The Paragon

Chapter 1 : The Siberian Skirmish

Date: 15th February, 2336

Place: Somewhere between Vladivostok and Blagoveshchensk.

Time: 10 PM

The Trans-Siberian express was truly a historic wonder of Russia. Introduced in 1891, this antique train has seen many things. Bustling families, high class nobles, Tsars, World War 1, World War 2, Cold War, Nuclear Disarmament, Rise of Quirks, you name it, it has seen it. The train was a living proof that, there was a time when quirks were nothing but science fiction. Even after 445 years, while almost a lot of technology was made to run on electricity or solar, this enigma still ran on diesel. But this time, it was completely different. The engine did get its upgrade. At first it would take 11 days to travel from Moscow to Vladivostok, and then it was cut to seven days. Currently it will take five days to complete its journey.

The train which was now cutting through the Siberian landscape was very silent. The passengers, who were travelling in it, never dreamt that a day would come when all of them would be held at gunpoint. The British Royal family was not faring well themselves. Their guards have been downed. Right now, they sit in their first class compartment, not with content, but with fear as the perpetrator of the hijack was sitting in front of them, holding a revolver casually. The head of the family, Prince George XVII, has seen many quirks in his lifetime. All weak and all strong, flashy and plain. But right now, it was a gun which was inducing fear in him the most.

"Do you know why you are being held at the gunpoint, your majesty?" asks the man who didn't bother to cover his face with a mask, unlike his subordinates.

"I can't say that I know", says Prince George while giving side glances to his wife and his daughter who were made to sit next to him. The little toddler was whimpering in her mother's bosom and the mother was doing her best to comfort her, but also making sure that she was in harm's way before it reached her daughter. The daughter's crying face pained the prince and he was berating himself for not being strong.

"You see, The UK government has revoked the funding of an organization which was fighting for rights of people who have villainous quirks. Your government likes to call it better management of funds but we people think that it is being biased. Do you have anything to say about that?" asks the man. The prince looks at the man and takes in a deep breath before saying, "I like to say that the bill which was passed even made me furious, Mr...."

"Call me Azrael", says the man. The prince internally cringed but slightly nods and says, "But this something which is not in my control. We royals are just a namesake now. We don't hold the power that we used to before. Since the advent of the quirks, we lost the power. We are nothing but antique. But what you are doing here is wrong".

"How can it be wrong, your majesty?" Azrael asks.

"You are terrorizing people. If you had problems with the royal family, you could have done it in UK. You shouldn't have included innocent people in this. You could have made protests but this is straight up terrorism", replies the prince.

"I don't think myself as terrorist. I rather consider myself as a revolutionist. Wherever I gaze, I see a corrupt society. I would like to weed it from its root and what better way is to do that than start with someone who is sitting at the top of the pedestal", says Azrael.

"So you are just imitating Stain", concludes the Prince.

"I am surprised you know about him, my king. Let's not bring a Japanese vigilante who was detained 10 years ago. Stain failed but I will not", declares Azrael.

"You know by doing this you are just fueling the prejudice, right?" asks the prince.

"Yes. But only if we survive this", says Azrael to which the prince frantically asks, "What do you mean by that?" Azrael gets up from his chair and while looking outside the window he says, "In an hour we will be reaching Blagoveshchensk. But before that we are supposed to cross Khabarovsk Bridge. Outside this train, nobody knows our agenda and if we consider the motion of Amur River they might call it off after a month or so. As soon as we reach that bridge... BOOM!" and he does a sinking motion with his hand. The prince's eyes widen as he holds onto his family and shouts, "YOU... YOU... MONSTER! WHAT DID THE PEOPLE ON THIS TRAIN DO TO YOU!? YOU WILL NEVER GET AWAY WITH THIS!"