《Novae City: Rising Stars》 1.1 June 6th 1980 ¡°Good Morning! And thank you for tuning into this very special edition of GTV, Today is June 6th 1980, and I am Allen Davis. We have gotten reports of a hostage situation in the First Novae City Bank, perpetrated by none other than the infamous Houndz Gang. You all know what that means, wherever the Houndz gang appears Arcadia is bound to show up and take them down, In her first GTV morning appearance, Arcadia XII!¡± The trailer seemed emptier than usual, still as suffocating, but the lack of the makeup crew hovering around her made Emma relax a bit more. She groaned as she pulled her strawberry blonde hair back into a ponytail and looked herself in the mirror in front of her. As much as she hates dealing with the makeup crew, they do a good job in her opinion. She leaned back in her chair and spun her domino mask on her index finger. She never understood this whole pomp and circumstance she wished she could just go out and stop the crime without fifty cameras on her at all times and a team of announcers in her ear. ¡°It¡¯s almost time Arcadia, are you pumped?¡± As if thinking about them summoned them the radio in her ear came to life, and one of the more annoying ones began to bug her. ¡°Real thrilled. Just tell me when we get to the thirty-second mark, so we can finally start,¡± She responded over the mic. Despite her annoyance she was in fact somewhat excited today would finally be the day she would take him out. She stood and put her mask on. Now she was no longer Emma Crowley, she was Arcadia the Twelfth, and she will take down every criminal in front of her. ¡°Thirty seconds,¡± The radio chirped again. Emma cracked her neck and opened the door to her trailer. ¡°Alright Arcadia, we are live. The Houndz Gang was last seen entering the First Novae Bank. The police have it surrounded blocking off the area, none of the gang members have left or even tried to leave.¡± Emma put her finger to the receiver. ¡°Is he there?¡± she asked ¡°Yes, Cameras confirm that Tyler Houndz is there. He is just standing there by the looks of the security camera. We don¡¯t know what he is planning be careful.¡± ¡°Yeah yeah, he won¡¯t get away this time.¡± She let go of the receiver and rushed toward the bank. Running toward the bank she made a sharp turn and ran a block around until she came up the backside of the bank near the fire escape. She jumped up the stairs two at a time barely landing every time. Emma opened the skylight and slipped in. Hopefully the camera wouldn¡¯t follow her in and ruin her plan any further. In fact, she did not even wait to give the camera guy a chance to follow her in. She jumped down to the upper levels of the bank and half walked half crawled along the top to see if she can get a good angle on the situation. The bank was full of men and women in red and black clothing, most of them wearing red bandannas and a red shirt with a white wolf¡¯s head printed in the center of them. She made slight note of them, but they weren¡¯t her main goal. The hostages were all corralled in the far corner one of them spotted her and was about to call out, but she put her finger to her lips and the man nodded. She kept completely silent until she saw who she was looking for, out of a back room a tall man, with snow-white hair and a large scar over his left eye. He wore round sunglasses and covered the rest of his face with his gang¡¯s bandanna, along with the red and black clothing he wore in unity with his gang he also had a long black trench coat with a red liner. This is why she agreed to this stupid morning show in the first place, a chance to take this scumbag down and put him away for good this time. He stopped walking once he reached the center of the room, and looked up at a screen. Emma wondered what he was looking at and slowly made her way around the upper ring until she could see it. The TV was set to GTV and the camera was pointed directly at her. He leaned his head back and glanced at her. ¡°Houndz! It¡¯s time to hunt!¡± he called out. The gang members all let out howls and began to rush the stairs. Emma cursed under her breath and began to run, at first toward the other set of stairs on the other side of the room, but she was cut off by more gang members. Seeing that that plan would not work she took the riskier option. She made a beeline toward the railing of the second floor and using it as a launching point she jumped over it. As she put her weight on it the railing buckled, and she fell down to the first floor. She hit the ground hard. A couple of gang members ran to her and tried to pick her up, but she was only dazed for a second. When they drew close to her she jumped up and tried to toss one to the ground using their shirt but the second she pulled, it tore. The punk growled that his shirt was ruined and swung at her. She easily deflected this and backed up trying to put distance between them. While stepping back she stepped on the handrail that fell with her and tripped.Unauthorized usage: this tale is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings. ¡°Having a bit of bad luck are you Arcadia?¡± Houndz said. He slowly walked up to where she laid on the floor and stood over her. ¡°A shame, this is usually more fun when we actually fight and trade the usual banter, how I ¡®Will not get away this time,¡¯ or ¡®You will pay for all of your crimes,¡± he shrugged. ¡°You know what let us make this a more fair fight, just you and me for old times¡¯ sake, what do you think?¡± She only responded with a yell and jumped up and swung wildly at him. He easily pushed away all of her blows as all of the gang members back away forming a circle. She was angry; Angrier than she had been in the longest time but all she could do was swing ineffectively at him. She could swear he was smiling under his mask, the son of a bitch was enjoying this. Her blows slowed down as she tried to think of a more effective way to take him down. He took this slow down to begin his counter attack. He began a left hook and Emma was ready to block but her arm would not raise. The hook connected and she saw stars. She stumbled back from the blow and her vision blurred. Houndz ran up to her and gave her an uppercut to the gut. She fell to the floor and cured into a ball. ¡°That was disappointing, I guess my new toy was too much for you. I will have to tone that one down for next time,¡± he turned to face the security cameras that were recording for GTV, ¡°Don¡¯t worry citizens of Novae City, your dear precious Arcadia the Twelfth, will be just fine. Just a bit of a wounded pride,¡± he crouched over Emma and whispered in her ear. ¡°I will see you again soon Miss Crowley, do try and not go down so easily next time.¡± He calmly walked out of the bank along with his gang. Emma cursed in-between gasps for air.
Sam rolled his shoulders despite resting them since two weeks ago for some reason they were still very swollen, they were getting better but not fast enough for him though. The slight but constant headache was not making matters any better either. The coffee machine buzzed and he grabbed a mug. He drifted through his hallway his mind scattered thinking of all the possibilities of how that could have gone but none that would satisfy him. During his daze he caught a glance at the time and decided to try to take his mind off the consuming thoughts. He grabbed the remote and flipped on his TV. The TV flashed colors and the morning broadcast of GTV began to play a young woman apparently Arcadia XII in white and sky-blue spandex stood. Her arms crossed, she cracked her neck and stood ready to take off toward the bank. Sam raised an eyebrow and leaned forward in his seat watching the TV intently. Sam watched as she barely made a sound climbing the fire escape, and he was surprised on how she could pull that off. Guessing by the route she took she might be trying to go for the element of surprise, but being on camera and shown on almost every TV in the city probably ruined that long ago. He stood from his chair and made his way back into the kitchen, placed his cup in the sink and grabbed his wallet and keys. As he passed the TV again he noted that she was about to jump through the skylight. He wished he could finish watching the show, but he was going to be late and that is the last thing he would ever want, especially today. He shut off the TV and crabbed his black suit jacket. He adjusted his black tie and sighed, he had to look good for his best friend¡¯s funeral. Sam sat silently as Frank¡¯s father delivered his eulogy, he felt guilty that he could not focus on what exactly he was saying but his headache mixed with the storm of thoughts in his head made it almost impossible to stay focused on anything for more than a few words. Eventually he gave up and looked up at the sky, he was not sure whether or curse the sky for being a clear sunny day when he felt like he did or be happy that his friend could be remembered on a day like this. The services ended, and he stood to leave when he was pulled away by the family. Frank¡¯s mother pulled him in for a big hug and nearly crushed him as she was almost twice his size. ¡°Oh, thank you for coming Sammy, it would have meant a lot to Frank.¡± Sam nodded weakly and tried to excuse himself as he turned to leave Frank''s father blocked his path. ¡°I understand what you are feeling. We have lost a son, but you also lost a brother. We just wanted to let you know that we don¡¯t blame you for not being able to save him, you tried your best. You were also able to save so many other lives that night too. No matter what you think you are a hero Samuel Rhodes. We know that Frank would not have wanted to be saved if that meant everyone you saved that night would have died in his place. Remember that and if you need any help at all please call us.¡± He hugged Sam as well and pat him on the back. "Thank you both, I know you¡­ I¡­ I still... I¡¯m so sorry.¡± Sam coughed and felt his eyes burning. ¡°I have to¡­ go,¡± he ran from them toward his car. He did not deserve their praise or their kindness, he failed them. Because he was too slow. He stopped at his truck slammed his fists on the hood. He let out a cry of frustration before he completely broke down however the pain in his head exploded and his vision left him replaced with nothing but pain and a mass of swirling colors much like gasoline in a puddle of water. He fell to his knees as the combination of the stimuli bombarded him, the rest of his body going numb, only the colors and the pain existed anymore. It felt like an eternity before it faded back to the normal dull thumping pain he had gotten used to over the last couple of weeks. With his vision back he slowly stood and leaned on his truck for support. ¡°I need to go see a doctor.¡± 1.2 GTV Emma paced around the doctor¡¯s office avoiding the examination table in the center. On one wall was the cabinets full of everything needed to examine a patient. Next to that was the various eye charts and informational posters about washing hands. Across from those stood the desk where Dr. Cloud usually worked. Where he sat a slight look of amusement on his face while he drank a cup of coffee and watched her. To say Dr. Franklin Cloud was large is to say a hurricane is a light drizzle. When standing he was almost seven feet tall and looked to be three hundred pounds of pure muscle. He would look more in place wearing a football jersey than the scrubs and lab coat he was wearing. ¡°This whole thing is bullshit Frank, you know I¡¯m so much better than that. How did every little thing go wrong like that I mean from the very start.¡± She knocked over the jar of tongue depressors, and turned toward him. He took a large sip and looked at her over his cup. ¡°Yes, yes I know Emma. Although, I still can¡¯t explain what happened.¡± ¡°Did he get powers? Or is there someone in his gang with the ability to manipulate luck? Because that can¡¯t happen by just pure coincidence. I mean everything going wrong like that is just¡­ Damn him!¡± She ran her hands through her hair and stomped on the floor for emphasis. ¡°No new powers have been brought to me in a little bit. And no one I¡¯ve checked has joined him. I can¡¯t explain this without looking into it a bit more. Also, I know I don¡¯t mention this often but you really should watch your mouth. You¡¯ve been getting a bit loose with the vulgarity for such a young woman.¡± He raised an eyebrow at her and took another sip. ¡°Kiss my ass Frank. No, I¡¯m sorry I didn¡¯t mean that. I¡¯m just so freaking frustrated by this whole thing, and to top it all off they have to waste both of our time by sending me here after every fight.¡± He sighed, placed the cup down and stood up. ¡°They want me to check to see if you have gotten any abilities and if you were actually hurt at all in the fights. To be honest I would ask you to come down after every fight regardless.¡± She rolled her eyes at this and walked to the far wall acting as if she was completely entranced by the eye chart. ¡°I don¡¯t have powers, I never had powers. None of my predecessors had powers leading all the way back to the first Arcadia in the freaking 1600s. It¡¯s pretty safe to assume I will never get powers. For that matter I doubt any of the Arcadias that follow me will get powers either. It¡¯s not fair, Heroic action or extreme desire right? So why haven¡¯t I gotten anything? Am I not a good enough hero? Do I not want it enough? I try. Damn it I try!¡± She punched the wall. A small web of cracks radiated from her fist, and a small drop of blood fell from her knuckles. Dr. Cloud walked up calmly and pulled her fist away from the wall and looked it over. Her hand was almost completely shattered. ¡°Yes, you do try. And you try the hardest out of any one of the Guardians. Fate is fickle like this sometimes the ones who deserve power the most must prove they do not need them. Yet the ones whom have no business having all that strength, are granted it.¡± His eyes glowed and a small rainbow flame danced from his hand covering hers. Emma winced as the flame grew from her hand over her entire body then retracted. It did not burn. It was warm almost comforting, but her hand was in agonizing pain as her bones and tendons slowly reformed to their proper shape and strength. ¡°You would know all about Fate wouldn¡¯t you?¡± ¡°You would think so considering. But no none of us well, except maybe him know anything about the actual entity. I am sad to report that once again you have been passed up for powers. I did your check up while I had the chance.¡± ¡°Of course, well thanks anyway Frank. Are we done here? I need to go home and just lay there for a while.¡± ¡°Yeah we are¡ª¡° The phone in the office began to ring, ¡°Excuse me Emma,¡± He walked off to answer it. Emma watched him walk off and began to walk toward the door but it would not open. She groaned and looked back at him as he was wrapped up in the phone conversation. He finally hung up and had a slight smile on his face. ¡°Well, it seem even though you did not seem to get powers today, two others have, and the Novae City GTV have chosen you to be their tour guide,¡± He said. ¡°They can go suck it, I¡¯m going home I don¡¯t even know why I¡¯m even a part of this stupid place I should just leave.¡± ¡°Careful there Emma, if you leave you can¡¯t ever go after Houndz again you know.¡± This quieted her down she bit the inside of her cheek. ¡°Fine, who are the lucky two today?¡± ¡°They said their names were, Ian Brooks, and Samuel Rhodes.¡±Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.
Sam still felt dumbstruck. A few days ago his life was average at best, working with his dad in contracting and hanging out with his friends on the weekends. Maybe the only real thing that might be special is that in a year he would be able to drink, but one fire changed it and now he stood in front of the GTV headquarters in Novae. He still did not want to believe what the doctor had told him, how in the world could he possibly have powers? Maybe there was a mistake, and they will turn him away once they realize it. Yeah, that would be the case definitely, but still he clutched the paper in his hand, the note from the doctor he visited that confirmed the test said he had some sort of powers and that he was to report to GTV at once. He took a deep breath and finally walked into the tower. The inside was rather bare for what he was expecting. Looking around the entryway was grand yes, with its massive statues of the greatest Guardians of GTV history. Its many plants and water fountains, even a massive American Flag with its 49 white and its single black star. The thing that bothered him was, there were no people wandering about. Just him and one woman typing at computer at the front counter. He swallowed and walked forward to the counter. ¡°Excuse me miss?¡± Before he could fully ask his question her arm snapped out and pointed at a stack of folders. Walking over he noticed the words ¡®Guardian In-processing¡¯. He still could not believe it and did not want to deep inside, he was a contractor not a Guardian. He looked back toward the door wondering if he could make a break for it. Just keep running until he was allowed to live his old life again. That thought was quickly dismissed. No, he would stick to this, this was what his path in life had given to him. He picked up the folder and looked around again for a place to sit and fill it out. As his eyes scanned over the secretary she was pointing at a far door. He turned back to thank her but she was already focused back on her computer. He looked over the black and green screen but could not figure out what she was doing. Giving up on the strange woman he entered the door indicated. Inside was a small room filled with desks, they all faced a TV that sat on a cart. Looking around there was only one other person in the room with him a tall blond man who perked up as Sam walked in the room. He gave him a small nod of acknowledgment and at in the seat closest to the door. The blond man stood then noticed Sam was about to begin to work on the packet and sat back down almost vibrating as he watched the TV. Sam scanned over the information that the packet asked for; It was mostly the usual medical information and identity that he might have been expecting for something physically demanding like the military or sports. When he got to the second to last sheet he paused and read the new questions: Type of Powers, Preferred name. He ran his hand through his black hair and slumped back in his seat as he read them. Up until then he probably could have fooled himself on what he was here for. He had no clue what to fill those with, so he left them blank as he worked through the rest of the paperwork. Sam tossed the pencil on the desk when he was done and leaned back he looked up at the clock and saw that he had been working at it for almost an hour and there was no sign that anyone even knew they were back here. He looked over at the other man who was only half watching the TV and half sneaking peeks over at him. Sam took a deep breath and decided to try to talk to him. ¡°Oh, uh hey. How long have you been waiting here?¡± Like a puppy that had just heard its name called He perked up and cleared all of the desks between them and was right next to Sam. ¡°Hey! I¡¯ve been here for about three hours you have no idea how boring it was up until now, I mean the idea of having powers and all kept me occupied with all my planning on my seven-year plan to become the Greatest Guardian in history but that can only keep my focus for about one hour forty¡­ Seven minutes, there are so many variables still up in the air right now anyway I am Ian Brooks, Nice to meet you.¡± Sam instantly regretted his decision. ¡°What¡¯s your name? No! What is your power? Mine is something called light manipulation I don¡¯t know what I can really do just yet but I know it will be really awesome If it is mostly just a light show then I can at least become the brains of a good group I mean you can join too of course since we are both staring out at the same time, and we can work together to become famous twice as fast!¡± As Ian stopped to take a breath Sam took his chance to speak. ¡° I¡¯m Samuel Rhodes, I¡¯m not exactly sure what my powers are yet. I just came here from the doctor¡¯s office, and if---¡± ¡°You don¡¯t know yet? Holy crap if I don¡¯t know if i could handle not knowing! When i learned that i had powers I went to go find out what they were immediately but no matter one of the tests here will see what your powers are, Imagine if they were something like reality warping then, Aw man that would be the best thing ever you have no idea how amazing that would be I mean have you seen what Blackout can do? Some of the---¡± ¡°Ian Brooks, they are ready for you,¡± A black haired woman stepped out from the far door near where Ian was sitting before. ¡°Well looks like I¡¯m finally up I¡¯ll see you on the other side Sam! Don¡¯t forget what I said we should definitely team up when we get started!¡± Ian stood and gave a quick playful salute before heading into the back room with the woman. Sound left the room like a vacuum as the door closed. Sam deflated and relaxed hoping that he would not have to see much of him. That hope was quickly snuffed knowing how small the pool of actual guardians was he knew they would be meeting again. A lot. He sat enjoying the silence for what seemed like a few minutes before the door burst open again and Ian rushed out into the room with a huge grin on his face. He gave Sam a thumbs up and walked out into the lobby. ¡°Samuel Rhodes. They are ready for you now.¡± Sam stood up and followed into the room. Where four people in suits sat behind a large table, the woman took the packet and handed to them. ¡°Samuel Rhodes thank you for coming in today, We know how difficult it must have been today of all days on top of all of this to find out your life was about to change for ever.¡± The man on the left spoke first. Sam was a little taken aback by what they were implying they knew with the way they were talking. ¡°Oh, don¡¯t be alarmed. We were contacted by your doctor when you tested positive for powers, and we did a little bit of a background check.¡± They seemed to be moving from left to right each taking a turn in speaking. Sam was half tempted to walk out but decided to stay he tried to look less freaked out than he was. The next suited figure spoke, this time a woman, ¡°Would you mind telling us about yourself? In your own words of course, there is a difference in what we can gather in two hours and what you can tell us.¡± Sam took a deep breath and actually calmed himself. ¡°Well¡­ I¡¯m sure you already know this but I¡¯m Sam Rhodes. I work, worked for my dad¡¯s contracting service. I guess I can¡¯t really do that anymore,¡± He looked them over and their slight head shaking confirmed his fears. His heart sinking a bit more he continued, ¡°I mean with this whole situation now over my head, I¡¯m twenty years old. Haven''t done much with my life, was average in high school and never went to college just started working with my dad. I have no Idea why I got these powers.¡± He had to remind himself to call his family in the chaos he had forgotten. The final of the figures finished writing on his notepad and nodded, ¡°Well, As far as we understand it, everyone has the potential to develop powers. Although Only those that perform a true act of heroism or display an all consuming desire for the powers will acquire them.¡± Sam had to stop and think the image of a fire consuming the apartment building flashed in his mind. ¡°Hey, How long does it take for powers to develop after an event?¡± ¡°Usually instantly did you remember the event?¡± The woman leaned forward with interest. ¡°I think it must have been on the night of the fire on L Street,¡± Sam swallowed, ¡°I don¡¯t know if I got powers back then. I never felt anything strange until this morning, well other than my muscles hurting. I assumed that would be a given though.¡± The group spoke quickly and quietly amongst them self for a bit then motioned him to continue, ¡°Please tell us what happened that night if you will.¡± ¡°I guess I had just finished with work for the day, and I was heading over to my friend, Jack¡¯s place, to see if he wanted to hang out. When I drove up the fire was already raging and the fire department was nowhere in sight. I grabbed my mask I used for drywall. I ran in, the building was already beginning to crumble. I heard people around me, so I reached out to grab something the only thing being the emergency axe they had. I don¡¯t really know what I was expecting since, well,¡± he raised his arms to show they were rather thin over all he was a lanky build not much muscle to him despite working a type of construction. ¡°Anyway once I had the axe, it¡­ just felt right in my hands like it was part of my arm, I was able to break away enough debris to save some people¡¯s lives but by the time I made it all the way up to my friend¡¯s room¡­ it was¡­ ¡° He paused for a moment. ¡°Yeah. I don¡¯t know how I was able to break through so much. I think I attributed it to adrenaline,¡± He looked up at their faces they were all blank and emotionless much like the woman up front. ¡°We are sorry For your loss, but judging on what you said, Yes that would qualify for you to gain powers. Still, that fire was two weeks ago, and you are only now making it here? That is strange and must be investigated.¡± They spoke amongst themselves as one stood and left the room. Sam felt his skin get a bit clammy as he ran his hand through his hair. ¡°So¡­ Is everything alright?¡± His eyes darted quickly between the remaining suits. ¡°Everything is fine, in fact thank you for coming in today, we would like to be the first to welcome you to the GTV family,¡± They clapped in perfect sync as one opened their hand the other closed. ¡°If you would please return to the lobby and wait for your guide to show you around.¡± Sam nodded and got the hell out of that room.