That night, Gregory Masterson was scowling as he listened to Talbot's account of his meeting with Britt Reid. Cross stood behind him uneasily. "You're absolutely certain he knows nothing about The Green Hornet?" Masterson asked.
Talbot nodded vigorously. "Yes, sir. He was apparently prying for information."
"What kind?"
"About The Hornet, about Morningstar shipping, about you."
Masterson stood up, his anger rising with him. "For your sake, I hope you didn't tell him about the last two."
"No, sir! I didn't tell him anything! I stuck up for you! I – "
"All right, all right, I get the point. I just have to know if I'm going to have more police or reporters breathing down my neck. Call it my 'need to know.'"
"I understand, sir. You have nothing to worry about."
"Nothing to worry about? I barely get off another murder rap, some new guy costs me two hundred and fifty thousand bucks in a single night and dares to threaten me, that blasted Sentinel is on my back again and again...and you say I have nothing to worry about?"
"Mr. Masterson, there's only so much I can do! I just keep the books at Morningstar Shipping!"
"Yeah, and Morningstar Shipping is bringing in ten million dollars worth of heroin tonight, and I don't want your big mouth messing anything up. Understand?"
"Yes, sir."
"Good. Now get out of my sight."
Talbot almost leaped from his chair and bolted out of the room. Cross watched him leave anxiously. "Mr. Masterson, should we shut him up, permanent like?"
Masterson nodded. "We can't risk The Green Hornet reaching him first. But not here. And make sure nobody ever finds him again. If you fail, you'll get the same as what Talbot's supposed to get five times worse."
***
In the darkness of the night, Talbot raced to his car, fumbling with the key. He's going to kill me! he thought nervously. I know he doesn't believe me, he doesn't trust me, and now he's gonna kill me! I'm a dead man, I'm a dead –
A gloved hand suddenly clamped down on his shoulder in a vice-like grip, and slammed him against the hood of the car. The assailant shifted his weight to pin Talbot down.
Talbot screamed with panic at the suddenness of the attack. "AAAAAAAH!! Please, I didn't tell anybody anything, do you hear me? Tell Masterson I didn't tell Reid anything! I swear!"
"Masterson?" the man said. "Who said I worked for Masterson?"
Talbot gasped, and struggled to look up at his attacker. From what he was able to see, he was dressed a black chauffeur's uniform, and wore an eye-mask.
Suddenly, Talbot froze as The Green Hornet materialized out of nowhere, his expression as grim as the Angel of Death. The Hornet looked down at Talbot with contempt, and slowly aimed his gas gun at him.
"No! NO!!!"
Talbot's screams faded as the gas rendered him unconscious. Kato unceremoniously stuffed him in the back of The Black Beauty and swiftly got behind the driver's seat. The Hornet joined Talbot in the back, and the car sped off just as Masterson's hired guns approached.
Cross and the rest of Masterson's hitmen, who were just now approaching, watched helplessly as The Black Beauty vanished into the night. They fired a few ineffective shots at the speeding car, but to no avail. Masterson's not going to like this, Cross nervously thought to himself.
***
I'm alive, Talbot thought, as he finally came to. I'm actually alive! I...
His thoughts faded as he suddenly became aware of his surroundings. He was seated in a chair, with his hands securely tied behind his back. The Green Hornet stood a few feet away from him, his eyes cold behind his mask. Kato stood behind him, also not moving.
They were in a large, dimly lit room, probably an empty warehouse. The walls looked thick, and Talbot didn't think crying for help would be helpful, let alone a smart idea.
"Long time, no see, Mr. Talbot," The Hornet said in an almost conversational tone.
"What's going on?" Talbot asked weakly. "What's this all about?"
"I understand you had a meeting with Mr. Reid this afternoon. About me."
"How did you know that?"
The Hornet smiled and removed a small microphone from his coat pocket. "I had this planted in Reid's office, and we were listening in. It was very fascinating, I must say. You're in the wrong line of work. You should either be an actor or a writer, the way you can make stuff like this up."
Suddenly, as if a switch had been thrown, the look in The Hornet's eyes turned dangerous. "However, I am rather insulted that you would dare describe me as a mere, common thief. Not to mention angry."
Talbot was now sweating heavily. "What do you want with me, Hornet?"
"I dropped by Masterson's place last night, and I overheard something about a big shipment coming in tonight. I want details."
"Me? But...I couldn't...Mr. Masterson would tear me apart!"
The Hornet gave Talbot a vicious slap across the face. "Masterson doesn't have you now! I do! Before you know it, this is going to be my city! Your boss is going down, and so is everyone else who gets in my way! Do you want to be first?"
Talbot blanched. "I don't know anything...I'm telling you..." he said, his voice a mere croak.
"Oh, come on. You don't seriously expect me to believe that, do you?"
"It's true! I swear! I..."
"Don't give me that!" The Hornet snapped. "You lied to Reid, and now you're lying to me! I can tell! It's written all over you! Now talk, so we can get this over with!"
"Please...if I tell you, I'm a dead man!"
"You're a dead man if you don't."
Talbot sunk his head down in despair, his spirit broken. "I can't...I can't..."
The Green Hornet glared at him, then flashed a sinister smile. "Kato? He's all yours."
Talbot stared at Kato as he produced a pair of short sticks, chained together at one end. "These are called nunchaku," Kato said. "They work in the same way as a flail. A flick of my wrist, and..."
Kato lashed out with the nunchaku at a nearby concrete block that was resting on the table. The single stroke shattered the block. Talbot looked on in shock.
Kato walked over to Talbot and waved the nunchaku in his face. "That's what they can do to concrete. Do you want to see what they can do to your arm? Or a couple of your ribs?"
Talbot winced. "No...please..."
"Then tell us what we want to know! My boss is losing patience, and so am I!"
"I can't! I can't!"
"Fine," Kato said, as he started pacing back and forth, swishing the nunchaku idly. Suddenly, he stopped in place, and started whirling the nunchaku around, with blinding speed. Talbot was barely able to follow the weapon's movement as Kato maneuvered it around his arm and body. As he did so, he slowly walked towards Talbot, a grim look on his face, his eyes cold and merciless.
Finally, Talbot snapped. "OKAY! OKAY! I'll talk! I'll talk! Just back off!"
The whirling of the nunckakus stopped, and Kato froze. The Hornet silently walked over to Talbot, giving him an expectant look.
Talbot sighed. "Tonight, a ten million dollar shipment of heroin is coming in from Thailand. It'll be arriving at the Southside docks, eleven-forty-five."
The Green Hornet smiled and patted Talbot on the shoulder. "See? That wasn't so hard. Untie him, Kato."
"What are you going to do with me now?" Talbot wheezed.
"Nothing. You're going to visit Frank Scanlon, turn yourself in, tell him everything, and stay in jail like a good little boy."
Talbot looked confused. "Why not just kill me?"
The Hornet sneered. "Because I'm going to enjoy thinking about you and your boss sitting in jail, watching me take you down, and truly make this my city. I want you to be alive to think about that."
Before Talbot had a chance to answer, The Hornet shot him with his gas gun. Talbot slumped over, unconscious again.
The Hornet looked at his watch. It was a few minutes after ten-o'clock. "We'll drop him off at Scanlon's place, then head on over to the docks...after we up the stakes a bit..."
***
Masterson's voice was as hard as steel as he addressed his bodyguard regarding Talbot's disappearance. "Let me get this straight, Cross. After I give you explicit orders to kill Talbot before The Hornet or the police can get to him, The Hornet spirits him away right from under your noses?"
Cross nodded nervously. "The guy came out of nowhere, boss! It happened so fast!"
"And you have no idea where he could possibly be right now?"
"Sorry, Mr. Masterson. We've been tearing up the streets. Not a trace of the guy, or The Hornet."
Masterson slowly rose from behind his desk, grabbed Cross's tie with one swift motion, and slammed his face into the desk. "You incompetent idiot! Do you have any idea what this means? Talbot knows enough to blow this syndicate wide open! And he probably told The Hornet all about the shipment! This situation couldn't possibly be worse!"
Almost as if on cue, the phone began to ring. Masterson released his grip on Cross and gruffly picked it up. "What?"
"Temper, temper, Mr. Masterson," a sinister voice answered on the other end of the phone.
"You! The Green Hornet!"
"Glad you remember me. Have you reconsidered my proposition?"
"What have you done with Talbot, Hornet?"
"Oh, go easy on the man. He's had a long day. He's currently sleeping it off at police headquarters, surrounded by the few cops in this city that you don't own. Let sleeping dogs lie, shall we?"
"Listen to me, freak. Who do you think you're pushing around here? I'm..."
"Shut up and listen, Masterson, 'cause I'm only going to say this once! You have a choice. Either we can meet and discuss a business partnership...or you kiss you ten million dollar heroin shipment goodbye."
Masterson felt a chill. "You wouldn't dare."
"I think you know better than that."
Masterson snarled into the phone. "When I get my hands on you, you lousy..."
"Wrong answer."
Before Masterson could reply, the line went dead.
Masterson stood motionless for several minutes, a rage unlike any he'd ever known boiling deep within him. Then he slowly grabbed Cross by the hair and yanked him up, staring him straight in the eye. "Listen and listen well. This is your one and only chance to redeem yourself. Send as many men as you can get a hold of down to the docks. Do not let anything happen to the shipment under any circumstances. Otherwise, don't bother coming back. Tonight, either The Hornet dies...or you do."
***
At the Southside Docks, a small army of Masterson's henchmen, armed to the teeth, looked around anxiously. They had good reason to be nervous. It was almost time for the heroin shipment to arrive. Nothing was to go wrong...or else they'd be lucky if Masterson merely had them killed.
Cross was especially nervous. He never left Masterson's side unless of something of the utmost importance. And The Green Hornet definitely qualified. He seemed to strike from out of nowhere, and would certainly follow up on his threat. He had already failed to stop The Hornet twice. Third time had better be the charm, or...
"Cross!" someone called. "It's here!"
Cross smiled, but stayed alert. The cargo vessel bearing ten million in heroin was only a couple of minutes away from docking. There was no sign of The Hornet. Was it only a bluff after all...or was The Green Hornet waiting in the shadows, waiting to strike?
***
"There it is," Kato said from behind the wheel of The Black Beauty.
The sleek back car was well hidden in an alley between two warehouses. Between the darkness of the harbor and The Black Beauty's silent running engine, they had slipped in undetected about half-an-hour ago. Now, after waiting patiently in the shadows, it was time to go to work.
"Have the police already been contacted?" The Hornet asked.
Kato nodded. "According to Scanlon, they should be here any time now."
"Good. Let's make their job a little easier. Activate the rockets and target the ship's bow. The water's shallow enough so that it won't sink all the way, but deep enough that the ship won't be able to make it to the dock."
Kato smiled and pressed a switch. The Black Beauty's headlights slid away, revealing a series of small rocket-launchers. Although they weren't exactly weapons of mass destruction, they could definitely do some significant damage.
"The rockets have been targeted," Kato said.
"Fire."
***
Cross's heart leaped into his mouth as he saw something streak out of the nearby alley and towards the approaching ship.
"Oh no..."
The rocket slammed into the bow of the ship, causing it to rock violently. A massive hole appeared in the hull, and the ship was already starting to sink. It was still about a hundred yards from the harbor, there was no way it could make it to the docks in its condition, and there was no way to get to it. The crew was diving off the ship, desperate to escape.
"Do something, blast it!" Cross screamed at his men.
"What can we do?" someone said. "We can't get the stuff out now! It's impossible!"
The ship gave a hollow moan as the bow dipped further and further into the water, before it sank as far as it could, slamming into the rocks beneath the water. The sound of the impact soon gave way to the shrill whine of sirens. The approaching police spread even more panic among the gangsters.
Amidst the chaos, The Black Beauty tore out of its hiding place, gliding through the scattering criminals. Kato activated The Black Beauty's smoke screen, spreading further confusion. Cross and his men furiously opened fire on The Black Beauty with everything they had, but the bullets failed to even nick the rolling arsenal's armor. As quickly as he had appeared, The Green Hornet was gone.
The police had arrived at the docks, exited their vehicles, and were now charging towards the smugglers, weapons drawn. Many of Cross's men had thrown down their arms and surrendered. Cross fired a few panicked shots, and took off. Somebody had to tell Masterson the bad news.
***
As The Black Beauty streaked away from the docks, The Green Hornet and Kato grinned triumphantly.
"We did it, boss!" Kato said eagerly.
The Hornet nodded. "Now, I think we should get some sleep. Tomorrow's going to be a long day. The Daily Sentinel is going to spread this story across the entire city."
"Yeah, right. After tonight, I don't think I'll be able to sleep for a week!"
The Hornet laughed, knowing exactly what Kato meant. Tonight's escapade had been a devastating blow for Masterson and his syndicate. Not only was it a monetary loss, but the continual attacks on Masterson's operations were eroding the power base of fear he had built up over the years. Plus, pulling such a daring stunt would only increase The Hornet's notorious reputation and make him even more intimidating in the eyes of the Underworld.
And Masterson was only the first. Soon, he would tear apart all the rackets in the city and bring them the justice they so richly deserved.
All in all, a perfect day.