Contents
Title Page
Before You Start...
Season One
#0 - The Event
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
#1 - Come The Exemplar
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
#2 - Cold War Frankenstein
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Epilogue
#3 - Air of Revolution
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Epilogue
#4 - Power Surge
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Epilogue
#5 - Rise of the Red Fist
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Epilogue
Season Two
#5.5 - Executive Decision
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Epilogue
#6 - Freak Island
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Epilogue
#7 - The Experts
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Epilogue
#8 - Under Siege
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Epilogue
#9 - The Collective
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Epilogue
#10 - Harbinger
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Epilogue
Season Three
#11 - Vengeance
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Epilogue
#12 - Fight Night
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Epilogue
#13 - The Tomorrow Man
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Epilogue
#14 - Invasion, Part I
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Epilogue
#15 - Invasion, Part II
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Epilogue
Continue The Adventure!
Also by Percival Constantine
About the Author
Copyright
Superhuman threats require a superhuman response. Enter Vanguard, a government-sanctioned team of superheroes designed to deal with rogue elements possessing incredible abilities! This team of powerful beings with even more powerful personalities must overcome their differences while dealing with one life-threatening crisis after another!
Collected in one volume are the first three books in the Vanguard superhero series. Join the team as they battle super-powered criminals, corrupt military organizations, sinister secret societies, and alien invaders!
VANGUARD
SEASONS 1-3
By Percival Constantine
Just go to percivalconstantine.com/subscribe to get your free stories!
SEASON ONE
#0 - THE EVENT
CHAPTER 1
The stillness of Earth’s moon was interrupted by a figure who appeared suddenly on the surface. The man walked carefully along the dusty terrain in his spacesuit, one that was exactly like the AZL suits worn on the Apollo 11 lunar walk. In contrast to his outfit, by his side was a different creature, humanoid and completely silver, without a single identifying characteristic. Unlike the man in the suit, the automaton had no need to fear the vacuum of space. The robot bent his arm out in front of his face and a holographic image appeared above his wrist. It displayed a variety of information that flashed in rapid succession, far too quick for the human eye to discern, but for the robot, it was a simple matter to observe and analyze every last bit of data as if casually reading a magazine. Strangely, without even the benefit of eyesight.
The display vanished and he lowered his arm. “Transport was successful.” His voice had a definite tinny quality to it. “In the parlance of this era, the date is December Twenty-First, Two Thousand and Twelve.”
From behind the visor of his helmet, the man smiled. “Of course it was successful. Was there ever any doubt?”
“If I may query, what is the purpose of this garb?”
“Oh this?” He moved about in the suit, looking down at it. “This, my dear Progenitor, is a classic. While wearing this, mankind took his first steps onto a world other than their own. It was a milestone in human evolution, and it serves as fitting a point as any for what comes next.”
They continued to walk along the surface, the astronaut enjoying the feel of the moon’s low grav
ity as he jumped from one point to the next. Progenitor, however, simply followed along as normal, not comprehending his companion’s merriment.
Just over the horizon, they found a four-wheeled vehicle, left abandoned for decades. And not far from it was a pole; attached to the top was a plain, white flag. The astronaut approached the flag, touching its fabric between his gloved fingers.
“A place of historical significance. And from here, we can bring mankind into another turning point.” He faced his robotic companion. “Are we ready?”
Progenitor nodded. “Are you certain of this? Unleashing such a force on this species could have disastrous consequences.”
“We’ve both seen the future, my friend. If humanity is to survive, this action must be taken.”
“Why this date?”
The astronaut smiled again beneath his helmet. “There’s a long-standing myth that this particular day will mark the beginning of a new era. I’m partial to that kind of symmetry. Do you understand?”
“I comprehend your words, yet the meaning escapes me.”
“Then let’s just say I’m sentimental,” said the astronaut. “You can begin.”
“Acknowledged.”
The Progenitor held his arms out and stared up at the stars. He brought his legs together and slowly rose above the surface and remained there for several moments, seemingly doing nothing. His silver body began to pulse with a golden glow from within. Within moments, the Progenitor’s entire body was glowing, expanding ever-outward. A brilliant burst of energy shot forth from him, forming into a ball and growing larger as it traversed the distance from the Earth to the moon. Upon reaching the planet, the ball exploded into millions of small streaks of light, fading away as they pierced the Earth’s atmosphere.
The Progenitor lowered back to the surface, facing the astronaut. “It is done. The energy will linger in the atmosphere and over time, will be absorbed by the human genome and encoded into the DNA.”
“How long?” asked the astronaut.
“This depends upon the individual. Some will develop new traits immediately. For others, it may take months or years. But for many, the transformation will remain dormant in their genetic code, perhaps for generations.”
The astronaut frowned. “I suppose we can only work with what we’ve got. The important thing is that the new age has begun.”
CHAPTER 2
“Erin! Erin!”
The teenage girl picked up the remote for her digital speakers, pausing the hip hop music reverberating through her room. She shouted back through the closed door at her mother, “What?”
“It’s almost half past, hurry up or you’ll be late!”
“I’ll be down in a minute!”
Hitting play on the remote, she stood in front of the full-length mirror, singing along with the music. As she ran a brush through her long, blond hair, she examined her features, and was generally pleased with the make-up application. She set down the brush and stopped singing just long enough to touch up her lip gloss. One last smile of appreciation and she took the MP3 player off the mount for the speakers, cutting the music off. She picked up her backpack, glancing at the poster of the female rapper she’d been singing along to, and rushed out the door.
Erin ran down the stairs and into the kitchen. Her mother stood bent over the kitchen counter with an open newspaper spread out in front of her, a steaming cup of coffee in one hand. “You’re gonna be late…”
“I’ve got plenty of time.” Erin opened the refrigerator and searched through the contents.
“Traffic picks up around this time.”
“I’ll take the side streets, stop worrying so much.” She took a bottled water and closed the door.
“Okay, well—” Her mother gasped and the cup slipped from her fingers, breaking against the counter and drenching the newspaper in coffee.
“Geez, Mom!” Erin glanced down at her blouse to make she didn’t get any coffee on it. She furrowed her brow as she noticed her hands suddenly appeared much darker than usual.
Her mother’s mouth hung open, eyes fixed on her daughter. “E-Erin…?”
“What? What’s wrong?” The difference in her voice now became noticeable. She swung her bag off her shoulder and reached inside, frantically grasping for her compact. She opened it and looked in the mirror, then—like mother, like daughter—dropped it with a startled gasp.
Her appearance had inexplicably changed. No longer was she the blond-haired, blue-eyed high school student from the suburbs of Madison, Wisconsin. The hair color remained, but her skin had inexplicably become a light brown, and her facial features and body now resembled that of the pop star she’d just been singing along to. Her gaze was fixed on her hands, and they shifted again, reverting to their normal pigment. Picking up the compact from the floor, she inspected her features again—she was Erin Hastings once more. But the fear was still etched in her face.
“Mom…what’s happening?”
***
The expectation of many would be that a Hawaiian resident would spend his day off on the pristine beaches of the Aloha State. But for Koji Asano, employed as a surfing instructor for the Hilton Hawaiian Village Resort, the beach simply reminded him of work. Although he enjoyed his job, and Japanese visitors allowed him to maintain a degree of speaking proficiency in his parents’ native language, on his time off, he preferred to stay away from the beaches.
Seated at the bar of a Mexican restaurant slightly off-the-beaten-path in Waikiki, he sipped his beer and tapped his fingers against the wooden counter while he waited for his burrito. Mariachi music played through the restaurant’s speakers, and Koji unconsciously matched the rhythm with his tapping.
He could feel his stomach growling as he waited for his lunch. The smell of the seasoned meat being cooked in the back was stronger than it had been a moment ago, and his mouth started watering in response. Koji suddenly flinched, a screeching sound like nails on a chalkboard from outside. He stood from the barstool and glanced out the window overlooking the street, a taxi had skidded to a stop and the driver was screaming obscenities at the driver in front of him, who had stopped at a green light. Oddly enough, Koji could clearly make out every word as if he were standing right next to them.
Koji cringed once more, hands going up to cover his ears. There were so many sounds from all over, and he felt like he was drowning in them. Accidentally scratching his face when he brought his hands to his ears, he could feel a trickle on his cheek, and he saw a speck of blood on the tip of his nail. More than that, the nail itself had grown. To call it a nail wasn’t even accurate, what was more accurate was to call it a claw.
His nostrils were now being violated in the same manner as his ears. The scents from not only the kitchen, but also from the Korean restaurant next door, and the Hawaiian seafood restaurant across the street. All those scents intermingled and he lost his footing under the pressure, curling into a ball while his senses were rocked into overdrive.
***
“Step away from the shop with your hands behind your head—slowly!”
Dominic Vaughn heard the voice come from beyond the car headlights that blinded him and he knew he was finished. The forty-something divorced manager he seduced must have awoken sooner than he thought, realized he’d taken her shop key, and called the police. Now he had to try and figure out how he would escape—if escape were even possible.
“I repeat, walk towards me with your hands behind your head!”
Vanguard: Seasons 1-3: A Superhero Adventure Page 1