Like how rain falls onto the rooftops, corruption floods the city I once believed in. Organized crime has ruined my life and I’m tired of it. The City of Brotherly Love, was once a community that you could count on. It was a place where you could live out your American dream. Politics, sex, race, and religion separate us, and the people to blame run the city. They are dangerous and will do anything to stay on top. If you keep your head down and your eyes closed, then they will leave you alone. If you open your eyes and speak out, then you become a problem, a threat to everything they’ve built. I know this because my Father runs Philly's Italian Mob, well what’s left of it at least. As his only daughter I have heard things over the years.
Before I was born there was a protector of Philly that single-handedly took down the majority of the Italian mob, leaving it in shambles. He went by Kinetic Burst, but no one knows what happened to him. One day he just disappeared, maybe he decided to quit, or he got too old, or maybe he died. Either way organized crime has gotten worse since his absence. The Mob is rebuilding and gangs are at war. Even the cartels have been setting up camp in Philly. This city needs someone to stand up for it and reclaim its identity. I want that to be me but I’m not even sure who I am. I don’t know if I’m strong enough and have the courage to take on a battle that never ends. Even if I really wanted to, I don't know where to start.
I do have a lot going for me though, even though I have a bit of trauma from my past. I graduated college with my masters in sociology and psychology. What I’m gonna do with it I have no clue, but it’s what I was interested in. My dad has lots of money so why not waste it? Maybe I can use it to help people, or get the revenge on my dad and my arrogant brother that they so deserve, or maybe a little bit of both. My desires and motivation to become the heroine that Philly needs came and went, until one day I found it. A mom and her daughter were standing with me at a crosswalk when the young girl took off running into traffic and before the car could hit her, I reacted and dove after her, tackling her out of the way. It gave me a rush that I had never felt before, but that wasn’t the best part. The best part was seeing the look on that face, a look that I’ll never forget. A look that my mother used to give me, one of love and compassion. As she repeatedly thanked me for saving her daughter, I started to cry from knowing that I’ll never get to see my mother again, and that this family won’t be torn apart like mine because I intervened. Because I made a difference. That moment right there fuels me to be better, to help Philly be better. I don’t want to be like my father. I don’t want to suck the life out of this city and take everything I can from it like he does. I want to give back to those that can’t help themselves, but I’m only one person. I have no special abilities or anything like that. I just have my brains and whatever willpower I can muster up. But don’t worry, I have a plan tonight. I will be going to a banquet that a large tech company is throwing and there’s a certain inventor there that I want to talk to that I think can help me in my crusade.
As I walk into the banquet, I feel my anxiety creeping upon me, making me very nervous. But I can’t let that stop me from completing my mission,
from doing good that others won’t. I walk inside looking for my target. As I scan the room, I see him on the far side. He is a somewhat tall guy with a nice looking beard and even better hair. I approach him and say, “ Hey there, handsome”. He responds, “well hello there, I’m Harold and might your name be?” “ Isabella but you can call me Izzy,” I said. He responds,” ok Izzy, what’s your plans for the rest of the night?” I look up at him and say,” whatever you have in store for us.” He smiles, and then says,” well come with me.” We walk over to an elevator and go up, he says he’s taking me to his lab. We arrive there, and I see so many gadgets and gizmos that I have no clue what they do. He grabs my hand and says, “this is my lab. This is where I spend most of my time and make most of my money.” I responded with, “most of your money?” he chuckles and responds with, “I also invested in stocks.” I ask, “are you good at it?” He smiles and says, “depends on the month.” I grab his bicep and say, “So are we going to take this to your place or mine?” He grabs my hand leading me down to his car and we drive to his place. From there, the night took us where the night took us, but in the morning we exchanged numbers and went our separate ways. I’m guessing he went to work, but I was headed back to my apartment to put the last pieces of my father‘s drug trade together. I have everything mapped out, but I’m still missing some key players. Mainly his buyers, because I still don’t know where the money is coming from. I know where he gets his drugs. I even know where he stores them. I know where the trades go down, but I don’t know who he’s trading to. But even with Harold’s help and technology, I still don’t know how to fight. I need a trainer and not just any trainer, a trainer that understands what I’m trying to do. Someone can train me for the unexpected and can show me how to stay alive. I need to find Kinetic Burst. If he’s not dead, then I know I can find him. I didn’t get those psychology and sociology degrees for nothing I guess. I will start by reading all the old newspapers that I have about him, then I’ll go down to the police station and see if I can get any police reports that involve him.
After going through all the newspapers, all I really learned is that he saved lives and took down mob members. I need to get my hands on the police reports to see if there were any people that were saved repeatedly. I walked into the police station and started talking to one of the guys that I know is on my dad‘s payroll. I ask him for the old reports and he says, “why would I go and do that?” With a serious face, I lean in and say, “you wouldn’t wanna piss off daddy‘s little princess, now would you.” He says, “you got me, let me see what I can find, meet back here in an hour.” I use that hour to go see Harold at his lab. He was surprised to see me and we enjoyed a nice talk as he showed me around and had me meet a lot of his coworkers. Once the hour was up, I came back to see what he had found, and he handed me two stacks of reports so I took them home. From there, I started writing names down and putting tally marks if someone was saved twice. Going through 20 years of reports wasn’t fun, but once I knew what I was looking for it started getting easier and easier. After eight hours, I finally found a name that was saved over 20+ times. Now, this could be a coincidence, but I think the chances are that he knows this person. Because, to save someone this many times he would have to be around them a lot to know they’re in danger this often. So I get her name, and head to the nursing home that she’s currently a resident at. I walk in and ask to see her, then the nurse takes me back to her room. As I enter the room, I ask the older woman if her name is Shanti Jones. She says, “I haven’t heard that name in years. Who are you?” I lie to her and say, “I am with a news network, and we are doing small stories on some of the elderly in Philly,” she responds, “ok well it’s Shanti Jacobs now, what would you like to know?” I sit down then ask, “how was your relationship with your family? Specifically, your father and any siblings you might have,” she turns towards the window and says, “I never knew my father and my brothers and sisters were never close. Most of them moved out of Philly as soon as they hit 18.” I asked, “then why did you stay?” She looks back at me and smiles, then says, “Philly is my home. Plus back in the day, there was a man I loved that couldn’t leave the city behind,” I said, “really what was he like?” She takes a deep breath and then says, “he was amazing, soft and tender, but could step up if the situation needed him to, I thought we were gonna get married and live happily ever after,” I say, “why didn’t you, if you don’t mind me asking?” She says, "He had other priorities and other people counting on him. He just couldn’t always be there for me even though I wanted him to be, and I know he wanted to be there too, but sometimes life doesn’t lean in your favor.” I responded, “I’m sorry about that but if you don’t mind me asking, what was his name?” She smiles and says, “Dion Wilkins.” Shortly after that I leave with a suspect that I think might be Kinetic Burst. So I look him up and it looks like he’s a longtime community member and now works at a boxing gym. So I headed over there for a chat. When I get there, I ask for Dion and I get taken to him. He is a tall, elderly, but still muscular man. He looks me up and down and says, ”what can I do for you ma’am?” I responded, “I’m in need of a trainer and I think you’re the man I need.” He asked, "Who recommended you to me?” I say,"Shanti Jones.” He says,” we should step into my office.” He closes the door while I look around his office, noticing all of his boxing trophies and pictures. He says, “how do you know Shanti?” I ask, “I don’t, but I know you used to wear a trench coat in the hood and beat up on Italian gangsters.” He says with a weary look, “I don’t know who you think I am, but you’ve got the wrong guy.” I say, “I’m not trying to expose you and put anyone at risk. I just need your help, I really do need a trainer.” He says, “a trainer to do what, fight the mob? Your death will not be on my hands, sorry.” She says, “ever since you retired. The mob has rebuilt, and I need to finish the job that you started, but I need your help.” He says, “do you have any powers or fighting experience?” I say, “no powers, but I have a lot of money and technology at my disposal, and I have sparred a few times with my dad’s bodyguards.” He says, “and what is your name again?” I let out a deep breath and said, “Isabella Caprini.” He looked shocked and said, "You're a part of the Caprini family and you want to take down the mob?” I say, “my father is a vicious psychopath that killed my mother, and he needs to be stopped.” he says, “stopped as in dead, or in jail?” I say, “I haven’t gotten that far yet.” He says, “I will help you, but we do this on my terms, heroes save, not kill. Do you understand that?” I nod my head and he says, “meet me back here at 3 AM.” I say, “why so early?” He says, “the gym opens at 6, so we will train early then train again at night.”
A few weeks of training with Dion, and gaining Harold’s trust goes by, so I finally ask Harold about making me some tech. He wanted to know what I was gonna use it for, so I said I was starting a hospital for kids that are paralyzed and need assistance moving body parts. I know it was a lie, but these last few weeks have really been nice, and I’m starting to fall for him, but if he knew I was using him then he would end things and I can’t risk that. So he made me mechanical parts for all of the human body. I took the separate pieces and made an exoskeleton suit, then hit up some people that work with my dad and got a very tough metal to mold around the exoskeleton. Then I met up with Dion. Dion says, “You’re late.” And I say, “somebody missed me.” He says, “time to get to work.” Then he introduces me to my male sparring partner that’s twice my size. The other trainer says, "Are you sure about this? He’s gonna kill her in there.” Dion smiles and says, “she better be quick then.” Dion comes over to my corner and says, “ok big shot, time to see what you're made of.” The bell rings and now we are squaring up. He tries to move forward, but before he does, I hit him twice in the stomach, and once in the nose, but he shakes it off like it was nothing. Then he starts going to town on me, dodging as well as I can, bob and weave, slip and slide, but he finally catches me with a left hook. It sends me straight to the campus and I see blood run out of my nose. I see Dion jumping the ring yelling at me to get up saying, “come on kid it’s not easy in here and it won’t be easy out there, how can you protect others when you can’t protect yourself, where’s your will power, what are you gonna do when times get tough, lay there or get up?” Then I jump up and he takes me to my corner, he can see the fire in my eyes. He says, “don’t fight with rage, rage will make you mess up, and a mess up will get you hurt. Take that rage and turn it into anger, and use your anger to feel your punches, but use your mind to guide your punches. Boxing is more like a chess game than people realize and you’re the smartest person I know, so use that big brain to protect that big brain. You know he’s bigger than you, more experienced, and you know that his punches hurt, so use that big brain of yours and figure out the solution.” The bell rings and I jump up ready to go back at him but this time I’m patient. I’m gonna wait for him to strike first and as soon as he does, I slip it, moving my body into an uppercut position and then throwing one with all of my body weight, hitting him. As soon as I see him stumble back, I go in for his midsection. I’m trying to get as close as I can because his arms are much longer than mine, so it’s easier for me to go inside, rather than further away. He tries pushing me off, but I hook his arm to pull myself back in and keep going to his midsection. Eventually he gets his strength and then I’ve pissed him off so he starts coming for my head but I kept telling myself that I’m not gonna let him hit me like that. I can’t get hit like that. I’m not gonna let this man hit me, so I use his shoulders as an indication to tell me when he’s about to throw a punch. We go back to our corners and Dion says, “good shit Izzy, that’s how you do it. He’s tired, Izzy. Finish him.” The bell rings and I keep going for his stomach, knowing that it must be sore. He keeps dropping his hands to add extra protection to his stomach so then I start going for the face and he starts swinging uncontrollably just to get me back, he even catches me a few times, but I promised myself I wouldn’t get knocked down again and I don’t plan on it so I eat the punches at this point we’re trading blows back-and-forth. The only thing keeping me on my feet is my willpower to succeed with blood running down my face, and me leaving bruises all over his stomach and a black eye. The bell finally rings, we shake gloves and go on our way. Dion tells me how he’s proud of me and thinks I’ve gone a long way.
A few weeks after relentless training, Dion brings in some other trainers to help me learn different martial arts styles. I also convince Harold to make me a device that in theory could turn my suit invisible. I told him it was for the kids at my hospital that have color blindness. I also saw someone else working on a Jetpack type technology that I plan on stealing from his company at some point. I know it doesn’t really sound like I’m at this point, but sometimes things need to be sacrificed for the greater good. And I do care about this man. I’m not taking advantage of him, but my mission comes first and everything else comes second. It definitely does make it hard sometimes to be around him. Knowing that I’m gonna break his heart one day, that the truth will get out, and when it does everything we built, all the trust I’ve gained, will be gone in an instant. Just the other day he was talking about what our kids would look like and I’m gonna be honest, I’ve never even thought about having kids, not in a world like we’re in today. But when he said that, I kind of got a glimmer of hope that someone believes that I could be a part of a family, one that isn’t like the family I was a part of, a family of killers, liars, and thieves. Then I remembered what’s gonna happen when he finds out that I’ve been using his technology to build a suit. He will never forgive me, I’m in too deep and I can’t let him know. He is a good person, and I'm not.
I have mapped out my fathers whole operation from the bottom to the top. He is using a small company to hide his money, and he has the district attorney in his pocket, so he covers up anything the mob needs him to. I have all the locations of where he hides his drugs, but I still don’t know his main buyers. Once my suit is complete I will go get answers. I need that jet pack and an AI operating system that runs Harold’s building. So I steal Harold’s key card and sneak into his building. I have to keep dodging security but that’s not too much of a problem. I finally get to Harold’s lab, steal the jet pack, and put it on. Now I need to get to the building control room. Then a security guard walks in and points his gun at me telling me to freeze. I put my hands up, but then make a mad dash for the window, hoping that this jetpack won’t fail me, but I can’t be caught by the police. He fires two shots at me. I crashed through the window, turning the Jetpack on and flying through the sky. It gave me an adrenaline rush that I’ve never felt before with the wind hitting my face, the fear of falling in my heart. I’ve never felt more alive than when facing death. Then I remembered I still needed to get to the control room so I flew crashing into the floor of the control room. Then I start seeing red lights flashing everywhere. I’m sure that security is coming to my location now, I need to move quickly. I bust down the door to the control room using my shoulder and my jetpack. I’m gonna feel that in the morning, but right now that’s not what’s important. What’s important is stealing this AI program. I search the computers to see which one it’s hooked to when I finally come across it. I properly remove it from its system, and I put it in my pocket. The security guards are all over this floor. I think I hear one about to enter my room, so I hide by the entrance and wait for him to come inside and when he does, I knock the gun out of his hands, hitting him with a 12 piece combo, then kicking him in the face. I fly through the floor, then try to take off before I get caught, but I hear gunshots from every direction so I stop. A guard starts yelling, “you’re surrounded and the police are on their way.” Then I take off running and slide in front of them, dodging the bullets then using my jetpack to fly into the first guy, knocking him into the guys behind him. I wail on all three of them, removing their guns from the situation. I’m taking my anger and daddy issues out on these three men. I hear more men coming up the stairs. That’s when I dart for the window, breaking through it and taking off once again flying down to a dark alley. I put the jetpack in a duffel bag I brought, and I walked back to my apartment.
The next morning I’m on my morning run with Dion and my phone starts to ring. It’s Harold probably calling about the mess I made. Dion watches me decline his call then says, “you know you’re gonna have to tell him eventually.” He starts to slow down to a stop and I ask, “why is that?” He catches his breath and then says, “secrets, will kill a relationship.” I responded, “so will the truth.” He says, “it’s better to let him know and leave, than it is to let y’all torture each other.” I say, “is that what happened between you and Shanti?” He says, “I don’t wanna talk about it.” I say, “I saw the way she smiled when she was talking about you, y’all had something great and you ruined it didn’t you?” He responds, “she was my only regret, I saved so many lives but ruined my own. She was patient with me and always knew the right thing to say. But the more I went after the mob the more she was in danger. I had to let her go because I was bad for her. She deserved a life with a man that would put her first and I couldn’t do that. I couldn’t get over the trauma the mob had caused.” I said, “what happened to you that made you wanna be a crime fighter.” One single tear dropped from his eye and he looked up at the sky and let out a deep breath then said, “okay, when I was in high school I played basketball and after an away game we all stopped at an Italian restaurant to eat. What we didn’t know was that the table right across from us was Italian gangsters having a sit down to discuss territory. Well, it got out of hand and the whole restaurant became a Warzone. Half my teammates were killed including my best friend. Both him and I had scholarships to Penn State, we were supposed to be roommates, but neither of us went. He died in my arms and a piece of me went with him. A year later I was driving on a bridge in a rain storm. A car swerved at me and knocked me off the side of the bridge. When I landed in the water, lightning struck the car. I’m pretty sure I died, but that’s when my healing factor took over and one week later I woke up out of a coma. Apparently there was toxic waste in the water, which when mixed with the lightning that hit my car, gave me my abilities. That’s when I knew what I needed to do with my new found abilities. Take down the men who ruined my life.” I said, “wow, I’m sorry” he said, "it's all in the past and my life is almost over.” I said, “I'm gonna finish what you started and take down the Italian mob.”
I get to my apartment and Harold is there waiting for me. He asks, “why are you not answering your phone?” I say, “it’s been a busy morning.” He says, “I lost my job and now have the cops looking for evidence to lock me up for stealing technology. I wasn’t even there last night but someone used my key card.” I say, “did you tell the cop about us hanging out yesterday?” He says, “no.” Then I interrupt him and say, “good now get in here,” as I push him into my apartment. He looks at me with concern and asks, “did you steal tech from my lab?” I say, “yes but I’m cute tho so you can’t be mad at me.” He says, “Izzy this is not a game, why would you do that, what do you need it for?” I say, “I plan on building a suit to protect myself when I’m fighting crime and saving lives.” He says,”
“what? Why? You will be killed, and you will put me and everyone you love in danger. Criminals will come for us. The government will come for us.” I say, “I know, I know, but someone has to do something.” He says, “that doesn’t have to be you though.” I say, “if not me then who? I’m tired of corrupt politicians and criminal organizations running our lives. Making us live in fear and using us to do their dirty work so they can stay in power.” He looks around panicking, then says, “I can’t help you, that makes me an accessory to the crime so I gotta go.” I say, “wait you can’t.” He says, “why not?” I say,” I’m not done with you yet.” Then I roundhouse kick him in the face knocking him to the ground. I drag him to my trunk then drive to the warehouse owned by my dad that he doesn’t use anymore, where I have been keeping all the tech I gathered there. We get there and I open the trunk and Harold jumps out screaming and running so I chase him down and jump on his back then we fall to the ground and I grab his head banging it in the the concrete over and over until he stopped fighting me. Then I drag him into the warehouse and chain him to a wall. He finally wakes up and with blood rushing down his face into his eyes he says, “did you ever love me, or was this just about getting your hands on my key card?” I stand up and walk over to him putting my hand on his face. He pulls his head away then I grab it with both hands and force him to look me in the eyes then I say, “honey I love you so much you don’t even know, but I needed you to do what you’re best at. I will say us meeting was no accident. I knew who you were and what I wanted from the beginning, but you gave me something I never knew was possible for me.” He says, “oh yeah, what’s that?” I say, “hope,” then I walk away and bring all the stolen tech to him. He says, “did you turn my work into an exoskeleton?” I say, “yes but it’s not done, I need you to finish it.” He says, “I won’t do it.” I say, “don’t make me have to persuade you.” He says, “what, are you going to do, torture me?” I shake my head and say, “no, you have already lost too much blood and if you lose too much more you will need a hospital and that makes our situation complicated. What I’m gonna do is take a picture of you chained to this wall and knowing that your mom and dad have a bank account with $8000 and they each have their own accounts with about $5000 and yall have a trust fund with $50,000, I will send them the pictures asking for a ransom price of $70,000.” He starts fighting against his restraints, then says, “your family makes millions, why would you need money?” I say,” oh I don’t need money, but your parents do, after they pay the $70,000, they’ll have to pick up extra shifts. They’ll probably have to take a mortgage out on their house. This will put them in crippling debt and make them wish they were dead.” He says, “holy shit why don’t you just kill them?” I say, “and lose my only leverage, nah they are gonna wish they were dead by the time they finally get all that debt paid off.” He says, “you’re evil and I will do it.” I say, “it’s for the greater good.” Then I leave him with the project and get in my car and start crying. I just keep saying in my head “it’s for the greater good, it’s for the greater good” but I know deep down I betrayed his trust and he will never forgive me. Later that day, I bring him back some fast food and give it to him. He says, “yummy, at least it’s not your cooking.” I flip him off and say, “haha nice one.” As he is working on the suit he says, “you do know this is slavery right?” I smile and say, “I’m sure this is lots of things but don’t worry honey, I left the whip at home.”
The next day after a long workout with Dion, I say to Dion, “my suit is almost ready.” He says, “does that mean you finally told your man about your vendetta?” I say, “actually I did.” He says,” how did he take it?” I say, “he took it rough, very rough, but we came to an understanding so we are all good now.” Dion says, "That's good, when I told shanti she already knew.” Then he starts to chuckle and I say, “how did she find out?” He says, “she told me there’s only so many six foot four, muscled up black men with dreads in our part of town, then she started chewing my ass out saying that a hood and glasses wasn’t hiding shit and I need a better disguise. Izzy, I fucked up by not marrying that woman, don’t repeat my mistakes.” I say, “well I don’t think Harold is thinking about marriage right now and how could you have married her and been kinetic burst?” He says, “I should have given it up, but instead of choosing happiness, I chose to donate my life to an unwinnable war.” I look up at him and say, “if you don’t want me to take this war on, then why train me.” He says, “you were gonna fight this war with or without my help, I’m just trying to give you a fighting chance.”
I go back to the warehouse and Harold asks,"So what superhero name are you gonna go with?” I say, “Knightress with a K.” He says, “well Knightress, your suit is done, can I go now?” I say,” I can’t let you go until I have taken down the mob. “He says, “it took the last person 20 years to do that and it didn’t even work for real.” I say, “I know, but he doesn’t have this.” I flip around a white board. He says, "What is this?” I say, “this is the inner working of the Italian mob, from their shipments from Italy, to the warehouses that they store their product, to the people that are involved, all the way until I get to their buyers. Which is why I’m going to use this suit to figure out who their buyers are.” He says, “holy shit, when are you going out?” I say, “tonight.” He says, “well be fucking careful then.” I say, “I didn’t know you still cared.” He says, “I don’t, if you die, you’re the only one that knows where I’m at, so I’ll die of dehydration.” I say, “there is a small bomb hooked to your chain. That bomb will go off in three days.” He says, “oh, well fuck you then I hope you get shot in the chin.” I say, “I love you too honey.” I fly out of the door trying to get a handle on the new suit, and the good thing is that the AI in the suit is assisting my flying so that I don’t run into anything at a high rate of speed. My first plan is to drop bombs off at all the major warehouses to blow up their product. After that, I will alert the police about a deal that’s going down tonight. Both sides will think the other turned on each other and I’ll start a gang war to keep the Italians distracted. I will also turn in all the information I have to the police to get all the people involved arrested. Then I’ll go to the restaurant that they’re holding most of their armory at and blow it up as well. From there, I can sit on a rooftop and watch my father get stuffed into a cop car. Midnight hits and the bombs go off like fireworks, sending marijuana into the air and any other hard drugs that may have been in those facilities. I make a call to the police alerting them of the deal at the docks then I send emails to the chief detective in Philly and just in case he tries to bury it. I also sent it to every major news outlet. Then I head down to the restaurant. I land just outside the restaurant, I walk in everyone quits talking and starts staring at me. I start flipping tables and telling everyone to get out. A guy runs out of the kitchen with a shotgun and aims it at me, but I use my Jetpack to fly to the side dodging his shot. Then I turn invisible. The guy says, “hey fellas I’m gonna need some help up here some lunatic wearing wings is tearing up the shop.” Five more guys come from the basement. One of them says, “where are they?” Then I punch that guy in the face and throw another guy into his friend. They start rapid firing all over the restaurant. I’m flying around still invisible. I sneak past them into their armory and drop a bomb off down there then I fly back to the top, grabbing one of them and flying through a window. I set the bomb off destroying their armory, but the explosives they had in bullets go off making one hell of a mess. I start beating the shit out of the guy that I took with me then I start pushing him towards the edge of the rooftop. I hold him over the edge and say, “who is y’all’s main buyer?” The guy says, “please miss don’t drop me. I got a family at home.” I shake him a little and ask again, “who are you supplying the drugs to answer me or your family will be IDing your corpse tomorrow on the morning news.” He says, “I don’t know anything and even if I did, I couldn’t tell or they’ll kill my family.” I say, “do you think I randomly grabbed you out of the six guys? No, I knew you’d be there, and I also know you know who the buyers are and for your family I have placed two separate bombs one of them at 1381 north College Ave, which I believe is your residence and I placed another one at 223 Walkman street, which I believe is your wife’s mothers house. I don’t know which one they’re at so I will blow up both. So listen, you tell me what I wanna know and I will give you the chance to get your family out of the city safely before the mob finds y’all, but if you do not give me the information I want then you’ll have no chance of getting your family out of those houses so this is your choice.” He says,” ok, ok, we’ve been selling to the Crips.” I say, “I thought y’all had a peace treaty with the bloods?” He says, “we do that’s why we’re keeping our buyers under wraps because we don’t want the bloods finding out that we’re doing business with their enemy. If they found out, they would both turn on us and we would be faced with a two front war.” I say, “get your family out of Philly now.” Then I throw him on the street and he runs off.
The next morning Dion calls me, I pick up. He says, "Izzy, what the hell are you doing?” I say, "what should’ve been done a long time ago.” He says, “not like this Izzy, innocent people got hurt last night, killed even. You have to stop, you took it too far.” I say, “oh, I’m just getting started, you see as we speak every mob member is getting booked and arrested, but the important people, the guys at the top, they'll get off. They payoff jurors, judges, do whatever they have to do to keep their freedom as they suppress the freedom of the average citizen walking over us to stay on top but don’t you worry because any politician or crime boss that gets out of these allegations well, their heads are gonna be on a stick and they’re gonna wish that they didn’t beat the charges.” He says, “Izzy, I can’t let you do this. “I say,” stay in retirement, old man. This is what the new generation of hero looks like.” Then I hang up. Night time comes around and 8 of the 15 people I thought would get off did. But I have had bombs at their places for weeks now. My father and brother was 2 of the 8. I will kill the other 6 then deal with them personally. I walk into the warehouse and as soon as I walk to the door, I throw my helmet yelling fuck. Harold says,” wow wow, calm down before you hurt somebody and by somebody I mean me.” I say, “I fucked over everyone I’ve ever loved, you and Dion were my world. I threw every bit of that away just to get vengeance on my father. I just hope when the life leaves his body, that it’s worth it. That it was worth losing y’all too.” Harold says, “Izzy just stop, you can stop.” I look at him with tears running down my face and say,” I can’t, I’m too far. I killed people and I don’t plan on stopping. I’m an organized mess and I don’t want you to see me after this is done.” He says, “you do know I’m going to turn you in.” I say, “good,” And walk out.
I fly high to the top of the city, the breeze hitting the lower part of my face, and the sound of gentle rain bouncing off my helmet. I don’t know if I’m an adrenaline junkie with daddy issues or the savor of this city. But tonight will be the end of the Italian mob in Philly. I push a button blowing up the six corrupted officials that the system allowed to get away, but they are not getting away from me. Then I sent a statement to every major news outlet that the Italian mob is playing the bloods and Crips off each other. That will thin out all the mob members that went to jail. Then I head to my father’s mansion. I arrived there and turned invisible and walked by his security. I walk into his bedroom and it’s filled with hookers. I guess he was celebrating his early release so I grab him and throw him against the wall. All the girls start screaming. I slide the bed against the door so the security can’t get in, and grab him and fly out the window, we fly about four or five blocks away and then I throw him onto the sidewalk and he starts tumbling then he says, “so you're the little bitch causing me so much trouble.” Then I step on his knee breaking his leg. He screams out in agony. Then I say, “I just want you to know that your own organization funded your demise.” He says, “what?” Then I remove my helmet showing him that it’s his own daughter. He says, “you little bitch, you're just like your mother. I wonder if you’re gonna scream like she did as I gut you like a fish, just like I did her.” Then, rage takes over my body, and I start slapping him around, throwing him against everything breaking his arm, then I hear a voice. Dion lands beside me in his kinetic burst gear. I put my helmet back on and say, “get out of here this isn’t your fight anymore.” Dion says, “Izzy, I know you want to do the right thing, but the means don’t always justify the ends, you don’t have to be a killer like he is, you don’t have to be your father.” I yell,” Maybe I am like him, maybe I’m not the hero of the story, maybe heroes don’t really exist. Only bad people hurting other bad people. But what I do know is this bad person won’t hurt anyone ever again.” Then I cock my fist back, ready to plunge it through his heart, but before I can, I get hit with a burst of lightning. Then Dion says, “Izzy this stops now.” I say, “you should have stayed retired.” Then I turn invisible, and I sneak up behind him, putting them in a chokehold wrapping my legs around his waist. He tries elbowing me in the stomach, but my armor is too protective and he isn’t dealing any damage. Then he tries ramming me up against the building, so I fly up into the air, still holding onto him, choking him out. Then he overloads my system with electricity, turning off my Jetpack and invisibility mode, and we go crashing into the ground. We both get up and see it’s more of a fair fight now so we start engaging in hand to hand combat. I’m throwing a series of punches trying to catch him slipping, but he’s quick for his old age. Years of experiences. Definitely paying off at this moment for him, but the question is, can you keep the stamina up, I just keep coming and keep coming, raging, throwing punches his direction. I can’t help but to think to myself, is it really worth it? I’m fighting one of my only friends right now. One of the people that believed in me. One of the people that helped make me who I am. But at this point instinct just takes over and we start trading blows back-and-forth. I can tell he is starting to wear down, but he hits me with a swift kick to the hip, knocking me to the ground and then hits me with lightning three times in a row, the third one knocks the breath out of me. He points at me and says, “you’re done.” Then he freezes and grabs his left arm and falls over having a heart attack. I jump up to go to his aid saying, “Dion no, Dion I’m so sorry.” I now see that I have to get him to a hospital but before I do, I look up seeing my father trying to crawl away. I start walking over towards my father dying there. He tries to reach for me. I’m pretty sure he’s trying to tell me to stop, but he’s kind of choking on blood at the moment. I ignore him anyway and walk over to the man who ruined my life, the man that murdered my mother. As I walk over to him, he starts begging and pleading for his life and as he’s trying to say, sorry I say, “my mother begged for her life too.” Then I put my heel through his skull killing the monster that made me. Then my jetpack starts working. I grab Dion and take him to a roof and strip him down to his tank top and underwear so he doesn’t have a suit on anymore. After flying him into a hospital, there’s a bunch of police officers with their guns pointing at me telling me to freeze. Dion gets into the hospital and I start stripping off my gear as they commanded. The police stick me into a cop car and take me to jail. This is probably what I deserve. It’s hard for me to tell the difference between right and wrong. So many people called me a hero but yet I hurt those around me. Who am I to say if they deserved it or not, I’m only human, I’m always torn between my decisions and the decisions I should’ve made. From the people's perspective, I’m a hero, taking down government officials and mob bosses. From my father‘s perspective, I’m a monster, one of his own making. From my friends perspective I’m a disappointment and a traitor. From my perspective, well I don’t know for sure.
A week later, Dion makes it out of the hospital, having to take it light from now on. He walks down a long hallway to a door. He stops at the door and stares at it, sweat running down both sides of his face. His heart beating faster than ever and after just having a heart attack, that can’t be a good thing, but it’s worth the risk. He knocks on the door and you hear a soft voice on the other side say, “come on in.” he opens the door and the soft voice from inside says, “Dion is that you?” He says, “yes Shanti, it’s me.”
In a dark room sits Izzy brother as he stairs at a photo of him and his father. Tears come out of his eyes and he starts banging on the desk and wipes it clean yelling,” Knightress will pay for this, mark my words.”