Megastory 1.1

We learn what David Palmer went to try and recruit LeRoy Green for.

Previously: Former President David Palmer visited LeRoy Greene in order to recruit him. The two were attacked by a trio of Hand ninja looking to kill David Palmer.

 

 

          “No!” LeRoy exclaimed. He had almost finished with the two ninja who were trying to get past him. Greene had backed President Palmer into a corner as he dealt with the assassins. Three times he had caught a shuriken out of the air from an unseen third assailant.

          These ninja were good. He couldn’t dispose of them quickly enough to locate the third one. During a particularly aggressive moment in the fight, that third ninja successfully penetrated the defense which was the master of The Glow and got a poison tipped shuriken into David Palmer’s shoulder. Thus the screaming of ‘no’ from LeRoy.

          Their mission complete, the Hand withdrew, knowing that they would not be followed.

          It took LeRoy a while to find his phone and far far too long for the paramedics to arrive.

          When they did, it was obvious that these weren’t some run-of-the-mill city employees.

          An entire army had taken over his dojo, only a couple of people tending to Palmer. Most of the others seemed to be securing the area.

          One man, African American with a bald head and an eye patch, ushered LeRoy away. They went to LeRoy’s office but he didn’t close the door.

          “We keep telling him not to run off by himself like that.” The man said more to himself. He seemed to be very upset about the situation, emotionally wounded at what had happened to Palmer.

          “He’s too high profile a target and too trusting a man. Always seeing the good in everything and everybody. That’s why he got elected I guess.”

          Finally, he seemed to remember that he had LeRoy with him.

          “My name is Nick Fury. I work under Mr. Palmer.”

          “I’m sorry.” LeRoy murmured. “I failed him.”

          “Yeah, you did.” Fury said quite harshly.

          “Will he recover?”

          “Don’t know.” Said Fury looking off in the directing where Palmer was still lying. The paramedics were getting ready to lift him onto a gurney. Suddenly Fury snapped around and faced LeRoy.

          “He came here hoping for your cooperation.”

          LeRoy drew back. “We discussed it, but I’m not sure…”

          “Mr. Greene, a former president, a politician that people can actually respect, came here believing in you. We told him to wait and get the place secured first but he didn’t want to scare you off with the military meat heads like me. Now he’s lying there near death because you couldn’t hack it. I guess he was wrong about you.”

          A glimmer of fire sparked in LeRoy’s eyes. “I was not expecting trouble! They attacked me but they were after President Palmer! If I had understood what was going on, I could have protected him better.”

          “Son, I’ve heard every excuse in the book. The fact is the bad guys got what they wanted. You can sit here and hide in this dojo for the rest of your life or you can make up for your failure to Mr. Palmer by doing the right thing. If you think this is over, then you’re sadly mistaken.”

**********

          LeRoy rode back with the caravan that was delivering David Palmer to the hospital. Nick Fury seemed pretty proud of himself for getting LeRoy to join them but drive so far consisted of Fury handling reports from numerous sources. LeRoy did his best not to pay attention but he was sitting right there and Fury was being very discreet about his talks.

          Before they got to the hospital, the caravan split. Two cars stayed with Palmer’s ambulance while another car diverted along with the one LeRoy and Fury were in.

          Ten minutes later, they pulled into a back alley garage. As everyone climbed out of the vehicles, LeRoy, moving much more slowly, looked around.

          The place seemed to be military secret base if the movies had any hint of reality. One of the guys who had been riding with them usured LeRoy in a specific direction but Fury immediately stepped up and lead him himself.

          “This is Zeta base,” he said, glancing behind him with his good eye to make sure that LeRoy was keeping pace. “It’s a small operations hub we use to keep a low profile. This is where your instructions and support will come from.”

          They went into a small back room that literally looked like a broom closet, cleaning supplies and all.

          “Whatever you need, you got it. Got a problem that will take you off task, we’ll remove it. Also, I’m sure Mr. Palmer would want to stress that your safely is a high priority. But that’s something that can’t  be guaranteed.”

          “What do you need me to do?” LeRoy asked, truly curious as to what benefit he could provide that the fine men and women around him couldn’t do.

“There’s a sort of martial arts tournament. But we suspect something more to it. I need you go win some rounds and get invited to the inner circle.”

          “I will do my best sir.” LeRoy replied. “But I must say that I do not fight in such competitions. I see them as senseless and quite honestly, an insult to the true spirit of the martial arts.”

          Fury snorted. “Mr. Palmer said you’d put up an argument like that.” He leaned in closer. “You’re right. This kind of thing doesn’t do the martial arts justice. But it’s how things are done in the real world. The savage world. I’ve got other guys I could send in but they’ll get flagged. You’re more famous than you know, Mr. Greene. You’ll be able to get in without suspicion. In fact, I’m sure they’ll be excited to have you. All you need to do is win. You’ll get invited to some deeper associations. Once you’re in, I’ll pull you out and sent in the pros. It’ll be a piece of cake.”

          A thoughtful silence followed and Fury studied his new recruit. He was impressed at how unnervous LeRoy was.  But something was clearly bothering him.

“You say there’s a deeper plot. I must warn you, I am no investigator.”

          Fury held his hand up. “You won’t be working alone. I have back-up arranged.”

          The door already opened, a well-toned woman came in. She had white hair like that mutant woman who had married the Black Panther and a no-nonsense demeanor.

          “This is Vanessa Lewis.” Fury introduced her. “She’ll be in the tournament with you.”

          She reached out and shook LeRoy’s hand.

          Fury couldn’t hold back a smirk as he saw LeRoy’s eyes glittered. Vanessa was a looker.

          “Look forward to working with you.” Vanessa said, professionally. “I’m sort of the reason you’re here. I told Mr. Palmer that I’m not really up for the kind of skills that have shown up in these tournaments. You’re name came up and we sort of ran with it.”

          “I hope I do not disappoint you.” LeRoy said.

**********

          LeRoy and Vanessa arrived and were surprised to be greeted at the airport. The escort didn’t look like a fighter, from Vanessa’s judgement, but he could have been a mutant or some other metahuman.

          The cordialness ended when they got to the tournament. The arena was basically a rundown gym. It had been spruced up, but not enough to hide its ware.

          There wasn’t much room for spectators but a small crowd was mulling around, waiting for the action to start. All of them were probably representatives of higher ups. Guys who could keep their mouths shut and look out for their employers’ interests.

          Given sufficient time to prepare, LeRoy was called for a match. The other fighters weren’t given the benefit of seeing their possible opponents’ fights.

          Always at peace, LeRoy meditated as he waited for his fight to start.

          At last, it was time. He had never heard of this man, but the man knew who he was.

          “LeRoy Greene. The so called ‘Master’.”

          He was a buff man, with tattoos on his chest and a slicked back Mohawk hair cut.  It ended in a multi-strand pony tail.

          “It’s nice meeting you. And it’ll be even nicer knocking you out.”

 

The Cast:

 

LeRoy Greene (The Last Dragon)

Ultimate Nick Fury (Marvel Comics)

Vanessa Lewis (Virtua Fighter)