Golden Savior

Prologue

31 December 1986

11:09 P.M.

A man the size of the Eiffel Tower burst through the doors of a 1950's Victorian home, shattering the brass locks and chains on the redwood door. He pounded his feet against the mucky white carpet, kicking dust up due to the immense amount of dirt and grime that had piled up over the years...There was a war that broke out after a group of people who banded together to create an alliance called The Superhero Protection Program, let their intelligence get the best of them.

The initial founder, Lilianna Keller, had originally decided upon doing this due to the fact that villains despised the idea of having their enemies protected, which generally worked out in the agencies favor. For years, the S.H.P.P. went off without a hitch, until the day fire arose from office buildings, waves as tall as the Leaning Tower of Pisa came crashing down from the darkest depths of The Seven Seas, and horrendous hurricanes rampaged through cities not even bothered by the lives that were at stake.

"You have four new messages."

The man's attention faltered from the view of the small living space, and to the flashing red light that continuously blinked on and off. A black telephone sat on an oak wood desk, which held picture frames, but no photographs.

"You have four new messages."

Without much thought, he began to scamper down the seemingly neverending hallway, towards the blinking light. As he neared it, his footing slowed to a leisurely walk. His golden eyes took in the surrounding area, making a mental picture of where everything was, so that in the near future, he would have the ability to inform anyone who needed to know of the house arrangement.

A black leather sofa near the center of the room, a dusty glass coffee table not far in front of it, and a large bookshelf with trinkets and trophies. Cream paneling, with chocolate trim, and greyish-brown floors that seemed to have unimaginable layers of dust covering them from head-to-toe. The ceiling fan above the items, hung loosely by cords that made themselves very prominent.

"You have four new messages."

His gaze focused back on the telephone, his curly brown locks falling over the golden mask that covered his eyes and nose. Within seconds, his index finger was holding down the black "#" key so that the messages could play.

Click

"You have four new messages. First message, received 16 March, 8:59 P.M."

Beep

"Hello, Miss Clarity. This is Liliana Keller of the S.H.P.A., calling to inform you of your acceptance into our agency. We received your letter of recommendation on the first of November last year, and after reviewing it with everyone here at our office, there was a unanimous decision to allow your admission.You should receive a letter containing all of the information you'll need, including a passport and train ticket for your relocation, shortly. I've personally hand-selected two of our top agents to come and show you everything you'll need to know about the hero you've been assigned to, his name is Mathew Samuel, or as you more formally know him, Golden Savior. Your job is to protect the identity of this hero at all costs. He is a vital part to the safety of the world, as you may know from past occurrences. Now, I'd like to personally thank you for the time and effort that you've put into our agency thus far, you have a time slot of twenty-four hours to place a response before your membership will be voted on again. Have a nice day."

Beep

"End of Message."

Click

"Message Deleted. Next message, received 17 March, 4:13 P.M."

Beep

"...Hello again, Miss Clarity. This is Lilianna Keller. A system failure occurred during the transportation of our agents Kristopher Relling and Caitlyn Gerekli, which resulted in their immediate retrieval from their journey to your home. But aside from that, another thing that I'd noticed was that the message I previously sent you was never replied to. And seeing as our system has been down for the past couple of hours, I've been unable to contact you, whether or not a response would have been received. And given I'd said that after twenty-four hours the board and I would have to re-vote on whether or not your acceptance would still be valid, we did just that. And after doing so, we've come to yet another unanimous decision. You've been awarded another chance at employment. We did notice however that after close examination of your resume, someone by the name of Evangeline Laurence Clarity was claimed as your daughter. Now, we understand how hard it can be to leave a child alone by moving 250 kilometers away. But there are many of us who work here that have had to make huge sacrifices in order for everything to be kept stable and running properly, which means in regards to Evangeline, you will have to make a choice. Either bring your daughter with you to London, or leave her at home with a relative. I look forward to your response. Thank you, Miss Clarity."