MISC: GODLING’s WORLD # 2: B.E.M. part 2

[jvdsteen1974 at gmail.com]

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….