RKMBs Forums .::Important::. Writer's Block Vanguard Europe #1: On the Job

A prismatic ballet played before the alien's eyes. His body felt like it was being twisted around a pole. It was all cut short in an instant as the sensation of hard ground once again returned under his feet. But Adem Different's mind was caught in a deep fog like a Kennedy in a sex scandal. The onyx crystal slipped from his fingers and fell to the floor. The stone shattered the cystal, sending it flying about in bits and pieces. Different collapsed to the floor. Before the wendigoes had gathered their own thoughts, the alien's nanites redefined his outer appearance to match that of the massive stone wall he was braced up against. There, he sat in silence while his mind attempted to trek out of the fog.

Garm crawled out of one of the holes Cerberus created. The green dog went up to Asbjorn, sniffed the rotting hound's nose, and turned towards Vanguard. He was growling and grinning as well.

"Heh, heh, heh," said Garn, looking at Icarus. "Where's your tall friend? I want to chew on him when I'm done with you."

"You tricked me, hound of Hades! Whelp!" Drake had never seen Lykopis in such a rage. This was not normal battle anger. She was screeching, more like some housewife at her husband. It sounded...petty and normal. Cerberus had betrayed her, and nothing would stop her from slaying him. "I do not care if you are immortal, dog, you will bleed by my sword!"

"Asbjorn is--"

"--the alpha male--"

"--who must be obeyed."

Lykopis turned to the corpse-like hellhound. "Why?"

Asbjorn laughed, spilling maggots from his jaws. Cerberus seemed disgusted at the insects. "Why? Because it's my nature. I thrive[ off decay and rot. I know no other way of life. I will not let you live. I cannot let you live." He looked at his two comrades. "Garm, attack the Shadow-man and the flier. Cerberus, take the Amazon and the weaker male. I'll take their alpha male."

"Hades damanded before--"

"--we left, not to--"

"--harm the Amazon."

The eyes of Lykopis darted from Cerberus and Asbjorn. What was going on? "Stupid Spartan dog. Fine, I'll take her as well."

Lykopis turned to Drake. "Your orders?"

"Oh, so now you're listening?"

"You are the 'alpha male'."

Icarus laughed. "So Gaunt, I'll hold him down, and you can punch."

Edmund Gaunt smiled. "I have a better idea Mr. Sidewinder..." The shadow matter formed the shape of a dog three times the size of Garm, and for once, the monster quaked with fear of the dark.

Gaunt's shadow Fenris bayed at the sky, then turned towards the hellhounds. It scooped Garm up in it's massive jaws and began munching on him, as if he were a snack. The Vanguardians could hear his whimpers from below.

Icarus looked on in astonishment. "Not. . .uh, not bad, Perry." Then snapped back into attention, as he saw Link attempting to avoid one of Cerberus' heads. Sidewinder blasted forward, snatching the man some referred to as "The Worm" from the triple headed hounds muzzle. "Take this," Sidewinder offered him his gun. "It'll give you something to defend yourself with."


Drake Marshall, leapt, flipped, and rolled under Asbjorn's charge, finding himself beneath the creatures belly. He lifted his blade and stabbed upwards with it, running beneath it, as Asbjorn's innards began to fall outwards.

The stench nearly overpowered Drake as Asbjorn looked at him in amusement. "HEH." The creature snorted. "You are indeed the alpha, to fight so well. It will avail you naught, however." Asbjorn licked his lipe, his tongue, black and mottled, maggots falling from his trailing entrails. Drake's attack had done little to slow the half-dead beast down. He spun his blade and turned back, ready to face his foe. Lykopis stood back to back with him, her blade ready as well.

"Asbjorn will eat well today. . ." The beast drooled, it's putrid saliva, dripping onto the deck of the ship.

"NO!" Cerberus stood in front of Asbjorn, growling. "The amazon. . ." ". . .must not. . ." ". . .be touched!"

"Asbjorn does as he pleases!" The necrotic hound's dead eyes burned at the betrayal. "Not. . ." ". . .this. . ." ". . time!" Cerberus' heads were united against the beast. The pack was disintegrating.

Gaunt collapsed on the deck, as the shadow wolf/dog devoured the remains of Garm. The Shadow Chancellor had overextended himself, and needed rest. Icarus deposited Link next to him, and turned his attentions back towards the standoff, unsure of what would happen next.

"Bitch's whelp!" "Son of a coyote!" "Toothless jackel!"

Cerberus lowered all three heads and growled. He continued to stand between Vanguard and the undead hellhound. Lykopis grabbed Drake by the arm and pulled him away from Cerberus and Asbjorn. "I do not think we need to involve ourselves just yet."

Icarus ran over to Drake and the Amazon. "Want to place bets on who will win? I've got twenty on the Amazon's Shi Tzu."

Cerberus attacked his leader. Three jaws lined with bone-white teeth clamped down on Asbjorn's dry hide. The muscular canine was seven times stronger than Lord Asbjorn, but Asbjorn was older and more cunning. He knew that the three heads of Cerberus was a weakness as well as a power. Each head was fairly restricted in movement, and Asbjorn used this to his advantage. His own yellowed teeth found their way towards the muzzle of Cerberus' center head. He bit down hard, digging into the black flesh of the Greek hellhound.

Cerberus, pinned to his opponent, howled in pain. He tried to drag Asbjorn across the deck in an attempt to dislodge Asbjorn's jaws, but he would not give up. Lykopis, who moments before hated Cerberus, felt pity for him.

She turned to Drake. "We have to help him."

"How?"

Lykopis looked down at Drakes gear. "Do you have anything flamable?" Drake help up the torchlights. She nodded and grinned. "The hide of Asbjorn is thin and dry. You work with your sparks, I will work with my blade."

Asbjorn was so close to killing the Hound of Hades for good, when he felt a great heat on his flank. Drake had taken one of the torches and rammed it into the hide. Asbjorn let go of Cerberus and snapped at Drake, his thin tattered neck stretched towards Drake.

That was Asbjorn's fatal move. Lykopis swung wide and swung down upon the neck. The sword that failed to crack his skull was strong enough to break his neck. Asbjorn's head fell at her feet, and his body fell limp on the ground.

Cerberus was panting, but had enough strength to drag his body off of Asbjorn. His underbelly was scratched, but his red eyes still burned bright. "My thanks, Amazon." "You did not have to aid me." He turned and looked at Drake. "None of you had to."

Lykopis nodded. She picked up the head of Lord Asbjorn and placed it in her bag. "What will become of you?"

Cerberus sat down. He looked so much like a domesticated dog. His ears were pricked upwards and his tail thumped on the wooden deck. "Become of me? I will go back..." "...to my master Hades to serve him." "I can hear him calling me even now, since my task is done."

"What about the hellhounds?" asked Drake.

"There are hundreds of us." "We represent the dark angels and bright demons..." "...of every culture this world has ever seen." "Two of my kin are dead, and I care not." "They forgot that we serve our masters, and we must be the ones to obey the calls." "Garm forgot this." "Asbjorn thought he could be master." "But do not worry, Alpha Vanguard." By this Cerberus meant Drake. "We shall not touch you, so long as I strength."

"This is all very grand and what-not...but how are we going to get Adem back?" Icarus looked around the deck, hoping to see some sort of clue. Different was a very odd sort of person, but Icarus thought things would be pretty boring without him.

Carberus yawned and stood up. "That I cannot aid you with." "However, I recommend you ask the dark magician." "Anyone that can kill Garm deserves my thanks, as well as my respect." He turned to face Lykopis. "Farewell, Amazon. I hope never to see you again."

Lykopis nodded. "But you will, one day. When I am only a shawdow, and I join the eleven other shades waiting on the other side of the Styx...you will see me then."

Cerberus leaned closer to Lykopis, so only the Amazon could hear the words from his middle head. "Ten shades."

"What?"

"Ten shades wait for you. This is what my master bade me to tell you."

Drake could not understand why Lykopis drew back from the hellhound, or why she turned so pale. But Cerberus gave one massive back and jumped off the boat, to a river underground no mortal man had ever laid eyes upon. Drake turned to Guant, still lying on the deck. "Edmund...do you enough power for one more deed tonight? Let's get Adem back."

Icebreakers emblazoned with the Paragon Industries logo made their way towards the Abbadon, Doc Paragon stood on the deck of the lead ship, staring intently out across the frozen wastes.

He wore little more than his standard business attire, although the crewmen were bundled up tight against the cold. Lifting up a pair of binoculars, he took note of the membership of his team standing upon the deck and waving towards the ships. All but one. . .

**********************

"And how are we supposed to get Adem back? We have no way of getting to him?" Lykopis thundered, pounding a fist against the wall of of one the Paragon ships many cabins.

"Ah, but we do have a way, don't we, Edmund?" Drake smiled, looking over a the Shadow Chancellor, who pulled a small bundle of cloth from one of his pockets and began to unwrap it.

"We can find Adem with these." He offered, as the Vanguardians looked upon several small fragments of shattered crystal.

*********************

Adem's nanites had shifted into thick, heavy clothing to keep him warm on the frozen planet. He kept moving as best he could to escape detection from his pursuers. They howled and whistled unearthly tunes in pursuit of him. Shortly after he'd arrived, he'd shattered the crystal against one of the megalithic stone pillars.

That was the catch, you see. The crystal had to be destroyed from this end, so they couldn't return. At least, not for some time.

Adem crept around a corner and sat down and waited. He expected it would be some time before help arrived, if at all. He'd lost contact with Jym, and was growing very tired. He leaned back and felt an arm wrap itself around his throat.

The alien detective struggled, but the grasp he found himself in, was much stronger even than his own. He felt himself pulled backwards into. . .something familiar. . .

****************

"Welcome back, Adem!" The Vanguardians shouted, as Adem turned and saw Doc Paragon standing behind him, one arm wrapped around his neck. "You put up quite a struggle, Mr. Different." Paragon said, relaxing his grip to let the alien free.

Shaking hands, Adem had a perplexed look on his face. Almost frowning, he asked, "But how did you find me?"

"The crystal fragments you found," Drake answered, "were the remains of the original crystal the wendigoes used to travel to Earth."

"Paragon and Jym fed them into the computers and used them to power their. . .space inductor. . .?" Lykopis asked, looking up from a cup of wine.

"Subspatial inducer." Paragon mildly corrected her. "From there, it was a simple matter to locate your bio electric energy signature." Paragon offered the alien a cup of wine. "A toast, to a successful first mission. . ."

Now that the mission was over, the team enjoyed the reception Paragon had prepared for them back at their headquarters: a small coctail party, nothing too ellaborate, just a small quantity of drink and food, accompanied by some relaxing music.

As the team drank, ate, and rested, Link found his way to Paragon. "Excellent idea, William," Fox said.

"Thank you. I thought you'd like it," Paragon replied.

"The rest seem to be enjoying themselves, too," Fox said as the two men observed the rest of the team sitting in comfortable couches around a small glass table. "Some group you've got here..."

"We've got here," Paragon corrected. "I don't own them. I'm as part of it as you or any of them are."

Link nodded and took a sip from his glass of scotch. Then, whithout looking at Paragon, he said, "I won't be returning, you know."

Paragon looked at him, confused. Link kept on taking small sips from his glass.

"May I ask why?" William asked, and, anticipating the answer, he added, "I think I... we deserve to know that much."

"Can't stay." Link just shook his head slowly. "...just can't risk it..." Link said, more to himself than to his new friend, before taking another small sip. "That's all you need to know."

Paragon seemed a bit annoyed. "Drake told me what happened inside... You told them who you are."

"I had no choice."

"Is that it? Is that why you're leaving?"

Link drank the rest of his scotch in one not so small sip, and left the glass in a nearby table as he patted Paragon in the back with his other hand. "You've been great, William. You've been all great. Say good-bye to them for me, will you?"

Paragon couldn't believe what he was hearing. Without saying another word, Link left the room.

Paragon found Lykopis still sipping her wine. She was sitting in a chair, somewhat dazed. Her massive coat was still wrapped around her body, and she did not noticed her slumped position. "I heard you held out pretty good on your own."

Lykopis noticed Paragon and nodded. "I was with a good company. I think you were right. No more Lone Wolf for me. I need to be on a team." She took another sip before speaking again. "It just felt so good...it felt so right. Heh. It just felt like the old days, when the girls and I would--" she stopped suddenly. "It is not betrayl, is it?"

Paragon lifted an eyebrow. "What?"

"I am not betraying my sisters, am I?" Lykopis frowned. "There is no dishonor in the act, is there? I still love my sisters...but there is no shame in moving on, right?"

Paragon smiled. "I'm sure Vanguard Europe will always be second fiddle to you original team. I wouldn't have it any other way."

"Good." Lykopis set her glass down. "One more question for you."

"Go ahead."

Lykopis began fingering her rings. "I know you were once part of a team too. You had many friends in that team, and they are all dead. But what if someone told you one was still alive. What would you do?"

"Do you trust the source?"

Cerberus spoke from the mouth of Hades. One of my sisters is still alive. "Yes, I think it is reliable."

"I would seek my old friend out."

Lykopis didn't say anything at first. Then she seemed to ragain her senses and seemed more social. "Thank you, Paragon. If you excuse me, I need to make sure Sidewinder does not finish off the wine."

"It's dated 1896. Was that a good year?"

Lykopis thought about it for a moment. She began laughing. "Yes. 1896 was a good year."

"I'm just saying..." began Icarus. He refiled Miss Penny's glass of wine.

"No. No movie. No dinner. No car ride. No wild sex in my flat."

Penny spotted Lykopis appraoching Icarus and herself. The Amazon always intimidated Penny, but she needed help. "Lykopis," she began, grabbing the Amazon's arm and pulling her close. "How do you explain 'rejection' to someone? He's more forward than the British I'm use to."

Lykopis grinned. "Hit him with a sword. Here," she handed Penny her blade. The secretary could hardly get a grip on it. "Use mine."

"I can take a hint," said Icarus. He turned to Lykopis. "For the record, I didn't say anything about sex in her flat. She came up with that all on her own. Later babes."

"Arrogant man," said the two women together.

Penny looked at Amazon. "Are all the man you've been with this maddening?"

"I tend not to date younger men." It took a moment for Penny to get the joke.

Icarus Sidewinder looked out the window, gazing out upon the starry night sky above Munich. He sighed wistfully, suddenly wishing to once again be a part of his natural element, soaring above all his problems.

He had become so engaged in this thought that he hadn't noticed the footsteps approaching from behind.

"Mind if I join you?"

Icarus cocked his head slightly to take in the form of Drake Marshall. The Vanguard Europe field leader was dressed in a black t-shirt and blue jeans, sipping a cola beverage.

"Can't see why you'd want to, Captain America," Sidewinder sighed, "but it's your choice..."

Drake furrowed his brow. "I... uh... suppose I'll take that as a yes."

Drake came up to the window that Icarus leaned against and matched the pilot's pose. Taking a sip of his soda, Drake followed his teammate's gaze out the window and into the night sky.

"Stars are beautiful tonight," he said in an attempt to start up some conversation.

"I guess..." Icarus shrugged.

Drake attempted another go. 'You see that one?" he said as he pointed at a particular grouping of stars. "That's Pegasus. The flying horse. Y'know, I could never find the Big Dipper or Orion's Belt, but I could always seem to find Pegasus. You think that's weird?"

"Whatever, Boy Scout," Icarus said, turning from the window and walking back into the party.

"Icarus!" Drake called, stopping the pilot as he moved away. "Wait up!"

"Yeah?" Icarus said, turning around, suddenly looking none too happy.

"Look," Drake said, "I don't know if you're used to it or not, but I'm used to starting off meeting people on the right foot. I don't think we got that opportunity."

"What?"

"You fought well out there, Icarus," Drake said, "and I know Paragon knew what he was doing when he brought you on. I was hoping that we could maybe be friends..."

Icarus stared at the Vanguard leader blankly for a moment, then, after a pause just long enough to be construed as uncomfortable, he burst out laughing.

"Don't go soft on me, Captain!" he chortled, slapping the man on the shoulder. Then, taking a swig of his wine, he raised his glass and continued to walk away. "Cheers!"

"Well," Marshall said, standing awkwardly with his soda, "that went well..."

"Great night for star gazing," Drake said as he walked across the roof of the Vanguard Europe building.

"I'm actually marveling at the view of the city from here," Adem responded as his orange orbs scanned over the mix of history and progression intermixed within the German town.

Marshall came to a stop beside the alien. "I really need to find a better conversation opener. How does 'How 'bout them Packers?' work?"

"There dependence on an ailing and age quarterback puts the future of their offensive line in question. There is a growing need and concern for grooming a replacement quarterback whom the offensive line will be able to respect and trust, thus insureing the success of future seasons."

"Well, that caught me off guard."

"It did, didn't it?"

An awkward silence followed as Drake tried to formulate another line of questioning. It occured to him that the direct route was the best approach when dealing with Different. "Why aren't you inside with the rest of the team?"

"Please don't consider me rude," Adem answered while still gazing out over the cityscape. "I have nothing personal against the rest of the team or the festivities. It's just that that trip across planes of existance with that crystal has left my mind somewhat hazy and disoriented. I'm attempting to use an old technique taught to me on my homeworld. I focus my eyes and mind on one thing, direct all my thoughts concerning whatever it is, and slowly bring my mind back under control. The atmosphere inside was too noisy and full of distractions for me to do it there."

"Ah!" the field learder let out, feeling a bit of relief. "Does it work?"

"Well, it was."

"Hmmmmmmmmm..................... Oh! Oh, I'm....... I'll just get back downstairs and make sure we still have plenty of punch or something." Marshall turned and began to walk away.

"I'll only be a few more minutes, Drake," the alien said as he walked away. "Then, I'll be back downstairs and my old self again."

"Good. I'm not really sure what that is, but it sounds fine."

"Drake," Adem called out before the man entered the door back inside. "Thank you. For the privacy and the concern."

"Hey, we're on a team here. Besides, I'd like to think that our time in La Perdita also made us friends. This is what friends do."

As Marshall stepped inside, Adem turned back towards the city and gazed out over the lights and buildings.

London
The Metahuman Research Center
The Morgue

It is a place that Edmund Gaunt knows all too well. And many similar to it. After all, one would expect a fellow referred to as the Shadow Chancellor to do his best work in the dark.

". . .told you I had to work to do." Gaunt's voice sounded against the walls of the empty room as he walked towards the file cabinet.

"But I do not understand why you insisted upon dragging me away with you." Lykopis followed behind him, glancing around nervously. She did not like it here. It brought back too many memories for the amazon.

"Because I need your particular help." Gaunt walked over to a drawer and pulled it open. "Yes, this is he."

"You are a ghoul." Lykopis spat out. The amazon's fire could burn bright when she chose.

"Not at all, though I have known many. Come here." Gaunt pulled back the sheet covering the body and motioned for Lykopis to walk over.

"Does Paragon know you are using members of Vanguard to do your business?" The amazon asked, taking another sip of the wine she had brought with her.

"Of course. It is part of our agreement. I help Vanguard. And Vanguard helps me." He stood back as Lykopis began to look over the corpse.

"The neck. Look at the neck." Lykopis did as he asked and gasped suddenly, drawing a hand to her face and dropping her glass on the floor. Few things could startle her, but this was one of them.

"You know what did this?" Gaunt asked. His voice was flat and even, containing little trace of emotion. "V-vrykolokas. . ." She answered, still shaken.

"Yes, a particularly nasty one by the name of Marcus Spector. I believe him to be a part of a powerful cabal of which at least one member has moved against Vanguard before."

"But the vrykolokas. . ." She began.

"Are not what you think. They are not the undead revenants so popular in folklore and literature. They are in truth, parasitic symbiotes. I have warred against them for centuries. Spector, is the last. I will finish him." Gaunt pulled the sheet back over the body.

"M-may I return to the party now?" Lykopis asked, still awed.

"If you wish. I have more work to do."