The Dale of Five Worlds

The Dale of Five Worlds – Part 7 (Conclusion)

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By Christian Laforet

Sam was blindfolded. Her hands secured behind her back. After the Emperor’s men ambushed her and her companions, Felicia and Robi-Jo, at Fresh Choppers 9822, they were loaded on to a transport. She couldn’t help but wonder how the Emperor had managed to get to Hardpan. Although able to communicate across the worlds, he had, as far as she knew, not mastered the technology needed to teleport. A familiar voice answered all her questions.

“You must have known I’d figure it out.”

She tilted her head. “Professor?”

“Pahlease, I’m ten time smarter than that fool.”

“Don!” Sam’s words dripped venom.

Felicia piped in. “Hey, um, for those of us who have no freaking clue what you are talking about, how about some answers.”

Sam assumed her compatriots were secured, as she was. “The Professor was my mentor. He invented the teleportation technology that I’ve been using.”

“Huh,” Felicia said. “So, he turned traitor or something?”

Sam shook her head before remembering her friend probably couldn’t see the gesture. “No. The professor died for the cause. This is his half-wit twin brother Don.”

“Half-wit?” Don roared. “I’ve always been the smarter sibling.”

Sam laughed. “Yeah, right. You’re a lazy loser who leeched off the professor for years. I’m guessing you sold him out and stole his technology?”

Sam smiled when no reply came. Clearly she had hit the nail on the head.

Finally, the man spoke. “It doesn’t matter what you think, soon you and your friends will be dead. The Dread Rainbow Emperor will rule the multiverse and I’ll be there by his majestic side.”

Despite all her bravado, Sam felt a swell of remorse fill her. They had lost. “It’s over.” Her voice barely above a whisper, Sam shook her head. “We’ve failed. The great profit Veets was wrong, nothing can stop the Emperor.”

She felt the familiar distortion of a teleportation field wash over her.

***

When the blindfold was pulled from her face, Robi gasped. She expected to see anything but the sight before her. She, and the other two girls, stood in front of a massive window. The pane stretched floor to ceiling and looked out at the most gorgeous world she had ever seen. Towers of sparkling glass and ivory stood like sentinels across the landscape. Lush bunches of trees and foliage carpeted the land around them, and stretching between it all was rainbows. These were not just illusions of light like the ones she was used to either, these were physical arches which radiated glorious colour.

“Holy crap!” Felicia let out a whistle. “This place is—” Continue reading →

The Dale of Five Worlds (Part 6)

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By Christian Laforet

The Siren slid towards Sam and Robi-Jo, Zack’s blood staining her lips. Even on land, the creature’s movements were fluid.

Felicia shook her head before slapping a palm against one of her ears. It did nothing, all she could hear was a dull whooshing. Looking up, she realized that her hearing troubles would have to wait, the Siren would be on her friends in seconds. She had to do something!

The light in the cave was dim, but there was enough for Felicia to spot the pistols. Zack must have dropped when he fell under the Siren’s spell. She had never fired—or held for that matter—a gun before, but she’d seen enough movies. Without a second thought, she hefted them off the ground, aimed them at the Siren and fired.

The bullets roared like cannonballs in the confines of the cave. The Siren saw the attack coming, ceased her singing and attempted to fall back into the dark water. One of the slugs went wide and ricocheted off the craggy wall. The other found a home as it slammed into the thigh of the retreating she-creature.

As soon as the music stopped, both Sam and Robi-Jo jerked before sagging to the ground.

“What?” Robi asked as she massaged her temples.

“Good question,” Sam replied rising back to her feet. “I’m guessing we were under the Siren’s spell.”

“Where did Zack,” Robi started, but stopped abruptly upon seeing his bloody remains. “Oh, never mind, he’s dead.”

“I DID IT!” Felicia whooped and hollered in triumph. “I TOTALLY SHOT THAT BITCH! I’M SO GANGSTER!”

“Why is that fool yelling?” Sam stomped towards Felicia but stopped cold when a massive form rose up out of the water behind her.

Felicia was in the middle of a series of vigorous pelvic thrusts when she finally noticed the looks of pure horror etched across her friends’ faces. She could see they were saying something, and judging by how fast their lips moved, it was something important.

“HUH?”

“There’s a huge sea monster behind you!” Robi-Jo screamed.

Still not sure what the big deal was, Felicia joined the other two girls. “YES, I DID SAVE THE DAY!”

Sam reached out, grabbed Felicia by the shoulders and spun her around.

Felicia felt her heart skip a beat. “OH MY GOD! WHY DIDN”T YOU GUYS TELL ME THERE WAS A GIANT MONSTER BEHIND ME?”

Sam eyed the beast. She had heard rumors of the Nicktopus during her travels. Legend was that the creature had once been a meat clerk at Fresh Choppers on Earth Prime, but due to black magic, had become something much more. She had always dismissed the stories as the Emperor’s propaganda. But, with black water dripping from its massive face, she knew that everything she had ever heard was true.

The Nicktopus arched up to his full height, his head nearly touching the ceiling of the cave.

“Oh great! A half-man, half-octopus just appeared.” Robi-Jo shook her head. “Well, at least we know it can’t get any worse.”

Behind them, the Siren re-emerged. Blood dribbled from her wound, her face a contorted mask of rage.

Sam glared at Robi-Jo. “Thanks for that.” Continue reading →

The Dale of Five Worlds (Part 3)

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By Christian Laforet

The lift descended into the blackened earth. Felicia and Robi-Jo stood rigidly between the armed men. Overhead, through rusted mesh speakers, crappy pop music assaulted their ears.

“So…what do you guys do for fun around here?” Felicia flashed a smile to the man on her left. A grunt and a don’t-talk-to-me glare shot back.

The elevator came to a grinding halt. As soon as the doors opened, the guards shoved the girls out.

“Wow!” Robi whistled as she and Felicia entered a massive foyer lined with various doors on either side, a huge, spiraled staircase at the back and a dozen marble statues stationed at even intervals along the walls.

One of the guards exited the lift with the girls.

“You think that’s The Sensation?” Robi-Jo pointed towards one of the statues.

“Jeez, I hope not. That guy looks a teenager.”

“No talking!” the guard barked.

The armed man led them down a series of labyrinthine corridors until finally coming to a stop at a set of silver doors which stretched almost all the way to the arched ceiling.

Felicia caressed the precious metal of the door. “Holy smokes! Is this real silver?”

“Shut up.” The guard pushed the door open, then nudged the girls inside.

The harem was a lavish display of comfort. Luxurious beds and couches were positioned around the room. Trays of food and a fully stocked cabinet of fine wines and spirits stood at each end of the space.

“Hey, booze!” Felicia started towards the bar. Continue reading →

The Dale of Five Worlds (Part 1)

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By Christian Laforet

“I can’t believe it’s been a year already,” Dale muttered as he pulled into the Fresh Choppers parking lot.

The events of the previous year were still very fresh in his mind. When a freak lightning strike coincided with a magical spell gone awry, the result was ten thousand miniature versions of himself. The tiny terrors ran amok through the store, killing many of his fellow co-workers. Only with the complete annihilation of the building, was Dale able to destroy them.

Once the dust settled, Dale was heralded as a hero. The mayor even presented him with a gently used 2003 Dodge Dakota and fancy box cutter with a blade that was guaranteed to never dull.

Even after his fifteen minutes of fame ended, Dale considered himself lucky that, at least, the Fresh Choppers had been reduced to a gaping hole in the earth. And then they rebuilt the damned place. Dale resisted returning to work there, but relented. It wasn’t cheap keeping a beast like a Dodge Dakota on the road.

The store looked exactly as it had before. The produce department led through to meat which connected to dairy and then on to the grocery department, which took up the bulk of the space.

As Dale made his way through the grocery section of the store, he ran into Felicia and Robi Jo. The cashiers were setting up a ladder in the middle of aisle one. Continue reading →