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!

GODLING’s WORLD # 2: B.E.M. part 2

GODLING’s WORLD #  2:  B.E.M. part 2

by J. Vandersteen

 

 

– GODLING – THE ONE MAN PANTHEON & DR. PROTON in:  B.E.M. part 2

 

 

Hundreds of small Doctor Protons hit the beetle monster everywhere they can. Their tiny fists aren’t able to crack the beetle’s shell, though. The beetle wildly flays at the heroes with its spindly legs, throwing them off him.

Detective Simpson fires his 9mm at the beetle, but his bullets cannot pierce the shell either.

“Crap, we’re in big trouble here!” Simpson says.

“If we’re in big trouble I just have to become a bit smaller,” the Protons say and they split up in even more, smaller Doctor Protons. And they split up, and then they split up… What’s left is an army of microscopically small heroes. They find their way into the spiracles, the holes that lead to the beetle’s respitory system.

“What are you doing?” Simpson asks.

The beetle collapses and the Doctor Protons leave the spiracles. The small heroes join again to make up one Doctor Proton of normal human size.

“I just blocked its tracheal tubes long enough for him to pass out. It needs to breath as well.”

“A real scientist’s way to take down such a creature. Godling probably would have just dumped a truck on it.”

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

“You did say that. A lot of times. Well, what are we dealing with here?”

“It sure seems to be the thing that killed those poor people. It has the strength to do what happened to them, that’s for sure.”

Simpson scratches the back of his head. “So what do we do with it now? I’m not sure I can just lock it up or something. Does it need to go to trial? Can it talk or communicate?”

“I think we can best get it to my lab so I can investigate it further. I’ll get some tranquilizing gas from my jet to make sure it doesn’t wake up during the trip to there.”

 

*

A bit later… Simpson and Proton carry the beetle into Proton’s lab.

“Boy, is this thing heavy!” Simpson heaves.

“Maybe I can help,” a voice sounds.

Proton and Simpson are surprised to see Godling, The One Man Pantheon standing inside the lab, arms behind his back, like he’d been waiting for them to arrive.

“Godling!? What are you doing here? And how did you get through the security system?” Proton says.

“I channelled Hades’ invisibility. Worked like a charm for most of your security measures. The engineering abilities of Hephaestus took care of the rest. You did a pretty good job though, don’t worry about it. As to what I’m doing here… I encountered one of my own versions of that thing you’re holding there…” He shows he was holding the charred head of a beetle creature behind his back. “Yours seems to be in better shape though.”

“Did you dump a truck on it?” Simpson asks.

“Huh? No? Why” Godling puzzles. “I took it out with a lightning bolt.”

“Same difference,” Simpsons thinks.

“I don’t know what you mean, but let me help you with that thing,” Godling says and lifts the creature with Heracles strength. “Anyway, I figured your scientific expertise could help me out make sense of what this thing was.”

“Thanks. Please put it on the examination table over there,” Proton says, pointing at a high-tech table surrounded by fancy monitors, cameras and pads.

Godling puts the creature on the table.

“Okay, fill me in on what happened to you while I investigate this thing and tell me about my meeting with it.”

*

Later…

“Well… That sounds like we encountered the same kind of creature for sure,” Proton says, looking through a futuristic microscope at the creature. “It looks like the little bug I encountered earlier is a miniature sized version of this one. It might be its offspring or something.”

“So, it grew into one this size,” Simpson says, pointing at the creature on the examination table.

“Probably. As I mentioned before there are traces of an unknown type of radiation on it which makes me wonder whether it is alien,” Proton says.

“I’d almost say it will have to be. I encountered aliens before, so I do know for a fact there is something out there. And a lot of it isn’t that nice,” Godling says.

“I wish I could talk to it or something,” Proton muses, stroking his chin. “I feel the only way to find out what this creature is and what it wants is to communicate with it.”

Godling shrugs. “Can’t help you there. Mind-reading isn’t one of my powers to channel.”

“And here I thought you could do anything,” Simpson says.

“Not anything. Just everything the Greek gods and heroes can.”

“So we’ll stay in the dark for a bit longer, I guess,” Simpson understands. “How long will this thing be under, anyway?”

“No need to worry, it gets a new dose of tranquilizing gas as soon as the scanning equipment registers the former dose is not working anymore.”

“Uh… Makes me wonder… Where is the little alien beetle you investigated?” Simpson asks Proton.

“I locked it in a glass cube next door. It’s where I keep most of my lab specimens when…”

Simpson is starting to break a sweat. “Yeah, if our big guy here is a grown version of the little one, shouldn’t we be worried about…”

His words are cut short when through the wall a beetle creature walks in.

“Crap, I hadn’t thought of that yet,” Proton admits.

Godling balls his fists. “Looks like we’ll have to some beetle bashing again.”

The beetle creature jumps up and lands right on top of Godling. His mandibles snap at the hero’s throat.

Proton grabs a fancy looking big, metallic gun from a shelf. “Let him go, creature!”

Godling hits the beetle in the head with Heracles strength, then puts his feet under it. He lifts the creature with his legs and then propels him away from him. It crashes against the examination table, and its fellow creature falls off it. Now that beetle also gets up.

“It’s disconnected from the scanning equipment and not being administered the gas… It’s up and running now!” Proton says and then aims the gun at the beetles. “Get back. This sonic blaster will take them out.”

Before he can fire one of the beetles slaps the gun out of his hands. The other beetle sprays some kind of purple chemical from his abdomen.

“What the hell is that?” Simpson wonders and is hit by it. “Damn! It burns!”

“Oh no! It looks like it has all the beetle’s defensive weapons you can imagine!” Proton says.

 

 

TO BE CONTINUED….

GODLING # 24: Coalition of Doom

GODLING # 24: Coalition of Doom
by J. Vandersteen, art by Chris Hebert


– GODLING – THE ONE MAN PANTHEON: COALITION OF DOOM


Squidface, wearing a trenchcoat and a hat to disguise the fact his
face looks like a squid walks into an alley. He thinks, "I'm still not
sure this is not going to be a trap. But I guess the offer sounded
just too good not to follow up on."
He removes a manhole cover and gets into the manhole.
A lift takes him further down. The lift opens and he gets out. He
enters a room filled with computers and high-tech stuff.
"Welcome to the Snake Pit," a man with the lower body of a snake,
wearing armor and carrying a staff, says. He is flanked by several
known villains: Panzerman and Death Dog and a guy in a skintight
costume covered with flames and icicles.
"Uh... Hi..." Squidface says.
"Meet Panzer, Death Dog and Thermonaut. I am Cecrops. Glad to see you
followed up my invite."
"It was a pretty compelling story. Banding together with a few of the
most dangerous criminals of New Troy in order to become the ruling
force of the city."
"It was, wasn't it? You see, I understood very quickly that the only
way not to end up being beaten by Godling is to band together. Form a
united force... A true Coalition of Doom!"
"Sounds good, how do I join up?" Squidface asks.
"We really want this clown in our group?" Death Dog asks.
Squidfaces elongates the tentacles on his face and wraps them around
Death Dog. "I almost beat Godling, I will have you know."
Death Dog breaks free from the tentacles and jumps Squidface, teeth
bared. "So did I."
"Cool them down, Thermonaut," Cecrops says. Thermonaut fires off
freezerays with his hands and suddenly Death Dog and Squidface are
trapped in ice.
Panzerman chuckles. "Pretty cool, haha."
"If we fight amongst ourselves, Godling will be able to beat us easily
still. We must really stand together," Cecrops says. "Free them,
Thermonaut."
Now Thermonaut fires hot rays, melting the ice.
Death Dog growls at Cecrops, "If you ever pull a stunt like that
you're dead."
Cecrops points his staff at Death Dog and fires off an energy beam.
Death Dog ends up lying on the floor, smoke coming from his body.
"Behave," Cecrops say.s "Or you're out of the Coalition."
Death Dog gets up. "Okay, I'll play along for now."
"Welcome to the group, Squidface. As an introduction you will get to
join us as we raid the New Troy First Bank."

*

New Troy Hospital. Godling is talking to a doctor.
"I'm really glad you helped us out with your healing powers," the
doctor tells Godling. "That Scorpion God killed a few people, but left
even more seriously wounded."
"My job does not end with defeating the bad guys," Godling says. "I am
sorry I cannot bring back those people from the dead."
"Hey, you did all you could," the doctor says and shakes Godling's
hand.
After that, Godling rushes out the hospital and flies off. In the sky
he thinks, "It still sometimes feels painful I can't bring people back
from the dead. I was clearly shown why that's not a good idea, though
(In #3, Ed.). I have to hurry now, I don't want to be late for my
date."
He lands in an alley behind the New Troy Cinema. He changes to Quentin
Alexander, then walks around the corner.
Janson is waiting for him there. She hugs him and kisses him on the
lips.
"Good to see you," she says.
Quentin smiles. "Likewise."
"I heard MP4 is the best in the series," Janson says. "I'm really
excited."
"Yeah, but did you hear Tom Cruise will be playing Jack Reacher? I
really can't believe they..." Quentin's words are interrupted by
Janson's cell phone.
Janson pick up the phone. "Oh-oh. All right, I'm on my way."
"Serious business?" Quentin asks.
"I'm sorry, I have to go," Janson pouts. "A group of supervillains is
robbing the New Troy First Bank. A SWAT-team has the place surrounded
but Wade figures they can use my experience dealing with these kind of
thugs."
Quentin gives her a hug and a kiss, saying, "I understand."
Janson runs off. Quentin walks to the alley again, changes into
Godling and flies off.

*
New Troy First Bank...
Death Dog is putting money into a large bag. Panzerman is holding an
entire safe on his bakc. Thermonaut is guarding the bank employees.
Squidface and Cecrops are looking through the windows.
"That's quite a large number of guns out there," Squidface says.
"They're no match for our powers," Cecrops says. "Let's go."
The villains walk outside. Wade Hudson orders his SWAT team to open
fire. Thermonaut melts the bullets before they can contact anything,
however.
Cecrops fires a blast from his staff at a police car, making it
explode. Squidface uses his tentacles to disarm two SWAT-members.
"The Coalition of Doom can't be stopped!" Cecrops shouts.
"We'll see about that," a voice says. It belongs to Godling, who lands
in front of the villains.
"I've been aching for a rematch!" Death Dog says and jumps Godling.
Godling throws Death Dog against a police car, channeling Ares'
fighting skills. He follows up with a roundhouse kick, connecting
Death Dog's skull against the car's window. The window shatters.
Squidface wraps his tentacles around Godling. "I've got him. Take him
out, Panzerman."
Panzerman punches Godling in the face, but luckily he's protected from
harm throught Achilles' invulernability.
He heats up his body channeling Hepheastus. Squidface screams, smoke
coming from his tentacles as he lets go. Godling ducks just in time,
avoiding one of Panzerman's punches.
The punch connects with Squidface's head instead, taking him out.
"Nice trick. Let me turn up the heat some more," Thermonaut says and
fires a fireblast at our hero. Godling uses the power of Poseidon and
has water erupt from a nearby fire hydrant, extinguishing the
fireball.
With the speed of Hermes Godling attacks Thermonaut, avoiding an
iceblast or two. He fires off a couple of superspeed punches to take
him down.
Panzerman is behind him, wrapping his arms around him. "I can take the
heat, hero. Give it your best shot."
Godling felt Panzerman squeeze the life out of him. Chanelling the
power of Heracles he manages to free himself and punches Panzerman
with such force he goes straight through a police car.
An energy blast hits Godling in the back. He falls down, smoke coming
from his back.
Cecrops smiles, holding his staff, still smoking from the blast. "We
haven't been formally introduced. I'm Cecrops, leader of the Coalition
of Doom."
Wade Hudson puts a rifle against Cecrops' temple. "You've been
focusing on the superhero a bit too much. I'm still the force to be
reckoned with in this city."
"Riiiiiiiiiight," Cecrops says and swings his serpent tail, knocking
Wade against a police car.
Janson arrives on the scene, carrying her pistol. "Wade!"
Cecrops turns to face her. She points her gun at him. He blasts her
with his staff. She manages to duck. The blast makes another car
explode. The explosion knocks down several cops.
Death Dog pops up behind Janson and wraps an arm around her neck,
putting a pistol against her temple. "You idiots are going to have us
leave or she dies."
"Good work!" Cecrops says. "Thermonaut, take us away from here."
Thermonaut builds a bridge of ice that is mounted by the Coalition.
Holding Janson hostage they leave via it.
One of the cops aims his rifle at the villains, but Wade knocks down
the gun. "Are you crazy? We don't want Janson to get hurt!"
Godling slowly gets up, his back hurting. "That was some blast..."
"They took Janson," Wade tells the hero.
Godling balls a fist. "I'll get her back..."



NEXT: THE ORIGIN OF CECROPS!

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!