Thirty-seven years ago, the Division of Superhuman Affairs, in partnership with a since-dissolved organization of the Allied States, sought to recreate the powers of the superhero, Paragon.

Samples of Paragon’s skin and hair were obtained without the super’s knowledge. Early attempts at cloning failed due to limited technology and a lack of cooperation from the Binary Brotherhood. However, they were able to isolate his DNA.

The next attempt at replicating Paragon’s powers involved implanting adults with his DNA. Promising soldiers underwent physical, mental, and emotional screening. Three candidates were selected for the program.

The idea was to create a superhero with loyalty to the Allied States.

The experiment was a partial success. Out of three candidates, two survived. Out of the surviving candidates, one was retired due to emotional instability. The final candidate was later inducted into the Summit of Heroes and took the superhero designation of Golden Boy.

China attempted a similar program with stolen samples of Paragon’s DNA. One subject survived, but the program was dissolved soon after. Their whereabouts are unknown.

To this day, the agencies of both the Allied States and China deny that any such programs existed. The true origin of Golden Boy is one of the Allied States’ most closely guarded secrets.

Golden Boy possesses almost every physical ability of Paragon, though there are several notable limitations. For most measures, his abilities are described as Class 4.

The Dunamen envoys claim that their entire species possess Class 5 abilities. Though only twenty-four Dunamen have visited Earth, all possessed powers comparable to Paragon.

Biologically, the Dunamen demonstrate extreme physical strength and resilience. Their brains and bodies are capable of processing, reacting, and moving with superhuman speed, and their lifespans are measured in thousands of years. These characteristics, while impressive, do not completely describe their abilities. Taken alone, they suggest the Dunamen would only have Class 4 abilities.

Paragon’s immense strength, speed, and durability defy physics, which Dunamen biology alone doesn’t explain. It’s thought that he also has localized reality warping powers. This is most evident when lifting objects such as ocean liners and buildings that should crumble until their own weight. Paragon is able to distribute his power evenly along those objects to keep them intact. Paragon’s multi-spectral vision and laser vision also work due to this mechanism.

The other Dunamen envoys demonstrated similar localized reality-warping. It is thought that this is the key to explaining the gap in their Class 4 biology and Class 5 measurements.

Flight is the one physics-defying ability that Golden Boy possesses. Some researchers speculate that he achieves flight through sheer belief, similar to the placebo effect.

So far, scientists have not determined the mechanism for the Dunamen’s reality warping powers. Due to the lack of viable DNA samples, further testing is impossible.

~

A general alert came through the Summit’s system. Golden Boy hadn’t thought much of it at first. The Summit had expected some unrest after the war ended—looting, riots, and so on. There were plenty of capes still in the city.

Part of the agreement between the Binary Brotherhood and the Summit of Heroes included limitations on the use of Savanus’s biomechs. Savanus and Midas had dissented, but the limitations had passed with a two-thirds vote in the Brotherhood.

Automatic notifications were in use anytime the mechs engaged their weapons or anytime a large enough number were sent to a disturbance. Currently, twelve patrol groups—roughly 36 mechs—were converging on something in Eastside.

That part of the alert made Golden Boy take notice.

A fraction of a second later, he was flying toward Belport at just under the speed of sound. Wind roared past him.

Only a few seconds later, Savanus herself called.

Golden Boy hadn’t been given all the details about Dr. Venture’s apprehension. He only knew the basics about the AI ban, but whatever was involved was enough for the Summit of Heroes to fall in line.

There were also standing orders to apprehend the cyborg, Mod.

Golden Boy didn’t care for the power hungry supers in the Brotherhood, but he respected the Summit’s decisions.

So he tore through the sky toward Belport.

Even from a mile away, he could see the scene unfolding on Belport’s Eastside. Biomechs of all sizes glistened with armaments. They converged on a single parking garage. Smaller reconnaissance and security units were already inside the garage and detaining people. He clocked the distressed glow of an air elementalist in a net.

A few seconds later, he saw the scene in its entirety. Five supers had been detained, and dozens more regular people were corralled on the various floors of the parking garage. He quickly surveyed the area, his feet never touching the ground. So far, no one looked to be seriously injured.

Thank God for that.

“Is all this really necessary?” he asked.

Savanus ignored the question. “Five supers are escaping through the underground tunnels. My mechs will direct you.”

Golden Boy flew quickly to the first level and followed the mechs toward the maintenance stairs. The single door had been nearly torn from its hinges. Smoke rose up the stairs, accompanied by the pops of noise-makers.

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Whoever was fleeing the parking garage was definitely an artificer, and they weren’t a common type of super. Golden Boy was inclined to believe that this was the cyborg the Brotherhood was hunting.

Mod. Dr. Venture’s protégé.

Golden Boy frowned. He’d been hoping that Savanus was wrong.

Though the cyborg’s complete capabilities were unknown, he’d been given a rank of Class 3.3 after taking down two Class 4 monstrosities. Golden Boy had seen the aftermath… Even if Mod had help, it didn’t discount the cyborg’s capabilities.

Golden Boy quickly descended through the center of the stairwell. There were six floors in total, and at the bottom, he crushed the smoke pellet and noisemaker. He rose up to the first three floors, destroying the distracting gadgets there as well.

He flitted through the stairwell with the speed of a Class 4 super, squashing the gadgets left behind in a fraction of a second. Then he flew down each hallway at subsonic speed, squashing noisemakers on the first, second, and third levels.

To a mundane strike force or a lower level super, the pellets and noisemakers might’ve been worthwhile distractions. The noisemakers might have even worked against the biomechs, but to Golden Boy, they were little more than a nuisance.

And a trail.

There weren’t any more gadgets scattered through the lower levels, so Golden Boy followed the gadgets through the third floor.

He’d been proceeding methodically until the trail ran out. Then he used his speed in earnest. Golden Boy rocketed through the halls, never slowing down, never so much as touching the walls or the floor.

He found his targets 10 seconds later.

They must've heard him approaching because the five of them skidded to a halt. Golden Boy stopped and hovered thirty paces away, regarding the group.

Three of them wore outfits fitting unregistered masks. One man was middle-aged, the beard on his face just beginning to gray. The other two, however…their faces were obscured beneath their hoods, almost as if they had covered their faces in dark putty.

One of the veiled supers aimed a custom-made pistol at Golden Boy. These were the runaway artificers, no doubt.

Another super was a vampire—her upper lip bulged just noticeably around her enlarged canines. Strange company to keep, but perhaps not as strange after Dr. Venture's collusion with Gnosis.

The last super, an imposing woman wearing a red leather jacket, stepped to the front of the group. Her features were hidden similarly, though this time Golden Boy recognized the shimmer of magic around her.

A second later, the middle-aged super muttered, “Oh shit, it's Golden Boy.”

Silence came suddenly and stretched on as the two groups faced each other in the maintenance hallway.

Golden Boy said, “You made it pretty far, Mod. You should be proud.”

Mod didn't drop the pistol. “Not far enough.”

“Considering the circumstances… Now, I need all five of you to come with me. You are being detained until the Summit and Brotherhood can complete their questioning in regards to Dr. Venture's crimes.”

The middle-aged super raised his hands and stepped forward. “Look, I'm not with them—”

“Backtrack and turn yourself in to the first cape or mech you come across,” Golden Boy replied.

The man scurried off down the hall without another word. The others didn't seem fazed by his retreat.

Golden Boy kept his voice stern. “Mod and Arsenal, you've both done your home a great service during the war. Don't tarnish it now.”

“Do you know what they're going to do to me?”

“I can assure you that nothing will happen without the Summit’s approval.”

The vampire tugged at the tall woman’s sleeve. “We should go too. This doesn’t concern us.”

Her partner turned and gently removed the vampire’s hand from her arm. “Cherish the past, but the present is always more important.”

The vampire’s lip quivered, and she glanced between her companion and Golden Boy nervously. Finally, the vampire nodded to Mod’s group. “Thank you again…” And then she sprinted away, deeper into the tunnels. Golden Boy let her go.

Then they were down to three. Mod, Arsenal, and their unknown associate.

Mod tilted his head. It was almost imperceptible to the naked eye, but it looked like he was listening to something… or someone. Golden Boy picked up the slightest sound from all three of their earpieces.

Golden Boy tapped his ear. “Who are you talking to?”

Mod’s pistol never wavered. “You should go back. Say you didn’t find us.”

Golden Boy recognized Mod’s voice, but it had changed since the last time they'd met. Even after facing down a Class 4 monstrosity, Mod had sounded meek and unsure of himself. Now, there was a steely resolve in his voice.

“We both know I can’t do that.” Golden Boy frowned. “Every second you delay, biomechs are corralling innocent civilians.”

“No,” Mod replied.

Golden Boy looked at Arsenal. “All you have to do is give testimony.”

Power rippled through the air around her. “I have nothing to say to the Brotherhood.”

Before Golden Boy could respond, Mod fired. The gunshot echoed through the hallway.

There were a number of capes in the Summit of Heroes that could dodge bullets. Several Class 3 speedsters and multiple Class 4 capes. Golden Boy was one of them. So long as the bullet wasn’t a specialized supersonic round, he could normally dodge them. Even at close range.

Not that he needed to.

If Mod would’ve been a normal super, Golden Boy wouldn’t have bothered dodging. But he’d fought with enough artificers to know that even their bullets could have gadgets inside them.

Golden Boy lost a fraction of a second out of sheer surprise, but the round was subsonic. He floated to the side, only to run shoulder first into an invisible barrier.

The bullet hit Golden Boy in the shoulder. It shattered harmlessly.

It took him another fraction of a second to realize just how boxed in he really was. Invisible barriers had sprung up on either side of him, trapping him in the center of the hallway.

A second bullet hit his side.

Golden Boy’s surprise turned to irritation. He slammed a fist into the barrier and felt it crumble. Across the hall, the third super grunted in pain.

Golden Boy’s frustration grew. “I don’t want to hurt you…”

Something was crawling on him. Golden Boy hadn’t felt it until it was oozing up his neck, like cold sand. He pawed at it, and a trail of powder came away.

“Mod, I don’t know what this is, but stop it—”

The sand didn’t stop. It crawled into Golden Boy’s eyes and ears, blinding and deafening him. Irritation quickly gave way to panic. Golden Boy pawed at his face, trying to brush away the sand, but it clung to him like paint.

Golden Boy tried to breathe steadily. The last thing he needed to do was panic down here and bring down a building. There were people up there in the parking garage. Dozens of innocent people.

“Don’t worry,” Mod called out. “They’ll wear off in an hour.”

Golden Boy reached out and finally found concrete. “Mod, stop this! You need to stop…”

Golden Boy could just make out the sound of the others as they ran away. His first instinct was to follow, but he wouldn’t be able to do it safely. Mod dropped another smoke pellet and noise maker, and then even the sound of footsteps disappeared—

Leaving Golden Boy blind, deaf, and alone in the underground.

~ ~ ~