|
Registered User
Currently Offline
|
Posts: 1655
Join Date: Jan 2008
|
Outside the Excalibur nightclub 10:52 p.m.
Victor Heavy perches on a brick wall across the street keeping his eyes on the front door of the club. The bouncer outside is a very tall, very broad man. He could just have easily been the linebacker on a professional football team as he could the doorman for this swanky night spot. From what Victor could gather the two Russian crime bosses were still inside. Their limo drivers were still waiting for them out in the gated parking lot smoking cigarettes and talking sports.
A silent form moved through the sky overhead. Victor looked up to see a bird, the moonlight glinting off its metallic wings, circle the building and perch on a fire escape overlooking Excalibur’s backdoor. He smiled to himself. Sebastian’s inventions just kept getting better and better. He felt privileged to be a part of such a team as the Darkhawks.
The chauffeurs threw down their cigarettes and stomped them out with the heels of their expensive Italian leather shoes. They had somehow been signaled and were now in the process of cranking up the cars in an effort to make a hasty exit. This was not good, Victor thought, he would have to find a way to stall them until Foreshadow could get here.
One of the Russian’s came out the front door lighting a cigar as he stepped over the threshold. It was hard to tell in the darkness but Victor thought he could see the distinctive scar on Mighty Max’s chin. He heard the backdoor swing open just seconds after and Big Frankie stepped out adjusting his fedora and pulling his coat tightly around himself to block out the chill of the night air.
Maksim Kozlov’s black limousine pulled up to the curb and he jumped in shouting something fast in Russian which caused the driver to stomp on the gas and the tires to squeal against the pavement as the car took off. This was followed shortly by Big Frankie’s white limousine pulling the same stunt from the rear of the building and screeching off into a different direction.
“Damn” Victor muttered he wasn’t going to be able to follow both of them.
The Cyberhawk launched itself after the black limo making Victor’s decision for him. He would follow the white hare in hopes of it leading him to the rabbit hole. He jumped down from the wall and onto his skateboard. Propelling himself with his right foot he skated along the sidewalk keeping the limo in plain view. His earpiece buzzed to life and John Dark’s voice came through on the other end.
“Victor what happened? Why did they leave so suddenly?”
“Not sure, one minute their drivers were smoking the next they were jumping into the cars and picking the bosses up at the door only to speed away in different directions.”
“Something big is going down” John muttered “Alicia has the Birdseye locked on to Big Frankie now so don’t worry about keeping too close. I don’t want him to see you and know we’re following. Meet Jess outside of the Liquor store on 5th & Main. She’ll fill you in when you get there.”
“Okay, sure” Victor said gently pushing the back of the board towards the pavement to slow down his forward momentum then leaning forward turning the board down the next street which would take him to his new destination.
Black Jack’s Liquor was not in the best part of town. In fact if anything it was in the worst part. Slum row some called it. Others referred to this city block as the ‘Rat’s Nest’. Whatever it was Victor always felt uneasy when he came down here. He was glad to have his collapsible quarterstaff tucked away underneath his jacket and patted the outside of the jacket just to reassure himself it was still there.
Victor picked up his skateboard and pressed the hidden button which allowed it to fold up not much bigger than his own hand and then slipped it into the back pocket of his denim jeans. He looked around trying to pierce the shadows with his gaze in an effort to find Jessica. He spotted her crouching down behind a dumpster in full costume. She motioned him over with a wave of her hand.
“There you are” she said in greeting “you might want to put on your mask.”
“Yeah” he replied absently pulling the small white eye mask from his outside jacket pocket and putting it into place “what are we doing?”
“Foreshadow wants us to find out what Mighty Max is up too while he confronts Big Frankie.”
“He wants to move already” Victor asked “is he sure that’s safe?”
“You know my brother, safety isn’t his biggest concern.”
“Foreshadow’s only concern is results” Victor said offhandedly.
Jessica Dark, Talon, climbed onto the seat of the Raptorcycle and motioned for Victor to climb on behind her “wrap your arms around my waist and hold on.”
Victor Heavy, who liked to think of himself as ‘Shadow Boy’, did as he was told and the two of them were soon zooming around the city as the motorcycle’s radar homed in on the Cyberhawk’s signal. The two vigilante’s soon found themselves at the edge of “Hunter Forest”. Talon parked the Raptorcycle and two proceeded into the woods on foot. They followed a small winding footpath until they came to a clearing about twenty feet by twenty feet.
Talon crouched down behind a tree stump and Shadow Boy followed suit ducking behind a wild blackberry bush. They could just make out Maksim Kozlov and his limo driver in the middle of the clearing. The chauffeur was digging a hole in the dirt with an old wooden handle shovel while Mighty Max supervised his efforts.
“It has to be around here somewhere, keep digging” Maksim said irritably “Profky Lebedev swore it was here.”
“Maybe he lied, boss?” the driver asked as he continued to shovel dirt.
“He had no reason to lie. If he said the strongbox was here. Then it is here.”
Just as the driver was about to give up the shovel struck something hard “found something”.
He lifted a small metal box out of the ground and placed it at Max’s feet. Then he went to open it. Mighty Max kicked him hard in the stomach and pushed him away from the box. Then the crime boss pulled out a key that was tied around his neck with a leather cord and placed it in the padlock turning it gently to the right until it clicked open.
“No one dares open the strongbox except for me” Maksim said to his underling “for the first person to touch the contents within will receive its power. I would hate for that power to be wasted on a fool such as yourself.”
__________________
|
