Paragons 2

by Gideon Mills

  “Even I can see something is going on between you two,” Duke said. He had taken a place in the corner of the room and was watching. He couldn’t take his eye off the group. It was clear to me that he was a fighter, and wanted to know all involved, even though we were on his side, he needed to know our weaknesses.

  “Fine,” Felicity said with a huff.

  “Go,” Fleur said.

  Athena nodded, and exited the observation room, less than a minute later she opened the door to the other room. Belladonna turned her head to look at her. “So they sent in the weakest of the group.”

  Athena gave a sly smile. Belladonna showed that she wasn’t good at reading people. Or was already deep into a mind game.

  “I’m Athena,” my sister said. “You were caught working with Paragons, under your own laws that would send you to prison for a very long time.”

  Belladonna rolled her eyes. “Rules that we set up to stop the likes of you. Clearly it wasn’t working.”

  Athena shrugged. “I’m not a Paragon, but a Goddess.”

  “If you say so.” The white-haired woman didn’t appear to care what Athena said. “You can’t make me turn against Reign.”

  “I know I can’t,” Athena said. “But I can lay out what is going to happen if you don’t.”

  Lola had looked into Belladonna. Each and every one of us knew her life story at this point. I had little doubt that my half-sister was going to us that against her. Make her beg to turn on the others. To talk to Elric and make him turn. This was the Goddess of Warfare’s biggest strength. Using people against themselves.

  “If you don’t testify,” Athena said, “the support that dear little Tommy gets: gone. Mom, and her company, gone. Dad, well I’ll make sure he gets that promotion you have been making sure he doesn’t get. And you, I’ll make sure you are sent to the prison furthest away from here. You’ll never see them again.”

  Belladonna had hidden her own family from everyone, even Reign.

  “How did you know?” She was clearly shaken.

  “It doesn’t matter. There is nothing Reign can do. If he tries to stop us, he would be admitting to knowing about it all. He has to let McGarrett and Bionicman do it.”

  Belladonna gulped. Athena was playing hardball.

  “I just want to rip her throat out,” Felicity said. as she stood inches from the mirror. “If she gets off this easy.”

  “It won’t be easy,’ Fleur said. “She’ll spend the rest of her life in prison.”

  “Not enough,” Felicity said. “She should lose her family. Lose everything, like she has done to others.”

  “As much as I would like that,” I said. “We have to look at the bigger picture.”

  Back on the other side of the mirror, it was clear that Belladonna was thinking.

  I could nearly see the wheels spinning in her head. What I would give to be an actual mind reader. Up until now, I hadn’t thought about it, but I wondered if there were any Paragons with that ability. It would be a great ability to have, and one that might just save the day.

  “Are there psychics, or mind readers?” I asked. The whole room turned to me with looks of confusion on their faces.

  “Not that I know of,” Duke said. “Never had one go to the Academy.”

  “Bummer,” I said. “Would be super useful.”

  Fleur and Lola laughed. “It sure would be,” Felicity said. “Rumors of one, but never actually met one.”

  “Oh well.”

  Back in the room, Belladonna was agreeing to the deal. She was turning on Reign and agreeing to help turn the others. This was working out even better than I had hoped.

  The rest of the day was a blur of Belladonna singing confessions, and showing us the evidence we would need to convict Reign.

  I was exceptionally happy and ready for this part to be over.

  35

  The Mayor

  That evening Fleur, Felicity, McGarrett and I stood in the office of the Mayor. She was a stern woman, with an angular face.

  Not many women were able to pull the attractive, but scary look. She was one of them.

  “Mayor Porter,” McGarrett said. “Thank you for seeing my associates and me so fast.”

  The woman nodded. “You are one of the most respected officers, even with Reign doing his best to ruin your career.”

  McGarrett smiled. “That means a lot coming from you.”

  “What can I do for you?” she asked. Jacqueline Porter sat at an ornate desk with some of the finest carvings I’ve seen since I’ve been back on Earth. The office itself was large and filled with just what I expected a politician to have. Awards on the walls, books filling shelves, and more technology than I cared to see. Nearly as much as Lola had.

  “We have evidence of Reign working with Elric, the Paragon that was mugging the people at Broadway.”

  We laid out all the evidence and showed it to the mayor. “This is overwhelming,” Jacqueline said. “Let me make a call to Judge Kane.”

  An hour later, Judge Walter Kane arrived, and we went over it all again. Showing the large man all we had.

  It didn’t take long for him to sign the warrant to arrest Reign. “I see why you didn’t call Judge Hawke or Vall,” Kane said. “They are scared to death of Reign, bring that son of a bitch in.”

  It was time to get Reign and end this battle. Part of me hoped that he didn’t come quietly, and I got to show him just how hard I could hit.

  Arriving at the police station with our warrant in hand, we were ready to take Reign in. We knew that he spent more time here than anywhere else. The sergeant at the front desk saw us coming in and jumped to his feet.

  “Uh,” he said. “Rumor is you have a warrant for Reign.” He barely made it through the words.

  McGarrett has a smile on his face, one that had to be answer enough. “We do,” Captain McGarrett said.

  The Sergeant behind the desk nodded, and a small smile formed on his face. It was clear that none of the men and women here liked Reign and what he had done to the department. He came in and made it a force against the Paragons, and many of the people in blue had worked hand in hand with Paragons. Respected what the heroes did for the city, and being forced to track them down like prey was too much for many of them.

  Sure there were people here that enjoyed the reign of Reign, but most didn’t. My team made our way through the department headquarters in the heart of Manhattan. If this broke out into a fight it wouldn’t be good for the city.

  Yet, part of me was itching to go toe to toe with the vile man. McGarrett stopped at his old desk. A short, stocky man sat there now. “Is he here?” McGarrett asked.

  “In his office,” the stocky man said. “He knows you’re coming, and that you have Ares and the others with you.”

  McGarrett nodded. “Okay, we can take him.”

  “I hope so,” the officer said. “He’s been ruining the city.”

  That was an understatement. Yet the simple truth, and one we needed to fix.

  Our team had to look intimidating to the officers. At the front was McGarrett in full SWAT-like armor, that many of the police force didn’t even have access to. I was right behind him, in my ancient Greek armor. I know that many people said it was a fierce-looking outfit, and I happened to like it. Behind me was Fleur in her form-fitting black superhero outfit. Next in line was Lola and she had the same outfit she wore to the battle, tested and approved by me. Felicity was right there in her own dark blue hero uniform that left little to the imagination and let her squirrel side show entirely. My dear sister was the last in the line, and like me wore her ancient Greece outfit. It covered her fully, but I was sure that many of the men were still staring at her and longing to bed her.

  Making our way to the man that we all had grown to hate was as slow as if the world around us was moving in slow motion. My anxiety level increased, the closer we got, the more I was sure we’d have a fight on our hands.

  The door to Reign’s office was open, and in
side, I heard a disconcerting sound. One that I had heard more than once, but never in a building. If it was about to do what I thought, this place was going to erupt into chaos.

  Walking into the room, with McGarrett, Reign had the window open, and I saw it. A giant Mecha suit. One that appeared to be on steroids.

  “Stop,” McGarrett said. “We have a warrant for your arrest. We can prove that you have been working with criminals to make the city anti-Paragon.”

  Reign sneered at us. “You are filth. Disgusting pigs and I will make sure the city sees just how bad you are.”

  Then he jumped through the window and into the Mecha suit.

  36

  A Fight in Central park

  All hell broke loose.

  This had been unexpected, to say the least. Reign was in the suit and opening fire on the building. He had completely gone crazy and was doing more to show the world how Paragons are good, and not bad. I couldn’t believe what he was doing. This had to help our cause and hurt his. I’m sure that Mother wasn’t going to be happy with this outcome, it couldn’t be what she had predicted.

  I stood in front of McGarrett and let the bullets Reign was unleashing on the building impact me. I moved with a speed that only I could, letting them all hit me. Keeping everyone in the building safe. I didn’t even break a sweat doing it, and knew that I could do this all day. Though that wouldn’t capture Reign, and that was the goal.

  In a blink of an eye, Athena was next to me doing her best to keep us all safe as well. The two of us were able to hold off this onslaught from Reign. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Fleur pull out a high-powered gun.

  It had been a surprise to see her with the weapon, but she was a skilled fighter, and it came as no shock that she knew how to use it. She moved forward and stood behind me, as Athena continued to speed around stopping the bullets.

  The man had to run out of ammo soon. Mecha suits might be able to carry more than a normal human, but they didn’t have an endless supply.

  Fleur took aim on the suit, in the now-destroyed wall that had separated us. Reign had taken out nearly the full wall with his barrage on us.

  The White Angel fired not one, but two shots. She had one of the most advanced weapons she could get her hands on. As the rounds left the gun, it was deafening in the room. Even more so than the sounds emanating from the Mecha suit.

  As the shots hit the suit, a loud thud sounded. Nothing but a dent on the suit. “Fuck,” I said.

  Being on the defensive wasn’t going to work for me. I am the motherfucking God of War. I needed to attack and let him know I was the boss.

  I lunged at him and knocked into the Mecha suit, set it flying through the hair. It continued to send out bullets as it flew. We landed several blocks away on the edge of Central Park. It reminded me of the first battle I had here on Earth with my sister Eris, and with Fleur at my side.

  That fight didn’t last long, and we had been able to keep people from getting hurt. Now that was going to be much harder to do. The Mecha suits were designed to do nothing but hurt. To kill Paragons. There was little doubt that they would devour regular humans.

  Screams and shouts sounded around me. Moving with a fierceness that I hadn’t in a long time, I smashed into the iron man, and nothing happened. Whatever this suit was made of, it was able to withstand my force.

  That wasn’t a good sign. I had to defeat him and save the people around me.

  Moving with speed, I pulled a move that I had seen on one of those CW shows and moved all the people away in a blink of an eye. Okay, it might have been a few blinks of eyes, but I moved all the people closest to us elsewhere.

  By the time I was done, Athena had arrived with the others. She must have carried Fleur and Felicity over. Lola and McGarrett were nowhere to be seen.

  “Guardian and McGarrett?” I asked. Hoping they were back where it was safe, and could help in their own way.

  “Back at the police station, trying to work magic through the computer,” Fleur said.

  I smiled, there was no doubt that Lola was working some magic with the computer. All we had to do was distract Reign, and not let him counter anything she was doing. That was easy, and something I was very good at.

  Reign laughed. “Your hacker can try all she wants,” he said. His voice in the Mecha suit was robotic and hollow. It made me hate him even more. This man really was the vilest person I had ever met in my life. Even worse than Gaius Caesar Germanicus or Moctezuma II who I had to deal with. Both of them were as terrible as history said.

  Reign was just like them and needed to be kicked in the balls. It was time to make that happen. All of us working together would be able to take him out, and show the world that Paragons were good.

  I made the first move, with Fleur right on my tail. We worked as a team, and so did the others. As if we’d done this a million times. Moving in and out, kicking, punching, and overwhelming Reign.

  Even though we didn’t have years together, the four of us didn’t get in each other’s way. I would punch on the right, and Fleur would kick on the left. Felicity and Athena from the rear. All over us moving with speed and accuracy. One of us going high, and one low.

  Without speaking we all knew who was going to do what, and when. It was nice to be part of this well-oiled machine that we had just become. It felt like home for me.

  Going to the left, I punched him in the arm as Reign did his best to avoid me. All that managed to do was open up the Mecha suit to Athena on the other side, allowed her a clear shot at the knee.

  Fleur used that to try to sweep the right leg. The squirrelkin took the rear again and used her razor-sharp claws on the suit.

  He tried his best to fight against us, but the Mecha suit made him slow. Reign couldn’t keep up with our barrage of attacks. Not that we were doing much damage to the armor of his suit. None of my punches appeared to even dent the armor, and that was frustrating.

  “It must be made of celestial bronze,” Athena said.

  With that thought racing through my mind, I knew what I had to do. The only thing that could get through this suit was my own sword. I closed my eyes and reached into the nothingness that held it when I wasn’t using it. Pulling out the blade, I was ready to rip the suit to shreds.

  I should have started this fight with my weapon. If I had, this might be over.

  “I’m making headway,” I heard in the earbud that connected us together. Lola sounded confident. That was great to hear, and now with my blade, I was sure that we would be victorious soon.

  “We are too,” Athena said, but didn’t sound convinced. “Or we will, once my brother stops posing and actually attacks.”

  Fleur laughed. “He does that every time he summons that thing. His best He-man impression.”

  Everyone laughed. “It is very much like that He-man, or Hercules,” Athena said.

  I groaned. The last person I wanted to be compared to was Hercules or a fictional version. They weren’t me, and would never be. “Very funny,” I said.

  Reign wasn’t sitting idle as I pulled the sword out. As he stood looking at us, some types of weapons appeared on his suit. Like it was straight out of a comic movie. It was unreal, and I needed to act.

  In one swift movement, I launched myself at him. There was no way I was going to allow him to fire any of those. The sheer number of missiles that appeared would devastate the park, and hurt those around us.

  “I’m in,” Lola shouted. A smile formed on my face, and I knew that this was over. Just one move on my part and Reign would be under our control.

  At the same moment, my blade sliced into the suit. Hitting him so hard that his ancestors hurt. I took out his right leg, and he toppled to the ground. The Mecha suit hit the ground with a deafening bang that hurt my hears. Not a pile of metal, and Athena had been right, celestial bronze.

  That didn’t mean Reign was ready to give up. The man tried to attack, but Lola had locked him out. None of the weapons fired. In the suit, I could hear
the frantic pressing of buttons, and kicking.

  “Work,” Reign said. “Damnit. Fire.”

  “Not going to happen,” Felicity said. All of us surrounded him. All with smiles on our faces. We had won.

  37

  Victory

  Again, the rest of the day was a blur, but in the end, Reign was in jail. The city was safe, and we could go back to the secret lair and relax. Sleep, and plan for the next step in the quest to save Earth from Hera.

  I was beat, and ready for a night off. Just one night to be away from this all. With that in mind, I went to my room and put on a movie to unwind. I needed something to take my mind off everything.

  Not long into the movie, a knock sounded on the door. I didn’t even answer but when it opened Felicity was standing there in sheer lingerie.

  I couldn’t believe what I was seeing. Felicity was truly enticing; her body was rock hard. Mouthwatering. With her perky breasts, hard erect nipples poking through. Bright pink against her tanned skin.

  “You looking ravishing,” I said. “I could eat you up.”

  “Just what I want,” she purred.

  Shutting the door behind her, she made her way to the bed. I had been waiting a long time for this. To hold her, and be with this stunning squirrelkin. To meld together with this lavish woman.

  I loved her and her body. No shame in admitting that I lusted after her body. I rushed over to my bed and joined her in it. She had lain down and was looking up at me, as I sat down Felicity jumped up and nibbled on my ear. It sent a chill down my spine. One that caused me to be even harder than I already was. I was barely able to control myself. She knew how to truly excite me. Make me harder than a diamond.

  This was the first time with her, and I wanted to be the one leading the way. Gently I took off her clothes and took in her body. All of it. Her glorious body. With the tanned skin, and hair from her squirrelkin Paragon mods. It made her both exquisite and stunning.