The Spiralling

Chapter 19: The Ascend

We ran towards the warzone, into the thick of battle. The police could only watch us as we joined in the fray to do the work for them. They were too beat up to stop anyone, criminal or otherwise, just like in any famous superhero media.

We were there, we saw the action ourselves- Demoness wrecking havoc on the entire police army there, before disappearing into the building through a curtain of smoke. New York's finest had their chance. We didn't interfere with their encounter with the city's latest Venom- we thought they could knock her down or put her to sleep (and out of her misery). We were wrong.

She who shall not be named was gone when we entered the lobby of the familiar skyscraper. There was no movement- everyone was either dead or retreating elsewhere.

I know what's going through your mind- that hundreds have failed and died before us, that the chance a highschooling boy and a quaint old man have was about the same as how possible it was for a bank robber to beat Superman. Except... It was different. I had a plan, and our villain, like any other self-respecting villain, had a certain weakness for us. She'd want to test herself against us, fight on a level ground. She would want it slow and painful, knowing her. We could use that.

The only movement was coming from the elevator tracker above the steel doors- it was then that I remembered- she's going for the last head of the D'Amico Empire, and she'd most likely be at the top. The arrow stopped just below the top floor.

"Aldan, she's looking for the big fish now!" I advised my quaint friend- he's older, but I'm still the more experienced superhero, at least where the D'Amico crime family was concerned, "At the top floor!"

"Let us go then." Grandmaster replied calmly as he punched the button to summon the same, only lift. It was a long wait, both while we were outside and while we were inside listening to some elevator music that seemed too cheerful for the situation. I could only wonder what was happening on top as we ascend.

Somewhere else...

So much pain so much suffering the screams are beautiful music the thugs were nothing but practice dummies all a bunch of girlish wimps waiting to be slaughtered like the pigs they are. How much I love it when they scream when they scream differently each time they die how they fall differently, react differently to my shots cuts differently.

I love it when I sever their limbs I like blood splashed unto me from the first few fools that died that way through the power of my blessed sickle I love my weapons my only friends. The blood I showered in it I feel refreshed when the blood sprays on my face it tasted so good each kill rejuvenates me for the finale of my act.

I was wading through blood and bodies something in me tried to get out free itself leave I won't let it or it would ruin the fun orgy pleasure and my vengeance. Irritating bothersome I swallowed it hard again to push it back down when I descend into the vents just a few more steps to go before my vengeance is complete I will kill them all rend them apart destroy them all burn them until the police dogs won't be able to ID them at all.

I like it here in the vents, dark and gloomy and leading me to where I will murder more and exact my justified cruelty on the leader. She's getting closer, I can see the light painful light! They were still talking- all top bastards are ever good for is talking like the bitches they are I will give them something to talk about.

The softie in me fights less good she was irritating I would have shot myself in the guts just to shut her up a bit. It's time for action they would love what I have in store for them. Breaking the vent cover I dropped several incendiary grenades and within seconds I could hear the much desired screams that sounds like the chorus of an angel to me singing with the explosion that was good so far.

I jumped down the ceiling into the conference room after that and started letting fly my bullets the sound of bodies falling lifeless dead so many burning the smell makes me hungry for more pain blood killing reminds me of hell I would love to go there and work for Satan.

There were twenty over of them it doesn't matter my submachinegun mows them down like grass weed worms it is a shame it ran out too soon and I have to discard it for my pistols Fuckers! A bullet grazed me in the leg I took cover and fire back cunts cowards they are retreating out the large doors the frag grenade I threw didn't shred pulverise all of them.

Angie D'Amico is among the eight meat bags left shooting pussy shots at me she is the head I need to chop lob cut sever off so I go after them they will die I will dance on their corpse and grave.

Meanwhile...

It was a massacre inside- we found dead men in any kind of death pose imaginable by Clive Barker. Some died simply by several gunshot wounds. Others weren't so lucky. It was Hit-Girl in the drug apartment all over again, except much worse, with a more vicious actor in an extended director's cut. Some had no head, others had fewer limbs than normal. We found many burnt-up things in the conference room. It reminded me of an airplane crash photo I came across on the net one fine random day. It made me an instant insomniac for a few weeks if I recall correctly. This one's worth a few months plus a sick to the stomach kind of feeling.

It was simple- we just had to follow the trail of dead bodies, the shouts and screams, and the gunshots. As we were running towards the chaos far ahead, there were footsteps in an intersecting corridor, so we pressed ourselves against the wall to hide. We knew we'd run into some D'Amico soldiers who were still breathing sooner or later.

Most of them were carrying pistols, one of them had a shotgun. It didn't matter when we jumped on them. With my batons drawn I started whacking at one of them- there were five of them. My first swipe caught him in the head. He lifted his pistol, training it on me but my instincts just took over like some super-secret superpower. Somehow, I was able to knock the gun away and give him another few more in the head before he fainted.

The Grandmaster was doing the majority of the work- he was just simply awesome, like a samurai or ninja. He brought his sword down on the shotgun fellow, who blocked the overhead slice with his shotgun. He didn't last very long. In another instant, Aldan fixed the shotgun dude problem with a second slice across his chest before moving on to spinning and delivering a powerful blow that killed another mobster quite instantly.

I was on to my second enemy by that time, and I was having more trouble with this one as he seemed to know a bit of kung fu and was dodging my batons like Jackie Chan. I was on my own, as Aldan was busy pursuing another criminal who decided to run, which was actually the smart thing to do.

Nothing seemed to work on this guy- I tried whacking him across the face, bringing both my batons down on him or sideways at him but he dodged them all. On my last move, he kicked me in the chest forcefully, throwing me backwards, stumbling and trying to regain my balance. As I was steadying myself, he cocked his pistol and fired at me- my balance was history. My blue Kick-Ass batons flew out of my reach as I fell like a cartoon character who slipped on a banana with the smoothness of a wet soap bar.

A second shot jolted my body as I reached for my taser. I was pissed at the kungfu gun-wielder. Just as he was about to fire a third shot, I shocked him and while he was on the ground, kicked him around the head so hard that he skin on his forehead split and bled, and he fainted, "Fuck you!" Not exactly a very original and heroic line, but it did the trick anyway.

As I swore, a sharp pain erupted around my chest region- it was totally abused by the kung-fu gun-wielder. I was afraid that the day I took a bullet would come anytime- and it did. A chill ran down my spine as I ran my hand down the area I was shot at and looked down as I slumped onto the corridor wall nearest to me.

"Thanks, Dad." The bullets had not penetrated my vest at all. Better bruised than two holes where my heart was. Aldan returned a while later after I removed the bullets.

"Are you wounded?" Grandmaster asked as I was clutching my chest. While my heart was still beating, my lungs just had the winds knocked out of them. It was like getting punched by Steve Austin.

"Nah, I'm good, let's go get our little devil." I tried the art of wisecracking, but I fell short, way too short. Good thing Aldan was too 'unhip' to notice anything substandard.

"Remember, please, do not hurt Nevaeh." As usual, at the mention of his own daughter, the old man's voice became brimming with emotions that just doesn't fit with the image he's putting up- that of an armour-encased knight straight from the castles of Gondor, "She's still a child, and my daughter."

"Yeah... We'll just subdue and interrogate her," and my voice was just oozing with uncertainty that sounded like it could kill Aldan's daughter, literally. It was half intentional, half stupidity.

"Hear me, I will save her even if it means forfeiting life or right arm." The Grandmaster was almost snarling at me as he was jabbing me with his sharp and strong index finger. It felt like he was jabbing me with his sword. I half-expected him to lift me up in the air with just one arm like the Undertaker as he tried convincing me not to hurt Demoness, "Should you do otherwise, by God I swear I'll... Kill you." Somehow, I doubt he would, despite his contorted face, gritted teeth and fierce, commanding tone. Ever since teaming up with him in the alleyway battle that ended with Mindy's beloved stepfather being riddled with lead, I knew: He's a man of very high moral ideals, not unlike all my favourite heroes from the golden and silver age.

Still, I was quite shocked, and I could only nod in agreement, though we knew we may have to mangle Nevaeh a bit- incapacitate her enough to stop her from flying around like Super Girl.

The noise of Demoness' personal crusade was growing louder the further we ran along the corridors of the penthouse. I've never remembered the place to be this large before. There was so much I hadn't explore yet in my first raid of the tower- The D'Amico Penthouse had more than one level, now that I certainly did not know.

The trail of bodies, blood and gore lead us out into the open, up a flight of stairs that broke away to reveal the sky- we had pursued Demoness all the way to the rooftop. As the first blast of freezing air hit me, my first thought was: Bad omen. I remembered clearly how I was steamrolled over relentlessly by Demoness in my previous roof top party.

Just as we emerged out into the open, there was another series of gunshots, and more bodies fell- all of D'Amico's bodyguards died in one fell swoop, their corpses littering the rooftop floor, along with their blood and weapons. Just as we caught sight of what was happening, Demoness fired a single bullet into the guts of Angie D'Amico from her remaining single pistol- she had discarded her second pistol.

It was like a strange, dramatic window in a comic book. Everything sort of froze. I could observe every single detail on site- from the pained and shocked facial expression on the last D'Amico's face, to how Demoness, as much as I hate to admit, expertly handled her pistol, to how the bullet whizzed into Angie's shapely belly and how the blood sprayed outwards- its form and direction were precisely recorded into my head.

Several more shots were fired at the very last column that held up the D'Amico crime family followed by a series of clicks that meant Demoness had just ran out of bullets, and as Angie D'Amico was standing on the edge of the roof, she fell after a second's pause. There was a high-pitched scream like nothing I heard of before. It was like another scene from a comic book after that. The Demoness lowered her weapon and just stood there with her back facing us, about as still as a Gargoyle. Whether she knew we were there, I had no idea.

There was no need to find out at all. Dropping her remaining firearm limply after making her final kill, like some Samurai ready for a battle that may end with everyone's death, she unsheathed her twin Katanas slowly and steadily, with a surgeon's steadiness or a robot's firm grip. Turning her head slightly to regard us as her back was still facing us, she said in a rather bone-chilling way, "The final soul to take, served on my plate..."