by Wes Grant
John said, “I read the reports about Spear and the good some people say he’s doing for the city.” Nick said, “Thanks . . . I think but I never did this for you. I did it for me.” John said, “You need to be careful. They are out to get all “Breakers” whether you’re good or not. I was fully behind their reason but after meeting you I’m not sure I can be behind them anymore. You may have to stop them.” Nick said, “Whoa, I can barely take care of my bills and you want me to take on the government. Listen, I protect the people of my city because there’s no one else who can. Look, I don’t even have a car no more. That junk broke down. I have to catch abus to fight crime.” John said, “If it’s money you need, I can supply you with all you need.” Nick said, “Thanks, but I said before, I didn’t come here for your money. I wanted to know what a dream I had was about. I came to find out more about myself and you put this take on the government line on me. Listen, taking on thugs and crazies with superpowers is one thing, taking on the whole US government is another. Thanks but no thanks.” John said, “Do you know why the project was called Pegasus 2010?” Nick said, “No, why?” John said, “Because that’s the number of babies that died in the experiments before it worked.” Nick said, “What! You know what, this is too much for me to take in right now. Thanks for the talk, but I gotta go now.” John said, “Wait, take this.” Nick said, “What is it?” John said, “I work part- time as a professor at a college, that’s the forum that my students use to talk to me.” Before Nick took the paper, John said, “Don’t use that one, there’s a world forum on the back that no one can trace: my screen name is on there, so if there are any questions that you need answered post it on there, and I mean anything, just don’t mention myname. I wanna be there for you, I’m sorry I wasn’t there while you grew up, but it looks like your mom did a great job on her own.” Nick said, “She did, and I wouldn’t trade her for anything. By the way, you said something earlier about your other son. So how many siblings do I have?” John said, “You have two older sisters, and one younger brother.”
Nick said, “Younger . . . does he . . . have any abilities?” John said, “No, he’s just an overachiever, he has a photographic memory, so he aced all his classes. In fact he graduated three years early and got valor Victorian. He played in every sport getting MVP in everyone, and right now he has his own multi million dollar business an—” Nick interrupted and said, “Man, sorry my friends are calling me. Love to hear how perfect your other son is but I have to cut this short because my friends gotta go somewhere.” John said, “I didn’t say he was perfect. I’m sorry if it seemed like I was bragging.” Nick said, “No it’s ok. I understand. I kid can do great things with a full family behind him. Glad you choose the better son.” John said, “No matter what you think. I don’t believe I choose the better son. I didn’t have a choice. If I had known about you I would have been there.” Nick replied, “You say that, but I don’t it would have happened that way. I think they story would have gone the same way. You leaving my mom to raise me herself. Sure you might have sent money but I don’t think you would risk this wonderful life with your wonderful family. So don’t pretend like it would have gone any different.” John replied, “Wow, tell me how you really feel. Well, sorry you feel that way, and maybe your right to some degree, but I’m here now and if you need anything, I mean anything, just reach out. It was nice meeting you, and no matter what you think, I am very proud of the fine man and hero you have grown into.” Nick stayed silent. “Oh, and what screen name should I look for if you get on the forum?” Nick replied, “I usually sign up with the screen name BLACKNINJAXXX.” John said, “OK, I’ll look for that and be safe out there.” Nick replied, “Thanks, and I’ll try.”
Nick came out of the café and walked toward the car. Neil said, “So what you find out?” Nick said, “Bro, I’ll tell you on the way I’m still trying to process it myself.” They drove off and headed home.
MASTER CHEN LOU
Chapter 6
The True Master
The story started out with our hero on the rooftops of Jersey City. Like normal, he was doing his nightly runs through the city when he came to an area where he saw a group of people. He snuck over to get a closer look. When he peeked over the edge of the roof he saw two rival gangs, and it didn’t look like they were having a peace talk either. From the looks of it it seemed the conversation was getting heated up. There were about twenty guys down there; each gang evenly matched in numbers. Tensions raised and the talking turned into yelling. Everyone but the leaders pulled out their guns and the air went silent.
The thought in Spear’s head was to let them kill each other; the world would be better without them anyways. It was a thought that for some reason he just couldn’t let happen. Spear stood up on the roof and said, “Hey, wanna-be gangstas.” Everyone looked up and one of the men yelled, “Who’s dat!”
Spear waved his hands and said, “I know it’s cliché, but can’t we alljust get along?” The leader of one of the gangs pulled out a gun and points it at the other leader and yells, “This a set up!” The other leader says, “I don’t know who dat is.” One of his men lean forward and whisper, “Yo, don’t you know who that is? That’s Spear.” The leader replies, “That’s Spear?” He then looks at the other leader and says, “How bout we put this on hold right now and take this guy out.” He replies, “No doubt. Yo squad, take this man out!”
Then men take aim and Spear replies, “You guys sure you wanna do that?” One the first leader’s men leans over and whispers, “Iheard if you shoot at him, he’ll knock the bullet right back at you.” The leader looks back and says, “There’s like 20 of us here, this dude has no chance.” The other gang leaders men aim at Spear.
Spear stares down and says, “OK, when I said get along, I didn’t mean like this.”
One of the gang leaders yells, “5G’s to whoever brings me his head, your crew or my crew.” Spear replies, “5G’s I’m worth at least 10, but Wait! Before you shoot, since your in such a giving mood, Iwant y’all to have something.” He then tossed down four balls the size of Ping-Pong balls at the gang members two to each side.”
Both gang leaders said at the same time, “Is he playing right now” Spear said, “Wait for it—” Then pop! The balls popped open, and smoke came pouring out of them. They had been smoke bombs Nick put together from watching videos on the Internet. The area filled with smoke, and Spear jumped down then started to clear house. All the gang members were going frantic because they couldn’t see anything. One byone Spear took out the men. The gang leader could faintly see his men near him, and then he saw a fist hit one of his guys and they disappeared into the smoke. He pointed the gun at the area; then he heard another one of his men scream. When he turned around, he saw his men fall to the ground and get pulled into the smoke. After that, all you heard was punching noises and screams from the men like he was watching a horror flick. When the smoke cleared, only the two gang leaders were left. It looked like there was a war; the men were tossed everywhere. Some were halfway in the Dumpster, some were hanging from the fire escape, and most of the men were just laid out on the floor with bloody noses and broken arms and legs.
The men looke d at each other; then one of them said, “I think this guy Spear playing with us. Why would he leave the two of us like this?” They then hear Spear’s disembodied voice saying, “Maybe you're right.” They look around frantically. “Maybe I’m making a point.” He then jumps down in front of them crouching and dramatically stands as he says, “Or maybe I just want to look you in the eyes as I beat the crap outta you.”
One of the gang members yells, “What did we do to you?” Spear replies, “It’s not what you did to me, it’s what you do to this city. You’ve made it so innocent people get pulled into your gang wars. Random people dying in your crossfires. The good people in this city want to be able to walk home late after work and not worry about getting jumped. Parents don’t want to have to worry about their kids being shot by a stray bullet
from one of your shootouts. I’m going to beat it into your skulls that this city is not yours anymore.” Spear pointed out to the streets as he says, “It’s theirs.”
The gang members looked in the direction of where Spear was pointing and said, “The Chinese food place?”
Spear said, “No, the people’s, the good citizens.” The other gang member said, “You need to get off your righteous high horse. Without us there would be no you. Talking all high and mighty like some honorable ninja . . . Look in the mirror, you ain’t no ninja. Get through ya head. You’re just some crazy dude that wants to make a name for himself just like us. Only difference is we aint running around shirtless in tights trying to do it.”
Spear replies, “You done now? First off, I’m not shirtless I’m wearing a vest. Second, you can clearly see these are cargo pants and not tights, that’s just rude. And third...” Then he punched the gang member in the face, kicks him in the stomach, sending him flying into the wall.
The leader left standing said, “OK, if you want to do this, then let’s go.” He aims his gun and Spear effortlessly knocks it out of his hands with his rod. The man says, “Aight, I ain’t like that weak dude you just knocked out. I ain’t goin’ down that easy. I used to box and do martial arts, so let’s see ya hand skills.” He then went on the attack at Spear.
Meanwhile the leader who just got knocked against the wall pulls himself up to one knee and mumbles,“Who you callin’ weak? I ain’t out yet.” he pulls out his gun, aims, and shoots at Spear right as the other leader steps in front of him. Spear pushes the man out the way and deflexs the bullet. The man he just saved swings at him from behind. Spear dodges it as the other man fires again. Because of his distraction of dodging the attacks Spear is unable to aim the deflexed bullets back at the man safely while keeping the man attacking safe from bullets as well. Eventually the mans bullets ran out and he ran over to join the other guy attacking.
Spear easily dodged their attacks; Spear thought to himself, “they couldn’t land a punch if they tried,” and believe me, they were trying.
Spear then said, “I don’t know what kind of style you call this, but eitheryou’re doing it wrong or it’s a piece of crap. I’m not the best, but I’m definitely better than both of you.” Spear then swept their feet out from under them both at the same time and jumped in the air. When they both opened their eyes, they saw Spear’s fist coming at their faces and they both got knocked out.
Spear looked at his watch and realized how late it was. He had to work early tomorrow, so he tied them up and took off to get some sleep as the sirens of the police neared. Nick got up extra early because he had to be at work at 7:00 a.m. and he was still taking the bus. That meant he had to be at the bus stop by 6:00 a.m. so he could transfer at Newark for the bus to work. When he got to work, he had a huge list of things to assemble. Needless to say, today was going to be a long day at work. By the time he got out of work, he’s exhausted and it’s still too bright for him to try and run home. Someone might see him, so he caught the bus, which took him two and a half hours to get home since he left work at 4:00 p.m. and caught the rush-hour traffic. When he finally got home, he just wanted to go to bed for a quick rest. He wasn’t even sure if he was going to go out tonight to watch over the city. When he walked past his mom’s room, she asked him if he picked up his mail. Normally he didn’t get much mail, so of course he didn’t. He went back downstairs and picked up the letter then headed back up to his room. He took off his jacket, tossed it on the couch along with the letter, turned on the TV, lay down on his bed, and was knocked out in a few hours. He woke up two hours later and he was hungry, so he got up and went downstairs to make him something to eat. He made himself three plates of food and headed back upstairs. He moved his jacket off the couch and placed his food on the table in the center of his room. When he sat down, he felt something under him; it was the letter he had gotten in the mail. Nick didn’t feel like reading the letter just yet, so he placed it on the table and began to eat his food. After he finished eating his food, he sat back in the couch and spread his arms. He looked at the letter on the table and figured he might as well open it now. He wiped his hands clean then picked up the letter. He ripped open the top and pulled out a birthday card. On the front, it said, “Happy birthday, Nick. I don’t know your real birthday, but I’m guessing I owe you twenty-four years of presents. So I hope this will help you and your mom, and good job out there.”
Just then a check fell out of the card, and when Nick saw the amount, he could barely contain himself. The amount on the check was $50,000. His first instinct was to run downstairs and tell his mom; then he realized he would have to explain everything to her. He figured he’d have to tell her about how he found his dad and what his dad told him, and he didn’t know how his mom would react. He figured that he’d just put the money in his savings account until they needed it, but first he needed a car so he wouldn’t need to take the bus anymore. Luckily he had been looking for a bank to give him a loan so he could get a new car because he didn’t want to get another used car that might break down. He figured all he would have to do is use some of the money to get a new car and then tell his mom he got the loan. He would then put the rest of the money in his savings account; that savings accounts been lonely for a couple years. The money would be there in case they ever needed it.
The next day, Nick went car shopping with his uncle Tony. Meanwhile, a G-5 airplane was landing at a private airport in Teterboro, New Jersey. An elderly Japanese gentleman with a long beard, and an even longer ponytail, wearing traditional Japanese robes, stepped off the plane. He was greeted by a younger welldressed gentleman.
The younger gentleman said, “Good afternoon, Master Chen Lou, I hope you enjoyed your flight. Your limo is right this way.” Mr. Chen Lou nodded his head and followed the man to the limo. He swung his head, and the ponytail wrapped around his neck; he then got into the limo and the gentleman closed the door after him.
Nick was at a car dealership shaking hands with the dealer and signing papers, agreeing on the car he just purchased. The car matched his personality perfectly; it was fast, sleek, and dark. Nick drove straight over to Neil’s house to show them his new car. Neil and Von hear the bass of music from down the street coming closer to the house. They wondered who’s parked in front of Neil’s house blasting music. They had no idea that it was Nick until he stepped out of his brand-new car. When they saw him they sprinted out the door.
Neil said, “Sweet ride.”
Nick said, “Yeah, and it beats taking the bus.”
Von said, “I’ve seen this car before, but why does it look different from the regular models?”
Nick said, “Because I had this car specially made for me. It’s a stick shift, with all the accessories.”
Neil said, “At least now you’ll be driving in style.” Nick said, “Yeah, I know, but I’m not done yet. I got plans for thiscar, and when I’m done, it’s not gonna look like anything you’ve ever seen before . . . Now who wants to go for a ride?”
Neil yells, “Shotgun!”
Von replies, “Ahh man, I call shotgun back.” then hopped in the car.
NEXT SCENE Master Chen Lou was brought to a huge oval-shaped office. A man at the end of the room on an elevated section was sitting at his desk with the chair facing out the window toward New York.
The man then said, “I’m honored that you’ve decided to take me up on my invitation.”
Chen Lou said, “There is no respect in not facing your guests when talking to them.” The man turns around and proceeds to walk towards him. As he walks he says, “Please forgive my rudeness, it’s just that this view is sometimes hard to turn away from. Let me formally introduce myself, I’m Mr. Platinum, some call me Mr. P. for short.” As he extends his hand.
Chen Lou asked, “Why have you summoned me? In your message you said something about my honor being at stake.” Platinum said, “A young man is claiming to be the best martial artist there is . . . And h
e’s beating up innocent civilians to get his point across.” He then said, “Look at the screen and you’ll see what I’m talking about.” Just then a huge flatscreen TV dropped down from the ceiling. On it was a video footage of Spear beating up two guys and saying that he was the best martial artist. He then said to Chen Lou, “I’d expect the person that is said to be the best martial artist in the world would want to put an end to an imposter, especially one doing harm to others.”
Chen Lou said, “Those that use title to measure their worth is meaningless to me. I did not give the title of best martial artist to myself. I care nothing for someone claiming to be so.”
Platinum then said, “I suppose you wouldn’t, but the innocent people being hurt and killed just to boost his ego aren’t meaningless, are they? Only someone of your skill level can take him down. Please help us, I lost someone special because of him. A man of your integrity and honor surely can’t stand by and watch the innocent and weak suffer at the hands of someone reckless with their strength. You of all people should know what damage someone with great power and no moral compass can do. . . I just want him brought to justice.”