Bullets crash against the wall above Nazem Kadri’s head. The Toronto Maple Leaf centre cannot help but flinch with each impact.

“Fuck you pig!” Yells the shooter of said bullets.

“Should I tell him we aren’t cops?” Nazem asks Morgan Rielly.

The Toronto Maple Leaf defence-man is busy, so does not answer. Morgan is a techno-path. This means he can communicate with any sort of technological device. If it uses a computer, Mo can use it. His power extends to any system within ten kilometres. Currently Morgan is feeling for cell phones.

“Third floor, second room on the right.” Morgan says.

Nazem uses his powers to step into a nearby shadow. Nazem uses shadows the way we would use a door. With one step he is in the room indicated by Morgan. Naz enters the room behind an armed thug who fires an automatic rifle out the window. Noiseless, Nazem slides a blade through the neck of the thug. Before the corpse has hit the floor Naz is back at Morgan’s side.

“That’s one.” Morgan says. ” There are two more hiding behind that broken wall.”

Naz pokes his head through the shadows and quickly pulls it back out.

“Problem.” Says Nazem. “They are standing in the daylight. None of the shadows are big enough.”

Morgan swears. “I guess we just do it the hard way. On three, flanking fire. One. Two.”

On three Morgan stands and opens fire with his Toronto Maple Leaf assault rifle (with under-mounted rocket powered grenade launcher;) while Naz sticks his twin, fully automatic, Glock 9mm pistols into the shadows. His guns appear, firing from the shadows on either side of the thugs cover.

The thugs are ducking low and leaning close to the broken wall when Morgan’s RPG obliterates it.

“That wasn’t very hard.” Naz says.

Morgan laughs and agrees. The Leafs approach the not so abandoned building slowly. No gunfire erupts from any window. No explosive death greets their breaching of the main entrance. The Leafs take their time clearing the ground floor. At the stairs Morgan reaches out with his extra senses.

“Down.” He says.

The Leafs make their way down. After two flights the stairwell ends. A tunnel leading further down has been hacked into the floor. The steps are rough and the way is dim. The Leafs pick up their pace as much as they can while still being cautious. As they get lower and lower the light gets weaker and weaker. Even with their Toronto Maple Leaf night vision goggles the way ahead oozes a gloomy menace.Without warning the tunnel opens into nothing and light erupts from above.

Blinded, the Leafs instinctively step back against the rough walls of the tunnel. Gunfire rips through the space they had just abandoned.

Morgan blinks rapidly forcing his pupils to adjust.

“We’re boned!” Naz says. “They killed every shadow, even our own.”

“These guys are elite.” Morgan says with a grin. “All their gear is top of the line.”

“Why is that funny” Nazem questions Morgan’s delight.

Grinning, Morgan stands. “Their guns have a digital loading mechanism.”

Morgan steps out of the tunnel as the gunfire abruptly ends. With his vision returned Mo sees that a dozen armed thugs are lining a catwalk above a wide hall. At the far side of the hall a pair of well dressed old goons observe the action behind a triple thick pane of safety glass.

The old men are yelling and banging on the glass. The thugs are trying to get their guns to work.

“I’m really sorry about this.” Morgan says as he raises his assault rifle. “I would much rather a fair fight.”

Twelve men are cut down in moments. Morgan appreciates the effectiveness of his weapon even as he hates the ease with which it murders. Death is a very final solution and the Leaf would prefer a less permanent way of beating his enemies.

“You didn’t even save me one.” Naz says when he sees the carnage above.

“Don’t worry.” Morgan says. “There’s plenty.”

On queue, over fifty thugs pour into the room from behind the glass. The old goons watch, content that they have solved their issue.

“That’s a big pack of dudes.” Says Naz. “Help me out Mo, shoot that light.”

Nazem points to the ceiling but Morgan shakes his head.

“I got something way better for you.”

Morgan finds the lighting relay and nudges it into strobe mode. The flood lights flicker on and off in random order. Shadows dance throughout the space in a riot of grey mazes.

“Your welcome.” Morgan says.

Naz is already gone. Death starts to spit out of the blackness. A bullet to the head.A boot to the sternum. A knife to the throat. The source in constant motion. Several of the thugs are shot by their own as they lash out instinctively, knowing no better way to defend than to attack.

Morgan rushes forward to help his teammate. These thugs are armed with a variety of weapons, not all of them digital. It is hard to catch Naz, not impossible. Firing from the hip as he runs Morgan shouts out his war cry.

“Go Leafs Go!”

Suddenly Naz is beside him firing on the run and shouting as well. They are a team. That means Naz knows Mo won’t fire his RPG’s into a crowd if there’s a chance Naz might get caught. Now that there is no chance of Naz getting hit, Mo fires four of his nine remaining explosives. The result is predictably devastating.

Protected by their Toronto Maple Leaf auto-adaptive body armour, Morgan and Nazem are the only two alive in the room. The two old men on the other side of the glass are panicking. They cannot open the door to escape. They are still trying to force it open when Mo and Naz reach them.

“Just tell us who you work for. We will let you go.” Says Morgan.

“All we want is the name.” Naz adds. “Enough people have gotten killed today.”

One of the goons steps away from the door. “You really think you could protect us from him?”

“Shut up.” Says the other.

“You have no idea what sort of a man your dealing with.” The first goon continues. “If we talk he will know, and he will come for us.”

“Jesus, fucking shut up!” The second goon shouts.

“Are you ready for that boy? Are your ready for Ten Eel?”

The second goon whips out a piece and shoots the first goon before the Leafs can react. Screaming he puts the gun under his chin and pulls the trigger. The silence is raw as the gun blast fades from the small chamber.

“Who the fuck is Ten Eel?” Naz asks.

Morgan shrugs in answer. He doesn’t know. (Morgan will have to wait to find out more about our mysterious villain. But you don’t!! Click HERE)