New Age of Heroes 1: The League of Protectors - Dawn of a New Age (18 page)

Everyone inside the
room stood up and watched as the President walked out the door.

“So what’s
next?” Garrett asked Jason.

“Next, we get
to work!”

17

The
Black Vigilante

Chicago, Illinois,
home of some of the finest attractions the country has to offer. Be
it the theaters, sports stadiums, great restaurants, or gigantic
buildings, Chicago is certainly a tourists' place to visit. In the
midst of all that beauty and attraction, however lies something very
dark. A sinister city filled with some of the worse that evil has to
offer.

Chicago, Illinois,
home of some of the most violent criminals. This is a city filled
with dangerous gangsters and ruthless mobsters. This is a violent
city, a city so violent, that it has been nicknamed Chiraq. In this
diverse city one thing remains true; Chicago is in need of heroes.
Sure, the boys in blue protect and serve, but when half of the force
is corrupt, you question just who exactly they are protecting and
serving.

It’s the
thugs that make the news; the senseless killings that occur everyday
on these streets. People think that the thugs and drug dealers are
the worst of what Chicago has to offer, but it's the mobsters that
are the real danger in this town. The five essential families as they
are called. You've got the Gambinos, the Romanos, the Morettis, the
De Lucas and last but not least, the Bianchis that make up the city’s
power. The five families rule Chicago with a ruthlessness that rivals
the golden days of mobsters.

To make matters
worse, Chicago is also home to one of the most powerful vampires in
existence. Although the vampires keep a much lower profile than the
gangsters and mobsters, they’ve subtly infiltrated the highest
ranking positions the city has to offer.

Indeed, Chicago is
certainly filled with its share of darkness. Who do the people turn
to when they can’t trust the police? How can a city overcome
corruptness when its politicians work for the other side? Who
regulates the regulators?

Perhaps the hero
that’s needed isn’t the hero that’s wanted. Perhaps
the hero required to combat this threat isn’t really a hero at
all. To each individual the word hero is defined differently. Perhaps
Chicago doesn’t need a hero but instead a vigilante.

“The Black
Vigilante,” is what they called him. The moniker was first used
by an internet blogger who had an interest in reporting the unknown
or better yet, the unusual.

The story of some
black man patrolling the streets at night and dealing out punishment
to the local criminals was too intriguing not to become the talk of
the town. It was right after a woman reported nearly being raped by
three scumbags that people started taking notice. The woman was in
her mid 30’s. She described her protector as a tall, well
built, dark man with a smooth seductive voice. A voice that she
hasn't been able to get out of her head.

The description
alone was buzz worthy. The woman went on in detail explaining how the
protector battled the three men that assaulted her with ruthless
aggression. Had that been the end of it the story would’ve lost
steam fast. However, that wasn't the case. The protector killed all
three men with no compassion. Although snapping their necks, she
found rather gruesome, she couldn't help but feel those men got what
they deserved.

Newspapers and
local news stations went wild over the story. None of them liked the
word protector. They felt it was too heroic. So reporters started
referring to him as the vigilante. The internet blogger added the
“black” part and the name just sort of stuck.

The deaths of the
three men opened up a murder investigation. The police were pursuing
the case intensely, with pressure from the mayor to bring the
murderer in. While the mayor and his constitutes labeled the woman’s
protector as a murderer the media and the residents of the city were
calling the vigilante a hero.

With the weeks and
months that followed, the body count of Chicago’s criminals
began to add up. The police were desperate to find the man
responsible for all the murders. It was one thing to protect the
public like the League of Protectors did, but it was something
totally different to take on the role of executioner as the Black
Vigilante was doing.

Some complained
about the word “Black” citing it as a reference to the
man’s skin tone. Others argued that the word “Black”
actually represented the nature of the man’s actions.
Regardless of what the “Black” stood for, the fact
remained that the Vigilante was the right person to combat the
darkness that plagued the city.

His actions were a
moral debate. Several college classes started discussing the
vigilante's actions. Some argued that he needed to be brought to
justice; that regardless of why he was doing what he did, he was
still a murderer and needed to answer for his crimes. Others argued
that for the first time in years, there was hope for the city. They
argued knowing that the Black Vigilante was patrolling the streets
brought comfort to their lives.

Chicago, it’s
the home of the Willis Tower, Wrigley Field and Navy Pier. Chicago,
is the home of the Vice Lords, Latin Kings and the Five Families.
Chicago, it’s the home of Noah Winters… The Black
Vigilante!

The getaway car
spun off. Tires screeched as the last masked man jumped desperately
into the car. They had made off with a good sum of money and the
police were as usual suspiciously late to respond. Unfortunately for
the bank robbers, Noah Winters was quick to respond. The Star Foxx
Jet zoomed across the naked sky concealed by its cloak. Noah landed
the jet on the roof of one of the buildings and waited patiently for
the getaway car to catch up.

The four men
rambled amongst themselves confident in what they perceived to be a
clean getaway. Little did they know that the Black Vigilante was
watching them. As the car neared Noah’s location, Noah leapt
from the building, landing feet first squarely on the hood of the
getaway car. The startled men did exactly what they knew to do...
Shoot first ask questions later!

The car swerved
left and right as bullets sprayed forward at Noah. Backwards and
forwards, left and right, up and down Noah moved dodging the
onslaught of bullets.

“Who the hell
is that guy?” one of the men shouted angrily.

“The
Vigilante!” another replied.

“Boss will be
thrilled if we can bring his corpse back to the mansion!” the
driver shouted. He yelled at the three men in the car to continue
firing at Noah.

Noah leaped to his
left, nearly falling off the car. He gathered himself, pushed up and
landed a right fist to the driver’s jaw. The driver jerked the
car and skidded into the left lane.

A driver, unable to
push on the brakes fast enough slammed right into the getaway car.
Noah barely avoided being smashed by the other car. He rolled over to
the other car and waited to regain his balance. The getaway car was
still moving and the passengers were still shooting.

Fearing for the
safety of the other driver, Noah used his telekinesis to redirect the
bullets. The action happened so fast that no one noticed the
telekinesis that was being used. Noah then leaped to his right and
jumped back onto the getaway car.

“Why won’t
you just die?” one of the passengers shouted as he continued
firing at Noah.

“Because your
ability to hit your target is horrendous,” Noah replied
sharply.

Noah positioned
himself and swooped more to the right. He kicked the man riding in
the passenger seat square in the face. The impact of the kick sent
the passenger into the driver causing the driver to lose control of
the car.

The car spun around
crashing right into the curve. It flipped over leaving the passengers
unable to get away by means of driving. Noah rolled to the ground
landing hard. He might've had a high tolerance for pain, but he was
certainly going to feel that one in the morning. Two of the men lay
on the ground motionlessly. Noah was unsure if they were still alive.
He approached the car cautiously and dodged as the other two men
continued firing at him. One of the men grabbed the briefcase of
stolen money while the other provided cover by shooting at Noah.
Bullet after bullet Noah dodged as the two men desperately tried to
kill him.

“Oh man, we
can’t get caught. If Johnny Gambino finds out we’re
responsible for taking his money Mr. Moretti is going to kill us!”
one of the men said nervously.

“Yeah, that’s
only if Johnny doesn’t kill us first,” the other man
added.

The two men put all
other thoughts out of their mind and concentrated on how they were
going to escape this vigilante. They were moving pretty fast on foot.
It was quite an impressive sight seeing them running considering the
fact they had no abilities that would increase their speed. Guess the
old saying applies, “Desperate men do desperate things.”

The men made it to
one of their hangout spots. Never had they been so happy to see the
bodyguards standing watch over the shop. Two Italian men stood watch
outside while several more hung out inside. The two bodyguards
standing watch outside the door immediately reached for their
firearms as the two running men approached them. The bodyguards
rested their weapons upon realizing the men worked for Mr. Moretti.
The men ran straight inside not realizing the repercussions their
actions had triggered.

“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.