(Part 2)

Gabriel bent to the floor as a cloud of yellow smoke flushed from Hemlock’s hand, enveloping the front line of goons. As some began firing blindly, Hemlock leapt from her position and bounded toward the ringleader with a laugh. With a drop to the ground, the ringleader’s mask lit from pink to a deep red, a visor of light materializing from the eyes. As shots rang out, Gabriel watched as the warehouse lights swung from side to side from the chaos below. As he tracked the light, he teleported to the illuminated ground behind a group of goons. Still not free from his bonds, he took one of the wolf-gangsters’ hands and threw them over his shoulder. As panicked shots rang out around him, he teleported again and caught another goon with a clothesline. As he began to teleport from gang member to member, he took note of Hemlock taking another group on her own. Enhancement braces firing with every punch, she sent a goon flying into a crate-filled shelf. As she continued to fight, the ringleader sent shot after shot toward her, his visor focused intently on the bands of Hemlock’s suit. Gabriel could only process the fight for a second before another goon sent a balled fist at his face. Gabriel weaved easily and slammed both fists into the goon’s stomach, teleporting behind another as a shot rang out. Gabriel barely focused on his whizz of the bullet before sending a side kick into the goon, slamming him onto the ground with a groan. A gang member swung a large knife downward at Gabriel as another shot toward him rang out. With another teleport, he caught the swing mid-air whilst pulling the bullet away from the armed goon. As he pulled the goon to the ground, he pulled hard toward the blunt edge of the blade. The bonds snapping, Gabriel looked toward the man with the gun and jumped toward it. His fist around the weapon in an instant, he crushed the barrel and hooked the goon to the ground cold.

Gabriel looked back toward Hemlock and saw her fighting the ringleader far-range. One Brace laid strewn on the floor, broken from bullet holes riddled at the bend. The ringleader’s visor still glowed, the red deep as he aimed his gun toward Hemlock. She sent out a wave of gas, disrupting the visor with a static noise. As he cursed with a snack toward his ear, Hemlock leapt toward him, the other Brace tight with power straight toward his side of his skull. Gabriel teleported with a readied fist, instantly moving to catch Hemlock’s brace with a grunt. The metal crunched as pressure moved down his arm, Gabriel straining to stop the fist. As the ringleader raised his gun once again, Gabriel sent a elbow into the man’s mask, cracking both the visor and mask eyes. The ringleader fell to the ground, a silent groan emerging from his mouth. Gabriel stood straight toward Hemlock and teleported to and fro her. In his left hand, he held her other Brace and tossed it to the side. Hemlock growled and pulled off her hood and mask, revealing curly brown hair tangled down to the side and a thin scar from the side of her mouth. She crossed her hands as Gabriel strode toward her, fists clenched to his sides.

“Get it over with, Seraph. Just another arrest for me, hmm?”

“I told you a thousand times, Hem. We’re done with the villainy, we do not aim to kill with any punch! You’re on probation so you could become a hero, not so that you go back to being a Vile! And what is with you saying that ‘only I can kill you’?”

“It was Lionheart orders, to distract the goons. Scripted and all. Maybe they want to show the Vile part of me so they could say I never changed after all so when I do go back to before-“

“You are not going back to the way you were before. No when, no if’s. You just charged your Braces to the point of severe injury, and sent some goons flying into metal, and…”

Hemlock crossed her arms and looked down, her hair sending shadows down her face. Gabriel looked at her and sighed. Removing his cowl, Gabriel crouched and looked at her face from below. Her eyes remained unfocused, her forehead wrinkled with regret.

“Hey, Melissa. It’s okay, alright? You’re not a bad person, no one who doesn’t want to be will be. You will make mistakes in this line of work.

“When do they stop, Gabe?”

Gabriel opened his mouth, shut it, and spoke.

“They never do, Melissa. They never stopped after I began 5 years ago. They never stopped after our first fight three years ago. They never stopped after any other fight of mine. I’ve grown up with this job, and I never stopped making mistakes. And you…you’ve been working as a gang enforcer for the entirety of your teenager years. You will make more mistakes than me, Melissa. And that’s okay”.

Melissa looked at Gabriel, her eyes teary from thought. With a breath, she looked toward the roof of the warehouse. Gabriel stood with her, his hands loose to his sides. He stood silently, a patient gaze on Melissa as she took breath after breath, second after second. After a while, she looked back at Gabriel. With a strained smile, she opened her mouth, shut it, and spoke.

“I’m okay. I’m okay. I’m okay”.

“You are okay. I’m proud, Hem”.

Melissa’s smile grew wider as she wrapped her mask back on her face. Flipping back on her hood, she examined the area around her.

“What time will law enforcement arrive?”

“10-stat. ¿Tú ayudas limpiar?”

“Por supuesto, Seraph. I made a mistake last time though, with the bond-ties?”

“Don’t worry, I still make mistakes with those too”

Gabriel and Melissa laughed, and went back to their job of heroes once more.