a november 25 Ronnies submission using the words “gun” and “dragon”

Who are you in this story?

If you’re the Girl…
God chose you to save the world. Congrats.
Here’s the thing: Nobody gave you any superpowers. You get no Slayer strength, no kung-fu grip, no costume. You’re just you. Except, of course, for the Super 3-D Saint John of Patmos Vision ™ where you pass someone in the street and you see the numbers on their forehead, or a lamb standing as if slain, or that goddamned dragon again, and you know what their destiny will be. If you don’t change them. Convert them? Seduce them? Shoot them in the head? That’s up to you.

If you’re the Dragon…
God chose you, too.
They threw you out of heaven and you bounced. Now you’re everywhere at once, with seven heads and ten horns and seven crowns, whispering inside people’s ears, helping them be the bastards that they really are. Let the Big Guy send all the saints He wants: They are delicious. This world is yours. Rule it? End it? Or be a good guy for a change, just to screw them all?

If you’re the World…
You don’t want to end. Duh.
Powers, principalities, please: Leave us alone. You are every ordinary person just trying to get along — get home, get a job, get laid, get an SUV. You’re busy. Armageddon’s going to have to wait. Okay?

It’s not okay. Because Heaven and Hell have grown insistent, the End Time’s ticking down, and the Girl’s definition of “save the world” looks just as uncomfortable as the Dragon’s. You don’t like uncomfortable. But you’re hardly powerless. You can tie them up and wear them down. And maybe, if you work it right, you can give the crusaders something to care about they aren’t willing to sacrifice on their altars.

Then there’s the Gun….
It is the only real superpower in the world.
It is the only superpower you need. It is there, waiting, whenever you decide to reach for it. But the thing you shoot at is never the only thing that’s hurt.