The Spiralling
Chapter 14: Broken
There were six locations to check out, and they were divided between the three of us- Me, Hit-Girl and Grandmaster. They were all over the place, such as in the city, in some impoverished neighbourhoods and some close to the locales where my first series of action started. All of them looked suspicious, at least after what Mindy told me.
Due to the scale of the operation, we could only start early at ten under the moon. Aldan messaged me an hour before- a little late, but at least it still meant we won't have to work till morning and I won't have to cook up some story to satisfy Dad's suspicions.
"He's late." Hit-Girl hissed as she was playing with her butterfly knife- she was rusty at first, but she was getting the hang of it again- reminding me of the time I first met her. Either way, there's still a deadly catch to it. The prodigious girl wasn't just flipping it around; she was twirling it around her hand, checking its balance and her familiarity.
"He'll be here." Though to tell you the truth I was a little agitated- this is what happens when you cross an over-active mind with thirty minutes of boredom without comic books or movies. I was a little disappointed, considering how cool Grandmaster was and the way he handled his giant two-handed sword like Aragorn.
The meeting place was in an old, at one of the dead ends. It was thankfully not a rubbish dump, at least an unusually clean one. There were still rats about, and the stench need some getting used to, other than that, it was fine. The important thing was, no one else would take up the spot as we had already intimidated a gang of weed sniffers away.
"I am here." A voice boomed as a large shadow approached us. Mindy and I looked up- it was him, I could recognise the physique and the clothing but as he got closer and under a lamp, he was even grander than at first glance, along the lines of King Théoden. He was dressed like a crusader, breastplate, helmet and all, with his visor raised. A chest cloth that flows down below his torso with a black cross against a white background adorned his armour. He still had his cloak on. Behind him, unseen at first, was a younger swordsman in less spectacular dressing, having only a breastplate with leather on his limbs and a smaller, less imposing, cloak.
"Grandmaster! I can see what held you up." I said, impressed with the swordsman's turnout. He was sporting a buckle and long sword this time though, which was perhaps the only part of his new look that disappointed. The long sword was like a downgrade of his claymore.
Perhaps noticing the look on my face, or at least the parts that were exposed, the Grandmaster explained, "Too slow and bulky was my great claymore, no matter how powerful it was. My sword and buckler could match up better to Demoness' far eastern swords."
"You sure you know who you're fucking with, old man?" Seeing that Hit-Girl had never had much talk-time with Aldan, I just let her continue with her question. I could easily tell however, that the wise old man was not very impressed with her flowery vocabulary, the way the Green Lantern would never really approve of Flash's playful, light-hearted take on crime fighting. The two, I could tell then, anyone would, won't work well together. Thankfully, they won't have to this time.
"She prowls the night as spectres do. She blends into the shadow to hunt prey by the dozens. She fights in the nature of a snake, with the skill of a Grandmistress. Her diversions consist of blood and inhumane intrigues. Had the media not named her Demoness, I would have called her a nighthaunt, a vampire; darkness itself-" The Grandmaster reminiscent on his impression of the near-albino, which I could tell, was somehow painful from the look of his face. Was that the sting of defeat I'm looking at? Or something else? I was confused.
"I just call her a bitch." Hit-Girl interrupted, much to the irritation of himself and his friend, who hasn't talked much in his debut entrance. I could tell from the emphasis on 'bitch', that Hit-Girl's hatred for Demoness was quite intense. Frank killed her real father. Demoness had put her second one, who was just as dear to her as Big Daddy was, justifiable by how he had taken care of her for the first five years of her life. Our new nemesis had put all that in the ICU and next to death. It was a miracle he was transferred to a normal ward mere hours after biting the bullet(s).
"She is also my... Daughter." And the moment he mentioned the D word, my heart was in my mouth even before I knew it. Demoness does not exactly look like Aldan- the plot twist of the century.
"Wait, what?" Rhetorically, I asked, with Hit-Girl reverberating with a straight, "the fuck?" It was totally unexpected- had to be the joke of the century. What were the chances of this happening? An epic relationship between the main antagonist and a supporting hero. It was the stuff of legends, of what comic books are made of.
"It is a long tale, but I must simply say that she is broken. The world has been unkind to her." The Grandmaster tried to defend his daughter- something I couldn't believe my ear was hearing.
"The world was unkind to me." Hit-Girl cut in again, completely and fanatically against her evil counterpart. I had to agree with her, as I had seen her do too much damage, "And I'm not a God-damn cop-killer." I had never felt this much electricity between two persons before- and this time the two dynamic power buddies were definitely electrifying alley. Had Aldan been any less cool-headed, the next issue of Kick-Ass would have been 'Hit-Girl VS Grandmaster (and his sidekick)'.
"Don't you use that tone on me, young lady!" Aldan snapped, jabbing his sword-arm index finger at the little fighter- I could almost literally hear the kettle boiling. I could be wrong about him being cool headed, seeing that I was wrong 95% of the time.
"Or what, you'll kick my ass?" Hit-Girl snorted with half her tone taunting, totally enthralled with going against Aldan, who was simply being a good father, at least in my honest and inexperienced opinion. It was at this time that I knew I had to step in. She was becoming a little aggressive with provoking the Grandmaster. Moreover, I was simply disgusted by how she was playing with my alter-ego's name again. It was a repeat of what happened last Friday at school, and I could remember what happened quite clearly, partly because of that sharp kick in the balls.
"Stop it, Hit-Girl! You're acting just like her!" I need not mention the name and I shouted with my hands clenched into two large, blue stressballs- I wasn't really thinking, though as an afterthought, she really was acting like that blasted little rascal. Her taunt was what marked the sweet spot that shouldn't exist between the two girls. Thankfully, it was just a spot as whichever the case, it shut Mindy up for good.
"Look, child-" As Aldan was about to start on a calmer note again, Mindy gasped at the word 'child' he used. This I understand, as, from what I know after spending a brief time in captivity with Big Daddy, it was something associated with him- the way he talks, most likely to his vigilante daughter. I could see shivers from her, and her breathing wasn't right. I even noticed her pupil dilating, a superpower I never thought I had- the gasp was okay, but she was overreacting quite a bit.
"Don't call me that again." Mindy warned the elderly man, her voice constricting into a whisper by the end of her threat, and wavering as she was warning him. Being a social idiot, even I could understand that, at the memory of her beloved biological father, she would feel down, yes, even the tough-as-nails Hit-Girl. The tears were there, her voice was definitely giving her away.
"Mi- *pause* Hit-Girl..." Like a mother trying her best to comfort her wayward daughter while at the same time teach her some manners, I nearly gave slip her name as I was too busy with her to think of anything else. I would prefer the night to be spent on accomplishing something else rather than infighting.
"Hit-Girl, so you do understand loss?" Like a father to his child, this knight in literally shining armour knelt down before Mindy, bringing his eye level to her's. They locked eyes, but Hit-Girl could not stand it for long and looked away. Hell, no one could stand that kind of intensity in his eyes.
"I discovered my wife to be... Dead... This afternoon. Do you know how it feels like?" The Grandmaster continued as Hit-Girl remained surprisingly silent and retreated into herself- it was so unlike her, it was as if she had changed to become an ordinary little girl. Aldan must have stole Dumbledore's magic to tame Mindy this way.
"More than you know." Mindy managed to say as she was like choking on her own sorrow. She was fighting desperately not to cry, I can tell- Wow, Aldan was proof that God existed.
"No... I knew, child." It was my turn to gasp at the elder's use of the 'C' word- I expected Hit-Girl to punch him across the face, but it broke her resistance somewhat. The wells of tears had become quiet waterfalls, "Your father died, and his successor warded." Shit- that was beyond cool, how did he know Marcus was her guardian? It was then that I understood, he must have probably picked it up somewhere, in the NYPD station where he was brought in for questioning. This begs the question- what more does he know? Talk about Professor X.
"I had all but lost my wife; I implore you, help me save my daughter." He went on, both his leather-bound hands on Hit-Girl's shoulders, emphasizing pretty much everything he tried to put across. If it was me, I wouldn't even dare to touch my God-sister while she was in this state. It would be just like trying to reason with the Hulk, except... Aldan managed it.
Hit-Girl was still all quiet, speechless as though this is some scene from a good drama. I had to step in to get things going. What are brothers for? "So what's this got to do with us? We can't give this up just because she's your daughter!" And I was also being a fucked-up idiot- Aldan would not never give the night's mission up especially because Demoness was her daughter.
"No, we search for her all the same, just... Don't kill her." Grandmaster said after standing up, leaving the weeping Hit-Girl standing by herself, spending all her energy trying not to cry, and failing. It was funny to see her this way in full uniform, her eyes closed in a futile attempt to stop her tears from flowing out, her hands limp by her side.
"Okay, sounds fair." Like the dork I am, I agreed in the most awkward way possible, then, turning to the rather distracted Hit-Girl, "So what do we do now?"
It took Hit-Girl a while to control herself. After keeping her mood in check, she took out her cellphone and showed the rest of us a digitised version of her plan on a GPS map and divided the places where Demoness could be hiding in between the four of us. I still had 2 locales to search and so did Hit-Girl- she simply doesn't trust the two Swordsmen enough.