Henry Versus The Horror

"Good man. Now, let's see if we can put an end to this menace before it can cause any more misery." Captain Rogor said, hefting his own hammer and raising his shield.

"You got it, Captain!" Henry said with glee, doing the same.

"If you think either of you stand a chance, you both stupider than I thought. Time to die!" The Horror roared, surging under the bed. It struck from the shadows under the bed lightning fast, It's pencil claws seeking the Captains legs. The Captain was quick, though. A veteran of countless battles against enemies from every corner of the galaxy, he had the reflexes of a rattlesnake and was savvy enough to protect himself from the low blow.

His shield came down, turning the claws away with a buzz as they scraped across the surface of the ion field. The Horror was quick as well, though, and escaped the swipe of Rogor's Gavel. Henry had hopped over to the other side of the bed, and as the beast popped It's head out there, It was met with the minijet powered hammer crashing into It's jaw with a crackling pop.

The Horror squealed and ducked to the side, reeling from the strike. The hit had knocked an old shirt loose, and it lay on the floor. Henry wondered what the creature would look like as It lost It's parts, how It would fight as they tore parts of it away. He also wondered if his stuff was going to be ruined. He glanced at his shirt again quickly and saw that despite being hit by an electrified, minijet aided space hammer, the shirt was unmarked. He decided to ignore it for the time being and focus on the fight.

The Horror looked from one enemy to the other, trying to decide who to go after. Both had their shields held up and their hammers ready. The Horror made It's decision and darted at Henry, a gurgling roar in It's throat. Henry thrust his shield out, but was toppled by the force of the creature slamming into it. It's clawed hands came around on either side of the shield, reaching for Henry. He brought the hammer around in a short swing, trying to keep It from raking him with It's nasty claws. The swing would have been all but powerless were it not of the pulse engine in his hammer. With it, the hammer moved like a freight train, smashing into the thing's shoulder and knocking It off of Henry before It could get a hold of him. Then Captain Rogor was over It, his own hammer coming down like a thunderbolt. He had his pulse engine set to maximum and it showed. The crackling thud was almost deafening to Henry, who was only a foot or so from the impact. The Horror howled and scrabbled to It's twisted feet.

Henry pressed the attack as he rose, wanting to keep the demon from having a chance to attack again. As It turned to face them, Henry screamed and brought his hammer down in an overhead swing, letting the minijet drive it hard. The blow slammed into the Horror's shoulder, crushing It to It's knees again. It lashed out with It's other arm, smashing into Henry's shield and pushing him aside. Henry stumbled but kept in his feet. The beast was quick though, and was on him before he could steady himself. Henry was pushed up against the bed, his back slamming into the side of the mattress and frame, pinning him as the Horror raised a claw high to deliver a terrible blow.

It's claw was shattered by Captain Rogor's Gavel before it could come down, however. His hammer punched through the clawed hand, blasting it apart into a few socks and some pencils flying about the room, the arm thrown to the Horror's side. As the beast howled in pain, Henry swung his own hammer upwards, from under the monster's grip on the edge of his shield. The Gavel slammed into It's stomach, cutting the howl short in a gurgling gasp. The demon shot back under the bed and Henry stumbled over to where Captain Rogor stood.

"A mighty blow, Henry, and well placed." Rogor said with a nod and a smile.

"I think yours was pretty good too. It sure saved me." Henry gasped, trying to catch his breath a little.

"A few more good ones like them, and I think this thing will be just about finished. Look. It has lost a lot of flesh already." The captain said, pointing at the various bits of junk that had once been parts of the Horror. It was all just laying there, not burned or ripped or anything. None of it looked like it had been smashed by lightning hammers or anything. Henry nodded and hefted his Battle Gavel.

"Then let's give it a few more good ones." He said, feeling like a more like a star barbarian than ever before.

"Indeed." Rogor chuckled, circling the bed and ducking to look under it.

The Horror shot out as the Captain went around the corner of the footlocker, and got past his defenses. It latched onto his shoulder, pinning his Gavel to his chest, as It's remaining claw raked his back. The Captain bellowed in pain and rage as he tried to twist free. He turned off his shield and used the projector to bash at the beast's face, pounding It with his powerful punches.

Henry shouted 'NO!' as he saw his hero being mauled by the Horror, and leapt into action. He didn't want to swing the hammer and miss, taking the chance on pulverizing Rogor. Instead, he bounded onto the bed and used it as a springboard again. As he came down this time, he had the handle of his Gavel in both hands, and brought the butt of the handle down on the back of the Horror's head with a heavy thud.

It was enough. The beast was rocked from It's grasp on the Captain and released him, staggering to the side. The Captain immediately spun around, bringing his hammer about in a flat swing, smashing the beast's face and sending It reeling towards Henry. As It stumbled to Henry, he held the Gavel like a baseball bat and wound up for a homerun swing, thumbing the pulse engine to full power as he did. Henry swung at a slightly upward angle, putting as much power into it as he could, adding all the force he could to the already massive force of the minijet powered hammer.

The crack was like thunder. The Horror's head exploded into a cloud of blanket and laundry and hangers and marbles. It's body slumped to the floor, falling into a heap of junk as it did. Whatever possessing spirit had held It together was gone, destroyed by Henry's smiting hammer. The clatter of marbles bouncing on the walls and his desk was the last sound of the Horror they heard. Henry stood where he was, shoulders sagging, sore, as he gasped for breath.

"Another enemy of good, felled by the might of conviction." Captain Rogor said, turning off his shield and Gavel. Henry turned his off as well and straightened up, smiling. It was what Captain Rogor said whenever he saw to it an enemy was brought to justice or destroyed.

"Thank you, Captain. I would be dead if you hadn't shown up to help me. How did you even get here?" Henry said, his mind a whirl of emotions and questions.

"What do you mean? I was always here. I didn't help you. You did. Where do you think I came from?" Captain Rogor said. As he spoke, he started to fade away, growing more and more transparent with every word.

"Wait! What do you mean? I don't understand!" Henry called, stepping over to where Rogor was almost gone. Rogor reached out pointed at Henry's chest, speaking again just before he disappeared entirely, his voice faint and sounding like it was more in Henry's head than in the room.

"Where else would I have come from?" He laughed. Then he was gone. Henry stood there blinking for a second, then looked down at his hands. He held his old plastic hammer and plastic shield. They were the same old toys they had always been before. He looked around his room. It was a mess, but that was it. It didn't look like there had been a fight between a shadow demon, a star barbarian, and a kid armed with weapons from some far off galaxy. It just looked like his closet threw up.

Henry heard footsteps in the hall. He tossed his hammer and shield in the open closet, turned off the flashlights, and hopped into bed, pulling the blankets up just as the door opened. His mom poked her head in the door, trying to see in the dark room.

"You alright? I thought I heard something banging around." She asked quietly.

"I'm fine. I thought I saw something in the closet, but it was," Henry started, not knowing what to tell her.

"It was what?"

"It was just a nightmare." He said, smiling in the dark.

"Okay. Goodnight." She said with a little laugh.

"Goodnight."