MISC: GODLING # 52 The Masked Merchant part 1 by J. Vandersteen

[jvdsteen1974 at gmail.com]

GODLING # 52  The Masked Merchant part 1 by J. Vandersteen 


- GODLING - THE ONE MAN PANTHEON:  The Masked Merchant part 1 




A warehouse in Lower Troy. Half a dozen men are unloading crates from a van. Automatic weapons are slung around their shoulders. A loud RUMBLE sounds. The roof splinters, Godling jumps through it, landing on the warehouse floor.
     "Godling! Shoot him!" one of the man orders.
      They fire their guns at Godling, who channels the invulnerability of Achilles and cannot get hurt because of that. In his hand is sling, he swings it above his head and from it sends a glowing ball. The ball explodes in front of a few thugs, the explosion throwing them into the air.
      "Another nice toy I tinkered with Hephaestus' engineering ability," Godlings says. "Not that I really need that against you guys. I was trained by Ares himself!"
       With those words he kicks a thug in the face, sending him flying against another bad guy. A thug uses his rifle as a club, hitting Godling in the neck. Unhurt because of Achilles' unvulnerarbilyt, Godling turns around and chops the thug in the throat. The thug goes down instantly.
       Another bad guy has opened up on the crates. "Time to use one of these against you." He takes a futuristic looking gun from it and fires it at the One Man Pantheon. "Get a dose of sonic firepower!"
      A powerful sonic wave hits the hero, he crashes against the van, denting it. A new wave is fired, pushing Godling against the van.
     "It cannot kill me, but it is making it difficult to move... Time to... hit... back!" Godling switches to the powers of Heracles, using his godly strength, he claps his hands together and sends back a soundwave of his own to counter the one from the gun. The soundwave breaks down, the gun shatters. Godling rushes with Hermes speed into the criminal and slams him against the wall.
     He grabs hold of the thug's shirt. "Where did those weapons come from? These advanced weapons are showing up all over town!"
     "Will you let me go if I tell you?" the thug says.
     "Tell me the truth," Godling says. "With the power of Aletheia, goddess of truth I command you."
      "They call him The Masked Merchant. He has all the high-tech weapons you can imagine. They're in high demand among the local gangs."
      "Well, that sounds interesting!" a voice sounds.
       Godling turns around and sees Bonnie Colter standing in the doorway of the warehouse. She is flanked by a bulky guy holding a camera.
       "Good to see you again, Godling. You went back to the black hair?" Bonnie asks the hero.
        "Sorry?" Godling says with a lifted eyebrow.
         "Did you forget you ran around Tinsteltown with your hair dyed?" Bonnie asks.
         "Yeah, right," Godling says, thinking, Explaining it all will be way too difficult. Sounds she met the Mark Brant version of Godling.
         "We came in just a bit too late to catch the action. Can you maybe hit that guy again for the camera?" Bonnie says.
          "Are you crazy?" Godling says.
          Sirens sound. Wade Hudson, M-16 at the ready walks in with a SWAT-team. "Freeze!"
          "Hi, sergeant. No need for drawn guns. I've got them out cold already. Just slap the cuffs on them and take them way," Godling says.
          "Are these the guys selling the high-tech weapons plaguing New Troy the last couple of day?" Wade asks.
       "They seem to be just distributors," Godling says.
    "And who's the looker?" Wade asks, pointing at Bonnie.
     "Err... That's... That's..." Godling stammers.
     "Come on! Really?! I'm Bonnie Colter. You must have seen me on TV?" Bonnie says.
       Wade shrugs. "I think TV is a waste of time. Don't take it personally. Now please get out of the way so we can do our job."
       Bonnnie shoves a microphone in Wade's face. "How long have you been working with Godling?"
     Wade pushes her aside. "Are you deaf?"
      "Let these men do their work," Godling tells Bonnie and flies off himself.
      "Huh? Where's the showboat desperate for an interview?" Bonnie asks, full of surprise.

*

Olympus. Zeus is talking to Aphrodite in his throne room.
     "Did you see that? He had a chance to spread the gospel about us in front of the camera and he hurried off again. I know we weren't happy about Mark Brant in the end, but can he not make a bit of an effort?"
      "I think he had a mythology class to prepare. That is spreading the gospel in a way, is it not?" Aphrodite says.
     "Excuses! Go talk to him! You seem to have some kind of bond with him."
      "Okay. I will," she says.
*

A boat in the New Troy Harbor. Two men wearing bandanas walk on it. They are met by a man in a purple, embroidered robe, wearing a purple hood, fully covering his face, with only two eye-holes. He is flanked by two tough-looking guys in black suits, holding futuristic rifles.
      "Greetings, I heard you are looking for some weaponry," the masked man says. "If so, The Masked Merchant can set you up."
      "Yeah, we are. We can use some of that high-tech stuff to take out our rival gangs and rule Lower Troy," one of the guys with bandanas says.
       "Show me your money," The Masked Merchant tells them.
       The gangmembers show him a duffle bag full of cash. "Here's the bread, man."
      One of the suits pick ups the bag and shows it to The Masked Merchant. The Merchant has a look inside. He says, "That buys you two photon rifles, three plasma grenades and one energy whip."
     "That all? Look how much dough that is man! You crazy?" one of the gangbangers says.
     "Take it or leave it. My merchandise is in too much demand to haggle."
     The thugs look at each other. "All right..."
     One of the suits returns with a crate from a cabin on the boat. "Here it is."
    "Thank you for doing business with me," The Masked Merchant tells them.
    The gangmembers open the crate. The most vocal gangmember takes out the photon rifle and smiles. "Man, my rivals are gonna eat my dust..."




TO BE CONTINUED