GZ Tales: Imaginary Enemy Part 2

 

“I have an imaginary friend, but he's not very nice. Is yours nice?” The table next to the bed shook slightly.

            “Yeah,” Larry replied, feeling a tremor in the floor, “I have a very good friend. Maybe you'd like to meet him.” He eyed the table suspiciously.

            “Oh no. No, no, no.”

            “What is it, Isa? What's wrong?”

            Her eyes welled with tears, “You should run.”

            A shadow grew and loomed in the corner of the room.

            “It's not the child!” Nyhtwulf's voice boomed in his head.

            “Ow! Too loud.”

            “It's a secondary entity.”

            “Can you tackle it?”

            “I will do my best.”

            “I'll grab the girl.” He turned his attention back to Isa, “Okay, this is very important. I need you to listen to me. You listening?”

            She nodded and sniffled.

            “This is not your friend. Friends don't hurt people. This is one of the bad guys and I'm here to help you escape. But you have to be brave for me.”

            She shook her head as the shadow grew closer, “You can't. No one can.”

            “We can. My friend is right outside. He'll help us. Now, we are going to have to run, okay?” He held out his hand.

            A tall humanoid shape manifested from the shadow. It's raspy voice filled the air, “You mustn't touch the children.”

            A savage roar echoed as Nyhtwulf flew into the room and tried a flying tackle. Since both of them were intangible it worked. The two of them went through the far wall. Blacktide snatched up the surprised girl in his arms and ran out the door.

            “Out of my way now!” he shouted as an orderly almost stepped in front of him. The rest wanted nothing to do with the situation and were glad to stay out of it.

            “He's not my friend?” Isa asked as she clutched tight to his shoulder.

            “No. He's not.”

            “Is he the Boogey man?”

            “I don't know, Isa, but we're going to find out. Did he ever mention having a name?” He raced into a stairwell to avoid being caught in the elevator.

            “Silhouette.”

            “Wow, that's a big word for a little kid. I wonder why he calls himself that?”

            At that moment, the shadowy creature came through the door behind them, but Nyhtwulf was on him again and they spun out a nearby window. As the two struggled with each other they rolled and flew through walls of patients’ rooms and doctor's offices. People fled and screamed at the sight of them. Since this place was a psychiatric hospital, matters were worse. Patients suffering anxiety disorders were in total panic. Much of the staff were too busy dodging for themselves to contain panicking patients.

            “I am having difficulty containing him. Do you have a plan?” Nyhtwulf's voice came again into Larry’s mind.

            “Get him outside. That's where I'm going.”

            Knowing that Nythwulf and Silhouette weren't far behind, he found the first door on ground level he could and burst outside. Alarms blared but they were the least of his worries. He ran across the green lawn to a small grove of trees and bushes. He set Isa down.

            “You hide in there. We'll deal with this guy now.”

            Isa didn't argue. She crawled into the thick of the bushes and curled up tight, hugging her knees. “He'll burn you.”

            “Not if I burn him first. Now close your eyes tight until I tell you to open them.” He didn't want the scene to terrify her further andcould think of nothing else to protect her.

           

Nyhtwulf and the Silhouette spun out into the air, snarling, swiping and clawing at each other. Even though they could connect somewhat, they didn't seem able to hurt each other very much. Blacktide raised the intensity of his disintegration field around his body. The ground at his feet began to smoulder. He had no idea if his power could work on such a being. He had never tried before. He raised his hand and took aim. He didn't want to hit his partner. Could his power hurt Nyhtwulf? This thought caused him to pause. He didn't want to hurt another friend with his power ever again; especially not his best friend and partner.

            “The child, the child!” it snarled as it finally broke free and lunged for Blacktide.

            “Now! Have faith my friend and strike now!” Larry  hated it when Nyhtwulf shouted in his head, but this time it was for good cause. It shook him back to reality and he fired his power just as the beast was within inches of him. Disintegration makes kind of a low coughing “whump” noise barely audible to human ears. The energy beam hit the shadowy Silhouette and actually threw the entity backwards a few yards. The Silhouette dropped to its knees, clutching what appeared to be its chest. Its red eyes opened wide as if it were as surprised. Nyhtwulf flew up behind it and ghosted a hand through its head. Nyhtwulf’s unique power to disrupt mental and life energies took effect. The entity gave a terrible shriek that rattled windows and made everyone cover their ears. Then it exploded in all directions like shadows running from rays of the sun.

As the ringing in his ears wore off, Blacktide stood back up from one knee and looked around.
            “It is gone,” Nyhtwulf said as he shook off the effect by rattling his big head back and forth. “I no longer sense it.”

            “Guess we won't know what its deal was then,” he looked back to Isa and knelt near the bushes. “Hey, you okay? Come on out and meet my friend. I promise you he's nice.”
            Isa accepted a hand to help her out of the bushes. She looked up at Nyhtwulf in wonder.

            “Are you a dog man?”

            He chuckled softly, “I look like one don't I?”

            “Do you sense any reason that thing was interested in her?” Blacktide asked.

            “I sense dormant psychic ability in her. It is possible it was drawn to that, particularly because she is a child.”

            “Will he come back?” Isa asked.

            “I don't think so. And if it does, we'll send it running,” Blacktide said. “But how would you like to go to a much nicer place than this?”

            “Is it a hospital?”

            “Kinda, but way cooler than this one. You can even have a ride on my motorcycle.” He spoke of a hospital for people with powers. It was a place that existed to study developing powers in people and help them with control if needed.

            “That would be nice,” she looked up at Nyhtwulf, “but I'd really like to fly. Will he carry me?”

            Larry smiled, “Ask him.”

            Nyhtwulf was too happy to oblige, for the joy of a child.

UPDATE: The GZ 2020 Project!

Kinjite 2020

For those who have been following my pages, you have probably noticed the new black and white artwork posted with character names followed by 2020. This is the GZ 2020 project and I'm here to tell you what that is going to pertain to.

First and foremost, I am taking on the vast challenge to redraw almost all my characters in sharp updated scale. This is no small feat as we start with heroes and progress to villains. And while I'm doing all black and white right now, I will soon be starting in on digital coloring. But what else is happening?

This art is not only going to provide fresh new views of my best characters but apply to a couple of other projects:

NEW GAME: I'm working on a new cooperative card game that will allow up to 4 players (as heroes) with one player acting as host for the threats (that can be a 5th player if you wish). These threats will be none other than the best and worst GZ has to offer with new fantastic monsters (hint, you've already seen them) and villains with henchmen. There will be diabolical traps and incidents you must overcome in order to thwart your main villains master plot. This will utilize character building and multi-d6 combat. Recent game testing  has been very good to us so it's exciting to dig in on building this game!

NEW DATABASE: I'm working on plans for a new database that will also feature the art and details about all the characters. There is a possibility of this coming to book format through Amazon. You can learn all there is to learn about the GZ universe (well almost).

NEW COLORING BOOK: As a follow up to my coloring book Amazing Characters, you will get your own chance to color in these pictures. There will be at least 50 pics to color and enjoy.

And that isn't all. I stopped on work for GZ Tales vol 3 last year because of a number of issues that we don't need to revisit. The important thing is that I will be bringing it back to the front burner and working on new stories. As before these tales will tie in with novels and previous shorts from volumes 1 and 2. You know what that means? If you haven't yet, you need to dive into this universe a and get some experience with it! As always, there is the link in the upper right that leads to my Amazon author's page, but I'll give you a couple of the best links right here to get you started. The best part about this, is that you can read digitally (no waiting for delayed shipments) for just 99 cents! Super cheap!

GZ Tales Vol 1

Chessmen  Opening Moves

But do peruse the authors page HERE for ebooks that are all super affordable and fun to read.

So do stay tuned to my twitter and facebook because there are lots of update posts to come! It's going to be a wild year and I'm busting but to make it happen! Stay safe and healthy out there!

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!

HAPPY HOLIDAYS 2015! Year in Review

Well, it's been quite a year. Ups and downs, ins and outs, and all of it survived to bring us to this holiday season. It's amazing. My wife and I just celebrated our four year anniversary and I couldn't be happier for that. It was a great day. She's been by my side for so much that is GZ. She's the editor and proof reader for the stories and my morale support.

I put two books out this year; Chaos Rising and GZ Tales 2. I haven't been able to keep any stock on my person or send to all the people on my list to send to, but there is so much in process that such will change. I'm listed as a guest for a great convention coming up in Spring (Southern Geekfest) and there will be more on that as the date gets closer.

Early in the year I tried my hand at Kickstarter, but a severe concussion ended that. I don't know if it would have been successful or not, but it really doesn't matter at this point. The work goes on. Putting the board game out with The Game Crafter has been excellent exposure for the game. People who have played it have reported it as a fun game and it made an appearance at Geekonomicon this month with the help of a good friend and supporter at the con, Steve Huckabee.

So the official score is two books and a board game. That's pretty darn good for a year's work.

Guest artists have stepped forward this year too and I couldn't be more grateful. Billy Barnette helped out with several illustrations that will be in the expansion set for the board game. Other artists are in consideration for the upcoming year where most of the work will take place to put the expansion together.

The art you see in this post is holiday art from last year, but it still holds up to festive theme and I am working on new art as well as improvements.

I look forward to blasting into a new year with a wonderful fan base of people all around. So happy holidays and every other way you look at this time of year. May all of you be blessed, happy and safe. See you next year!

Update: Game Cards and Short Story Lineup!

Development continues for all things Galaxy Zento this fall! I do love keeping my roster full of fun things to do. I keep my personal deadlines fairly loose, but there is much to look forward to!

CUSTOM CARD OFFER: I have the artwork for two custom cards for owners of my board game. The special offer still stands until Thanksgiving. Anyone who purchases the Galaxy Zento board game is going to get their own personal character card that only they can play. The cool thing about this is that you can be pretty much anything or anyone you want to be for the custom offer. As you can see from the artwork, one person chose a ranger style elf and another chose a variation of the serial killer, H. H. Holmes. I'm not going to show you their stats but I will tell you this;

The ranger has a ranged attack of 10 spaces. When he get's played there will be no safe place on the board from him. Holmes will drop traps on other players whenever they come out of the main deck against him. It doesn't matter where those players are on the board either. That's just a couple examples of how powerful you could be. All of these customs will sport high character defense and abilities to use magic, making your character the envy of your gaming table. So if you are the kind of host who likes to worry or abuse your players, this is perfect for you. It won't guarantee you to win every game, but you'll sure play like a bad ass. Here's where to get it: LINK.  Note that the game is made print on demand but you should still get it in less than a month or near.

SHORT STORIES: I've been hard at work on the next book of short stories, GZ Tales Vol. 2. I've got a great lineup of killer tales. Keep in mind that they continue a history from Vol. 1 and other stories. They will also connect to future stories. Check out these titles:

London Fables: Explosive candy canes and a trapped bell tower are just the tip of the iceberg when Blacktide and Nyhtwulf to go London to stop a terrorist plot. London may never be the same.

Shadowplay: An invisible killer is practicing his craft on New York's homeless population. Anthony James and Panther Steele have to track down an alien psychopath before he ups his victimology.

Anubis and Horus at the Castle of the Demon King: He's the baddest villain that GZ will ever know and this is just his introduction. Brace yourself.

Brother Whale: The aquatic hero, Killer Whale is an alien to Earth and the last of his kind. When he discovers whale poachers, the kid gloves are off!

The Fight in the Dog: You're going to love seeing justice delivered to these creeps. The animal shape changing hero, Dolphin Man is called in to help stop an animal fighting ring. It's justice animal style!

That's just half the roster for what is going to be a blast of a book! If you haven't  dived into GZ yet, you still can! Just hit the link in the top right corner of this page to my Author's Page! Read the first three books in any order you want! You'll find the stories stand alone well.

COLORING BOOK: Yeah! A coloring book! Why not? I've already posted free coloring pages at the GZ Facebook page. But there's going to be a lot more than that to work with in the coloring books. I'm doing lots of touch up art to make it more worth your while too. Each book will be based on the history of the stories so you can almost follow along from them!

Plans are still moving for the first expansion to the board game that will introduce new characters, traps, and spells. They'll come with instructions for customizing your board game experience. Seeing artwork of multiple artists may also be possible here. The adventuring continues! All I can say for sure is to stay tuned as I continue to crank out the hits. I swear, there's too much going on in my head!

Showcase story: Origin of Hate

It happened some time before he became the King of Arconia. Falconus and Kestrelius were lords of their houses and they had loved her since they were children. Lady Nightengale had a choice to make.

"Have I not been a worthy suitor?" Kestrel asked of her one starry evening. Two of the planets moons shown brightly on the flower filled courtyard.

"Of course you have." She said gently. "You both have and I love you both."

"But the time has come that you choose one of use. With me, you will be queen."

"And that is the difference between the two of you. Kestrelius, you are for power and glory. I am  not. It is not the throne and a position of rule that matters to me, but love alone."

Many heard the cry echo across the royal grounds and came running. Falconus was the first to arrive. Kestrel knelt with Nightengale in his arms. He laid her down gently and held up a glass vial.

"Poison!" He shouted as he dashed the vial on the ground. "She took her own life because she could not choose between us!" He pointed to Falconus. "I blame you!"

"Fool! Take her to the healer!" Falconus cried as he tried to go to her fallen form.

"It's no good! It's the venom of a dragonasp. There's no coming back from it!" Kestrel threw a surprise punch that tossed Falcon backwards and to the ground.  "I swear, you will pay for this with your life!"

Guards moved in quickly and separated them. They took the body of Lady Nightengale away to be examined. In the days to follow, they brought Lord Kestrel before the scales of justice.

"As you know, none may lie before the scales of justice. One side will rise or fall upon truth or tale." Lord Harp said to Kestrel. "Tell us now the way of her death."

"She died at her own hand." Kestrel said.

All the five lords were present that day with a court of witnesses. Audible gasps were heard as the scales didn't move at all.

"This is impossible." Lord Harp said. "It suggests that you neither speak truth or lie! Wait outside, Kestrelius. We have much to decide on you."

Kestrel stormed out and Harp turned to Falcon.

"We have already voted on this matter. I wanted you informed first." After the discussion they called for Kestrel's return and Harp continued. "Lord Kestrelius, we find this situation highly suspect. While no definite evidence can be brought against you, we have found this serious to take one significant action. As you know, our king has stepped down and the throne sits empty. Your house is up for its turn as the monarchy. Because of this highly suspect death and the results of the scales, we have voted. Your house will be skipped in the cycle of monarchy. Lord Falconus is now King Falconus and will be crowned so at the harvest."

"You can't do this!" Kestrel roared. "The throne is mine by right and cycle! This is an outrage!"

"It doesn't make any sense." Falcon said. "Why would she kill herself? She knew she was free to choose or not choose. No one would have forced her."

"I swear this, Falconus. We are friends no more, but bitterest enemies. I will make you pay." Kestrel dashed out of the court before anyone could respond, spread his fiery wings and flew away.

That is how Kestrel began the path would eventually see him trying to murder Falcon and go on to commit many an evil atrocity.

(I have a plan to write the Arconian Chronicles with the full story of these three people. Hope you enjoyed this touch of history)

Showcase story: The Fist of Allah

He didn't even wince as the ropes cut into his wrists. The occupants in the back of the truck were rocked back and forth by the merciless driving of their captors. He had already taken in the details of his fellow prisoners. Most of them were innocent villagers. One was an American soldier and the last an English journalist. He knew they were all innocent. The insurgents drove for an unknown location where he was sure they intended to behead them all. The butt of a rifle struck him across the cheek.

"Your eyes to the floor! Do not look around!" The insurgent guard shouted.

Amikam spit some blood on the floor between his boots. Rage surged in his chest but he clenched his teeth through it. It was not yet time.

"Why don't you just let us go?" The English journalist pleaded.

"Don't talk to him. It's not worth it." The soldier said.

"Both of you be silent or I shoot you here!" The guard moved to hit the woman but Amikam let his body fall forward with the rocking of the truck, falling in the guards path. "You clumsy idiot!"

The guard kicked him and them shoved him back onto the bench. His eyes met with those of the journalist. In that moment she realized he did that to protect her.

"Shhhh." Amikam hissed to her quietly and she nodded.

The truck finally jarred to halt and men shouted in Arabic outside. Rough hands grabbed the people on the back of the truck and threw them out of the truck like sacks of rice. They lined up their prisoners with Amikam, the journalist and the soldier in the middle. The desert sun shone hot and unyielding. A camera stood on a tripod ready to record their beheadings.

"I am Kaleeq Mohammad Alsad!" A man shouted from in front of them. "You are infidels and will be executed in accordance of Sharia law!"

Amikam almost smiled. This was the man he had been looking for.  "You are a fool!" He shouted and immediately a gunman struck him from behind.

"Bring that one forward!" Kaleeq shouted. "He will be my first example. After that, I will do the American."

Amikam was rousted and dragged before Kaleeq who held a long sharp machete. Amikam looked up from where he sat on his knees and smiled.

"I have a message for you before you kill me." Amikam said.

"Oh? What is that?"

Amikam considered the distance he was from the other prisoners. It looked like he was far enough away. He turned his face up toward the sky.

"ALLAH BE PRAISED!" Those near him had no chance of reaction as the explosion threw them in all directions. Those at a distance swore they saw a great lightning bolt strike from the heavens followed by and explosion of fire. Amikam was a regal looking man with a black beard and long black hair, but no one saw him that way now.

The man that stood as the flames dispersed had his face hidden in his red keffiyeh (Arabic headdress). He wore a white shirt that exposed some of a muscular and hairy chest. A red sash encircled his waist over his leather pants that lead to heavy leather boots. His hands commanded the most attention for each was armored in crimson metal gauntlets.

Panicking gunmen opened fire with AK-47s, but bullets merely bounced away. Amikam, who had become the legendary Fist of Allah, moved quickly. He snatched a gun away from one man and crushed it in his metal fist.

"You have no more need of this, my friend." He said as he backhanded the gunman to the ground.

He lifted a heavy crate of supplies like it weighed nothing, and threw it at another pair of men. Seeing that they couldn't harm him, the remainder ran or dropped their weapons.

"You cannot surrender to him!" Kaleeq half coughed half yelled as he stood up. "I will  show you, he is but a man!"

In three great strides, Amikam stood in front of Kaleeq. "Yes. Show them what I am."

Kaleeq swung his machete but Fist of Allah caught it and shattered the blade. He reached out and grabbed Kaleeq by the throat, lifting him into the air.

"I am here on behalf of the World Legion and Israeli Secret Service. They want you alive, though I can't imagine why."

As he stood there, the sound of helicopter blades could be heard and three Apache helicopters flew into view. American soldiers jumped out and ran to the prisoners. They also took Kaleeq and put him in handcuffs. A Captain walked up to Amikam.

"You said there would be a signal, but no one expected you to set off a George Lucas light show." The Captain said.

"It is the way of my calling." Amikam said. "Now you have your prisoner. What of the victims?"

"We've arranged to get that journalist out of here. Why not give the insurgents' truck to the other prisoners?"

"I will ride back with them to make sure they are safe."

"Thanks, er, Fist of Allah. You were more than a big help."

"It was my pleasure." Amikam turned and walked away to the other prisoners who were abducted from their homes in a nearby village. He would ride in the truck with them to return them all safely to their families. The mission seemed easy, but he knew that for each insurgent struck down, another would soon take his place. For that, the Fist of Allah would be ever vigilant.

More teasing on the board game!

As most of you know, I've been busting butt to put together this board game. Plans are still in high gear and it all looks very promising. Today is a special treat. You get to see the cards and what they do, but only a few of them. Nothing is finalized yet in how they look except for one thing. Recently I took votes on doing the artwork with or without borders on the cards. It wasn't overwhelming for one side over an another but a decision has been made. The cards will not have black borders. They will be 'open' in their artwork. I think that will allow me to make the artwork bolder and have it overflow in unique fashion. One thing you can be sure of and that's lots of color.

As a little recap on how the game is played. You start out by picking good or evil as your side of the balance. You get a character type and goal given to you at random. The first person to complete their goal is the winner! But how does this happen? Well, you make moves on the board and every time you make a move you reveal a card from the top of the main deck. Whatever jumps out at you is what you have to deal with. Today, I show you just a few things that will jump out of that deck at you. Ready?

EVENTS: An event is something that can affect everyone or just you. Either way, they shake up game play often. One of the craziest events is the Reality Warp. Reality Warp makes you roll a dice for every card you have to risk it vanishing into the aether. The only things you don't lose are your personal character type and your goal. Everything else is fair game. It's just one of the many things that can change the whole game in the blink of an eye.

TRAPS: Walking into a trap is never fun. You'll have to roll your d20 often to escape them. But some traps can work in your favor. Some traps will hurt other players if they are close enough to you on the board. Take the Explosive device for example. Sure, you get hurt, but so does everyone else. If you goal is to cause damage to other players (<spoiler!) this could be a win, unless it kills you of course.

POWERS: Hoping to get stronger as you travel the board? You may get a power while you are out wandering that helps out your game. Beware, everything is easy come easy go, so make sure you make good use while you can.

ITEMS: Don't you wish people would quit littering the universe? You never know what you'll find out there. Maybe some body armor or a sword? Who knows. But items are geared to make you stronger against the threats you'll face.

ARTIFACTS: While hard to get your hands on, artifacts can make you powerful and even complete a goal (<spoiler!). They can allow you to cast powerful spells or just bump up your numbers.

Then there's the Characters and Beasts that come out at you. Depending on your alignment of good or evil, you will either fight or recruit them as allies. There will be more on them later. I hope this whets your appetite for game play. Stay tuned because there will be more to come! Remember to click on the pictures for a closer view!

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!

Building in Minecraft?

Yes indeed. It was recently suggested to me that I build locations from Galaxy Zento in Minecraft. And why not? I can give tours of some locations that will be or have shown up in the stories. The first place I'm working on is Maestro's castle. It's one of GZ's deadliest places. Maestro is making his debut in my next book of short stories; GZ Tales Volume 2 (currently in the works). He puts Anubis and Horus through some terrifying ordeals and you won't want to miss it.

It's unfortunate that this tour version of his home will lack the deadly magics hidden in every wall, but you'll get the idea well enough. Maestro loves intruders and enjoys torturing them. If their plight amuses him enough, he may even reward them (usually with their lives).

While the tour version is solid, his actual home is anything but easy to navigate. Rooms shift and change, walls appear to block your progress. Then there's the dungeon.

Eventually, I'll make it so you can tour it yourself (once I figure that out) on your Xbox 360 via online. But you can also bet there will be a ton of pics going onto the Facebook page and Google+.

There will be other cool locations made as well, but I don't want to give away all the goodies here. OH what the heck:

The Radioactive Sandwich (interstellar bar)
King Falcon's Palace
The Royal Palace of Chyssia (Chessmen location)

Just to name a few. Just another way to check out the huge universe of GZ! Stay tuned!

Character change: Black or White?

I've decided to make a character changing decision with one of my villains. Considering that he's not an established character with 50 years under the belt, I doubt this will be a controversial change. I'm certainly not aiming at controversy, but we'll see what happens.

The character is Professor Zombie, a brilliant scientist who became evil when struck down by a flesh eating virus in Africa. He had to rebuild himself as a cyborg and decided he would rather rule the world than save it.

Now I admit, it's because I'm a white guy that I have so many white characters. Not because I'm racist, rather I just don't think about it that much. But times have changed and good stories need characters from all walks of life. I think the Professor is a good place to start. He's from Africa in the first place and he's kind of a play on black zombie legends. Granted some of those legends are Jamaican in origin, but it still works to make him a unique villain.

In the blog fiction, GZ Legends, I portrayed him as you see above, a white man. Now look at this:

What do you think? I think this adds a depth to his character that wasn't present before. It just makes more sense to make him a black man for the cultural and origin possibilities. This makes him a man who was trying to save people in his own nation before the disease got him. That's what this is about, enrichment of the character. As he appears in my next novel, Chaos Rising, I don't make a big deal about his skin color. I let his attitude and activities do the talking. I just think, he makes more sense as a black man.

Go ahead and let me know what you think in comments. Does he look better black than white? You tell me.

Electrode: Meet the Resistor

Scott McCross, better known as Electrode, ran his daily recon of New York City. At speeds of over 360,000 miles per second, his chore didn't take long. He moved between the obstacles of New York hustle and bustle with the ease of breathing. Any criminal element he found, never knew who found them until it was too late.

Electrode would handcuff muggers and thugs in mid crime. He'd put them in a cell before they could blink. He stopped fights with the snap of  his fingers, creating micro-sonic booms.  He even moved people and animals out of the way of speeding cars.

The bank robbery was nothing new. Five men with guns demanded money and Electrode found them in the act. He removed their guns before he noticed the strange attire of the fifth man. He wore a red and orange body suit with goggles over the eyes. Whenever someone dressed like that, it meant they were either a crackpot or someone flaunting powers. Electrode moved in on the man, but an aura of intense heat forced him back.

"I've been hoping to meet up with you." The man said as Electrode paused to look him over. "Sorry, I'm a little hot to the touch. Especially for you."

"Why especially for me?" Electrode asked. He could tell the man wanted to boast.

"Because you're Electrode, the nuclear electric man. I'm the Resistor!" He held out his fists as he glowed red. Electrode could feel the heat like being too close to a bonfire. "Your power will only make me hotter, so get out of the way. You can't do anything to me without risking the lives of everyone around us."

"Then you can't rob the bank either. You'll burn up the money."

"You fool. Why do you think I brought these men with me? Are you going to make me burn them too? I don't think so. You're an agent of good, Mr. Hero, you couldn't have that on your conscience. And you give of a natural charge that you can't turn off. So getting close to me means heating things up." Resistor laughed.

Electrode grimaced and vanished. Resistor laughed some more. People in the bank looked at each other, wondering where their savior had gone.

"He can't save any of you! Now stay where you're told and you might live to see another day. Men, collect that money."

Electrode raced to the Powers Institute where FBI Agent, Anthony James was working.

"Sorry to interrupt." Electrode said to let the man know he was there.

Anthony sat up from the machinery he was partway under and adjusted his eyepatch. He had a wrench in one hand and grease on his jeans.

"You're always a surprise, I'll give you that. What do you need?"

"I need to borrow something and I need to do it fast."

Across town the men loaded money bags into a van. Sirens sounded in the distance, but they wouldn't be there in time. Resistor smiled as he stood watch over his million dollar haul. The smile faded as all four of his men's bodies launched into the air in different directions.

"Couldn't stay away, eh?" Resistor called out.

A slap to the face spun him to the ground. As he tried to stand, another on spun him the other way. Electrode stopped a few feet away. He wore a rubber face mask with goggles and a different body suit.

"Insulated rubber suit. It's heat resistant too. What do you think of it?" Electrode vanished from sight and hit Resistor again.

Resistor's face jiggled back and forth as mini-slaps battered him. Resistor staggered and fell over. He looked at his hands and found strange handcuffs on his wrists.

"Those are inhibitor cuffs, made by Agent James. You're powers won't work with those on." Electrode pulled off the rubber mask. "Sure gets stuffy and hot in this thing."

"I will get you." Resistor mumbled in a daze.

"What's that?" Electrode responded. "I'm sure you'll try. You know, you did your homework on me but made one crucial mistake. You assumed that I don't know my own powers or how they work. You assumed that your powers would trump mine. And you're a boastful idiot. As soon as you explained yourself I knew exactly what to do. Have fun in prison."

"Next time, Electrode, you won't get the chance."

"You're singing an old tired song. Not interested." Electrode waited for the FBI van to come and pick up Resistor. Agent James had a special cell ready for him.

Electrode returned the suit and went back to work in less than a second. He finished his patrol and went for a cold drink. The forecast called for a hot day after all.

Maestro: A Class of Evil

Welcome to my castle. Do you think you'll survive the experience? It feels like it was yesterday; when I was considered to be everyone's hero on my home world. But then, the Sevin Brotherhood came along and destroyed everything I loved. I dealt with them though, oh yes I did. In the process I became the servant of the Demon god, Graethmael. No longer accepted at home, I left to find my new destiny. That's how I became the King of Demons.

There was another king at the time. He laughed at me and sent me on what he thought would be a futile quest for an ancient artifact. Well, artifacts were old hat to me. I obtained the Sphere of Kings and used it on him, taking over his throne. Now all of this is mine to use as I see fit.

I made myself known to the heroes of this universe by kidnapping a female Starknight and torturing her in my dungeon. But that was minuscule compared to what I really love to do. When I get bored I do things like take over the universe and slaughter heroes. I love to entwine people in traps of words, making them question their own morals. I craft better deals than the Devil himself.

I was a powerful bard in my day, creating magic out of music, but I'm far beyond that now. I have my own powerful magics that play off my golden flute. It's called megasorcery and it's an equal measure of sorcery, bardic and the power to alter reality itself. With it, I can sunder worlds or just peel you like a grape. I alter battlefields to confuse my enemies and then toy with them until they die.

Feel like raiding my castle? Nothing amuses me more than some wannabe hero thinking he's broken in to find me or some trinket I've hidden. I love breaking and entering into my home, it's hilarious. My castle is unstable dimensionally so you never know where opening a simple door will lead you. If the creatures I create don't eat you, the various trap rooms will carve you to pieces. Of course there are my demon guards, but I don't let them in on the fun unless I'm feeling generous.

Oh, and let's not forget that I'm a racist too. I hate Elves. All of them. One thing I want to accomplish in my lifetime (and it's a long life) is the utter genocide of those stupid snobby Elves. They were too busy being pompous and righteous when my world needed their help. Now they can just die.

I am Maestro, King of Demons and it makes me laugh when some do-gooder asks why I do what I do. Foolish heroes, evil needs no reason.

Character Spotlight: Termina

Step aside, mean girls of the universe! This is Termina! She's a mercenary cyber-chick working for the Darksiders. Make a joke about her outfit at your own expense. Termina gave up her real name in becoming a cyborg and few are alive who knew it. She's been angry all her life and not because she's a cyborg. She's had herself made into a cyborg to enact her rage however she sees fit. No one knows where her fury began and asking is a bad idea.

Termina's body has a high molecular density; so even where you don't see armor, she's hard to hurt. She's had a ton of rocks dropped on her and come out without a scratch. She's highly resistant to fire and freezing too. She can exist in the void of space. Along with all that toughness, there's ample strength. She can move 1000 pounds with little to no strain. Add all that together and imagine the damage those metal fists can do. Her metal fingers can tear steel like tissue paper. In combat, she's been known to rip a person's arm off just because she can.

If her armor, strength and cruel attitude aren't enough to scare you away; she has some of the best weaponry a cyborg can be fitted with. She has a blaster on the back of each forearm and one near her neck. Her eye can give you a nasty burn if you get too close. Those spikes and edges on her? They launch as projectiles. The worst weaponry on her is her

midriff cannons. Those are her favorite. They're computer targeted by her electronic eye and can blow a body in half at medium range. You don't want to know what happens up close.

Before Victor, leader of the Darksiders, found her she was already wanted for a long list of murders. She even tried to kill Victor before agreeing to join his crew. Now he knows that she's a loose cannon and only sends her on missions that are okay to be very messy.

Termina fights the Chessmen in my novel, Chessmen: Opening Moves. See the links in the upper right to find my author page on Amazon. Be sure to join the Facebook page!

Character Spotlight: Tick Tock

 

Don't let the strange name or friendly face fool you. Tick Tock is about as deadly and cunning as they come.

No one knows his real name, how he got his powers or where he comes from. Yet, he makes quite an impact with everyone he meets. Tick Tock works for Victor Darksong and the mercenary team, The Darksiders.

If you look into his eyes, you'll see fractured realities reflected in them. He carries a clock staff that he made himself. It has more than one odd effect for in or out of battle. His blue robes act as strong armor, absorbing some of the strongest blows while flowing like silk.

Tick Tock's most incredible ability is that he literally cannot be stopped from anywhere he wants to go. He moves through walls, protective spell barriers, and people as easily as the air. This is because he exists on multiple dimensional planes at the same time. He can shift himself between them at will to go where he pleases. This can also make it difficult to put your hands on him. There's no such thing as keeping Tick Tock out of anywhere. He can also warp realities around him for devastating area effects and damage.

His greatest enjoyment is his trap clocks. He builds them for all manner of terrible events. He builds them to explode, cast spells or merely capture. After dealing with his inventions, you'll never pick up a shiny looking watch next to the road again. He takes great pleasure in the building of his time pieces. Just look around you on any given day and see how many clocks you can count, even digital ones. Then think about none of them ever being innocent time pieces again.

Tick Tock  carries special rank with the Darksiders. Only Victor can give him orders. None of the others dare to make suggestions to the old man. They are far too afraid of him. They worry that he'll shunt them into another nightmare dimension and not bring them back.

There are rumors that he is the distant future and evil version of the hero, Dimension Man, but this has never been confirmed. As of writing this, the two of them have never met.

Tick Tock is one of the villains in my novel, Chessmen: Opening Moves! See the link to my author's page above right to find out how to get your hands on it! (Click on images for larger view)

Character Spotlight: Victor Darksong

Victor Darksong is the leader of a crew of deadly mercenaries called, The Darksiders. He's cruel, ruthless, and has the fatal skills to back up the attitude. Of course, he wasn't always like that.

Victor was once nothing more than a greedy galactic treasure hunter. He was in competition with several others just like him. Greed is a dangerous ally, and one of them tipped him off to an artifact hidden at the heart of a giant asteroid. Victor went right after it, not realizing that the trip was meant to end him.

The Hangman's rope is an intelligent artifact that has a horrifying way of choosing who it will bond to. It wraps itself around the person who finds it and ignites them in supernatural flames. Those who do not survive, it doesn't find worthy. Victor had one saving grace when the rope wound up on him. Victor is a half demon. While the rope still horribly burned and scarred him, he survived the process and the rope settled to be wound around his midsection. To say the least, Victor was a changed man.

The power of the rope made him realize a new calling. He hunted down the person who sent him to the rope and thanked him before killing him. After that, he gathered a team of mercenaries and became one of the most lethal paid killers in the galaxy.

Victor had a scarf made and enchanted to act like the rope. While not intelligent, the scarf can shatter stone and is very good and blocking attackers. Both items can grasp and throw objects or people. The rope has a near armor piercing quality when it attacks in a straight jab. Anything the rope grasps, burns. While Victor enjoys using the rope for an assorted number of attacks; his favorite is strangulation. Victor can also through fire bolts from his hands or eyes.

Victor is a cunning leader and strategist. He hand picked the members of his team based on their abilities. Nothing is done on his team without a specific reason behind it. Should a mark survive or escape, Victor considers it a personal matter to hunt them down. Few mercenaries are as tenacious.

Victor and the Darksiders are in my novel, Chessmen: Opening Moves. (Click on images for larger view)

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.