Esper Chapter 20: Inferno swallows the forest

Part 1

A dark night that robbed the air of its pleasantly warm weather contributed to dismaying a group of hyperventilating teens. Lined up, kneeling on sharp gravel, the four verged on tears as six large and unsavory thugs encircled them. With vehicle headlights blaring in their distraught young faces, the thuggish men silently rummaged through their black and beige jackets. “Stun gun on this one.” One pulled the only weapon from a teenaged boy’s pocket.

“Wait, I paid a lot for that—” Without warning the boy was struck! A punch to the side of his head sent him crashing to the ground, and before he knew it another gangster followed up with a kick to the gut! They didn’t stop. Another joined in, stomping the boy who could only curl up into the fetal position as multiple full-grown men unloaded strike after strike!

“Stop it! Please!” A girl threw her body onto the battered boy, shielding him, hoping they wouldn’t hit a girl. She was wrong. One man yanked her up by her medium length brown hair, then delivered a hellish punch; one so devastating she felt it travel through the gut to her spine!

“Alright, chill out.” Casting aside an oddly colored cigarette, one uninvolved thug with his red beanie contrasted against the night sky behind him lazily intervened. Frightening those already distraught children more was a handgun haphazardly sagging in his jeans’ waistband, made to be clearly visible. The girl was released and the boy’s trampling ceased, leaving him bloodied with broken fingers, wrists, and a crooked nose. “Remember what the boss said, we need to know who’s in charge of these little fuckers. Don’t kill them…at least not all of them.”

“We-we’ll tell you whatever you want! Please don’t kill us!” Leader of their small group, the tallest boy with freshly set cornrows, begged. His response was being pistol whipped by the gangster’s gun! He cried, feeling the bridge of his nose shatter immediately as those gangsters once more followed up! They stomped the teen out for a minute until the red capped gangster called them off.

“OK…” Their obvious leader, red beanie, crouched down to meet the one remaining boy eye to eye. He lit another strange cigarette and took a long drag, absorbing the euphoric sensations throughout his body. Terrified, surrounded by thugs, and fighting back tears, the boy silently prayed for the police. Blanketed within shadows cast by the bridge overhead, hope for rescue was slim. Whenever the sound of a car’s tires zoomed above, he wanted to stand up and make a run for it, until looking at that handgun again. “…I’m going to try and be nice. Kid, what’s your name?”

At gunpoint, the boy answered. “Otto…”

“Cool, cool. Otto, yesterday, ‘bunch of our boys and girls got locked up. ‘Few even died. Then, friend of mine got torched in that theater house. Broke my heart!” Otto noted a distinct lack of emotion on the man’s face when saying that. “Now, I’m sure you get why losing a friend is pretty heart breaking, right…?” With cigarette in mouth, the man pointed his handgun at that stilled downed girl!

“Uh…!” Otto halted, recalling the other boys’ beatings.

“You get what I’m saying?” Point made; Otto began to openly weep.

“I-I…get it!” The teenage boy was broken. With a situation unlike any he thought he’d experienced; fear had destroyed the child.

“Geez, quit crying!” The red capped lowlife shouted in Otto’s face, which didn’t stop the boy from bawling. “…Alright, fuck it. We’ll get what we want from the other ones.” He placed the gun’s barrel against the Otto’s forehead. “Should’ve just stayed in school, kid. Shouldn’t have fucked with the 365!” And like that, he halted. A sound like shoes disturbing gravel beneath them caused the man to turn his gun in that direction! “Who the fuck is there?!” On the opposite side of the bridge, someone stood, silhouetted by the orange lights overhead.

Face obscured by their dark hood, only a pair of purple eyes stared down the thug. The red beanie man studied that petite stranger; clothed differently from his captives. In an oversized black hoodie accented with vibrantly purple lining, matching yoga pants, and a set of dark purple running shoes, he perceived them as an inopportune jogger!

“…Well? Who are you?! This ain’t a joke! Get lost or you’re fucking dead.” Cocking his gun garnered no reaction; the figure stood unfazed with hands in their hoodie’s front pouch. “Ow…ow…” Words flooded his mind as a headache erupted. Run, leave, fear, death, survive, escape, surrender, they all continued to pour into the man’s mind as he became weak in the knees and nearly toppled.

“You good?” One of the gangsters asked, reaching out his hand only for it to be swatted away!

“Get off me! Don’t fucking t-touch me!” The signals were crossed! He gripped his gun and began unloading on the figure! Before any bullets were even fired however, the figure leapt upward and disappeared onto the bridge, gliding over twenty feet into the air! “The fuck?! Go! Go after that fucker!” Three of the gangsters heeded their leader’s demands and ran up a grassy embankment to the side, and then onto the bridge! Several unclear noises and yelling followed the men leaving their red capped leader’s sight! “…What is going on? Hey! Y’all!” Next thing he knew, all three of the men were launched off the bridge, sent crashing into the gravel covered ground! Then, that figure remerged and gracefully floated down from atop the bridge. They were wrapped in continuously wafting magenta smoke, hovering down like some kind of angel, or in the thugs’ eyes, a devil. “F-Fuck! Shoot!” With a wave of their hand, the mist blasted gravel, dirt, and chunks of ground up into a makeshift smokescreen! Haze and a cloud of debris covered the area, blinding the men! “I can’t see shit! D-do something!”

One gangster attempted escaping the dirt cloud, but a sudden orange light approaching caught his eye. An incoming burst of flames caught the man, igniting and engulfing his whole body into an inferno! He howled in agony, futilely flailing his arms and dropping to the ground, rolling and wishing to extinguish the ceaseless fires! His calls for help fell on deaf ears as a man standing beside the red capped gangster also suddenly ignited! Then, when two other men burst into bonfires as well; the red capped thug assumed he was next and ran! Successfully escaping the dirt cloud, he was met by the hooded figure flourishing a sleeve of magenta mist.

Red beanie felt his body squeezed from all sides and a warm embrace slowly lift him up. “What is this?! Yo! Yo!” From the corner of his eye, he saw roasted bodies laid on the ground; unmoving. Terror gripped him as he slowly began to realize the gravity of the situation. “…I heard that Beset’s sword had shooters…it’s you?!”

The figure looked up, their purple eyes gleaming under those orange bridge lights, and spoke with a young women’s calm voice. “…Maybe. Doesn’t matter. I have questions for you.”

Part 2

Amala Singh held the gangster within her clutches, exercising restraint in not burning him to a crisp like his compatriots. As the dirt cloud subsided, she saw her approaching accomplice nearly tumble down the embankment with his flabby legs. “See? My way worked better.” Smug as she was, her accomplice, Harper Wolf was more worried about the other teens. The cornrow haired boy, and lone girl from the group had recovered, as did the crying boy, though that first boy who’d been beaten still laid unmoving. “…Is he okay?”

“Let me see! Hey…hey!” With a black baseball cap pulled down, surgical mask covering chubby cheeks and mouth, and sunglasses, Harper’s identity was concealed. Amala, in contrast, elected to just use her hood and scarf. (These must be the guys who were posting on that message board. They’re all fucked up.) With no medical knowledge, Harper just rolled the boy over and checked his pulse like on television. Placing two fingers against the beaten boy’s neck, he didn’t feel anything immediately, then checked again by moving his fingers, and nothing! (Shit! Shit! Shit!) He gave in and tried to read the boy’s mind! An accidental deep dive resulted in Harper mistaking the boy’s broken fingers for his own, shouting in pain!

“Are you okay?!” Amala looked to Harper, confused by his screaming; the red beanie wearing boss took a chance to try and aim at her! Though he managed to point his gun, the thug ended up slammed by Amala’s pyrokinesis flat onto the ground! “Stay put, or else!”

Harper’s mind rebooted from the shock, and noticed the boy breathing again, although laboriously. “Thank…God…” He said, frantically checking fingers on his right hand. Intact, yet the sensation was inescapable. Double and triple checking didn’t alleviate the ghost pains; however, there was realization that his nose wasn’t bleeding! (…Isn’t it supposed to bleed when I do that shit?)

“H-Hey…um…” The boy with cornrows called to their rescuers. “Who are you guys?”

“…Doesn’t matter.” Amala said, with eyes locked firmly on the red beanie’d thug; avoiding another distraction. “Go home. You kids are in the way.”

“How’d you guys even get caught up here like this?” Harper asked, receiving a glare from Amala. She clearly wanted to proceed with interrogating the man.

“These…bastards killed our friends.” The leader fought back tears while trying to break his nose back into place. “They shot Ronnie right in the back of the head!” Harper didn’t need his telepathy to perceive the boy’s heartache.

“Shit…I get that. She’s right though, you guys need to leave. Will, here needs a hospital.” Harper grasped each member of the group’s names from his momentary reading of the downed boy’s mind. The others gathered around and lifted Will, still wheezing through a broken jaw, onto their shoulders. “Go home.”

“B-But we…” Harper held up his hand, halting the boy.

“Daryl, right? Listen, Daryl, you’re worried about your boss, Canary, right?” A short dive into Will’s mind was deep enough to glimpse that boy’s motivation for the evening. “Hey…uh…” Realizing only then that he couldn’t call Amala’s name out loud, Harper improvised a name! “Spitfire!”

“…” It took a minute for Amala to realize Harper was referring to her, and when she did a sour taste brewed in her throat. Closing their distance way faster than he’d ever expected, Amala was right in Harper’s ear! “Absolutely not! That is absolutely not going to be my codename!” She whisper-yelled.

“What do you suggest?”

“Not something so dumb, something cooler. It better be cool!” She left Harper with a befuddling criticism. “Now, what did you want?”

“These guys have been getting chased around the city all day. A bunch of them got…ya’ know.” The implications were obvious. “When they got together earlier, the 365 found out and crashed the meeting.”

“That’s reason enough for you to all stop this.” Amala spoke to the cornrow haired boy. “You all did well in finding that stuff on Joffe, but that needs to be the end of it.” The name Joffe was heard by the red beanie wearing gangster and a thought passed his mind, that did not go unnoticed by Harper.

“…Liam Joffe, you know him?” Right away, more thoughts barraged the man’s mind. Fear fraught, he struggled against the intensifying heat all around, only for his gaze to meet the frigid purple spotlights of the vigilante herself. A squeeze of her hand began to raise the temperature of her pyrokinesis and seer the man! “Wait, chill!” Harper asserted! “Keep it low, his mind is getting fucked up and hard to understand. You want to know shit, right? Maybe…we can get some stuff out of him.”

“Fine…” Amala agreed, lessening her fiery grip. “Who is Liam Joffe to you? Were you associated with Omar Redmond too?” The locked gates around that gangster's mind unlocked before his eyes! Harper was pulled along a path with words and names thrown by so fast he could barely catch them!

“…Does the name Keith mean anything here?” It did! That name rang keenly for Amala and the members of Beset’s sword! Horrified by his inner thoughts being broadcast aloud, the red beanie man broke into a cold sweat.

“Keith? As in Keith Lawless!” Daryl with the cornrows chimed in! “He was one of the people we outted for working with Liam Joffe and Omar Redmond!”

“Yes, them and Arnold Patrick.” Amala knew all those names far too well, lamenting the loss of Omar’s phone during her raid on the Maddison Falls hotel. An abundance of information, gone.

“I’ve got to tell the boss.” Harper transcribed to the gangster’s terror. “Is what he’s thinking.”

“Boss? Is your boss Keith Lawless?” Amala knelt down to lock eyes with the man.

“Yes, it is.” Before the man could lie, Harper confirmed. “He was going to lie. Apparently…” Harper dug deeper into the man’s psyche and came across things he’d wished he never did. Flashes of people taken from their loved ones, forced into acts against their will, having weapons pushed into their hands, those images bombarded his mind! “…Drugs…and people…” Unforgivable imagery, yet Harper halted, noticing the red beanie man shaking violently from a seizure! “H-hey is he…?” Unsure if worrying for such a clearly evil person was justified, Harper was gripped by indecision.

“What happened? Did you see anything?” Amala asked, caring nothing for the man.

“At a waterpark or something. P-people are there being forced to make drugs and do…other stuff.” That set Amala off! She looked to the man, crushed beneath her haze, and ignited him to a near instant crisp with the flick of her wrist! Harper pulled back, hearing the screams, but more so, escaping those wild and frenzied thoughts. The members of Beset’s sword stood in awe of the monstrous fire pit forming, roasting the man into nothing but cinders as his howls were silenced by death. (That’s fucking insane. She…really did that shit without a second thought!)

“You said a waterpark, right?” Daryl spoke softly, hesitant to upset the super powered woman. “Our leader, Canary kept saying an Oasistopia had a depot. We have to—” Meeting eyes with Amala, the boy understood; no need to restate her previous instructions. “…We’ll take Will to the hospital, but if you see Canary, please help them.” Not sparing a word, Amala silently watched the teens lug their battered bodies away.

“Oasistopia?” Amala searched locations for the franchise waterpark. “There’s one a few miles from here.” Without another word, she cast her haze over Harper!

“Whoa, wait! We’re going?!” Not that he expected for the evening to end in anything other than a bloodbath, the frightened teen was still reeling from visions he’d experienced while scanning red beanie’s mind.

“Yes. You can read minds, so if there’s anyone there that knows what I want to know, you can tell me.”

“And what exactly is that?”

“…We’re going to find their boss and base, then torch it all!”

Part 3

Downwind of Oasistopia’s gates, the odor of chlorine reached both Harper and Amala’s noses before the welcome sign graced their eyes. A happy cactus sporting sunglasses rode a waterslide on a floaty; the extravagantly cartoonish design welcomed people to the park. “That’s not cute at all.” Amala whispered to herself, ducking back down the incline. “Well? What are you picking up?”

“…A bunch of thinking. Gangsters…some other people who’re scared…hey!” Harper shot up, chasing behind Amala as she began to confidently storm toward the park! He grabbed the woman, smaller as she was, and tugged her back down the hill!

“Get your hands off me!”

“Shh!” He shushed! Carefully distancing himself, Harper scanned the thoughts of anyone nearby. “I don’t think anyone saw us or knows we’re coming, but they do know you exist. We can’t just run up in there and start fucking shit up!”

“I’ve already done this a bunch of times before.”

“Yeah, no shit…” Disdain for those she deemed evil permeated every fiber of Amala’s mind, and Harper swore off ever peering in again. Even without doing that, her plan to bust in, pyrokinesis a blazing and indiscriminately kill every thug was obvious. “Well, I can just tell you from where I am, there are a lot of people in there. They probably have guns, and I’m not sure if your powers can stop bullets, are you?”

“…No.” She hated to admit it, but Harper was right.

“Then here’s an idea. On the opposite side of the park, they’re doing construction, I saw it when we flew here. How about we enter through there, stay low, and if we encounter anyone…then you can do your thing.”

“…My goal…is to kill all of those gangsters and human traffickers…”

“Right, but—”

“But!” Amala cut him short! “…My main goal…I want to help those who are being trafficked. If people are here against their will, we will rescue them. That’s more important than anything else.” The self-righteous vigilante exuded air similar to a coldblooded killer, yet Harper occasionally glimpsed humanity buried within Amala’s psyche. Fear of delving into her mind was twofold; Amala would immolate Harper for rooting around her brain again. Worse than even that, possibly coming to terms with truths best left hidden, as far as he was concerned.

Harper was gripped by Amala’s haze and the two soared high over Oasistopia’s parking lot. True to its name, Oasistopia was an oasis among the surrounding mountainous and dry desert land. The roads leading to and from the water park were properly lit and well-maintained, but beyond that was near pitch-blackness, wild animals, and cacti. Several cars sat in the parking lot illuminated under orange lamplights; off towards Oasistopia’s center a couple of suspicious also lights flickered. Opposite the main entrance, large freight vehicles were parked around one gate, appearing under-construction.

As the two descended again, Harper halted Amala, pointing toward a rotating CCTV camera. “Don’t want to be seen; this shit is probably under heavy surveillance.” Amala nodded and redirected the two toward a darkened portion just inside the gate, nearly landing on top of some lumber and power tools! “Careful!”

“You shush now!” The young woman whisper-yelled with a mocking grin! They crept through the dark construction zone, a feeling of DeJa'Vu setting in.

(Hope this doesn’t become a thing.) Hidden behind an excavator, Harper scanned the area with telepathy; voices rang way louder than before! “We’re close…wait, someone’s coming!” He pointed around the corner of a massive and winding slide just as some figure sprinted toward it! They ducked under the structure, barely eluding a group of men in hot pursuit! Ending up cornered, they scaled a metal fence beside the slide, jumping onto a guard rail, and escaping into the tubular slide! “What is going on?” Those pursuers all looked at each other, expecting someone would follow behind, but the athleticism appeared beyond any of them.

“Get to the other end, there’s only one exit!” Was demanded by a strikingly fit businessman. He tossed aside his brown suit jacket and expensive glasses, then rolled up sleeves on his name-brand button-up and leapt onto the fence himself! “I’ll go after them, since you idiots are too busy smoking and drinking to do your fucking jobs!” He scaled that structure with ease, pursuing through the tubing.

“That person being chased is scared. I think they’re a member of Beset’s Sword, so it’s probably their leader!” That communicated enough for Amala to decide on her next move.

“Stay back until I call for you.” Without missing a beat, the vigilante swiftly stepped in behind all the men! She wrapped three men in haze and slung them into the others, sending the lot flying like a collection of bowling pins! Bodies flew, and before any of them could recover, Amala restrained them! Haze from one hand held half of the group, and more haze gripped the other half separately! “Where are the people you trafficked?” Dividing her attention between two masses of people took more concentration than expected. (I can do this. Just holding them is easy, and if I don’t tense up, they won’t ignite!) Proud of herself, Amala neglected to notice that figure from before exiting the slide’s far end! They spent less than a second observing the conflict until the businessman exited behind them, on their heels!

“What the fuck?” He exclaimed, halting until he made eye contact with Amala! Instantly, she recognized the young entrepreneur as Keith Lawless!

“You! Stop right there!” With her attention divided, one man Amala held was able to reach for his gun and fired a shot in her direction! To Amala’s relief, the bullet missed! In return, however, she ignited her pyrokinesis, sparking an inferno! Those clouds of mauve shifted into blankets of flames, swallowing the men and ending their lives slowly to a chorus of their own agonized wailing. Keith Lawless witnessed that, sprinting off behind the figure from before at full tilt! “I said stop! You, hey, come on!” Amala dashed after the fleeing businessman, and Harper did his best to keep up with her!

Grabbing an unattended nailgun, Keith unleashed several shots at Amala! She stopped the nails with a quick wave of her haze, pulling them into to her palm, but lost sight of Lawless in the dark. That newly acquired tool allowed Keith enough leeway to elude his pursuers. He continued to fire the nailgun, successfully stopping the figure with a volley of shots down near their feet; one puncturing their left ankle! They collapsed, rolling onto the ground and writhing in pain! Surrounded by workbenches, vehicles, power tools, and blaring construction lights; the chase had brought them to another carted off portion of Oasistopia. The park owner, Keith prepared to deliver the killing blow with his improvised weapon and a sadistic smile. Delightedly ready to end a life, Keith spied a shadow moving overhead. He looked up and saw two circular saw benches being lobbed haphazardly in his direction! With only a second to spare, the businessman barely avoided the machinery launched by his pursuer, the enraged Amala!

“I told you to stop.” Eyes ablaze with righteous fury, the vigilante seethed with subdued rage. Up close, Amala took notice of the figure’s brown and black hooded jacket. They were obviously a member of Beset’s sword; wearing what seemed to be a uniform. “Are you alright?” She asked, and nearly jumped away when they turned to face her!

That bright yellow face, smooth and polished, glared with one vertical eye at a shocked Amala! Slowly realization set in, that face was in fact a mask; one meant to evoke imagery of a monstrous canary creature. Indentations along led down into a beak at the chin, and though only one eye was made obvious, on closer inspection, other holes for seeing and breathing properly existed. “I-I’ll live…thank you.” The voice of a young girl, likely in her teens, grunted through clear discomfort from being shot. Amala reached down, gripped the girl’s leg, and yanked the nail loose without warning! The girl cried out in pain, but thanked Amala again! “T-Th-Thanks…”

“Canary, right? Your friends are safe. Get out of here while you can. I’ve got other things to do.” Having bashed a knee onto the concrete while leaping to safety, Keith Lawless was still recovering. Amala approached, preparing to interrogate the man, and struggling to stay calm.

“Back off!” He turned and fired more nails at her, but they were caught midair! “…So, it’s you then…”

“You know who I am, then? That means this should be quick.” To both Amala’s and Canary’s surprise, Keith chuckled, into a full-on laugh! Harper finally caught up to the group, badly wheezing.

“H-hang on…what…did I miss?” Needing to pull off the facemask to catch his breath, he turned to see Canary, and for a second time, someone nearly jumped at the sight of that mask! “What the hell?! Are you…Canary?” He asked but was interrupted by Keith confidently standing back up!

“More of Beset’s sword, huh?” Keith discarded the nailgun and began fixing his appearance, running fingers through graying brown hair and adjusting his shirt. “Yeah, not a surprise. You kids have been causing havoc all over the city lately. Killing innocent men.”

“Innocent?!” That nearly set Amala off right there! She stepped forward with her haze igniting into a swirling ball of fire in her hand!

“Yeah, innocent!” As much as Keith tried to feign confidence, he backed away from the furious pyrokinetic. “You blew up a bunch of empty factories across the city, then burned down a theater house for no reason! And I know about the hotel, fuck what the media says, I know that was you all! You put my name out on some kind of hit list, just like Liam Joffe…which is why I got some protection! Hey!” With Keith’s call, men and women emerged from the darkness; all armed and prepared to shoot! “Now, you kids stay right where you are until the police come.”

“Police?” Amala was deeply confused.

“That’s right. I called them when I saw these little shits skulking around my park!”

“Dummy! Calling the police, they’ll just see you here with all these gangsters, and then find the people you trafficked, you evil jerk!”

“Gangsters?” Keith placed his finger to his lips, again feigning innocence. “Trafficked people?!” He did it once more, mocking and further incensing Amala!

“That’s right! You monster! You! You kidnapped people, forced them to work for you, forced them to do…things! You sick, disgusting, despicable, evil man!” Both Canary and Harper were watching as Amala grew deeply upset.

With the most confident smile a person could muster, Keith opened his arms, as if he had nothing to hide. “There are no gangsters or trafficked people here! Only my employees, and these fine gentlemen I hired for protection.”

“What?!”

“Look around! I don’t see anyone who seems unsavory, or anyone wanting to run away? Do you?” Looking across the crowd surrounding them, it was as Keith said. All of the guards were all dressed up similarly, wearing bullet proof vests, black caps to match the rest of their clothes, and equipped with similar handguns. Seemingly unbothered by Amala wielding flames in one hand, those guards kept their weapons trained on the group. “Now, drop the…fire and get on the ground!” Among them, strong and strapping men, but an occasional weak or trembling person set off Amala’s suspicions when looking across the line of people.

“…Hey…mind reader.” Amala spoke softly to Harper. “Do you see that one over there…” With only a glance, Amala made out one individual she recognized. Even with her hair covered by the cap, and wearing baggy clothes, Amala knew that woman. Her exhausted posture, feeble grip on the gun, and most of all, blank and hopeless eyes were unforgettable. “That woman, second to the left of Lawless. Read her mind and tell me what you see.”

“Ok…sorry in advance lady.” Neither wanting to, nor understanding why Amala requested it, Harper reluctantly delved in, and immediately regretted it. Diving deeply into that woman’s mind was a mistake, one far greater than expected. The ground was pulled out from under him, and like having his head forced beneath the surface of vile sewage, his senses were assaulted with horrible memories! Hands that would hit him, drag him, invade him, force him, threaten him, and steal from him, ravaged the boy’s mind! He experienced so much of that woman’s thoughts and memories at once, in less than a second, it overwhelmed him, causing Harper to vomit his stomach nearly empty! “Fu…fuck…fuck!” Harper shouted over and over, slamming his fist into the ground until it bled! “What is wrong with you people?! You…sick fucks! You…what you did to her…!” Pointing right at the woman, who was down on one knee holding her head, the telepath could barely even look at Keith without vomiting again! “Evil…you’re evil!”

“…Yeah, he is, and evil should be punished!” Taking the flames in hand, Amala shot it down sending out a massive wave of heat and telekinetic energy! Everyone was blinded by the dirt and steam; missing Canary and Harper being carried along with Amala’s haze out of the line of fire!

“Can’t see! Get them! Shoot, shoot!” Keith ordered! The dust settled, and Amala swung the circular saw benches with her pyrokinesis! She clobbered some of the gunmen as the others took aim! Again, she swung the heavy benches, shattering upon collision! Amala then soared upward, disappearing into the dark night sky! “Get those lights upward! She’s in the sky! Shoot her down!” As instructed by their boss, the spotlights were turned up by one guard. An unfortunate position for him, as he became an immediate target of Amala and her new favorite weapons!

Traveling down the beam of light, a super-heated silver saucer whirred, spinning faster than a top! Next thing the man knew; he was looking at the backs of his own boots; inconceivable pain though his neck elicited profound fear. That man’s life faded, as his decapitated head lay on the ground, severed cleanly with one of the red hot circular saws wielded by Amala! She retracted the blade then hurled another toward the next men on the ground! They fired wildly into the sky, but missed Amala, weaving across the black night like a fuchsia blade!

She readied the saw near her hand; spinning and charging it with insane heat, warping that blade into a blazing disk of fire! Launching one of her two new weapons, the saw missed her intended target, but continued along into the side of one water park attraction! Spinning faster and faster, the saw severed that slide’s supports and caused it to collapse! The massive structure toppled and crushed several guards beneath it! A man who survived backed away in fear, only for Amala to catch him, stealing away his chance to escape or fight! Reaching back, she threw the super-heated disk into, and through, the man’s chest! Upper body sliced in such a way when leaned to the left, the man’s organs spewed out of the right side of his ribcage like a broken accordion!

“Fuck…fuck this!” Keith pushed aside his supposed ‘workers’ and made to run for his life! “Get her! Stop her and don’t let her get me!” He screamed as the workers, some frail men and women turned to view Amala. In their eyes, they only saw a super powered monster with fiery blades of death floating around her! Not a one raised their guns, they simply abandoned them and ran. “What are you all doing! Don’t leave! I’ll fucking tell the boss; you’ll all be shipped back! He’ll kill you all in the worst way possible!” None of his threats sunk in. “Dammit! You bunch of worthless—” Unbelievable pain in both of Keith’s thighs cut his rant short! He fell back onto the ground; unable to stand, then looked up in disbelief at two cauterized stumps where his legs used to be. The buzzsaws had cleaved though his thighs! Unable to even form a word, the man howled in agony, reaching out for the backs of his escaping ‘workers’. A small, and admittedly light, sneaker stomped onto his outstretched hand!

When Keith looked up to see the owner, it was that vigilante herself. Amala looked down, heartless glare conveying that Keith wasn’t walking away from the encounter; metaphorically or literally. “…Your boss, their name.” She demanded. “Now.”

Part 4

“Screw you, bitch. You’re going to kill me anyway, so it doesn’t matter—” His tune changed instantly. Amala pulled one of the blades down onto his outstretched forearm and sliced it clean off! “You-agh! You bitch!” Keith writhed on the ground, quickly realizing he down to one last limb!

“You can tell me, or…hey!” Amala called over to Harper, just making it back to his feet alongside Canary. “Come over here and read him.”

He hesitated, seeing Keith’s suffering. “Hang on…” Emulating pain came along with reading deep into someone’s mind, and Harper was terrified at the prospect.

“W-Wait! Please…let me live! I’ll t-tell you…” Keith begged holding up his remaining hand.

“Then talk, and don’t lie! We’ll know if you do.”

“I…don’t know the boss personally, none of us really did.” That shocked the three vigilantes. “We…always get instructions down a ch-chain of command. Some of us do jobs…and others don’t interfere or even know about it.”

“And you’re one of the human traffickers, right?”

“…” Keith paused, knowing the answer would seal his fate. “I can tell you the names of the others!” He asserted with hopes of gleaming what ever favor was possible.

“Arnold Patrick, and Howard Tanner, right?” Stunned by Harper interjecting, Keith looked to the boy for mercy!

“Y-Yes…but there are more people!”

“Your boss.”

“…I…I just don’t know him! Arnold, he knows him! He’s the one the boss communicates with most! Omar used to but…but you killed him, r-right? Wh-what about Joffe’s kid…I can tell you…” That emotionless glare answered him. “Heh…” He began to chuckle. “Hahaha!” Breaking out into a full-on cackle, Keith fell back onto the ground, realizing there was nothing left. His life, young as he saw it, was about to come to an end. “Just do it.” Accepting his fate, Keith prayed the death would be quick…but nothing came. Confusing the maimed trafficker, as well as Canary and Harper, Amala walked back toward the remnants of their battle.

The woman who shot the member of Beset’s sword was Amala’s target; seated in the fetal position. She bent down, trying to make eye contact. The portals to her soul were like staring into an empty house ravaged by time, lined with pilfered shelves, barren and picked clean by others. Amala offered her hand and spoke warmly. “Come with me. I’m here to help you, all of you.” Within her soul, that gesture was something she’d wished someone had done for her all those years ago. “I’ll protect you; you’ll be safe, I swear.”

That hand, aura, reassuring eyes, and smile were warm. Though the spark of life hadn’t returned to her eyes, something compelled the woman to reach out and take Amala’s hand. Frail and nearly weightless was the woman when Amala pulled her up. The woman’s jumper hung off her emaciated frame, as if it were draped onto a skeleton. Fury surged in Amala, but before she could storm over and end Keith’s life the sound of boots approaching caught everyone’s attention! Suddenly, from the darkness a small army of black body-armor wearing figures appeared! They trained high powered rifles on everyone, with red laser lights popping up across their faces and chests like gnats!

“Hands up, and down on your knees!” Was shouted over a megaphone! “This is Tobias Bennet of the Trenton Police Department! We have you surrounded, Beset’s sword!” The greying officer called from behind his wall of armored gunmen. The police had arrived!

“Wait, wait! We’re trying to help!” Harper frantically dropped to his knees, throwing his hands up, as did Canary!

“…Haha! Won’t you look at that?! Haha!” Reeling from the loss of his limbs, Keith still managed a mocking cackle! The situation from his perspective, dire at one point, completely flipped! He was going to live! Live and tell everyone about what he’d seen! Live to make all those who abandoned him suffer! “Took you long enough, officers!”

“Keith…Lawless?! My god! What happened?!” Tobias nearly dropped his megaphone in shock! Seeing the man eviscerated to such a level, it was like something out of a gory horror movie! “On the ground! Now, all of you!”

“…” Amala stood, studying the situation. (Am I fast enough to get us away all at once? Should I just give up and blast them? Can I catch those bullets? Maybe I should take a hostage and use them to make an escape?) The whole time, she never released shuttering woman’s hand. “Don’t worry.” She looked back, smiling the warmest possible smile anyone could muster. “I’ll protect you. No one is going to hurt you.”

“Oh, really?” Keith interrupted. “No one, huh? You hear that Phoebe? No one will hurt you. Remember, that’s what they told you before. They said you’d be safe, and what ended up happening? You came here, and I helped you. You said it yourself; I was the nicest, and treated you the best out of everyone!”

“Shut your mouth!” Amala yelled back at the suddenly confident man!

“Hey, hands up! Now, or we will fire!” Threats from Tobias fell on deaf ears for Amala!

“D-Do as he says! He’s serious!” Harper was on verging on tears, with the bitter aroma and taste of vomit permeating his nose and mouth!

“Phoebe, do you think the police will let you go after what you did? You killed that kid in cold blood. Blew his brains out! Even if they let you go too…where will you go? Nobody out there cares about you, loves you…gives a shit about you! You’ll end up right back here, and I won’t protect you. The boss will find you…”

“Shut up! Shut up! Shut up!” Amala was enraged! “You don’t know anything! Shut up!”

“Last warning! Hands up!” With their guns at the ready, Tobias prepared to give the final order!

“Get down on the ground, you idiot! They’ll kill us!” Seeing that Amala wasn’t listening, Harper tried to influence her mind, seeing no other option! (Hate me later! Wait…what…?) In trying to connect to Amala’s mind, he picked up someone else’s thoughts as well. It lasted for a blink, but then he focused in and read deeply into that woman’s mind, into Phoebe’s mind. “No. No…don’t do it!” The flash of a gun firing startled everyone except Keith, who laid on the ground belly laughing in disbelief!

Amala turned back, witnessing with her own eyes, Phoebe’s life meeting its end via the gun she’d pressed firmly to her own temple. Harper screamed, having gripped that deathly feeling and emotions. Canary was broken at the sight of someone’s life ending before her, silently stunned. Tobias cursed, angry at failing to stop that suicide. Keith mocked, laughing and pointing as if he were a high school bully, enjoying the expression on Amala’s face. Amala just stood there, still holding the woman’s hand…a failure.

Part 5

“Feeling better?” They asked, sitting with legs hung out of the back of their van.

“Yeah…mostly.” Azure haze floated down from his arm, gripping pebbles off the ground and levitating them before him. With a sharp whipping of the hand, those pebbles were launched like bullets, obliterating the trees ahead! Even if they were old and dried out, the feat gave that young spiky haired misanthrope a good chuckle.

“Hey, partner! Your phone finished charging!” They turned over, sliding back on their shoes and ran to meet their partner with a smile.

“Thanks Aran, even though it’s your fault my phone died anyway.” He muttered the last part. “Two days off the map…and basically unconscious the whole time. I hope I’m not fired.” Nicolaus Thompson said, booting up his phone…and for the first time in 2 days beginning to read through the events he’d missed, not knowing that everything was changing at that exact moment elsewhere.

End of Chapter 20