New Age of Heroes 1: The League of Protectors - Dawn of a New Age (13 page)

The G.U.A.R.D
agents were beginning to come to and Charles knew his window of
escape was closing. With Noah forced to concentrate on the other
prisoners, Charles now had his opening.

“Until next
time!” Charles called out as he made a run for the exit.

Noah desperately
fought the prisoner's off him and tried to make his way towards the
exit to go after Charles.

“Stay!”
Charles shouted. He delivered a massive blast of energy that caught
Noah square in the chest. The impact sent Noah flying backwards into
most of the prisoners.

Charles ran out the
door and made his way towards the G.U.A.R.D helicopter.

The pilot was
sitting there anticipating Charles arrival after witnessing the
blast, “Stop right there!” the pilot ordered.

Charles snickered
at the audacity of the pilot. He ran forward while the pilot squeezed
the trigger. Charles allowed the bullet to make contact, knowing his
body would recover in no time. The pilot tried to get off another
shot, but it was too late. Charles had reached him and was draining
the life from him. Charles took just enough energy to weaken him. He
wanted the pilot alive, he needed the pilot alive.

“Get inside,”
Charles ordered. The pilot did as instructed. Charles hopped into the
passenger seat and kept the gun pointed at the pilot. “Get us
out of here.”

Reluctantly, the
pilot placed his hands on the small steering wheel and eased the
plane off the ground. A dazed Noah stumbled out of the building and
watched as Charles and the pilot took off.

“Until next
time!” Charles shouted as the helicopter ascended into the
skies.

12

The
Enemy of My Enemy

Charles walked into
the abandoned warehouse slightly tired from his encounter with Noah
Winters. This particular location he had been occupying for the past
several months. It served as a base of operations for him. Had Noah
not been so concerned with the local criminals, he might've noticed
Charles setting up shop in his city.

Charles you could
describe as ambitious. He wasn't doing what he was doing for some
political agenda. He didn't care about the fate of the world. He was
out to make a name for himself. He wanted to use his abilities to
become the most famous Post Human around. Correction, he wanted to be
infamous. He wanted everyone in the world to fear him, to bow before
him. With his impressive display of abilities, he felt he could
accomplish such a challenging goal.

He wouldn't do it
alone though. How could he? It was common knowledge that for every
major criminal, there was usually a support staff. A group of lesser
men and women that did the bidding for the main criminal. Charles
wasn't the top gun though. As powerful as he was, he lacked the
resources required to truly make a run at infamy.

He had a boss, a
mysterious boss that funded all his criminal activities. There was no
love or respect for his benefactor though. The moment Charles had
everything he needed, he wouldn't hesitate to kill the one that was
bank rolling his operation. Truthfully, Charles Ortega couldn't stand
the man that supplied him with a plethora of resources. He thought of
the man as nothing more than a means to an end.

Charles walked over
to the small wooden table inside the warehouse and grabbed the black
remote. He flipped on the television and turned to the news station.
As expected, coverage of his escape was being talked about on every
local news channel.

Charles sat down on
a chair and listened carefully to every word spoken about him. He was
the type that truly admired his own work. Each day he woke up he
thought to himself what could he do to raise the bar? What crimes
could he commit to become even more feared. He wasn't the least bit
concerned about being tracked down. He didn't think too highly of the
government's intelligence departments. He did after all avoid capture
for eight months. It wasn't until the League of Protectors got
involved that Charles felt any sort of pressure.

Once he was in
position, he would take the League out. He hated them and everything
they stood for. Individually, he was confident he could take any of
them alone. He knew taking them all head on wasn't a good idea, so he
would have to be calculating with his attack. He would have to take
them out one by one. Charles wasn't concerned about Bianca Ramirez,
Garrett Blake or Stephanie Morgan at all. Those three were not in his
league. Out of those three Bianca was the only one that did battle in
the field and her phasing abilities wasn't going to do anything
against him. Sure, she had the capabilities to phase just like he
did, but he knew she wasn't a murderer. He knew she didn't have it in
her to do the sort of things he did.

Then there was
Shayne and Jackson. Both young men were loaded with potential and
even more dangerous when together. He knew it was highly likely that
when he did face them, it would be a package deal. While taking them
both on at the same time did give Charles reservations, he was
confident they weren't ready for such a confrontation. After watching
the two in action, he knew it would be best to split them up. If he
did take them both on he knew he had to find a way to quickly
neutralize Shayne first.

While both Shayne
and Jackson were quite evenly matched, Shayne was smarter and more
emotionally stable in the field, well in all aspects to be quite
honest. Taking Shayne out first would make Jackson irrational and
more likely to make a mistake.

Nevertheless, be it
one on one or two on one, Charles was fairly confident he could take
those two out the next time he faced them. Then there were the three
heavyweights as Charles like to refer to them as. Jason Shaw, Noah
Winters and Jessica Prescott.

Each of them
individually presented Charles with a different set of challenges for
him to overcome. Quite arguably the most skilled fighter in the
League, Noah presented a challenge that would be difficult for
Charles to handle. Especially considering the fact that Charles faced
Noah without Noah using any of his abilities to counter Charles'
attacks.

The wild card in
Charles' opinion was Jessica Prescott. With the world's most powerful
Post Human in Jason Shaw, a skilled martial arts master like Noah
Winters and the intriguing fire and ice abilities of Shayne and
Jackson, Jessica was often overlooked. People truly didn't realize
that as far as strength was concerned, Jessica was the second
strongest member of the group. Not to mention her ability to fly and
keep a level head made her quite the force to deal with. She wasn't
nearly as proficient in the field as Jason or Noah, but her training
and her abilities made her quite formidable. Charles couldn't simply
overlook her. He had to be smart when battling her. Nevertheless, one
on one, Charles was confident he'd drain her life as well.

Then there was
Jason Shaw, the one individual in the League Charles wasn't sure he
could take one on one. After seeing the heroics Jason has pulled off
and being captured once largely in part to Jason's actions, Charles
was not looking forward to another altercation with him. He would
eliminate the rest of the League first and when the rest were all
taken care of, then he would come after Jason. He wouldn't come alone
though, no, he would use his gang of criminals to weaken Jason first
and once that was accomplished then he would attack the hero from
behind.

Charles didn't
believe in fights having to be fair. The whole point of a fight was
to win. To ensure that, Charles would do whatever necessary to
guarantee victory. That was the way in which he was brought up and it
was that mentality that added to his overall dangerousness.

As the news reports
on Charles continued to play, something from the shadows started
moving in his direction. Charles wasn't concerned though, he was
expecting company. He had business to discuss, and if for some
reason, it wasn't who he was expecting, he'd simply kill the unwanted
guest.

The thought brought
a sly smile to Charles' face. He suddenly had an urge to drain
another human life. Oh how he wished whoever had walked inside the
warehouse was someone he wasn't expecting. The guest walked in
dressed in black boots, dark blue jeans and a black hoodie. Even with
the ridiculous attempt to blend in, Charles recognized the man
immediately.

“Plan on
robbing a bank?” Charles asked sarcastically.

“Very funny,”
Joseph Stockton replied.

The shrewd business
man with multiple connections to the underworld of crime took off his
hoodie and took a seat in the chair next to Charles.

“Heard of
your escape, it's about time. Was beginning to think I was going to
have to make plans without you.”

Charles badly
wanted to jump out of his chair and drain the life of Joseph, but he
refrained from doing so. He still needed Joseph, most importantly, he
still needed Joseph's money and resources.

“That
vigilante the city keeps talking about is quite the handful isn't
he?” Joseph asked, sounding as if he was in admiration.

Charles shrugged,
“Nothing I can't handle.”

Joseph looked at
Charles and snickered. He didn't quite believe that.

“I'm glad you
didn't kill him, I could certainly use someone like that on my side.”

Charles huffed.
“You need second best? I mean I did beat him. Why would you
need someone like him when you already have someone like me?”

Joseph seemed
surprised by Charles tone. Charles almost sounded jealous of Joseph's
admiration towards the vigilante. “Now now, no one is denying
your skills. I'm simply saying it would be nice to have more men like
you on the payroll. The more we have under are service, the easier it
will be to handle anyone that tries to get in our way.”

Joseph was doing
his best to make it sound like a team effort but in actuality, he
thought very little of Charles. While Charles was using him for his
money and resources, Joseph was using Charles for his abilities.
Neither men had any loyalty towards one another. They were both using
each other for personal gain and it was really just a matter of which
one would betray the other first.

“What about
that project you got going on?” Charles asked.

Joseph looked at
Charles and smiled.

“The project
is going well. Very shortly events will unfold and this country will
be reformed.”

Charles had no idea
what the full scope of Joseph's plans were and he really could care
less. He had his own plans. His own agenda for world domination.

“So what's
next?” Charles asked.

Joseph got up out
of the chair and began whistling.

“Nothing is
next, at least not for now. I need you to continue recruiting people
like yourself to the cause and lay low while I reveal my plans for
the world. Once my plan is in play, you will hold very high position
in the new reality of the world.” Joseph replied.

It took everything
within Charles not to roll his eyes. He didn't believe a word of what
Joseph was saying. Joseph Stockton had no plans for Charles in his
future; and Charles had no plans for Joseph in his. Whatever Joseph
was planning, Charles knew it would draw the attention of the League.
That would give Charles a great opportunity to continue recruiting
and take the League out one by one. Being patient was his best chance
of eliminating the entire League of Protectors.

“You know
what, that sounds like an excellent idea. I look forward to seeing
your plan come to fruition.” Charles said completely lying to
Joseph.

Joseph gave Charles
a smile back. “We will change the world Mr. Ortega.”

“And the
League of Protectors won't know what hit them!” Charles added.

“Indeed.”
Joseph replied.

With that, the two
men shook hands and Joseph headed out of the warehouse. Charles
plopped back down on the couch and continued listening to the
coverage of his escape. Things were about to change!

13

Intrusion
at the White House

Shortly
after the prison escape on Stone Ridge Island

He sat behind his
desk inside his oval office. He was hoping this was all some sort of
joke. Some sick rib his staff was playing on him just for giggles. He
would reprimand every single one of them for the sick joke, but he
prayed to God, a joke was all it was. Page after page he read
completely baffled by the reading. There would be without question a
detailed investigation into the situation. Someone knew something of
that he was sure. Trying his best to remain calm, he closed the
report and picked up his office phone. He took the phone, pressed one
of the numbers and waited for his secretary to pick up.

“Gather all
essential personnel and meet me in the situation room. We have a code
red PH event on our hands. Do it now.”

He hung up the
phone, adjusted his tie and proceeded out the door. Around twenty
five men and women all dressed in fine pressed suits stood
immediately when he walked in.

“Mr.
President,” the Vice President said. The two men shook hands
and gave each other a look that spoke volumes. Everyone inside the
room knew this was a bad situation. They understood this was a
situation that could potentially have lasting affects.

“Please, be
seated,” the President said warmly.

There wasn’t
a sound in the room. Everyone sat down quietly and waited to hear
what the President had to say.

“Approximately
one hour ago there was a massive blackout on Stone Rock Island.”

The room was
immediately filled with gasps and concerned faces.

“The backup
generators were unable to kick on and as a result the Ironium shields
and the inhibitor fields failed. This led to every prisoner on the
island escaping their cells. A battle between the prisoners,
G.U.A.R.D personnel and members of the League of Protectors
followed.”