Kid Eternity

I don’t know how long I wandered after that. It could have been a day or two, or it could have been a year. I experienced everything I could – and with my stop in Amsterdam, that was a lot. After I got bored with Europe, I returned to the United States.

You’re probably wondering how I got across the ocean, especially with airline security as tight as it is and me without any paperwork… not even a birth certificate. With my powers I could summon up rides whenever I needed, but I still worked my way across the ocean on various freighters.

Despite my immortality, I still fought off a terror of the sea. I’m sure that being machine-gunned to death can affect your psyche. This trip was much different from my last. For example, there were no Nazi U-boats prowling the waters we were traveling. For another, whenever one of my fellow crewmen decided to show me a little unwanted “attention,” now I was big enough to fight him off. After two or three of them went to the ship’s infirmary with broken bones, the word got out that I was hands off. And I didn’t mind that in the least.

It was fall when I stepped onto American soil again. I looked around the port and decided that I’d wander for a while. I hung around long enough to claim my pay (I wanted it in cash) and was gone.

I can remember the brilliant colors the leaves were becoming as I walked onto the college campus. It couldn’t have been too late in the fall, because the reds and oranges hadn’t faded to that dull, lifeless brown yet.

As the sun went down, I found myself following the crowd. I could hear the music from a block away. I smiled. Party.

I melted into the crowd and soon had one of the ubiquitous red plastic cups pressed into my hand. I gladly accepted and began mingling into the crowd.

That was when I saw her. She was the most beautiful woman I’d ever seen. Her hair was long and blond. Her skin was flawless. Her face was perfect, and for someone who’s seen Helen of Troy, that’s saying something.

The next few moments were a blur. I remember stammering an introduction to her as she began playing with my hair. Then she kissed me. It felt like electricity was shooting through me as her velvet lips brushed mine. The next thing I knew, she’d taken my hand and was leading me up the stairs. I set my cup down on the banister and dimly remember it falling off to splash onto the floor.

After we had finished, I went into the bathroom. I relieved myself and walked back out. She looked so beautiful lying there. The only light was a glow of moonlight from the window that surrounded her. I smiled and returned to action.

Later still I was back downstairs. She’d complained of thirst (and I was a bit parched myself), so I’d come down to get something for us. I ascended the stairs and pushed the door open. “Here you go,” I said. Then I looked and fell to my knees vomiting.

She was still there. Now she was suspended above the bed, tied to pegs forced into the wall with what looked like intestine. Her body had been ripped open from throat to crotch and her internal organs (most missing chunks) lay strewn around the room.

I looked up again as tears flowed from my eyes and the beer and vomit mixed in the carpet. I could call the greatest medical doctors in human history, but it was obvious it was far too late for that. I dimly became aware that I’d shut the door behind me as I made my way to my feet and shakily approached the terrible scene. As I drew closer, I could see that the pegs holding her were human bone.

“I don’t even remember your name,” I whispered through my tears as I reached out to touch her cheek one last time. Without her name, I could never use my powers to bring her back, which was the same reason I could never summon my parents. As my fingers brushed her face, her head separated from her body with a sickening snap, then bounced onto the bed and rolled onto the floor.

“Who would do this?” I whispered. “Who?” Finally I stood back and took a deep breath. “Eternity,” I said.

Sherlock Holmes appeared before me. “How may I assist you, young sir?” he asked.

I couldn’t even speak. I pointed at the corpse. Holmes’s eyes went wide when he saw it. “Find out who did it,” I finally choked out. I fell to my knees, crawled into the corner, drew myself up into a ball, and cried. Holmes took a moment to lock the door, then pulled out his ever-present magnifying glass and went to work.

It was only a few minutes before I heard a banging begin on the door. Someone had noticed that she was missing and wanted to know what was going on. The thin stream of red that had trickled under the door had no doubt made the others in the house even more anxious to get inside. Holmes had noticed as well and turned to me. “I believe I have finished here,” he said.

I nodded once and opened the window as I said, “Eternity.” Aladdin appeared outside, riding his flying carpet. Holmes and I climbed out the window and rode away on the carpet as the door finally gave way to the barrage and opened as the jamb splintered.

We landed when I decided we were a safe distance away. I sent Aladdin away with a quick “Eternity” and sagged to the grass. Holmes grabbed my arm and pulled me up.

”We should not stay in the open,” he cautioned. He dragged me down the street and into a hotel. Well, hotel was too polite of a word. This place was a dive.

Holmes paid the man behind the desk (who was amused by the man in the deerstalker cap) and pulled me upstairs into the room. He plopped me on the bed. As I sat there silently, I could feel his dark eyes scrutinizing me. Finally he broke the silence.

“Sir, I shall return to that scene. There were some things there I wish to inspect more closely.” Holmes studied my face again, then fetched a glass of water. “Perhaps you will feel better if you drink this.”

I shook my head and began staggering toward the bathroom as I felt my stomach begin to rebel upon seeing the glass of cool, clear liquid. Even with Holmes’s help, I barely got there in time. Holmes stepped outside as I began crying and vomiting at the same time.

When I came out of the bathroom, there was a note from Holmes. He reminded me to wash my face and rest.

Holmes slipped into the sealed frat house with no problems. He’d had years of experience to draw from, although he still wished that Kid Eternity had summoned Watson as well. The doctor’s aid would have been most useful.

Holmes silently made his way up to the room. The police had already departed, taking the body with them. He studied the holes in the wall where the bone pegs had been, then pulled out a magnifying glass to examine them more closely.

I rolled over on the bed. I had finally cried myself out. I didn’t even want to move. I just laid there and studied the cracks in the wall.

Holmes didn’t even turn when he heard the footstep behind him. He already knew who it was. “Are you returning to the scene of the crime?” he asked.

The intruder smiled. “So you’ve already figured it out.”

Holmes stood and lit his pipe as he turned around. “It was quite simple. I knew it had to be you after investigating the murder scene. All of the clues pointed to someone with your personality traits.”

The intruder’s smile grew wider. “Then you are no longer needed.”

Holmes took a puff off his pipe. “As I expected,” he replied as the intruder advanced toward him.

I was jolted out of my stupor as the door to my room exploded inward. I jumped up and turned around. Someone was standing there that could have been my mirror double. Where my hair was long and dark, his was long and blond. He wore a pitch-black jumpsuit as opposed to my normal white one. And I felt an uncomfortable feeling when he spoke.

“So this is you,” he said as he pitched Holmes’s severed head at me. It thumped against the wall and rolled behind a piece of furniture. He pulled out a heart from somewhere and bit into it as if he were eating an apple. Blood dripped down his chin as he held it out to me. “Want some?” he asked. “It belonged to that girl. She did whisper she’d give her heart to you, didn’t she?” He cackled an insane laugh.

“Who are you?” I asked.

He smiled confidently. “Kid Infinity,” he replied. He then decided to show me his powers. “Infinity,” he whispered. A wave of… something slammed into me, knocking me through the wall behind me. As I picked myself up, I knew I couldn’t take another of those blasts. I whispered “Eternity” and a Green Lantern with the face of a bird appeared.

“What’s going on?” Tomar-Re asked. He turned and started to raise his ring when he spotted Kid Infinity.

“No!” I said. “Get us out of here!”

Tomar-Re formed a platform and flew us out of the building as Kid Infinity laughed at me. “Where do we go now?” he asked.

I didn’t reply. My mind was spinning as I searched for something… anything that could stop my foe. Finally I had my plan, but it would severely weaken me. I whispered “Eternity” two more times and we were joined by two others – a girl with purple skin and a man with three toes on each foot, three fingers on each hand, a pointed tail, and blue fur all over him.

“What do we do?” the girl asked. I quickly explained my plan. With a blink, we were gone.

To Be Continued...

Next Issue: It’s Eternity vs. Infinity, and Eternity’s already against the wall! But Kid Eternity has one last gambit to try… Will it be enough to destroy Kid Infinity?

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