Rise Of The Hawk.

Getting shot in that alley was the second time I would get shot, first time I got shot, I was in a bar brawl. The guy pulled a gun after getting jumped by a couple of us, he shot and the bullet went through my arm. I thought that felt awful until I was bleeding out in the alleyway. Most of my days in America were violent, I had been shot, stabbed and I did some horrible things myself. When I got to the sanctuary in Japan, I thought it was over, I sought to put my violent past behind me but I could not have been more wrong. I realized my violent past was not over, it was indeed being kick-started. I failed to put my violent past behind me, I keep failing to do it. Violence just has a tricky way of finding me wherever I went.

I was bedridden for months after getting shot, I went through physical therapy to get back into shape, but getting shot has a way of leaving lasting damages, be it physical or psychological. As I got better, right from the days I was bedridden I planned my vengeance on the man who shot me, I was so filled with anger and hate. Aisha came by a couple of times and stopped coming. I guess she hated seeing me in that condition. Khalid was brought home too for security reasons and his son beefed up security at the mansion.  Michael was so helpful and we bonded more than I thought we would. The kid was a genius, he was always building things.

"I have got to show you my lab in the basement when you get better, Dan. You're going to like it, Dad did," he kept saying this every day and when I was finally strong enough, he took me to the basement. The place had converted to a well-equipped laboratory.

"When did you do all these," I asked excitedly.

"Well, I kept wrecking my room when I experimented with...everything, so Dad decided to convert the basement into what you now see. It's amazing right?"

"It is," I replied still staring at the room, jaw dropped.

"You must be doing great in school," I said.

"Errrm, I guess... It's so easy when all the other students are dumb, and even the teachers are just a bit better than them."

"Wow! Do you even have friends, Michael?" I asked as I laughed at his comment.

"No, I don't. I don't need friends," he murmured.

"What about a girlfriend then?"

"No, I don't have a girlfriend," he replied reluctantly.

"No surprise there. You're a genius, kid and that would make you appear to most people like an ass hole because you can do what they can only dream of doing. Before you know it, you'll start hating them back, and eventually end up being the ass hole they thought you were."

"But I'm not an ass hole, I just don't like being judged for what I have no power over," he explained.

"Then you should try making friends, kid. Or you'll end up being a very sad, lonely person."

"Okay, I'll try to make friends, if you promise to teach me to fight like you," he replied.

"What are you talking about?" I asked, looking surprised.

"Yeah, I saw you in action at the bar. You can throw hands and I want to be able to do that too."

"How did you?" I wanted to ask him how he could have seen me at the bar but I was cut short by his answer.

"I followed you from the mansion, I knew you were going to do something about the funeral shooting and I knew you were walking Into trouble. I hid in the cafe beside the bar and followed you with DARK."

"What the hell is DARK? I asked.

"It's one of the drones I built. That was why I could get to you in time when you got shot. And that was how I got a clear photo of the shooter."

"You did what?" I exclaimed.

"Yeah, I got his photo and ran him through facial recognition. He's a guy named James Nwosu, private military contractor, working for N.O.V.A." 

"Why the hell are you just telling me all these now, Micheal?" I asked angrily.

"Well, because of the way you are behaving right now. Dad told me to watch out for my anger management problem, and man, he was so right. You got back and in just a couple of days, you almost got yourself killed. Not to mention you also made a mess of my investigations," he walked to a chair, sat down, and started clicking on one of the computers set in front of him.

"What the hell are you talking about?" I asked impatiently.

"Will you sit down," he said as he pointed to a chair and I complied reluctantly.

Then he started to talk. "Dad was murdered, Danny, and I have been investigating his death."

I was silent for a moment, lost and confused. Then the look on Dad's face when I saw him for the last time came right back to me. He was desperate and terrified at the same time. My father was a very stubborn man, he wouldn't have come to see me if he didn't have a strong reason. "He was not there because he missed me after all," I thought.

"Are you still there?" Micheal asked, interrupting my thoughts.

"Yes, I am. Who killed him, and why?" I said.

"Those are the things I was trying to find out before you showed up. I tried finding answers from Khalid since he was our father's keeper of secrets, but he wouldn't talk to me. I guess he was waiting for you. I'm guessing they tried to silence him at the funeral."

"Why didn't they just kill me too," I murmured.

"You probably did not pose much danger to them, I guess. I mean you have been gone for years, and you probably weren't going to stick around for long. Khalid was more of a problem to them. If they had taken out the two of you, it would have raised more alarms," Michael explained.

"I am guessing after the events at the bar, I am now at the top of their list," I said.

"Your guess is right. That's why I got Khalid's son running security in case they decided to come to finish you off, but so far, nothing has happened. But as of this moment, bro, we are at war."

"Thank you very much, Micheal. You have really handled all this very well."

"Anything for my family, big brother. Plus I was bored as hell before now," he laughed brightly.

"You are in luck then. Because this shit is about to get more exciting. We are done playing defense, now we take the fight to them. We are going to get justice for our father and rid this city of these criminals."

"I was hoping you would say that, so I kind of found this black ninja costume in your room, so I decided to make you a suit. It's also black like your ninja thingy but way better," he said excitedly.

"You made me a suit?" I asked.

"Yeah, a bulletproof ninja suit. Since we don't want you getting shot to hell again," he laughed.