“What’s the meaning of this?” Frankie Moretti, head of the Moretti organization shouted.
The two men were trying hard to catch their breath.
Weapons were drawn as the mobsters inside the restaurant had no idea what was going on. Frankie cursed the guards outside for just letting the men storm in.
“He’s chasing us boss. Carl and Joey didn't make it.”
Frankie’s face was red. He was livid. “Who’s chasing you? What happened to Carl and Joey?”
“The Black Vigilante,” one of the men replied.
Chatter broke out inside the restaurant. That name was not one that anyone inside wanted to hear.
“The Black Vigilante is chasing you and you two morons brought him here?” Frankie shouted. The mobster was beyond upset. He was filled with rage and fear knowing the vigilante was coming to his establishment. For their lack of intelligence, Frankie cocked his piece and shot both men ruthlessly five times each.
“Frickin babbos!” Frankie shouted. He spit on both men and then grabbed the briefcase. The other men dare not say anything but they were quite shocked by Frankie's actions. Frankie opened the briefcase and cursed loudly. He knew who the money belonged to and knew how bad things would get for the family if its whereabouts were discovered.
Before Frankie could deal with the problem of the briefcase, he had an even bigger problem to deal with. The echoing sounds of gunfire outside could only mean one thing… The Vigilante was there. Frankie watched as the two bodyguards standing outside dropped to the ground.
“Kill that frickin moolie!” Frankie shouted as the Vigilante entered the restaurant. The soldiers inside the restaurant took position and opened fire.
The Vigilante put up a protective force field shielding him from the bullets. The soldiers inside the restaurant continued shooting until their clips were empty. The Vigilante wasn't concerned about being outed as Noah Winters, for he had no intentions on allowing any of them to survive the ordeal.
“My turn!” Noah said smiling as the last soldier fired his last shot before having to reload. Noah reached to his holster and pulled out his firearm. Noah's accuracy with firearms was so efficient, that he only needed one bullet for each soldier.
With Frankie's soldiers neutralized, Noah made his way towards Frankie, who he saved for last. Frankie spat near Noah's direction and hurled several derogatory words to him. Frankie's words nor his hatred rattled Noah at all. He didn't care what Frankie thought of him. He grabbed the briefcase from Frankie and inspected the money inside.
“I don’t think this money belongs to you now does it?” Noah asked rhetorically.
Frankie was less than amused by Noah’s antagonistic behavior. Frankie tried to reach for his gun but Noah quickly kicked it out of his hand.
Noah walked right passed Frankie and grabbed the suitcase. “I’ll be taking this if you don’t mind. I’m sure I can find someone much worthier of this money then low life pieces of trash like you and the rest of your criminal organization. I’ll be sure to let Mr. Gambino know that the Moretti family is responsible for his loss.”
Noah closed the briefcase and sat it down on one of the tables. He cocked his 9mm and placed it to Frankie’s temple.
“You have been sentence to death,” Noah said. Without remorse, Noah squeezed the trigger. Noah turned his attention back to the table and grabbed the briefcase full of money. At that instance footsteps crept in and a gun was cocked.
“Turn around and face me you bastard!” A male voice standing by the door demanded. Noah slowly turned around to face the man standing by the door. By the tone in which the voice spoke, Noah assumed it belonged to a member of the Moretti family.
The young man standing by the door looked around the restaurant at all the lifeless bodies. His face was filled with anger as he looked passed Noah and saw Frankie's lifeless body laying on the ground.
“Dad!” the man shouted.
Noah wasn’t the least bit apologetic. “Rough day for the Moretti family,” Noah said unsympathetically.
The man standing by the door scrunched his face and jerked his gun forward as if he was going to pull the trigger.
“Do you have any idea who that man was? Do you have any idea the heat you just brought on yourself and your family? Who sent you?”
Noah inched a little closer to the man and sized him up. He knew the major players of the Moretti family and the relatives within the organization. He had done his research on them all. The man pointing the gun at him was far too young to be the eldest son, so Noah concluded that it was Frankie's youngest son Michael Moretti that was standing before him. As far as Noah knew, Michael was not affiliated with his father's organization.
“You are Michael Moretti I presume.”
Michael aimed his gun at Noah and demanded that he stop moving. Noah calmly gestured for Michael not to shoot. He took a step back allowing the dialogue between the two to continue.
“Which family sent you? Tell me now!” Michael shouted.
Noah wasn't the least bit intimidated by Michael's threat. Noah took a good look at Michael's gun and wondered what someone who wasn't involved with the mob was doing with such a high impact pistol. He wondered if Michael was carrying for protection or if he was really part of the organization. Noah wanted to learn more before deciding Michael's fate.
“Your father was a bad man,” Noah said calmly. He wanted to provoke Michael to see how he would react. Michael didn’t display reactions of a typical mobster. His reactions were more about sadness and revenge than it was business.
“Do you see this briefcase here? Your father had his goons steal it from Johnny Gambino’s bank. Now I don’t care too much about Johnny Gambino or his money being stolen, that isn’t my concern. What I do care about is the innocent teller who lost her life simply for being at the wrong bank on the wrong day. That blood is on your father's hands. Your father ordered those men to take that money and do what they had to do to get that money. A woman's life was taken because of your father's thirst for money and power.”
Noah paused to let his words sink in. He could tell that Michael was conflicted. On the one hand he wanted to kill Noah for killing his father; on the other hand he was saddened to learn that a woman lost her life because of his father.
Michael struggled to keep his emotions under control. He was only partially paying attention to Noah. If Noah wanted to, he could’ve taken Michael out by now, but Noah could sense that Michael wasn't a threat to the city.
Noah inched a bit closer to Michael, the creaking sound his shoe made as he stepped forward snapped Michael back into focus. In what was likely a defensive reaction to being caught off guard, Michael fired a shot at Noah. The bullet grazed an unsuspecting Noah in the shoulder. Noah was clearly surprised that Michael fired at him, and even more surprised that he wasn’t able to dodge the bullet in time.
Noah bit his lip and moved closer to Michael with a hastened pace. Michael, fearing for his life fired several shots at Noah. This time, fully focused and ready for attack, Noah evaded the bullets spiraling towards him. Michael tried to squeeze off another shot, but his clip was empty. Noah used both of his hands and grabbed Michael by the throat. He checked Michael into the wall and hit him with blows to the abdomen.
Michael embraced the punches and finally countered with a punch of his own. The force of Michael’s punch sent Noah staggering back a bit. Not much, but enough to put some separation between the two.
“The way you move, the way you dodged those bullets that isn’t normal. That isn’t human.”
Noah cracked his knuckles and proceeded forward towards Michael.
“You’re one of those Post Humans aren’t you?” Michael asked.
“Yeah, that's very bad news for you,” Noah said.
Michael smiled back, “Actually, that’s very bad news for you.”
Michael closed his eyes and concentrated. He absorbed the energy around him and embraced it into a ball of energy. Michael harnessed the ener
gy and used it as an offensive projectile. He sent the ball of energy flying at Noah with great speed. The ball of energy hit Noah with devastating power.
Noah's eyes were huge realizing he was in confrontation with another Post Human and one of significant skill. He slowly lifted himself off the table and grimaced.
“Not so tough in a fair fight now are you?” Michael said feeling confident that this vigilante wasn't on his level. Noah cracked his neck and knuckles. He gave the young man a sly smile and readied himself for a fight.
“I’ve dealt with much worse,” Noah replied.
Noah used his telekinesis abilities to lift one of the tables off the ground. He stretched his hands forward and the table went flying towards Michael.
Michael stood still as the table approached him and at the very last second easily side stepped the table. Michael smiled at Noah’s failed attempt. Noah raised his eyebrow in suspicion.
Wasting no time, he heaved two more tables at Michael, both of which Michael easily evaded. Noah tried once again to take Michael out by means of the table, but this time, Michael caught the table with his own telekinetic ability. He countered, and heaved the table back at Noah. Noah aggressively flipped over the tossed table and charged hard towards Michael.
He caught Michael by the legs and slammed him to the ground. The two jockeyed for position with Noah eventually getting the upper hand. He straddled on top of Michael and delivered closed fist punches to Michael’s face and ribs.
Desperately, Michael curled himself into a ball trying to cushion the blows. Michael lifted his knees to his chest hoping to accomplish a defensive block and an offensive counter. The tactic proved to be effective. With his knees to his chest, Michael’s knees caught Noah’s fist and he quickly propelled his feet forward to get Noah off of him. Noah smoothly rolled over his head and back to his feet while Michael staggered to his side before making his way back up. Noah could hear the sirens approaching and he knew he needed to end this battle as quickly as possible.
“Do you hear that? They’re coming for you. Don’t try to run, I’ll stop you!” Michael shouted.
Noah cracked his knuckles once more and disregarded Michael’s threats. He charged hard and threw a heavy punch. Michael caught the punch and countered with a punch of his own. Michael’s attempted punch was blocked and Noah countered with a straight leg to the face. Michael stumbled backwards but remained on his feet. His hand touched his lip and felt the wet blood that dripped from it.
Fueled by anger, Michael sent Noah flying with a concentrated force of telekinesis. He then quickly added a devastating blast of energy that rocked Noah into the wall leaving a sizable dent. Noah hit his head hard and his eyes began to daze. His vision was blurry, but his extraordinary hearing allowed him to remain aware of his surroundings. The sirens from the police were extremely close now and if Noah didn’t hurry up, the police were going to capture him.
Believe it or not, evading the police was the least of his worries. Although unable to see fully, Noah could hear Michael reload his clip. He heard the pop as the bullet exited the chamber and made its way towards him. At the last possible second, Noah evaded the bullet and jumped out of the restaurant just as the police were arriving. Michael fired three more shots at Noah, but Noah had escaped.
“Get back here you coward!” Michael shouted angrily.
Noah turned around and ran back inside the restaurant. Michael was a bit taken that Noah had actually run back inside. Michael tried to position himself, but Noah moved quickly. To the left Noah moved, forcing Michael to shift on the balls of his feet. As soon as Michael shifted, Noah glided back to his right side. He jumped up and hit Michael with a closed fist punch to the head. Michael slumped to the ground unconscious by the impact and preciseness of Noah's attack.
“Freeze!” The first two officers on the scene shouted.
Noah looked the two officers over and ran straight for them. The officers fired, fearing for their lives as Noah quickly approached them. Not wanting to hurt them or reveal his abilities, Noah twisted, turned and slid about evading the onslaught of bullets without once using his telekinesis or force field.
Noah dove out the window of the restaurant. Another officer just arriving on the scene aimed his weapon at Noah, but Noah rolled up to his feet and disarmed the officer before the officer could do any harm. With several more officers quickly approaching, Noah knew he needed to get out of there right now.
With a giant leap, Noah ascended to the rooftop of the restaurant and vanished out of sight.
18
Yin and Yang
Ice zipped from Jackson’s hand and made its way towards Shayne. A stroke of quick reflexes and tremendous speed allowed Shayne to dodge the rapidly approaching blast of ice.
“Seriously Jackson, don’t you have anything better to do?” Shayne asked in an irritated tone.
“Nope, no class today!” Jackson hurled another blast of ice Shayne’s way.
“No class, or no class you're attending?” Shayne asked as he matched Jackson’s ice with a ball of fire that melted the ice on arrival.
“Haha you know me too well,” Jackson stated.
On some occasions, that wasn't always a good thing.
Jackson watched as Shayne gathered his stuff for class. Jackson loved Shayne like a brother but he often wondered how he became such good friends with someone that was his exact opposite. They say in relationships opposites attract, but in friendships that usually isn't the case. The two roommates were as different as night and day, yin and yang and yet somehow the two were closer than any two friends could be.
When Shayne wasn’t out protecting the world he was in his dorm room studying. When Jackson wasn’t out protecting the world, he was out partying. It was a pattern in which the two had come to accept from one another. Sure, Jackson desperately wished Shayne would come out and party more, but he knew that wasn't going to happen. Just like Shayne wished Jackson would study more, well study period, but he accepted a long time ago that wasn't going to happen either.
Since the two were old enough to understand the concept of a social life, they’ve been in opposite directions.
It was a task to get Shayne to go to any of the parties Jackson wanted to go to. He often had to coax Shayne into coming. He would remind him that plenty of single women would be attending and it was necessary for him to get out and meet some women. Shayne felt he was too busy to have a love life but Jackson felt it was absolutely mandatory.
Jackson looked to his left and noticed the bladed swords stacked neatly on a table. While most college students practice shooting a basketball, throwing a football or hitting a baseball, Shayne and Jackson practiced dueling with real swords.
“Don’t even think about it!” Shayne ordered catching Jackson eying the swords. He knew Jackson well enough to know he wasn’t going to listen to him though. Shayne had a trigonometry class soon and the last thing he wanted to do was get sweaty before class.
Jackson flashed his million dollar smile. He put a finger to his temple and thought about it. Knowing this was a losing battle, Shayne sighed and prepared himself. He unbuttoned his nicely pressed shirt and laid it carefully on the bed.
“One round Jack, one round, that's it!”
Jackson walked over to the swords and picked them up. He threw one to Shayne and readied himself for battle.
“I have no idea why you want to do this Jack. You know good and well you can't beat me.”
Jackson huffed, “Practice makes perfect!”
Shayne rolled his eyes as Jackson drew his sword and charged forward. Shayne easily evaded Jackson’s attempt and used Jackson’s momentum to get him off balance. With the butt of the sword, he hit Jackson in the center of his back. Jackson stumbled past Shayne and nearly fell. He regained his balance and positioned himself for another attack.
“Hey, how quickly does that regenerative power thingy of yours work?” Jackson asked.
Shayne raised his eyebrow,“Why?”
&nbs
p; “I have a feeling you’re going to need it!” Jackson said smiling. Jackson swung the sword again and made contact with Shayne’s sword. The two jockeyed for position. Neither of them wanting to relinquish control.
When it came to fighting, the two were pretty evenly matched. They both trained with the same martial arts instructors and both had a good grasp of their abilities.
Shayne possessed a regenerative healing ability that repaired any damage tissue to his entire body. He also possessed what Mr. Connors called Sonic Speed and was considered the fastest man on the planet. In addition to his healing factor and Sonic Speed, Shayne also possessed a vast psionic ability for fire manipulation.
Jackson too had abilities that made him rather unique. Jackson could generate liquid from his hands that he turned into solid ice. He could use the ice in a variety of ways. The official title of his ability is cyrokinesis. Mr. Connors stated while both men were highly skilled with their abilities, both of them still had a lot of growing up to do.
Jackson stood slightly over six feet tall. He had Shayne beat by about two inches. Jackson had spiky blonde hair which he admitted he spent several minutes grooming each morning.
Shayne was a well groomed young man as well. He kept his hair short in a low fade, and wore a very thin mustache that framed his face perfectly.
When it came to their field performances, individually the two of them were good, together they were great. Realizing the jockeying was getting them nowhere, Shayne kicked Jackson in the chest, forcing him to back up. Using his speed, Shayne rushed towards Jackson and drove his sword downward towards the ground. Jackson’s eyes lit up with surprise. He was barely able to avoid the attack.
New Age of Heroes 1: The League of Protectors - Dawn of a New Age Page 14
