Chapter
4 – When Justice is Unleashed
After what happened to John and me
at the hero association job fair in Solis, I’ve been looking into ways to
prevent being set up or falling into the traps of secretive enemies. I’ve
thought about giving more resources and recruiting more agents for my wife,
Darcy’s, little cabal, and I’m sure she’s already doing something, but those
who aren’t influenced by her art won’t join her. As for the secretive agency,
Seventy Three, that John is allied with, I’m sure they’re already looking out
for him and have government backing, so there’s probably nothing more they can
do. The possible number of foes we have and what they could do to prevent the
institution of the Dominion didn’t sink into me until now. I thought that many
hero associations would be too busy dealing with each other and villains, but
some still see us as a threat.
I’m not just talking about the one
who tried to set us up, but also the ones who denounced us on social media and
publicly, when asked about us by the media. Other Catholic groups see us either
as competition or the enemy since we’re on the modern moderate side between
traditionalism and liberalism, because we primarily want to help people and not
focus our efforts on changing the world, while also not compromising our faith
for modern morals. There are also opposing faiths and secular groups, villain
syndicates, and criminal organizations that go without saying, which are a
problem. I know there are things we can’t deal with due to our lack of power
and influence, but at the same time, I’m not so sure which problems we can
fully deal with and which ones we can only keep at bay.
John must have noticed the look of
concern on my face since he hugs me, and says, “Don’t worry about what’s ever
on your mind. God will give us what we need to deal with it.”
I hug him back, smile, and say,
“Thank you for the reminder.”
Today, John and I are focusing on
the basics. We both became heroes to protect and save people, so that’s what
we’re doing today in a city being attacked and run by villains. To be honest,
it reminds me a lot of what my city of Meridian once was, and I wonder if a
secretive group of satanists is also the reason why it’s so bad. For now, we’ll
deal with the present problem and hopefully get to the root of it later. I
transform into L’Obscurité and travel through the shadows and light, while
keeping pace with John so that we fight together. I could outpace him, but the
public and our enemies need to see us fighting together. We need them to know
how effective we are at fighting with one another and the threat we pose to our
enemies.
As John beats down the criminals
with brutal punches and speed, I allow God’s justice to manifest through me and
pray for my foes to lessen their punishment somewhat, giving them the chance to
repent through the pain inflicted. Dark divine justice publicly humiliates them
by having their demons tear at them, turning their skin to mush, causing them
to fall apart into pieces that fight each other, and burning them from the
inside out, while keeping them alive. One of my newer powers lets me read a
person’s memories bit by bit. Usually, I find people excusing their sins;
however, I notice something interesting in this seemingly unrelated group of
criminals and villains that I didn’t expect.
Before we go to the next crime
scene, I tell John, “I may have found something interesting in the memories of
the people we’ve been fighting.”
“Oh, some hidden plot between
them?” John asks.
“Correct, but you’ll have to play
along with me to fully expose it. It could jeopardize our progress in cementing
the Dominion’s foundation.”
“As long as God’s will is done,
that’s all that matters, right? I trust that you know what you’re doing, so you
only need to tell me what to do, and I’ll do it without question.”
“You’re right. Let’s see Divine
Will be manifest.”
When we’re done punishing crime
today, John and I head to the city’s prison, where the people we incapacitated
are taken. Here, we see the chief of police taking note of the people being
taken in and silently speaking to his advisors.
He approaches us and says, “Good
work, gentlemen. I can say with confidence that your presence is much
appreciated in our city.”
“You're about to appreciate it a
bit more, that is, if you allow us to enter the deepest confines of the
prison,” I say.
“Can I ask for what reason?”
“To further make your city a safer
place.”
“You aren’t going to kill the
criminals or further hurt them, are you?”
“Depends on whether they deserve
it.”
The chief and his advisors look at
me, judging whether or not to allow us in, and struggle with the decision.
“Go ahead, but don’t cause too much
of a scene. What am I saying? I’m going to lose my job either way.”
“Thank you, chief.”
John and I go into the prison where
the prisoners either retreat further into their cells and cry out for help for
fear of us or yell threats and want us to fight them. The ones who are the most
adamant and use the most fighting words know more as I look into their eyes and
memories to find my true targets. I tell John to break a seemingly mundane wall
in the men’s bathroom. When he does, it reveals a steel door that he also breaks
down. Through the door, we find a staircase that leads to a series of tunnels
with all kinds of superhuman villains and criminals in them, who immediately
ambush us in the tunnels and try to collapse them in on us.
“Follow me, so you won’t aimlessly
wander through the tunnels, John,” I say.
“Lead on!” John says.
As John and I race through the
collapsing tunnels, we punch through retreating criminals, some of whom are
crushed by the falling debris and blown to pieces by the explosives that are
collapsing the tunnels, while others are buried alive, never to see the sky
again. Thankfully, we’re able to make it out in time to a staircase that leads us
to a luxurious house that lies outside of the city, but not too far from the
prison. Looking back at John, I can see he’s confused, and yet, he doesn’t say
anything since I haven’t stopped rushing forward. We break through the front
doors, and I tell John to help me crash the escaping cars and capture the
people within, which he does. One of the people who crawls out of the wreckage
of the car gets my particular attention.
My powers lift him into the air and
hold him there as I tell him, “You had quite the elaborate system here to
gather allies from the prison, use the tunnels to allow them to enter different
areas of the city, make it your own private smuggling and trading area, and put
in alarms and a self-destruct system to cover your tracks. It’s a shame that it
was all made for nefarious purposes.”
“You don’t have to do this. I know who
you are, L’Obscurité, and your hero association with John Elio. If you ally
with me, you can only profit, but if you don’t, you can only lose,” the man
says.
“You and your associates held respectable
positions of power, nothing like the mayor, chief of police, or CEOs of
importance that you served, but you used your lower positions to your advantage,
used the blind spots your leaders trusted you with for your own ends.”
“Why shouldn’t we? We got what we
wanted, the government kept paying us, and everyone got a share; the government
offices received some, the businesses were compensated for the damages, and got
customers from the constant stream of visitors who wanted to watch heroes fight
villains daily. The hero associations had a constant stream of work, the police
looked like heroes, and the criminals and villains had their fun, were taken
in, and then let loose as if they were fish caught for sport. Everyone was
rewarded and got what they wanted from what we had going.”
“People got hurt and killed in that
process.”
“It’s an acceptable loss in the
business for everyone’s benefit.”
“This is no business that operates
solely for profit, but since you like cycles so much, you can enjoy a painful
one.”
The man and his associates all have
their feet bent towards their mouths as most of their legs are shoved down
their throats, much like an ouroboros. They are kept alive, in a state of unbelievably
suffering, but alive and in a state fitting their punishment. I look at John, who seems unfazed by what he is seeing.
“This doesn’t shock you,” I ask
him.
“No. After you see your loved one
blown to pieces and punch villains and criminals to bits, like I have, things
like this lose their effect on you,” he says.
“What of what we’ve done? It’s
illegal for us to do things like this without permission from someone high in
the government.”
“So what? Justice is done, and so is
God’s will. What more could be better?”
“Hahaha. You’re right.”
John and I capture the people who
have worked with the criminals we’ve captured, and after they return to normal,
they all confess to their crimes, an entire city-wide criminal operation brought
to ruin in a single afternoon. The city’s citizens, its mayor, hero
associations, police officers, chief of police, and many others within it are grateful
for what we’ve done, but the Columbian government isn’t as grateful. What we’ve
done has both negative and positive things for our reputation, with things
leaning more towards positive since we’ve shown that we won’t allow proper
procedures to stop us from bringing criminals to justice. John and I celebrate
our latest victory at his house, where his parents and our wives make us a
celebration dinner. We then sit on his porch and watch the sun set with his
family and my own, or I should say that we’re all sitting together as one big
family, as John and his family say.
“Starting a hero association is such
a slow process. It hardly feels like we’ve done anything at all,” John says.
“It’s how the hero business goes,
but we’ve done a lot. We’ve saved people, gathered lots of support, gotten
tons of recruits and workers.”
“Got more infamy, made more
enemies, and got the government mad at us.”
“Haha, you’re right. In all of it,
we’ve served and glorified God, so I wouldn’t worry about how much longer it’ll
take for the Dominion to be official.”
As I finish speaking, the mailman
brings us our mail, and sure enough, we get a big package with a certificate saying
that the Dominion is now recognized as an official hero association.
I laugh again and say, “See? Everything
comes in due time.”
“You’re right. Well, here’s to the Dominion.
Let’s save and change the world for the better together.”
We all cheer, “To the Dominion!”
John and I add, “For the glory of
God!”
John’s parents say amen and tell us
we should go to the town for a celebration dessert and to tell everyone there
the good news. We agree, and the townspeople offer us free dessert and drinks.
While we enjoy ourselves, I get another taste of the peace that I’ve been
longing for as I watch my family and friends laughing and enjoying life.
John looks at me and says, “We’ll
make sure that not only they, but everyone else can have and enjoy moments like
this.”
“That’s for sure. No one should be
deprived of such an invaluable treasure. Are you ready to get in more trouble
to make sure it happens?” I say.
“Haha, of course!”
I laugh too, and we clink our
glasses together, enjoy this moment of happiness and peace, and pray that we
can bring it to others and safeguard their family and friends in the future.
The End
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