The Descent Chapter 6: God's Face Part 2

Full Novel Synopsis: Sequel to 'The Spiralling', itself a sequel to the Kick-Ass (2010) movie. However, this novel can be read on its own. After Big Daddy died, Mindy was driven mad, subdued by Dave, and locked away in an Institute after killing all who she deemed responsible but Dave. Will she recover? What will happen next to a New York without her nor the Motherfucker? Elements of the Kick-Ass 2 (2013) movie and comic series will be taken in.

The Descent

Chapter 6: God’s Face Part 2

Later that Night…

Sneaking out of my room, I peeked into Mindy’s to make sure she was asleep, and sure enough, she was there, tucked in by my dad. She’s had a pillow over her eyes. It wasn’t the first time. When I asked her about it a few days ago, she said it was for covering her eyes, as she was a little afraid of sleeping alone. I was surprised that she hadn’t asked to sleep in with me or my dad – at least in that way, her courage wasn’t entirely lost. Her room was still a dull brown. Dad had already bought the paint, but we hadn’t done the painting. We’d already planned something for it, but that would be in the weekends.

Going further down the corridor, I unlocked the hatch to the attic and went up to my treasure trove. The attic was hardly ever cleared up, and as a result there were stacks of boxes as high as the roof, some of which had fallen over. Memories were stored up here, like my comic books and figurines. But something else wasn’t going to remain a memory for long…

It took me a while to figure out where I’d put my Kick-Ass costume, but it came back to me quick enough. At the other end of the attic from where I was, my life-long collection had a corner to itself, a huge corner. A whole bookshelf of comics, and leaning on it was the luggage. Dialing the passcode, I opened it up, and there inside, it lay: A pair of yellow gloves and boots, the scuba suit that had stayed with me for quite a while, the helmet, utility belt and vest. I had a pair of tasers. Oh dude, that is one gay looking taser... A ghost whispered into my ear, the ghost of Mindy’s past.

Then there’s the batons – I could never forget the batons. Taking the sticks up, I was mesmerised by my own weapon, I had to touch it. The batons had clunked the head of many a villains. Yet, I also remembered – it was used on me and Big Daddy, back when we were nearly executed. Never again, a side of my head thought. Yeah, of course, because Big Daddy’s dead, the other side countered. There was still blood on the green batons – It was Mindy’s blood, when I took her down in a combo. I remembered it all so clearly…

Like a reflex, I swung my baton against her just above the waist. I was even able to surprise myself when she stumbled in that direction.

'That's it' I thought, 'this is my ticket out. This is everyone's ticket out.' I was encouraged, and I swung my baton against her again. This time it landed just below her left armpit. I could hear a crack- it was either my weapon or her rib, "That was for Michael!" There was only one way to find out.

Like some fighter in a weird martial arts video game, I was doing a combo- I went for another swipe in the opposite direction, winding myself up fully, "And that was for Aldan!"

Demoness could not react at all before the stick connected with the side of her head and, as if we were in some Chinese movie, she spun in mid-air from the force I exerted on her before landing on the hard ground, finally floored, "That- that was for Mindy!"

I found out too late that Demoness was Mindy. After brutalising her with my batons, I wasn’t done yet with my stupidity. I started interrogating her. Got angry when I thought she wouldn’t tell, and it went out of hand. Before I saw past her disguise, I threatened her with a pistol, I’d pistol whipped her twice, choked her to within an inch of her last breath. I’d punched her in the guts a few times, slammed her against walls, slapped her, and kicked her a painful many times. I hurt her so bad – broke a few bones, bled her out. Had Mindy died that day, I would have joined her, no questions asked.

“Oh, Mindy… I’m so sorry for everything…” I whispered, feeling an old friend creeping down my cheeks as I was hugging my batons, hugging Mindy’s year-old dried blood. I looked at my main weapons again – and held them tighter, “Never again.” I promised myself that I wouldn’t make the same mistakes again.

A while later…

I did the usual rounds, walking the beat, except I knew vaguely where the hotspots were. As I was just out of retirement again, I decided to just avoid the hotspots for the day. But who am I kidding? Of course I went for the hotspots!

But even the hotspots were quieter these days. With the whole city cowboying up and even producing superheroes like Marvel, muggers and pervs were having a run for their money, at least at first. Knowing human nature, crime would surely go off the charts once things’d reached a new equilibrium. I knew I was stubborn, always going back into my wet suit. It won’t take long for the bad guys to reach for their knives once again, and that’s why we still have superhero comic books even after humanity’s been at it for a million years.

For an hour or two, all I did was to attract smiles and encouragement. At least I knew the people wanted me back. I was hi-fiving so many times, my arms were starting to ache even before I’d taken down my first villain of the night. At least I knew I’d need to do some upper body exercises so I could hi-five and fight crime more.

Another hour or two passed. My feet were getting sore – I’d need to get used to foot patrols again. There was no crime to be fought tonight. Still, I wasn’t discouraged. Sure, the fall of the D’Amico empire has had every criminal lying low and superheroes popping up, but the Mindy… Demoness’d done quite some damage to the police force to balance it out. To get to Detective Gigante for collaborating with Frank D’Amico, she massacred police officers in their own headquarters. To get to Angie D’Amico and her lieutenants, she went through an army of police officers, again. As Demoness, Mindy was a force of nature, and she left the NYPD demoralised. Some officers ended up quitting; others migrated to other services, such as the fire department or hospitals, and there weren’t enough freckle-faced new recruits joining, even after all that free advertisements superheroes like me gave. I can’t say I blame them though. You don’t get almost a hundred dead police officers within the space of hours every day. It must have felt like the end of times for them.

After the clock struck 3 without someone striking me, I knew it was time to knock off.