“Then you deal with them, too,” said Henry. “Don’t forget, they’re traitors to your cause. They’ve turned against you and yours.”
“You’re right,” said Callum, staring at himself in the mirror. “I’ll make sure they pay for what they’ve done to us.”
He turned from the mirror and jumped right into flight. Callum burst through the glass window of his hotel room and soared high above the grounds. He knew the closest Cerberus base was on the west coast and he’d make that his first target.
The Exemplar was back and this time, there would be no stopping him. No reasoning with him. He was about to declare war on enemies of his people everywhere, no matter how powerful they were or how large their numbers.
CHAPTER 5
Paragon flew towards the massive carrier ship in the north Atlantic. She landed softly on the deck, the red and white cape she wore fluttering about her body and matching uniform. Armed Cerberus agents were waiting for her, a few clad in the same type of armor worn by Gunsmith. But though their weapons remained holstered, Paragon still felt uneasy around them. It wasn’t too long ago that she was held prisoner on this very ship.
The soldiers parted for a man to walk towards them. He was bald, with a thin silver beard lining his face and wore wire-framed glasses. Unlike the other agents, he was dressed in a suit and had a Cerberus pin affixed to his lapel.
“Good to see you again, Paragon,” he said with a smile when he approached.
“You too, Dr. McCabe,” she replied and shook his hand.
“You’re all dismissed,” said McCabe, to the soldiers and they parted at his word without comment.
McCabe led Paragon to the elevator entrance. Once inside the lift, he raised his glasses and put his eye up to the scanner. A light flashed into his eye and then he spoke: “Warden Howard McCabe, maximum security level.”
“Identity confirmed,” said the elevator’s robotic voice and the elevator began its descent.
“Still sounds weird saying that,” said McCabe.
“What, warden?” asked Paragon. “I’m a little surprised you accepted the job, to be honest.”
“Just as surprised as I was when it was offered to me,” said McCabe. “But this gives me a chance to monitor the specials present here, find ways to neutralize the dangerous ones. And also allows me to make sure they aren’t being mistreated.”
“I suppose it’s better you than someone else. This place just gives me chills is all.”
“I know how you feel.”
“You’re missed back at Atlas,” she said, casting a glance at him. “I think Thorne misses you the most. Now he doesn’t really have anyone to talk to. Of course, he won’t say anything about it.”
“That’s just his way. How are the others?”
Paragon nodded. “Good. Everyone’s getting back into the swing of things. Erin is dividing her time between Atlas and Madison, although mostly Zenith is handling her education. Dom doesn’t want to live on the grounds, so he comes in as needed. With the new arrangement, Jim still has to make a monthly jaunt up to Olympus. And Lee and Koji have settled in, although Koji is always complaining about the weather up in the Adirondacks.”
McCabe gave a chuckle. “No surprise there. Don’t care much for it myself. And you?”
She shrugged. “I’m doing okay. Been practicing to increase my psychic abilities.”
“Any luck?”
“A little. J’Karra unlocked something in me, but it’s hard to push them without that connection.”
“And the nightmares?”
Paragon lowered her head and shut her eyes. “Unfortunately still having those. That’s why I’m here today.”
“I know, Abram told me about the interrogation.”
The elevator stopped at its destination and the doors opened. McCabe gave Paragon a final look.
“Are you sure you’re okay with this?”
Paragon’s nod was a hesitant one. “Someone needs to talk to her. And I don’t think she’ll say a word to anyone who isn’t me.” She took the first steps into the corridor and McCabe kept pace by her side.
“Why’s that?”
“It’s the connection we established back in North Korea. Ever since then, it’s like there’s some kind of bond between us.” Paragon noticed McCabe’s flinch in response to that statement as he stopped. She stopped as well and added, “I know how that sounds.”
McCabe gave her a stern look. “I don’t think you do.”
She sighed. “I can’t really explain it. We’ve seen each other’s lives. There’s some kind of understanding between us.”
McCabe took a breath and kept walking. This was one of the lowest levels of the Island, the cells for the most-dangerous specials. But almost all the cells were empty. As they passed by, Paragon looked at the empty cells. Only one was occupied, with the glass opaque. Paragon knew from her last visit that it housed Lucent, another of Vanguard’s enemies.
She was led to the only other cell with opaque glass. McCabe entered a command into the keypad and the glass turned from opaque to translucent, revealing J’Karra sitting cross-legged on the floor, her back to the glass.
“Could you leave us alone?” asked Paragon.
McCabe pointed at the surveillance cameras. “I’ll be watching if you need anything.”
She gave a small smile. “Thanks.”
Paragon waited for McCabe to return to the elevator. Once the doors closed, she pressed the button to activate the two-way microphone that allowed them to hear each other through the glass.
“J’Karra.”
The alien warrior rose slowly and turned. Her skin was a reddish-orange color and her hair bright yellow, hanging in long braids, the tips of her pointed ears sticking out through the mass. Her eyes were golden and catlike and she was dressed in a simple, orange jumpsuit that nearly matched her skin-tone.
“What are you doing here?” she asked.
“I came to check up on you. How are they treating you?”
J’Karra stood tall, raising her chin. “I am provided with sustenance. My cell is equipped with sanitation facilities to relieve myself and I am allowed to bathe once a day. Under armed guard. They have also offered me reading material. It’s helped me better understand the nature of your people.”
“What have you learned so far?”
“That you are volatile creatures. A mass of contradictions and emotions.”
“You mean like the emotion you felt when you found out about Roswell?”
J’Karra offered no response.
“I’m not here to fight. I want to know more about what you told me,” said Paragon. “About retaliation. About the invasion.”
“It’s inevitable.”
“Zenith and Sentinel checked your ship. They found no record of any log transmission. So did you really send them?”
“No matter how advanced your robot is and how intelligent your friend, they’re still not Kotharian. There are ways to hide those transmissions. You would not be able to find any record of what I sent.”
“And what about this invasion?” asked Paragon. “What can we expect?”
“You’ve seen my memories, yes?”
Paragon nodded.
“Then you know. A Kotharian’s fate is decided at birth. The role they’ll play in our society. Those destined to be warriors are taken from their families, raised in the academy. Exposed to the Chaknaar so they can fully unlock the nature of their powers and abilities. I have known how to use my abilities to make war since I was a child and I have only grown more powerful in the years since.”
“But we stopped you,” said Paragon. “I stopped you.”
“Yes, but it took your whole team and I was but one. Imagine an army of people like me,” said J’Karra. “The only reason I tell you this is so you know—regardless of how many ‘specials’ there are, regardless of how much you train or how much you prepare, you have already lost the war.”
CHAPTER 6
The closest Cerberu
s base was located in the Mojave Desert and that was the Exemplar’s next stop. He hovered far above the base, looking down on it. His arms were folded over his broad chest, the blue and white cape billowing in the wind.
“What are you waiting for?” he heard Henry’s voice in his head. “Go down there. Kick some ass and show ‘em what you’re made of.”
The Exemplar flew straight towards the center of the base, his hands slamming into the ground and sending out a massive shockwave that knocked anyone in the immediate vicinity off their feet.
“We’re under attack!” screamed one of the Cerberus agents.
The Exemplar stood still as the agents quickly tried to retaliate, opening fire on him with their weapons. He laughed as their bullets ricocheted off his durable skin. The Exemplar’s hands began to glow bright yellow and he hurled off several blasts of heat at his attackers.
The guns melted under his blast and he moved through the crowd of soldiers. Although speed wasn’t one of his powers, he had still managed to move remarkably fast between them. The Exemplar took weapons and tossed away Cerberus soldiers. He bent the weapons or broke them apart, leaving them lying useless on the ground.
Klaxons on the base sounded and the Exemplar knew that reinforcements were coming. He looked to one of the barracks and saw four operatives charging out, wearing the same armor as Gunsmith used.
The armored soldiers held up their teleforce rifles and fired. The energy blasts from the weapons were far more dangerous to the Exemplar than bullets. But even still, he managed to hold his ground as the barrage struck him.
“Maximum setting!” cried the leader of the armored unit. When he fired again, this time the blast was strong enough to knock the Exemplar off his feet and send him flying back into the side of a tank. More blasts followed from the other three and it seemed like the Exemplar would be down for the count.
He slumped to the ground, his costume torn in places with scorch marks on his skin. The leader of the armored division slowly inched towards him, the rifle held at the ready. The Exemplar opened his eyes as the man came within range and his irises turned from a soft, blue color to a bright yellow.
The optic beams engulfed the leader, who turned away immediately to prevent his exposed face from being damaged. The armor protected the rest of his body from the Exemplar’s attack, but it also interfered with the armor’s capabilities and he found it difficult to access the systems.
The Exemplar turned his back as the other armored soldiers fired on him again. He took hold of the tank in both hands and raised it above his head, his feet rising off the ground. He hovered above them and the soldiers stopped, simply watching in horror as he held the tank several feet in the air above him.
“Go on, kid. Do it!” shouted his father, the voice echoing in his head.
He threw the tank and the soldiers scattered just before it crashed to the ground. The Exemplar flew down after them. He descended upon one of the armored soldiers, who was blown away by the impact. The Exemplar caught him in the air and began tearing components of his armor off. He could hear the armor screaming “SYSTEM ERROR” into the soldier’s ear and when he was through, he deposited the incapacitated operative on the ground.
There were two of them left now. One of them hurled some kind of disc. The Exemplar held up his arm to block it and the disc attached itself to his forearm. He looked at the disc and saw the three rapidly blinking lights. The Exemplar knew from experience what it was and he pulled it off his arm and held it between his hands. It exploded in his grasp, but with his hands clasped together, he contained it and prevent it from harming him.
The other soldier tried to fire something from his gauntlet. Another kind of disc, but the Exemplar had seen this. The Hellhounds used them when they attacked Arcadia. Inhibitors designed to block his powers. The Exemplar fired off a blast of energy, melting the inhibitors to slag.
He flew over to one of the jeeps and smashed his hands into it, tearing it into two chunks. The Exemplar took one of the chunks and fashioned it into a shield that he used to deflect the teleforce blasts the final soldiers tried to stop him with.
The soldiers still fired on him even as the Exemplar flew higher into the air. His makeshift shield protected him from the teleforce blasts, even on their highest setting. The Exemplar dove with the shield in front of him and rammed into the ground, creating another shockwave just a few feet from the soldiers.
One of the soldiers got up first and tried to pounce on the Exemplar, slamming his elbow on the special’s back. The enhanced strength was enough to stun the Exemplar, but only for a moment. As the commando went for another blow, the Exemplar took hold of his attacker’s hand, catching it in his palm. The Exemplar squeezed, his strength testing the limits of the armor’s durability. The soldier began to scream and then the Exemplar placed his free hand flat against his enemy’s chest. He fired a blast at point-blank range, taking out the third.
Only one of the armored division remained and he struggled to raise his weapon. The Exemplar watched him, narrowing his eyes. He could see the soldier was nervous, the gun shaking just a bit.
“I thought you were supposed to be able to stop rogue specials.” The Exemplar extended his arms to the side, gesturing at the damage he’d done to the base. “But look around. All it took was one to tear you apart.”
The soldier swallowed hard, his finger tense on the trigger.
The Exemplar shook his head. “I wouldn’t do it, buddy. You know it won’t stop me.”
The rifle clattered to the ground.
The Exemplar came closer to the soldier, staring him down. “That’s good. Now, take off that armor and bring me to whoever’s in charge here.”
“What do you want?” asked the soldier.
The Exemplar smiled. “A press conference.”
CHAPTER 7
“C’mon, you can do it!”
Erin stood on the diving board above the Olympic-sized swimming pool. Koji paddled in the water in his Sharkskin form, looking up at her. She shook her head. “I don’t know about this…”
“Oh come on! Don’t make me come up there and push you.”
She took a deep breath and ran down the length of the board. When she reached the end, she jumped once and bounced, flipping into the air and diving into the water.
Once underwater, her body began to change. Her legs merged together, becoming akin to a mermaid’s tail. Gills formed on the sides of her neck and she started swimming through the water. Her first instinct was to hold her breath, but she attempted to breathe through the gills and was surprised to find that she could.
Koji swam beside her, a wide grin on his face. He spoke to her, and though the voice was garbled because of the water, she could make out what he said: “Race you!”
Erin smiled and nodded. The two young specials swam across the length of the pool. She flapped her tail as fast as she could, but found even in this state, Koji still had the edge in speed. He pulled ahead of her easily, but she didn’t mind. She tried to paddle faster to catch up to him.
Her instincts kept telling her to go up for air, but she fought to ignore them. After all, she now found a new way to transform her body. If she could do something like this in order to give herself the power to breathe underwater, it made her wonder just what the limits of her powers were.
Erin stopped in mid-stroke. Pain shot through her muscles and her tail split back into two legs. She could also feel the gills on her neck closing up and she now struggled for air. She screamed beneath the water and the sound reached Koji.
In a flash, he swam back to her, taking her in his arms and swimming up to the surface. Koji broke through the water and a coughing fit took over Erin. Koji paddled to the edge of the pool and over to the ladder. He climbed out, keeping one arm wrapped around her and carrying her out.
Gently, he laid her down on the floor. She coughed a few more times, but it mostly subsided now. Koji looked down at her with concerned eyes while he reverted to his human form. �
�What happened?”
“I’m not sure,” she said, trying to rise up. “I guess I pushed myself too much. That’s the first time I ever attempted a transformation like that.”
Koji helped her sit up and kept his hand on her back. He looked down. “I’m sorry, maybe this wasn’t such a good idea.”
Erin placed her hand on his chin, tilting it up. “No, nothing like that. I’m glad you did, really. I may not have even thought to try it otherwise.”
“So now we know you can do a lot more with your shifting than you thought. What’s it feel like?”
“Hard to explain. It’s kind of like holding a muscle. Depending on the muscle, it can be easy or it can be tiring.”
“What about when you shift into the way you looked before the Event?”
“That got easier over time. Changing into other people, it’s more or less pretty simple. But hold a shape too long, and I start to get worn out. When I went back to school in Madison, I’d have to go to the bathroom two or three times and release my form.”
“And something like what we tried?” asked Koji.
“That’s on the more extreme end, takes a lot more muscle control, a lot more concentration.”
“How do you feel now?”
Erin stretched out her arms. “Like I just got done with a full-body workout and then some. But it was worth it to learn a little more about my powers.”
She crawled over to the edge of the pool and sat down, sticking her legs in the water. Koji came and sat beside her.
“How’s it feel to be homeschooled?” he asked.
She snickered. “It’s not bad. Zen’s actually a pretty good teacher. Sometimes I have to tell him to slow down a little, though. We were supposed to be doing some basic physics last week, but he kept taking it into realms that I knew nothing about.”
“Like what?”
“I dunno, but he was talking about wireless electricity or something,” she said. “I kinda glazed over and I guess when he saw the look on my face, he realized he’d gotten carried away.”
Vanguard: Seasons 1-3: A Superhero Adventure Page 62
