Two days later
Saturday
Safehouse A
It was time to get back in the saddle, quite literally!
We were going to kick some serious Mafia ass!
This was also going to be the first night out for the two kiddies and their motorcycles.
"You will do as I say, every fucking step! No show-boating, Jackal!"
"Hey!"
"Just 'cause you can pinch a damn motorcycle, doesn't mean you can ride one in every situation. Got it!" I cautioned.
"Yes!" Both kids agreed.
"Okay, let's roll!"
Southern Chicago
It was dark and getting cold.
Traffic was fair, so we were able to cruise and keep a good pace. I wasn't on the Kawasaki, but on my Ducati, which was much better. Abby was in the Command Centre at Safehouse A, while Marty and Kim were geared up in Lucille. Currently Marty had cameras on the Russian Mafia building. We had our NVGs on, so we could approach stealthily and via the heads-up-display, we could see that the Russians were expecting a possible attack, but seemed not to be expecting one at this site; there were token defences but that was all. Marty had counted twenty-three men of which around a dozen seemed to be Kryshas. Shadow was carrying her trusty compound bow, although this time, her quiver was packed with fun; these new arrows would be a game changer!
Both Shadow and Jackal were doing well with their motorcycles and successfully kept up with Kick-Ass and I. They seemed to be taking things seriously and kept together, side-by-side, behind me, with Kick-Ass following. We kept the speed down, so as not to attract attention and to give Shadow and Jackal a good learning experience.
We pulled over about twenty yards from Lucille, which was about forty yards from the Russian Mafia building. None of us were showing any lights and we hoped that the building between us and the Russians would mask our engine noise.
..._...
Kick-Ass and I headed towards the Russian Mafia building, followed by Jackal and Shadow. When we got to within ten yards of the Russians, we readied ourselves for the assault. First, though, Shadow would prepare the way ahead. Arrayed in front of her were four arrows, each of a special design with payloads near to their tips. Shadow would fire these in rapid succession, which she was now an expert at.
As the clock ticked towards ten o'clock, Marty gave us a countdown and Shadow notched her first arrow.
"This is Battle Guy! Ten seconds - five, four, three, two, mark!"
Shadow released her first arrow, scooped up the next arrow and released it into the air, before repeating the operation with the next pair of arrows; it only took a few seconds for all four arrows to be in the air and heading for their targets.
..._...
The first pair of arrows landed in the grass, each one near a group of watchdogs who were guarding the exterior of the building and none of the watchdogs noticed the arrows landing. A split-second later both arrows detonated in a bright flash of light and a deafening explosion. The next pair of arrows impacted the double, wooden, door of the building. Nothing appeared to happen immediately and a watchdog at the door, leant closer to the the arrows, inspecting the attached payloads.
"Ready to breach in ten!" I called.
"Detonating in three, two, mark!" Battle Guy called and the last two arrows detonated violently, blasting the doors to matchwood and shredding the nosy watchdog!
"Fusion, forward!" I called and we all ran towards the shattered doors; on the way Kick-Ass clubbed the fallen watchdogs before they could recover from the flashbangs. We raced through the doorway, Shadow was in front with her P90 up and ready to fire. I followed behind, with Jackal, while Kick-Ass kept an eye on our rear. We could hear men shouting in Russian; there was total confusion, which was perfect for us and we would take every advantage we could get!
"Battle Guy and Hawk are leaving Lucille!" Battle Guy called. They would provide backup and ensure no more Russians came in behind us.
Our first targets appeared round a corner and Shadow opened fire, dropping three Russians, while I took down a fourth with my G36C.
"Hal! Four down, moving on!"
"Hal copies four down!"
Another twenty yards and Shadow had her P90 ripped from her hand and she was thrown, bodily, against the wall by a Krysha; Shadow screamed in pain and fell to the floor. I shot the Krysha in the head, just as four more came from a passageway to the right and I was punched in the face again! Why can't these bastards leave my fucking face alone! I span around in anger and cut the man's throat with my Tanto and let him bleed out. Shadow was back up and drove her compound bow into the face of another Krysha breaking his nose, before she kicked the man's left knee, putting him down. Jackal followed up with his Ninja-To through the man's heart.
Kick-Ass was engaged in a blade fight with a Krysha, who was armed with a machete. The other Krysha came at me and I used his momentum to throw him behind me, where I shot him in the head with a pistol. Kick-Ass finished off his Krysha with a blade across the man's stomach, emptying his entrails onto the floor.
We moved on, after changing out magazines and checking each other was okay. Shadow was a little shaken, but okay to continue. The first floor was clear and now we had a large set of stairs in front of us, with an unknown opposition at the top. There was definite movement, but we had no idea what was up there. Cue Shadow and her bow!
Shadow notched another flashbang arrow, before aiming for the ceiling at the top of the stairs. We all covered our eyes and ears, ready for the visual and auditory assault. Once the bright flash had occurred and the explosion was echoing around the building, Kick-Ass and Jackal ran up the stairs; Kick-Ass with his G36C and Jackal with his P90, which I had spent some of the past week exhaustively drilling him on.
At the top of the stairs I saw several bodies, all of them moving and trying to clear their heads.
One managed to aim and fire off his AKS-74U assault rifle, before I shot him, but I heard Jackal yell, as the bullets impacted his armour and he fell backwards down the stairs.
"Hit Girl! Get Jackal, he's coming down the hard way, got shot!" I called.
"Copy that!" Hit Girl replied.
I moved forward and shot anybody I saw with a weapon, which turned out to be four of them, the other three I clubbed into unconsciousness. More AKS fire erupted, from further along the passageway and I dove through an open doorway into an empty room.
"We have Jackal, he's shaken up, but okay. He's staying downstairs, to watch our backs." Hit Girl reported.
"This is Kick-Ass, I'm pinned at the top of the stairs!"
"I'm on it!" Shadow reported.
About a minute later I heard Shadow's voice again.
"Fire in the hole, cocksuckers!"
This was followed by an explosion, seconds after Shadow had released an arrow towards the other end of the corridor. I heard screams as the explosion reverberated around the building and dived out of the room and joined Shadow, who slung the bow on her back and raised her P90.
"Good shooting, kid!" I growled, as we moved forward together, along the corridor.
There were three doors at the end of the corridor.
"You take the first door on the left, I'll cover you," I called to Shadow.
"I'm with you Kick-Ass!" Hit Girl called and touched my shoulder, so I knew she was there.
"Going in!" Shadow called and kicked in the door and dived in, rolled forward and came up on one knee. I followed to find a large, portly, man with his hands raised and Shadow with her P90 pointed directly at the man's head.
I ran forward and secured the man's hands with plastic ties.
"Stay there, asshole!" Shadow growled.
Hit Girl took the next door on the left, which led to an empty room. There was just the one door left. I waited until Shadow and Hit Girl were ready to cover me, then I kicked the door open and promptly received several bullet impacts to my chest armour. There was a pair of Krysha in the room, apparently guarding a store room beyond. I fired several rounds which hit the two Krysha in the chest, but they just staggered back.
"The bastards are wearing body armour!" I called, over the comms.
"This is Hawk, we're taking fire outside!" Hawk called.
"Jackal, go support Battle Guy and Hawk!" Hit Girl called.
"Jackal moving outside!"
This was getting complicated!
Shadow came forward and fired several rounds at each Krysha, her rounds passed through their body armour and dropped them both.
I ran out the doorway and found Hawk and Battle Guy behind a car and taking fire from several men, who had arrived in a pair of SUVs.
Both of them were replying with their G36C assault rifles. I engaged, from the cover of the doorway, cutting down one of the men. Unfortunately, I then received several shots in return!
"Hawk! I'll cover, so you can flank them!" I called.
"Copy Jackal! Ready to move in five, four, three, two, mark!" Hawk called, as I hosed down the two SUVs and Hawk dove towards the far side of the road and cover behind another vehicle. I quickly swapped out the magazine and continued firing, slower this time, to conserve ammunition.
As the two Krysha fell to the floor of the room, I kicked open the door to the storeroom and Shadow went in, with her P90 up in front of her. The light mounted on the side of the weapon illuminated a small room and a second later the beam settled on a boy, wedged into a corner and scared shitless.
"We're the good guys! We're here to rescue you!" Shadow said quietly and smiled down at the boy.
Shadow picked the young lad up off of the floor. He must have been about ten or eleven and was bleeding from a cut to his forehead, not to mention several hefty bruises. He was the same kid that we had seen the other night.
"Hi, I'm Shadow, what's your name?"
"Tommy," The boy answered in a shaky voice.
"Where do you live?" Shadow asked.
"Nowhere... I was kidnapped... From New York..." The boy answered.
"What?" I asked, turning around, as Shadow came out of the store room. "Your name is Tommy and you were kidnapped from New York? From outside a store, looking after a dog?"
"Yeah, couple of years ago, I'm ten and a half."
I looked at Hit Girl: "It couldn't be!"
..._...
I saw several emotions spread across Hit Girl's face, before her face went dark and she stormed through to the office across the corridor. I followed, sure of what she was about to do.
"You fucking bastard!" Hit Girl yelled, throwing the man to the floor. "You take kids! You hurt kids!"
"You cannot hurt me, I have diplomatic immunity!" The Russian said, smiling smugly through his pain. I noticed a green passport on the desk with Cyrillic writing, that I assumed was a diplomatic passport.
Hit Girl raised her pistol and pointed it directly at the Russian's face.
"Diplomatic immunity!" The Russian repeated and the bastard looked very sure of himself, as he pointed to the passport, on the desk.
I saw Hit Girls trigger finger tighten and then the Russian's brain's spread over the wall behind him.
"It's just been revoked!" Hit Girl growled and smiled, before she turned and left the room.
"Grab the boy, let's go!" Hit Girl ordered. "Hal, we have the boy! Exiting now!"
"Hawk! What's happening?" Kick-Ass called, as we headed towards the stairs. He was carrying the boy on his left arm, allowing him to keep his G36C ready for action, in his right hand.
"Doing well, last couple to take down!" Hawk replied.
By the time we got down to the destroyed main door, the shooting outside was over.
"Exit is clear!" Hawk reported.
We left the building and headed towards Lucille. Hal called Voight and told him to meet us a few miles up the road. Hawk took Tommy and with Battle Guy, drove to the rendezvous, the rest of us followed on our motorcycles.
A few miles up the road
I dialled the number: 212-012-86669.
"Hello?" A familiar woman's voice answered.
"Shannon?" I asked.
"Yes, who is this?"
"You may remember me, I'm Kick-Ass!"
"Kick-Ass! Hi, how are you doing?" Shannon Morgan asked, excitedly.
"I have somebody who wants to talk to you," I said and handed the phone over.
"Mommy?" The boy asked, tentatively.
The boys face suddenly lit up and tears streamed down his face.
Bingo!
I looked at Mindy and I was sure that I could see tears of joy in her eyes.