To Rescue a Villain

Chapter 38

This town sure was tiny. Even I doubted the trio would be hiding here but we had to check everywhere. "I never should have let them escape," I muttered as I watched my men drag the citizens out of their homes and place them in the center of the town.

Only ten people. Two of them children. Wait. Eleven. One woman had just exited the farthest house. She had a bat in her hand. That was cute...and stupid.

I nodded toward her and one of my armored men grabbed her, dragging her down with the others. The bat was snapped in half before she was even on her knees.

Hmm. She looked like the type to hide fugitives so I'd check her house first.

As I stalked toward the front door I patted the back of my long black and red jacket to ensure that my gun was still on me. I was about to yank the door open when she yelled.

"Hacket!"

"What?" I turned toward her with a smirk, glad something interesting was happening today. "Can I help you?"

"If you're looking for criminals," she started, rising slowly with her hands above her head, "then I want to help. My father was part of the military and trained me. I could be a valuable asset."

This was more fascinating than her house. "Interesting proposition...But how can I know you won't betray me? How do I know you're not secretly with the mercenaries?"

"Because I'm not a criminal."

"So you're a hero. Is that it?"

She hesitated, then nodded. "In a sense, maybe."

My right eye twitched. A hero, huh? That was what Jala had called herself in the show. "Tell me." I started toward her. "Would you be willing to do anything for me?"

She frowned in confusion as I pulled out my gun and placed it in her hand.

"Would you be willing..." I then aimed the barrel at my throat and looked her in the eyes. "...to kill me?"

"What?" Her eyes shot to her house, then to the children sitting behind her. "I couldn't without a reason..."

"I wouldn't always give you a reason," I answered, knowing she wouldn't do it. She wasn't the kind of soldier I was looking for. I didn't want heroes. I wanted anti-heroes, people like me who did what was wrong to do what was right.

She kept her fingers on the gun but didn't pull the trigger. "I won't kill for no reason. My moral compass doesn't aim that way."

"Fine." I licked my lips and nodded. "Okay, let's say that I raided every town in Manica just to find three people."

She frowned. She knew it was true.

"Let's say I imprisoned some of them because of my paranoia that they were working with the mercenaries."

She still refused to fire.

I smirked. "Let's say that I killed some of them...Let's say that my girlfriend and I killed a lot of them...Let's say that I'm going to kill everyone in this town just to lure the 'heroes' out."

"You wouldn't."

"Why wouldn't I?" I gave her the brightest smile I could, the one Zora told me made me look like a ladies' man, and waited.

I could tell that she was considering it. She even wrapped her finger around the trigger but, after glancing at the kids once more, she lowered the weapon and stepped back. She hadn't believed me.

I chuckled and grabbed the gun, shoved her back onto the snowy ground and walking away. Pathetic.

"Jala!" I yelled, marching between the houses. "If you come out now I'll let these people live!" If she was here then she'd come out to save these people. If she wasn't here then...false alarm.

"There isn't any 'Jala' here," the woman answered before receiving a blow to the head from one of my soldiers. A normal person would have backed down but she rose and punched him in the face, making him fall in the snow before the others could stop her. She had just grabbed his gun and was about to shoot him when the other soldiers disarmed her, shoving her onto her stomach.

I approached the fearless chick and frowned, watching her struggle like a child. "This is what I don't understand about you heroes," I told her, kicking the gun away from her as they tied her up. "You're willing to kill my henchmen but when you have the opportunity to kill their boss, the man who ordered them to perform all these dastardly deeds in the first place, you let me live. Why? Because I'm unarmed. Because of your misplaced sense of morality, you refuse to destroy the root of a problem."

She spat in my direction. "Your wife's lucky that she doesn't have to see you like this," she hissed before coughing up blood.

My heart lurched at her words and I pointed my gun at her head, feeling the pressure return to my head. "When I go on my next killing spree," I whispered, placing my finger on the trigger. "And I'm holding a gun to my next victim's head, I'll be sure to tell them the story of how you refused to kill me."

Her blood spattered all over my face when I pulled the trigger and the kids started to scream as soon as she lost a chunk of her head but their cries didn't make me feel guilty. On the contrary, their high pitched voices were grating on my ears. It was making my headaches worse.

I tossed the gun aside and headed back down the mountain, pressing my palm to the back of my head. "Kill them," I ordered. "All of them."

I could hear more screaming as I left. I even thought I heard one person scream my real name, but I ignored it. That woman had been asking for it. That's what "heroes" like her deserved.

Author's Note: I am seriously so used to using third person omniscient POV (he said, she said) that I have to constantly remind myself that, no, Mary and Derek cannot read other people's thoughts. Stop invading their privacy, you creep!

Also, to anyone wondering why I don't respond to comments as quickly as I used to, I only have access to the internet once or twice a week now until September. I appreciate your comments, though, and love reading all of them once I do get access. :D