New Age of Heroes 1: The League of Protectors - Dawn of a New Age (11 page)

There was enough
inhibitors lying around to keep the Post Humans suppressed for
another day or possibly two, but that would really be pushing it.
There was a weapons and armor room, a kitchen, a control center and
cells that allowed for no more than ten prisoners at any given time.

With the addition
of Lowry Holmes and Gary Jenkins, that brought the total up to nine.
Luckily, six of the prisoners were ready for transport the following
day. Arriving a day before the capture of Lowry Holmes and Gary
Jenkins was a Post Human by the name of Charles Ortega.

Jason Shaw, Jackson
Prescott and Shayne Tucker were responsible for bringing him in.
Surprisingly, Noah was nowhere to be found that day even though the
threat was coming for his city. Just looking at Charles made the
officers on duty nervous. Everyone had read the reports on him and
none of them wanted anything to do with him. Although none of the
officers said anything to one another, they all believed if Charles
didn't get transported soon, they were all going to die.

With the League
being scattered and the whereabouts of Noah Winters and his alter ego
unknown, if Charles regained his abilities, the officers knew they
would be no match for him.

Charles stood at
about five feet ten inches. His face is handsome and he sports a well
groomed goatee. His skin is tan and his complexion is often described
by women as perfect. His hair is the color of midnight and he
fashions it with a spiky look. Charles doesn’t boast a large
muscular frame like Jason Shaw or a well defined frame like Noah
Winters, but he's in good shape.

The man has been
described by those that have seen him in action as the devil
reincarnated. As far as anyone could tell, there was no redeeming
qualities about Charles. He had no moral compass, no conscience. He's
the perfect sort of villain that only writers could think up.

If his deadly
personality wasn't enough to frighten anyone who crossed his path,
his abilities certainly were. Charles can absorb the life force from
others. He uses this ability as a way to kill others and in the
process heal himself. In addition, the absorbing process granted him
youth. No one knows for certain how old Charles Ortega is or even if
Charles Ortega is his real name. As long as he continues to absorb
life from others, there is no telling exactly how long he can live.
That ability alone is enough to give pause to anyone confronting him.
Unfortunately, that wasn’t all he had in his bag of tricks.

Charles Ortega
could phase through an individual similar to how Bianca Ramirez does.
The difference being Bianca uses it to move through walls and other
solid objects while Charles uses it to stop other people’s
hearts from beating. On some occasions, Charles likes to rip the
heart out just because he can.

Charles uses his
absorbing and phasing abilities in a variety of unique and creative
ways, all of which are deadly to anyone he uses them on. If that
wasn't enough, Charles also has extraordinary strength, speed and
durability. His strength is significantly less than Jason’s,
but its greater than any human's. His speed is significantly slower
than Shayne’s, who is perhaps the fastest man in the world, but
Charles can outrun a car moving at full speed. Charles’
durability is in correlation with the amount of time passed by since
his last absorbing. The more recent he absorbs a life, the more
durable he becomes.

He is largely
considered one of the most dangerous known Post Human. Before his
capture, he was listed on the G.U.A.R.D's top ten most wanted list.

When captured by
the League of Protectors, Jason was overheard saying that he never
wanted to face that man again. Hearing that from Jason, the man that
is considered to be the most powerful Post Human, gave many cause for
concern.

“Who do we
have here?” one of the officers asked as Agent Baker escorted
the two men inside.

“To my left
is Lowry Holston. He’s capable of projecting fire from his
mouth.” The agent looked Lowry over and shook his head in
disgust.

“These freaks
just seem to get freakier and freakier by the day,” the agent
said.

Agent Baker smiled,
agreeing wholeheartedly.

“What about
this guy here?” the agent asked looking towards Gary.

“This one’s
name is Gary Jenkins. No projectile ability or anything like that,
but he can electrocute you if you are within touching range.”

The agent chuckled
amusingly and shook his head.

“I thought
electrocution was something that God delivered.”

Agent Baker
shrugged his shoulders. Neither he nor Agent Kelley was very
religious and they had no way to explain the Post Human phenomenon.

“Did you ever
think that perhaps this is God’s doing?” Charles asked
from behind his cell. All of the agents in the room turned to face
Charles. This was the first time since he was captured that he spoke.

“What are you
over there talking about?” Agent Kelley asked. His tone was
forceful and sounded in charge, but Charles could see pass it. He
could see the fear in Agent Kelley’s eyes and could hear it
through the cracks of his voice.

“Have you
ever considered the fact that this is God’s will? Have you ever
considered the fact that God gave his chosen ones the powers of the
angels? Perhaps we Post Humans as you call us are actually angels
reincarnated or descendants of the angels. Have you ever taken a
moment to consider that?”

The room was silent
and the rest of the agents looked towards Agent Kelley to see how he
would respond.

“Will of the
Gods? Descendants of the angels? You think God sent you here to
absorb human life? You think God sent you here to phase through a
person’s body and kill them? That’s what you think God
sent you here for?” Agent Kelley asked.

His voice was
determined to sound strong. The agent was clearly annoyed by Charles
and wanted nothing more than to put a bullet through Charles’
skull.

“Then you
tell me Agent Kelley, why do you think that some of us have these
special abilities and others do not?”

Agent Kelley did
not have an answer for Charles and instead he blurted out the first
thing that came to his mind. “Abominations! That’s what
you are, all of you. Abominations that were created so wrong that God
himself couldn’t fix.”

Agent Baker tried
not to make eye contact with Agent Kelley. He didn’t know much
about religion, but he was fairly certain what Agent Kelley said
wasn’t true. Besides that, he didn't want Charles to get riled
up. Charles looked on at Agent Kelley very amused. It was like
something that was locked in his head suddenly became unlocked and he
understood everything he needed to know.

“It is people
like you that have doomed this planet. It is people like you that
will suffer the most when the new world order is complete. I will
take great pleasure in seeing people like you suffer,” Charles
said calmly.

One of the other
agents pulled his sidearm out of the holster and pointed it at
Charles. “Is that a threat you abomination?” the agent
said echoing words spoken by Agent Kelley just moments earlier.

“Agent
Bartowski, holster your weapon immediately!”Agent Baker
ordered. Agent Kelley was Bartowski’s superior officer, so he
ignored Agent Baker’s demand.

“Agent
Bartowski is it? I do not make threats, I make promises, and I
promise you this…Before this day is over I will take your life
and I'll enjoy watching you shrivel up into nothing but bones and
dust.” Charles folded his hands together and closed his eyes as
if he was praying.

“Open his
cell, let me end this freak!” Agent Bartowski pleaded.

Charles kept his
eyes closed and ignored the agent. He had said all that he wanted to
say and found no need to speak any further.

“Let it go
Randy,” Agent Kelley said to Agent Bartowski. “Put your
weapon away, I don’t feel like filling out all the paperwork
required if you killed this guy.” Begrudgingly, Randy did as
commanded.

Agent Kelley turned
his attention to Agent Baker and instructed him to place Lowry Holmes
and Gary Jenkins in their cells. He had some paperwork to fill out
and he needed to complete it before Agent Hardine arrived for the
prisoners' transport.

The next day a
G.U.A.R.D helicopter developed by Shaw Enterprises landed at the
jail. Agent Hardine and two other G.U.A.R.D agents exited the
helicopter and walked inside the building.

“Welcome
Agent Hardine,” Agent Kelley said respectfully. He was more
than happy to see an agent accustomed to dealing with Post Humans
arrive.

“We weren’t
expecting you for another couple hours,” Agent Kelley said.

“Are the
prisoners ready for transport?” Agent Hardine asked.

Agent Kelley
frowned slightly. He could tell Agent Hardine was in no mood for
small talk and not having Charles ready for transport reflected
poorly on him.

“In just one
minute Sir, he’s currently being examined by the doctor for
final inspection.”

Agent Hardine
nodded but was less than thrilled to have to wait. He walked over to
the cells and looked at the other prisoners.

“Confirm
them,” he said to one of his other agents.

The agent took out
a device that was resting comfortably in his pocket and scanned the
other prisoners. Once the scanner recognized the prisoner, it pulled
up the prisoner’s file and confirmed their status.

“Prisoner’s
status confirmed Sir,” The agent replied

Agent Hardine
acknowledged the confirmation with a slight nod of the head.

“What’s
the holdup with the last prisoner?” Agent Hardine asked. He
seemed visibly annoyed with the tardiness.

“I’ll
check on it right now,” Agent Kelley replied. In his head he
was cursing furiously. It was just his luck that he would make a bad
impression on one of the most established agents in the world. “Agent
Bartowski, what’s the holdup?” he asked over the radio
dispatch. No answer.

“Agent
Bartowski, do you copy?” There was still no reply.

Agent Kelley looked
back at Agent Hardine with a confused look on his face. Agent Hardine
gave Agent Kelley a hard glare and then pulled out his gun. “You
two, come with me,” Agent Hardine said to the two other agents
standing beside him.

“You, radio
in the League of Protectors and see if you can get a hold of Noah
Winters. Heck, while you're at it, see if you can get a hold of that
Black Vigilante guy as well. I'm pretty sure we're going to need all
the help we can get,” Agent Hardine said.

“Sir?”
Agent Kelley said slightly confused.

Agent Hardine shook
his head in disbelief. “We can’t take any chances with
this guy,” Agent Hardine whispered as he and the two agents
headed towards the weapons and armory room. Agent Hardine looked at
the two agents and stopped them.“Won't be any need for
inhibitors. Shoot to kill.”

The two other
agents looked at each other nervously. Anytime Agent Hardine gave an
order like that, things were about to get serious. Agent Hardine held
his left hand up in the air and closed it in a ball. The two agents
immediately stopped moving and hugged the wall to their left tightly.

“What is it?”
one of the agents asked.

Agent Hardine did a
gesture with his head signaling for the men to look forward.

“Oh crap!”
one of the agents replied. The other agent peered over his shoulder
and had a similar reply. Agent Bartowski, who was in his early
thirties, was lying dead on the ground. His body was shriveled and
decomposing. His remains looked elderly, like someone in their
eighties or nineties would look, just like Charles Ortega promised.

11

The
Phasing of Men

“Agent
Hardine, so we meet again,” Charles Ortega said as Agent
Hardine, Agent Thomas and Agent Curry entered the weapons and armory
room. “The last time I saw you, I nearly killed you. I'm glad
that you survived, round two should be even more interesting.”

Agent Hardine did a
quick glance around the room. He spotted Agent Pearson and Agent
Summers lifeless bodies on the ground near that of Agent Bartowski.
Like Bartowski, the life had been sucked out of them.

He noticed that
Charles helped himself to the riot gear that was kept inside the
armory in case of an emergency. With the three agents being dead,
Charles figured they wouldn’t be needing it.

“We’re
taking you in Charles,” Agent Hardine said aiming his weapon at
the dangerous man.

Charles stared
intensely at the three agents. Agent Thomas was slightly shorter than
Charles. He stood at about five feet eight inches. His skin was pale
and his build was average at best. Agent Thomas had blue eyes and
golden brown hair.

The third Agent,
Agent Curry is of Scottish descent. He was about the same height as
Charles and had a slim build. His hair was brown and his eyes green.
Out of the three agents, Agent Curry seemed the most apprehensive in
confronting Charles.

“Do you
remember the last time you said that to me Agent? Do you recall what
happened the last time you tried to bring me in?” Charles
asked.

It was about three
months ago in a small hotel in Baltimore that Agent Hardine’s
unit encountered Charles Ortega. The day resulted in the death of two
agents and one civilian.

“That was
then, this is now. Stand down and drop the shield,” Agent
Hardine ordered.

Charles smiled
politely. “Why would I do that? Why would I willingly give up
my defense against you?”

Agent Hardine
hesitated in answering Charles. He wasn’t sure if the question
was rhetorical or not. One of the things that Agent Hardine found
most troubling in regards to Charles was his intelligence. Charles
wasn't some mindless criminal that was just out causing trouble.
There was a reason to Charles's destruction. Everything he said and
did was part of something larger. Something Agent Hardine didn't
quite understand, but he knew it was something of significance.