Paragon

by Riley Tune

  Paragon:

  An Icon Story

  By

  Riley Tune

  Paragon: An Icon Story 2st Edition

  Copyright ©2017 by Riley Tune

  Cover Design by Cover Design by James, GoOnWrite.com

  Edited by Carol Tietsworth

  Creative Contributor: Aaron Luther Monroe Payne

  This novel is a work of fiction created by the author, and is not intended to reflect any actual person, place, action, or event. Any resemblance to any of the mentioned is entirely coincidental.

  All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means without the written consent of the author, nor be otherwise circulated in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published and without a similar condition being imposed on the subsequent purchaser.

  To the dreamer, and the rebel. To anybody that has greatness inside of them and simply doesn’t know which path to take. This book is for you.

  I can’t thank you enough for buying this book! If, after reading, you find that you enjoyed it, please leave a review on the site from which it was purchased, or any other book review site. I’d love to hear what you think. Also, if you would like to be added to my email list for updates on new projects, cover art previews, and bios of new characters, please see the link below:

  http://eepurl.com/coooRH

  If you want to learn more about me:

  www.rileytune.weebly.com

  My YouTube for writers:

  www.youtube.com/onewordatatime

  CONTENTS

  PROLOGUE

  CHAPTER 1

  THE BATTLE OF AGES

  CHAPTER 2

  PURGATORY ACADEMY

  CHAPTER 3

  MY TEACHER’S AN ASSHOLE

  CHAPTER 4

  HOME SWEET HOME

  CHAPTER 5

  THE PONY SHOW

  CHAPTER 6

  FLEXING MY POWERS

  CHAPTER 7

  EBONY DISTRICT

  CHAPTER 8

  LOBO

  CHAPTER 9

  THE TALK

  CHAPTER 10

  R.M.F.C

  CHAPTER 11

  IMPERIAL LORDS

  CHAPTER 12

  ENTER PICASSO

  CHAPTER 13

  IMPERVIOUS

  CHAPTER 14

  THE REMATCH

  CHAPTER 15

  BREAKOUTS AND FIREWORKS

  CHAPTER 16

  OLD FRIENDS...KIND OF

  CHAPTER 17

  ASHES

  CHAPTER 18

  OFFICER JACKSON

  CHAPTER 19

  INFINITY

  CHAPTER 20

  MISSION ONE

  CHAPTER 21

  THE FAMILY TREE

  CHAPTER 22

  SPELLBORN

  CHAPTER 23

  PHONE CALL

  CHAPTER 24

  SINS OF THE FATHER

  CHAPTER 25

  LORDS NO MORE

  EPILOGUE

  PROLOGUE

  C

  lose your eyes for a moment, and just imagine you have the power to save the world, but you also have the power to conquer it, and very few people could stand in your way. Which decision would you make? Hero or villain? To do the right thing and be boring, or have fun while breaking a few laws here and there? A decision I’ll be making soon enough and then, my life will change forever. I just don’t know which I’d rather do. To be honest, I can relate to both sides. I just need to find that gray zone. That midway point, between good and bad, you know?

  In Atlas City, this decision is always made by people like me. My indecisiveness aside, I’m willing to bet that Atlas City is one of the best places in the world to live. Sure, it has its fair share of crime, but that’s mostly in the Ebony District. It’s almost impossible for an area that is always so dark, not to have an increase in crime. The rest of Atlas City, though, is full of all the stuff any person could want.

  Shops, good food, tons of jobs, people soaring through the skies, all of that. Anybody, and I mean anybody, could be happy here. Regardless of whether you’re a person with powers, traditionally referred to as an Icon. Or if you’re a Void, I mean a normal person. It’s frowned upon to call a person a Void these days. I’m not sure why, though. They are devoid of power, so why not call them Voids? I mean those poor, simple, mundane, and ordinary bastards.

  Anyway, good old Atlas City has all you need, and what I needed now, believe it or not, was flowers. Nothing too fancy, but nothing cheap and disrespectful. I was in a little store downtown, one that sold almost everything from medicine to electronics, and as you may have guessed, they also had flowers.

  I looked over the rows and rows of flowers organized in front of me, I felt like I scanned each bouquet. I swear it’s easier to pick out a new house, than a decent flower arrangement.

  I held up one of the bouquets in front of me. Half of the flowers were smashed in, and the other side of the bouquet looked almost dead. I shook my head as I tossed the flowers down, not worrying about where they landed or how they made the display look. How hard is it for a worker to just set out pretty flowers?

  “Why don’t you just get these?” A voice said to the left of me. It caused me to jump a little, because I didn’t see her come up . Then again, why would I? She was, yet again, invisible. I’m talking one hundred percent unseen, light bending around her, you would never know she’s there, invisible. “Stop doing that,” I hissed at her as I put the flowers down and got myself back together.

  I cracked my neck slightly, as she chuckled. She then let out a yawn, and slowly shifted from invisible to her normal self. It was as if some unseen hand was gradually wiping away her invisibility, leaving her for the world to see.

  Standing in front of me was Jen, my adopted sister. Dressed the same as me, we both had on dark blue sweat pants, white sneakers, and a gray tee shirt on with PA printed on the chest.

  We both even had black hair. Jen was shorter than me, though. While she was a little over five and a half feet, I stood a little over six. She also had on a baseball cap. Jen treated a baseball cap like most women treated handbags. Her outfit wasn’t complete without one.

  She reached for some more flowers to show me. Now, she was holding up some roses. I looked at them and shook my head. “Those are roses. Why would I take roses to a site where so many Icons died?” She nodded and put the roses down. “I guess you’re right,” she said as she looked over the flowers.

  She let out a little sigh and quickly changed her eyes from being locked on the flowers to looking at me. “Not to get in your business, but next time you sneak your girlfriend in the house, try to be a little more discreet.” Jen said to me casually. I looked at her as if I had no idea what she was talking about. A look complete with wide eyes and a faint, fake gasp.

  “Don’t act dumb,” she paused as she touched her chin, “well, I suppose you aren’t really acting.” I snorted as I lifted up a pair of lilies. “Seriously, if dad found out you had a girl in the house he’d freak. Not to mention what he would do if he found out she was a villain. I swear to Atlas, Hunter you simply do stuff just to see how it will turn out.”

  I shrugged without even looking at her, and continued to focus on my flowers. “Some villains get a hard rap, and Danielle is fun.” “I know,” Jen said as she walked away from the flowers. “Remember I share a wall with you,” she shouted over her shoulder. I made a mental note to try and keep my after- hours activities with Danielle a little quieter for Jen’s sake.

  Atlas knows I’d hate to hear her and some boy in her room. Or some girl for that matter. Now that I think
about it, I have heard her with both in her room before. During the day no less. She doesn’t even have the decency to sneak them in at night. I don’t know if I should be jealous, proud, or offended. Yeah, proud feels right.

  I gathered my lilies and went to the front to pay. They were white stargazer lilies which, according to the tag, and because I know nothing about flowers, were a symbol of sympathy. I placed them on the counter and the man at the register paid me no attention as he reached for them while still looking at his little tv on the counter.

  He was an older man. He had dark skin, gray hair, thick glasses and more hair on his arms than I had on my head. “They are still talking about this theory that somebody out there is killing off Icons. You can never trust the news though,” he said as he glared at the tv. “Fifteen-” he stopped speaking as he looked up at me. “Oh hey,” he said.

  I raised a brow. “Uh, hey.” He simply looked at me and smiled. It was a creepy smile. Like one of those hey kid I have some candy so get in my van smiles. “How much was it again?” I asked him as I reached for my wallet. Side-note, wallets are a bitch to have in sweatpant’s pockets. They just never seem to fit right.

  He raised his hand up and then pushed the flowers towards me. “No charge,” he said. Sure. I thought to myself. No charge until I got to the door and he shouts stop thief! “You go to that school, don’t you? Purgatory Academy.” The man asked me.

  I’m guessing the large PA on my shirt gave it away. “Yeah.” I said as I fumbled with my wallet as I tried to get it to fit back into my pants. “Wow. An Icon, in my store.” The way he said the last few words made him sound like one of those over the top valley girls you see in movies. “Not often that I get a hero in here. Your teachers at the school worried about these vanishing Icons, and the ones they have found dead?”

  To my knowledge, they hadn’t even mentioned it at school. So, I shrugged at him as a voice said out of nowhere, “Icons! Icons in your store . Not just one.” The man looked around as he slowly stiffened. I exhaled and looked to my side. Sure enough, Jen was fading into visibility as she drank an orange soda. The man at the counter smiled from ear to ear. As if the Diamond District didn't have dozens of heroes of all sorts zipping around.

  He kept looking at Jen with that creepy smile again. Jen didn’t help the situation because she could go from visible to invisible, and back again in an instant. This became an apparent thing, only done for show. The man looked at me and I looked at him. According to his name tag, which I was just seeing for the first time, he was named Rufus.

  Rufus kind of nodded his head to me, with a smirk on his face, and his brow raised. I knew what he wanted. I just didn’t feel like displaying my powers like some animal in a circus. “Thanks for the flowers, Rufus,” I said as I held them up in the air and walked away from the counter.

  “Anything for a future hero of this city.” Rufus called back. Bold statement. He knew nothing about Jen or me. We could have been rotten to the core for all he knew. That was Atlas City though, people always tended to believe in the best, even if they secretly prepared for the worst.

  We left the store and found ourselves walking together down the street. Flower shopping took longer than I had expected. Luckily, classes at Purgatory didn’t start until eleven, and since Jen and I were both seventeen and in our final year, we could afford to be late.

  So, we had plenty of time. I don’t see how Voids, normal people, I mean normal people, our age got up so early to go to school. Some have to be there as early as eight. Not only that but they had to take the bus. The thought of a public bus alone, made me shiver. Years and years of teen germs in one location. I felt the shiver again.

  Thankfully I could get around on my own, but if I couldn’t, I’d walk before I got on a crowded, germ- infested, dirty bus.

  We walked in silence. I kept looking at my flowers in hand, and mentally compared them to the ones I had purchased the year before. Jen was casually drinking her soda and expertly texting on her phone with her free hand. “You know what,” I said to her. She didn’t reply. She just looked at me as she took a long slurp of her soda. Then she burped. “What?” she finally replied.

  “I think I’ll get Danielle something nice while we are out.” Jen frowned some. “Like a gift? For what?” I smiled at her. “For her stellar performance last night,” I said as I nudged her with my body. “Gross,” she said as she grimaced. I laughed.

  “No, seriously, she has been hinting at wanting a new watch, and Ingram's is right there,” I said as I pointed to the store across the street. Jen’s eyes all but popped out of her head as her mouth fell open. “Ingram’s. Are you crazy? You realize that store only uses diamonds created by Gem, right?” I nodded.

  Gem was a female Icon with powers that revolved around diamonds. Like many Icons, Gem had two powers. Her prime power was that she could turn herself into a living diamond, making her highly resistant to damage for a short while. This power seems impressive, but she could only hold the form for as long as she could hold her breath.

  Her second power, was that she could touch anything and turn it into a diamond. Diamonds were already rare, but diamonds made by an Icon were even more elusive. Considering only about four Icons in the world had this power, the diamonds created by Gem came with a huge price tag.

  Mr. Ingram, just so happened to be Gem’s best friend from the old days, so he had a connection.

  “Let me guess, you’re going to get her the watch from there. She’s a villain, can’t she just steal a watch or something?” “Yeah, but this way it means more.” I said as I nudged her with my elbow and gave her a comically overdone eye wink. Plus, all Jen knew was that Danielle was ‘a villain’. She didn’t know that she hadn’t actually done any villainous deeds yet. She was working on it, but these things take time.

  “You coming?” I asked as I began walking to the store. Jen shook her head, sat down on a bench, and continued to use her phone. I gave her the flowers to hold. “I’d rather not see you spend a fortune. That way I can play dumb when dad sees your bank statement.”

  I hadn’t thought about that. It was my money though. My parents, well my dad mostly, left me a large inheritance. By large I mean I could retire right now, live out my life, and my kids would still be well off if I left them the rest. I was basically rich.

  The down side, was that my dad was a villain, so how he acquired this money was never discussed in detail. It didn’t matter in my book. If the heroes couldn’t stop him, then as far as I figured, fair is fair and that money was mine.

  I opened the store’s door, and a freakishly loud chime went off. The guests in Ingram's didn’t even look away from what they were doing to see who had just entered. Hell, the workers didn’t even look up at me.

  “Hello,” a small woman said with a smile. She walked from behind the counter and shook my hand. She was pretty. She had long black hair, red lipstick and appeared to have Asian features.

  Her dress was a bland- looking gray color, and her tag said her name was, oddly enough, Asia. “First time here?” she asked me. “Is it that obvious?” I replied. Clearly my looking around like a lost child didn’t help.

  It was hard not to be in awe of this place though. Everything was so, shiny. I don’t mean just the diamonds either. The floors were some sort of polished stone, and reflected the light that came from various chandeliers hanging from above. This same light seemed to bounce off of every piece of jewelry in the store.

  “It’s okay, what are you looking for?” Asia asked me. “Well Asia, I need to get my girlfriend a watch.” I said as I clapped my hands together and rubbed them with a smile. “Nothing too fancy or expensive though.” At these words her smile faded. “The most affordable watch we have in our inventory is about two thousand dollars. It’s mostly silver, has a few diamonds made by Gem herself, in the face.”

  I coughed loudly at the price. Apparently, I was too loud because the two- armed guards patrolling the store both looked at
me. Both were larger than life to me, and looked like they could easily take out a normal person, no gun required.

  I tried to act cool as I shook my head. “Sure. Can I see that one please?” I asked Asia. Her smile returned, and she waved me over to the counter. I stood in front of it and she walked behind it, grabbed some keys, entered a pin number on a keypad, and then unlocked the glass case.

  Asia held the watch up. As she had said, it was mostly silver, but in the face those diamonds reflected like stars in the night sky. Was it a nice watch? Without question. Did it look like it was worth two thousand dollars? Not even close.

  Asia cleared her throat some as I mulled it over in my mind. “Sir,” she said. “Oh, sorry. Just thinking. I’ll take it.” She smiled and did a little dip. Thinking about her commission from the sale, no doubt.

  “Very good choice, sir.” “Well she wanted a watch, so here I am.” I said again as I fumbled in my pants to get my wallet. Asia had begun moving to ring up the watch then she stopped. “This is a gift?” she asked me. I shook my head. “Yep.”

  “Would you like a special box for it? I’ll wrap it also.” “Sure, why not,” I said as I finally got my wallet open and searched for my bank card. “Perfect, that’s going to be an extra charge of fifty dollars.”

  “Whoa,” I said as I raised my hands up. “For a box and a bow? Nevermind, just leave it in the box it comes in.” Asia shrugged and then moved to put the special box she had grabbed back under the counter.

  “Wait, wait,” I said as I bit my lip. I’ve already spent that much on the watch, may as well get the damn box too.” “Wise move, sir,” Asia said as she grabbed the box again. I mean, it was a pretty box.

  It was a dark blue, with silver sparkles that seemed to be made into the actual box. On the top it had Ingram’s written in a fancy golden font, and on the inside, was shimmery white fabric. She gently placed the watch inside, making it a point to have the price tag exposed.

  I liked this. What was the point of spending so much money if Danielle didn’t even know how much it was? As Jen had pointed out, villains steal things, but Danielle hadn’t got that far in her career yet, so me spending this much was sure to earn me some special treatment.