Merry Christmas from Wandering Koala

Merry Christmas from Wandering Koala!

Each year I create a Christmas card and send it out to family and friends. Then I started adding it to my website. And now I share it on my blog and social media.

This year's card was inspired by the dressed up shop windows that lined a town's main street stores. The beginning of A Christmas Story is probably most people's experience considering how everything has gone to shopping malls, discount stores, and online shopping.

He-Man and the Masters of the Universe were some of my favorite toys growing up, so I had to include them in this year's card.

Enjoy!

The Auction week 2

Below are a few more days of a new webcomic, Wandering Koala outbids The Auction, now appearing daily at WanderingKoalaStrikes.blogspot.com. Be sure to go there and check it out!

Preview of a new Web Comic

Below are the first four days of a new webcomic, Wandering Koala outbids The Auction, now appearing daily at WanderingKoalaStrikes.blogspot.com. Be sure to go there and check it out!

Wandering Koala outbids The Auction

A new Wandering Koala adventure begins December 1 at WanderingKoalaStrikes.blogspot.com!



Be sure to check out a new webcomic each weekday.

Wandering Koala Around the Web

The Wandering Koala sure gets around. Here he is hanging out on a new website. He looks like he's ready to strike. I wonder who he's after...

http://www.CreatedbyJeff.com

Bonus - A Possible Cover

Bonus - Dancing Above the City

Bonus - Over the Head

Bonus - Have a Nice Trip

Bonus - Block That Punch

Bonus - At the Pizza Rodizio

50 - Interlude 1

Interlude I

In a dark room in a small town listed on no map sits a cabal of self-interested parties.

“Kim and Becky, report.”

“Our hired man has done his job well. He’s moved the target to the Gladiator Pits.”

“Will that be sufficient? This Wandering Koala has proven more … resourceful than anyone could have anticipated.”

“There’s no reason for concern. The greatest warriors and fighters in history have all failed to escape. And his friends have no idea where he is, so we won’t have to worry about their meddling.”

“What is the plan now?”

“Let him fight in the games for our amusement. Let him take on the greatest warriors the world has to offer. And if he somehow manages to defeat them, let Thylacine have his rematch.”

“And if the Wandering Koala defeats him?”

<Laughs> “I don’t see how. But either way we’ve promised him to Amazat. I suppose the good doctor will just get to dissect a fresh specimen.”

To Be Continued …

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49 - I've Got a Special Treat for You, and You're Not Going to Like It

Kyle moves up the scaffolding with amazing speed and agility.

You’d think he was just starting the fight. The Cuscuses are physically and genetically superior to me, and there are three of them, and yet he seems to be handling them with no signs of stopping. For the first time I consider he may be beyond my ability to take down. No, that’s nonsense. None is greater than Thylacine. But it would be wise to reconsider my strategy. Even three Cuscuses can’t take him down. I believe a change in venue is in order, but I know Kyle won’t go willingly.

I let them fight for another twenty minutes. I keep a close eye on their conditions, their breathing, and their speed. I wait until they have him cornered and there is only one path for escape, and then I make my appearance.

Kyle recognizes me instantly and shudders. Apparently I’m not the only one who has had nightmares about those years. He is too stunned to even try to block the Cuscuses’ attack. He’s bound in thick iron chains and locked in a safe before he can recover his wits.

“I’ve got a special treat for you my friend, and you’re not going to like it. Not one little bit. But I will.”

My smile couldn’t be broader.

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48 - Can't Understand a Word He is Saying

Sirens in the distance tell me the authorities may be on their way. If so, their response time is better than most. I see the Cuscuses hear them as well. They take the fight above the street. One of them manages to grab Kyle around the neck and drag him up the side of a building. The other two follow along the side delivering blows to his belly and both sides. He grabs onto a windowsill and jerks forward pulling the first Cuscus off the building. He breaks free of the headlock. Kyle twists his body, grabs the windowsill with his other hand, plants his feet against the side of the building, and pushes himself several yards in the air towards a large scaffolding. He weaves his way up the green bars. The Cuscuses follow him up.

Two patrol cars stop next to the battered newsstand. The officers get out of their cars and look around. One of them scratches his head. I can’t hear what they are saying, but I’m sure it involves a lot of “I don’t believe it” and “have you ever”. The newsstand owner tries to direct their gaze upward, but he must be a foreigner with a thick accent, because the officers act like they can’t understand a word he is saying.

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47 - They Struggle in the Air

They struggle in the air. Their bodies are entwined like pretzels. Each has a hand around the other’s throat. The Cuscuses were designed to feel little pain, but the grimace on this one makes me shiver. Kyle is able to slip loose at the last second and flip himself over a pole and onto the ground. But his momentum is too great. He crashes thru a newsstand with the Cuscus.

Kyle is on all fours and tries to spring to his feet, but the Cuscus is too quick. They grapple with the Cuscus on top, writhing and struggling. Kyle somehow manages to flip his attacker over his back and puts him in a headlock.

But it doesn’t last. The other two Cuscuses are behind him and pull him off. Kyle sidekicks one and roundhouses the other, but neither go down. The four are back at it punching, kicking, blocking, and chopping.

Kyle looks like he’s starting to breathe hard, and I think I see what may be a drop of sweat moving down his brow. His endurance is incredible. I wonder if he’s had any enhancements. I should collect a genetic sample and have Amazat test it. No, not Amazat. I don’t trust him. Who knows what he would do with that information. I’ll find another less self-interested geneticist to analyze the sample.

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46 - They're actually gaining on him

The Cuscuses follow. I thought they would be trailing behind, but they’ve made up the distance rather quickly. Dr. Amazat should be commended. Physically they’re quicker, faster, and more powerful than me. Imagine what they could do with my training and experience. That’s a foe I wouldn’t want to face.

All four shuffle along the ledge around the side of the building. Kyle decides to go higher. With bare hands he’s able to scale the side of the hotel like it was flat ground. I would have a hard time keeping up with him, but the Cuscuses don’t. Apparently Amazat designed them to move up and down as well to the side in the urban jungle. Kyle is as surprised as I am. They’re actually gaining on him. He pops into a window.

I’m tempted to follow them in but hold back realizing this is not the time to reveal myself.

I hear scuffling and women shrieking. The temptation to go inside grows.

One of the Cuscuses comes flying out of a window head first two stories up. The other two fly out of an adjacent window holding onto Kyle. Or is he holding on to them? They’re at arms’ length and spinning slightly. Kyle twists one so he hits a cornice with the side of his body and rolls down the side of the building alone. That leaves him with only one opponent.

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45 - Extreme Sports Style

He goes for a jog each day, sometimes in the morning and sometimes at night. But he doesn’t use a trail in the park like a normal person. No, he has to do it extreme sports style. He jogs across rooftops, leaping from building to building. I couldn’t have asked for a better setting if I had planned it myself. His four-eyed friend usually jogs on the sidewalk below, but for some reason isn’t tonight. I wonder why.

He leaps from ledge to roof effortlessly with a smile of pure euphoria filling his face. He really enjoys this, doesn’t he? But I can see the quick glances he takes around, the straining of his ears in every direction. He knows something’s up, and he’s ready for it. No reason to keep him waiting.

The Cuscuses descend from three sides when he is in midair and has no way of dodging them. He tries his best to block all three attacks, but two of them hit him pretty hard. He crashes against the brick chimney so hard it cracks. They don’t give him any chance to recover delivering a series of kicks, punches, and elbow jabs to every part of his body. I see the smug looks on their faces and shake my head. “Don’t get sloppy,” I whisper, but it’s too late. He kicks one of them across the street. The other two intensify their barrage of punches, but he somehow slips past them and is off the rooftop and onto a ledge across the street.

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44 - The Next Test

Chapter VI - Dancing Above the City

The next test must be outdoors, somewhere open and spacious. I’ve already seen how Kyle handles himself in an enclosed area, and now I must learn what he’ll do in the complete opposite. His fighting technique has changed a lot. It’s almost like he’s become a different person. What has he been up to in the years since we last met? Where has he trained? Who’s been instructing him? And why have I been completely ignorant of him this whole time? And it’s not like he’s been hiding quietly in some hole. Since learning he is the Wandering Koala, I’ve found literally thousands of reports, stories, blog posts, editorials, and other mentions of him and his exploits. He’s been busy, and all over the world. It doesn’t seem to matter in what part of this planet I look, I find a trace of his being there. And yet with all of this, he’s still just an urban legend with no substantiated sightings or definitive physical evidence, video, or even clear pictures.

He is an enigma unlike any other I have faced. Part of me is glad. It would take someone extraordinary to defeat me. Like a koala he looks all innocent and friendly, but his claws are sharp and he’s not shy about unsheathing them. I still haven’t discovered where the name “Wandering Koala” came from, but I will solve that mystery as well. His defeat must be total and complete.

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43 - Something from His Past

He doesn't answer. He doesn’t even acknowledge that I said anything.

“Kyle, are you okay?” Still nothing. I stand up and walk down the stairs to where he’s training.

“Do you think that’s a good idea?” René asks.

I stop. Kyle would never hurt me, but then again I’ve never seen that berserker rage in his eyes before either. I go back up the stairs keeping my eyes on Kyle. He’s laying into those robots like he’s on a deadly crusade. This is about something bigger than nearly losing a fight. There’s something Kyle’s not telling us. Something from his past. And I have no idea how to ask him about it.

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42 - What's Wrong with Kyle?

“You think those ugly cusses from the restaurant are somehow related to them?”

“It’s possible. Both groups looked human enough, but both possessed abilities that went beyond what anyone could achieve naturally.”

“Did we ever get a blood sample from the Lab Assistants to compare?”

“No, unfortunately, but maybe … ” My hands begin flying over the keyboard performing dozens of searches looking for anything that could connect the two.

“What’s Kyle so worked up about?” René asks thru a mouthful of crunchy popped kernels.

“What do you mean?”

“He’s going after those training robots like they just killed his mother. I’ve never seen him so worked up. Do you think nearly losing to those ugly cusses freaked him out?”

“I can’t imagine it would.” I turn to see what René is talking about and get a little scared. There is such intensity in Kyle’s eyes like I’ve never seen him have before. He looks scared, angry, and blood thirsty all at once. And the pounding he’s giving those training bots … they’ll be beyond repair. “Kyle, what’s wrong?”

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41 - Now that's an Interesting Thought

“I don’t think science would still classify them as homo sapiens, not with their modified DNA, RNA, amino acids, and proteins. I’m not sure what they are.”

“And here I thought that phoenix we faced last week was pretty crazy. And the Christmas lawn decorations come to life the month before that. And what about that giant green bull? You don’t get charged by one of those everyday.”

“We do seem to encounter more than our fair share of the weird and unexplained.”

“It’s his fault.” He points to Kyle. “If he’d just throw away that stupid compass of his instead of always going where it points, we’d save ourselves a lot of grief.”

“If not for that ‘stupid compass’, you’d still be stuck at The Power Company, and I’d be on the end of a Lab Assistant’s skewer.”

“Eww. That would be bad. I hated working at The Power Company.”

I look up at René and shake my head. I think he was only kidding, but with him you can never really be sure.

“So where does one go to get these enhancements? Maybe the same guys who made those Lab Assistants, because you know those weren’t your run-of-the-mill henchmen.”

“The Lab Assistants. Now there is an interesting thought.”

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