Chapter 17 - A Vigilante's Redemption

Vic

I was awakened from my slumber by the sound of someone sitting down on a bed. Then the scent of strawberries entered my nose. I opened my eyes to see a naked woman drying her hair with a towel. The humming of one of her favorite songs made my brain realize that it was Cassie. I simply admired her body as she dried herself off. She noticed that I was awake and smiled.

"Morning handsome," she said, leaned over and kissed me. Then she giggled a little when I ran my hand along her back. "Sleep well?"

"Yeah," I responded. "I do recall getting good love last night." That sentence rewarded me with yet another kiss, this time with a little tongue. Awesome. She kissed me for a good 30 seconds too. Double awesome.

"I'll get breakfast going," Cassie said. "Then I have to go to work." You know what…fuck it. I'll be cute. I pretended to act like a sad puppy. Yeah, I even whined a little. That worked.

"Oooorrr, I could just call out and spend a day with my boyfriend," Cassie whispered into my ear and gave it a nibble.

"Oh you don't need to do that," I said.

"Are you sure?" she said in a voice as if she was actually talking to a puppy. "Will you be a good boy while I'm gone? Huh? Huh?! Will you?!" I lightly pushed her off me and got out from under the covers. I started to stand up but Cassie gave me a look of mock anger.

"No! Sit!" Cassie ordered and folded her arms. I rolled my eyes and then decided to humor her some more. I sat down on the bed.

"Stay. Stay!" Cassie said and started to get dressed while I watched. When she finished, she was wearing ripped work pants, the shirt displaying the logo of the garage and a pair of work boots. She walked back over to me and I cocked my head to the side. Cassie smiled big and wide and then held her hand out to me.

"Paw. Paw!" she ordered. I slowly put my hand into hers.

"Now kisses!" she said. Again I followed her orders, but I didn't kiss her like a dog.

"Are you hungry?" Cassie asked after she finished kissing me.

"Alright, the bit's over," I responded. and stood up. Cassie let go of me and stretched. Perfect! My turn.

"Ooooh! Biiiiiig stretch," I said. Cassie gave me a smile. I scratched her head.

"Good kitty," I said. "Am I your fwend?" She looked up at me with that fucking god damn big-eyed face that I fall for every time! God, the amount of back and foot rubs I had to give because of it! Not that I minded but whatever. Not here to tell you what I'm into.

"What do you want, little kitty," I asked. "To be held?" Cassie held out her arms and I picked her up in the Superman carry.

"Mew!" Cassie said happily and rubbed her face a little against my shoulder as I carried her to the kitchen.

I set Cassie down on the kitchen floor and she proceeded to start making some breakfast. Not being a complete dick, I helped her by tossing some bread in the toaster and starting the coffee maker. After a few minutes of tactically avoiding each other while making food, the two of us sat down at the table in the kitchen. Cassie looked a little nervous about something.

"What's up," I asked in between bites of toast and eggs. She looked over.

"Don't…you remember what today is?" she asked. I gulped. What month was it? No, our 1st date anniversary was in the early summer and it was nearly fall. Her dad's birthday? No…mom's? Sonya's? FUCK!

"Uh…sorry," I said a little stupidly. Thankfully Cassie smiled.

"It's alright," she said. "That whole Outworld trip the other day fried my brain a little too. The MotoGP Championship is tonight."

"Oh son of a bitch and pants, that's right!" I exclaimed. "I assume I'm sitting with your parents and Sonya?" Cassie shot me an "oh really" type of expression.

"What makes you think you're invited," she said and folded her arms. "You forgot. Why would I want you there?" I went to answer…but then I saw in her expression what she really wanted me to do. I sighed internally and yet again let out a small whine like a dog. Cassie's mouth stretched into a wide smile.

"PUPPY!" she said happily. "Of course you can come see me race! You just have to be a good boy today. Can you do that?! Huh?! Can you?!" I smirked back at her and nodded.

"I figured I'd catch up on some reading," I said before Cassie did a spit take.

"Who are you and what have you done with Vic?" she said and narrowed her eyes.

"What, I read," I retorted.

"Yeah, ok. What issue of Superman are you on?" Cassie shot back with a smile.

"Hey! I read real books too!" I said and finished off the toast on my plate. "But if you must know…it's the novel retelling the Death and Return of Superman…" Cassie smiled

"There he is," she said and got up from her chair. She glanced at her phone screen and grimaced. "I gotta run sweetie. Can you do the dishes for me?" I waved my hand nonchalantly in response. Cassie proceeded to give me a quick kiss before she grabbed her keys and rushed out the door.

Later in the Afternoon.

The sound of a loud commercial pulled me out of my doze and my book fell off my face and landed on the floor.

"Lousy fuckin car salesman…" I muttered and lowered the volume on the TV. I quickly did a double take when my eyes glanced at the clock. Oh thank fuck. I still had about an hour and a half before Cassie's race. Something tells me that Cassie's going to go right there from work. I looked down at my phone and saw I had some messages from her and Johnny mainly talking about race preparations. There was also one from…an unknown number. The message just said "Kid. Call me." Frowning and resisting the deep seated urge to just ignore this, I pressed the call button. The line rang for a grand total of 3 seconds before someone answered. It was Kabal.

"Kid, it's Kabal," he answered. Guy sounded a little panicked. In the background, I thought I could hear a woman crying and constantly repeat "they're gone!"

"Yeah, I figured that out." I answered. "Your wife ok? I can hear her."

"No. Neither of us are," Kabal answered. "We…we need help."

"Kurt?" I asked "Kimi?"

"They're already on it…look…kid…Jarek got my…my kids…" Kabal said and sniffed. "Stole them right from Sabrina in the parking lot at the mall. He says…if I don't join him or bring you to him…he's going to kill them." I nearly cut the fucker off right there. You DICK! I was starting to believe that you were on my side! And he's just gonna give me up like that?! But wait…the sensible side of my brain was starting to catch up. Why would Kabal have Kurtis and Kimi looking for his kids if he intended to give me up? Could be a ruse to throw them off the trail.

"You better tell me there's a secret hidden third option," I growled.

"Kid. I told you. I never liked Jarek. I took a look at that photo those Red Dragon Mercs gave you. It's doctored. I have the real one. They wanted you to get arrested because they viewed you as a threat. Some of the old Black Dragon Cult members were Red Dragon deserters. Red Dragon guys believe that hunting them down is their responsibility and they wanted you out of their way. Mavado and Hao won't be bothering you anymore," Kabal explained.

"Why is that?" I asked.

"Taven," Kabal answered. "Guy pulled some strings and got those guys off the Jarek situation. He's the only Red Dragon in the area. I trust the guy and I don't trust most people like that."

"So, I'm guessing you want me to also assist in locating your kids?" I asked already knowing what the answer was going to be.

"Yes. Meet up with Taven. He's near the parking lot where Eddie and Carmen were snagged," Kabal said. Then I heard him start to comfort his wife. "Hey…hey, Bree…Vic's gonna help find them," he was saying before I heard a scuffle. Then a female voice came onto the line.

"YOU FIND THEM AND BRING THEM BACK TO ME! DO YOU HEAR ME VIC OR WHATEVER THE FUCK YOUR NAME IS! BRING ME MY BABIES!" Sabrina yelled full blast into my ear. Even had to hold the phone away from my ear.

"Right. Leave it to me Mrs. Kabal," I said. "Hold on…can you and Carlos do something for me in case this takes more than an hour and a half?"

"Anything!" Sabrina answered. "We'll do anything!"

20 Minutes Later. At the Parking Garage.

I arrived at the location given to me by Sabrina in full Thrash attire. The area looked surprisingly empty for such a busy area of the city. Usually, I see this place bustling with activity.

"Ah good, you've arrived," a calm sounding male voice said from the shadows. I turned to see a man emerging from the shadows. The guy was dressed in gear similar to what I saw Mavado and Hsu Hao wearing a few weeks back, except he had more accents of yellow and gold. He had a dragon tattoo on the right side of his face alongside short brown hair and a chin goatee. On his back were two hook swords. This must be Taven. The winds were telling me that he meant no harm. Sure enough, the guy held out his hand to me to shake and said "I am Taven." I shook it.

"Thrash," I answered. "You seem like less of a dick than your comrades." Taven scoffed.

"Comrades is a loose term," he said. "I care not for the likes of them. Daegon does however and I have no real say."

"I've heard you guys have criminal history," I said, choosing my words carefully. Taven again scoffed.

"That would be the work of Daegon. His team is typically behind stunts like that," he said. "I had to get my old friend Orin to step in to get me this assignment. I assumed Kabal would be with you. These are his. Mavado stole them from him years ago." Taven motioned to the hook swords on his back.

"He's busy at the moment," I answered. "What have you found out?" Taven took out a piece of tech and threw it at the ground. I cocked an eyebrow before the device powered on. It displayed an AR recreation of the area as it was hours ago. I could see Sabrina Kabal and her children in mid walk a few feet from me. They were frozen as if someone had pressed pause on a video.

"Whoa," I whispered. I saw Taven give a small smile and press something on his gauntlet. Sabrina and the kids began moving towards the holographic car "parked" in the empty spot. No sound emerged from their mouths as they walked and talked. The young girl looked a little scared of something. I followed her gaze and, yep. There he was. Dumbass fuckin Jarek standing there in the corner. Quicker than I could follow, Jarek threw out a rope which wrapped around Sabrina's leg and he slammed her to the ground. Before she could even register what just happened, Jarek had run over, kicked her in the stomach and grabbed the screaming children from her hands and disappeared.

"That's what I've been analyzing for the past few minutes. The Crime Reconstruction Device only just finished recreating the scenario," Taven said. "So far, I've got nothing."

"Play it again," I said. Taven did so and this time, I started to look around the area for anything unusual.

"Rewind to where Jarek makes an appearance," I said. Taven did so and I walked over to the area where Jarek had been hiding. I scanned the ground and located a boot print.

"You see this?" I asked. Taven walked over and waved his other hand over the boot print. Then he held his hand palm up where a holographic display of a boot was spinning.

"Hey and Freeman-Hargis Work Boots. SKU-09111997. Size twelve," Taven said reading his display. "Most people who are former military wear these according to sales records."

"Dude…isn't that illegal," I asked. Taven smiled.

"To an extent," he answered. "Let's see…wonder if I can potentially run a program that can show me footprints of this specific boot." Taven started typing commands on his gauntlet. He saw I was standing there doing nothing before removing a small remote like controller from his other gauntlet and tossed it to me.

"See if you can find anything else Detective," Taven said. After figuring out what buttons did what, I played the kidnapping back a few times. It was on about the fourth replay when I noticed something. When Jarek had grabbed Kabal's daughter, something fell out of her jacket pocket. Jarek had stepped on it, driving it into the dirt in his escape. I walked over to the spot and started to dig. Sure enough, it was something of value. A bracelet made of string with some beads that read "Daddy's Princess."

"You got something," Taven called. I turned around and held up the bracelet. He jogged over.

"Nice find," he said. "Can you do anything with it though?" I put the bracelet between my hands and instructed the winds to show me something to do with it out of desperation. The winds responded by showing me a scent trail. Really?! Holy fuck I'm Batman! Taven seemed to know I had a lead.

"Lead the way Thrash,"

At a Condemned Building.

Taven and I followed the scent trail for what seemed like 30 minutes. It led us to an abandoned building…conveniently a few blocks over from the MotoGP Championship. Bruh. I started forward but Taven quickly grabbed my shoulder.

"I wouldn't," he said. Then showed me a holographic readout of the building. There were 2 green dots alongside multiple red ones. Bombs. A lot of them.

"Holy fuck…that could level the whole block…" I said quickly counting them. "Why is it unguarded though?"

"Jarek only has Kobra and the rest of those resurrected minions," Taven answered. "You and your other friends took care of the whole resurrecting problem." Oh yeah. Right. Jarek must not want to waste resources on two kids that were no real threat to him.

"Bombs look like they're on a remote detonator…this has to be a silent op," Taven said. "I'll be on bomb defuse duty. These look like older models. You get the kids out. Bet you anything Jarek has the building covered with mics and cameras. One wrong move and we're all dead." Thanks bud. Real morale booster!

"Roof?" I asked. Taven did a quick analysis and nodded. Before he could do anything else, I grabbed his arm and I used the winds to propel us to the roof. Taven gasped in surprise when we landed then gave me a nod of approval. He put his finger to his lips and tossed me a commlink. Then he mouthed "whisper. It will hear you." before he slunk off to defuse bombs. I used the winds to scan for mic feedback and camera movements and felt that there was nothing near the roof access door…which was hanging on by like a hinge. I slipped through the crack and started to make my way down the stairs as quietly as I could. With every creak and crunch, I imagined that it was going to be my last step as a man with all his limbs attached. Eventually I started to hear the faint cries of two children on the winds, much like how Uncle Fujin did when he searched for Kimi all those years ago. I silently followed the cries all while dipping and dodging around the cameras that a monkey could locate because they looked so out of place in the dilapidated building. After a few minutes, I finally located the two kids in a large empty room. They were tied together back to back on chairs. The little girl was sobbing silently while the boy struggled in vain to escape the ropes. I took about 2 steps before a large TV screen turned on. On it was Jarek alongside Kabal and Sabrina on another screen.

"Oh and speak of the devil!" Jarek said. "Hello Vic! How are you kiddo?" I responded by forming a dagger and threw it at the screen. The blade pierced the screen and sparks showered onto the ground. The screen remained on though.

"Oh look at him! He's so cute when he's angry!" Jarek said. "You know this works out…let's see…ah! There it is!" Jarek looked as though he was dialing someone else in. Within seconds, I saw my sister's face appear on the screen. And then I could see an entire crowd of people gathered to watch a MotoGP race. Oh fuck.

"See now Kabal, I don't remember telling you that one of your options was sending him to retrieve your kids. That's a no no," Jarek said. "This will be fantastic! Kimi, you get to actually watch him die this time!" Then he raised his hand. In it…was a detonator. Oh FUCK! There was absolutely no way that Taven got all the bombs in time. Within seconds I heard his voice in my ear.

"THRASH! GET OUT! IT'S A TRAP!" he shouted. Wait…are the kids actually there?! The winds screamed that yes, they were. Jarek's thumb was slowly going downward to the big red kaboom button! Dammit! Without really thinking, I sprinted at the kids and engulfed them and myself in an air shield right as Jarek's thumb pressed the button.

All I could hear for multiple seconds was ringing in my ears along with pieces of the building falling down around me. There was also something kicking at my chest.

"Mister! Mister, wake up!" a young boy's voice was saying very muffled. I opened my eyes to be greeted with a fuck ton of smoke and orange flames engulfing the area. Kabal's son was kicking and shaking me in an attempt to get me to wake up. I watched him recoil and shield his wailing sister from me.

"The scary man that attacked Daddy!" he said and held up a small fist. Then he and his sister started coughing violently. The smoke! Fuck! I quickly pulled clean oxygen from outside and told it to fill the kids' lungs over mine.

"What's your name kid," I asked before I remembered. "Eddie right?" Eddie nodded. He was still shielding his sister, Carmen, from me. Carmen was simply paralyzed with fear.

"I won't…let you hurt…her either!" Eddie said and took a step forward. The floor beneath him gave way and he and Carmen fell through it. I quickly caught them with my other arm lest they be dropped into the fire below. Carmen was barely holding onto Eddie, who was holding onto her arm with all his strength.

"Carmen…" I said, struggling because of the smoke in my lungs. Normally this would be easy but lack of oxygen was a bitch. "I need you…to climb onto Eddie's shoulders."

"I can't! Is too scawy! I gon fall!" she yelled back still crying. "The scawy man is gonna get us!" At that moment the floor under me sagged a little. The smoke in my lungs was getting to me. In desperation, I reached up and pulled the mask down.

"I'm a guy. Just like your dad. I want to help. Someone told me your daddy was a bad guy. They lied," I said through violent coughs. I saw Eddie's eyes narrow and then widen. He then started to climb up my other arm. I grabbed Carmen when she was in range.

"The Flash!" Eddie said. "Carmen, it's the Flash!" I gave a weak smile and then the floor sagged again. Then I saw it. A window. Our ticket out of here.

"You…trust me?" I asked the kids. Both of them nodded. I even pulled out the bracelet I retrieved earlier and Carmen eagerly took it.

"Fash will save us!" she said "Take us back to daddy!"

"You…hang on…to me," I said. The kids obeyed. Then mustering all the remaining strength I had, I sprinted at the window, jumped, turned and flew backwards out of it before passing out.

Outside the Building.

I regained consciousness to the sounds of sirens and people cheering. I myself was laying on a gurney being tended to by a familiar face.

"What's up champ," Takeda said. I started to rise. "Hey hey, easy there bud. You need the oxygen."

"My…face…" I managed to say and reached up. My mask was still in place over the oxygen breathing tube.

"Lucky I got here first," Takeda said. "I put the mask the young boy gave to me back on you before anyone else arrived." My eyes finally adjusted to my surroundings. I was about 20 yards away from the ruined building. Fire crews were attending to it and I could see Taven talking with them and

"Fujin…" I muttered. Uncle Fujin's head snapped over in my direction. He smiled and then motioned for people to move to my location. The people that did were Sabrina, Cassie and Kimi. Cassie was still dressed in her racing gear sans helmet. She was in the lead but she was shoved aside by the mother of the children I had just saved. Then Sabrina shoved Takeda out of the way, sat me up and hugged me while sobbing "YOU SAVED MY BABIES!" I sort of patted her back a little as Cassie and Kimi watched. Both of them were at least smiling. Kimi looked as though she had seen death prior to this though. I mean fair. Bet the cam feed died during the explosion.

"Where are they actually?" I managed to say through the oxygen mask. Sabrina continued sobbing.

"They're with Carlos," Kimi answered. "He says he owes you everything."

"Little guy kept telling his dad The Flash saved him," Cassie added. My eyes widened.

"The race!" I exclaimed. Cassie held up her hand.

"It was postponed because of the explosion. As soon as Carlos told your uncle what happened I knew that's what you were doing," she said calmly. "It's alright. Do I look mad?"

"Are you dating him?" Sabrina asked Cassie.

"Yes. I love him so much," she answered and grabbed my other hand.

"Don't you ever let him go," Sabrina ordered Cassie. Cassie smiled and squeezed my hand.

"What…what happened?" I asked as Cassie started caressing my hand with her thumb. "I passed out on the way down."

"Correct," Uncle Fujin's voice answered. He appeared behind Kimi. "Taven tipped Raiden off as to what was happening before the explosion. Raiden informed me as I was closer and I arrived just as I saw you jump out of the top floor window. Takeda was also on his way and attended to the children before their father arrived."

"What's with all the other people?" I asked, motioning to the small crowd of people. I saw my own fan club among the various newscrews and first responders.

"Jarek intended to frame you for murdering children," Kimi responded through gritted teeth. "That failed as soon as everyone saw you on the ground with them next to you going 'The Flash saved us'." I too managed a smile.

A couple seconds later, a news reporter was approaching me along with a much older Morton Kapinski behind him holding a news camera. Guy had since ditched the glasses since high school and he was a rather good looking guy all things considered. He had a little gut but I don't think Deana cared. In front of him was another person I recognized. This time from TV. He was a member of one of the most popular news teams in the area. He typically focused on entertainment, mainly movies. And more specifically horror movies. His name was Michael Edgar-Allen Thompson. Host of the "Meat Lives!" segment on SHTS News Channel 4. He was completely bald and wore an eyepatch over his left eye, more for an aesthetic choice rather than a practical one.

"Mr. Thrash!" Mike said to me. "Care to give a statement on what happened here?" I shot a glance at Uncle Fujin who told me what I should do with one small nod. Takeda unhooked me from the oxygen machine and helped me stand. Mike positioned me in front of the camera and I noticed that Morton was narrowing his eyes at me as if he was remembering someone from high school. Mike held up three fingers and then started counting down.

"We're here LIVE on the scene with our city's protector for the past few years, the one and only Thrash or as others may know him, The Rattlehead! What happened here tonight Thrash?" Mike asked. I decided that it was the time after getting a nod of encouragement from my family and girlfriend.

"Well Mike, the Black Dragon Cult has been at large once again for the past few months and targeted an officer and his family," I answered not disguising my voice. As I expected, Morton gasped. Then he saw Cassie and gasped again.

"The Black Dragon Cult? Those nut cases that killed local actor and star of the Cereal Killer franchise and portrayer of Wally West Dante Harris as well as his wife and son?" Mike asked.

"You are half right," I said. I felt Kimi join me on my right side along with Uncle Fujin and Cassie on the left.

"Half right? What do you mean half right?" Mike asked. I motioned to Morton who was positively shaking with realization.

"Ask your camera man," I said. Mike looked over at Morton who pointed right at me and said "V…Vi…Vic…" Mike turned back still a little confused. I reached up and took off my glasses and mask and showed pretty much everyone there who Thrash really was. Morton nearly fell over. Mike gasped. The crowd behind him even screamed in excitement. Among them I could make out Brian's sister Daniela along with Steve's and even Malcolm's. I smiled at the camera and struck a little bit of a heroic pose.

"Holy…" Mike said. "You…you…you have to be Dante's son…"

"That is correct," I said. "My name is Victor Harris. I did not die in that attack that claimed the lives of my parents. I've been the man behind the Thrash moniker for the past ten years. Jarek, if you are watching, I now speak directly to you." I felt Cassie, Kimi and Uncle Fujin close in on me as I spoke.

"You will not evade capture for long. You must answer for what you did to me, my sister and my Uncles. The community never forgot about Lauren and Dante Harris, but I can assure you that they will eventually forget about you. My allies grow while yours dwindle. I know you're out there Jarek. Trying to find a way to turn these people against me. Trying to make them see why you're the right one as you did to the old Black Dragon Clan many years ago. You were stopped once, and you will be stopped again. You should know that you never, EVER come between a boy and his mother. Especially one who loved me as much as she did. Something you will never experience. Try me asshole. I'll be ready," I said menacingly into the camera. I felt Uncle Fujin's look of pride on me as I spoke and I felt both Cassie and Kimi place their hands on my shoulder when I mentioned my mom.

"Uh…well…uh…fuck," Mike muttered. "Back…back to you in the studio." Mike instructed Morton to kill the camera feed and clutched his chest. Morton waved to both me and Cassie and started to help him back into the news van.

I looked back over my shoulder…and as I expected when something big happened, saw the spirits of my parents standing there. Next to Uncle Raiden who looked as though he just arrived. Kimi followed my gaze and inhaled slightly when she saw our father. I too focused on my father. The man who taught me everything on how to be a good person. He had his arm resting on my mom's shoulder as usual and gave me a smile and thumbs up. My mom crossed her hands over her heart again before they both faded away.

"Getting reports from everyone that you decided to tell the world you weren't dead Vic," Uncle Raiden said as he walked over. I meanwhile was holding onto Kimi for support while Cassie fetched me some water.

"The internet's blowing up right now too, Bud," Kimi said while scrolling through her phone. Cassie arrived with a water bottle and she handed it to me. Cassie was also looking at her phone. She turned the screen towards me and I saw her conversation with Sonya. Sonya's message read "Holy FUCK, Vic just revealed himself to everyone! People at work are going crazy! Kano even said 'that kid's the real deal'"

"OIA is on our side too," Cassie said and hugged me. "My Superman. Mine!"

"Kurtis says the police are taking Vic's side as well," Kimi added. I heard Cassie's phone buzz in my ear and I saw that Johnny and her mom had texted her. Both a similar message. It was essentially "Our son-in-law's blowing up everywhere!" Cassie noticed I saw the message and immediately turned a little red.

"I…I…" she began. I stopped her with a quick kiss.

"When we take him down, I'll make it something you'll never forget," I said and gave her another hug. Over her shoulder, I saw both Kimi and Uncle Fujin give me nods of approval.

"Promise?" Cassie whispered softly.

"Double promise," I answered. I felt Cassie squeeze me and I gave a quick wave to Daniela. She returned it. Meanwhile Steve's sister and Macolm's sister were both talking on their phones. I knew what it was. I knew it was going to be the talk of the town for the next few days or even weeks.

Victor Harris, the son of music composer Lauren Harris, actor Dante Harris and younger brother of DEA Agent Kimi Harris had returned from the dead. Much like my favorite hero had done in the past.