The story thus far:
In the last episode of Defenders, after he helped clear an overturned semi-truck, Guardian returned to Philadelphia for a little break. He went to his favorite restaurant after changing back into Brandon for dinner. There, he met and got acquainted with a young waitress named Sarah. They set up an arrangement for a date the next day. Brandon leaves once he finishes his cheesesteak dinner to make his nightly rounds as Guardian. However his night began sooner than he expected. Hearing cries for help from his would-be girlfriend, Guardian springs into action. He follows Sarah’s cries to a dark alley where she was cornered by a local gang. Their leader held her tight in his grasp. Guardian gives them a chance to let Sarah go and walk away unharmed. An uproarious laughter from the gang members signified their answer. Unfortunately for them, it was the wrong answer. Each of the members attacked Guardian with various weapons. But the local hero proved that it’ll take more than seven men to defeat him. He fights and defeats each member with minimum effort. With Sarah safe and the gang in police custody, Guardian finishes his night patrol and returns home. Brandon and Sarah’s first date leads to the first relationship either of them have had. Three months have passed since then. Can Brandon’s moment of happiness since his mother’s death last long? Now there’s a question with an open ended answer.
Chapter 1
Today is the three month anniversary of the first date Brandon and Sarah had together; it is also the first day of the Maudi Gras celebration. A crowd gathers on South Street in celebration of the event known as Fat Tuesday. The street was alive with partygoers dressed in lavish costumes of a variety of colors. It looked like a moving rainbow. Guys handed out bead necklaces to the girls whom they thought were the prettiest. Music poured from the bars and clubs and people danced to their favorite beat. Brandon was among the crowd of people joining in the festivities. He blended in with the partygoers as he strolled down the street. However he was not the only stranger there. Also among the crowd was a figure dressed as a ninja who had been following Brandon since the party started. This was the same figure that followed him back to Philadelphia after he stopped those bank robbers three months ago. Brandon was unaware of his pursuer. The ninja kept their distance as they followed Brandon through the crowd. No one has taken notice to the ninja as everyone else was dressed in costume as well. The ninja easily walked amongst the people. That was until a few partygoers spotted the ninja and decide to check him out. One of the partygoers signaled to another person across the street. Once his friend pointed out the ninja, the man across the street approached the black cloaked person. “Hey, hey, check out this guy,” the man wearing a black hat and red jersey said as he stood in the ninja’s way. “It’s a little early for Halloween, ain’t it?”
His buddies stroll over to them. “Yeah, it’s way too early to be dressed as a samurai,” said another man in a long white shirt and blue jeans.
“Samurai? You idiot, he ain’t no samurai. He’s a…um, who those guys in the pajamas called?” another one said wearing a blue vest and black shirt.
“Hey, he’s a ninja,” said another person dressed in yellow.
The small group of male party goers all start to laugh at the mysterious ninja. But the ninja stood firm, ignoring the men’s taunts.
“Hey, ninja-boy, I think you’re in the wrong century,” said the man in the red jersey and black hat, poking the ninja on his chest. “Why don’t we show this guy some moves of our own. Whaddya say boys?”
“Heh Heh. Sounds good,” one of the men dressed in grey camouflage pants and matching shirt snickered.
“Let’s show this boy some real kung-fu fightin’ Philly style,” the blue vest/black shirt partygoer said, grinning smugly.
The ninja stood still as the red jersey partygoer did mock karate moves, taunting the ninja. The other men surrounding them were laughing out loud as the red jersey man went on with his ridiculous display. The ninja cocks his head as he watched the man make a fool of himself. His companions hollered out childish taunts at the ninja, edging him on to make a move.
“C’mon baby. Whachu got?” the red jersey man said. He now bounced up and down like a boxer, throwing a few quick jabs and shuffling his feet. “Whachu got, man? C’mon, whachu got?” The man continued to dance around and throw punches all the while keeping his cheery grin and arrogant confidence. He keeps trying to gaud the ninja into a fight. Soon the ninja did make a move. He extended his arm and motioned for the red jersey man to come closer. The red jersey stopped his mockery and looked at the ninja. “So you want me to come closer, eh?” he said arrogantly, “Ok, I’ll come closer.” Then he strolls up to the ninja as his friends arrogantly shouted fake warnings to him.
“Aw, look out man. He gonna go ‘Wang Chung’ on ya,” one of the men laughed.
“He gonna super fly kick ya!” another hollered out.
“Donchu lose to no dude in black pajamas now,” said another, cackling afterward.
The men heckled and jeered the ninja who remained unfazed by their blasphemies. The red jersey man stops walking just a few steps from the ninja. “Well here I am. So what do you have to tell me?” The ninja did not speak and stood still for a couple of minutes as the red jersey man sneered at him. Then the ninja bowed towards him. The red jersey man laughs. “Are you serious? Man, you are takin’ this act way too far. But I’ll play along.” The man bows to the ninja. “So what happens now?” The man’s question was quickly and stoically answered. Without a second thought, the ninja grabs the red jersey man from behind his head and knees him hard in his chest.
Chapter 2
A couple blocks ahead, Brandon began to sense something was wrong and had stopped walking. He looked back in the direction he just walked from and wondered what this strange feeling was. “What’s this? A strong aura and it is dark. Feels similar to that Akeem guy I fought a while back. This couldn’t be another one like him, could it?” Eerily the aura Brandon is feeling now is cold and dark. It sent a chill through your body far more frigid than any winter’s weather. An ordinary person would easily submit to it. Luckily Brandon was no ordinary person.
Back at the area where the group of partygoers was taunting the ninja, the red jersey man laid unconscious on the ground as the group looked on stunned by what just happened. The ninja started to walk away when the one partygoer in the blue vest shouted to him. “Hey! Where do you think you’re going?” The ninja stopped and turned around to look at him. “Yeah, that’s right! I’m talking to you! You think you’re gonna get away with that! Well no dice pal ‘cuz you’re gonna get it for what you did to Reggie.”
“Yeah, let’s get this turkey!” shouted the man dressed in yellow.
“You can’t take all of us on, chump!” threatened the man in the blue vest.
Then the men started to close in on the ninja from all sides but all the ninja did was bow towards the approaching group of men; however, what he did next was something unexpected. With blinding speed, the ninja leapt at the man dressed yellow and hits him with aerial roundhouse kick to his jaw, spinning him off of his feet and on to the ground knocking him out. Two more men, one wearing a beige jacket and another wearing a black coat, rush toward the ninja but both men are quickly knocked out from the ninja’s jumping split kick. After laying out the men out, the ninja gazed at the blue vest man. Then the dark cloaked warrior raised two black clad fists and began doing a little shadow boxing. The ninja bounced up and down and even did some fancy foot work, just as the red jersey man did before. The blue vest man was growing infuriated. The ninja taunts the man with a hand gesture. The blue vest man charges at the ninja, yelling as he did so. His first punch is avoided with a simple sway. The ninja exhorts little effort in dodging the man’s flying fists. With one final dodge, the ninja rams an open fist into the blue vest man’s cheek. The cloaked warrior then follows up with a couple quick sharp kicks, one to the gut and the other to the head. Then the ninja instantly takes out the man in the blue vest with a jumping spin kick.
The commotion from the fighting has gotten the attention of the police patrolling the crowd. Four police officers quickly converge on the area where the men and the ninja were fighting. The officers arrive just as the ninja takes out the last man in the group, who was wearing the long white shirt and blue jeans, with a backward somersault kick. The officers then surround the ninja and place their hands on their gun holsters. “Alright, that’s enough.” The ninja turns his attention to the officers. “Lie down on the ground and place your hands behind your head,” the one officer demanded. The ninja doesn’t respond but instead reaches behind and pulls out two metal sticks surprising the officers. “Put down your weapons and put your hands behind your head,” the officer said in a firm tone. Again the ninja ignores the officer’s orders and begins doing a series spins and swings with the metal sticks with skill and finesse.
Meanwhile Brandon is pushing his way through the crowd. He’s following the dark aura back to its source. He arrives just as the ninja continues to do more maneuvers with the metal weapons. “This is your final warning; drop your weapons or we will stun you!” the officer said sternly. When the ninja refuses the officer’s order again, he signals to the officer opposite of him. The other officer takes out his stun-gun and fires it at the ninja. Incredibly the ninja reacts faster than the stun-gun and deflects the gun’s electrical probes back at the officer with one of the metal sticks. The officer is struck by his own stun-gun as his partners look on in astonishment. The other three officers take out their stun guns and aim them at the ninja. “Drop your weapons now or we will stun you!” the first officer shouted. The ninja then taunts the officer by waving the sticks prompting him to shot. “Take him down!” the first officer shouted. The officers fire one shot from each of their guns but the ninja’s speed proves formidable as he uses the sticks to deflect the probes back at the officers, shocking them. With a final spin of the sticks, the ninja bows to the officers as they drop to the ground. Then the ninja runs toward the first officer, leaps over him and the crowd, lands on the ground behind them and takes off running down 5th Street. Two of the officers push their way through the crowd towards 5th Street and chase after the ninja as they call for back up while the remaining officer stays with his fallen partner.
“That’s no ordinary ninja,” Brandon said to himself. Then he makes his way through the crowd and to the opposite side of the street. He finds an alley where there is no one around and flies up to the roof of the building at his right and changes into Guardian; then he takes off after the ninja to stop him from endangering any more people.
(Defenders Vol. 1 is available in paperback and E-book for Kindle and NOOK at the following sites: Amazon, Barnes and Noble and Xlibris!! Defenders Vol. 2 is available now at the following sites also in paperback and Ebook: Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Xlibris, E-bay, Google books, Foyles and Scribd!! Check my awesome fan fiction: Dante vs. Bayonetta and“Fury Rages On: Kratos vs. Asura!!” And check out my fantasy novelArcana X!!)
