[spoiler]I'd like to introduce everyone to some new characters of the Paradox Universe! This marks the beginning of my new series, [u]Protectors of Light[/u]![/spoiler] The time of humanity that would be known as the Golden Age was at its peak. There were no Guardians, not even the precursors: Iron Lords or Warlords. Just the Traveler, floating above Russia. Across the world, in the American Empire, the streets were bustling with cars, trucks, and people walking down sidewalks. While cars and sparrows zoomed up and down the streets, sonic jets and colony rockets soared in the sky. The Traveler's arrival had brought such prosperity to Earth. Deep in the streets of Chicago, a young man, Logan Mann, pulled up to the edge of the curb and honked the horn. Moments later, the door of a house swung open and a woman ran down the yard. The woman, Angel Perkins, hopped into the car with a smile on her face. "Where would you like to go?" Logan asked. "Italian? Seafood?" He asked as he turned to his date. Angel simply scolded him, but cracked into a laugh. So did Logan. "Plus, I've already eaten," Angel said as she leaned her head onto Logan's shoulder. The man drummed his fingers on the steering wheel as he thought. "So... Do you want to just skip to phase two of the night?" "It's fine by me... What about you though?" Angel asked. "Eh, I wasn't really hungry anyways," Logan said as he turned back to Angel. "Have I ever said how cute you look with those glasses?" Angel giggled. "They hide my secret identity," she replied. The lights in the room dimmed, and the couple kissed each other one more time. Finally, they leaned back in their seats, and watched as the big screen lit up with the title of the movie they had waited for, for months now. The five heroes traveled to many worlds, even a massive spaceship, to find a way to stop a ghost from creating an army. The plot was straight forward, but a major conflict was between the war torn captain, and the young gunslinger. Two hours later, the movie had come to an end. One of the characters took a mighty war hammer and killed the alien monster with a blow to the heart of the beast. After the monster fell, the credits of the movie rolled. Everyone cried in excitement, then made their way to the exit. Angel and Logan removed their 3D glasses and sat, smiling. "Whoo! That was awesome!" Angel cheered as she hopped around, as the two headed to the car. "The night isn't over yet," Logan said as he held the door open. "Thank you," Angel replied as she got in the car. Even though the city lights below drowned out the millions of stars that used to be visible, one cliff allowed even the dimmest stars to shine brightly. Angel and Logan laid down on a blanket and stared at the sky. A shuttle from Luna was coming in for a landing. A jet, going east, broke the sound barrier as it zoomed across the sky. Higher up, stars flickered red or blue light. Farther out, the brilliant arm of the Milky Way galaxy wrapped around the sky, keeping the world above warm with all its stars. Angel sat up quickly. "Could you imagine being a superhero in this day and age? Going around the world, fighting the forces of evil. At the end of the day, make a lap around the Traveler, then smile into the camera? That would be great!" She began to pout a bit. "But there are no forces of evil... Only bandits and criminals, but even they eventually sign up for Clovis Bray's exo program. There is no need for superheros anymore..." Logan sat up beside Angel, "Some of the best heroes came when no one knew they needed him--" "Or her..." Angel interupted with a laugh. "Or her..." Logan corrected. "I'm sure when the time is right, our hero will come in humanity's darkest hour." Logan checked his watch as the hours passed. Finally, he hopped up and ran to his car. "Are you okay?" Angel asked. "Yeah, I'm fine. Just give me a second," Logan pulled out a small telescope from the trunk of his car. He set it up and adjusted the sights. "What's this?" Angel asked as she got up and walked over to the telescope. "Phase four of tonight. There's a comet coming right over Chicago soon. I thought you'd like to see it..." "Of course I do!" Angel yelled as she shoved Logan to the ground. She changed the focus so she could see the comet clearly. The comet had a wide, bright white dust tail, and the nucleus had a brilliant golden glow. Logan got up and dusted off his jeans. "I can never remember which comet this is, but I've always thought it looked like an Angel..." Angel laughed and shoved her elbow into Logan's gut. She continued to watch the comet fly through the sky. Logan backed up as he held his stomach. When he looked back up, he noticed another bright object in the sky. He watched it, and noticed there was no tail showing which direction it was flying. Then, he realized the tail was directly behind it. His adrenaline began pumping as he took Angel's arm. "What's going on?!" She panicked. "We have to go!!" Logan yelled. The news reports consisted of the meteor that crashed on the mountain peak. Scientists everywhere were in the massive crater, examining the space rock, and wondering why their sensors never picked it up. They should have known that the rock was hurtling to Earth and should have diverted it. But they didn't. The only explanation they had was the comet, that was already closer to Earth than normal, hid the piece of debris from sensors. One scientist had noticed a flattened car in all the smoldering earth. "Someone was up here!" She yelled. Everyone else dropped what they were doing. "There's a car here!" The woman yelled again. "Oh, my God!" Yelled many scientists at once. They ran over to see the wreckage. "I... I got to go!" Cried the woman as she jumped in her car. She sped down the mountain road and went straight for Chicago. Everyone else stayed to investigate both the meteor, and the crushed car. The scientist walked into the police station and smoothed out her coat. "Hello. Has there been any reports of a missing car in the past thirty-six hours? Because I believe we've found it up on the ridge." The man behind the desk typed on his computer, searching through the records. "Nooo, no missing vehicles. But if you found one, we'll put it up and see if anyone comes for it." "Yes, please. We don't know what kind it is, the meteor crushed it pretty good," the scientist said somberly. "Okay, we can send detectives later and see if they can identify it. The crater you say? Ah, poor souls. I hope their insurance can cover cosmic collision," the officer said with a laugh. The scientist chuckled nervously. As the woman walked to the door, a couple came in, and explained how their daughter had been missing for some time now. The scientist froze as sorrow washed over her. "Would 'she' have been watching the comet the other night?" The woman asked. The crying mother turned to the scientist. "Y-y-yes... she loved watching comets..." The woman forced the lump in her throat down. "I'm so, so sorry... But there is something I need to tell you..."