Chapter
4 – Coiling Around the Wolves
As the ball of living, screaming
flesh rolls into the center of the city, Kane and I make our way to the prison.
Restoration Penitentiary is the largest prison near the city, housing many
criminals and villains. It is situated on the desolate outskirts, where there
isn’t a house, store, or single gas station for miles. The ground and upper
floors contain the typical criminals, while the underground levels hold the
superhuman villains. The furthest, darkest, unknown recesses of the prison
serve as The White Collars' center of operations. Descending into it, I find
the place seems better than the upper floors. It’s almost as if it’s not a
prison at all but rather a hotel, considering the steel doors to the cells are
ordinary doors with handles, the floors are carpeted, and people move about
freely, gambling, dining, and conducting business, as if this isn’t a prison
but just an exclusive club. Everyone is either well-dressed in suits and
dresses or casually clad in sweats or bathing attire.
Reading through people’s memories,
it’s no wonder that they feel so safe down here. If they were ever to be convicted
or found out again for their crimes, they have a plan to stage a look-alike to
be transferred to another location or executed. They’re all basically ghosts
down here who impact the daily lives of the people of Meridian, even though they’re
so far away from it. From these people’s memories, I gain the location of most
of their safehouses and areas of operation. The rest of the information I’m
looking for is supposed to be known by others outside of this prison, but I
think I know enough to ruin them for good.
Checking the control room, we find
simple switches that control the doors and emergency exits, all of which I
break to keep the doors shut and the “prison cells” wide open, all except one
that’s already closed and contains a woman who I want to personally question to
get more information out of her memories. Her room is almost as luxurious as
mine and includes a computer and TV where she is given updates on what is
happening in the city, but she is aloof as to what is happening right now until
I manifest Kane and myself in the room. She tries to act composed with a smile
and a confident look on her face despite jumping out of her chair.
“I heard it was a rumor that L’Obscurité
could read people’s memories, phase through anything, and appear out of the
light and dark. It’s good to see it confirmed in front of me,” she says before
looking at Kane. “And you must be his first sidekick that I’ve been hearing
about, Kane Mundr, more famously known as The Guillotine.”
Kane is about to shoot the woman
with his pistol until I stop him by raising my hand.
“Let me talk to her first,” I say.
“What’s there to ask me if you can
read my memories?”
“I can’t read them all at once, so I’d
like to pick your brain to learn more.”
“As if I’d-”
Before the woman can take out her
gun to shoot herself, I use my powers to blow away her arms and legs and pin
her to the wall. Additionally, my powers suck the air from her lungs so she
painfully screams silently so no one outside the room can hear us. They then
prick her nerves so she talks to me despite her not wanting to.
“You’re awfully sadistic for a
hero,” she says in a dry, horse voice.
“This is merely what you deserve. I
don’t do this for my own amusement, despite how I may laugh. Among the
prisoners here, you have the highest chance to repent, even though the odds are
below one percent in my mind. It’s best to use it wisely to save your soul,” I
say.
“Haha! What do I have to repent of?
I lived my life the way I wanted to and helped everyone I loved live
comfortably and happily. I have no regrets.”
“That’s the shame of it.”
“What is?”
“That you lack a conscience, a burden
on your mind that makes you feel guilty for evil deeds such as hurting others
to get your way.”
“Look who's talking. Where’s your
conscience when you torture and kill people like I do?”
“It’s constantly praying and hoping
that people like you change. It regrets when I make a mistake and second-guesses
itself when things are uncertain.”
“It sounds like a weak mind. You
should’ve been more confident and aware, especially concerning your identity,
Timeo Severe. It’s not too hard to find out, particularly for an established
group like The White Collars. If you thought it was difficult to find me, what
makes you believe it’ll be tough for us to locate the people you care about?
Heh, even now they’re being hunted and will soon face our own form of justice.”
“I’m sure they’re safe. We planned
for you to go after us.”
“Are you absolutely certain? Others
have thought they were safe from us, but when you own the city from top to
bottom like we do, there’s nowhere for anyone to hide.”
Looking over to Kane, he says, “You
can go check on your family and friends. I’ll stay here to clean up this mess.”
“There’s no need for you to
endanger yourself. They’re locked in here-”
The alarms start blaring as the
woman says, “Ha! We have backup plans upon backup plans. We’ll win like we
always-”
Kane blows the woman’s head to bits
and then says, “Go! I’ll handle this. I’m sure you’ll be back here before you
know it if it’s all a bluff.”
I nod and go out to the safehouses
where my family and friends hide, and sure enough, they’re all being attacked
by The White Collars' allies. Raymond, Ralph, Jeph, and Tim are being attacked
by their own officers, Lancetto is attacked by his guards, politicians, and
businessmen, Klinge is attacked by his workers, and Darcy is attacked by her
many contacts. Everyone thought these people who were close to them wouldn’t
betray them, and yet, they are either spies for The White Collars or betray us
for selling out or being intimidated. Thanks be to God, I rescue all of them
without anyone close to me being seriously hurt or killed. With everyone safe,
I rush back to Kane, who is steeped in the blood of The White Collars as he rains
metal justice from his two pistols on everyone around him.
The superhuman villains and
criminals are released from the upper floors to help The White Collars, but I carve
through them, dispensing death, even to the corrupt prison guards, wardens, and
even janitors who are on the side of the enemy. I trust that he can handle
himself, while I ensure no one escapes or catches Kane by surprise, and by the
end of it, most everyone in the prison lies dead and in pieces.
As we stand among the carnage we
created, Kane smiles and says to me, “Now, this is justice.”
“It is. I think you’re ready to be
my permanent ally. I’m sorry that I never asked, but where do you live?” I ask.
“Nowhere. On the streets. I move
from place to place, so I can sleep and not get caught off guard by my enemies.”
“How about you stay at my house? I have
plenty of room and it’s a safe place to be, or at least it is now.”
“I’d like that. Thank you.”
Later in the day, when things calm
down, Raymond and Jeph appear on TV to publicly denounce The White Collars and
inform the people of Meridian that they were behind yesterday’s attempt on
their lives. While this is happening, the police, superhero, and vigilante
associations are raiding The White Collar hideouts, and Kane and I are dealing
with the stragglers and traitors who still lie among us. As for the ball of
flesh and prison attack, Raymond says they were the work of a dark vigilante,
who will be dealt with in due time, meaning he’s going to give me an earful
tomorrow and didn’t want to say it was L’Obscurité since I’m a legitimate hero
backed by the city and didn’t want to say they backed my extreme actions, though
I’m sure there are those in the city who already know I was responsible for
what happened, given my reputation. Regardless, I invite him and everyone else
over for dinner to celebrate our victory, but Raymond and Ralph decline because
they have to clean up the mess I’ve made, like they usually do. There’s going
to be a lot of changes in the future to ensure that a group like The White
Collars can’t infiltrate and influence Meridian. I’m sure of it.
While my friends and family celebrate
our victory, I let Darcy know that “Kane will be staying with us so he doesn’t
live on the streets.”
“That’s fine with me. It sounds
like you’re adopting him, even though you’re only ten years older than him,”
she says.
“It’s weird if you put it like
that.”
“Not for me. I need more children.
Oh, and Kane, don’t mind the noises you hear in the night. Timeo and I are
trying to have around seven children.”
“It’s none of my business,” Kane
says while eating.
“But there are situations when I need
to be out there fighting crime with him,” I say.
“Kane is supposed to carry on your
legacy and give you free time with your family, right?”
Darcy looks at Kane with a threatening
smile as if she’ll strangle him if he says no, and he seems to be intimidated
by her.
“Yeah. I don’t mind letting you
take a break. I’ve been by myself all these years, after all.”
“Come on, you have to have my back here.”
“She’s your wife, and you can’t
always say no to her.”
“He can never say no to me, you
mean, right?”
“Yeah…sure. Like I said, it’s none
of my business.”
“See? I like him already.”
God, please have mercy on me
because my wife will not, but thank you again for giving me someone new who
will carry on my legacy.
The End
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