New Age of Heroes 1: The League of Protectors - Dawn of a New Age (33 page)

The League of
Protectors, the marine unit, the non uniformed agents and every
member of G.U.A.R.D present let out a thunderous cheer. They were
ready to make their stand.

32

Enemy
at the Front Gate

The League of
Protectors led the way down the street just a block away from
Pennsylvania Ave. If they, along with G.U.A.R.D and the other elite
soldiers couldn’t contain the area, many feared the Post Humans
would head straight for the White House. The President, along with
his secret service was locked in the panic room. Upgrades to the
White House security were put in place by Shaw Enterprises after
Bianca easily bypassed the previous settings. As Jason Shaw marched
down the street, he hoped his added security features would be enough
to keep the President safe.

“Dude that's
an army!” Jackson stated noticing the large number of Post
Humans battling the national guard.

“We'll be
fine, just stick to the training and everything will work out for
us,” Shayne stated truly believing his words even though the
odds looked completely against them.

“How epic
would it be if we all showed up for the fight in matching black
leather uniforms?” Jackson asked with a grin.

“Focus
Jackson,” Jason said sternly.

“Leather,
really?” Shayne echoed.

“Beats
spandex,” Jackson said grinning and then turning his attention
to the task at hand.

“Jason this
is Stephanie do you copy?” Jason touched his earpiece and
confirmed he could hear her. “Focus your attacks on Joe Dorgan,
Kyle Stanton, Seth Maddox, Erik Masters, the woman in white and
hooded man. They are the only ones in that entire army with power
levels comparable to yours. Let G.U.A.R.D and the other units contain
the rest.”

“Copy that.
Alright guys, you heard her.”

Stephanie was able
to complete her evaluation on the power set each Post Human
possessed. The six that she mentioned would be the most challenging
and require the most attention.

“Listen up,
each of you will have a specific target to take out. Bianca, it’s
your responsibility to heal as many people as you can without
bringing harm to yourself.”

“Jason, do
you copy?” Garrett asked from the control center where
Commander Sullivan and Mr. Connors were strategizing.

“What is it
Garrett?” Jason asked slightly annoyed that he was interrupted.

“Someone is
trying to hack into the White House security systems.”

Jason frowned,
“Well stop them!” he shouted in frustration.

“I’m on
it.” Garrett replied meekly.

Everyone in the
League looked around for their targets. Noah was matched up against
Kyle Stanton. Shayne and Jackson would concentrate on Seth Maddox and
Erik Masters. Jessica would battle the woman in white and Jason would
go for a decisive third round with Joe Dorgan.

“What about
the guy in the hooded robe?” Shayne asked.

“Stephanie
said his power was off the charts,” Jackson added.

Jason huffed
angrily. “We’ll deal with him after we take out his
lieutenants.”

The lines were
drawn and the players were ready. There was no turning back now. For
months the mysterious man in the hooded robe had one up The League
and G.U.A.R.D. He orchestrated a massive breakout that freed many
dangerous criminals. Some of which were still free. He outwitted the
League and gained a comprehensive understanding of how they responded
in the heat of battle. He captured the League and created diversions
that enabled his associate to steal Blueranium from a G.U.A.R.D
vault. There was no denying that this hooded man was certainly a
mastermind.

Jason studied the
man carefully looking for any sign of weakness. The man’s face
was well hidden but Jason didn’t get any sense of fear coming
from him.

“League of
Protectors for many months we have studied you and have been
impressed with your skill and heart. You lack proper guidance
However, we, The Order, know many things and can help you reach your
maximum potential.” The short chubby man’s voice was very
annoying as he spoke over the loudspeaker.

“The Order?
What kind of super villain organization name is that?” Jackson
asked, unimpressed.

“Quiet,”
Jason growled.

“You are
fighting for the wrong side. The human race will betray you. The
minute they no longer need your services they will begin rounding you
up and enslaving you. I have seen it many times; I know this to be
true! They fear you and recognize your potential. They have no choice
but to eliminate you.”

As he spoke the man
in the hooded robe stood up. Jason kept his eyes locked on him. No
one knew exactly what he was capable of.

“We will give
you one chance. Surrender yourselves to us and we will embrace you
into our organization. Resist and we will destroy you just as we will
these weak humans you stand with. What say you?” the short
chubby man asked. There was a deafening silence. “What say
you?” he shouted again as if he was unheard the first time.

“What say
you? Who talks like that? I think he's watched too many medieval
times movies!” Jackson teased.

Jason stretched his
hand forward and let out a massive blast of red energy that sent the
man flying. The man in the hooded robe elegantly side stepped to his
left as the short chubby man flew passed him. The man in the hooded
robe looked on as his messenger tried to get to his feet.

“So be it,”
the hooded man shouted. He countered Jason’s blast with an
energy blast of his own. The blast was way more powerful than Jason’s
and sent the entire League backwards to the ground.

“Let it
begin!” the hooded man shouted.

That one word was
all it took for all hell to break loose. Thunderous shouts broke out
from both sides as the two engaged in deadly battle.

“Here we go!”
a pumped up Jackson shouted. The skillful college man charged forward
picking off enemies that got in his way. He rotated between hand to
hand combat and ice blasts as he approached Erik Masters. Shayne
stayed close by Jackson covering his blind side. Jackson seemed very
eager to confront Erik and Shayne quickly began to worry that Jackson
was going to do something reckless.

Noah and Kyle
circled around one another. The two men knew each other well. They
knew each others' fighting style. They knew everything they needed to
know about one another. “This is it, you should've taken the
leader's side. At least then you would've lived a little longer
before I killed you,” Kyle had a cocky smile on his face as he
spoke. The two men continued dancing around one another. Both men
knew how skilled the other was and neither wanted to risk being
caught off guard. “I always knew one day we’d be on
opposite sides. You always were weak minded,” Kyle said.

Noah narrowed his
eyes. From the time the two men met, Kyle always criticized Noah for
not being ruthless enough. Noah refused to react to Kyle’s
words. He knew far too well the mind games Kyle liked to play.

Noah stuck his hand
forward and motioned for Kyle to ‘bring it on’. Noah’s
defiance wiped the smile right off of Kyle’s face. The shape
shifting assassin charged forward, jumped up and swung aggressively.

Noah blocked the
punch and drove Kyle’s hand backwards. He used both closed fist
and connected with blows to Kyle’s chest. Kyle staggered back,
a bit surprised by the impact in which Noah connected with.

“Aggression.
I like!” Kyle exclaimed. Kyle ran forward and swung; Noah
blocked the punch and countered with an attempted right hook to the
face. Kyle ducked and landed an uppercut that caught Noah by
surprise. “Still predictable though!” Kyle said.

Noah cracked his
neck to the left and then to the right. He got in his fighting stance
and moved forward towards Kyle.

Kyle cocked his
head to the side and laughed amusingly. The two men charged forward,
each of them with the same idea. Kyle and Noah both connected with
blows to the face that sent both men backwards. The two men regained
their balance and charged forward once again. Kyle swung wildly but
Noah ducked and tackled Kyle to the ground. Kyle’s head hit the
ground hard and he let out a painful yelp.

Noah mounted on top
of Kyle and delivered devastating punches to the face. With each
blow, Kyle found himself getting weaker and weaker. He struggled to
free himself from the position he was in, but every attempt he made
resulted in another punch to the face. Desperate, Kyle reached to his
side and pulled out a hidden blade which he drove into Noah’s
abdomen. Noah screamed in pain as blood poured from his body. Jessica
looked back to see if he was ok, but she found herself rather
occupied with the woman in white. Kyle kicked Noah off of him and
smiled. He placed the blade back in its spot and watched as Noah
stumbled backwards. Noah grabbed his side and withered in pain.

“This is a
battle you can’t win Noah. You might as well give it up now and
I’ll spare your pathetic life.”

Noah slowly stood
up tall. Kyle seemed rather annoyed that Noah still had some fight
left in him. He charged forward and unloaded an onslaught of punches.
Some connected, but the majority of them missed. Noah tried to sweep
Kyle's legs but Kyle jumped up and flipped over Noah. Facing Noah’s
back, Kyle attempted a flying kick to the head. Noah quickly turned
around and caught Kyle’s leg. He twirled Kyle’s leg
sending the man flying to the ground.

Not wanting to let
up, Noah pressed forward and caught Kyle just as he was getting up.
He slammed Kyle back to the ground and then put him in a modified arm
bar hold.

“Who’s
your boss?” Noah asked.

Kyle spit blood
from his mouth, “That’s none of your concern.”

Noah laughed. “You
don’t know the identity of your boss do you? Guess you aren’t
that high up the chain. You always did have trouble advancing in
rank. Is that why you left the organization that made you? Is that
why you're doing mercenary work now?”

Kyle cursed. He
used his free arm to deliver an elbow to Noah’s face. Noah
released the hold he had on Kyle and touched his face. The two men
got to their feet and circled around one another.

“Give it up
Noah.”

Noah ran full speed
and blocked several of Kyle’s punches. Kyle was growing
increasingly frustrated with Noah and began to get sloppy. Noah used
this to his advantage. Noah connected with a straight kick to Kyle's
face. Before his foot returned to the ground, he again kicked Kyle in
the face. He followed his attack up with a series of punches to the
face and body. Kyle was nearing his end.

“Is that all
you got?” Kyle shouted, not wanting to concede victory. Kyle
made one last attempt in turning the fight back in his favor. With
all the strength he had left, Kyle drove his right arm back and
thrusts it forward. Noah raised his left hand up open palm and caught
Kyle’s right hand in his left palm. He turned Kyle’s left
hand to his left and gave a power thrust to Kyle’s left under
arm dislocating Kyle’s shoulder immediately. Kyle screamed in
agony as he lay defeated. With victory in hand, Noah used a inhibitor
syringe to suppress Kyle’s abilities. Noah then turned his
attention to assisting others.

“Take that
guy out!” Agent Mallory shouted to one of his snipers
positioned around different rooftops of nearby buildings. The Post
Human catching Agent Mallory’s attention was cutting through
G.U.A.R.D agents with some sort of projectile ability. One by one
agents fell as the Post Human ruthlessly assaulted them.

Noah closed his
eyes and concentrated heavily on the area where Agent Mallory was. He
thrusts his hands forward and put up a force field to protect the
remaining agents in that vicinity. The man with the projectile
ability didn’t take too kindly to Noah's interference. The man
let out a projectile blast headed in Noah’s direction. Noah
dodged the projectile blast and quickly reestablished the force
field.

“Now!”
Agent Mallory shouted.

The sniper stood at
the edge of the rooftop of one of the buildings and fired an
inhibitor dart at the Post Human. The dart connected and almost
instantaneously began to spread through the Post Human’s body.
His abilities were quickly being suppressed and for the time being,
he would no longer be a threat.

“Nice shot
Banks keep it going.” Agent Mallory said through his earpiece.
Agent Jordan Banks, one of the newest G.U.A.R.D agents continued
firing at the hoard of Post Humans charging towards the White House.

Shayne and Jackson
made their way towards Erik and Seth. The four Post Humans had been
anxiously awaiting another bout with one another. Seth and Erik
wasted no time firing their abilities on Shayne and Jackson. As a
bolt of electricity hurled towards Shayne, Jackson delivered a blast
of ice to counteract the attack. Shayne lit the ground on fire
forcing Erik to reposition himself. Jackson froze the ground around
him and used it as a skateboard of sorts. With Erik distracted,
Jackson slid towards Erik flipped forward, caught Erik by the head
and proceeded to throw him to the ground. Jackson’s inventive
offense was impressive, but he forgot Seth was nearby as well. With
an opportunity presented, Seth used the speed ability he acquired
from Shayne and sped over towards Jackson.

“Did you like
that move?” Jackson asked Erik who was slow to get off the
ground. Jackson was too busy taunting Erik to hear Shayne’s
pleads to look out. Shayne’s warnings were too late. Seth
tackled Jackson to the ground. He placed his hand on Jackson’s
chest and absorbed all of Jackson’s abilities.

“Thanks for
the assist,” Seth said smiling. Seth punched Jackson in the
face and turned his attention back to Shayne. “That friend of
yours certainly lacks discipline.”