Knowing Joseph Romano Black Scorpion was becoming a rather bothersome thorn in
Aiden's side. As long as he knew they were out there, something wasn't right. He felt as
if he would have to keep looking over his shoulder until he had ensured himself that the
organization was wiped out.
In the meantime, the lives of himself, his family, and his friends were all hanging in the
balance. Hearing Aiden mention Black Scorpion, the mood in the room darkened
noticeably. Obviously, they were all thinking something similar.
They all wanted the same thing. With a sigh, Director Harris moved over to a table and
pulled out a dossier, spreading its contents around for all present to see. Not a lot is
known about Black Scorpion, but they first became active about 20 years ago, from what
we can tell.
They don't pop up very often, but every confirmed Black Scorpion case involves a
kidnapping. Hearing this, Kay and Doblar share a grim look. There's a pretty strict
organizational hierarchy in Black Scorpion.
At present, we've only really encountered the lowest level of operative. We call them
worker bees. They're pretty disposable to Black Scorpion, nothing more than henchmen.
The people Aiden killed on the mountain were all worker bees, as was Ava Garner. Aiden
couldn't break away from the cold-eyed picture of Miss Garner that was peeking out of
the file. Above the worker bees are the drones.
The drones are in charge of the workers, and seem to direct them somewhat. According
to Intelligence, there seems to be a level above the Director called a Queen, but we
know very little about them. Was it a drone who told Ava to kidnap Dora? Or maybe even
a Queen? Our only goal now is to wipe the whole organization out.
Harris finished. Doblar groaned from the corner. So why haven't we gotten on it? What
are we waiting for? They could have Holly out there somewhere right now! Doblar had a
reason to be the most anxious of the group.
He was the only one who already had his skin in the game. Officer Robert frowned. We
would, but the problem is we don't know where the Black Scorpion is exactly.
We tried to trace meeting points or bases of operation from the worker bees from the
mountain, but all their communications seem to have been encrypted in a way our team
doesn't know how to crack. We won't know where they're coming from until we can
decrypt those messages. And by the time we do, they'll likely be long gone.
Harris affirmed. That's not good enough! Doblar yelled, hounding the wall with his fist.
Aiden had barely noticed him before, but standing behind Anthony K., a boy dressed up
in a strange way was watching the scene quietly.
His eyes were curious, and he seemed to be very interested in Doblar. The boy had to be
about Aiden's age, and he was wearing a long, baggy suit that was obviously in need of a
tailoring job. He wore his hair in a buzz cut.
His shoulders sagged ever slightly at all times. His face looked honest, his eyes a bright
green and his skin a warm bronze. Little silver earrings dangled from his ears.
Whoever this guy was, he didn't seem particularly normal. And for Aiden, that was saying
something. Seeing Aiden's eyes focused on the boy, Anthony K. turned to him and said, I
almost forgot to introduce you.
This is my apprentice. He came to work with me all the way from Indianapolis. Isn't that
right? Oliver, this is Aiden Dale.
The boy held his hand out for Aiden to shake. I'm Oliver Pike. I look forward to working
with you, Mr. Dale.
When Aiden was still taking in Oliver's strange visage, K. had already moved on, shaking
his head as he said. To tell you the truth, I suspect that the black scorpion may have had
a hand in Dora's mother's death a few years ago as well. Something about it never sat right.
You know, I may not look it, but I'm pretty er, scrappy, Oliver said quietly to Aiden. I
could be of some help to you, I think. But Aiden had no time to respond, as Director
Harris had turned his attention back to him.
Dale, do you have any idea of what we should do? Everyone in the room stared at him
expectantly. Because he had done so well up until now, it seemed like the men just
assumed Aiden knew something they didn't know about how to defeat Black Scorpion.
Regardless of how it happened, Aiden had a reputation now for being able to untie rather
complex knots such as this.
They know I'm only in 11th grade, right? Aiden's mind was full of questions of how to
locate the Black Scorpion. He could probably use his computing ability to crack their
encryption code, but it would still likely take several days. By then, the Black Scorpion
would long have escaped.
Just as he was thinking about it, a familiar voice rang out from the lobby downstairs.
Clara, whatever happened to that son of yours? I haven't had his chicken noodle soup for
a long time. Is it strange to say I miss it? It was Joseph Romano, he realized.
When he had first moved to East Street, Romano had come to visit many times.
However, the more intense his job got, the more tired he was when he got off. Soon, his
visits became few and far between.
Hearing his voice now was a surprise. Hearing Romano's voice, Officer Robert frowned.
Ah, Romano, you gotta be kidding me.
Obviously, the two had a history of some kind as well. But the lightbulb in Aiden's mind
suddenly lit up. Hey, look at it this way, there's probably no one who would know more
about crime than Joe Romano.
He dashed downstairs. On the first floor, Romano was sitting at a table, drinking a cup of
coffee with a frown. Aiden, you've gotta make me some of your chicken soup.
I'm shaking today and I can't think of anything that gets me out of a funk like you're
cooking, young man. Aiden sat opposite Romano, teasing him. I'm shocked there are still
people who would even be able to shake you in these parts.
Ah, but there are. Some people are just so unsettling all on their own, he trailed. His face
was an unreadable blend of emotions, an odd mix of fear, rage, and devastation.
Who would be able to scare Joseph Romano like this, Aiden wondered. Luckily, Romano
answered his question without him even having to ask. He began to explain that
originally, their studio on East Street was connected to a set of warehouses which he rented to others for a price hike.
However, one renter he went into business with was rather stubborn, and refused to pay
off his debt even after the lease term expired. Not one to be messed with, Romano sent
out some men to collect the debts, but every man he sent to collect was never heard
from again. Worried about his own neck, Romano dared not report the case to the police,
so he explained to Aiden that he wasn't sure what to do.
The people who rented your warehouse, did they use blue tool bags? When there's
smoke, there's often fire. Come to think of it, yeah, and they had some kind of accent
too. Foreigners.
Romano sipped his coffee impatiently. I didn't want to rent to them, but I did it out of
kindness of my heart, and now look at me! They were almost certainly black scorpions. It
was almost too good to be true.
Joe, I think we can be of help to one another, Aiden smirked. Romano was stunned at his
confidence, suddenly remembering that Aiden wasn't an ordinary high school student.
He had grown up more quickly than most kids, and now he had quite a few powerful
figures from around the town on his side.
Now, when he saw how calm and confident Aiden was, something inside Romano shifted.
Kid, if you can solve this problem for me, I'll send one of my men to
work for you, full time, free of charge.
How about Frank? I'm sick of him yapping in my ear every day anyway. Aiden
straightened up in his chair, nodding slowly. As much as he didn't want to believe it, he
was beginning to accept that he wasn't your average teen anymore.
Having Frank around for backup would be useful. Deal. It was ten o'clock at night when
Aiden returned to the group to disclose what he had learned about Romano.
Without delay, Harris and Robert began working to organize their forces. Robert called
for the SWAT team, and Harris also mobilized a group of agents originally stationed a
county over. Along with these teams, Aiden, Doblar, and Oliver also prepared themselves
to come along.
According to Romano, the Black Scorpion were working out of a warehouse located in the
north of town. Under the still of the night, at least 75 officers, agents, and operatives
now approached that same warehouse, a deadly silence hanging over them all. The
SWAT team and a few handfuls of FBI agents were cooperating with each other, quietly
turning into the warehouse from the outer wall and formation.
Aiden watched with awe from behind them all, admiring the tacit understanding between
the two groups. While Aiden was waiting for them to open the door from inside, he noticed that Oliver was standing at the corner of the warehouse gate, a nine-foot
concrete wall. Was he thinking of trying to climb over it? However, just as Aiden had this
thought, Oliver touched the wall with his hand.
He stepped back a bit, then ran at the wall, full speed. He leaped into the air, and his
feet made contact with the wall about halfway up. Then, using his momentum and what
seemed to be an insane amount of body control, he managed to scale the wall and
disappeared over the top.
Aiden was amazed. Was he a superhero? When Director Harris saw Aiden gaping, he
laughed to himself. I guess there are still a few things that can shock that kid.
Don't underestimate Pike, kid. He's got a lot of tricks up his sleeve. For one, he's a
parkour expert.
He's trained for years with some of the best.