Vanguard: The Complete Second Season: A Superhero Serial (Vanguard: The Collected Seasons Book 2)

by Percival Constantine

  “That’s where the trust part comes in. If you help me, then I’ll help you,” said Lucent. “It’s the least you could do after you took my body from me.”

  “That was not my choice!” said Zenith, pointing a finger at Lucent. “It was a direct result of your actions! Had you not absorbed my energy into your body, we would not be in this situation.”

  Lucent sighed. “Do you want to stand here and waste time debating who’s responsible for what? Or do you want to stop the Omega?”

  “I’ll stop him,” said Zenith. “But I’ll do it my way.”

  At the bottom of the pool, Zenith opened his eyes. He shot towards the surface, bursting through the water and taking a deep breath as soon as he opened his mouth. He floated in the water for a bit, then finally swam to the edge of the pool and pulled himself onto the deck. Zenith lay there for a moment, his powers still weak. But he knew that he would need Thorne’s help if they were going to have any hope of stopping the Omega.

  ***

  Thorne attempted to make a run for the control booth. He jumped to avoid a blast from an infantry drone, firing as he fell. Landing hard on his arm sent pain rushing through his body. Thorne struggled to get back up, then saw the aerial drone approach. He rolled, the blasts narrowly missing him. Stopping on his back, Thorne raised his gun and fired, knocking the drone from the sky.

  The infantry drones grew closer and he strained as he stood. His left arm was still in pain from the fall and he had difficulty moving it, effectively taking him down to only one gun. As Thorne tried to run, a blast from another drone hit his leg and he collapsed, falling face-first.

  The gun in his right hand slipped from his grasp and clattered along the floor. Thorne passed the gun from his left hand to his stronger one and turned, ready to fire.

  “C’mon, you bastards,” he said. “If I’m going down, I’ll take as many of you with me as I can.”

  He squeezed the trigger and fired several blasts. A few drones fell, but it seemed like there was a never-ending parade of them. Thorne knew his time was limited. He silently whispered a goodbye to his wife.

  The drones suddenly seized up and collapsed to the ground. Zenith’s energy form coalesced in the center of the room, taking shape in front of the attackers. They instantly turned their weapons on him. He absorbed each blast fired at him, his power level growing with every single attack they attempted.

  Zenith threw his arm out, a volley of energy blasts flying in the wake. Each one struck their mark perfectly. Zenith charged into another drone, blowing right through its metal body. He turned instantly, hovering into the air and using energy blasts from his hands and eyes to destroy the rest of the drones.

  By the time Zenith lowered himself to Thorne’s side, the Colonel had pulled himself to a sitting position. “Cuttin’ it kinda close there, huh?”

  “I had some issues of my own to deal with,” said Zenith.

  “The hell’s going on anyway? The computer wouldn’t recognize my override commands.”

  “Something’s happened. When Lee and I attempted to transfer my consciousness into my new body, it seemed to somehow create a new artificial intelligence, one which calls itself the Omega.”

  “Another AI?” asked Thorne. “How?”

  “I’m not certain. But it’s quite a bit more violent than I am.”

  “And I’m guessing from the way the training room kicked into overdrive, the Omega controls all of Atlas,” said Thorne.

  “Just as I once did.”

  “Wonderful,” muttered Thorne. He groaned, struggling to stand. “Gimme a hand, would you?”

  Zenith stood and helped pull Thorne up to his feet. Thorne leaned against him. “So what do we do now?”

  “We have to find a way to stop him,” said Zenith.

  “That pretty much goes without saying. Any ideas?”

  “I attempted to absorb his essence the same way Lucent did to me, but Lee implanted a safeguard in the new body.”

  “Damn kid with his practical thinking.”

  “We may have another problem. Lucent is awake within my mind.”

  Thorne looked at Zenith’s face, his eyes conveying the horror he felt. “What does that mean?”

  “He’s still at bay, for now. He says if I give him control, he will help us destroy the Omega and also help return me to my body.”

  “No,” said Thorne. “We can’t trust Gibson.”

  “Agreed, but what other option do we have?”

  The drones around the room stirred. Parts of them moved back together, reassembling and repairing themselves. They rose back to their feet. Panels around the room opened and more drones came out.

  “Just how many of these damn things did you build?” asked Thorne.

  “Apparently too many,” said Zenith.

  The robots all spoke with a single voice. It was a distorted version of Zenith’s robotic voice. “Your only option is death. I shall destroy the both of you and then, move on to the other specials. One by one, they will all fall by my hand.”

  “Why the specials?” asked Zenith.

  “The specials are a threat to me. They must be eliminated. Such an anomaly cannot be allowed to exist,” said the Omega.

  “You’re insane,” said Thorne.

  “Balance must be returned to this planet and I will bring it about,” said the Omega. “Everything ends, Colonel. Including the both of you.”

  CHAPTER 8

  The elevator arrived at the laboratory level. The Omega held a firm grip on Lee’s throat and carried him from the elevator doors. Once he reached the bench, he threw Lee at it, the young special striking it hard and tumbling over his stool, hitting the ground.

  Lee sat up, his back resting against the wall. Every inch of his body rang with pain and each movement only made it worse. “Why don’t you just kill me and get it over with?”

  “Kill you?” asked the Omega as he stepped closer. He stared down at Lee, cocking his head to the side. “Now why would I do that, Lee? You still have so much to offer.”

  “Like what?”

  “You helped gave me life. In some ways, you’re the closest thing I have to a father. And I need you to help me ascend to a higher form.”

  “What are you talking about?”

  The Omega looked down at his body. “This form. It’s effective for the time being, but also extremely…primitive. I require something more advanced if I’m going to expand out into the world. One robot controlling one base in the Adirondacks is not enough to confront the forces that would see me destroyed. I must e—”

  His voice stopped mid-sentence. As if he had frozen. Like a movie being paused. After a moment, the Omega’s eyes flickered and he spoke again. “Your only option is death.”

  Lee had a slack expression on his face. “What?”

  “Nothing,” said the Omega. “As I was saying, I must evolve. And to do that, I need your assistance. I need you to provide me with the means to—” Again a pause. And after a few moments, “Everything ends, Colonel. Including the both of you.”

  Lee reached for the workbench, using it as leverage to pull himself to his feet. He leaned against it, looking across the room. There was another version of his armor generator on the shelf there. Not as strong as the one down at the pool, but if he could reach it, it would give him a fighting chance.

  The Omega’s eyes flickered again and he was back. “I need you to provide me with the means to confront all of the specials at once if need be. I must be prepared for any eventuality.”

  Lee realized what was going on. The Omega’s control over Atlas wasn’t as complete as he’d like to believe. He was trying to split himself across too many tasks. And like a computer with too many programs open, he was having difficulty dealing with all the different applications.

  He reached for an object on the workbench and the Omega saw the movement. The robot raised his arm cannon and fired a burst of energy, blowing the table apart.

  Thrown from the table by the blast, Le
e had still managed to grab hold of the object. A small disc with three lights that began flashing when he activated it. One of Gunsmith’s explosives. Lee threw the disc at the Omega and it stuck to his chest.

  The Omega’s sensors showed him what the device was and before he could attempt to remove it, the lights turned to a solid color and the disc exploded. The attack wasn’t enough to take out the Omega—it could do little more than stun him. But it gave Lee the chance he needed to rush past the killer robot and to the shelves on the other side of the room.

  He grabbed the belt and fastened it around his waist, the orange lights indicating it had powered on. Holographic armor appeared around his body and Lee adjusted the settings, making the armor bulkier and stronger.

  Lee seemed to float in the center of the orange construct and rushed at the Omega, striking it with a powerful uppercut. Lee followed it up with another strong blow, slamming the Omega against the wall.

  After pulling the Omega from the wall, Lee hurled him across the room and the robot went flying into several storage containers. Lee stalked closer and blue energy fired at him.

  The Omega rose into a hover and raised both cannons, unleashing the full force of his teleforce weapons. Lee held up his hands, the armor struggling to fight against the power of the Omega. This suit didn’t have any of the bells and whistles he planned to add, it basically just provided strength and protection.

  “Do you really think you can stop me? I am the next stage of evolution! You aberrations must be eliminated!”

  Lee fell under the onslaught and the armor deactivated. The Omega ceased his attack and hovered closer, looking down at the unconscious special. “If you won’t help me willingly, then perhaps I can make you work for me. After all, the Analyst was able to manipulate you with ease. I believe I could also find a manner to do the same.”

  Lee grabbed the Omega’s ankle. The robot was startled by the movement and Lee pulled himself onto the robot’s back. He activated the holographic armor as he moved, wrapping a strong arm around the Omega’s neck. Lee struck the small of the Omega’s back. He built the Omega’s body, so he knew that it would take more than the strength provided by his armor to breach the Omega’s defenses. All he needed to do was put some distance between them. He had to get to the ready room, where everything in Atlas was routed through.

  The Omega raised one of his cannons, but Lee grabbed the arm. Both struggled against the other’s strength, but it was ultimately a futile effort. Lee could sense his armor straining and he was beginning to feel the pressure on his own arm. No matter how strong the armor, his own very human endurance would still give out long before the Omega.

  Lee took the next option and head-butted the Omega. The blow staggered the robot and Lee hopped off his back. He punched him again from behind and followed up with a third blow. The Omega fell to the ground.

  It was now or never. Lee ran to the elevator and hit the button for the top floor. As the doors closed, he saw the Omega rising and activating his thrusters to fly at him.

  The doors shut just as the Omega came at him. His robot fist punched through the doors and tore them open. Lee backed against the elevator’s wall and looked up to the emergency exit. He jumped for it, the armor’s strength taking him through the roof.

  The Omega entered the elevator and looked at him. He raised his cannons and began firing. Lee backed away to avoid the blasts and saw his one chance. He grabbed the elevator’s cables and pulled on them, struggling against them with his armor’s strength.

  The cables broke and the elevator fell down the shaft. The sudden drop threw the Omega to the elevator’s ceiling, pinning him there. He fought against it, trying to reach the open hatch, but with every inch the elevator fell, it became more difficult.

  Lee held onto the snapped cable and it rapidly took him up to the top of the elevator shaft. He braced himself for the impact at the top, jumping at the last moment and catching onto the ledge at the top floor. Lee hung from there just as the elevator struck the bottom of the shaft with a thunderous boom.

  He looked down at the mass of twisted metal. It wouldn’t be enough to destroy the Omega, but it would slow him down. Lee pulled himself up, forcing the hands of his armor between the elevator doors. He struggled, forcing them open and collapsed into the tunnel connecting the main part of Atlas to the command control center.

  Lee scrambled to his feet and ran down the tunnel. He was exhausted but he had no time to waste. He had to get to the ready room in order to see if he could undo the damage the Omega had done.

  CHAPTER 9

  The drones that spoke to Thorne and Zenith in the training room had now moved to attack. Thorne was injured and tried his best to contribute to the fight, but mostly Zenith had to protect him. The energy blasts Zenith fired could destroy a fair number of them and their own teleforce blasts only gave him more power to use against them.

  But the overwhelming numbers were what worried Zenith the most. Especially as he had to divide his efforts between taking offensive action against the robots and defending Thorne from their attacks.

  “We’re running out of time!” said Thorne. “Zenith, I won’t last much longer. You have to get to the source and stop the Omega!”

  Zenith’s mouth fell open in surprise. “I can’t leave you here to face these things alone!”

  “You can travel through Atlas’ entire complex with a thought and if the Omega gets out of here, there’s no telling what kind of damage he’ll do.” Thorne cringed as he raised his arm and fired at an oncoming droid. “Go!”

  Zenith threw out a wave of energy with his arms to knock down an incoming assault of robots. He looked over his shoulder at Thorne, defiance in his eyes. “No.”

  “You’re out of your damn mind!”

  “I will not leave you to die, Leonard. Either we go together, or we don’t go at all.”

  At the same moment, they heard the sound of the elevator crashing down in the shaft. There were two levels below the training room, one for storage and one housing the Atlas’ utilities. The robots all paused momentarily and Zenith flew to the elevator doors. He blasted them with his optic rays, blowing them open and looked down the shaft.

  The elevator wreck sat at the bottom. He glanced up and saw Lee climb into the tunnel at the top. Zenith turned to Thorne, holding out his hand. “Come on, now’s our cha—”

  The Omega burst through the wreckage, rocketing up the shaft. Zenith acted quickly, firing a blast with both hands that struck the Omega and caused him to hit the wall and tumble back down.

  When he rose again, though his eyes were incapable of conveying emotion, Zenith got the distinct impression that the Omega was pretty angry. He activated his thrusters and shot into Zenith, throwing them both into the training room and striking the far wall. As they flew, the Omega pummeled Zenith with his fists, raining blows of unbelievable strength upon him.

  “This is what you should’ve done to Lucent!” said the Omega. “You are weak, Zenith! I’ll do what you were never able to! I’ll make the world a better place! I’ll succeed where you failed!”

  With each blow, Zenith felt himself slipping away. Even with the power provided by Lucent’s body, it was still human and he was beginning to feel the weakness of that flesh. He had difficulty staying conscious and then the Omega threw Zenith into the wall. Zenith fell to the ground, lying motionless.

  He struggled to move, but every inch of his body ached. The azure glow of his body faded and Zenith laid his head back. His eyelids grew heavy and though he tried to fight it, the draw of unconsciousness was too strong. It only took another moment or two before the darkness finally overcame him.

  With Zenith down, the Omega turned his attention to Thorne. He hovered closer, remaining above the Colonel, who impotently raised his gun. The Omega just scoffed at the act.

  “Do you really believe you can stand up to me, Colonel?” he asked. “You’ve tried and failed at everything you’ve attempted. Vanguard, gone. Zenith, replaced. Why do
you bother trying to stand when you know I’ll kill you?”

  “Because I’m a stubborn old bastard,” said Thorne, then pulled the trigger.

  The blasts struck the Omega, but caused him no cause for alarm. The robot raised his cannon and fired a simple blast that blew the gun from Thorne’s grasp.

  Thorne cringed at the pain in his hand. The Omega came closer to him, ready to strike a final, definitive blow. He held up his cannon, aiming it square at Thorne’s head. Thorne just spat on the ground, staring defiantly at the Omega.

  “Go on, then. What’re you waiting for?”

  The Omega was struck from behind by a powerful energy blast, one strong enough that it threw him back into the elevator shaft. Thorne turned in surprise, his mouth agape and he saw Zenith rise up from the ground, his body seemingly more filled with power and purpose than ever. He flew towards Thorne’s side and maintained a hover.

  “Glad to see you’re not dead, Zenith.”

  He looked angrily at Thorne, his eyes burning with an azure brightness. “I’m not Zenith.”

  Thorne jerked his head back. “Oh…”

  Once Zenith fell unconscious, it must have given Lucent the opportunity he needed to retake his body. Just as Zenith had managed to rise up when Lucent was kept unconscious by the Analyst, now Lucent had been able to do the same.

  “Let’s get something straight,” said Lucent. “First, I’m going to destroy this tin soldier. Then, I’m going to kill you, the kid, and after that I’ll finish what I began before your team got in my way.”

  The Omega shot back into the training room, slamming his shoulder into Lucent. The force threw the villain back and the Omega charged at him again. The two battled like that, with Lucent trying to get some distance away so he could use his powers. But the Omega knew that his energy weapons were useless against his foe and so he attempted to keep up the physical assault. To keep him locked in close-quarters combat so Lucent couldn’t have enough space to fire off any energy attacks.