Chastisement of the Castigators: Chapter 2 – More than a Rebel

Chapter 2 – More than a Rebel

Waking up in the morning and seeing my family around me, I see myself reflected in my son and the self I want to be in my parents, even though they’re not blood-related. Every day, I get up and pray that I can be the person I need to be for them and that I can appreciate every day as much as my younger brother does. I’ve also tried to cook and learn my family’s recipes so I can cook for my family on my own. Of course, it’s still a bit hard for me to let go of Kane in bed, so I can get up early to cook, but I’m getting better at it. Zandro is still getting adjusted to staying here and my family’s hospitality. I guess they don’t have nice people like this in Nexum, where he’s from.

Zandro prays our morning prayers with us, and as we simply be with one another on the house’s porch, talk, and enjoy each other’s company, it feels like my job as a hero could’ve been just a dream. If this is all I did for the rest of my life, I wouldn’t mind it, but reality comes calling. Kane gets a call from one of the newer Dominion offices in Intermediario about new extremists inspired by us that are causing trouble for law enforcement. Because of what we did yesterday, they think we’re the best people to take care of them. My parents understand that we need to get going, and they tell us that they’ll be praying for us, as always. We thank them for their kindness and head out to Intermediario, which is a two-hour trip from Poca Bellezza.

When we reach the part of the city that’s under the control of the extremists, we are immediately met with guns on us and superhumans standing in front of everyone, ready to fight. Since they haven’t started a fight and Kane hasn’t fired a shot or even manifested his guns, I don’t do anything either, despite having the feeling I should. Kane parks his motorcycle on the side of the street and looks at everyone around him as if evaluating each one to see if they’re worth fighting or not. Noticing that Zandro’s hand is shaking, since he must be tempted like I am, I grab his hand.

“Thank you, Idelle,” he says to me.

I let go of Zandro’s hand, and he seems to be under control of his good side.

Going over to Kane, I whisper, “What do you think?”

“Hmm. It’s interesting. I get the same feeling I get from these people as normal civilians, in that I shouldn’t bring any to justice despite what I’m seeing and they’re doing,” Kane whispers back. He then says out loud, “Bring me to your leaders, if you have any. I want to talk to them.”

The superhumans and civilians look at one another and whisper before a few of the superhumans agree to Kane’s request and take us to a city hall where the extremists’ leaders are. Just like the others, the leaders look like normal civilians and superhumans, and they also have cops by their side.

“Castigators, please take a seat,” one of the civilians says.

As we sit down in the conference room, Kane says, “I wonder if I took the wrong turn from where I was told to go to search for the extremists inspired by me. This setup you have here on your side of the city looks legit, and from what I can tell from your soul, you are all legit.”

“We are all legit, as you say, but we’ve acted outside the law. This side of this city has been taken care of by neighboring families for generations, while the other side has been taken care of by its own.”

“I guess that explains why the city is so large, and highways separate the two sides of it, where no one lives underneath.”

“But because the other side is larger and has more people in it, the law favors them, and they get to institute laws and regulations that both sides have to follow. The people on this side have to suffer their heavy taxes that enrich the government, while forcing the common man to pay their tab for little to no benefit, such as taking care of foreigners and tourists who take what they want from the city and leave or send it to their own country or homes.”

“So, a lot of politics is involved in this?”

“If you can call it that. Our side of the city isn’t seen as important as theirs because of all the funding they receive from superhuman fights that happen there, and the population density. Each of us here who has real power tried to influence the decisions being made as we were elected to do, but we failed nearly every time. We let our people down, and although some understand that we couldn’t do much, others have accused us of breaking promises or lying. I can’t blame those quick to judge and refuse to see the messy reality of politics. In fact, I feel like a liar because I can’t keep the promises I make to the people I love.”

“Don’t say that,” I interject. “If you tried your best, you have nothing to be ashamed of. You aren’t a liar or bad person for failing.”

“What have you done that makes you extremists and has made the law get called down on you?” Zandro asks.

“We’ve forcefully declared independence from the other side of the city. After years of trying to separate from it through the law and getting turned down time and time again, we’ve just decided to set our own borders and focus on ourselves.”

“It sounds like a purely Columbian Union thing to do. It’s what the colonies did at their founding, so I don’t see an issue with it,” Kane says.

“The other side of the city and country will. It’s still illegal,” I say.

“Okay. We’ll represent you then and legitimize it. Be back in a second.”

“You’ll have the entire city against you!”

“So what? You do as well, and should already know that doing the right thing matters more than anything. You are inspired by us, right?”

“We are, but we don’t want you putting yourselves in harm's way for us.”

“What inspirations would we be if we didn’t lead by example? Sit tight here and let us handle this.”

Kane, Zandro, and I head to the borders between both sides of the city, and Kane announces that we support the other side of the city’s decision to be independent from the other. This receives pushback from the opposing city’s protectors, who say we should be upholding the law.

Finally, manifesting his guns, he puts them in the face of law enforcement and then says, “We uphold true justice, not man’s flawed laws. The Castigators follow the law where it’s just and break it where it’s flawed, so we can fix it. Give the people behind us the right to define the borders of their home, and we won’t have a problem. Refuse, and I won’t hesitate to use force to get what’s due to them.”

The law enforcers in front of us hardly get a chance to argue as Kane shoots them midway through their talking and tells Zandro and me to fight them and make a way to the city hall on this side of the city. Since Kane hasn’t held back using his ebony pistol to kill, neither Zandro nor I hold back in our fight, killing where necessary, when knocking them out prevents us from fighting properly. I break the bones and snap necks with my snakes and use my superhuman strength and speed to beat down the law enforcers that oppose us. By the time we reach the city hall, we find a group of law enforcers, superhumans, and cops waiting for us. Without a second thought to how outnumbered we are, we head into the fight.

I focus on keeping Kane and Zandro safe, while they do the same to cover my blind spots and prevent me from taking as many attacks as possible. Still, we get shot and hit by the strength and powers of the superhumans. I’m not worried so much about myself or Zandro since we can take the hits without it affecting us that much, but Kane isn’t so blessed. An explosion sends him flying into the side of a building, and he struggles to get on his feet, while continuing to fight off the law enforcers who are focusing on him alone now. Zandro and I cover him, while not caring about the hits we are taking.

“I got this! Don’t worry about me!” Kane says.

“Clearly, you don’t,” Zandro says.

“What kind of wife would I be if I didn’t defend my husband?” I say.

The density of the people we are facing lessens as superhumans, cops, and civilians with guns that we saw on the other side of the city come to help us. Kane jumps up to his feet and immediately joins in on the fight to get the heat of the attack back on him and us, and Zandro and I follow his example, despite the pain we’re in.

“Didn’t I tell you people that we’ll handle this?” Kane says to the city leader we were previously talking to.

“Didn’t I tell you that you inspired us?”

“Heh. I guess we’re a bad influence then.”

“You’re our heroes!” the crowd of our supporters says, almost in unison.

Their words empower me to fight more and make sure that no one on our side is injured or killed. Inside the city hall, we break our way into where the leaders are, and Kane holds them at gunpoint.

“How could you side with these rebels?” one of the opposing city leaders says. “We’re on the same side, aren’t we?!”

“You’re false friends. You talk about loving tradition and religion, but you do so because it’s the fashion of the age, and it gives you riches and power. It’s written all over your rotten soul,” Kane says.

“Give up and let us run our city the way we know is right,” one of our allied city leaders says.

“You wouldn’t know the first thing about it. None of you know how the game of politics and business is played and meant to be used.”

Seeing that as a sign of refusing arrest, Kane shoots the opposing city leaders, and the fighting resumes as superhumans and other law enforcers come in. We’re surrounded, and seeing many of our allies getting hurt and killed sends me into overdrive. I no longer hold back and try to incapacitate anyone. Instead, I let the brutality that I’ve been holding back take control as I leap around the room, smashing heads in, punching through people’s hearts, and having my snakes tear them in two. I even break off a person’s arm and kill them by shoving it through their head.

My eyes dart around the room for my next target to kill until Zandro grabs my hand and says, “Idelle! It’s over here. We have to head outside so we don’t get boxed in!”

Looking at him and Kane, I calm myself down, thank Zandro, and head outside where the fighting continues, until it suddenly stops seconds after. It’s like something in the air changed that everyone can sense, and I don’t know what it is. What changed is made clear when I see everyone turn their attention to my little brother, John Elio, approaching us from a distance. He looks almost exactly as he always does, with bright blonde hair, light blue eyes, fair skin, and wearing his red deacon shirt, golden cape, blue jeans, and brown farmer boots. The one crucial difference is that his usual soft expression that fills people with hope and comfort is replaced by one that could kill by how terrifying he looks. He’s mad, and I’m not sure where his anger will be directed.

At first, one of the chief law enforcers tells him about what is happening. That the Castigators have turned on the law and are helping extremists, and that he should help them bring us into custody or be killed for the violence and death we’ve been causing. John looks at me, my allies, and the chief law enforcers.

He then punches the chief’s head off and says, “Do you think I’m such an idiot to fall for your deception?! That I would trust you, corrupt and hypocritical protectors of the law, over my own sister?! Your sin is obvious for all to see. I should kill you all where you stand!”

The force and terror behind John’s voice sends our opposition running and begging for their lives. Seeing that the situation is dealt with, John runs over to me and gives me one of his big hugs.

“Are you alright? I’m sorry I couldn’t get here sooner. I ran from the other side of the country to get here as soon as I heard what was happening,” John says.

“I’m fine, and it’s okay. We’re fine, at least, most of us are,” Idelle says.

Kane walks over and says, “Thanks for the assist, John. This would’ve been disastrous if you hadn’t-”

John brings Kane into our group hug, asking him the same questions and apologizing to him.

“John, you’re hurting him,” I say.

“I’m sorry!” John says.

Kane coughs and says, “I’m fine. Might need some minor medical treatment, though, for the beating I took today. How did you know we didn’t go rogue?”

“I just knew it, I trust in you all to make the right decision, and my gut feeling was confirmed when I saw the souls of the people you were fighting against, and seeing you all throw yourselves into danger to protect the people you were fighting for. No one who is sinful will throw themselves into life-threatening danger to save another person,” John explains.

“Thank you, John,” I say as I hug him.

“Thank you for always being the big sister that I look up to.”

With that settled, John helps us give our allies control over their own city and arranges for the remaining corrupt city leaders and law enforcement to face justice. Afterwards, we clean up at a hospital and head back home, where my parents are excited to see John after so long, and John is especially happy to see my son, whom he baptized. At the dinner table, we discuss having our families come together to spend some quality time with each other for about a week.

“Does that include having me around for it?” Zandro asks.

“Of course it does!” we say.

“We had you along for Idelle's and I’s honeymoon. Of course, you can be with us,” Kane says.

Time together with the family could be great, so I can practice being a normal mother.

Speaking of which, I whisper to Kane, “When can we have a second?”

He looks stunned at me and says, “We just had this one not too long ago, and you want a second already.”

“Yes.”

“Tch. I guess I don’t have a choice.”

John seems to have heard us, laughs, and says, “There’s no denying her another child.”

“There isn’t,” I confirm.

Everyone laughs, but I’m not. I may just want another child because being a mother proves that I’m more than a brutal killer and hero, but then again, being with everyone here and the things I’ve accomplished already prove it in spades. I’m also a loving wife and mother, a daughter who her parents are proud of, and an older sister who inspires her little brother. Still, I want that second child and may get Kane to give it to me sooner than he thinks.