GODLING # 27: King Winter Strikes!

GODLING # 27: King Winter Strikes!
by J. Vandersteen


– GODLING – THE ONE MAN PANTHEON: KING WINTER STRIKES!

Godling is standing up to his knees in snow in the center of New Troy
City. It is still snowing heavily. He looks tired.
"I wish it would stop snowing. It's wearing me out..."
It started 24 hours ago. It became very cold and it started to snow
like it had never snowed in New Troy before. After 6 hours a tape was
sent to the press.
A masked man who called himself King Winter said he was responsible
for the weather and would only stop it when he was paid 20 million
dollars by the mayor. Unfortunately, New Troy was still having trouble
paying for all damages Master Destiny's supervillains had caused.
They didn't have millions to spare.
Godling thinks, "I have to go on, though. Old people are dying in this
cold, the local economy is coming to a standstill... There's a lot of
accidents... I have to get to King Winter's headquarters..."
He is surrounded by four snowmen who seem to be alive.
"I won't let you monsters stop me!" Godling says and a ball of fire
appears in his right fist. He throws the ball into a snowman who
melts.
Slowly the other three lumber towards our hero. He smashes a mighty
fist through one of the snowmen's head, throws another fireball at
another snowman and kicks right through the last one.
Panting, covered in the snow of his slain enemies The One Man Pantheon
stands victorious.
"I can't run at Hermes speed, the snowstorm makes it hard to fly and
these blasted snowmen keep popping up... But King Winter will find out
that nothing stops Godling!"

*
Tokyo, Japan. The airport.
Wade Hudson is looking at the monitors. Behind all flights to New Troy
it says CANCELLED.
"This is insane. All flights to New Troy and surrounding cities are
cancelled because of snowstorms? What's going on over there?" he
thinks.
"I want to get back home. Not only do I miss Monica, but I'm eager to
try out my new suit..."


*
Monica Sawyer's appartment.
She is looking through the window. She heard all flights to New Troy
had been cancelled...
"Snow everywhere... These crazy living snowmen walking around wreaking
havoc... And Wade's not here to protect the city. That leaves it to
Godling, I guess... Maybe I should be happy Wade can't be here. That
means he can't get hurt fighting these things."


*
Officer Janson is standing against her patrol car, battering at a
group of thugs with a nightstick.
"Damn looters... As soon as the crap hits the fan these bloodhounds
pop up..."
Her partner, a redheaded young cop fires his shotgun in the air. "And
these dirtbags had better put their hands up or I will shoot them
where they stand."
The looters put op ther hands and surrender.
"You guys are despicable, using the chaos to rob hardworking folks of
their possessions," Jansons says while she puts the handcuffs on one
of the looters.
The looter turns his head and says, "What's it to you? With all the
crazy stuff happening in New Troy I figure it won't be long the whole
city is destroyed anyway."
"Not as long as we have Godling," Janson assures him.


*
Godling is standing in front of a huge medieval looking tower made of
ice. Circling it is a dragon made out of snow.
"So there it is, King Winter's lair," Godling says. "Now to get in
there and put King Winter on ice..."
There is one window in the tower, way up high. Godling flies over
there but the dragon attacks. The creature flies towards him, and
tries to hit Godling with his tail.
The hero barely manages to avoid it. "I can't fly and defeat this
thing at the same time. That's the problem with only being able to use
one superpower at a time. I will have to do some fancy flying to get
inside."
Maneuvering several times over and under the snowdragon Godling
finally reaches the open window and flies through.
The inside of the tower seems like a medieval chamber made out of ice.
There's two crossed axes of ice against a wall and furniture also made
out of ice. In a throne of ice sits a man wearing blue en white
spandex and a mask that covers most of his face but not his mouth and
jaw. He wears a crown.
"King Winter, I presume?" Godling asks.
"Well, well... The One Man Pantheon, what an honor," King Winter says.
"I knew I would have to face you if I was planning on blackmailing
this city. But if I defeat you there won't be ANY city that will dare
to stand up against me."
"Defeating me is not an option," Godling says and attacks.
King Winter raises a hand and three snowmen appear from a pile of snow
on the floor. They surround Godling.
"These snowclown really won't be able to stop me," Godling says. He
takes one of the axes from the wall and using the fighting skills of
Ares dismembers the snowmen.
"Let me cool you off a bit," King Winter says and fires a freeze ray
from his hands. "Master Destiny really gave me one of the coolest
powers, didn't he? HAHAHA!"
Using the power of Hephaestus, God of Fire our hero creates a wall of
fire in fron of him, turning the freeze ray into steam. He walks
toward King Winter.
"Stop!" King Winter says. He raises a hand and suddenly hail stones
appear from it, like shotgun pellets they bombard the One Man
Pantheon.
A few of the stones draw some blood before the hero manages to become
as invulnerable as Achilles.
"Haha! Is that blood? Am I making the big hero bleed?" King Winter
cackles.
"By Zeus, you supervillains are a cocky lot," Godling says, making his
way through the hailstorm. "You really think you almost beat me? THINK
AGAIN!" He switches from invulnerability to Hermes' superspeed and
catches the hailstones from the air.
Then he throws them back at King Winter who has to take cover behind
his throne against his own projectiles.
With the strength of Heracles Godling kicks away the throne. King
Winter holds up his hands in surrender...
"In the end you aren't much tougher than the other superthugs I've
defeated, Winter. Maybe a bit more ambitious, but as stupid and
helpless against me as all the others," Godling says. "Let me turn out
the lights for you, you will wake up in Tartarus II."
With one punch the hero takes down the supervillain. As soon as King
Winter is unconscious all the ice and snow starts to disappears. That
includes the tower, so Godling has to switch to his flight powers to
prevent himself from falling down to the ground. King Winter is thrown
across his shoulder.
He flies over New Troy, watching with satisfaction to see all snow
disappear...

*
On the ground, clad in trenchcoat and wearing a fedora stands the Eye-
Patch Godling. He watches Our Godling fly and shakes his head. "You're
really starting to think you're ready for anything, aren't you. Just
wait till the Reality Bombs explode..."



NEXT ISSUE: WARPED REALITY!

GODLING’s WORLD # 4: SHOWING TEETH

GODLING’s WORLD #  4:  SHOWING TEETH

by J. Vandersteen

 

 

–       DOBER-GIRL in:  SHOWING TEETH

 

 

Godling flies above the city streets of New Troy, probably off to defeat another threat to Earth. Below, in a dark alley stands a young woman, clothed in brown and black spandex, her arms naked and tattooed. Spikes cover wristbands and shoulderpads. A mask that only shows her chin and mouth has dog-like ears on top. Surrounding her are three thugs, carrying knives.

            “Godling might not pay much attention to you guys, but New Troy has a new protector in Dober-Girl!” she says.

            “You’re just another bitch to us,” one of the thugs says and stabs at Dober-Girl with his knife. She catches the knife on her wristband and kicks him between his legs.

            “Was that a pun?” she asks and with a roundhouse punch she knocks the thug against the ground.

            The other thugs attack. Dober-Girl jumps up, kicking both enemies in the face while she is in the air. She lands on her feet again and dispatches them with two fast punches. She growls at them, canine teeth bared.

            On the dirty pavement a young woman is lying. Her dress is torn, make-up running over her face. Dober-Girl helps her up.

            “Are you all right?” Dober-Girl asks.

            “I- I think so… Those guys just came out of nowhere.”

            “Did they… rape you?”

            “No, you arrived just in time…”

            “I’ll take you to a doctor to be sure.”

            “Listen, I have no insurance… I… The drugs cost everything I have…”

            “I understand. You won’t have to pay this doctor. I do want you to think about going into rehab. Wandering the streets looking for drugs will get you killed some day. I won’t always be around.”

            “Yes. Yes… I understand.”

            “Good, now come on.” Dober-Girl carried the woman on her shoulder and jumped on top of a fire escape. Via the fire escape she jumped to another one, finding her way to the roof. She jumped from rooftop to rooftop…

            She jumps through a window of another building. An old man with a fuzzy white beard is inside.

            “Jeez… Can’t you for once just knock?” the man says.

            “You love the drama and you know it, Doc,” Dober-Girl says.

            “Right. And who is that with you?”

            “I saved this young woman from a couple of rapists,” Dober-Girl says.

            “And you want me to have a look if she’s okay?”

            “Yep. You did a good job with me, after all.”

            “Seems like only yesterday I found you in that alley, bleeding and all beat up. I still can’t believe you were stupid enough to go out and confront those skinheads.”

            “They hurt the woman I love, just because she likes girls,  not men. Where I come from that’s unacceptable. I had to pay them back.”

            “Yeah. You were a tough cookie in those days, I’m sure… But no match for half a dozen skinheads. If it weren’t for the fact I’d just taken some blood from that supervillain you wouldn’t be alive anymore.”

            “Yeah, we didn’t know the side-effects then. But getting a blood transfusion from villain called Death Dog was bound to have some interesting ones.”

            “Having the proportionate strength and senses of a dog aren’t that bad when you want to get revenge for what they did to your girlfriend,” Dober-Girl says.

            “Yeah, you DID get your revenge. Those skinheads arrived here to get nursed to health right here the next day. You really got to them.”

            Dober-Girl cracked her knuckles. “I did a number on them, didn’t I.”

            “Well, let me have a look at this young woman,” Doc says and takes a stethoscope from a bag on a table next to him.

            The woman Dober-Girl saved sits down on a chair in the apartment and Doc listens to her heart. “You still are in a lot of stress, but that’s not that strange of course.”

            He takes a look at one of her arms. “Needle marks. You know, that stuff will get you killed faster than a rapist.”

            She nods. “I know, I know. But it’s hard going clean, you know.”

            “Sure I do. Took me a lot of time to quit the booze as well. But you will be able to make it if you’re motivated enough,” Doc says.

            The door opens. In walk three men.

            “Doc, we need some help here,” one of them says.

            “You gotta be kidding me,” Dober-Girl says.

            “What? It’s you!?” one of the men says. The three men are the thugs Dober-Girl fought for the life and dignity of the junkie.

            “Crap. Please don’t wreck the furniture!” Doc says.

            “I’m gonna kill you!” a thug says and draws a pistol. “This time I brought some firepower.”

            Dober-Girl hurls a chair at the thug, the gun goes off, shooting a hole in the ceiling.

            “No, no, no!” Doc cries, hands covering his ears.

            Dober-Girl attacks the shooter, twisting his wrist with one hand, using the other to punch him in the face. CRACK!

            Another thug swings a chain above his head, smashing a hanging lamp. Doc shakes his head sadly. The chain wraps around Dober-Girl’s middle. He pulls the chain, bringing her closer to him. A fellow thug pulls a knife, ready to slash her throat. She kicks the knife out of his hand, then smashes the thug with the chain’s nose with the back of her head. She gets herself out of the chain, swings it above her head and knocks the thug who had the knife with it in the face. He goes down.

            She turns to face the thug who just got his nose smashed. She bares her teeth and growls. She jumps forward and with a roundhouse punch knocks him to the floor, smashing a table in his fall.

            “Really? Really?” Doc says, not believing his eyes.

            “Sorry about that, Doc,” Dober-Girl says. “I’m sure I will get these creeps to pay for the damages.”

*

A tattoo place saying “Tattoo Grrrl’’ on the window. Dober-Girl slips in through the backdoor, pulling off her mask as she walks inside, showing her full face and short, dark hair. She walks up the stairs and enters her bedroom. A full-figured redhead covered in tattoos wearing a nightie waits for her in bed.

            “How was your night, sugar?” the redhead asks.

            “More of the same. Keeping the streets safe while Godling was off fighting monsters and aliens. Cracked some skulls, hopefully got a junkie into rehab.”

            “I don’t like the fact you put yourself in danger every night but I must admit I’m proud of what you do as well.” The redhead kisses Dober-Girl.

            “Thanks, Daisy.”

            “Thank you, Kathleen.”

 

 

NEXT ISSUE: INTRODUCING AGENT DESTRUCTION!

GODLING # 26: Trust Issues

 GODLING # 26: Trust Issues
by J. Vandersteen


– GODLING – THE ONE MAN PANTHEON: Trust Issues

The Coffee Pit, New Troy's favorite coffee place.
Janson, in uniform, and Quentin Alexander are sitting at a table,
drinking coffee.
"Nice you were able to keep me company during my break," Janson tells
Quentin.
"It's two hours before my next class starts, so I have some time to
spare. How are you doing after that incident with the Coalition of
Doom?"
"It's odd, but I feel better than I thought I would. I think I was
less scared this time because I was so sure Godling would appear to
save me. And he did."
"He always does, doesn't he? He must be a very attractive man to you,
being a hero and all."
Janson shrugs. "Not really. Too macho for me." She smiles. "I like the
sensitive types."
Quentin blushes a little. "Good to hear."
"He weirded me out, though. He got really worked up about those thugs
kidnapping me. Like he was personally involved with me, you know? I
mean, sure I've been running into him for some time now but that was
purely business."
"Maybe he just takes his job very personally. It's not like he's
flipping burgers, you know? Being a superhero doesn't sound like a
nine to five job."
"Could be. Still, it seems there's some kind of connection between us
I don't know about."
Quentin thinks, "I feel bad about keeping her in the dark like that.
But I'm not ready to tell her I'm Godling yet. I don't want her to
freak out."

*

Tokyo, Japan.
Sgt. Wade Hudson steps through an automatic door and ends up in a
large room filled with robots, monitors and high-tech stuff.
"Sgt. Hudson! Welcome to my workplace," says a tall, Japanese man with
a white beard, dressed in a red jumpsuit. "I am professor Tsuraya as
you might have guessed."
Hudson shakes his hand. "Nice to meet you."
"Soooooooooooo... You're looking for some high-tech weaponry to give
you an extra edge over there in the USA?"
"That's right. We've had an explosion of supercrooks in New Troy.
Regular firepower just doesn't cut it anymore."
"Yes, I've heard about that. But you have your very own superhero,
don't you? That Godling?"
"We do, but he can't be around all the time. Besides, we're the cops.
We should be able to protect our people without that showboat."
Tsuraya smiled. "Sounds like you do not appreciate his efforts much?"
"He has his uses, but I do think he steals our thunder a bit too much.
He's the big hero while us regular cops are looked down on. We don't
have his fancy powers but still we put our lives on the line on a
daily basis.
We're the real heroes."
Tsuraya holds up his hands. "No argument from me, sergeant. Are you
aware of Tokyo's own superhero? Ninjoid?"
"I am. That's how I ended up here. I heard you're his creator?"
"That's right. Come on, Ninjoid. Introduce yourself to the policeman."
Out of the shadows a black robot appears. He looks like a gleaming,
metallic ninja. Red, glowing eyes look Hudson in the eye. The robot
produces a katana that seems to be made of laserlight.
"A lightsaber? What is this. Star Wars?" Hudson says.
"It did inspire me," Tsuraya says. "I'm afraid Ninjoid's weaponry is
exclusively licensed for his use. I do think however, I could set you
up with some armor that should cover your needs."
"I'm afraid our budget isn't very high," Hudson says.
"No matter. I will give you the armor for free. I am a scientist to
help people, not to make money."
Hudon shakes Tsuraya's hand. "I really appreciate that, professor."
Then an alert sounds. WHOOOOOOOOP! WHOOOOOOOOOOOOP! WHOOOOOOOOOOOP!
"Oh dear, intruders!" Tsuraya says.
Ninjoid assumes a fighting stance.
SMASH! A hole in the wall appears. Through the hole a Godzilla-like
creature the size of a regular human being enters. "Destroy Ninjoid!
Godzillion destroy Ninjoid!" it growls.
It runs towards Ninjoid. The monster's footsteps cause tremors, Hudson
has to steady himself against a wall.
Ninjoid throws shuriken (throwing stars) made of light at Godzillian.
The creature groans but doesn't stop. He reaches Ninjoid and tries to
punch him. Ninjoid ducks, the punch misses and smashes a computer.
Ninjoid starts to kick and punch Godzillian.
"Wish I had my gun so I could help out," Hudson says.
Tsuraya throws him a futuristic looking pistol. "Here's one."
Hudson looks at the gun, appreciating it for a moment then starts to
fire it at Godzillian. At the same time a shot from the blaster hits
Godzillian Ninjoid strikes at it with his laserkatana.
Godzillian falls flat on its back.
"That was just too much for Godzillian to handle," Tsuraya says. "Good
work, sergeant. I can see you will make good use of the weaponry I
will provide you with."
"What was that thing, anyway?" Hudson asks.
"Godzillian is one of the creations of Doctor Satori, our own version
of your Master Destiny you might say. He regularly tries to kill me
and destroy Ninjoid so he can take over Tokyo without us around to
stop him. I don't know how he creates these monsters, though."
"I'm sure you will end up defeating him," Hudson offered.
"I hope so," Tsuraya says. "Now lets get Godzillion in our lockup and
then see what kind of weaponry I can provide you with."

*
New Troy, Monica Sawyer's office at the University.
Monica sits behind her desk, staring at her laptop. "I should be
preparing for class, but I just can't help wondering how Wade is
doing. He booked that flight to Japan just out of nowhere. He didn't
want to tell me anything about it... I shouldn't think stuff like that
but is he cheating on me or something?
No, I can't believe that. He's a good man. He probably has a good
reason to keep quiet about that trip."
Quentin walks in. "Hi, Monica. Just wanted to say a quick hello before
I head off to class."
"Oh... Hi, Quentin. Good to see you. You look happy? Things working
out well with Janson?"
"Yeah, pretty well."
"That's great, you deserve the best," Monica says and gives him a kiss
on the cheek.
Quentin blushes. He thinks, "I love Janson, I know I do... But why is
it then that seeing Monica, smelling her sweet perfume still makes me
crazy? Do I really love Janson or is she just some poor substitute
because I can't have Monica? Janson is such a great girl... Maybe she
deserves someone who loves her 100%... Not me..."
"Penny for your thoughts," Monica says.
"Huh? Oh, no. It's nothing, really. But how are you? How long will
Wade be gone?"
"He told me he'll be back from Japan tomorrow."
"And still no word about what he's doing over there?"
Monica looks down at her feet. "Nothing. I just don't understand. He
should know he can trust me with anything. I mean, you're not my lover
but you know you can trust me with anything, right?"
"Err... Sure," Godling says, but thinks "Not exactly it seems, I never
shared the fact I'm Godling with you."
"Well, I have to run off to class," Monica says.
"Same here," Quentin says and they leave the office.
When they're gone a form that was invisible becomes visible slowly.
It's the mysterious Eye-patch Godling. "This is not going according to
plan. The love I used to feel for Monica is stronger than I thought. I
will have to come up with a new plan."
He looks outside the window. He sees it's snowing. "Right... King
Winter... That's going to be a challenge for my younger self..."


NEXT: KING WINTER STRIKES!

GODLING’s WORLD # 3: B.E.M. part 3

– GODLING – THE ONE MAN PANTHEON & DR. PROTON in:  B.E.M. part 3

 

Godling doesn’t hesitate when Detective Simpson is hit by a strange spray coming from one of the beetle-creatures. He pulls all humidity out of the sky, having it rain down over the cop as only a man that can channel the powers of Neptune can. He then proceeds to use the healing powers of Aescilapus to heal the burns the spray left.

Meanwhile, Doctor Proton splits up in 3 smaller duplicates. Two Protons tackle a beetle while the third uses that diversion to pick up the fallen sonic blaster. The beetle shakes off the Protons, throwing them into the one with the blaster who falls flat on his back, his duplicates on top of him. He groans, “I’m a scientist, not a fighter. This is not my thing.”

“Don’t worry. It IS exactly mine,” Godling says and knocks the beetle in the head with all the strength of Heracles. Not holding back a thing now he cracks the shell of the beetle. He follows up with a roundhouse punch and an uppercut. The beetle goes down. The other beetle-creature wraps its spindly legs around Godling. He puts his back into it and throws the beetle over him, right on top of the examining table.

“Turn on the gas!” Godling yells.

A fourth Proton springs out of one of the earlier three who pushes a button that releases the tranquilizer gas above the examination table that puts the creature under.

“Phew. That was some bad piece of action,” Simpson says, wiping sweat from his brow. “Thanks for saving my hide there, Godling.”

“Sure. Now let us continue or investigation into…” Godling’s words are cut short by the appearance of a strange glowing ball appearing out of nowhere.

“What the…” Simpson says.

Doctor Proton, now only one again, picks up the sonic blaster again. “No idea.”

Godling balls his fist. “Whatever it is, I’m ready for it.”

“Cease your bravado,” a voice comes from the ball. “That will help you none. You wish to know who or what I am, I can tell you. I am Bxxt, from a planet far away from yours. I come here to pick up my scouts.”

“These critters?” Proton asks, pointing at the beetle-creatures.

“Yes, these. They were created by me because they seemed to be the perfect spies. Small, but durable. I have a psychic connection to all of them so I can see everything they see. Unfortunately, sometimes people see them as pests and want to squash them. They have no other choice then but defend themselves. They are able to grow into the versions you have encountered.”

“And they are spying on us because?” Proton asks.

“What do you think?” the ball says. “To know how we can conquer your world of course.”

“Would have been nice to meet an alien that comes in peace every once in a while,” Godling laments.

“Guess we’ll have to watch ET for that,” Simpson says and points his gun at the alien ball. “I’m going to ventilate this thing.”

“Stupid, naïve human,” the Bxxt says and fires a purple ray from its alien body. It melts the gun.

“Crap! It’s hot!” Simpson says, nursing his burning hand.

“Step back,” Godling says. “Leave this to me.”

“To us,” Proton says and steps forward, aiming the sonic blaster. “I may not be much of a fighter but I’m not going to allow this joker to conquer my world.”

Another purple ray is fired. Godling jumps right into it, channelling the invulnerability of Achilles. “You can’t hurt me, alien! If you are serious about conquering this world think again. I am here to defend it.”

“We have ways to deal with you,” Bxxt said. “The Mzxxt are a powerful race.”

“You might be powerful enough to appear out of thin air and fire some deathrays… But you have no arms. How did you create those beetles?” Proton asks.

“We have no limbs but we can control other races that do… Let me show you.”

 An orange ray is fired from Bxxt that hits Proton. Proton’s eyes turn orange. He points his sonic blaster at Godling and fires. The hero’s ears are assaulted by it. Godling goes down on his knees, hands covering his ears, in excruciating pain.

“Hey, cut that out!” Simpson says and kicks the blaster out of Proton’s hands. Proton takes a swing at the cop, but isn’t much of a hand-to-hand combatant compared to the experienced cop who nails him with a fist in the gut and an uppercut. Proton goes down.

“Sorry about that, buddy!” Simpson tells the scientist.

“Thanks for the assist,” Godling says, slowly standing up again.

“Maybe it would be better to take control of YOU!” Bxxt says and fires an orange ray at Godling.

The One Man Pantheon uses the speed of Hermes to avoid it and runs to the alien. He then attacks it with a flurry of punches. To his surprise his punches go through the alien like he puts it through a gelatine pudding. It doesn’t seem to hurt Bxxt.

“Interesting try, but mere physical force will not harm me,” the alien says. It fires a blue blast that hits Godling like a piledriver, sending him flying through the lab.

Simpson helps up Proton. “Are you okay?”

Proton groans a “yeah’’, his eyes not orange anymore. “Not sure what happened there? Did that thing actually control my mind for a second there. And, crap, is Godling lying there on the floor?”

“Afraid so,” Simpson says.

“I’m okay,” Godling says and slowly gets up.

“You ARE strong, human. You will serve me well,” Bxxt says and fires another orange ray. Godling is hit, eyes going orange.

“Now, KILL your fellow humans!” Bxx orders.

Godling slowly walks towards Proton and Simpson, saying, “Yes, kill them Kill them.”

“No! You’re a hero, not a killer! Don’t!” Proton yells at the One Man Pantheon.

Godling readies a mighty fist. “This blow will take your head off.”

Proton winces, putting up his arms out of instinct, his brain well aware that if Godling is channelling the strength of Heracles that’s no use whatsoever.

Just as the fist is ready to connect, Godling screams, “NOOOOOOOOOO!”

The Prophet from Olympus lowers his fist. “I am a hero, not a killer. The orange in his eyes is becoming of a lighter colour. “You can’t make me kill my friends. My mind is stronger than yours. I faced off against interdimensional conquerors, evil monsters and fantastic supervillains… No stupid alien will make me do anything I don’t want to. MY MIND IS STRONGER THAN YOURS!”

The orange is gone from his eyes and he attacks Bxxt again. He twists his fists with the speed of Hermes, creating a little tornado with it. The tornado hits Bxxt, right in the middle, splitting it in half, pieces of jelly flying around.

“There!” Godling says and shakes a fist at the alien. “This world is under my protection!”

The pieces of jelly come together again, reforming Bxxt. “Nice try, hero. And I must say I am impressed by your willpower. No one has ever managed to break free from my mindcontrol.”

“Looks like we can go on fighting for days,” Proton says. “But why? Why are you so eager to conquer our world?”

“We just like it. We like showing those with limbs that we are just as powerful, even superior to them.”

“So this is all part of some pissing contest on your side?” Simpson asks.

“I do not understand the reference,” Bxxt says.

“You made your point. You’re very powerful,” Proton says. “Now why can’t you just leave Earth knowing that.”

“I cannot do that. My fellows Mzxxt are eager to show their superiority as well.”

“So they are in orbit here or something?” Proton asks.

“No, I came here first to follow up on the data of our scouts.”

“Good, there’s only you to handle then,” Godling says.

“That will be more than enough,” Bxxt says and fires three red rays in rapid succession that Godling barely manages to avoid with the speed of Hermes. What the rays hit bursts in flame, like a fancy piece of equipment and a cup of coffee.

“Godling, just keep that thing busy,” Proton says. “I’ll be back soon. We’ll defeat it.”

“Okay,” the One Man Pantheon says and throws a lightning bolt at Bxxt. The alien explodes, jelly covering the walls. For a minute Godling thinks the alien has been defeated, but the jelly detaches itself from the wall, joining into Bxxt again.

Godling uses the power of Hephaestur, God of Fire to throw some balls of fire at the alien. With blue rays Bxxt manages to extinguish them before they hit him.

The Prophet from Olympus continues to use power after power against the powerful alien, not able to defeat it, but keeping it busy until Doctor Proton reappears.

A dozen times Proton’s voice can be heard. “As soon as you came in my systems began analysing you, Bxxt. And from that data I was able to discover your weakness… Intense cold…”

“No!” Bxxt says.

A dozen Protons surround the alien. They all carry gas pistols. “Fire the Freon gas!”

Freon gas is fired from the guns… Bxxt screams, freezing.

“And take a look at the big screen,” one of the Protons says. “I googled some stuff. Can you still see and hear?”

On a big screen in the lab dozens of pictures appear from cold regions of Earth, showing snow and ice.

“Do you see that? That is the kind of cold you will have to face each day on Earth? I don’t think you will like that.”

“Please…. Get me waaaaaaaaaaaaaaarmmmmmmmmm” Bxxt pleads. “I surrenderrrrrrrrr….”

“Okay, but one false move and these guns hit you again,” Proton says.

“Let me handle this,” Godling says and used the power of Apollo the Sun-God to warm Bxxt up a bit.

With the ice that covered him gone Bxxt can speak better again. “It seems your world is not suited for conquering. I will leave this place for now and report this back to my home. Beware though, we will find a way to brave the cold and return.”

“Good luck with that, ugly!” Simpson says. “Because these two heroes will be there to defeat you once again.”

“We’ll see,” Bxxt says and is gone as suddenly as he appeared.

“Wow! What an adventure that was!” Simpson says.

“Yeah, sure was. I really need some coffee.”

“You guys sit down and rest. I can whip up a mean cup of Greek coffee, you’ll like that,” Godling says.

 

NEXT ISSUE: INTRODUCING DOBER-GIRL!

GODLING # 25: Coalition of Doom Part Two

GODLING # 25:  Coalition of Doom Part Two by J. Vandersteen

– GODLING – THE ONE MAN PANTHEON:  COALITION OF DOOM PART TWO

Cecrops, Squidface, Thermonaut, Death Dog and Panzerman surround
Officer Janson who is shackled to a metal chair inside their secret
headquarters.
"You won't keep me captured for long," she says. "It's not the first
time some superpowered crazy holds me hostage, but Godling will get me
out of here in no time."
"Let him show up," Cecrops says. "He had a hard time beating us at the
bank, but here, in our headquarters he won't stand a chance."
Death Dog laughs. "You're excellent bait, missy!"
"Yes, my secret benefactor promised me that," Cecrops says and he
thinks back to a few weeks earlier...
Master Destiny was responsible for mixing Cecrops' human body with
that of a snake. When the Godlings battled it out with Master Destiny
he fled the scene, understanding his current powers wouldn't be enough
to beat the Godlings.
He hid in the sewers, where he was visited by a mysterious man wearing
a cloak and what seemed to be an eyepatch. Most of the man's image was
hidden by the cloak and hood that went along with it, however.
The mystery man gave him access to some amazing technology and told
him he was destined to be one of the greatest supervillains Godling
would ever face. Great riches were just a few crimes away. The mystery
man told Cecrops to gather some supervillains and kidnap Officer
Janson.
Cecrops was amazed by the technology the mystery man gave him and
using it outfitted his secret headquarters and created his powerful
staff.
"Benefactor? What are you talking about?" Janson asks.
Cecrops smiles. "I said SECRET benefactor. I'd like to keep it
secret."
An alert sounds.
"Ah, that should be The One Man Pantheon," Cecrops says.
SUddenly Godling is in the middle of the room. The invisibility of
Hades got him inside without having been seen, but the alarm system
had managed to detect him. No matter, he was there now.
"You made a mistake kidnapping her," Godling tells the villains.
"You made a mistake coming here," Cecrops says.
"We'll see about that", says Godling. He strikes first, taking out
Squidface with a roundhouse punch that sends the villain flying
through the room.
Thermonaut fires a freeze ray at Godling who counters it with a
fireball, channeling the powers of Hephaestus, God of Fire. The freeze
ray turns to water, creating little puddle on the floor. Golding
throws a lightning bolt at Thermonaut. He's out of action as well.
Death Dog draws two pistols and starts to fire at Godling. Godling
uses the speed of Hermes to deflect the bullets with his arm
bracelets. He then runs into Death Dog with superspeed and smashes him
against the wall. Death Dog falls flat on his face.
Panzerman hammers Godling in the back. He falls flat on his face.
Panzerman jumps on top of him, his spine cracks.
"Good work!" Cecrops says, applauding.
Panzerman lifts up Godling by his hair.
"NO!" Janson screams.
Panzerman readies his fist for the final punch. Godling meanwhile uses
the healing powers of Aescilapus to heal his spine. Just before the
fist connects he channels the invulnerability of Achilles, taking the
punch without harm. He follows up with a Heracles-powered kick in
Panzerman's groin. The villain is lifted from the floor by the impact,
dropping Godling.
The One Man Pantheon throws two lightning bolts at Panzerman, leaving
him on his back, smoke coming from where he was hit.
"Yeah, that'll teach that bastard!" Janson says.
"Surrender or I will kill her," Cecrops says, putting his staff
against Janson's temple.
"NO!" Godling screams, realizing he loves her. With amazing Hermes
speed he disarms Cecrops who is left empty-handed and confused.
"You'll pay for doing this to her so shortly after the last time she
was captured!" Godling says and wraps his hands around Cecrops'
throat.
*
Somewhere in Troy City, staring into a big bowl of water a lone figure
smiles. In the bowl the image of Godling strangling Cecrops is
visible.
The lone figure wears Godling's face but with an eye-patch.
"And all is going according to plan... How wonderful."
*
"Stop! Don't kill him!" Janson yells. "It'll make you as wrong as he
is!"
"I'm tired of these clowns hurting you like this," Godling says.
"It's what they do. It's not what you do. You're supposed to be a
hero. I don't know why you take this so personal, and I guess I'm a
bit flattered by the fact... But please, don't kill him."
"I wasn't planning to," Godling says. He draws back his fist to punch
Cecrops.
Cecrops extends his snake tail and smacks Godling with it. Godling
flies against the wall.
Cecrops picks up one of the guns Death Dog dropped. Godling gets up.
Cecrops opens fire. Godling, channeling the powers of Achilles just
walks toward him, the bullets doing no harm. "I'm going to take you in
and lock you up in Tartarus II."
"I don't think so," Cecrops says. "The powerstaff isn't the only piece
of technology my mysterious benefactor handed me." He punches a few
buttons on the wristband he's wearing. His image begins to shimmer and
suddenly he's gone.
"Teleportation!?" Godling exclaims. "Who IS that benefactor?"
"No idea, but I think he deservers our attention," Janson says.
"So it seems," Godling says and frees Janson.
"You got pretty worked up about me," Janson tells Godling. "I didn't
know you cared so much about me. Why is that?"
"I always get worked up when innocent lives are threatened," Godling
says. "Now if you will excuse me, I have a few supervillains that need
to be taken to Tartarus II."
With superspeed he got to work, picking up the remaining members of
the Coalition of Doom and transporting them to the superjail he
created.
"There's more to it than he admits," Janson thinks. "And I'm going to
find out what..."


NEXT: KING WINTER!