GODLING'S WORLD # 1 : B.E.M.

GODLING’s WORLD # 1:  B.E.M.

by J. Vandersteen

 

 

– GODLING – THE ONE MAN PANTHEON & DR. PROTON in:  B.E.M. part 1

 

 

Tesla City. A lab filled with incredible high-tech stuff. Monitors and machines, computers and mechanical arms, glowing diodes everywhere. Clad in a white skin-tight suit with red boots a man is looking through a futuristic microscope.

“That’s indeed very odd, Detective Simpson. How did this bug end up on a crime scene? It’s not in any database,” the man in white tells a stocky black man in a cheap suit standing in front of him.

The black man says, “I don’t know, Doctor Proton. That’s why our crime scene guys asked me to visit you. They just don’t know what to do with it. Do you think it’s alien?”

“It’s a bit too soon to tell,” Dr. Proton says. “It might be. Tell me more about the scene of the crime.”

“We found it in a nice suburban home. The residents, a young happily married couple was found there, their hearts ripped out.”

“Yow. Superhuman involvement?”

“Only explanation I guess. No idea who, though. More and more of those super-villains are finding their way over from New Troy. Good thing we have our own superhero like they have.”

“I’m a scientist, not a superhero,” Proton says.

“Well, you kicked a lot of villain-behind, that makes you a hero in my book,” Simpson says.

Proton smiles. “Thanks, I guess. Any idea why that couple was killed?”

Simpson shrugged. “No idea. They were hard-working folks. Not involved in any shady business whatsoever. Nothing seemed stolen. No signs of break-in.”

Proton rubs his chin. “Maybe I should have a look at the crime scene.”

“Sure, you’re welcome to it. I can drive you over in my Crown Vic.”

An energetic smile appears on Proton’s face. “I can get there faster…”

A few minutes later a VTOL plane the size of a small car zips off from the roof of Proton’s spherical lab building…

*

New Troy. A building site. Godling is fighting against a creature that appears to be half-human, half bug. It looks like a beetle standing erect like a man. Godling’s hands are wrapped around two spindly legs that the creature uses like hands.

“I don’t know what you are or where you came from, but you will pay for killing those construction workers,” Godling says.

Five cops stand close to them, weapons in hand.

One of them is Officer Janson, “Can’t get a clear shot of that thing. I don’t want to hit Godling.”

The cop next to her says, “Godling can probably take care of this thing on his own.”

Godling kicks the beetle in the abdomen, sending it flying through the air. It crashes against a bulldozer.

Godling summons a lightning bolt with the power of Zeus. The lightning crackles in his hand. The beetle gets up and flies towards Godling. Godling throws the lightning bolt, but the beetle manages to avoid it. The bolt hits the bulldozer instead which erupts in flame.

“Crap, now we’ve got a fire as well!” Janson says.

The beetle has reached Godling and get its claws on him, mandible snapping at the hero’s neck. Godling headbutts it, using the strength of Heracles. The armored head of the beetle cracks, the pain making him release Godling. Then Godling grabs a wing and swings the beetle around, letting go… And the beetle flies right into the burning bulldozer. Only a cadaver remains.

Janson winces. “Fried insect, nice…”

“What the hell was that thing, anyway?” the other cop wonders.

“I don’t know. Never seen anything like it…” Godling says, scratching his head.

“Maybe one of Master Destiny’s creations we hadn’t locked up yet?” Janson suggests.

“Might be. But it seemed a bit too alien for that. Maybe that’s what it was. Of alien origin. Captain Wrakk’s attack showed us we’re not the only ones in this galaxy.”

“Yeah, I guess. So now what?”

“It might be good to investigate this thing further. I’m going to take it to Tesla City. There’s some kind of superbrain living there who might have an idea what that thing was.”

“I heard of him. Doctor Proton, right? He’s also a bit of a superhero, right?”

“According to the news. He recently took care of some of our supervillains that thought Tesla City would be an easier prey than New Troy. Apparently they hadn’t heard of Doctor Proton yet.”

“I think it must be cool for you to see how you inspire all those other folks to put on a costume and try to do some good.”

“It feels a bit weird, to be honest,” Godling says. He knows the Greek gods are happy about it, though. Inspiring people is what they want him to do, hoping it will make more people worship them again.

 

*

Doctor Proton and Detective Simpson exit the VTOL, parked in front of the house of the murder victims. There’s still some remnants of crime scene tape.

They enter the house. Doctor Proton is carrying some kind of scanner.

“What’s that you’re holding?” Simpson asks him.

Proton looks up from his device. “It scans for all kinds of stuff. Radiation, energy sources. In fact it is picking up some unknown kind of radiation.”

“Wait… Is it dangerous. I don’t want my hair to fall out!”

“You can relax. It’s not strong enough. A regular Geiger counter wouldn’t even pick it up. I’ve never seen its particular wavelength before, however. That’s odd.”

“What do you mean by that?”

“Well, for lack of a better term… It seems to be alien.”

“Crap! No kidding.”

The floorboards suddenly break and from underneath the same beetle-like creature Godling fought pops up.

“You figure that’s alien too?” Simpson asks, distressed.

“It might be,” Proton says and barely manages to avoid the beetle’s claw that slashes at him, smashing a chair in the process. “Let’s call in the cavalry.”

Doctor Proton uses his superhuman ability to split himself up in smaller copies of himself. More and more appear until there hundreds of him, the size of a mouse. The Protons surround the beetle.

“Time for some pest-control,” the hero says.

 

TO BE CONTINUED….

Hope you enjoyed the first issue of this new series. It is partly based on the Invincible Universe and partly on Marvel Team-Up and gives me the chance to show more of Godling's world and introduce some new heroes.

 

GODLING # 23: Scorpion God

GODLING # 23: Scorpion God

– GODLING – THE ONE MAN PANTHEON: SCORPION GOD


Six men stand around a dark being in an old warehouse. They wear robes
and carry scimitars.
The dark being has a human shape but with a long scorpion tail. A
better look shows it is made up entirely from living scorpions,
skittering around
"Who has summoned me here?" the being asks.
"Scorpion God, we are the Scorpion Cult and have been worshipping you
for years," one of the men speaks. "My name is Jeremiah."
"Why did you summon me?" Scorpion God's voice rumbled.
"We want you to rule this city and after that this country, then the
planet, creating the chaos needed to rebuild it."
"Where do I start?"
"I think you need to establish your reputation first. I have a great
opportunity tonight for you to create the carnage necessary to make
the people of this city to bow for you."

*

The Troy Coliseum is the place to see new bands in New Troy. Tonight
The Cash headlines. They are on stage, clad in leather jackets and
Johnny Cash shirts, playing their instruments.
There's a pretty big audience. Among the audience are officer Janson
and professor Quentin Alexander. She is wearing a Johnny Cash T-shirt
and jeans. Quentin is wearing slacks and a short-sleeved shirt.
"Aren't they great?" Janson says to Quentin.
"They're a lot louder than Johnny," Quentin says.
"Yeah, that's why they're a punk band. Can I get you another Coke?"
"I'll get it. You want another beer?"
"Would love to," Janson says and holds up an empty bottle.
Quentin walks over to the bar, thinking, "What great girl. Such a
lively spirit. And I must say she looks pretty good in those jeans.
She's almost as attractive as Monica. Maybe I really shouldn't..."
His thoughts are interrupted when one of the walls breaks down and
Scorpion God gets on stage. Panic breaks out, people start to run
everywhere.
Scorpion God impales the guitarist of the band on his tail and breaks
the singer's neck with his hands.
Quentin uses the confusion to change in Godling, thinking "I don't
know what that thing is, but I need to stop it, fast!"
Janson grabs her cell phone and calls the police, screaming, "There's
a monster at the Coliseum. Sent a SWAT team, fast!"
Scorpion God leaves the entire band bleeding on stage and walks into
the audience. His tail and fists has the blood and even body parts
flying. Janson throws a bottle at him, but that just breaks without
hurting him. He focuses his attention on her now, however, walking
straight to her.
She gulps.
He grabs her with his tail and lifts her from the floor. Godling
rushes over, hitting Scorpion God in the side. Scorpion God drops
Janson.
"Who are you? I felt that," he says to Godling.
"I am Godling, protector of this city."
"I am Scorpion God and will be your DOOM!" Scorpion God says and
swings his tail at our hero. He holds up his arms to ward off the
blow, but it is so powerful it still sends him flying through the
room, first knocking over people in the audience, then ending up
knocking over bottles behind the bar.
Winded, he gets up. Blood is coming from his mouth. "I do not know
from what pit of hell you came from, but I am sending you back!"
"Try," Scorpion God says and moves towards Godling, throwing members
of the audience left and right to clear a path.
Godling tears out the bar and hits Scorpion God with it. The blow
makes the little scorpions skitter away from each other, temporarily
breaking up Scorpion God's body. Like a madman Godling uses the speed
of Hermes to crush the scorpions under his feet. He yelps as one of
the scorpions stings him, slowing him down.
He has to use the power of Asclepius to take care of the poison. Since
he can only use one superpower at the same time he can't use his
speed. That enables the scorpions to gather again and form a slightly
smaller version of Scorpion God.
"You cannot defeat me!" Scorpion God says and takes a swing with his
tail. Godling grabs the tail and swings Scorpion God against the roof,
using the strength of Heracles. The roof cracks, but stays intact.
Scorpion God falls apart once more.
Channelling Hephaestus Godling sets the scorpions afire, burning them
to crisps.
At that moment Wade Hudson walks in, accompanied by his SWAT-team. He
is shocked by the carnage he encounters.
"Call in the paramedics, your services are not needed anymore,"
Godling says and runs off.
"Good Lord, what happened over here?" Tyler says.
"It was terrible," Janson says. "That monster just appeared on stage
and started slaughtering people out of nowhere. If it hadn't been for
Godling..."
"Yeah, yeah," Wade cuts her off. "He's friggin' great. It's just that
this thing is another in a long line of freaky things to appear in
this place since his first appearance. I'm starting to wonder..."
Quentin walks to Janson. She runs towards him and gives him a big hug.
"You're all right! Thank God, I was so worried."
Their eyes lock, lips move closer and they kiss.
"Well, what do you know," Wade says. "And here I was thinking our
professor didn't like girls."

*

On the street, in front of the Coliseum Jeremiah stands, in his robe.
He muses, "The omelette has been made, too bad about the eggs. What
needed to happen has happened." He pulls off his hood, showing the
face of Godling, wearing an eye patch underneath.
His image starts to shimmer and then he's gone.


NEXT: THE COALITION OF DOOM!

GODLING # 22: Round ‘em up!

GODLING # 22: Round ‘em up!
by J. Vandersteen
– GODLING – THE ONE MAN PANTHEON: ROUND ‘EM UP!


The supervillain called Nuclear Warrior, clad in a red and yellow
costume with a radiation symbol on it, flies through the sky,
manoeuvring between the tall skyscrapers of New Troy. Godling is
following him, using Perseus’ power of flight.
I’m not going to let him get away, Godling thinks. There’s too many of
Master Destiny’s thugs that escaped (last issue, ed.) for me to let
any one of them get away when I see one.
Suddenly, Nuclear Warrior turns around and blasts Godling who just in
time manages to channel the invulnerability of Achilles. The power of
the blast smacks him right through a building.
He ends up on a desk of a very full office. There’s a lot of panic
among the office workers. Nuclear Warrior flies into the office
through the hole the hero left. Godling gets up, just in time to avoid
one of the supervillain’s blasts.
Using the power of sun god Apollo he blinds the villain with a bright
blast of light. He follows that up with a roundhouse right, using the
strength of Heracles. Nuclear Warrior is knocked out.
“All right people, everything is in control. No need to worry. I’ll
come by later to repair the damage,” Godling said to the office
workers. There was a moment of pause and doubt, but finally he was
rewarded with applause. The people of New Troy had all been witness of
how Godling freed the city from Master Destiny.
Godling picks up the villain and flies off.

*
DA Linda Cooper is giving her opening statement to the judge when all
hell breaks loose.. On trial is the supervillain called Mr. Gator,
half human, half alligator. The villain suddenly rises from his chair
and attacks her. Luckily, there’s extra security there and they all
jump on the villain, prying her off the DA. He knocks them off his
body however and runs for the exit. Guns are fired at him, but his
scaly hide is not penetrated by the bullets and he walks out of the
Court Building.
Just as he leaves, Wade Hudson gets out of his car and spots him.
Without hesitation he gets back in his car and drives into Mr. Gator.
Wide eyed the villain sees the car coming but he’s too late to avoid
it and ends up on it’s hood, uncounscious.
Hudson gets out, 9mm handgun aimed at the villain.
Linda Coopers exclaims, “My God! Haven’t you ever heard of excessive
force?”
Hudson says, “That only works for normal perps. These superpowered
crazies need excessive force. In fact, did you ever wonder how we’re
going to keep these thugs from breaking out of the Court Room?”
“Maybe we should ask Godling for help?” Cooper offers.
Hudson crosses his arms defiantly. “Are we going to keep turning to
that showboat for help? Isn’t it time we started to fend for
ourselves? What if something happens to him? We need to be able to
fight back against these crazies. Without Godling.”

*
Godling lands at Tartarus II, the prison he made with the power of the
Spear of Destiny, Nuclear Warrior in his arms. The gates open and he
is greeted by one of the robotic guards, one of the New
Hekatoncheires.
“New delivery,” Godling tells it.
“I will take care of it,” say the robot and takes Nuclear Warrior out
of the hero’s arms with its tentacles.
“I will pick him up when he’s ready to go to trial.”
“Affirmative.”
The robot carried the villain further inside. Tartarus II was filled
with cells that were able to deal with the many superpowered thugs
captured when Master Destiny was arrested. There were bars made from
mythical steel, and some cells were filled with water, others with
fire. There was no escape possible.
Godling felt a little bad about what he had used his powers for.
Imprisoning people seemed wrong to him, even if it were all criminals.
It was the only way to keep New Troy safe from them however.
Godling flew off.
*
Master Destiny was sitting in a normal prison cell, in New Troy’s
regular prison. After all, without the Spear of Destiny he was just a
regular human being.
There was a doctor with him. Master Destiny looks about about ninety
years old.
There’s also a guard with the doctor, saying, “I don’t get it. When he
came in hear he looked to be about forty years old.”
“I can’t help you. I’ve never seen anything like this,” the doctor
says.
Destiny says, softly, “The Spear kept me from aging, without it I’m
slowly aging again. I will die in this cell. I swear however, death
will not be the end of me!”
His eyes closed.
“He’s dead,” the doctor says.
“What was that stuff about death being not the end?” the guard says.
“It creeped me out.”
“Ramblings of a dying man,” the doctor says.
They don’t notice the strange shadow on the wall. The shadow that
seems to be the shape of a devil. It’s there just briefly and gone in
seconds.
*
Godling lands at the Coffee Pit, one of New Troy’s coffee bars. As
soon as he’s landed he changes into professor Quentin Alexander and
walks in.
Officer Janson is already waiting for him at a table. She is out of
uniform, her hair loose, wearing a tank top and a skirt. She looks
sexy.
“Hi,” Quentin says. “Finally, the cup of coffee we planned on having.”
“Yeah, my sick leave gives me the free time to catch up on my social
life,” Janson says.
Quentin sits down. “How are you doing?”
“Well, okay I guess. The department issued Darlene and me some pretty
good shrinks. Although Darlene seems to have little need for one.
She’s already back on duty, taking out her anger on the bad guys.”
“It must have been terrible for you, to be so helpless against Master
Destiny.”
“It could’ve been a whole lot worse if it wasn’t for Godling. But
enough about that. Let’s leave it at the fact I’m feeling better by
the day and hopefully will be back on the job soon. I want to get to
know you a little bit better.”
“Same here,” Quentin says with a smile. “I’m afraid I’m not as
interesting a person as, say, Godling.”
“I doubt that. Tell me, did you always want to become a teacher?”
“Not exactly. I’ve always been interested in mythology however. Not
much to do with an interest like that but become a teacher. What about
you? Did you always want to be a cop?”
“Ever since my sister got killed.”
“Your sister got killed? That’s awful!”
“I was just a kid, ten years old. She was just an innocent bystander,
killed in a drive-by shooting. Since then I guess I felt the desire to
protect people. I didn’t want other kids to go through what I went
through.”
“Doesn’t sound like an easy childhood,” Quentin says.
“Yours was eve worse. I don’t feel at ease with you feeling sorry for
my past.” She was probably talking about the death of Quentin’s own
parents and the fact his brother was in jail.
Quentin sighs. “Let’s just say we both have some baggage to carry
along. But let’s talk about nicer things, get to know each other a bit
better on another level. Like, what sort of music do you like?”
“I love folk punk. Street Dogs, Dropkick Murphy’s, Flogging Molly,”
Janson says.
Quentin gives her a blank look. “I have absolutely never heard of
them. I’m more of a Bob Dylan and Johnny Cash lover myself.” That was
probably the age difference talking there, Quentin thought.
“I love Cash! Especially the American Recordings. In fact, there’s
this Cash-tribute band playing tomorrow night, right here in New Troy.
Would you like to go there with me?”
Quentin smiles a big smile. “I’d love to.”
“Great!” Janson exclaims and gives Quentin a quick peck on the cheek.
“Hi,” someone says at that moment. It’s Monica Sawyer, she’s just
walked in.
“Monica!” Quentin says and thinks, I almost feel like she caught me
cheating on her or something, how stupid is that?
“Hello miss Sawyer,” Janson says.
“I just felt an urgent need for some frappacino,” Monica says. “I
didn’t know you two were seeing each other.”
“Well, it’s not that exactly… I mean, I --,” Quentin stammers.
“He means today is the first day we’ve been seeing each other without
me handcuffing him,” Janson says.
“Kinky,” Monica says.
Quentin and Janson both get very red.
Here I am with this lovely young woman and Monica walks in and
suddenly I can’t think about how good Monica smells, how great her
smile is, Quentin thinks.

*
At the other side of the city, in an abandoned building six men in
dark robes stand in a circle. Above their heads they hold gold swords
as they chant. “Ikway-chai-da-way. Ikway-chai-da-way. Ikway-chai-da.”
From a dark hole in the middle of the circle a giant scorpion tail
slowly appears.
“Welcome, Scorpion God,” one of the men in robes says. “We welcome you
to our dimension which we offer for you to take. Soon, Earth will be
yours.”

NEXT: SCORPION GOD!

GODLING # 21: The Fall of Destiny!

GODLING # 21: The Fall of Destiny!
by J. Vandersteen
– GODLING – THE ONE MAN PANTHEON
THE FALL OF DESTINY!Master Destiny has his Spear against Officer Janson’s chin. Can
Godling be quick enough and take him down before she’s dead?
“I know what you’re thinking, hero. But even with the speed of Hermes
you won’t be fast enough. I see you twitch and she’s dead.”
WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOSH! Suddenly the Spear is gone, leaving Master
Destiny befuddled, looking a this empty hand.
WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOSH! Destiny’s punched in the face and falls down.
WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOSH! Janson and Darlene King’s chains are gone.
High-tech Godling stands triumphantly. “Good thing there’s more than
one of us with superspeed. Some you’re not keeping an eye on.” He
holds the Spear above his head. “Without this thing you’re useless,
right?”
Destiny runs for High-tech Godling and the Spear. He runs into Darlene
and Janson, though.
“Payback time!” they say and hit him both at the same time. KA-WHAK!
He goes down.
“Here,” High-tech Godling tells our Godling and throws the Spear. Our
Godling catches it.
“Break that thing!” High-tech Godling says.
“I think I should use it first to put things right again. Get City
Hall down from this mountain for one thing.”
“Take it easy, that Spear is a dangerous weapon. If you get to
experience it’s power you might not want to lose it.”
“You guys keep an eye on me then,” Our Godling said.
The original One Man Pantheon went to work. He started by lowering
City Hall down, while the other Godlings captured the superpowered
henchmen of Destiny. Some villains managed to get away, some were
captured willingly, some needed some extra persuasion in the form of a
fist or on some occasions a blast from the Spear.
“We need to imprison these villains somewhere,” Our Godling told High-
tech Godling. “A normal prison won’t hold them. Time to create
something better.”
He pointed the Spear at the earth and from it, slowly, a huge metal
structure started to arise. It was a cross between a normal looking
prison and a Greek building.
“Behold, Tartarus II, the containment facility for superpowered
criminals!” Our Godling said proudly.
“Who will guard the prisoners? Who will take care of them?” High-tech
Godling asked.
“I thought of that as well,” said Our Godling and a door in the new
prison opened. From it, three robots, three times larger than a human
walked forth, moving by using metal tentacles for feet. In fact, they
had hundreds of tentacles. They had two red lights for eyes and a
speaker for a mouth.
“These are the New Hekatoncheires, special robots to guard the
prisoners and provide for their basic needs.”
“Impressive. Now please, relinquish the Spear.”
“Why? Don’t you see what I can do with it? Did you see what I just
created? Don’t you understand what I can do? I can me all-powerful. I
can cure disease, eliminate hunger, war, crime… I can create
paradise.”
“Listen to yourself! Do you really think you want to be a God? Don’t
you think you want to draw the line at being a Godling?” High-tech
Godling pleaded.
Godling thought about his future with the Spear. How he could make
earth a better place, free his brother from prison, make Monica love
him… He dropped the Spear, shocked by his thoughts. Make Monica love
him? Make her? Where did those dark thoughts come from? Maybe High-
tech Godling was right. Maybe the Spear wasn’t meant to be used by
human beings.
“I see your point,” Our Godling said. “I’ll make sure the Spear is
hidden somewhere no human can ever reach it.”
“Good,” High-tech Godling said. “Now we’ll get those villains inside
that prison and then we’ll leave to our own time.”
Our Godling shooks High-tech Godling’s hand. “Thanks, Me.”
High-tech Godling smiled. “That’s nothing you wouldn’t have done for
us. I can be very sure of that.”
Our Godling had to laugh at that.*The day after…
There was a lot of public debate about this new prison, Tartarus II,
and how it fit in with human rights. The villains were locked up, but
still had to go to trial. DA Linda Cooper, just promoted from being
Assistant DA, had a hard time trying to get all of them prosecuted.
Meetings were held to find out just how Tartarus II was going to be
governed.
Wade Hudson was on leave to recuperate from his battle with Destiny,
while Darlene King and Officer Janson were treated by a police
psychologist to come to grips with their experiences.
TV stations all over the world had their cameras focused on New Troy.*Godling, meanwhile, was on a ferry with Rhadamantus, crossing the
rivers of the Underworld.
“You came to the right place to keep your artefact guarded. No
ordinary living being is allowed passage beyond the adamantine gates I
am taking you,” the ferryman of Hades told our hero.
“I know, and if they do they’ll have to face a very dangerous guard
dog.”
Rhadamantus smiled. “Yes, Cerberus is not an easy one to defeat.
“No one will ever use the Spear of Destiny again,” Godling said.*Centuries in the future High-tech Godling arrived home. His family was
glad to see him arrive. Two kids hugged him, his wife, a stunningly
beautiful black woman in a purple dress, wearing a tiara, kissed him.
“How did you fare?” she asked him.
“I was successful. It was great to see me back then. Still so young,
full of promise. Just at the start of that period that will change the
world. Little did I know then what wonders I would encounter, which
universes and dimensions I would travel, which new heroes I would
inspire. And what love I would find.”
The black woman kissed him again. High-tech Godling also thought
something else, something he hadn’t said out loud, not to upset his
children. He also thought, “Little did I know then there were even
greater evils than Master Destiny to face.”
THE BEGINNING

GODLING # 20: Destiny!

GODLING # 20: Destiny!
by J. Vandersteen
– GODLING – THE ONE MAN PANTHEON in :   DESTINY!Master Destiny looks through a window of City Hall. In the room are
Darlene and Janson, chained to the wall, collars around their necks.
“What the--,” Destiny utters. Outside thirteen Godlings approach, an army
of Destiny’s superpowered thugs confronting them. “Looks like Godling is
coming over to kick your behind,” Janson says. Destiny smacks her in the
face. “You ever do that to her again, I’ll take you apart like a clock,”
Darlene says grimly. Destiny laughs, “That won’t be easy all chained up
like that.” Like a caged animal Darlene tugs at the chain, snarling,
reaching out for Destiny. “I’ll kill you, you monster.” “You’ve got it
all wrong, first I’ll have my way with you and then I will kill YOU,”
Destiny says.  *Outside, the Red Godling, flying as are all Godlings, stops a hail of
bullets from the flying leader of the thugs on a gold shield. He
charges into his enemy, slamming him with his mace.
The other Godlings come to blows with the supervillains as well. The
Godling in black uses a sword to fight off his enemies, where others
use their fists. Another Godlings finds a landing spot on the elevated
ground and starts to throw lightning bolts while another one zips all
over the place with Hermes speed, throwing rocks at the enemy.
“We’ll keep these guys busy,” High-tech Godling says, flying next to
Our Godling. “You get inside the building. There’s some cops to save
over there according to history.”
“Will you guys be okay?” Our Godling asked.
High-tech Godling smiled, “Trust yourself. I’ve been doing this a long
time.” Then he lifted a blaster and started to fire at the thugs. “Go,
quickly!”
*
Destiny puts his Spear against Darlene’s chin. “If you struggle I’ll
impale you. I’m going to have my way with you and your little friend
gets to watch.”
“No! Take me instead!” Janson screams.
Darlene kicks Destiny between the legs. “Take that, monster!”
Destiny doesn’t even flinch and smiles an evil smile. “Nothing can
hurt me while I hold the Spear, harlot. But I can see you’re just too
much trouble to have around. I will have to dispose of you earlier
than I planned to.” He lifts the Spear, ready to strike.
The window breaks, glass flying everywhere. A supervillain, a mix
between a tiger and a human follows the shards of glass, dropping down
on the floor. He’s followed by the one who flung him through the
window, Godling!
“I believe this one is yours?” Godling asks Master Destiny.
This spectacular entrance keeps Destiny from killing Darlene. Instead,
he focuses his attention on the superhero.
“Godling… Finally we meet!”
“Master Destiny… I’ve heard a lot about you. It seems you’re just a
geek in a suit with a big needle in your hand.”
“Don’t mock me, hero! If you anger me I won’t make your death a quick
one!”
“Nobody dies here, villain!” Godling says and prepares for a punch.
Destiny fires a blast from his Spear, preventing Godling from
finishing his blow. The One Man Pantheon just manages to duck before
the blast hits him. It blows a hole in the wall behind him instead.
The second punch does land, taking Destiny on the chin. It doesn’t
hurt the villain. He just laughs. “I’m more powerful than you can
imagine, hero.” He fires a big green energy bubble at Godling. The
bubble captures the hero. He tries to punch through it, but is unable
to.
“I’ve been learning to wield this weapon for a long time, Godling.
Obviously longer than you’ve been wielding your superpowers. Ever
since I, as part of a special group of Hitler’s SS managed to acquire
the Spear of Destiny, hidden in the vaults of the Vatican I’ve been
learning about what it can do. We were, of course, ordered by Hitler
to track down the Spear in order to win the war for him. I decided
against that, however. What good would it do to hand over world
domination to someone else when I could win it for myself? I killed my
fellow soldiers and took a hiding during the entire war. It took some
practice to be able to use my willpower to make the Spear do whatever
I want. Slowly I started to improve my proficiency at wielding it,
slowly gaining power… Until the day that is today, the day I’ve
decided I’ve become omnipotent enough to claim mastery of the planet
Earth. I have to admit, you gave me a hard time. I’d intended to make
my coup earlier, but when you appeared I had to train a bit more, just
to be sure I was ready for whatever you were able to throw at me. And
it seems I’ve succeeded.”  *
Outside, the other Godlings are busy fighting Destiny’s thugs. On the
ground Red Godling is taking hit after hit on his shield from a
villain with knifes instead of hands while High-tech Godling is
evading energy blasts from another thug, flying through the air.
High-tech Godling gets an idea and flies towards the thug with the
knives-for-hands, drawing the blasting villains fire to him. His plan
proves to be successful, the villain with knives gets hit by the
blasts. Now Red Godling has the chance to hurt his mace against the
blasting thug’s head, taking him down.  * Our Godling tries to get out of the bubble by hitting it with Heracles
strength and Zeus lightning bolts, but it won’t break.
“It’s no use! I willed that bubble to be unbreakable!” Destiny says.
“Get rid of the Spear!” Darlene yells at Godling. “Without it, he’s
powerless.”
Godling gets an idea. Time to be creative. Like a hamster in his ball
he starts to run at Hermes speed, moving the bubble forward through
the air, knocking into Destiny’s hand that holds the Spear.
The Spear drops, the bubble disappears. Godling is free again! Destiny
quickly tries to grab the Spear. Darlene reaches out for it as well,
but Destiny is just a bit quicker.
Before he can do anything with it, Godling treats him to a roundhouse
punch that smacks Destiny across the room.
Destiny gets up and points the Spear at a potted plant. “I can do
anything I imagine, Goding. There’s no way you will ever defeat me.”
The potted plant starts to grow, it’s vines start to move like they’re
alive. Master Destiny turned it into a green monster with tentacles!
The vines wrap around Godling, trying to squeeze the life out of him.
“You’re a plant. Plants need water, don’t they. Well, let me take all
water away from you!” Godling says, using the power of Poseidon, God
of the Seas.
Without moisture the plant dries out, turning brittle, and dies.
Godling is free again.
Desitny isn’t through with ideas yet, using the Spear to make a spider
in the room grow to monstrous size.
“This is the best you can think of? Fifties B-movie stuff?” Godling
says as the giant spider attacks. He grabs the spider’s first two legs
with Heracles strength and hurls it on it’s back. He jumps on top of
it and takes it out with two lightning bolts.
That brief fight bought Destiny just enough time however to get close
to Officer Janson and put the Spear against her chin. “Give it up,
Godling. Surrender or I kill the young lady.”
“No!” Godling yells.  TO BE CONTINUED…

GODLING # 19: The Battle for New Troy

GODLING # 19: The Battle for New Troy
by J. Vandersteen
 – GODLING – THE ONE MAN PANTHEON
THE BATTLE FOR NEW TROY
Godling is down on the floor, surrounded by Death Dog and other thugs.
Death Dog shouts triumphantly that the city is theirs, when suddenly
twelve new figures appear and tell him all hope for New Troy is not
yet lost.
“How…” Death Dog utters as he recognizes the twelve men. They are all…
Godlings! One Godling, who seems to be the leaders wears blue spandex
and a high-tech headpiece. Other Godlings look almost exactly the same
for the Godling on the floor, except for wearing other boots or other
colors. Some other ones are wearing helmets or totally different
suits, one of them for example is wearing red chainmail and a gold
helmet. Godling’s signature gold belt he is wearing however.
“Let’s see how you thugs fare against a number that’s a bit more equal
to yours!” the high-tech Golding says. Then he and his fellow Godlings
attack the thugs.
The Godling in red hammers through a horde of villains using a glowing
mace while the others use their superstrength and lightning bolts.
There’s one Godling using a sword, another using a bow and arrows.
High-tech Godling uses a fancy looking, high-tech staff that fires
bolts of energy, taking out Nuclear Warrior. Just a few minutes later
the villains have been beaten. Death Dog is the only one left
standing, bleeding from his nose, standing eye to eye with the Godling
in red.
“I don’t know where you fools are coming from, but you haven’t beaten
me yet!” Death Dog says.
The Red Godling springs into action, using Hermes speed and a good
whack on Death Dog’s head with his mace to take the villain out. “We
have now,” Red Godling says.
High-tech Godling helps up our Godling, using the healing powers of
Asclepius to fix him up.
“Who are you guys?” Godling asks full of wonder when he regains
consciousness.
“We are the Godlings of the future. The Greek gods gathered us up from
the timestream to help you out in this defining point in your
history.”
“So you guys are all me, but in the future?” Our Godling asks.
“Indeed,” High-tech Godling says. “Personally, I’m from the year
2134.”
“Really? But that’s amazing!”
“You’re a demi-god now, Me. That means you get to live a long time.”
“Since you’re from the future, do you have any idea what’s been going
on here? All these superpowered thugs showing up, this trap…”
“I sure have,” High-tech Godling answered. “That’s part of the reason
we’re here. Master Destiny is behind all these thugs getting
superpowers. As we speak he’s busy conquering City Hall, becoming New
Troy’s new mayor. When he’s managed to do that, he’ll slowly start
conquering the USA and after that the world. In the future where I
come he’s been defeated, but the Godling in black over there is from a
time where Master Destiny is the ruler of Earth.”
A Godling with black spandex and an eye-patch steps forward. “I am.
With a group of dedicated rebels I fight against him and his
superpowered army, trying to topple him from his throne. He’s very
powerful, however. Using his Spear of Destiny, a mystical artefact
that seems to be able to do anything he wishes, along with his many
powered soldiers he’s managed to defeat all other countries armies and
install himself as the sole ruler of Earth. Not many people dare to
oppose him. He’s enslaved hundreds of young women in his harem, has
men fight against each other in arenas, as gladiators, just to amuse
him…”
“He’s that powerful?” Our Godling asked.
Black Godling nodded. “He is. And his reign of terror starts here,
today. Unless we stop him.”
Our Godling made a fist. “Let’s do it.”*
Master Destiny, standing between the dead and unconscious bodies of
the cops that tried to oppose him, in front of City Hall, lifts his
Spear of Destiny. It glows and then, suddenly the earth starts to
move, rocks and dirts piling on top of each other, lifting City Hall
up in the air, creating a mountain of sorts on top of where it rests.
It towers above the other buildings, circled by Destiny’s henchmen
that are able to fly.
Officer Janson is lying near him, semi-conscious only. He grabs her
hair and lifts her up. He kisses her and tells her, “You’re the first
woman to join my harem. Many more will follow to please me as my men
conquer the neighbouring cities.”
She starts to pound his body with her fists, but he doesn’t even seem
to notice. He smiles. “While I carry the Spear, nothing can hurt me
little lady.”
Janson spits in his face. “I’ll die before I join your harem, creep!”
“That can be easily arranged. But I think I’ll enjoy breaking your
spirit much more than simply killing you,” Destiny says.*
The Godlings all fly, using the power of Perseus, towards City Hall.
High-tech Godling is flying next to Our Godling.
“In your future we win this one, right?” Our Godling asks.
“Yeah, we do. There are some sacrifices that have to be made, though.”
“If you know the outcome, you can influence those, can’t you?”
“I’m not sure. This time travel stuff is pretty complicated. I haven’t
been doing a lot of it. I think the last time was when I went up
against Lord Chronomancer. That didn’t end too well. If it hadn’t been
for my healing powers I would have died of the bubonic plague.”
“Lord Chronomancer?”
“I guess you’ll meet him in a few years or so. Can’t tell you too much
though, there’s too many theories that say knowing too much about your
future might be bad for the stability of the timestream.”
“So I’m better off asking the Oracle of Delphi about my future?”
“Come on, Me. Think about it, do you really want to know what happens
next? Doesn’t that take away all the fun out of living?”
“I guess you’re right,” Our Godling says.
Red Godling, flying in front, points ahead and says, “There, City
Hall! And Master Destiny has already turned it into his personal
stronghold.”
City Hall stands on top of a great mountain and is covered with barbed
wire.*
Master Destiny stands in the mayor’s office. The mayor is hanging from
the ceiling, a chain wrapped around his neck, his tongue hanging out
of his mouth, obviously dead. Destiny tells him, “Too bad this city
wasn’t big enough for the two of us, Mr. Mayor. I loved that Spin City
show. Thought maybe we could have some kind of laughs like that around
here. But all those protests of you taking control of the city
wouldn’t have worked. I just had to kill you.”
He turns around and says, “Seems like you girls will have to provide
my entertainment.”
Darlene King and Officer Janson are sitting on the floor, clothed in
red bikini’s, collars around their necks to which chains are attached.
“I’ll get out of these chains and then I will kill you. Painfully,”
Darlene swears.
Destiny laughs. “I’m enjoying you girls already. Just be nice and you
won’t end up like your mayor.”*
Monica Sawyer is watching TV in her apartment. The TV is showing news
footage of Wade Hudson and the other cops facing off against Master
Destiny and his thugs. She’s crying.
A voice-over says, “The police force seems totally overwhelmed by this
attack. The leader of this group of henchmen calls himself Master
Destiny and claims he will be taken over from the mayor…”
When Monica sees Wade lying unconscious at Destiny’s feet she cries,
“WADE!” She shakes her head. “What is happening to this city? Who is
that? God, Wade… Please be alive! Why did I have to fall in love with
a man that puts his life in danger every day of the week?”
She walks over to the window and watches the sky. “Godling? Godling,
where are you? Please help us!”*
The flying thugs, some covered in flames, some with batwings or
birdwings, see the Godlings fly nearer and nearer to City Hall. One of
them, apparently the leader of the group, a thug wearing a red helmet
with hawk’s wing on his back points at the Godlings and lifts a gun in
the air. “Enemies ahead! Prepare to take them down!”
The Godlings arrive. High-tech Godling tells the group, “Attack!”
NEXT: GODLING VERSUS MASTER DESTINY!
A NOTE FROM THE AUTHOR:
The last couple of issues have been written in the present tense, with
short scenes and a low word count. This way I hope to give you the
feeling you’re reading a fast-paced comic book. Also, it makes it
easier to read it online. A nice fast read you can read as soon as
it’s posted, giving you as much bang as I can for every word. Does it
work?

GODLING # 18: Defeated!

GODLING # 18: Defeated!
by J. Vandersteen
– GODLING – THE ONE MAN PANTHEON in:  DEFEATED!
Godling is hit in the face by a man with a face that’s a mix of an
alligator and a human face, Mr. Gator. WHAM!
Mr. Napalm start to fire rays from his eyes that envelop Godling in
flames. If he wasn’t using the invulnerability of Achilles he’d be
toast.
Angry, Godling kicks Mr. Napalm in the stomach, turns to Mr. Gator and
punches him in the throat. If he could only use his invulnerability at
the same time as his Ares fighting techniques, or Heracles strength.
Unfortunately, he can’t, making his attacks against his enemies not as
effective as he wants them to be. Gator easily recovers from the blow
and tries to hit Godling again. The hero decides to go for another
tactic. Still burning he grabs Mr. Gator in a bearhug. Gator howls,
the flames that still cover Golding burning him. He’s hurt enough for
Godling to recover somewhat. He rolls down on the floor to extinguish
the flames. As he gets up he sees Mr. Napalm preparing to hit him with
another round of his burning vision. With the speed of Hermes Godling
runs into the villain. Being hit at that kind of speed is like being
hit by a train, so Mr. Napalm goes down.
Mr. Mimic is the next one to attack, changing into an elephant he
storms the hero. Godling calmly grabs him by the trunk and swings him
around the room, on top of Napalm and Gator. To finish him off for
sure he throws a lightning bolt at him.
“Nice work, hero,” Death Dog says. “But you won’t take me out that
easily.”*
At City Hall Wade Hudson, Officer Janson, Detective Darlene King and a
whole army of other cops are barricaded against the building. They’re
firing their weapons at an army of superhumans who are attacking them.
They’re like an angry mob, a bunch of hooligans, a thick wall of
villains, all on their way to City Hall.
“Where did they come from?” Janson asks.
Wade answers while firing his assault rifle at the villains. “No idea,
we’ve had more and more of these superpowered crazies showing up for a
few days now. All of a sudden it seems they all decided to attack City
Hall. And there’s no sight of Godling.”
“We’ve been protecting this city without that bodybuilder for years.
We can do it again!” Darlene says. She’s carrying two 9mm pistols.
A monstrous, hulking figure with four arms and red skin comes awfully
close to her. She shoots it in the eye. The villain screams and covers
his eyes. She proceeds to shoot it in the crotch. The hulking figure
goes down. For good measure Darlene fires a few rounds in its skull.
She reloads and says, “See what I mean.”
She has barely spoken those words and she is hit by an energy beam and
she loses consciousness. “Darlene!” Wade yells and runs towards her. A
villain with lassos for arms catches him, preventing him from helping
her. He shoots the villain’s arms of.
Janson helps him out and hits the villain with the butt of her
shotgun, taking him out.
Wade checks up on Darlene and comes to the conclusion she’s
unconscious but breathing.
“What do you crazies want?” Janson asks the army that is attacking
them.
Then, there is an answer. All the way in the back a man stands,
holding a spear. “I want control of New Troy.”
“What do you mean?” Janson asks.
“I want the mayor to give me his job,” the man says. He’s bald and has
a red goatee. He’s wearing an expensive red suit. The spear in his
right glows with power. “I am Master Destiny and soon I will rule this
city.”
“The hell you will!” Wade says and fires his assault rifle at him. The
rifle is in his left hand, with his right he holds Darlene.
Master Destiny waves with the spear and the bullets disappear. He
points the spear at Wade and a red flame shoots from it. The flame
turns into a hand. This red flaming hand starts to choke Wade.
“Let him go!” Janson shouts and fires her gun at Destiny. The bullets
just vanish in the air with a wave of the Spear.
Wade goes unconscious and the flaming hand disappears. Janson kneels
down beside him and Darlene, trying to see if he is still alive.
Master Destiny stands next to her and says, “I think it should be
clear by now that resistance is futile. This city belongs to me.”*
Death Dog fires two pistols at Godling. The hero’s invulnerability
defends him for harm, though. He closes in on his enemy, and when he’s
close enough he uses the speed of Hermes to disarm the villain. With
the strength of Hercules he hits him, knocking him through the bar’s
wall.
Death Dog doesn’t stay down for long though. He gets up and enters the
bar again through the hole in the wall. He jumps Godling who catches
him and throws him into the bar, knocking down bottles and glasses.
The villain ends up behind the bar.
Panting, Death Dog grabs a small communication device and speaks into
it. “Get me some more thugs.”
Then they arrive, appearing out of thin air. Godling thinks he
recognizes some of them, many are unknown to him. All of them seem to
have some sort of superpower. There’s villains with knifes for hands,
villains with skin like concrete and villains that fire all sorts of
strange energy blasts from hands, eyes and mouths. They attack all at
once.
Godling switches from power to power, trying to use his
invulnerability long enough to prevent him from getting hurt, short
enough to use his other powers so he can strike back as well. He kicks
a villain with horns in the face while he knocks down another one with
his elbow. He takes down two of them with lightning bolts. The
villains keep coming however and after so many days of almost fulltime
fighting against all sorts of supercriminals the One Man Pantheon is
getting tired. He’s been at this for just too many days in a row, been
hurt too much… It seems to be a matter of time his fatigue lets him
make a mistake and then the villains will win..
One of the villains is wearing a red and yellow costume with a
radiation symbol on it. “You’ve met your match in the Nuclear Warrior,
hero!” he says and starts to fire of bolts of energy at Godling. The
hero was just using the strength of Hercules to throw a villain that
looks like a human dinosaur through the window as the bolts strike. He
goes down, without the invulnerability of Achilles no match against
the nuclear blasts..
Death Dog laughs. “The last is mine,” he says and kicks Godling in the
face. The hero blacks out, surrounded by laughing villains.
“Finally, he’s defeated! The city is ours!” Death Dog says.
A dozen men appear in the room, appearing just as suddenly as the
villains did. One of the man says, “All hope for New Troy is not yet
lost!”  NEXT: THE BATTLE FOR NEW TROY!