GODLING # 30: The Reality Bomb Saga Part Three

 GODLING # 30:  The Reality Bomb Saga Part Three 
by J. Vandersteen 


– GODLING – THE ONE MAN PANTHEON:  THE REALITY BOMB SAGA PART THREE 

Godling, Sir Magick and Bogatyr stand in Bogatyr's cavernous headquarters. 
"It seems these reality bombs that are going off all over the globe are causing tears in the fabric of reality, weakening the walls between different realities and dimensions." 
"That sounds pretty incredible even to me. And I've visited Olympus," Godling says. 
"As this world's mystic protector I've visited several other dimensions and have prevented several beings from those dimension to enter this one. I don’t know who is placing these bombs, but I have a feeling he or they plan to cause a tear wide enough to enter our world,” Sir Magick explained. 
“What kind of beings should I be thinking of?” Bogatyr asks. 
“Sometimes creatures with tentacles, sometimes other versions of ourselves. There’s a lot of possibilities.” 
“I have some experience with that last one,” Godling says.  “I wonder if there’s a connection there.” 
“What do you mean?” Sir Magick asks. 
“Some time ago a lot of different versions of myself showed up to help me out in a showdown with a supervillain.” 
Sir Magick strokes his chin. “That might explain how the bad guys were able to plant the bombs. It probably caused just enough of a tear in the fabric of reality for them to drop a few bombs through.” 
“So in a way I am responsible. Or my otherworldly versions are. Sounds like an extra motivation to get this whole mess wrapped up.” 
“Another hero just dealt with another Reality Bomb crisis. I suggest we visit him and enlist him in our quest,” Sir Magicks says. 
Bogatyr and Godling agree. Sir Magicks says a few magic words and suddenly the heroes are standing in Japan. The cyborg hero Ninjoid is still trying to compute what happened, having fought off were-cats. Now he faces another surprise with the appearance of the other heroes. 
“Identify yourselves,” Ninjoid says. 
The heroes tell Ninjoid their names. Sir Magick tells them why they are there. 
“This unit indeed faced strange beings that disappeared suddenly. I would be happy to join you in your quest,” Ninjoid says. 
“Excellent. I will try to pinpoint if there is another tear in reality right now to be found somewhere. Let me concentrate for  a moment.” Sir Magick closes his eyes. The heroes surround him. After a few minutes Sir Magick opens his eyes wide. “Yes, another tear is near. I will teleport us there right now.” 
The heroes disappear from the Tokyo city streets and reappear in a busy mall in Germany. 
“There!” Sir Magick says and points at a corner of the mall. The heroes see a portal of light, flickering for a minute. A man with a long white beard, dressed in a blue robe steps from the portal. He is holding a device. 
“He’s holding a Reality Bomb!” Godling says and speeds to the robed man. 
The robed man is startled and drops the Reality Bomb. He grabs a knife. Godling grabs his wrist and twists, the knife drops. Godling grabs his robe. 
“Who are you?” Godling says. 
The robed man struggles with Godling, trying to get free but Godling is stronger. The other heroes stand by his side. 
Ninjoid pick up the Reality Bomb. “Scanning device. Alloy unknown. Technical origin unknown.” 
“Who are you?” Godling repeats. The robed man punches Godling in the face, but he just shakes that off. 
“I’m way stronger than you, pal. Give it up and tell me what I want to know.” 
“Da, we insist,” Bogatyr says and puts the blade of his sword against the robed man’s neck. 
“I guess it doesn’t matter. You won’t be able to stop us anyway. The timer of the Reality Bomb will go off in mere seconds.” 
The bomb explodes, knocking Ninjoid against the wall. Suddenly everyone in the mall is standing upside down, their feet on the ceiling. 
“What?” Bogatyr says. “Seems like up is down and down is up.” 
“A shift in reality,” Godling says. “Good to know they don’t all involve inanimate objects becoming weird creatures.” 
“Yes. It will wear off like the other effects,” Sir Magick says. 
The robed man uses the slight upheaval to produce a small pen-like item from his sleeve. It turns out to be a blaster of some kind, firing a light bolt right into Godling’s face, who lets go of his prisoner. Smoke comes from Godling’s face. 
“Wait a minute!” Bogatyr says and grabs the villain’s robe and tugs him towards himself. “You’re not going anywhere?” 
“Are you okay?” Sir Magick asks Godling. 
“Yeah,” he says. “It hurt like hell but I’m already using the powers of Aesculapius to heal my face. He managed to surprise me.” 
“He won’t be surprising me,” Bogatyr says and kick the blaster out of the robed man’s hand. 
Then down is down again and up is up again. Everyone is standing on the floor again like they should. The mall’s visitors are all pretty dazed and confused and are pointing and staring at the strange costumed men. 
“I will take us all away from here, we have caused enough of an upheaval here.” Sir Magick teleports the heroes and their prisoner to Bogatyr’s cave. 
“Now you talk to us,” Bogatyr tells the prisoner. 
“I’m not telling you anything,” the robed man says. 
Bogatyr pushes his blade against the robed man’s throat. “Let’s see about that.” 
Godling grabs Bogatyr’s arm. “Wait, we are heroes. We don’t torture.” 
“I’m a warrior, sometimes to win a war you have to get nasty,” Bogatyr says. 
“There must be other ways to make him talk,” Godling says. “There are always alternatives to violence.” 
“I am that alternative,” Sir Magick says. “A simple truth spell will have him talking.” 
Godling smiles. “And I thought I had a vast array of powers.” 
Sir Magick touches the robed man’s head with his fingers and says a magic spell in an old arcane language. 
“Now tell us who you are and what your plans are,” Sir Magick says. 
The robed man speaks. “I am Throx, member of the Council of War and Science.  Our Council rules my reality. Our goal is to rule all realities, invading them and conquering them using our army of warriors and monsters from the realities we conquered. We seek out cracks in reality, and use those cracks to enter the other realities. There we drop our Reality Bombs, causing the cracks to widen enough for our armies to enter. Our armies are so powerful we always end up conquering the reality we enter.” 
“How do we close the cracks?” Godling asks. 
“Cracks in reality are caused by anomalies, things or beings from other realities. Find the anomaly in your reality, remove it and the cracks close.” 
Godling frowns. “He could be mentioning my fellow Godlings from other realities. But they’re gone now.” 
“Are you sure about that?” Sir Magick asks the One Man Pantheon. 
“Not 100%, I guess.” 
Sir Magick nods. “Then we need to make sure. In the meantime we need to make sure Throx here poses no danger.” 
“No problem, using the powers of Hephaestus I can forge some unbreakable restraints for our prisoner,” Godling says. 
“I should have the tools you need for that in my cave,” Bogatyr tells him. 
“I will see if I can track down your other self,” Sir Magick says. He sits down, closes his eyes and concentrates. Then, “Yes. Found him. There is another you, Godling. I can teleport us there.” 
“Sounds like a plan, as soon as we get Throx tied up,” Godling says. 
* 
Half an hour later Throx is totally bound and tied with chains, sitting helplessly in Bogatyr’s cave. 
“Time for us to go,” Sir Magick says and teleports the heroes. 
They all reappear in the Nevada desert. There, the eye-patch wearing Godling is practicing some moves with a broadsword. 
“What?” Eye-Patch Godling exclaims when he is suddenly surrounded by the heroes. 
“Hello, me. What are you still doing here?” Godling asks. 
“I’m still here to make sure my past becomes your future,” Eye-Patch Godling says. 
“Your presence is endangering our present,” Godling tells him. “Please, return to your own reality.” 
“Not possible. I am here to save your world, not endanger it.” 
“You heard my comrade,” Bogatyr says and puts the point of his sword against Eye-Patch Godling’s chin. 
Eye-Patch Godling uses the powers of Ares to disarm the hero with one move of his broadsword, then kicks him in the gut, knocking him on his behind. 
Ninjoid draws his laser-katana and strikes at Eye-Patch Godling, who jumps back to avoid it, then strikes with his mighty sword, cutting off Ninjoid’s sword-arm. 
“You hurt my allies. That was a mistake. Now you will have to fight me!” Godling says with clenched fists… 

NEXT: GODLING versus GODLING