Other links:
Sapphire Angel, Superheroine (Book 1)
Power Play (Book 2)
Deconstruction (Book 3)
Savage Dawn (Book 4)
Savage Vengeance (Book 5 - this story)
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. The stories contain mature sexual content and violence as well. I am placing this warning on all chapters, including those without such violence, so you can choose whether to continue.
CHAPTER 18
Ryan Addington couldn’t believe his good fortune. The television reporter bounced on his feet, nervous energy bursting from him as he waited for the camera to go live. This would be his moment to shine yet again. He stood across the street from a low brick building with a simple blue sign in the window. It read, Midtown Jewelers. Two police cars sat in front of the building.
An hour earlier, an envelope had arrived on Addington’s desk in the newsroom. He had opened it to find a note with a few words.
For you.
- Savage
A thumb drive sat in the bottom of the envelope, and the drive contained a short video. Addington’s eyes had nearly popped out of his head as he played it. Now it was an hour later, and time to share it on the midday news.
“Live in five seconds,” the cameraman said, holding up his hand, fingers in the air. He brought the fingers down one at a time, and when his fist closed, Addington spoke into the camera.
“Hello, Allison,” he said, addressing the anchor back at the studio. “I’m here at Midtown Jewelers, which we learned just an hour ago was the site of the Savage Gang’s latest strike. The owner of the store has been outspoken about his lack of fear of the gang, and he arranged with a security detail to provide protection at his store, both during business hours and overnight. Unfortunately, that wasn’t enough. Details are scant, but the police are on the scene, and we are learning that it is a gruesome scene inside. Police found the entire security detail either dead, or unconscious with gruesome injuries. We believe this happened this morning, just before the store opened. I can report that I, Ryan Addington, was the one who alerted the police. Several ambulances left moments ago. We will provide updates as we know more, but right now, I have an exclusive. This exclusive will shed some light on how I came to learn of this horrible attack.”
Addington paused for dramatic effect.
“An hour ago, a thumb drive containing a video showed up on my desk. It appears to have been from Maximus Savage himself. Why he sent it to me, I can’t be sure. Perhaps it was because of my encounter with Sapphire Angel after one of her earliest appearances in the city, or perhaps Savage recognizes my expertise concerning the superheroine. We’re going to play the video for you. I need to warn you it contains some disturbing content.”
The screen cut from Addington and switched to the video recording, which depicted the massive form of Maximus Savage. He stood inside the jewelry store, at some undetermined earlier time. His rippling muscles strained his black pants and tight black shirt, and he wore no body armor. The blurry forms of mangled bodies, surrounded by pools of blood, filled the periphery of the image.
Savage stepped toward the camera, his upper face covered with his mask. Perhaps he wore it to emphasize his frightening eyes, which didn’t match and were ringed by the red eyeholes of his mask. Those eyes looked tired, as if the gang leader had experienced a long night. His lower face, with its square jaw, displayed a crooked leer.
“Are you people scared?” he asked. “Behind me is a taste of what is coming to anyone who stands in our way. Your police have gotten brave lately, but they still haven’t been able to stop us. It’s a good thing they haven’t crossed our path after the rally, because we would shred your men in blue. And the same goes for your pretty little superheroine. I have a message for you, Sapphire Angel. You’ve gotten lucky so far, but unless you disappear and never show your face, you’re gonna face my wrath. Because we will cross paths again, and I’m going to punish you. Hurt you. End you. So stand down.”
The footage went dark, and a moment later Addington was back on the screen.
“There it is Allison — a personal command from Maximus Savage to our own heroine, Sapphire Angel.”
“Do you think she’ll heed the warning, Ryan?” the news anchor asked. “Savage seems like he means business.”
“I think we all know the answer, Allison. Sapphire Angel hasn’t backed down from a challenge yet, which is one reason we all love her. And she hasn’t found a challenge she can’t overcome, either. She’s invincible. Unbeatable. So if I were a betting man, I’d put my money on the woman in the costume.”
Addington’s face tightened a moment later, as if he were hearing his own words for the first time. In a way, he was, as the words echoed around his brain. From what he knew of Maximus Savage, the gang leader didn’t take kindly to anyone who disparaged him.
“Of course, if, uh, Savage is watching,” Addington continued, “that isn’t to belittle his abilities. He could win, obviously. If anyone could beat Sapphire Angel, it would be him.”
“You saved yourself, Addington,” Maximus Savage growled.
He lowered his travel bag onto his bed and watched the television from his dank quarters below the city. If the newsman hadn’t just paid lip service to the gang leader, Savage would have visited him and set another example for the city.
Savage and his best men had just flown back to the city a few hours earlier. They had been busy after their return, hitting the jewelry store before returning to the hideout. The gang leader was tired and grumpy, and he knew his men sensed it. Crusher Barnes stood behind him, also watching the television.
“Should we fuck the guy up?” Barnes asked.
Savage turned, shaking his head.
“No,” he said. “Not yet, at least. He’s the only game in town when it comes to Sapphire Angel. Megan Lawlor is still recuperating from when Rocco snatched her. So this Addington guy is the resident expert on Sapphire Angel, at least in the eyes of the public. We may need him.”
“Need him for what?” Barnes asked.
“To memorialize things when I destroy Sapphire Angel. I’m sick of seeing her every time I turn on the television. I’m sick of seeing her face on magazine covers. I’m sick of seeing her trending on social media. I’m even sick of hearing them talk about her on the radio. We need to give the media something else to focus on about her — her destruction. The people of this city are going to see their goddess weep. And Addington might be the one to show it to them.”
Make no doubt about it. Savage would destroy the superheroine. He must. The reason wouldn’t be just to hurt her — although that would be fun — but to hurt this city and its people. The people of this country were the ones who had turned their backs on him. They needed to see their beloved heroine broken and in tears, a shell of her radiant self. They would be stunned if forced to watch him shatter Sapphire Angel's invincible aura.
As Barnes nodded, the voice of the news anchor, Allison Fairmont, continued from the television in the corner as she moved to another story.
“And in other Savage Gang news,” Fairmont said, “the jewelry store attack was only the latest gang operation across the city. Wealthy businessman Wayne ‘the Hammer’ Steele has had enough. Here’s what the Hammer had to say.”
Wayne Steele came on screen with his trademark bald head and bulging muscles, flanked on both sides by six men in tight gold military-style fatigues, adorned with shiny black body armor. Gold helmets with dark visors hid their faces. The focus of each uniform was a chest emblem which depicted a fist clutching a hammer. Each man had a handgun strapped to both sides of his waist, and they wore knives sheathed at strategic locations on their arms and legs. Steele’s usual friendly smile was gone, replaced by a tight jaw and glaring eyes.
“Hey folks, the Hammer here,” Steele said in his trademark deep, gravelly voice. “Are you as sick of the Savage Gang as I am? I want Maximus Savage to hear this, in case he missed it last time — my men are coming for you. The hammer is going to drop on you and your goons. My men — my Justice Seekers — will be the end of you. You’re an animal, and it’s time for us to cage you.”
Savage growled, stopping himself from striding across the room and smashing the television. His stomach roiled with nausea from his latest injection, and he turned to a bucket next to him, emptying his stomach. As he vomited, Steele continued his speech.
“And don’t think about running your normal playbook, and coming after us and our loved ones. Me, my family, and my employees are safely hidden away. We’re not afraid, but we know about your cowardly tactics. And these men aren’t showing their faces for the same reason — you won’t be able to intimidate us. Your days as a free man are numbered.”
The screen switched back to the studio, and a moment later Allison Fairmont moved on to other stories. Savage raised his head and shot a glare at the screen.
“Addington might have gotten a reprieve,” Savage growled in a low voice. “But not Steele’s so-called Justice Seekers. We’re taking them down before they can even get started.”
“How?” Barnes asked. “You heard what he said. We won’t be able to find them.”
“Then figure it out!” Savage snapped. “Get Julian on it. He can hack anything. They hide behind those helmets, but Steele’s a big shot around here. He can’t be perfect — he had to leave a clue behind to tell us who they are, and where we can find them. We’ll crush them, one by one, if we have to.”
“I told you this would happen!” Megan Lawlor exclaimed into the phone, rising from the sofa. Her other hand held the remote control. She had just watched the competing news station, News 6, with two scoops — Ryan Addington with exclusive footage from the Savage Gang, and Wayne Hammer telling Maximus Savage his Justice Seekers would hunt down the Savage Gang.
“I’m missing out on everything,” she seethed, unloading on her agent, Curtis Reznick. “If you had gotten me back in action yesterday, I’d be covering this story.”
“Megan, you heard Addington. The gang gave him that info. You coming back wouldn’t have changed anything.”
“Maybe the gang would have given it to me if I was back! I have a history with them!”
“Perhaps,” Reznick murmured.
“Did you get my medical clearance?”
“I did, yes. I sent it to Douglas.”
“Good! I’m going in to the studio. I won’t miss the next story! It won’t be long before I’m the one with a scoop about Sapphire Angel and the Savage Gang!”
Other links:
Sapphire Angel, Superheroine (Book 1)
Power Play (Book 2)
Deconstruction (Book 3)
Savage Dawn (Book 4)
Savage Vengeance (Book 5 - this story)
…..This whole news feud initially started off as amusing enough (if I may say so), but I really thought it was just some workplace rivalry. And then I hear that Ryan Addington has actual connections to the Savage Gang, and my whole perspective on everything changes. xD
Megan Lawlor’s certainly starting to lose it, but at least she doesn’t have a hand in the crew’s operations like Addington does (though Addington’s case might be more coercion than anything else). This reminds me of those well-known government figures who pretend to praise and exalt someone on camera while actually having a very different opinion of them off camera, you know? They’re worried about what they say because they don’t know if their benefactor is watching at that moment.
I wanna see Wayne Steele and the Justice Seekers pull off at least some successes (the “the hammer is going to drop” line made me chuckle a good bit), and, in a perfect world, I could see his team being every bit as effective as Sapphire Angel’s. They have anonymity, effectiveness, teamwork, collaboration…..the whole lot. Wonder if Julian (the hacker Savage mentions) will be a decently major character or if he’ll just be the Gang’s trump card against the Justice Seekers. If I were Savage, I’d be vomiting right now as well, knowing that a THIRD party is on my tail for the stuff I did. Then again, that was more the medication’s doing than anything else.
I really think Lawlor is a better choice for covering Sapphire Angel since Lawlor was more recent (the encounter with Lynch on the bridge), but at the same time, Addington did correctly point out that he was one of the first people to see her in action. I’ll find out soon, I suppose!