Paragon

by Riley Tune

  I didn’t see it at first, but surrounding the base itself was a large energy barrier that rippled or pulsed every now and again. Had it not been for this ripple, I wouldn’t have noticed it even being there. “Is that a force field?” I asked as I turned from the view to Zeva. She nodded her head.

  “Being one of the leading supergroups in the world, comes with enemies. They have to be prepared. It will open for us when we get close enough to land.”

  Before I could respond, a loud alarm began to go off inside of the transport. I looked to the RMFC as its robotic arms began to press different buttons. “Zeva stood up and so did I. The alarm continued to wail. “What’s going on?” Jen asked as she stood beside me. “I’m not sure,” Zeva said.

  My first reaction was that the transport was going down. Then the robotic voice echoed in the transport once more. “Enemy projectiles are engaged. Prepare for impact. Prepare for impact.” My eyes widen, and just then I glanced out of the window and saw something. Several somethings, fly by the transport.

  They weren’t humans, but they did have a humanoid shape, and as they moved red trails streaked behind them from what looked like jetpacks. The transport shook as a loud explosion happened. “Critical hit detected. Shields at fifty percent,” The robotic voice was all around us.

  Zeva and Jen seemed to be on the same page now as fear consumed them. “Who in Atlas would be attacking us?” Jen said as the ship was hit again. “Shields at thirty percent.” “The Lords have enemies, it could be anybody,” Zeva responded.

  “Call your brother,” I said to Zeva. I couldn’t believe the words were coming out of my mouth, but Flex could catch this transport as easy as a person catching a falling football. She frantically pulled out her phone. “It’s not working.”

  Not working? How could her phone not be working? It wasn’t like we were in an area that could block the signal. We were in sky after all. I looked at my phone and so did Jen.

  My phone was out too. It was on but it seemed to be locked. The transport shook one final time and everything went black inside. “Shield power depleted,” the robotic voice said. “If we get hit again, we are going down,” Jen said with panic in her voice.

  I had never seen her this way. She was breathing so fast that I could barely understand her words. My mind raced for a second. “Stay in here,” I said as I pressed a button beside the door we used to board the craft. With ease, and a hum, the transport door opened.

  “Be prepared to turn yourself and Zeva intangible if you need to,” I said to Jen. She shook her head quickly, as she continued to breath heavy. I turned to Zeva. “Keep trying to reach Flex.” “What are-” Jen went to speak, but her words faded away because before she could finish, I jumped out of the transport, and out into the open sky.

  CHAPTER 11

  IMPERIAL LORDS

  F

  or a second, I let myself fall through the sky, and then I used my power, and took control. My descent stopped and I was hovering in the sky now. The transport is still moving, but three of those things are flying behind it. I couldn’t make out what they were, but they were still shooting at our transport, with beams of red energy. Luckily, they were missing more than they were hitting.

  It was funny. They had better aim, when the ship had shields protecting it. While I was inside of the transport, their attacks seem precise, and now they were barely getting close. Was it a diversion to draw me out? That didn’t make sense at all, considering they were paying me no attention.

  I could see the red trails they were emitting from their jetpacks as they moved in the open sky around me. I didn’t have much time to do whatever it was I intended to do. I knew Jen and Zeva could keep the transport up in the air and on course for a little while. If I remember correctly, they both did good in our flight simulation class. I however didn’t have to take the class, because I myself could naturally fly. Still, if one of those things found its mark, the transport would crash.

  I felt energy crackle within me as I created a larger than normal force field, so that I could still have some room to breathe. As the pale blue field expanded, I stopped it once the field was about the size of a minivan.

  I shook my arms for a second. Pro tip, it’s always good to loosen up before you go into a fight. Then with a force so strong that it created a booming sound, I flew. There was only three of them, so I set my sights on the one closest to the ship. Oddly, he hadn’t shot at the ship in a few seconds.

  As I got close to it, I could see that it wasn’t a person at all. It wasn’t even a humanoid creature. It was, a robot, or android. I have a hard time remembering which is which. With a square- shaped head, no facial features, and long legs and arms, the robot reminded me a lot of the one that was the pilot of the RMFC.

  The major difference between the two was that this one flying alongside me in the air, had a portion of its back that allowed for it to fly. As I got closer, it raised its hand up and fired a pulse of red energy. This pulse was headed directly for the transport, and we were so close the blast couldn’t miss. I zoomed ahead of the android, or robot, as fast as a I could, but I still wouldn’t get to the transport in time.

  I stretched my hand out, and created a thin, force field in the air. The blast from the android collided with my force field and exploded. The transport was safe, but to my surprise, my force field had a minor crack in it. A crack! Not only could I see it, but I could feel it.

  My force fields are an extension of myself, so when they are damaged I can tell. Much like if somebody cut my hand. Even if I wasn’t looking, I’d still be able to feel it. This told me that whatever these guys were, they packed a serious punch. Not too much can damage my force fields.

  I looked over at the android beside me, and moved closer to him while at the same time shifting the size of the field around me. I could have just shrunk the force field, but then I’d be trapped in a tiny space, and the thought of that alone was enough to make me want to heave. Instead, I caused one side of my force field to retract, while making the other side large.

  Once I was beside the android and had very little force field between us, I formed a fist and punched it in the back. Thankfully, whatever they were made of wasn’t able to stand up to my super strength. Had they been diamond- plated or titanium, I may not had been strong enough to do damage to anything other than my hand.

  As I pulled my fist back and readjusted in my force field, the first android fell, and now there were only two left. I could see the transport, circling in the air now. “What in Atlas’s name are they doing?” I said to myself. Why didn’t they just land?

  Just then, a beam of red energy hit my force field and caused me to flinch and fall through the sky. I was fine, but my force field took a beating. I caught myself in the air, and flew back towards my attacker. Before I could get close enough another blast hit me from a different side that once more swatted me away like I was a pest.

  These guys were starting to piss me off. The sky around me turned a familiar shade of blue, that had nothing to do with it being a sky. “Let’s see how you like it, asshole,” I said under my breath as I flew towards one of the androids, releasing bolt after bolt of my Impact Blast. My aim wasn’t the best, but at least one of them had to hit the damn thing.

  Or so I thought. To my shock, the android dodged them all and fired back several times at me. Many of his blasts missed, while others collided with my new Impact Blasts midair .

  To the people below we likely looked like the makings of a great science fiction movie where the flying enemies fired lasers at each other. I zoomed around a cloud and stretched my hand open, creating and closing a force field around one of the android, robot, things.

  As it fought the inside of my shield I could feel my energy draining. I was getting tired. As I closed my fist, the force field grew tight around the android. His partner turned its attention from me to help his friend.

  I smiled as he flew in the direction of his trapped comrade.
I unleashed a volley of blasts his way, and one found its mark directly in the spot where a butt would have been, had this been a human. The android exploded in the air as debris fell. The explosion caused my flying to be thrown off some as the waves of force echoed back through the sky.

  I was confused as to how nobody from below in the Imperial Lords base had come to see what all the blasts, and explosions were. We were in the air, yes, but still we were also practically on their doorstep. I tried not to think about that, and instead focused on my task. This was almost over.

  “One more,” I said as I continued to close the force field around the last remaining android. He began to fire inside the force field and two things happened at once. Just when it fired, I removed the force field and punched it in its back causing its means of flight to fade and thus it fell to the ground below.

  Despite this, that single shot the android got off had found its mark. The bolt of red energy had hit the ship, and now it was falling through the sky. “Think, think,” I said to myself. I flew towards the transport and found myself in the front of it. I put my hands on it and pushed with every ounce of power I had, and the transport may as well had laughed at me and my efforts.

  It continued to fall as if I wasn’t even there. I wasn't strong enough. “Okay, new plan.” I said as I moved in the air around the falling transport. From where we were, the transport was going to fall directly on land, and hit the Imperial Lords’ base. No not the base, the force field. This was good. I could get the others out and just let the force field do its job. Easy enough, I thought to myself as I smiled.

  I prepared myself to fly inside to grab Jen and Zeva, but just at the moment, the large dome- shaped force field around the base faded away as if it was turned off. “No,” I screamed out loud. This is what I get for smiling and thinking for once, just once, something would have been easy. “Okay, so a new plan, for the new plan,” I said as I watched the transport fall.

  I wasn’t strong enough to push it back or catch it in the sky. Its natural force of motion was against me, but what if I just redirected it. I flew around the other side of the transport and once more placed my hands on it and pushed. I could see Jen and Zeva inside looking at me eyes wide.

  This time I pushed it to the side, and to my amazement, the damn thing moved. In less than a minute I had spun the transport around in the air and aimed it towards the water below.

  I could feel the little energy I had fading away. I was using all of my powers in unison and the effects were draining. I was going to need a king size feast when all this was over.

  I flew inside of the transport to find a heavy breathing Zeva watching monitors while Jen was sitting on top of the RMFC and controlling the transport. “That was impressive, but please tell me you have a plan,” Jen said. “I lost control minutes ago and have no idea what to do.” she screamed out as we continued to fall towards the ocean below us.

  “Get up,” I screamed at her. I grabbed Zeva by the hand as Jen got close to me. “You know we can’t fly right?” Zeva shouted as we went to the open door. “Trust me,” I yelled back over the wind that circled around us.

  As we all held hands, I lead the way as we jumped out of the transport. As soon as we were out, I created a force field. Once my field was up, I let their hands go and they sort of floated beside me.

  I wanted to watch and make sure that the transport actually made it to the ocean as I had planned but I was too tired, and felt myself slowly descending to the ground near the Imperial Lords’ base. Oddly enough, once we landed on the ground, the force field protecting the base returned to normal.

  I fell to the ground on my knees, breathing hard as the last bit of energy and my force field faded away. I laid on my back, spread eagled on the grass and felt the gentle massage all over my body. “Thank you, Flora,” I said through broken breaths as the grass continued to massage me. “Nicely done,” a voice said from behind me.

  I sat up and looked around me. The girls were already on their feet, but they hadn’t expended the energy I had. A man was walking towards us and clapping his hands. He had strong cheekbones, a pointed chin, and greasy black hair. His uniform was a navy blue, microfiber suit that covered him from head to toe.

  Once he finally got close to us, he stopped clapping and bowed slightly towards us. “I’m the Mechanic.” Nobody said anything. I was pretty sure everyone knew who he was because of our ties to the Imperial Lords,

  The Mechanic was a less popular member of the Imperial Lords, and he had an ability similar to Mrs. Reid’s, in a lesser fashion. The Mechanic could build, and understand all things tech, but on the flip side, once something was built he could control it with his mind.

  As I ran through his powerset in my head, I felt my face stiffen as my breathing increased. “I was worried there for a second, but you figured it out,” he said quickly. He spoke very fast, as if he were racing with himself to see just how fast he could go. “Figured out what?” Jen asked. “How to get here safely while preventing casualties.” He looked up at me and beamed. Well, moreso him than you two. His reputation is well-earned.” The Mechanic looked me up and down. “You really do have four powers. It’s fascinating.”

  Another voice came from above, “And he shows them off every chance he gets.” Jen and Zeva looked up, but I didn’t. I knew that voice all too well. As he landed Jen screamed to see him. Standing over six feet tall, with muscles that could be easily seen through his shirt, as loose as it was, was Zeva’s older brother, Flex. Everything about him looked perfect, his hair his teeth, even his damn skin was flawless.

  er six feet tall, with muscles that could be easily seen through his loose shirt was Zeva’s older brother, Flex. Everything about him looked perfect. His hair, his teeth, even his damn skin was flawless.

  He had on some green sweatpants and sneakers. Clearly a casual day for him. He looked at the girls behind me and smiled somewhat. Flex walked by me and, despite all of the open space, he bumped into me with his shoulder a little too hard. The blow, appeared accidental, but shot pain through my entire right side and caused me to grit my teeth. His strength made even a shoulder bump feel like a truck just hit me.

  It took all of my control not to grab at the pain with my hand. “My bad,” he said with a laugh.

  Jen, unable to control herself, ran and gave him a hug. He gently patted her on the back with one hand, and then embraced his sister. “Hey Z,” he said to her as he let her go. Then he held her face in his hands and looked her over. He even quickly placed his hand on her forehead. Did he think she was sick or something?

  “When was the last time you took your pills?” “I’m fine,” Zeva said. She had always carried on like they were vitamins, but he said pills. Like they were more for a specific issue, not just support. “I got your room all set, you're going to love it. It’s like five feet from the main gym.”

  A woman suddenly walked up and stood beside Flex and cleared her throat. He instantly went from big brother mode and back to Imperial Lord again. She was a dark- skinned woman with long black hair, and dressed in all white. “Nice to meet the new interns. Welcome to the Imperial Lords,” she said as she shook all of our hands. Her voice was soft, and her figure was very slim.

  I recognized her as the Icon called Detach. She could split herself into four copies and each copy had the same powers as the original, which was that she had enhanced reflexes, but only while around Voids and only for a certain amount of time. Not the best power to have, but certainly not the worst. She mostly handled the day to day operations of the Imperial Lords, and thus served as a vital and high- ranking role.

  “So, you two knew he was going to give us that little test that could have killed us.” I asked. “No. We didn’t,” Detach said as she glared at him. The Mechanic avoided her eyes and whistled slightly. “He gets out of hand from time to time with his little, inventions. Sadly, most of the tech here he either created or he is the only person able to understand it.”


  I nodded slowly. “I see.” I said as I stepped forward and sent a punch directly to The Mechanic’s face. Guess some of my energy had returned after all. He fell to the ground instantly and grabbed his jaw. “You almost got us killed, asshole.” My eyes turned blue as I looked down on him. “Easy. Easy,” Flex said as he put his hand on my shoulder and applied more pressure than was called for. I threw his hand off of me as quick as it landed. “Don’t touch me Ken doll.”

  “Stop it. Both of you.” Detach said. “Flex, help him up and take him to my office.” Flex narrowed his eyes at me, and then did as he was told. With ease, he lifted the man to his feet and lead him to the entrance of the base. “Girls, follow Flex inside and wait for me there. I need to have a talk with Hunter.” Zeva and Jen glanced at each other. I stood silent, trying to figure out just what was going on here.

  “What about our bags and stuff that were in the Transport?” Zeva asked. Detach smiled. “They will be delivered to your rooms. The Mechanic controlled the transport so it landed safely in the landing bay.” Zeva nodded her head and trotted off to catch her brother. Jen looked at me for a moment as if I was in trouble, then walked off behind Zeva.

  “Jennifer,” Detach called out over her shoulder. I smiled to myself. No doubt Jen was cursing in her head. She hated being called Jennifer. The only people who got a pass were her parents, and even they said it rarely. “Your father should be inside. Tell him to swing by my office in an hour.” Jen gave a thumb’s up as she walked in. Detach seemed so, nice. Her soft tone, her smile, even her eyes. They seemed almost motherly. Comforting.