Harbor Fire South: John Ross vs. J.R.

John Ross awoke from his terrible nightmare.
He had heard the Lady's voice,
"When the trumpet calls, the sea will turn to fire.".

The puppets he strung at D.C. were useless, lamented
the flamboyant Texan with a cowboy hat and a silver belt buckle.
J.R. Winger's profits weren't as high as he wanted.
Gasoline was being given away for $4 a gallon.
He needed to shut down his rival's oil refinery in Houston.

Finding a sapper in the US proved too difficult.
Winger's agents found a Saudi more than willing to plant the bomb.
The Void warned its servant that the Knight would soon become aware of the plot.
But even a Knight needed time to find a bomb hidden in a super-tanker.

"Mr. Winger, your ship is docked at the refinery.", the captain phoned.
Winger replied, "Good, captain. At 5:00 PM, you and the crew can leave.
But first pull the yellow switch in the engine room.".
The demon then lied, "It will activate the alarm system.".
Winger smiled his famous evil grin that made everyone want to smack him. 

He had to stop Winger. John Ross held the staff in two hands.
The two security guards rented by Winger Energy were no obstacle.
Without breaking a stride, he stormed into the executive office.

Winger had many secretaries. None were any good at clerical work.
He paged one of them. Her name was Amy. Or Cindy.
Then the door crashed down and in swaggered a Knight.

"I know all about the bomb, Winger. You won't live to set it off.",
John Ross growled.

The demon with his bushy dihedral eyebrows glared at the Knight.
With a charming smile and a friendly voice, Winger replied,
"You don't know as much as you think, Sir Knight.
Now before this becomes violent, consider our offer.".
The demon had raised one hand while sliding the other to a gun.

"What has the Word ever done for you, Ross?
Turned you into a pathetic cripple with a limp.
Ever wonder what the Void could do for you?
How about the title of Vice President,
with a $10 million sign-on bonus, US senators to do your bidding,
and your choice of pretty secretaries?".

Ross said, "No deal.". The demon snarled and fired the gun.
But Ross had summoned the power of the black staff.
A wall of blinding white magic was protecting Ross.
One bullet ricocheted and struck the demon square in the chest.
J.R. Winger collapsed. Ross fled the office.

There were no witnesses.
Forensics confirmed the bullet flew too far to be self-inflicted.
"Who shot Winger?", everyone in the world would ask.