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 22
"Ahhhh!" Sapphire Angel screamed, her feminine voice echoing about the room as Savage bent her body.
She no longer stared up at the ceiling. He pushed her down so far she stared at the far wall, her head upside down. He was trying to snap her in half. The end of her silken hair pooled in a golden pile on the floor, and her costume stretched tight over her stomach and breasts. Even her skirt clung tight to her hips and pelvis, as her toes pawed at the floor.
She needed to do something, or the fight would be over soon. Her senses were returning faster than the gang leader had reason to know, but his blows had weakened her. She wouldn’t be able to break his iron grip around her throat. But she had to try.
Her left arm hung too close to his leg to be effective, so Sapphire Angel formed a fist with a right hand, tensing and preparing to throw a punch across her body, perhaps dislodging him. She just needed to raise herself for even a moment, fighting against the arm holding her down by the throat.
She started her swing, but before it crossed her body, Savage’s other fist slammed down, again mashing into her exposed stomach. He had seen her attempt coming and had released her thigh to punish her midsection.
Sapphire Angel gave a sickly wheeze and her arms flopped back down, limp, with the gloved tips of her fingers brushing against the floor again. He drove another blow down into her stomach.
"Gnnnh!" she gurgled, as her body flopped atop his leg.
“I own you, bitch, so stop trying,” he hissed, as a soft whimper escaped Sapphire Angel’s lip. “Time to finish you, and then I got somewhere special to take you.”
Savage reared back his fist again. When his fist reached an apex, her instincts took over. He still held her throat, pinning her atop his knee, but her thigh was free. Sapphire Angel kicked up, sending her legs straight above her. She started a reverse somersault, using Savage’s leg as a fulcrum, surprising the gangster. The move dipped her head down so far she was almost standing upside down, and the downward motion pulled her throat free of Savage’s grasp. She spun, doing a complete revolution, before touching down in a crouch a few feet away from the gangster, putting a fist on the floor between her legs for balance.
She was too close to Savage, and unsteady on her feet, struggling to breathe. He lunged for her, shooting his hand forward and enveloping her elegant neck. Her arms came up and grabbed his wrist, but she was still recovering from the punishment atop his knee, and couldn’t wrench his hand free. As she fought for air, he seized her thigh with his other hand. Her eyes opened wide in surprise as he hoisted her from her feet.
As she squirmed in his grasp, he turned her upside down, causing her skirt to bunch at her waist, and her hair to dangle toward the floor. She saw the ceiling below her and the floor above her as she pawed at the hands on her throat. Her legs kicked weakly.
As the legendary superheroine dangled upside down in Savage’s grasp, he took a step toward the desk. He swung her petite body, body-slamming her onto the surface of the metal piece of furniture.
She grunted as her back hit the desk with enough force to dent the top. A soft groan came from her lips as Savage came in and out of focus above her. She saw one feature on his rugged face — his trademark evil grin.
In her dazed state, the deep recesses of her mind called out to her. Fight! You can't let him beat you! He couldn’t match her strength or speed, but somehow he had her on the ropes. She had never lost a fair fight, rising to a mythical status around the world, yet this gangster was pummeling her.
She put an elbow underneath her, trying to push herself up, but Savage swung his interlocked hands down into her already-tender stomach. Sapphire Angel wheezed yet again as her legs and chest twitched upward. Savage met her rising face, slamming an elbow into her forehead and bouncing her head back down onto the desk's metal surface.
She whimpered, but managed to roll off the side of the desk before he could attack again. She fell, hitting the floor, with the desk between her and Savage. Desperate, she dug deep, finding a hidden reserve of energy. She reared back with her legs and kicked out and up, slamming the large desk toward Savage. His eyes opened wide and his hands moved, but too late. The desk slid and tilted up, slamming into his face, before crashing back down to the floor.
The crushing impact sent Savage tumbling, and he fell out of sight for a moment, giving her time to struggle to her feet. As her shoulders heaved and her legs trembled beneath her, Savage rose from the other side of the desk. A large crack ran up the side of his mask, and the gang leader wiped a trail of blood from his mouth.
Sapphire Angel stood straight, ignoring the pain shooting throughout her body. She couldn't let him know how badly he had hurt her.
“Looks like you got a little something right there,” she said, her blue eyes twinkling as she tapped a finger to the side of her mouth. He snarled at her like a feral animal.
Sapphire Angel smiled, trying to antagonize him. She had already learned she could use his temper against him by utilizing her quickness to avoid his attacks. She needed to do it now more than ever, to give her necklace a chance to heal her. The heroine did a quick survey of her body. She ached everywhere, with her stomach, face, and back the worst. But it wasn’t as bad as a few moments earlier. Perhaps her necklace was doing its thing.
Savage charged, liked a shark sensing blood in the water, coming around the desk. Sapphire Angel observed the room out of the corners of her eyes, noting any obstacles. At the last moment, she bobbed and darted to the side, slower than before, but fast enough. Savage flailed with a punch, missing. He roared, swinging a backhand, but she danced back, avoiding the blow.
Savage howled again, trying to feint one way before coming from another, but she was too quick, even in her diminished state, dodging away again. She even let out a purposeful giggle as she moved away. Savage swung one blow and then another, missing one and landing a soft, glancing impact with the second.
Four more times he came at her, and four more times she dodged his attacks, enraging him. And tiring him. Her strategy was working. He was winded, and she was healing. Not pain free, but healed enough to go on the offensive again. She had used her superior quickness. Now it was time to use her superior strength.
“Stand still, you cowardly bitch!” he snarled.
Savage lunged, swinging at her with a left punch, probably expecting her to dodge him again. But this time she blocked the punch with her left arm, wincing at the unexpected force of it, and lashed back with her right fist.
His eyes opened wide in surprise at her unexpected attack. He had left his stance open, and the punch caught him in the center of his stomach — in the middle of his broken body armor. He grunted as the air whooshed from his lungs, and he clutched for his midsection, bending at the waist. Sapphire Angel hopped onto her left leg and thrashed out with her right leg, kicking upward. Her boot connected with his chin, snapping his head back and flipping him to the floor. She dashed toward him.
He jumped to his feet and lunged at her as she got near, but he was still fighting for breath and was slower from exertion. As she had done in their first fight, Sapphire Angel stepped to the side, grabbing one of his extended forearms. This time, though, he used his free arm, clubbing downward into her back. The force took her by surprise, slamming her forward into his bulky frame.
Her petite form bounced off his muscular body and she stumbled back. Before she could recover, he was on her, jumping and swinging another punch. This one crashed into her cheek, in almost the same spot as early in the fight. The downward trajectory of the blow whipped her into the floor, where she landed with a smack.
Unimaginable pain ripped through her, invading every sense and nearly overwhelming her. But Sapphire Angel was not done, and rolled to the side and onto her back, just before a boot stomped on the floor next to her. Savage was off balance from his stomp, and Sapphire Angel pushed her arms underneath her, pivoted her hips, and kicked up with both feet, crashing the heels of her boots into his jaw.
As the big man stumbled back, Sapphire Angel brought her legs down and tightened her sore stomach muscles, flipping to her feet. With no hesitation, she twirled, landing a kick to the side of the man’s face. He stumbled again, and she darted forward, landing a volley of punches to his head and sending him teetering back. Each punch was like a jackhammer into the gang's leader's skull. She finished the offensive by leaping from her feet and driving both boots into his chest, flinging him back. He pirouetted and flew as if shot from a cannon, his arms waving and his feet barely touching the floor, before he crashed into a nearby desk and fell to the ground.
He pulled himself up by the edge of the desk, groaning, only for her to rip a fire extinguisher from the wall, close the distance, and swing it into the side of his skull, slamming him back into the desk. Savage moaned and his shoulders heaved as he leaned over the surface of the piece of furniture.
It was only a matter of time now. Her pain was fading quickly, thanks to her necklace. Savage had no such help.
Sapphire Angel went on a full offensive, whirling towards him. He got his arms up, but was too slow to block her blows. She alternated between right and left punches to his face, his head jerking back and forth, as if a pair of battering rams were crashing into his skull. As his head whipped back and forth, his eyes filled with confusion, his brain unable to comprehend the superhuman might behind the blows. After the fourth crushing punch, his mask hung broken on his face. Sapphire Angel finished with a whirlwind kick, her boot connecting with his skull and flipping Savage over the desk.
She leapt over the desk, clearing it, and coming down with a karate chop to the back of Savage's neck as he rose. The blow drove him back to the floor, and before he could stand, she kicked him under the chin, flipping him backward in a series of tumbles.
The gangster came to a stop, sitting on the floor, his back against a cabinet, looking up at the heroine, his face a mask of disbelief and stupor. She was on him in a flash, landing a pulverising left hook to the side of his head, obliterating the rest of his mask and sending it flying from his face. She smashed another punch to the right side of his unprotected head, and again to the left, volleying his skull back and forth. His eyes were fading, and drool leaked from his mouth. A soft, wheezing murmur fluttered from his lips. It was almost over. Somehow, though, Savage groaned and lunged at her.
She pivoted to the side and used his momentum, heaving him and flipping him over the desk again. Sapphire Angel took a moment to catch her breath.
She instantly regretted her delay. Savage, laying on the floor on the other side of the desk, reached up with his arm, swiping a candle off a low cabinet and into a trashcan. Almost instantly, the contents of the trashcan burst into flames. Sapphire Angel stepped back, startled, and Savage kicked the can toward the curtains, sending the canister into a roll. His aim was perfect, and the flames caught, shooting up the fabric of the curtains and bathing the room in flickering light.
A moment later, Savage was on his feet, stumbling toward the glass exit doors at the front of the office. Sapphire Angel stepped toward him, but as he rushed through the doors and into the dark night, she glanced at the fire. The entire curtain was burning, and licks of flame were shooting out into other parts of the room. If she didn’t do something, the fire would grow into an unmanageable inferno. It would be a disaster. People lived on the upper levels of the building.
She balled her fists, watching through the glass window as Savage fled across the front parking lot. It was an impossible choice — stop him, and stop the gang’s reign of terror, or stop the fire and prevent a more immediate catastrophe. With a cry of frustration, she turned to the burning trashcan, laying on its side. Her eyes darted about the room, trying to locate the fire extinguisher she had used as a weapon. She couldn't spot it.
A moment later, the wail of a fire alarm hammered her senses. As she winced at the noise, a spray of water rained down on her, quickly drenching her hair and costume. It was the sprinkler system, a few moments too late.
She looked out the window, toward where she had last seen Savage, but she saw only darkness. Sapphire Angel sprinted to the door and burst out into the night, her eyes scanning for him. He was gone, and she knew she wouldn't find him.
She wanted to cry. Tonight was supposed to be the night for her to live up to her mantle. A hero. To prove her worth. And, after receiving a horrific beating, she had been winning, showing she was the best. But she had failed again. She had earned nothing. Maximus Savage had escaped once again.
She hurried back inside to check on the fire. The sprinkler system had already doused the flames. Squinting through the spraying water, she looked toward the platform where the two men lay. They were gone, too. They must have retreated through the door into the access hallway, and probably from there to an exterior exit.
Sapphire Angel held a gloved hand to her face, fighting back tears of frustration. Her emotions overwhelmed her pain, and she barely noticed the ache pervading her body. This had been her chance, and she had blown it. The words from her dream came to her. You’re a fraud. You’re not worthy.
A robed man stood on the sidewalk across from the office building and watched as flames flickered inside the front portion of the structure. A moment later, Maximus Savage crashed through the front door, turned right, and sprinted toward an alley. He was out of sight when Sapphire Angel emerged, looking left and right, her frustration apparent.
The man with silver eyes eased back into the shadows and studied the famous woman. The closer he was to the breathtaking heroine, the more he sensed his time was coming — his time to find his champion, whom he would train to dismantle Sapphire Angel. If Maximus Savage didn’t do it first.
Other links:
Sapphire Angel, Superheroine (Book 1)
Power Play (Book 2)
Deconstruction (Book 3)
Savage Dawn (Book 4)
Savage Vengeance (Book 5 - this story)
Just soooo exciting, this chapter! To read of Sapphire Angel on the cusp of defeat, but then to miraculously once again turn the tables, having Savage back on the verge of defeat, but then to have it slip away. Great job in conveying Sapphire Angel’s morality struggle, but at the same time, revealing how her indecisiveness has cost her. As well, it’s so super intriguing seeing Sapphire Angel exposed as vulnerable. Even in his oh so near defeat, Savage should be able to take heart in the fact that he had essentially beaten the superheroine, so now he KNOWS she can be beaten. Can’t wait to read their next big confrontation! Keep up the great work, CJ. You’re amazing! :x
…..That was somehow a better rollercoaster than ANY of the rollercoasters I’ve been to, at both Wild Adventures AND Six Flags Over Georgia! …..I don’t know if you know what those places are, but they’ve got some killer rollercoasters, I tell you. Even more “killer” than Maximus Savage himself. …..Anyway, I was literally on the edge of my seat during that whole thing; I had to slow down a bit during the incredibly involved fight scenes since you clearly have a larger understanding of action than I do (e.g., the reference to a “fulcrum” was something I had to search; I knew it had something to do with a lever but not exactly what).
This was almost exactly the type of “second-wind” action sequences in most forms of media where the protagonist finally overcomes their struggles, overpowers the antagonist after initially being on the ropes for most of the confrontation, and bounces back…..except that Sapphire ends up letting Savage get away again, just like the attack on the unveiling ceremony near the beginning. That sucks, though……I genuinely think the sprinkler system could’ve single-handedly extinguished the fire and let Sapphire continue to chase him. She fell victim to her own chronic heroism…..yikes. And the writing at that scene…..dang. I would be crying too, if I were her; getting this, a chance to redeem oneself by taking down the person who humiliated and/or evaded you before…..only to have it slip through my fingers a second time…..I’d just want to disappear off the face of the Earth at that point. And this time, she doesn’t have a lot of people to lean on. Conner’s out, and her only options are probably Ethan or the Devor family. Maybe NOW she’ll want to look into a partnership with Lockheed and the FBI?
I was not expecting to see the silver-eyed man again here, though; if he really did somehow have a way of viewing that entire battle, then that means that Sapphire unwittingly gave the silver-eyed man a PERFECT display of her capabilities…..and how “well” Savage would perform against her should the silver-eyed man choose to use him as his champion. I’d choose someone else if I were the silver-eyed man…..Savage just seems a little too much on the “brawn” side, and I’d want someone more “balanced”. But that’s just me. Wonder what Majid Azari will say if the silver-eyed man ever briefs this to him.
I had a feeling we were nowhere near done, and right now, that’s never been more clear. Maybe the old adage “the third time’s the charm”? And maybe that one will be with some help from the FBI and/or the Justice Seekers? (Wouldn’t it be hilarious if Savage got away from Sapphire here, only to be almost immediately defeated by the Justice Seekers the moment he’s out of her sight?) I will say this, though; every failure she has is bound to make her eventual success against him all the more satisfying.
Let’s get it on!