New Age of Heroes 1: The League of Protectors - Dawn of a New Age (26 page)

“As I
predicted, the public turned on Jason and Post Humans everywhere. It
didn’t matter what they had done, if they were a Post Human,
the world was against them. This made me very sad to see.” The
short man pressed the space bar on the computer and an image of the
President was shown.

“Then this
man here took office and authorized the creation of a prison built
specifically for capturing Post Humans. I was shocked and outraged by
this. That is when I decided to no longer sit by and allow this to
continue,” the leader paused momentarily and looked out into
the audience.

“I knew I had
to make a stand, but I couldn’t do it alone. So I began
recruiting people. I began recruiting people with extraordinary
abilities. Anyone that joined was under my protection. I was able to
shield them from being sensed by the one they call Stephanie Morgan.
I was able to shield them from being on G.U.A.R.D's radar. Everything
I have done has been to protect us from these humans and traitors.
Everything I have done has been to prepare us for the new dawn. The
dawn of a new era. The dawn of the Post Humans.”

The mysterious
leader looked around. There were lots of people in the audience
visibly showing their appreciation for his actions.

“I was very
patient. I learned what I needed to learn. I acquired what I needed
to acquire. I waited as long as I needed to wait, and now I can tell
you that the wait is nearly over.”

There were cheers
breaking out into the crowd.

“We now have
an army large enough to execute a plan that has been many years in
the making. If that isn't enough to get you excited, soon, I will
make every single one of you even more powerful than you already are.
The world will have no answer for our might!”

The Post Humans
broke out into conversation creating theories on what the mysterious
leader meant by making them even more powerful. “Very soon this
war will begin and very soon this war will end! Very soon we will
reign over the humans and have them bow down before us!”

The room erupted
with cheers and praise. The mysterious leader smiled sadistically
behind his hooded robe and walked off the stage.
The
Post Humans had an army and soon they would be ready for war!

24

Letting
Go of the Past

One
week had passed since the attack on Hoffman Blvd. Noah Winters or
more appropriately The Black Vigilante was out once again patrolling
the streets. It was another grueling day. There was just so much bad
intentions out there that Noah wondered if his mission was hopeless.
He had to put that thought out of his mind though. There were good
people there and he had to do whatever it took to help them. He had
to reclaim his city and make it a place that was the envy of the
world. He had a long way to go, but he was determined to do whatever
it took.

Noah seemed to be
pushed in several directions this particular night. Every time he
would put down one criminal another one would pop up. He suspected
his ride covered easily over 100 miles back and forth transporting
him to the necessary locations. There was no denying he was drained.
Although outnumbered in every situation he found himself in, Noah was
able to defeat his opponents. For seven hours Noah battled the
criminals roaming the streets. Although being a Post Human gave him
an advantage over most his opponents, Noah wasn’t invincible.

He grimaced as he
stepped out of his vehicle. Noah held his side likely indicating at
least one broken rib. While Noah wasn’t able to determine if
his rib was broke, he did know for a fact that his shoulder was
dislocated. Luckily for him, he knew how to fix it himself. These are
the times that he wished Bianca Ramirez was around more. Having
someone to heal you was certainly someone to treasure in his line of
work.

The door inside the
garage leading to the inside of the house was locked. Cursing, Noah
reached inside his pocket for his keys. He fumbled to locate them but
eventually did and pulled them out. He slid the key inside the lock
and turned the doorknob. All of the lights were out. Cautiously, Noah
walked through the house. His feet were as light as a feather; he
could sense that something was wrong. Normally, Noah would’ve
turned on the lights in the house by now but he had an eerie feeling
that someone who didn’t belong was inside his home.

Noah slid his right
hand to his side and took off the safety on his 9mm. His enhanced
ability to smell alerted him to a distinct odor. What concerned him
was that the odor wasn’t his. This pretty much confirmed to him
that someone else was inside or had been inside.

As Noah rounded the
corner leading to a set of stairs that would take him to the second
floor, he could smell the fragrance of blood polluting the hallway.
He couldn’t place a name to the scent but it smelled oddly
familiar. The soft carpet prevented any squeaks or other alarming
sounds from giving his position away.

There were five
rooms on the second floor. There was Noah’s bedroom, the guest
room, which was typically reserved for his younger brother whenever
he came in town to visit. There was Noah’s work room, the
bathroom and last was Noah’s personal weight room. With his gun
drawn Noah slowly opened the first door on his left. The room was
empty. ‘It couldn’t have been that easy.’ He said
to himself. He walked a few more steps and then approached the
workout room on his right. There was a half drunken bottle of water
sitting lonely by the bench where Noah left it.

Three rooms
remained. At the end of the hall straight ahead was the guest room.
Noah slowly turned the doorknob and walked in. He flashed his gun in
every direction as he inspected the room. There was no sign of an
intruder.

From the guest room
door, Noah had to turn left in order to reach the last two rooms. He
could smell someone’s blood the closer he walked. It was a
strong smell, a fresh smell. He was curious as to why he would be
smelling blood. No one else lived there and it had been months since
his younger brother last visited. Noah was even more alert, even more
on his guard. The bathroom door was already open. He gave a quick
peek inside and confirmed to himself that no one was in there.

The only room that
remained was his bedroom. Noah placed the heel of his feet down and
rolled his feet slowly and gently towards his toes onto the ground.
This strategic style of walking he hoped would help keep his
immediate position concealed. He only wished that he was wearing
softer shoes. He approached the last door; the scent of blood was
stronger the closer to the door he got. A part of Noah did not want
to walk through the door for fear of what he might find.

Any number of his
enemies could’ve been out to send him a message. What really
concerned him though was why he couldn't place the scent. He knew it
was a familiar scent but for some reason, he couldn't quite determine
who it belonged to.

At last Noah worked
up the nerve to open the door. He took a deep breath fearing what he
would discover on the other side. With his gun firmly in his hand,
Noah opened the door and readied himself for whatever he would
encounter. To his surprise, there was still no sign of an intruder.
Cautiously, Noah walked around the room. He checked the closet and
out the window but there was no one in sight.

Noah reached into
his left pocket and pulled out his cell phone. He punched in
Stephanie’s number and then put his ear to the phone. Ring
after ring sounded off but there was no answer.

Noah exited his
room and walked back to the hallway. He knelt down to examine the
splatters of blood. He could smell the freshness of the fragrance so
he was fairly certain that whatever caused this person to bleed had
to of happened not too long ago. Noah’s senses began kicking
into overdrive. The male fragrance he sensed earlier he could smell
once more. Noah stood up and began sniffing around the room. He knew
someone else was still inside his home.

Debris fell from
the ceiling as a masked man descended to the ground. He caught Noah
off guard and kicked him with a hellacious kick to the face. The
masked man in a uniform very similar to the one Noah wore as the
Black Vigilante charged forward and drove Noah into the wall. Noah
let out a loud grunt from the impact.

Noah slowly made
his way to his feet. He was bleeding eternally. If his ribs weren’t
broken before they were undoubtedly broken now. The masked man
reached behind his back and pulled out a long sword. Noah cursed
loudly. The masked man charged forward with the sharp end of the
sword taking the lead. Noah sidestepped to the left avoiding the
slash. The masked man twirled the sword over his head and drove it
down. Noah flipped backwards again evading a crucial strike. Noah
flipped backwards into his room and shut the door. The masked man
drove the sword through the closed door breaking a portion of it.
Noah quickly dropped to his knees and pulled out a trunk. Inside the
trunk were things vital to the life Noah once lived. None more
importantly than the long silver sword he used so often on his
missions in the past. Noah grabbed the sword just in time.

The clanging sound
of sword hitting sword resonated off the walls. The two men circled
around one another getting a fill for one another. The two exchanged
a series of attacks each blocked and countered by the other. As the
mask man viciously swung his sword in an attempt to decapitate his
opponent, Noah dropped his head back barely avoiding contact. Noah
drove his sword into the ground sharp side down. The momentum the
masked man used left him vulnerable defensively. Noah used the man’s
aggressive swing to his advantage, and delivered a well placed closed
fist punch to the sternum of the masked man.

The masked man’s
head dropped slightly giving Noah an idea for his next move. Noah
grabbed the masked man’s head and drove his knee into the man’s
face. He followed that move by driving his right fist into the masked
man’s face. Noah quickly flipped backwards and grabbed his
sword. He twirled it around and posed as the masked man tried to
regain his composure. The masked man furiously removed his mask
revealing himself as Kyle Stanton.

“I should've
known!” Noah shouted. “You’ve come back to try and
finish what you started?” Noah asked angrily.

Kyle spit out blood
that was in his mouth. “Did you really think you had seen the
last of me? Did you really think our last encounter was yours to
claim victory? You should've known it would take more than what you
did to kill me. You should've killed me though. You know better than
anyone never to give a wounded dog a second chance. You wounded me
brother, but you certainly didn't kill me!”

Noah gritted his
teeth. Memories of his time spent with Kyle flooded his head. There
were so many memories, so many that he would've liked to have
forgotten. “It was you that infiltrated the prison. Who are you
working for?” Noah asked.

Kyle smiled,
“You’ll find out soon.” Kyle thought about it and
then changed his reply. “Well, your new friends will find out
soon, but unfortunately for you, you’ll be dead by then.”

Noah let out a
thunderous yell and charged Kyle with reckless abandon. He swung the
sword with all the strength he had but Kyle blocked it. The momentum
sent Noah past Kyle with his back turned away from him. Kyle hit Noah
with a hard driven elbow to Noah’s spine. Noah screamed in
agony.

“Emotions are
for the weak. One cannot display emotions when in the midst of
battle. Our master always revered you. He always considered you the
greatest of us all, but I’ve always known you were the weakest.
I’ve always known that you were the one whose emotions would
eventually get you killed. Today is that day.”

Noah struggled to
his feet. Mentally and physically he was pretty beat up. Kyle was
just as much a warrior as he was perhaps even more so. Kyle knew
everything he needed to know about Noah. He knew Noah’s
weaknesses and how to best exploit them. He took great pleasure in
seeing Noah suffer. He considered Noah’s death to be the finest
kill of his career. Unfortunately for him, what is perceived and what
is actuality are two different things.

Kyle approached a
battered Noah confidently. He was not on his guard as he normally
would have been. Noah could see that Kyle was overconfident and he
used that to his advantage. Although he was legitimately injured,
Noah played up his injuries more than they actually were.

“Any last
words?” Kyle asked smugly. Noah waited until Kyle was close
enough to touch.

“Yes,”
Noah grabbed a hidden blade concealed under his pants leg and drove
the blade into Kyle’s foot. Kyle cursed profusely.

“Your
greatest weakness has always been your overconfidence.” Noah
used his telekinesis to float his sword to him. He caught the sword
with his right hand and placed it right over Kyle's shoulder.

“Do it Noah,
kill me. Do it!” Kyle demanded.

Noah was filled
with rage. The body count in which Noah had racked up over the years
was plentiful. He wasn't a stranger to blood and death. He wasn't a
stranger to ending another man's life. Yet for all the men that Noah
had killed, for some reason, killing Kyle was something he struggled
to do.

Noah fought with
his inner self debating on if he would end Kyle's life. Kyle gave a
smirk as Noah focused his attention back on the present. “Perhaps
my greatest weakness is being too confident, but yours has always
been and always will be letting go of the past.” Kyle stated.

“Then maybe
it's time we change that!” Noah replied.

With a loud roar,
Noah lifted the sword over his head and drove it downward. The inner
dialogue Noah had with himself proved costly. Noah's contemplation
gave Kyle just the opportunity he needed to defend himself. Mirroring
Noah's actions moments earlier, Kyle reached to his hip and pulled
out a hidden blade. He quickly lunged forward and drove the blade
into Noah's side. Noah's sword dropped to the ground as did Kyle's
hidden blade. Both men toppled over one another with
neither
one of them able to inflict anymore damage.