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After he saved his parents and brother from an attempted assassination by those he trusted, Salvatore lost faith in law, especially when he tried to be a police officer like his father. While trying to enact his version of true justice behind the scenes, he catches the attention of Giovanni, head of the Coronamento Corp and prince of the alegal. Under Coronamento, he can punish the guilty who get away with crime without worrying about restrictive laws, starting with the Humphrey Collective who put on a front of being a charity.

Angel in Devil's Clothing: Chapter 5 – Justice Outside the Law

Chapter 5 – Justice Outside the Law

I’m called in the middle of the night by Giovanni who says, “This is it. Humphrey’s higher-ups are playing their final hand at a police precinct where they’re holding hostages with those in the force who are on their side, the people you’ve arrested, and the remaining superhumans on their side. They’re trying to draw us out so they can get their revenge for what we did to them. If we don’t go there, the hostages will be killed, so I say we give them what they want, and don’t worry, your brother isn’t there.”

“I’ll be there in a second so we can end this,” I say as I get dressed.

“I knew you would want a piece of this action. Your other ex-cop friends will be here too. See you soon.”

Isabella asks me, “What was that? Where are you going?”

I kiss her and say, “I’ll be back. Going to take out some dirty cops.”

“What?”

I run out the door and head to the police precinct that Giovanni texted me to be at. Sure enough, my friends who were on the force such as Marco and Olimpia are there along with other superhumans who are allied with Coronamento. To my surprise, Giovanni is actually here.

“What? Do you think I would just sit out this momentous occasion?” he asks when I ask about him being here. “We haven’t been given legal permission to rescue the hostages since anyone who could is in there, so we’ll take their silence as consent to save them. There can’t be any prisoners on this. Kill everyone besides the hostages. Got it?”

We agree with Giovanni and head in guns blazing. This is it. This is the kind of justice I’ve always wanted to see enacted with no flawed human laws holding me back and just straight justice being handed out one bullet at a time. No lawyers giving these people an easy way out nor a flawed prison system that gives them a light sentence. I don’t have to worry about facing any consequences for this in the present or the future. Renzo and my parents may complain about it later, but they’ll get over it in time when they see how I’ve changed the city for the better. I’m now at one of the most heavily protected places in the precinct, the chief’s office where I find the assistant chief of police injecting himself with some enhancers.

“Huh. I figured someone within the precinct was bringing it down. Should’ve guessed it was you,” I say. “What’s your name again?”

“You don’t remember me, but I know all about you, Salvatore,” the man says before turning into a red and white monster with bulging muscles and a crooked face and attacking us.

My allies and I shoot at him while tactically retreating. Our superhuman allies get involved and are beaten back just as we are.

“Should I bother to remember? You’re going to be dead soon anyway,” I say trying to distract the man.

“When you first joined the police, I thought you would investigate who forced the friends of your family to kill them, but you didn’t. Well, here’s your answer.”

“And? Do you want me to kill you harder?”

I keep shooting and making the assistant chief follow me as he continues to fight, throw away, and kill anyone who gets in his way.

“I just thought it would hurt you more knowing the one who is trying to kill you will go back to your family to finish the job. Your brother’s been a pain in my side, so his death will be especially gratifying for me.”

“What did we do to you to make you hate us so much?”

“You constantly halted and ruined our operations in the desolate area of the city. We would’ve restored it by ourselves and made it a safe place for the poor and downtrodden if you hadn’t gotten in our way!”

“Maybe you shouldn’t have tried getting away with breaking the law and other wicked things you’ve done.”

“Ha! Come now, we both know that we can’t get what we want without breaking a few laws and doing things that the other side considers evil. You’re just another devil in my way!”

The fight is brought outside to the back parking lot where there are others like him along with my allies who are fighting alongside us. We’re now back-to-back and starting to lose people, however, we start to gain the advantage when Giovanni comes in with backup while wielding dual desert eagles. He’s able to take hits from our superhuman enemies and even fight back with punches of his own.

“You didn’t think I would use some of the enhancers for myself, did you?” Giovanni asks me when he looks at my surprised expression. “A true leader leads from the front and puts his life on the line for the cause he loves and fights for!”

With Giovanni and my allies’ help, the superhuman enemies are eventually defeated mostly by their enhancements, turning on them and making them either explode, shrivel up and die, or lose the strength they had. The last few are huddled in a corner, one of which is the assistant chief. They’re all unable to fight back and are bleeding with their hands up.

“It’s funny, isn’t it?” the assistant chief says. “I almost put your family to death and you’re about to kill me and mine.”

“You know what’s funnier? That you think I care about you going after me and my loved ones. I care more about the larger issue of corruption in the world and the criminals inside and outside of the government who get away with evil. That’s why I didn’t investigate that attempted assassination, and you know what else is funny? I’m feeling thankful that you did what you did because I wouldn’t be here without your help.”

“Whatever. We’re both devils at the end of the day. I’ll see you in Hell.”

“No, you won’t because unlike you, I’m doing the right thing.”

Giovanni comes up to me and says, “Do you want to have the finishing touch? They did go after you and yours.”

“Nope. You can have it, boss. They’re nothing more to me than sinners who need to face judgment.”

“Okay then.” Giovanni shoots the assistant chief and three others he is with. “That was very big of you. I don’t know if I’d do the same if I was in your position. You truly are a virtuous man, Salvatore.”

“Thank you, sir. I trust that this isn’t the end.”

“Not at all. I have many more competitors and other groups I have to either eliminate or ‘convince’ to join me.”

“I’m all for it. Just point the way and let’s get to work.”

Giovanni smiles at me and then says, “There will always be more work to do. We’re still at the beginning of our long crusade against evil. For now, rest and go back home to your family. I’ll have your next target tomorrow.”

We all leave as the cleanup crew comes to take care of the wounded and dead bodies. Giovanni soaks up the attention of the media while I head back home, thankful for the job I have. I can’t wait to see who I’ll be up against next in this lifelong quest of mine to protect and punish.

 

The End

Angel in Devil's Clothing: Chapter 4 – Legal Arrest of a Rival

Chapter 4 – Legal Arrest of a Rival

I’m about to head out to work to meet Renzo and am surprised to see him outside my house. He’s the spitting image of our dad in his prime, with short black hair, a blue officer uniform, and a hat with three upside-down triangles on it, but he differs with his red eyes that are a result of the recent enhancement injections the police were given and his basic haircut that I always try to get him to stylize.

“What? Don’t trust me even to meet you where I said I would?” I ask.

“Not really,” he admits.

“Ah, so the younger brother is making sure the older is not getting into trouble now?”

“That’s right. I see you’re still wearing one of dad’s Lieutenant General stars.”

“Always and I see you’re doing the same.”

“I always am.” Renzo looks over me and says hi to Isabella, Davito, and Brozo who say hi back. He pets Brozo and then we leave in his police car.

“How are Alicia, Licia, and Rocio?”

“Fine. Are you and Isabella still trying to have another child?”

“Yes, and we may be getting good news soon. I hope it’s another boy, but I’ll be fine with a girl. How about your new dog, Octavo?”

“The kids love him and he loves them back. He’s become another sibling to them.”

“Like dogs usually do.”

“I told mom and dad that we’re going to have dinner with them after we’re done today.”

“I don’t mind, but it’s not that time of the month when we usually meet up again. What’s the occasion?”

“No reason.”

“Are you trying to get me to change my mind? Because I won’t, not after what I’ve accomplished with Coronamento.”

“Dozens of people are dead and more are on the streets out of work.”

“Whoever lost their job at Humphrey will find new ones with Coronamento now that we’ve moved into their territory and enriched the area. As for those who died, it’s a tragedy for those who were innocent and didn’t know better and justice for those who did.”

“What happened to you, Salvatore? When did you become so cold?”

“The day you and our parents almost died.”

“You’re still letting that day bother you?”

“Yes, because it motivates me to protect not only you and our family but also others so that no one will go through it.”

“And you think this is the way to prevent it?”

“I do and you can do the same. The offer for the job is still on the table for you.”

“Don’t bother. Today, I’ll show you that good can still be done by the book.”

Still as naïve as always. I allow Renzo to take point in the arrests we are making today in the desolate area of the city where members of the Humphrey Collective may be roaming. For the first few, they come along after some convincing that their sentences will be shortened if they do and give up any information on where the higher-ups are, what other illegal dealings Humphrey was taking part in, and where the other criminals on the list may be. Some of them come easily because they’re afraid of me or put up a fight because they hate me for not trying to save the kid. Every single one of these criminals we take to the police checkpoint where they are taken to the station to be processed and held for the time being before they can be tried and sentenced. Nothing too interesting happens until one of the criminals decides not to open their door to us.

We do the honors and break down the door for ourselves, point our pistols at a woman with her gun up, and tell her to freeze. She refuses, fires her gun at us, and runs away. Thankfully she misses, and even if she didn’t we’re both wearing outfits laced with ballistic weave that give us basic protection against small firearms. We chase after her and the woman’s husband holds her hostage with a gun to her head, threatening to kill her unless we let them go. I don’t care to listen to him and shoot both the man and woman.

“What did you do that for?!” Renzo asks.

“They were both armed criminals resisting arrest and one of them already tried to kill us. We are within our right to defend ourselves,” I say.

Renzo is about to say something else until we hear the commotion downstairs, upstairs, and outside of this apartment room. We take cover and see people start to come in with their guns raised.

“There could’ve been a way to take them in alive,” Renzo says with a whisper.

“Well, there’s no way of doing that here, so toughen up and get to killing,” I say before leaving cover and popping heads with my pistol one after the other.

Renzo radios for backup while aiding me and covering my back as we make our way out of the apartment. With our backs against each other and downstairs, we find that the stairs are blocked and the only way forward is to cross the hallways filled with criminals who are using furniture as pseudo-cover. We accept the challenge in front of us and carefully but forcefully break through the step-up they have here including their traps as they come out of the room and hidden holes in the walls, ceiling, and floor. Pushing forward, we shoot our way down and are pinned at the bottom of the stairs, but backup comes just in time to help us out. Not wanting them to have all the fun, Renzo and I help them clear out any remaining threats in the building.

Afterward, Renzo says, “Is this what you wanted?”

“I don’t want it all to be killing criminals so they won’t be locked up and let go through our flawed justice system, but this is what I want, in a way,” I say.

“I see.”

Renzo and I quietly walk back to our car and I expect him to say something else, but he doesn’t.

“I’m not a psychopath or a sociopath, Renzo. I know it isn’t pretty, pleasant, or makes us anything like the heroes we wanted to be, but it’s what has to be done,” I continue.

“I know. I get it.”

Do you really? What you’re saying and the silence between us reminds me of the times when we got in trouble with mom and dad. On the radio, we hear how the other teams have made a full sweep of the area, and every criminal on our list has either been arrested or killed, so Renzo and I head to our parents’ house for dinner. Our parents are glad to see us after hearing so much about what we were doing on the news. They say they’re proud of us, which brings a smile to my face while Renzo seems indifferent.

Our mom asks Renzo while cooking, “Did you call or text Ignazio and remind him to come over?”

“I did, but he said he might not come over, like usual. He’s either busy with work or his wife, so I wouldn’t worry about him,” Renzo says.

“Well, give him another text as a reminder. He needs to come over once in a while.”

“Renzo is right,” I throw in. “He’ll come around when he comes around.”

“Both of you shouldn’t be so lukewarm about your brother. Maybe you should make time to hang out or talk to him so he spends time with us.”

“Sure,” Renzo and I say in unison.

Ignazio is the odd brother out who doesn’t want to be in the police and wants to live a normal life. At first, we thought he’d just be the boring, middle brother who would do something like Isabella who might’ve helped us in the offices, but he’s instead kept to himself and stays away from us for the most part except for holidays or when mom and dad are adamant about him coming over. As we eat, we make small talk about what we’ve been up to and current events.

“Salvatore’s employers have been making waves against Humphrey,” Renzo says.

“Yeah. I’ve been doing a lot of good ever since I first started there,” I add.

“Will you let us know or is that top secret?” our dad asks with a smile.

Not wanting to admit to having a part in the bank incident or stealing information at the food pantry, I say, “Investigating our competitor and exposing them for what they are so they can face justice.”

“And how have you been doing that?”

“You’ve seen the news. Everything you need to know is-”

“I know you’re speaking in technical truths like how Giovanni is, but you don’t know how to be plain in the truth while leaving out important bits like he does. You’re not that kind of person, never were.”

“Your point, dad?”

“I’m not going to say that you should stop what you’re doing and quit that company, but I also can’t completely praise you for it. You’ve indeed been doing a lot of good. However, at the same time, you’re the cause of a lot of suffering and death. I just suggest that you pray and really ask yourself if what you’re doing is the right thing. You still pray, don’t you?”

“Always.”

“Then I trust you in the hands of God.”

Looking over to Renzo, I see that his eyes are down at his food as if he’s somewhat disappointed at what dad said. I am a bit too despite not expecting him to say that I was doing a lot of good. All in all, I say today was a good day. On the drive back to my house, I offer Renzo a place at Coronamento again, which he denies again.

“If you say so,” I say. “We’ll see what your coworkers decide tomorrow and then maybe you’ll change your mind.”

“Whatever,” Renzo says before driving off.

Going back inside, I spend the rest of the night with my wife, son, and dog with no regrets about what happened and happy that everything worked out in my favor.

Angel in Devil's Clothing: Chapter 3 – Playing the Villain

Chapter 3 – Playing the Villain

“I want to be a hero,” I see my younger self saying in front of me in a mirror. “I want to protect people, especially my parents and brothers.”

It’s easier said than done, kid. You can’t protect them all.

“Yes, I can! You were just too weak and slow! That’s why our family was almost killed!”

The younger version of myself mutates like the teenager I saw and charges at me. I wake up from my dream and look around the room as my alarm rings. As my wife, Isabella, kisses me, stretches, and says good morning, her eyes seem to notice something about me.

“Are you okay?” she asks.

“Yeah…I’m fine,” I say as I get out of bed and get dressed for work.

“You don’t seem like it. You haven’t been the same since you were last at work. Are you sure you don’t want me working with you?”

“No, I need you here taking care of and homeschooling our son, Davito.”

“I could help you by working in the offices of Coronamento just like I helped you by working in the offices of the police.”

“Being there will put a bigger target on you than being at the police, so no, and that’s final.”

“Well, at least don’t rush out the door and eat some breakfast before going to work. Your mom would kill us if you didn’t eat before you left.”

I can’t argue with that, so I go downstairs and help prepare a breakfast of sausage, eggs, and French toast with Isabella. While eating with our son, I keep my eyes on the news, particularly the part where Giovanni comes on.

“Our most talented minds in the scientific community agree that fetuses are infants, humans in small form, and are deserving of the chance of life rather than having to be killed for the convenience of the mother,” Giovanni says.

One reporter asks him if the mother should die to allow for the possible saving of a child.

“What a stupid question. Any mother worth the honor of her title would do anything to save her child and those that don’t aren’t worthy of the honorable title of mother. Additionally, killing an innocent to save the life of someone else is counter-productive and an evil act through and through. We are at an age of technology where saving both lives should be more possible than in the past, and yet, we are sorely lacking in this department because of politics, our want to take shortcuts at the cost of innocent human life, and falsehoods that pervade our society.”

“Salvatore!” Isabella says.

“What?” I ask.

Isabella looks at Davito who says, “Is that the guy who made you kill that vigilante?”

“Yes and no. The vigilante was a danger to everyone, and because of that, I had to put him down.”

“Is it Humphrey’s fault he was like that like the news says?”

“Yes, I blame them for it more than the kid.”

“Are you going to kick their butts today?”

“Maybe. It depends on what Giovanni wants me to do.”

“Maybe you’ll get to kill more corrupted vigilantes and save more people! You’re like a cool villain who is also a hero!”

What Davito says gives me pause and slight relief that my son sees me as a hero though I know that what I’m doing is inspiring him to be like me and may have to go through the same hardships. After finishing my breakfast, I kiss my family and tell them I love them before leaving. At the door, I pet our dog, a borzoi we named Brozo, give him his steak, whisper a reminder to keep his brother and my wife safe, and then walk out the door. When I get to Giovanni’s office, I ask him what the plans are for today as I take a seat. He turns around with a cup of coffee in his hand and looks at me for a couple of seconds before responding.

“Are you okay?” he asks.

This again.

“Yes, I’m fine. I would’ve taken an additional day off like you said if I wasn’t.”

“I can tell if my employees are lying to me or themselves. I want to make sure they’re in their best possible condition so they can work to their fullest potential. That’s why I asked and gave you those days off, but I can see that you didn’t really need it. You’re a tough guy, aren’t you, Salvatore? Usually killing a teenager would make a person take more than a few days off.”

“I’m not too worked about it because I did the right thing and it’s what my father taught me to do. When there’s something difficult that needs to be done, you do it without flinching and being upset about what could’ve been done after.”

“So, you have no regrets about what you did?”

“None. I just hope the kid is in Heaven.”

“Me too. I paid for his funeral service and those that died during that day and all I got for it was the news saying that I did it for show. I really do care for my enemies and want the best for them. Despite all this damage we’re doing to them, I’d rather have peace than war, but when a brat keeps misbehaving, you don’t stop putting them in time out and slapping their wrist until they stop. If they’d come to me and accepted my offer to merge, this would all be over, but that’s not the case. They took all their heroes and vigilantes out of the public and are said to be reforming them in the only research center they own. My spies say they’re going to use them to upstage and get revenge on us.” Giovanni smirks. “How would you like to play a villain? A real one this time.”

“My son already sees me as a heroic villain so it doesn’t bother me.”

“You are a hero, Salvatore. Just not a conventional one. Now, let me show you your tools of righteous evil.”

Giovanni takes me to the very depths of his office building, where he keeps some of his best weapons, armor, and superhuman research.

“I’m surprised you’d take me to a place like this despite me only doing a few jobs for you,” I say.

“You’ve proven yourself to be a trusted man. What do you think of this place? Impressive, isn’t it?” Giovanni says.

“It is though I expected it to look more like something out of a sci-fi movie with alien-looking technology here rather than something modern though I do wonder what those objects and symbols in the test chambers are. They look like things I’ve seen in theology and mystic books.”

“That’s because superhumans gain their power from God more than science. You can inject as many chemicals as you can into a person, but they’ll eventually hit a limit. However, some haven’t been experimented on who are better than those who have.”

“I’m sure it’s something that I barely understand.”

“I hardly do and the scientists and theologians here struggle in the same way. It’s a good thing for you that we don’t need to give you those kinds of power for what you need to do today.”

A set of gold and red armor is brought out to me by the researchers like a Christmas gift.

“I thought you would like this one since your codename was Gold Devil. Try it on,” Giovanni says.

I put on the armor and as it synchronizes with me, it begins to feel like a natural extension of myself. Giovanni brings me to a testing area where I get to see all its bells and whistles. With the armor, I can jump high, hover in the air, deploy a shield with my right arm, and withstand small arms fire as if I was pelted with small rocks.

“This is amazing,” I say as I feel like a real hero.

“These suits are tested to make even the simplest man feel superhuman. Your teammates are given the same suit and you will be teamed up with other superhumans and vigilantes who are loyal to us. I know you’ve fought alongside heroes and vigilantes as a cop, so this should be simple for you, especially since subtlety isn’t necessary.”

It shouldn’t surprise me that Giovanni knows my history as an officer, and yet, it feels like it does. I’ve indeed worked with heroes and vigilantes when solving crimes, arresting criminals, and killing murderers though I’ve always found the experience wanting. Most of them didn’t kill criminals because they wanted to respect the justice system and put on a show about how good and merciful they were even when the criminal didn’t deserve another second of life. They’ve even stopped me from killing or putting away certain criminals who they were hired to protect and only got a slap on the wrist by the law. I don’t mind putting down Humphrey’s heroes and vigilantes who are do-gooders by name alone and just hired help who do whatever the company says. This may be said of me as well, but just as Giovanni said, at least I know I’m truly in the right.

My squad and I are driven by heavily armored trucks to the facility where Humphrey’s superhumans are and immediately get to work. The superhumans and vigilantes clash while people like me in armor face the other humans who are wearing a similar kind of armor. We break through the enemy’s forces and head inside the facility where there’s already a fight happening between the superhumans and a squad of police officers. These officers are wearing the usual knight-inspired armor and are either dual-wielding submachine guns and shotguns or wielding their guns with bulletproof riot shields. It’s then that I also see the red skulls and three upside-down triangles on their shoulder armor and recognize who they are.

Could Renzo be with them? Those symbols on their shoulders are from the squad he’s with and if he takes after me at all, he would be here to stop the illegal activities. I shoot my way to him and am almost immediately blown away by gunfire by him and his cops.

“Stop! We’re on the same side,” I call out to them.

The chaos of the battle envelops us so that I’m facing a single officer who I hope is Renzo. He fires his guns at me while I run at him with my shield up. I slide to make him fall down and then knock away his guns with my shield.

“Stop!” I say as I take off my helmet. “It’s me!”

“Salvatore?” Renzo says as he takes his helmet off. “Of course you’d be here. After you exposed the Humphrey Collective, I was allowed to go after them and found this facility where they plan to attack their competitors from, which I’m sure you’re aware of.”

“You’re right and welcome,” I say and then put my helmet back on and help him up. “Now, let’s bring these people to justice.”

Renzo puts his helmet back on and picks up his weapons.

“Tch. I guess there’s no point in fighting you and your friends. Just let me know which are friendly.”

I do as he says and now we have the police fighting with us. With their help, we are not only able to kill every superhuman and vigilante quicker, but we also legitimize our place here as the news reports this incident as the Coronamento Corp helping law enforcement rather than waging a secret war behind the scenes. The chief of police reports Renzo’s findings and exposes their plans to attack their competitors in secret and their inhumane ways of testing their formulas to give people like teenagers superhuman powers. After our formal congratulations from Giovanni on a job well done, I ask him if he knew the police, particularly my brother, would be there.

He smiles and says, “It was a happy coincidence that he was there and even if he wasn’t, you still wanted your brother to be a part of Coronamento anyway.”

I can’t say anything against that since he’s right. If Renzo did take my advice and was working with me, he’d have better armor, weapons, enhancements, and freedom to enact real justice.

“Don’t worry though,” he says. “You’ll get more opportunities to work with him soon. The police have given us the green light to work with them in a more public and completely legal manner since the Humphrey Collective is now considered an illegal, criminal organization. Speaking of them…”

Giovanni looks around and points them out as they enter our hall.

“Don’t ever say that I never give you what you want.”

I thank Giovanni and go up to my brother.

“Looks like we’re working together again, little brother,” I say to Renzo.

“This is only temporary until the Humphrey Collective is wiped from the city. Let’s not try to do what we did yesterday. If you hadn’t shown up, my team and I would’ve found the evidence we needed without having to start a fight,” he yaps.

“You’re still the baby-faced boy scout just like dad. Maybe our time together will show you that those ways need to change and you need to be less merciful.”

“Maybe I’ll show you the opposite and that dad was right to stay an officer and not serve any company as you do. Remember that I’m watching you and everything you do has to be by the book. I won’t tolerate any illegal or alegal tricks.”

“You can trust me, Renzo. Let’s enjoy the celebration before we get to work tomorrow.”

“Sure.”

I’ll get you on my side yet, little brother.

Angel in Devil's Clothing: Chapter 2 – Relatable Enemy

Chapter 2 – Relatable Enemy

Giovanni calls me to his office with the offer to take down another of his competitors, this time the Humphrey Collective, which is a strange one to go after. When I see Giovanni, I see him wearing his usual white dress shirt, purple vest, gold tie, grey pants, and black shoes. He has his black hair slicked back like usual in the same fashion as me and his green eyes are as filled with confidence as usual.

I close the door behind me, take a seat, and ask, “So, what’s this about going after the Humphrey Collective?”

“First things first, do you want coffee, water, or any alcohol to start the day?” Giovanni asks.

“I had my coffee before I got here, thanks.”

“Do you make it or does your wife?”

“My wife does.”

“I wish I had a wife. I can pull the strings of the country around me and the world to the extent but can’t manage to get a date. Sad, isn’t it?”

“And what’s the point of mentioning it?”

“Nothing. Just making small talk before business. Do you know the Yarrows, the competitor we ruined thanks to the hidden records they kept at the bank?”

“Not really beyond them being a food producer. Are you saying that they’re guilty of similar crimes to the Humphries?”

“Not exactly. The Humphries are a collection of charities that raise money for various causes and do things like giving homes to the homeless, food to the poor, medicine for the sick, and money for medical operations.”

“That’s why I’m curious. What are they guilty of? Using the money donated to them for themselves more than the causes they help?”

“Well, there is that, but they also are anti-Catholic and anti-God.”

“Most people are these days. What makes them different either than them giving out abortions to the poor?”

“Nothing really. You see, back at the founding of the faith we believe to be the only true one, our faith was illegal, and practicing it was punishable by death and torture. It still is in some countries, so it’s only a matter of time before hatred of the Church and God turns into action.”

“This sounds like something evangelists handle.”

“Oh, but you know how sin darkens the intellect and makes people call evil actions necessary or good, so I’m sending you out with help to find this evidence of their misdeeds.”

“But we’re just bringing them down because they don’t believe the same things we do.”

“Exactly. How can a world act in harmony if it doesn’t ascribe value in the same way? Common sense is a myth in today’s world since everyone’s beliefs are unaligned and no one values things the same way others do. Now you can see that my battle to change the world is more of a crusade than anything. Those who know anything about the world want it to change for the better and believe in what they do and I’m just doing the same, but the difference is that we’re actually right while they’re wrong.”

I look out of the windows of Giovanni’s office and process the information he gave me.

“I see and get what you mean, but what if we don’t find anything on them, or what if what we find isn’t enough to put them down?”

Giovanni smiles and says, “I’m sure you’ll find something. If not, my friends in the government are writing laws that will make certain actions of theirs illegal and my lawyers will spin your findings so their deeds will seem worse than they are.”

“Of course. You would have every aspect of your fight against them rigged so you win no matter what.”

“That’s what happens when you want to change the world. You can’t leave anything up to chance.”

“What about the superhumans that are allied with them? I’m not sure you can spin the killing of a hero or us getting into a fight with them.”

“Heroes making heel turns or going crazy due to circumstances or imbalances in whatever makes them tick is common. Both legitimate and vigilante heroes occupy a grey area of the law as it is, so it isn’t too much trouble justifying you killing or fighting one, though I would recommend you avoiding them as much as you can unless they are your target.”

“So, we will be fighting one?”

“Eventually since we are doing damage to the company they serve, so I hope you’re ready to play the role of a villain.”

I smile and say, “I already am one as far as the world is concerned.”

Giovanni’s smile widens as he says, “Now, you fully understand what it means to work in the realm of the alegal.”

I meet up with the squad I’m working with, two of the cops I originally joined Coronamento with, and am given a briefing of our task for today. We’re going to a desolate part of the city where our spies say that Humphrey is holding some of their records. We aren’t given another enhancement injection since what we have should put us on par with the small-time heroes and normal people in the area, so all we really need are our wits, masks, codenames, body armor to wear under our clothes, and pistols with knockout ammo, regular ammo, and ammo meant to take down superhumans. This should be a much simpler time than the previous one, and since my friends were on separate missions, I tell them what I did and then ask what they had to do as we are being driven to our destination.

“I snuck into Usato’s offices and stole weapon schematics and research on enhancements,” Olimpia says.

“Mine was a straight-up hit. We went into this area yesterday to shoot up a meeting between poor criminals and those in the government. They were exchanging money for drugs and an agreement to keep crime here instead of the city,” Marco says.

“And did you kill everyone?” I ask.

“Yes. Not one person escaped and we burned the money. That kind of dirty money isn’t worth touching.”

“Good.”

“We couldn’t do any of the things we did as cops and it feels good to act without a hand tied behind our backs finally, isn’t it?” Olimpia says.

Marco and I agree with Olimpia and talk about what the other cops we joined Coronamento may be doing and getting more people to join, especially my brother Renzo. When we get to our drop-off, we walk the rest of the way to the information we’re looking for. From the outside, the place looks like your typical food pantry, with people dropping off food, water, and clothes and bringing them to locals. We ensure no one sees us before putting on our masks and entering the building through the back door. Olimpia disables the cameras and opens the locked doors with her lockpicks while Marco knocks out anyone who gets in our way with his CQC moves and hides their unconscious bodies in closets and empty boxes.

Going into the basement, we find a hidden door that takes us into a deeper basement where no one is and the information we’re looking for should be. While Olimpia hacks their computers to copy their records and Marco keeps an eye out for trouble, I look through the records written on paper. Looking through the papers, I see that they kept a lot of receipts and blackmail in this format because there are more hackers out there than normal break in and enter thieves, especially with superhumans and vigilantes protecting their most important assets. There are records of transferring aborted child body parts to certain people for ritual and consumptive purposes. I’d rather not know what that’s about unless it involves me shooting the people involved, but this should be useful.

What’s this? There are journal pages here from several of the founders. They detail how they started the Humphrey Collective as a way to help the poor when churches, companies, governments, and other charities failed to help their families and friends. I don’t see anything too shady here though there is an admission of killing an officer in self-defense when their home was unjustly entered into. I think I remember this event that my dad told me about when he came back from work and how the officers were desperate to make themselves look useful so funding for them wouldn’t be cut again. Despite being on the fence about taking this, I pocket it with everything else.

“I got everything I could here,” Olimpia says.

“Good because it’s getting busy upstairs. Let’s go,” Marco adds.

Seeing as there’s no reason to stay for more, I take whatever else I can and leave the room. Olimpia relocks the doors as we head out and leave the food pantry without any trouble, that is until I hear the sound of someone running and jumping above us. We look up and see a man wearing a bandana as a mask and street clothes jump from rooftop to rooftop until he descends from a rusty fire escape staircase and where we are. Before he can say anything, I shoot him with my silenced pistol three times.

“That was quick, Gold Devil,” Olimpia says, referring to me by my codename.

“Dad taught me to shoot as soon as you recognize a threat. Didn’t he do the same for you?” I ask.

“He did.”

“Good thing too. I didn’t want to hear his hero speech about how he was going to stop us. Let’s get out of here,” Marco says.

We radio for pickup and are quickly surrounded by a group of about twenty people with makeshift guns, baseball bats, and other basic weaponry. The vigilante who we thought was down shakily gets up and ready to fight.

“Now, you’ll have to listen to me,” the vigilante says as his wounds struggle to close. “It’s a sin to steal from the poor, so you better give what you stole back to us.”

Olimpia, Marco, and I start shooting at the hostiles closest to us, especially those with guns. I shift my attention to the vigilante who starts getting in my way and tanking every shot I shoot at him including shots to the face.

“Who sent you? Tell me and I might let you live,” the vigilante says.

“You’re out of your league, kid,” I say as I dodge his punches and kicks while shooting and whacking him with my pistol. “You also chose the wrong party to partner up with since your powers aren’t making you heal too well.”

“Shut up! The Humphreys gave me a home when no one else would and took care of this and many other communities while others left it to rot!”

The kid is inexperienced, fights sloppy, and relies too much on his enhancements in this fight, which he loses as a result of doing so. I finish off the remaining hostiles with Marco and Olimpia before making sure everyone is dead and no one follows us to our pickup location. As we’re about to get into the car, we hear the vigilante scream in the distance. His scream sounds monstrance, and after a few seconds, we hear screaming, sounds of fighting, and then see him up into the air and go in a direction away from us.

We report what we heard and saw to Giovanni who says, “This is good. We can use this opportunity against Humphrey who will have to take the blame for their vigilante’s rampage. Take off your masks, put the poor boy out of his misery, and save whoever you see so we can take credit for cleaning up their mess.”

“Yes, sir,” we say.

The three of us put our masks in the car and load up on ammo meant for superhumans. Meanwhile, my mind remembers when Renzo and I used to play with superhero figures, that we’d be superheroes as cops, and that I’d protect him no matter what.

“I’ll protect you too, big bro!” he said.

The memory brings a small smile to my face, but then I shake it off because of what is happening now. With Olimpia and Marco, I chase after the vigilante who isn’t hard to find thanks to all the chaos he is causing. We find him mutated and out of his mind attacking his fellow members of the Humphrey Collective, their friends, and their families. Several are already dead and more are injured, and thanks to us, we are able to stop him before he hurts anyone else by filling with a clip each from our pistols. As I stand over him with my gun pointed at his head, his mutation subsides and he looks more like he once did. He seems to have realized what he just did and starts to cry.

“I…I just wanted to help people…” he says as I see my brother’s face flash in my mind for a second.

“Me too, kid,” I say before delivering the final shot and then cross myself.

The locals tepidly thank us as the authorities come here in cop cars and ambulances. On the news, this incident is reported as one of Humphrey’s vigilantes going crazy because of a chemical imbalance in what gave him his powers. As for those we shot, that gets handwaved away as your daily shooting in the desolate part of the city with no connections to us, however, Coronamento is given credit for stopping the vigilante.

Giovanni goes on the news to say, “This is why heroes and vigilantes are heavily regulated and must be associated with a legitimate government, corporation, or association. That poor teenage boy was under the legal age to be a vigilante and if he wasn’t taken advantage of by the Humphrey Collective, he would still be alive today.”

Later in the day, I meet with Giovanni in his office who says, “How did you like that? God sometimes grants us greater opportunities to break down our enemies when we least expect it.”

“I would call that a tragedy rather than an opportunity,” I say.

“Of course it was. Nevertheless, you and your team did well. This along with the information you got, there’s a good chance that the Humphrey Collective won’t last another month.”

“I understand the incident with the kid hurting them, but the information we obtained isn’t too damning to do anything else to them in a legal sense.”

“I’m having my lawyers comb through it. Even if there isn’t, I have scientists and researchers who will definitively classify fetuses as children, and that, along with what you found about them selling parts of aborted children to people is enough to be the end of them. We won’t have to make abortion illegal at this rate since it automatically will be.”

Always two steps ahead like usual. Now, I see more clearly why Giovanni and the Coronamento Corp are feared and respected.

Angel in Devil's Clothing: Chapter 1 – The Law in Chaos

Chapter 1 – The Law in Chaos

I’ll never forget the day that I lost faith in the world. It was after another long day at the police academy. I went upstairs to study for my next test and ended up playing some video games while listening to music. My parents said something about my aunt and uncle being over that I ignored and meant to go downstairs to say hi once the game was done, however, the sound of gunfire made me drop my game, grab a pistol my dad gave me, and go downstairs to see what happened, only to find my parents and youngest brother, Renzo, laying on the kitchen floor with bullet holes in them and the two cops who I called aunt and uncle with smoking guns.

Days of celebrating holidays with them, exchanging gifts, and going on vacation flash in front of me like blinding light and stop me for half a second before I pull the trigger, kill them both, and empty what’s left of my gun in them. My parents and brother didn’t die though my parents had to stay in the hospital for a while and my other younger brother wasn’t targeted while he was in school cleaning for extra credit. Later, I learned they were bought out and threatened to kill my dad and family because he was an honest cop who was investigating a business that was mixed up with shady people, but that didn’t matter to me at that point. All that mattered was that I witnessed those who were supposed to uphold the law, give in, and try to kill those closest to them because they were too afraid to risk their lives to save them, something they’re supposed to do as officers.

I tried not to let what happened bother me too much since I had to care for my brothers and finish my time in the academy, but I couldn’t. From that day forward, I tried to keep a close eye on my parents, with a gun always on hand, and my eyes on other officers who we were friends with even when they were being nice and trying to support us financially and emotionally. After finishing my time in the academy, I tried to be an honest cop like my dad was, but again, couldn’t because the corruption I tried to not think about was in front of my face. Cops were taking bribes, ignoring crimes, and arresting people who were set up. Because of this, I helped out people who liked my dad but thought he didn’t go far enough in making sure the right thing was being done.

For a time, I was satisfied with this. Hardly anyone cared if a rapist, extortionist, or murderer was killed as they were being arrested and our chief let us go a lot of the time because he was also sick of letting crimes and evil go unpunished and his hands being tied by his superiors. After a few years of this, Giovanni, the head of the Coronamento Corp and prince of the alegal, came to us with an offer to work for him.

“With me, you’ll get paid more to do what you want. You won’t have to work behind your superior’s back and you’ll get to change the world for the better,” he said with a confident smile on his face.

Giovanni went into specifics about what we were going to do, the pay, and other benefits that went with it, and after thinking and talking about it with my friends, they agreed with me to take it. I tried to get Renzo in on the deal since he became a police officer too, but like dad, he’s a boy scout. He’s too by the book and wouldn’t want to break the law unless the law itself told him he could do it. I’m sure that he’ll join us after a few more years on the force, underpaid, unappreciated, and unable to enact real justice. As for me and the rest of my friends, we go with Giovanni, familiarize ourselves with our new weapons and tools, and then get to work on our first day on the job.

Today, I am deployed with four others to go into a bank and retrieve records of our competitor’s alegal or rather illegal doings. To be honest, I hate dealing with alegal matters since they are illegal, typically sinful actions, that are either handwaved away by those in power or currently being written into law, but since I’ve done many alegal things and work for a company that’s on my side, this is a mess I have to be involved in. The people I’m with on this assignment have done this sort of job before and I’m supposed to be providing support. We all have clown masks and code names to protect our identity along with body armor under our suits and injections of the latest reflex enhancers that will let us shoot and react to danger better.

The injections have also made my blue eyes turn yellow and turned parts of my black hair white, benign side effects that don’t really bother me, and I kind of like, if I’m being honest. Not many people are fortunate enough to get these small changes, especially when they get their enhancers from unreliable sources. I’m glad that Coronamento has some of the best researchers and developers of these. If they weren’t, these enhancers would’ve either done nothing, had temporary effects, severe negative effects, or turned me into a monster.

While driving on the way there, the man whose codename is Texas says, “Are you sure we have to do this non-lethally? What we’re doing is just a glorified stage play at this rate.”

“Yes,” I say. “The guards and cops may be paid off, but they’re on our side.”

“They’re still dirty cops. Who’s to say they won’t turn on us or already have? It’s happened on jobs like this before. You can’t trust people with split loyalties after all.”

“If you or anyone else intentionally shoots to kill anyone who is on our side, then I will kill you. I promise you that.”

Texas smiles and laughs at me as if I’m joking despite me being dead serious.

“Okay, ex-cop. Whatever you say.”

Our car pulls up in front of the bank, and since this job is better done quicker rather than slower, we walk in guns blazing and our demands clear. Two of us control the crowd up front while the other two use their cards and passcodes we got from the bank to enter its server room, get the information we need, transfer funds to Coronamento, and take some of the gold and cash as part of our act of this being a simple robbery. The cops soon show up just in time for us to be done. As the other two join us in the gunfight, we pretend to be amateurs who are overconfident and yell insults at the cops. Our shots at the cops intentionally miss most of the time holding them off while making sure that one or two hit them in the leg or arm. Texas gets a little too into the act and starts landing his shots more often than he should, eventually hitting one in the head. Because of this, the cops really start coming after us with full force.

“Oops. Sorry, guys-”

Before Texas can say anything else, I shoot him in the head, killing him, and then radio for backup to hurry up the show. Soon after, a superhuman comes crashing down from the roof. We fire at his mostly bulletproof chest as part of our act before he picks us up and flies us out of the bank.

“Did you really have to shoot Texas?” Penn asks.

“Yes, I did. I promised him I would if he shot to kill,” I say.

The superhuman drops us off at a secret location, picks up a group of criminals we already have here who look like us and who will admit to the bank robbery, and leaves us as he flies the criminals to the police. We change our clothes, head back to Giovanni, give him the USB with the information he needs, and tell him what happened.

After I admit to killing Texas, Penn says, “It was a reckless decision that could’ve jeopardized the entire mission. I apologize on all our behalf.”

Giovanni smiles and says, “Salvatore did the right thing. On that topic, be glad that the cop didn’t die. I’ve heard from our friends in the police that he’s in stable condition after being rushed to the hospital. I would’ve been mad at you all if you didn’t kill Texas since now I have to pay for the wounded officer’s medical expenses with the pay he would’ve gotten.”

The other two look ashamed while I smile at my reassurance that I did the right thing. Giovanni tells us we’ll receive our payment today with a bonus going to me. When the information we obtained is shown to the public, our rival corporation is criticized and is now being investigated for paying marketers to place their ads above others, paying off workers to make rival products defective or harmful, and faking their bank account numbers to look bigger than they actually are. This couldn’t have happened if it had been done through legal means. In the end, the trash got what they deserved, the damages are being covered by insurance, and no one important was killed. All in all, I say it was a good day and that I like this new job I have. Right now, it looks like everything I’ve ever wanted.