Gull Stanton hurled a brick at the Public Information Booth and watched with satisfaction as the glass fell away, taking with it the garish poster of Captain Aerial, self-proclaimed interdimensional megastar. Sorting through the shards with his boot, he slid the poster towards him and ground his heel into the man\u2019s face \u2013 a face that apart from a few subtle differences was identical to his own. It wasn\u2019t fair. Why should that big-shot be raking in bluebacks hand over fist, while he had to work double shifts in a dead-end cleaning job just to buy food? He was everything Captain Aerial was. It should be him flying around arenas with his jetpack, singing songs to hordes of adoring fans.<\/p>\n
From what he\u2019d read in interviews, their lives had diverged five years earlier when they\u2019d each received their share of the profits from the sale of his dead grandmother\u2019s house. Gull had used the money to go on a year-long vacation, living a playboy lifestyle at the Hotel M\u00e9tropole in Monte-Carlo, Caesar\u2019s Palace in Las Vegas and various other fashionable hotels; Captain Aerial had started a small salvaging business, specializing in the collection of obsolete satellites from the earth\u2019s upper atmosphere, and discovered a revolutionary transportation device capable of opening doorways between dimensions aboard a derelict alien spaceship. The potential applications of such a device were mind-boggling, but Captain Aerial had chosen to use it to make obscene amounts of money, first by offering interdimensional tours to a rich clientele and then by launching a music career. The man turned out to have a pretty good voice, and once he\u2019d hired himself a decent backing band, there was no stopping him. Flitting from universe to universe, he\u2019d achieved a widespread fame like nobody before.<\/p>\n
At Christmas the previous year, Captain Aerial had arrived in Gull\u2019s dimension for the first time, and the moronic public had immediately started buying his albums. They chatted about him endlessly, blogged about him on social media, idolized him. It was all right for them! He wasn\u2019t their counterpart. When they saw pictures of the bastard driving away in a Lamborghini, they weren\u2019t constantly being tormented by the thought that it should have been them. Damn the man! Why couldn\u2019t he have stayed in his own freaking universe?<\/p>\n
Gull felt a shard of glass pressing against the side of his boot and realized he still had his foot on the poster. He stepped away quickly. Cops tended not to bother themselves with shitty parts of the city like this, but it was best not to take any chances. The last thing he wanted to do was to spend the night in a cell.<\/p>\n
As if on cue, a siren sounded in the distance. He hurried onwards along the street. Concrete tenements covered with graffiti rose to either side of him, interspersed with liquor and convenience stores fortified with wire mesh, while at the end of the block there was a power station behind a high wall topped with security spikes, its four metal chimney stacks belching steam into the air above. People said the area was up and coming, but even though there were a few building sites in evidence, it had a hell of a long way to go before it arrived. Gull\u2019s eyes shifted to the downtown area. It couldn\u2019t be more than a mile or two away, yet how different it looked \u2013 a forest of towers piercing the sky like giant fingers – classic American skyscrapers beaming out advertising from three dimensional monitors built into their glass facades, the pagodas of Chinatown, the fantastical creations of the bioarchitecturalists with their treelike columns branching upwards to impossible heights.<\/p>\n
Gull cocked his head to the side, listening intently. That flaming siren was getting closer. He needed a place to hide. He spotted a bar on an intersecting street and jogged towards it.<\/p>\n
A sign above the door identified the place as \u2018Pitchers and Pitchers\u2019, so he wasn\u2019t surprised to find it was baseball themed. The walls were hung with photographs of famous players and other memorabilia, and there was a waxwork figure of Babe Ruth standing in the corner. Probably, it would have been a nice place to spend some time in its day, but now, there was a distinct air of neglect. Most of the seats had tears in them and there were patches of mold on one of the walls.<\/p>\n
Gull paused in the doorway, surveying the customers. They were blue collar types \u2013 construction workers, truck drivers, mechanics.<\/p>\n
He groaned as he noticed a television behind the bar projecting footage of a Captain Aerial concert. Perhaps he should accidentally spill a drink on it to see if he could short out the circuitry. No, tempting as it was, that kind of behavior was a good way to get himself thrown out. Instead, he sat down on a vacant stool and ordered himself a bottle of beer. <\/p>\n
He stared moodily at the image of Captain Aerial prancing about on stage as he raised the bottle to his lips. He could move better than that if only someone would give him the chance.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s really something, isn\u2019t he?\u201d said a voice from the seat beside him.<\/p>\n
He turned and found himself looking at a middle-aged woman with a chubby face. She was a desperate singleton by the look of her – skirt ridiculously short, hair dyed neon pink and swept up in a gravity defying style, a thick layer of pale foundation smeared across her face to hide the wrinkles.<\/p>\n
Assuming she was referring to Captain Aerial and having no inclination whatsoever to talk about him, Gull ignored her.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou look a little like him, you know,\u201d the woman went on, unperturbed by his lack of response. Actually, you look a lot like him. What\u2019s your name?\u201d<\/p>\n
Gull sighed. \u201cMy name\u2019s Gull, and I don\u2019t look like him; he looks like me.\u201d<\/p>\n
The woman\u2019s brow furrowed in confusion. \u201cIs there a difference?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes there is,\u201d Gull snapped.<\/p>\n
\u201cI take it you\u2019re not a fan, then?\u201d said the woman.<\/p>\n
Gull took another swig of beer and slammed his bottle down on the bar in front of him. \u201cNo, I\u2019m not.\u201d <\/p>\n
\u201cAny particular reason?\u201d the woman asked.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou wouldn\u2019t believe me if I told you,\u201d Gull replied.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut that voice…\u201d said the woman, half closing her eyes in dreamy contemplation. \u201cHow can you not love a voice like that? It\u2019s so full of passion. And those lips… what I wouldn\u2019t give to be kissed by a pair of lips like that.\u201d<\/p>\n
Gull blinked. This was a come-on, wasn\u2019t it? He looked her up and down. She wasn\u2019t close to attractive, but he wouldn\u2019t say no if she was going to hand herself to him on a plate. As a lowly hospital janitor, he wasn\u2019t exactly inundated with romantic interest. He puckered up his lips. \u201cYour wish is my command.\u201d<\/p>\n
The woman looked unimpressed. \u201cSorry sugar, but it wouldn\u2019t be the same.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cMaybe not,\u201d said Gull, \u201cbut it\u2019s the closest you\u2019re gonna get.\u201d<\/p>\n
The woman\u2019s eyes narrowed. \u201cDon\u2019t you believe it. Captain Aerial\u2019s playing the Rainbow Arena at the weekend, and I\u2019ve got a ticket and a plan to get in his pants. I\u2019m going to hang back until he plays \u201cEvery Me Loves Every You,\u201d then I\u2019m going to jump the stage and twerk for him.\u201d She smiled smugly as if this was truly inspired. \u201cIt was nice talking to you.\u201d With that, she turned away and began chatting to a man on her opposite side.<\/p>\n
Gull felt a pang of disappointment. Why was it things never went his way? Because they were too busy going Captain Aerial\u2019s, that was why. He gulped down the rest of his beer and went back to studying the television. What was the singer\u2019s secret? Why was he so damn popular? Gull stared into his eyes as the camera zoomed in, but there was nothing there that he hadn\u2019t seen thousands of times in the mirror. Suddenly, he had a burning desire to see Captain Aerial in person. Perhaps then, it would all become clear.<\/p>\n
Once the idea had occurred to him, it was hard to shake. He thought about it as he stepped out of the bar a few hours later, he thought about it as he watched a group of girls taking pictures of themselves with a billboard poster of Captain Aerial through the sky-bus window on his way home, and he thought about it the following evening at the hospital as he dragged an industrial strength vacuum cleaner around the maze of insipid corridors. Yes, he needed to do this, and the gig at the local arena was the perfect opportunity. All he had to do was buy a ticket. It would cost him a small fortune no doubt, but that was life. If the worst came to the worst, he could always sell an organ to raise the money. He\u2019d done it before. In this day and age, the artificial replacements they were giving out were almost as good as the real thing.<\/p>\n
So it was that when the time came for him to take his break, Gull headed straight to the staff room \u2013 a soulless basement affair with three vending machines and plastic furniture \u2013 and posted an online ticket request with his phablet. Within minutes, he was inundated with replies, all saying the same thing \u2013 the concert had sold out months ago.<\/p>\n
Gull tossed the phablet onto the table in front of him and went to buy a packet of potato chips. As he did so, an advert on an interactive notice board beside the vending machine caught his eye. He was in luck. One of the E.R. doctors had a ticket on sale. He would have to move fast, though. At the price the doctor was asking \u2013 face value for a quick sale \u2013 people would be lining up to buy it. Tucking his potato chips under his arm, he punched out a response on the on-screen keyboard.<\/p>\n
Gull received a call from the doctor before he had even sat down. It turned out the man had not yet finished work for the day and wanted to sell him the ticket immediately. Gull agreed, went up to see him, and after a moment\u2019s hesitation when it came to actually transferring the money, the deal was done.
\n<\/p>\n
Gull pulled a Kevlar jacket out his closet \u2013 glossy black with replica muscles molded into the chest \u2013 held it up against himself and then let it fall to the floor. The look was right, but it was too restrictive for dancing.<\/p>\n
His gaze shifted to the clock on his bedside table. He\u2019d been doing this for over an hour, but he wasn\u2019t about to stop. Not until he\u2019s found something suitable. He didn\u2019t want Captain Aerial seeing him at the gig and thinking he was some hapless loser.<\/p>\n
In the end, he opted for an outfit similar to one he had seen the megastar himself wearing in a photograph once \u2013 black cargo pants and a spiky rubber shirt. He nodded in satisfaction as he examined the items in the mirror. Then, he started to look for a pair of shoes.<\/p>\n
Gull made sure he got to the arena two hours early, so he wouldn\u2019t end up stuck at the back of the audience, but already, a seething mass of fans were waiting in line outside. By the looks of it, some of them had been there all day. He shook his head as he stepped off the sky-bus and went to join them. How could one man inspire such mania?<\/p>\n
He did his best to be polite as a weasely trader in dark sunglasses and a gold medallion sidled up to him and attempted to sell him a souvenir t-shirt. He couldn\u2019t think of anything worse than walking around with a picture of Captain Aerial emblazoned across his front, but he couldn\u2019t say as much. If the fanatical idiots in the line heard him dissing their beloved hero, there was no telling what they would do.<\/p>\n
Gull studied the arena as he waited impatiently for the doors to open. Standing in stark isolation on the edge of the city with a rocket-shaped observation tower and colour changing walls, it was a wonder of modern architecture. It had caused controversy when it was being built because of spiralling costs and a succession of missed deadlines, but once it was completed, the public had fallen in love with it. New York had the Statue of Liberty, San Francisco had the Golden Gate Bridge, and they had the Rainbow Arena.<\/p>\n
Gull tensed as the crowd began to file inside. A couple in front were staring over their shoulders at him. He fiddled with his phablet self-consciously, trying to focus on a friend\u2019s face looming out of a newly posted hologram. Didn\u2019t they know it was rude to stare? He was just considering slipping back a few places in the line to escape their gaze, when the man \u2013 a lanky youth with a Mohican haircut \u2013 stepped up to speak to him. \u201cThat\u2019s a great face. If I saw you and Captain Aerial next to each other, I don\u2019t think I could tell you apart. How much did it cost you?\u201d Judging by his slurred words, he was more than a little stoned.<\/p>\n
\u201cNothing,\u201d Gull replied irritably. \u201cI was born with it.\u201d<\/p>\n
The woman – who was a foot taller and twice the man\u2019s weight with matted dreadlocks – giggled incredulously. \u201cSure you were, and I\u2019m the Queen of England. Surgery\u2019s nothing to be ashamed of, you know. Not when it\u2019s such a bitching success. Kudos to you for being the biggest Captain Aerial fan here.\u201d<\/p>\n
Gull gave a long sigh. There was no point arguing with them. They\u2019d obviously made up their minds about him and nothing he said was going to convince them they were wrong. The best way to deal with people like this was to humour them in their delusions and hope they went away. \u201cThanks,\u201d he said through gritted teeth. \u201cI do my best.\u201d <\/p>\n
He turned away, focusing on the door ahead as the line continued to shuffle forward, but the man stepped back into his eyeline. \u201cSince you are such a dead ringer for Captain Aerial, would you mind posing for a picture with us when we get inside? We\u2019ll make it worth your while with a free beer.\u201d
\n\u201cI\u2019ll think about it,\u201d Gull replied, dismissing the idea out of hand.<\/p>\n
The girl clapped her hands, lips curling upwards in a goofy smile. \u201cGoody! We\u2019ve never hung out with anybody rich before.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m not rich,\u201d Gull protested.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou\u2019re rich enough to change your face,\u201d said the man.<\/p>\n
Gull rolled his eyes. Could these idiots be any more wrong about him? He forced himself to stay civil as they continued walking, but by the time they reached the door, his patience was wearing thin. Fortunately, he was able to give them the slip during the routine security check.<\/p>\n
He paused at one of the bars to buy himself a drink and then proceeded through a doorway to the arena floor. The place was filling up rapidly, but with a little artful maneuvering, he succeeded in pushing his way to the front. Squeezing between two groups of chattering teens, he placed himself directly in front of the safety barrier and looked expectantly at the stage.<\/p>\n
He had been there less than five minutes, when the shoving started. Nothing was actually said, but it was clear what was going on \u2013 the teenagers to his right thought he was encroaching on their space and were trying to force him to move on. He glared at them out of the corner of his eye, breath coming in sharp bursts. If they thought they could intimidate him, they had another thing coming. The jostling got worse, but still he ignored it. Then it escalated into full-blown ramming. He locked his arms together, clinging tenaciously to the safety barrier, as someone grabbed his shoulder and attempted to haul him backwards. Little shits! He had as much right to be there as they did.<\/p>\n
Failing in its objective, the hand was withdrawn, but no sooner had he started to relax, than somebody punched him in the ribs. He stumbled away from the barrier, gasping for breath. A leg shot out behind him and the next thing he knew he was on the ground.<\/p>\n
While he was struggling to collect his thoughts, a grizzled face appeared over him. He raised his hands defensively. He needed to take control of this situation or his ass was going to get seriously kicked. He drew back his fist, getting ready to punch the person in front of him, and then lowered it again. It was a security guard. Thank God for that.<\/p>\n
With an air of businesslike efficiency, the guard held out his hand to help him to his feet and then froze, a look of disbelief spreading across his face. \u201cWhat are you doing here? Some kind of audience meet and greet, I guess. Well, if you don\u2019t mind me saying so, it was seriously stupid.\u201d<\/p>\n
Gull looked blank. Then, it dawned on him \u2013 the man had mistaken him for Captain Aerial. His thoughts began to race. What if he could use his appearance to blag his way backstage? He\u2019d been hoping to get close to his famous counterpart and this was the perfect chance.<\/p>\n
The security guard tapped a communicator badge on his shirt and bent his head towards the microphone. \u201cThis is barrier security. I need first aiders here pronto.\u201d<\/p>\n
Gull thrust out his hand, placing it over the microphone to cut the man off. The fewer people who were involved in this, the more likely his plan was to succeed. \u201cNo first aiders. Just get me to my dressing room.\u201d The security guard nodded and helped him to his feet.<\/p>\n
Gull smiled as he noticed his teenage assailants being manhandled towards the exit. All\u2019s well that ends well.<\/p>\n
The guard hooked an arm around Gull\u2019s shoulders to support him and led him past the barrier to a door at the side of the stage. He pressed his eyes to a retinal scanner on the wall and the door swung open. \u201cAre you sure you aren\u2019t hurt?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cOnly my pride,\u201d said Gull as the guard helped him along a series of corridors into the heart of the backstage area. The corridors were clogged with people, but although a few of them asked him if he was hurt, not one of them challenged him about his right to be there. Like the guard, they all assumed he was their star performer.<\/p>\n
Captain Aerial\u2019s dressing room was situated with a group of others not far from the cafeteria. Arriving at the door, which was instantly recognizable thanks to a star shaped identity plaque, Gull stepped away from the security guard and thanked him for his help.<\/p>\n
\u201cThink nothing of it,\u201d said the security guard. He turned to go, and then hesitated, looking Gull up and down. \u201cAbout those first aiders…\u201d<\/p>\n
Gull waved his hand dismissively. \u201cThank you for your concern, but I really am fine. I\u2019m tougher than I look.\u201d<\/p>\n
The security guard looked doubtful, but didn\u2019t press the matter. \u201cI\u2019ll be going then. Try and stay out of trouble.\u201d With this, he hurried away.<\/p>\n
Gull paused. He should plan out how he was going to play this. Then again, the longer he stood here, the more chance there was of getting caught. Besides, Captain Aerial would be going on stage before much longer. If he was going to do this, he needed to do it now. He checked his appearance with the selfie-cam on his phablet, and then opened the dressing room door.<\/p>\n
The room beyond was much as he would have expected \u2013 warm and tastefully decorated with a fridge, a clothes rail, a panoramic vanity mirror edged with lights and an en suite shower room. Captain Aerial was sitting in front of the mirror running through some vocal warm-ups.<\/p>\n
Gull stepped into the room and closed the door. <\/p>\n
Hearing the latch click into place, Captain Aerial leapt to his feet and spun around. \u201cWho the hell are you?\u201d <\/p>\n
For a moment, Gull couldn\u2019t speak. This was a pivotal point in his life and he didn\u2019t want to screw it up. \u201cI\u2019m you,\u201d he said at last, taking a step forward. \u201cThe you from this universe. Can we talk?\u201d<\/p>\n
Captain Aerial looked shocked. \u201cNot a chance. I have nothing to say to you. Besides, I\u2019ve got a show to do.\u201d<\/p>\n
He tried to move to the door, but Gull blocked his path. \u201cI just want to know why your life is so great and mine is so crap.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe luck of the draw,\u201d said Captain Aerial coldly.<\/p>\n
Gull stared at him, all of his anger and resentment bubbling to the surface. \u201cThat isn\u2019t good enough!\u201d<\/p>\n
Captain Aerial shuffled his feet nervously and reached for a phablet on the table behind him. \u201cIt\u2019ll have to be, because your butt is about to be ejected.\u201d<\/p>\n
Before he knew what he was doing, Gull had lunged forward and knocked the phablet to the floor. \u201cGuess again.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cSecurity!\u201d Captain Aerial shouted, making another dash for the door. \u201cI need help in…\u201d<\/p>\n
The words died in his throat as Gull\u2019s fist collided with his face. Gull watched in morbid fascination as he crumpled to his knees, blood gushing from his nose. Suddenly, a terrible thought crept into his mind. What if he were to kill Captain Aerial? The man\u2019s rock and roll lifestyle would be his for the taking. All he need do was hide the body in some parallel universe and nobody would ever know. No! The murder of another human being was wrong. <\/p>\n
Except, this wasn\u2019t another human being. It was an alternate version of himself.<\/p>\n
He clenched his fists as Captain Aerial began to struggle to his feet. Then he plunged forwards, fastening his hands around the megastar\u2019s throat. He was sick of being the poor reflection. Captain Aerial fought violently as he tightened his grip, but he hardly noticed. He knew what he wanted and nothing was going to stop him getting it. He pressed harder, harder still, smiling as his victim\u2019s windpipe throbbed beneath his fingers.<\/p>\n
Captain Aerial thrashed around, eyes bulging. \u201cLet me go… Please… I don\u2019t want to die…\u201d <\/p>\n
Gull\u2019s hands tightened. Wretched excuse for a man, begging for his life. You\u2019d never catch him doing that.<\/p>\n
Only when he felt Captain Aerial\u2019s body go limp did Gull let go. His hand shifted mechanically around the star\u2019s throat, searching for a pulse. Then, satisfied he was really dead, he punched the air. Yes! Now he was the interdimensional megastar. There were still a few practicalities to take care of, of course \u2013 first and foremost the disposal of the body \u2013 but these could wait. He wanted to enjoy this moment. He walked to the clothes rail, picked out a trench coat covered in octagonal mirrors. He would look great in this. <\/p>\n
He held the coat against himself, only to freeze as the sound of laser fire rang out across the room and a searing beam of energy tore into his stomach. He pressed his hands to it, toppling into the wall. It was agony, like standing under a cascade of boiling oil. He couldn\u2019t stay up right, couldn\u2019t see. He was falling, falling…<\/p>\n
Gulliver A. Stanton shoved his laser pistol back into his pocket and closed the dressing room door, looking at the bodies on the floor. How strange that this third version of himself should have made a play for Captain Aerial\u2019s crown on the exact same day as he had. Where had he come from? Had his interdimensional transport device malfunctioned as well, stranding him in this godforsaken reality or was this the Gulliver A. Stanton that belonged here?<\/p>\n
No matter. He was dead now, leaving this Gulliver A. Stanton free to start living Captain Aerial\u2019s wonderful life, not to mention giving him the means to return to his own universe. He would be a fool not to learn from the experience, though. It didn\u2019t matter where he went or what he did, he must always remember to watch his back, because as he had seen today, when you were an interdimensional megastar, there was always someone waiting to take your place… literally.<\/p>\n
C.J. Carter-Stephenson was born in the United Kingdom. He is currently flirting with careers in acting and writing, while engaging in more mundane jobs to stay afloat on the turbulent sea of life. He has recently completed an MA course in Creative Writing at the University of Southampton, has been a Writers of the Future finalist, and has had three books published by Bonito Books. Other publication credits include stories and\/or poems in the following magazines: ‘AE: The Canadian Science Fiction Review’, ‘Dark Horizons’ (former journal of the British Fantasy Society), ‘Youth Imagination’, ‘Murky Depths’, ‘The Willows’, ‘Aesthetica’ and ‘M\u00f6bius’.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Gull Stanton hurled a brick at the Public Information Booth and watched with satisfaction as the glass fell away, taking with it the garish poster of Captain Aerial, self-proclaimed interdimensional megastar. Sorting through the shards with his boot, he slid the poster towards him and ground his heel into the man\u2019s face \u2013 a face …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":105116,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,19768],"tags":[19769],"class_list":["post-132300","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-fiction","category-tcl-28-summer-2018","tag-the-colored-lens-28-summer-2018","entry entry-center"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/thecoloredlens.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/132300","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/thecoloredlens.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/thecoloredlens.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/thecoloredlens.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/105116"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/thecoloredlens.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=132300"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"http:\/\/thecoloredlens.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/132300\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":133460,"href":"http:\/\/thecoloredlens.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/132300\/revisions\/133460"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/thecoloredlens.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=132300"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/thecoloredlens.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=132300"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/thecoloredlens.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=132300"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}