Chapter 12: Vengeance

"Listen, we don't want any problems here. I think this is all just a huge misunderstanding!"

Tonight was supposed to be a fun night for both Longinus and Crispin. Go out to the clubs, have some drinks, look around, and see if there are any potential prospects. How did it all go bad so fast? Now they stood behind some dirty, backward building, surrounded by a bunch of hoodlums!

"Money. That's what you fine gentleman want, right? Listen, take it, and just leave us alone. Okay?"

Crispin said with a smile; he was covered in a nervous sweat. Longinus was no better. They were side by side—a brick wall behind them.

"Oh, Don't worry about your money. We'll be taking that. No, you see, we want to make an example out of you two freaks."

The man who appeared to be the groups leader said as he walked closer to them, causing them both to back up closer to the wall. He was bald and wore a dark green hoodie. Longinus scanned the rest of the men and counted four, excluding the man who had just spoken. Two had pipes in their hands, and the others were twisting their wrists, causing small pops. Longinus swallowed a lump of spit that was in his mouth.

"You see. Since that bill passed that lets you abominations get hitched, you all have been walking around like you own the place. And that doesn't sit right with us, you see."

The man in the hoodie walked closer to Longinus and looked at him directly in the eyes. A wild anger could be seen. Those eyes caused Longinus to freeze in fear, even though the man before him was slightly shorter.

"We want you to tell all your gay friends what'll happen if you don't go back to that closet you all love so much." The man smiled cruelly. "You and your friend here will be that message."

"Fuck them up."

The man said as he backed up from Longinus and Crispin, causing the other four men to run up to them and begin beating them without any hesitation. The bald man smiled at the sight; Longinus and Crispin were on the ground, begging them to stop. He then laughed, reached into his pocket, and pulled out a box of cigars.

"Hey, Bruce. What's that?"

One of the men who were beating Longinus and Crispin stopped his assault as he heard the sounds of footsteps coming from the shadows. The rest of the men stopped and looked in that direction as well. Longinus and Crispin sat up and rested their backs on the wall. Their faces were bleeding and were slowly swelling up, but their eyes were also looking in the direction of footsteps. Could this be the police?

Everyone stood in silence as the sound of heavy footsteps got closer and closer. Soon enough, the shadow of a person exited from the pitch-black darkness. Bruce then pulled out a steel pipe from his hoodie and stepped before his crew.

Once outside the shadows, everyone could make out the figure's details. He stood tall and wore an unzipped black leather jacket; underneath that was an open hoodie over a black shirt. The man also wore dark blue jeans that were folded up on the bottom. The black combat boots matched the armored gloves he had over his hands. The man's face was impossible to see due to the facemask and the darkness created by the pulled-up hoodie. Wrapped around his chest was a long chain, rattling with every step he took.

Bruce and his men all started to laugh as they got a clear look at the individual.

"You seeing this? Hey! Who are you supposed to be?"

Bruce asked but received no answer. The hooded figure just kept walking in their direction. Bruce became irritated and stepped forward with his pipe over his shoulder, ready to beat whoever this was until they begged for mercy.

Bruce followed through with his swing only to be blocked by the hooded man's forearm, stopping the strike from landing. The hooded man grabbed Bruce's arm in a powerful grip, preventing him from backing away. Without pause, the hooded man unleashed a flurry of powerful punches to Bruce's face; the figure then grabbed Bruce's forearm and locked it under his armpit. With a jolt, he twisted Bruce's elbow upwards, effectively breaking the arm.

Before Bruce could yell in pain, he was once again assaulted with punches to the face. He was only allowed to fall when the hooded man let him go. Once he landed on the ground, the figure crouched down and landed two last punches that echoed throughout the area. This all occurred within the period of seven seconds, leaving Bruce's crew in shocked silence. Finally, the hooded figure spoke.

"I'm Vengeance."

The now-named Vengeance stood up slowly. He was gazing at the remaining four men, almost as if in warning. Bruce's crew members looked at each other questionably but immediately resolved themselves. They then circled Vengeance and rushed him.

Vengeance ducked under a wild punch and swung his arms out. Two police batons came flying out of his sleeves. Catching them, he then danced around all the men, delivering a flurry of fast strikes as he dodged around the uncoordinated men. But a few were able to land some strikes on the hooded man; in the end, they were quickly brushed off as he continued his assault.

Longinus and Crispin watched on in amazement. They almost couldn't believe their eyes! The group of men who were so confident in their strength just a few minutes ago were now being beaten within an inch of their lives.

One man with a busted nose took out a knife and looked in their direction. It appeared that he would try to use them as a hostage to get the upper hand, hopefully. As the man rushed Longinus and Crispin, he was stopped by a long chain that wrapped around his throat.

With a strong yank, he was thrown over to Vengeance's feet, where he delivered a devasting stomp to the face. Vengeance then swung his chain at his remaining opponent's face, effectively knocking him out. Once finished, Vengeance yanked his chain around and wrapped it over his chest.

He then turned his head to look at both Longinus and Crispin, causing them to freeze and sweat. Vengeance slowly approached the two men and crouched a few feet away.

"...You two alright?"

Longinus and Crispin were surprised at the figure. They feared for a second he was about to come over and unleash great violence upon them as well.

"Y-Yes! We're alright!"

"T-Thank you! You... saved us."

Vengeance nodded and stood up. He then walked over to the groaning men that lay all over the floor. With a twist of his neck, he motioned for the two men to go.

"Go. Now."

The two men nodded fast. Longinus and Crispin stood up slowly with great effort, their injuries making the task painful. They could almost make out what their savior was saying as they supported each other in leaving. But he was whispering his words, making it impossible to be sure if they heard correctly. Once they rounded the corner back into the main city streets, they heard screams that made their skins crawl.

The roar of a motorcycle was heard soon after.

•••

"Shit! Shit! Shit! Shit!"

A dark-skinned man was running as fast as he could. He turned his back and looked into the dark city streets, where he saw a hooded man in a leather jacket walk out behind an apartment building; he turned to look at him slowly. This only caused him to run faster. His face was injured and bleeding. His arm hung limply at his side, Broken.

The man kept running as fast as he could, disregarding the heavy pain at his side. Slowly, he heard a motorcycle engine roar behind him, causing him to cry out in fear.

"Fuck! Man, please!"

The engine's roar became even louder as it sped closer to him. The man felt something crash into his feet, causing him to trip and tumble into the ground. The injured man looked down and saw a chain wrapped around both his feet; he followed the chain up to the hooded man as he got off his motorcycle and started walking towards him. A deep sense of dread filled his chest. When he looked at the hooded man's face, all he saw was pitch black; suddenly, two orange orbs glowed in the dark.

"Please, man! I won't do it ever again! PLEASE!"

"Look into my eyes..."

•••

'Harvey. That's enough for tonight.' Spirit spoke. 'Your body needs rest.'

Harvey nodded and continued driving. He then made the proper turns to head home. He took the long scenic routes and the roads with no cameras. After a while, he finally made his way to his home neighborhood; rounding around the corner, he killed his engine to make as little noise as possible. Pushing a button, his garage door opened up, allowing him to enter. Once inside, he pressed the button again and closed the door.

Harvey stood there for a while, simply breathing calmly. He twisted his body and got off his bike, ensuring the kickstand stood solidly. Harvey walked over to an open chair and slowly took off his clothes. Harvey looked down with tired eyes; after rubbing his face with his bruised and bloody hands, he looked over to his full mirror. He saw large purple bruises and scratches covering different parts of his body. Turning around, his back was in no better shape.

"Tonight.. was rough."

'That it was.' Spirit said. 'Rest now. You've pushed your body a lot tonight.'

"Yeah. A long cold shower and some sleep sounds perfect."

Harvey walked inside his home and walked to his bathroom. After taking a long cold shower to help relax his injured muscles, he stepped out of the bathroom in a towel and headed to his kitchen. Opening his fridge he pulled out a gatorade and drank greedily, not having enough with one he grabbed another and downed it too. Once he satisfied his thirst Harvey headed back into the bathroom to brush his teeth.

"Ah. That feels good."

Harvey threw himself on his bed and lay there for a while. After a few minutes, his phone buzzed. Turning around, he rolled over to his nightstand and grabbed his phone. Unlocking it, he saw a message from Luke. Luke was asking if he was going to the school fair this week. Harvey looked up and thought about it. He smiled and said he was. He deserves a small break after everything he has been doing these past few days. He received another text from Luke talking about setting up a time for a meet-up between them and Manny.

Harvey responded by saying anytime was alright with him. He scrolled through the days news and saw a few stories about some vigilante attacking criminal's and thugs, leaving them in a catatonic state of guilt. Harvey frowned and was about to head to sleep when he received a text from Alex.

[ Alex: You still up? ]

Harvey smiled and texted his response.

[ Harvey: Yeah, What's up? ]

[ Alex: I just wanted to know if you were planning to go to the upcoming school fair. ]

[ Harvey: Indeed, I am. ]

[ Alex: I was just wondering if you wanted... to come with me? ]

Harvey raised his eyebrow at Alex's text, it took her a while to send it. Was she busy doing homework?

[ Harvey: Sure! Sounds fun! Luke and Manny also asked me about going a few minutes ago too. We can all go, it should be fun! ]

[ Alex: ...Yeah. That sounds great. ]

[ Harvey: I'll let you know what time we will all be meeting. I'm gonna head to be sleep now though, I'm exhausted. Goodnight! ]

[ Alex: Goodnight, sleep well! ]

Harvey smiled and turned off him phone. He placed his phone down and turned around. After closing his eyes, he felt the world of dreams consume him.

•••

Alex turned her phone off and dropped her face into her pillow. She yelled into it and rested her head on her pillow for a few seconds. Alex then turned her head and pouted slightly.

"Dummy… That's not what I meant."