The Shit-Town Saga:

Blood Circle part 3

His motorcycle flew down the interstate with an overcast sky above.  In his left mirror, the Horseman saw a group of motorcycles approaching.  Some clubs rode together, so this wasn’t alarming.  It also wasn’t unusual at all to see men wearing identity-concealing helmets while riding.  The part that made him cautious was the formation of the riders.  These men spread out along both lanes, blocking off traffic, clearly trying to remove obstacles.  The cars behind them slowed down and began blaring their horns.  The Horseman placed a hand on his abdomen where he had a Ruger LCP holstered.  It was small enough to remain hidden from view, a precaution he took once he no longer had a network of police officers to cover for him when he rode with much more visible weaponry.  Two of the bikes broke away from the formation while the other three continued to block traffic.  As expected, they soon pulled handguns from their jackets and began to pass on either side.

The Horseman kept his gun against his stomach and briefly pumped his brake.  The bike slowed down suddenly and he was parallel to the two assassins far quicker than they anticipated.  He fired his gun under his arm, hitting a fuel tank.  The bike exploded and the rider disappeared in a fireball.  The cars behind them slammed on their brakes and the riders swerved as burning chunks of metal bounced along the blacktop.  The second rider fired a few shots but the Horseman ducked down under his handlebars and swerved toward him to avoid getting shot.  Once he got in close, he fired two more bullets into the rider’s gut at close range.  He fell off his bike and his dead body rolled onto the interstate, followed by his motorcycle.  The other three bikes zipped after the Horseman as he picked up speed.

The Horseman didn’t have enough bullets in his small gun for all the hitmen and he knew he had to be creative.  Additionally, he was worried that stray bullets could strike innocent drivers.  They quickly approached a semi-truck up ahead and the Horseman swerved around the right side, prompting one of the gunmen to pass on the left, nearly going off-road.  As the two riders passed around the truck, they reconvened in the center of the highway.  The Horseman was the first to fire, sending a bullet into the front tire of the bike.  The tire exploded and the rider was thrown into the path of the semi.  The truck driver slammed on his brakes and tried to swerve but the rider ended up hitting the grill.  As the truck driver continued jerking the steering wheel, the truck screeched across the blacktop, the long trailer swerving  into the next lane.  One of the riders was forced to lay his bike down and ended up sliding under the trailer where he hit the underside at high speed.  The other rider darted around the front of the truck and quickly caught up to the Horseman.

The Horseman only had one bullet left and knew he had to make it count since his assailant was firing several rounds over his head.  One round hit the kevlar on his back; it stung and sent a shudder through his body that threatened to make him lose control of his motorcycle.  He braked hard and leaned forward, balancing himself on the front wheel.  It was a stunt he learned in his youth when he had a different life.  The next move required a different sort of training.  He spun around while balancing on his front wheel, turning toward his assailant.  He raised his gun and released his final bullet.  It sailed down the road, finding its way through a helmet’s visor.  The rider flipped backwards while his bike tumbled in the opposite direction.  The Horseman continued the spin and righted his motorcycle while holstering his empty gun.

In New York, the Dragon flew over some buildings, Cavalier in the pilot’s seat and Emily Koboshi in the passenger seat.  There was a silence between them that had been present since take-off and the Cavalier was finally at his breaking point.  “Are you mad?,” he asked.

Emily sighed, “Kinda?  Yeah?”

“At me?”

“Kinda… Yeah.”

“Look, we know people are after you and the rest of the Knights.  I know you can usually take care of yourself, but you’re just now getting on your feet.”

“I know that!”

“Okay, then…”

“I’m not mad at you, I guess.  I-I don’t know who or what I’m mad at.”

“It’s frustrating, I can tell.  Listen, I’ll drop you off in Agartha.  Raphael’s people can take care of you until this whole thing blows over.  In the meantime, I’m gonna get the Knights to safety.  I already called David and he’ll be getting the kids outta there.  I’ll lead them into Agartha right behind you.”

“Did you call Reins, too?”

“Yeah, he has a police convey that’ll take him outta the city.”

“Then what?”

“With any luck, I’ll find Mano either before the Horseman gets to him or before he can escape.”

“You realize this whole assassin thing is probably a distraction.  Keeps everyone busy, so Mano can get home to Nadie.”

“I’m sure you’re right, but what else can we do?  People I care about are in danger.”

In Charles Reins’ home, he paced around his living room while on the phone.  In his bedroom, his wife Michelle furiously opened a suitcase and shoved clothes inside while shouting into the next room, “You need to get off that phone and pack your bags!”  He shouted back, “Don’t worry about it, baby!”

“Was that your wife telling you to get off the phone and pack your bags?,” Gabby Mendoza sat in her office in the Internal Affairs department.

“The sooner you tell me everything, the sooner I get off the phone.”

Mendoza sighed, “Like I was saying we have reports from witnesses claiming they saw the Horseman fighting a bunch of guys along I-95, and considering the number of bodies left behind, they were probably correct in thinking it was our guy.  He’s one of the targets in this whole `assassin game’, so everything checks out.”

“I just wanna know what you’re doing about this. I wanna make sure he doesn’t have anymore friends on the force.”

“Hey, after the whole ‘Four Horsemen’ mess, I got every cop remotely connected to his network.  At least that’s the case for our precinct.”

“I put out an APB just in case.  I want our officers ready and on the right side.  We got enough problems in this city, we don’t need `im tearing his way through town again.”

Some of Reins’ officers entered the home and were greeted by Michelle who quickly told them, “He’s on the phone with Mendoza.”  One of the officers peered into the living room and said aloud, “He needs to get off the phone and pack his bags.”  Michelle threw her arms in the air in frustration, “Tell me about it.”

“Either Horseman is flying solo or he’s got some other friends we don’t know about,” Reins spoke into the phone, “While I’m gone, I expect his ass to be nailed to the wall.” 

One of the officers gently took the phone from him, “We gotta go, Charlie.” 

Michelle quickly rushed to him with an already-packed suitcase, “Here ya go, you stubborn ass.” She wrapped her arms around him and shed a tear, “You come home safe.” 

He hugged her tightly, “Always do.” 

The officers rushed him out the door and into an armored truck.  The police cruiser in front led the way while another followed behind the van.

A few blocks away, a young woman walked down the sidewalk with ear-pods in.  Her hair was in pigtails and dyed platinum with a black skunk stripe down the center.  She wore bright make-up, a mid-drift baring shirt, shorts that had the word Boom-Bitch! across the buttocks, and lots of accessories.  On her back was a pink backpack.  She happily bopped her head to the music until she noticed the police convoy and calmly removed the ear-pods and smiled to herself.  Inside the van, Reins spoke to the drivers, “While I’m gone, we also need to be on the lookout for Mano. I don’t want himleaving the country.  Cav is doing what he can and we have to together on this.”  On the sidewalk, Boom-Bitch reached into her backpack and produced a stick of dynamite; being as discreet as possible, she lit it with a decorative zippo lighter and rolled it into the street.  The explosion erupted between the first squad car and the armored van.  The first squad car flipped forward in a ball of flames, eventually landing upside down on top of another car driving in the street.  Meanwhile, the van’s front tires exploded and the vehicle was pushed backwards.  The rear of the van slammed into the fender of the second car, damaging it.  Inside, Reins lost balance from the explosion and fell onto the floor.

“Fire!,” she said cheerfully as she gazed at the carnage around her.  People on the street panicked and fled from the scene as she happily strutted forward.  The officers in the second car climbed out of their damaged cruiser, weapons drawn.  A second later, a grenade landed on the hood.  The car went up and the officers disappeared behind a fireball.  “Commissioner Reins,” she called out as she approached the van, “You in there?  Sorry to do this, but you gotta go!”  The rear hatch opened and Reins spilled onto the street.  “That’s the one,” she said as she rolled a second grenade his way.  Thinking fast, Reins performed a goal-kick, sending it back at her and then took a dive.  The grenade sailed through the air toward Boom-Bitch and she let out a quick, “Yikes”.  Reins covered his head as the explosion kicked up debris from the sidewalk.  Once the mayhem was over, he stood up and surveyed the damaged city-block.

“Goddamn.”

Across the city, Jayden Nash approached the Metro Knights’ new dojo.  After the run-in at the subway station a day earlier, he finally decided to rejoin the group and put his resentment aside.  As he walked toward the entrance, David Tyrell barged through the door.

“Jayden?,” he was surprised, but was also scanning the street as if expecting something.

“Hey man,” Jayden greeted him, “I decided I needed to come back, `cuz…”

“Yeah, great,” David grabbed him by the arm, “Come with us.”

“Wait, what’s wrong?”

The other adult leaders of the Metro Knights ushered out the remaining teenage members.  They rushed them to the class van and nearly began shoving them inside.  In the confusion, Jayden noticed a fellow student, Yolanda.

“Ey, Yolanda.  What’s going on?”

“The Cavalier called David and said some dudes wanna kill us for money.  Shit’s crazy!”

“Really?”

“Yeah, we’re supposed to go to Agartha.  Emiky’s already there `cause some people tried to kill her at the hospital.”

“And I chose today to come back,” he said to himself.

“Talk about it later,” David’s tone was rough, but it was understood that is was borne from worry, not anger, “In the van, now!  Both of you!”

As David and the other adults got the children inside, a figure crouched on a rooftop across the street.  He wore a black ninja yoroi and had a variety of weapons sheathed on his person.  He pulled a shuriken from his belt and raised it, ready to throw at David.  At the last second, a grappling line wrapped around his waist and he was yanked from the rooftop.  The shuriken was let lose, but at a skewed angle.  The weapon flew over David’s head and embedded itself in the brick wall behind him, which got everyone’s attention.  In the street, the Cavalier made a three-point landing.  Behind him, the ninja fell unconscious onto a truck trailer parked below.

“Everyone okay?” he asked.

“Yeah, thanks,” David answered.

Yolanda stared out the van window, “That was badass.”

“I know, right?” Jayden responded.

A hairless, metallic-skinned man dropped from the sky and landed in front of the Knights’ van.  The kids shrieked in fear, but he calmly raised his hands. “Yeah, I’m used to that response, it only mildly hurts my feelings now,” the man told them, “Anyway, I’m Cobalt and I’ll be your chauffeur to Agartha this evening.”

“Don’t stop until you get them underground,” Cavalier told the Agarthan.

“Not sure I like taking orders from you, but then, you got me a job, so sure… let’s all go underground, kids!”

Cobalt raised his arms and magnetic energy surrounded the van and lifted it off the ground.  He flew into the air, taking the van along with him.  Cavalier watched as they disappeared behind a building, then he heard something behind him.  He turned in time to see the ninja swinging a katana at his face plate.

The blade deflected off the helmet, releasing a few sparks.  The next swing was brushed aside by a sword made of hard light.  Cavalier used his sword to block another swing and alternated with his plated gauntlet for the next one.  Finally, he swung his sword, chopping the ninja’s blade in half before performing a spin-kick, knocking him to the ground.  The ninja rolled onto his feet and grabbed his tunic, then he pulled it loose, revealing a bare chest.  Cavalier immediately noticed the tattoos running up his arms, around his chest, and presumably down his back.

“Yakuza?”

“Yes.”

“You came all this way to kill some kids for money?  Feel like a big man doing that?”

“Fool,” the ninja reached behind his back and produced twin sais, “You’re just as much of a target as they are.”

“I know.  I know all about your little competition.  In fact, some assassins already tried to kill me tonight, which means the price on my head has only risen.  So what are you waiting for?,” the Cavalier generated a second sword, “Come get your money.”

The ninja leapt into the air with both sais aimed at Cavalier’s exposed eyes.  He spun around, dodging the attack.  Then, in the follow-thru, he slammed the hilt of a sword against the back of the ninja’s head.  The ninja fell onto the street and as he picked himself up, a gunshot rang out in the night. A spurt of blood exploded from beneath the ninja’s mask and he fell to the pavement.

Cavalier spun around and witnessed a curious figure – a short, chubby man in a striped shirt and unkempt hair. His eyes were dull, but he held a serene smile on his face. It wasn’t malicious. It was strangely innocent. Freddy’s aim was perfect and the next bullet struck between the knight’s eyes. He fell back and was reminded that his eyes were still exposed and he was lucky this particular assassin didn’t go them. Cavalier accessed the Round Table just before another bullet bounced off the shield (it was possible that one was aimed at an eyehole).

“Hey!” a familiar voice called out. Cavalier looked up to see Danny Slade rushing toward the gunman. He wasn’t sure why Slade was there and had no time to ask; the assassin turned and fired his gun in a second. Slade would have dodged the bullet easily if he were still in his prime, but he wasn’t what he once was due to age and an attack from Tusk. He threw himself into the air and landed harshly on the sidewalk, Cavalier unsure if he was hit or not. Across the street, Freddy’s brother Joey poked his head out of a car, “Freddy! Come on!” Freddy jumped into the backseat and as the Cavalier ran to check on Danny Slade who remained on the ground. He could hear the car peeling away, but for the moment, he had to make sure the mayoral candidate was still alive.

Continued…