New Age of Heroes 1: The League of Protectors - Dawn of a New Age

by Christian Green

  “Operation downfall is a go. I repeat operation downfall is a go.”

  He didn’t even wait for his contact to respond; he hung up the phone and walked over to the window. He looked outside, down upon the city and smiled. Joseph Stockton was in a good mood. With any luck, things were going to get a lot better for him, and better soon!

  “Shaw to G.U.A.R.D base, I have successfully recaptured another escaped prisoner. I repeat, I have successfully recaptured another escaped prisoner. Requesting a recover team immediately.” Jason waited for someone on the other end to respond.

  “Roger that Mr. Shaw, recovery team en route. ETA is ten minutes,” One of the operators at the base said.

  Jason acknowledged the operator and then turned his attention back to the recaptured prisoner.

  “You think you capturing me means anything? The end is coming, and it's coming soon. You have no idea what’s ahead, but I assure you our time of being afraid is coming to an end. Our time of being below these people is done. Soon, we shall take our place as leaders of this nation!” the captured prisoner shouted.

  Jason was about ready to respond when a heated blast in his direction caught his attention. Two more blasts caught him in the chest followed by three more blasts.

  “We need him alive!” a man in uniform shouted.

  Jason was slightly dazed due to the heavy blasts he took. To his surprise he recognized the uniforms. The faces of the men were concealed by helmets, but the uniforms were just as clear as day. The men attacking him were wearing G.U.A.R.D Uniforms!

  The captured prisoner rolled to his side evading the laser blasts meant for Jason. He had a grin upon his face as Jason dodged the attacks.

  “What’s the meaning of this?” Jason shouted.

  The men ignored him and continued firing on him. Jason sped and dodged blast after blast. He was confused and unsure of what to do. “Stephanie, this is Shaw, do you copy?!”

  “This is Stephanie, I copy. I’m detecting a large buildup of energy coming from you. Is something wrong?”

  Jason sped over to one of the attackers and delivered an uppercut. He made sure he didn’t exert too much strength. Doing so would've shattered the man's face or even worse killed him. Even though these men seemed to want him dead, he did not share the same sentiments.

  “I’m under attack!”

  Stephanie could hear the anger and frustration in his voice. She was confused as Jason's voice clearly indicated distress but she detected no energy buildup but his own.

  “Jason, who's attacking you?”

  There was no reply.

  “Jason?”

  “I'm under attack by G.U.A.R.D. Their men are shooting at me.”

  “What?” Stephanie shouted in utter disbelief. She immediately called over Mr. Connors who was in the other room.

  By now camera crews were capturing the battle. Reporters live were claiming that G.U.A.R.D was in the process of apprehending Jason Shaw. Jason continued fighting the agents but did his best not to hurt them. He was simply trying to defend himself until he figured out what was going on.

  Meanwhile, Mr. Connors was on the phone with Commander Sullivan. Mr. Connors was livid and demanded an explanation. Commander Sullivan watched as the fight played out. He too was confused by what was going on. He knew that whoever those G.U.A.R.D men were they weren't acting on his authority.

  “Jason do you copy?” Mr. Connors asked over Jason’s earpiece. “Jason, I have Commander Sullivan on the phone here with me.”

  Another blast caught Jason in the shoulder. He was getting sick of being blasted by whatever sort of energy weapon was being fired on him.

  “Commander Sullivan! What's going on?”

  Commander Sullivan was unaware, but he reiterated to Jason that the men attacking him were not his.

  “How shall I proceed?” Jason asked.

  Commander Sullivan thought for a moment. He wasn't sure if perhaps someone over him had given the order. He really didn't know what to think of the situation.

  “Commander?” Jason shouted as he grew restless of the attack.

  “Try getting their helmets off. G.U.A.R.D doesn't usually wear helmets. Get them off and let's get a look at who were dealing with.” Commander Sullivan replied hoping he wasn't messing up a capture order from someone above him.

  Jason put Commander Sullivan on hold and proceeded towards the agents firing on him.

  “We need to get out of here!” one of the men said nervously.

  “Not yet!” another one demanded.

  “Our work here is done! Let's get out of here before he starts attacking back!” the first man replied.

  Jason propelled himself off the ground out of the agent's view. The agents looked around desperately searching for Jason.

  “Where is he?” One of the men shouted.

  “Look there he is, fire, fire!” the first man shouted.

  Jason descended to the ground like a missile and drove his right fist straight through one of the agent’s helmets. Blood dripped from Jason’s hand due to a cut he received from the broken glass. He barely felt the pain though. Savagely Jason ripped the helmet off one of the agent.

  He grabbed the man by the neck and flew him into close proximity of one of the cameras. Both the cameraman and the anchor were startled that the fight was brought so closely to them. Jason held the man in front of the camera so Commander Sullivan could get a good look at the agent.

  “Run facial recognition,” Commander Sullivan ordered one of his operators. Rapidly, the operator pounded away at the keyboard trying to get a hit as quickly as possible.

  “Sir, this man is named Clarence Perkins.”

  Commander Sullivan ran the name through G.U.A.R.D database. The database confirmed that Clarence Perkins was not a G.U.A.R.D agent.

  “Jason do you copy?” Commander Sullivan asked upon getting confirmation of the agent's identity.

  “Yes.” Jason replied waiting impatiently.

  “Their imposters, take them down!” Commander Sullivan ordered.

  Jason nodded into the camera. Just then, the recovery unit Jason called for arrived on the scene. Their uniforms were the same as the other agents. They had already been apprised of the situation and immediately began lending their support to Jason.

  For the viewers watching at home they were unaware that the agents attacking Jason were impostors. What they saw was G.U.A.R.D personnel attacking Jason Shaw, Jason Shaw attacking G.U.A.R.D personnel and then more G.U.A.R.D personnel attacking G.U.A.R.D personnel! The scene was quite confusing and that was evident by the tone in which the reporters used to describe the battle.

  “Get me the President,” Commander Sullivan said to the operator closest to him. “And someone put out a statement letting these reporters know what's going on!”

  Mr. Connors and Stephanie continued watching the fight with growing concern. This was a mess! They were going to have to do some serious explaining once this was over. He knew that not everyone was going to believe that these agents were impostors.

  Having the recovery unit fighting by Jason’s side brought obvious creditability to their story. Even still, he knew there would be some that would twist the situation around and make Jason Shaw and the League of Protectors look like the bad guys.

  Mr. Connors rubbed his head. He was extremely irritated thinking about how far back this little rouse just cost the League in public’s opinion.

  Watching the live news, Joseph was beaming with excitement. What had just transpired was his doing. It was his genius that hired idiots to perpetrate G.U.A.R.D agents and attack Jason Shaw. All of which was done without any link to him.

  “Lori, get in here!” Joseph said over the intercom. He was so pleased with himself that he called in his secretary to bask in his glory with him. Lori entered the office and stood there with her eyebrow raised. She congratulated him even though she had no idea what for. She had learned to pretty much stroke the man's ego whenever he seemed to want it. It kept him happ
y and it kept her employed.

  “This is beautiful Lori, absolutely beautiful! That couldn’t have played out better if I scripted it!” Joseph said. His eyes were glued to the television, following the news.

  “I don’t understand Mr. Stockton. What’s got you so excited?”

  Joseph ushered Lori over towards the television. He instructed her to watch and listen to what was going on. After listening to the reporter, Lori was still confused.

  “I still don’t get it Mr. Stockton. From everything I heard and saw, Jason Shaw defeated those agents and has been cleared of any wrong doing.”

  Joseph shook his head in frustration. Lori was missing the big picture. He looked at her and forgave her for her ignorance. How could he expect her to understand what happened? She was nothing more than a secretary and to him that meant she was next to nothing.

  “That will be all,” he said dismissing the confused secretary. She was killing his buzz and he would not allow that. This was his time, his moment. He had planted a seed of doubt over the League and they had no idea that it was him behind the attack.

  Joseph felt accomplished. In his mind today was the start of Jason Shaw and Shaw Enterprises' downfall. By the time he got done with them, he'd be sure that the Shaw name was worthless.

  Joseph picked up his cell and scrolled through his contacts list. He found the name he was looking for and smiled. It took four rings before the person on the other end picked up.

  “Prepare phase two,” Joseph said.

  He hung up the phone and walked back towards the window looking down once again at all the people below him.

  20

  Giant Menace

  The sight of Hoffman Blvd looked like something straight from an action movie. Cars were flipped over, fire was blazing out of control and people were running for their lives. The scariest part about what was witnessed was that this was done by just one man; one incredibly powerful man. The thunderous thump-thump sound of several military issued helicopters filled the night sky. Mobile units were already in play but Commander Sullivan didn’t want to take any chances.

  “What’s the statistics so far agent?” Commander Sullivan asked. The commander was already suited up and looked prepared to drop down from the helicopter and join the battle himself.

  “Sources on the ground confirm ten dead and several more injured. In addition, sources speculate property damages are going to be astronomical.”

  “I'm not concerned at all about the property damage agent. Property damages won't mean a thing if we don't take this guy out. Do we have any ideas as to what this guy wants?”

  “Yeah, you’re looking at it, complete destruction.” The agent said.

  “Well let’s rain on his parade,” Commander Sullivan said.

  Agent Hardine motioned towards his men to get into position. The man causing all the damage looked to be close to seven feet tall. His hair was dark brown and he was sporting a full beard that he appeared to be letting grow. He was extremely large, he looked to weigh easily over three hundred pounds but he was quite fit. He looked jacked up on steroids as his massive arms did not look proportionally accurate with the rest of his body.

  “What's the story on this guy?” Commander Sullivan asked looking in Mr. Connors' direction.

  Mr. Connors flipped through his files searching for a positive match on the imposing criminal wreaking havoc down below.

  “His name is Joe Dorgan. Mr. Dorgan has unimaginable strength and is highly resistant to any form of attack. It appears in sheer strength his level surpasses Jason's.”

  Commander Sullivan shook his head in disgust. He had seen what Jason could do. He had seen Jason catch a plane with his bare hands. He had seen Jason lift a truck over his head with the simplest of ease. He had seen Jason do the unimaginable. So to suggest there was someone that could do all that and more was not something the commander looked forward to witnessing.

  There seemed to be no reason for Joe's madness. Actually madness wasn't a good word to use as Joe looked the opposite of mad. He seemed to be thoroughly enjoying himself and all the trouble he was causing.

  Joe Dorgan walked down the street calmly. He lifted cars with ease and hurled them in any which direction he pleased. Agent Hardine and his unit opened fire on the massive man as he approached their vicinity. The bullets bounced off Joe with no effect at all. He laughed profusely, looking quite amused by the “little men” trying to stop him.

  “You shoot those little guns at me? You little men really think your weapons are going to stop me? Don't you get it? No one can stop me, nothing can stop me! I am indestructible you fools!”

  Joe reached over to his right side and grabbed a car with one hand. He threw the car forward in the direction of the agents.

  “Look out!” one of the agents shouted.

  The agents scattered about to avoid the incoming car. With all the scattering agents, Agent Roy tripped over a fellow agent and injured his leg. He found himself stuck and unable to get out of the way.

  “Roy!”one of the agents shouted realizing that Agent Roy was seconds away from being flattened by the car.

  Luckily, Noah Winters wasn't too far out when all the commotion started. Disregarding the speed limit, Noah drove as fast as he could to the location where Joe Dorgan was. He arrived just in the nick of time. Noah concentrated heavily and changed the direction of the incoming car that Joe had launched at the agents. This allowed two of the other agents to rush over to Agent Roy and help him to his feet and away from the battle. Noah navigated the car safely away from all the agents, much to the chagrin of Joe Dorgan.

  “You shouldn't have done that!” Joe shouted. Joe looked around him and grabbed whatever cars he saw in sight. He launched several of them in Noah's direction. Noah switched between dodging the cars and using telekinesis to shift the cars out of harm’s way.

  Commander Sullivan’s men continued firing upon Joe, hoping at the very least to slow him down but their efforts were in vain. “This is getting ridiculous, we need more reinforcements!” Commander Sullivan exclaimed. He looked towards Mr. Connors and Mr. Connors nodded in understanding.

  Mr. Connors took a deep breath and then took out a device that was resting in the right pocket of his finely pressed dress pants. He activated the on screen of the device and proceeded to press a series of buttons.

  “League of Protectors your presence is requested immediately. My signal is transmitting, get to this location immediately!”

  “It looks like a war zone down there!” the Commander said. “Mike get us down to base camp,” he said to the pilot.

  “Yes sir.”

  The helicopter churned as the pilot changed directions and landed safely at the designated location. Shayne and Jackson were the first two members of the team to arrive on the scene. After quickly bringing Jackson on the scene, Shayne sped off and returned just as quickly with Bianca Ramirez. Shortly after Bianca and Shayne returned, Jessica Prescott flew in.

  “This is crazy!” Jessica said in shock, witnessing Joe's destruction for the first time.

  “Welcome back sis,” Jackson said. “Since you've been gone for so long, figured we'd get you warmed up with some man of mass destruction action down here!”

  Jessica couldn't believe the destruction this one man was causing. She thought the destruction of the hurricane overseas was bad. Joe was quickly making the entire block his personal hurricane disaster site.

  Shayne, Jackson, Jessica, and Bianca made their way to the base camp to be apprised of the situation. Jason had yet to arrive but the group knew if he was absent, there was a good reason for it.

  “So what's the plan?” Shayne asked looking in the commander's direction.

  “The plan is to go out there and stop that giant menace from destroying anymore crap!” Jackson replied. Shayne didn't even bother replying to Jackson's latest comments.

  Commander Sullivan shrugged his shoulders. In a nutshell, Jackson was pretty much spot on. The Commander didn't know how
to stop Joe Dorgan, but stopping him was a must.

  The team watched on a screen as the G.U.A.R.D ground troops did their best to contain the massive man. “Let's get a move on people!” Jessica Prescott demanded noticing Noah was left out there without any of their help.

  “Ms. Prescott, your command until Mr. Shaw arrives,” Mr. Connors said. The group looked at Mr. Connors a bit surprised. As far as they knew, there was no second in command after Jason, but everyone just sort of assumed that if Jason wasn't around it would be Noah or Shayne giving out the orders.

  “Let’s move out!” Jessica ordered sounding cool and calm just like a leader needed to sound.

  Shayne charged forward towards Hoffman Blvd to join the fight. Jessica flew above him while the rest of the team followed behind them on foot.

  “Agent Hardine, get your men out of there. We're going to let the League take a crack at him!” Commander Sullivan said.

  “Copy that Sir.”

  Jackson ran towards the left as Shayne ran towards the right. Jessica flew above them, while Bianca hung back. Bianca’s contribution would be healing if any member needed it and also phasing in a defensive manner.

  Noah was about to pull out his semi-automatic weapon but then he thought better of it. He had to remember to do things differently as Noah Winters. Even though the G.U.A.R.D agents were firing upon Joe Dorgan, guns weren't something that Noah had previously displayed as Noah Winters.

  Shayne used his Sonic Speed to distract Joe. As Shayne ran laps around the massive man, Joe tried unsuccessfully to catch him with his bare hands. The giant man grew angry as his attempts to catch Shayne were unsuccessful. While his attention was on Shayne, Jackson got close enough to him to deliver a bolt of freezing ice. The ice connected with Joe and covered his entire body causing Joe to become frozen. Jackson stood there admiring his work.