Hero Dreams: A Stan Lee Tribute (2018)

            Everyone dreams of being a superhero, so what do superheroes dream of being? As a writer I consider myself to be a hero of sorts, so I dream of being a different type of hero. The superheroes that filled the pages of comic books always inspired me to strive for a better world and to create realities of my own where good conquered evil and noble individuals rose to the challenge of righting wrongs no matter what. This is how Paperman was born. He was an inspired thought brought on by heroic people like Stan Lee and creative individuals like him. Even though Paperman would never admit it I can say for certain that he also dreams of being a superhero. He does not have powers of his own (unless you count sarcasm and reckless bravery) so he dreams of having powers like those that fill the pages of comic books he has had the privilege of visiting when he takes the time to leave the confines of his own paper. Sometimes he brings the magic of those other worlds home with him. Sometimes that magic mixes with the wonder of Paperworld and Paperman finds himself thrust into an imagined dreamworld of his own heroic creation. This story recounts one of those times.

            Paperman woke with a start. He lay on the floor of his living room. Adventure books lay scattered around him. He had just had the craziest dream and now he knew why. He must have been performing sleep heroics again after a late night reading session. He dreamt that he had been a superhero and was in the middle of saving the universe when he slipped and fell through a wormhole. He felt like he was falling for an eternity into a vast emptiness, blacker than ink.

            A stack of paper with a footprint on it solved the mystery of the fall. Paperman really needed to be more careful about his sleep heroism, or at least cleaning up before going to bed. He started to pick up the books when a large CRASH! echoed in from outside followed by the screams of the villagers of Papertown. Paperman ran out his front door and looked down at the town.

            Below in Papertown, a figure flew above the rooftops on a machine of some kind. Paperman could not make out who he was but he knew that he must be stopped.

BOOM! A large explosion filled the air and black ink flew in every direction, covering everything in its path.

“The villain must be using ink bombs!” Paperman said to himself for no apparent reason. He paused for a moment. He normally did not talk to himself but after another explosion, Paperman knew he had no time to think. Something needed to be done.

            Paperman quickly tore off his clothes, revealing his spandex, superhero uniform underneath. It was blue and red with line work that looked like webbing. Paperman did not remember putting it on but now was not the time to question providence.

            “Ha! Ha! Ha!” The villain’s maniacal laughter pealed out over Papertown, “All will fall before the might of Paper Goblin!”

“Little early for Halloween isn’t it, Gobbie?”

            Paper Goblin spun around on his Washi Glider and saw Paperman standing atop one of the roofs of a nearby house.

“Paperman! How nice of you to join the fun!” Paper Goblin cackled as he lobbed an ink bomb at his rival.

            WHOOSH! Paperman leapt from his perch, performed a nimble flip, and landed on the neighboring rooftop. The bomb collided with the spot where he had just stood and exploded. Ink flew everywhere, staining it black. People on the street below screamed.

“Why don’t we take this party elsewhere?” Paperman asked, “There’s no reason to involve innocent bystanders.”

“You’re no fun!” Paper Goblin laughed as he dipped down below the roof-line and grabbed two people covered in ink. He held them high above his head and laughed.

“The more the merrier!” Paper Goblin yelled as he threw a girl toward the ground.

Paperman swung into action and activated the web –shooter on his wrist. A line of webbing flew through the air and created a web under the girl allowing her to land safely.

            Paperman looked at the mechanism on his wrist. He did not remember creating it but he was happy to have it.

“Impressive!” Paper Goblin shouted as he threw the boy in his other hand and flew up into the air.

            THWIP! Paperman caught the boy in his web. He swung over to check on him and while he was leaning over the boy shouted, “Look out!”

            A tingling sensation shot down Paperman’s spine and everything seemed to move in slow motion. He heard a loud whirring sound and Paper Goblin’s maniacal laugh. Without thinking, Paperman flipped into the air and watched as Paper Goblin flew past him. He then activated his web shooter and caught the goblin’s glider with a line of webbing.

            Paper Goblin spun around, the front of his glider buzzing with metallic teeth.

“Let me show you the newest addition to my glider! It’s bound to shred your expectations!”

“You were never good at jokes! Let me show you how it’s done,” Paperman retorted as he pulled back on his web. “It’s more like: ‘Spring is nice’,” and at this Paperman stopped pulling on his webbing and it shot him forward like a spring, “See you next fall!” in perfect synchronization with the line delivery, Paperman’s foot collided with Paper Goblin’s face, sending him reeling off his glider toward the rooftops below.

            SPLAT! Paperman webbed the glider to a rooftop and looked around for Paper Goblin but he was nowhere to be found. It was almost impossible to see anything through the ink that covered the streets.

“You’re gonna’  be getting a serious bill for ink remover in prison, Gobbie,” Paperman said as he inspected the black, sticky goop. His scientific mind whirred into action as he scooped the ink into a vial that he stuck into a pouch on his belt.

“I bet if I perform some tests on this stuff I can figure out a way to wash it out of the town,” Paperman said to himself. “Why am I talking to myself again? And since when did I turn into such a nerd?”

            As Paperman talked to himself again, he did not notice that the Washi Glider had come to life. The metallic teeth on the front whirred and shredded through the webbing that covered it. The rocket booster on the back roared and the glider shot toward Paperman.

“My 2D-sense is tingling!” Paperman said to himself before reflexively flipping into the air. The glider flew past him again before dipping below the roofline.

            Paperman landed and watched as Paper Goblin shot into the air, having remounted his machine.

“We finish this!” Paper Goblin shouted as he threw another bomb at Paperman, who dove to the side to avoid the blast.

            The bomb hit the roof and a flash of white burst from it, but there was no sound.

“I think your bomb is broken!” Paperman shouted.

“Check again!” Paper Goblin retorted.

Paperman looked and to his horror saw that most of the house was gone. He was standing on the edge of a blank space.

“What did you do?!”

“Eraser bombs!” Paper Goblin yelled as he pulled two more bombs from his pouch.

“I’ve gotta’ get him away from people,” Paperman said to himself.

THWIP! Paperman stuck a web line to the bottom of the Washi Glider. He pulled as hard as he could and spun. Paper Goblin lost his balance and dropped his bombs, which fell harmlessly to the ground.

            Paperman released the web and let the glider fly toward the lake at the edge of town. He then leapt from rooftop to rooftop in pursuit of the villain. As he neared the glider, Paperman leapt with all his might toward Paper Goblin and landed on top of the glider.

POW! Paperman landed a punch across the goblin’s face. The glider flew out of control and spun out over the lake. Beach-goers watched the fight rage on over the water.

“Everyone out of here! Superhero battle going on!” Paperman shouted.

            As the two fought atop the glider a few ink bombs spilled from Paper Goblin’s bag and landed in the water.

BOOM! The bombs exploded, sending jets of water into the air. The onlookers ran screaming and one hit the glider, covering both fighters as they struggled atop the flying machine.

“I hope you have ink covered in your insurance, pal, ‘cuz I am not paying for this!” Paperman said as he looked at his now completely ink-covered suit.

KAPOW! Paperman landed another punch, sending Paper Goblin flying off the edge of the glider toward the water.

            Paperman watched the villain fall but was taken off guard when Paper Goblin pushed a button on his wrist that called the glider to him. The glider shot downward, carrying Paperman with it.

            As the glider neared Paper Goblin he kicked out, his foot connecting with Paperman’s face.

THWOK! Paperman fell backward off the glider. He hit the surface of the black inky lake, the wind knocked from him. He felt paralyzed as he sunk into the goop.

“Time to blot you out of existence!” Paper Goblin laughed as he activated the paper shredder on the front of his glider again. He flew just above Paperman, threatening to tear him to pieces should he float too high above the water’s surface.

            BLUB! Paperman dove down into the lake. The inky blackness overtook him. He could not see. The only thing he was aware of was the faint echo of Paper Goblin’s laughter just above the water.

            As the darkness closed in, Paperman remembered his dream. He felt as if he was falling again. Then he remembered who had thrown him into the portal in the first place. It was someone from another reality he had visited. Part of his imagination must have followed Paperman through the portal, causing the realities to mix together. Paperman racked his brain for anything he learned from his time traveling off the pages of Paperworld. There must be a way to stop him. Then it hit him!

Paper Goblin saw his enemy’s head break the surface of the ink and he turned his glider toward him.

WHOOSH! The glider came down but Paperman ducked under the water just in time.

“Gonna’ have to do better than that, Gobbie! They not teach you how to aim back in New York?”

            Paper Goblin cringed as Paperman mocked him. Who was he to mock his superior intellect and strength?

“That’s right! I know how you got here! Too bad you couldn’t make it here all by yourself! Had to piggyback off a real 2D hero!”

“You mock me for the last time!” Paper Goblin screamed as he threw an ink bomb at Paperman. It missed and plopped harmlessly in the already inky lake.

“Out of fresh ideas? Figures for a knock-off villain that just followed me here for some lame publicity stunt!”

“I’ll show you knock-off you flat doodle!”

            Paper Goblin grabbed an eraser bomb and hurled it at Paperman. It collided with the water. A white flash surrounded Paperman. Paper Goblin smiled with his jagged teeth. The smile quickly vanished when he saw Paperman standing at the bottom of the inky crater created by his eraser bomb.

“Looks like your ink protected me!” Paperman shouted up, indicating the inky smudge marks covering his body. “Didn’t you know erasers don’t work on ink? It got the water though.”

            Before Paper Goblin could respond, Paperman shot two lines of webbing from his web shooters, hit the Washi Glider and pulled it toward him. One of the web lines hit the rocket on the back of the glider, causing it to backfire. Smoke billowed from the engine as the glider careened toward the inky crater.

“You’ll never defeat me!” Paper Goblin cried as he dove from the glider toward Paperman.

            Paperman met him head-on. They both collapsed to the ground, the inky water rippling all around them, unable to fill the erased void.

POW! SOCK! WHAM! KAPOW!

            The villain and hero fought until Paperman kicked Paper Goblin off of him, sending him skidding to the other side of the void. They stood facing each other, both panting, trying to catch their breath,

“We’re really not that different, you and me,” Paperman said, extending his hand to Paper Goblin, “We’re both just products of someone else’s imagination.”

“You’re nothing like me!” Paper Goblin spat.

“Why don’t you let me do the hero thing and take you in quietly so you can break out in a few months and we can do this whole thing over again?”

            Paperman winked. He liked the superhero gig. There was never a shortage of new villains breaking onto the scene or old villains trying to settle a score.

“I play for keeps,” Paper Goblin said and hit the button on his wrist.

            The Washi Glider sputtered to life and flew at Paperman. Unfortunately for the goblin, Paperman’s 2D-sense alerted him to the danger and he dove to the side. The glider flew past him at Paper Goblin.

            Weakened from the fight, and without superhuman precognition, the villain did not move fast enough.

            Paperman looked away as the shredder on the front of his own glider devoured Paper Goblin before it crashed into the inky depths of the lake that surrounded them.

“Guess he got his wish,” Paperman said as he shot his web up to the lip up of the crater and pulled himself back into the water.

“Master Pencil’s gonna’ have quite a time cleaning this one up,” Paperman said as he walked back onto the beach, ink dripping from him. “But it’s like I always say every time I finish an amazing adventure: ‘NUFF SAID!’”

“Wait, I never say that,” Paperman said, talking to himself again, “I have no idea why I said that. And why do I keep talking to myself?! I need to talk to the Writer about getting some thought bubbles, and maybe a few more muscles and a full ink and color job. That would be amazing!”

            Like I said, Paperfans, everyone dreams of being a superhero! But be careful what you dream up, because it just might become a reality! Until next time, keep dreamin’!