New Age of Heroes 1: The League of Protectors - Dawn of a New Age (23 page)

“What
happened to the bigger they are the harder they fall?” Jackson
asked.

“He's right,
everyone get back!” Jessica shouted. The massive Joe Dorgan
struggled to free himself. The anger boiling inside of him made him
grow taller and bigger, and consequently stronger. Joe ripped through
the electric net and hurled it at Jackson. The young man was unable
to get out of the way in time and the electric shock left Jackson
trembling in severe pain.

“Everyone
fall back!” Shayne demanded echoing Jessica's orders. He
scooped Jackson up off the ground and then sped out of the way before
Joe could grab them.

Jessica grabbed
Bianca and flew away before Dorgan was able to grab her as well. Noah
took a few steps back to reevaluate the situation.

“Bianca, help
Jackson!” Shayne shouted.

Bianca and Jessica
stayed back to look after Jackson while Shayne and Noah charged
forward once more to confront the massive man.

“Any ideas?”
Shayne asked humbly.

“We keep
fighting until he falls down or we’re unable to get back up,”
Noah replied. Noah ran out ahead of Shayne and let loose with his
precise attacks.

Joe was too much
for the two men. No matter what they threw at him it had little
effect on him. He seemed to be enjoying the battle immensely. The
more the League fought, the more aggressive Joe decided to be.

Noah and Shayne
approached Joe from different directions, hoping to get close enough
to do damage. Joe grabbed both men, one in each hand by the throat
and slammed them into one another knocking both men out and leaving
them crippled. There was a loud gasp coming from base camp as they
watched what Joe had done to the two men. Joe Dorgan was too much for
an entire team of specialists and it appeared as if he was too much
for a team of Post Humans as well.

“Is this it?
This is the best you all have to offer? I almost feel bad for you. If
this is the best you got, what's coming next is going to annihilate
you all!”

Commander Sullivan
looked over towards Mr. Connors to see if he had any idea as to what
Joe was talking about. Mr. Connors did not.

“Let me do
you a favor and put you out of your misery then! At least that way
you won't have to witness as to what happens next!”

Joe scooted Shayne
a little closer to him and then proceeded to punt kick Shayne. The
punt sent Shayne flying several feet in the air and the defenseless
young man landed on a car. Shayne's body was broken. He was
completely crippled by Joe's attack. The only reason Shayne was still
alive was thanks to his ability to self repair.

Tears swelled up in
Bianca's face as she witnessed what happened to Shayne. She had to
remind herself that he would recover though. Noah however would not
survive such a brutal attack. Regardless of Noah’s increased
durability, an attack that devastating would kill him instantly.

Joe looked down at
the unconscious man. He had no idea who Noah was, and he didn’t
care one bit. All Joe cared about was causing chaos. Joe simply
wanted to raise some hell because he could. Noah just happened to be
in his way. He picked Noah up and heaved him as far as he could. The
unconscious man had no way to defend himself. He had no way to
prevent the impact of the fall.

Jessica watched
Noah fly pass her, she quickly left Jackson’s side and flew
after Noah; she caught him just before impact. She flew back towards
Bianca and looked at her team. Jackson was still out cold from being
electrocuted. Shayne was badly crippled and Noah was unconscious.
Never had Jessica seen so much destruction. She knew her team weren't
indestructible, but never did she imagine them receiving a beating
this bad.

“God help
us!” Commander Sullivan mumbled. Things did not look good for
the League of Protectors and there was still no sign of Jason Shaw.

To Joe’s left
he could hear the sounds of a foolish news reporter and camera man
capturing the live action. Joe looked at the camera and smiled and
sinister thought plagued his mind. Joe walked over to the news truck
and lifted it off the ground.

“Report
this!” Joe shouted as he heaved the truck in the direction of
the news crew.

21

A Test
of Strength

The
truck descended towards the news reporter with alarming speed. Both
the reporter and the cameraman stood still, frozen with fear for what
was about to happen. The cameraman tried to move but he found himself
in shock. The woman tried to scream, but no words came out.

With unbelievable
quickness, speed so fast it looked like nothing more than a blur,
Jason Shaw arrived on the scene. Flying low, Jason embraced the
truck, stopping it from colliding with anyone. Of course by now
everyone had heard the stories of Jason's impressive strength, but
Joe did not believe the hype. He didn't believe there was anyone else
out there capable of matching or even coming close to his strength.

Jason looked to his
left and safely placed the truck down on the ground out of harm's
way. The two men stood on opposite sides of the street staring one
another down.

“Just because
you caught a truck doesn't mean nothing!” Joe shouted.

In what looked like
a classic showdown, Jason stood on one side of the street positioning
himself while Joe stood on the other side. For both men, this would
be the first time they battled each other one on one.

“Glad to see
him here!” Commander Sullivan stated with a slight grimace.
Being grateful to see Post Humans wasn't something the Commander
wanted to make a habit of, but he was genuinely thankful for their
presence that evening.

“Jason, you
got him?” Bianca asked. Her Spanish accent was really
noticeable right now. She tended to switch between English and
Spanish a lot whenever she was nervous.

“I've got
it.” Jason knew battling the massive man was not going to be
easy, but it was a challenge he was ready for. It was a challenge he
had to be ready for! The two men charged towards one another. Both
were running at full speed, both wanting to see exactly how strong
the other was.

Joe swung wildly at
Jason, but Jason ducked low. He caught Joe by the legs and drove him
straight down to the ground. The street shook on the impact. If Joe
was any other man, the impact of the collision would've killed him.
For Joe however, the street suffered more damage than he did.

“Now that’s
what I’m talking about!” Jackson said groggily.

Thanks to Bianca's
healing ability, Jackson was recovering quite well from the high
dosage of electrocution he was exposed to. Joe quickly stood back up
and lifted Jason off his feet. Joe placed Jason in a bear hug and
emphatically tried to squeeze the life out of him. The massive arms
of Joe prevented Jason from freeing his hands. Jason could not power
himself out of Joe’s hold.

“Looks like
Jason could use a little help!” Jackson noticed.

Jackson grimaced
slightly as he opened his hands allowing his freezing ability to
work. He placed his hands downward so that the ice would hit the
ground. Jackson was able to guide the ice pass Jason and direct it to
only come in contact with Joe. The massive man was concentrating so
much on hurting Jason, that he was unaware of the approaching ice.
The ice shot up Joe’s body before he had a chance to react.
This bought Jason enough time to free himself from Joe’s grasp.

“That ice
isn’t going to hold him for long Jason!” Jessica called
out. She was hovering over him positioning herself to help in any way
she could. No sooner than the ice froze him, Joe broke through it.

“Haven't we
been over this before boy? I'm indestructible. That little ice blasts
isn't going to do anything to hurt me!”

“Maybe not,
but this will!” Jason collected his strength and punched Joe
square in the face with tremendous force. Joe fell backwards onto a
car. The impact was so severe, the car was destroyed beyond repair.

Jessica swooped
down and shot forward like a missile heading straight for Joe.
Shayne’s healing factor was complete and now he was ready to
rejoin the fight. He sped his way towards Joe and continued attacking
the dazed giant.

Even with all the
offense the team seemed to be mounting, the impact it had on Joe
seemed minimal at best.

“Mr. Connors,
does the man have any weakness at all?” Commander Sullivan
asked completely baffled by Joe's resiliency.

Mr. Connors looked
towards Stephanie who was with them via telecom. Stephanie’s
eyes rolled to the back of her head and flickered as she concentrated
on the genetic makeup of Joe Dorgan. This was the first time that
Commander Sullivan got a chance to see the young woman put her
talents to use. He couldn’t help but be slightly uncomfortable
by what he saw. The way her eyes turned black and rolled around
towards the back of her head was not an easy sight to take in.

In his reports
later that day, he noted that it looked like the young woman was
having a seizure. The commander had seen many things in his time, but
what he was seeing that day surpassed them all.

“I cannot
find any weakness in Joe Dorgan at all sir. His strength is
impossible to accurately determine and his ability to resist pain is
equally as impressive. I'm afraid I have nothing to offer in regards
on how to stop him.”

Commander Sullivan
looked over to Mr. Connors, “I've seen this man in action
before. Why does he seem harder to stop now?”

“Because it
is harder. Joe Dorgan's strength seems to have increased greatly
since the last time we encountered him. I don't know what it is, but
something has made this man even stronger than before.”

Commander Sullivan
didn’t like the sound of that. Four agents lost their life the
last time G.U.A.R.D tried to take Joe Dorgan down.

Jason lifted Joe
over his head and threw him into a wall. He used a combination of
strength and speed to mount a devastating attack on Joe. There was a
life size hole in a wall thanks to the beating Joe took from Jason.

Jason was just as
bit as strong and fought with a passion that was inspiring. Joe’s
face was covered in blood, his nose broken, and his ribs were
cracked,“Had enough big man?” Jason asked. Jessica
floated above Joe, while Jackson and Shayne guarded the left and
right side respectively.

Joe slowly made it
to his feet, “Enough? I’m just getting started.” He
jumped up with surprising quickness and caught Jessica by the legs.
He slammed her hard into the wall and left her there with no regard.

Jason sped over
towards her and helped her back on her feet,“Are you okay?”
The way she hit her head against the wall, Jason was concerned she
had a possible concussion.

“Yeah, I'm
alright.”

Jason did not want
her involved anymore in the conflict with Joe Dorgan. Jason scooped
the slender woman up into his arms and ascended to the sky out of
Joe's reach. The flight did not take long, he descended back down to
the ground and set her down near Bianca and the still unconscious
Noah Winters.

“You two,
fall back right now!” Jason ordered to Jackson and Shayne. The
two young college men did not like the sound of that. They looked at
each other wishing they had telepathic abilities so that they could
reach each others mind.

“We can
help,” Shayne said.

“I know, but
I’ve got this one gentleman. Joe Dorgan has done enough damage
here today. I will take it from him, now fall back!”

The two young men
reluctantly did as they were instructed. Joe mocked them as they left
the battlefield. “That’s right little guys run back to
mommy and let the big boys play!” Jackson stopped. He turned
back to face Joe again.

“Let it go
Jack, we were given an order!” Shayne said placing a hand on
Jackson's chest.

“Screw the
order. We can take this guy!” Jackson said.

“No we can't,
at least not yet. He's too powerful for us and we don't have the
mental training yet to counter his strength. Besides, we were given
an order and we need to follow.”

Again Jason and Joe
found themselves staring each other down. Both men were in pain. It
wasn’t often that they received the sort of punishment they
were inflicting on each other. This was new territory for both of
them.

“We have
received word that the two amazingly strong men are Joe Dorgan and
Jason Shaw. That’s right Jason Shaw as in the Vice President of
Shaw Enterprises and member of The League of Protectors. It has
become clear by what we have seen here that this Post Human infection
is nothing but destructive!” a nearby news reporter stated.

Jessica Prescott
couldn't believe her ears. Clearly the League of Protectors were
doing everything in their powers to stop this giant menace, but even
still, that wasn't good enough. That wasn't enough to gain the
support of everyone out there.

Jessica flew into
view of the camera, “First of all I just wanted to say that
Post Humans do not have a virus. It’s a gift, an extra gene
that for whatever reason was given to certain individuals.”

The news reporter
interrupted Jessica, “Yes, I’ve heard that before, but
the fact remains that all you Post Humans are a threat to national
security. After the events of tonight, you can be sure that the
public is going to call for all of you to be locked up!”

If looks could
kill, the look Jessica was giving the news reporter would've done the
job.

“A threat to
national security, are you serious?” Jessica walked over to the
cameraman and pointed him towards the fight, “Do you see Jason
over there? Do you see the beating he’s taking, the physical
punishment he’s enduring? Do you think he's taking that beating
because he wants to? No, he does what he needs to do to protect
national security. He does it to protect people like me and you. Look
at what's going on over there. We should be wishing Jason nothing but
the best. He's out there risking his life trying to stop a man that
no one else can!”