The Wife Who Never Was E-Book

Robert Jeschonek

• Herausgeber: Pie Press
• Kategorie: Fantasy und Science-Fiction
• Sprache: Englisch

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2019

Beschreibung

What happens when a truly super hero loses the love of his life in the continuity overhaul of his fictional universe? Mighty Pinnacle's super memory won't let him forget his lost marriage to Doris Dane, and his aching heart drives him to search everywhere for a way to bring her back. But all his power might not be enough when he runs up against a force from beyond his world, an enemy with the secret to his suffering. In the end, Pinnacle might not even be able to save himself from a staggering menace who can rewrite reality as he sees fit. Don't miss this exciting tale by award-winning storyteller and DC Comics writer Robert T. Jeschonek, a master of unique and unexpected superhero adventures that really pack a punch. The author of the FORCED HEROICS stories brings you another epic saga of twisted heroes unlike any others you'll ever meet.

Leseprobe

The Wife Who Never Was

A SUPERHERO TALE

ROBERT JESCHONEK

Contents

Also by Robert Jeschonek

The Wife Who Never Was

About the Author

Special Preview: Forced Retirement

THE WIFE WHO NEVER WAS

Copyright © 2023 by Robert Jeschonek

http://bobscribe.com/

Cover Art Copyright © 2023 by Ben Baldwin

www.benbaldwin.co.uk

This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents either are products of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events or locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

All rights reserved by the author.

Published by Blastoff Books

An Imprint of Pie Press

411 Chancellor Street

Johnstown, Pennsylvania 15904

www.piepresspublishing.com

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Also by Robert Jeschonek

A Matter of Size

Forced Betrayal

Forced Retirement

Forced Partnership

Heroes of Global Warming

Not-So-Fortunate Son

Seven Comic Book Scripts Volume One

Seven Comic Book Scripts Volume Two

Seven Comic Book Scripts Volume Three

Six Superhero Stories Volume One

The Wife Who Never Was

In the middle of a battle with Dr. Egregious, I think of her laugh. It was loud, whether in private or public--too loud, sometimes, for polite company. Never a girlish giggle for her; more like a horse's guffaw.

What I would give to hear it just one more time.

As I think of it, Egregious draws his Trivializer and aims the barrel at my chest. I smack it away with one swipe of my hand, shattering it into a thousand pieces.

Then, I go to work on Egregious. So very glad he's indestructible; I need someone like him to pound and pound until the memory of her laughter fades.

Even though I know I'll never forget for long. How could I? She was my wife.

Her name was Doris Dane. And for reasons unknown to me, she no longer exists. That particular version of her, the one I loved with a passion transcending time and space, has vanished from the face of the Earth.

* * *

As I fly Egregious across town to the super-villain lockup, I think again of darling Doris. I remember the way her green eyes sparkled when she looked at me with joy. The way her golden hair gleamed with rose and umber as I flew her into the light of the setting sun. The way her lips pulled back from her slight overbite in a trembling smile.

I haven't seen that smile in weeks now. For all my amazing powers--flight, strength, speed, impenetrability, explodo-vision, hypno-breath--I haven't been able to find a trace of her anywhere. Except in my own super-memory.

There's a Doris Dane here, I've met her, but she isn't my Doris Dane. She doesn't remember being married; she doesn't remember our lives together. I try to stay clear.

But everywhere I turn, I'm reminded of what I've lost. Because my wife is not the only thing that's changed.

The guards at the super-villain prison, for example. When I drop off Egregious, they keep their distance. Their postures and expressions are stiff, as if I intimidate them.

It never used to be like that. I remember people constantly shaking my hand, asking for autographs, having pictures taken with me. Most folks were relaxed instead of tense and suspicious around me.

That's one of the things that makes me think the world is the problem. That maybe I've ended up on the wrong version of Earth.

Or maybe I'm somewhere else altogether. Maybe even in Hell.

Anything's possible. After all, I'm Pinnacle, the mightiest superhuman hero alive. And my enemies are the most powerful in the world.

* * *

The next day, I have another meeting with the Spell Squad--a team of mystically oriented heroes. They didn't exist in the world I remember, but I keep hoping they can help me nonetheless.

When I land in front of their warped downtown mansion, the door opens without a knock. The Horoscopian walks out, followed by the Diviner and Seventh Son, who closes the door behind him.

"Greetings, Pinnacle." The Horoscopian stands tall, all seven feet of him, in his zodiac cloak. "I regret to say, we have not yet found the answers you seek."

"Still nothing?" My despair is familiar. This is my sixth visit to the Spell Squad with identical results.

"We've looked behind every curtain." The Diviner stares into space with her three blind eyes. Her sing-song voice is haunting. "Peered into every abyss."

"We've chased down every imp, punk, and quisling with the slightest stink of sorcery about them." Seventh Son spits a glob of chewing tobacco that hisses and slithers away when it hits the sidewalk. "We stuck it to 'em good, too. Nobody knows nothing."

"We even made a very bad deal with Psychedelicus the Impure." As the Horoscopian says it, the symbols of Pisces and Cancer glow on his cloak. "Cauldron and the Tantrics are still trapped in Gnostos, paying a steep price for the intelligence he sold us."

"Intelligence?" I can't help feeling a glimmer of hope. "Did he give us any leads?"

"Only lies." The Horoscopian sighs. "I am sorry, good Pinnacle, but we can find no trace of this nonexistent wife, or the life you shared."

"We have looked everywhere." The Diviner crosses her arms over the bodice of her shimmering blue dress. "Used every tool at our disposal."

Desperation rises in me like an ocean tide. I see where this is going. "But there has to be another way."

"My friend." The Horoscopian steeples his long fingers and shakes his head. The symbol of Virgo lights up on his cloak, as Pisces and Cancer fade. "Our search is finished."

"The time has come for acceptance," sings the Diviner.

I clench my fists. "Are you sure there isn't..."

Seventh Son steps up and chest-bumps me. "We tried, capiche? Now amscray."

Anger boils inside me, and I force it down. "But there has to be..."

"Did it ever occur to you..." Seventh Son taps my right temple with an index finger. "...that the real problem might be in here?"

* * *

Of course it has. That was one of the first places I looked.

Early on, I went to Mentalissimo, master of minds, for an ultra-deep scan. He assured me the memories were real, and my sanity wasn't in question.

I wonder if he'd say the same thing about my sanity now, after weeks of banging my super-hard head against the wall.