Norio watched the operation with bated breath. Over ninety percent of the bricks were loaded safely onto the trucks. Every minute or two, he would scan the area, finding the parameter still airtight. By all logic, the mission was running flawlessly. But it was that very fact that caused him to sweat. They had a treasure trove out in the open for at least an hour, and not so much as an inconvenience had appeared. The police chief didn’t know what, but something was coming.

  He soon spotted five black garbage trucks racing toward them. Quickly, he realized they had no distinguishable markings, the trucks wouldn’t come so late at night, and it wasn’t even the right day. Signaling his police to unload a salvo at them to no avail as their shots bounced off their bodies.

  ”No.” Norio looked on in horror as the trucks rammed through his police officers.

  As the trucks stopped by the train, a small army of gangsters burst from their backs. The gangsters unleashed a bombardment upon the police with their laser guns. Mowing the police down, a swarm of gold bricks flew to the garbage trucks, pulled through the air by some invisible force. And swallowed by a small portal in the back of each truck.

  A police officer was shot dead in front of Norio by one of the gangsters. As he saw his body, Norio’s face furrowed, and he charged at the attacker. And before he could shoot Norio, he threw a right hand, knocking him down.

  Norio swiftly found a grenade on the gangster amongst the other weapons he carried on his person and grabbed it. As he removed its clip, he tossed it at one of the garbage trucks. Exploding and sending gold bricks flying through the air.

  James saw Norio from his binoculars, grabbed a laser gun, and shot it at him with its targeting system from far away on the building.

  Its energy beam cut across the air to its target at top speed. As the laser raced toward Norio, Elena saw it. And she hurried over to him."Boss, look out." Tackling Norio out of the way, but the resulting explosion knocked them both out.

  The remaining trucks soon sped away, escaping with what remained of their haul and the gangsters as the police shot at the fleeing criminals.

  ***

  The valiant knight jumped from rooftop to rooftop, heading towards the train station. As he saw smoke coming from its direction, he prepared to double his speed. But Daniel stopped, witnessing the four black garbage trucks racing from there. And like Norio, as he realized the many things wrong with them, he immediately gave chase.

  Daniel jumped onto the roof over the driver's seat of one of the trucks. The gangster in the passenger seat looked outside the window and saw Daniel. “What the?” Shooting at him. But as one of his shots grazed Daniel’s shoulder, he smashed through the windshield, entering the cabin between the driver and his comrade.

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  The gangster went to shoot Daniel. However, Daniel punched him in the face, incapacitating him as he aimed. The remaining gangster in the driver's seat hurried to blast Daniel instead, but as he drew his gun with his free hand, Daniel caught his arm and squeezed on it, too weak to inflict injury but strong enough to send a jolt of intense pain racing through his body. And screaming in agony, he let go of the steering wheel, allowing the truck to knock into another, causing a fiery three-truck collision.

  Daniel quickly burst out of the truck, dragging the two gangsters to safety. As he saw the final truck race away, he readied to give chase once again. However, he stopped as he heard the screams and desperate banging from the remaining gangsters trapped in the back of the other three vehicles. Daniel slowly looked between the escaping truck and the gangsters' fiery prisons. Aiding them would take precious time from tracking the remaining truck and protecting those who were innocent. The gangsters were in mortal peril, but the trucks were tombs of their own making. Each one of the men and women inside knew what they were doing. Daniel had no doubt they were due punishment, a heavy punishment.

  "Damn it."

  But still, Daniel chose them over pursuing the vehicle. Most would likely declare him a fool for caring for their lives. And Daniel himself would agree. Again, like the incident with the children’s soccer ball, he cursed his softheartedness.

  ***

  James angrily paced back and forth in front of his gangsters.

  "Months of planning and only one truck made it. And it's not even at capacity.” James punched a hole in a wall. “What am I going to tell Father and my younger sister?"

  "Boss, calm down. We have something that could help."

  "And what is that?" James scowled at his gangster.

  The gangster directed James to an unconscious Norio tied to a chair in the corner. And James looked at their prisoner in shock.

  "He was knocked unconscious during the fight. We thought you would want to kill him yourself, with all the grief he's caused us."

  "Call my father immediately."

  ***

  One of the gangsters gave James a glass of water. As he approached Norio, he splashed it on his face, waking him up.

  "J-James tyrant?” Norio shook his head intensely, dispelling his drowsiness. “Why am I still alive?"

  "Because the big man likes to deal with VIPs himself."

  "So I get to meet him?”

  "Yes, you'll meet him and your maker very soon. But until that fun begins, I always wanted to ask you something."

  Norio became silent, glaring at James.

  "The big man knew about you before you became the police chief. From your record, any organization would be lucky to have you as an employee.”

  Norio broke his silence with a sigh. “And?”

  “When our people first approached you, why didn't you take his offer? You and your wife could have been living quite a comfortable life now. All you had to do was behave. All you had to do was look the other way on occasion."

  “You mean to say on any occasion you name.”

  “I don’t see the difference.”

  Norio took a deep breath. "Integrity, human decency, etc. In essence, everything your kind wouldn't understand."

  “Big talk. But it was following those pretty words that got you here.”

  “I don’t know how many people the big man has gotten to sell their souls, but I won’t be one of them.”

  James punched Norio in the face. "In other words, you’re a fool with a death wish."

  Above everyone's heads, Daniel hid in the shadows of the ceiling, looking at them below through a skylight as he had finally arrived. As he glared at James, he crushed a metal pipe, seeing him attack Norio, restraining himself from retaliating against the criminal in fear of the police chief’s life.