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.