The large monitor screens in Atlas’ ready room held images of a man clad in blue and white with a matching cape flying. Other monitors contained various other images of him—stopping crimes, averting disasters, and posing for the cameras. The sounds of the jumbled newscasts all mixed together until there was almost no discerning between them.
“Zenith, mute all audio,” said Thorne.
The robot nodded and the sound was abruptly cut. Thorne stared up at the monitors before turning to his team, all of them seated around the long table. Some, like Anita and Jim, were alert and ready, even dressed for the day. But the younger members Erin and Koji looked positively sleep-deprived, practically guzzling their coffee. Dominic was a bit groggy himself, but hid it well, and McCabe was busy looking back and forth between the screens and the notes he’d been scribbling.
“This,” Thorne gestured to the monitors, “is Exemplar. He made his presence known a few weeks ago in one of the more dangerous parts of Chicago. Since then, he’s been hopping all around the county, playing hero.”
“So what’s the problem?” asked Dominic. “Afraid he’s horning in on what should be our territory?”
“More like afraid of his carelessness,” said Thorne. “You’ve all been trained, but Exemplar here has racked up quite the bill in the past week in property damage alone. Lawyers from some of the criminals he’s brought in have already begun petitioning the court for dismissal due to unlawful arrest. And things like this worry me. Zenith, play the marked file.”
“Yes, Colonel.”
The image on the center monitor suddenly changed. Exemplar, in costume, sat on a leather couch across from a popular Chicago talk-show host. The host smiled into the camera and said, “So what made you this way?”
“To be honest, I’m not sure,” said Exemplar. “All I know is I was blessed with this great power and I plan on using it to make a difference in this world.” He flashed a smile at the camera and Thorne groaned.
“That’s enough.” He faced the team. “That’s just one of many interviews Exemplar has lined up. So what does this tell you about him?”
“He likes the attention,” said Jim. “Might even be something of a narcissist.”
Thorne nodded as he pointed at him. “Exactly. A man with this level of power who has something he feels he needs to prove. That can be a dangerous mix.”
“And it does seem like he has quite a lot of power,” said McCabe. “From viewing the footage, I can reasonably assume he possesses superhuman strength and invulnerability, with possibly more powers.”
Anita rose from her seat. “Look, I think it bears mentioning that this guy doesn’t seem to have done anything intentionally wrong. He might be a bit reckless, but isn’t part of our job to help others like us? It seems like he’s just trying to make a difference, so maybe we should try talking to him instead of assuming guilt based on some TV reporting. I mean, do we know anything about him beyond what we’ve just seen?”
“I am working on that at the moment,” said Zenith. “Using his appearances to date, I am running his image through facial recognition software and the database of the Illinois Secretary of State. However, as there are close to thirteen million people in the state of Illinois, and not all of them possess a driver’s license or photo identification, it may take some time to find a proper match.”
“Good, then how about we take a wait-and-see attitude until we know more?” asked Anita.
Thorne sighed. “I appreciate your point of view on this, but our mandate is to deal with potential threats posed by specials.”
“By the logic you’re using, that applies to pretty much this entire team,” said Anita.
“She’s got a point, Colonel,” said Koji. “We gonna start nabbing specials whenever they try to help out? Besides, who’s to stop someone from doing the same to us? Way I understand it, nobody’s supposed to know about our mandate or who gave it.”
“Yeah, but most specials aren’t hamming it up for the camera,” said Dominic. “Hate to say it, but I’m with Thorne on this. The guy’s fishy—err, no offense.”
Koji scoffed and smirked.
“Still, we should give him a chance,” said Erin. “What if we tried finding him and then just told him to be careful?”
“Because guys like that aren’t really known for their listening skills,” said Dominic. “Trust me, I know the type—worked with them, even. And they’re always wild cards.”
“He’s right,” said Jim with a nod. “Someone who seeks out attention like this is—”
“Can I remind everyone—again—that we’re talking about this guy when we don’t really know anything about him?” asked Anita.
“Sizing someone up is a big part of what I do, Anita,” said Jim.
“This isn’t the CIA. All I’m saying is we need to give him a chance.”
“Are you certain that a cadre of specials coming down on his position wouldn’t encourage a conflict?” asked Zenith. “Such a move might be considered a hostile one.”
“Then let me go alone,” said Anita. “Seems he and I have pretty similar abilities anyway. Maybe I can talk to him, help him keep things in perspective. What could it hurt?”
Thorne exhaled through his nose and then looked back up at the screen. If this operation was going to succeed, he knew he would have to cede some ground when necessary. They weren’t soldiers—not all of them, anyway. And without some degree of autonomy, Vanguard could fall apart very quickly. Thorne knew he had to lead this unit differently from the way he’d led in the past.
“Okay,” he finally said. “Go to Chicago, Anita. See if you can find him and just try talking to him. Make sure he knows about the risks of what he’s doing, but don’t get yourself in too deep. And don’t reveal too much about either yourself or this operation.”
Anita nodded. “Thank you, Colonel. You won’t regret this.”
Thorne faced the group. “But I have a condition: Anita will approach alone, but I want the rest of the team suited up and standing by in the Icarus in case things go south. Anita, you’re to remain in constant contact with Zenith at all times, is that understood?”
She nodded again. “That sounds fair.”
“Good, then all of you, get suited up and meet in the hangar. You’ve got work to do.”
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The Icarus was developed as a top secret project by the Air Force, a supersonic jet capable of ferrying multiple passengers across long distances in a short amount of time. Complete with stealth and VTOL capabilities, the Icarus was a pet project of Zenith’s, one of many inventions he worked on for the government. Zenith now sat at the controls, flying it over the Chicago skyline. With the autopilot engaged, Zenith turned his seat and rose, walking away from the controls and into the cabin.
A partition stood before the entrance to the cockpit and Zenith walked around this. On the other side of the partition was a large monitor, and Jim wore his crimson armor, standing beside it. Next to him was Anita, clad in a red and white costume with matching cape. The screen displayed a topographic map of the area below. Facing the screen were five rows of beige-colored chairs, two on each side of the aisle that ran down the cabin. Dominic, Erin, and Koji all sat in the front row, also clad in their uniforms. For Dominic, it was a dark bodysuit complete with a mask over his lower jaw and strips of leather from the shoulders forming a kind of cape and Koji wore a form-fitting outfit that resembled a wetsuit with blue trim. Erin wore a green bodysuit that matched her natural form.
“We’re over Chicago. Radar picks up a small craft not far from here over Lake Michigan,” said Zenith.
Jim nodded. “Most-likely makes that our target.”
“He’s a person, Jim. Not a target,” said Anita.
“It’s Gunsmith when we’re in the field, Paragon,” he said. “And we’ll see if your ‘not a target’ thing bears true.”
“Just stay out of sight,” said Paragon. “Zenith, open the rear hatch.”
She moved further down, behind another partition separating the cabin from the back of the Icarus. Paragon held onto the guard rail and took a deep breath as the whirring sounds indicated the hatch locks were disengaging. The door opened and she dove out head-first, arms at her side as she shot through the clouds like a missile. Her eyes were shut momentarily, but when she opened them again, they pulsated with a golden glow. Paragon curved upwards and her telekinetic abilities took hold, halting her descent and holding her position.
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Paragon flew over the skyscrapers that defined the city of Chicago, moving further out towards Lake Michigan. The summer air was a bit more crisp out here, but she could barely feel it through her suit. And ahead, she could see the man she sought.
Cape fluttering behind him, arms crossed as he stared out over the city, was the man who called himself Exemplar—the first public superhero. Paragon slowed as she approached and when Exemplar saw her, his face bore some surprise.
“You—you can fly, too? Who are you?”
Paragon came to a hovering stop and nodded. “My name’s Paragon. There are actually a lot of us out there. But you’re the first to make a public splash like this.”
Exemplar raised his eyebrows. “How many?”
She shrugged. “We’re not quite sure yet. But I’m part of a team. We’ve spent the past month or so training to use our abilities. To help others like us.”
Exemplar grinned at this. “Ah, and you’re looking for someone to lead you, huh? Well, I have to admit, I am flattered, but I think I work better on my own.”
Paragon held up her hand. “No, that’s not why I’m here. We’ve actually already got a leader.”
Exemplar’s smile began to fade and his tone dropped an octave. “So what do you want?”
“To be honest, we have…concerns. About the way you’ve been operating.”
His arms fell to his sides, fists clenching slightly. “You mean the way I’ve been saving lives, stopping criminals?”
“As a matter of fact, yes,” said Paragon. “Listen, I think it’s great that you want to help others. I do, too. It’s basically all I’ve ever wanted to do with my life. But…help can sometimes be harmful.”
“Harmful?” There was a forcefulness to his voice. “I’m out there risking my life, stopping crimes, and you—you criticize me from the sidelines?” He pointed an accusatory finger at Paragon. “Who the hell are you to judge me?”
Paragon held up both hands in front of her. “Calm down, Exemplar. I’m not your enemy. I’m just informing you that there have been some…issues. You’ve caused a lot of property damage and many of the criminals you’ve apprehended are trying to get released because they’re claiming their arrests were unlawful.”
“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.
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“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.”
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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.