5 Months ago.

A plane soared through the darkened skies around the Island of La Perdita, having missed the alert of a Hurricane by only minutes. The growing storm pounded on the side of the plane with a mix of hail and rain. The black clouds and fog made any visibility impossible.

Inside the cockpit, Jesse Stevenson, a second year pilot, turned to his co-pilot in panic, “We’re flying blind!” His co-pilot, Mark Franklin, froze with fear and knew that they had no way out.

In the passenger side of the plane, things were clam. The fear and horror of the situation had already begun to set in. Samuel Dawson sat in the fifth row; seat 6D to be exact. He could only laugh to himself about how things had turned out. His laughing caught the attention of the young woman next to him. Turning, her light brown hair fell over her eyes. From one look, you could tell that she was trying to be strong, and trying to hold back the tears that she simply wants to let break free.

A flash of lightening strikes outside.

“We are gonna die, aren’t we?”

Sam nodded his head, “Looks that way.”

Finally, she let her tears flow. There was so much that she wanted to do and so much of the world that she had yet to see.

Sam put his arm around her, “I’m sorry, I didn’t…”

“It’s ok. It was a stupid question.”

“I wish I could have given you a better answer…”

“You could have always lied.”

“Yeah, well, I did. We are going to be fine, I promise.”

“Thanks.”

There was a pause between the two, they both ignored the outside world.

“My name is Megan…”

“Sam.”

“It’s nice to meet you.”

“Yeah, likewise.”

Sam cracked a half smile before a violent vision struck his head.

Bodies burning, innocents being tortured, people enslaved.

A world almost ripped out of time itself, huge columns and statues.

Gladiators and knights raged in a civil war.

An eye, almost serpent like and a voice, “One true order.”

Sam grinned his teeth as he came too, a rage in his eyes.

“Are you ok?” Megan asked, he turned to her, his face changed. His expression softened.

“We’re gonna wish this storm had taken us!”

Before she could react to his words, lighting struck the jet from all sides. A blue energy engulfed it for a few moments-

-Before silence.

The jet disappeared into thin air; without a trace.


Weeks ago

The members of Vanguard argued and were bickering like children. Over the past weeks, there had been a growing resentment between teammates and friendships began crumbling. Tobias grabbed Tayden by the throat and reached back for a punch when-

-lighting struck the center of the complex and rushed through every floor, finally striking the meeting table and sending everyone flying across the room. Phil got up and wiped the dust off his uniform, “That should not be possible-“

“It’s not,” was Grissom’s quick reply.

“What just happened?” Danny asked and shook off his nerves.

“Devine intervention?” Tobias asked Tayden.

“No, but I have a very weird feeling.” Tayden exited and was followed by the rest of the team, they entered the elevator and traveled all the way up, finally stopping on the top floor, the fourteenth floor.

Slamming open the main doors, Tayden stopped short, the rest of the team right beside him.

In the center of the floor, on some of the last remaining pieces of the original complex laid a blonde haired young man face down. Danny walked past Tayden and rolled the young man over. Half of his body was badly scarred, from his face down his chest and around his back. Danny’s eyes widened and a single word slipped through his lips…

“Sam?”


Yesterday

“Always remember that I love you.”

Michelle looked over the man she loves, her best friend, Samuel Dawson. For weeks his has laid in a coma and right when she found out that he was still alive, she dropped everything and came to be by his side. But now, it was time to go. Michelle got up and began walking out of the room. Stopping herself, she took one last long look at Sam.

Michelle smiled and left. A long moment passed. A monitor next to Sam began lowly beeping. The beeping began getting louder and louder, until-

-Sam’s eyes snapped open and he shot up into a sitting position, “AAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH~”

He breathed heavily and attempted to straighten his thoughts. He whispered to himself-
“…I need the MBL…”


Today.

In the office of Doctor Quantos, Samuel Dawson sat and began to tire of the rigorous examination that he was being put through. His scars were gone and he looked like his former “fake” self.

“Doc, am I alive?” Sam asked with a half smirk, before attempting to get up, only to fall back down to the bed, “Well, me legs are dead”

“Amazingly, your vitals are perfect and there seems to be no brain trauma.” Doctor Quantos looked at Sam for a moment and continued, “Well, no more brain trauma than you used to have.”

Sam’s eyes widened, “Doctor Q up and got a sense of humor? Whoa, I must have been gone for a while.”

“As for your legs, it is only normal. You’ll need months of physical rehabilitation to repair the damage. You’ve been off you feet for sometime, M’ boy.”

“No way, sorry Doc, that doesn’t fit in with my schedule.”

“Well, I have one theory that I have worked on while you have been under.”

“Anything to get me out of the ‘chair’ man.”

“Do to your powers, we might be able to manipulate…”


Outside the office

Two lone figures waited for word on Sam’s condition, the only two members of the team who are left from his time; Grimm and Danny. Grimm leaned on the wall, motionless… dead stiff if you will and Danny paced along the hallway. As he paced, Grimm followed him with his eyes.

“You don’t think he’s still mad? Do ya?” Danny asked out loud, “I didn’t know it was his Michelle. I really didn’t mean for it to happen, it was…”

“Not you fault.”

“Maybe because of the coma he has forgotten…”

Grimm just shook his head. Danny stopped pacing and leaned next to his teammate and friend, who just so happens to be the avatar of death. Kind fellow that death.

“I can’t believe that we are the only ones who remember him. Mick, TC, Larry, Dirk, Kristofer, Velo, Pete, Naecken and Turk…”

“All gone in there own ways.”

“It’s a shame that we have such a revolving membership.”

“People like change.”

“A little to much I suspect.”

“We’re still here.” Grimm shrugged, and Danny looked down.

“Any day, I just might be gone.”

Before Grimm could respond, the doors opened and out walked Sam, still weak, but on his own feet.

“What, no welcome back party?” Sam asked with a half smile.

“We still need repairs from the last one.” Grimm said as he carefully patted Sam on the back. He would wait for him to get better before giving him a bear hug to welcome him back. Sam turned towards Danny.

“Dan.”

“Sam, I’m sorry.”

A moment of silence crept by and Sam responded.

“Forgiven.”

“That’s it?”

“Yup.”

“Best friends?”

“Yup.”

The two friends shook hands and for a moment, it was like old times.

Grimm couldn’t help but ask, “Where have you been?”

“Long story, lets get some food and catch up, I need your guys help.”

“Any preferences?”

“I have a weird craving for fish sticks…”


Hours and a half a dozen boxes of fish sticks later

Sam, Danny, and Grimm have been joined by Tayden in the kitchen. Empty boxes of fish sticks have been scattered along the floor along will cookie wrappers, chip bags, popcorn, cake crumbs and anything else that was once in the cabinets.

“Okay, so MBL Consulting has been renamed Vanguard International? … We now do home security ... And you guys transformed the old Complex into a high-tech JLA style Headquarters? Have an evil wench as the president, but she was only to replace Kit who turned out to be a con man scumbag? And we have been doing jobs on both sides of the field?”

“Yeah, that’s how you can put it. But at least we’re not an evil law firm…” Danny added, but the TV reference obviously went straight over Sam’s head.

“We do good in the process and by taking the jobs of not so good people, we can in a way monitor them. If they are doing bad things, we’ll know and we’ll stop them.”

“Point.” Sam looked towards Tayden, “So, are the chicks in heaven really as hot as I picture them to be?”

“You know it.”

“Next time I’m under,” Sam spoke mock serious, “I want you to pull the damn plug!”

“Now, that you have finished our “hero FAQ,” why no let us into what exactly you have been up to?”

“Okay Grimmy, I was just getting there.”

Grimm, Danny and Tayden silenced as Sam began to tell them where he has been over the last few months.

“I was on a plane to Italy, a nice little normal university. An escape from the island, and from my problems. I’m not an adventurer, nor a hero. I wasn’t built for this stuff. So, like my usual style, I ran. To tell you the truth though, I would have been bored as hell after a few weeks and would have probably returned in disguise or some lame crap like that. Only, my plane was engulfed by a bolt of blue lightening and we were teleported to another universe.”

“We?”

“The whole freaking plane!”

“Oh.”

“Can I continue without interruptions please? … Thank you. As it turns out this other world never got past the whole medieval age and was way back in time yo. Anyhow, this wizard guy points me out of the crowd of the plane and calls me Shift. Bizarre, yeah, I know. An old fart from another world knows my MBL “secret” identity? But he caught my attention, and I listened to what he had to say. This world was caught in a civil war of sorts between, get this, the living and the dead. And the “Shift” was to be the chosen one who would lead them to victory and peace. I asked if any other passenger had the nickname, but apparently, the “Shift” is a blond haired scarred up lad. I told them I wasn’t scarred and he said he could see my true face, blah blah blah, push comes to shove I began to believe him and I tried. But as I said, I am no hero. Months pass, I do what the wizard says and I lead the army. I lead them to death. The wizard was not as friendly as he seemed and it was a trick. I wasn’t destined to be anything, he fooled the people and I led them into a slaughter. … But I’m not as dumb as I look… well, looked to him. I found my way back here. Okay, so I messed up the spell a little bit and wound up in a coma and, but, well, no one is perfect.”

“You want us to go to another world and liberate the people?”

“Yeah.”

“Nonpaying I guess, heh. But how in the world will we get there?”

“Well, this alone with be a journey. We’ll have to fight off heaven and hell a like, travel to the deepest cave within the deepest jungle and wrestling with lions and demons to acquire La Necronomicon…”

“The book of the dead?” Tayden asked, just to be sure.

“Yeah, how do you know about the book?”

Tayden laughed, “Well, a few months back, we can across a town over run with zombies and found the book thinking it was another ancient text and well, it’s in our library.”

“Oh. Well, that’s convenient. And takes off a whole lotta work/time. … Anyhow, do you guys think you can help me? Do you think that… Vanguard International would be willing to be Vanguard Universal and save a world of darkness?”