New Age of Heroes 1: The League of Protectors - Dawn of a New Age (12 page)

Charles often used
mind games to get into his opponents head. Agent Hardine knew in his
heart if it wasn't for Jason, Jackson and Shayne, Charles would've
never been apprehended in the first place.

“I’m
not going to tell you again, stand down and drop the shield!”
Agent Hardine shouted. He was in no mood for Charles’ games.
Charles found the confrontation amusing.

“I believe
you did just tell me again Agent Hardine.” Charles stepped a
little closer to the agents still holding the riot shield in his
hand. “You know what I mean. I never understood why people say
I’m not going to tell you or ask you again and then they do
just that. It makes the whole I’m not going to do it bit seem
foolish.”

Agent Curry had
heard enough. It could’ve been fear setting in or taking a
defensive stance, but Agent Curry fired at Charles.

Charles cocked his
head to the side and stared curiously at the agent. Charles rushed
forward slamming the shield into Agent Curry. The agent fell back,
hitting the ground hard. There was a big gash across his chest from
the impact of the shield. Agent Thomas fired at Charles, but Charles
adjusted his stance and used the riot shield for cover. He ran
forward towards Agent Thomas and hit him hard across the face with
the shield; he proceeded into a low three sixty spin and took the
agent off his feet.

Agent Hardine lined
himself up for a shot. His heart was racing and he knew he had to
make his shot count. With his left eye closed, Agent Hardine squared
his feet and fired six continuous shots. Charles barely deflected the
shots with the shield. Annoyed, Charles dropped the defensive stance
and heaved the riot shield at Agent Hardine’s head.

The shield traveled
with great velocity towards Agent Hardine. At the last possible
second, he ducked, and avoided being decapitated. He wasn’t
able to fully avoid impact though. There was a trace of blood
dripping from his neck where the shield nicked him. Agent Hardine
could feel the blood dripping. He couldn't feel any pain though, he
was filled with too much adrenaline to worry about the injury. The
agent reached up to his neck and wiped the blood on his pants.
Against his better judgment, he slid his gun back into the holster,
rushed forward and tackled Charles.

Between Agent
Hardine and Charles Ortega, Agent Hardine was the better skilled
fighter. However, Charles abilities made him better equipped for a
brawl. Nevertheless, Agent Hardine hopped on top of Charles and
delivered several punches to the face. Charles reversed positions and
landed his own series of punches.

“Stop right
now!” Agent Curry shouted.

Blood poured down
from his face due to the impact of the shield. Without even looking,
Charles released a forceful amount of energy that sent Agent Curry
into a wall on the right side. Agent Hardine used the distraction to
kick Charles off of him. Charles rolled backwards retrieving the riot
shield just in time to defend himself from the bullets Agent Hardine
and Agent Thomas fired on him.

Charles pushed
forward with the shield in hand and slammed Agent Hardine into the
wall. Agent Hardine fell to the ground next to a bloodied Agent
Curry. Agent Thomas stopped firing as he didn’t want to hit his
fellow agents by mistake. Charles used this to his advantage. He
threw the shield as a distraction. While Agent Thomas was adjusting
his position to avoid impact, Charles ran up on him and grabbed him
by the throat. He bum rushed the agent into the wall on the left side
of the room using only his left hand. With his right hand, he
concentrated heavily and used his phasing ability to penetrate Agent
Thomas’ body.

“No!”
Agent Hardine shouted weakly, he tried to prevent the phasing but it
was too late. Charles grabbed the heart of Agent Thomas and stopped
it from beating.

Agent Thomas' face
went completely pale and a look of horror came across him as he
realized what was about to happen. His lifeless body dropped to the
ground and Charles stood there momentarily with a satisfied look upon
his face. From the distance, he could hear Agent Baker and Agent
Kelley approaching. He was certain backup would be on the way soon
and he needed to get out as fast as possible.

Agent Hardine
slowly made his way back to his feet. He was in pain and was
concussed from the impact of being slammed into a wall. But he wasn't
about to let Charles leave without giving everything he had. Charles
looked over to check on Agent Curry’s status. He was in worse
shape than Agent Hardine. He was barely moving.

“You are
going to pay for that,” Agent Hardine shouted in reference to
Agent Thomas’ death.

“Unlikely,”
Charles replied smugly and without warning, he let off a concussive
blast of energy. Agent Hardine was unable to avoid the blast and it
hit him squarely in the chest. He wouldn’t be an issue for
Charles anymore.

“I didn't
know he had energy projectile abilities,” Agent Curry mumbled.

“Neither did
I,” A weakened Agent Hardine replied.

Charles looked
around between the two men thinking of whose life he would take
first. If logic played a factor, than Charles would’ve chose
Agent Hardine to drain the life from. Agent Hardine was younger and
would require less draining than Agent Curry would, but Charles chose
to drain the life of Agent Curry instead.

Charles enjoyed his
confrontations with Agent Hardine and wanted the agent to have
another shot at him in the future. He didn't view Agent Hardine as a
challenge, but he appreciated the man's bravery. He walked over to
Agent Curry and ripped his shirt open. He searched for the agent’s
knife and found it concealed under the agent's left pant leg.

Charles used the
knife to cut open the agent. He then placed his hand on the open
wound and began draining the life from him.

“Freeze!”
Agent Kelley shouted. He fired two shots that connected and lodged
themselves into Charles’ shoulder.

The draining
process provided Charles with instantaneous healing and Agent Kelley
watched as Charles’ body quickly healed itself and pushed the
bullets out. Charles removed his hand from Agent Curry and rushed
towards Agent Kelley. Without hesitation, Charles ran forward and
drove the knife through the agent's chest.

Agent Kelley fell
over, slumping to the ground. Charles sat down beside him and began
the draining process on him instead. Once Charles was satisfied with
the draining, he stood up, walked over and grabbed Agent Curry's
knife holster. He slid it around his left leg, grabbed the riot
shield and walked out of the armory. Charles readied himself for the
next wave of attack. With Agent Hardine neutralized, and Agents
Bartowski, Pearson, Summers, Kelley, Thomas and Curry dead, there
wasn't much of a threat left for him to worry about.

Charles Ortega ran
through the G.UA.R.D kitchen and unloaded a devastating concussive
blast that immediately killed two of the agents. He looked over to
his right side and released another blast of energy. The agents were
able to avoid the blast, but it bought Charles more time. He released
a third blast with his left hand moving left and his right hand
moving right that sent every remaining agent flying off their feet.

Charles smiled with
delight. The rest of the prisoners were cheering Charles on gleefully
as he made his way towards the exit door.

“Hey! What
about us?” one of the prisoners shouted from behind the
cell.“You aren’t going to leave us here are you?”

Charles turned
around to face the questioning prisoner. “You might be
prisoners but you're human prisoners. You serve no purpose for me.”

“What about
us? We're just like you!” Gary said.

Charles looked the
two men over. He was unimpressed with their presence. “You two
might be Post Humans, but you're nothing like me. You can rot here
with the rest of these pathetic people.”

With a wide grin on
his face, Charles turned back around and placed his hand on the
doorknob. He had done it; he had escaped the holding cell and was in
the clear! With a slight turn, Charles opened the door and took a
step towards the exit.

BANG! One step was
all that Charles got.

The room went
completely silent as they watched Charles' body go limp. The man that
had taken the lives of several agents just moments earlier laid
motionless on the ground. The prisoners looked out by the door trying
to figure out who was on the other side.

It was the Black
Vigilante. Luckily for Charles, the increased life and healing factor
would protect him. No sooner than the bullet plunged itself into his
body, Charles’ body rejected it and spit it back out. Charles
stood back to his feet. The prisoners were all engaged in the
confrontation brewing between Charles and The Black Vigilante.

Dressed in an all
black Kevlar ninja body suit, Noah slid his gun back into his holster
and readied himself for a fight.

“The
Vigilante. I'm surprised to see you here. Figured your agenda was
with the gangsters, mobsters and politicians. How honored I am to see
that you took time out to come confront me.”

Charles glanced
around the room to make sure the agents were still down.“I have
to admit though; I would’ve placed money on the League showing
up here. Never in my wildest imaginations did I think I would meet
the vigilante of Chicago. I wonder how much money I could make if I
revealed your true identity. How much do you think you're worth?”

Noah didn't reply.
He didn't want to take any chances on someone recognizing his voice.
He would need some sort of voice changer device if he was going to
continue to parade around in this ninja garb.

“Not one for
words huh? You know, I’ve seen your work, its impressive. I
think maybe if you and I teamed up, we could do some serious damage.
With our skill, there isn't anyone that could stop us. Not even Jason
Shaw, Noah Winters or those other League jag offs.”

Noah was more than
aware of the type of mind games Charles liked to play. He knew all
about psychology and there was nothing Charles could say that would
throw Noah off his game. Mental toughness Noah valued as much as
physical toughness.

Charles extended
his hand, “What do you say, how about we work together?”
Charles didn't really think Noah would accept his offer but it was
worth a try. As expected, Noah had no interest in joining up with
Charles.

“Well then,
shall we get on with it?” Charles asked.

The Vigilante
nodded. Charles smiled, pushed his hands forward and released one of
his concussive blasts. Unlike the agents, Noah was more than capable
of defending himself from Charles’ attacks. With ease, Noah
contorted his body to evade the energy blast. Charles frowned
slightly and threw a string of energy blasts in Noah’s
direction. Noah considered putting up a force field to stop Charles'
attacks, but he didn't want to do anything that would alert Charles
to his real identity. He had no choice but to flip, duck and dodge
the incoming attacks. He exerted more energy in doing so, but kept
his secret identity in tact.

“It’s
not often I come across someone with your level of skill. It's really
quite impressive,” Charles said.

Noah charged
forward and connected with a knee to Charles' face.

Charles didn’t
see that coming. He stumbled back as blood oozed from his nose. Noah
followed up his attack and rushed towards Charles. He grabbed the man
by the collar of his shirt and lifted him off the ground. Charles,
desperate to free himself from Noah's grasp, twisted his body and put
a hole in the wall with his energy blast. He went through the hole
and avoided Noah's attack. Noah could do nothing but appreciate
Charles' quick thinking.

“You know,
there’s a reason why I’m one of the most dangerous Post
Humans,” Charles boasted. Charles reemerged from the opening in
the wall and caught Noah off guard with a energy blast. The blast
sent Noah backwards. He was unable to brace himself and as a result,
he hit the ground with tremendous force.

“I'm not some
ignorant thug rolling up doing drive byes. I'm not some Spanish
speaking man sitting on the front porch. I'm not some fat Italian out
ordering hits. I'm Charles Ortega, I'm a Post Human with superior
skills and an intellect to rival any. You aren't on my level
Vigilante.” Charles hurried to Noah’s vicinity and
climbed on top of him. He reached down by his left leg and pulled out
the knife he took from Agent Curry a bit earlier.

“This is the
point where you die,” Charles said nonchalantly. He drove the
knife downward trying to penetrate Noah’s heart.

Charles positioned
himself on top of Noah. His strength was preventing Noah from getting
out from under. Charles continued driving the knife downward as Noah
desperately struggled for his life.

“You
should’ve joined me when you had the chance!” Charles
exclaimed.

With one final
effort, Noah quickly took his left hand off Charles and reached for a
blade concealed by his side. He grabbed the blade from its holster
and used it to stab Charles on the left side. Charles cursed
profusely. He stumbled backwards but quickly took to a defensive
stance. Noah did a kip flip, getting himself back into a defensive
stance as well.

“Kill him!
Kill him!” the prisoners shouted. They were watching the fight
intensely. Charles looked over to the prisoners and a plan quickly
formed. He looked back at Noah and smiled mischievously.

“I bet some
of this trash you helped clean up.”

Noah looked at him
suspiciously, he had an idea as to what Charles was thinking but he
was hoping Charles wanted to finish the fight the right way. That
wasn't the case though. Charles looked back towards the prisoners and
unleashed consecutive energy blasts. The blasts were directed at the
locks that kept the prisoners behind bars. The prisoners pushed open
the gates and cheered excitedly. Almost all of them had a score to
settle with the Black Vigilante and that moment was as good a time as
any to try and exact revenge. Charles directed more energy blasts
towards Noah to give the freed prisoners an even better chance at
getting their revenge.