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 4
TWELVE HOURS EARLIER
Sapphire Angel, America's real-life superhero, sat on a rooftop in her iconic blue and white costume, watching members from two gangs congregate on a dead-end street below. According to her intel, they were here to finalize a transaction for a cache of weapons. She saw the surveillance camera on the building, and knew it meant she would be on television tomorrow. These men were not as observant.
The costumed avenger surveyed her chances before moving into action. Eighteen men faced off below her, half from a local gang, and half from a New York gang here to sell the weapons. The local gang's numbers would have been greater, if she hadn't put so many of its members behind bars in the previous months. One bit of irony wasn't lost on her, though — ten days earlier, she had destroyed another weapons dealer's network, creating a void in town that the New York gang had rushed to fill. She needed to nip those plans in the bud.
Sapphire Angel jumped from the roof, just as the men were making the exchange. She launched feet-first into the backs of two men, driving them to the ground. She used them as a launching pad, springing at two more criminals and smashing a fist into each of their faces. They collapsed as she whirled with a kick to the head of another man, her boot connecting with a crunch before his legs went limp.
It wasn't until she dropped a man with a punch to the face that the gangsters finally reacted, leveling their firearms at the stunning super lady. By then, though, a third of their number were already out of the fight. The sound of gunshots echoed through the street, as those hoodlums with clear shots opened fire. Bullets fell harmlessly away from Sapphire Angel's body as she continued her assault, delivering a punch and two kicks, sending men flying. Nine of the original eighteen men lay on the ground, unmoving.
The men gave up on their firearms, and the two largest thugs reacted the fastest, charging at the heroine with snarls. She cartwheeled to the left, forcing them to skid to a stop and try to change direction. She surprised them when she stopped her cartwheel and pushed off the ground with outstretched arms, launching her heels into their throats. The two men dropped to the ground, gagging and clutching at their necks. She finished them with punches, sending them into unconsciousness.
Now there were seven, and she was only seconds into the fight. This was going even easier than she had hoped. Three men turned and fled, scurrying down the street in a panic. That left four. Although she didn't like letting them escape, she had known the chances of catching all the gangsters were slim. And with the surveillance video across the street, the police could use the other men to identify those who fled. With the right pressure, someone would rat out the escaping men.
The four remaining gangsters circled around her.
"We're gonna fuck you up, Sapphire Angel," the biggest one said, and the others growled their agreement.
"Now, now, no need to swear," she replied, shaking a finger and holding one hand to a cocked hip.
Without waiting, she lunged at the two closest men. They instinctively took a step back, which she had expected. She changed direction, taking aim at the men behind her, who had hurried forward. They weren't expecting her feint, and rushed right into a kick and the punch.
The kick disabled one man, who crumbled at her feet, and the punch sent the second man flipping back. Sapphire Angel sensed the other men closing behind her, and leapt up and over their heads in a tight reverse somersault, spinning like a buzz saw, before her heels clicked down on the street behind them.
She stood across from the men, hands on her hips and her legs spread in a confident pose. A grin spread across her face as they turned to face her, gasping for breath from their efforts to keep up with her blinding pace. This was actually kind of fun. The men, on the other hand, seemed unsure of themselves, exchanging glances with one another, their thoughts obvious — how had one small woman thinned their ranks so quickly and easily? She seized upon their hesitation, closing the distance and unleashing a dazzling flurry of punches, parries, and kicks. Within seconds, two men were down and the third was staggering away. He turned and broke into a sprint, heading down the street.
Sapphire Angel would not let him escape like the others. She crouched, swiping one hand past her boot, and in one motion retrieved a small metal cylinder and flicked her wrist toward the fleeing man. A thin cable shot from the cylinder, whipping toward him and ensnaring his leg, where the cable crackled with electricity. The man gurgled and convulsed, dropping to the ground, before the cable snapped back toward the heroine, disappearing into the cylinder.
Fifteen of the original eighteen gangster lay on the street in various states of disarray. Some were unconscious, while others moaned in pain. As the sound of sirens echoed in the distance, Sapphire Angel hurried between the men, using zip ties in her boots to secure most of them. When she ran out of zip ties, she ripped pieces of their clothing to use as restraints. After she bound them, she looked down at the men, gave a satisfied nod, and slipped away into the dark city streets.
On the television in the pub, the video of Sapphire Angel's fight stopped after she secured the final thug and darted off into the darkness.
"Amazing any way you slice it," the news anchor said. "Police found enough evidence at the scene to put these men behind bars for many years."
As the report on the television finished, Ethan looked at Beth, his lips pursed, and shook his head. "I'll never stop being in awe of you," he said with a look of amazement — or something else — on his face. "You didn't tell me you had such a busy night."
"I had already taken out the local gang's best fighters last month," she said, blushing. "Anybody with some fighting skills could have taken out some of the group from last night."
Ethan continued to shake his head in awe as the anchor moved to the next story.
"And in national news," the anchor said, "some less encouraging action caught on video — this time from Columbus, Ohio. More footage of the Savage Gang."
Beth's face tightened. The Savage Gang was a vicious gang that had spread to several cities across the country, but not yet to Harrisburg.
"This is the surveillance footage from a jewelry store in Columbus, Ohio," the newscaster continued. "The footage shows alleged members of the Savage Gang, including Maximus Savage. We must warn you, the footage is extremely violent and disturbing."
Beth watched in rapt attention. The footage wasn't high quality and contained no audio, but showed five massive men, all wearing black military fatigues with body armor, striding into a jewelry store. The man in front was the biggest and barked orders as they entered. Maximus Savage, for sure.
Three customers mingled in the store, along with two employees and a security guard. The intruders wielded short machine guns and cut down the security guard with a hail of bullets. One customer, a man in a business suit, appeared to say something to Savage, who lashed out with a fist, crushing the man's nose in a spray of blood. The man started dropping to his knees, but Savage caught him by the throat and whipped him, face-first, into a display case. As the glass case shattered, Savage flung the man to the floor. The remaining customers and employees surrendering meekly, before Savage and his men cleaned out the store and left.
Beth sat transfixed and a longing to be there, helping those people, tugged at her. She turned back to the table and sighed.
"Those poor people, and that man. His poor family," she murmured.
Ethan stared at her, frowning. "Beth, you can't save everyone. That happened in Columbus, Ohio. You're not responsible for the wellbeing of everyone."
Beth looked back at him with a slow nod.
"I know," she said. "I just feel so horrible for those people."
"Me too," Ethan said, reaching out and taking her hand. "But that happened in Ohio, and you're here. Promise me you won't start traveling the country, trying to take on every problem."
Beth gave a meek smile before nodding in resignation. "I promise," she said.
Other links:
Sapphire Angel, Superheroine (Book 1)
Power Play (Book 2)
Deconstruction (Book 3)
Savage Dawn (this book - Book 4)
Great start to the story. Looking forward to seeing how the gang goes after Sapphire Angel. I am sure the 3 that escaped will be wanting some revenge. Looking forward to her first battle with the Savage gang!
Currently studying for finals, but a new chapter of Savage Dawn is a great way for me to take a short break! Just gotta get through this last week, then I’ll officially be on break for 2-3 weeks!
What an interesting “flashback” concept with the news report’s coverage! It was like we were physically there without actually being there.....or something like that. Once again, you describe the combat scenes with such effectiveness that I can tell what’s going on without any problems. For me, though, it did briefly lapse that she usually has some kind of wire cylinder concealed in her boot, so that was also a nice reminder of that. Combat scenes in general are, in my opinion, some of the most challenging sequences to write. You’ve got to describe exactly what everyone’s doing through sheer words alone; it’s not like the MCU or DCEU films where everything’s just presented to the viewers in a video-style format, to see for themselves. I do feel like I’m learning a lot of things from you, though, so it’s not something that I think we have problems with.
One thing that didn’t sit well with me, though, was the three gangsters managing to escape the scuffle. While it would’ve been funny to imagine a completely random, unrelated car coming around the corner, hitting them, taking them out, and continuing on its way as if nothing happened, the paranoid side of me keeps thinking that they’re going to come back for retaliation. Then again, these guys were part of a group completely separate from the Savage Gang, so there’s that. I feel like their actions could be construed as either cowardice or intelligence; that is, either not having the guts to take Sapphire on, or actively knowing that they don’t stand a chance and hightailing it out of there as quick as they can.
And we also ended it off on added footage depicting more of the Savage Gang’s activities. Seems like Maximus Savage is the type of baddie that does occasionally go out with his minions on missions and doesn’t just sit in the background, conducting everything from there. Hearing her voice her sadness and perceived regret for not being there---despite it taking place in Columbus, Ohio and not Harrisburg, Pennsylvania---was utterly gut-wrenching. I feel like we’ve both discussed this at some point during our stories; no matter how hard you try, you absolutely cannot save everyone. At least.....not under normal circumstances. Ethan had it on point when he told her that she isn’t responsible for the well-being of every single person on Earth, but it’s also natural for her, as a superhero, to look down on any and all wrongdoing, regardless of where it’s at. I have no doubt she’d have sprung into action had she actually been there, but alas.....I suppose it wasn’t meant to be.
They’re going to be avenged, though, right? Right?! Might take us two novels, but I know we’ll get around to it!
Now, back to studying. Got one online exam and three in-person exams, with two taking place tomorrow. Ugh......college......