Break: An Urban Hero's Journey
Page 28
Von said, “What do you mean anger? Like . . . someone hit my car mad.” Nick said to Von, “Remember when your cousin came over to your house and deleted your level 100 character with the legendary armor in World of Warcraft?”
Von stepped back and said, “Whoa . . . sorry dude, I didn’t know. My anger level was 9,000 then.” Nick chuckled and said, “It’s OK, man. But that’s the reason I’ve been training so hard. I’m trying to get stronger to control this anger so I won’t have to be in that situation where I need to do something like that again.”
Neil said, “Do what?”
Nick replied, “Inject some crazy crap in me again. The only thing is that move you just saw do, drains the hell outta me. I can’t do that move too many times.” Neil said, “Well, with a move like that, I doubt you’ll have to do it more than once.”
Nick replied, “Yea, I hope so. But thanks, I’m tired as hell and hungry, so let’s get something to eat.” Neil replied, “Ok, but when we get back I wanna run some tests on you. See if that crap you injected in you, has any damaging effects.”
Nick replied, “OK, nurse Joy.”
Neil laughed and said, “Just for that you’re treating us to lunch.”
NEXT SCENE Jack got off the plane at JFK airport. As he walks out of the airport he got a newspaper and saw on the front page a story about a mysterious hero becoming popular in the tristate area named Spear.
He looked at the picture in the article and thought to himself, “This just might be the job to get my bank account back on track. All I need is a client.”
Later that night Jack walked up to the front of a bar. He lifted his hat up a little to look at the half-lit neon sign that was flickering like a bug zapper.
Jack said, “This looks like the place. Let’s hope my sources didn’t steer me wrong and this bottle shop’s got some licks worthwhile.”
Jack walked into the bar and sat at the counter. Old rock music was playing on the jukebox. The bartender asked Jack what he wanted, and Jack said, “Just give me a scotch, no ice.”
While the bartender fixed his drink, Jack looked over to his right, and he saw a very large, muscular man sitting in the back on a couch with two ladies next to him. The bartender handed Jack’s drink to him, and Jack asked him, “Hey, mate, is that fella over there the one they call Crank?”
The bartender said, “Yeah, but if you know what’s good for you, you’ll keep your distance.” Jack said to the bartender, “I’ll take that under consideration.” He got up and started walking toward Crank. The bartender shook his head.
Before Jack got to Crank, one of Crank’s big friends stepped in front of Jack and said, “Where do you think you’re going?” Jack leaned over to the side and looked at Crank and said, “I just came over to talk to the big fella over there. Crank’s his name, right? I just gotta ask him something.”
The large man put his hand on Jack’s shoulder and said, “You’re not going anywhere near him.”
Jack looked at the man’s hand then looked up at him and said, “You’re really wanna move that hand, mate.”
The man said, “Or what?” The next thing that happened, the man was flying across the bar breaking through a table and sliding into the jukebox stopping the music. After that happened four more large friends of Crank stood up and was ready to beat the hell out of Jack.
Jack said, “Whoa, I didn’t figure a big fella like you would need bodyguards. But I guess you really don’t live up to the hype now, do you?”
One of the men said, “Crank, you want us to take care of him for you.” Crank, preoccupied by the females in his arms, said in his Russian accent, “Do whatever you like.” Jack put his hands up and said, “OK, OK, I get the point. I’ll go.” He then turned around and slowly walked toward the exit. He then said while walking, “Well, at least I understand now how a small fry like Spear handed you your ass.” He then chuckled and said, “It probably didn’t take much.”
Crank got up and slammed his hand on the table in front of him, breaking it in half.
The bartender yelled, “Hey, if you guys are gonna fight, at least do it outside in the back.” Crank replied, “OK, because you make best Ninotchka Cocktail outside of Russia, I respect your request.” He pointed to Jack and said, “You, big mouth, this way,” and began to walk toward the back.
Jack replied, “Finally I get to have a little fun.” He then followed Crank to the back while being escorted by two of Crank’s boys.
Jack said, “Hey, I only need a few questions answered, but I’m always down for a li’l tussle.” Once they went outside, Crank stopped walking. Jack came out and walked past Crank, As he turned around to face Crank, he said, “Beautiful scenery you got here—” Just then Crank punched him, catching him off guard and sending him skidding on the ground into a wall.
Jack got up and shook his head. He tilted his head to each side to crack his neck. He then said, “Good one mate, but I’m afraid you’re gonna have to do a lot better than that if you wanna put a dent in this thick skull of mine,” tapping on his forehead. He then said, “But you got three shots, that was number 1.”
Crank got pissed off by Jack’s cockiness and went super diesel to really hurt him.
Jack replied, “Now that’s what I’m talking about. Come on, let loose. Give me ya best shot.” Crank cocked back his fist, moved super fast toward Jack, and with one punch, sent Jack flying down the alley into the brick wall where he got embedded in.
Crank returned to normal, then turned around to his friends. He began to celebrate an easy win as his comrades were giving him high fives and pounds. He began to walk away with his friends toward the bar’s back entrance when Jack pushed himself off the wall landing to his feet. Jack had left the impression of his body in the wall.
Jack yelled in his Aussie accent, “I don’t know why you’re celebrating mate. It seems to me the fight’s still on.” Crank and his friends turned around in surprise that Jack was even still alive. Jack began to walk toward Crank and said, “I gotta say I’m a li’l disappointed. Don’t tell me that’s the full extent of your power. I’ve dealt with whores that hit harder than you, mate.” He stopped walking and said, “Like I said before, you got three shots, and that was number 2. You got one left.” Crank went into and took a fighting stance once more.
Jack then pointed to his forehead again and said, “Try not to embarrass yourself this time. These love taps you’re giving me are really pathetic.”
Crank was infuriated and clenched his fist. He went big again this time with veins showing all over. He moved super fast toward Jack again, and as he’s about to make contact with Jack’s head, Jack turned gray and leaned into the punch. When Crank’s fist made impact with Jack’s head in slow motion, Crank’s knuckles broke. The impact caused the area to shake a little. Jack slid back about ten feet but didn’t budge from the ground. Crank grabbed his fist with his other hand in pain. While Crank was distracted by the pain, Jack ran at Crank and grabbed his face. He then jumped up with Crank and said, “That was three.” He came down slamming the back of Crank’s head into the concrete, leaving him unconscious and an impression in the ground. Jack crouched over Crank and slapped him a little to wake him up.
Crank woke up, and his vision was a little blurry. He was still a little disoriented as he saw Jack crouching over him, giving a little slap to the face. Jack leaned in a little closer to him and said, “Now about those questions.”
NEXT SCENE The next day, Jack walked into the Platinum Tower and up to the front desk. The front desk security asked him what business he had there.
Jack said, “I’m going to see Mr. Platinum.” The guard got on the phone and called Mr. Platinum and informed him about the gentleman. When the guard got off the phone, he told Jack that Mr. Platinum had no meeting with him and to please leave the premises or he would be escorted off. The other guards on the floor began to walk toward Jack.
Jack smiled and said, “You misunderstand mate, I wasn’t asking to see Mr. Plati
num. I’m saying I’m going to see Mr. Platinum . . . And I will see him. All I need is the floor he’s on.”
The other guards pulled out their guns and aimed it at Jack. The security guard stood up from the desk and aimed his gun at Jack as well.
Jack looked at them and said, “Is this really necessary?” The guards yelled, “Put your hands up and leave the premises now!”
Jack sighed and said, “OK, if you really wanna do this, but remember I tried to be nice.” A few minutes later, Jack went on the elevator. He pressed the seventy-eighthfloor button, and the elevator said, “Please place thumbprint for scanning.” Jack leaned out the elevator and looked at the guards on the floor; he then looked at the scanning dock. A minute later, a thumb was being pressed on the scanning dock, and the elevator said, “Scanning complete. Please proceed with the floor of your desire.”
Once the camera pans out, Jack was holding on to someone’s bloody thumb. He dropped it on the elevator floor and looked at the fancy elevator.
He then whistled and said to himself, “This Mr. Platinum character sure has some expensive taste. Wait, do those floor buttons actually have diamonds in them?” He began to lean toward them to look closer and saw when the door opened and the hallway was filled with guards all aiming their guns at Jack.
Jack looked up and said, “Am I on the right floor, or am I in a Men in Black convention?” One of the men said, “You, this way,” and opened the chrome-looking double doors. Jack stepped off the elevator and walked through the men with guns aimed at him into the room. When Jack was in the arch-shaped room, he saw guards to the left of him and guards to the right of him.
Jack replied, “Cryki, you must be the man I’m here to see ’cause I don’t even think the president has security like this.” The man at the end of the room said in his deep voice, “You’ve gone through a lot of trouble to see me, now state your business.”
Jack said in his Aussie accent, “The name’s Jack Dingo but people know me by the name Bulletproof Jack, and actually it’s our business.” He began to walk around slowly while the guns followed his every move.He then said, “Nice digs ya got here.” He looked down at the ground and said, “Is this real marble-andgold tile?”
Mr. Platinum seemed a little impatient and said, “If you have nothing to talk about, please leave now.” Jack said, “Oh yeah, right, sorry a bout that, mate, just admiring the room.” He began walking in place and said, “Like I was saying before, I have a business proposition for you.”
Mr. Platinum said, “What could you possibly offer me?” Jack said, “I can take care of your li’l problem.”
Mr. Platinum replied, “And what problem is that?” Jack said in a stern voice, “Spear.”
Mr. Platinum said, “That’s a bold statement from someone presumably unheard-of. A lot of people, presumably more qualified than you, have been given that opportunity and fail. What makes you different? And with that aside, how did you find out about me and my socalled problem?”
Jack said, “Like yourself, I have a lot of connections and can be very persuasive when I put my mind to it.”
Mr. Platinum replied, “And how do you plan on taking care of my little pest problem?” Jack said, “I have my methods, all I ask is 100 million . . . I think that’s a reasonable price.” Mr. Platinum started giving a sinister chuckle and said, “You’re amusing. First of all, I don’t trust you, and secondly, why should I believe you even have what it takes to give Spear any type of challenge?”
Jack smirked and said, “Sounds to me like you want a li’l demonstration.” He turned gray and began to run toward Mr. Platinum. All the men opened fire on Jack, but it has no effect. Mr. Platinum calmly pushed a button and made a 2-inch-thick bulletproof glass wall raise between him at his desk and Jack. Jack continued to run at Mr. Platinum while the bullets just ricocheted off him. He jumped in the air, put out one fingers, and as he landed jammed it straight through the glass. He essentially punching a hole in the glass.
He pulled his finger out the whole and made a fist. He put his fist at the hole a pushed his arm applying pressure to the point that his arm broke through. He extended his arm with an open hand 2 feet from Mr. Platinum’s and said, “Now that you’ve seen some of what I can do . . . do we have a deal?”
Mr. Platinum stood up from his desk and extended his arm shaking Jack’s hand. He then leaned in and said, “Mr. Dingo, if you can bring him to me alive, I’ll give you another 100 million on top of what you’re asking. Just try not to draw too much attention or cause too much destruction.”
Jack said, “Sounds like a deal if I ever heard one.” They began to shake hands. As the deal was done, Jack turned around and nonchalantly walked toward the exit with the guards’ guns still pointed at him. He pointed to the guards and said, “You guys need to lighten up.”
Mr. Platinum said, “How are you planning on getting him?” Jack replied, “Don’t worry your head about that one, mate, I’ll figure something out.” He then walked out of the room into the hallway and into the elevator. The elevator said, “Weight level exceeded. Weight level exceeded.”
Jack said, “Oh sorry,” then turned back to his regular build. He pressed the button to go down, but the elevator said, “Please place thumbprint for scanning.”
Jack yelled, “Could somebody press the button for me.” He then looked down and saw the thumb on the floor. He leaned down and picked it up then said, “Never mind I got it,” as he held up the thumb, wiggling it. The guards watched as he waved to them and the door closed slowly.
NEXT SCENE
The next night Jack was in a junkyard in Kearny setting up what seemed to be fireworks. He thought to himself, “That should do it, they say that Spear character never backs down from a fight if you call him out. So I’ll just have him come to me instead of me searching for him.”
He then lit the fireworks and waited. The fireworks sparked and flew into the air. When they exploded, it spelled the name Spear high in the sky.
Jack lit a cigarette and said to himself, “That should get his attention.”
Nick was on his way driving to Jersey City when he saw his name spelled out in the sky behind him. He quickly turned the car around and started heading back toward his name in the sky. Jack was sitting on the hood of a rundown car when he heard something land on top of a cars. He said, “Well, that was pretty quick. I thoughtI’d have to set off another one before you came . . .” He stopped and squinted his eyes to make out the figure up on top of the pile of cars. He leaned forward and said, “Wait, you’re Spear? I thought you’d be a little taller.”
The figure replied, “What business do you have with Spear?” Jack said, “From the sound of that question, you’re not him, are ya?”
The figure replied, “I’ll repeat myself, what business do you have with Spear?” Jack said, “I really don’t think it’s any of your business now, is it?” As the figure looked down at Jack, in their visor a screen with Jack’s face being scanned and searched for his ID. Jack’s picture showed up in the corner of the screen, and his stats started reading out in the middle of the screen. The picture then went back to the middle of the screen, and the words Wanted and Breaker flashed above and below his picture.
The figure then said, “Jack Dingo, or as you call yourself, Bulletproof Jack; you’re under arrest.” Jack replied, “I see my name reaches even all the wa y over here in the great US of A. Well, since you know my name, at least tell me yours.”
The figure said, “There’s no reason, just know that I’m bringing you in.”
Jack replied, “Big talk for such a small lil guy.” The figure disappeared into thin air. Jack looked around trying to see where he went. Jack was then hit with an attack, sending him flying through the junkyard into a small pile of cars. The figure reappeared standing where Jack was with his spiky hair moving with the breeze.
The figure then said, “Like I said before, I’m bringing you in. And Black Ice.” Jack pulled himself from the dented car and replied, �
�You’re a tuff, li’l fella, aren’t ya? Black Ice was it? I guess since you know my name, you know what I can do, huh? I guess there’s no pointin hiding it then, is there?” His whole body turned gray, and he said, “Sorry, mate, but I’m gonna have to take care of ya real quick ’cause I’m expecting guests soon.”
Ice said, “The ability to condense the carbon in your skin making it as hard as rock. Yea, I know all about your abilities. It still doesn’t mean I’m not bringing you in.”
Jack said, “You’re a cocky li’l one, aren’t ya? Well, that’s great cause there’s nothing better than beating someone that actually thought they had a chance.”
Ice replied, “You talk as if you have a chance.”
Jack said, “Even with your li’l disappearing act, you can’t beat me mate.”
Jack went into a fighting stance and said, “Now come on, and give me ya best shot.”
Ice took Jack up on his call and decided to fight him in a fair one on one, hand-to-hand combat to prove how good he is. They both ran at each other and began to throw punches. Ice was a lot quicker than Jack and landed multiple punches on him. He punched Jack three times in the face then followed up with a 720 degree spinning hook kick making Jack stumble a little. He then stepped up Jack’s knee and kneed Jack in the face. He continued by doing a double flip over his head and kicking him in the back of the head. Jack turned around and was swept from under by the Ice’s foot. Jack fell to his back and saw him coming down from above. He landed on Jack’s face with his feet pushing his head into the ground. It looked like Jack was knocked out, but then Jack grabbed one of Ice’s ankles and slammed him to the ground. He then leaned over and hit him in the gut. He rolled to his feet while still holding Ice’s ankle and began to spin around in a circle, swinging Ice through the air. He then let go and sent him flying into a pile of cars. Jack started to run toward where he threw him when all of a sudden Ice jumped out from the pile of cars and pulled out a sword. As he came down Jack put up his arms to block the attack. The sword cut into his hard skin drawing blood.