how he must be feeling right now, alone in a strange new world, finding out his whole life had been a lie. \n\tSupersonic looked up at him. \"So what happens now?\" he asked.\n\tRichards smiled gently at him and rubbed his shoulder. \"We'll figure that out together, Supersonic. But first, let me get you another cup of tea. And remember to drink it slowly this time.\"\n\tSupersonic nodded and continued watching television as Richards went back to the kitchen.\n\n\tThe glittering lights, majestic towers, and glowing avenues of Millennium City stretched out in every direction as far as the eye could see. Above them, like a flaming comet, flew a small, solitary figure. Its general size and shape matched that of a human youth perhaps twelve years of age, but that was where the resemblance to anything human ended. The skin was bright red, the ears were long and pointed, a spade-tipped tail about two and a half feet long protruded from the backside, and the hairless head bore two small, pink horns. The figure was clothed in spiked leather wrist bands, blue jeans with a hole in the back to accommodate the tail, sneakers, and a black T-shirt with a red and orange flame insignia on the front. Around the waist was a chain belt secured with a metal buckle in the shape of a skull. This strange mixture of the diabolic and the juvenile was named Hot Stuff.\n\tHot Stuff was in the middle of his nightly patrol of the city when something hammered his mystical senses like a bomb going off. He stopped dead, hovering hundreds of feet in the air, trying to determine the source of the disturbance. Once he had it, he rocketed toward it, leaving a contrail of flame behind him. The source was a nearby apartment building. It showed no outward sign that anything untoward had occurred, but there was no mistaking the massive release of magical energy he had felt. He homed in on a domicle on the eighth floor and landed on the small balcony. He tried the sliding glass door. It was unlocked. Pushing it open, he stepped inside.\n\tHearing the sound of the door sliding open, Supersonic Squirrel peered in that direction from the chair he was sitting in and gaped at the sight of Hot Stuff entering the apartment from the balcony. He remembered Richards had mentioned having stolen the wishing ring from a demon cultist. \"Holy cow! A demon!\" he exclaimed, instinctively thrusting out his hands before him. A bolt of wind burst forth from them, striking Hot Stuff squarely in the chest and hurling him back through the door, across the balcony, and out into space.\n\tRichards, who had been in the kitchen making tea, came running out into the living room. \"What's going on?\" he asked. \n\tSupersonic was staring at his hands in surprise. \"What . . . what did I just do? I could never do that before!\"\n\tOutside, Hot Stuff halted his tumble through the air and snarled. He didn't know who that gray-furred creature he'd glimpsed was, but he knew he had just been attacked. \"All right, then,\" he growled, surging back toward the apartment, his body now enveloped in a fiery aura. He landed on the balcony, summoned a ball of flame to his hand, and hurled it at Supersonic. The squirrel raised his arms before him, creating a circular vortex of wind that dispersed the fireball harmlessly. Then he rose into the air, summoning a massive burst of wind, and released it at Hot Stuff, once again knocking him off the balcony.\n\t\"Supersonic, wait a minute!\" Richards protested.\n\t\"It's all right, Mr. Richards,\" the squirrel replied. \"I'll handle this! No demon is going to get you while I'm around!\" And with that he flew out the door after the devil boy.\n\tJay Richards stood in his living room, dumbfounded. He knew Hot Stuff—the devil boy had rescued him from the clutches of DEMON during the Moonrot tarot affair last year. The magician sighed and shook his head. \"It never fails. Put two of them in the same room together . . .\" He went out onto the balcony to see if he could resolve this peacefully.\n\tIn the air above Millennium City, Supersonic Squirrel and Hot Stuff were squaring off.\n\t\"I don't know who you are, fuzzy,\" the devil boy said, \"but you just made a big mistake!\" He took a deep breath and exhaled a blistering gout of flame at the squirrel. \n\tSupersonic summoned a burst of wind and parted the fire right down the middle, so it passed harmlessly to either side of him. \"You're the one who's made a mistake, demon!\" he shouted back, and flew straight at Hot Stuff, hurling wind bolts from each hand. The devil boy was ready this time, though, creating a shield of flame before him to blunt the impacts. Then he started building up an enormous ball of fire between his hands, an attack he liked to refer to as the Incinerator. Out here in the open air, he could employ his powers to their fullest, without fear of collateral damage.\n\tSeeing the devil boy building up for a big strike, Supersonic decided to see how far his new-found control of air extended. Fire wouldn't burn without oxygen. He reached out and tried to draw the air away from Hot Stuff, attempting to snuff the devil's flame. Hot Stuff watched in dismay as his fireball sputtered and went out, then felt himself losing consciousness. His fiery aura faded, and he began to plummet toward the street below.\n\tHis heart in his throat, Supersonic Squirrel watched his opponent fall. He wasn't a killer. He couldn't just stand by and watch someone fall to their doom, not even a demon. He swooped down after the falling figure, trying to intercept it in the precious few seconds before it stuck the ground.\n\tHot Stuff regained consciousness as he fell, the wind rushing past his face. His fiery aura sprang to life and he halted his fall, shooting back up toward Supersonic, his scarlet face twisted into a ferocious snarl. Seeing the revived devil boy barrelling toward him like a bat out of hell, Supersonic summoned a vortex of wind around himself. The wind battered Hot Stuff, halting his charge and forcing him back a bit. The two combatants hovered in the air, glaring at each other, each trying to decide on his next move.\n\tJay Richards had been standing on the balcony, shouting at the pair in the air, but they were both apparently too wrapped up in their battle to notice. Glancing downward, he saw a number of robed, hooded figures gathering around the base of the building. He recognized them at once: DEMON cultists. They must have sensed the release of magical energy caused by the wish. He gripped the railing, the color draining from his face. He had been in DEMON's power once. He had no desire to be in that situation again. Unfortunately, the only two people who could get him out of this fix were busy trying to kill each other. Concentrating, he built up a purple mystic bolt in his hand and hurled it between them, trying to get their attention.\n\tHot Stuff and Supersonic Squirrel both saw the bolt of magical energy fly by and turned toward its source to see Richards standing on the balcony, pointing frantically at the ground.\n\t\"DEMON cultists!\" Hot Stuff gasped.\n\t\"Friends of yours?\" Supersonic asked, narrowing his eyes.\n\tHot Stuff growled at him. \"Jay Richards is a friend of mine. I hate DEMON. I've fought their leader, Luther Black.\"\n\t\"Do you really expect me to believe that, demon?\" asked Supersonic.\n\t\"I'm not a demon, I'm a devil,\" Hot Stuff sneered. \"And I don't care what you believe, fuzzy. Just stay out of my way.\" With that he dove toward the cultists on the street below and began raining hellfire upon them, scattering them. The cultists retaliated by firing mystic bolts from their wands, some of which found their mark. Gritting his teeth against the pain, Hot Stuff landed amid a large group of them and released a huge conflagration in all directions, lighting up the night. Cultists screamed and ran, batting at their burning robes, while the devil boy grinned in fiendish delight, his small fangs gleaming.\n\tHis triumph was cut short by a powerful mystic bolt that struck him from behind, knocking him face down in the street. He raised his horned head to see three members of DEMON's inner circle floating toward him, ornate scarlet robes billowing around them, yellow eyes glowing balefully from within cadaverous faces. The devil boy bit his lower lip. This could be trouble.\n\t\"Hot Stuff,\" one of them said in an eerie, hollow voice, \"you have been a thorn in our side for far too long. Tonight, you die!\"\n\t\"Screw you, creep!\" Hot Stuff shouted, jumping to his feet and hurling a firebolt at the robed figure. The inner circle member screamed, engulfed in flames, but the other two closed in on the devil boy from either side. Throwing their arms wide, they each opened a glowing rift in the air before them, and out of each rift stepped a demon. They were massively built creatures, wreathed in flames, with long, snouted faces lined with sharp teeth, curling black horns atop their heads, bat wings protruding from their backs, and hands ending in cruel, hooked talons. Their cloven-hoofed feet left patches of fire on the ground where they walked. Hot Stuff took a deep breath. Yes, this was definitely going to be trouble.\n\tOne of the demons lunged at Hot Stuff, claws outstretched, only to be slammed to the ground by a blast of wind from above. Hot Stuff glanced up to see Supersonic Squirrel hovering over him, hurling bolts of wind from each hand at the demon, pummelling it into the ground mercilessly.\n\t\"Go . . . back . . . where . . . you . . . came from!\" the squirrel shouted, and the demon obligingly turned to ash. Supersonic flew down, landing beside Hot Stuff, and the two of them stood back to back, facing off against the forces of DEMON.\n\t\"So you decided I'm one of the good guys after all?\" Hot Stuff asked, building up a fireball in each hand.\n\t\"I don't know how good you are,\" replied Supersonic, \"but you can't possibly be as bad as these guys!\"\n\tThe remaining demon charged at Supersonic, who sent it tumbling head over heels with a gust of wind, while Hot Stuff hurled his fireballs at the two inner circle members. They both struck, but DEMON's inner circle members were tougher than ordinary mortals, their bodies fortified with protective spells. They took the hits and fired mystic bolts back at the devil boy, hitting him both times. Hot Stuff fell to his knees, his T-shirt and jeans now hanging from his body in shreds. He opened his mouth and breathed fire at one of the inner circle members, turning him into a flailing human torch. The other floated toward him, holding in one claw-like hand an obsidian dagger with a glowing green gem in the hilt.\n\t\"You will never interfere in our affairs again, devil!\" the inner circle member hissed.\n\tSupersonic, who had been busy pounding the demon into the ground with wind blasts, heard the inner circle member's proclamation and whirled, flying straight at him and slamming into him, knocking him flat. Hot Stuff regained his feet and breathed fire on the cultist, reducing him to a blackened husk. At the same moment, the demon Supersonic had been fighting vanished in a puff of brimstone.\n\t\"Did you have to kill him?\" Supersonic asked, looking down at what was left of the cultist.\n\tHot Stuff shrugged. \"They're already dead. Just walking corpses animated by black magic.\"\n\t\"Oh,\" said Supersonic. \"I guess that's all right, then.\"\n\t\"Come on, let's see if Jay is all right,\" said Hot Stuff, shooting up into the air like a rocket. Supersonic nodded and followed him up.\n\n\tJay Richards had been avidly watching the battle until he'd become aware of someone pounding on the door to his apartment. As he came back into his living room, the door crashed open, and into his foyer lumbered a morbane, one of DEMON's enforcers—a big, muscular man, eyes black as ebony, in a red and orange costume emblazoned with mystical symbols. Behind him came more of DEMON's regular cultists, wands and daggers ready.\n\t\"What have you done with our ring, Richards?\" the morbane demanded.\n\t\"You want it?\" asked Richards. \"Here, catch.\" \n\tHe tossed the ring to the morbane, who held it up before him with two beefy fingers and frowned. \"This is worthless!\" he snarled. \"Where is its magic?\"\n\t\"Gone. Used up. Finished,\" said Richards. \"You're out of luck, my friend.\"\n\tThe morbane growled and crushed the ring in his fist. \"You will pay for thwarting us, Richards, just as you should have paid for stealing the Moonrot tarot deck!\"\n\tRichards sighed. \"Oh, throw that at me, why don't you? Can't you guys learn to forgive and forget?\"\n\t\"Never!\" the morbane roared, charging toward him like a maddened bull. Richards raised a mystic ward of protection around himself, which the man crashed into, making the whole apartment shake. The magician swallowed, stepping back. Morbanes were inhumanly strong, their bodies augmented with magic. The ward would not survive another such impact.\n\t\"Don't worry, Jay,\" came Hot Stuff's voice from behind him. \"We've got this.\" \n\tRichards turned to see the devil boy and Supersonic Squirrel entering from the balcony, the former looking somewhat worse for wear with his clothes reduced to rags.\n\tThe morbane backed up, regarding the trio warily. \"This isn't over, Richards. There is no place on Earth you can hide from us. We will find you, and when we do, we will kill you!\"\n\t\"Straight out of the book of parting threats,\" said Hot Stuff, folding his arms and smirking. \"Get lost, loser!\"\n\t\"Yeah,\" said Supersonic Squirrel. \"You've caused enough trouble for one night!\"\n\tWith a final glare at the trio, the morbane turned and exited the apartment, the other cultists leaving with him. Richards dispelled the ward and sank down into his easy chair, shivering. Mephisto leaped up into his lap, and Richards petted the cat idly.\n\t\"Now,\" said Hot Stuff, turning to the magician, \"what is DEMON after you for this time, what was that burst of mystical energy I felt, and who,\" he pointed at Supersonic Squirrel, \"is that?\"\n\tRichards quickly explained the situation to the devil boy. When he had finished, Hot Stuff turned and regarded the squirrel curiously. \"A cartoon brought to life by a wish? That's a new one.\"\n\t\"Did he mean what he said, Mr. Richards?\" Supersonic asked. \"Do they really intend to kill you?\"\n\t\"DEMON kills people all the time,\" said Richards. \"And they have more reason to want me dead than most.\"\n\t\"But why doesn't somebody stop them?\" asked Supersonic.\n\t\"Heroes have been trying to do that since the 1920s,\" said Hot Stuff. \"DEMON are like rats. After each defeat they scurry back into their holes, only to later come back stronger than ever. They're the reason I'm here. They summoned me to be their slave, but I broke free and turned against them. I've been fighting them ever since.\"\n\tSupersonic nodded. \"I'm sorry I misjudged you.\"\n\tHot Stuff shrugged. \"I'm used to it.\"\n\t\"So, what do we do now?\" asked Supersonic.\n\tThe devil boy fished his cell phone out of his jeans pocket. \"I'm going to contact my friends in the Millennium Guard. Maybe they can come up with something.\"\n\tCurious about the cell phone, Supersonic came over to look at the device more closely, then cried out in pain and started hopping on his left foot, holding the other with both hands.\n\t\"What's wrong, Supersonic?\" Richards asked, jumping up from his chair and going over to him, stepping over the annoyed cat who had been spilled onto the floor.\n\t\"I stepped on something!\" said Supersonic, gritting his teeth and clutching his right foot.\n\tRichards knelt down to inspect the squirrel's bare foot. \"Looks like a splinter of wood from the door. Let me pull it out.\" He did so, and Supersonic sighed with relief. \"Here, sit down and I'll get some antiseptic and a bandage.\"\n\tSupersonic sat in the easy chair, holding up his injured foot, while Richards went into the bathroom and Hot Stuff spoke on his cell phone. The squirrel stared at his foot in horror as blood dripped from it onto the carpet. \"What's that?\" he asked, shuddering.\n\t\"What's what?\" asked Richards, coming back.\n\t\"That red stuff coming out of me!\"\n\t\"That's blood, Supersonic. Your body is full of it.\"\n\t\"Geez,\" said Hot Stuff, putting away his phone. \"What a baby!\"\n\t\"Give him a break,\" said Richards, bandaging the squirrel's foot. \"He was a cartoon, remember? He's new to being alive.\"\n\t\"Whatever,\" said Hot Stuff. \"My buddies want to meet us at our HQ. It's just a few blocks from here. Think you can carry Jay, Supersonic?\"\n\tThe squirrel looked up at the magician dubiously. \"I don't know, he's kind of big.\"\n\t\"Fine, then I'll do it.\"\n\t\"What about your flames?\"\n\t\"I can control them so they don't burn him.\"\n\tRichards picked up Mephisto in his arms. \"I'm bringing my cat.\"\n\tHot Stuff sighed. \"Okay, fine. Supersonic, you carry the cat.\"\n\tRichards handed Mephisto off to the squirrel, who smiled and petted him, eliciting a loud purr. \"I think he likes me,\" Supersonic said happily.\n\t\"Good thing you're not a normal squirrel,\" said Hot Stuff, \"or he'd be chasing you up a tree. Okay, let's get moving.\" He hooked his arms under Richards' armpits and lifted the magician up off the floor, carrying his rather portly burden out the door to the balcony. Supersonic followed, cradling the cat in his furry arms.\n\n\tThe Millennium Guard's headquarters was a spacious penthouse apartment in downtown Millennium City, thirty stories above the street. Hot Stuff, Supersonic Squirrel, and their passengers landed on the rooftop and descended through a stairwell to the apartment below, where they found the other members of the group waiting for them in the living room. There was Celestial Boy, from a dimension called Elysium, with black hair and glowing yellow eyes, wearing a skin-tight costume of alternating purple and maroon bands separated by thin white lines; Johnny Cool, a blond-haired youth wearing sunglasses, a black leather jacket over a white T-shirt, blue jeans, and leather boots; Mowgli, a brown-skinned boy with a wild mane of black hair, who wore only a buff-colored loincloth; and Troll Kid, a green-skinned teenager with pointed ears, who wore a star-spangled purple satin luchador costume, complete with mask and cape.\n\t\"Oh my god!\" Troll Kid gasped when he saw Supersonic, his eyes widening behind his mask. \"That's . . . that's . . .\"\n\t\"That's Supersonic Squirrel,\" said Hot Stuff. \"He used to be a cartoon.\"\n\t\"I know!\" exclaimed Troll Kid. \"I used to watch him all the time on Retro-Toons!\" He went over to the bemused squirrel and took his hand, squeezing it. \"You're real! You're really real!\"\n\t\"A cartoon come to life?\" asked Johnny Cool. \"How does that happen?\"\n\t\"It happens thanks to a magic wishing ring Jay here stole from DEMON,\" Hot Stuff replied.\n\tCool raised an eyebrow. \"And of all the things in the world he could have wished for, he wished for that?\"\n\t\"It was an accident, all right?\" said Richards, annoyed.\n\t\"I imagine DEMON is not happy about this,\" said Celestial Boy, in a voice with a strange, echoing quality.\n\t\"No,\" said Hot Stuff, \"they're not. Supersonic and I just trashed a bunch of them, and they left swearing revenge.\"\n\t\"Way to go, Supersonic!\" said Troll Kid, grinning at him. \n\tThe squirrel smiled back, then started and turned suddenly as he felt Mowgli sniffing his neck from behind. The jungle boy grinned and shrugged. \"Just getting your scent,\" he said.\n\tSupersonic nodded, and whispered an aside to Troll Kid. \"Does he always dress like that?\"\n\t\"It's what he prefers,\" Troll Kid replied. \"Besides, you're hardly one to talk. You're naked.\"\n\t\"I'm a squirrel,\" said Supersonic. \"Squirrels don't wear clothes.\"\n\t\"So,\" said Celestial Boy, \"what do we do about DEMON?\"\n\t\"Who's their current leader?\" asked Troll Kid.\n\t\"Luther Black is trapped in another dimension,\" said Hot Stuff. \"Without him, I'm not sure they have a supreme leader anymore.\"\n\tMowgli nodded. \"Most likely his various lieutenants are now fighting each other for control. That's what usually happens in these villain organizations when the leader is taken out of the picture. In fact, that's probably what one of them wanted the ring for.\"\n\t\"So we may not be facing all of DEMON,\" said Troll Kid, \"just a part of it.\"\n\t\"Even just a part of DEMON is still dangerous,\" said Hot Stuff. \"These are some of the most evil people on the planet, armed with black magic.\"\n\t\"If I may make a suggestion?\" said Richards. \"Since it's me they're after, perhaps I could just perform the oldest magic trick in the book and make myself disappear.\"\n\t\"They said they could find you anywhere,\" said Hot Stuff.\n\tRichards made a dismissive gesture. \"They exaggerate. There's a spell I can use to alter my appearance; enchantments to block their attempts to scry for my location. I could leave Millennium City and they'd never find me. Besides, if you're right and Black's lieutenants are fighting among themselves, they've got more important things than me to worry about.\"\n\t\"Well,\" said Troll Kid, \"if you're sure you'll be safe.\"\n\t\"Trust me,\" said Richards, \"it won't be a problem.\"\n\t\"Um, excuse me,\" said Supersonic, holding up a hand. \"I don't like to interrupt, but I'm feeling an uncomfortable gnawing sensation in my stomach. Is that normal?\"\n\t\"It means you're hungry,\" said Richards. \"Now that you're alive, you have to eat three times a day to stay that way.\"\n\tSupersonic blinked. \"Three times a day? But, where will I get food from?\"\n\tTroll Kid smiled. \"You can stay with us. We'll look after you.\"\n\t\"Are you sure it won't be any trouble?\" asked Supersonic.\n\t\"Absolutely not. And it'll be an honor having a genuine old-school hero like you staying here. Come on, let's order a pizza online.\"\n\t\"Online?\" asked Supersonic, puzzled.\n\t\"He doesn't know about anything that's happened since 1964,\" explained Richards.\n\t\"Let me show him,\" said Johnny Cool. He looked at the squirrel. \"I sank to the bottom of a lake in 1957 and didn't come up until a few months ago. I know what it's like to be out of your own time.\"\n\tSupersonic smiled and nodded up at him. \"Thank you.\"\n\tAs Johnny Cool went off to introduce Supersonic Squirrel to the wonders of the Internet, Troll Kid watched them go, shaking his head. \"Poor guy. There's so much he has to learn.\"\n\tHot Stuff shrugged. \"Johnny managed. He will too.\"\n\t\"But he's the only one of his kind here.\"\n\t\"So am I. What's your point?\"\n\tMowgli nodded. \"We're all a bunch of freaks. He should fit right in.\"\n\t\"You think we should make him a member?\" asked Troll Kid.\n\t\"He has wind powers,\" said Hot Stuff. \"He fought me to a standstill.\"\n\tCelestial Boy smiled. \"That does not sound too hard.\"\n\tHot Stuff growled at him. \"You want to put that to the test, Elysian?\"\n\t\"Anytime, anywhere, devil.\"\n\t\"All right, cool it, you two,\" said Troll Kid, scowling. \"I don't want Supersonic to think we're a bunch of punks who fight each other at the drop of a hat.\"\n\t\"But we do,\" said Mowgli.\n\tHot Stuff nodded. \"Yeah, we do fight each other a lot.\"\n\t\"You really like him, don't you?\" Celestial Boy said to Troll Kid.\n\t\"He's a childhood hero of mine,\" said Troll Kid. \"A lot of my ideas about what it means to be a hero came from watching him.\"\n\t\"I know what you mean,\" said Richards, smiling. \"He was my hero too when I was that age.\"\n\tTroll Kid sighed. \"I just hope he's not too disappointed when he finds out how nasty the real world is.\"\n\t\"We all have to grow up sometime, Troll Kid,\" said Richards.\n\t\"Not me,\" said Mowgli, grinning. \"I'm a legend. I'll always be this way.\"\n\t\"Or Johnny,\" said Hot Stuff. \"He's dead.\"\n\t\"All right,\" said Richards, \"[i]most[/i] of us have to grow up sometime.\"\n\t\"Which brings up a point,\" said Celestial Boy, looking at Troll Kid. \"What are you going to call yourself when you get older? Troll Man?\"\n\t\"I actually hadn't even thought about it,\" Troll Kid admitted.\n\t\"How about just 'The Troll?'\" asked Mowgli.\n\tTroll Kid grimaced. \"Then everyone will think I make obnoxious posts on the Internet.\"\n\t\"You mean you don't?\"\n\tHot Stuff grinned. \"In the comics, when a kid hero becomes an adult, they give him a totally new, grittier name, to reflect his coming of age.\"\n\tTroll Kid gestured down at himself. \"What about purple satin and stars says 'gritty' to you?\"\n\t\"Well, you'd need a new costume,\" said Hot Stuff. \"Something dark and edgy.\"\n\t\"With spikes and chains, like yours?\" asked Troll Kid, smirking. \"Welcome back to the '90s.\"\n\t\"As I recall,\" said Celestial Boy to Hot Stuff, \"you used to fight crime in just a diaper.\"\n\t\"It wasn't a diaper!\" growled Hot Stuff. \"It was a sumo wrestler loincloth!\"\n\t\"It always looked like a diaper to me,\" said Mowgli.\n\t\"Oh, you should talk, Underpants Boy!\"\n\tAt the computer, where Johnny Cool was showing him how to order online from Darren's Pizza, Supersonic Squirrel glanced away from the screen to look back at the rest of the Millennium Guard. \"Do they always argue like that?\" he asked, concern in his voice.\n\t\"Always,\" said Johnny. \"Don't worry, you'll get used to it.\"\n\n\tIn a dark room somewhere, a DEMON acolyte scurried up a flight of steps to a throne of black marble upon which slouched a slender figure in a scarlet robe and hood. Bejeweled fingers bearing long nails gripped the arms of the throne while glowing white eyes peered out from the shadows beneath the hood, strands of dead-white hair hanging out to either side. The acolyte knelt before the throne, waiting for the figure to speak first.\n\t\"What news?\" it finally asked, in a soft, not unpleasant voice.\n\t\"Lord Lucifer,\" the acolyte said, \"the devil took Richards and the squirrel to the Millennium Guard's headquarters. The whole team is there now.\"\n\tLucifer sighed and shook his head slowly. \"Richards is a fool. To have wasted the wish on such an idiotic whimsy as bringing a cartoon character to life. With such power I could have crushed my rivals and brought all of DEMON under my control. Fortunately, the situation may yet be salvaged.\"\n\tThe acolyte looked up at him quizzically. \"How, master?\"\n\tLucifer gestured lazily at a scroll lying on a nearby table. \"I have been studying. According to that scroll, the wish may be reversed with the proper ritual. Sacrificing the squirrel in the prescribed manner will draw the magic back into a new receptacle.\"\n\t\"But to do that, we'd have to get ahold of him,\" said the acolyte.\n\tLucifer nodded and turned his head to the figure crouching beside the throne. \"Jack, I have a job for you.\"\n\tThe figure slowly rose erect, and bells jingled. Stork-thin and standing close to seven feet tall, it was garbed in a ragged red-and-black jester's costume, complete with a belled hat and collar and curly-toed shoes. Its gaunt, bone-white face was covered with a bird-skull mask, its impossibly wide mouth lined with long, sharp teeth.\n\t\"Do you feel up to some killing?\" Lucifer asked.\n\tThe creature spoke in a high, screechy voice. \"Five little piggies, snug in their beds, Jack Fool's blade hanging over their heads.\"\n\t\"I'll take that as a yes,\" said Lucifer. He turned his attention back to the acolyte. \"Assemble a strike team at once. Return the squirrel here, alive. Let Jack have the rest.\"\n\tThe acolyte nodded, swallowing as he looked up at the towering, skeletal figure. Nobody wanted to be around Jack Fool. Ever.\n\t\n\t\"So, you can talk to anyone, anywhere in the world, using this . . . computer gizmo?\" asked Supersonic Squirrel, gazing at the screen in wonder.\n\tJohnny Cool nodded. \"Pretty much.\"\n\t\"And tap into these . . . websites?\"\n\t\"Sure. Here, let me show you the one we made for our group.\" He clicked on an icon and brought up the Millennium Guard's website, which contained pictures and information about each of the group's members.\n\t\"And every home has one of these things?\"\n\t\"Just about. They're not that expensive.\"\n\tThe squirrel shook his head. \"That's amazing!\"\n\t\"Yeah, it [i]is[/i] pretty incredible. Right out of Buck Rogers.\"\n\t\"What are the people like in this time?\" asked Supersonic. \"Are they nice?\"\n\tJohnny Cool shrugged. \"They're people. There's good ones and bad ones, just like in our time. I haven't seen much of a difference.\"\n\t\"Well, that's good, I guess,\" said Supersonic. He walked over to the window and gazed out at the glittering lights of the city. \"To think they built all this out of the ruins of Detroit.\"\n\tJohnny went over to join him. \"I hear there wasn't much left after Dr. Destroyer got through with it.\"\n\tSupersonic looked up at him. \"Is he still alive?\"\n\t\"Nah, he was killed during the Battle of Detroit. His old henchmen are still causing trouble, though—Gigaton, Black Talon, Rakshasa. And last year we found an automated factory of his under the city, building more of his robots.\"\n\t\"Did you shut it down?\" asked Supersonic, alarmed.\n\tJohnny Cool grinned. \"Yeah, it's no threat to anyone anymore. But that may not have been the only one. Destroids still keep showing up.\"\n\t\"Well, at least this city has heroes like you to protect it,\" said Supersonic, smiling.\n\t\"Looks like it has one more, now,\" said Johnny.\n\t\"Who, me?\" asked Supersonic, surprised. \"I'm no hero.\"\n\t\"I hear different,\" said Johnny. \"Plus you held your own against Hot Stuff, and he's pretty tough.\"\n\t\"Yeah,\" said Supersonic, looking down at his hands. \"I don't know where these new wind powers of mine came from. I could always fly really fast, but I could never do things like that before.\"\n\tJohnny shrugged. \"I don't know where my ice powers came from, either. My advice is just roll with it.\"\n\tThe door buzzed. \"That'll be the pizzas,\" said Troll Kid, going to answer it. He returned a minute later with three cardboard boxes in his arms.\n\t\"Mmm, that smells wonderful!\" said Supersonic, sniffing the air as Troll Kid set the boxes down on the table and opened them. He reached in and took a slice. Remembering his experience with the tea back in Jay Richards' apartment, he blew on it and took a cautious bite. His eyes widened. \"Holy cow!\" he exclaimed.\n\t\"You like it?\" asked Troll Kid, who had removed his mask, revealing an unkempt mop of green hair, and was sampling a slice of his own.\n\t\"I've never tasted anything like it! Does all food in the real world taste this good?\"\n\t\"Not all. Darren's Pizza is just really good.\"\n\t\"You ate food in the cartoons, though,\" said Richards. \"I remember seeing you do it.\"\n\t\"Yeah,\" said Supersonic, \"but it didn't really taste like anything.\" He took another bite, chewing it happily.\n\t\"It looks as though you have a whole new world of sensations to experience,\" said Celestial Boy, smiling.\n\t\"Well, I've already experienced pain,\" said Supersonic. \"That wasn't any fun.\"\n\t\"So I see,\" said Celestial Boy, glancing down at the bandage on the squirrel's foot. \"Allow me.\" He pointed a finger, and a beam of silvery light shot from it into Supersonic's injured foot. \"That should take care of it.\"\n\tSupersonic looked down at his foot in surprise, then back up at Celestial Boy. \"You can heal people?\"\n\tCelestial Boy nodded. \"It is one of my powers. I can also fly and project bolts of cosmic energy.\"\n\t\"Well, I know he creates fire,\" said Supersonic, indicating Hot Stuff, who was coming back into the room after changing into an undamaged set of clothes. \"And Johnny said he has ice powers. What do you do, Troll Kid? Are you a wrestler?\"\n\t\"Not exactly,\" said Troll Kid, and a shroud of darkness engulfed him, turning his eyes into glowing white spots with ghostly purple mist swirling around them. \"I control dark energy. I can use it to fly, teleport, blast people and move things, create force fields, and drain people's life energy.\"\n\t\"Oh,\" said Supersonic. \"But why do you dress like a Mexican wrestler?\"\n\t\"To honor my heritage. My mom's Mexican.\"\n\tSupersonic turned to Mowgli. \"And what can you do?\"\n\tCrouching on the couch with a slice of pizza in his hand, the jungle boy grinned at him. \"I hit people until they fall down.\"\n\t\"Which they usually do pretty quickly,\" added Troll Kid.\n\t\"I see,\" said Supersonic. \"What do all your parents think about you being superheroes?\"\n\t\"I'm the only one here with actual parents,\" said Troll Kid, \"and they're cool with it as long as I don't stay out too late.\"\n\t\"Yeah,\" said Hot Stuff, helping himself to a slice of pizza, \"Junior here still has to go to school.\"\n\tTroll Kid scowled at the devil boy. \"Screw you, Hot Stuff.\" He turned back to Supersonic. \"So, we were thinking, how'd you like to join our group?\"\n\tSupersonic stared at him. \"You want [i]me[/i] to join?\"\n\tTroll Kid nodded. \"We'd be honored to have you.\"\n\t\"But . . . but you don't know anything about me!\"\n\t\"I know everything about you,\" said Troll Kid, grinning. \"I've seen all your adventures. I can't think of anyone I'd rather have on my side.\"\n\t\"Well, then, yeah, I guess so . . .\" said Supersonic.\n\t\"Let's put it to a vote,\" said Troll Kid. \"All in favor?\" Five hands went up. \"That makes it unanimous. Welcome aboard, Supersonic Squirrel.\"\n\tThe squirrel swallowed. \"Thanks. It's good to know I have friends in this time.\"\n\tTroll Kid came over and clapped him on the back. \"Have another slice of pizza, buddy.\"\n\tSupersonic was in the middle of his second slice when Mowgli suddenly tensed and glanced up at the ceiling. \"Someone's on the roof,\" he said.\n\tA moment later, the skylight over the living room shattered in a shower of glass and Jack Fool dropped down onto the carpet, his bony hands clutching a long, curved, wicked-looking blade that gleamed with a sinister violet light.\n\t\"Crap!\" said Hot Stuff. \"It's Jack Fool!\"\n\t\"Who?\" asked Supersonic, staring at the ghastly apparition.\n\t\"One of DEMON's pet monsters. Careful of his sword, he's deadly with it!\"\n\tJack giggled. \"Aww, Hot Stuff, you remember. That's sweet.\"\n\tHot Stuff nodded, raising his hands, both of which were wreathed in flames. \"I remember how you stuck that thing through my guts the last time we met!\"\n\tJack grinned. \"This time I'll aim a bit higher!\" And with that he sprang at the devil boy with blinding speed, sword upraised.\n\tBut as fast as Jack was, Mowgli was faster. The jungle boy launched himself at the jester-clad horror, intercepting him in mid-lunge and landing a kick squarely in his stomach. Jack grunted, stopped dead in his tracks, and swung his sword at Mowgli in a flashing arc, but the incredibly nimble jungle boy somersaulted backward safely beyond its reach.\n\t\"Okay, let him have it!\" shouted Troll Kid, and bolts of fire, ice, darkness, and cosmic energy struck Jack's skinny form, causing him to stumble backward a few steps. His lips twisted into a sneer beneath his bird-skull mask.\n\t\"If that's the best you can do,\" said Jack, \"you're in serious trouble.\" He sprang again, this time at Celestial Boy, his sword slicing across the Elysian youth's chest and leaving a red crescent in its wake. Celestial Boy cried out in pain, and his hands glowed with silvery light as he attempted to heal himself. Jack spun around, only to find himself suddenly frozen in place as Johnny Cool materialized a cage of ice around him. The creature flexed his arms and the cage shattered, sending slivers of ice everywhere. Troll Kid and Hot Stuff hurled bolts of darkness and fire at him, to little obvious effect. Then Mowgli leaped upon Jack's back, wrapping his legs around Jack's chest and covering Jack's eyes with his hands. Jack snarled and whipped himself around, slamming the jungle boy against the wall with a bone-crunching crash. Mowgli gritted his teeth, but held on.\n\tSupersonic Squirrel was moving to join the fight when Jay Richards put a restraining hand on his shoulder. \"Jack wasn't alone,\" the magician said, pointing behind them. Four morbanes had appeared in the dining room, each of them bearing a massive sword and a cruel-looking whip.\n\tSupersonic growled and flew straight at them, a vortex of wind swirling around his small, gray-furred body, intending to scatter them like bowling pins. Instantly, the whips lashed out, wrapping around his arms and legs and sending jolts of agony through his form that made him scream in pain. He collapsed to the floor, unconscious, and the four hooded men ran forward to seize his limp body. Richards desperately hurled mystical bolts at them, but the bolts glanced off their sinewy bodies as they gathered up the squirrel and vanished in a burst of crimson light.\n\tIn the living room, Jack Fool was swinging his sword around blindly, Mowgli's hands still covering his eyes, while Troll Kid, Hot Stuff, Johnny Cool, and Celestial Boy kept blasting away at him, slowly wearing him down. The blade caught Hot Stuff across his forearm, cutting into the devil boy's red skin and releasing a gout of flame from inside him. Even so, that didn't stop him from joining the others in battering Jack Fool with blast after blast, until finally the cadaverous creature collapsed on the floor and lay still.\n\tAs Celestial Boy healed Hot Stuff, Troll Kid turned to Richards. \"What happened?\" the green boy demanded. \"Where's Supersonic?\"\n\t\"DEMON got him,\" said the magician, despondently. \"I couldn't stop them.\"\n\t\"What do they want with him?\" asked Johnny Cool.\n\t\"Perhaps they are trying to get the wish back,\" said Celestial Boy.\n\t\"Is that possible?\" asked Troll Kid.\n\t\"It is the only reason I can think of that they would be interested in him.\"\n\t\"But that would kill him, wouldn't it?\" asked Mowgli.\n\t\"Yes, it would.\"\n\t\"Great,\" said Troll Kid. \"And we have absolutely no idea where they've taken him.\"\n\n\tSupersonic Squirrel awakened to find himself lying on his back on a hard, flat surface, spread-eagled, his wrists and ankles shackled. There was also something around his neck. He raised his head—carefully at first, until he was sure the thing on his neck wasn't also holding him down—and looked around. He was in a large, dimly-lit room, large enough that the walls and ceiling were lost in shadow. The only illumination came from black candles set in strange, twisted, black iron candleholders to either side of him. He was lying on a raised stone block of some sort, about three feet above the floor. The air was laden with an acrid-smelling incense that made his nose twitch. He pulled at his restraints, but found that they were quite secure.\n\t\"Ah, I see you're awake,\" said a soft male voice in the darkness to his left. \"How unfortunate. I've no wish to cause you any unnecessary pain or fear.\"\n\t\"I'm not afraid!\" Supersonic retorted. \"Why don't you show yourself?\"\n\tA hooded figure in a plain scarlet robe emerged from the shadows, long white hair trickling down from either side of his cowl, white eyes glowing beneath it. \"As you wish,\" it said.\n\t\"Who are you?\" Supersonic demanded, glaring up at the figure.\n\t\"I call myself Lucifer. I am the leader of DEMON's Millennium City chapter.\"\n\t\"Lucifer, huh? That's appropriate.\"\n\t\"I thought so. I must say, it's rather remarkable to see you in the flesh. I remember watching your show as a child.\"\n\tSupersonic smirked. \"I bet you rooted for the villains.\"\n\t\"Oh no, I was quite firmly in your camp. But then, I was just a child.\"\n\t\"What happened?\" asked Supersonic. \"Why did you turn to evil?\"\n\t\"I see no reason to bore you with my life's story, like some comic-book villain,\" said Lucifer. \"Not when you've so little time left as it is.\"\n\t\"That's very considerate of you,\" said Supersonic. \"I'll return the favor. Release me now and I won't blast you across the room.\"\n\tLucifer smiled. \"Go ahead and try.\"\n\t\"Okay, you asked for it.\" Supersonic attempted to summon a blast of wind, but found to his surprise that he couldn't.\n\t\"Around your neck is a Collar of Subservience,\" said Lucifer. \"A minor magic item we use to keep our slaves in line. It prevents you from doing anything I don't want you to do.\"\n\t\"So, you keep slaves, too. Why am I not surprised? What do you want from me, anyway?\"\n\t\"We only want the return of what is rightfully ours, that which Richards stole from us.\"\n\t\"You mean the wish that created me?\"\n\tLucifer nodded. \"Sacrificing you in the proper manner should reverse the process and restore the wish to us.\"\n\t\"And then what will you do with it?\"\n\t\"I hardly think that's any concern of yours. You'll be dead. A pity you have to die after having such a brief taste of life, but [i]c'est la vie[/i].\"\n\t\"Your compassion is overwhelming,\" Supersonic sneered.\n\tLucifer chuckled. \"Oh, compassion has nothing to do with it. In truth, I rather like the idea of you running around loose in the world, your child-like innocence slowly eroding as you discover what a depraved, filthy place it is, until you're left with nothing but bitterness, disillusionment, and cynicism. Trust me, I'm doing you a favor.\"\n\t\"Is that how you ease your conscience? By telling yourself your victims are better off dead?\"\n\t\"Any conscience I may have once had died a long time ago. I'm simply telling you the facts as they are.\"\n\t\"Yeah, well, I think you're wrong!\"\n\tLucifer laughed. \"You, who come from a cartoon fantasy world? You think you know more about the real world than one who has lived in it all his life? Truly, Supersonic, your naivete is exceeded only by your presumption.\"\n\t\"Cartoons express the hopes and dreams of the people who make them!\" Supersonic protested.\n\tLucifer smiled and shook his head. \"I'd love to show you some hentai. Too bad we haven't the time. The ritual has to be performed at midnight. That's less than an hour from now. In the meantime, is there anything I can get you to make your last hour of life a little more comfortable? A pillow, perhaps?\"\n\tSupersonic growled at him. \"The only thing I want from you is my freedom!\"\n\t\"And under any other circumstances I'd be happy to grant it, but I need the wish back. See you at midnight, Supersonic.\" Lucifer turned and sank back into the shadows.\n\tSupersonic strained at his shackles again, but met with no more success than before. He closed his eyes and breathed deeply, his furry chest rising and falling, trying to calm his nerves. He'd been in tough spots before, and he'd always gotten out of them. He'd get out of this one, too. Only, he realized, this one wasn't like the others. Those other perils had been invented by writers, who had also contrived his escapes. This time, there was nobody looking out for him, no stroke of the pen to save him in the nick of time. This time, he could really die. And as much as he hated to admit it, that thought frightened him—not so much the dying itself, but the idea of leaving life before he'd really had a chance to know it. He didn't believe the world was as bad a place as Lucifer said. As his mother had told him, [i]Consider the source.[/i] Maybe she hadn't been real, but the wisdom of her words had to come from somewhere. And so had the warmth and tenderness with which he remembered her kissing him and tucking him in at night. These thoughts comforted him as he lay there bound to the altar, the flickering candles getting shorter second by second.\n\n\tAt Millennium Guard headquarters, five boys and one middle-aged man stood around the pale, gaunt figure that sat tied up in a corner of the living room, glaring down at it balefully.\n\t\"All right, creep,\" said Troll Kid. \"Talk! Where did they take Supersonic?\"\n\t\"Do you really think he will tell us anything?\" asked Celestial Boy.\n\t\"Oh, he'll talk,\" snarled Hot Stuff, holding up hands wreathed in flames, \"or he'll burn!\"\n\t\"He'd probably enjoy that,\" said Mowgli.\n\tJack Fool nodded, grinning, his bird-skull mask slightly askew. \"Jack loves pain. His own runs a close second to other people's.\"\n\tTroll Kid looked at Jay Richards. \"Is there any way we can find him using magic?\"\n\tRichards shook his head. \"Any DEMON lair would be heavily warded against scrying and other forms of divination.\"\n\t\"Well, we can't just let them kill him!\" shouted Troll Kid. \"With all our powers, there has to be something we can do!\"\n\tMowgli shrugged. \"Can't track him by smell. No scent trail to follow.\"\n\t\"And with magical teleportation,\" said Richards, \"he could be anywhere on Earth. Or even in another dimension.\"\n\tTroll Kid shook his head. \"No, I don't buy that. DEMON cultists were swarming all over your apartment just minutes after you made the wish. They would have had to have been nearby in the first place in order to sense it, like Hot Stuff did. Plus, you stole the ring from a cultist in downtown. So the DEMON cell has to be somewhere in this city.\"\n\t\"That still doesn't help us very much,\" said Johnny Cool. \"Millennium City is enormous.\"\n\t\"Yeah, but it's a lot smaller than everywhere.\"\n\t\"At least it is a starting point,\" said Celestial Boy.\n\tRichards' eyes lit up as a thought struck him, \"The starting point! Of course!\" He turned to Mowgli. \"You say you can track people by scent, like a dog?\" \n\tMowgli nodded. \"DEMON cultists smell pretty distinctive. Incense and brimstone.\"\n\t\"Perfect!\" said Richards. \"Then all we have to do is go back to where all this started! My apartment!\"\n\tTroll Kid grinned. \"And follow the DEMON cultists back to their lair from there! Brilliant!\"\n\t\"Good,\" said Hot Stuff, his eyes on Jack Fool. \"Does that mean we can kill him?\"\n\t\"We do not kill, Hot Stuff,\" said Celestial Boy. \"Not ever. Not even things like him.\" He looked at Jack Fool with obvious disgust.\n\tHot Stuff growled. \"He's not human! He's a horror from the Qliphoth, a dimension of evil and chaos! There's no reason we shouldn't destroy him right now!\"\n\tJohnny Cool placed a hand on the devil boy's shoulder. \"And a lot of people would say the same thing about you, buddy.\"\n\tHot Stuff sighed and hung his head, remembering an incident in Vibora Bay a few months ago when a religious fanatic had tried to murder him, believing him to be evil. \"Point taken.\"\n\tJack Fool giggled. \"Aww, the little devil thinks he can be good. That's adorable!\"\n\tHot Stuff's eyes blazed and flames rose from his hands. \"Shut up, you slimy piece of Qliphothic garbage! You're nothing but DEMON's lapdog!\"\n\t\"At least I'm true to my nature,\" Jack said, grinning.\n\tHot Stuff cried out and lunged at him, only to be held back by Celestial Boy and Johnny Cool, while Jack sat in the corner, cackling.\n\tTroll Kid donned his mask. \"I'll drop him off at the city jail in Westside. They have cells there for supervillains. The rest of you, head over to Jay's apartment. I'll meet you there.\" He grabbed Jack and flew upward with him through the broken skylight.\n\tJohnny Cool looked into Hot Stuff's eyes. \"You okay, buddy?\"\n\tHot Stuff nodded. \"I'm fine. Let's go kick DEMON's ass and save Supersonic!\"\n\t\"If you don't mind,\" said Jay Richards, \"I'd like to come along. My knowledge of magic may be of some help.\"\n\tCelestial Boy turned to him. \"We do not normally take civilians on missions with us, but as you say, you have special qualifications in this area. We would welcome your aid.\"\n\tHot Stuff chuckled. \"I thought you didn't go in for this sort of thing, Jay.\"\n\t\"I don't,\" Richards replied. \"Frankly, I'm scared to death. But I feel responsible for Supersonic. After all, it was my wish that brought him into this world.\"\n\tCelestial Boy nodded. \"We shall do our best to make sure he stays in it. Come, let us go.\" He picked up Mowgli and flew out the skylight with him, Hot Stuff following with Richards and Johnny Cool. Left alone in a strange apartment, Mephisto meowed once, then curled up on a couch and went to sleep.\n\n\t\"Ugh!\" said Hot Stuff, grimacing and pinching his nose with one hand as the Millennium Guard and Jay Richards made their way down one of the countless dark, dank, noisome tunnels that lay beneath Millennium City, and to which the scent trail from Richards' apartment had led them. \"I hate the sewers!\"\n\t\"Just think how it smells to me,\" said Mowgli, crouching down to sniff at the concrete floor as they reached a four-way intersection. \"But you don't hear me bitching about it.\"\n\tCelestial Boy smiled as he hovered above the rest, a glowing aura around him providing light to see by, casting their shadows on the grimy, dripping walls. \"He just likes to complain. Remember that hiking trip we took to upstate New York last year? He never stopped moaning about how much his feet hurt.\"\n\t\"Sure, I remember it,\" said Johnny Cool. \"That was when you first met me.\"\n\t\"Of course, it would have helped if he'd been wearing shoes back then,\" said Troll Kid.\n\t\"Well, I'm wearing them now, aren't I?\" growled Hot Stuff. \"I learned my lesson.\"\n\t\"Why didn't you just fly?\" Richards asked the devil boy.\n\t\"It was a hiking trip,\" Hot Stuff replied. \"The whole point was for us not to use our powers and enjoy ourselves like normal kids.\"\n\t\"And since I was barefoot,\" said Mowgli, \"he just had to prove he was as tough as me.\"\n\t\"Okay, I admit it,\" said Hot Stuff, \"I don't have shoe-leather soles like you do.\"\n\t\"Which way, chief?\" Troll Kid asked Mowgli.\n\tMowgli stood up and gestured toward the tunnel on the right. \"That way.\" They all followed the jungle boy down the tunnel.\n\tAfter a few minutes, Mowgli suddenly froze in his tracks. The others stopped as well, granting him the silence he required. Finally, Troll Kid asked, \"How many?\"\n\t\"A dozen or more, in the room up ahead,\" Mowgli replied.\n\t\"DEMON cultists?\"\n\tThe jungle boy shook his head. \"I don't think so. They don't smell human.\"\n\t\"Okay, Guardians,\" said Troll Kid. \"Blitzkrieg maneuver. Ready . . . set . . . GO!\"\n\tThe five youths charged forward into the room, Hot Stuff and Celestial Boy flying above the others, to encounter a dozen fire demons. The creatures varied widely in size and appearance—some huge, muscular things, others only tiny imps; some with long crocodile snouts, others with skull-like heads and horns; but all of them had bat wings, hooves, leathery red skin, and razor-sharp talons. A brief but fierce battle ensued, the demons hurling bolts of fire at the young heroes or slashing at them with their talons, while the heroes blasted back with fire, ice, cosmic energy, and darkness, or struck with fists and feet. In less than a minute, the fire demons lay strewn across the floor of the room, the five young heroes standing over them, triumphant.\n\t\"That was fun!\" said Hot Stuff, grinning. \"I hope they throw more of those at us!\"\n\t\"Those were just to keep out the riff-raff,\" said Troll Kid. \"I'm sure DEMON has lots more in store for us. Let's keep moving.\"\n\tThey followed Mowgli down another tunnel, and another, and another, the jungle boy leading them deeper and deeper into the twisting turns of the sewer system. Eventually they came to another room, this one entirely empty save for a large glowing crystal floating in the center, which pulsed rhythmically, like a thing alive.\n\t\"What's that?\" asked Johnny Cool.\n\t\"No idea,\" said Hot Stuff. He turned to Richards. \"Jay?\"\n\t\"I'm guessing it's a magical sentry of some sort,\" said Richards. \"But as to what it does, I haven't a clue.\"\n\t\"So, do we blast it, try to sneak past it, or what?\" asked Troll Kid.\n\t\"I wouldn't blast it,\" said Richards. \"That would probably alert DEMON to our presence here.\"\n\tHot Stuff shrugged. \"They're going to find out eventually anyway.\"\n\t\"True,\" said Troll Kid, \"but there's no reason to tip them off any sooner than we have to. I'll teleport to the other side of the room and then 'port each of you to me. That seems like the safest option.\" With that, the green boy vanished in a purple-black burst, reappearing near the exit on the far side of the room.\n\tInstantly, the crystal lit up with scintillating lights of many colors, some of them alien to human eyes, a swirling, prismatic kaleidoscope that had a mesmerizing effect. The five young heroes found themselves paralyzed, unable to look away, their eyes going wide and their jaws slack. Richards, too, felt the paralysis creeping into him, but the mental discipline in which all true magicians are trained enabled him to fight back. He tore his eyes away from the crystal, clamped them shut, and focussed his mind on moving his arms and fingers. It was tortuously slow and took every ounce of willpower he had, but he managed to complete the spell, building up a mystic bolt before him and releasing it blindly in the direction of the crystal. It struck, shattering the thing into thousands of shards. Freed from the crystal's hypnotic effect, Mowgli was able to catch the magician as he slumped forward, exhausted, while the other boys came out of the spell as well and stood blinking at each other.\n\t\"What just happened?\" asked Johnny Cool as Troll Kid reappeared next to them.\n\t\"It seems that Mr. Richards destroyed the crystal and released our minds,\" said Celestial Boy.\n\t\"I know I said not to blast it,\" said Richards, \"but I couldn't think of any other way to free you.\"\n\tTroll Kid clapped him on his shoulder. \"It's okay. Thanks for breaking us out of that spell.\"\n\tHot Stuff grinned, pointing at Troll Kid. \"You've got drool on your chin.\"\n\tTroll Kid wiped it off and then smirked at Hot Stuff. \"So do you.\" The devil boy frowned and wiped himself off, too.\n\t\"On the downside,\" said Richards, \"DEMON almost certainly knows we're here now.\"\n\tHot Stuff shrugged. \"So what? Let them come. We can handle them.\"\n\t\"They do not have to stop us,\" said Celestial Boy. \"They need only delay us long enough for them to kill Supersonic. They must know that is why we have come.\"\n\t\"Then let's move our butts!\" said Troll Kid, flying across the room. Hot Stuff and Celestial Boy flew after him, Mowgli sprinting along beneath them, while Johnny Cool carried Jay Richards on an ice slide.\n\n\tLucifer was in his study, surveying a collection of sacrificial knives and trying to decide which one to use for the ritual, when an acolyte burst in on him. \"Lord Lucifer!\" the man said, trembling. \"Hot Stuff and his friends are in the complex! They just destroyed the Crystal of Enthrallment!\"\n\tLucifer turned and looked at the acolyte disdainfully. \"Weren't my standing orders to knock before entering this room?\"\n\tThe acolyte gulped. \"Sorry, master. I only thought you'd want to be informed as quickly as possible.\"\n\tLucifer nodded and glanced at the clock on the wall, an ornate bronze thing decorated with grinning devils. Fifteen minutes until midnight. He sighed. \"I suppose it was to be expected that Supersonic's companions would attempt a last-minute rescue. I loathe melodrama. So painfully cliché. Fortunately, I am prepared for this eventuality.\"\n\tThe acolyte's eyes widened beneath his hood. \"You mean . . . ?\"\n\tLucifer nodded again. \"Yes, I have a surprise in store for them. A very sinister one.\" He smiled.\n\n\tAs the five members of the Millennium Guard plus Jay Richards raced down yet another of the seemingly endless sewer tunnels beneath Millennium City, Mowgli suddenly called for them to stop. They all watched and waited while the jungle boy sniffed the air.\n\t\"What do you smell?\" Troll Kid asked.\n\t\"Incense,\" Mowgli replied, wrinkling his nose.\n\t\"We must be getting close,\" said Hot Stuff. \"DEMON loves that crap.\"\n\t\"Good,\" said Troll Kid. \"Let's move in and take 'em out.\"\n\tThey advanced to the end of the tunnel, the incense smell becoming steadily stronger. The tunnel opened into a cavernous chamber illuminated only by banks of candles. In the center was an altar, upon which lay the shackled form of Supersonic Squirrel. Beside it stood a man in a crimson robe, holding a gleaming blade.\n\t\"Greetings, Millennium Guard,\" the man said. \"I am Lucifer, the next leader of DEMON.\"\n\t\"Guys,\" shouted Supersonic, \"he can't kill me until midnight!\"\n\tJay Richards checked his wristwatch. \"That's one and a half minutes from now.\"\n\t\"Then we've arrived in plenty of time to stop him,\" said Troll Kid. \"Drop the knife, Lucifer!\"\n\tLucifer shrugged and did so, the blade clattering on the stone floor.\n\t\"I don't like this,\" said Hot Stuff, his tail swishing in agitation. \"DEMON are fanatics. They don't give up this easily. He's got something up his sleeve.\"\n\tLucifer smiled. \"The only thing I have up my sleeve, Hot Stuff, is my hand.\"\n\t\"Keep your eyes on him,\" said Troll Kid. \"If he so much as twitches, blast him into next week.\" With that, the green boy teleported over to the altar.\n\t\"Am I glad to see you!\" said Supersonic, grinning up at him.\n\tTroll Kid nodded. \"Likewise. Now let's get you off this thing.\" He pointed a finger at the shackle holding Supersonic's right wrist, intending to blast it with a bolt of dark energy. \n\tAll at once there was a bright flash of light, and something caught Troll Kid across his chest, lifting him up and away from Supersonic and hurling him across the room to crash against the wall. Before the altar now stood a colossal figure of terrifying regality. Fully fifteen feet tall, its shiny, grayish-pink body was nude save for a black kilt, a pair of black boots that rose to sharp points above the knee, and ornate black pauldrons atop its shoulders. A pair of immense white-feathered wings sprouted from its back. Its feet did not touch the ground, but hovered just above it. Above its hairless head floated a halo with four sharp points evenly spaced. In its right hand it held a huge black sword that crackled with purple energy, while its left hand was an oversized, malformed mass of rock. The eyes in its handsome but menacing face glowed bright blue.\n\t\"It's the Left Hand!\" cried Hot Stuff, eyes wide.\n\t\"The what, now?\" asked Johnny Cool, staring at the apparition in awe.\n\t\"Luther Black's most powerful servant! I've fought it before, in the Qliphoth!\"\n\t\"Did you beat it?\" asked Celestial Boy.\n\t\"Only barely, and I had help!\"\n\t\"Well, you've got help now,\" said Mowgli.\n\tHot Stuff nodded. \"Just stay away from that sword when it winds up for a swing. And watch its left hand. It shoots some kind of death ray from it!\"\n\tLucifer smiled and pointed at the Millennium Guard. \"Destroy those nuisances, please. And make it fast. The clock is ticking.\"\n\tThe Left Hand floated toward the young heroes, its gigantic wings flapping slowly and making the candles in the room waver. Hot Stuff, Johnny Cool, and Celestial Boy all let fly with bolts of fire, ice, and cosmic energy, which struck the creature's bare chest to little visible effect. Mowgli sprinted toward it, trying to draw its attention. The Left Hand pivoted in midair, spinning to face Mowgli, its great sword slicing above the jungle boy's head as he ducked under it. Mowgli leaped, slamming the heel of his foot into the monster's stomach and somersaulting backward away from it. The Left Hand grunted like a locomotive letting off steam and raised its stone fist. An impossibly deep, croaking laugh issued from its mouth, barely above the threshold of human hearing, and a beam of blinding white light shot from its fist. Mowgli dodged it, flipping about desperately to avoid that beam of death, while the other three Guardians continued to hammer at his attacker with their blasts.\n\tBored with trying to kill the agile jungle boy, the Left Hand floated toward the three young heroes blasting it and whirled about, its massive sword sweeping through the air and sending all three flying in different directions. Then it laughed again, focusing its attention on Hot Stuff, and raised its stony fist. Hot Stuff raised a fire shield before him and gritted his teeth as the Left Hand's death ray struck it, knocking him flat on his back. He could feel the shield crumbling under the force of that ray, and swallowed, thinking this was it for him. Then, just as his fire shield gave way, a shield of dark energy sprang up before him as Troll Kid teleported in, blocking the Left Hand's attack. The winged behemoth grumbled at being denied its prize, then turned its attention to Celestial Boy and Johnny Cool, who were going after Supersonic. With a sweep of its wings, it blew them back, sending them tumbling across the floor head over heels.\n\tWatching the battle with mild amusement, Lucifer bent, picked up his knife, and checked the time as he straightened. Thirty seconds. He glanced down at Supersonic, who was struggling frantically against his bonds. \"It doesn't matter if they defeat the Left Hand or not,\" he said. \"They won't have time to save you. I'm afraid this is where we say goodbye, my furry friend.\" With the point of the knife, he drew an arcane symbol in blood across Supersonic's chest while the squirrel writhed and screamed in pain.\n\tAll at once, a mystic bolt struck Lucifer's arm, causing his knife to fall to the altar. He whirled, scowling, to see Jay Richards standing a few feet away.\n\t\"You forgot about me,\" Richards said grimly.\n\t\"You?\" Lucifer spat. \"A paltry little street mage? Do you really imagine you can defeat the greatest sorcerer in DEMON?\"\n\t\"I don't have to defeat you,\" said Richards, readying another spell. \"All I have to do is keep you busy until 12:01. Two can play the delaying game.\"\n\t\"DIE!\" screamed Lucifer, unleashing a massive magical bolt at Richards. The magician hurriedly erected a mystic shield; it saved his life, but the force of the bolt still knocked him on his back. He sprang to his feet and hurled another bolt not at Lucifer but at the knife on the altar, striking it and sending it skittering away across the floor. Lucifer muttered an obscenity and ran after it while Richards ran to the altar. Scooping up the knife, Lucifer whirled to face the altar—only to see Supersonic Squirrel standing atop it, freed from his shackles and collar and glaring at him, his chest fur soaked with blood. Richards stood beside him, twirling a small metal object between his gloved fingers.\n\t\"Skeleton key,\" the magician said, grinning. \"Never leave home without it.\"\n\tLucifer took a step back as Supersonic rose into the air. The squirrel's eyes burned with hatred as he built up a wind blast. Lucifer raised a mystic shield as the blast struck, sending him skidding back across the floor. Supersonic growled and flew after him, hammering him again and again, with blast after blast, until the sorcerer lay still.\n\tMeanwhile, Troll Kid and Johnny Cool had combined their powers to encase the Left Hand in a cage of ice and dark energy, immobilizing it, while Hot Stuff, Celestial Boy, and Mowgli pounded on it with fire, cosmic energy, and fists. The creature struggled against its confinement, growing steadily weaker. Finally it collapsed to the floor, beaten. They all turned to see Supersonic standing over Lucifer's unconscious form, glaring murderously down at him.\n\t\"Supersonic,\" said Richards quietly. \"That's enough. He's finished.\"\n\tThe squirrel bit his lip, then nodded. The others came over to him, and Celestial Boy healed the cuts on his chest. Supersonic looked up at Richards.\n\t\"I wanted to kill him,\" Supersonic said, and swallowed. \"It scares me how much I wanted to. I've never hated anyone that much before!\"\n\t\"It's all right,\" said Richards. \"We all feel that way sometimes. It's part of being human.\"\n\t\"But I'm not human!\" the squirrel protested.\n\t\"You're human inside,\" said Richards, \"and that's what counts. You're not the cute little cartoon character you were. You'll have to learn to live with that.\"\n\tTroll Kid clapped Supersonic on his shoulder and grinned. \"Come on. We'll drop this scum off at the police station and then go out for ice cream.\"\n\tSupersonic nodded. \"I think I'd like that.\"\n\tThey all left the sewers together as the clock struck midnight and a new day began.\n", "writing_bbcode_parsed": "
When You Wish Upon a Squirrel


a story set in the universe of Champions Online


\tThe apartment was small, and cluttered with the paraphernalia associated with stage magic—trick cabinets, colored scarfs, interlocking metal rings, wands, hats, and most especially playing cards, some as tall as a man. The walls were adorned with garish posters featuring various famous magicians going as far back as the 19th century. In one corner lay a large steamer trunk with the initials "J.R." on it. At the center of all this theatrical bric-a-brac, in a large, moth-eaten easy chair, slouched a man.
\tHe was in his middle years, with a pronounced paunch and a neatly trimmed salt-and-pepper beard and moustache. His face was wide, round, and soft, contrasting with his sharp, hawk-like nose. His eyes were very dark, almost black. His apparel consisted of a pinstripe suit and top hat, white gloves, and well-shined shoes with spats. A pink carnation sprouted from his lapel. At his feet, a black cat meowed and rubbed itself against his legs, demanding attention, which it wasn't getting. The man's eyes were focused upon the glittering object he was holding up between his thumb and index finger.
\tIt was a gold ring set with a blood-red jewel, and it required no great powers of observation for the man to tell that the ring was genuine, though the identity of the gemstone eluded him. It was not a ruby or a garnet, he could tell that. It almost seemed to glow with a light of its own in the darkened room, and its interior appeared to be fluid, shifting and swirling as he turned the ring between his fingers. Very strange.
\tThe man narrowed his dark eyes as he stared at the ring, and a glowing sigil appeared in the air before him, a twisting Moebius strip of a thing. His eyes widened as he gazed through it, now able to see the enchantment intertwined with the substance of the ring. He couldn't discern its nature, but he could tell it was powerful. That the ring was magical didn't particularly surprise him. He had lifted it off a DEMON cultist in downtown Millennium City, and they usually carried magical trinkets of various types—typically charms of protection, wards against good magic, glamors, and mind-altering dweomers. But rarely did they carry anything as potent as this, unless they were members of DEMON's inner circle, in which case he took pains to give them as wide a berth as possible. Those were always bad news.
\tHis concentration was broken by the cat clawing at his leg, causing the sigil to vanish, and he reached down with his free hand and fuzzled the beast's black head. "Hungry, eh, Mephisto?" he asked it, and received a purr and a pair of glowing green eyes looking up at him in response. He chuckled, set the ring down, got up from the chair, and went into the kitchen to open a can of tuna.
\tAs he watched the cat eat, he considered what to do about the ring. He didn't feel comfortable trying to sell it without knowing exactly what it was, and therein lay the rub. He could take it to Alicia Blackmun at the Magic Lantern Book Shop, who was better versed in these matters than he was, but she might decide it was too powerful for someone like him to possess, and keep it for herself. It wouldn't be the first time. He remembered the Moonrot tarot deck, another item he'd appropriated from DEMON. What a mess that had been, what with DEMON cultists searching for the deck and the city's heroes getting involved. He'd had to hide out in the Magic Lantern for a week until it had all blown over. Alicia had not been pleased.
\tHe went back to his chair, sat down, picked up the ring again, and regarded it thoughtfully. There was another option, of course. He could try to figure out what it did himself. That was potentially risky, however. Fooling around with magic you didn't understand always was. He had a realistic assessment of his own abilities: He was good, but not great. He lacked the mystical attunement necessary to be a true sorcerer. He employed magic—along with regular stagecraft—to amuse and entertain crowds on the streets of Millennium City, and he earned a modest but comfortable living that way. He had no stomach for fighting mystical supervillains or cosmic entities. He left that sort of thing to the big boys and girls.
\tHe decided to let fate decide. He picked up a deck of playing cards, shuffled it, and drew one at random. It was the ace of spades, because of course it was. He held the card horizontally between his thumb and index finger and raised it above his head. Hanging on the wall across the room was a corkboard made up of alternating squares labeled "yes" and "no," with several cards already embedded in it. He closed his eyes and hurled the ace at the board. It struck with a soft thunk. He opened his eyes. The ace was sticking in a "yes" square.
\tHe sighed. "The cards never lie," he said. He removed his gloves and picked up the ring with his left hand. "Once more into the breach, my friends," he said, and slid it onto the ring finger of his right hand.
\tHe sat still, waiting for a surge of power or mystical awareness, or to be transformed into a demon, or something. Nothing happened. The ring just sat there on his finger, sparkling. He tried a few incantations he knew that commonly activated magic items. The ring didn't react to any of them. Disappointed and yet relieved, he picked up the remote for his television set and turned it on. Clearly, this was going to require more research, but that could wait. Right now he just wanted to relax. He flipped to a channel that showed cartoons.
\tThe screen lit up with a scene from an old cartoon from the '60s, "The Adventures of Supersonic Squirrel and B.J. Moose." He chuckled, remembering how much he'd enjoyed that show as a child, following the exploits of the heroic squirrel and his bumbling moose companion. Supersonic Squirrel had been a childhood hero of his. He'd always admired the plucky little fellow's courage, honesty, and forthrightness, and wanted to be like him. A pity he wasn't real, and so many less worthy people were. He slumped in his chair and sighed. "I wish you were here, Supersonic," he said.
\tThe gemstone in the ring glowed brightly, and he shielded his eyes from the glare with his other hand. The crimson light filled the whole room, making it impossible to see anything for a moment. Then it slowly faded. As his eyesight returned, the man realized he was no longer alone. There was someone standing between him and the television set.
\tThe newcomer was about three feet tall and squatly built, covered from head to toe in gray fur. He had huge, round, black eyes, and a blunt muzzle with protruding buck teeth. A big, fluffy question mark of a tail rose up from his backside to above his head. Fur-covered membranes stretched from his wrists to his ankles, presently hanging limply on either side of his torso. He wore no clothing save for an old-fashioned leather flying helmet and goggles. He looked around, blinking those enormous eyes, an astonished expression on his fuzzy face. "Holy cow!" he exclaimed in a nasal whine. "Where am I?"
\tThe man sat in his chair, staring at the apparition, and then looked down at the ring on his right hand. The gemstone was now as clear and as colorless as glass. He turned his eyes back to the new arrival and opened his mouth to speak, but words failed him.
\tThe creature had turned away from him, his attention caught by the images and sounds coming from the television screen. "Hey! That's me!"
\tThe man nodded, and managed to find his voice. "Yes, it is. You're Supersonic Squirrel," he said wonderingly.
\tThe squirrel turned back toward him, regarding him in puzzlement. "You know who I am? Who are you? What is this place? And why does everything look so weird?"
\tThe man cleared his throat. "This is going to be a bit hard to explain."
\tSupersonic Squirrel folded his arms across his furry chest defiantly. "Try me."
\t"Very well. My name is Jay Richards, and I'm a magician. However, unlike most magicians, I actually know some real magic. You're in my apartment in Millennium City. And everything looks weird because, well, you're in the real world now. Apparently, I just accidentally wished you to life."
\tThe squirrel stared at him. "Real world? Wished me to life? I don't understand."
\tRichards got up from his chair and went over to the squirrel, got down on one knee beside him to be face to face with him, and put a hand upon his furry shoulder, gently turning him around to face the television screen where the cartoon was still playing. "See that? That's you; you said so yourself. And until a few seconds ago, that's all you were: a two-dimensional image on a television screen. You didn't really exist. You were just an idea in people's heads. But now you're real. I brought you to life."
\tThe squirrel stared at the screen. Then he looked down at himself and reached down to feel his body. "I don't look like myself. I'm all hairy!"
\tRichards nodded. "That's because the animators drew you as simply and cheaply as they could—just flat shapes and patches of color. But something like that couldn't exist in the real world, so the wish must have given your body depth and substance. A three-dimensional creature for a three-dimensional world."
\t"What wish?" Supersonic asked, still baffled.
\t"The one that was stored in this ring," said Richards, showing it to him. "I pinched it from a DEMON cultist earlier today. I didn't know what it did, though. I guess I just found out."
\tThe squirrel peered at the ring suspiciously. "A ring that grants wishes? Sounds like something out of a fairy tale!"
\t"A fractured fairy tale, perhaps," Richards said, grinning. "I assure you, magic is quite real. I'm only a minor practitioner, though. There are people much better at it than me." He smiled and held out his hand to the squirrel. "Welcome to reality, Supersonic Squirrel. It's an honor to finally meet you."
\tThe squirrel took the offered hand in his own much smaller one and shook it dubiously. "It's good to be here, I guess. But where is this Millennium City? I've never heard of it."
\tRichards was busy examining Supersonic's four furry fingers. They were warm to the touch and tipped with claw-like nails. "Hmm? Oh, it's where Detroit used to be."
\tSupersonic blinked. "Used to be?"
\t"Yes. May I listen to your chest?"
\tThe squirrel nodded, and Richards pressed an ear to his fuzzy chest. "You have a heartbeat. You're alive, no doubt about it, as real as anyone."
\tSupersonic looked annoyed. "Of course I'm alive! What did you mean when you said it's where Detroit used to be? What happened to it?"
\t"It was attacked and razed to the ground in 1992 by Doctor Destroyer, the world's most terrible supervillain."
\tThe squirrel gasped. "1992? But that's in the future!"
\tRichards sighed and shook his head. "Of course, you wouldn't know about anything that's happened since your show went off the air. What year do you think this is, Supersonic?"
\tThe squirrel swallowed. "1964?"
\t"I'm afraid you're over fifty years behind the times."
\tSupersonic's jaw dropped. "Fifty years? Holy cow!"
\tRichards nodded. "It's a very different world from the one you knew, Supersonic." He stood up. "Look, I know this is a lot to take in all at once. Why don't you sit down and relax, and I'll make us both a cup of tea."
\t"Th-that would be nice!" The squirrel climbed up into the easy chair and sat watching the old cartoon as Richards went to the kitchen and busied himself making a pot of tea. The magician noticed that his hands were shaking as he put the kettle on to boil. Well, that was hardly surprising. It wasn't every day one wished one's childhood cartoon hero to life. He looked down at the ring and summoned the sigil again. There was no sign of any magic in it now. Apparently, making the wish had depleted its power. Pity; he could have used it to become fabulously wealthy. Oh well, better this than whatever DEMON would have done with it. He shuddered to think about that.
\t"Do you take sugar in yours?" Richards called to Supersonic.
\t"Yes, please," the squirrel replied.
\tHe stirred in the sugar and brought the cups of tea back to the living room, handing one to Supersonic. "It's Earl Grey. Careful, it's hot."
\tThe squirrel nodded, taking the cup and gulping from it, and immediately yelped and dropped the cup on the floor, spilling its contents across the rug. "Yow! What's that?"
\t"What's what?" asked Richards.
\t"That awful feeling on my tongue!"
\t"Oh. I believe that's called pain. You've never felt pain before, have you?"
\tThe squirrel shook his head, rubbing his tongue with his fingers. "It's terrible!"
\tRichards knelt down to mop up the spilled tea with a handkerchief from his jacket pocket. "Sorry, I should have realized. One of the drawbacks of being real is that you feel pain. It's your body's way of warning you that you're doing something that could harm it. Don't worry, it will fade quickly."
\tSupersonic swallowed. "Is that going to happen every time I eat or drink something?"
\t"No, only if it's hot. Then you have to be careful and sip it slowly, like this." He demonstrated with his own cup.
\tSupersonic nodded. "I'll remember that." He turned his attention back to the television set. "So, none of it was real?"
\t"None of what?" Richards asked.
\t"My friends, my family, everything I remember. None of it really happened? It's all just stuff somebody made up?"
\tRichards bit his lip. "I'm afraid so, Supersonic."
\tThe squirrel sighed, and Richards suddenly felt very sorry for him, imagining how he must be feeling right now, alone in a strange new world, finding out his whole life had been a lie.
\tSupersonic looked up at him. "So what happens now?" he asked.
\tRichards smiled gently at him and rubbed his shoulder. "We'll figure that out together, Supersonic. But first, let me get you another cup of tea. And remember to drink it slowly this time."
\tSupersonic nodded and continued watching television as Richards went back to the kitchen.

\tThe glittering lights, majestic towers, and glowing avenues of Millennium City stretched out in every direction as far as the eye could see. Above them, like a flaming comet, flew a small, solitary figure. Its general size and shape matched that of a human youth perhaps twelve years of age, but that was where the resemblance to anything human ended. The skin was bright red, the ears were long and pointed, a spade-tipped tail about two and a half feet long protruded from the backside, and the hairless head bore two small, pink horns. The figure was clothed in spiked leather wrist bands, blue jeans with a hole in the back to accommodate the tail, sneakers, and a black T-shirt with a red and orange flame insignia on the front. Around the waist was a chain belt secured with a metal buckle in the shape of a skull. This strange mixture of the diabolic and the juvenile was named Hot Stuff.
\tHot Stuff was in the middle of his nightly patrol of the city when something hammered his mystical senses like a bomb going off. He stopped dead, hovering hundreds of feet in the air, trying to determine the source of the disturbance. Once he had it, he rocketed toward it, leaving a contrail of flame behind him. The source was a nearby apartment building. It showed no outward sign that anything untoward had occurred, but there was no mistaking the massive release of magical energy he had felt. He homed in on a domicle on the eighth floor and landed on the small balcony. He tried the sliding glass door. It was unlocked. Pushing it open, he stepped inside.
\tHearing the sound of the door sliding open, Supersonic Squirrel peered in that direction from the chair he was sitting in and gaped at the sight of Hot Stuff entering the apartment from the balcony. He remembered Richards had mentioned having stolen the wishing ring from a demon cultist. "Holy cow! A demon!" he exclaimed, instinctively thrusting out his hands before him. A bolt of wind burst forth from them, striking Hot Stuff squarely in the chest and hurling him back through the door, across the balcony, and out into space.
\tRichards, who had been in the kitchen making tea, came running out into the living room. "What's going on?" he asked.
\tSupersonic was staring at his hands in surprise. "What . . . what did I just do? I could never do that before!"
\tOutside, Hot Stuff halted his tumble through the air and snarled. He didn't know who that gray-furred creature he'd glimpsed was, but he knew he had just been attacked. "All right, then," he growled, surging back toward the apartment, his body now enveloped in a fiery aura. He landed on the balcony, summoned a ball of flame to his hand, and hurled it at Supersonic. The squirrel raised his arms before him, creating a circular vortex of wind that dispersed the fireball harmlessly. Then he rose into the air, summoning a massive burst of wind, and released it at Hot Stuff, once again knocking him off the balcony.
\t"Supersonic, wait a minute!" Richards protested.
\t"It's all right, Mr. Richards," the squirrel replied. "I'll handle this! No demon is going to get you while I'm around!" And with that he flew out the door after the devil boy.
\tJay Richards stood in his living room, dumbfounded. He knew Hot Stuff—the devil boy had rescued him from the clutches of DEMON during the Moonrot tarot affair last year. The magician sighed and shook his head. "It never fails. Put two of them in the same room together . . ." He went out onto the balcony to see if he could resolve this peacefully.
\tIn the air above Millennium City, Supersonic Squirrel and Hot Stuff were squaring off.
\t"I don't know who you are, fuzzy," the devil boy said, "but you just made a big mistake!" He took a deep breath and exhaled a blistering gout of flame at the squirrel.
\tSupersonic summoned a burst of wind and parted the fire right down the middle, so it passed harmlessly to either side of him. "You're the one who's made a mistake, demon!" he shouted back, and flew straight at Hot Stuff, hurling wind bolts from each hand. The devil boy was ready this time, though, creating a shield of flame before him to blunt the impacts. Then he started building up an enormous ball of fire between his hands, an attack he liked to refer to as the Incinerator. Out here in the open air, he could employ his powers to their fullest, without fear of collateral damage.
\tSeeing the devil boy building up for a big strike, Supersonic decided to see how far his new-found control of air extended. Fire wouldn't burn without oxygen. He reached out and tried to draw the air away from Hot Stuff, attempting to snuff the devil's flame. Hot Stuff watched in dismay as his fireball sputtered and went out, then felt himself losing consciousness. His fiery aura faded, and he began to plummet toward the street below.
\tHis heart in his throat, Supersonic Squirrel watched his opponent fall. He wasn't a killer. He couldn't just stand by and watch someone fall to their doom, not even a demon. He swooped down after the falling figure, trying to intercept it in the precious few seconds before it stuck the ground.
\tHot Stuff regained consciousness as he fell, the wind rushing past his face. His fiery aura sprang to life and he halted his fall, shooting back up toward Supersonic, his scarlet face twisted into a ferocious snarl. Seeing the revived devil boy barrelling toward him like a bat out of hell, Supersonic summoned a vortex of wind around himself. The wind battered Hot Stuff, halting his charge and forcing him back a bit. The two combatants hovered in the air, glaring at each other, each trying to decide on his next move.
\tJay Richards had been standing on the balcony, shouting at the pair in the air, but they were both apparently too wrapped up in their battle to notice. Glancing downward, he saw a number of robed, hooded figures gathering around the base of the building. He recognized them at once: DEMON cultists. They must have sensed the release of magical energy caused by the wish. He gripped the railing, the color draining from his face. He had been in DEMON's power once. He had no desire to be in that situation again. Unfortunately, the only two people who could get him out of this fix were busy trying to kill each other. Concentrating, he built up a purple mystic bolt in his hand and hurled it between them, trying to get their attention.
\tHot Stuff and Supersonic Squirrel both saw the bolt of magical energy fly by and turned toward its source to see Richards standing on the balcony, pointing frantically at the ground.
\t"DEMON cultists!" Hot Stuff gasped.
\t"Friends of yours?" Supersonic asked, narrowing his eyes.
\tHot Stuff growled at him. "Jay Richards is a friend of mine. I hate DEMON. I've fought their leader, Luther Black."
\t"Do you really expect me to believe that, demon?" asked Supersonic.
\t"I'm not a demon, I'm a devil," Hot Stuff sneered. "And I don't care what you believe, fuzzy. Just stay out of my way." With that he dove toward the cultists on the street below and began raining hellfire upon them, scattering them. The cultists retaliated by firing mystic bolts from their wands, some of which found their mark. Gritting his teeth against the pain, Hot Stuff landed amid a large group of them and released a huge conflagration in all directions, lighting up the night. Cultists screamed and ran, batting at their burning robes, while the devil boy grinned in fiendish delight, his small fangs gleaming.
\tHis triumph was cut short by a powerful mystic bolt that struck him from behind, knocking him face down in the street. He raised his horned head to see three members of DEMON's inner circle floating toward him, ornate scarlet robes billowing around them, yellow eyes glowing balefully from within cadaverous faces. The devil boy bit his lower lip. This could be trouble.
\t"Hot Stuff," one of them said in an eerie, hollow voice, "you have been a thorn in our side for far too long. Tonight, you die!"
\t"Screw you, creep!" Hot Stuff shouted, jumping to his feet and hurling a firebolt at the robed figure. The inner circle member screamed, engulfed in flames, but the other two closed in on the devil boy from either side. Throwing their arms wide, they each opened a glowing rift in the air before them, and out of each rift stepped a demon. They were massively built creatures, wreathed in flames, with long, snouted faces lined with sharp teeth, curling black horns atop their heads, bat wings protruding from their backs, and hands ending in cruel, hooked talons. Their cloven-hoofed feet left patches of fire on the ground where they walked. Hot Stuff took a deep breath. Yes, this was definitely going to be trouble.
\tOne of the demons lunged at Hot Stuff, claws outstretched, only to be slammed to the ground by a blast of wind from above. Hot Stuff glanced up to see Supersonic Squirrel hovering over him, hurling bolts of wind from each hand at the demon, pummelling it into the ground mercilessly.
\t"Go . . . back . . . where . . . you . . . came from!" the squirrel shouted, and the demon obligingly turned to ash. Supersonic flew down, landing beside Hot Stuff, and the two of them stood back to back, facing off against the forces of DEMON.
\t"So you decided I'm one of the good guys after all?" Hot Stuff asked, building up a fireball in each hand.
\t"I don't know how good you are," replied Supersonic, "but you can't possibly be as bad as these guys!"
\tThe remaining demon charged at Supersonic, who sent it tumbling head over heels with a gust of wind, while Hot Stuff hurled his fireballs at the two inner circle members. They both struck, but DEMON's inner circle members were tougher than ordinary mortals, their bodies fortified with protective spells. They took the hits and fired mystic bolts back at the devil boy, hitting him both times. Hot Stuff fell to his knees, his T-shirt and jeans now hanging from his body in shreds. He opened his mouth and breathed fire at one of the inner circle members, turning him into a flailing human torch. The other floated toward him, holding in one claw-like hand an obsidian dagger with a glowing green gem in the hilt.
\t"You will never interfere in our affairs again, devil!" the inner circle member hissed.
\tSupersonic, who had been busy pounding the demon into the ground with wind blasts, heard the inner circle member's proclamation and whirled, flying straight at him and slamming into him, knocking him flat. Hot Stuff regained his feet and breathed fire on the cultist, reducing him to a blackened husk. At the same moment, the demon Supersonic had been fighting vanished in a puff of brimstone.
\t"Did you have to kill him?" Supersonic asked, looking down at what was left of the cultist.
\tHot Stuff shrugged. "They're already dead. Just walking corpses animated by black magic."
\t"Oh," said Supersonic. "I guess that's all right, then."
\t"Come on, let's see if Jay is all right," said Hot Stuff, shooting up into the air like a rocket. Supersonic nodded and followed him up.

\tJay Richards had been avidly watching the battle until he'd become aware of someone pounding on the door to his apartment. As he came back into his living room, the door crashed open, and into his foyer lumbered a morbane, one of DEMON's enforcers—a big, muscular man, eyes black as ebony, in a red and orange costume emblazoned with mystical symbols. Behind him came more of DEMON's regular cultists, wands and daggers ready.
\t"What have you done with our ring, Richards?" the morbane demanded.
\t"You want it?" asked Richards. "Here, catch."
\tHe tossed the ring to the morbane, who held it up before him with two beefy fingers and frowned. "This is worthless!" he snarled. "Where is its magic?"
\t"Gone. Used up. Finished," said Richards. "You're out of luck, my friend."
\tThe morbane growled and crushed the ring in his fist. "You will pay for thwarting us, Richards, just as you should have paid for stealing the Moonrot tarot deck!"
\tRichards sighed. "Oh, throw that at me, why don't you? Can't you guys learn to forgive and forget?"
\t"Never!" the morbane roared, charging toward him like a maddened bull. Richards raised a mystic ward of protection around himself, which the man crashed into, making the whole apartment shake. The magician swallowed, stepping back. Morbanes were inhumanly strong, their bodies augmented with magic. The ward would not survive another such impact.
\t"Don't worry, Jay," came Hot Stuff's voice from behind him. "We've got this."
\tRichards turned to see the devil boy and Supersonic Squirrel entering from the balcony, the former looking somewhat worse for wear with his clothes reduced to rags.
\tThe morbane backed up, regarding the trio warily. "This isn't over, Richards. There is no place on Earth you can hide from us. We will find you, and when we do, we will kill you!"
\t"Straight out of the book of parting threats," said Hot Stuff, folding his arms and smirking. "Get lost, loser!"
\t"Yeah," said Supersonic Squirrel. "You've caused enough trouble for one night!"
\tWith a final glare at the trio, the morbane turned and exited the apartment, the other cultists leaving with him. Richards dispelled the ward and sank down into his easy chair, shivering. Mephisto leaped up into his lap, and Richards petted the cat idly.
\t"Now," said Hot Stuff, turning to the magician, "what is DEMON after you for this time, what was that burst of mystical energy I felt, and who," he pointed at Supersonic Squirrel, "is that?"
\tRichards quickly explained the situation to the devil boy. When he had finished, Hot Stuff turned and regarded the squirrel curiously. "A cartoon brought to life by a wish? That's a new one."
\t"Did he mean what he said, Mr. Richards?" Supersonic asked. "Do they really intend to kill you?"
\t"DEMON kills people all the time," said Richards. "And they have more reason to want me dead than most."
\t"But why doesn't somebody stop them?" asked Supersonic.
\t"Heroes have been trying to do that since the 1920s," said Hot Stuff. "DEMON are like rats. After each defeat they scurry back into their holes, only to later come back stronger than ever. They're the reason I'm here. They summoned me to be their slave, but I broke free and turned against them. I've been fighting them ever since."
\tSupersonic nodded. "I'm sorry I misjudged you."
\tHot Stuff shrugged. "I'm used to it."
\t"So, what do we do now?" asked Supersonic.
\tThe devil boy fished his cell phone out of his jeans pocket. "I'm going to contact my friends in the Millennium Guard. Maybe they can come up with something."
\tCurious about the cell phone, Supersonic came over to look at the device more closely, then cried out in pain and started hopping on his left foot, holding the other with both hands.
\t"What's wrong, Supersonic?" Richards asked, jumping up from his chair and going over to him, stepping over the annoyed cat who had been spilled onto the floor.
\t"I stepped on something!" said Supersonic, gritting his teeth and clutching his right foot.
\tRichards knelt down to inspect the squirrel's bare foot. "Looks like a splinter of wood from the door. Let me pull it out." He did so, and Supersonic sighed with relief. "Here, sit down and I'll get some antiseptic and a bandage."
\tSupersonic sat in the easy chair, holding up his injured foot, while Richards went into the bathroom and Hot Stuff spoke on his cell phone. The squirrel stared at his foot in horror as blood dripped from it onto the carpet. "What's that?" he asked, shuddering.
\t"What's what?" asked Richards, coming back.
\t"That red stuff coming out of me!"
\t"That's blood, Supersonic. Your body is full of it."
\t"Geez," said Hot Stuff, putting away his phone. "What a baby!"
\t"Give him a break," said Richards, bandaging the squirrel's foot. "He was a cartoon, remember? He's new to being alive."
\t"Whatever," said Hot Stuff. "My buddies want to meet us at our HQ. It's just a few blocks from here. Think you can carry Jay, Supersonic?"
\tThe squirrel looked up at the magician dubiously. "I don't know, he's kind of big."
\t"Fine, then I'll do it."
\t"What about your flames?"
\t"I can control them so they don't burn him."
\tRichards picked up Mephisto in his arms. "I'm bringing my cat."
\tHot Stuff sighed. "Okay, fine. Supersonic, you carry the cat."
\tRichards handed Mephisto off to the squirrel, who smiled and petted him, eliciting a loud purr. "I think he likes me," Supersonic said happily.
\t"Good thing you're not a normal squirrel," said Hot Stuff, "or he'd be chasing you up a tree. Okay, let's get moving." He hooked his arms under Richards' armpits and lifted the magician up off the floor, carrying his rather portly burden out the door to the balcony. Supersonic followed, cradling the cat in his furry arms.

\tThe Millennium Guard's headquarters was a spacious penthouse apartment in downtown Millennium City, thirty stories above the street. Hot Stuff, Supersonic Squirrel, and their passengers landed on the rooftop and descended through a stairwell to the apartment below, where they found the other members of the group waiting for them in the living room. There was Celestial Boy, from a dimension called Elysium, with black hair and glowing yellow eyes, wearing a skin-tight costume of alternating purple and maroon bands separated by thin white lines; Johnny Cool, a blond-haired youth wearing sunglasses, a black leather jacket over a white T-shirt, blue jeans, and leather boots; Mowgli, a brown-skinned boy with a wild mane of black hair, who wore only a buff-colored loincloth; and Troll Kid, a green-skinned teenager with pointed ears, who wore a star-spangled purple satin luchador costume, complete with mask and cape.
\t"Oh my god!" Troll Kid gasped when he saw Supersonic, his eyes widening behind his mask. "That's . . . that's . . ."
\t"That's Supersonic Squirrel," said Hot Stuff. "He used to be a cartoon."
\t"I know!" exclaimed Troll Kid. "I used to watch him all the time on Retro-Toons!" He went over to the bemused squirrel and took his hand, squeezing it. "You're real! You're really real!"
\t"A cartoon come to life?" asked Johnny Cool. "How does that happen?"
\t"It happens thanks to a magic wishing ring Jay here stole from DEMON," Hot Stuff replied.
\tCool raised an eyebrow. "And of all the things in the world he could have wished for, he wished for that?"
\t"It was an accident, all right?" said Richards, annoyed.
\t"I imagine DEMON is not happy about this," said Celestial Boy, in a voice with a strange, echoing quality.
\t"No," said Hot Stuff, "they're not. Supersonic and I just trashed a bunch of them, and they left swearing revenge."
\t"Way to go, Supersonic!" said Troll Kid, grinning at him.
\tThe squirrel smiled back, then started and turned suddenly as he felt Mowgli sniffing his neck from behind. The jungle boy grinned and shrugged. "Just getting your scent," he said.
\tSupersonic nodded, and whispered an aside to Troll Kid. "Does he always dress like that?"
\t"It's what he prefers," Troll Kid replied. "Besides, you're hardly one to talk. You're naked."
\t"I'm a squirrel," said Supersonic. "Squirrels don't wear clothes."
\t"So," said Celestial Boy, "what do we do about DEMON?"
\t"Who's their current leader?" asked Troll Kid.
\t"Luther Black is trapped in another dimension," said Hot Stuff. "Without him, I'm not sure they have a supreme leader anymore."
\tMowgli nodded. "Most likely his various lieutenants are now fighting each other for control. That's what usually happens in these villain organizations when the leader is taken out of the picture. In fact, that's probably what one of them wanted the ring for."
\t"So we may not be facing all of DEMON," said Troll Kid, "just a part of it."
\t"Even just a part of DEMON is still dangerous," said Hot Stuff. "These are some of the most evil people on the planet, armed with black magic."
\t"If I may make a suggestion?" said Richards. "Since it's me they're after, perhaps I could just perform the oldest magic trick in the book and make myself disappear."
\t"They said they could find you anywhere," said Hot Stuff.
\tRichards made a dismissive gesture. "They exaggerate. There's a spell I can use to alter my appearance; enchantments to block their attempts to scry for my location. I could leave Millennium City and they'd never find me. Besides, if you're right and Black's lieutenants are fighting among themselves, they've got more important things than me to worry about."
\t"Well," said Troll Kid, "if you're sure you'll be safe."
\t"Trust me," said Richards, "it won't be a problem."
\t"Um, excuse me," said Supersonic, holding up a hand. "I don't like to interrupt, but I'm feeling an uncomfortable gnawing sensation in my stomach. Is that normal?"
\t"It means you're hungry," said Richards. "Now that you're alive, you have to eat three times a day to stay that way."
\tSupersonic blinked. "Three times a day? But, where will I get food from?"
\tTroll Kid smiled. "You can stay with us. We'll look after you."
\t"Are you sure it won't be any trouble?" asked Supersonic.
\t"Absolutely not. And it'll be an honor having a genuine old-school hero like you staying here. Come on, let's order a pizza online."
\t"Online?" asked Supersonic, puzzled.
\t"He doesn't know about anything that's happened since 1964," explained Richards.
\t"Let me show him," said Johnny Cool. He looked at the squirrel. "I sank to the bottom of a lake in 1957 and didn't come up until a few months ago. I know what it's like to be out of your own time."
\tSupersonic smiled and nodded up at him. "Thank you."
\tAs Johnny Cool went off to introduce Supersonic Squirrel to the wonders of the Internet, Troll Kid watched them go, shaking his head. "Poor guy. There's so much he has to learn."
\tHot Stuff shrugged. "Johnny managed. He will too."
\t"But he's the only one of his kind here."
\t"So am I. What's your point?"
\tMowgli nodded. "We're all a bunch of freaks. He should fit right in."
\t"You think we should make him a member?" asked Troll Kid.
\t"He has wind powers," said Hot Stuff. "He fought me to a standstill."
\tCelestial Boy smiled. "That does not sound too hard."
\tHot Stuff growled at him. "You want to put that to the test, Elysian?"
\t"Anytime, anywhere, devil."
\t"All right, cool it, you two," said Troll Kid, scowling. "I don't want Supersonic to think we're a bunch of punks who fight each other at the drop of a hat."
\t"But we do," said Mowgli.
\tHot Stuff nodded. "Yeah, we do fight each other a lot."
\t"You really like him, don't you?" Celestial Boy said to Troll Kid.
\t"He's a childhood hero of mine," said Troll Kid. "A lot of my ideas about what it means to be a hero came from watching him."
\t"I know what you mean," said Richards, smiling. "He was my hero too when I was that age."
\tTroll Kid sighed. "I just hope he's not too disappointed when he finds out how nasty the real world is."
\t"We all have to grow up sometime, Troll Kid," said Richards.
\t"Not me," said Mowgli, grinning. "I'm a legend. I'll always be this way."
\t"Or Johnny," said Hot Stuff. "He's dead."
\t"All right," said Richards, "most of us have to grow up sometime."
\t"Which brings up a point," said Celestial Boy, looking at Troll Kid. "What are you going to call yourself when you get older? Troll Man?"
\t"I actually hadn't even thought about it," Troll Kid admitted.
\t"How about just 'The Troll?'" asked Mowgli.
\tTroll Kid grimaced. "Then everyone will think I make obnoxious posts on the Internet."
\t"You mean you don't?"
\tHot Stuff grinned. "In the comics, when a kid hero becomes an adult, they give him a totally new, grittier name, to reflect his coming of age."
\tTroll Kid gestured down at himself. "What about purple satin and stars says 'gritty' to you?"
\t"Well, you'd need a new costume," said Hot Stuff. "Something dark and edgy."
\t"With spikes and chains, like yours?" asked Troll Kid, smirking. "Welcome back to the '90s."
\t"As I recall," said Celestial Boy to Hot Stuff, "you used to fight crime in just a diaper."
\t"It wasn't a diaper!" growled Hot Stuff. "It was a sumo wrestler loincloth!"
\t"It always looked like a diaper to me," said Mowgli.
\t"Oh, you should talk, Underpants Boy!"
\tAt the computer, where Johnny Cool was showing him how to order online from Darren's Pizza, Supersonic Squirrel glanced away from the screen to look back at the rest of the Millennium Guard. "Do they always argue like that?" he asked, concern in his voice.
\t"Always," said Johnny. "Don't worry, you'll get used to it."

\tIn a dark room somewhere, a DEMON acolyte scurried up a flight of steps to a throne of black marble upon which slouched a slender figure in a scarlet robe and hood. Bejeweled fingers bearing long nails gripped the arms of the throne while glowing white eyes peered out from the shadows beneath the hood, strands of dead-white hair hanging out to either side. The acolyte knelt before the throne, waiting for the figure to speak first.
\t"What news?" it finally asked, in a soft, not unpleasant voice.
\t"Lord Lucifer," the acolyte said, "the devil took Richards and the squirrel to the Millennium Guard's headquarters. The whole team is there now."
\tLucifer sighed and shook his head slowly. "Richards is a fool. To have wasted the wish on such an idiotic whimsy as bringing a cartoon character to life. With such power I could have crushed my rivals and brought all of DEMON under my control. Fortunately, the situation may yet be salvaged."
\tThe acolyte looked up at him quizzically. "How, master?"
\tLucifer gestured lazily at a scroll lying on a nearby table. "I have been studying. According to that scroll, the wish may be reversed with the proper ritual. Sacrificing the squirrel in the prescribed manner will draw the magic back into a new receptacle."
\t"But to do that, we'd have to get ahold of him," said the acolyte.
\tLucifer nodded and turned his head to the figure crouching beside the throne. "Jack, I have a job for you."
\tThe figure slowly rose erect, and bells jingled. Stork-thin and standing close to seven feet tall, it was garbed in a ragged red-and-black jester's costume, complete with a belled hat and collar and curly-toed shoes. Its gaunt, bone-white face was covered with a bird-skull mask, its impossibly wide mouth lined with long, sharp teeth.
\t"Do you feel up to some killing?" Lucifer asked.
\tThe creature spoke in a high, screechy voice. "Five little piggies, snug in their beds, Jack Fool's blade hanging over their heads."
\t"I'll take that as a yes," said Lucifer. He turned his attention back to the acolyte. "Assemble a strike team at once. Return the squirrel here, alive. Let Jack have the rest."
\tThe acolyte nodded, swallowing as he looked up at the towering, skeletal figure. Nobody wanted to be around Jack Fool. Ever.
\t
\t"So, you can talk to anyone, anywhere in the world, using this . . . computer gizmo?" asked Supersonic Squirrel, gazing at the screen in wonder.
\tJohnny Cool nodded. "Pretty much."
\t"And tap into these . . . websites?"
\t"Sure. Here, let me show you the one we made for our group." He clicked on an icon and brought up the Millennium Guard's website, which contained pictures and information about each of the group's members.
\t"And every home has one of these things?"
\t"Just about. They're not that expensive."
\tThe squirrel shook his head. "That's amazing!"
\t"Yeah, it is pretty incredible. Right out of Buck Rogers."
\t"What are the people like in this time?" asked Supersonic. "Are they nice?"
\tJohnny Cool shrugged. "They're people. There's good ones and bad ones, just like in our time. I haven't seen much of a difference."
\t"Well, that's good, I guess," said Supersonic. He walked over to the window and gazed out at the glittering lights of the city. "To think they built all this out of the ruins of Detroit."
\tJohnny went over to join him. "I hear there wasn't much left after Dr. Destroyer got through with it."
\tSupersonic looked up at him. "Is he still alive?"
\t"Nah, he was killed during the Battle of Detroit. His old henchmen are still causing trouble, though—Gigaton, Black Talon, Rakshasa. And last year we found an automated factory of his under the city, building more of his robots."
\t"Did you shut it down?" asked Supersonic, alarmed.
\tJohnny Cool grinned. "Yeah, it's no threat to anyone anymore. But that may not have been the only one. Destroids still keep showing up."
\t"Well, at least this city has heroes like you to protect it," said Supersonic, smiling.
\t"Looks like it has one more, now," said Johnny.
\t"Who, me?" asked Supersonic, surprised. "I'm no hero."
\t"I hear different," said Johnny. "Plus you held your own against Hot Stuff, and he's pretty tough."
\t"Yeah," said Supersonic, looking down at his hands. "I don't know where these new wind powers of mine came from. I could always fly really fast, but I could never do things like that before."
\tJohnny shrugged. "I don't know where my ice powers came from, either. My advice is just roll with it."
\tThe door buzzed. "That'll be the pizzas," said Troll Kid, going to answer it. He returned a minute later with three cardboard boxes in his arms.
\t"Mmm, that smells wonderful!" said Supersonic, sniffing the air as Troll Kid set the boxes down on the table and opened them. He reached in and took a slice. Remembering his experience with the tea back in Jay Richards' apartment, he blew on it and took a cautious bite. His eyes widened. "Holy cow!" he exclaimed.
\t"You like it?" asked Troll Kid, who had removed his mask, revealing an unkempt mop of green hair, and was sampling a slice of his own.
\t"I've never tasted anything like it! Does all food in the real world taste this good?"
\t"Not all. Darren's Pizza is just really good."
\t"You ate food in the cartoons, though," said Richards. "I remember seeing you do it."
\t"Yeah," said Supersonic, "but it didn't really taste like anything." He took another bite, chewing it happily.
\t"It looks as though you have a whole new world of sensations to experience," said Celestial Boy, smiling.
\t"Well, I've already experienced pain," said Supersonic. "That wasn't any fun."
\t"So I see," said Celestial Boy, glancing down at the bandage on the squirrel's foot. "Allow me." He pointed a finger, and a beam of silvery light shot from it into Supersonic's injured foot. "That should take care of it."
\tSupersonic looked down at his foot in surprise, then back up at Celestial Boy. "You can heal people?"
\tCelestial Boy nodded. "It is one of my powers. I can also fly and project bolts of cosmic energy."
\t"Well, I know he creates fire," said Supersonic, indicating Hot Stuff, who was coming back into the room after changing into an undamaged set of clothes. "And Johnny said he has ice powers. What do you do, Troll Kid? Are you a wrestler?"
\t"Not exactly," said Troll Kid, and a shroud of darkness engulfed him, turning his eyes into glowing white spots with ghostly purple mist swirling around them. "I control dark energy. I can use it to fly, teleport, blast people and move things, create force fields, and drain people's life energy."
\t"Oh," said Supersonic. "But why do you dress like a Mexican wrestler?"
\t"To honor my heritage. My mom's Mexican."
\tSupersonic turned to Mowgli. "And what can you do?"
\tCrouching on the couch with a slice of pizza in his hand, the jungle boy grinned at him. "I hit people until they fall down."
\t"Which they usually do pretty quickly," added Troll Kid.
\t"I see," said Supersonic. "What do all your parents think about you being superheroes?"
\t"I'm the only one here with actual parents," said Troll Kid, "and they're cool with it as long as I don't stay out too late."
\t"Yeah," said Hot Stuff, helping himself to a slice of pizza, "Junior here still has to go to school."
\tTroll Kid scowled at the devil boy. "Screw you, Hot Stuff." He turned back to Supersonic. "So, we were thinking, how'd you like to join our group?"
\tSupersonic stared at him. "You want me to join?"
\tTroll Kid nodded. "We'd be honored to have you."
\t"But . . . but you don't know anything about me!"
\t"I know everything about you," said Troll Kid, grinning. "I've seen all your adventures. I can't think of anyone I'd rather have on my side."
\t"Well, then, yeah, I guess so . . ." said Supersonic.
\t"Let's put it to a vote," said Troll Kid. "All in favor?" Five hands went up. "That makes it unanimous. Welcome aboard, Supersonic Squirrel."
\tThe squirrel swallowed. "Thanks. It's good to know I have friends in this time."
\tTroll Kid came over and clapped him on the back. "Have another slice of pizza, buddy."
\tSupersonic was in the middle of his second slice when Mowgli suddenly tensed and glanced up at the ceiling. "Someone's on the roof," he said.
\tA moment later, the skylight over the living room shattered in a shower of glass and Jack Fool dropped down onto the carpet, his bony hands clutching a long, curved, wicked-looking blade that gleamed with a sinister violet light.
\t"Crap!" said Hot Stuff. "It's Jack Fool!"
\t"Who?" asked Supersonic, staring at the ghastly apparition.
\t"One of DEMON's pet monsters. Careful of his sword, he's deadly with it!"
\tJack giggled. "Aww, Hot Stuff, you remember. That's sweet."
\tHot Stuff nodded, raising his hands, both of which were wreathed in flames. "I remember how you stuck that thing through my guts the last time we met!"
\tJack grinned. "This time I'll aim a bit higher!" And with that he sprang at the devil boy with blinding speed, sword upraised.
\tBut as fast as Jack was, Mowgli was faster. The jungle boy launched himself at the jester-clad horror, intercepting him in mid-lunge and landing a kick squarely in his stomach. Jack grunted, stopped dead in his tracks, and swung his sword at Mowgli in a flashing arc, but the incredibly nimble jungle boy somersaulted backward safely beyond its reach.
\t"Okay, let him have it!" shouted Troll Kid, and bolts of fire, ice, darkness, and cosmic energy struck Jack's skinny form, causing him to stumble backward a few steps. His lips twisted into a sneer beneath his bird-skull mask.
\t"If that's the best you can do," said Jack, "you're in serious trouble." He sprang again, this time at Celestial Boy, his sword slicing across the Elysian youth's chest and leaving a red crescent in its wake. Celestial Boy cried out in pain, and his hands glowed with silvery light as he attempted to heal himself. Jack spun around, only to find himself suddenly frozen in place as Johnny Cool materialized a cage of ice around him. The creature flexed his arms and the cage shattered, sending slivers of ice everywhere. Troll Kid and Hot Stuff hurled bolts of darkness and fire at him, to little obvious effect. Then Mowgli leaped upon Jack's back, wrapping his legs around Jack's chest and covering Jack's eyes with his hands. Jack snarled and whipped himself around, slamming the jungle boy against the wall with a bone-crunching crash. Mowgli gritted his teeth, but held on.
\tSupersonic Squirrel was moving to join the fight when Jay Richards put a restraining hand on his shoulder. "Jack wasn't alone," the magician said, pointing behind them. Four morbanes had appeared in the dining room, each of them bearing a massive sword and a cruel-looking whip.
\tSupersonic growled and flew straight at them, a vortex of wind swirling around his small, gray-furred body, intending to scatter them like bowling pins. Instantly, the whips lashed out, wrapping around his arms and legs and sending jolts of agony through his form that made him scream in pain. He collapsed to the floor, unconscious, and the four hooded men ran forward to seize his limp body. Richards desperately hurled mystical bolts at them, but the bolts glanced off their sinewy bodies as they gathered up the squirrel and vanished in a burst of crimson light.
\tIn the living room, Jack Fool was swinging his sword around blindly, Mowgli's hands still covering his eyes, while Troll Kid, Hot Stuff, Johnny Cool, and Celestial Boy kept blasting away at him, slowly wearing him down. The blade caught Hot Stuff across his forearm, cutting into the devil boy's red skin and releasing a gout of flame from inside him. Even so, that didn't stop him from joining the others in battering Jack Fool with blast after blast, until finally the cadaverous creature collapsed on the floor and lay still.
\tAs Celestial Boy healed Hot Stuff, Troll Kid turned to Richards. "What happened?" the green boy demanded. "Where's Supersonic?"
\t"DEMON got him," said the magician, despondently. "I couldn't stop them."
\t"What do they want with him?" asked Johnny Cool.
\t"Perhaps they are trying to get the wish back," said Celestial Boy.
\t"Is that possible?" asked Troll Kid.
\t"It is the only reason I can think of that they would be interested in him."
\t"But that would kill him, wouldn't it?" asked Mowgli.
\t"Yes, it would."
\t"Great," said Troll Kid. "And we have absolutely no idea where they've taken him."

\tSupersonic Squirrel awakened to find himself lying on his back on a hard, flat surface, spread-eagled, his wrists and ankles shackled. There was also something around his neck. He raised his head—carefully at first, until he was sure the thing on his neck wasn't also holding him down—and looked around. He was in a large, dimly-lit room, large enough that the walls and ceiling were lost in shadow. The only illumination came from black candles set in strange, twisted, black iron candleholders to either side of him. He was lying on a raised stone block of some sort, about three feet above the floor. The air was laden with an acrid-smelling incense that made his nose twitch. He pulled at his restraints, but found that they were quite secure.
\t"Ah, I see you're awake," said a soft male voice in the darkness to his left. "How unfortunate. I've no wish to cause you any unnecessary pain or fear."
\t"I'm not afraid!" Supersonic retorted. "Why don't you show yourself?"
\tA hooded figure in a plain scarlet robe emerged from the shadows, long white hair trickling down from either side of his cowl, white eyes glowing beneath it. "As you wish," it said.
\t"Who are you?" Supersonic demanded, glaring up at the figure.
\t"I call myself Lucifer. I am the leader of DEMON's Millennium City chapter."
\t"Lucifer, huh? That's appropriate."
\t"I thought so. I must say, it's rather remarkable to see you in the flesh. I remember watching your show as a child."
\tSupersonic smirked. "I bet you rooted for the villains."
\t"Oh no, I was quite firmly in your camp. But then, I was just a child."
\t"What happened?" asked Supersonic. "Why did you turn to evil?"
\t"I see no reason to bore you with my life's story, like some comic-book villain," said Lucifer. "Not when you've so little time left as it is."
\t"That's very considerate of you," said Supersonic. "I'll return the favor. Release me now and I won't blast you across the room."
\tLucifer smiled. "Go ahead and try."
\t"Okay, you asked for it." Supersonic attempted to summon a blast of wind, but found to his surprise that he couldn't.
\t"Around your neck is a Collar of Subservience," said Lucifer. "A minor magic item we use to keep our slaves in line. It prevents you from doing anything I don't want you to do."
\t"So, you keep slaves, too. Why am I not surprised? What do you want from me, anyway?"
\t"We only want the return of what is rightfully ours, that which Richards stole from us."
\t"You mean the wish that created me?"
\tLucifer nodded. "Sacrificing you in the proper manner should reverse the process and restore the wish to us."
\t"And then what will you do with it?"
\t"I hardly think that's any concern of yours. You'll be dead. A pity you have to die after having such a brief taste of life, but c'est la vie."
\t"Your compassion is overwhelming," Supersonic sneered.
\tLucifer chuckled. "Oh, compassion has nothing to do with it. In truth, I rather like the idea of you running around loose in the world, your child-like innocence slowly eroding as you discover what a depraved, filthy place it is, until you're left with nothing but bitterness, disillusionment, and cynicism. Trust me, I'm doing you a favor."
\t"Is that how you ease your conscience? By telling yourself your victims are better off dead?"
\t"Any conscience I may have once had died a long time ago. I'm simply telling you the facts as they are."
\t"Yeah, well, I think you're wrong!"
\tLucifer laughed. "You, who come from a cartoon fantasy world? You think you know more about the real world than one who has lived in it all his life? Truly, Supersonic, your naivete is exceeded only by your presumption."
\t"Cartoons express the hopes and dreams of the people who make them!" Supersonic protested.
\tLucifer smiled and shook his head. "I'd love to show you some hentai. Too bad we haven't the time. The ritual has to be performed at midnight. That's less than an hour from now. In the meantime, is there anything I can get you to make your last hour of life a little more comfortable? A pillow, perhaps?"
\tSupersonic growled at him. "The only thing I want from you is my freedom!"
\t"And under any other circumstances I'd be happy to grant it, but I need the wish back. See you at midnight, Supersonic." Lucifer turned and sank back into the shadows.
\tSupersonic strained at his shackles again, but met with no more success than before. He closed his eyes and breathed deeply, his furry chest rising and falling, trying to calm his nerves. He'd been in tough spots before, and he'd always gotten out of them. He'd get out of this one, too. Only, he realized, this one wasn't like the others. Those other perils had been invented by writers, who had also contrived his escapes. This time, there was nobody looking out for him, no stroke of the pen to save him in the nick of time. This time, he could really die. And as much as he hated to admit it, that thought frightened him—not so much the dying itself, but the idea of leaving life before he'd really had a chance to know it. He didn't believe the world was as bad a place as Lucifer said. As his mother had told him, Consider the source. Maybe she hadn't been real, but the wisdom of her words had to come from somewhere. And so had the warmth and tenderness with which he remembered her kissing him and tucking him in at night. These thoughts comforted him as he lay there bound to the altar, the flickering candles getting shorter second by second.

\tAt Millennium Guard headquarters, five boys and one middle-aged man stood around the pale, gaunt figure that sat tied up in a corner of the living room, glaring down at it balefully.
\t"All right, creep," said Troll Kid. "Talk! Where did they take Supersonic?"
\t"Do you really think he will tell us anything?" asked Celestial Boy.
\t"Oh, he'll talk," snarled Hot Stuff, holding up hands wreathed in flames, "or he'll burn!"
\t"He'd probably enjoy that," said Mowgli.
\tJack Fool nodded, grinning, his bird-skull mask slightly askew. "Jack loves pain. His own runs a close second to other people's."
\tTroll Kid looked at Jay Richards. "Is there any way we can find him using magic?"
\tRichards shook his head. "Any DEMON lair would be heavily warded against scrying and other forms of divination."
\t"Well, we can't just let them kill him!" shouted Troll Kid. "With all our powers, there has to be something we can do!"
\tMowgli shrugged. "Can't track him by smell. No scent trail to follow."
\t"And with magical teleportation," said Richards, "he could be anywhere on Earth. Or even in another dimension."
\tTroll Kid shook his head. "No, I don't buy that. DEMON cultists were swarming all over your apartment just minutes after you made the wish. They would have had to have been nearby in the first place in order to sense it, like Hot Stuff did. Plus, you stole the ring from a cultist in downtown. So the DEMON cell has to be somewhere in this city."
\t"That still doesn't help us very much," said Johnny Cool. "Millennium City is enormous."
\t"Yeah, but it's a lot smaller than everywhere."
\t"At least it is a starting point," said Celestial Boy.
\tRichards' eyes lit up as a thought struck him, "The starting point! Of course!" He turned to Mowgli. "You say you can track people by scent, like a dog?"
\tMowgli nodded. "DEMON cultists smell pretty distinctive. Incense and brimstone."
\t"Perfect!" said Richards. "Then all we have to do is go back to where all this started! My apartment!"
\tTroll Kid grinned. "And follow the DEMON cultists back to their lair from there! Brilliant!"
\t"Good," said Hot Stuff, his eyes on Jack Fool. "Does that mean we can kill him?"
\t"We do not kill, Hot Stuff," said Celestial Boy. "Not ever. Not even things like him." He looked at Jack Fool with obvious disgust.
\tHot Stuff growled. "He's not human! He's a horror from the Qliphoth, a dimension of evil and chaos! There's no reason we shouldn't destroy him right now!"
\tJohnny Cool placed a hand on the devil boy's shoulder. "And a lot of people would say the same thing about you, buddy."
\tHot Stuff sighed and hung his head, remembering an incident in Vibora Bay a few months ago when a religious fanatic had tried to murder him, believing him to be evil. "Point taken."
\tJack Fool giggled. "Aww, the little devil thinks he can be good. That's adorable!"
\tHot Stuff's eyes blazed and flames rose from his hands. "Shut up, you slimy piece of Qliphothic garbage! You're nothing but DEMON's lapdog!"
\t"At least I'm true to my nature," Jack said, grinning.
\tHot Stuff cried out and lunged at him, only to be held back by Celestial Boy and Johnny Cool, while Jack sat in the corner, cackling.
\tTroll Kid donned his mask. "I'll drop him off at the city jail in Westside. They have cells there for supervillains. The rest of you, head over to Jay's apartment. I'll meet you there." He grabbed Jack and flew upward with him through the broken skylight.
\tJohnny Cool looked into Hot Stuff's eyes. "You okay, buddy?"
\tHot Stuff nodded. "I'm fine. Let's go kick DEMON's ass and save Supersonic!"
\t"If you don't mind," said Jay Richards, "I'd like to come along. My knowledge of magic may be of some help."
\tCelestial Boy turned to him. "We do not normally take civilians on missions with us, but as you say, you have special qualifications in this area. We would welcome your aid."
\tHot Stuff chuckled. "I thought you didn't go in for this sort of thing, Jay."
\t"I don't," Richards replied. "Frankly, I'm scared to death. But I feel responsible for Supersonic. After all, it was my wish that brought him into this world."
\tCelestial Boy nodded. "We shall do our best to make sure he stays in it. Come, let us go." He picked up Mowgli and flew out the skylight with him, Hot Stuff following with Richards and Johnny Cool. Left alone in a strange apartment, Mephisto meowed once, then curled up on a couch and went to sleep.

\t"Ugh!" said Hot Stuff, grimacing and pinching his nose with one hand as the Millennium Guard and Jay Richards made their way down one of the countless dark, dank, noisome tunnels that lay beneath Millennium City, and to which the scent trail from Richards' apartment had led them. "I hate the sewers!"
\t"Just think how it smells to me," said Mowgli, crouching down to sniff at the concrete floor as they reached a four-way intersection. "But you don't hear me bitching about it."
\tCelestial Boy smiled as he hovered above the rest, a glowing aura around him providing light to see by, casting their shadows on the grimy, dripping walls. "He just likes to complain. Remember that hiking trip we took to upstate New York last year? He never stopped moaning about how much his feet hurt."
\t"Sure, I remember it," said Johnny Cool. "That was when you first met me."
\t"Of course, it would have helped if he'd been wearing shoes back then," said Troll Kid.
\t"Well, I'm wearing them now, aren't I?" growled Hot Stuff. "I learned my lesson."
\t"Why didn't you just fly?" Richards asked the devil boy.
\t"It was a hiking trip," Hot Stuff replied. "The whole point was for us not to use our powers and enjoy ourselves like normal kids."
\t"And since I was barefoot," said Mowgli, "he just had to prove he was as tough as me."
\t"Okay, I admit it," said Hot Stuff, "I don't have shoe-leather soles like you do."
\t"Which way, chief?" Troll Kid asked Mowgli.
\tMowgli stood up and gestured toward the tunnel on the right. "That way." They all followed the jungle boy down the tunnel.
\tAfter a few minutes, Mowgli suddenly froze in his tracks. The others stopped as well, granting him the silence he required. Finally, Troll Kid asked, "How many?"
\t"A dozen or more, in the room up ahead," Mowgli replied.
\t"DEMON cultists?"
\tThe jungle boy shook his head. "I don't think so. They don't smell human."
\t"Okay, Guardians," said Troll Kid. "Blitzkrieg maneuver. Ready . . . set . . . GO!"
\tThe five youths charged forward into the room, Hot Stuff and Celestial Boy flying above the others, to encounter a dozen fire demons. The creatures varied widely in size and appearance—some huge, muscular things, others only tiny imps; some with long crocodile snouts, others with skull-like heads and horns; but all of them had bat wings, hooves, leathery red skin, and razor-sharp talons. A brief but fierce battle ensued, the demons hurling bolts of fire at the young heroes or slashing at them with their talons, while the heroes blasted back with fire, ice, cosmic energy, and darkness, or struck with fists and feet. In less than a minute, the fire demons lay strewn across the floor of the room, the five young heroes standing over them, triumphant.
\t"That was fun!" said Hot Stuff, grinning. "I hope they throw more of those at us!"
\t"Those were just to keep out the riff-raff," said Troll Kid. "I'm sure DEMON has lots more in store for us. Let's keep moving."
\tThey followed Mowgli down another tunnel, and another, and another, the jungle boy leading them deeper and deeper into the twisting turns of the sewer system. Eventually they came to another room, this one entirely empty save for a large glowing crystal floating in the center, which pulsed rhythmically, like a thing alive.
\t"What's that?" asked Johnny Cool.
\t"No idea," said Hot Stuff. He turned to Richards. "Jay?"
\t"I'm guessing it's a magical sentry of some sort," said Richards. "But as to what it does, I haven't a clue."
\t"So, do we blast it, try to sneak past it, or what?" asked Troll Kid.
\t"I wouldn't blast it," said Richards. "That would probably alert DEMON to our presence here."
\tHot Stuff shrugged. "They're going to find out eventually anyway."
\t"True," said Troll Kid, "but there's no reason to tip them off any sooner than we have to. I'll teleport to the other side of the room and then 'port each of you to me. That seems like the safest option." With that, the green boy vanished in a purple-black burst, reappearing near the exit on the far side of the room.
\tInstantly, the crystal lit up with scintillating lights of many colors, some of them alien to human eyes, a swirling, prismatic kaleidoscope that had a mesmerizing effect. The five young heroes found themselves paralyzed, unable to look away, their eyes going wide and their jaws slack. Richards, too, felt the paralysis creeping into him, but the mental discipline in which all true magicians are trained enabled him to fight back. He tore his eyes away from the crystal, clamped them shut, and focussed his mind on moving his arms and fingers. It was tortuously slow and took every ounce of willpower he had, but he managed to complete the spell, building up a mystic bolt before him and releasing it blindly in the direction of the crystal. It struck, shattering the thing into thousands of shards. Freed from the crystal's hypnotic effect, Mowgli was able to catch the magician as he slumped forward, exhausted, while the other boys came out of the spell as well and stood blinking at each other.
\t"What just happened?" asked Johnny Cool as Troll Kid reappeared next to them.
\t"It seems that Mr. Richards destroyed the crystal and released our minds," said Celestial Boy.
\t"I know I said not to blast it," said Richards, "but I couldn't think of any other way to free you."
\tTroll Kid clapped him on his shoulder. "It's okay. Thanks for breaking us out of that spell."
\tHot Stuff grinned, pointing at Troll Kid. "You've got drool on your chin."
\tTroll Kid wiped it off and then smirked at Hot Stuff. "So do you." The devil boy frowned and wiped himself off, too.
\t"On the downside," said Richards, "DEMON almost certainly knows we're here now."
\tHot Stuff shrugged. "So what? Let them come. We can handle them."
\t"They do not have to stop us," said Celestial Boy. "They need only delay us long enough for them to kill Supersonic. They must know that is why we have come."
\t"Then let's move our butts!" said Troll Kid, flying across the room. Hot Stuff and Celestial Boy flew after him, Mowgli sprinting along beneath them, while Johnny Cool carried Jay Richards on an ice slide.

\tLucifer was in his study, surveying a collection of sacrificial knives and trying to decide which one to use for the ritual, when an acolyte burst in on him. "Lord Lucifer!" the man said, trembling. "Hot Stuff and his friends are in the complex! They just destroyed the Crystal of Enthrallment!"
\tLucifer turned and looked at the acolyte disdainfully. "Weren't my standing orders to knock before entering this room?"
\tThe acolyte gulped. "Sorry, master. I only thought you'd want to be informed as quickly as possible."
\tLucifer nodded and glanced at the clock on the wall, an ornate bronze thing decorated with grinning devils. Fifteen minutes until midnight. He sighed. "I suppose it was to be expected that Supersonic's companions would attempt a last-minute rescue. I loathe melodrama. So painfully cliché. Fortunately, I am prepared for this eventuality."
\tThe acolyte's eyes widened beneath his hood. "You mean . . .  ?"
\tLucifer nodded again. "Yes, I have a surprise in store for them. A very sinister one." He smiled.

\tAs the five members of the Millennium Guard plus Jay Richards raced down yet another of the seemingly endless sewer tunnels beneath Millennium City, Mowgli suddenly called for them to stop. They all watched and waited while the jungle boy sniffed the air.
\t"What do you smell?" Troll Kid asked.
\t"Incense," Mowgli replied, wrinkling his nose.
\t"We must be getting close," said Hot Stuff. "DEMON loves that crap."
\t"Good," said Troll Kid. "Let's move in and take 'em out."
\tThey advanced to the end of the tunnel, the incense smell becoming steadily stronger. The tunnel opened into a cavernous chamber illuminated only by banks of candles. In the center was an altar, upon which lay the shackled form of Supersonic Squirrel. Beside it stood a man in a crimson robe, holding a gleaming blade.
\t"Greetings, Millennium Guard," the man said. "I am Lucifer, the next leader of DEMON."
\t"Guys," shouted Supersonic, "he can't kill me until midnight!"
\tJay Richards checked his wristwatch. "That's one and a half minutes from now."
\t"Then we've arrived in plenty of time to stop him," said Troll Kid. "Drop the knife, Lucifer!"
\tLucifer shrugged and did so, the blade clattering on the stone floor.
\t"I don't like this," said Hot Stuff, his tail swishing in agitation. "DEMON are fanatics. They don't give up this easily. He's got something up his sleeve."
\tLucifer smiled. "The only thing I have up my sleeve, Hot Stuff, is my hand."
\t"Keep your eyes on him," said Troll Kid. "If he so much as twitches, blast him into next week." With that, the green boy teleported over to the altar.
\t"Am I glad to see you!" said Supersonic, grinning up at him.
\tTroll Kid nodded. "Likewise. Now let's get you off this thing." He pointed a finger at the shackle holding Supersonic's right wrist, intending to blast it with a bolt of dark energy.
\tAll at once there was a bright flash of light, and something caught Troll Kid across his chest, lifting him up and away from Supersonic and hurling him across the room to crash against the wall. Before the altar now stood a colossal figure of terrifying regality. Fully fifteen feet tall, its shiny, grayish-pink body was nude save for a black kilt, a pair of black boots that rose to sharp points above the knee, and ornate black pauldrons atop its shoulders. A pair of immense white-feathered wings sprouted from its back. Its feet did not touch the ground, but hovered just above it. Above its hairless head floated a halo with four sharp points evenly spaced. In its right hand it held a huge black sword that crackled with purple energy, while its left hand was an oversized, malformed mass of rock. The eyes in its handsome but menacing face glowed bright blue.
\t"It's the Left Hand!" cried Hot Stuff, eyes wide.
\t"The what, now?" asked Johnny Cool, staring at the apparition in awe.
\t"Luther Black's most powerful servant! I've fought it before, in the Qliphoth!"
\t"Did you beat it?" asked Celestial Boy.
\t"Only barely, and I had help!"
\t"Well, you've got help now," said Mowgli.
\tHot Stuff nodded. "Just stay away from that sword when it winds up for a swing. And watch its left hand. It shoots some kind of death ray from it!"
\tLucifer smiled and pointed at the Millennium Guard. "Destroy those nuisances, please. And make it fast. The clock is ticking."
\tThe Left Hand floated toward the young heroes, its gigantic wings flapping slowly and making the candles in the room waver. Hot Stuff, Johnny Cool, and Celestial Boy all let fly with bolts of fire, ice, and cosmic energy, which struck the creature's bare chest to little visible effect. Mowgli sprinted toward it, trying to draw its attention. The Left Hand pivoted in midair, spinning to face Mowgli, its great sword slicing above the jungle boy's head as he ducked under it. Mowgli leaped, slamming the heel of his foot into the monster's stomach and somersaulting backward away from it. The Left Hand grunted like a locomotive letting off steam and raised its stone fist. An impossibly deep, croaking laugh issued from its mouth, barely above the threshold of human hearing, and a beam of blinding white light shot from its fist. Mowgli dodged it, flipping about desperately to avoid that beam of death, while the other three Guardians continued to hammer at his attacker with their blasts.
\tBored with trying to kill the agile jungle boy, the Left Hand floated toward the three young heroes blasting it and whirled about, its massive sword sweeping through the air and sending all three flying in different directions. Then it laughed again, focusing its attention on Hot Stuff, and raised its stony fist. Hot Stuff raised a fire shield before him and gritted his teeth as the Left Hand's death ray struck it, knocking him flat on his back. He could feel the shield crumbling under the force of that ray, and swallowed, thinking this was it for him. Then, just as his fire shield gave way, a shield of dark energy sprang up before him as Troll Kid teleported in, blocking the Left Hand's attack. The winged behemoth grumbled at being denied its prize, then turned its attention to Celestial Boy and Johnny Cool, who were going after Supersonic. With a sweep of its wings, it blew them back, sending them tumbling across the floor head over heels.
\tWatching the battle with mild amusement, Lucifer bent, picked up his knife, and checked the time as he straightened. Thirty seconds. He glanced down at Supersonic, who was struggling frantically against his bonds. "It doesn't matter if they defeat the Left Hand or not," he said. "They won't have time to save you. I'm afraid this is where we say goodbye, my furry friend." With the point of the knife, he drew an arcane symbol in blood across Supersonic's chest while the squirrel writhed and screamed in pain.
\tAll at once, a mystic bolt struck Lucifer's arm, causing his knife to fall to the altar. He whirled, scowling, to see Jay Richards standing a few feet away.
\t"You forgot about me," Richards said grimly.
\t"You?" Lucifer spat. "A paltry little street mage? Do you really imagine you can defeat the greatest sorcerer in DEMON?"
\t"I don't have to defeat you," said Richards, readying another spell. "All I have to do is keep you busy until 12:01. Two can play the delaying game."
\t"DIE!" screamed Lucifer, unleashing a massive magical bolt at Richards. The magician hurriedly erected a mystic shield; it saved his life, but the force of the bolt still knocked him on his back. He sprang to his feet and hurled another bolt not at Lucifer but at the knife on the altar, striking it and sending it skittering away across the floor. Lucifer muttered an obscenity and ran after it while Richards ran to the altar. Scooping up the knife, Lucifer whirled to face the altar—only to see Supersonic Squirrel standing atop it, freed from his shackles and collar and glaring at him, his chest fur soaked with blood. Richards stood beside him, twirling a small metal object between his gloved fingers.
\t"Skeleton key," the magician said, grinning. "Never leave home without it."
\tLucifer took a step back as Supersonic rose into the air. The squirrel's eyes burned with hatred as he built up a wind blast. Lucifer raised a mystic shield as the blast struck, sending him skidding back across the floor. Supersonic growled and flew after him, hammering him again and again, with blast after blast, until the sorcerer lay still.
\tMeanwhile, Troll Kid and Johnny Cool had combined their powers to encase the Left Hand in a cage of ice and dark energy, immobilizing it, while Hot Stuff, Celestial Boy, and Mowgli pounded on it with fire, cosmic energy, and fists. The creature struggled against its confinement, growing steadily weaker. Finally it collapsed to the floor, beaten. They all turned to see Supersonic standing over Lucifer's unconscious form, glaring murderously down at him.
\t"Supersonic," said Richards quietly. "That's enough. He's finished."
\tThe squirrel bit his lip, then nodded. The others came over to him, and Celestial Boy healed the cuts on his chest. Supersonic looked up at Richards.
\t"I wanted to kill him," Supersonic said, and swallowed. "It scares me how much I wanted to. I've never hated anyone that much before!"
\t"It's all right," said Richards. "We all feel that way sometimes. It's part of being human."
\t"But I'm not human!" the squirrel protested.
\t"You're human inside," said Richards, "and that's what counts. You're not the cute little cartoon character you were. You'll have to learn to live with that."
\tTroll Kid clapped Supersonic on his shoulder and grinned. "Come on. We'll drop this scum off at the police station and then go out for ice cream."
\tSupersonic nodded. "I think I'd like that."
\tThey all left the sewers together as the clock struck midnight and a new day began.
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