“Whoa, cutting it a little close there!”Jackson shouted less than amused.
Shayne shrugged his shoulders,“You said you wanted to spar.”
He smirked as Jackson got back to his feet. The glaring look in Jackson’s eye made it clear he wasn’t happy with the direction the fight was going. Jackson needed to get the battle back on his side. He stood tall and summoned his ice projectiles. The blue liquid shot up from his arms and sprung out from his hand. It hurled itself straight for Shayne with excelled speed.
“Oh crap!” Shayne shouted.
He resourcefully used his sword to block the first ice projectile. The ice wrapped itself around the sword freezing it instantaneously.
“You’ve got to be kidding me!” Shayne said looking at his frozen sword. “I hope you know you’re buying me a new sword if this one breaks!”
Jackson ignored his roommate and continued hurling shards of freezing ice at him. Shayne found himself using his speed to evade the onslaught of ice being chucked at him.
“Had enough?” Jackson asked confidently.
“Nope, I’m just getting started!”
Shayne used his speed and rushed forward towards Jackson. He punched him in the gut, causing Jackson to lose his balance. Now with an opening, Shayne kicked the sword out of Jackson’s hand, thus evening the playing field.
“Fumble!” Shayne shouted sarcastically showing off the sense of humor he often kept so reserved.
Jackson rolled his eyes, “All tied up now, bottom of the ninth.”
Shayne laughed at Jackson’s metaphor. He felt as if score was to have been kept, he was definitely winning.
“Hand to hand?”
Jackson nodded his approval. Shayne gave Jackson an amusing look. Although quite skilled, Jackson was not as effective with hand to hand as Shayne was. Shayne was confident he now had the upper hand.
The two men bounced around, each displaying their preferred form of martial arts. Shayne and Jackson both had an extensive knowledge in many forms of martial arts. A list of some of their martial arts forms included karate, tai chi, taekwondo, kung fu and jujitsu.
Jackson’s feet left the ground as he attempted a twirling kick. Shayne caught Jackson’s leg and performed a sweep kick to knock Jackson to the ground.
“You gotta be quicker than that if you want to take me down!”
Shayne loved antagonizing his roommate. He didn’t feel any sympathy when he took Jackson down, because Jackson did the same when the roles were reversed.
Jackson flipped back up and caught Shayne with a straight kick to the face. Shayne stumbled back. He felt his face to see if there was any blood. He was quite pissed when he felt the moistness of fresh blood dripping from his lip.
“Hey bro, you want like a timeout or something?” Jackson asked insincerely. Shayne raised one finger at Jackson for his actions and consequentially the sarcasm that followed.
Shayne charged forward and threw a barrage of punches at Jackson, each punch Jackson countered, but the relentless attack was draining Jackson's energy.
“Had enough?” Shayne asked. Jackson again blocked the punch, but this time connected with a counter punch.
“Nope, have you?” Jackson asked with a snicker.
Shayne checked his watched and noticed he was going to be late if he didn’t end this fight soon.“Actually yeah, I have, I’m about to be late for class!”
For good measure, Shayne jumped high off the ground and connected with a roundhouse kick that sent Jackson backwards. Jackson landed halfway on his bed and groaned. Shayne used his sonic force speed to apply deodorant, put his shirt back on and rush out the door with extraordinary quickness.
“Round two when you get back!” Jackson called out as Shayne left the room. Jackson grimaced slightly as he sat down on his bed. Sparring with Shayne was never easy.
Thanks to Shayne’s sonic speed, he was able to make it to the other side of the school within the blink of an eye. Students felt the breeze hurl by them as Shayne zoomed in, but Shayne was so fast, the human eye was not able to process what passed by.
For the past few months, the students at the university had become aware of Shayne's and Jackson's abilities. The two had become sort of pop icons at the school. Jackson relished in the opportunity to display his abilities, while Shayne tried to stay as low key as possible. This proved to be a difficult task when you have someone like Jackson Prescott as a roommate and best friend! Shayne and Jackson attended one of the big colleges, a division one college. The university was one of the most popular colleges in the state of California.
Shayne greeted a few acquaintances in passing as he headed for his classroom. There were three floors inside the math and science building and his class was on the second. He wondered what would be on the agenda that day. His normal professor had just gone into labor the day before, so there would most certainly be a substitute the rest of the semester.
“Hey, we should just skip this class and go grab some lunch!” one of Shayne’s classmates suggested.
The student was nothing more than an acquaintance. With Shayne’s responsibility to the League of Protectors and his strong work ethic, he didn’t have much of a social life. It wasn’t that Shayne was socially awkward or struggled in social situations, he simply didn’t put forth much of an effort to get to know his peers better.
“Thanks for the offer Bobby, but I think I’ll stick around and see what the new teacher has for us,” Shayne replied.
Bobby rolled his eyes and walked away. He fully expected Shayne to turn him down. Shayne Tucker wasn’t about to ditch class to socialize. The day he did that was the day the world ended.
“I hear she’s a total babe man!” a fellow student whispered.
“Yeah, a straight cougar I heard!” another guy said.
Shayne smiled at the two hormonal teens and proceeded inside the classroom.
A sultry woman sat behind the desk, legs crossed, her long brunette hair tied in a bun, and stereotypical glasses worn attractively on her face. Shayne was in awe of the attractiveness of the substitute. This woman was hot and she knew it. This woman was purposely trying to look hot. Shayne thought to himself this woman had scandal written all over her.
As Shayne entered his seat which was stationed on the left side of the room, he noticed many new faces. Apparently word had spread of this woman’s attractiveness, and those that usually didn’t attend class… Attended!
“Good morning class, my name is Donna Lauren, but Ms. Lauren will do just fine.”
“I’ll do you just fine!” one of the male students shouted. An explosion of laughter rang out. Ms. Lauren kept her cool. Her face barely reacted to the inappropriate comment. Shayne was fairly certain this wasn’t the first time Ms. Lauren received a comment like that before.
“OK class let's get serious here. While I appreciate the fact that people have freedom of speech, I do ask that everyone here shows not just me, but each other the proper respect.”
Ms. Lauren walked up the aisle; everyone kept their eye glued to where she was walking. “Alright Mr.…”
Ms. Lauren flipped through the seating arrangement chart she held in her hand… “Mr. Lawrence.”
“She caught you!” the student sitting next to the inappropriate student blurted out. Ms. Lauren smiled and walked back down towards the aisle and stood behind the Professor’s podium.
“Today we will be covering identities of trigonometry. We will explore the fundamental identities along with verifying these identities and we will close with figuring out the sum and differences of these identities.”
There was an echo of groans resonating in the room. Reality had sunk back in. Even though they had a really hot professor, there was still work to be done.
“Please turn your books to page 217.”
It would appear that Ms. Lauren would make sure the work got done. The two hour class seemed like an eternity for the majority of the classroom.
Shayne was one of the few students th
at found the lecture to be quite entertaining. He wrote down several notes during the course of the lecture.
Shayne was someone who broke the general stereotype for jocks. He was in excellent shape and excelled at pretty much any physical activity. It was his brain though that was his strongest muscle. He was the person that would pick schoolwork over sports any day of the week. Shayne was a brainiac trapped in a jock’s body! The bell rung, and almost instantaneously, the majority of the class rushed for the doors. Shayne however was not in a rush.
He slowly placed his book, his folder, and his notebook in his bag. He took a sip of his bottled water and heaved his bag over his shoulder.
“Nice responses Mr. Tucker, you certainly know your stuff.” Ms. Lauren smiled sweetly as she extended her hand and shook Shayne's.
Shayne immediately recognized the intoxicating scent she gave off. He found it odd. Yes, she was attractive, but the scent she gave off wasn’t normal. He found himself overwhelmed with attraction towards this woman and that wasn't like him.
“Is something wrong?” she asked sweetly.
Shayne was unsure. He didn’t know what to think. All he knew was that he was suddenly seething with lust for his new professor. Ms. Lauren walked closer to Shayne. The young man stumbled back, not wanting to get too close to her.
“Mr. Tucker, what’s wrong?”
Shayne shook his head, trying to shake off the intoxicating effect the woman had over him. “Everything is fine Ms. Lauren; I was just surprisingly pleased with the lecture today. I didn’t think a substitute would be able to pick up where the professor left off.”
Shayne was starting to sweat. The thoughts racing through his mind were certainly of an erotic nature. He felt himself being swept into a sensational ecstasy of lust and he was unable to fight the feeling off.
Ms. Lauren smiled amusingly. She loved it when young men fell victim to her scent. Her intoxicating appeal was a powerful weapon. It got her pretty much anything she wanted, when she wanted it. She walked closer to Shayne and took him by the hand. The huntress had caught her prey. Ms. Lauren tilted her glasses and watched the young man struggle to fight the effects.
“Don’t try to resist Mr. Tucker, it’ll be a far more pleasurable experience for you if you just give in.”
Ms. Lauren took Shayne by the arm and sat him down in the professor’s chair. She sat down on top of him and slowly straddled him.
“Doesn’t this feel good Mr. Tucker?” Ms. Lauren leaned her face closer to Shayne’s and then pulled his face closer to hers and explored the inside of his mouth. He found himself unable to resist her seductive nature.
“Ms. Lauren, we shouldn't.”
His willpower was gone. He could feel it being drained from him, but there was nothing he could do. His brain was trying to fight the effects, but it was as if it was poisoned.
“Well who would’ve ever thought it would be Shayne that was involved in a scandalous affair with a teacher!” a voice called out from the top of the room. Startled, Ms. Lauren whipped her head around to see who else was in the room with them. Unfortunately for her, she didn't have fast reflexes and she was unable to avoid the inhibitor dart that pierced the side of her neck. Within seconds the seductive woman went limp and passed out.
Groggily Shayne looked up and saw Jackson sitting at the top of the room with a gun in his hand.
“Took you long enough!” Shayne called out. He gently lifted Ms. Lauren off of him and sat her down in the chair.
“I was enjoying the show!” Jackson replied.
“You know with your lack of a social life, I was tempted to let her have her way with you!” Jackson said.
Shayne rolled his eyes, he knew Jackson meant what he said. “Hooking up with escaped prisoners from the island I’m sure is frowned upon.”
He walked over to get a closer look at the unconscious woman. Shayne pulled out the inhibitor dart and lifted the woman into his arms.
“What potency did you give her?” Shayne asked, surprised to see the woman unconscious.
“Yeah, I think I grabbed one of the more potent darts,” Jackson replied. Shayne could do nothing but shake his head at his friend. Jackson tended to always get the job done but it was usually mixed with a screw up or two.
“What are you doing?” Jackson asked. He had a perplexed look on his face.
“We can’t leave her here like this. We have to get her to the nearest holding cell.” Shayne replied.
“Hey, I did my part, you're the one with the sonic speed.” Jackson walked over to the door and opened it for Shayne.
Shayne used his sonic speed and took Ms. Lauren out of the classroom and to the nearest prison.
“Nice work Mr. Tucker,” the guard that Shayne handed Ms. Lauren over to said.
Shayne thanked the guard for his kind words. He reached into his pocket and pulled out his vibrating phone. It was Jackson calling.
“Yeah?”
“Everything go okay?” Jackson asked.
“Yup” Shayne replied.
“Cool, One down and WAY too many more to go!” Jackson said.
Shayne chuckled slightly. He pulled Ms. Lauren's name up and crossed her name off the list. Satisfied, he sped back to his dorm and the two young men began preparing for their next target.
Shayne pulled up another file and began studying it. Jackson took a look and recognized the next target immediately. Low level, but a threat that needed to be taken care of nonetheless.
With Shayne's attention distracted, Jackson slyly distanced himself from his friend and crept up behind him. He clenched his fist together and unleashed a block of ice that went zipping Shayne's way. Shayne shook his head, realizing what Jackson was up to and sped out of the way before the ice could hit him.
“Round two?” Jackson asked with a wide grin on his face.
Both men released their respective abilities upon one another at the same time.
“Round two,” Shayne said with an equally wide grin.
19
Operation Downfall
Shaw Enterprises, the billion dollar empire that has helped pave the way for the next generation stood as the standard for all businessmen looking to dominate the business world globally. It seems as if Shaw Enterprises has its claws on pretty much everything.
The field of technology has been theirs to dominate for many years now. Stockton Incorporated was their only real competition. Without question, Shaw Enterprises is at the peak of its dominance.
Surprisingly, the addition of Post Humans Jason Shaw and Garrett Blake has helped increased the value of the company. There is no denying how much of an asset the two Post Humans were to the company, but many on the board feared that they being Post Humans would “stain” the company image.
A big media frenzy broke out when Jason returned home and it was announced that he would serve as the new Vice President of Shaw Enterprises.
For many decades now Shaw Enterprises and Stockton Incorporated have gone to war so to speak. They were fierce rivals who brought out the best and often times the worse in each other.
While both Jason and Garrett Blake suspected that Joseph was shady, neither of them could deny his success. His business savvy and willingness to make bold decisions had often paid off for him in a big way. He made millions upon millions of dollars from his legal activities, but he's also made millions more from underhanded and illegal deals as well.
Yet somehow, Joseph was always able to keep his name clear. He was always able to convince key companies to invest in him, he was always able to counter anything Shaw Enterprises did.
Joseph Harvey Stockton sat behind his desk reading the newspaper. He was reading an article written by one of his reporters. Yes that's correct, Joseph Stockton owns one of the biggest newspaper companies in Boston. He found the article extremely satisfying and he hoped it would be a catalyst to what he had in store for Shaw Enterprises.
The writer, Sheila Myers, wrote about the prison escape from the island. In the article
she suggested that Jason Shaw, known leader of the League of Protectors was behind the escape. She retracted that statement a bit and suggested at the very least, he didn't do enough to stop the prisoners from escaping. Her article made sure it painted a picture of Jason Shaw as sympathetic to the Post Humans.
In her article, she expressed great concern over the breakout and the security the government had in place. She proceeded to question the wisdom of the government contracting Shaw Enterprises on anything, considering who Jason Shaw was.
While her article was an opinion article and lacked sufficient evidence to convict Jason of anything, her article did what it was supposed to do. It placed fear and cast a shadow of doubt for most readers. That's what this whole Post Human thing was about anyway... Fear.
Fear of the unknown, fear of the possibilities. Sheila knew the best way to increase her sales and promote her agenda was to incite fear.
Joseph sat there reading the article with complete delight. He owned the newspaper company, but he had never really taken the time to read anything in it. Sheila's article was exactly what he needed in his war against Shaw Enterprises. Sheila's ability to incite fear was just another piece to a large and complex puzzle he was creating.
He searched through his phone for Sheila’s number and congratulated her on what he viewed as a very impressive article. Her article was no more impressive than the ones she’s written in the past, but this one, the one that attacked Jason Shaw's character was the one that he noticed. It was the only one that mattered. As Joseph continued buttering up his opinionated reporter, he decided to make her an offer.
He would increase her salary substantially if she agreed to focus her articles on Jason Shaw, The League of Protectors and Shaw Enterprises. With her massive following, Joseph realized that something as simple as an article could really help his agenda. Joseph's offer was one that Sheila Myers couldn’t refuse.
Now, with his media puppet situated, he could continue focusing on other ways to destroy Shaw Enterprises. Joseph, ever the paranoid man looked around his room as if someone else was in there. Satisfied that he was alone, Joseph reached to the middle drawer on his left hand side. There was a hidden compartment that housed an untraceable phone. Joseph pulled out the phone and dialed one of his contacts.
New Age of Heroes 1: The League of Protectors - Dawn of a New Age Page 15