It takes time to make a convincing exit. The Order had achieved their job, but the world did witness an immortal being fighting against a reptilian man. Even though the representatives engaging with the local media claimed that Jackson was indeed human affected by the Cascade. The world had to take them at their word; they had no choice but to.
While the immortal was incapacitated, the Order made sure they had a small coffin made of steel to contain them for safe transport out of Brazil. Ryan watched how he was loaded onto a truck and taken to the airport so the people of Omen could take them. Either to experiment on the immortal or to figure out how to properly kill them. To Ryan, he only knew that the Order would do everything in their power to understand him and the crystal either to replicate or turn them into a weapon. He knew not to worry about insane immortal soldiers walking around. The Order despised the idea of immortality for it was viewed to be a crime against nature because of how immortality was often obtained. Yet he wondered why the Order kept Jackson around for so long.
Heading over to the medical tent to have his injuries examined, Ryan noticed the reptile sitting down with bloody bandages all over his body and where his right hand used to be. After he rubbed the back of his head, he sat down next to Jackson. ‘Well, I suppose that’ll make you ‘armless for a while.’
Jackson glared at Ryan at his horrid pun. ‘It’ll grow back,’ the reptile sharply replied. ‘Your head?’
‘Nah, just a bruise. But it doesn’t hurt to check for anything bad.’ Ryan chuckled to himself, feeling awkward near the reptile who blankly stared back at him. ‘Still, I want to thank you. For saving me.’
‘Don’t,’ the reptile replied in a harsh and cold tone. It indicated that he didn’t want to be thanked for doing his job.
Mark walked into the medical tent and placed a hand on his chest in a mocking gesture. ‘Do I not get a thanks? I did recall saving your life as well.’
‘Yeah, but you did miss.’ Ryan lied to tease them, which caused Mark to get furious. He stopped once he figured out what Ryan was doing.
‘Ah, I see what you are doing, American. Trying to charm the reptile and get on his good books. Not going to happen, sweetie.’
‘Isn’t the point of being a marksman to see, Kenyan? I think your vision is failing you the moment Jackson jumped out of a window.’ Ryan quipped back.
‘Enough,’ Jackson interjected. ‘The mission is a success, focus on going home to rest.’
Ryan shrugged, ‘sure, maybe we all have a weeklong holiday. Preferably here… well, away from the hotel.’
This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it
‘If you want my honest opinion, I recommend Argentina or Chile rather than Brazil. Beautiful spots, good food, and gorgeous women if you swing that way.’ Mark chuckled, he wanted to say more but before they could continue a loud crack of lightning could be heard outside.
Curious, the three men walked outside of the medical tent to see what was going on. No one was panicking, there were no sounds of confrontation they could hear. Instead, standing outside, wearing a costume of white and silver, their cape flowing freely with the wind. He had a calming presence, his smile and demeanour radiated with hope and kindness that made everyone relaxed, except for some members of the Order.
After the Cascade, the man that dressed as a hero used the powers that were given to him to enact vigilante justice. He wanted to prove that the people changed by the Cascade could do a lot more to change society for the better, that the world shouldn’t fear them. But that was only a front. On the side he was recruiting and bringing people who were changed and mutated by the Cascade together, to build a community of people like him to defend the world. Everyone knew his name as Benjamin Earl, but the world preferred to call him Iron Star.
It was recent that he approached the UN council to push for an initiative. It was yesterday that the bill was signed to create a task force of peacekeepers and agents trained to bring those affected by the Cascade to justice when conventional methods were proven fruitless. The group would officially be called the Defenders of Earth, or DOE for short.
Ryan distrusted that a group of superheroes is becoming a reality. He believed that no good could come from them, and he feared the day that he might have to run into them during a mission. He was human, someone easy to kill. But Iron Star? He was something else.
The capped hero spoke with the media and the representative to understand what had happened to apologise for being late. Ryan and his two comrades who stood beside him were silent. Deep down, they were worried about Iron Star. While he may appear to have good intentions, the Order made Ryan paranoid enough to distrust him. But they knew they couldn’t do anything, they didn’t have the means to kill him, nor were they in the state to fight.
After being satisfied with his questions being answered, Iron Star thanked the reporter and the representative of the Order who pretended to be a BOPE operative before he flew off back to the United States. Ryan sighed in relief, Mark chuckled and joked about how he could assassinate him without any problems. Yet Jackson remained silent, emotionless. Ryan could tell that Jackson wasn’t his usual self, he saw how the reptile had a hint of admiration in his eyes.