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

by Christian Green

  Agent Hardine was the first field agent to touch the ground. He gave a quick survey of the area and then silently motioned for his men to follow. Six well trained G.U.A.R.D agents followed Special Agent Hardine out of the stealth jet. The agents positioned themselves around the designated area Agent Hardine directed them to.

  “Target in sight,” one of the agents whispered over his earpiece. The agents aimed their weapons at Olden and prepared to fire on command.

  “Negative, we got about ten minutes before the sun goes down. Hold position until the sun drops,” Special Agent Hardine ordered.

  The agents immediately stood down and followed Agent Hardine's order. Agent Hardine was the command leader for the Alpha field team. Over the years his list of accomplishments have included the successful capture of several top priority Post Human criminals. Of all his accomplishments, capturing Olden Mars this day would by far be his greatest achievement to date.

  Olden was lying around, casually embracing the beautiful setting the Vallejo beach offered. Agent Hardine watched as the large man seemed oblivious to their presence. The calm of the water and the shoreline was beautiful. It was great spot for anyone looking to relax.

  Agent Hardine hoped Olden’s relaxed nature would assist them in taking him out. As soon as the sun went down they would have to move quickly. It was of the utmost importance that the mission went flawless. Agent Hardine knew they had one chance at this, and he didn't want to blow it.

  “What’s he doing?” an agent asked.

  “I want radio silence. I don’t want to take any chances of tipping this guy off. We only got one shot at this and I want to make it a good one,” Agent Hardine said.

  The agents waited patiently for the sun to go down. If Olden Mars was aware of their presence he certainly wasn’t letting on. The beach was quite packed as it usually was. This added extra pressure to the agents to get the job down on the first try.

  “Let’s get ready to move,” Agent Hardine said.

  The agents were posing as civilians. Normally they were dressed in all black, but not today. Today they didn't want anyone to know they were there. Olden would spot G.U.A.R.D agents in a heartbeat if they approached his location in uniform. Not to mention the public would inadvertently alert him if they saw the agents as well.

  Agent Henderson’s unit found that out the hard way. Their presence caused a mass panic with the civilians which helped the criminal they were after to evade capture. Their failure that day was a major learning lesson for the rest of the agents. Agent Hardine would not allow his unit to make the same mistake.

  “Go time gentlemen get in position,” Agent Hardine ordered. The agents subtly walked about the beach separately positioning themselves for a coordinated attack. Olden, who was concentrating on the half naked women passing by, was not aware of the agent’s presence. Agent Hardine took up position last. He had to make sure his agents were exactly where he wanted them to be before he proceeded with the mission. “Remember, goal is to apprehend. We want Olden Mars alive.” The agents clicked their radios twice confirming they understood their orders.

  “Now!” Agent Hardine shouted. The six agents fired their inhibitor laced darts at Olden Mars. The first two shots connected. One hit the man in the neck and the other caught him in the leg. Those first two shots were the only ones the agents were able to connect with. Olden was able to impressively fight off the effects of the inhibitor darts.

  “What's the point of shooting inhibitor darts if they aren't going to inhibit this freak's abilities?” an agent shouted in frustration.

  Olden used his telekinesis to deflect the rest of the inhibitor darts shooting his way.

  “Crap!” Agent Hardine shouted realizing the potency of the inhibitor darts wasn’t enough. “Take him down! Take him down now!” he ordered.

  Olden staggered to his feet and looked around at the agents. They had formed a circle, a defensive measure to surround and trap the dangerous man. “You think a little dart is enough to take me out? You fools should have brought those traitors in to come deal with me. At least they would've made things interesting.”

  Sand began levitating in the air. The sand twirled about like a dangerous hurricane. Olden’s hands begin to spread and he used his telekinesis to attack the agents. One of the agents cursed loudly as the sand got in his eye. Every one of them, with the exception of Agent Hardine, found themselves temporarily blinded by the effects of the sand.

  “I’m the wrong one to mess with,” Olden warned as Agent Hardine quickly ran closer to confront Olden. The agent fired off three shots which Olden was able to easily redirected. He then used his telekinesis to lift the agent off the ground.“Have you ever wondered what it was like to fly Agent Hardine?” Olden asked. “Well let’s find out.” Olden added.

  Olden concentrated and exerted a massive buildup of strength. Agent Hardine’s heart began to race as Olden’s telekinesis lifted him higher and higher. The Post Human flew straight up in the air and forced Agent Hardine up in the sky along with him. The Agent was getting dangerously close to suffocating due to lack of oxygen. If Olden raised him up much higher, Agent Hardine would have been as good as dead.

  “How much higher do you think we can go?”Agent Hardine was fading, he could barely answer Olden even if he wanted to. “I wonder if you can survive a drop from this far above?”

  Olden knew Agent Hardine could not survive such a drop, but he didn't care. With no regard for the agent's life, Olden released the hold he had on him and watched as the agent fell towards the ground.

  With a rapid gush of wind, Jason flew onto the scene. He flew at such a speed and velocity, that the agents couldn’t see his arrival. The agents watched with rather surprised looks as Jason flew into action. Jason ascended to the sky while Agent Hardine descended to the ground.

  “Got ya!” Jason said to the agent, catching him with ease. The agent fell gracefully in Jason’s arms. Jason slowly landed on the ground and the agent climbed out of his arms. With a bit of embarrassment and resentment, Agent Hardine thanked Jason for the assist.

  Without warning, Jason sped over to Olden and hit him with a right uppercut to the face. The impact of the punch lifted Olden several feet into the air. He landed with a loud thump. Jason rushed forward and delivered several crushing blows to Olden’s ribs. Olden grimaced with each punch.

  “Your time of terrorizing these people is over I’m bringing you in!” Jason exclaimed.

  “Not likely!” Olden replied confidently. Olden looked down towards the end of the block where several panicking civilians were running. He smiled with sinister intent. He pushed his hands forward and forced several frightened individuals to move towards him.

  “I wonder how fast you really are Jason!”

  Jason looked at him suspiciously. Olden used his telekinesis and flicked his wrist. The motion sent several bystanders flying in different directions. Jason’s eyes grew big with concern. No one was going to die today, not on his watch, he wouldn't allow it! Jason sped off moving in several directions with a sense of urgency. He got to each individual before any harm could be done to them. Olden didn’t care, his actions were simply to keep Jason occupied. It was nothing more than a distraction.

  Olden needed time to concentrate. His intentions required a great deal of mental strength and he couldn't have Jason interfering. Olden looked out into the sea and closed his eyes.

  “What’s that noise?” an agent asked.

  “It’s coming from out that way,” another replied.

  Sweat began rolling down Olden’s face. The agents desperately fired at Olden, but he was still able to multitask enough to stop the darts from connecting. With the civilians safely rescued, Jason turned his attention back to Olden. He flew towards the criminal like a missile just as the water began to rise.

  “Oh my god!” a bystander shouted. “He's raising the water to the sky!”

  Agent Hardine ordered his men to get the civilians back as far as possible.

 
“We’re all going to drown!” a civilian shouted.

  The civilian's words did nothing but trigger panic to an already escalating situation. Jason collided with Olden causing the man to lose his connection with the sea.

  “Stand down Olden, I’m warning you,” Jason threatened.

  Olden had no intentions on complying with Jason's warning.

  The two men stared across from each other, both of them levitated high above the water. Jason flew aggressively and threw a hard haymaker punch at Olden.

  Olden somehow created an invisible barrier that prevented Jason from attacking. With the simplest of ease, Olden flung his hand forward and sent Jason flying in the opposite direction. The force sent Jason backwards, but he quickly reestablished control of his body.

  “Surrender now, Olden.”

  “I’ve already won. There is no reason for me to surrender.”

  Jason clenched his fist into a ball and built up energy from around him. He unleashed a massive amount of energy in the shape of a ball that traveled with great velocity towards his opponent. Olden stood there showing no signs of concern. To his surprise, the energy blast was much more potent than he expected. The blast sent Olden downward into the bottom of the sea.

  “Status report,” Commander Sullivan, the leader of the entire G.U.A.R.D organization said to Agent Hardine over the earpiece. Agent Hardine watched the battle from a distance.

  “Sir, Olden Mars has been knocked down to the bottom of the sea.”

  There was a moment of silence before the Commander responded. “How'd you pull that one off?” the Commander asked.

  “We didn't sir, it was Jason Shaw sir.”

  “Shaw? What's he doing there?”Commander Sullivan was surprised. All major missions were handled by G.U.A.R.D. Commander Sullivan had not authorized Jason's involvement on this particular mission.

  Jason’s eyes went wide. He didn’t think his energy blast would affect Olden as much as it did. He contemplated diving to the bottom of the sea to retrieve Olden, but Olden proved that wasn’t necessary. Olden shot up from the bottom, flew into Jason and delivered a devastating knee to Jason's face. Jason stumbled back. Olden followed up with a massive punch to the face that knocked Jason unconscious. He then flicked his hand and sent Jason in the direction of the sandy part of the beach.

  “You all still standing here? Jason Shaw couldn't stop me, so what makes you think any of you can? Let me show you all what happens when you mess with Olden Mars!” Olden concentrated and again attempted to make the bottom of the sea rise.

  “Sir, we’ve gotta get out of here!” one of the agents proclaimed.

  Agent Hardine was not about to abandon the people. He had Olden in his sights and he wasn't about to let an opportunity like that pass him by.

  “Look Sir,” another agent said.

  In the sky, the agents could see another stealth jet emerging into visibility. Agent Hardine recognized the jet immediately. It was the same sort of stealth jet that G.U.A.R.D used, but it wasn't one of theirs. The jet made its descent to the ground and Noah Winters, a controversial part time member of the group, quickly hopped out.

  “What’s the situation?” Noah asked Agent Hardine.

  The agent sized Noah up and down.

  “Never mind, get all these people back, I’ll hold him off,” Noah said as he saw the water rising from the ground. The water was so massive that it covered the sky, it came hurling towards the civilians. Noah closed his eyes and began concentrating.

  “What’s he doing?” an agent asked.

  “I’m really not sure,” Agent Hardine replied.

  Noah enabled his ability to create force fields and concentrated so that the field would expand. Slowly, the force field began expanding. It expanded wide enough to the point that it looked like a dome had covered the entire area. The force field prevented any of the water from breaking through.

  “How long can you hold that?” Agent Hardine asked.

  “As long as it takes,” Noah replied.

  Noah looked towards Jason and saw that Jason was still unconscious. He instructed Agent Hardine to bring Jason back to consciousness. By the time Agent Hardine arrived at Jason's location, the hero was already slowly coming to. Jason shook off the pain he was feeling and flew back to confront Olden once more.

  “You ready for another round?” Olden asked.

  Jason looked around the area, he wanted to take the fight away from nearby civilians. There was an empty baseball field a couple miles away. If he could get Olden there, he’d have a chance to beat him. Both men charged forward. Olden swung, but Jason caught Olden’s fist with his hand. He grabbed the man and drove him forward towards the baseball field. Once Jason got him there and saw no one around, he aggressively drove Olden to the ground, leaving a massive hole in the center of the field.

  “Seriously, the baseball field? That's where you decide to take him down!” one of the civilians shouted from a safe distance.

  “Yeah, that's my bad.” Jason mumbled. He realized the baseball field wasn't one of the more popular choices he could've made at that moment.

  Olden clenched his fists. He tried to attack Jason, but to his surprise, a low intensity fireball splattered across his back.

  “What the hell?” he said out loud in obvious pain.

  Luckily for him his body could absorb such an attack, a fact his attacker knew. Olden turned around and saw two more members of Mr. Connors' team, Jackson Prescott and Shayne Tucker standing behind him and smiling. Jackson and Shayne were the youngest members of the group. Both of them were in their first year of college and are loaded with potential. Potential, that if harnessed and used properly, could make them two of the most powerful Post Humans.

  “Are we late? Did we miss the party?” Jackson asked. He was forever using humor in a conversation, regardless of the situation.

  “Little boys should not get themselves involved in grown men affairs,” Olden said angrily.

  Jackson and Shayne sized each other up as if to see if they were actually little.

  “Did he just call us little boys? Jackson asked mockingly. “I'm about six feet Shayne, how about you?”

  Shayne nodded his head, “Yeah, me too.”

  Jackson smirked. “Don't lie bro, you know you're like 5'9, maybe 5'10 depending on what shoes you have on.”

  Shayne rolled his eyes but did not offer a reply.

  While Jackson often times tended to be too laid back and not serious enough, Shayne was the complete opposite. If there was anyone that could bring out that silly side of Shayne, it was Jackson.

  “Enough talking!” Olden shouted. He drove his hands downward causing the ground to shake. He levitated himself off the ground while Jackson, Shayne and Jason tumbled down to the ground.

  “Am I the only one that thinks we should have seen that coming?” Jackson asked.

  “Shut up Jackson,” Shayne replied.

  “Make me,” Jackson countered, doing his best to imitate the voice of a seven year old.

  Jackson ran forward and created a skateboard like structure made out of ice. He used this to propel himself off the ground and towards Olden. He tried to punch Olden, but Olden caught him with ease and threw him to the ground.

  “OK, that sucked!” Jackson said as he looked up towards Shayne.

  “You don’t say,” Shayne replied dryly. He was used to Jackson's half thought out plans failing.

  “You know, a little compassion wouldn’t hurt,” Jackson said with a grin on his face.

  The distraction bought Jason enough time to mount another attack. He ran forward and tackled Olden to the ground. He unloaded a barrage of punches to Olden’s face, chest and ribs. Jackson raised an eyebrow as he watched Jason hammer Olden with powerful closed fists.

  “Now do you see why I never spar with him?” Jackson asked Shayne. Shayne couldn’t help but chuckle.

  Olden desperately tried to get Jason off of him. Jason seemed to be using an awful lot of strength. It was miraculous to
see that the sheer impact of Jason’s punches didn’t kill the man. Olden finally got a brief opening and used it to get Jason off of him. He used his telekinesis to send Jason flying high into the sky. He lifted Jason with such velocity that it would’ve killed any human and most Post Humans, but luckily for Jason, he could sustain the altitude.

  “I’m going to end this, you two get back,” Jason ordered into his earpiece to Jackson and Shayne.

  “When will you people learn I can’t be defeated?” Olden exclaimed angrily.

  Jackson and Shayne put their hands up pretending as if they surrendered. “You’re right, what were we thinking. We’ve only ever defeated every situation that’s come our way,” Jackson said smiling. Jackson held his hand out gesturing for Olden to be still. “Wait for it!” Jackson said dramatically like his favorite character from “How I Met Your Mother,” would have said.

  “Wait for what?” Olden asked angrily.

  From above him, a massive force of energy lit the sky. The magnitude of the energy force was incredible. In the blink of an eye, the blast shot down like a laser and punished Olden greatly. Just like that, Olden was out.

  “Ho-ly craaaaap!” Jackson said, enunciating the words slowly.

  Jason rejoined the group back on the ground. His face was serious, all business. For him, he was just doing his job, there was nothing remarkable about what he had just done.

  “Now that's how superheroes are suppose to act. Dude, that was incredible!” Jackson exclaimed.

  Jason smiled modestly. He touched his earpiece and adjusted the frequency so that it matched that of the G.U.A.R.D agents. He radioed Agent Hardine and confirmed that Olden Mars had been neutralized.