There was a new villain loose in Paragon City. He wasnt your everyday run-of-the
mill bad guy. He was different in that he didnt fight for money or for power. He fought for ideals, and he was winning.
Paradox was his name.
When I first studied his case file, I assumed like most others that he was a simple man with a twisted sense of humor. Turns out, he was more than that. He was an abnormal human being with a morbid outlook on life. He saw good and evil as being one and the same. Im not talking about Yin and Yang here. Im talking about the two terms as if they were one word, like Yiang, or whatever youd like to call it.
Beyond that, Paradox was a bit of a mystery. What little he showed of himself was brief and fleeting. The fact he was a gifted Teleporter was the reason for this. If you blinked, you lost him. One second he was there. The next, he was gonea true Paradox.
But, thats not how he got his name.
Its over, Paradox! my voice boomed down the expansive shaft of the bleach white hallway.
Paradox slowed to a stop and slowly turned around. He flashed me a crooked smile.
Im afraid its just the beginning for you and I, he amusedly replied while stretching his arms into the air. In one hand, he held a small vile. In the other, he clutched a black box between his tense fingers.
The first Super Hero to experience the plight that was Paradox was a young female Blaster who went by the pseudonym Mercury. She was lured to an abandoned warehouse in Kings Row one evening under the pretense she was going to find and recover a small boy who had been abducted the night before by Paradox. The ransom letter Paradox left for the police gave specific directions to the warehouse. Its only demand was that a Super Hero should come and fetch the child at the stroke of midnight.
Mercury worked closely with the police. She offered her assistance to the PD whenever a case appeared to be beyond their capabilities. Adorned in her trademark slate-gray form-fitting outfit, she entered the shadow laden warehouse at the polices request a few minutes before midnight. Mercurys only ambition was that this would be a simple affair. She wanted to save the kid. She wanted a happy ending. But unfortunately for her, that was not the case.
Much to Mercurys surprise, she noticed Paradox had a second victim with him. It was a small black boy. The child wore baggy pants that fell several inches past his boney hips. Kicking and screaming, the young man stared down at the pool of acid beneath him with a pained expression on his youthful caramel-colored face.
The boy Mercury had come for, Daniel Owens was his name, hung in the air above the pool of acid next to the small black boy. The two were about the same age, eleven or so, and they were both sobbing uncontrollably. Mercury furrowed her brow with concern and sympathy when her sharp green eyes fell upon their dangling forms. But when she heard Paradoxs voice call to her, her body stiffened noticeably with alarm.
Easy now, Paradox spoke from the shadows, my demands are simple. You neednt concern yourself with fighting me.
What are you up to? Mercury asked in a bold voice. Let Daniel and this other boy go!
Paradoxs white teeth shined through the shadows as his lips cracked into a devious smile.
I want to present you with a little paradox, he said. I want you to save one of these two boys, but only one. You cant save them both. For you see, when you remove one of them from their restraints, the other will fall immediately into the pool of acid below. Now, as I speak, I know you are probably trying to think of a way to save them both. So Ive taken the liberty of starting a timer that will hopefully hinder your ability to do just that. You have ten seconds then, to save one of these two boys before they drop together into the pool of acid below. Ten seconds then, starting... now!
And thats how Paradox got his name. Thats the type of game he played. He was a villain because he destroyed Super Heros by presenting them with dilemmas that would forever haunt them. Mercury, for instance, never returned to crime fighting after she saved the kidnaped child she had been sent to retrieve. The memory of the little black boy burning in the pool of acid forever marred her dreams. She retired from the Super Hero business guilt-stricken and defeated. The rest of her days were spent in miserable solitude.
I wont hesitate to kill you, Paradox! I shouted down the hallway, my right hand catching fire as I prepared to attack.
You neednt worry about killing me, Paradox retorted. I have already taken the liberty of killing myself. In my right hand, inside the small vile you see here, is an engineered plague that has been under development for quite sometime now. I happened to catch it at just the right time, for you see, the scientists working on this little fella here hadnt quite perfected its communicable properties. Now, I know you might think that means it doesnt transmit very well. But the opposite is the case, in fact. You see, it spreads too quickly. And because of that, it is not containable. And therefore, it is not applicable at this stage in its development for warfare.
Though I wasnt aware of it, I grimaced deeply at what Paradox had just told me.
Yes, thats right, Paradox continued. The virus is too wild in its current state. Its too chaotic. It has the potential to destroy the entire world.
Bull, I hastily replied, youre bluffing.
Paradox shrugged his broad shoulders and smiled coyly.
In my other hand, he went on to say, is a uniquely designed detonation device. If it drops and hits the floor the nuclear reactor that resides on the Southern tip of Paragon City will explode and suffer a radiation leak the likes of which the world hasnt seen since Chernobyl. And wouldnt you know it, the direction the wind is blowing today would push the radiation from such a catastrophe right into the heart of Paragon City. It would kill thousands people and make the city uninhabitable for generations to come.
My mouth dropped open in amazement at the idea. I wanted to tell Paradox he was full of crap. But somehow, I knew he was telling the truth. He might be lying about one of the two scenarios, but certainly not both of them. It wasnt in his nature.
Paradox chuckled with delight when he saw my reaction.
This is the paradox I present to you, young one he gloated. Destroy the vile in my left hand with your fire and the virus will be erased from existence, but Paragon City will be destroyed. Destroy the detonation device in my right hand and Paragon City will still die, but so will the rest of the world.
Staring at Paradox, I clenched my fists in anger. I felt like I had no options. He was standing under a vent in the ceiling. Even if I did set the whole hallway on fire the virus would still get away and disappear into the city. I needed one concise attack to destroy the vile and the wretched hand that held it. Focusing my energies on the path before me, I cursed Paradoxs name and shot a ball of fire at the villains outstretched hand. The vile erupted. Paradoxs hand exploded. The blast sent him flying sideways into the adjacent wall. The detonation device fell freely from his other hand. Turning end over end through the air, it hit the floor, bounced once, and settled to a stop.
Paradox cried out in pain. Half of his arm was goneas was half of his body. He kicked and thrashed across the floor like a rabid animal. His flesh smoldered and sent a pungent odor into the air. I wrinkled my nose, but was content with watching him suffer.
My satisfaction did not last long. Regardless of what I had done, I still lost. The sound of defeat came loud and clear when I heard the ominous rumble of a distant explosion. The hallway I stood in shuddered. The lights flickered. Several car alarms went off outside. I prayed Paradox had been bluffing. Surely, he hadnt really destroyed a nuclear facility. Not even a Super Villain could pull off such a feat. And yet, Paradox was no ordinary villain.
Raising my hands into the air, I pointed them at Paradoxs charred body and put him out of his misery. After that, I fell against the wall and cried.
Posted
Not bad, I enjoyed reading it. I hope you submit more stories.
Paragon Paradox
by Ian Watteau
There was a new villain loose in Paragon City. He wasnt your everyday run-of-the
mill bad guy. He was different in that he didnt fight for money or for power. He fought for ideals, and he was winning.
Paradox was his name.
When I first studied his case file, I assumed like most others that he was a simple man with a twisted sense of humor. Turns out, he was more than that. He was an abnormal human being with a morbid outlook on life. He saw good and evil as being one and the same. Im not talking about Yin and Yang here. Im talking about the two terms as if they were one word, like Yiang, or whatever youd like to call it.
Beyond that, Paradox was a bit of a mystery. What little he showed of himself was brief and fleeting. The fact he was a gifted Teleporter was the reason for this. If you blinked, you lost him. One second he was there. The next, he was gonea true Paradox.
But, thats not how he got his name.
Its over, Paradox! my voice boomed down the expansive shaft of the bleach white hallway.
Paradox slowed to a stop and slowly turned around. He flashed me a crooked smile.
Im afraid its just the beginning for you and I, he amusedly replied while stretching his arms into the air. In one hand, he held a small vile. In the other, he clutched a black box between his tense fingers.
The first Super Hero to experience the plight that was Paradox was a young female Blaster who went by the pseudonym Mercury. She was lured to an abandoned warehouse in Kings Row one evening under the pretense she was going to find and recover a small boy who had been abducted the night before by Paradox. The ransom letter Paradox left for the police gave specific directions to the warehouse. Its only demand was that a Super Hero should come and fetch the child at the stroke of midnight.
Mercury worked closely with the police. She offered her assistance to the PD whenever a case appeared to be beyond their capabilities. Adorned in her trademark slate-gray form-fitting outfit, she entered the shadow laden warehouse at the polices request a few minutes before midnight. Mercurys only ambition was that this would be a simple affair. She wanted to save the kid. She wanted a happy ending. But unfortunately for her, that was not the case.
Much to Mercurys surprise, she noticed Paradox had a second victim with him. It was a small black boy. The child wore baggy pants that fell several inches past his boney hips. Kicking and screaming, the young man stared down at the pool of acid beneath him with a pained expression on his youthful caramel-colored face.
The boy Mercury had come for, Daniel Owens was his name, hung in the air above the pool of acid next to the small black boy. The two were about the same age, eleven or so, and they were both sobbing uncontrollably. Mercury furrowed her brow with concern and sympathy when her sharp green eyes fell upon their dangling forms. But when she heard Paradoxs voice call to her, her body stiffened noticeably with alarm.
Easy now, Paradox spoke from the shadows, my demands are simple. You neednt concern yourself with fighting me.
What are you up to? Mercury asked in a bold voice. Let Daniel and this other boy go!
Paradoxs white teeth shined through the shadows as his lips cracked into a devious smile.
I want to present you with a little paradox, he said. I want you to save one of these two boys, but only one. You cant save them both. For you see, when you remove one of them from their restraints, the other will fall immediately into the pool of acid below. Now, as I speak, I know you are probably trying to think of a way to save them both. So Ive taken the liberty of starting a timer that will hopefully hinder your ability to do just that. You have ten seconds then, to save one of these two boys before they drop together into the pool of acid below. Ten seconds then, starting... now!
And thats how Paradox got his name. Thats the type of game he played. He was a villain because he destroyed Super Heros by presenting them with dilemmas that would forever haunt them. Mercury, for instance, never returned to crime fighting after she saved the kidnaped child she had been sent to retrieve. The memory of the little black boy burning in the pool of acid forever marred her dreams. She retired from the Super Hero business guilt-stricken and defeated. The rest of her days were spent in miserable solitude.
I wont hesitate to kill you, Paradox! I shouted down the hallway, my right hand catching fire as I prepared to attack.
You neednt worry about killing me, Paradox retorted. I have already taken the liberty of killing myself. In my right hand, inside the small vile you see here, is an engineered plague that has been under development for quite sometime now. I happened to catch it at just the right time, for you see, the scientists working on this little fella here hadnt quite perfected its communicable properties. Now, I know you might think that means it doesnt transmit very well. But the opposite is the case, in fact. You see, it spreads too quickly. And because of that, it is not containable. And therefore, it is not applicable at this stage in its development for warfare.
Though I wasnt aware of it, I grimaced deeply at what Paradox had just told me.
Yes, thats right, Paradox continued. The virus is too wild in its current state. Its too chaotic. It has the potential to destroy the entire world.
Bull, I hastily replied, youre bluffing.
Paradox shrugged his broad shoulders and smiled coyly.
In my other hand, he went on to say, is a uniquely designed detonation device. If it drops and hits the floor the nuclear reactor that resides on the Southern tip of Paragon City will explode and suffer a radiation leak the likes of which the world hasnt seen since Chernobyl. And wouldnt you know it, the direction the wind is blowing today would push the radiation from such a catastrophe right into the heart of Paragon City. It would kill thousands people and make the city uninhabitable for generations to come.
My mouth dropped open in amazement at the idea. I wanted to tell Paradox he was full of crap. But somehow, I knew he was telling the truth. He might be lying about one of the two scenarios, but certainly not both of them. It wasnt in his nature.
Paradox chuckled with delight when he saw my reaction.
This is the paradox I present to you, young one he gloated. Destroy the vile in my left hand with your fire and the virus will be erased from existence, but Paragon City will be destroyed. Destroy the detonation device in my right hand and Paragon City will still die, but so will the rest of the world.
Staring at Paradox, I clenched my fists in anger. I felt like I had no options. He was standing under a vent in the ceiling. Even if I did set the whole hallway on fire the virus would still get away and disappear into the city. I needed one concise attack to destroy the vile and the wretched hand that held it. Focusing my energies on the path before me, I cursed Paradoxs name and shot a ball of fire at the villains outstretched hand. The vile erupted. Paradoxs hand exploded. The blast sent him flying sideways into the adjacent wall. The detonation device fell freely from his other hand. Turning end over end through the air, it hit the floor, bounced once, and settled to a stop.
Paradox cried out in pain. Half of his arm was goneas was half of his body. He kicked and thrashed across the floor like a rabid animal. His flesh smoldered and sent a pungent odor into the air. I wrinkled my nose, but was content with watching him suffer.
My satisfaction did not last long. Regardless of what I had done, I still lost. The sound of defeat came loud and clear when I heard the ominous rumble of a distant explosion. The hallway I stood in shuddered. The lights flickered. Several car alarms went off outside. I prayed Paradox had been bluffing. Surely, he hadnt really destroyed a nuclear facility. Not even a Super Villain could pull off such a feat. And yet, Paradox was no ordinary villain.
Raising my hands into the air, I pointed them at Paradoxs charred body and put him out of his misery. After that, I fell against the wall and cried.