Mercy and Justice in Both Hands: Chapter 4 – Justice in a Trigger Pull

Chapter 4 – Justice in a Trigger Pull

Using my motorcycle, Idelle and I race to the bomb sites around Meridian and coordinate with members of law enforcement and Dominion so that every location is covered. Idelle and I hit each place hard and fast. I cover Idelle as she heads for the bombs, tosses them into the air, and I shoot them so that they can’t be detonated. While we continue going from location to location, we hear about criminals leaving the city in an effort to escape us, so we chose to chase them since the rest of the bomb sites are being covered. Idelle uses her super speed to run alongside me and take out the other superhumans with super speed and the fleeing cars and trucks. Meanwhile, I fire at the flying superhumans and shoot out the tires to make the criminals crash. The streets of Meridian are in chaos because of what’s happening, but it’ll end soon.

Racing to the suburbs of Meridian, we find pockets of fighting where the syndicate had their hiding spots and more fleeing criminals that Idelle and I take out. In a matter of hours, the syndicate is confirmed to have been cleaned out of Meridian. Every hiding spot has been searched, every criminal and villain is either killed or locked up, and every bomb and assassin has been taken care of.

“We did it!” I say to Idelle as I get off my motorcycle and hug Idelle.

I let go, but she continues to hold onto me. Should’ve seen that coming.

“Since we just defeated an entire criminal syndicate, does that mean we can celebrate? Perhaps with ice cream?” she asks.

“Haha, of course. Let’s go celebrate.”

 Idelle and I head to the ice cream and dessert place she loves, and she eats another five ice creams. Since word about our deeds is in the news, the people in the city congratulate and thank us for what we’ve done. The party crasher, Polina, and Raziel soon show up and stand over us with judgmental eyes.

“Kane. We need to talk,” Polina says.

Sensing this is serious, the crowd disperses.

“About what? About how I toppled a crime syndicate in a matter of a couple of days? You know L’Obscurité did the same thing, in the same manner, leaving no criminal or villain able to leave the city they tried to take advantage of and either had them arrested or killed.”

“You-”

“You should sit down. The entire menu is on the house.” Interested in this, Raziel picks up a menu and points to a few items on it. “You can yell at me later, but for now, you can’t argue that I didn’t save the city and should celebrate with us.”

“…tch. Fine,” Polina says.

Together, we enjoy our desserts and then head back to the Dominion office. I let Polina have the glory of making a public statement about what happened and accepting the rewards given to the Dominion, none of which interests me. All I care about is that justice was done and the city is just a bit safer now. In my office, I comb through the files I have with Idelle still by my side.

“What are you doing?” Idelle asks.

“Looking for my next adventure,” I say.

“Are you seriously looking for another fight?”

“Crime never sleeps or is stopped for long. Sure, we’ve scared away one syndicate, but smaller groups, independent villains, and other sinister forces are still lurking in the dark.”

“Come on. You have to take a break from time to time.”

“What? Do you want to go out for ice cream again?”

“No. It’s not that. Well, not entirely that. I just want to spend more time with you outside of work, if that’s okay with you.”

I consider it, get up from my chair, and hug Idelle.

“Okay, but it’ll have to be a date.”

“A…a date?”

“You remember that I said that you’re meant to be there for someone else besides your brother? I think it’s supposed to be me, and I think I know why he wanted us to work together.”

“Hmm. When he was little, he knew I was his older sister, despite my never him. He could also tell who his real father was and the woman he was supposed to marry at a glance. Are you suggesting he could tell that you’re meant to be his brother-in-law?”

“Yes. It’s not that big of a logical leap.”

“Yeah, but…do you…Would you really want to be with a woman like me? I’m what? About twenty years older than you and a mess of a person and good for nothing besides hurting and killing.”

“That doesn’t matter to me. We’re both executioners of justice and people with messy pasts and personalities. It’s what makes us best for one another, don’t you think?”

Idelle and I close our eyes, and I lean in for a kiss. As our lips touch, there’s a knock at the door. We ignore it, but the person on the other side kicks it open. It’s Polina, of course, who is about to yell at me until she sees what’s happening, and she only gets more hysterical. Idelle’s black snake hits her with its head and sends her flying out of the door, while the white snake closes it. Feeling bad for her, Idelle and I go check on her to see if she’s okay. We tell her that we’re officially in a relationship and going to head out, but she merely looks shocked at us, and that Timeo is coming.

“Ah, hell. I’m in real trouble now,” I say.

“We can still go out, right?” Idelle asks.

“Yeah. If Timeo is coming, there’s no hiding from him anyway, so we might as well enjoy the rest of the day while we can.”

I take Idelle’s hand and head out for a nice first date in the city. We go to the usual spots like parks, a barcade that Timeo loved going to, and finish it off with a nice trip to a high-rise flower garden.

As we sit together in each other’s arms, I ask Idelle, “Did you like any of the places we went to? I wasn’t sure what a country girl like you would like in the city.”

“They were fun. All I really cared about was being by your side,” Idelle says.

“Ah, that’s right, and never really letting go of my hand and giving a killer look to the girls who looked at me.”

“Did you want me to let go now?”

“No, it’s fine. You’re right in that being by your side is the best place to be. I guess I should’ve remembered that lesson from your brother, that being with the ones you love is the best place to be.”

“He does typically know best.”

“That he does,” a familiar voice says from the dark.

Timeo manifests himself from the dark, out of his L’Obscurité appearance and into his normal one. He wears another of his fancy suits; this time, it's red, dark blue, and black, and his eyes are as dark as his powers.

“I was wondering when you were going to show up. So, uh, how long have you been watching us?” I ask.

“Since you were at the barcade. You seriously couldn’t invite me to it?” Timeo jokes.

“Hey, if I knew you were there and not somewhere in the world doing important things, I’d happily invite you.”

“I’m sorry that I don’t make time to visit, but I am glad you’re handling everything here well.”

“I…oh. You’re not going to give me a talk like Polina wants you to?”

“She may disagree with your methods, but she’s not as upset at you as you think she is. Her powers that lean towards mercy make her upset when a sinner dies, even if that person had a less than one percent chance to repent. Polina just wants you to be careful because she knows that extremists and crazies might follow your example in a way you might not like. It happened to me during my first years as a hero.”

“I’ll be ready for it when it happens.”

“Heh, I know you will.”

“You’re not going to try to stop me?”

“No. After what happened because of Nexum, we need members of the Dominion who expose the weaknesses of the law, so that it can be strengthened in those areas.”

“Thank you for seeing things as I do. It means a lot.”

“Still, there is one area that I’m most concerned about.”

“And that is…oh. That’s right.”

“What?” Idelle asks as Timeo and I look at her.

“Haha, you have nothing to worry about, Idelle. John told me that he knew Kane would be his brother-in-law and hoped that having you work together would make it happen.”

“See? I told you,” I say.

“Nevertheless, I don’t see what the problem is,” Idelle says.

“It’s nothing like I said. It’s Kane’s problem.”

“I still don’t get it.”

“Timeo told me about being careful about attracting dangerous women.”

“Huh? That’s a problem?”

“Not when God puts you two together.”

“Okay…”

“Even so, can you offer me any help, Timeo? I might be stuck here for a while.”

“What? You don’t like us being like this?”

“No, it’s just that you’re developing a habit of sticking to me and never letting go.”

“Hmph. We’ll stay like that this extra long then, and when we go back to your house, I won’t let you go until tomorrow morning.”

Looking up to Timeo without a free hand to reach out with, I say, “Uh. Help?”

Idelle looks up at Timeo as if threatening him with her gaze.

Timeo laughs and says, “I’ll pray for you.”

“Hey, where are you going?!”

“I have some friends and family to visit before going back to John and my own obsessed lover. See you later, Kane.”

“Wait, Timeo! I need help here!”

Just when I need him the most, he disappears into the dark. Now, Idelle is giving me the killer look, which is giving me the chills. Being unable to move my legs or arms and having no way out of this makes me certain that I won’t be feeling my body in the morning. I’m also sure that Polina will get a kick out of hearing what Timeo is going to tell her. God, save my broken body.

“Idelle…”

“I won’t let you go to sleep without giving me kisses either. I…really enjoyed the one you gave me before. Actually…I’d like another right now. Several, now that I think about it.”

I now completely understand Timeo’s warning to me. What I’m feeling now is probably how he felt with Darcy, but I guess there’s no getting out of this now. As I’m about to kiss her, a group of masked criminals is trying to rob the rich people in this high-rise garden, some of whom are looking for us.

“Guess we’re bigger celebrities than we were before,” I say.

This is perfect. We’ll take care of them, and then-okay, Idelle already ripped them apart, threw a few of them off the building, and is back to holding me. I think I’m more afraid now than I was before. At least I know I’ll be safe with her around me from most threats, and that, together, we can keep this city safe and bring divine justice upon all criminals and villains we come across.

 

The End