Eagle's Talon

Road to Paragon


Another ding chimed over the stations loud speakers as she tilted her ear towards it.  There was another delay in the trains due to some rail damage along its route through Kings Row.  Apparently some heroes were going at it with Clockwork again, and it was understandable with the recent rumors she’d heard.  
“Paladin.” She spoke to herself as she pushed her hair off her face, “Wonder if it’s real?” she sighed.
So far, Paragon wasn’t what she had expected.  City of Heroes they called it.  She’d been there almost a day thanks to the delays, and had yet to see a ‘hero’.  But then again, that’s why she was here.  Her sensei had told her, this place would be her calling, where she’d find a use for her gifts.  
She folded her arms across her chest as she lowered her head, looking at her shoes, scuffed sneakers.  She wore her loose black pants and a loose sweat jacket, enough to allow comfort with her uniform on under it.  Her hand roamed from the crook of her elbow to find her gym bag next to her.  She unzipped it a small length and then reached in to touch her headwear reassuringly.
She smiled faintly, her gift from her sensei.  The headdress worn by many before her, and hopefully many to come.  She peered slightly into the bag, and saw the light wash over its green surface.  She felt along its length, felt the sideburn guards and then sloping upward and feeling the small grooves on the wings, representing feathers.  It was a radical display when worn, and since she wasn’t ready to display herself, she had hid it in the bag.
She was trying to get through Skyway City and on to Galaxy City.  But the longer she waited, the more she wanted to get there her way.  It wasn’t a long run, not for her, but she wasn’t too familiar with this part of Paragon.  Sure, she read the guides and pamphlets over on the tourist rack by the gift shop, but that didn’t help much when it came to the gangs that roamed almost freely in this sector.  
She heard harsh whispers over by the stations entrance and turned her head.  She peered through her brown hair that fell down around her face to where a small group of people gathered.  They all looked east, toward the park where the famous Synapse often stood post, serving as an unofficial contact for heroes, and his sidekick Mynx beside him.  They must be remarking about him, after all, he was one of the ‘Surviving Eight’.  A spectacular group of heroes that fought in the Rikti War, and lived to talk about it.  She chuckled at the last bit, like they would want to talk about that.
“Oh my god!” one of the people gasped with horror.
Now she was interested.  She rose from her seat, grabbed her bag and tossed the strap over one arm as she almost ran to the group of people.  As she neared, she could see them staring, fear visible in each of their eyes.  This wasn’t good, especially not in a ‘city of heroes’.
“What’s going on?” she asked coming up to them.
“Trolls.  Big Trolls.”
She nodded and then walked outside and leaned on the railing, looking across to where they had been pointing.  Sure enough, ‘Big Trolls’ were gathering outside the park walls.  Synapse wasn’t where he should have been, his statue like foundation void of his presence.  Mynx, the girl-cat wasn’t there either.  A Longbow agent stood on the far side of the park, talking with a black robed hero, the first she’d seen since her arrival she noted.
“You all better stay inside, I’m going to call the police.” She turned and walked towards the restrooms and telephones.
The group of people nodded, and inched their way back into the heart of the station, whispering to those around them about the danger lurking outside.  She entered into the women’s room passing the phones completely.  Police or no Police, these Trolls weren’t normal, she’d seen the newspapers, Trolls were big as men, maybe thicker around the edges, but not like these.
She put her bag on the sink counter, unzipped it, and before she took off her garments, she made sure the bathroom was clear.  She’d practiced changing into her armor and headdress countless times at the dojo back home.  She was dressed in a flash.
Her toes and heel were bare, but the rest of her leg up to her knee was wrapped in thick black cloth tied by thin white rope, specially made by her sensei.  Her thighs and the rest of her torso were covered by a black spandex like material, with a single large green racing stripe running down her sides.  Her shoulders now bore white metallic alloy pads the ran the length of her upper arm, while her hands and forearm now bore a lining of black cloth lined with more of the alloy.  
As she pulled out the headdress, she looked in the mirror.  She smiled in spite of herself.  Her mask, it always nagged at her, looked like a roman soldier with their helmet on.  She put the headdress on, and tied it under her hair.  She then pulled out her chest wrappings and threw them on in a flash.
Finally, after everything was settled, one last look in the mirror, into the face those Trolls would soon be seeing.  Before heading to the door, she slid one of the ceiling tiles to the side and shoved her bag up into the ceiling.
  
“Time to fly Eagle.” She whispered.

One of them men who had spotted the Trolls turned when he heard the restroom door open, and was greeted by a blur of motion that sped from the door, and raced across the room out the door of the station.  He blinked, not really believing what he saw, and then turned back to his cell phone.
Fly was a funny way to put it, she couldn’t fly.  She was able to run at high speed, she’d practiced this speed in tight spaces, and was able to handle about any terrain she had to work worth, save the sewers; she’d rather not go down that way.
As she descended the ramps from the station to the tarmac below the rail station, she came to a stop.  Just across the small passenger bridge to the street and park beyond, she was taken aback by what she saw.  It wasn’t the Trolls that caused her pause, but the number that had congregated to that particular spot.

“Oh man.” She breathed; there were almost twenty standing there.

They were standing in small huddled groups, talking a motioning towards the park, and some to the train.  Looks like they had plans of some kind.  Oh well, she’d just have to be the monkey wrench and throw herself into the fray.
She closed her eyes for a moment, and as she had done that, which she had done countless times before, summoned her gift.  She began to glow, faintly at first, but then the glow thickened, and almost her whole body glowed.  She flinched as her power came into full swing.  
Her power, or ‘gift’ as her sensei had called it, was that of regeneration.  She could heal at a marvelous rate, any wound, no matter the size or severity.  She had always joked with her ‘sisters’ at the dojo about coming back from the dead, but she hoped never to try that.  She opened her eyes, searched the far side of the park once more, the agent and hero were still there.  She might be able to get some help.
She summoned her speed once more, her feet glowed yellow.  She burst over the tarmac, across the bridge and into the street.  She didn’t slow down as she neared the trolls, they hadn’t seen her yet, but they would, very soon.  As she neared the gathering, she played a plan in her mind, and satisfied, decided to act on it.
The troll grunted as the heroine appeared almost out of nowhere, slamming into him with shoulder lowered, and face tight with the impact.  She flung the troll into the wall and it slammed with such force, that the wall buckled, and the bricks toppled over into the park.  That should have got the hero and agent’s attention, if anything.
The rest of the trolls turned, and at first, she was surprised they didn’t react.  But then almost as one, each charged her position, and she charged back.  She caught the nearest with a swift knee jab to his chin and a follow up roundhouse to the side of his face.  She dropped low to the ground as one troll tried to tackle her, and as she moved to stand, she spun around with her leg outstretched; tripping a couple trolls who were too close to.
They all snarled and growled as they struck at her.  Some landed hits, but her healing powers enabled her to shrug them off with little discomfort.  Her martial arts prowess and years of training were keeping her one step ahead of the trolls throughout the fight.  She had downed five of them, and had made space between herself and the others as she ran into the street, making them chase her.
She smiled, she had thought this city would have tougher ‘villains’ than she could handle.  She waited for the trolls to come to her, she’d do the same trick again, shoulder one out of the way, drop and trip, then let her kicks fly.  Well, that’s what she would have done.

“Not fast girly.” Massive green arms thick with muscle wrapped around her bear hug style, and crushed her.

She screamed at the sudden pain, her healing powers reacting instantly.  It hurt, like the other hits she’d taken, but her power was only so fast, she wasn’t invulnerable she reminded herself.  She writhed in the vice-like grip, trying to free herself.  The troll laughed as she struggled in his arms, this turned south fast she thought.  How could she forget to check her surroundings?
She fought back tears as the arms tightened around her like an anaconda strangling its prey.  Her ribs were about to break, and she could feel the pressure mount.

“Hero girly good play thing.” The trolls spoke in broken English, his breath smelled terrible, almost worse than his body did.

Her eyes blurred with tears as her first rib broke; she bit her lip trying not to howl.  She saw motion by the park wall, and a black figure hopped over the wall, a shadow trailed behind it.  The trolls that she had stomped on moments before, now stopped in their laughing, turning to meet the source of higher pitched laughter than they.

“Hello boys.” The woman said from beneath her cowl, “What you got here eh?”
“Get hero!” the one said, still keeping his hold on her.
“Come on now boys, all of you against one little me?  Ain’t you got any notions of fair play?”

The heroine darted between the trolls, throwing a punch here, kicking high there, and evading every attack sent her way.  She was untouchable in her path of travel, a b-line straight to where Eagle was held.  The heroine jumped high into the air, floating for a faint moment before dropping to the ground right in front of her.

“Hold on second, I’ll have you safe in a minute tops.” The heroine smiled.

She threw a hard kick straight back into a troll that was right behind her, throwing him clear to the park wall.  The woman was glowing a faint purple, and as she watched her dance with the trolls, a smiled crept over the woman’s face.  She was actually enjoying the fight.  It was almost in the same instant she spoke, that all the trolls were down on the ground, writhing in pain from hits received.  The woman turned and motioned with her hand to release his captive.

“Put her down now, and I might let you off with a pat on the head.” the woman cracked her knuckles.

She fell to the ground holding her sides as she cursed her power for not kicking in as fast as she’d like.  She heard scuffling as the troll made an attempt to put the heroine down, but by the time she was able to look over, the troll was lying still on the roadway.  The heroine came over and knelt down beside her, helping her to a sitting position.

“Hope you are alright there.  I came as soon as I noticed the dent in the wall over there.”
“I had hoped you’d spy that.”
“Name’s Miko Black.”
“Eagles Talon.  Thanks for the save.”
“You should know not to mess with these Trolls.  They travel in big groups.  Dumb though they may be, but in large numbers, that’s the last of your worries.”
“Yeah, thanks.”

By the time Eagle had stood up and brushed herself off, PCPD officers had shown up, and slapped the Zig cuffs onto the trolls, who still lay writhing in pain.  An officer talked to the two heroes, shook their hands and thanked them before returning to his squad car.

“Eagle?” Miko turned.
“Yes?” Eagle answered meeting the other’s eyes.
“You have some nice moves, martial artist ain’t you?”
“Yeah actually, how’d you know?”
“I happen to be trained in the discipline as well.”
“What school?” Eagle was interested.
“Miko Order.”
“The Order?” eagle was stunned, her sensei trained with the Order.
“Yep.” Miko smiled, “Hope you heard good things about us.”
“Only the best.” Eagle began, “My sensei was one of the Order, and she trained in the sword discipline.”
“Kurenai.” Miko whispered as she turned to look into the park where heroes had gathered around the longbow agent, motioning and talking about the incident that had unfolded moments earlier.
“Yes, did you know her?” Eagle asked intently.
“She was one of my sisters.” Miko spoke softly, her eyes falling to the ground, “How long did she teach you?”
“She taught me for two years, about five years ago.” Eagle paused, sensing something wrong, “Why do you ask?”
“You heard from her since then?”
“I received a letter and some of my uniform from her a few months back.  She said she was going on a quest and wouldn’t be back for a while.”
“That’s right.” Miko smiled warmly and looked at Eagle, “She always did like to travel.” Miko put an arm around Eagle, “You know what?” Eagle shrugged, “I think you and I are going to get along just fine.  How’d you like to be my sidekick?”
“Can you do that?” Eagle was amazed.
“Hey, I got clearance up to forty-Six; I don’t think they’ll mind.”
“I would love to.  Any friend of my masters is a friend of mine.” Eagle smiled back.
“Good.” Miko nodded with a big grin, “Now let me learn you about how I operate you.  I have automatic ‘dibs’ on any bad guy we come across alright?”

Eagle laughed and Miko did as well.  Eagle then explained what she had been doing before the fight, and where she had left her things.  Miko exploded into laughter as she told Eagle that was convenient as she had to go to the same room.