What you need for Halloween!

It's not too late to grab yourself some goodies for Halloween coloring fun. I'm putting all those links right here in this blog post for the ease of it.

As many of you know I recently took a trip to the hospital and I'm in the middle of trying to make it so I can join my dear wife up in Wisconsin (from Louisiana). I'm still fighting my MS every day with diligence and striving to move forward. What you see me do is how I keep fighting.

Several of you have asked how you can help me and I've answered. I said share my work. It's the number one way to give me the internet exposure I need. So if you aren't up to making a purchase, you can still share me and it's very much appreciated. For those who want to help me out in other ways, they can visit my PATREON or I will list one more way at the end of this post.

My ETSY is the home of the 5 for a dollar coloring page bundles. Download, print all the copies you want or need, and get to coloring. There are bundles for all sorts of interests with more to come. I'm constantly working on a new set of ideas. And there are several that work great for Halloween with bats, spiders, and skulls.

Want something more substantial? Well don't forget that I released two new coloring books and you can grab yours from my Amazon AUTHOR'S PAGE. Get your copy of Zombie Town and Kitten Monsters for some crazy spooky laughs. You're going to have fun just looking through them. When you're done laughing, get to coloring!

Finally, for those who just want to help without monthly subbing or making a purchase, you can send a donation to my Paypal at thewildeman2@yahoo.com (yes someone asked, that's the only reason you get it posted because I beg for nothing. I would rather sell you stuff)

And if you love what you purchase from me, please return and leave a review. Reviews drive exposure and sales. You'll be helping me out that much more.

Happy Halloween everyone!

Board game preview: HOW THE BOARD WORKS

I said I would and here I go. Time to show you the board for the New York edition and give you the scoop on how it works. By the way, if you haven't signed up for the mailing list, you're missing out content and stories that don't go anywhere else. This will include giveaways and contests. So what are you waiting for?

This is the New York Game board. It will fold in six sections.

Click on image for larger view

To re-explain the game a little bit, the object is to complete a random assigned goal before other players. A goal may have you hunting beasts or monsters, recruiting a number of allies, gathering artifacts, or just beating up other players. There are far more goals than even that, just to point out. Everything you try to gain in your goal will come from an event deck that you reveal cards from on every turn after you make a move. You might find that daunting to depend on luck of the draw to complete a goal, but fear not. The board will help you.

STARTING ZONES: The white flares around the edges of the board are the starting zones. Since the game supports 2-6 players, there are 6 zones. The player who goes first gets first choice of where to start. Starting at the right spot can put you closer to map points that support your goal. But even if you are on the losing end of that equation, there is a way around it.

AIRPORTS: If you look closely, you can see three airplane symbols on the map. When you land on a plane you can immediately continue your movement via any other plane on the map. Trivial fact: At least two of the airports are positioned where real airports are in the real New York City.

DRAW 2: When you land on a number 2, you get to reveal 2 cards from the event deck instead of one with no other restrictions. A normal move only reveals one card.

FOCAL POINTS: The red X's on the map are Focal Points. When you land on one, you reveal 3 cards from the event deck with a couple of restrictions. One, you can't evade or run away from anything that comes at you. Two, if there are freebie cards in the reveal, you can't have them unless you defeat any threats that appeared with them. The only control you have is if there are multiple combats or traps. In those cases, you only have to do one combat and you can discard the rest. Same for traps. But a combat and a trap will both stay and you must deal with both before you can take an item or artifact from the focal point. As an additional bonus to this, if you succeed against all threats of a focal point and there is an artifact, you do not have to make the obtain roll for the artifact. It becomes free.

FORCE POINTS: A force point is a location on the map that allows you to make a die roll on a d20 to force a specific card type from the event deck. For any of these points, you roll a 15 or more with no modifiers and you get to reveal until the specified type comes out. Then you shuffle the other cards back into the deck. A card forced cannot be evaded, so be careful. There is a symbol for each card type that can be forced from the deck to achieve your goal:

Pot of gold: Shop: force an item card

Ancient Ax: Museum: force an artifact

Paw Print: Zoo: force a beast

Tombstone: Cemetery: force a monster

Letter H: Hero base: force a good character

Letter V: Villain base: force an evil character

HOSPITAL: The red heart with a cross is the hospital. You can land there for a chance at healing yourself.

ZONES: Each colored location of the map is a zone that caters to a certain type of threat card (except Staten Island). In those zones, when a card of the zone type is revealed, you cannot evade it and it has +2 attack against you in combat. 

Bronx: Monster zone

Queens: Beast zone

Brooklyn: Villain (evil character) zone

Manhatten: Hero (good character) zone

The odd ball on these is Staten Island, the power zone. For each time you enter Staten Island (so long as you didn't start your turn there) you get to roll a d20. If you roll 15 or higher, you get a power from the power deck. The limit on powers is 3, so you might have to pick and choose. There are other ways to get powers built into the game so no worries if you can't get to that side of the map enough.

Any marked location on the map falls under a rule that you cannot start your turn on it, move away and go right back to it. You have to leave any one marked space for an entire round, before going back to it. If your movement allows you to reach another marked space of the same type, that is a legal move. 

And that's the board! What do you think? Enough action to go around? Tell me your thoughts in comments and thanks for reading! Remember to check out the links in the upper right for the books and the original game!

Board game preview! MONSTERS!!

It's time for another board game preview! This time I'm going to share some monsters that will come for you out of the event deck as you search New York city for your goal to win the game. If your goal card says you have to fight monsters, this is what you'll face!

This is for the Galaxy Zento Adventure Game: New York City. The game is tied into two other expansions that can be mixed and matched for how you want to play and is based on the stories and novels (see links in upper right of page).

 I know you can't see exactly what they do yet, but I will explain the card layout. The symbols are for the monster's stats.
Star:  Attack power added to a d20 attack roll
Shield: Defense you have to roll on d20 with your own attack power.
Arrow: Evade level you have to roll on d20 to escape it without fighting it.
Naturally, each monster will have perks and challenges of their own.

The Were-beast is a combination threat that you treat as a monster but can count as a beast. If it defeats you in combat it passes its curse to you and you become the next were-beast and a special enemy to everyone else in the game. You can count on it not being a pushover in combat too.













The Chimera can attack you three times in a row before you get to attack once. That means it rolls to hit your defense three times in a single attack turn. You should hope you've built up your defense or can make just as many tries yourself to even it out. Thanks to its snake tail, its also venomous and will poison you if you lose a fight against it. Poison has multiple effects in the game to include hindering movement, blocking powers or abilities, or blinding you so you can't make ranged attacks. Fortunately, poison is somewhat easy to get rid of since all you have to do is be healed of any amount including zero.

The Harpy is a mean monster that can attack twice in combat. If you beat it, you get to keep its card and gain a special artifact weapon called the Harpy Feather. It grants you a boost to your own attack for future combats.

Power Ghoul is a pretty basic monster with a very straightforward effect. If you beat him, you get a new power from the power deck. If you lose, you lose a power if you had one in the first place. Since New York comes with a full deck of powers, there are more chances to get powers than in any expansion so far.

New York comes with a slew of spider cards thanks to what happened in Chicago in the novel Chaos Rising. This one comes with two attacks in combat and is venomous. Thanks to other effects in the game (traps and events) spiders can pop out at you nearly anywhere or anytime during game play.













That isn't all the cards that count as monsters, but it's a nice sharp view of what is coming. I have some artwork left to do and a rule book and hope to release New York this summer! In my next edition I will spoil the game board itself! For now, here's some links to the other expansions!

CHESSMEN or first edition

EXP 1

Hey, want to know what comes after this? The all new Chessmen card expansion will have all the characters from both Chessmen Novels! All the heroic Chessmen, their allies and enemies will be on hand to merge with your gaming experience. All new special edition cards, team memberships, and more still in planning stage! 

Another awesome game preview!

Today I'm going to answer a question that a few have been guessing at and show you some more of what is coming to the expansion set for Galaxy Zento the board game. First, lets start with that question.

Folks have tried to guess what the art meant for this goal and now you can see for yourself. That's right, the goal is to get your character killed twice. That means collecting five damage (or getting assassinated) twice in a row. You see, getting killed in GZ doesn't mean you're out of the game (unless you opt out). It only means you have to start all over again. With all other goals, dying removes all your progress, but not with this one. Playing out this goal will allow you to be the craziest player on the board, bar none.

With the addition of monsters, there are some new effects that may help that goal along! Take the Acid Slime for example. Normal combats only deal one damage to you at the end of combat. Not so with this monster. You get a damage token every time it hits you and then get one for losing the combat (if you lose). It's possible to rack up 4 damage facing this creature and that could kill most players. A definite threat.

The Wraith isn't as thorny a foe as the Acid Slime, but losing a combat with it can still be costly. Powers and artifacts are some of the best character support in the game. Taking an additional damage from combat if you can't pay up with one of them may be expensive.

The instant kill possibilities don't end there when you can play as the Assassin. If your first attack in any combat is a natural 20, you win. If it's against a player, you just killed them. Watch out if you get into a combat with the person playing Glutton for Punishment though. You might inadvertently help them win the game!

With 16 new player character cards there will be lots of possibilities for cool character play. I'll be back with more info soon. Till then, keep up the good fight and game on!

Sneak Peek: GZ The Board Game

Chose good or evil. Play as a soldier, sorcerer, psychic, strongman, speedster, or inventor. Travel the universe recruiting powerful allies and fighting dangerous foes. Be the first to complete your goal for your side of the balance and win.

Based on my novel, Chessmen: Opening Moves; anything that happened to the Chessmen in the book could happen to you.

And it's coming along beautifully. Today you get a sneak peek at a few of the cool people you can play as on the board game. Up to 6 players will play one of the character types mentioned completely at random. Each one has their own strengths and weaknesses that you can build on during gameplay (averaging an hour for 4 players). I'm not going to give up all their stats and game mechanics yet, but I think you'll enjoy what they can do.

The Sorcerer: This is the only type that begins the game able to play spells. He's also the major reason that PC types are handed out at random. Also to balance this, it is more than possible for other players to wind up using spells... and losing them. The sorcerer gets a sweet bonus on using his spells towards his goals.

The Strongman: Decent in a fight with a bonus for dealing with monsters. Yes, monsters. The monsters and creatures from Chessmen are just waiting to make a  meal of you. They include, mutant butterflies, stinging swarms, a giant monstrosity, and more. It's a wild universe out there. The strongman is ready for it.

The Soldier: Good in a fight! And there will be several of those for every player. As the soldier you get a special bonus for weapons that you find on your journey. Be ready for anything and seek your fortune.

The Psychic: You gain bonuses to avoiding traps and recruiting allies because you see just a little further ahead than everyone else. Not the best in combat, but recruiting powerful allies is nothing to sneeze at.

The Speedster: With a bonus on movement for the board, you can get places faster than everyone else. You're also harder to hit by enemies Want to stay a few steps ahead and out of range? The speedster does just that.

The Inventor: He's more or less the weakest to start out with, but he's also the easiest to build up on. He gets a bonus to any item (including weapons) to make them more efficient for his needs. Give him an ally and he becomes the underestimated threat on the table.

This is just the tip of the proverbial iceberg when it comes to this game. You'll meet the characters from the novel and go through some of what they went through. You don't have to read the novel to play the game, but it will make the whole experience shine just a little more. But you'll be able to enjoy this game straight out of the box without knowing the story at all. I'll have more peeks coming up as we go, so stay tuned!

Halloween News 2014

Maniac

What better way to kick off Halloween with GZ than an update on the nasties that are about to hit the books? Well, buckle your seatbelt because only the baddest baddies are coming out to play in upcoming stories. You're going to love it.

Two books are coming up. First is Chaos Rising, slated for this holiday season. In it you'll get a ton of super baddies making a hero's day difficult. Maniac, the Hearse, Prof. Zombie, the Engineer, Stormy Knight, and a slew of artifacts that could destroy the world. You won't want to miss out. Aiming for the Kindle price to be .99 cents. Don't know what paperback will be yet.

The second book will be GZ Tales Volume 2. While I don't  know exactly how many stories I'm going to stuff it with, you will see the following baddies:

MAESTRO: He and his castle will make their published debut in, Castle of the Demon King. Anubis and Horus must rescue a female Starknight from his dungeon, but it's a all a game to Maestro. Who will win? This is just the tip of the iceberg for upcoming Maestro storylines!

DEMON JACK: He appeared in volume one and he's coming back. After being hospitalized, Carter Henderson has been on specialized medication to keep him from turning into the monster. That's all about to change when a new doctor doesn't think he needs the medication any more. Blacktide and Nyhtwulf must hunt down Demon Jack or a fair chunk of New York will feel the consequences.

CHESIRE: An invisible killer is mutilating the homeless in New York City. World Legion agents, Anthony James and Panther Steele work to track him down before his body count spikes. All they have are the words of one witness; "Look for the knife in his smile."

THE PIRANHA: We take a trip back into the southern Louisiana swamps where the Gator lives. Someone is killing and eating the peaceful people of the deep swamps. The Gator, reluctant hero, is't standing by for it. It's HIS swamp after all.

That's just four of the awesome tales that will be coming to you sometime in the new year. I'm hoping to also have Chessmen 2 by Summer.  Happy Halloween everyone!

Audio reading: Imaginary Enemy

Today I direct you to the embedded video for a reading of one of the tales from my book of short stories, GZ Tales, Vol 1. Now I do have a couple of spots where I trip up because I have internal spasms from MS, but as you can see, I don't let that stop me. So I hope you enjoy the reading of Imaginary Enemy!

If you would like to get the book for kindle or in paperback, check out the link to my author's page in the upper right of the screen.

GZ Legends 79: Stormy Knight, Villain Extraordinaire

         

  “Let’s assume it’s just like the other creatures here. Keep it busy. This one’s on me.” Sandstorm vanished into the air.

            “Okay! Aim at its eyes and mouth!” Electrode said as he fired a barrage of lightning at the creatures double set of red eyes.

            “Partner, see if you can reach that thing’s brain.” Blacktide suggested as he powered up for a new attack.

            “Let me run in real quick, I got an idea!” Anubis charged in as the beast reared back from incoming attacks. Galose fired at it to keep its attention, but it quickly noticed Anubis standing right under its chin. “Well, come and get me!”

            The creature snapped at Anubis with its mouth and two lines of teeth, but the hero was ready. He held up his lance and propped its mouth open. The blades of the lance sank into the roof of its mouth. The great serpent threw its head back and howled in pain and rage. No matter how it tried, the lance of Anubis could not be broken. It angled its mouth back toward Anubis and spewed green bile that he narrowly avoided. The acid venom sizzled on the pathway.

            “Don’t you know spitting is bad manners?” Anubis shouted. “Open target, guys, lay it on!”

            As attacks battered the creature it spewed at them again. This time the wave was stopped by a force field created by Anubis. He wasn’t going to have it spitting on his friends. It was still hard to hurt the creature as its lashing head made for a difficult target.

            Nyhtwulf flew in over top of it and plunged an intangible fist into the top of its head. He had to remain partially tangible and it convulsed from his life force and brain wave disrupting powers. Unlike Anubis, Nyhtwulf felt no difficulty flying. He wondered if it was because he was intangible or from another realm himself.

            Galose shot three of its teeth out and kept his targeting locked on the gaping jaws. He didn’t want to go with his highest firepower for fear of hurting allies. The punishment the beast could take amazed him. Something else bothered him too.

            “I’ve lost Sandstorm’s life signs!” Galose said.

            Blacktide took a turn with his disintegrative powers while Anubis protected him from an acid bath. “Are you sure?”

            “Do not worry!” Nyhtwulf shouted from atop the things head.

            Lightning danced between the creature’s teeth in bright flashes.

            “We’re pouring it on but it’s not going down fast enough!” Electrode said. “If my partner is going to do something, I wish he’d get to it!”

           

If Sandstorm could hear the conversation, he wouldn’t be surprised. He found it hard to hear anything after going down the beast’s throat. In the form of air, it was an easy feat. He moved into the depths of the monster but avoided going into its lungs. Instead he stopped between the lungs and stomach. As an elemental, he could sense and control the aspects of all four elements. So far, every living thing he had ever encountered had one element in common; water. So, much like the day he merged with a living hurricane, he merged with the giant serpent. With vast senses, he could feel and detect every molecule of water throughout the creature’s body.

            Another aspect of Sandstorm’s power involved converting one element into another at will. I would be no effort to change all the water in the creature’s body to fire or earth. In this case, he chose earth. But earth has many aspects beyond simple dirt.

            From the outside the convulsions of the creature slowed to tremors as it suddenly found it difficult to move. Nyhtwulf flew back to his friends.   

 

            “There is change.” He said to them. “Watch.”

            They no longer needed to attack the creature. It couldn’t attack them anymore. The red of its mouth slowly turned gray. Its flickering tongue froze in position and its eyes went dull. The blood in its veins slowed like hardening concrete. Organs shut down and froze in place. But there was one more element to convert. The beast was breathing. It couldn’t even take a last gasp as its lungs turned to stone.

            From outside, popping sounds could be heard as stone began to crack from under armor-like scales. Sandstorm had one last trick.

            “Anubis, we will need a shield.” Nyhtwulf said.

            Anubis barely put one up in time to block the flying debris as the serpent exploded in all directions. Great chunks of its body flew away into the swirling abyss around them.

            “Explosive personality.” Anubis mused. “Serves it right for trying to puke on us.” The Egyptian hero held out his hand and caught his lance as it flew back to him.

            Sandstorm’s body formed out of the air where nothing was left of their opponent. He looked around him and far out into the swirling colors.

            “No more!” Sandstorm shouted. “Deal with us yourself! Where are you?”

           

“You needn’t shout.” Came a voice from up ahead of them. “I’m right here.”

            The scene ahead of them shifted like a mirage and an enormous platform appeared. Jonathon “Stormy” Knight sat in a white marble throne with his skull head cane leaning on the side. Behind him, against a wall, a line of man sized cylinders could be seen. Inside each one, they could see one of the heroes that had allied with them before. Doctor Vampire and all of his Strykeforce Guard had been captured as well as all of Calibur 5 from Florida. From the bottom of the cylinders, thick tubes converged to the back of the throne.

            “No way!” Electrode said.

            Without further hesitation the heroes attacked. Lightning, metron blasts, disintegration waves, and a bladed lance closed in on Stormy, but stopped short. As they all closed in on the platform, Stormy laughed.

            “Anubis isn’t the only one who can make force fields. Calm down. We have so much to talk about.”

             Stormy’s smile unnerved them all. They realized that they had no idea what they were facing.

GZ Legends 78: Hiss from the Abyss

           

 Blacktide’s eyes clouded in dark shadows as his power grew. He clenched his fist, also shrouded in the dark energies he commanded. Shadow wisps even emitted from his lips as he spoke.

            “Now.”

            Nyhtwulf shifted out of the way and Blacktide thrust his fist forward. Despite the amount of power coursing in the effect, a disintegration bolt or wave makes little more in noise than a cough or ‘whumping’ sound. The crackling and spitting sparks all came from the Chaos drone as it took the attack full in the chest. The air sizzled from the relentless attack and the drone started to be forced backwards. Layers of armor dissipated into smoke followed by wires and circuit boards. Still, it didn’t happen as quickly as this kind of power would destroy anything common to Earth. Blacktide didn’t realize it, but this charge released on Earth would have been catastrophic in its effect.

           

The drone stumbled as the blast achieved the halfway mark into its body. Blacktide pressed advantage and stepped forward. All he knew in the moment was rage. Rage at all the horrors he and his friends had faced so far. Horrors all set in motion by the one man they sought on this nightmare path. Finally, the drone shuddered and fell backwards, floating away into the strangeness of the void around them. Blacktide stopped firing and watched for a second as the useless metal trash drifted away. He leaned over and put his hands on his knees and realized he was out of breath.

            Electrode could feel a sharp tooth press its point against the side of his neck. Even with all Sandstorm’s elemental strength and an iron ore fist in its mouth, the giant hound only needed to flinch and kill its prey. Electrode’s mind raced and desperation fueled the invention of idea. One of its red glaring eyes was close to his right hand where he had a fistful of black fur. For anyone else, the time it would take to let go and try this stunt would result in death. For a man who could move faster than the speed of light, it was perfect timing. While his body was pinned, he could still move that hand. Utilizing his speed and making the world around him stand still, he darted his hand to the creature’s eye and dug his electrical arcing fingers in hard. Its eye was the size of a racquetball and just as rubbery in consistency. He pulled with the power of his speed and ripped the eye from its socket, still attached by its long cord. Now was the time to charge it with everything he had to offer. The jolting hit home this time and the beast threw its head backwards, howling in pain. Taking advantage, Sandstorm pulled its head back and grasped upper and lower portions of its jaw. With a mighty heave in strength, he snapped its jaw outward. The beast fell over dead.

            Anubis and Galose wrestled with their giant hound. Galose activated strength adaptation programs in his armor. Because Cyborian armor keeps all its equipment and systems in pocket dimensions, it can store machinery much larger than itself. The strength adaptation and amplification systems were powered by a metron reactor twice as big as his armor. In times of need, Galose could amplify his armors strength capabilities by 50 times or more. It was a temporary surge, but usually enough to complete any task at hand.

            “I can’t budge this thing!” Anubis shouted.

            “I have something.” Galose responded. “The creature’s hide is virtually impenetrable, however…”

            He slowly pushed the creature back and jammed an arm down its throat. He extended his metron rifle and fired several times. The creature convulsed and went limp, hanging from Galose’s arm. Anubis had been knocked to the path by the creature but quickly got back to his feet.

            “Nice force feeding.” Anubis said.

            “It worked.” Galose pulled his arm from the beast’s throat and shook some disgusting green slime off.

            “You want me to clean that off of you?” Anubis asked.

            “Not necessary.” Galose’s armor cleaning programs dissipated the mess. “We are supposed to take pride in our armor’s appearance after all.”

            “Is everyone okay?” Sandstorm shouted.

            “I’m fine, now that I can keep my head.” Electrode said.

            Everyone looked to each other and many nods indicated that all would live for the time being.

            “Galose, are you getting any more readings for up ahead?” Sandstorm asked.

            “My sensors work at a limited distance in this dimension.”

            “But we can see clear down the path to where it disappears.” Anubis said.

            “That is an illusion. We cannot see precisely where the path goes. We can only follow it.”

            “I am also unable to detect anything at a distance here.” Nyhtwulf said.

            “Sounds like we’re in a twisted fog bank.” Sandstorm said. “Well, we may as well keep going. Stay close together. I don’t want us losing anyone.”

            “Oh, and don’t fly. It works really weird here.” Anubis said.

            “Yeah, we saw you go for a ride.” Blacktide said.

            “Hey, that’s no ride I want to take again.”

           

They marched forward on the path with purpose. Whatever waited for them ahead, they knew it was their mission. Clearly, they were meant to follow the path with no choices for other avenues. In a few minutes of moving forward the path rumbled and shook.

            “Tell me we aren’t going to lose the path.” Anubis said.

            “I don’t think so.” Sandstorm said. “Something is up ahead of us.”

            As they moved forward a gigantic black mass started to form ahead for the sake of vision. The path shook again from a loud growl as the new threat came into view.

            “You gotta be kidding me.” Electrode said.

            The giant black serpent’s body was wrapped around the hovering path ahead of them. Its body was as wide as a mid-size car and longer than two city buses. It raised its head with another growl and opened its mouth to show dagger long shining teeth. A light green residue dripped from its jaws as it gave them a loud warning hiss. 

GZ Legends 71: Every Last Breath

           

 It happened so fast, Sandstorm didn’t even realize what had happened. One second, he was floating near his partner in the form of air; the next he was speeding through life support conduits. He heard the voice of the Maker and quickly found the whole issue to be quite absurd.

            “If you don’t need a life support system, why do you even have one?” Sandstorm thought.

            The realization of the very real threat to his friends lives, struck him like a flying rock. It didn’t matter why the Maker had the system. He couldn’t allow it to be turned off. Sandstorm turned his attention to the chambers he was pulled through. At some point there would be a heart to the system. There, he hoped he could jam something and return life giving oxygen to his friends. As fast as the air withdrew, he knew he had seconds to figure something out.

            The heart of the life support system housed dozens of switches and chambers he didn’t have time to explore. Only one thing held the slightest possibility and that was electricity. The power systems to the life support carried an electrical charge. Sandstorm followed it, hoping he could find the activation system. The charge led him to a metal switch between two connectors, powered by a console just above him.

            “With all this advanced technology, I’m dealing with a stupid toggle switch?” Sandstorm thought in disbelief.

           

He surged on the system with a charge of his own and forced the switch into the “on” position. Then, before anyone could react, he fused the metal together by arc-welding it. They would have to destroy the entire console to turn off the life support system again.

            “I wonder what Mr. Genius is going to think of this?” Sandstorm thought. “Now how do I get back to Electrode?”

            In another corridor, Hypnotist breathed through the special apparatus the Maker had given him. He watched Redeagle and Atomizer sink to the floor, gasping for breath. The shock of the loss of oxygen momentarily broke Hypnotist’s hold. As Redeagle slumped to the floor, he fired the metron rifle, blasting through Hypnotist’s chest. Redeagle scrambled to the dead body of the mind controlling villain and grabbed the breather. He took a deep breath and then took it to his partner.

            Anubis’s mind reeled with inner turmoil. Maybe it would be worth it? He could summon the true spirit of Anubis, rip the whole ship in half and kill them all. In their sacrifice, the Earth would be bathed in warm sunlight once again. But then, who would stop Stormy Knight? Someone still needed to deliver that fiend a well-earned lesson. The Serpent sported a cruel grin and showed his viper-like eyes over the top of his dark glasses. One of his Death Snakes hovered just over Nightfall’s face as she lay asphyxiating. Monolith and Silvercrow moved in on Anubis.

            “You’re out of time, Dog-breath.” Monolith chuckled.

            As Nyhtwulf and Blacktide appeared in the room, the life support came back on. Blacktide put both fists forward and hit Silvercrow with a surging disintegration beam. The haunted armor tumbled backward. Monolith’s stone body was no protection against the intangible Nyhtwulf. The Twilie Demon thrust both arms into the chest of the Stone Demon with screaming results. The whole thing gave Anubis just the moment he needed.

           

The Egyptian hero smashed head on into Serpent and threw him against a far wall. As they landed, Anubis delivered a punch that shattered the dwarf’s shades.

            “Guess I will hit a guy with glasses!” Anubis said as he landed another punch with equal ferocity. One strike after another, Anubis pounded away in near mindless rage. Too many times since Ella’s death, had he seen those he cared about nearly lost. He wouldn’t tolerate it anymore.

            “Stop!”

            The voice was distant and sounded familiar.

            “Stop!” A pair of slender arms wrapped around one of his. A set of arms also grabbed around his shoulders.

            “Geez, man, you got him already!” Blacktide shouted in his ear.

            Nightfall had Anubis’s arm and finally managed to pull him away.

            “You can stop now.”

            Anubis breathed hard and leaned back against the wall. He looked at his own bloody hands in disbelief.

            “It’s okay. It’s done. I’m okay. You can calm down now.” Nightfall said as she touched his shoulder.

            Across the room, Monolith lay on the floor unconscious. Silvercrow’s armor body lay in smoldering pieces.

            “I can’t believe I just did that.” Anubis said.

            “Use your powers to clean your hands.” Nightfall said gently. “We have to get moving.”

            At the door of the gutted factory area, Electrode pulled himself to his feet. He realized that Sandstorm found a way to save his life.

            “You here?” He called out but there was no answer. “Guess I move on and hope we find each other.” He charged himself up and reached for the door controls.

           

Galose tumbled through space and inside the armor, alarms blared. Weapon systems of the ship were locking onto him. At any moment they would fire and he would be reduced to atoms. With the neural control net he used to pilot his armor, Galose worked with haste. Feverishly, he commanded power to repair systems and over-rides to save his life. Ship’s cannons were locking on, one after another. He needed more power to activate cloaking and teleportation.

Cyborians have a natural ability to learn complicated and sophisticated sciences at an accelerated rate beyond most other alien life forms. Galose sped through coding of programs in his armor that no human could possibly comprehend. Slowly, the power built towards the teleportation system. If Cyborian’s had teeth, he would have gnashed his to powder as he watched the system bar slowly rise.

From the bridge of the ship, Mechanicore watched as 12 cannons fixed on the Cyborian’s position.

“Fire.” He commanded.

GZ Legends 66: Blacktide in Chains!

            

When Nyhtwulf sank out of sight, he shifted from one plane of existence to another. To retrieve his friend, he had to travel back to the Realm of the Dead attached to a plane called Midworld. The channel between dimensions to enter the Realm seethed with shadows and mists of grey. Other spirits lurked in the seeming abyss and it was important he flew right past them, paying them no heed. Any attention to such creatures would invite an attack and serve as a great delay.

            Very few knew the path that Nyhtwulf took to return to the Isle of Skulls. Even fewer had permission to use it. On this path, there was no need of Charon’s ferry, but it was still over the River Styx, and still very dangerous. As he entered the Realm, he flew through a long tunnel of black stone. Below him were weeping souls, wandering the underworld lost as penance for unspeakable crimes in life. Nyhtwulf stayed well above their reach, following the tunnel until he flew over water. He stayed high above the water of the River Styx as well, knowing that even more lost souls occupied the murky depths. Their loneliness knew no equal, so they would drag any being deep to drown them forever.

            There were some spirits who knew Nyhtwulf and shrank away as he flew past. The lupine hero was thankful for this as he didn’t feel he had time for any extra fights.

            On board Charon’s ferry, Blacktide struggled in chains.

            “You waste your useless strength, mortal.” Charon said. “You cannot break the chains of the dead. They are built to hold the most ruthless of spirits and demons.”

            “Yeah? I bet the next person wearing them is you.” Blacktide said with a grimace.

            “I will not. Once I settle the score with that vermin, I will cast you both to the bottom of the river. You will never be seen again.”

            “I’ve heard songs like this before. It never ends well. My partner is coming, but it’s not going to end like you plan. I’ll bet on it.”

            “Bet your soul, perhaps?” Charon gazed at him with glowing eye sockets in a vacant dirty skull.

            “No need. You know, I bet if you did a better job, your boss might actually give you a real body. The whole rotting skeleton thing is kind of last year.”

            “Watch your tongue, mortal, or I will remove it.”

            “And, speaking of souls, I didn’t think betting with them was your bag.” Blacktide didn’t care if he aggravated Charon. He did it on purpose.

           

Charon turned and roared at Blacktide. Flames burst and danced around his skull as he stood on the deck of his ferry.

            “Ooo, you’re scary. Let me out of these chains and I’ll show you something really scary.” Blacktide yanked on the chains to accent his point.

            “You are no threat to me.”

            “We’ll see about that. I’m calling dibs on one good kick to your skull.”

            As Charon took to ignoring his prisoner, Nyhtwulf arrived at the castle of the Four Horsemen. The doors opened and let him in without even the need to knock. He marched to the great throne room where the Four sat in solemn silence. As Nythtwulf approached the room, he was addressed immediately.

            “Enter and be seen.” Death’s voice echoed and boomed in the room with high vaulted ceilings of stone.

            Nyhtwulf knelt at the foot of the steps leading to Death’s magnificent throne.

            “Rise, former servant. We have been expecting you.”

            “Then you know why I come?”

            “Yes. And I give you my permission as you seek it. You may deliver the punishment for Charon’s misdeeds as you see fit, but the final judgment will be mine.” Death opened a clawed skeletal hand and an orb of shadows fell to the steps. I landed at Nyhtwulf’s feet. “Throw that upon the mortal captive, wrongly taken by Charon. Then dispense your justice.”

            “Thank you, my Lord. I will go directly.”

            Once given direction by one such as Death himself, one does not delay. Nyhtwulf exited the front doors and flew for the River Styx.

            “It will be interesting to see your friend come to save you.” Charon said to Blacktide.

            “What do you mean?”

            “No one may fly over the River Styx and we are in the middle of the river. Your friend may not even make it to save you. I will relish in seeing him pulled to the depths.”

            “So you plan to let the river do your dirty work? I think there’s a problem with that plan, Charon.”

            “What do you know about it?”

           

In answer, a savage roar sounded as Nyhtwulf flew onto the deck of the ferry to attack Charon. The Ferryman, being no slow slouch, responded instantly with his pole, knocking the Twilie Demon out of the air and onto the wood. Charon swung twice more with Nyhtwulf dodging aside each time.

            “How is this possible! The river should have swallowed you!” Charon shouted.

            “You forget, Charon, I earned permission!” Nyhtwulf  lunged and slashed with his claws at Charon’s chest section. Bits of cloak and rib were torn away, but this would not slow down Charon.

            Charon spun his pole like a martial arts Grandmaster, batting Nyhtwulf back and forth between powerful strikes. Nyhtwulf’s intangibility served as no defense in this realm.

            “I remember that you have been given another life!” Charon said. “It is another life that you can lose, Demon. I am already dead.”

            “Come on, Buddy, you can do it!” Blacktide called. “Take him apart!”

            Nyhtwulf had momentarily forgotten the orb given to him. Twilie Demons can store a number of things in their shadowy fur. So he brought out the orb and threw it past Charon. It landed on Blacktide’s chest and broke open, engulfing the chained man in strange shadows. Blacktide cried out as they latched onto him. In distraction, Nyhtwulf was hit again, and cast overboard. As he hit the water, he wondered what he had done to his friend.

GZ Legends 62: Holding the Fort

           

 Some moments earlier Hypnotist had just commanded Electrode to go and kill soldiers around the White House property. Before the command could fully sink in, a gust of wind threw Hypnotist over a desk and against a wall, knocking him unconscious. Sandstorm formed his body out of the air as Electrode shook off the effect.

            “We’re not having you mind controlled again if I can help it.” Sandstorm said.

            The two men walked over to Hypnotist’s body and before their eyes, he shimmered and vanished.

            “Teleportation!” Scott said. “That’s cheap.”

            “Must be their escape route.” Sandstorm said. “Well, never mind that. Let’s find everyone else who’s holed up in here.

            A loud thump came from behind a pair of double doors. Sandstorm walked over to the doors slowly, scrutinizing them up and down. From past experience he learned to expect traps of all sorts. It didn’t appear there were any wires or switches around the frame or between the doors. He looked over to Electrode who nodded to signal readiness. Sandstorm reached out and put his hand on the doorknob. After a second, he turned the knob and yanked the door open. The group of service people inside the small room practically fell over each other backwards in terror.

            “Whoa. Easy, folks. We aren’t going to hurt you. We’re here to help.”

            “That guy put us in here.” Said a young man in a janitor’s uniform. “He said, if we came out, he’d make us strangle each other.”

            “He’s gone.” Electrode offered. “You’ll be safe now.”

            “You should still stay here.” Sandstorm said sternly. “There’s fighting going on and we don’t want you to get hurt. Someone will come for you when it’s all clear.”

            “We should go see who we can help.” Electrode said.

            Sandstorm nodded and regarded the small crew of people one more time. “Are any of you hurt?”

            No one was injured. Sandstorm and Electrode left the room to head for the sounds of combat echoing through the building.

            Out on the back property, Serpent stood over Blacktide. He had a sword blade in the ground on either side of the hero’s neck. The shadowy Death snakes shifted anxiously around Serpent’s wrists, neck and just under his coat.

            “Maybe I should just let my pets have you? I know they love the taste of human life.” Serpent smiled exposing fangs and his forked tongue.

            Blacktide looked over to his right hand and felt an odd sensation course through him. He rubbed his fingers across his palm and looked up to his opponent with a smile.

            “A smile? What are you smiling for, boy?”

           

Suddenly Serpent’s body was yanked into the air with a cry of surprise. Nyhtwulf threw the murderous dwarf into the branches of the fallen tree. Blacktide jumped up and followed that with a direct blast of disintegration power. Serpent rolled clear, but with smoke curling off  his body.

            “Impossible! Nothing survives the bite of my pets!”

            Nyhtwulf flew past Serpent and slapped him to the ground on the way.

            “I was a servant to Death himself. For my service I carry his blessing. Your pets will never harm me again. I am now immune!” Nyhtwulf landed on the other side of Serpent and growled showing his own assortment of sharp teeth. While facing Nyhtwulf, Serpent didn’t see Blacktide move into position. A blast of heat caught the small monster in the back. Serpent fell to one knee with a scream of pain, lashed out at Nyhtwulf with a sword and then disappeared.

            Nyhtwulf stood unhurt as he was intangible when the sword was swung at him. He looked to his partner. “He was teleported away.”

            “Coward.” Blacktide said. “Guess we win that one after all. I thought you were gone.”

            “They only stunned me. It won’t happen again.”

            “Is everyone okay here?” Electrode said as he sped into the area.

            “Nice of you to join us.” Blacktide said with mock disdain.

            “What?” Electrode held his hands up in surprise.

            “Could have used you about 3 minutes ago.”

            “But I was…”

            “Save it. We got work to do.”

            “Hey!”

            Nyhtwulf patted Electrode on the shoulder. “He is joking.”

            “Joking? He doesn’t sound like he’s joking.”

            Blacktide turned and shrugged. “Maybe you’re just slowing down.”

            “I am not slowing down! I’ll have you know I can get us Chinese food fresh from China in 3 seconds flat! Hey, don’t walk away!”

            Blacktide walked into the building with a wry smile. Maybe there was more to this team gig after all.

            Far out in front of the White House property, Redeagle and Atomizer stood with soldiers, watching the showdown from a distance.

            “I hate sitting on the bench.” Atomizer grimaced.

            “Sandstorm said they may have backup waiting to move in. It’s our job to intercept that. If not, we lead the troops in on the signal.”

            “Benched.”

            “Look. We aren’t benched; but I know how you feel. I’m 7 feet tall, strong enough to toss a truck. I can shoot the head off a cockroach at 50 yards with ridiculous ease. Even with that, I just don’t compare to the kind of power on the rest of our team. Even with you, I’m not that powerful.”

           

“Are you kidding? I would never want to get in a fight with you. I’ve seen you lay out 10 or 15 guys without getting a scratch. You put a bullet in a speeding car’s carburetor by calculating where it was going to be when you fired. You could probably shoot Electrode. Compared to you, all I do is blow stuff up. Although I can level a building if I want to.”

            “Yeah, but what could we possibly do out here?” Redeagle gestured at the vast grounds of the Nation’s Capitol.

            “Plenty! You can shoot anything that moves because you see in the dark better than anyone. I have lots of room to cut loose with explosions to toss bad guys all over the place and… uh wait a second.”

            “Starting to see why we’re out here now?”

            “I hate it when you do that.” 

GZ Legends 28: The Skull of Sphidra Pt 4

            Sphidra, the embodiment of a nightmare, loomed over the motley crew of heroes on the dark rooftop.

            “What funny little creatures to oppose the will of Sphidra!” its voice shrieked and cracked. “Why are you not already my servants?”

            “I sense two minds,” Nyhtwulf said as he worked on healing Dreamseer of spider venom.

            “Oh that’s great,” Agent Redeagle said. He stood near Nyhtwulf and Dreamseer with is dagger drawn to fend off attackers.

            “Answer me, fools, or face the wrath of Sphidra!” Its voice shrieked even worse. The heroes had to cover their ears.

            “Why would we serve you?” Electrode shouted.

            “All in this realm have been formed to serve!”

            “Oh, I get it,” Blacktide said, “We weren’t here when this idiot put the skull on his head.”

            “And everyone who was here got mutated into servants,” Atomizer said. “Oh my God! I could become a spider creature!”

            “Don’t make me shake you,” Blacktide grumbled, “Keep ahold of yourself.”

            “I’m trying, Man, I’m trying.”

            “You will all serve Sphidra!” Jets of webbing launched at them from its hind quarters.

            Blacktide put up a wide disintegration field to stop the webs from engulfing them. Electrode and Atomizer fell back from the heat of Blacktide’s energy power. Realizing he almost burned them, Blacktide nearly froze but shook it off.

            “Get further behind me!”

            “Impressive, insect, but you will still succumb to Sphidra!”

            “Oh come on! We don’t even know who Sphidra is!” Blacktide shouted, “We don’t know what Sphidra is! Why don’t you explain it to us? Or are you really just some moron who put a giant skull on his head?”

            Nyhtwulf worked feverishly to counter the venom in Dreamseer. He could tell Blacktide was trying to give him time. They needed Dreamseer, but would they have her soon enough?

            “Sphidra is not this curious fool! Sphidra is power and the god of all arachnid forms! Soon this puny being will be completely transformed and Sphidra will reign supreme! Cities will fall!”

            “You know, maybe you shouldn’t tick it off,” Atomizer said.

            Blacktide only shot him a half glare over a shoulder in response.

            “No, let him be, I know what he’s doing,” Electrode said.

            “Man I hope so,” Atomizer said.

            “Go on,” Electrode prompted Blacktide.

            “You aren’t a god! You’re a monster! We’ll never serve you! And I’ll tell you something else; referring to yourself in third person is really stupid!”

            All of the heroes suddenly clutched at their heads as the psychic shriek filled their minds. Nyhtwulf was more resistant to it and kept working. It looked like Dreamseer was finally waking up.

            “Ahh, I said not to tick it off!” Atomizer shouted, “Didn’t I say not to tick it off?”

            “Shut up!” Blacktide shouted back.

            Electrode launched a bolt of lightning in an almost automatic response. The shriek stopped as Sphidra was momentarily stunned.  Sphidra brought one pointed leg forward and nearly skewered Electrode with it. Instead, it only pierced the rooftop. Electrode dodged easily but staggered to his knees from the blinding pain in his skull.

            “If you will not serve, you will die!” it screamed. Its voice was now as painful as the psychic attack.

            Blacktide clasped his hands into a double fist and lunged for the leg that almost hit Electrode. With a hard swing, a puff of smoke and a coughing sound, the leg had to leave its sharp tip in the roof. Sphidra screamed and the leg spewed liquid goo across the rooftop. Bits rained on all three of them.

            “Again?” Atomizer yelled. “I still don’t have the last spider’s guts off of me!”

            “Take it out on the damn spider, will ya!” Blacktide shouted.

            Atomizer concentrated on the concreted corner of the roof nearest Sphidra. His vision blurred from the pain of psychic attack. The stone of the corner shuddered as if it resisted him but then exploded outward. Shards of debris sprayed across Sphidra. The beast screamed in rage and pain, but still wasn’t defeated. Injuries to the spider were superficial at the most. Atomizer fell to his knees with a hand to his head. As he touched his forehead he felt something odd about his hand. Something poked at him. Atomizer looked at his hand and nearly fainted. Tiny black hairs were growing from his skin.

            Sphidra swung its other foreleg at Blacktide in rage, only to suffer the same fate as the previous leg. It screeched in rage and pain, using its psychic abilities to attack again. This time the heroes were thrown to the ground in agony. Blacktide’s power disintegrated through the roof and he fell through the hole. Electrode couldn’t move from where he lay, blinded by pain. Agent Redeagle couldn’t get up either. Colors flashed before all the heroes’ eyes and they thought their heads might explode.

            On the floor below the roof, Blacktide landed on someone’s queen sized bed, only slightly charring it before some control of his powers came back. He screamed and clutched at his head. He was unable to decipher any of his surroundings until the pain stopped suddenly.  In a half second the pain vanished totally. Blacktide jumped up and looked through the hole above. He noticed a slight hole in the upper corner from Atomizer’s previous attack attempt. Blacktide climbed and stood back on top of the bed and raised his hand towards that hole in the corner.

            On the roof, Dreamseer stood with Nyhtwulf. It was Dreamseer’s own psyhic abilities that stopped the pain her teammates suffered. Now she brought herself mind to mind with Sphidra. In a psychic form she could see the true spider that was Sphidra. It was terrible to behold. Sphidra had fangs larger than any man and eyes that glowed with psychic might. This vision of its body was coated in an exoskeleton of psychic armor. Dreamseer could tell that Sphidra had more than the power to convert a city. Given time, the beast could convert the world.

            “You cannot stop the will of Sphidra, little Elf,” its voice cracked in her head.

            “I don’t have to stop you, Sphidra, only engage you.”

            Nyhtwulf wasn’t seen leaving the rooftop. The lupine hero vanished into the shadows as Twilie demons are born to do. He flew through buildings and circled in behind his prey. When Nyhtwulf flew through the back of Sphidra’s body, it was taken completely by surprise. Nyhtwulf’s power to disrupt life force shook the great beast just as a beam of disintegration blasted through the abdomen. Blacktide, with mental direction form his partner, had focused his power through the upper corner he was staring at. Having a spiritual and psychic bond with Nythwulf was as good as having x-ray vision. A very large hole smouldered in the arachnid body. Sphidra screamed as Nyhtwulf reached the head. The shadowy wolf grasped at the head and skull of Sphidra while forcing his way forward. The skull became intangible along with Nyhtwulf and was wrenched free from Sphidra’s body.

            Nyhtwulf landed on the rooftop with the Skull of Sphidra in his clawed hands. Behind him, the great body shattered and fell to pieces. Some parts burst into flames, some turned to dust; the rest just fell to the streets below.

            Atomizer looked at his hands. The black hairs vanished. A spider came over the edge of the roof near him. Before he could react, it shrank before his eyes back to the average size of a spider.

            “Oh yeah,” Atomizer said as he brought his foot down on it.

            “Is everyone okay?” Agent Redeagle asked as he picked himself up.

            “Just fine now,” Electrode answered.

            Blacktide burst onto the scene from the rooftop door. He nodded to his partner, Nyhtwulf who held up the skull in triumph.

            “Good job, partner,” Blacktide said.

            “I guess now we can get out of here,” Atomizer said and he wanted to very badly.

            “Help me,” a voice came from the destroyed corner of the building, “Help me, please!”

            Redeagle ran over and found a man, drenched in spidery goo, barely clutching the edge of the debris. He rescued the man easily and brought him onto the roof.

            “Who are you?” Redeagle asked.

            “I’m Professor Isaac Middleton,” the man tried to say with dignity that just wasn’t there.

            “You put on the skull,” Dreamseer said.

            “Yes, as your friend said; I’m the moron who put on the skull. It was sent to me in a package at the University with a note. The note said it was the helm of a an ancient warrior chief. When I touched it, I was strangely compelled to put it on.”

            “It does have a psychic pull,” Nyhtwulf said, “but it has little effect on me.”

            “So you weren’t so much of a moron after all,” Blacktide said, “I was just trying to distract Sphidra anyway. It wasn’t personal.”

            “So many people are dead now because of me,” the Professor said in anguish.

            “Well, now you can do something about that,” Dreamseer said soothingly, “I sense that the other human beings are changing back. They will need someone to help the city heal. You can do that, Professor.”

            “Yes. Yes. I suppose I owe that,” the Professor said as the psychic suggestion sank in.

            “Then we have to go now, the rest is up to you,” Dreamseer said.

            Practically on cue, a portal opened to take them back to New York. Dreamseer had mentally contacted Traveler with the news. They all went through the portal, leaving the Professor alone on the messy rooftop.

            The Professor looked over himself. His shirt was gone and his pants were in rags. He was covered in goop. He slowly walked to the rooftop door where he noticed the little spider on the door frame. Then he noticed another, and another. Soon there were hundreds around him. Curious, Professor Middleton held out a hand and several of them scampered onto his palm.

            “Oh my,” the Professor said quietly, “I think I see how this is going to start. I believe I shall have my own team of heroes to rebuild Chicago. Maybe it’s about time.”

            Back in New York, Doctor Vampire took the skull and locked it away in a special box.

            “Congratulations all of you,” said Dr. Vampire,” You wouldn’t believe how things went for use while you were gone.”

            “What happened?” Dreamseer asked.

            Doctor Vampire gazed at her with a solemn expression,“We died.”