The Space King

I'm sitting on a throne. I'm in bulky armor of some strange metal. In my hand is my cosmic zweihander with its red, glowing blade. From my lofty perch upon a floating chunk of space rock I oversee my planetary kingdom.

Is this not who I am? Why do I have strange dreams like the one from last night? What was I then? That's right; a detective.

I was walking along some sort of grassy river bank with some concrete structure in the background an overpass maybe. There was a beautiful redhead getting out of the water in a yellow bikini. I was instantly drawn to her and vice versa I embraced her, tearing off her bikini top and kissing her freckled visage.

In that moment I saw a vision of myself on a throne. I was in a loincloth and my body was muscular and covered in almost serpentine tattoos. My hair was black and a circlet or band was around my head. A woman was at each arm.

I spoke to the redhead, "I was a lover and a fighter!"

"Yes, she replied but your love of fighting was your undoing."

Then I woke up.

What's this a woman in sandy robes and an odd headdress approaching my throne?

"You have questions, Your Highness. I have answers!"

She touches my forehead and I see it! I'm an ancient barbarian, I'm a detective in a world of superheroes, I'm a young man coming of age in an apocalyptic hellscape that was once Earth. I'm the leader of a group of superpowered genetic outcasts. I'm some rockskined behemoth, the result of space travel gone awry. I rule over a group cosmic gods. There's the redhead. She's there in different froms to but instantly recognizable.

"Do you see now? You're not dreaming you are seeing the other yous. For they are not all you but you are all them. There is an aspect of you in each of them. For you are a nexus that links them. Without you they wouldn't exist."

"What of this woman."

"She is me. I'm your anchor in each of these lives."

"Who am I then?"

She's gesturing to me. "You are eternal. You are the wielder the red sword. You are a constant, an ostinato written into the sheet music of the multiverse. You are Kirby the Space King."

This tale is dedicated to comic book legend, Jack "The King" Kirby.