4A/N: Welcome, all, to the start of my original fiction career. I've decided to start both this monthly series and the one I've started over on FanFiction/AO3 so that I'm not 100% relying solely on novels to get my name out there; writing a novel takes a long time, and I'd like to have a more consistent stream of content available to keep people interested and to bring in new viewers. That's what these monthly serials aim to do. As far as the novels go, however, I intend to make the first three chapters of every one of them I write available for free on both this site and WattPad as free preview so that readers can get a feel for my stories and see if they're interested in buying the full book.
As for this story; this was originally something I had intended to release later in my career as a comic/graphic novel series, and I still hope to do so one day in the future. For now, I'd like to upload it in text format as a monthly serial. As a result, this may be a bit rough, especially since I'm currently writing this without any kind of editor. I hope you enjoy and consider leaving a review telling me what you liked and what you disliked; I'm looking for any feedback I can get so that I can improve my skills as a writer as I work. I plan to upload a new chapter of this story on the Tuesday of the second full week of each month.
I you prefer WattPad, you can find me over there under the name D_M_Frost. If you're interested in my fanfiction writing, you can find me on FanFiction under D. M. Frost, or on AO3 under D_M_Frost.
You can also follow me on Twitter/X "at"dmfrostwriting
Well, with all that preamble out of the way, let's take a look far into the future of The New Age of Heroes.
The New Age of Heroes #0
Ringmaster #0 - One Shot
The sky was darkened over the Yellowstone Caldera, not only because of the massive, technological dome that currently sat over the majority of the national park, but also due to the enormous quantities of black ash suffusing the atmosphere. The earth beneath the dome was blasted apart and sinking into the red-hot molten magma below. The villains that caused this catastrophe spread throughout the park, fighting hard to keep the heroes at bay, to stop them from reaching the man behind all this. Still other heroes did what they could to help in other ways, either trying to extract as much volcanic ash and gas as they could from the surrounding area, or desperately searching for any survivors.
Through it all, only one man was allowed to set foot on the dome and run towards the sky piercing tower looming at its center. Band Ringwald – better known to the world by his hero name, Impulse – arrived at the base of the artificial megastructure and found the mastermind waiting for him; the man's name was Doctor Jakob Bazarov, or as he had come to be known over the last few months, Nihilus.
"It's over, Nihilus!" declared the hero, his mouth drawn into a thin line, while the upper half of his face was covered by a black, dome-like helmet. "The World Heroes United have the park completely surrounded; it's only a matter of time before your cohorts are defeated! Please, Doctor Bazarov, come quietly and don't escalate this any further."
"I'm afraid I cannot do that, Mr. Ringwald," replied the older man, with a bitter expression on his wrinkled face. "You see, my project is nearly complete; in fact, it's just about to enter its final stage."
Upon hearing his real name spoken from the villain's lips, Impulse pressed a button nestled under the back of his helmet, causing the semi-translucent black dome to fold backwards into itself, exposing a mop of curly, orange hair. His freckled face was drawn into a scowl, and his green eyes burned with anger, as he now knew for certain that the recent attack on his family was no mere coincidence, but he didn't have time to think about that now.
"Are you saying blowing up Yellowstone and causing a national disaster wasn't your plan!?"
"Only the first phase of it. I needed to clear away as much of the earth here as possible, you see, in order to gain access to the hotspot and begin the final phase."
Band recalled the enormous pit of magma he was able to see beneath the dome on his way over here; and at its center, directly over where Old Faithful once bubbled was…
"So, this tower then?"
Precisely, my boy. It is a particle accelerator meant to amplify my own Dark Matter abilities and pour them deep into the Earth's mantle. The only thing I need now to ensure the process is completed efficiently…is that "ring" around your wrist," declared Bazarov, pointing his finger at the boy staring him down.
Band's left hand instinctively moved to cover the silver bracer on his left wrist, his eyes never leaving Bazarov.
"You're insane! Pouring Dark Matter into the Earth like that will destroy the whole planet!"
"I believe that is the point."
"Why!?" asked Band, grimacing. "Why would you want to destroy the planet? Aren't you a doctor and a philanthropist? Haven't you dedicated most of your life to helping people in need?"
"I have, and that is precisely what has led me to this point," the doctor explained, calmly. "You see, humanity is beyond saving at this point; people in this world are evil to their core, and the only way they can redeem themselves is through extinction."
"There's no way that's true! There are good people everywhere you look; look at all of the heroes that have come here today to stop you!"
"You poor, naïve child; do you really think you and your heroes can even make a dent?" spat the doctor. "I have lived long enough in this world to see humanity at its worst, and any history book will tell you that the past five-thousand years haven't been any different!"
Band said nothing, letting the older man continue.
"I did help people, like you said; I've been through warzone after warzone, trying to heal the sick and injured, watching innocent civilians who just wanted to live peaceful lives die every time. And every single one of those wars was pointless, all of them started for no good reason by countries run by greed and money and the pursuit of power."
Band looked away for a moment, recalling the world war that nearly started just a year ago.
"Everywhere you look, the most evil people in a society tend to make it to the top and use the levers of power to grind everyone else beneath their heels for pleasure and money. How am I not justified in putting an end to it all?"
"You're not wrong about that; corrupt people do have a tendency to get into positions of power and make decisions that hurt people; but that doesn't account for everyone in the world. Are you really going to condemn the entire world for the actions of a few!?"
"The corruption of humanity runs deeper than just the scum at the top. Countrymen betray each other, siblings fight, parents abandon their children. Even men and women are constantly at odds – psychology, sexuality, priorities, virtues, all fundamentally incompatible with one another; how can humans have any worth if even their most basic biological drive towards one another don't even work in harmony? You create all of these bonds and connections over family and patriotism and common goals, yet more often than not people just end up opposing one another and fighting amongst themselves."
"People aren't perfect, they're fallible; they don't always stick to their commitments, and they're easily led astray, especially in this modern world we live in; but those that struggle against it and live a virtuous life make it work in the end."
"Such virtue is a rare thing in this world, always has been. Most people will choose comfort over virtue on any given day."
Band clenched his fist in front of him. "That's why the world needs heroes – to save them and inspire them to do the right thing – that's why we're here!"
"And yet, for as many heroes there are villains, and organizations like A.R.G.E.N.T. that torture and experiment on people in the name of doing the right thing."
"I can see you won't be convinced, no matter what I say."
"Indeed."
Band's face fell. "Alright, then I have no other choice," he said, solemnly.
The thick, softly glowing, light-blue circuit lines on his left bracer intensified. Beneath the tight green and silver cloth of his bodysuit, similar circuit lines made their way up his left arm, up the skin of his neck, around his heart, and over his left eye. Band pushed the button in the back of his helmet, causing the black dome to once again cover the top half of his head, the left side of his face now partially visible due to the blue glow coming off his skin.
Bazarov pushed several buttons on his more technological and armored suit, causing it to draw power from his body. He unclipped the gunmetal colored helmet from his belt and placed it on his head, leaving only his eyes and mouth visible.
"As long as there are virtuous heroes fighting for what's right and inspiring others to follow in their footsteps, humanity is worth saving; they can better themselves someday, even if none of us live to see that day come!" declared Impulse, as his body surrounded itself with a black and purple aura. "I'll prove it to you, here and now!"
"You are more than welcome to try," replied Nihilus, as the same dark energy surged through the tubes and circuits on his suit.
In a blink the two men shot forward and collided with one another, auras surging before pushing each other back. Impulse clenched his fist and punched the air in front of him, releasing a powerful shockwave, but Nihilus blocked it with a purple barrier projected from the bracer on his left arm, letting the air behind him tremble from the blast. The villain went on the offensive, using his other gauntlet to fire bolts of purple energy at the boy in front of him, but the young hero strafed and spun out of the way, parrying what he couldn't dodge using forcefields projected from his hands; he shaped the energy in his body and whipped it forward, wrapping the older villain in black tendrils, then squeezing.
Nihilus could feel his body being crushed, but he expanded his own dark aura and used it to force the tendrils to loosed their grip, before blowing them apart completely with an explosive burst of energy. Suddenly, the mad doctor flew forward and clenched Impulse's lower face in his hand; he popped up into the air slightly, then slammed the boy headfirst into the metal dome they were standing on. Impulse used Dark Matter to cushion the impact, then charged it into his leg to deliver an explosive kick to get the older man off of him.
The hero wasted no time pressing his advantage and immediately took off into the air and slammed into his disoriented opponent. He charged energy into his arms and let off several shockwaves, knocking the evildoer around the sky like a pinball. He flew forward to follow up with a charged punch, but was blown back by several Dark Matter flares exploding around the villain's body.
Nihilus used thrusters on his suit to stabilize himself in the air, then pushed a few buttons on his gauntlets; thrusting his palms forward, he captured Impulse in a field of purple electricity and slammed the hero against the wall of the nearby tower. The boy groaned and screamed in pain as the mad doctor flew up to him. With the hero pinned in place, Nihilus reached forward to claim his prize, only to find that the metal bracer would not come loose from the boy's left wrist.
Fighting through the agony, Impulse concentrated his power in his chest and let out a massive shockwave to blow the doctor away, freeing him from the electrical prison. He stretched his arms out wide and strained, then rapidly brought his palms together in front of him; the very air crushed Nihilus from both sides, but the ne'er-do-well used his barriers to withstand the ethereal attack, before rushing forward to re-engage his target.
Nihilus used the barriers on his wrists like a wall, forcing Impulse back before shaping the shields into a sphere to capture the hero; Impulse, however, was not going to let himself be captured a second time, and used an all-directions shockwave to blast the shield-ball to pieces. The young hero fired off two shockwaves from his fists, but the bulkier man tucked his arms in front of him to block the impact. Nihilus shot his enemy with several energy blasts at close range, then smashed him into the air with a charged kick to the head.
Impulse's vision swam as he rocketed into the air; he fought to maintain consciousness after that last blow shattered his helmet visor. He barely had time to react to the haymaker thrown by the enemy pursuing him into the sky; he redirected the punch to the right of his head, then used his left elbow to slam the man back down. Adrenaline flooding his system, the hero wasted no time; with a burst of energy at his back and gravity pulling him along, he flew straight down, zeroing in on his target at blinding speed. A flurry of shockwave punches broke through the villain's guard and pushed him further down; another surge of power and Impulse connected a flying kick to the man's stomach; although the villain fought to resist the hit, he was still pushed even closer to the metal dome. With a flick of his arm, Impulse once more shot tendrils of dark energy to ensnare his enemy.
Nihilus dodged out of the way of the tendrils, before flying upwards to meet his target. "You missed, boy!"
But the hero was unperturbed. He pulled on the tendrils with all the might his left arm could muster, propelling him faster as the energy vanished from his hand. An unrivaled shockwave above him sent him even faster still.
Nihilus did not noticed the determination in the boy's eyes as the distance closed between them; so focused was he on ending this battle, he hadn't realized the younger man intended to do the same. By the time the mad doctor noticed the energy building above him, it was already too late; the black and purple star of destruction shone in a fist that rocketed toward him at a speed he could never react to.
The fist of the hero connected with the villain's body; where, he did not know, and it did not matter in the slightest. "DARK METEOR!"
In a flash, the man who wanted to end the world dented the metal dome he had built to help him do so. The crater formed instantly, shards of metal peeled off of the structure, dust and pressure exploded into the air, the crashing waves of magma below were forced back down into the mantle from whence they came…then came the sound, as if the sky itself had cracked open.
His breathing heavy, the hero gently flew down to survey the damage he had caused.
Well, what did y'all think? This One Shot is meant to be a flash forward into the future of the series, to a time where our heroes are already well established within the world; the next chapter will take us back to the beginning, when this whole crazy ride first started. Please leave a review and tell me what you liked, what you didn't like, and how I could potentially improve. Any and all feedback is much appreciated to help me become a better writer. I you're interested in this story or any of my other projects, feel free to follow me on any of the platforms listed in the top Author's Note. See you all next month, and until next time, stay frosty.