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!

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…