Paragon

by Riley Tune

  Detach put all her papers in order and dropped them on the table a few times to get them straight.

  She placed them in front of her and leaned over and clasped her fingers together. “To say you fucked up, is an understatement. You four stumbled into an ongoing investigation of the Imperial Lords, for several months now.” She took a deep breath and exhaled as she licked her lips and adjusted herself in her chair. Then Impervious took over and began to speak.

  “No doubt you have seen the report of Icons being found dead around Atlas City recently. Well the truth is that we have been containing the media to prevent panic. While it may seem like only a few Icons have been found dead, the number is really in the double digits.”

  I felt myself frown as I clenched my hands into fist and then relaxed them under the table. I was also a little upset that Mr. Reid kept this from Jen and I. A damn Icon serial killer is running loose and he lets us causally go back and forth to school. Sure, he tells me to keep my eyes open, but at what cost?

  “Your families were told to keep this detail confidential in order to prevent word from getting out. Our best empath has been working around the clock to erase memories and create new ones for witnesses.” Impervious said as he glanced at Detach, who cracked a smile. Wait, was he implying that Detach was an empath with mental abilities? If he was, why was it kept a secret? The general public surely didn’t know.

  “But,” I went to speak, but something slapped me in the back of the head. “What the hell?” I said as I turned around. Another Detach was standing behind me. I didn’t even know she had created a clone. I rubbed the back of my head, and turned around in my seat to face the Detach in front of me.

  “Don’t interrupt Prime,” the clone said to me. “Thanks,” Detach said as she smiled and winked at her clone. “I can’t go into too many details, but the Icon you encountered goes by the name Infinity. He has so far, had around twenty- five documented powers, and could have more for all we know.” Detach said.

  I could feel my mouth drop open, as my brow frowned. Jen let out a slow whistle. Twenty- five powers? Twenty- five? How is that even possible. Detach seemed to be in my head as she responded to my thought. “We don’t even know how that’s possible. The body shouldn’t be able to contain that type of power, yet he has found a way. The only saving grace of your encounter is what you saw of how he reacted with Young Pyro. Tomorrow, myself or Impervious will do a thorough memory recall and interview with each of you to go over what was said or done so we can get to the bottom of this.” Impervious nodded his head as she finished speaking.

  “Memory recall?” I snapped as I formed a force field around me in my chair so not to be slapped by the clone again. “Screw a memory recall. We have to get out there and stop his guy. Do you realize how many people he killed? He barely broke a sweat and left nothing but the bones behind. We can’t just sit in here and talk. We have to stop him!” I was almost yelling now.

  How could these two be so relaxed about this. Jen and Zeva seemed to be stunned to what was going on and Picasso, well he was Picasso. Detach cleared her throat. “No matter what?” she asked casually. “As in kill him?” I nodded and bulged my eyes. “Damn right if we need too. Some psycho Icon shows up, talking about how we glow, then wipes the floor with us, and kills dozens of people? Yes, we put him down.”

  Impervious’ head jerked up at my words. As if he was listening for the first time. He had a grimace on his face as he glared at me. Detach, on the other hand, nodded. “That’s a mighty villainous thing to say.” “No, it’s a realistic thing to say. You want to act like this is fine and have reviews, but the fact of the matter is that this guy is still walking free regardless of where he is, and that’s not right.”

  “I appreciate your candor, Hunter. I really do,” Detach said. “But my decision is made and is final.”

  Then she snapped her fingers and her clone walked over from behind us, and stood behind her. As the prime Detach stood up, her clone pushed her chair in under the table. The clone then smiled at Detach and in return Detach kissed her. Full on, on the lips, with tongue kissed her. A part of me found it gross, but another part of me found it hard to turn away. Once the kiss was over, Detach turned and looked at us all.

  The only two who didn’t seem shocked were Impervious and Picasso. “That’s disturbing,” Zeva said as she grimaced at Detach and removed her pill bottle from her pocket. Zeva shook it a few times, and nothing came out. Her pills or vitamins must have needed a refill.

  The clone smiled and Detach herself laughed. “Nonsense. I like to think of it as, enhanced masturbation. The common person often finds pleasure in touching themselves, I just take it a step beyond because of my abilities.”

  Even though I was still angry, I unintentionally nodded my head. She made a good point there. “Zeva,” Detach said, “You may return to your room. Your brother is waiting for you there to discuss your actions tonight. He will also review footage of your skills displayed as an Icon with you.”

  “What footage?” Zeva asked as she stood up. “We have footage of the fight with Infinity tonight. You show promise. Flex will go over it with you, but not in detail. Then get some rest, you and Hunter will have your first mission as interns, tomorrow morning.” Detach looked at her watch. “About nine hours from now actually. Now run along.” Zeva glanced at the rest of us sitting down, and then walked out of the room.

  “I should have told her to shower first.” Detach said. Jen and Picasso, you are dismissed too. My clone will take you to your rooms. There is no footage to really go over for you two. Picasso,” Detached hesitated some as she searched for the correct words. “Well Picasso retreated back to base, and Jen you were knocked out too fast.”

  Her words came out harsh and disproving. I instantly felt bad for Jen. Picasso, that coward, deserved to feel bad. “This is why you both have been assigned recon duties for the Imperial Lords. You will learn to play to your strengths. Life-Line, can’t out damage Flex in a battle, but his role to the team is essential nonetheless. In time you will find your common ground, but you have to make better decisions in the future. Dismissed.”

  The Detach clone opened the door of the room and casually said “This way,” and Jen stood up, while extending her fist to me. “Later, bro. Give em hell in the morning.” I bumped her fist back. “Always,” I said. She left the room and Picasso walked by me. He stopped for a second and then, under his breath said two words. “Thank you.”

  I looked at him from the corner of my eye, but I didn’t reply. “For shielding me with your force field.” I looked up at him and then turned around in my chair. “Sure thing,” I said without looking at him. He exhaled some and then left the room as the clone followed and shut the door behind them.

  “You may want to go easy on him,” Detach said. “For running and leaving us there to get our asses handed to us?” I said as my voice rose again. “Well, look at it from his point of view. Picasso has left the base, maybe three or four times in his life, and he was young then so he likely doesn’t remember. Then you show up, and somehow convince him to leave and he crosses paths with perhaps the strongest Icon in existence. It was natural to be scared. Fight or flight kicked in, and he doesn’t know how to fight.”

  I glanced at Impervious who still had an off look on his face. You’d think he would have something to say about his son being put into danger, but he didn’t. I knew what Detach was saying, and some of it made sense, but the fire in me wasn’t having it. Not now. She had already shut me up about stopping Infinity, she wasn’t about to make me feel pity for Picasso.

  “That’s the supergroups fault. How can he have powers like he does and not know how to use them? Detach eyed Impervious.

  “I have always wanted to keep Picasso close. Out of danger and never wanted him to even use his powers, let alone use them to fight.” Impervious finally said. “Hunter, are you sure Infinity said you were glowing. That you all were glowing?” Impervious asked. I nodded. �
��Yeah. said he had two Icons and Icon- likes, then he called me something. A Spellborn or something.”

  At these words Impervious took a deep breath, and Detach swallowed loudly. In an instant Impervious stood up. “I’m going to investigate the scene,” he said to Detach. “I don’t want to be wrong, but I have to know for sure.” Detach said nothing, but nodded as she stepped closer to the wall. Mr. Impervious looked at me, and then in a blur he was gone.

  I said nothing for a minute, and then looked Detach in the face. “What was that about?” She remained quiet. “So, am I dismissed to my room too?” Detach shook her head. “Not yet. I want you to think about something before you go. Before the fight broke out, according to Picasso, you assessed the situation and talked to one of the paused victims.” I narrowed my eyes at her.

  Even this made me upset. While I was fighting for my life and watching people turn to piles of bone, Picasso was here giving her details. She continued to talk. “Then, you used your force field to cover Picasso.” “So.” I said as I tried to follow where she was headed with this. “In short you acted like a hero would have acted. In this instance, at least.”

  I felt my head jerk. I hadn’t expected this, especially after she told me how villainous it was to want to kill Infinity, but she was right. Maybe I was meant to be a hero after all. “But then,” Detach continued. “You formed a force field around yourself. Keeping your phobia of tight spaces in mind, you formed one large enough to keep yourself at ease. You didn’t form it around all of the others. You only worried about yourself.”

  I knew where this was going now. “In short, you did what a villain would have done.” She shook her head. “You continue to show aptitude for both heroic and villainous profiles.” She walked to the door and opened it for me. Oddly enough, Prism was flickering into existence on the other side.

  “Hello again, young Lord,” he said as he bowed. “There will come a day when lives depend on you deciding which side you give your allegiance too. I’ve never in my days seen somewhat walk the line between the worlds of good and bad like you Hunter.” She paused for a moment. “Well, maybe one other person. Now, you are dismissed, and good luck tomorrow.”

  She walked out leaving only Prism and myself standing there. “Seems you have had quite the night,” Prism said. I looked at the hologram. “How do you know?” I asked him. “I’m connected to everything in the base. Effectively I see everything. I am happy you all made it back safely.”

  His words shook something up in me. “Prism,” “Yes?” he responded. “You were able to see our fight as it happened?” He stood there for a moment, flickering slightly in and out. He finally came back to full view.

  “Yes.” he answered. “So, if you could see it, anybody connected in the base could have seen it as well?” “That is correct, young Lord.” I thought for a moment. I knew Detach said Flex would go over the video with Zeva, but I had assumed they acquired the video. “So, either all of the base or somebody in the base, watched our fight with this Infinity asshole. They knew how powerful he was, yet they didn’t step in to save the new interns. To save the young Icons that clearly stood no chance.”

  Why? What did they gain from watching? Not only that, why were we spared? Something didn’t feel right. Sadly, I was beginning to think the Imperial Lords saw us as expendable. “We really should get going, young Lord,” Prism said.

  I didn’t respond. I was still trapped in my head, but I followed the flickering hologram anyway.

  CHAPTER 20

  MISSION ONE

  T

  rue to her word, Detach had an assignment for Zeva and me rather early. The entire setup for detecting crime for the Imperial Lords to deal with was impressive. All of the entire base, worked as one large computer with a host of servers, networks, and data centers. Various emergencies filtered through the computer system and were eventually given to a member to handle. Think of a police scanner but on a much larger scale.

  Many occurrences around Atlas City were below what an Icon group like the Imperial Lords would handle. Things like robberies, police chases, cats in trees, and so on, were more for low level Icons or the normal police department. The Imperial Lords worried about larger scale stuff.

  Nuclear reactor about to explode? Imperial Lords. Volcano about to cover a small village in lava? Imperial Lords. Icon running around with more powers that several supergroups combined? Imperial Lords. Events that could send a ripple effect around the world, was where the Lords stepped in.

  This only changed if you were an Imperial Lord intern like Zeva and I. While we both seemed to show promise after our encounter with Infinity, that could have been a fluke fueled by circumstance. Our evading of death could have been dumb luck or simply, as I believed, Infinity didn’t really want us dead. He was only there for Young Pyro. Either way, we were on our way right now to one of those various small incidents that the Lords usually didn’t even get out of bed for.

  The door to the carrier opened slowly. Once again, Zeva and I were inside of the R.M.F.C headed into the heart of the Diamond District. We were both dressed alike. Black combat boots, that matched our tactical cargo pants and black mesh compression shirts. Even our ear pieces to talk to each other were black. I wasn’t a stick figure by any means, but Zeva looked considerably more in shape in her compression shirt than I did. While I was still sleep this morning, Zeva had worked out for two hours. With dedication like that, it’s no wonder I could see her abs through the shirt.

  “Good luck, young Lords,” a voice came from inside the carrier. I looked around and then locked eyes with Zeva. “Prism?” she said out loud? “The one and only,” responded the voice. “How?” I asked. I realized I was talking to the wall of the carrier as if Prism was hiding inside it.

  “All of the carriers are on the same network as the base, so I can reach you here as well.” I nodded. “Any idea where we are headed?” I asked. Before he could answer, Zeva pointed out in the distance over the city. “There, I’m guessing.”

  I followed her out- stretched hand as she held onto a portion of the carrier to keep her balance. From where we were, I could see dark smoke clouds billowing into the sky. A small apartment building, maybe four or five stories high, was engulfed in flames.

  In typical Diamond District fashion, it was sleek and modern looking. Surrounded by lush grass, trees, and even a fountain in the front. The Fire department was on the scene but didn’t seem to be having any luck with the fire. Barricades had been set up to keep people back, and from where we now hovered in the R.M.F.C I could see those same trees, and lush grass lean back from the fire, as to not get burned.

  I was surprised the trees hadn’t run away yet. They certainly had the power to do so if they wanted to.

  “A burning building?” I said out loud. “Seems a little cliché, doesn’t it?” Zeva grimaced at me. “ Cliché or not, heat messes with my powers if they have to cross paths. The dry air makes it hard for me to form my ice.”

  I exhaled. “Okay,” I said as I looked out below us. People on the streets had started to look up and point at our hovering craft. Some were even jumping up and down, while others clapped. I rolled my eyes. They assume we were experienced heroes here to save the day.

  Wrong. Two teens trying to figure out what the hell to do is more like it. “Okay,” I said to Zeva, “Are there any people in the building?” From where I stood in the carrier, I could only see the building, but with Zeva’s powers she could enhance and x-ray.

  Her eyes glowed pink for a moment and flickered back and forth in her head as she scanned. “Several dead animals on the upper floors, a fireman carrying out an elderly man on the first floor, but they almost are out.” Her eyes blinked as she continued to look at the building. She gasped as her glowing eyes faded away.

  “There’s a child on the third floor, far right side. I don’t know how they missed him but they did.” I felt my throat get dry and it had nothing to do with the heat from the building. I ha
d honestly hoped the building was empty. Then even if we failed to stop the fire, we could have avoided people dying.

  “He, must be saved.” Prism’s voice came through the carrier. “I got it,” I grabbed Zeva’s hand and leaped from the carrier. She screamed as I called my force field to surround us and she began to fly alongside me.

  “Shit!” she said as she slapped me with her free hand. “Give me a warning next time.” I ignored her rant. We didn’t have time. As I flew down, the onlookers screamed louder. The only people not worrying about us were fire fighters. They were still trying to control the blaze and were having no luck.

  I landed on a building across the street from the apartment that was more flames than building now. “I need you to guide me to the kid.” She nodded at me as she turned to the building. I could see her neck move as she swallowed and leaned towards the blaze.

  Then her eyes glowed again as she positioned her gaze on the burning buildings perimeter. “And form the largest ice construct that you can. Right here and right now.” Her mouth opened as she held her hands up and they turned frosty.

  I ran and jumped off the building before she could speak. Regaining control as I hovered in the air above the people below. Glancing over my shoulder, I saw that in a short time, Zeva had already formed a large chunk of ice about the same size as an office desk.

  With her hands still stretched in the air, slithers of ice, and frost manifested in the air around her. Swirling almost like smoke and then adding to the mass of the ice in front of her.

  I turned and faced the building again. “Third floor, right side,” I heard Zeva’s voice come in my head through the earpiece. I counted from the bottom and found the third floor, and looked at the center of the building. Flying in the air, I formed a large force field around myself and watched as the building turned blue.

  I had to control my Impact Blast as much as possible to not cause the building to collapse due to the fire and the weak frame. I released a small beam of energy from my eyes that punched a four- foot hole in the side of the building. The fire men below scattered as debris fell. “Sorry,” I screamed out as I floated inside the building.