And so begins the tellings of Johnny Five-Aces. Who knows where he comes from, what he's done, what he will do? Only he knows but his mark is stamped on the world.

All characters and storyline © Snikch

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The Myths and Legends of Johnny Five-Aces
As legend has it, long ago a young warrior was wandering through a forest when he came upon a young maiden bathing in a spring. The beauty of this maiden struck a blow to his soul like no other woman ever had before. He immediately fell to his knees, declaring his love for her. The beautiful girl, startled by the sudden appearance of this man, ran in fright. Fearing for her safety, the young man followed after her. His intuition had been correct, for it wasn’t long before he heard her scream in terror. Her flight, which had quickly taken her away from him, had also called the attention of bandit for they too desired her.
The young warrior, disregarding his own safety, leapt among the bandits. With great ferocity and skill the warrior fought the bandits and won, but he was greatly outnumbered. As the last man fell, so did he. His wounds were not serious but they were numerous and bled freely. The maiden ran to the side of her savior. Removing her dress, she pressed it to his wounds.
“Great warrior, why did you risk your life for me?” She asked him.
“For you, lovely maiden, I would die a thousand deaths to keep you from harm.” He said.
From that day their love blossomed. Their courtship was short but intense. Love like theirs had never been seen before and never would again. So pure was their love for each other that it even moved the heart of the lord of demons. Satan watched and coveted their love. So filled with greed was he, that on the night before the young couple’s wedding, he tricked the young maiden and stole her away to the deepest depths of hell.
Sorrow at the loss of his love filled the soul of the young warrior. With only rage in his heart, the warrior entered hell in search of his other half. For days he fought through the hordes of Satan without food, without water, without rest until he made his way to the very halls of the Dark Prince. He was battered and bleeding, nearly dead from exhaustion when he confronted the devil.
“Foul demon!” He roared, “I challenge you. Return my love or die by my sword.”
Satan stood there, impressed by the courage of this warrior, but he was no fool. He offered the man money, power, women, but the warrior only spat defiance back at him. He would not be swayed by trifles such as those.
“If you will not accept the gifts I offer then I will make you a deal,” Satan told him.
The Dark Lord was a great one for making deals. With a gesture, a table appeared with a deck of cards in its center.
“Play one hand with me,” the devil said, “Win and I will release your love, lose and she is mine forever.”
Weary, the warrior sat at the table. He was tired and half dead; he knew that there was no chance that he would win against such an opponent.
“If I win I leave here with her,” he said flatly.
“Of course,” Satan told him, “That is the deal.”
The demon took the cards and shuffled them thoroughly, and then he placed them in front of the warrior. The warrior cut the deck twice and passed them back.
“One hand of five cards,” Satan explained, “the one with the highest hand wins.”
The devil dealt five cards to each of them and set the deck aside. Lifting his cards, the demon looked at them and smirked. He flipped them over to reveal a straight flush from the nine to the king of spades.
“It looks like I will win,” he said with glee.
“It is not over yet,” said the warrior.
Slowly he turned over his cards. It may have been luck, it may have been a cheat, it may have been an act of God himself, but no one expected these cards. First the ace of spades, then the ace of hearts, then the ace of clubs, then the ace of diamonds, and finally a fifth ace appeared, one no man had ever seen. Satan roared in rage.
“I have won demon, now return my love,” the warrior said and rose to his feet.
“Yes you have won,” the Dark Prince said but he was crafty and a cheat, “You’re love’s soul is now free but you will never see it again. I condemn you to walk the mortal world forever!”
The warrior charged the devil, but hell dissolved around him as he was sent back to the mortal realm.
“NO!” he roared and hope fled from him. To this day he still walks the earth, lamenting the loss of his love, to only be known as Johnny Five-Aces…