Chapter
2 – Restraining Anger
Kane meets me and the allies I have
in the city, first thing in the morning at my house. He meets us for breakfast
and seems put off by how casual we all are.
“Relax, eat, and take your hood off.
You’re among friends,” I say.
Kane takes his hood off and says,
“There are a lot of important people here. Are you sure we aren’t going to be
found out or spied upon?”
“I have that covered. My people
watch the streets leading up to the house so I always know what is happening
around here,” Darcy says. “No one goes near anyone I love without me knowing
about it.”
“You’re the artistic wife of the
dark hero, right? Given that you have eyes and ears everywhere, I assume you
knew that I was going to approach your husband to ask to be a hero like him,
and the first target I want us to go after?”
“I knew every detail of it, but
didn’t interfere. You remind me a lot of my husband in his early years of
crime-fighting, so I thought taking on an apprentice would help him further
build his legacy and give him more time to spend at home with the kids and me.”
Looking over at my two infant
children, my boy, Gris, and daughter, Rouge, they look at Kane with curiosity,
who gives them a gentle smile.
“I see. I’ll be sure to keep him
safe and be worthy enough to fight crime in his place if he ever needs to be
with you.”
“You’re the one who needs to be
kept safe. Timeo doesn’t need to worry about anything,” Chief Raymond comments
from his side of the table.
“That’s true. I was merely giving a
thoughtful reassurance. As for you, chief, you have a lot of corrupt cops to
worry about in the city. Do you sleep well at night, living with the fact that
you’ve protected and worked with people who are worse scum than the ones you
put behind bars?”
“The same way you do. We both have
innocent blood on our hands for our inactions and actions. Watch your tone with
me because I’ll put you behind bars again if you give me a good excuse, kid.”
“That’s right. Don’t mess with the
chief,” Chief Assistant Ralph adds.
“I’d be nicer to him, if I were
you,” Lancetto says. “We all work together for the common goal of making
Meridian a better place to live, free of evil and crime.”
“I’ll try to be, but tell me how
you can avoid corrupting influences despite having influence in areas of
business, politics, and religion?”
“Because my parents raised me right
in the faith and my brother, Timeo.”
“Brother? I thought all his family
was dead?”
“It’s a brotherly bond stronger
than blood,” I clarify.
“Yes, and when his siblings weren’t
there for him, I was. We’ve been brothers since we were kids.”
“I see. What about you, Mr. Mayor?
I’m surprised to see you and your deputy here.”
“Believe it or not, I’m willing to
allow you and other heroes and vigilantes to overstep the law if it means real
justice is enforced. I’ll be the first to admit that the law is flawed and
needs work, since doing what’s right and what the law allows aren’t always in
sync,” Mayor Jeph says.
“Also, just because we’re on your
side, doesn’t mean you can break every law and cause chaos to bring criminals
to justice. We can only help you so much,” Deputy Tim adds.
“I’ll keep that in mind.”
Everyone looks over to Klinge and
expects Kane to say something to him. The mutated man doesn’t seem to have paid
attention to what was being said as he was eating, and seeing that he has all
eyes on him, he looks at everyone and stops.
“What?” Klinge says.
“I won’t say anything to him. He’s
cool in my book since his businesses focus on the people,” Kane says.
“Haha, you’re making all kinds of
friends today, aren’t you?” I say.
After finishing with those
pleasantries and introductions, we get our meeting started by bringing to the
table the latest group of villains we’re going after.
“The White Collars are a known, and
yet, secretive group that is harder to root out than the weakness of sin within
men. What do you know about them?” I say.
“I thought they were just a rumor,
but it turns out, I’ve been putting away, killing, and firing their men for
years,” Raymond says.
“I’ve been trying to pull up cases
and information relating to them, however, they’ve either been deleted or
tampered with,” Ralph says.
“Unfortunately, the same has been
happening on our side. I’ve tried to ask around and get more information, but
they’ve been doing their best to avoid me,” Jeph admits.
“We’ve been coming up empty. These
people burn every scrap of evidence against them or the people associated with
them,” Tim says.
“I told you this would happen,”
Kane says to me.
“I’ve come up with a bit more than
they did,” Lancetto says. “I know that they have white strips on the tips of
their collars. They hid it with pieces of thin cloth tape, and it’s a sort of
access pass to their meetings and clubs.”
“Okay, and? Do you know the
locations of those clubs and meeting locations?”
“I do, thanks to the help of Darcy
informants.”
Turning to Darcy, Kane says, “You
sound like the most well-connected person in this room, despite being a simple
woman of the arts.”
“The arts connect all people, so of
course, I have eyes and ears everywhere,” Darcy says with a sly smile. “I’ve
written down all the locations for you to investigate. As for the rest of us,
we’ll be further investigating The White Collars to see how we can better bring
them to justice.”
“This sounds like regular alegal
work. I’m surprised there isn’t a person who works with the Coronamento
Corporation here,” Kane comments while we look at the list of locations.
“They’ve offered us many
partnerships before, but I don’t trust them very much. Giovanni Coronamento is
a bit too overactive in creating his own army of superhumans and making friends
in all corners of the world to shape the world’s laws as he sees fit,” I say.
“They’re also trying to make their
mark in the Meridian and act as if they’re just here to help. The workers there
get good benefits, pay, and superhuman injections to do their job better, but
it’s all very suspect,” Klinge says.
“We’ll get to them when they prove
to be an active threat. So far, he seems to be doing everything for righteous
reasons. In the meantime, let’s deal with The White Collars. Maybe we’ll even find
a connection between the groups. It wouldn’t surprise me, at this point,”
Lancetto says.
With our roles and assignments
clear and understood, we go out to fulfill them. I kiss my wife and kids and
hug my brother before Kane and I leave to do our part.
“Make sure the guy doesn’t get
himself in trouble,” Lancetto says.
“He’ll do fine. Trust me,” Darcy
comments.
“You’re just saying that because he’s
a lot like the kind of people you inspired when you were our first threat.”
“Maybe.”
“She was one of your first foes?”
Kane asks me.
“She was. She repented much and was
inspired by my actions, like you did,” I say. “That’s a story we’ll tell you
another time. For now, let’s get today’s work done. You have a lot of practice
to go through.”
I take Kane, and we become one with
the shadows and light to travel at the speed of light through the city to one
of our first locations. It’s a largely abandoned shopping area that sits between
the poor and middle-class areas of the city. It was once one of the best places
to be when malls were a big thing, but it has fallen into a steady decline,
with few stores and restaurants still operating in it.
Explaining further my plan, I say, “I’ll
let you do your work, while supporting you where I can with minimal use of my powers.
If you want to be a hero like me, then you’re going to need to do a lot of work
to earn it.”
“I won’t let you down,” Kane says.
I manifest my dark powers, shroud
my appearance, and take out my pistol.
“Let’s get to work then, shall we?”
The criminals we are after go about
their business, selling drugs, putting desperate people into debt, and people
selling themselves for less than their worth, without knowing of our presence. I
scout the area so we have an idea of where everyone is, and I look into the
memories of many of the people. Since neither Kane nor I has silencers on our handguns
and I want Kane to mostly handle this, I laugh to get the attention of everyone
in the area.
“The time of judgment is at hand!
Whoever has information on The White Collars should immediately surrender and turn
yourselves in, or you’ll face a quick death,” I say, and then laugh again.
Distracted by my voice, some of the
people realize that it’s me, L’Obscurité, who is threatening them, so they
immediately surrender, despite knowing nothing. Others refuse to give in and
attempt to escape, only to be met with a hail of gunfire from Kane. Cutting my
way through, I head to the other side of the mall, disguised as one of the
criminals. In their panic, they trust my words and follow me, only to discover
they have been lured into a room they believed led outside, which is instead a
chamber covered in living flesh that manifests the consequences of their sins.
Some confront family members and innocents they have killed or harmed, while
others find themselves ensnared in barbed wire, which crushes them into a ball
without killing them.
Going out into the mall area where the
rest of the people are trapped, I use my pistol to eliminate the rest of the
criminals who refuse to surrender and don’t get any special nightmarish penance
to endure. As we’re clearing out the area, Kane starts shooting some of the
people who have surrendered.
I immediately go to him, push his
hands away, so he doesn’t kill anyone else, and then say, “Hold your fire! They
surrendered!”
“They deserve to die! I see it and I
know you do too!” Kane says.
“Did you already forget what I told
you? We all do, but that doesn’t mean it can’t change.”
Looking over at the surrendering
criminals, I see that Kane knows they’re meant to be spared now.
“Okay, fine. That was my bad. I’ll
try to be better next time.”
Trusting in Kane, we go to the next
few locations to get more information and evidence against The White Collars.
There were a few times Kane loses himself, sometimes it’s forgivable given the
scum we face, other times he executes those who have a sliver of hope remaining
in them. After each encounter, I call Raymond to clean up the scene, arrest the
people who remain, and archive the evidence there. We work until nighttime, and
before we eat dinner at my house, I talk to him in private in my room.
“What? Did I mess up that badly?”
he asks.
“In a way, you did,” I admit. “Every
lost soul is a tragedy since they are lost forever. I see that the biggest
problem you have to overcome is self-control. Just because you see that someone
deserves to die or you think they should, doesn’t mean that you should just act
on it.”
“Why not? It’s God’s judgment, not
mine.”
“But you’ve seen it change.”
“And they can change back and go
from deserving mercy to death. I don’t think you know how I see the world.
Simply by glancing at people, I can tell if they deserve to die or not, and
this applies to more than just criminals. Everyone I encounter is judged in my
eyes, and my hands twitch to enforce justice upon all those who deserve death,
including the parents who corrupt their children with their false ideologies
and gods, and the addicts who ruin their lives and others’ lives to satisfy
their desires for drugs, alcohol, money, or sex.”
“You’re right. I can’t see into
people’s memories and souls without using my powers, but I can see further into
people than you can, and I looked at every person we brought to justice today.
Some deserved immediate death, others deserved mercy, and few went from
deserving death to mercy. We can’t just immediately act on instinct and pull
the trigger on these people, even though they deserve it. Tomorrow, I want you
to exclusively use your revolvers, despite what you see in people.”
“What about those deserving death?
Are you putting yourself above God’s will?”
“Not at all. Trust me on this. If
someone is beyond help, I’ll handle it. I simply want you to practice mercy.”
Kane sighs and sits down on one of
the chairs in my room.
“If you say so. I am learning from
you after all, so why should the student dictate what lesson the teacher gives?
Can I just say one last thing?”
“I’ll never criticize you for
speaking your mind, so go ahead.”
“You may be able to see the light
at the end of the tunnel in the darkness of reality, but I don’t. The world
will never change in our favor for long, so we have to make as permanent a mark
as we can through aggression and force. We can’t play nice and politics with it
because it hates us, wants us dead, and everything we believe and love burned
to ashes, defiled, and mocked.”
“I know that. It’s why I want you
and everyone else I inspire to be my legacy. I want you moving forward with the
right mindset and doing things the right way, so you don’t make the same
mistakes I have. You’re a good man, Kane, but you need work, just like everyone
else.”
“Yeah, I know.”
I hold out my hand with a smile and
hug Kane when he shakes it. We then eat dinner with my family and end the day,
better understanding each other and our enemy. Kane does have a point, and I feel
as if he’s right, given the memories I’ve seen.
