GZ Legends 26: The Skull of Sphidra Pt 2

            From the tops of the buildings, the spiders surged in teeming masses.

            “Everyone into a building!” Electrode ordered as his body arced brightly.

            “What are you going to do?” Blacktide asked.

            “Just get them inside. The world’s biggest spiders are about to meet the world’s biggest bug zapper.”

            “We need a path!” Redeagle had grabbed up a car fender for a weapon, having run out of ammunition. He swung back and forth hard, clearing spiders and spraying goo.

 Blacktide and Nyhtwulf ran to assist. An apartment building was the closest they could get to. Finding the door locked, Blacktide put his fist through the lock and latch. Nyhtwulf swept chasing spiders away as they dodged inside.

Electrode started to glow and strobe as he charged himself. The spiders were forced back, unable to come near him.

The rest of them rushed inside. They all dove for cover behind furniture and the large lobby counter.

            The air between the buildings became daylight as the powerful surge flew towards the sky. Electrode then broke into a staggering run for the doors as bodies of the giant spiders fell all around.

            “Are you okay?” Atomizer said as he ran to steady him.

            “Yeah, just a little drained. I’ll recharge in a few minutes.”

            “Let’s put a bunch of furniture against the door here to try and keep any more out,” Redeagle suggested.

            “Sorry, disintegration is my only lockpick,” Blacktide said.

            “No problem. We’re safe for now. Let’s just get this blocked.”

            They scrambled to stack furniture against the doors to the building. Redeagle even pushed and broke the lobby counter loose. Nyhtwulf helped him shove it, grinding into place.

            “Okay, so now how do we go about finding this artifact and putting a stop to the spider kingdom of Chicago?” Redeagle asked as he caught his breath.

            “I sense intense psychic energy and it seems to get stronger in that direction,” Dreamseer pointed upwards.

            “I too sense this. We must climb,” Nyhtwulf said.

            “Climb? Yeah, how about we just take an elevator?” Atomizer suggested.

            “You want to get stuck in an elevator with those things?” Redeagle pointed out.

            “Okay, stairs it is. But what are they doing up at the top of the buildings? Making webs?”

            “Isn’t that what typical spiders do?” Electrode asked.

            “Let’s make sure we have a good route then,” Blacktide said. “Nyhtwulf, can you sense a safe route?”

            “Nowhere is safe, even if it seems at any moment,” his partner responded.

            “That’s just great,” Atomizer said, “I hate spiders.”

            “Let’s find the stairs,” Red pressed and they moved across the lobby carefully.  Any movement out of the corner of the eye was held suspect. Atomizer couldn’t stop looking behind furniture or at the ceiling.

            They found a sign that said stairs and an open door across from it, blocked open by a human body.

            “Well, there’s a clue as to what happened to the people,” Atomizer said.

            A really large spider compared to the ones outside crawled out the door and blocked the hall. Nyhtwulf growled and flew forward to block its approach. It turned its head up toward him and seemed to answer with a chittering challenge of its own. Then, from under its body a pair of human arms reached down and pressed against the floor along with a pair of human legs. It rose up on those legs and folded back the arachnid ones, angling its head in a more humanoid fashion. This spider had once been a large man. Nyhtwulf was the only one not frozen in terror and shock from the sight. He lunged forward and the spider answered with the same. But it froze when the lupine hero phased his arm into its chest and disrupted its life force. He kept his arm within as the man-spider’s body shook with spasms. Nyhtwulf made sure it wasn’t going to be a threat again. Finally, he let its convulsing form fall to the floor.  He turned to his friends.

            “Dead,” he announced.

            Atomizer stumbled backward, “Are you kidding me? Aw man! I really hate spiders you guys! I had no idea it would be like this! One spider dude with a freaky helmet, and I thought, sure I can handle that, but this is way out there!”

            “Hey!” Redeagle shouted, “We need you to hold it together! Come on, you’re with us and you can do this.”

            Atomizer took a deep breath, took his hat off and ran his fingers through his hair. “Yeah, yeah, I know. But, man, my power doesn’t work on living tissue. I’m going to have to blow holes in the freaking walls and stuff. And, man, I’ve never seen such a monster.”

            As the group approached the stairway door, Atomizer clenched his fist and teeth. Nyhtwulf paused at the end of the stairs.

“We can move this way safely for now,” Nyhtwulf  said.

            “Keep us posted,” Blacktide said, “I’ll bring up the rear.”

            “I’ll be up front with Nyhtwulf,” Electrode said. The rest remained between them as they started up the stairs. Every shadow demanded their attention. Knowing that these spiders could be right on the underside of the stairs made them extra wary. The stairway had open space from top to bottom and no one wanted to stick a head out to look up or down. Electrode still needed to recharge but felt he could do a few strobe bursts if needed. He could carry a massive charge and even act as his own alternator and recharge himself when running at full speed. He feared leaving his friends even for a split second however.

They made it up six floors when Nyhtwulf stopped and pointed to the 7th floor door.

            “Go quickly.”

            Blacktide covered their exit from the stairwell as spiders skittered down from above. He pulled the door shut as they moved in and Electrode stepped up. He emitted a narrow arc from his fingers and welded the door shut.

            “That should hold even the humanoid ones.”

            “Guess we need to find another set of stairs,” Redeagle said, “Probably at the other end of this hall.”

            Nyhtwulf nodded and took the lead. He led his friends halfway down the hall and then stopped with a low growl.

            “What is it?” Blacktide asked.

            “Fight.”

            As Nyhtwulf said that word, spiders of both human-hybrid and monstrous size emerged from apartment doorways. They crawled to the ceiling and walls. The friends were completely surrounded.

GZ Legends 25: The Skull of Sphidra Pt 1

            Their rest period felt far too short. It seemed that Atomizer had only lowered the brim of his hat for a few minutes when the next perilous mission was upon them. Dr. Vampire addressed them.

            “Dreamseer is my team’s best chance against anyone wearing the Skull of Sphidra. After allowing my scanner to analyze your powers I think that Atomizer, Redeagle, Electrode, Blacktide, and Nyhtwulf should be the ones to back her up. She will need your protection while she concentrates on our foe.”

            “You scanned our powers?” Atomizer said, “You could just ask.”

            “I’m sorry, but we have little time and I needed to know as much as possible about all of you. This way I can advise the best course of action for each artifact we will face,” Dr. Vampire responded.

            “Don’t worry about it, partner,” Redeagle said, “Let’s just take care of this thing.”

            “Since you know so much about what these things do, I’m going to allow you to make those suggestions,” Commander Larratus growled, “But don’t you dare get any of my people killed.”

            “Understood, and I assure you, I will share an equal risk at all times,” Dr. Vampire said, “Now Traveler will open a portal to Chicago. She will try to land you as close to the artifact as possible. Dreamseer will be able to sense it from there. Good luck and be careful.”

            With a wave of her hand, Traveler summoned a portal of bright light. The friends stepped through with confidence, even though they had no idea where they would appear.

            The Chicago city street they stepped onto was drowning in silence. In the eerie glow of the street lights, no one could be seen. Cars cluttered the streets at odd angles. Even stranger was the sight of women’s purses or men’s briefcases lying scattered on the street. Sacks of groceries lay abandoned. It was as if everyone simply dropped all they were carrying and vanished.

            “Everyone stay put,” Electrode said, “I’m running a recon.”

            Electrode vanished for only a second or two before reappearing with a grim expression.

            “Every street in the downtown area looks just like this one, guys.”

            “I guess this means our artifact is active, but this doesn’t make sense,” Atomizer said.

            “Yeah, I thought Dr. Vampire said it gives the wearer psychic powers. Even if that person is controlling every person in Chicago, how would you hide them all? I don’t even see anyone in windows anywhere,” Redeagle said.

            “Unfortunately, there may be more to the skull than we know,” Dreamseer explained. “We know it can possess the wearer. We know it can control the minds of others. That’s all we know about it.”

            “Great,” Blacktide said, “So, no one knows how it makes a whole city of people go missing.”

            “Not missing,” Nyhtwulf said, “I can sense them. I sense life all around us.”

            “Actually, I sense it too,” Dreamseer said. “The people of Chicago are definitely here, but something is wrong with their thought patterns.”

            “Suddenly this is going into bad news land, I can feel it,” Atomizer said. “I don’t see anyone anywhere.”

            “I hear something, a tapping sound,” Redeagle said. “It seems familiar somehow but I can’t place it. It’s getting louder though.”

            “I agree,” Nyhtwulf said. “They are coming closer from all sides.”

            “I don’t see anyone,” Blacktide said, keeping his aura active around his body and stepping away from his friends. He wouldn’t want to accidently hurt any of them with his disintegrative energy.

            “Yeah guys, I don’t see anyone either. What’s…” Atomizer stopped short on the sight of Redeagle’s pistol, seeming aimed for his head. “Hey!”

            “Duck!” Redeagle shouted and fired his weapon with an echoing shout. The bullet sped past his partner’s head and splattered into its target.

click on image for larger view

            The spider stood two feet off the top of the car roof it crawled over. It’s leg span could challenge Redeagle’s 7 foot height easily. It was about to sink its six inch fangs into Atomizers shoulder. The bullet splatted the spider’s head in all directions, and coated Atomizers right sleeve.

            “AHHH! Geez!” Atomizer ripped off his jacket and threw it on the ground. He wiped some goo from the side of his face and jumped around in a panic, “Cripes! Freaking criminy gawd! Are you kidding me! Spiders? Really? I hate spiders!”

            Redeagle’s pistol thundered again, destroying another spider from the top of a nearby truck.

            “Get it together, partner, there’s more!” Redeagle shouted.

            The men made a circle of defense around Dreamseer as the horde closed in. Electrode launched bursts of lightning that danced between cars and lampposts. The air immediately reeked of burnt spider flesh. Nyhtwulf savaged an approaching group with a roar. He shredded them with claws and smashed them against walls and cars. Blacktide pushed his aura outward, disintegrating any that came near. They were quick to learn not to approach him, however and worked to get around him. Blacktide struggled to make that very difficult. Atomizer saw more coming over the car he had been standing near.

            “Oh no you don’t!”

            He concentrated on the opposite doors of the car. When the doors exploded they destroyed all the spiders on that side of the vehicle.

            “Die, spiders, die!”

            “Electrode!” Redeagle shouted as he kept shooting, “I thought all the streets were clear!”

            “They were! I don’t know where these things are coming from!”

            “Oh no,” Dreamseer said in realizing horror.

            “What is it?” Blacktide asked.

            “We have to run. We need to get inside a building, right now.” Dreamseer looked upward toward the darkness, past the shine of the streetlights. She could see them, hundreds of them. Spiders were lowering themselves on their silken threads, eager for a meal below.

Artist(s) wanted for Galaxy Zento project

I've got the writing so who has the art?

As many of you know I just got back from the New Orleans Comicon. The prime mission of the trip was to take my son to meet his celebrity hero Stan Lee. Many people donated to that cause and it happened. I'm forever grateful. My son has a wonderful memory that may shape his future.

Since we achieved that mission on the first night of the convention, that left all day Saturday to just fun around. Well, we had lots of fun but there was quite a bit more than that. I scouted an article for HCRealms on HeroClix. After that, I went networking.

My third mission at the con was to meet artists. I can't tell you how many of you wonderful people, including a couple of agents, have mentioned that my stories should be graphic novels. I agree!

I'm looking to form a partnership that will bring GZ to life. I'm looking for someone I can work with for these projects.

I know what some of you are thinking. "Dave, you're a pretty good artist, why don't you do it?"

I have to be honest, there are some skills that I lack and small details with my hands are virtually impossible. Having MS has made it so that I have to literally use both hands to do any small details. My hands shake so badly, that my only hope is digital. Even then, I have problems with some forms. I've gotten better at drawing women over the years, but I'm not good enough at it that I want it in a graphic novel. I'm better as the writer (not that I'll give up drawing).

So what do I want from an artist?

If you are one of the awesome artists I met at the convention (or you just came across this out of curiosity); the first thing I want you to do is take a look through my universe. Check out the characters and see if they appeal to you. Do they look like characters you can really get into? Check out the stories. GZ Legends is actually taken from my novel, Chaos Rising and it could make a good graphic novel. The short stories could make for a compilation piece. I would like to have someone who can really become a part of the GZ universe.

Also I would like someone to bring more than just drawing and coloring to the table. Experience is nice. I would like to take our work to agents or publishers and get GZ out there and mainstream. What ideas and experiences can you bring to the table?

Approaching other artists is fairly new to me. I have quite a few questions that I will be asking soon. But if you are reading this and you like what you see of GZ, talk to me.

I also still accept guest artists. If you want to do a picture for the blog (for GZ Legends) let me know because I will promote you as an artist!

GZ Legends number 1

The Showcase short stories

What is the plan for Galaxy Zento?

After all, to try and take it all in, Galaxy Zento is huge. So I want to take a little time out of the schedule to address my plans and goals. I post this especially for anyone who may want to join the Galaxy Zento project. If that pertains to you or you are an agent I recently contacted; THANK YOU for visiting!

Goal #1: Publish a book. Yep, just one book to get started. I'm sending my novel, The Chessmen out to agents for this purpose. If any agent sees this, I want them to know that I don't expect them to try and take on all of Galaxy Zento in a big fell swoop. Let's publish a book to light the fuse and then see what comes next.

Of course, I can't just sit here on  my hands while I wait for an agent or publisher to answer me. Consider this, dear readers; I just sent out an exclusive (means not under anyone else's consideration at this time) to an agent who's website tells me it make take a month to respond. These guys are busy and I'm trying to be the beacon that stands out in an ocean of paper. In the meantime, I have to keep building and working.

Goal #2: Catch up and keep posting the online story of GZ Legends. The first installment promises to be long with lots of action. I need to not only write but do the illustrations. Right now, I'm a one man band. My hands can't do the panels for full comic book style, but I can still provide some entertaining pictures. I promise you, that is coming!

Goal #3: Even more illustrations! I actually have a list of character and alien race illustrations to do so that Galaxy Zento is as complete in its online form as possible.

Goal #4: Short Stories. I've been looking at doing a compilation of short stories. I already have quite a few. One of them even won honorable mention in a writing contest! I don't know if it will hurt me with agents if I do a compilation and put it on say... Amazon? More homework needs to be done here.

Goal #5: Be ready to rip into writing Chessmen 2. I'll still be working on it between all else and I'm 10,000 words in. But if the first book takes off, I gotta be ready to deliver on part 2!

At the end of it, I want to revise the role playing game and develop the card game, but these things are admittedly on the back burner and as time allows. The possibility of graphic novels is always on the table for discussion too!

Remember folks, you are on board with the growth of a new universe. I told you it would keep growing and you can see all the evidence of that on the Facebook Page. If you really like the artwork and would like to support GZ in some way, most art is available for purchase in one way or another at DeviantArt, CafePress, and Zazzle, all under the Galazy Zento name. Feel free to browse and see what all is available and and what prices. Each site carries some things that the others don't. For example, a while back, I bought myself some King Falcon postage stamps from Zazzle. How awesome of a marketing tool is that?

Okay, time to get back to creating!

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What is this "Galaxy Zento" anyway?

There has been some confusion as to just what Galaxy Zento is or is about. Wonder no more! I'm here to clear that up.

Galaxy Zento is a science fiction/fantasy universe. It boasts heroes, villains, monsters, magic, aliens, dragons, demons, crazy technologies, and a whole lot more. It has destinations and locations galore. It has over 400 original characters and 200 alien races.

And some out there wonder, "Well, that's great but what is it for?"

I have many plans for GZ and I'm going in several directions. The bottom line purpose is to entertain and gain exposure. In the age of the internet what better way to share, network and get started out anyway?

Here are the things that are going on in GZ meant for entertainment purposes:

ART: I'm doing as many illustrations I can while my hands will still do them. I have MS, arthritis, and carpal tunnel. I'm losing the dexterity in my hands. So I'm doing as much of my art as I can and I really hope it's enjoyed. Yes, it's for sale in places, but I hardly intend to shove that down anyone's throat. Besides, doesn't everyone have to get by somehow? And it costs absolutely ZERO to look and enjoy a piece of artwork.

STORIES: I have a novel completed that I'm seeking publication for. I have lots of short stories I want to put into a book. And, on this very blog, there is an ongoing story called GZ Legends that is free to read online and follow along with. I plan on doing more than one ongoing book series for GZ once I can get it off the ground.  I want to get into doing GRAPHIC NOVELS, but I need a good illustrator who can commit to the team. My hands just can't do the panel work and I know there are better comic artists out there than me.

GAMES: There are all sorts of plans for gaming systems for GZ. There is already a Role Playing Game that was self published in 13 copies. With revisions planned, I hope for much more and a cool playing system that a lot of people can enjoy. I also have plans on the table for a card game.

CONVENTIONS: I hope to bring GZ in all sorts of these forms to conventions. That's why I post GZ material in group pages that are conventions.

So, it's not about just one thing. It's not just about being a game or storyline, it's both. The GZ universe has a fully written and established history. Characters have in depth backgrounds and personalities.

I've been sharing my universe on various Facebook groups, Google and other media. I welcome guest artists and fan art ( have even had some!).  Unfortunately, some people don't think it belongs and they mark it as spam. I don't understand that because it's not like I'm pushing glow in the dark shoes or hacking accounts. It's just meant to be shared and enjoyed. If you don't like it, do me a big favor and just ignore it or hide it from your time line. You can drop me from your media (Facebook) if you're so inclined. I'm sorry for anyone who's been offended.

But, if you do enjoy the artwork and want to watch the project grow (you can say you saw it from about the beginning and that's cool right?) then add it to your circles or "like" it on FB. Bookmark or share with friends who like original content or whatever it is you like about it. If you're an artist, feel free to become a guest! I would love it!

The ongoing story will be revving up as soon as I catch up with edits up to number 25. Then, things are going to get hairy and scary for the heroes. I hope you'll follow along. For all of you already following along, THANK YOU! You're awesome people and I'm glad to have you.

That's GZ! I hope you'll be sticking around for more art, stories and updates on publishing as they come about!

Still working on re-writes and goal for my son

GZ Hero mash up

As you can see, I finished and digitally colored that hero mash up from the last posted GZ Blog.

We are still working on the rewrites of GZ Legends and they are looking really really good. I want to have at least three done so that I can post one at a time while reworking the next one. This is actually awesome writing practice for me. I'm getting better at it and that feels good.

Another project has come in on the front burner and that is the project to send my 10 year old son with autism and child bipolar to meet his hero Stan Lee. We started a fundraiser and it is slowly taking off. Slow is okay, the comicon isn't until November. You can read all about that in my other blog HERE.

I know this could be the achievement that shapes his growing view of the world around him. It will show him that good things can and do happen. It will show him that he can be successful in great things. It will help him to say "I can" instead of "I can't".  It will show him that our medical conditions do not have to stop us.

Doing homework last year

My son has had a hard time and a lot of tough things to deal with early in life. He's overcome great hurdles but had to learn about  things like death a bit too early. He was born in 2002 3 months early.  In 2008 we lost a dear 19 year old friend (considered my Godson), Zak D. to a car accident. He still thinks Zak is his guardian angel. He dealt with a divorce (even though amicable it was hard on him).  In 2009, we lost my Father to cancer and attended his funeral.  About a year later his Grandmother on his Mother's side died.
This year, (he only met my Uncle at my Dad's funeral but still) my Uncle died. As if that weren't enough, he's always worried about his older half brother. That one has been on a bad path (lives no where near here and doesn't have any direct contact) and recently committed a crime in Florida that has him facing 7 years in prison. Denver is very disappointed in his 18 year old brother. He feels like he should help get his brother out of gangs and trouble, but has had to learn that his brother must be and adult now.  Now he has to be on a special diet and isn't used to it yet and he's going through changes that make his condition an issue.

For a 10 year old to be screaming at himself, huddling up crying because he says his "brain" is bothering him (possibly racing thoughts) or slapping himself, is heart breaking. I hope this makes more sense on why he needs such a morale boost.

Year end Award for B average

Now, on the flip side, this is not a child who doesn't try or wallows in misery. Last year, for all his difficulties, he maintained a B average in school for the whole year and received an award for it. He was invited to the school spelling bee last year for being in the top ten of his grade. It was confided to me that he was actually within the top 4. He's highly creative and surprises people often. This year, he's also the only kid in school who has a special school poster for anti-bullying, framed on the wall donated by his Dad. Talk about making you one of the cool kids right from the start. We keep every achievement among our parenting tools to remind him of what he can do, but this would be the star on top of the tree.

Donations have been received and special thanks go out to those who have given. Heck, special thanks to YOU just for reading this. You know, I create heroes, but Denver is a hero, he's my little hero.

Donated to his school

Working on the pieces

What I'm working on. Click for full image.

I know it's hard to see the pencil work in the photo. I'm working on what they call, a "mash up". That's where several characters are drawn in a single picture. Most really big mash ups have a hundred or so characters in them. Imagine a poster with every single hero in Marvel or DC standing in one big group. That's a  mash up. I doubt I'll have that many characters in this picture but it's coming along pretty good.

I've had some really great feedback on my last post and I appreciate it. I seems to me that the "run on" sentence is more of a tool than something to be banned. They have to be used properly or they can become awkward. I can understand that. So as we go through to take a look over the story as posted so far, we'll weigh these things.

Truth of the matter is, once all is said and done, beauty is in the eye of the beholder. No one can write in a manner that will appeal to everyone. Yet, plenty of authors who mastered the run on sentence, are very well known. JRR Tolkien and Lovecraft are prime examples of the use of run on sentences.

So the run on sentence by itself is not to blame for a work not being "tightened up" after all. I have to look at it from another perspective. Is my work flowing well? Are there awkward spots that need to be "tweaked" a little? Numbers on my blogs are rising and most say they enjoy the story. So I can't be doing all bad, right? Big smile following that sentence!

I have also been asked if I consider the postings of GZ Legends as "chapters". In a way, yes. I prefer to call them "blog chapters". They aren't as long as a chapter from my books as I write them. I aim at a size that's more apt to suit readers of blogs. I can make them longer if people would like, but I thought between 1000 and 2000 words was more digestible. I figured the size easier to take in, low on time consumption, and hopefully enticing for more.

Really though, GZ Legends as you've seen so far, is just the tip of the iceberg. I have hundreds of characters, many alien races, and scores of adventures swirling in my head. So it's back to the writing desk and art tablet  for me!  As I go through a resharing of what's been done so far, I'll be preparing what comes next. I promise it will be extraordinary!

Oh, and in other news, more guest artists may be popping in! I'm still waiting for some news on that myself. Guest artists are welcome!