Marvel-ous Ninjutsu

00210. Hela has a problem.

Within a couple of hours Ezekiel and his men had rounded up the leader of the Russian mafia and used him to help capture everyone else. They were still in the process of determining each person's crimes but Ezekiel already found out the main information he wanted to know.

Aleksei was targeted because they originally helped his parents by bringing him to the United States when he was young. His parents paid a certain amount of money for them to do it. But afterwards he was considered ‘free’ and they left him alone for the most part. That was until the scrapyard started to do really well and they decided they wanted the business, instead of the small ‘fee’ they charged as protection.

As for how he was able to own the scrapyard in the first place, it was originally his uncle's and he helped make it what it is today over the last twenty years or so. As for the scrapyard's name, it was never changed because Aleksei was named after his uncle in the first place.

When his uncle wanted to retire, he transferred the business over to Aleksei because he had no children of his own and basically raised him since he was ten. Aleksei not only ran the business well, but also improved it and helped it grow over the last ten years. Which caused this whole issue in the first place.

Ezekiel gathered up all the information his team collected and sent it over to the Hand. They were instructed to take over all of the assets for the mob and then sell it off. As for the members of the mob based in New York City, Ezekiel was already taking care of them and would handle their personal assets.

As for the newer members or low ranking ones that hadn't committed major crimes, Ezekiel instructed the Hand to take them in and turn them into productive members of society. With that out of the way, Ezekiel went to check in with Aleksei in the medical wing of the facility. He found the man still asleep after being treated for his injuries. While he would still need time to heal properly, he no longer looked as bad.

Hela and Ezekiel chatted for a little while until Aleksei finally woke up. He groggily sat up and looked around the room with his one eye that wasn't swollen over for a few moments before he focused on Ezekiel and asked, “Ezekiel?”

Ezekiel glanced over at the man and smiled as he asked, “It's good to see you up Aleksei. How do you feel?”

“Like I was run over by a truck… How did you find me and what happened to those assholes who kidnapped me?”

Ezekiel waved off the question as he said, “It doesn't really matter, they've been dealt with and you will never have to see them again.”

“How? They have people all over…”

“Some friends of mine completely eliminated them in New York, so don't worry about how or why. Just be happy they won't bother you again.” Ezekiel said with a smile.

Aleksei laid back down as he said, “Well, that's one less thing to worry about.”

“You're taking this a lot better than I expected.”

Aleksei let out a soft chuckle as he said, “I accepted the fact that I was a dead man once they kidnapped me.”

“Those are the words of a coward. You should have fought back.”

Aleksei glanced towards Hela as he said, “I would have, but they would have targeted my family if I did.”

“Then why didn't you just sign over your business and the property like they wanted you too?” 

Aleksei turned towards Ezekiel as he said, “When they first approached me, I warned my family something might happen and that if I didn't contact them each day, to drain my bank accounts before going into hiding. I was trying to give them enough time to get everything done.”

“Your parents still live in Russia, don't they?”

Aleksei nodded as he said, “With my younger sister.”

“How come they never joined you in America?”

Aleksei let out a sigh before he said, “My father is former military and isn't allowed to leave Russia because of that. My mother wouldn't leave without him, so they set me alone to have a chance at a better life.”

“What about your sister?”

“She was born years after I left and my parents didn't trust sending her over alone the same way I was with the mob.”

Ezekiel nodded slightly before he asked, “Why'd they send you over with help from the mob in the first place? Couldn't you come through the normal process?”

“Same reason my father couldn't leave. I wasn't eligible for a passport. But unlike my father who is still somewhat important, no one cared if a young boy went missing. It's the only reason my family didn't join me.”

Ezekiel stood up from his seat as he said, “Thanks. That gives me a clearer idea of everything.”

“Do you have a phone I can use? I want to contact my family and let them know I'm still alive.”

“Just rest for now, I already have people working on contacting your family. In a day or so you'll be able to talk with them.” Ezekiel said as his eyes changed and Aleksei saw a flash of red before he fell asleep.

Ezekiel glanced towards Hela as he said, “Wanna go to Russia and find his family?”

“Didn't your team already find them?”

Ezekiel led Hela out of the room as he said, “Kinda. I have a general idea of where they went and know their vehicle. But I ordered everyone to start working on the Russian mafia over there, since that is a bigger priority for now.”

Within minutes Ezekiel and Hela walked out of a portal in the Russian countryside. A worn out road was next to them and a handful of cars drove past the area every so often. Ezekiel reached for his storage seal and pulled out a little display case of cars before he pulled one out and placed it on the ground.

As he sealed the case away he said, “Let's step back for a moment.”

Hela glanced at the toy car as she stepped back and a moment later it expanded into a normal sized black SUV. Hela's eyes widened as she asked, “What was that?”

“A technology made by a friend. I'll introduce you to him and his family the next time they are on Earth.”

As they entered the car Hela asked, “They don't live on Midgard?”

Ezekiel buckled his seat belt as he said, “Normally they do, but they are currently on a long term research project with a handful of other people.”

Ezekiel glanced towards Hela as he went to start the car and said, “Please put on your seat belt.”

“Seat belt?”

Ezekiel tugged on his as he said, “It's to your right and clips into that little buckle down there.”

Hela found it and buckled it properly before she asked, “What's this for?”

“To help keep you safe in case of an accident.” Ezekiel said as he started the car.

Hela frowned slightly as she said, “I'm an Asgardian, I highly doubt anything on Midgard could harm me.”

“Maybe, maybe not. But as long as you are in a vehicle, you need to wear one.” Ezekiel said as he turned on the radio to look for some music for the drive.

He quickly found a playlist and hit play before he pulled onto the road and started to drive. As Runnin’ Down A Dream started to play Hela asked, “Wouldn't it be faster to run wherever we are going or just portal closer?”

“It would, but it wouldn’t be as fun as this and besides we aren't in a rush anymore. So just sit back, enjoy the view and the music.” Ezekiel said as the song started, “It was a beautiful day.”

“The sun beat down.”

“I had the radio on.”

“I was driving.”

As they cruised along the road they chatted about random stuff or different things Hela noticed along the way. While Hela had consumed a good amount of TV and movies, she still lacked basic information about a lot of things on Earth. So whenever she saw something she didn't know she asked about it.

As they drove, Ezekiel had to check a few things on his tablet to make sure they were following Aleksei’s family. It was around five hours later when they finally caught up to them at a run down motel where they stopped to rest for the night. After Ezekiel stored the car away they approached the family's rented room where Ezekiel heard no noise.

Ezekiel knocked on the door softly since it was pretty late at night. After a few moments a man with a gruff voice asked in Russia, “Who is it?”

“I'm a friend of Aleksei, he sent me to find you.”

Ezekiel heard the distinct sound of a hammer being pulled back on a gun before he said, “Mr. Sytsevich, I'm not here to hurt you or your family. I'm only here to pick you up so you can go meet Aleksei.”

Ezekiel heard a woman whisper to the man, “What should we do? Aleksei just told us to run, he didn't say anything about people helping him.”

“He didn't tell you because he didn't know I could help him.”

The people on the other side stopped talking for a few moments before the door started to unlock. As the door swung open a gun barrel was pointed at Ezekiel’s head. Before Ezekiel could even respond, Hela grabbed the gun by the barrel and crushed it with her hand. The people inside the room all let out gasps of surprise as Hela glared at the man and said, “I doubt if your weapon could even hurt Ezekiel, but if you do something like that again…”

Ezekiel cut off Hela as he said, “I appreciate your help, but these are normal humans who are running from thugs. If they didn't pull a weapon on us I would think something was wrong. Besides, we came here to help them, not scare them.”

Hela kept a slight frown on her face but backed away as Ezekiel smiled and put both hands up in a non threatening manner as he said, “Sorry about that, she’s still getting used to civilian life. Like I said, we came to find you for Aleksei.”

“Is Aleksei okay?” The older woman asked with concern in her voice.

Ezekiel nodded as he said, “We were able to rescue him before anything truly bad happened to him.”

“Thank you.” The woman said as the corners of her eyes misted up.

“If you gather up your stuff, I'll take you to go meet Aleksei.”

Aleksei’s father stayed at the door and watched Ezekiel and Hela as his wife and daughter quickly grabbed a couple of suitcases. Once they were done, Ezekiel asked, “Do you need the car or anything in it?”

The man shook his head as he said, “We stole it.”

Ezekiel smirked as he opened a portal and said, “That was a good idea.”

The family of three stared at the portal as Ezekiel motioned towards it and said, “Please step through it.”

As they walked through the portal Ezekiel glanced at Hela and said in English, “I really do appreciate your concern for my safety. But you need to relax a little bit when we go out.”

“They could have hurt you.”

Ezekiel cocked an eyebrow as he said, “The same way the chef at the teppanyaki restaurant could have?”

“He had a knife that he was tossing around and even pointed it at you.”

“I know he was fast, but it was a spatula and you almost attacked him with a sword…”

“You didn't tell me it was some kinda dinner show, I thought he was going to attack you!” Hela said with a huff.

Ezekiel let out a soft chuckle as he shook his head and led Aleksei’s family to see him. After they arrived in the hospital room, Ezekiel woke the man up and let him have a reunion with his family. As they were doing that, Ezekiel took Hela out to eat before he went home to see his own family.