FicWad

-Jeffery opened his eyes and instantly knew something was wrong. There was no gunfire, no screams of agony and terror. He could hear birds singing and cars driving by. He was lying on his back on a comfortable bed and staring at a very familiar ceiling. He sat up and looked around the small room and he wanted to scream.

-"It can't be," he whispered. There was a bookshelf on the wall opposite the bed; a book bag was on the floor. There were clothes piled on the closet floor. It was just as it had been, it was his old room. The room he had lived in before that day, but how?

-"Jeffery!" his father called, "Get your ass in gear boy!" Jeffery threw off his blanket and looked at himself. His beautiful armor was gone, a t-shirt and shorts were all that covered now. He closed his eyes and tried to call on the darkness, begging it to return and make the world the way it should be but to no avail. His rage would not answer his call.

-Jeffery didn't want to leave the room; his hand trembled as he grasped the door knob. Surely this couldn't be real, what had happened? A moment ago he was leading an entire fleet to wage war on all of Europe and now he had somehow been returned to the time before his power had awoken. It wasn't fair!

-He opened the door and walked down a familiar hallway. The sense of déjà vu was overwhelming. He even recognized the smell of his mother's scrambled eggs. The mere thought of eating those greasy, salty things again turned his stomach. He walked down the hall, passing the pictures of his family. Even now they showed not a single image of Jeffery. Not one picture of the embarrassment, the failure.

-He entered the kitchen and sure enough there were dear old mom and dad. Dad sat at the head of the table reading his paper while mom was at the stove cooking breakfast. Jeffery stared at them, thinking how much he preferred them as decorations in his throne room. They had never adorned their walls with memories of him so he had adorned his castle with their petrified remains. How he wished to return them to that state.

-"Don't just stand there," his father said, "sit down and eat your breakfast." Jeffery looked at his father coldly, he might not have his powers, but he wasn't that weakling anymore. "I'm not hungry," Jeffery said defiantly. His mother and father both looked at him with surprise. They had never heard him take that tone before. It was the same look they had the day he turned them into statues. He expected a scolding or a slap but neither said a word.

-Jeffery glanced at the calendar; it was a school day, the day after he had changed the world. Somehow history had been altered, the bus incident had never happened. But Jeffery knew that power was hidden inside him somewhere, he would just have to find a way to bring it to the surface again. Then he could subjugate the human race all over again, even better than before.

-And what better place to awaken his rage then high school, the place of broken dreams and crushed spirits. He got dressed and left home without saying a word to his parents; he would deal with them yet again after he was back to his old self. He walked to the bus stop and stood confidently among the others. He couldn't wait for one of them to try and push him because this time he would push back.

-Much to his surprise they kept their distance, but not out of disgust as he was used to. They looked at him as though he were still the demon king. It was as if they could sense his eagerness for a confrontation. The bus came and Jeffery got on first, no one tried to push him out of the way or even object. It was like he was a king again.

-Once on the bus he looked around, in the old days he always tried to find the nearest empty seat. Not this time, this time he spotted Tanner, the biggest, meanest kid on the bus. Tanner had always enjoyed kicking the back of Jeffery's chair and putting stuff in his hair. Surely Tanner would not disappoint.

-Jeffery sat down next to the larger boy and immediately Tanner looked at him with disbelief. "Just what the hell do you think you're doing, freak?" Tanner asked. Jeffery glared at Tanner. To think he used to fear this idiot, that stupid crew cut, that ridiculous earring. Did he really think those things made him look tough? Jeffery glared at him with the memories of all the horrors he had witnessed and enjoyed.

-"I'm doing whatever I want to do, you sickening pile of filth," Jeffery answered. "If you have a problem with that then do something about it." Jeffery saw a look of shock and fear on Tanner's face that he had only seen the day the boy had been engulfed by the darkness while climbing out of the very bus they now sat in. He slid over toward the window trying to put as much distance between Jeffery and himself as he could and didn't say another word.

-Jeffery was surprised, and disappointed. He had spent years convinced that if he ever stood up to Tanner the boy would have beaten him to a pulp. And now he was afraid to make eye contact with Jeffery. Why was everyone acting so differently? They hadn't experienced the world Jeffery had created, to them he should still be the pathetic little geek they had always pushed around and spit on.

-At school no one bothered Jeffery, they got out of his way in the halls, conversations stopped when he came near and everyone kept looking at him with fear and unease. Jeffery wanted to scream at them, what the hell were they all staring at? People were polite and even timid around him; Jeffery just couldn't figure it out. They had never acted like this before.

-He entered the class room last, leaving plenty of time for his class mates to pull something and sure enough when he went to sit down in his seat he spotted a thumb tack. Finally he had a reason to pick a fight. Everyone would taunt and insult him and then his hate would consume him. Jeffery picked up the tack and looked over the room with accusing eyes.

-"Who the fuck put this here?" Jeffery demanded. No one answered, no insults no taunts or laughter. Just a lot of uncomfortable and surprised faces looking away. Jeffery wasn't about to let this opportunity slip away. He walked up to Roy Chepmen and put the tack in his face. "It was you, wasn't it?" Jeffery said. Roy was the alpha male of the room, always coming up with pranks to pull on him, surely he would have the balls to do something.

-"Hey man I didn't do it." Roy said apologetically. Jeffery couldn't believe his ears. Even Roy was intimidated by him all of a sudden, this was ridiculous. "You piece of shit I know it was you!" Jeffery yelled. "You're always coming up with some way to humiliate me, so why are you acting like such a wuss?"

-"I'm sorry man," Roy said, his voice shaking, "we were just playing around." Jeffery eyes went wide with anger. This couldn't be the same Roy that had given him swirlies in the toilet, locked him in a locker and had beaten him bloody because his girlfriend had told him Jeffery was rude to her.

-"What the fuck is wrong with you!?" Jeffery screamed. "You hate me, all of you hate me, and now suddenly you're sorry?" Roy looked at Jeffery in stunned silence. He tried to say something but gave up and looked down at his desk. Somehow in a single day their roles had been reversed, Roy was the frightened little kid and Jeffery had become the bully.

-"Jeffery..." Mr. Welch said sternly. "WHAT!" Jeffery yelled as he shot a wild eyed glair that cut off anything the teacher was planning to say. Even the teacher was afraid of him now? The man who had always talked down to him and told him to be a man? Jeffery stood straight and tossed the take away carelessly.

-He sat lazily in his chair shaking his head. He hadn't gone back in time; he was in the fucking twilight zone. Suddenly he heard them, the voices, whispers all around him. At first he thought it was his classmates talking about him and his outburst but it was too loud. Why did the voices torment him even here? He closed his eyes and they went away, for the moment at least.

-The rest of the day went the same way; no matter how hard he tried no one would get into a confrontation with him. Several girls even asked if he was doing anything later that night. Girls who hadn't given him the time of day when he had been kind and polite now wanted to hang out with him. He hated them so much it was unbearable but no matter how angry he felt it was only frustration, not rage, not the darkness.

-It was then that he realized a terrifying possibility. What if it had all just been a dream? A wonderful and realistic dream but a dream none the less. No, that couldn't be it, no dream could last that long. Jeffery pushed the thought out of his mind, he couldn't accept that. It had happened, he had been a god and now he needed to get it back no matter what.

-He sat down at lunch out in the open, practically begging to be attacked but no one bit. He ate his lunch without enthusiasm, after feasting on the hearts of slain enemy's tuna fish was unappealing. Even Brent and Jason kept their distance. Jeffery had been certain that they would try something out of shear stupidity if nothing else but it seemed in this backwards universe even they were afraid of him.

-The day ended and Jeffery walked out through the doors in a daze. He was almost crying. This was what he had wanted most of his life. No one teasing him, everyone respected him and the girls liked him. But compared to what he had had, what he had lost. He had been a god, lord of the dark territory. He commanded armies of demons that feasted on the flesh of those who had done him wrong. He had been well on his way to conquering the entire world.

-Compared to that this life was an unbearable hell of mediocrity. There was only one chance left to regain his empire and glory. It was funny, but he missed his subjects. He cared for them far more than he did these filthy animals that now scuffled around him.

-He missed his generals, always competing for his attention, and Marrow, her cunning eyes watching over him. And most of all he missed Raven. Oddly enough the only human he had ever felt anything for. He realized that she must be in this world somewhere but he had no clue where to find her. And even if he did she wouldn't know him, it wouldn't be the same Raven.

-He would get them all back, or he would die trying, either way he would be removed from this world. He waited at the curb until the bus came and then, he stepped forward. Everyone screamed and Jeffery watched as the headlights came for him and then he heard a familiar voice call to him. "Master..."

-Jeffery opened his eyes and looked around. Scylla, Jade, Kikki and Hellen stood over him with concerned expression on their faces. "Master, are you alright?" Jade asked. Jeffery stood up and looked around at his fleet. They hadn't reached their destination yet but he could see a luxury liner not too far off. It would be just the thing to take his mind off of things.

-"I'm fine girls," Jeffery said, "just a bad dream."