The Golden Triangle

By Robert Lee Martin

Welcome to the golden triangle—a gateway of sorts to hidden worlds so much like our own with unique differences that are wholly theirs. Some have termed it parallel worlds or a multiverse; others have named it the island universe theory. The golden triangle is a hidden doorway to all these and so much more.

Not found on any map and seemingly nomadic, the triangle is almost sentient, avoiding all eyes that search for it as few have tried to locate it, yet no one have been successful. Until now.

The golden triangle has now opened again and chosen you as the witness. Step forward and don’t be alarmed. The triangle wishes to show you something, and now all you can do is be swept along the currents and bear witness to all you see.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris US
• Release date: Dec 28, 2018
• ISBN: 9781984574336

Book preview

Copyright © 2019 by Robert Lee Martin.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.

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

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Getty Images are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Getty Images.

Rev. date: 12/28/2018

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CONTENTS

Part 1 Titans of Myth

Chapter 1 To sleep a thousand years

Chapter 2 The power of three

Chapter 3 My eyes have seen the light …

Chapter 4 Meanwhile, back in Philadelphia

Chapter 5 A tale of Rick and the Black Death

Chapter 6 The lair of the Minotaur

Part 2 Origins

Part 3 Schadenfreude

The Golden Triangle

A tip of the hat to the gentlemen who helped with the project-

Dennis Ryan-

Michael Donaldson- digital inks on all illustrations

And last but certainly not least David C. Martin, my dear brother who came up with the title.

Go then, there are other worlds than these.

—Jake Chambers, from Stephen King- The Gunslinger

Welcome to the golden triangle, a gateway of sorts to hidden worlds so much like our own, with unique differences wholly theirs. Some have termed it parallel worlds or a multiverse; others have named it the island universe theory. The golden triangle is a hidden doorway to all these and so much more. Not found on any map and seemingly nomadic, the triangle is almost sentient, avoiding all eyes that search for it, as few have tried to locate it and none have been successful, until now.

The golden triangle has now opened again and chosen you as the witness. Step forward and don’t be alarmed. The triangle wishes to show you something, and now, all you can do is be swept along the currents and bear witness to all you see.

Titans of Myth

Your first stop is a world where masked mystery men fought against the Axis in WWII and, by the mid-’50s, were all but gone, either lost in the cause fighting against the Axis or forced into hiding during the craze of the McCarthy hearings. Now in the modern day, dark forces begin to show their hand, leading to a joining of human, masked hero and ancient deity combined to challenge the forces moving to destroy humanity. From Manhattan’s East Village to a small organic farm in Florida, an uneven trail begins to form, leading from the streets of Miami to Philadelphia, from an apartment fire in Chicago to the desert of Nevada. As dark forces converge, other forces begin to gather new defenders to fight against the evil unfurling in front of them. A new group of Titans is chosen to stand between us and the coming forces that threaten us all.

Origins

The child from a warlike race who is clandestinely sent across the galaxy in hopes of escaping his predestined fate crashes on Earth and is found by a missionary couple, who take him and raise him as their own. As the child grows from teen to become a young man, it is evident that he is much different from the humans that inhabit this planet. As time passes, his alien biology begins to lead him on a quest of personal growth that will take him from his adoptive hometown of Oxford, Michigan, to the frozen mountains of the Himalayas. Witness the birth of a new type of warrior as he descends on one of the most hateful, injustice-plagued areas of the world, to make his appearance to the world as a force against evil and those who would harm the innocent. But is he a force for good or only out to further his own otherworldly agenda? Meet the Eclipse, beware his shadow if it is cast your way. You may not like what’s waiting for you in the dark.

Schadenfreude

World War II—as the war between the Axis and the Allies begins to reach its climax, a decades-old secret is brought to the light of day. Two old men unravel the greatest hidden secret of the war, one that is almost too improbable to believe, yet what is the secret that a wanted Nazi war criminal hides in his memories, and who is the man bent on finding out what really changed the course of the war? History has accounts on how it ended, but what if there was something else? Some other event that helped bring the Axis to its knees?

Three Earths, three stories—as you pass through the triangle, all these things are opened for you to see, but will what you do bear witness to help you find your way back home? Will you even want to leave after all you have seen, or will you want to peer further down the line to see more? That’s if you can find your way.

The characters used in the story Titans of Myth are all listed in the public domain and come with the tag use at your own risk, but these characters have been used by many publishers and companies over the years. I designated all the original creators I could find, I left a question mark for those that have been lost over the years.

The Black Terror—Richard E. Hughes

The Green Lama—Kendell Foster Crossen

Pyroman—Jack Binder

The Scarab—?

The Flame—Will Eisner and Lou Fine

The Target—Dick Briefer

Ms. Masque—?

The Arrow—Paul Gustavson

Fighting Yank—Richard E. Hughes and Jon L. Blummer

Chapter One

To sleep a thousand years

Just take a few seconds please.

Please just a few is all I ask.

Just take a few seconds to imagine …

Imagine a world just like ours, a mirror image if you would.

This mirror image is exactly like ours.

A world with one slight difference …

In this world, there were costumed mystery men who appeared in the ’40s and even helped turn the tide in the Allies’ favor to help win the war. They all but died or went into hiding by the end of the ’50s. Humanity went on after those years of high adventure and wonder, and moved on the same way as ours would. Now it is this day, and this time, and this very date, and the world is about to be changed forever.

Some unknown forces have caused a small tear in between the space we inhabit and theirs.

Now at that very moment, a large storm cloud rolls off the African coast and heads with preternatural speed toward the USA. When finally it was verified, there has never been a storm that moved this fast or with such clarity of direction. Red flags will go up …

Let’s see what this mysterious storm’s predetermined direction has brought about, shall we?

Titans of Myth

In my life, I have had some dreams, but I’ve never had a dream like this.

I dream of soaring high above the clouds in the blue sky, fighting alongside my brother and sisters against those who would stand against our father, his rule, and the kingdom he created.

Then the dream changes and from the beauty of blue skies and billowy clouds, I am now on the war-torn fields of Europe as bullets fly past my head and cannon shells explode around me. US soldiers charge forward and fall beneath the Axis firepower. They still charge forward in defiance as these young brave men try to tip the scales of war in our favor.

Then a loud metal clattering sound assaults my ears as a Panzer tank climbs over some bomb-made hills, followed by a troop of Nazi soldiers. They see me and begin shooting; I raise my hands as if they could shield me from the rain of bullets.

To my dismay, two things happen: (1) the bullets hit me and bounce off harmlessly, (2) I’m wearing black gloves and a black uniform to boot. As I look down, there is an insignia of a skull and crossbones on my chest.

The Panzer is almost on top of me as I come to the realization that I am one of the famed costumed mystery men who helped the Allies fight in World War II. I then smile as I clench my leather-clad fist and punch the tank in half.

My dream jumps one more time, and then I recognize this dimly lit place and who is lying on that old ratty couch in the corner of the dressing room. It is me, and the groupie chick sitting next to my limp form just gave me a fatal dose of heroin. The place is the band dressing room at CBGB in New York. I am, or I was, the lead singer of the underground punk band Pet Cemetery, and now, because I let a little fame and recognition go to my fragile ego, I am dead.

Outside the club, as people begin to dissipate now that the raucous show is over, there is a sound of metal crunching. It is loud, and it sounds like it is coming from the alley right around the corner of the club. Some of the people stop and gather again to talk and point out where the noise was coming from. Then they hear it again, but this time, trash cans and an unknown figure come spilling out. People gasp as they see a vagrant roll to a stop at the onlookers’ feet; he is bloody and battered, and then as soon as they realize that his head is facing the wrong way, the screams and shouts soon begin.

Then before there is time to do anything else but gawk, it comes from the dark alley entrance. It is at least eight feet tall, having hoofs instead of feet and one eye at the center of its head. It howls at the spectators as it lunges at them. A few people who had brought out their phones to snap some pictures of the dead man are able to catch a few more of this beast from Greek mythology come to life. They are then crushed and ripped in half as the Cyclops wades fully into the crowd.

Screams of pain and shouts for help amid the howls of the mighty creature obscure the sound coming from the back of CBGB. It is the sound of bricks and mortar being broken and smashed. The sounds of boots crunching through the debris are also drowned out by the carnage. The dark figure comes around the corner and sees the people being assaulted and, in outrage, yells for the Cyclops to stop. His voice is deep and has odd echo to it. The creature stops and raises its head to get its one eye to take in the figure that dares call to it. The survivors pull back and grab at the wounded that can’t walk on their own; of course, some still film with their phones, and they too see what the Cyclops sees: a seven-foot man comes from behind the famed club. He is clad in black from head to toe, and a crimson cape adorns his shoulders. There are bands of gold around his shoulders, wrists, and thighs. A skull and crossbones sit on his right chest as it appears to be pulsating with a white light; his eyes are also all white with no trace of pupils at all.

The black figure yells out at the creature again and tells it to leave the innocent alone; the Cyclops rears back its head and howls in rage in response. The onyx figure raises his fists and charges the creature; when they hit, it sounds like two locomotives crashing into each other. They lock fists and begin to struggle; that is when the onyx man raises his knee right into the Cyclops’ side and sends it back against the building opposite the club. The creature tries to gather its wits, but the onyx man comes crashing down on him with a rain of blows to the face and body; to the spectators still on their feet and filming it, it sounds like cannon shots.

The beast kicks and sends the onyx man sailing onto two cars parked nearby. The windows blast apart and the tires flatten as he lands with a mighty thud. The Cyclops lurches forward to grab its enemy by the face, but he kicks up and lands a boot right into the creature’s jaw; teeth and spittle go flying. He leaps up from the car wrecks and grabs the Cyclops by the horn in the center of its forehead and, with a mighty yank, sends it flying into a storefront, which is obliterated as it flies through. The onyx man looks back at the crowd to make sure no one else is hurt, when the Cyclops comes barreling through the wreckage and tackles him into another storefront across the street, destroying the pharmacy that has stood for the last thirty years. Smoke rises from the ruined storefront as people move in to get a better look with their cameras, then the sound of