Chapter 2 – A Little Night Crime

Normally, I was awakened by the sound of music, but a shrill ring pierced the quiet serenity of my dreams. I looked out the window and saw the moon hanging over the Northern Lagoon and a million stars in the still night sky. I hit the alarm, silencing it, and pulled on a t-shirt and shorts. This had happened many times before, but it never got easier. I dashed for my study and the turbo tube concealed behind the grandfather clock there.

A moment later, I was walking up to Calley in the Den's Command Center.

"We got problems boss," Calley without preamble pulling up different shots of the resort, images began to refine themselves on the display. Calley could tell Mike was shocked.

"The Flowing River Gallery? In the weapons and artifacts room? What could they possibly want in there?" I asked, surprised.

Calley's hands flew across the keyboard and different angles appeared and they showed broken wall and floor cases. "Whoever it was hit the Armory, the Medicine Man exhibit and it looks like some of the Headdresses are gone." Her voice was cool but her anger burned. "I am starting to pull the security footage now and the cops are on their way." Looking at Mike still agape, she questioned him with a look

"Get Night, Ty, and Cana down here. I want to head them off and preferably before the cops get here."

"No can do sir on Cana. Remember Tobey asked us to put the student protocol into effect. School year, remember? No missions after hours unless lives hang in the balance?"

"That's right, I forgot," I replied, pressing my palm to my forehead, "All right then, pull Lupe in. I need to change."

"Um, Mike... you need to be there when the cops arrive. Let Ty handle this one"

I thought about it a moment, letting my mind go a bit, until something jabbed at me. I said, "I'll manage to get back by the time the police arrive. But Ty needs to know this."

"I already do," Ty's familiar boom echoed across the Den.

He strode in tall and commanding, already suited for action. He continued, "These are not ordinary thieves, Calley, we will need the assistance of Sabrewolf."

I was glad Ty was on my side, and I said, "Remind me to can our chief of security in the morning." With that, I headed for the next level to suit up. Sabrewolf's guise felt cool and slick against my skin, as I hadn't worn it in several days. It felt good.

Tobey appeared in the Command Center as Sabrewolf reappeared cussing up a storm and dancing up and down.

Calley distracted by her computer toss over her shoulder "What's eating you?" But stopped without saying anything else as she took a look at Tobey. Se quickly turned back to here work slightly embarrassed as he was wearing nothing but his comm. gauntlet.

The cool metal of the CNC flooring made me take a look at my surroundings. The Smirk on Ty and Sabre's face made me look down at my clothing and realized my dilemma. Quickly popping into the ether I rematerialized as Nightwolf and grumbled "I was sleep jumping again and I was having a nightmare that I was on fire in the desert. Calley's call woke me up. Turns out I was in the Sahara.

I really need to start where clothes to bed." The nightmares came and went but not as frequently as before.

'What have we got," wrapping myself in the tattered shreds of my dignity.

"Robbery," I replied, "In the Gallery. I got a feeling it’s not your common thieves."

"It's not" Our computer guru spoke. Pointing to the main monitor, she showed us a couple of thieves helping themselves to our collection.

"Is that a Midget" Nightwolf asked

"Nope," I said, "It's your buddy and mine, Urck. Urck, the troll."

We all couldn't help but giggle at the name. Urck was smarter than the average creep, which made up for his size. He was known for either running around in a suit or a tank and boots, but always with a gun in hand.

I continued, "Little scuzzbag. Let's get going."

"They're heading for the north road," Calley said, "You should be able to head out the main entrance and head them off."

The men headed for the turbolift and the exit behind the Moonlight Hospice.

Okay the vehicles have to be coming around the bend any minute

"Sabre cut through over by Ember Hearth and play look out. Ty help me throw down some spike strips to take out the tires."

Sabre moved the foliage not caring for noise and disappeared into the night

Activating the night vision sensors in my mask, I saw the small collection of vehicles down on the southern bridge. The goons were loading crates into one of the trucks, and Urck was there, but he was talking with someone I'd never seen before. Nothing seemed to be going on with the other truck. Why, I wondered, when the squad climbed into the trucks and they fired them up.

I said into my comm., "they're coming."

"Affirmative," I said into my comm-link and looked over at the shadow that was Ty. "Ty get ready." I moved to stand in the middle of the road and looked imposing. Ty stood by the side ready to handle any one who wanted to run.

I sprinted up to where Ty and Night waited in the darkness. The thieves had not yet switched in their headlights and navigating in the dark must be a pain, I thought. Only when they hit the spike strip did they know something was wrong.

Taking the compact spot light from my belt as the trucks approached, as they screeched to a tire popping stop, I flooded the area with its powerful beam.

Instead of doing as I just ordered them, Urck jumped down from the truck, gun in hand.

"Don't be telling me what to do there, prettyboy. As you may have noticed, I give the orders around here," said Urck, eyeing Sabrewolf coldly.

"Yeah, right, shorty." I said, "Why don't you just hand over what you've taken and we'll call it an evening, shall we?"

"Says who?" said Urck, contemptuously, "You and what army?"

"Uhm... that would be us shrimp boat." Nightwolf said menacingly, reaching for the stunner that Darren had created for him the previous week, Nightwolf was itching to test it out.

I reached into the sheath on my belt, pulling out my bo staff, and snapping it into place.

"Yeah, like youze boys are tough enough standing there in those Halloween costumes. Have you met MY boys?"

Urck cracked his simian knuckles loudly, and whistled over to his band of rather greasy looking thugs. "Gentlemens, I thinks we gots ourselves a problem here. What’s say we teach them a little respect?"

"You're welcome to try," I replied.

The gang members nodded with contempt and began advancing on Sabre and Nightwolf. They had failed to notice that when I had activated the torch, Ty and a pair of wolf eyes stood behind them.

Hey guys, feel free to rough up his mangy dog, too. That'll teach him to mess with us.”

"I'm taking out my special friend, Sabrewolf, and let's see how his nice suit likes a knuckle sandwich!! Get them, you guys!"

With that the forces of good and evil merged into a free for all brawl in the middle of the road and around the trucks.

I heard Fuzzy's growl and another immediate howl echo into the night as he sunk his jaws into one of the thugs, but then I had my own problem and three men converged on me.

I readied my staff as Urck lunged at me. The little creep was barely half my size, but came with a powerful blow.

Urck strode towards Sabrewolf, intending to put his meaty fist into the lean torso of Sabre. As he drew back his short arm, he chuckled to himself that this dude hads a surprise in store when he felt Urck's muscled fist in his gut."

The satisfying Sizzle of the stunner knocked one of the crew out and twitching the grass.

Urck was the one who was surprised, though, as Sabre.....

Never one to be in a fair fight, the two remaining goons approached from either side. Out of the corner of my eye I saw Ty chasing down the one smart goon who had decided to run.

I put the end of the staff to the little man's ankle, flipping him off his feet. He landed on the ground with a meaty thud, the wind knocked out of him, but still conscious.

“Oooff, you sunmabitch! Using your fancy trick stick on me? I'll show you something," grunted Urck as he got to his feet.

The impact from a haymaker caught me across the chin and I staggered back enough to move out of range of the second attacker. I moved to use Darren's stunner only to hear a fizzling sound and the scent of ozone filled the air. "Oh man!" With that both men rushed me and I somersaulted over them and ran for the trucks.

"Bring it," I said, grinning beneath the mask,

In the distance the wail of sirens announced the sheriff's office about 5 mils away up in the pass

Urck reached under his ratty coat and pulled out an evil looking handgun. He pointed it right at Sabre, Who faced him warily. "Yeah, you think it's funny, wiseguy? Let's see how funny you think this bullet in your belly is!" hissed Urck, now tired of messing with Sabre, who he now knew he had seriously underestimated.

“And those Injun things we lifted from your fancy place, they're gonna get me a coupla new accessories that will make this little gun right here look like a slingshot. So say thanks now, before I put this bullet in you, you loser" said Urck, his out of control temper getting the better of him as he held the gun on Sabre.

Urck began pulling the trigger and a hail of bullets pelted toward me, I dove as several ricocheted off my armor.

"Wha-a-a?" said Urck, his devious little rat brain processing the fact that his nasty little gun had hardly had any effect at almost point blank range.

The two goons approaching the moving truck Nightwolf was standing on top of collapsed to the ground. Nightwolf looked around in confusion.

"TROLL!" A thunderous voice from the darkness sounded. "Let's go now."

Nightwolf looked for the source of the voice in the dark.

That voice, I thought, it sounded familiar.

Urck spun around, seeing his boss, and immediately scrabbled towards him, leaving his boys to their own devices.

“Boys, I gotta go -- but take out that mangy dog while you're at it.”

I saw a dark man with a fedora and white feather disappear into the tree line

I dashed off after them.

Nightwolf jumped to the ground and checked the two goons that had been after him. No pulse. Fuzzy came around the truck. "How did you do furball?"

Fuzzy strolled up to Nightwolf and happily licked his face. Night understood that Fuzzy had taken them down.

With a scratch behind the ears, Night waited for the cops and the return of his team.

Several minutes running through the woods, I heard the sound of roaring a head of me. Next thing I knew I was almost barreled over by a pair of cycles sped past me.

I took off running, reaching into another compartment of my belt, finding the remote control for my cycle. I activated it and brought it out of the Den.

Urck looked back over his shoulder at the slowly diminishing figures of the two spandex fools and their nasty dog. "I'll pay them back in spades for this, he thought," as the cycles disappeared down the road into the night.

I had just gotten back to the tree line when I heard a whine, I looked down at the control and the lights of the control faded out. Great, I thought...

One of Urck's ricochet bullets, while not hurting Sabre, had damaged the controller.....

I walked up to Ty, who was kneeling on the ground, looking over the goons lying on the ground. They weren't moving. I asked, "What happened, Ty?"

Ty replied, "They have been killed, Sabrewolf, a poisoned dart."

"A poisoned dart? Doesn't sound like a traditional mob use weapon."

"Indeed."

The sirens were closer and the lights were flashing just over the tree line. "Sabre why don't you and Ty go switch back and I will take care of this mess and send the cops you're way down at the Resort."

"Right," I said, "Catch up with you in a little bit."

Watching my brothers head for the Turbolift, I reached down to where Fuzzy was nuzzling my leg and gave him another scratch as the officers pulled up and then I raised my hands. Oh there were gonna be sooo many reports to fill out, Nightwolf thought wearily.

I switched clothes and returned to the scene, pacifying the police with an account of how I'd been asleep at the time. They accepted it and took the corpses away. After clean up work, and a couple hours sleep on the office couch, I began preparing papers for the impending visit of the IRS.