Other links:
Sapphire Angel, Superheroine (Book 1)
Power Play (Book 2)
Deconstruction (Book 3)
Savage Dawn (this book - Book 4)
VIOLENCE WARNING: The two stories in the Savage Gang saga, and especially the second story, involve a gang practicing extreme violence toward everyone — women, the elderly, the protagonist, etc. I am placing this warning on all chapters, including those without such violence, so you can choose whether to continue.
CHAPTER 10
In the dressing room, one gangster moved to guard the open door, while the two others stood around Lena Erb. The largest of the invaders lurked over the violinist, while a stocky, shorter man stood next to him.
"This instrument has no place in the hands of brutes like you!" the plump woman snapped in a lecturing tone, holding the violin behind her. Her eyes flashed with defiance.
The two men chuckled with deep, raspy laughs, looking at one other.
"See, that's the wrong answer," the bigger gang member said. "Because now we can't just take your little toy and leave you in one piece. We have to set an example for anyone who would think about not listening to us."
He turned to the shorter man. "How bad should we hurt this one?"
The man shrugged. "She plays the violin, right?"
The big man nodded, and the shorter man continued. "And she kinda needs her arms and fingers for that, right?"
"Yep," the large man agreed.
"It's easy, then. We snap her fingers, and break her arms."
"Sounds good to me. But we're running out of time, so you break an arm, and I'll snap the fingers on her other hand. Then we're outta here."
The two men started forward, but stopped at the sound of a series of thuds and grunts behind them. They spun to see the third gangster fly across the room, bounce off the wall, and slump to the floor.
Their eyes turned to the doorway and opened in shock at the sight of a petite woman charging at them, long hair flowing behind her. She was breathtakingly beautiful — enough to stun the men into inaction. This knockout blonde wasn't big, standing maybe five feet five inches tall, with the lithe frame of a figure skater.
She wore a skintight costume, similar to a skating dress, with a short skirt barely covering her slender, shapely legs. The minidress was a brilliant sapphire blue color, except for the skirt, which was a pristine white. The outfits's shiny fabric stretched across her modest, perfect breasts and accentuated her subtle curves. A necklace peaked out between the opening of the costume's short collar, with a princess-cut diamond gleaming in the light. Her toned upper arms were bare, with white gloves extending from her fingertips to her elbows. She wore translucent tights on her legs, and on her feet she wore white ankle boots.
And her face. That face. Neither man had ever seen a face so beautiful, yet so full of contradictions. Both delicate and striking, her face featured prominent cheekbones and a wide mouth, and exuded both stunning beauty and childlike innocence, even at first glance. The brilliance of her blue eyes would have dominated any other woman's features, but perfectly spotlighted hers. She was the unattainable supermodel and the approachable girl next door, all wrapped in one.
Caught as they were in their stupor, she was on the bigger man before he could react, driving a punch into his face and a kick into his chest. He toppled backward and crashed into the folding table, which collapsed under his weight as the hors d'oeuvres went tumbling.
The smaller man got off an off-balanced punch, but the woman ducked. She countered with a glancing fist to his face, driving him back. He shook off the blow and roared, charging at her, only to be met with a kick to his chest. As he flipped back, tumbling to the ground, the woman twisted to the side, as if a sixth sense warned her of the bigger man, who had extricated himself from the table and was lunging at her with a punch from behind.
Her move saved her from a crushing blow, but his punch still struck her shoulder, sending her in a half spin and eliciting a feminine yelp. The spin sent her stumbling away from the big man and toward the smaller man, who had sprung to his feet and lashed out with a punch. The costumed woman bobbed to the side, avoiding the blow, and grabbed his arm with her hands. She heaved, flipping him past her and into the bigger man.
The two men collided with simultaneous grunts and fell to the floor. As they started to right themselves, the hard toe of her boot thudded under the chin of the big man, jumbling his thoughts and flipping him onto his back. The smaller man snarled, erupted from a crouched position, and enveloped the woman in a tackle. His superior mass carried her backward, and he landed on top of her as she thudded to the ground.
He straddled her, his knees on either side of her slender form as he sat on her waist. The masked man peered down at her with a malevolent grin as she blinked her eyes, dazed. He smile grew larger as he reared back his fist and swung forward, toward the center of her face.
The man's smile disappeared when she twisted her head to the side and his fist smashed into the floor, splintering the hardwood surface. She flashed a smile and quick wink, before her hand lashed up in a blur, slamming into his jaw and rattling his teeth. His arms dropped to his sides, and her other fist swung into the side of his mask, stunning him and driving him off her.
She flipped to her feet and did a reverse somersault, ready to continue the fight, but the bigger man was still on his back, groaning as he tried to recover from the kick to his jaw, and the smaller man was on his hands and knees, shaking his head. The first man, who she had surprised at the door, wasn't a factor, laying still against the wall.
She darted to the big man first, stomping down with a heel to his face, taking him out of the fight. The agile woman pivoted, turning to the other man and swinging her leg like a placekicker, connecting with her toe under his chin. He flipped twice in the air before crashing to the floor and laying still.
The costumed woman tensed, fists raised, but none of the opponents moved. She had done it.
Sapphire Angel looked down at the man below her, and at the two other men sprawled unconscious on the floor, before turning to Lena Erb, who stared at her, mouth agape.
"Are you alright?" the heroine asked, stepping to the violinist and reaching out with a gentle touch to the woman's arm.
Erb nodded. "Y... Yes. Thanks to you, Sapphire Angel. That was incredible," she murmured.
Sapphire Angel gave her a quick smile before returning to the man closest to her. She bent down and secured him like she did the man on the loading dock. She moved to the other two men, calling over her shoulder to Erb. "Please call 9-1-1. Tell them the Savage Gang assaulted this place, and there are at least two people injured and three dead." As she spoke, she bound the wrists and ankles of the last two men.
"Sapphire Angel, I..." Erb said, but the superheroine held up a hand to stop her.
"I have to go. Please, make that call now." The costumed beauty turned and darted out the door.
Rocco Lynch gritted his teeth as he stalked down the alley's narrow sidewalk, looking at the two-way radio in his hand. His men should have checked in by now. He had timed his exit from his watchful perch, moving from alley to alley, so he would arrive at the van a few minutes before his men returned with the violin.
They were to call him on their way out, but his radio remained silent. He didn't want to distract them, in the event they were still at work, but he had a gnawing feeling something had gone wrong. He swore and grabbed the radio.
"Come in, Black Team. This is Lion. Do you copy? Over."
He pulled the radio from his mouth and waited. Silence. He repeated his call and waited again. More silence.
Muttering under his breath, he continued walking forward. As he did so, sirens sounded in the distance.
Damnit! Something had gone wrong. He ducked down the alley perpendicular to the main road, moving in the shadows of the buildings, and approached the alley running alongside the Thompson Center.
His heart pounded as he drew closer. When he was almost even with the alley along the building, he slowed. He peered toward the loading dock, and his jaw dropped in disbelief. His man was there, but lay flat on the loading dock, his wrists and ankles bound. The sight didn't bode well for his men inside the Thompson Center.
Lynch hesitated, alternating his gaze between the loading dock and the alley behind him. He didn't like the idea of leaving his men behind. The police would arrest them, and he would lose a segment of his team and a small portion of the gang's weapons stash. The alternatives were worse, though. He couldn't risk being captured during his first mission in Harrisburg. And he could always free his men later.
Lynch cursed and turned around, away from the Thompson Center. He walked one block and ducked down another alley, heading away from the crime scene. He didn't know what had gone wrong, as this should have been an easy job, but he would find out.
Forward to Chapter 11 (link works after Chapter 11 goes live)
Other links:
Sapphire Angel, Superheroine (Book 1)
Power Play (Book 2)
Deconstruction (Book 3)
Savage Dawn (this book - Book 4)
I was a little suprised at the ease in which she handled the first run in with the gang. These guys are brutes, and I am sure at some point she will find herself in a difficult situation. I do imagine the next few chapters are going to be about Beth and Conner and dealing with their relationship and her double life, as well as Savage dealing with something he is not used to, losing. I imagine he might do some preparation before the next encounter with Sapphire Angel. I would think the next time around, they will be waiting for her.
It will be interesting, that I am sure.
As great as that action scene was.....if your goal was to make me see a noticeable difference between the Savage Gang and the rest of the villains that Sapphire Angel has faced thus far.....it’s currently not working. So far, they all just seem like more cannon fodder for her, though with Lynch now aware that SOMETHING is messing with their operations in Harrisburg, a small part of me thinks it won’t remain like that for long. Their first major mission in the city was officially a failure thanks to Sapphire, but when Lynch reports back in, oh boy.....one can only wonder where things will go from there. .....Did Sapphire need to use her martial arts training in this specific fight? She definitely caught at least some of them off-guard, so they wouldn’t be ready for a proper fight.....the fight manager Mike Mitchell, the gun salesman T.L. “Tip” Grim, and Olivia Lockheed are still out there, too---as are Benjamin and “Smash”---so there’s a lot of time for all of them to get in on the action. Still curious about how “Tip” would do against Sapphire......or maybe he’s more of a “background player” or “supplier” for the gang rather than an outright fighter.
Savage is not going to take this news well whenever Lynch comes on back. Then again, as ruthless as he is, he doesn’t seem to be too impatient with his own followers; his wrath would most likely turn to Sapphire rather than Lynch, since she’s the reason why his men are incapacitated. Maybe that serum he injected into his bottom early on could finally start to take effect. It could give him extreme flatulence and he’d just beat Sapphire by farting in her face.
I’m concerned for how Conner will react when Sapphire reverts to Beth and tries to regroup with him. He could understand what she left him for.....or he could not. Either way, as long as she takes the time to explain everything that had happened, I’m sure she still at least has a chance at keeping him on her side. He could probably be like “You left me behind? Again? I’m sick of you constantly putting yourself in harm’s way and not letting me be there for you! I already KNOW your secret; you didn’t have to hide anything from me anymore! And yet you still did?! Why?” and then continue on from there.
Now that I think about it, her being honest at the start (telling Conner the real reason why she was leaving) and just lying to him (which is what she did do) both had their pros and cons. If she told the truth, there’s a chance that Conner would’ve actively prevented her from going, and had she lied, he’d probably have been livid when she came back.
Regarding the real-life complexity of a superheroine’s career, you’re hitting the nail right on the head. On the other hand, the Savage Gang has yet to hit Sapphire on the head. The only violence right now is the violence she showed towards them, if anything.
The Savage Gang pulled off quite the effort this time around, but it still wasn’t enough. Let’s see where this goes!