They first appeared in the 50's, the superheroes that is, they started popping up just after WWII. It changed everything, these people of extraordinary powers or skills started appearing on the global scale, like the universal scales were preparing for a paradigm shift. Turns out it was good that mother nature intervened because humans were doomed. In 1969 the Old Gods came to reclaim what they figured they were owed. Yes that's right, H.P Lovecraft wasn't writing fiction, turns out he had it just about right, giant alien monsters whose presence was so menacing that even the thought of their true forms caused mortals to go insane.....yep that happened.<br/><br/>It was those first gilded hero archetypes and they banded together and fought back the Darkness of the Elder Gods, saved us all. Not all came back from the breach but the ones that did were celebrated as the saviors of the race. Captain Supreme, Red Scarab, Lady Aryan, The The Horned Owl, and Riddle Master returned to the joy of the masses. Super villains didn't stand a chance, they simply crumpled under the pressure of this united front the heroes put on. They called the organization 'The Guardians' and it all but crushed super-villainy, a virtual utopia for humanity. These first heroes rose to a power level that few other have ever known.<br/><br/>But complacency builds foolishness and that is why we live in the world we live today, 1999, is a far different place than those first Guardians left it. With no real super villains the heroes of today tend to fight one another more than anything else. Courts are clogged with civilian lawsuits for property damage and personal injury cases due to superhero negligence.<br/><br/>Not a single one of these 'heroes' could hold a match to the original Guardians, either in pure power level or in intestinal fortitude. Half of them are cokeheads or sex addicts, the other is so obsessed with paparazzi taking their photos at celebrity charity events. Not a lot of actual heroing gets done. It is this very complacency that will be there down fall, because these soft heroes may not have what it takes to stop the impending darkness that is sure to return. A shadow that creeps across the land and swallows up its superpowered prey, growing in strength every soul it takes.<br/><br/><br/><br/>*****************<br/>The Samaritan flew through the air at almost supersonic speeds. His black gloved hand outstretch in front of him and his opposing knee bent ever so slightly. After all this was the pose that the paparazzi seemed to like the best when he was flying into action. His dark red unitard and bold black and white chest bound 'S' insignia contrasted well and always looked great on the front page of the local newspaper.<br/><br/>He careened in a wide arc, banking down toward the massive monster. The creature was huge, as tall as a 4 story building his was wreaking havoc on the city below. The Samaritan swooped in, smashing the beast with a flying uppercut. The surface area wasn't that large in comparison to the beast's size and the Samaritan's unbelievable strength, It caused his arm to explode up through its skin and up into its mouth.<br/><br/>The giant beast tried to roar but the immensely strong Samaritan held firm to the beast's tongue and it could only manage a pained whimper. His iron like grip bursting the organ with ease. Gallons of green blood poured out of it's mouth as it squirmed in pain. The fluid poured down on our hero as he struggles to get the beast under control.<br/><br/>"You can tell Professor Insano that the Samaritan will always be here to thwart his dastardly plans, Monster!" The Samaritan repeats the line his PR agent had him rehearse. It is then that the monster uses it's giant claws to try and dig out the biting pain that is ripping at it's under jaw. Claws the length of cars come up and shred at the invincible superhero.<br/><br/>"You have to try harder than that!" He exclaims without and real excitement in his voice, but he knows that cameras are watching and doesn't want to let publicist down.<br/><br/>With his free hand the Samaritan reaches up and grasps the monster's jaw bone for leverage, once he starts pulling downward the tongue pulls back through the hole and tears free from it's throat. His makeshift weapon in hand he sets to beating the monster about the head and neck with its own tongue.<br/><br/>It reels backward, thrashing and carrying on, until it collides with the office building behind it. The structure falters, quakes and then starts to collapse, the innocent cowering civilians inside scream in despair as the building collapses under the monster's weight. The Samaritan barely bats an eye, as it appears to him, mortals aren't very durable.<br/><br/>"OOOh NO YOU DON'T!" He declares, but the damage is already done, He lifts the behemoth beast into the air and soars skyward. As they fly upward they strike a passenger 747 and knock the plane's wing off. The Samaritan is too focused on the task at hand to worry about a hundred or so people, he as real work to do. He flies the beast up to a few thousand feet and then reverses his direction. This time though he manages to hit the already crashing plane and disintegrate it with the beast's flesh. Burning jet fuel and dead passengers cover the both of them as they plummet back to earth.<br/><br/>He brings the mammoth tonnage back down to the ground at hundreds of miles per hour, collapsing atleast 6 other buildings. The spectacle is both horrifying and mesmerizing to the common folk below. 'He is both our savoir and he is our destroyer' They think to themselves during the travesty.<br/><br/>Out of the smoke came the tattered and monster blood stained dark red costume of the Invincible Samaritan and him alone. The crowd cheered even though so many had lost their lives, all they could get enough of was "The Samaritan!" He stayed several minutes allowing for photographers to snap their digital fodder for tomorrows news. Then the Samaritan tore through the air back toward his fortress of 'privacy' as fans cheered him on.<br/><br/>He landed only minutes later, although thousand of miles he'd traveled. The 'sanctuary' was hidden in a pacific island volcano, it was an unnoticed place and he enjoyed his time here as it was one of the few places that the only son of Captain Supreme and Lady Aryan could relax. Though the term 'relax' was relative, as anytime he returned he had to deal with his promotional team. They flogged him immediately. "great job Sam!" "Nice usage of approved lingo!" another said. He waved them off and made his way toward his private chambers.<br/><br/>He strode in and unzipped the tattered uniform, this stuff was supposed to withstand a lot more than that small skirmish. He pulled the tag out and as it turned out they were outsourcing his costumes to China now. He tossed it aside and made his way toward his personal shower room. He cranked the hot water, what would normally scald a man wouldn't even faze him. He reached up and placed his hand on the wall for support as the boiling water rushed over him. The room filled with boiling steam and he huffed from exhaustion.<br/><br/>"Hard day?" A familiar seductive female voice came from behind him.<br/><br/>"Really woman? I am trying to wash that creature' stinking gore off of me, am I not allowed even a few minutes of privacy in my own "fortress of PRIVACY?" He responded without bothering to turn around. He knew who it was, his 'personal assistant' Gwen Vader and he honestly didn't even wanna look at her right now, in fear he might actually loose his temper and unleash his devastating laser-vision.<br/><br/>"Well I just got the feedback from the focus groups and I thought you might want to have a look at it." She said ignoring his protests and walked over to the man and held out a holographic tablet with the ratings displayed. His big hand came out and gently grasp the fragile piece of tech.<br/><br/>"What does it mean?" He said, staring at the meaningless numbers.<br/><br/>"It means that although you do a great job at destroying giant monsters, people are beginning to think you've become a little detached. Yes, you save hundreds of thousands, but the people in the office buildings and the passengers on that 747 all had names and families and they think you don't care!" Gwen stated flatly.<br/><br/>"Jesus Gwen, I am fighting a giant monster.....People die, I do the best I can!" He said, the frustration in his voice was more than evident.<br/><br/>"We know, But we think that we can soften your public image, We think that a sidekick might be just the trick!" She offered him some sort of encouragement but it fell on deaf ears.<br/><br/>"You know how I feel about sidekicks Gwen....What I do is far too dangerous for some fanboy to get caught up in, I couldn't handle the guilt if some thing happened." The Samaritan said as he turned the shower off and strode over to the towel rack, completely unembarrassed about appearing in the buff in front of her. "God, not to even mention all the other concerns, I mean look at what happened to the Horned Owl! His career has been destroyed by allegations of sexual harassment from two prior sidekicks, Now the poor guy has spent his entire fortune on defending himself in court. I think he even had to sell the Owlmobile."<br/><br/>"Yes well the Horned Owl has his own crosses to bare, you aren't him and we all know that he's had emotional issues since his parents were gunned down when he was a child.....I want you to atleast have a look at the applicants we've selected. We know about your concerns and so we feel any one of these three might be a perfect fit for your needs." Gwen said and flipped to the profiles of three younger heroes.<br/><br/>"First we have, Princess Glory. She's young, she's hot and her skimpy costume rates higher with men between 15-30 than any other hero. She's got moderate super strength, durability, and has some sort of a crush on you anyway. She spent time in the Teen Justifiers and has exceptional control over her abilities." Gwen said as she brought up the picture of the pretty blond girl and her skimpy white unitard.<br/><br/>"Next is the Gorgon, he's a blind telepathic and his milky white eyes have the ability to paralyze people if they gaze into them. Yeah he's a bit creepy, but the PR people say that you'd get bonus points for taking on a disabled person as your sidekick."<br/><br/>"Same thing with the last one, Hazard, quadruplicate with cybernetic appendages and armor. He's tough and he likes action but the PR people are worried his codename might not be a great match. He might be willing to change it if we offer him the illustrious position as the Legendary Samaritan's sidekick.....So what do you think?" Gwen finished and took the tablet back.<br/><br/>"I don't know I can't make a decision right now, I guess I need to meet them all. Get in contact with them and arrange for them to be transported here to my secret fortress. I will put them through the paces and see if any of them are worth investing my time....OK?" The Samaritan said and dropped back into the bed from exhaustion.<br/><br/>"You got it stud! Now I will get right on that! I am just gonna go and let you have your rest now....Ooooh yeah, your towel came untucked by the way." She said as she exited the room and started preparations for their impending guests.