NOVEL NEXT The New Guardians Of The Globe
Disclaimer
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events, and incidents are either the products of the author's imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.
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[▪︎1st April 2003▪︎]
[▪︎Global Defence Agency Warehouse, Portland▪︎]
"Stop! I quit, make them stop!"
The hero—wearing a blue spandex— yells as three gray humanoid androids with razor-sharp metallic claws dash toward him, their lens-like eyes glowing red.
"Deactivate them."
I sigh—shaking my head—to Ruddy who is seated behind a futuristic horizontal command console near the screen.
He nods and pushes a button, instantly the androids cease movement just as they are about to strike the guy. He sighs in relief.
"Well, that's a bust."
Donald comments in a disappointed tone, wearing his professional gray suit and standing next to Robot. He came here shortly after Phase one began.
"I concur, to be honest, I'm surprised that he actually thought he could become a Guardian."
Robot adds as he types on the console screen, making the androids move and leave the space as the guy wobbly walks away.
We are in the control room for the tryouts. The control room is a medium-sized square room with smooth sliver flooring, walls, and ceiling.
Right in front, is the console and in front of the console is a wide and clear transparent screen that makes us see the battleground below.
The battleground is a white spacious cubical space, heavily fortified to withstand the powers and skillset of the heroes present.
It's been a few hours since I gave my speech and after that, we initiated Phase One—the test to see if the heroes can navigate through an outnumbered crowd of enemies.
Also, this is the test that removes the Chaff from the good, and it's working perfectly.
The guy was the last person for the test and thankfully he had displayed his worth...he's useless so I will not be seeing him anytime soon.
Now it's time for Phase Two.
Suddenly, the door of the room slides open, and Invincible saunters into the room.
"Sorry, I'm late. I hope I didn't miss anything?"
He asks cheerfully as Donald turns to face him with a soft smile. Robot is still typing on the console.
"You're right on time. The robot begins Phase Two."
I say nonchalantly without turning as Donald introduces himself and shakes Invincible's hand.
"Initiating Phase Two...what pair should we begin with?"
He types one last time and turns to ask me as Invincible comes to stand next to me, a few feet behind Ruddy.
"Let's start with Monster Girl and Humongous."
I remark.
"Okay, Monster Girl and Humongous you're up."
He says into a microphone. Right below the control center, the left and right parts of the wall slide open, and from within the aforementioned duo move to the middle of the arena.
Monster Girl is a cute little girl—her body is that of pre-teens—with strawberry blonde hair tied in a ponytail, small brown eyes, pink lips, a round rosy face, small ears, and sharp brown eyebrows.
She's wearing a V-neck cream t-shirt, blue jeans, and a pair of red sneakers. On her face is a confident smirk.
Her opponent—Humongous—is just like his namesake, a gigantic man of Latin descent hence Latin facial features.
He is eight feet with almost grotesque bulging muscles, wearing a black tank top, and brown khaki shorts and is barefooted.
He has an arrogant grin plastered on his face as he looks down at a pocketing Monster Girl.
Gazing at her relaxed gait, I smile.
"Begin."
With a wide grin on his face, Humongous relaxes and taunts Monster Girl by beckoning her to come to him with his fingers.
Her smirk deepens and calmly, she strides to him.
"What are you going to do now Girl? Hit me with your sh——"
Before he can finish, Monster Girl morphs into a hulking Monster with green scaly skin with only a rag covering her underpants and sends a strong right hook to his face.
His body flies and hits the wall with a loud bang, denting it, and falls to the ground unconscious.
She turns and transforms back with the same smile on her face and walks back through the door she came through.
"Wow, she's amazing."
Invincible comments surprised at her strength.
Yes, she is. With this victory, she has earned herself a spot. Her ability is magical in nature...a curse to be exact.
Despite her age, she's in her mid-twenties. She must have pissed someone royally for them to curse her like this.
Plus I've noticed some minute form of regression everything she used her powers, hmm, I'll check it out later.
"Atom Eve, and StromThing."
Robot announces again. As the next pair move, from behind—in this room— Monster Girl enters.
Donald and Invincible congratulate her while Robot and I ignore her and focus on the next match.
Focused on her opponent, Eve exhales and adjusts her posture while StromThing—a tall caucasian guy wearing only shorts flexes his bare and sculpted pectoral muscles—winking at her as he does.
The moment Robot commences the match, Eve zaps towards him, coats her legs with her pink glow, and strikes with a flying kick.
He blocks with his muscular arm and tries to grab her but she maneuvers athletically and falls to the ground.
Without wasting a second, she coats her arms with a pink glow—manifesting a torrent that covers her arm—and punches his face so hard that his body flies like a rocket to the other side.
Smiling, she turns her head to us, and upon meeting my eyes, she waves me and leaves.
Near me, Invincible almost waves back but he realizes it's me she's waving at and awkwardly scratches his head with a smile...I hold back my chuckle.
Robot nods—smiling with pride behind the mask—and calls for the next match as Eve walks into the room. This one is between two women from Capes Inc.
"How did I do?"
She smiles as she comes to stand near me, her tone showing expectation.
"You did well as expected. I would've fainted if you lost."
I comment offhandedly—still gazing at the arena—making her roll her eyes playfully as Invincible approaches her with a smirk.
The high school friends talk for a little while and focus on the match. It ends in a draw.
For the next three hours, we watch a total of twenty-five matchups, with only five contestants catching my attention.
They are Bulletproof, Dupli-Kate, Rex Splode, Black Samson, and Shrinking Ray. Among them Bulletproof and Shrinking Ray impress me the most.
Bulletproof is a tall and athletic African American male with braided hair. He is wearing a bright yellow-orange compact super-suit with oval pads covering his joints.
He has [Superhuman Physical Characteristics], [Flight], and [Kinetic Energy Absorption] that gives him very high durability, almost comparable to a young Viltrumite like Invincible.
He is also as strong as—if not more than—Immortal and he's faster than Red Rush.
He's going to be a vital asset to the team.
Whereas Shrinking Ray is your lanky average caucasian American donning a black and green spandex that extends to cover his face like a mask.
He possesses the ability to shrink to various heights, a perfect ability for wide-scope battles.
At the moment, the room is filled with the murmuring forty contestants. Like before, some are anxious and some are confident with smiles on their faces.
Facing them—with Robot and Donald by my side—I interrupt their discussions with a cough, making them quiet and begin.
"Now that you're all here, it's time to announce the ne——"
"Why is this girl here? Isn't there supposed to be an age requirement for this thing?"
Rex Splode interrupts me—his arms crossed—looking down at Monster Girl with a haughty smile on his face.
....If it wasn't for Robot who vouched for him, he wouldn't be on this team, and now this? It's time he knows his place.
Before I can react, Monster Girl responds.
"Is that so? To be honest, I'm surprised they let you inside here, don't they have a dick-size requirement?"
She retorts mockingly with a smile.
Oh, she's good.
"What did you say?"
"Aww, did I strike a nerve? So you do have a tiny dick, I bet my ten bucks that it's micro."
She adds confidently with a smirk, making Eve, Dupli-Kate, and most of the heroes chuckle.
Smiling, I cross my hands to enjoy the show as Rex's face morphs into a mad frown.
He flicks open his side bags and takes his pellets.
"Someone ought to teach you a lesson girl."
He threatens, walking towards her as his gloved hand sparks and burst into an orange glow.
Robot is about to stop the confrontation but I shake my head so he stops, seeing this the rest of the heroes together with Donald just keep quiet and only watch with nervous faces.
"Looks like, you didn't watch my match."
As Rex approaches, she comments, and before he can react her arm morphs into the monster version and grabs his face.
Then, she slams it onto the ground as her whole body transforms and raises him till his feet and arms hang in the air—showing his bleeding face and mangled lips.
"It's okay, put him down."
I say calmly to her but she only glances at me, ignores me, and then with a roar tries to punch him but I flash in front of her and stop her fist with my left index finger.
Ignoring the gasps of awe, I pull her hand—making her fall towards me—and punch her gut strongly with a bang, knocking the wind out of her.
Almost instantly, she drops Rex on the ground and transforms back into her human state, groaning slightly from the pain.
"Are you okay?"
I extend my hand to her and ask softly.
She shakes her head with a smile and takes my hand.
"Yeah, I'm alright. Just a little fuzzy from the punch. Sorry for acting that way, I tend to lose control in that state, you too Rex."
She says and apologizes to both of us as I pull her up while beside me, Rex groggily stands up and spits blood on the floor.
"Yeah yeah."
He bends his head slightly and waves his hand dismissively, unable to look anyone in the eye, obviously ashamed.
The place eerily quiet, I return to my position—ignoring the odd looks from Eve and the rest—and continue.
"As I was saying, after all, Phase One and Phase Two, I have selected the new Guardians after careful deliberation. Step forward if you hear your names."
I pause as they all straighten up, a little nervous.
"Monster Girl, Eve, Robot, Black Samson, Bulletproof, Rex Splode, Shrinking Ray, Dupli-Kate, congratulations, you're now the new Guardians Of The Globe."
I end with a charming smile and immediately, the rest of us start applauding.
They step forwards with joyful faces—except a downcast Rex and an expressionless Robot —and Dupli-Kate even poses as they all bathe in the praise from us.
...My new soldiers.
•☆•
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