New Age of Heroes 1: The League of Protectors - Dawn of a New Age (25 page)

All eyes were
flickering back and forth between Noah and Jason. The two men were
easily two of the more intimidating men you were going to meet.
Jason, for his sheer power and Noah for his sheer skill. Both men
offered two different styles of fighting and yet both were equally as
dangerous.

Jason stood up and
walked towards Noah. Jason was a bit taller, but both men stood at
distinguished sizes. Noah shifted his feet, he was pretty certain
Jason wasn’t about to attack him, but he readied himself just
in case. Jason extended his hand forward.

“Your
assistance would greatly be appreciated. This team needs you, this
world needs you, but what we don't need is someone that's half in
half out. You're either with us or you're not.”

Noah stood there,
his eyes going from person to person in the room.
Noah
was used to working on his own. Well more specifically, Noah was used
to working with individuals like himself. His eyes finally bounced
back to Jason and locked with his. There was an uncomfortable tension
in the air. Jackson sat there envisioning a scenario where Noah used
his telekinesis to flip the table over and knock Jason to the ground.
From there a battle just as deadly as the one with Joe Dorgan would
erupt and he'd be force to have to try and neutralize Noah.
Fortunately, that wasn't
something he was going to have to do. At least not on this day.
“Well, what do you say Mr. Winters?” Mr. Connors asked.

Noah
kept his eyes locked on Jason. He didn't like Jason and he probably
never would. There was a good chance that he would probably never
like anyone in the group. It wasn't about that though. Making friends
and being liked was never something Noah cared about. The only thing
that mattered was the mission. The battle with Joe Dorgan showed Noah
there was still a mission with the League to complete. For that
reason, Noah needed to stick around. He took a step forward and shook
Jason's hand.

“
I'm
in.”

23

The One
Behind the Hooded Robe

“
That
was quite the impressive display of might you showed out there,”
Seth Maddox said.

Joe Dorgan was
resting on an examination table inside an office at an unknown
destination. Sitting on a chair next to him was Seth Maddox. Seth was
the man responsible for teleporting all the prisoners off the island
and Joe out of the city of Chicago.

“You
should've let me finished them off. I had those little punks right
where I wanted them!” Joe retorted.

“There is no
doubt about that and that is exactly why I pulled you out of that
fight. It's not time yet, the boss doesn't want them taken out just
yet. Then and only then will you be allowed to finish them off for
good.”

Joe grabbed his
side and grimaced slightly. He had forgotten what pain felt like. It
had been so long since he felt physical pain. While Joe still
believed himself superior to Jason Shaw, silently he admitted that
the man was stronger than he imagined.

“Well the
boss better hurry up, I grow tired of waiting. I'm ready to put this
plan of his into action. I'm ready to wreck some stuff up!”

Joe replayed the
fight in his head. Never had he felt so alive. Jason brought out a
side of him that he wanted to tap into more. Jason made him even more
animalistic and Joe was beyond thrilled.

“The day is
nearing, soon the League of Protectors and every human will learn
that we are the superior race on this planet. Soon the government
will have no choice but to surrender itself to us! That's a day I
very much look forward to,” Seth said.

Joe huffed, “Me
too, I can't wait to meet all those that resist us in battle. I'm
going to mess them all up good!” Seth chuckled slightly at
Joe's lack of vocabulary. Clearly Joe wasn't the brains of the
operation, of any operation.

“Not gonna
lie though, I thought those traitors would present more of a
challenge than they did. I mean other than Shaw, the rest of them
weren't nothing to get excited about!” Joe said.

“Well, the
League of Protectors are glorified Post Humans. They aren't
disciplined. They aren't trained like you and me. They'd be much
tougher to face if they were.”

Seth's words echoed
that of Noah Winters. Seth stood up out of the chair; he walked over,
opened the blinds and looked out the window.

“You see
those people down there Joe?”

Joe got himself off
the table and walked over to the window.

“Those people
down there are nobodies. They are simply common humans that live
insignificant lives. Although we are anything but common, we too at
one point lived insignificant lives. Our lives changed forever the
day the boss came to us. He has made us experts at our craft and
given us a purpose. He's enhanced everything about us.”

Seth touched one of
Joe’s massive biceps, “We have abilities like a God. We
are better than humans and soon we will show the world that we are
the top of the food chain. So don’t screw this up by getting
too anxious for battle.”

Seth looked at the
visible bruises on Joe’s body. He saw the grimaces on Joe’s
face with each move he made. “That Shaw guy really did a number
on you man.”

Joe slammed his
fist through the wall in a violent tantrum. Seth looked on at the
rage Joe was displaying. It was moments like those that he was more
than happy to have Joe on his side.

“That Shaw
guy is dead the next time I see him. He got some lucky shots in, but
then again I was battling about four or five other people.”

Seth snickered,
“From what I saw, it was one on one by the time Shaw got there.
Face it; Shaw can match your strength. You’re going to have to
be smarter the next time you face him. He’s got a background in
hand to hand combat, military training and clearly knows how to
defend himself against a bigger opponent.”

Joe let Seth’s
words sink in. He didn’t like hearing what Seth had to say, but
he knew Seth was right. Deep down Joe knew his strength and
resilience was the only things he had on Jason.

Jason was smarter
than him and had a higher skill set. If Jason was able to make a more
strategic plan of attack, Seth worried that Jason might actually
defeat Joe. That was something he kept to himself though. He wasn't
about to share that thought with Joe.

Joe was a man that
was obsessed with being the biggest and the strongest. The
possibility that Jason was better than him was driving Joe crazy. If
Joe wasn’t the strongest, then he was nothing. If he could be
defeated, then he was nothing. That was Joe’s way of thinking.

“The next
time I see that punk, I’m going to drive my fist through his
skull. By the time the fight is over, there won’t be any
question as to who the superior man is.”

Seth chuckled,
humoring his friend and partner in crime. He wasn't about to get into
another debate over who was the strongest with Joe. Doing so would
only upset the big man further.

The doctor of the
facility the criminals were staying at walked in. He was an older
gentleman somewhere between the age of 55 and 60. He had slick gray
hair and a thick mustache. He wore thick glasses and spoke with an
Italian accent. He wasn’t a Post Human, but he was an adamant
Post Human sympathizer. He relished the opportunity to work with them
and wanted nothing more than to see the government put in their
place.

“So I walked
in a few minutes ago checking my patient charts and I must say I was
rather surprised to see your name on here Joe. Tell me, what
happened?”

Joe grunted.“That’s
none of your business old man. Just do your job and keep your mouth
closed!”

“No need to
be rude Joe,” Seth said smiling.

“Joe found
himself in battle with someone that could actually match strength
with him.” Seth added.

“He did not
match my strength!” Joe insisted, his face turning red.

Seth, the 5’9
early 30’s something man was not an intimidating looking man,
but his abilities were. In addition to being able to create portals,
Seth was also able to absorb other Post Humans abilities. This
ability allowed him to collect and use the abilities of other Post
Humans in a variety of ways. For example, if Joe was to attack Seth,
Seth would be able to absorb Joe’s strength factor and use it
for his own. Joe wouldn’t lose his ability, but the much
smarter Seth, would likely use Joe’s ability to defeat him.
Once the war with the humans was over, Seth had every intentions on
provoking Joe so that he could absorb his abilities. Joe was so
simple minded that he would never know what hit him until it was too
late.

“This Post
Human, it must've been Jason Shaw. Am I correct?” the doctor
asked.

“Bingo,”
Seth replied.

The doctor looked
at Joe and frowned. He had heard about Jason’s involvement in
the League, but he’d never really thought of him as a threat to
Joe.

“You better
believe, the next time I see that man, I’m going to kill him!”
Joe shouted angrily.

“That’s
only if the boss let’s you!” Seth said. “For all we
know, the boss might want to recruit Jason. A man like that partnered
with you would make for an impressive team.”

Joe snarled, “I
don’t do teams!”

Seth was getting
ready to reply to Joe with some witty response, but a voice over the
loud speaker interrupted him.

“Attention
everyone the Boss requests your presence in the meeting room
immediately. I repeat the Boss requests your presence in the meeting
room immediately.”

The doctor finished
patching Joe up and gave him the go ahead. Joe and Seth gave the old
doctor parting words and then proceeded towards the meeting room. To
their left they saw Erik Masters and Kyle Stanton passing them by.
Seth gave Kyle and Erik a respectful nod. Both of them had been so
instrumental with the successful breakout. While Kyle served as a
mercenary for hire, there was no denying his services were much
needed. Without him, the plan would've likely been altered.

The inside of the
meeting room was massive. It was called the meeting room but it
looked more like a high school auditorium. The room was silent as
they waited to be addressed. Everyone inside the room had some
ability that made them extraordinary. None of their abilities though
compared to that of their boss. No one inside the room had ever seen
his face or knew much about him. All that was known was that his
power far exceeded theirs and that he was a genius on many levels.

Whoever was in
charge had orchestrated everything with careful planning and astute
attention to details. The plan was going exactly as expected and
final preparations appeared to be going into effect.

A short man made
his way towards the podium. The man served as a messenger of sorts.
Anytime the Boss wanted a message delivered, it was through this man
that the message was sent. No one had actually seen the Boss. All
their orders came from this particular little man. Once or maybe
twice a video message of the Boss was put on display for everyone to
see, but even with the video, they couldn't get a good look at him.
The short man reached inside his pocket and pulled out a wipe. He
used the wipe to clean off the microphone in the center of the podium
and then threw it away.

“Ladies and
Gentlemen once again our leader has proven himself to be wise. His
brilliance exposed the League of Protectors for the weak traitors
that they are. Mr. Dorgan himself battled the entire League and here
he stands. Once our final attack begins, there is nothing that can
stop us. Our ranks grow each day and no government, no League, no
human can stop us!

The room erupted in
cheers! Joe's battle against the League was highly talked about, an
inspiration of sorts. Everyone concluded that if Joe Dorgan could
take on the entire League by himself, then the world stood no chance
against an army of Post Humans.

“Today is a
monumental day! For today is the day that our leader has chosen to
speak to you in person. He has been so impressed with your commitment
to this cause that he felt it was time he addressed each and every
one of you. Ladies and gentlemen I give to you the one that will lead
us to a new era of existence, I give to you our leader!”

Everyone in the
room began looking around. Chatter broke out. Everyone was anxious to
see the one they called their leader and their boss. There were loud
cheers filling the room even though no one knew who they were
cheering for exactly. There was a moment’s pause when finally
someone of significant stature levitated towards the podium. All eyes
and ears fell silent as the leader stepped forward. This leader kept
the mystery up remaining cloaked in a hooded robe. There were
whispers inside the room as the former prisoners tried to speculate
who the hooded man was. Even more so they tried to speculate why this
man was concealing his identity. No one dared ask him that though.

“My brothers,
my sisters, listen to me. I thank you all for your patience. I know
many of you have been wondering just what my plan is and why you are
here. Tonight I will answer those questions.” The mysterious
individual spoke very slowly but quite elegantly, almost seductively.

“In 2001 a
Post Human by the name of Jason Shaw revealed himself to the world.
He showed his impressive power and his superiority over humans.”

Joe rolled his
eyes. He didn’t like hearing Jason get credit for his strength.

“I sat and I
watched as the media fussed over him. Every day people seemed to fall
more and more in love with him. It was a feel good moment, but I knew
it wouldn’t last.”

The mysterious
leader looked over to the short man. He had given the short man his
cue. The short man nodded and turned on a projector. Images of
newspaper articles with the public turning against Post Humans were
shown.