New Age of Heroes 1: The League of Protectors - Dawn of a New Age (24 page)

The cameraman kept
the camera on the fight. Jason and Joe exchange punch after punch.
Block after block, slam after slam. This brutal battle lasted several
minutes longer with neither man able to hold the advantage for long.

Suddenly, a
flashing light appeared. A light similar to the one that Jason and
Agent Mallory witnessed on the island. The light easily covered a
radius of several miles. Everyone nearby had to squeeze their eyes
tightly to make sure they weren't blinded by the light. Even with
their eyes closed they could still see how bright it was. Finally,
the bright light vanished and when it did, so too did Joe Dorgan.
Jason Shaw and everyone else looked on wondering where Joe Dorgan had
disappeared to.

22

Cohesiveness

Noah’s
eyes slowly began to open. He struggled getting his eyes to focus. He
didn’t recognize his surroundings at all, and worst of all, his
weapons were gone.

“Glad to see
you’re alright,” a distinguished voice said.
Noah
turned his attention in the direction of the voice, “Good
morning Noah, you took quite a beating last night,” Mr. Connors
said.

Noah
groaned, a combination of pain and angered at Mr. Connors' words.
“Where am I?” Noah shot up to his feet quickly looking
around his surroundings. He did not like the feeling of unfamiliarity
or being vulnerable. A trait he learned to despise growing up an
assassin.

“
It's
ok, we're at headquarters. Turned one of the offices into a makeshift
hospital room. Figured you'd prefer that over an actual hospital
room.”

Noah
groaned again he was still in a considerable amount of pain.
Noah
got out of the bed and reached for his shirt that was laying nicely
across a leather sofa. He slid the shirt over his head and then
proceeded to grab his pants, “Where's my belt?”

“To the
left,” Mr. Connors replied intrigued by the way in which Noah
carried himself.

“And my
weapons?”

Mr. Connors smiled,
“Locked in my office. Can't have anyone noticing the
similarities between your weapons and that of the Black Vigilante.”

Noah's eyes locked
with Mr. Connors. He knew some sort of lecture was coming, “Look,
I did what you asked. I've been concealing my identity.”

“I know, and
I appreciate that, but we can't take any chances.”

“Did we catch
the guy?” Noah asked changing the subject.

“No, it
appears Mr. Dorgan has friends. He vanished right before our eyes,
just like the inmates at the prison did.”

Noah sighed.

“Yes Mr.
Winters, similar to the incident that occurred during the prison
break. One minute Jason was battling a hostile Post Human the next
minute the hostile was gone. I am fairly confident that Seth Maddox
is responsible for the disappearing act. What I can't figure out is
why. Why end the confrontation when the opponent had the upper hand?”

“Because
they're planning something bigger. Something they want the whole
world to witness. Taking Jason out now would cheapen their planned
glory. They want everyone to witness their plan. They want everyone
to see the most powerful Post Human fall. That's why,” Noah
said.

Mr. Connors thought
for a moment and nodded his head in agreement. It made sense. It
wasn't the most rational way of thinking but it was a way of thinking
that made some sort of sense.

“So what are
they planning Mr. Winters?”

Noah shrugged his
shoulders. “That's the million dollar question.”

Mr. Connors nodded
and smiled. “Take a walk with me.”

Mr.
Connors led Noah down a long hall and stopped at the elevator. Inside
the elevator was a secret compartment that led to a hidden keypad.
Mr. Connors pressed a series of numbers which led the elevator well
below where the elevator led regular employees.

“
This
way Mr. Winters,” Mr. Connors said leading the way out of the
elevator and down another long spiraling hall. He opened the door and
saw the rest of the League sitting at a long square business table
waiting for Noah's arrival.

Noah
surveyed the room. The first person he saw was Bianca Ramirez. She
was always one to point out when something was ineffective. It was a
characteristic Noah found annoying but yet slightly endearing at the
same time. She was probably the only one in the room that could get
away with telling Noah what was effective and what wasn't time and
time again.

Across,
on the other side of the table was Shayne and sitting next to him was
Jackson. From the first day he met the two he could tell they were
best of friends. Anyone looking on could tell that the two young men
had a special friendship. They had a bond that he had never known. In
some ways he was envious of their friendship. He grew up being told
that emotions made him weak. It was drilled in him that having
personal relationships would get him and others killed. Noah had gone
through life never experiencing the benefits of having a friend. He
continued looking around the room. He saw Jessica sitting there
smiling widely at him. She was quite happy to see his recovery was
complete and that he was fine. Jessica was sitting a few seats down
from Bianca.

Sitting
next to her was Jason Shaw. He didn't have a smile on his face at the
sight of Noah's presence, but he was happy to see that Noah was ok.
Sitting directly across from the door was Garrett Blake. Anyone that
took one good look at him could tell right away that he wasn’t
a field member.
He was too busy pressing buttons on his
laptop to even acknowledge Noah’s presence.
The
last person inside the room was Stephanie Morgan. Out of all the
members in the room, Stephanie was the one he knew the least about.
The young woman hardly interacted with the rest of the group. Not
that she was anti-social or anything, it was just that her job didn't
allow for much social interactions.

Noah
shook his head in disappointment, “This group is lacking. We
don't work well as a team and because of that we were exposed. We
looked like a group of amateurs out there.” Noah wasn't one to
sugar coat things. He said whatever came to mind whenever he saw fit.

“
Well
hello to you too. Glad to see your recovery is going well,”
Jackson said slightly sarcastic. He was glad to know that Noah was
going to make a full recovery but didn't appreciate the negative
words Noah was spewing.

“
Umm
if i recall, that big giant guy we met last night tossed you around
like a rag doll too. If it wasn't for my sister, you wouldn't even be
around to insult us,” Jackson said.

Bianca
and Stephanie looked at Jackson with a surprised expression. Everyone
in the room knew of Noah's temper and they all made a conscious
effort not to cause him to lose it.

Jackson's
eyes went big the moment he finished the sentence. No one in the room
could believe what he had just said to Noah, in fact, Jackson
couldn't believe it himself. Noah gave Jackson an interested glance
and a slight nod but said nothing in reply. Jackson let out a breath
of relief. He envisioned Noah jumping across the table and wailing on
him.

Mr.
Connors chuckled slightly. He found Noah’s directness to be
rather refreshing,
“I agree with you Noah, this
team is rather inexperienced. Missions like the ones you and Mr. Shaw
have engaged in is something the others have not.”

Noah
looked around the room. It was as if he was sizing everyone up,
gauging everyone’s potential. Mr. Connors looked around the
room and noticed Jason was rolling his eyes. From day one, Jason felt
that Noah's presence was bad for the team. He felt as if Noah would
eventually leave them anyway, so it was pointless to invest in the
man.

Mr. Connors thought
differently however. The rest of the room sat quiet. After seeing
Noah in action, none could argue that he was a tremendous asset in
the field, but it was his personality that made them hesitant.

“
Noah,
perhaps you could tone down the criticism just a bit. We're all still
pretty new to this protectors thing and it takes practice. We have
great potential we just have to work harder to become a more cohesive
group,” Jessica said.

Noah’s
left eyebrow raised as he studied Jessica.
It must’ve
seemed like an eternity before Noah spoke again.

“That man
could have been handled effectively if you all took your training
more seriously. For months now I have been telling all of you that
you lack discipline and are relying too much on your abilities to
aide you. Dorgan is a mindless brute, the six of us together
should've been more than enough to stop him. So forgive me if I'm not
so inclined to curb my criticism. Yesterday was perhaps the best
lesson learned.”

“What lesson
was that?” Jackson asked.

“That if one
man can do this much damage to us, imagine what an organized group
with an agenda can do,” Shayne said answering for Noah.

He looked towards
Noah to see if his reply was correct and it was.

“There are
threats out there that wouldn't hesitate to kill any one of you
without giving it a second thought. There are Post Humans out there
with abilities that they will use to hurt you. If you want to be
Protectors, you need to start training more diligently. The only way
the League works is by being a more cohesive unit, and that only
works by training,” Noah said.

“Does anyone
know what that man wanted?” Noah asked changing the subject.

“That idiot
was just out to raise hell!” Bianca blurted out.

Noah found the
little Hispanic woman cute, but also found her naivete' unacceptable,
“Do you all really think that man’s actions were simply
to raise hell? Do you really think he had no other motive? If you
believe that, then you are more ignorant in such matters than I
thought.”

Bianca’s face
was red. She was fuming, “Now wait just a minute!” Bianca
shouted.

“No, you wait
a minute. That man that attacked last night did that because he was
instructed to do so. Someone more powerful or manipulative than him
instructed him to attack the city.” Noah said cutting Bianca
off.

“But why
would someone instruct him to do that?” Jackson asked
curiously.

“That makes
no sense at all!” Bianca added.

“To see what
would happen,” Jason replied somberly.

Noah shot around
and looked Jason in the eye. Noah was impressed to see that someone
understood how the game was played. Noah and Mr. Connors were the
only ones that understood what Jason meant.

“Consider the
fight last night as a game of chess. We were the players and we went
up against a computer. Joe Dorgan was simply a pawn in the game of
chess,” Mr. Connors said.

“Basically,
whoever was behind this attack wanted to see how the government would
respond. They wanted to see how we would respond. How quickly would
we all arrive. How would we all arrive. Whoever was behind this
attack wanted to learn what we had to offer,” Jason added. Noah
clapped his hands in approval. “I see there are some among you
that understand this game.”

“This isn’t
a game!” Bianca shouted still fuming from the insult Noah gave
her moments earlier. Noah walked over to Bianca. She was on the
defensive and ready to phase herself out of harm. Noah gently placed
his hand on Bianca’s shoulder.

“Perhaps my
choices of words were a bit harsh and I imagine I have offended you,
for that I am sorry. I am not a subtle man, and you need to
understand the war you find yourself in. This is real and this is
dangerous. Whoever you're dealing with is calm and calculating. He’s
playing with you guys right now to see how you will respond.”

Bianca
had no words to reply with. She simply sat there taking in what Noah
had to say. Noah headed for the door.

“
We
need a plan Noah!” Jason said adamantly.

“
Then
come up with one, and while you all are busy formulating that plan,
I'll be out getting revenge,” Noah replied.

“
Why
do you fight?” Mr. Connors asked as Noah wrapped his hand
around the doorknob.
Noah stopped in his tracks, “Why
do you fight Mr. Winters? Why do you defend people that have no idea
that you are defending them? People who look at you with fear simply
because you're different than them.”

Noah turned around
to face Mr. Connors. All eyes were on Noah as they waited to hear how
Noah would respond.

“I fight for
those that are worth fighting for. I fight for those that are unable
to defend themselves against the evil and cruelty that plague this
world. I have a gift and I have a choice. I can use my gifts for
personal gain, I can use my gifts to harm others, or I can use my
gifts to protect those that need protecting. This is my job and I
will do it until the day I’m no longer able to.”

Noah’s words
spoke volumes. His words defined what a hero was. The selflessness in
his reasons was inspiring. Noah’s brand of justice would likely
never go over well with the group, but he was fighting for all the
right reasons.

“Then fight
with us Mr. Winters. You come here and criticize all of us but offer
no solutions. You fight our opponents but then leave as soon as it's
over. Fight with us Noah, truly be with us. None of this lone warrior
crap you've been doing in the past. You think we need more
training... I agree, but help us train then instead of just telling
us everything we did wrong.”