Vanguard: Seasons 1-3: A Superhero Adventure

by Percival Constantine

  “That’s bullshit! You’re just jealous because I’m the one on top, and you want all the spotlight for yourself!” His voice grew louder, now almost a scream. “You don’t know a damn thing about me or what I do! So just stay out!”

  His finger began to glow white-hot and a beam of superheated energy fired from the tip. The blast struck Paragon and knocked her back for a loop. Even through the telekinetic field surrounding her body, she could still feel the heat of the blast and the impact against her chest, and it winded her.

  “I don’t wanna do this, but you’re not giving me much of a choice.” Paragon flew at Exemplar as fast as she could, closing the distance between them. Telekinetic energy channeled into her fists, stretched out in front of her, and she barreled into the caped man with all her might, fists that were like steel slamming into his chest. The force of the blow drove Exemplar from the sky, and he plummeted into the cold lake below with a mammoth splash that threw waves from the epicenter.

  Gunsmith’s voice came in through the transmitter plugged into her ear as she lowered herself closer to the surface of the water. “Paragon, what just happened?”

  “I think you may have been right about this guy. He’s definitely not—” Paragon paused as she heard something coming from below. Looking down at the lake, she saw it beginning to bubble, as if it were boiling. “Umm, Gunsmith? I think I could use that back-up…”

  Glowing hands burst through the water’s surface. Exemplar’s head appeared above briefly, just long enough for his fingers to take hold of Paragon’s legs and pull her under the water with him.

  ***

  “Paragon? Paragon?” Gunsmith tapped his ear, but he couldn’t pick up anything, only garbled noise. “Dammit! Zenith, are you locked on to her transmitter?”

  The map on the screen shifted and zoomed in on a blinking red dot over the lake. “She appears to be beneath the water, Gunsmith. That would account for the lack of communication.”

  “Get us over the lake right now!”

  While Zenith returned to the cockpit to take the Icarus out of hover mode, Gunsmith pointed at Koji. “Sharkskin, you’re up.”

  Koji smiled and his grin swiftly widened, the teeth that composed it sharpening. As he stood, his skin tone became gray and his muscles bulged, straining against the confines of his suit. “Don’t worry, boss-man. I got this.”

  Gunsmith looked to Dominic next. “Stand ready, Wraith. We might need you on this, too.”

  “Wh-what about me?” asked Erin.

  Gunsmith looked at the team’s shapeshifter and sighed. She was still just a kid, and as much as he didn’t want to admit it, her powers seemed ill-suited for a mission against a powerhouse like Exemplar. “Erin, I want you to go up to the cockpit with Zenith. We might need him on the battlefield, and if that’s the case, someone has to keep the Icarus in the air.”

  “Shift,” she muttered as she stood.

  “Excuse me?”

  Erin glared at him. “Only use codenames in the field, remember? Mine’s Shift, so if I’m part of this team, why don’t you try using it?”

  She intentionally hit her shoulder against his as she passed him and entered the cockpit. Wraith watched this and clicked his tongue a bit, although he was grinning beneath his mask. “Off to a great start, aren’t we, Captain America?”

  Gunsmith felt like clocking Wraith, but instead he focused on checking his weaponry. “Just be ready for anything. This guy’s no push-over.”

  ***

  Sharkskin took a deep breath as he stood in front of the Icarus’ rear hatch. “C’mon, Koji…you can do this…you can do this…”

  He stretched his arms and legs, keeping himself moving to try and work off his nerves. Could he even dive into the lake from this height without the impact killing him? Should he ask Zenith to take him in closer, or maybe ask Wraith to teleport him there?

  A cold, yet oddly comforting voice rang through his transmitter. “We’re in position, Sharkskin. Your shark-form should prove durable enough to break through the water without complication.”

  “Thanks, I kinda needed to hear that.”

  “Disengaging locks and opening hatch.”

  Sharkskin readied himself as the door slid open. He held onto the handrail above the door and looked down, his black eyes widening. “Wow…that’s pretty far down…”

  “You’ll do fine, Koji.”

  He smiled at the teenaged girl’s voice. “Thanks, Shift. And it’s Sharkskin.”

  Swinging from the handrail, Sharkskin dropped into the air, looking behind him to see the Icarus quickly vanishing as he fell. Turning back to the water, Sharkskin brought his legs together and kept his arms pinned to his sides, streaking like a giant, gray bullet. He hit the water, instantly feeling invigorated. Koji wanted to cheer at having successfully made a dive from thousands of feet in the air, but he knew he had a job to do.

  Under water, he could see the struggle between Paragon and Exemplar clearly. Exemplar had one hand clasped on the throat of Sharkskin’s teammate, the other covering her face. Paragon struggled and kicked against him, trying to remove his vise-like grip with no luck. And Sharkskin could also feel the heat radiated by Exemplar’s hands, could see the bubbles around that area boiling up, and could see the way they glowed even beneath the dark water.

  Sharkskin kicked his legs furiously, moving just as fast as his namesake. He grabbed Exemplar’s cape and pulled himself closer to his prey. Sharkskin wrapped one burly arm around Exemplar’s neck and bit down into the so-called hero’s shoulder. Sharkskin couldn’t seem to pierce Exemplar’s hide, but it apparently did cause the powerhouse some degree of pain.

  With her teammate’s intervention, Paragon broke through the water’s surface, taking in long, deep breaths. She hovered above the lake, straining to see beneath the murky waters. And then, she saw the bubbling. Paragon flew towards it, but just before she could dive underwater once more, Sharkskin flew out with incredible momentum, striking her and throwing them both onto the shallow end of the lake, right near the coast.

  Paragon lay face-down in the water, the wet sand seeping into her mouth. She got up, spitting it out, and saw Sharkskin lying face-down and motionless just a few feet away. She rolled him over onto his back. His eyes were shut and the image of a handprint had been burned through his suit and onto his chest.

  “I hope you realize this is all your fault.”

  Paragon spun and saw Exemplar hovering above her, his arms bent slightly, clenched fists glowing brightly with the heat they generated distorting the air around his hands. “You think you can just come into my city and make a fool out of me?”

  As he hovered closer, Paragon stood between Exemplar and Sharkskin, ready to protect her teammate if necessary. “Doesn’t have to be this way. You threw the first punch, all I wanted to do was talk.”

  “Oh really?” Exemplar extended his arm, palm facing Paragon. “Why don’t you try talking to this!”

  A wave of black energy swept over Exemplar before he could fire another of his plasma blasts. The effect caused him to drop into the shallow water. As he got to his knees, he saw the source of it was a man in black walking towards him. Behind the man in black, another man in red armor went to examine Sharkskin and Paragon.

  “Please don’t tell me you were about to make a talk-to-the-hand joke,” said Wraith.

  Exemplar slowly hovered from the water, glaring down at the new combatants.

  “Wraith, we have to get back to the Icarus!” said Gunsmith.

  “In a minute.” The ebony glow of Wraith’s eyes matched the aura of energy around his raised fist. “First, I’m gonna finish off this bastard.”

  “Wraith, listen to him!” said Paragon. “You don’t know what this guy can—”

  He ignored her words and threw both arms out in front of him, unleashing another burst of shadow energy. But the Exemplar was able to easily evade the blast. He circled around and flew straight at Wraith, tackling him. The two rolled in the sand and ended
up within the shadows of the dike. The Exemplar had Wraith pinned down and delivered two swift blows to the masked man’s face. The very fact that Wraith’s skull hadn’t caved in meant Exemplar was pulling his punches, probably to prolong Wraith’s pain instead of killing him outright.

  “So you like jokes, huh? You ever hear of this one?” asked Exemplar, pulling back his fist and spreading out his fingers. “What did the five fingers say to the face?”

  Exemplar brought his open palm crashing down as he screamed, “Splat!” But just before his hand could make contact, Wraith vanished, teleporting with the aid of the shadow his attacker cast. Exemplar’s hand instead struck the ground, sending a light tremor through the immediate area.

  Energy blasts struck Exemplar’s head and body. He turned and saw Gunsmith unloading on him with both energy pistols. The blasts were powerful enough to stagger the superhuman, but not enough to keep him down.

  As Gunsmith continued firing, he caught sight of Wraith emerging from a shadow off to his side. “What the hell did I tell you?”

  “Shove it!”

  Gunsmith ignored the comment; he’d deal with Wraith later. “Zenith, I’m using lethal settings and it’s barely making a dent!” he said, knowing the robot would pick up his voice through the transmitter. “We need an EVAC!”

  “Understood.” The metallic voice not only rang in Gunsmith’s ear, but also on the field. Lights from the Icarus illuminated the beach, and hovering below it, descending towards the battle, was Zenith. Both his arms had shifted into cannons capable of discharging powerful energy blasts that he rained down upon Exemplar. The beams kept Exemplar staggered, with Zenith approaching closer. “Get to the Icarus!”

  “You heard him.” Gunsmith continued firing, while tossing a glare at Wraith.

  Wraith grumbled but still followed orders. He went to Paragon’s side and was prepared to help her with Sharkskin, but she was capable of hefting him in her arms without aid. “I’ve got him.” She jumped into the air, and flew back to the Icarus’ open hatch. Wraith slipped back into the shadows to transport himself to the ship.

  Exemplar blocked his face with his arms, but the combination of both Zenith and Gunsmith made it difficult for him to retaliate. His entire body began to glow and released a burst of energy that surrounded him in an incandescent ball.

  “ENOUGH!”

  Zenith and Gunsmith lowered their weapons and fell on the defense, with Gunsmith shielding his eyes from the brightness. The instant it died down, the Exemplar was back in the air, flying off into the night.

  CHAPTER 4

  At one point, when the automatic doors of a below-ground ICBM site flipped open, that meant a missile was preparing for launch. But since its conversion to the Atlas base, the top floor beneath those doors was the hangar for the Icarus, and the opened now to welcome home the members of Vanguard.

  Inside the hangar, Thorne and McCabe stood off to the side, allowing for plenty of room. The force of the air as the VTOL system gently lowered the Icarus blew back their hair, their eyes clamped shut to shield them from any loose debris.

  Once the craft powered down and the hatch opened, Wraith was the first one off, removing the mask from the lower part of his face as he disembarked. A loud, clearly angry voice followed him off.

  “Get back here, you son of a bitch!” Gunsmith stormed down the ramp. The speed his armor granted him enabled him to easily catch up to Wraith and grab his shoulder. Wraith’s first instinct was to pivot and throw a punch.

  It was an instinct he followed.

  Gunsmith was more stunned by the blow than actually harmed, and he had to restrain himself from reaching for his weapon. Thorne and McCabe ran towards them, but it was Paragon who flew between the two men and kept them apart with her powerful arms.

  “That’s enough!”

  “What the hell is the meaning of this?” asked Thorne.

  Gunsmith pointed past Paragon’s head. “Maybe you should ask him!”

  Thorne’s gaze turned onto the dark-haired special. “Well?”

  “He disobeyed a direct or—”

  Thorne’s head snapped at Gunsmith. “Stand down, soldier!” He looked back at Wraith. “I asked him.”

  Wraith folded his arms. “I saw an opening, I took it.”

  Thorne shook his head. “Judging from those bruises on your face, would seem that wasn’t the smartest course of action.”

  “You’re not alone out there anymore, Vaughn,” said Gunsmith. “You’d better start acting like you’re part of a team.”

  “You mean like you did?” Shift stood beside Sharkskin, who was now in his human form and leaning on Zenith for support. The young shapeshifter quickened her pace, walking right up to Gunsmith, ignoring any concern for his personal space. “If we’re supposed to be a team, then how come you had me sitting on the sidelines?”

  “Exemplar had already taken down one of our biggest guns and your power-set isn’t suited for combat,” said Gunsmith.

  “In other words, you think I’m useless, don’t you.” It was a statement. “To hell with you, Ellis.”

  “Okay, everyone just relax,” said Paragon, but Shift had already stormed out of the hangar.

  “You’re certainly off to a good start, leader-boy,” said Wraith with a smug grin.

  “Stow it, Wraith. Go hit the showers and cool off.” Thorne waited for Wraith to follow his command, and for a moment it seemed as if Wraith was more content with staying put and fighting not only Gunsmith, but also Thorne if it came to that. But after a few breaths of tense silence and hard stares, Wraith did an about-face and left the hangar. Thorne then turned to the rest of the team. “Zenith, take Sharkskin to the infirmary so Dr. McCabe can have a look at his injuries. Paragon, you go, too.”

  McCabe hesitated for a moment, despite hearing his name in Thorne’s order. “You sure you don’t need me here, Colonel?”

  Thorne stared at Gunsmith when he responded with, “No. Lt. Ellis and I need a moment.”

  McCabe gave a reluctant nod and walked to Paragon, Zenith, and Sharkskin. “Let’s go.”

  Once the hangar emptied, Thorne stepped past Jim, staring up at the Icarus with his hands clasped behind his back. “Tell me what happened out there.”

  Jim stepped next to Thorne. “We did it Anita’s way. She approached Exemplar when he was over the lake and tried to talk with him. Seems criticism is his kryptonite, because as soon as she told him to be more cautious about his actions, he attacked her. Anita defended herself and then he had her on the ropes. Because he’d pulled her below water, I felt Koji was the best choice to send in next with the rest of us on standby. He did manage to get Exemplar back on dry land, but he was injured as a result. Wraith teleported me down to the ground with him, and the purpose was for me to distract Exemplar while Wraith transported our injured back to the Icarus. Instead, Wraith decided to confront him head-on. Zenith came down for back-up and that’s when Exemplar flew off, leaving us licking our wounds.”

  “What about Erin?”

  “Shapeshifting is by no means a useless skill, it can be incredibly effective in covert operations. But this wasn’t that type of mission. The rest of the team either has some degree of combat training or experience—or in Koji’s case, powers that can offset the lack thereof. Erin’s a different story, though.”

  Thorne rubbed his chin with a thoughtful, “Hmm.”

  Jim stepped in front of his commanding officer. He now felt his own authority being questioned and with that came a need to defend himself. “What should I have done? Sent an unarmed teenage girl directly in the path of a literal superman?”

  Thorne began shaking his head and he held up a hand. “Now, I never said that. But this is your team, Lieutenant.” He pointed at Jim for emphasis. “A good leader doesn’t only know his team’s strengths and weaknesses, but he also knows how to devise strategies that incorporate the team as a whole, make them work together. It’s not just about raw power. If it were, I wouldn’t have put a non-spec
ial on this team, let alone in charge of it—power-suit or not.”

  Jim lowered his head. “I apologize, sir. Maybe I’m not right for this job.”

  Thorne responded with a shove against Jim’s chest. The young soldier looked up in surprise. “What was that for?”

  “Because self-pitying bullshit is not what I want to hear and that’s not the James Ellis I recruited to lead this team! You’re better than this.” Thorne sighed. “Maybe it was too soon. Most of the training has been on an individual basis, so you haven’t had enough of a chance to train them as a team. But we don’t have the luxury of more time. This encounter shows that Exemplar is at the very least unstable, and it’s only a matter of time before someone else pisses him off. We need to be ready.”

  ***

  Koji lay flat on his back, watching as McCabe applied a balm on the hand-shaped burn over his chest. “Well, the good news is that thanks to your shark-form and your suit, the damage isn’t as bad as it could have been. Had you taken that blow in your human form, it’d be a different story.”

  “Thanks, Doc.”

  McCabe gave him a smile and a pat on the shoulder. “You’ll be up in no time. How’s the pain?”

  “Feels worse than it looks,” said Koji.

  “I’ll give you something for it, don’t worry.” McCabe stepped away from Koji, and approached Anita, who sat on an adjacent cot. “How are you feeling? Seems you took some damage as well.”

  “Oh no, I’m fine.” She gestured to Koji with her head. “I was just worried about him. That was pretty brave of you to dive in like that to save me.”

  Koji smiled at her. “So you think I’m brave, huh?”

  She smirked back. “Don’t get carried away, hero. I’ve never been much of the damsel type.”

  McCabe was the only one who didn’t appear amused by their conversation and instead focused on his job. “You’re sure you’re okay?”

  Anita brushed off his concern with a wave of her hand. “I’m fine, Doctor. That forcefield of mine is evidently capable of taking quite the beating.”