Hummingbird

Notes:

The Story belongs to the same universe as the following:

Long Stories:

1. Dragonfly: The Devil’s Deception
2. Ladybug: A Mother’s Redemption
3. Scorpio: A Quest Against Deception
4. Triplicate: A Devil in Disguise (Part 1)
5. Triplicate: A Devil in Disguise (Part 2)

Short Stories:

1. Carnation

Read the previous (above) stories, before you start reading this story. It will be better for your understanding.

Title: Hummingbird: Illusions of Shadows

This is the fifth long story of the installment.

Chapter 1

12 years ago,

In Chicago,

A boy named Scott observed that his father had arguments with a few authorities. Day passes but the authorities still visit and disturb his father. Scott isn’t aware of the conversations. All he knew was that the people didn’t have any proper intentions, they were dressed like drug mafias.

One day, Scott came after the school and found his father dead. Scott’s father was a gymnast trainer at the college. After his father's demise, his uncle raised him.

Present Day,

The city of Chicago is threatened by a phantom thief indulged in robbing banks. He also killed a few corrupt bankers. After completing his missions, he left a note inside the bank. It shows that his name is Hummingbird.

The person known as Hummingbird managed to trick the police every time. Not only the police, but he is also wanted by the FBI. Every time the police and FBI tried to apprehend the Hummingbird, they failed.

Some senior FBI Chicago authorities were in discussion about how to stop the phantom thief, Hummingbird. A senior stand suggests contacting a few special authorities from the FBI and CISA (Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency) in New York.

Chapter 2

New York,

Brendan is now promoted to a higher rank in the FBI and Eliza is promoted to be a leader at the CISA. [Brendan and Eliza are two of the main supporting essences from “Scorpio: A Quest Against Deception” and “Triplicate: A Devil in Disguise”.] James an emerging cybersecurity specialist works under Eliza and assists her team and FBI. Brendan receives a message from Jacob [One of the main supporting essences in my previous stories] asking him about the environment of the department. Brendan replied okay. Jacob has now set up his special team with the help of the FBI and is in a higher position.

Later, Brendan and Eliza assembled. They both greet each other and both are called by their senior officer. he was telling them about the Hummingbird case. Brendan and Eliza have to travel to Chicago to interfere in the matter. Eliza asks that they might also need the help of James, an emerging cybersecurity specialist. The senior authorities agree.

The trio is ready to travel to Chicago.

In Chicago,

Scott is now grown up he teaches gymnasts to college students. They perform in several sporting events like NFL, MLB, and NBA. Scott Carpenter is famous as a gymnast trainer in the town. His academy is known as “Carpenter’s Gymnast Academy”.

One day, at the campus court, a girl named Krsiten visits and asks for admission. However, the name submission was closed. All candidates are selected for the season and no name will be registered for one year as per the rules. Scott’s assistant Radha refuses her admission. She told her that she was too late for name submission, everyone had been selected, and she was not eligible to become a part of their team. If she wants to she has to wait for another year. However, Kristen was so desperate and asked Radha to give her a chance.

Scott came and asked Radha what was going on there. She told him everything. Kristen requests Scott and he gives her a chance.

Scott: I’ll give you only five minutes to show your talent. If you fail, you’ve to come next year.

Kristen: Okay, it’s enough for me.

Kristen accepted the challenge and showed her performance brilliantly. She displays her fascinating dance and gymnastic movements. Other students were surprised and clapped for her. Finally, after five minutes she finished her performance.

Kristen: That’s it. (with a smile and tensed face)

Scott (after taking a few seconds): Come to the class tomorrow at 9:30 am. (with a smile)

Kristen is excited with joy.

Chapter 3

The trio (Brendan, Eliza, and James) reached Chicago. Suddenly, a bike came in front of them with a car. The bike stops and the biker comes out from it. The biker took off her helmet and greeted the trio. The name of the biker is Hannah, she works in the intelligence department of FBI Chicago. After that, the trio boarded the car, and they went to FBI headquarters in Chicago.

The next day, Hannah tells them the story of a phantom thief known as ‘Hummingbird’. She showed them the mess created by him. He is into robbing banks or financial institutions and killing a few bankers.

Brendan: Are there any similarities between the bankers he killed?

Hannah: Yes, the bankers were corrupted.

James: That's strange.

Hannah: I know. When we discovered the dead bodies, we also found that they had a lot of black money. Also, a lot of illegal assets.

Eliza: How many bankers he killed?

Hannah: Well, there were only four. But, I’m afraid the number can increase in future. If we couldn’t stop him.

Brendan: You’re right.

Eliza: And, why he robs the banks and financial institutions? Then, what did he do with that money?

Hannah: No one knows.

James: Is he a modern Robinhood or something?

Brendan, Eliza, James, and Hannah started collecting numerous footage about the Hummingbird but failed to discover his proper identity.

Meanwhile, on the other side, Kristen practices hard and makes sure that Scott doesn't regret the decision of selecting her. Scott was also impressed by her dedication. One day after the class, Scott and Kristen shared a conversation about the practice. They were discussing their upcoming live performance at the NFL playoffs between Kansas City Chiefs and Chicago Bears. Despite being a teacher and a student, Scott and Kristen don’t share much age difference. Scott is five or six years older than Kristen. Thus, slowly the teacher and student relationship transforms into something romantic.

The Hummingbird completes another mission, he tricked a few police officials with smoke bombs and robbed a bank. Later, he went and killed a corrupt banker who was associated with illegal drug exporting. During that time, Hummingbird opened his helmet as he was suffocating. The face of Hummingbird is as similar as Scott's. He isn’t aware that there was a CCTV which later broke down, but it has collected a little bit of footage of the incident.

Chapter 4

Brendan and his team collected the footage. James and Eliza trying to extract proper footage from the demolished CCTV. Hannah was also helping them.

After a few hours, James extracted the CCTV footage of Hummingbird. It was a small footage but it shows half the face of Scott. Brendan asked Hannah about the person. Later, Hannah took the image and sent it to one of her team members. Later, she receives a piece of information about Scott. The person who was found in the CCTV footage is Scott who is a famous teacher and runs the “Carpenter’s Gymnast Academy”.

Brendan requests Hannah and her team members to bring Scott for an interrogation. The next evening, after packing up the classroom, Scott was on his way to return home. However, a few police authorities give him a surprise visit and ask him to come with them for a special interrogation.

At the FBI Chicago office,

Scott is interrogated by Brendan with Eliza, Hannah, and James by his side. Brendan shows him the footage that indicates that Scott is the Hummingbird. Scott denies it, but Eliza shows him a small video footage that is derived from the damaged CCTV.

Scott: I know but it’s not me.

Brendan: Then? I guess, now you’re going to say that he’s your lookalike.

Scott: No, not lookalikes.

Eliza: So, who is the person on the footage? If it’s not you.

Hannah: Answer it.

Brendan: Okay, if you’re not the person who we discovered from the footage and you don’t have any lookalike. Then, who is the person we’ve caught?

Scott reveals that he has a twin brother and his name is Pierce. They’re identical twins (brothers). He revealed that their father was conspired and killed by a few corrupt bankers and drug mafias. Their father was against illegal dopamine, but the gangsters wanted to promote it through his students. They even provoked a few of his father’s students to consume illegal dopamine to boost their performance. After finding it, Scott and Pierce’s father protested. Unfortunately, he was killed by those drug mafias. Even a few bankers were associated with them.

After their father’s demise, Pierce decides to revenge on them. However, Scott asked him not to be involved in this case, as they are dangerous. Pierce didn’t listen and disguised himself as a phantom thief known as the Hummingbird. Later, Pierce killed four bankers and two drug mafias out of the 10 people who were associated with their father’s death.

At first, Brendan doesn’t believe him but Scott shows him a photograph from his childhood. It shows that Scott has an identical twin brother. Hannah asked Scott about Peirce’s location. Scott replied that he doesn’t have any connection with him for the last six years.

Brendan: What’s his next mission?

Scott: I don’t know anything.

After a few minutes of positive response, Brendan let Scott go. He also told him that he would be in the eyes of the FBI, till they discovered his statement was true. Scott agrees. Later, Scott gave four passes for the NFL playoff game at the Solider Field stadium.

Chapter 5

The Game Day,

The first half between Kansas City Chiefs and Chicago Bears ended in a draw. Now, it’s time for the halftime show. Scott encourages his teammates including Kristen to show their best and not to fear anything. James and Hannah are also in the stadium as spectators. Brendan and Eliza decide to investigate the situation at the FBI headquarters.

The half-time show started, and Scott, Kristen, and other teammates started performing. Meanwhile, on the other side, the Hummingbird is on his mission. Eliza successfully traced his location, and Brendan decided to catch Hummingbird. So, Brendan reached the place where Hummingbird was going to commit robbery and might kill a corrupt Banker.

The Hummingbird is successful in his mission, he steals the money and kills a corrupt banker who has black money. His path crossed with Brendan.

Brendan started chasing him with a bike. James and Hannah are in the stadium observing the live half-time show. Eliza looking at both the CCTV and Live TV footage discovers that Scott was right about his identical twin brother. However, Pierce didn’t take off his helmet this time, as he was chased by Brendan. After a heavy bike chase, Brendan kicks Pierce and they fall from the bike. After that, they have a small combat. However, Pierce successfully managed to flee away.

After returning to the FBI headquarters, Eliza assures him that Scott was right. She showed Brendan both CCTV footage and Live TV footage where Scott was performing with Kristen and others. Additionally, one person can’t stay in two different places at the same time.

On the same night, Brendan had a discussion with Eliza, Hannah, and James after their duty. They were having their dinner and drink. Brendan told them about George and Akash who look the same and later they also discovered their triplicate Max. Now, they found a person (Scott) who has an identical twin brother (Pierce). James asked him about the next step whether they should stop Pierce or bring down the corrupt bankers. Brendan just nodded his head.

On the other side, Scott congratulated his team and praised Kristen for their performance. Slowly, Kristen started dating Scott. They often started visiting theatres, amusement parks, and so on.

One day, Brendan gives Scott a surprise visit with his team. He told Scott that they were going to help Pierce and bring down the corrupt bankers and evil drug mafias who killed their father. Scott agrees.

Scott: But, how to stop Pierce?

Chapter 6

The next day, Brendan and his team reached out to a corrupt banker as per Scott’s information. They seized his illegal assets and asked him to surrender and come with them. He hesitated, so Hannah forced him and took the corrupt banker into their car. Brendan assured him that he would be safe if he stayed with them. However, Brendan, Hannah, and their officers failed to keep the promise. Pierce came as the Hummingbird and tricked them. After that, the Hummingbird killed the corrupt banker.

As per Scott’s information, only two drug mafias are reaming to be killed by Pierce. So, Brendan asked Eliza to find their locations. Successfully, she traced their location. At first, they went to Bloomington to apprehend a most wanted drug mafia, Jabez. Brendan and his team reached the place. After a heavy shootout, they managed to bring down Jabez’s men, but Jabez took his car and fled away. Brendan tried to stop it but failed. Jabez sighs a relief thinking he is free and escaped the police, but he isn’t aware of the fact that death is waiting for him.

The person who driving the car is Pierce, aka the Hummingbird. Thus, a combat starts between them in the car but Pierce overpowers him. Pierce dropped himself out of the car. Later the car crashed which ultimately killed Jabez. Brendan reached and asked Pierce to stop but it was too late. He also told Pierce that he and his team wanted to assist him but in a peaceful way.

Finally, Brendan with the help of Eliza finds the location of Heath, an evil gangster. He is the main mastermind who killed Scott and Pierce’s father. In addition, he is the last target of the Hummingbird. Brendan with his forces reached the place and asked Heath to surrender, but he didn’t listen. Thus, a shootout started between the FBI and Heath’s men. Pierce also reached the place as the Hummingbird and started firing at Heath’s gang members.

After a heavy and fierce shootout, Pierce and Heath faced each other in hand-to-hand combat. Both give each other a tough fight. However, Pierce overpowers Heath in the end. Then, Peirce shoots and kills Heath. Brendan reached the place.

Pierce dropped his gun and helmet and surrendered himself to Brendan and his team.

Pierce: I don’t have any enmity with you. So I won’t kill you. That’s why I surrender.

(Brendan sighs)

Pierce tells Brendan that he is the real Hummingbird and now his mission is accomplished. All the enemies who killed his father are dead. Pierce asks Brendan to arrest him now if he wants to. Additionally, Pierce requests not to involve his twin brother Scott in this case, as he wasn’t involved. Brendan and his team (including Eliza, Hannah, and James,) let Pierce go.

Brendan tells Pierce that he will make a statement where they will declare Heath was the Hummingbird and not him. Also, he will close the case and publish the truth about the illegal business of Heath and his team. All he just needs is the helmet that Pierce used to wear. Pierce smiled, put the helmet near Heath’s dead body, and left the place after bidding them goodbye.

Epilogue: Who has won the Game?

Finally, Brendan makes an official statement which declares Heath was the real Hummingbird and he was associated with illegal drug business and black money scandals. He and his team didn’t disclose the identity of Pierce.

On the other side, Scott goes on a romantic vacation with Kristen in Spain.

Two days later,

Brendan submitted the files of Hummingbird with the help of Eliza. Hannah and James are also present there and assisting them. Suddenly, James asked Brendan a question regarding the report.

James: So, did the helmet fit on Heath’s head?

Brendan: Yeah, surprisingly, it did.

James: So, it was an XL helmet.

Brendan: Wait, what? No, no it was 2XL.

James: But it’s XL. Ask Eliza.

Eliza: Yeah, the size of the helmet is XL.

Brendan was surprised and asked for the helmet. Hannah requested one of her men to provide the helmet. Brendan took the helmet and looked at it. He surprised. Brendan told Eliza, Hannah, and James that it was not the same helmet he observed during his small combat against Peirce on the game day.

Brendan kept looking at the helmet and was astonished again.

Brendan: No way.

Eliza: What happened?

Suddenly, Brendan received a call. It’s Scott.

Scott: How are you mate?

Brendan: How did you do that?

Scott reveals that not only he but a few of his friends who were his father’s students were involved in that mission. Sometimes, they also disguised themselves as ‘The Hummingbird’ and committed the missions. The same thing happened on the game day. Scott sent one of his friends while he was performing at the stadium. The person Brendan faced on the game day was Scott’s friend, Mac. That’s why he didn’t take his helmet off. Additionally, Pierce doesn’t exist. The photo Scott showed to Brendan and his team was photoshopped. Everything was done either by Scott or his friends.

Scott: Hopefully, everything is clear now.

Brendan (sighs): Damn it.

Scott: Anyways, I couldn’t do the mission without the help of you and your team. So, I assure you if you need me anytime. I’ll be there.

Scott hangs up the phone and joins Kristen in the pool.

Eliza asked Brendan, “What happened? Is everything fine?”. Brendan nodded his head while looking at Eliza, James, and Hannah.

As the sun sets in Spain, Scott and Kristen capture a beautiful landscape view from their resort’s pool.

Post-Scripts (Post-Credit Scene)

At a random dockyard,

A drug dealer was importing illegal drugs. He was asking his labors to work carefully and not to drop any box, as the drugs are expensive.

All of a sudden, a few stainless steel balls came and created explosions. No one died, but the explosion demolished all the drugs.

Another stainless steel ball came and the drug dealer carefully reached towards it. This one didn’t explode but left a note within it.

The note contains “From White Sparrow”.

The evil drug dealer was frightened and started looking at his surroundings.

.

.

(The End)