Shiva

Times Past, 1970

Shiva’s Last Case

by CSyphrett

Martin Martine loved to fly. It was the greatest thing about his alter ego. He could fly for hours, if he wanted, and ignore the world below.

He’d known better than that, though. His gift was not for him to enjoy like this.

Besides, his wife Lily would be angry because he was late for their anniversary dinner. She was often angry with him these days, and he didn’t know why. Even the wisdom of Brahma would not help here.

Martine saw the restaurant ahead and landed in a nearby alley. He said the magic word, and walked to join his wife, who stood waiting for him at the door with a foot tapping impatiently on the sidewalk.

Martin Martine smiled at his lovely wife. He had known her for most of his life, and loved her all that time. He wanted to make things special between them again.

“Happy Anniversary, Lil,” he said, offering her a small jewelry box.

She took it with a frown on her heart-shaped face. She opened it, glancing briefly at the contents, then snapped the case shut. “It’s nice,” she said, with a noticeable lack of happiness.

“What’s wrong, Lil?” Martine asked, concern marking his face.

“I’ve just finished with my doctor,” Lily said. “We’re not going to have children, Marty. I am infertile.”

“I’m so sorry,” said Martin, trying offer his wife some kind of comfort, trying to hold her close.

She pushed him away in anger. “Let’s eat, Marty,” she said angrily. “We can talk about this later.”

The Martines went into the restaurant in silence.

Martine sat through dinner, barely tasting anything. Lily didn’t talk, or respond to anything he said to try to make her feel better. Finally, the torture was over and the couple had finished with the pretense of civility.

Lil walked to the alley where Martine had landed earlier and said her own magic word. A golden rain from the ground brought her four-armed, dark form into existence. She took to the air.

Martine had jogged after her, saying his own word as soon as he was out of sight from people on the street. The delay was all Lil needed to vanish into the night sky.

Martine searched for her until the sun came up. He knew it was useless, but tried any way. As long as she was Kali, Lil could go anywhere in a flash.

***

Martin Martine tried to talk to his wife about their problem, attempting to bring her out of her depression. Every effort was rebuffed with monosyballic replies and silence.

He began to patrol more as his alter ego, as he tried to work out some way to he could help his wife.

One night, as Shiva soared over Fawcett City, he saw a strange blue light on the ground behind a jewelry store. He descended to investigate further.

A large fist closed over an ankle and smashed the hero into the asphalt. Shiva saw a mass of flesh with powerful arms and legs and eight tentacles growing from the shoulders. The thing’s head was a blob on top of the body without a connecting neck.

The thing swung Shiva over his head, then down into the ground again. Pieces of asphalt flew into the air from the impact.

Shiva’s first move was to free his ankle from his new enemy’s grip. He wondered where this guy had come from briefly as he popped the massive hand open with a single thumb press. His other three hands slashed upwards with his full strength. The monster seemed to splash apart under impact.

Shiva leaped to his feet with the agility of Garuda. He was surprised at the results of his blow. He did not gloat, because he saw the monster was bringing itself back together for another assault.

The wisdom of Brahma suggested a solution, if it would only work.

Shiva grabbed the thing by its arm when it was completely together. Then he hurled it up in the air. He flew up after it, somehow knowing the monster could not fly on its own.

He smashed it in mid-air with both left hands. The thing sailed towards the horizon uncontrollably. It crossed the terminator line and vanished in a puff of smoke at the first touch of the sun.

Shiva frowned as he wondered what was going on.

***

Martin Martine spent the next few days trying to figure out what his attacker had been, as well as try to please his wife.

He had very little success in either endeavor. He could not find a description in any book in the library he consulted. It was almost as if the creature had been created on the spot and placed there to ambush him.

Lily avoided him when she could. She hardly spoke to him when she couldn’t. His patrols became erratic as he tried to support her and help in emergencies at the same time.

Maybe what was called for was a vacation, he decided. Maybe some time away from other people and the world’s problems would help clear the air between them. He arranged for a few days off at work and packed camping gear for Lily and himself. The next day he drove his sullen wife out of the city.

Martine drove to the park where he and his wife had walked parts of the Appalachian Trail on their honeymoon. He set up camp for them, and when he turned around she was gone.

He sat down on a fallen log in dismay. Lily had never done that before. Surely there was some other reason for a behavior than the loss of potential children. They could adopt a child to raise as their own. Why this sulleness and coldness towards him?

He said, “BVSSGG.”

The blue rain set loose the form of Shiva to soar through the sky with the ease of an eagle. He flew to the office of his wife’s doctor. It was child’s play for him to pick the lock on the door. He quickly searched for and found his wife’s medical file.

He stared at the paper unbelievingly. Lily had not come in for an examination for two years. Who had told her she was sterile? More importantly, why did she believe the lie? he asked himself as he took flight once more.

Martine was troubled by his discovery. He flew home as fast as the speed of Garuda allowed. He opened the door to his home. He intended to search his wife’s calendar for a clue to her odd behavior.

Someone murmured in his basement. The sound barely registered on his acute hearing. He followed the sound, floating off the floor to preserve some element of surprise.

The murmuring became chanting as he approached the door to the basement. He pulled the door open and descended the small set of stairs. The overhead light revealed his wife and some other woman chanting around a drawing on the floor. The diagram glowed brighter and brighter as he watched.

He did not need the wisdom of Brahma to tell him that this had to be stopped.

“What are you doing, Lily?” Martin asked as he approached the two women. He realized that he had made an error, and the other woman was some kind of demoness when she glanced his way.

Tentacles began to emerge from the drawing, and it was painfully obvious what was going on.

Martine flew at the demoness, hoping to cut this off at the source as he saw it. His wife blindsided him, kicking him through the wall. He dug himself out of the earth, realizing he would have to fight his wife to stop this madness.

The demoness laughed at his predicament.

“My father created you to be heroes,” said the demoness. “How wonderful to help one of you to destroy the earth.”

“You haven’t destroyed it yet,” said Martine. He launched himself through the air at his wife. The wisdom of Brahma whispered to him.

Shiva and Kali crashed together, sending shockwaves throughout the basement. They seemed to vanish at the speed they were dueling through the air. Martine seized the upper hand with a colossal throw. Lily Martine’s transformed form cratered the concrete out from the force of the move.

Martine hovered over the expanding tentacles. He began to say the words for banishment.

“No!” said the demoness. “You can’t stop the spell.”

Martine continued speaking without interruption. Lily dug herself out of the ground. She launched herself at the chanting Shiva. He deflected her into the diagram, as he continued to speak.

The portal closed, dragging tentacles and Kali back where the rest of the creature waited.

“What have you done?” shrieked the demoness.

“Saved the world one more time,” said Martine bitterly.

“You have ruined yourself,” said the demoness. “How can you be a hero after this?”

The thing vanished in blast of flame.

“I’m not,” said Martine, as he began to chant again. The battlefield righted itself, erasing the evidence quietly and surely. Invisible waves reached across the globe, wiping away Lily Martine’s existence piece by piece.

Finally there was only one piece left. Shiva finished the spell. A giant clicking was in the air as he said “BVSSGG,” for the last time. The sound of a lock turning was died in the air as Martin Martine wondered what he had been looking for when he had gone down to the basement.

Maybe tomorrow he would remember.

Maybe not.