Good: I was beginning to wonder if I was the only one who could see them.
Here's the rest of Episode 1; and - uhh - try not to get too mad Cricks!
EPISODE 1 PART 3Chris yelled in panic as he saw the fifteen-foot tall figure of Shoga begin to move… sluggishly at first, but more normally by the second. It was flexing its massive fingers as if trying to warm them up – or was thinking of throttling somebody.
Reaper turned to look at the statue. Chris could not see Reaper’s face behind his mask, but he was certain that reaper was feeling satisfaction rather than surprise or fear. This was confirmed by Reaper’s next words. “Ahhh. Shoga is coming alive. He looks a little confused though. Dark Cricks, go over to Shoga and greet him, won’t you?â€
Dark ricks obeyed with alacrity, bounding over to the pedestal where the stone behemoth crouched, watching him approach. Dark Crick held out his hand in greeting, as if trying to extend a handshake. “Welcome to the land of the living. Lord Reaper greets you,†said Cricks with a friendly smile.
Shoga hesitantly extended its huge hand toward Dark Cricks’s hand and clasped it. Then, in a somewhat faster motion, Shoga hauled a surprised Dark Cricks up by his arm, pulled him close to its own massive head, and proceeded to eat him.
Liquid flew everywhere, although rather than blood it was a thicker liquid with the color and consistency of buttermilk. This did not seem to bother Shoga however, as it tore apart the limp body of Dark Cricks like a diner tearing apart a lobster at a seafood restaurant. Chris, still trapped in the magical chains, shuddered and closed his eyes to the sight, and gritted his teeth against the horrible sounds of tearing of flesh, breaking of bones, and that awful chewing as Shoga had its breakfast!
It was all Chris could do to keep from losing his. Had Dark Cricks been human, with human blood splattering everywhere, Chris would have heaved up for sure.
Reaper was roaring with laughter. “That was funny! If only that was the *real* Cricks! I’d love to see that after all the trouble that he’s given me!â€
Reaper turned his attention to Chris. “Lighten up, kid. It’s not like that was the *real* Cricks! It was just a soulless copy of him! What’s the matter, Sonny Boy? Don’t you like my latest achievement? After all, *you’re* the one that brought Shoga to life!â€
“Huh?! ME?!?†Chris asked in astonishment; opening his eyes again and facing Reaper – doing his best to ignore the sight and sound of Shoga’s horrible repast. “How’d I do that?â€
“You haven’t figured it out? Simple, simple! Shoga was under a spell similar to what the Cross of Changes did to Magnaman’s mind. And like the cross, only an innocent could invoke the spell and break it again. So when you shouted out your final command to Magnaboy to think for himself again… Shoga heard and obeyed you too!â€
Chris felt despair. It *was* all a trick. Why was he *always* falling for tricks?!
“So now what?†Chris asked numbly, unable to think of any other response.
“So now Shoga finishes his breakfast,†replied Reaper calmly as Shoga stripped a leg bone of its flesh before tossing it away. “That will help revive his strength. Then he’ll have his lunch, which is where *you* come in. Once he has had his fill, he will be at full power. And then he will be ready.â€
Shoga acted like it was choking; then it spit out a hip bone.
“I guess even Shoga found Cricks a bit hard to swallow,†commented Reaper.
“You’re going to use that demon to try to control the world, aren’t you?†asked Chris contemptuously.
“Nope, not at all,†said Reaper just as a dimensional portal appeared right behind him. “I’m going to send Shoga to Zerocurew as a token of my esteem!â€
The way he said that made Chris suspicious.
“You say that like Shoga is going to fight Zerocurew,†Chris ventured.
“He is!†replied Reaper levelly. “Right now tough, Shoga wouldn’t stand a chance. But once he eats a tasty young goody two-shoes superhero like you, his power will be – for a brief time at least – magnified a hundred times!â€
“If that’s so, why’d you send Magnaboy away?†Chris couldn’t help but ask.
“Well, for one thing that hulk might be a bit too much for Shoga to handle,†Reaper told him. “Second, I may have use for his super strength someday. And third, Zerocurew wants me to kill him… and I have better uses for that kid. For some reason Magnaboy’s presence inhibits Zerocurew from using his full power in our dimension. I suspect it is in my own best interests if this continues for now. So I sent him off out of harm’s way while Shoga has you for lunch. This way, no one will have any influence over Magnaboy until I can find a way to enlist him on *my* side!â€
Reaper looked at Shoga, which seemed to have finished eating Cricks and was now looking their way. “I guess it’s ready for its next course, and I’d rather it not be me! Once he finishes with you he’ll step through the dimensional gate and have a little one-on-one with Zerocurew. Have a nice lunch! Tootles!†Reaper waved a huge hand languidly goodbye, and abruptly vanished from the scene.
Lightboy looked past where Reaper was standing to see Shoga looking at him with intense interest. Then the 15-foot-tall demonic entity clambered down from its pedestal and slowly began to stalk toward him with him, ground-devouring strides with its knuckles dragging along the ground. Frantically the helpless hero attempted to free himself from the chains, but it was no use. They kept shocking him and squeezing him, and movement of any kind was totally impossible.
Shoga reached his side and reached down. Chris tightly shut his eyes to block out the sight of his last moments and steeled himself for the end.
There was a loud, sickening *CRUNCH!* and a squall of pain! And then there was a roaring bellow even louder than the agonized cry had been.
Chris’s eyes flew open upon realization that he was feeling no pain – except from the chains, anyway – and beheld an astonishing sight. The form of Shoga lay sprawling half prone on the floor at the far side of the temple, struggling to get erect, while the familiar form of Magnaboy stood directly between Shoga and Chris in a defensive posture - his huge fists poised ready to fight. Magnaboy was facing Shoga, but turned to take a quick look backwards at Chris. “You all right, kid?†asking the larger child.
“Uhh, yeah!†replied an amazed Chris. “I… LOOK OUT!!!â€
There was little need for a warning. Though Shoga came on with the speed and power of a freight train it was with about as much stealth as well, and Magnaboy was braced for the impact when the demon reached him. The sound of the collision between the two was deafening, and Magnaman and Shoga began to struggle with ferocious growls from each. The force of Shoga’s rush send Magnaboy backwards – his braced feet dragging along the floor creating furrows in the stone two inches deep. But a helpless Chris lay directly behind Magnaboy, and the hulking gray youth tripped over Chris’s legs.
Magnaboy was sent sprawling backwards, and for a moment Chris feared he’d be crushed underneath his falling weight. But Magnaboy turned his sprawling fall into a backflip, caught his weight on his massive arms, and kicked out with his legs. The onrushing head of Shoga caught the impact of two huge feet driven by those muscular legs with the impact of pile drivers, and was sent reeling backwards again. Meanwhile, Magnaboy manage to regain his feet without falling on any part of Chris’s helpless form.
While the monster was distracted, Magnaboy knelt down beside Chris, grabbed a portion of the magical chains that bund the hero, and began to pull. Ordinary steel chain would have snapped apart at once, but these magical chains were far stronger than steel. But Magnaboy did not give up; with huge muscles bulging and sweat running down his brow, Magnaboy strained and pulled at the chains with all his considerable might. For a moment his efforts seemed futile, but then the links gave way – making a noise that sounded more like a scream of mortal agony rather than the parting of cold metal links. Magnaboy began to uncoil the links from around Chris, but this was not necessary; once one link was severed, the entire chain fell apart like it was made from loose grains of sand and totally disintegrated.
Magnaboy helped a still dazed and weak Chris to his feet, but was unable to do more to help him before Shoga recovered and renewed its onslaught. Then Magnaboy steered Chris toward the exit to the temple and gave him a gentle nudge in that direction before turning to meet Shoga’s new onslaught.
Chris staggered off a few steps, but then stopped and turned. Magnaboy was fighting Shoga with all his might, but the two were too evenly matched; the fight could still go either way. Were it Magnaman Shoga fought, it would have been defeated easily. But Magnaboy had only a fraction of his adult form’s size and power, although he’d been regaining some of it at an alarming rate. For the first time, Chris wished he’d been regaining his size and strength even faster than he had been.
Suddenly Magnaboy was sent sprawling on his back by a powerful blow that would have crushed an armored tank into tinfoil. A huge hand reached out, great talons extended to disembowel the youth before he could regain his feet and resume fighting…
With a (frankly not very impressive) yell, Chris gathered his energy and rushed forward as fast as he currently could. By his usual standards this was strictly turtle speed; a mere 7000 miles per hour. But even a body as small as Chris’s hurtling into something at that speed has enormous power, and Shoga was sent reeling as if Magnaboy himself had hit it.
With a roar of rage, Shoga was sent staggering back… back… and on right through the still-open dimensional doorway behind it that Reaper had created. Shoga fell through the doorway and disappeared. Its function fulfilled, the doorway itself shrank to a dot and disappeared a moment later.
The two boys looked at each other wordlessly for a moment; neither of them terribly steady on their feet after their recent experiences.
“Thanks,†Magnaboy and Chris said to the other at virtually the same moment. Then each blinked simultaneously and then began to laugh… Chris softly and Magnaboy bellowing like Lieutenant Worf after a night guzzling blood-wine.
“You came back,†Chris quietly said to Magnaboy with a voice that clearly expressed his disbelief. “Even though you didn’t have to! Why?â€
“I was confused when I left,†Said Magnaboy hesitantly. “But once I had a moment to think, and I began to remember things that had happened, I realized that I was lost and alone in a world not my own. I am not from this world, but another. I don’t remember now how I got here, but I realized suddenly that you’d just done something to help me. That made you the only friend I knew about in this whole world. So I came back to thank you for helping me, and to see if I could somehow repay the favor.â€
“I think you’ve already done that,†replied Chris, still shaking a little from his close call. “So, where do you go from here?†He said this not from concern that Magnaboy might become the menace that Magnaman was, but because now he was honestly concerned for the gray boy’s wellbeing.
“I don’t know,†Magnaboy replied with a shrug of his muscular shoulders. “I have nowhere *to* go. This world is alien to me. Everything here seems as fragile to me as tissue paper. I have no family. No friends. No home…â€
“You do now,†said Chris with sudden determination. “You saved my life just now. The least I can do is to help you to find a life of your own!â€
“You’re a superhero, aren’t you?†said Magnaboy. “I think I’d like to be one. Would you be willing to have me along as a sidekick?â€
“No,†replied Chris simply.
Magnaboy’s face fell, and Chris decided not to let his joke go any further. “But I’d love to have you as a partner, and a friend!†he continued, holding out his hand for a shake.
Magnaboy’s face lit up and he and Chris shook hands.
Lightboy was lucky; his hand wasn’t broken but it was mighty sore for the rest of the day.
As for Shoga, lacking the extra power devouring Lighttboy would have given it, it was no match for Zerocurew at all; it becamed Zerocurew's favorite new torture slave.
End of Episode 1 Part 3
End of Episode 1
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Dare to be different... and make a difference.
To boldly go where no one in their right mind has gone before...