Previously in “Paladin: Origins”…
Connor Sharpe is a college student with dark misery. His parents, dead when he was but a boy, the result of a tragic murder-suicide caused by his father. Now, years later, Connor is obsessed with trying to find out what caused his father to become so evil, so quickly, when a mysterious white light seems to have awoke a new side of his life. Now, thanks to the training of the angel, Gabriel, Connor Sharpe has become THE PALADIN, the last of the Earthborn Angels…
I
Connor roused from his sleep, sitting up and wincing hard.
It had been a rough week, since the awakening of these new powers. He had learned early on that he could solidify his energy to create his costume, not only protecting his identity but his body as well. The wondrous material was capable of defending against an energy attack, deflecting a bullet, even protecting against a cut from the sharpest of blades.
Unfortunately, Gabriel had failed to mention that it wouldn’t protect him against a strong physical blow, such as the powerful kick that seemed to have broken a few ribs the night before.
So now, the usual routine which had once been so easy was plagued with discomfort as he shuffled to the shower, clutching his bruised side. He painfully was able to shave and shower. He looked in the mirror and blinked a few times, then finally blinked and twitched his head slightly, as a trickle of energy caused his hair to rise up, smirking to himself.
There was a loud rap at the door, which caused Connor to jump and lose his control and his hair unceremoniously fell limp against his forehead. He stumbled across the stacks of books and threw on a shirt to cover his bruises as he made his way to the door. He opened it cautiously only to be greeted by a tall man with an unkempt mess of thick, curly hair spread across his head clutching a grocery bag. This man smiled at Connor and slipped in, pulling bottles out of the bag and stuffing them in the fridge.
“Forget your key again Victor?” Connor said smugly, leaning against the door frame.
“Yeah, well, ya know…I’m just really busy with classes.”
“You’re taking two classes.”
Vincent wadded up the bag and threw it into the trash can across the room. “Yeah, but you take Med 1 and tell me how easy life is.”
Connor shifted his weight and was prepared to make a snappy remark, but accidentally banged his side against the wall and found himself struggling not to show how bad he was hurting. Victor did not notice though, and simply grabbed his books and muttered that he had to get to class. Connor walked back and finally gave up on fixing his hair, pulling on a coat and heading towards the door. He opened it to find Lea standing on the other side of the door.
“Oh!” she said startled, one hand held up. “I was just about to knock…”
“Its ok.” Connor said, stepping aside to let her in. “What are you doing?”
“I just wanted to bring you your book back…you left it at the library the other night. And…I wanted to make sure you were ok…”
“Its been a week Lea, honestly, I’m fine.”
Lea’s shifted her weight and frowned. “I’ve noticed you’ve been having a lot of trouble just moving lately Connor. It seems like you’re always in pain.”
Connor leaned against the door and looked down. “Its nothing, I just, uhm…fell down some stairs.”
“Oh, really?” Lea asked, reaching out to swat Connor’s side, causing him to yelp in both pain and surprise.
“They were really big stairs though.”
“Look,” Lea said, grinning, “I’m sure you’re not dieing, but I’m still concerned about you. So please, just tell me what’s going on?”
Connor stammered a bit, and tried to make some explanation, but it wasn’t long before even Lea’s patience wore thin. She waved her hand and turned around, when Connor noticed something odd. On her palm, a faint light seemed to shine, barely visible even to his own eyes.
“Never mind. You’ll tell me when you’re ready.” Lea turned and headed into the hallway to leave. Connor followed her into the hallway to find out more when a voice rang out from behind.
“We need to go.”
Connor turned around to find Gabriel standing at the end of the hallway, his sword dangling from his side.
Somehow, Connor knew it wasn’t anything good.
***
Connor and Gabriel both stood in an old part of town, surrounded by abandoned buildings long wore down by the ages. Connor casually leaned against a building as Gabriel stood in the center of the buildings, staring at a spot in the ground several feet away from him. According to him, there were a group of demons that were going to appear here this evening. They were to stop these demons before they caused any serious chaos on Earth.
Connor, however, had found the five hour wait a bit tedious.
Connor walked over and stood next to Gabriel, staring at the ground up ahead of them. “I need to ask you something.”
Gabriel turned to face the younger man. “Yes?”
“It’s…it’s Lea. We were talking before you showed up, and when she left, I noticed these marks on her palm. They were glowing…it was faint, yeah, but they were glowing.”
“This concerns you?”
“It reminded me of when I got my powers. I don’t want her to have to deal with this world, Gabriel. She’s a good person, she doesn’t deserve to suffer through this life. She’s always been there for me…even through all that happened with my parents. I’ll never know what happened to them, but I’ll always remember how she kept me alive through it”
Gabriel started to say something, but didn’t get the chance. The ground shook and cracked, a strong red light shooting up into the dark sky. Demons crawled to the ground in packs, as more of these holes began to form across the area. Gabriel’s eyes were wide with shock as he stared off in the distance.
“My God…” he finally spoke, “…this is far worse than I imagined it being.”
Connor stepped forward, his hands clenched tightly into fists. White hot lighting crackled from his body, a smirk forming on his face. “Well,” he smirked, “I guess I’ll get to work off some of that stress.”
II
White hot lightning spewed from Connor’s body, solidifying to form his costume, a stark white band glowing across his chest and arms. His cape, pure white, flowed from out of the shoulders and flapped violently in the ensuing wind. Beneath the mask, his eyes narrowed, the smile he now bore concealed by it.
“Connor!” Gabriel screamed, “Wait!”
But it was too late. Connor took off, flying through the air and heading for the first demon he saw. His fist out, he shot forward and landed a solid blow on the monsters face, a loud crack the sound of thunder ringing out through the world.
It was Connor’s surprise, however, that only he felt any pain in this.
He dropped to the ground, pieces of his gloved hands burning, searing down to the flesh as the costume appeared to melt. Gabriel shot forward and grabbed Connor, leaping up to a rooftop.
Connor gasped for air and ripped the glove off, flinging it across the roof. “What the hell was that?!”
Gabriel quickly tended Connor’s hand, inspecting the burns. “Brimstone…its from Hell, the demons are covered in it when they break through. It has an acidic property against anything of a Holy nature. You’ll have to use a weapon.”
“Well, gee, I seem to be fresh out of…”
Gabriel twitched his hand, forming a beam of energy that spread wide, solidifying and forming a powerful spear, its tip carved into wicked spikes and burrs.
“Oh, well, yeah, there’s that.”
Gabriel twirled the spear and pressed it against the back of his neck. “The weapons are holy instruments, but they’re more efficient than our energy blasts, and we won’t be able to feel the brimstone when it hits them. Just focus your energy into making it, and then make it real”
Gabriel leaped down into the crowd of demons. Connor rose up and grabbed his tattered glove, pulling it back on. He stepped out and looked at the demons, hundreds of them, spread out among the city. He looked at his hand and closed his eyes, focusing on the energy, solidifying it until he formed a large, elegant sword. His eyes scanning the crowd, he found a large demon, larger than the rest of them. He leapt off the top of the roof and floated down to this demon and dropped before them, twirling his sword.
The smaller demons around him let out a snarling roar, and charged forward. Connor’s eyes flashed with power as he pulled the sword back and swung it towards them, the blade whirring through the air and slashing through the monsters torso. The larger monster charged forward and swatted at Connor, who held his sword up, using the monster momentum to remove its arm. The demon howled in pain, as Connor leaped up and swung his sword once more, the monsters head decapitated and burning away into flames as it rolled to the ground.
Connor didn’t even have time to celebrate before a sharp kick knocked him off his feet. He turned to face another demon, this one more his own size, standing there seething, its fists clenched and burning red hot. The demon howled and raised his arms, the fallen demons lifting up and dissipating, their energy merging with the new demon.
Smirking, Connor ran up to attack, but the demon reached out and grabbed Connor by the throat, holding him up in the air. Connor looked down in shock as the energy from the fallen beasts merged with this one, as he grew larger and larger. He struggled hard, feeling the traces of brimstone burning through the neck of his costume, as the demon grabbed Connor’s sword and flung it away, the energy shattering and fading into the air. He tried hard to focus and create a new one, but found himself too distracted, too much pain from the brimstone, as it began to reach his flesh…
III
Gabriel twirled the staff around, bits of it burnt and falling off by the brimstone. He finally hurled it into the crowd, skewering a handful of demons as it soared into the side of a building. His hand stowed to his side, clutching the elegant hilt of his sword. He unsheathed the blade, swinging it around and went back to slashing the demons.
On the other side of the area, Connor found himself in a deeper predicament as the brimstone burned through, searing into his neck, the smell of his own burning flesh filling his nostrils. Desperate, he formed a fist and started punching the monstrosity in the side, only to find he was having no effect. Finally, he took a deep breath and focused on the muscles of his forearm.
Flesh gave way to burning energy, every muscle tensing like a rubber band about to snap. Blasts of power crackled around his finger, as he threw forward a punch with the force of a wrecking ball, his fist actually piercing the demons hard hide and breaking through to the soft fleshy bits underneath it.
The demon howled and dropped Connor, recoiling. Connor ran charged up both fists and led a powerful assault, refusing to let up, trying desperately not to let this monster up. He forced the demon far away, near an old lake, and flew into the beast, using the energy to shield himself from the brimstone. The two rose higher and higher in the air, before Connor finally threw him down hard, landing in the water. Flecks of brimstone began to fall off as the water washed the dust off the monster.
Connor swam over and pulled himself up to the edge, breathing heavily. He looked up to see Gabriel, covered in blood and holding what was left of his sword in one hand, his other reached out to help Connor up.
“Are you ok?” Gabriel asked.
Connor attempted to answer, but could only murmur through the gasps and coughing as he pulled his mask off, wringing water from it.
“Reckon my cape will be musty?” Connor finally quipped as he pulled the soaking wet cape off, shaking the water from it.
“Doubtful…it’s made of your energy, so once you dissipate it, the water will…”
“It was a joke, Gabriel.”
A roar came from behind as water rushed up in a geyser. The monster rose from the water, howling like he had been stabbed in the eye, every muscle on its body tensed. It swept down and swatted at Connor, knocking him aside, then grabbed Gabriel by the throat. Though it wasn’t burning Gabriel with the brimstone anymore, its powerful punches were more than he could stand in his weakened state. His enormous fists began pummeling into Gabriel’s body, striking flesh and shattering bones. The monster finally flung him into a building, and picked up a large piece of concrete, aiming to shatter Gabriel’s skull with it.
Connor rose, pulling off the cape which had been covering his unmasked face, and leapt forward, landing a punch in the monsters midsection, but to no avail. The beast brought the cement block down on Connor’s head and knocking the younger man down to his knees. He grabbed Connor by the back of his costume and flung him aside, Connor landing in the middle of the lake behind them.
Gabriel rose and grabbed his sword, charging forward and swinging wildly. The beast blocked every strike with exact precision, finally catching the blade between his hands and snapping it, jamming the end of it into Gabriel’s shoulder. Gabriel dropped, moaning in pain, when he saw the energy form behind the monster.
Connor stood at the edge of the lake, his teeth gritted, seething and gathering his energy. As the power rose, Connor’s hair stood on end, the ground shaking as rocks and dust began to lift up. Gabriel could see the immense power, could see the terrible strength coming up from the boy, and shot forward.
“Connor, no!” Gabriel screamed, but it was too late.
Connor clapped his hands together and screamed, the energy blast launching forward and colliding with the demon. Gabriel leapt out of the way, but barely, as the blast stirred up dust and debris, the monsters body sucked up and evaporated wholly.
“Looks like we got him!” Connor yelled. Gabriel just stood there, gasping for breath.
“You idiot! Do you not see what you have done?”
Connor didn’t have time to answer. As the dust settled, Connor saw to his horror, the damage he had wrecked. The few buildings behind the demon were still inhabited. Poor citizens. Squatters. A few run down family businesses.
Gone. All gone. All because of him.
Connor dropped to his knees, his jaw dropped at the chaos. To stop a demon. That was all he had to do. But in the end, he had accidentally taken the life of so many more; so many innocent people. So many lives were now gone.
And he had killed them.
IV
Three days later, and Connor is covered in dirt.
Burdened with guilt, he signed up to be part of a crew to help clean up the area he had destroyed. He stood solemnly over the wreckage, shoveling up dirt. The police said they had removed most of the bodies. In total, 312 had died here this day.
Had all died at the hands of the Paladin.
Connor choked back tears as he shoveled, when he heard an excited scream from behind. He turned to find Lea, a look of shock on her face, standing over a cooing baby. He ran up and looked down at the baby, its cheeks pink and rosy, crying and screaming as Lea stood there shaking. Connor grabbed her and looked her in the eyes, as Lea herself was crying.
“Lea!” Connor screamed. “Lea, what happened?!”
Lea dropped to her knees, her entire body trembling. “The baby…it was…Connor, its alive! How?! How is it alive?!”
“Lea, what are you talking about?”
“I…I found it in the rubble Connor…that baby was almost dead a minute ago!”
Connor stood over her, his eyes focused on the baby. On the baby’s head, where Lea’s hand had been, was a small glowing mark, which faded away once Connor laid eyes on it. A quick glance to the side confirmed Connor’s suspicions, as the marks on Lea’s hands were beginning to stop glowing as well.
Connor could not help but feel that this was the beginning of something bigger…
END
COMING SOON:
PALADIN ORIGINS: ACT III
THE WAY THINGS WERE, PT. 1
