Mother's Least Favorite: Chapter 1 – Miserable Fate

Chapter 1 – Miserable Fate

It’s been another long, hard day of work, and my wife is yelling at me, and my baby daughter is uncontrollably crying in the back of the car again while I drive us home. I should be used to it, yet today, it annoys me more than ever. Every regret I have, and everything that aggravates me is all in my head at once and feels like they touch every nerve. The words of my wife and the cries of my daughter are muffled as my thoughts overtake my head. I can’t handle it like I used to as if my strength fell out from under me.

Something has to change, but then again, what would be the use of it? I can’t live like this anymore. I can’t live anymore. I don’t want to. There’s no purpose or happiness in it worth looking forward to. It’s time to end it all. Just in the nick of time, I use what looks to be an oil truck ahead of me at a T-intersection in the road, so I speed my car towards it, ramming it into the side, hoping that the impact or subsequent explosion kills me, however, mud and dirt spew from it. I blackout from embracing the mud, allowing it to suffocate me to death so that it kills me quicker.

Unfortunately, I wake up in a haze, in a hospital with no windows. For some reason, my legs, arms, and neck have metal clamps around them, and there are many machines with needles and tubes around me.

“What is this?” I wonder out loud. “Hello? Is anyone there? Hello!”

No response. How am I even alive? Why am I alive? Where’s my wife and daughter? Did they survive too? I have to get out of here. I don’t want to be part of some experiment, but the metal clamps are too hard to break. If only my arms were…thinner. Huh? What’s happening to my arms? My legs?! They’re shrinking and turning into mud! Go back to normal! Go back!

Okay! Okay…They’re back to normal, and my arms and legs are out of the clamps. Now, how do I get out of here? There’s no window, and the door doesn’t have a handle. I see a vent in the room, but…maybe if I can make my arms and legs shrink, I can do the same with the rest of my body. It didn’t hurt when I changed, so there’s no reason not to try. Alright, it’s working. Somehow, I’m able to compress my body, limbs, and even face into a liquid and enter into the vents. This ability both scares and amazes me at the same time, and still, I don’t want to live.

The sound of the door opening makes me turn back to see who is coming through it. To my surprise, it’s my older brother, Salvatore, and younger brother, Renzo. What are they doing here?

“I thought the silent alarms were supposed to trip as soon as he escaped?” Renzo asks.

“Yeah, but we don’t know what powers he could’ve gotten from the mud,” Salvatore admits.

“It’s mud from your company, so your people should know.”

“Let’s just find him. He couldn’t have gotten far and probably doesn’t know what he’s doing.”

Salvatore and Renzo rush out of the room, leaving me alone with my thoughts. Salvatore works for Coronamento, and that means that the truck was theirs, and this must be one of their facilities where they hold superhumans. They also must know what happened and that I had caused the accident. Not too many years ago, my daughter’s face was disfigured by my dog, and my wife and I punished our daughter rather than the dog because we told her time and again to stop messing with it, and yet, she didn’t listen. Knowing that my mom would figure out sooner or later since she always wants to see her in person or via webcam, I told her what happened and not to tell my brothers, but she did, and they came over, shot the dog, and beat me and my wife while yelling at us about how we were bad parents.

They’ll do worse than beat me to death. Since I’m in this facility, they probably brought me here so I can be experimented on for the rest of my life! No! I won’t allow it! If this is a facility where they hold superhumans, they must have an armory with weapons that kill them. I wander the vents of the facility, looking at the different tests they do on people who are either prisoners or willing subjects. Much of the tech they use has weird runes etched into them, and they appear to be praying or chanting something in a language I don’t understand to use the tech or experiment on people through rituals. I heard Coronamento was up to some shady alegal business, but this looks more terrifying than I thought it would, and it’s also strange to me that a by-the-books cop like Renzo would be okay with bringing me here.

Eventually, I stumble upon a security room with a single guard inside. There’s a map of the facility on the monitor and access to the internet. He’s listening to cooking videos of all things and doesn’t seem to be too aware of me dripping into the room and reforming myself. Since I’m already a bastard who is going to Hell, and he’s in between me and getting a good look at the map, I kill him by crushing his head with my hands. Huh? What’s this? I’m seeing and hearing…flashes of the man’s memories.

He was a normal guy with a family and kids who took this job because he struggled to get by as a warehouse worker. I relate to that. As an office worker, I struggled to make ends meet because my company had to focus on paying insurance for superhuman and villain attacks and paying guards to counter them specifically. It doesn’t pay to work as a normal person, especially since you can approach a hero or vigilante agency and instantly become a superhuman or be enhanced with superhuman-like abilities after some injections and intensive training. Meanwhile, normal people haven’t received a pay raise in years, and college and trade school enrollment is at an all-time low. Maybe things will change when the fad of becoming superhuman through a needle, but that probably won’t be anytime soon.

It's why I don’t want to go back to living as if I could now that I’m a monster. Let’s see now where that armory is. Looking at the map, it’s on the fourth lowest floor. I’m on the fifth lowest floor, so it’s not too far away. Since I’m here, I look through the internet to see if my car crash is on the news. Surely enough it is, it’s been a week since it happened, and my daughter and wife died in it while I’m reported to have been taken in alive by Coronamento. So…they did die while I somehow survived. I really am a heartless bastard who deserves to die. Well, there’s no reason to hold it off any longer.

When I get to the armory, I find every kind of weapon, such as guns, swords, shields, laser weaponry, and more, along with different kinds of bullets. However, none of them work on me. They don’t even hurt me, and even though my body breaks apart, it always reforms.

“Why? Why can’t it die?!” I say out loud.

If there was a silent alarm like my room, it surely would’ve gone off by now, so I leave the armory just in time as security and my brothers arrive. Going through the vents, I search the facility for an archive or research center of some sort to see if Coronamento knows of a way to kill me. Because of my form, I see if I can change into whoever I want to, and sure enough, I can change my face and body into whatever I want it to, so I change into a security guard with a helmet on. Inside the facility’s archives, I find that Coronamento doesn’t know how to kill me either. It turns out they were trying to make a new kind of superhuman or substance that reforms flesh inspired by how God first made man.

This mud and dirt I’m made of now is not meant to be killed, and no kind of disease, frost, flame, electricity, or anything can completely dispel it. The researchers haven’t had successful results with any subject yet, and they’ve noted that they don’t expect to.

“So, I can’t die no matter what I do, can I?” I say to myself.

A researcher in the archives asks why a security guard like me is here, but I don’t answer them and slip away into the vents once I walk out of her sight. I traverse the vents, uncaring what fans, blades, and electricity I push myself through until I eventually find a way out of the building. Now, outside of it, I go back to my house and reform myself into my normal form. Looking into the mirror, I see something different about myself. It’s not the same image of me that I see in my pictures, so it’s just an image of me that I have of myself, which turns into a grey monster made of slug with red and blue eyes. I smash the mirror along with every picture of myself and my family that I see in my house before I throw myself on the floor and think about what to do with my life now. Of all the things in my life that I wanted, why can’t death be the one that’s denied to me? Why do I have to suffer like this? I guess it's because I’m nothing more than a useless piece of garbage, and I got what I deserve. Yeah…that’s probably why.

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The police respond to a prison break where both normal criminals and superhumans are kept. Renzo is among the officers who respond to the call, but once he finds his older brother getting mixed up in the event and helping a family member of the people who tried to kill him and his parents escape the prison, he'll find that this is the start of something larger than he expects and maybe the end of the police as an institution.

Scarier than Evil: Chapter 5 – The Law at Work

Chapter 5 – The Law at Work

In the police radio of my car, I hear nonstop reports of riots and violence aided by superhumans who are going after people whose dirt that Edoardo leaked on the internet. I turn it off since it’s giving me a headache and focus on talking to the people at the nearby precinct who are tracking Edoardo and seeing where he’s going while sending armed and available officers after him. From what I hear, Edoardo isn’t hiding and is taking part in the chaos he is starting by going after politicians, officers, and high-end criminals on the list he gave to the public.

His followers have hacked the speakers in the city to play a recording of him that says, “Rise up! Put to death those who have escaped justice and pervert it!”

After I arm up and get my armor on at a nearby precinct, I get a call that tells me Edoardo’s exact location, so I rush there to city hall and find police, heroes, and vigilantes fighting other police, heroes, and vigilantes. The people we’re up against are those I’ve come across and worked with at one point or another. These heroes, vigilantes, and officers were once beacons of justice, and now, they seem no different than criminals and anarchists who want to break and bend the law to their will, and yet, I can’t help but understand why they’re doing this. Still, there’s no negotiating with them. There’s only fighting for what we believe in, knowing ourselves to be right while knocking down the other thinking they’re in the wrong.

In this case, I don’t think there’s a shadow of a doubt that I’m right because of all the chaos, but I won’t pretend that my enemy is completely villainous and doing this for evil reasons. Rather, their reasoning is flawed and a result of injustice, which makes this all a tragedy. Nevertheless, I have a job to do and a city to protect, whether they are innocent or guilty. I take out two assault rifles from my car, one loaded with anti-superhuman rounds and the other loaded with normal bullets, and start firing at those I once considered coworkers without hesitation, as my dad and Salvatore taught me. Thanks to us outnumbering them, my allies are able to push back the people we’re fighting against so we can enter city hall.

Inside, I’m somewhat surprised to see Alex and Kurtis entering from the opposite side, with cops and superhumans aiding them as well. I fight to get to them and help them out while they’re pinned down. Once together, we can’t say a word until another wave of opposition comes from the upper floors.

“We knew you’d be here and need our help. It’s why we’re here, by the way,” Kurtis says.

“You can thank us later. We have to bring down your uncle before he can do any more damage,” Alex adds.

“Then let’s push back and get to him! Drinks will be on me!” I say.

The three of us move forward as a three-man squad, each of us picking targets that suit us. Kurtis uses his lighter guns to take care of the normal humans, Alex uses his heavy machine gun to tear through the superhumans, and I use my assault rifles to take care of both. With the help of our allies, we push forward to the upper floors of the building. I see Edoardo entering one of the rooms and chase after him while everyone else covers me to take care of Edoardo’s backup. In the room I find Edoardo in, I see two other injured people, one who is a well-dressed official while the other is a man in body armor. I’m about to shoot my uncle until I realize that my guns are empty, and he shoots the rifles out of my hands and points his pistols at the two injured people on the floor.

“These two people are a good representation of what I’m fighting against, nephew. One is a police commander who gets rid of evidence of his crimes for himself and his friends, while his friend here pays him to do so with the money he makes in drug, weapon, and human trafficking. Both of these men have escaped justice for years and deserve to die here, and now, and yet, you would protect them because they haven’t had a fair trial or didn’t pull a weapon on you,” Edoardo says. “Explain to me the logic in that.”

“The system isn’t perfect, but it prevents chaos like this. Cops are killing cops, heroes are tearing each other apart, and friends who once worked together are now at each other’s throats,” I say.

“That’s what was happening anyway. I accelerated the conflict and made bare the true enemies we should fight against.”

“Is this what you call justice? Don’t you think that innocents will be killed if anyone just exposes another person with or without legitimate evidence?”

“It’s worth it when no one in or outside of the law gets what they deserve like these pieces of human filth!”

“You’re a cop! You’re supposed to be an enforcer of justice, not judge, jury, and executioner!”

“This is me enforcing justice!”

Edoardo is about to shoot the two criminals on the floor, but I use my enhanced reflexes to draw my magnum and shoot him, the force of the bullet sending him flying into a nearby desk and dropping his guns. I walk up to him and am about to fire the final shot.

With a smile, Edoardo looks up, smiles at me, and says, “Will you change the system? Make sure the guilty are punished and innocents protected?”

“I will, uncle,” I say.

“Heh, I hope so, my nephew.”

My uncle dies with a smile on his face without me having to take the final shot, thanks be to God. Chief Bernardo rushes into the room, sees what happened, and laments not being here earlier.

“You shouldn’t have been the one to do it. I’m sorry. He was my friend, my brother, my responsibility,” he says.

“He was my uncle, but also, it doesn’t matter our personal relation to him. Justice was carried out, and much more needs to be done today,” I say.

“What about those two, bleeding out on the floor?”

“Call an ambulance for them. I’m sure the hospital will be full of men who don’t deserve mercy like them.”

For the next couple of weeks, the chaos that Edoardo started gets cleaned up by the police and our allies in our city. However, his chaos has spread to other cities since he exposed people beyond us, but since my responsibility is to care for the people within my city, I try not to worry about what’s happening in other places. Public trust in the police and authorities and thirst for justice is somewhat satiated after Edoardo’s ill-gotten evidence of digital paper trails and witness testimonies are reviewed by independent and legitimate authorities, and the people on his list are brought to justice, either executed or given lengthy sentences. By the end of it, I’m beyond tired and given a week’s vacation by Chief Bernardo, who tries not to blame himself for what his best friend did and yet is constantly working as a self-imposed penance.

While leaving the precinct, one of the cops who will be filling in for me comes up to me and says, “Hey, you’re Renzo! You don’t remember me, but we fought alongside one another during the riots. I’ll try to live up to the amazing things you’ve done!”

“Thanks,” I say, being completely taken off guard by the man’s words. “Try not to get in over your head.”

“Yes, sir!”

Outside, I receive more compliments from civilians who call me a hero and wave at me from people who think I saved the city. The compliments are nice and make me feel better, but they’re not the reason why I’m an officer. I do it because it’s what I think God wants me to do and to protect those who can’t protect themselves. It’s not a perfect job, and it’s not full of honest, good people. What job is? When I get home, I crash on the couch and receive kisses from my family as usual. As I look at their smiling faces, I’m reminded of the blessings in life that I’m thankful for, both small and big, and relax so that I’m ready to go out and do my job as a protector and enforcer of justice during my next day of work.

 

The End

Scarier than Evil: Chapter 4 – A Rigged Trial

Chapter 4 – A Rigged Trial

It’s been a week since we arrested Edoardo, and it's eerily quiet, with few crimes even happening in the worst parts of the city. The trial for Edoardo has been expedited to today because of what he’s done and his association with superhumans. I thought I wouldn’t be watching it, and yet, I’m watching it with my dad in my parent’s living room as if we were watching a sports game or show you would watch with your family. My dad sits in his car with a hand covering his mouth, and his eyes are glued to the screen with a glossy look to them as if he wants to cry. Meanwhile, Salvatore is helping our mom in the kitchen, and it’s then that I remember how much people say the two are alike. With the exception of Salvatore’s white and black hair and golden eyes, the two look similar, and my mom does have a history of getting in trouble with the law to get justice for herself and the people she wants to protect. It was that kind of trouble that caused my mom and dad to meet.

On the other side of the family, I look like my dad, with the exception of my eyes being red. My wife and Salvatore’s wife are talking and helping in the kitchen while the kids are playing outside. Today is our monthly family dinner, and most of it is the same as usual except for what is for dinner and what’s on TV. What is usual is my brother Ignazio not being here. I forgot what reason it was since he gives a lot of them, and I don’t care anymore to argue with him or press him on it, especially with what’s going on.

“Dad?” I say and then snap my fingers. “Dad? Are you okay?”

“Yes, I am. Just lost in thought and old memories,” my dad admits.

I don’t admit the same is happening to me, and I am just trying to keep my mind off what Edoardo said. If he plans to escape prison or the trial he’s in, then he has another thing coming because of the security around him and the evidence we have against him.

“Are you okay, Renzo? It couldn’t have been easy taking in your own uncle.”

“I’m fine, dad. I just need time to let the feeling of it pass away.”

“The feeling doesn’t just pass away after cases like this. It sticks with you. You must find a way to ignore it, pray it away, and not let it bother you.”

“I’m trying.”

“I’m sure you can, son. You have the quietness of St. Joseph, as they call it. It’s a terrifying quiet to some since you do what’s right without question or hesitation.” Salvatore joins our dad and me as we watch the trial start and the evidence against Edoardo is being presented. “I know they’ll bring up anything he said, but did he say anything special to you in particular?”

“He said I know that this isn’t the end, but it’s nothing we should worry about. In his diary, he wrote that he loves us, our family.”

“Hmm. He did and always will. Edoardo is a compassionate man, perhaps too compassionate because of what it drove him to do. If he said this isn’t the end, then he’s going to cause more trouble for us one way or another. Perhaps you should’ve shot him instead of arresting him.”

Salvatore laughs while I say, “You know I couldn’t do that. He had no weapon on him and didn’t resist arrest. Why did you say that?”

“I…I don’t know. Maybe it’s because I’m old and losing my mind or because I didn’t want to see my best friend, who I considered a brother, on trial like this.”

Understanding my dad’s feelings, I don’t say anything else, especially since the evidence against Edoardo is unable to be presented. They say that the files and maps I found in Edoardo’s house can be found, so Edoardo’s defense says that this evidence is a fabrication. Additionally, they say that Edoardo being present in the battle yesterday was coincidental since he owned the barn he was found in. I look over to Salvatore, who looks at me with surprise. We then look at our dad, who has the look of someone who seems unsurprised by this result. There’s disorder in the court now that the judge struggles to quiet down, but Edoardo standing up and speaking does shut them up.

“Judge Loeb,” Edoardo says. “I’m sure that you can pull the evidence against me out of thin air.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about. Now, sit down-”

“No, because I’m tired of you and your corrupt dealings, and unlike my prosecutors, I actually have evidence against you.”

“You’re the one on trial, Edoardo, not me. Guards, make him sit down.”

Instead of doing as they say, the guards simply stand around. So, this is what Edoardo was talking about. I spring up and call Chief Bernardo, who has been scrambling to find the evidence we found against Edoardo and is now rushing to the court where he is.

“Please, hand out to the crowd my evidence against the judge.”

The guards do as Edoardo says and give them pictures and files they are shocked to see.

“You can’t do this!” Loeb says as he stands up and is forced to sit down by the guards.

“Not legally, but when has that stopped you? How about when a human trafficker who was infamous for trading women to people in high positions of power was presented before you, and you said he was not guilty because the evidence against him disappeared before his trial as the evidence against me disappeared? What about this other case where an officer was stripped of his job for defending himself against criminals who were hitmen and ended up killing him not long after his trial? Who can forget the story of a politician you considered a friend who sold out the country he served to foreign leaders since they paid him well, and yet, his trial was forever put on hold, and he was exonerated by sketchy evidence?”

“This is all staged and fake! You’ve always had a bone to pick with me, Edoardo!”

“Because of what you’ve done! Every criminal that I put away who you were involved with was let go to murder, rape, or steal again, while every innocent person who I was forced to arrest was put in jail or ended up dead. Let’s not even get into your personal crimes that everyone in the court is reading of the sexual kind and plots that got you rich.”

The court is in more of an uproar than it was before.

“You won’t get away with this! I’ll make you pay for humiliating me!”

“Maybe, but you won’t be the one sentencing me. I know how many friends you have in high places, and they’ll be getting what’s coming to you. Even now, the evidence against them is being leaked on the internet, and they’ll face justice like you.”

Edoardo takes a gun out of his jacket and shoots Judge Loeb three times, twice in the chest and once in the head. I call Chief Bernardo again, and this time, he says he’s having a hard time getting into the court building since cops and superhumans are blocking his entry and that he may need to use force.

“You’ll have to! Edoardo has already killed Judge Loeb!” I say and wait for the chief’s response. “Chief? Chief!”

The phone hangs up, and I see that superhumans have appeared and broken into the courtroom where Edoardo is.

“The time is now to bring down the institutions that say they protect us but stab us in the back,” Edoardo says. “I’m starting with the police and then going after the three letter agencies of the government who are guilty of their own atrocities. If you know what’s good for you and are a good-natured person in these groups, then you should stand aside or join me, especially you, Renzo. I know you’re watching this.”

“Bastard,” I say while storming out of the house and starting to call Alex and Kurtis.

“Renzo!” my dad says from the front door. “Be careful!”

“I’ll be out there helping you, but remember, you have to be the one who ends this, brother,” Salvatore says as he runs past me and into his own car.

Looking back at my parent’s house, I take a moment to say, “I’ll be back. I promise.”

I then drive off as fast as I can with the sirens in my personal car blaring. This has to end now, and I don’t care if I have to kill my own uncle to do it! Now that he’s killed a judge and caused all this chaos, I have no choice but to.

Scarier than Evil: Chapter 3 – Deadly Pursuit

Chapter 3 – Deadly Pursuit

It’s been four hours since we started searching for Edoardo, setting up checkpoints, and nothing has happened so far. All I’ve heard on the radio are teams getting set up at their assigned points and other teams investigating buildings and caves in the city's mountainous forest and hilly outskirts and finding nothing. Alex and Kurtis have been talking back and forth on our personal radios about how cool it is we get to ride these fast cars with the deadly pursuit force outside of our jurisdiction. While they talk, I can’t help but think about the day not too long ago when a police precinct was taken over by a group of criminals and saved by Salvatore and his friends at Coronamento. I was informed about it when it was happening, but because we had to scramble and go to further precinct to arm ourselves, Salvatore and his friends were able to clean up everything long before we got there.

I then think about how we were embarrassed because of that event and Edoardo’s motives. He plans to invalidate the police by getting away with crime and making us look bad compared to other groups who enforce justice but aren’t tied to the law as much as we are. I wonder if he had anything to do with that takeover of the precinct and dead-end cases that we can’t figure out where no one was killed except for shady officials. It’s then that I remember reading in Edoardo’s journal that he admitted that the prison break was an inside job and told his allies in there to get their fellow prison guards to leave. The guards of those shady officials also quit their jobs and joined other groups to enforce justice, so he was likely the reason for their deaths, too, especially since I remember him knowing and protecting those particular officials while he was still a cop.

My reflection on past events is woken up by the sound of something rushing past me and a bad feeling. Turning on the heat vision of the vehicle, I see that a convoy of vehicles aided by superhumans has passed me invisibly, so I quickly inform everyone else and chase after them. Minutes after my call, our superhuman companions fly or run at the speed of sound to my aid, and our target has just uncloaked themselves since they know we’ve found them. Our superhuman allies clash as the rest of my backup starts to come and, unfortunately, crash and get mixed up in their fight. I activate my car's machine gun and start firing at the people in the other cars and trucks who are firing back at me. I’m able to blow up and make a few of the vehicles crash, but I’m still taking heavy fire, so I call in for support.

“I need backup now!” I say while continuously firing my car’s gun.

“Don’t worry, bud. I’m close to you! Just hang in there!” Kurtis says.

Kurtis’ words are reassuring, but I need something now. I use another weapon in my car, which fires out small projectiles that hit a few of the cars in front of me. The projectiles allow me to hack into their systems and give control of them to me and Chief Bernardo, who also has access to my car’s controls.

“You have control over the enemy vehicles, chief. Want to take them for a ride?” I ask.

“I’ll give them a ride they’ll never forget,” Bernardo says with a laugh.

The cars under Bernardo’s control crash into the cars that we don’t control, taking some of them out and damaging the others before being wrecked or taken out by their own.

“Make sure they head towards our roadblock! We’re ready to stop them there,” Alex says.

“Roger,” I say.

Switching my car’s weapons, I fire rockets at the vehicles in front of me so they go exactly where I want, the tunnel that runs under the hills. Out of the smoke of my rockets, Kurtis makes a stylish entrance by ramming one of the cars into the tunnel so it doesn’t make a turn down a tight service tunnel.

“Your backup has arrived!” Kurtis says as his car speeds ahead to ram our targets into the walls.

While this is happening, they are still firing at us, and we’re swerving through the traffic that was on the road before our roadblocks were set up.

“Be careful, Kurtis!” I say.

“I got this. Remember, I was part of the deadly pursuit squad!” Kurtis says as he begins to show off.

He crashes cars and even trucks into the walls and columns in the tunnel while also using his car’s guns and missiles accurately to destroy them or flip them over, all the while avoiding the civilians on the road.

“Woah! I still got it,” Kurtis says. “Eight targets remain.”

“We’re ready at the checkpoint with an additional surprise. Back off a bit and let me have a chance to show off next,” Alex says.

Kurtis and I do as he says as we exit the tunnel and see the checkpoint in sight. The checkpoint is comprised of pursuit cars and barriers with cops wielding armor-piercing rifles and explosives. There’s a single hole in the defenses that a large truck drives through that Alex is driving. The truck drives almost as fast as our pursuit cars and drives through two of the cars we’re pursuing and makes them fly into two other cars. Ahead of us, the firepower of the checkpoint stops an additional two cars while the largest and most heavily armored truck drives through the hole of the checkpoint, not even being stopped by what hits it or the spike strips behind it and helicopters that come in to shoot at it. Kurtis, Alex, and I continue to chase after it and empty the remainder of our car’s weapons into it, to no effect.

“This stubborn bastard won’t go down. I’ll have to go in and plant a melting charge to give us a shot at the interior,” I say as I launch a grappling hook that pierces the armor of the truck and attaches my car to it. “Chief, take control.”

“Be careful, Renzo!” Bernardo says.

I press a button, make the car's front windshield retract, climb out of my car, and crawl on top of the truck. Taking one of the melting charges meant for the toughest of armor and superhumans, I plant it on the truck and back off back into my car as the charge explodes and melts through the truck's armor as if it contained lava. After releasing my car’s hook from the truck, I tell everyone to fire into the hole, and this makes the truck drive around more erratically, off the road, and crash into a barn in the middle of nowhere. Kurtis, Alex, and I stop outside of the barn with other pursuit cops who have just now caught up to us. However, backup arrives for our targets as people in cars and superhumans. Chaos ensues as both sides clash, and someone throws smoke grenades to add to it and separate me from my friends.

I don’t have a second to try to regroup with them before a superhuman comes out of the smoke and attacks me with his sharp claws on his arms, legs, and face. Using the shotguns I took from my car, I duel wield them and shoot at his arms and legs until I blow them off along with his head after several shots to that as well. Before I can take a breath, I’m punched by another superhuman so hard that I fly into my car and through its windshield. The wind is knocked out of me, and my armor is shattered. However, I still force myself to move, hoping that there’s no serious damage to me. Getting to the back of the car, I take a heavy, light-machine gun and unload the gun into the superhuman and others who come at me. It seems like I killed them all until one last superhuman steps out of the smoke and dust. I try to fire at him, but my gun is empty, and I don’t have another box magazine to refill it.

“Ha!” the superhuman says. “You don’t have anything left for me?”

Overconfident bastard. I draw my magnums and fire at the superhuman, each shot landing on her face, and I don’t stop until it pops like a pimple. With her out of the way, I walk through the smoke and dust of the battle that now seems to be calming down as the noise subsides and it becomes eerily quiet. I keep my submachine gun and magnum up with my finger on the trigger on the lookout for trouble until I find it in the ruined remains of the barn that the armored truck crashed into. Our primary target, Edoardo, sits on a lawn chair with a TV next to him on a table. He’s wearing a casual jean jacket, blue shirt, jeans, and boots with no guns on him. His hair is a light blonde with bits of white in it, and his clean-shaven face makes him look younger than he actually is.

“I figured that out of every cop in the area, you would be the one to find me. It would be either you or Bernardo, but I was leaning more towards you because you have your dad’s persistence,” Edoardo says.

“Shut up!” I say before holstering my guns, cuffing his hands, and telling him his rights.

“And you're by the book to the letter as he was. It’ll look good on your resume when the police department merges with a hero group or some other government-approved association. You couldn’t have gotten me without their help, you know?”

I ignore his words as best as I can, make him get up, and walk him back to my car. Now that the dust has settled and the smoke has faded away, I see that my friends and allies are alive for the most part, with many injured and many others dead.

“See what you did, Edoardo?” I say. “You’re not the same uncle I looked up to as a kid.”

“I am, my dear nephew. I’m just a bit wiser, as you should be, and know that this isn’t the end,” he says.

As Edoardo is taken away and put in the back of a heavily armored truck, he smiles at me. Alex comes up to me to tell me how relieved he is that everything is over, while Kurtis talks about how it felt like being in an action movie. Meanwhile, I feel empty and drained and just want to go home and pass out.

Scarier than Evil: Chapter 2 – Digging Deeper

Chapter 2 – Digging Deeper

Before my alarm rings, I wake up and cannot go back to sleep to the point where I get up from bed and start to get ready. I look in the mirror and look at my red eyes that never cease to give me pause when I look at them for more than a few seconds. They result from the enhancements given to us, so every officer has red eyes. I turn my mind away from the banal issue, comb my short black hair, and can’t help but remember my brother’s reminder of styling it and getting a “real man’s haircut”. After, I put on my dark blue police uniform, hat, gloves, and shawl all of which have ballistic weave in them. Alicia puts her arms around me and rests her head on my back as I fix my uniform, put my gun in its holster, and phone and other equipment in my pockets.

“You’re up early. Is something bothering you?” she sleepily asks.

“I’m fine. Just couldn’t go back to sleep,” I say.

“When you’re up this early, you’re usually anxious about something. Are you worried about your brother?”

“When am I not concerned about him? He’s been mixing himself up in some shady business as of late.”

“Don’t worry about him. I’m sure he knows what he’s doing. It’ll be fine.”

“I hope so.”

Alicia and I go downstairs to make breakfast and as we’re eating and watching the news, we see Giovanni, head of the Coronamento Corp and boss of Salvatore, appear on TV and present the evidence that proves the innocence of the man Salvatore broke out from prison yesterday.

When questioned about keeping the man in his company building, Giovanni says, “We’re keeping him safe there because we can’t trust our justice system that put an innocent man who tried to expose his corrupt family’s crimes behind bars in the toughest prison we have. Until my attorneys properly secure his freedom, I will personally ensure his safety.”

My kids ask me if Giovanni can do what he’s doing and I tell them, “No, but we can’t forcefully take that man away from him, especially after the evidence Giovanni has shown and because of who he is and the people and resources he has.”

I quickly finish my breakfast, kiss my family goodbye, including my dog, and leave to see Salvatore. Sure enough, he’s home as he said he would be. His dog, Brozo, and my nephew, Davito, are the first to greet me at the door and most excited to see me while his wife, Isabella, presents me with a meal and coffee as is our family tradition to give food to guests, especially family. Since I already ate, I tepidly pick at my meal, as a form of respect and thankfulness. Meanwhile, my brother greets me and acts as if I’m just here to say hello, share a meal, and that nothing is happening.

“Be serious, Salvatore,” I say. “Tell me what’s going on.”

“Something big and involves a man who wants to get rid of the police,” Salvatore says.

I don’t say anything for a few seconds, anticipating it to be a joke, but Salvatore doesn’t say anything and he has a straight face.

“You’re serious? That’s ridiculous.”

“Is it really? What do the police do that state, corporate, or hero group sponsored superhumans and vigilantes can’t? You guys have unique armor and enhancements that no one else has, but the whole modern knight thing is a larp to take advantage of the cultural shift back to traditionalism and I’m sure that one group or person will outdo what you guys have.”

“Is that why we have someone trying to get rid of us? Because they think we’re outdated?”

“There’s that and he has a personal grudge against the police.”

“What does this have to do with yesterday’s prison break?”

“They started it to get the help they needed out of prison. I tried to stop it with my help inside the prison, but I could only do so much, and we had another ace up our sleeve.”

“The relative of the Humphreys?”

“Yes. We were going to free him one way or another anyway and then get him to help us find his stash of information on the man we’re after since they’re both from the decrepit part of the city.”

“And why are you helping me? If the man did get rid of the police, then that gives me a reason to join you at Coronamento.”

“Giovanni respects the police as a virtuous institution at its core and has many friends within it that greatly help him. Also, he and I would rather have you join us of your own free will and not out of desperation.”

“And because you’re making it look like a favor done out of the kindness of your hearts.”

“We also want you to handle this on your own to prove that the police are still useful and do things that other groups can’t. I’ll help out with the odds and ends, but it has to be you who brings in the man we’re after.”

“Who is he? Say his name already. You seem to know it.”

Salvatore looks away from me for a second before saying, “It’s Uncle Edoardo.”

“Uncle Edoardo? Last I heard he was enjoying his retirement. Why would a man who worked with dad try to get rid of the police?”

“Giovanni and I have our theories, but you should be able to find some information at his house.”

I sigh and look at Salvatore hoping that he’s joking, but just like last time, he’s serious.

“I hope you’re wrong about this,” I say as I get up.

“Remember what dad taught us! If he or anyone pulls a gun on you, you do not hesitate to kill them.”

“I know. I’ll be careful, Salvatore.”

I say bye to Isabella who tells me good luck while Davito acts as if I’m off to be a hero saying, “Go get the bad guys, Uncle Renzo!”

“I will,” I say with a chuckle.

Salvatore has always reminded me not to hesitate when in danger since it’s how he saved our parents and me from being killed by people we considered family. Still, he keeps the memory fresh in his mind to motivate him to change the world by working for Coronamento while I try to keep the memory out of my head, and if I ever remember it, it reminds me to be an uncompromising cop just like our dad was. Getting back in my car, I drive off to Edoardo’s house and call Chief Bernardo to tell him what Salvatore told me.

“It does sound ridiculous, but Salvatore isn’t the kind of person to accuse someone of a crime without convincing proof,” Bernardo says. “Edoardo was always the kind of person who was sympathetic and only used violence if it was absolutely necessary. See what you can find out and keep me updated. I want to know as soon you find something.”

“Yes sir,” I say.

The area where Edoardo lives is a recovering decrepit area of the city. Since Coronamento kicked the Humphries out, they’ve been redeveloping it by bringing new jobs and even its own dedicated police precinct where the cops hardly went due to the high levels of danger. Edoardo once told me that the area wasn’t that bad when he was growing up and the police weren’t shot on sight, but now I’m really curious why he's doing what he’s doing when the neighborhood is getting better. Stopping by his front door, I see that the mailbox is full as if no one has taken it for a few weeks, which is strange since he’s usually back from traveling at the end of the month. I knock on the door, wait a few seconds, and then knock again. Huh. No one seems to be home.

Looking around, I find a hidden key in a loose brick that Edoardo told me he kept here in case he lost his own. I’m inside the house now and it’s eerily quiet. Everything has a layer of dust on it, but nothing seems out of place. It’s as if Edoardo has recently left the house in clean shape as usual, and has simply, not come back to clean it. Around the house, I find pictures of him and his family and ones with him, my dad, and Chief Bernardo. These photos remind me that I should possibly question Edoardo’s children even though I know they haven’t seen him since their mom died.

Nothing looks out of the ordinary until I notice a bookshelf in his bedroom that is hiding a room behind it. I push aside the bookshelf and enter the room to find what looks to be an investigation room with maps, photos, and news reports. These maps of the prison and pictures of the escaped prisoners and the writing on them instantly confirm my fear that Edoardo planned the prison break. Among the many papers, I find a journal under them. In it, Edoardo details his plans to get rid of the police since the new hero and vigilante groups can do something that it can’t, namely change the law and not be bound by it. What catches my attention the most is the part of the journal that addresses my name directly.

It says, “I hope whoever is reading this will take my words to heart. If I had to guess, one of my best friend’s boys, Renzo, is one reading it, and if you are, I hope you don’t turn out like your dad. He was headstrong about doing the right thing through the police force, but it almost got him killed on more than one occasion such as the one where you were almost killed. The law doesn’t deserve good men like him or my other best friend, Bernardo. Tell him that I wrote he’s a good man and to stop blaming himself for everything.

I hope the reason that I’m doing this resonates with you. The police are filled with criminals and corrupt men who want to use their position for wealth and to get away with crime. This is not news to anyone, however, with the advent of superhuman and vigilante groups, the police have become irrelevant. They deal with most of the criminals nowadays while the police are only around to make sure they do things by the book. Even then, the police will let them get away with going above the law for good or ill. These forces of justice can strongarm the government into making proper laws and get away with enforcing justice in a way that the law cannot punish them. What does the death penalty or prison mean for those who can take a bullet to the face, become immaterial, or are supported by people like them? Laws are enforced by strength and the heroes and vigilantes of this age are changing the world.

Quit your job now, Renzo, and join your brother at Coronamento. Otherwise, if you want to get me, I would have started my plan by the time of writing this, and should be in the area that I circled in the map of this room. I’m doing this as a favor to you, my nephew. I wish you well and that we don’t meet each other at the business end of guns. I love you and tell your family that I love them as well.”

The sound of a door opening causes me to drop the journal and immediately draw my revolver.

“Renzo! Are you here?” I hear Kurtis say from downstairs to my relief.

Going downstairs, I tell Kurtis and Alex what I found and ask them why they’re here.

“We overheard Chief Bernardo talking to you and didn’t want you to be in this dangerous part of the city alone,” Alex says.

“Yeah, why didn’t you ask us to help you?” Kurtis asks.

“I’m sorry guys. I didn’t think about it because I was so focused on learning more about this case.”

Alex and Kurtis understand my reasoning and remind me that they’re always available to help me. After thanking them, I call Bernardo and tell him what I found. He cuts me off, says he’ll be down at the house, and within minutes, he and an investigation squad of five people come to look through the scene for any or more clues about Edoardo’s whereabouts and plans.

He reads through Edoardo’s diary, slams it down, and then says, “He says to stop blaming myself for everything, but this only wants me to do that more.”

Before I can say anything, he radios back to the precinct that he wants every available state trooper and officer to search the area that Edoardo circled on the map.

“Sir, I’d like to be part of the search,” I say and then add, “If possible, can Alex and Kurtis aid me?”

“Of course they can. You can aid the deadly pursuit squad that is searching in the mountainous region outside of the city where Edoardo is most likely to be. I hope you boys are ready to drive fast cars for an intense car chase. Now, get there and get our man, dead or alive!”

“Yes, sir!” we say before heading out to get our cars and Edoardo before he can do any more damage and bring his plans to fruition.

Scarier than Evil: Chapter 1 – Lethal Justice

Chapter 1 – Lethal Justice

“Code red! Code red! There is a prison breakout at Abbott Penitentiary! All available units are to arm and deploy immediately,” an announcement comes over the loudspeakers in the precinct.

Everyone arms themselves and puts on their armor as we race toward our cars and trucks and rush to the prison with our sirens blaring. Thirty officers are responding to this call, while the rest in the city stay behind to keep an eye on any crimes that may occur while we’re gone. Alex and Kurtis are with me, sitting at the back of a heavily armored police truck, double-checking our weapons and ammo.

“Who do you think caused the breakout this time? Superhumans or the allies of famous criminals could be behind it,” Kurtis suggests.

“Abbott Penitentiary is the most heavily guarded prison for miles. I think it was an inside job. What do you think, Renzo?” Alex says.

“Could be either. Could be both,” I say. “We’ll figure it out after stopping the riot.”

“Do you ever bet or have fun? Give it your best guess.”

“If you want my best guess, superhumans are the most likely suspect for the breakout or some famous criminal. They have been the usual suspect for breakouts from prisons that house superhumans. It’s why I’m double-checking our ammo types.”

We have ammo for every type of superhuman, including those with bodies made of metal or liquid and stronger than those of a tank. The equipment and enhancements we’ve been given allow us to dual-wield weapons or wield heavy weapons with shields. Kurtis typically uses two submachine guns and two shotguns as backups while Alex wields a heavy machine gun and a riot shield that won’t break under the pressure of a truck. Meanwhile, I have a submachine gun, a revolver that could kill an elephant in a single shot, and two backup magnums.

“If anything, we can thank them for the upgrades we got to our amour and getting injections to take hits from them and react faster,” Kurtis says.

“But they also make our jobs harder,” Alex interjects. “What can we really do against people who can fly away, melt into the tiniest spaces, and shape-shift, just to name a few People also prefer to work for corporations and groups that have fewer restrictions and higher pay for those who are superhuman or want to become one.”

“Yeah, I wish we had some of those enhancements the government workers have. I heard those in the intelligence and spy divisions can turn invisible or have super hearing.”

“Can the chatter. We’re here,” I say.

The truck we’re in comes to a screeching halt and we run out of the doors as they open. We’ve already been assigned blocks of the prison to check on so we immediately spread out as soon as we enter it. The loudspeakers in the prison have a message on repeat telling the prisoners that those who stay in their cells will have a lessened sentence while those who don’t will be shot and killed on sight. This ruling for prisoners took place due to certain superhumans and famous criminals repeatedly breaking out and causing more death and chaos in the country, and sure enough, some prisoners sit in their cells and act like nothing is happening while others are armed with weapons they took from the dead guards and the prison’s armory and trying to escape. We open fire as soon as we see these prisoners and push forward while using flashbangs and smoke to blind and disorient them.

After tearing through the rift raft, we find our way to their bosses, who have blown holes in the prison walls and are on their way out. We radio over to our allies what is happening as we chase after the higher-valued targets and shoot our way to them, tearing apart whomever we come across and ignoring the small arms fire that hits our armor. Once outside, we throw explosives at the getaway cars and trucks and execute the remaining escaping criminals. Before we head back in to sweep the rest of the prison, we are told over the radio of one of the other squads engaging the superhumans and them escaping only for them to appear in front of us soon after with high-valued criminals in their arms. I switch to my magnums and take out two superhumans by rapidly emptying four clips into them, making the people they carried fall to the ground to their deaths.

As for the others, they now focus their attention on us who separate us from each other. I’m punched through a wall by a fast superhuman but I get up quickly and take care of him thanks to my submachine gun and enhanced reaction that is barely able to keep up with him. I rush back outside to help Alex and Kurtis and am blown back by an explosion that comes from below. My body is struggling to get up now after taking so much punishment as I scream at it in my head to get up and continue fighting. I look up to see who is escaping out of the hole and am surprised to see my older brother, Salvatore, coming out of it with a criminal, both being carried out by a superhuman.

“Salvatore! What are you doing here?!” I say as I take off my helmet.

“Rescuing a man who was unlawfully imprisoned. You should catch your breath, let us escape, and rethink that offer to join Coronamento to work with me,” he says.

“I won’t. How does breaking out that prisoner benefit Coronamento anyway? I don’t think you can pretend to the world that this action is alegal rather than illegal.”

“You’ll see soon, Renzo. Keep an eye on the news.”

“Salvatore!” I yell out as he leaves.

Finally on my feet, I chase him in vain and then turn my attention to help Alex and Kurtis take care of the rest of the criminals both normal and superhuman. We then help the rest of the squad put the prison back into order during which I can’t help but think about my brother, what part he had to play in this, and why he took one specific prisoner. I report what happened back to Chief Bernardo, with whom I have a personal meeting in his precinct office.

“Salvatore…he was such a good cop. I still blame myself for him quitting and joining Coronamento,” Chief Bernardo says.

“You shouldn’t, chief. It was always something he was considering and you did your best. There was no changing his mind. Believe me. I tried my best as well,” I say.

“Yeah, I know. I just can’t help but feel that way. Anyways, back to what happened, I’m putting you on this prison break case, especially since you have direct contact with one of the suspects. From our five seconds of research, he rescued one of the relatives of the Humphries. Now, the question is, why would your brother and the Coronamento Corp want to break out of prison a man whose company they ran into the ground, helped expose as criminals, and had a hand in the attempted assassination of you and your family.”

“I’ll figure it out by questioning my brother. I’ve already tried calling him and he said he’ll see me tomorrow because he can’t be in public yet until the truth about the prisoner comes out tomorrow.”

“I’m glad your brother is forthcoming with you meeting him, but sill. For him to be so straightforward about telling you everything must mean Coronamento already has their alegal excuses as to how breaking a prisoner out is somehow good and won’t get them into serious trouble.”

“Salvatore did say the man was unlawfully imprisoned.”

“I don’t see how since his record shows him working closely with his criminal family and his only saving grace was turning himself in and telling us his family’s crimes and where their safehouses and hiding places were.”

Since there’s nothing left to do today but rest, I return home and crash on the couch. As usual, my daughter, Licia, and son, Rocio, jump on me while I’m trying to relax. Before I can say anything, our Dobermann, Octavo, also jumps on me to lick my face. We laugh, I ask my kids and wife, Alicia, how school was since my wife teaches them and others at the school they go to. They say that nothing is going on and are more interested in hearing about my day since they know I was involved in stopping the prison break, so I tell them everything and Alicia is the only one concerned about what I said while my kids are excited, acting as if my brother was some kind of hero or vigilante they typically hear on the news, especially since that’s how some parts of the media and world show him and the Coronamento Corp he serves as.

I just hope that he gives me a reason to completely trust him tomorrow and see him as they see him and as I once saw him when we were younger. I’m sure this is the start of a messy investigation that’s going to leave me beyond exhausted after it.