Chapter 21: Jet

It was late at night and Jet waiting down by the piers. He didn't want to be here but he wasn't strong enough to demand a more secure position. Quite frankly the piers were outside his territory and so Jet did feel a bit uneasy. He always did in enemy territory.

Territory. Land owned and claimed. That was what it was all about for the small gangs in the State area. Most held small bits here and there, on a map the State would look like Germany during the Dark and Middle Ages. Small fiefdoms scattered all over the place, his own among them. But his was different in the fact that his territory seemed larger, it was not cut in several pieces like a few of his neighbors. Even so he was the underdog here. He was in the middle of a Dread Eater territory, the Dread Eaters being the most powerful family that held territory that touched his. He was on unfamiliar ground and alone but after tonight he was hoping to have the Dread's support or loyalty, one way or the other.

The warehouse he was in was cold and dimly lit. 'This is so clich' Jet thought. Still he was not in any position to change that. If his plan to add the Dread Eater's territory to his own was to work he had to make it look like he was seeking an alliance or even protection. In the case of being a vassal his territory would still be his to run but he would be under the protection of a larger gang boss or a Don if any man could carve out enough of a reputation and territory to attract the attention of the big Dons that ran most of the major operations in the north of the State. In the south it was just the little gangs that didn't cut up counties but cities. Most gangs owned a small town or a big chuck of a city if they were lucky. Jet was looking to be one of the luckier ones. He already held most of the city but The Dread Eaters held the docks and some of the eastside of the city and the outlying suburbs. Jet hoped to change that.

The large doors creaked as they opened to allow entrance to a group of five men. The one in the center was obviously the leader. He walked head of the other four and he was the only guy who was under the six foot, 200 pound mark. The others were all tall, large, and heavily built men as was standard for street muscle. Even so Jet didn't think much of them though a particularly big and tall blonde man did stand out on the far left.

The group approached a table that was under the only light that seemed to be on in the whole warehouse. The smaller man sat down at one of the chairs opposite to where Jet was sitting. The four guards just stood behind their boss with their arms crossed trying to look big, impressive and intimidating. In normal circumstances this would have worked. These four men were some of the biggest and toughest looking men Jet had ever seen in a long while. And he was a long making the odds five to one but these were not normal circumstances. He was "the Jet," the deadliest weapon in Doña Spinelli's arsenal and he had yet to fail at a mission.

All the while Jet was sizing up his possible associates they were sizing him up. He was about 5'10" and looked around the 180-200 mark as far as weight went. He was wearing what looked to be tight fitting black spandex that covered his entire body that sowed off his muscles. The tight fitting suit left little to the imagination and it was clear that Jet was incredibly strong for his size. He had lightweight black boots and his mask was also black spandex that covered his entire head. One-way lens prevented anyone from seeing his eyes and his costume made it so that no one could get a fingerprint, hair color, skin color or anything that might identify him. A truly practical thing in this line of work but Jet just looked ridiculous in the five men's opinions.

Jet was in a strange and not entirely unique working situation with his boss. Technically all the territory he had claim to was Doña Spinelli's but he was the one who had conquered it, he was the one the people knew, respected and loved. Doña Spinelli's only power lay in her power base on the western side of the train track on the western edge of the city. It was her home territory and the only territory she did not owe to Jet for claiming it in her name. Still Jet was the real power in the Spinelli's family and they both knew it, everyone did, but he would not eliminate the woman and seize power because Doña Spinelli was the mother of his child. This fact more then any other kept the Doña alive and she repaid it by letting Jet run things as he saw fit, which as very efficiently.

-"A little bird told me that Doña Spinelli wishes an alliance with the Dread Eaters. Is that why you're here, Don Jet?"- The man sitting down said in fluent Italian, the language of the bosses and of the high up in the Families.

-"You heard right and wrong."- Jet replied in equally fluent Italian.

-"What do you mean?"- The man said lean over the table and giving Jet a hard penetrating glare. Even though none of them understood what was being said the muscle copied what their boss did trying to add to the intimidation factor. Jet was unimpressed and unfazed.

-"My Doña would like the Dread Eaters to agree to an agreement of becoming a vassal of the Spinelli Family."-

The man threw his head back and laughed. "You must be joking. The Dread Eaters pledging allegiance to the Spinelli family is absolutely absurd. But you have guts enough to come all the way here and say it to my face; that I'll give you. Are you aware that the Dread Eaters are the largest Family in this city? We control all of the east side, the southern docks and the outlying suburbs of the city."

"And the Spinelli Family is aware of that but are you aware that the docks hold great interest with my Doña?"

-"These docks are very important to the Death Eaters. We will never give them up not matter what deal your Doña may offer."-

-"Because of the drug trade you do here."- Jet stated plainly drawing a sharp look from his counterpart but no comment followed the look. Both men knew that Jet was right and they both knew there was no point in the man denying it. One rule of the Underworld was not to lie in business because things just got ugly from there. So if one man had info on another guy and he shared it he had better be damned sure that his info was correct or else he was a dead man walking; few dead men walked.

"I see. I'm sure you know that the Dread Eaters are not pleased by these turns in events," the man said darkly.

"My Doña expected as such and is prepared to ease your discomfort if you would allow it."

"How?" the man asked intrigued.

"Like this!" Jet shoved the table into the man sitting opposite him. Jet picked up his chair as he jumped to his feet and brought it down on the blonde muscle's heads with a sickening cracking as the wooden chair splintered to pieces.

The lead man managed to distance himself from Jet and yelled"; "Get him you fools!" directing the remaining three muscle to take Jet down.

As the three were on the other side of the table Jet took advantage by doing a drop kick over the table, his boots connecting with one of the muscle's jaw and knocking him backwards, and Jet landed on the table where he wanted to be. Jet picked up the other chair and slammed it against the head of the muscle man on his right effectively knocking him out cold. This only left the muscle at his back now. Jet turned to face him and met the fist of the large man. The punch sent Jet off the table and onto the hard concrete floor knocking the wind out of him temporarily. Seeing an opening the muscle attacked again; this time tackling Jet as he got up. However Jet was ready and turned the tackle into a dot DDT* taking the big man down. Unfortunately the man who he had dropped kick had recovered and was right there to slug Jet with a hard right which cause Jet to stagger a few feet. Jet recovered quickly though and responded with a few right hooks of his own. Jet could have finished it with just his punches but he was sent to persuade the Dread Eaters into accepting Doña Spinelli's proposal. So Jet Pick the man up and military pressed him over his head.**

Turning to face the lead man Jet spoke in a tight voice due to the effort he had to put into holding up the big man; "Tell your Don that…" Jet then Jack Hammered*** the muscle through the table that sent splinters everywhere as the table broke. "my Doña would like the parks in the Eastside. You can keep the rest." with that Jet turned and left eh warehouse leaving the lead man to stand in utter amazement at the downfall of his four perfectly capable men.

Jet started his way home. It was late and he wanted some sleep. Still he couldn't help but wonder why one for his friends had been there. Really too bad that he had had to use the chair against him. Even so in the Underworld friends didn't count for much. They were the people that could never be trusted. It was your foes you could trust just like the old saying from the Godfather. In this business you had to "keep your friends close, but your enemies closer."

Sorry for not updating in a while. The annual science fair rolled around and took up so much energy. The good news is I did win the 11th grade model category. !-_o!

Okay some things for those of you who have no idea about some of the moves Jet pulled.

A dot DDT works like this. Your opponent must be facing you and you have their head under one arm so that they are bent over. (In the case of the muscle he was already at the correct angle for the hold.) Then you simple fall back onto the ground drilling your foe's head into the ground. A military press is lifting someone over your head while holding them by the neck and crotch. A Jack Hammer is taking someone from the military press position and slamming him or her into the ground by quickly moving out from under him or her and using the gravity to add force to your slam.

Also please take guesses as to who the friend of Jet is as well as this Doña Spinelli he sorta works for.