6 --- 3

Nate parked the van in an abandoned street at the outskirts of the Bronx. He double checked to see if he got the address right and this was where the supposed deal was to go down. He stopped out of the van ad almost immediately, men stepped out of hidden corners to confront him. They soon surrounded him on the driver side of the van.

He did a silent headcount, they were fourteen in number. He didn't need to scan them to know they were armed. They were your classic gang members' type.

Nate suppressed the urge to confront or protect himself. He gave them a small smile instead. "So which of you fine gentlemen is named Billy cross?"

"That would be me." A gruff voice said as two men rounded the van from his left to face him. The man who spoke was a tall fat man with a goatee and a bandanna covering his bald head

*Make that fifteen.* He surveyed the nimble thin man with pale skin. He was wearing glasses and holding an iPad. 'And a half.'

"Who are you?" Billy asked.

"I am your delivery guy. I have your package from Bob stein." He replied using the fake name Victor gave him.

"Where are the rest of you?"

"I came alone."

Billy sneered. "You really think I am going to fall for that old trick?" Nate did not reply but kept a straight face. "Well, where is the package?"

Nate pressed a button on the key and the van back door clicked open. "It's in there."

Billy gave a nod to his men and half of them began to bring out crate of weapons from the van, assorted weapons including pistols, rifles, shotguns, grenades and so on.

"The money?" Nate asked.

Billy beckoned to someone behind him and a burly man dropped a bag of cash at his feet. "I need to make sure it is complete."

"Be my guest and count it."

Nate didn't like the idea of having his hands full among armed men. "Have one of your men do it. I will watch."

Billy frowned but gave the order anyway. Another man produced a counting machine and began to count the money.

That was when Nate noticed the small man eyeing him intently. Nate knew that look. It was the same look he got when he walked on the street. *Recognition.* That's what you get when you are working for a popular crime boss like Victor.

"Is this all?" Billy snapped, pulling Nate away from his thoughts.

"Yes, that's all."

"I was promised flamethrowers and grenade launchers. I don't see any of that here."

"That is not my problem. I am just the messenger."

Billy withdrew a gun from his jacket and the other men followed suit. "See it is a problem because I paid half upfront for these guns."

"That sounds stupid. Why would you pay for weapons you haven't seen?"

Billy pointed the gun to Nate's chest. "I am done playing with your ass, kid. Get your boss on the line before I pump you full of bullets."

"Sir, I think..."The small man began to talk.

"Shut it Simon. This is none of your business." Billy cut him off.

Nate knew if he was going to get any chance to do anything, it would be now.

Without warning, he grabbed the gun from Billy's hands and punched him straight in the gut. Billy crumpled to the ground.

The rest of the gang opened fire on Nate but he was ready. He threw up a shield against their unrelenting bullets and waited until they ran out. He didn't wait for them to reload. He moved in on two men at once and grabbed them by the throats with glowing hands. They both gasped for breath. He slammed one to the ground and threw the other against three of his mates. He turned in time to see another man who had reloaded his gun. Nate grabbed his hand and twisted hard. The man groaned in pain and dropped the gun. Nate pulled his arm out of its socket, rendering the arm useless.

He threw a weak beam of energy into another man, throwing him several feet away. The rest of the gang who had successfully reloaded opened fire again. Nate rolled away and dashed between bullets. He jumped over a low brick fence for cover but not before a bullet hit him in the shoulder.

Nate grunted in pain as he sat up behind the wall. Fresh blood leaked from the wound but Nate could feel the bullet inside. He had to end this fight now.

As soon as the shooting stopped, he launched himself in the air and dropped a ball of energy on the men. They flew away in different directions from the mild explosion. Nate did not let them recover. He focused his will into his hands and began to knock each man out with rapid viciousness.

At the end, it remained two. Dust had risen from the ground due to earlier explosion. The two men were shivering and pointing guns in different directions.

They couldn't see him. Nate's eyes glowed, he could see them perfectly. He crept behind the first and delivered a spinning kick to the side of his neck. He crumpled to the ground. His partner fired two shots in the direction of the sound but Nate was no longer there. He kicked the man in the leg. There was a loud crack as the man knelt on one knee. Nate then drove a fist to his head smashing it against the van. He groaned and slumped to the groaned.

The dust had now settled.All the men were either unconscious or whining painfully on the ground except the small man named Simon. He was a few feet away from him, shivering in fear while holding the bag of money.

Nate walked to him and stretched out his hand. He gave him the bag without question. Nate went to the van with the bag and drove away.

The adrenaline faded and the pain in his shoulder returned. He looked down at the wound and saw that it had stopped bleeding.

"Fuck." He muttered. "That was one of my favorite jackets." He pulled out his phone and dialed Victor.

"Are you done?"

"Yes, it went according to plan." Nate replied looking at the bag of money at his side.

"Good, return to base."

Nate sighed heavily. Just when he thought he couldn't hate this job more. "We can't even be decent criminals."