by Gideon Mills
Paragons 3
Gods and Superheroes
Gideon Mills
Copyright © 2019 Gideon Mills All Right Reserved
Cover Art by Michael Vasilev
Typography by Dark Cover Designs
No part of this book may be reproduced in any form, whether by electronic or mechanical, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission of the author, except for the use of brief quotations for reviews.
Created with Vellum
For all the superhero MMO fans out there.
Contents
1. Madison Square Garden
2. An unexpected surprise
3. Making a Choice
4. Meeting the Mako
5. Talking it Out
6. Training
7. Cardio, the fun kind
8. Fenrir Speaks
9. Zeke
10. Epps Technologies
11. A Tidy Apartment
12. Oh Shit
13. Consoling
14. Getting Ready for some Action
15. A Night to Remember
16. Goodbye, Felicity
17. Yet another meeting
18. Influencer
19. Third Street Dragons
20. Fight or Run
21. That sucked
22. Leaving the City
23. It smells funny
24. Influencer
25. Behind the Scenes
26. Progress
27. A Friend in Need
28. A Cruel World
29. Secret Hospital
30. Breaking News
31. Fenrir not Happy
32. Alone time
33. Sneaking into Epps
34. The Worst
35. Sorting it Out
36. Stan the Man
37. Chaos around America
38. A Way In
39. The Nasty Subway
40. Old Shit
41. Not Alone
42. A Shower
43. A Call from Mako
44. The Video
45. A New Hope
46. The Vote
47. Chaos in the City
48. Reaching Out
49. The Calm Before the Storm
50. The Attack
51. Worst Dad Ever
52. Victory
53. Home
54. Showing their love
55. Not good
Acknowledgments
About the Author
Also by Gideon Mills
Author Notes
1
Madison Square Garden
I stood on sacred ground; for the first time in my life, I was at Madison Square Garden. One of the most hallowed sports arenas in the world, but I wasn’t here for the game. Sure, the basketball team was playing, but I was here for a different reason. Up in the most expensive seats in the place, with his closest friends and enemies—not including me—was Fenrir Walker.
I was with the regular folks watching him. As one of the richest men in the world, Fenrir could do whatever he wanted. There was no one standing in his way.
“He really does know how to play a group,” Athena said. She was standing next to me and was the only one in the venue with me. Fleur wanted to be here more than ever, but she was almost as famous as her dad, and so was Lola. Felicity being a squirrelkin made her stand out too.
Not that I didn’t stand out, being a Greek God and all. As did my dearest half-sister, but we were the best options, and recon on the man that was trying to kill or depower every Paragon was required.
Many people at the venue gave me a wide berth, since I was a large man. Not many would want to get on my bad side. Even if they didn’t know that I was God. Or a Paragon for that matter, which was what many people thought of me.
“I want to just jump up there and throw him into the sky,” I said.
Athena snorted. That was the old me talking, and she knew it, but it would solve a lot of our problems. Though it would create a whole new group of them, and I didn’t want to deal with that in the slightest.
“Be my guest,” my half-sister said. She had her hair pulled back in a bun, one that made her look very angry. Unlike me; I had my hair short, in a high and tight style these days. It was the norm of the Marines here, and if it was good enough for the men that fought for a country’s freedom, it was good enough for me.
“Under no circumstances is he allowed to do that,” Fleur said. As if a voice in my head, and in many ways, she was. The technology that Lola had created really was one of a kind. We were all connected and able to hear each other and talk to each other. In some ways it was very disrupting, being connected to someone miles away.
“It would be fun,” I countered.
“It sure would,” a smooth voice said. Felicity was a fiery squirrelkin, with the cutest tail and ears.
I was one of the luckiest Gods alive, three stunningly beautiful women wanted me, and I wanted them. Loved them. Each was different, yet the same in many ways.
“Oy vey,” Lola said. “Felicity, don’t encourage him.”
Next to me, Athena rolled her eyes. She had become part of our team after Hera threw her from Mount Olympus.
Yet another unofficial member of the team arrived next to me with his wife. McGarrett and Janet were two of the friendliest people I met here on Earth. Both were among the first to help me track down my batshit crazy sister Eris. Who was working for Hera and trying to do what she does best, cause chaos and strife.
Eris nearly succeeded in her agenda, but with the help of those amazing people around me, we stopped her.
It was no small feat, but it was only the first step in stopping my dear mother. She was out to kill all the humans, while Fenrir here was out to kill all the Paragons. That was what my mother wanted too; it made her goal so much easier.
McGarrett stopped next to me. I took in him and his wife; Janet was pregnant, but not yet showing. “How’s the baby?” I asked.
“Going well,” she said. “Going in for an ultrasound tomorrow.”
That was a big deal, and I could see on McGarrett’s face that he was nervous about it.
“That’s great,” I said. How far along Janet was, I couldn’t remember, and when one could find out the sex, was yet another thing I had no clue about. This was all new technology that had appeared since the last time I was on Earth.
I won’t deny that I’ve had my fair share of babies over the years. It wasn’t like back in the sixteen hundreds there was birth control, the only method then was to pull out. That meant a lot of people had kids when they didn’t intend to, and the same went for Gods.
Athena cleared her throat. “You learn anything?”
All four of us were part of the recon here, to learn about Fenrir or rather, more about his security. That was something that Fleur wasn’t sure about, and we had to see it in action. A place like this was a great location to study it as he was extremely vulnerable when out.
“He has some of the best-trained men I have ever seen,” McGarrett said.
“That’s an understatement,” Janet said. “My father and brother both served in special forces, and these guys make them look bad.”
I nodded. Fenrir having the best of the best on his team was to be expected. Though they were still just regular humans and not Paragons. That much we all could agree on since the man hated them with a passion.
“They carrying?” Athena asked.
Since they were in the building, no one should have been allowed to enter with any type of weapon. Knives, guys, batons, etc. were all taken away and got the person into a lot of trouble. Even before Reign and my sister, cities like New York had increased their gun laws. It had been a very long time since anyone was allowed to enter a venue like this armed.
“Figures that they would be allowed,” I said.
It was time to leave before I drew too much attention and had those souped-up, special force security guards on me. I’d be able to take them, and with Athena it wouldn’t be hard, but they might hurt innocent people in the fight. That was something I wanted to avoid.
We were about to leave when a young child walked up to me. “You’re Ares, aren’t you?” she asked.
I took a deep breath and knelt down next to her. With her long, curly blond hair, she was an adorable young girl. “Don’t tell anyone,” I said. “But yes I am.”
The girl’s face lit up. “You’re my favorite Paragon.”
Back in the day, I had been told I was many people’s favorite God. But also told I was the worst—comes with the territory. Hearing this sweet child say that was nice to hear. It had been a very long time since I heard anything like it.
“Thank you,” I said. I patted her gently on the shoulder, as a couple watched. “You have a sweet young lady,” I told them.
The father gave me a smile. “Addy is a good girl, Ares.”
I stood and shook his hand. “A pleasure to meet you.”
Then they were gone, and I was left wondering how many more of those encounters I would have. If my dear mother got her way, the world could be dead. Gone. I hated that thought. It was moments like these that I wanted to save. To see little boys and girls grow up and be the next generation of heroes.
2
An unexpected surprise
Leaving the place and driving back to the safe house was excellent. I was glad to be out of the range of Fenrir’s henchmen. It had only been a few days since his press conference, and I was already sick of him.
Sick of it all, and ready to move on to dearest mother, not that it would be a fun fight. I still wasn’t sure how that was going to go, since she hadn’t left Mount Olympus in her whole life. Hera was the definition of a homebody or a recluse. The most extreme case of Agoraphobia in the history of both Gods and Humans. Sure she went outside, but she never left Olympus. That was like the same thing as never leaving home. It was sickening.
In the car that Athena had procured, we headed out on 7th avenue to our safe house. It would be nice to go back and cuddle with one or all of the women. The car that Athena had today was a crossover, a Buick of some kind, and just big enough for me. I liked the convertible since they had way more headroom when the top was down.
Stopping at a light, the white cargo van in front of us did as well. Suddenly the doors at the rear burst open, and a half-dozen men, armed to the teeth, leaped out of it. They had the anti-Paragon weapons I had seen over the last few weeks in Reign’s reign.
They pointed them at us, and the leader spoke, or the one I assumed was the leader. “Make one move, and we’ll take you out,” he said with a gravelly voice. All the men had on body armor and masks. No doubt it was bullet and knife resistant too. Not that those would do much against me.
“Those won’t work on me,” I said. I knew full well they had stuff that could take away the powers of Paragons, and even had the ability to transfer powers from one Paragon to another person. Just thinking of that made me angry and reminded me of the pain that Fleur had gone through.
“So you say,” the leader said. “You really want to test that?”
I shrugged. There was little doubt in my mind those weapons wouldn’t work on me. Nor would they effect Athena, so it was an excellent thing that Felicity and Fleur weren’t with us. I would never forgive myself if they were attacked with technology like that.
“Do not engage,” Lola said. She had clearly heard the man. “We can’t afford to give them a reason to start the anti-Paragon task force again.”
I gritted my teeth. “Are you arresting us?”
Athena had a look on her face that said she wanted to know the meaning of this as well. “You don’t look like cops or feds,” she said.
The man laughed. “Not cops, or a federal agent,” he said. “Nor military, we work for a private company.”
“Walker Consolidated,” I said with a grunt.
“Actually,” the man said. “We work for Epps Technologies.”
That was a surprise, and it clearly caught all of us. Through the comms, I could hear gasps from everyone, and the look on Athena’s face had to match my own. I was beyond startled by this news.
Epps Technologies, along with Walker Consolidated and Ryder Inc., were the three most powerful companies in the world.
“What does Epps Technologies want with us?” Athena said.
“That’s a great question,” Lola said. She was typing so fast that I could hear her fingers pressing against the keyboard. Clearly, she was trying to answer that question for us.
“Mister Mako wants to talk to you and see if you and your team could work out a mutually beneficial agreement.”
I won’t deny it, I liked how he said my team.
“You can’t work anything out without us,” Fleur said.
“What about the rest of my team,” I said. “I don’t actually speak for them. We all make the choices before we act.”
That was how a good team worked and how they stayed together. Sure, at times, someone had to make the hard choice and take the hit for the others. Those were rare moments and not the norm.
The man pulled out his phone and stepped away. I could have attempted to listen, but my head was elsewhere. This was an unexpected occurrence, and I was still trying to wrap my head around it.
These men had the same technology, or similar, to Walker. While Ryder Inc. could have stuff like this, Duke would never stand for it. Being a Paragon himself and going to the most elite Paragon academy in the world.
After learning that Fleur went there, I had Googled it and saw they had a uniform. Part of me wanted to ask if she still had it and if it fit. A bit of roleplaying sounded fun to me. That was for later, and I needed to focus on these Epps men.
The man was gone for about a minute before he returned. “Mister Mako said the whole team’s invited, and I’m to let you go talk to them.” The man closed the gap between us. We had now drawn a crowd in the area as the traffic built up behind us. I was sure that the angry New Yorker was about to make an appearance. The man gave me a card after writing on the back. “If you want to talk, here is the time and place.”
Then he and the others left. It was time to get back to the hideout and talk this out.
3
Making a Choice
We arrived back at the secret hideout much later than I had wanted. After meeting the Epps men, Athena made sure we weren’t followed, and that added nearly an hour to the time before we got home. I was longing to hold Fleur, Lola, and Felicity.
When confronted with a fight, I want to fight, and then love. I was the God of War, and that was my norm.
While we drove, we had talked it out some, but nothing had been reached. Out front, McGarrett’s truck was there. He had beat us here by a long shot. Even though he wasn’t supposed to come. He was part of the team and needed to be in on the Epps talk.
I nodded as we entered. “I’ve been filled in,” the police officer said. “I had been wondering what was causing the commotion on the streets.”
“Sorry,” I said. “I just seem to make problems.”
McGarrett laughed. “You sure do.”
“What is the plan?” Felicity said. “We’ve been going in circles.”
The stunningly hot squirrelkin, who was the shortest person in the room, but one of the biggest personalities, hated sitting around.
“We talk to him,” I said. “I think it’s pretty simple. We are going against one of the most powerful men in the world, and his enemy wants to talk. Doesn’t that make Mako and Epps Technologies our allies?”
“If it was that simple,” Fleur said. “I wouldn’t be surprised if this was a setup by my dad.”
Not that I hadn’t thought of that, but I was trying to be positive. Looking at the best possible outcome, not the bad one that would ruin our entire plan, one that we didn’t have.
“She’s right,” Lola said, “but we do need to see what he wants.”
I looked at the card that the lead goon guy gave me. On the back was a time for tomorrow morning at eight. The location was in Central Park, a place that could easily be used for an ambush, but also helped instill a sense that he wasn’t trying to trick us. Since it was a neutral location, and easy for us to scout and make sure we weren’t getting set up.
Voicing that to the others. “We can talk to him. In and out.”
Felicity licked her lips and rubbed her claws on her hands. She was itching for a fight, more than even me. The squirrelkin really was my type, and I loved it. “Let’s make this happen,” she said.
I looked around to the others; we had formed a circle as we talked. Each of them was nodding. It was an agreement, we’d see what Epps Technologies and their current CEO wanted.
“Be smart,” McGarrett said. “I can’t go since I’m on the force.”