Second Wind

Chapter 16: The Spark of Revolution

She had everything she needed. All she had to do now was to execute the act.

As she stared ahead of her with the grenade in her hand, she thought about what might happen if the deed was done. Unimaginable chaos was inevitable. There was no way no one was going to ignore the firestorm that was to come. It was going to be the perfect distraction, but if anyone were to find her amidst the impending madness, it would be over for her. She only had one shot. One attempt. She could not afford to mess this up, otherwise this would be where her road ends. And really, she was not keen on seeing her chapter conclude with such a bitter ending. She was bent on seeing it through.

Her mind had been made up. It was time to make the leap of faith.

She threw the grenade towards the convoy after pulling the pin off, and as it inched closer and closer towards the convoy, she could feel her heartbeat rising by the second as everything around her slowed to a crawl. Her anxiety was through the roof, her anticipation could never be higher. She never imagined she would be doing something this brazen. Sure, killing sounds brazen enough, but she had done it so many times that she had grown utterly desensitized to it. But this was something that she had not done before, especially given how she was merely doing this to grab the attention of her foes within the church. So wild. So off-the-rails. So...exhilarating. The deed had not reached a conclusion yet, and somehow, she was already so excited. Once she felt like the grenade had reached the convoy close enough, she pulled out her pistol, aiming it towards the grenade that was seconds away from detonating. She held her breath, her eyes completely fixated on the explosive as she readied herself.

No turning back.

She pulls the trigger, a bullet firing out from the gun's barrel as it rocketed towards the grenade, and when it came into contact with the explosive...a spark was born. An explosion was unleashed as the grenade prematurely detonated in response to the bullet hitting the grenade's shell, and as the blaze attacked the vehicles, they suddenly combusted as the fuel within them reacted to the flames, and in that moment, a massive blast rung throughout the streets as the combusted vehicles were sent flying off to the stars for a few moments before coming into contact with the asphalt, generating deafening noises in the process. With the distraction created, she immediately bolted towards the side of the building once again in order to get away from the horde that would rush into the scene, which they soon did once she was out of sight.

As the crew of mobsters stormed out of the church and banded together to see just what had happened, the vigilante swiftly came out from her hiding spot as she joined up with the rest of the goons, who were unaware of the fact that she had now hidden herself amongst them. After a few moments of silence went by with nothing but the crackling fires being heard, one of them immediately yelled out in rage, demanding to know just what had transpired.

"What the hell happened?! Who did this?!"

"How are we supposed to know?! All of us were back there!"

"Dammit...the boss will have our heads if she finds out what went down here! Some of you get back inside and keep watching over them, I want the rest to find whoever did this! Come on, get to it!"

With the commands relayed by one of the mobsters, who now effectively functioned like a makeshift leader for the time being, one half of the goons separated from the rest of the crew as they quickly spread throughout the streets, attempting to find out whoever was responsible for the fire. As for the other half, which included Blake herself, they turned back and returned to the church so that they could go back to business as usual, unaware of the fact that she was now walking amongst them. Once everyone was inside, one of the goons closed the doors shut as another walked up to the individuals that were wearing the hazmat suits - they looked to have stopped whatever they were doing, and although they were masked, rendering their expressions unseen, they were most likely concerned over what had happened. The thug, feeling already irritated with the situation at hand, began yelling at them.

"Who told you to stop?! Get back to work!!"

In an instant, they quickly returned back to whatever they were doing, though they looked to be rather shaky with their movements - an indication that they were still shaken by the explosion that happened outside the church. The goon could not care less about their well-being, they just wanted the work done with so that they could get out of here. Now that everything had seemingly returned back to normalcy, the mobsters spread themselves throughout the church to continue with their supervising work, while some merely walked about to pass the time, seeing how they were not allowed to step out of the building until it was sunrise - Lettie's orders. With everyone seemingly distracted, now was a good time for her to think of something. She began joining the others in the work, meaning that she merely walked around and about, attempting to make herself look busy so that she would not draw any suspicion onto her.

As she roamed around, she was thinking about the plans that she had drawn up in her mind so that she could definitively come to one idea that she could utilize to the best of her abilities.

"I can't exactly kill everyone here on the spot...just taking down one will have guns being pointed right at me. I can't stay here for very long, either...otherwise the damn fumes will get to me again. The goons here has to be wearing masks underneath those masks or something...talk about stuffy. Surely there has to be a way I can get myself out of this mess while getting the job done...it won't be long before they start connecting the dots and I get exposed again. I just know that if they find me again, I'm history. I can't really think of anything right now...come on, stupid brain...think...!"

And then, a thought came to her. It was almost like a miracle, given how she had been begging for an idea at that moment.

"The meth...isn't a drug like that flammable? They look to be busy making it as well..."

There it was. The idea that she was looking for.

Now that she knew what to do, she stopped whatever she was doing as she made her way towards the door - however, just as she rested her fingers against the door handle, she felt a hand to her shoulder as she glanced over to the side, finding herself gazing at a gangster who was wearing a hornet mask. Looks like she got spotted trying to get herself out - just great. Now she had to think of something to get herself out of this situation - a situation that could turn sour in a matter of seconds if she did not think of her words very carefully. With that, the goon spoke up involving what she was doing.

"Hey, you do know that no one is allowed to leave, right? We have to remain here until further notice."

"I mean...can't I just go out for a while to take a leak?"

"We've only been here for a few minutes, dude. I want to leave as much as the next guy, but we can't be slacking off right now. Otherwise, the boss will have our heads for breakfast, lunch, AND dinner. I really don't want to be on her bad side at the moment, especially with this whole debacle that we got on our hands here."

"Damn...where's the boss, anyway? I just noticed that she ain't here."

"She's back at the Grace Refuge Chapel. But I can guarantee you that if she finds out about this, she's gonna rush towards here in an instant. No questioning my mind about it."

"Right..."

"I'm assuming you're some rookie or something. If you are, be sure to watch yourself. Especially with that vigilante making the rounds lately. Apparently, according to hearsay, it was the same one which we murdered not too long ago. Which sounds kinda stupid to me, seeing how she's...you know, dead. We all saw it for ourselves."

"Heh...she sure is. Maybe it's some pretender trying to take her place."

"No idea why anyone would want to take her place, honestly. Eh, confidence is a fool's substitute for intelligence, I guess. If they think they can be the hero in their story, well, they're sorely mistaken."

"Can't argue with that logic."

"Anyways, if you really gotta relieve yourself, make it quick. Try not to take too long, you got that?"

"Mhm. Don't have to tell me twice."

With the conversation seemingly wrapped up, the figure in the hornet mask let go of her shoulder as they turned around, getting ready to head back to work - this was the perfect time for her to sting into action. While everyone was still distracted, she pulled a grenade out of her pocket before pulling the pin out and dropping it down to the floor. Although a clattering noise could be heard, no one seemed to have taken notice of it. Once it was on the ground, she quickly backheeled it towards the mobsters and the drug makers. At that moment, she glanced over to the side, letting out a snicker as she gave them a few parting words, though they never really heard it due to her muttering it under her breath.

"See ya, suckers."

With that, she quickly pushed the doors open before rushing out towards the razed convoy's remains, wanting to get away from the blast zone that the grenade would unleash upon detonation whilst making sure that she got ample cover to avoid whatever that could be thrown her way. Her act of escape did manage to grab the eye of a few mobsters, and when one of them noticed the grenade on the floor after they felt it tap against their foot as it slowed to a halt, the goon was suddenly thrown into a panic as they yelled out towards the others in order to alert them of what they had seen, with their voice filled with terror.

"EVERYONE GET OUT!! GRE-"

Before they could even finish their sentence, the grenade set off at that instant, and just like that, before they could even react, the grenade's explosion came into contact with the methamphetamines that were still cooking, causing a massive chain reaction in the process as the entire church blew up from within, essentially killing off everyone inside in the process. The fires from the internal explosion burst out from the church entrance like a dragon spitting out flames, and the mirrors that were on the sides of the building had exploded, leaving shards of glass scattered all over the building. It was hard to tell what was within the church this time, seeing how there was nothing but fire inside now. Screams could be heard as well, no doubt from some who were unfortunate enough to not die on the spot, but their voices were rapidly dying down as the flames blazed on and their lives were consumed by the torching they had received. Once everything had grown quiet and the only noise that could be heard was the crackling of fire, the vigilante soon stepped away from the smoking remains of the convoy as she stared at the burning church before her.

She never imagined killing all those people in one go. She always took her opponents down one at a time, but this...this was a lot different. She just straight up massacred everyone with zero semblance of mercy or remorse on her part. She never really thought about what the ramifications of her actions would be during the heat of the moment, but now...when she's standing in front of the results of her work, it was safe to say that she was left rather stunned by what she had done. As she stood there, her mind rather hazy, she soon heard the sounds of footsteps surrounding her as she finally snapped back into reality, looking both sides and realizing that the search party that was looking for her was coming back - knowing that she had to get out of the scene, she immediately made a run for it as she made her way towards the back of the building, where her motorcycle was hidden. One gangster, who was wearing a horse mask and had the smallest distance between them and the vigilante, was able to spot her running off as they quickly gave chase whilst alerting the others of her presence.

"I think I see someone! Don't let them get away!"

However, it seemed like their words had fallen on deaf ears, as most of the search party who was informed of what the goon saw had also laid witness to the c*****e before them - the burning church. As most of the thugs rushed over to the building to see if there was anyone or anything that could be saved or salvaged, the one lone goon attempted to chase her down as she vanished on one side of the building while they disappeared on the other. Just as Blake managed to reach her motorcycle, which was still hidden within the bushes, she quickly heard someone yelling out to her, and when she glanced over towards the source of the noise, she found herself staring at the goon, who now had their gun out as they aimed it at her, their finger already on the trigger. Although she could not tell how they were currently feeling, she soon learned about their current emotional state from their tone of voice.

"K-Keep still! Don't even move an inch, or else I'll fill you with holes!"

"Whoa, whoa. Easy now. I have no reason to fight you, bud."

Knowing that she had to play along for the time being, she decided to back away from the bushes before raising her hands in the air - an indication of surrender. The goon still remained steadfast, and instead of shooting her down on the spot, they knew that it was best to get any kind of information out of her if she had any useful intel. With that, the thug inched closer to her, and when they saw the cat mask that she was still wearing, they began to feel a sense of doubt as their aim grew rather shaky. Not wanting to waste time and confidence, they let out a huff before interrogating her, all while having their gun completely fixed between her eyes.

"What the hell happened back there? Tell me everything you know!"

Blake, knowing that it was best to tell them what they wanted to hear, began responding to them, although she did twist a few parts here and there so that they could not connect the dots and find out that she was the one responsible for the two explosions.

"That building was rigged to blow up...I don't know how, and I don't know who did it...but if I have to guess, you probably have the same suspicions as I do. You know who I'm talking about, right?"

"That damned vigilante...have you seen her anywhere?"

"How would I know? I didn't join you guys in finding her. I had to stay behind inside the church."

"...were there any survivors, at least?"

"Not that I know of. I was the only one who's managed to get out. The flames in there were terrible...you really need to see how bad it has gotten. As for me, I need to quickly check on the other buildings...see if they've been affected or not. I guess it was a good idea to park away from the convoy...given what happened to the cars, anyway."

Finding themselves at a complete loss, the goon could only step backward as they looked towards the church as smoke billowed from the building - coming to the conclusion that it was pointless to continue interrogating her, they immediately got a move on as they vanished into the side of the building once more so that they could join up with the rest of the search party. With the vigilante seemingly in the clear now, she quickly brought her hands down before pulling her bike out from the shrubbery - other than a few scratches on the paint caused by the branches that had partially snagged the vehicle, it was still very much operational. She quickly got herself on, and when she got herself on her seat, she powered the engine on before revving it a little and getting herself back on the road - in a matter of seconds, she was already gone as she vanished into the horizon.

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"WHAT DO YOU MEAN THE CHURCH BLEW UP?!"

"I'm telling you, that's what happened, boss! First, our convoy which we used to head to the damn place blew up as soon as we went inside, and when some of us left to find the person responsible, we came back to see the whole place in flames!"

"Were there any survivors?! Did you manage to salvage at least something?!"

"...no, boss. We couldn't find anything. Everything's gone..."

"I...I can't believe this..."

"Boss, what do we do? This has to be the work of that vigilante...the fact that she somehow managed to destroy one of our main bases of operations whilst killing everyone inside...I really don't know if we should keep doing this."

"If we stop whatever we're doing, we'll have our heads handed over to our leader. And both you and I know that we cannot let something like that happen. I'll figure out what must be done, but for now, focus all our drug making efforts to Rosedale Park. Make sure our drug makers remain alive throughout their working hours. As for the storage units...double all personnel standing guard there. I want everyone keeping watch on everything. I need more people on the streets as well - I'm giving everyone permission to kill here, so if you see anyone who is suspicious, make sure to dispatch them if necessary. We need to make sure that damned wretch stays down for good. No point going on the slow lane for this one."

"Right...got it, boss. But surely this is something that our leader must know about...right?"

"We can't let her know about this yet...if she finds about what's been going on here, we're done for. Make sure no news of this escapes this neighborhood, you got that?"

"...very well, boss."

Lettie was clearly enraged with the current situation here - she found herself in a rather frustrating scenario, with her choices few and far between and her luck stretched thin. She knew that the vigilante was far from finished - she was not going to stop until everything that Lettie has done is destroyed. Here she was, standing just outside of the Grace Refuge Chapel as she found herself at an utter loss on what she must do in order to take this crazed vigilante down. The thought of Blake being filled with so much vengeance did make her feel a sense of displeasure as the woman looked back at the church behind her, and when she took one good look at the crew who was hard at work, she envisioned them going through the same fate as those who burned to death back at the Citadel of Praise. Admittedly, such a vision was enough to make her momentarily flinch as she shook her head side to side, not wanting to indulge in such negative thoughts and emotions. She quickly shifted her attention back to her phone, immediately calling Kata as she placed the phone to her ear as soon as she heard the sound of ringing. It was not long before Kata himself picked up, though he sounded tired.

"Man...what are you doing calling this late...?"

"Where the hell are your spies, Kata? You said that they would be here as soon as possible!"

"Ugh...what even happened..."

"It's the vigilante. She destroyed one of our drug manufacturing areas during operation hours."

"You have got to be kidding me...she works fast. Brazen too, I would add."

"They better be here quickly, dammit!"

"Lettie...you must realize that my spies are not robots. They're all over Detroit...they're stretched at the moment. They need time to return back to my headquarters so that I can give them new instructions. I promise you that they'll be at Brightmoor by evening at the latest...noon by the earliest. You have my word."

"Good...sorry for calling you this late, though. I know I shouldn't be meddling in your affairs, but-"

"Save it, Lettie. We're all in this together here. We know how big of a threat this will be if we don't deal with it now. Can't have the creeper turn into a strong vine, you know?"

"...the hell is that?"

"It's an analogy...ugh, whatever. Just continue doing your work. My team will meet you when they arrive."

With that, Kata quickly hang up as she was met with intermittent beeping, which was more than enough for her to power her phone off. Knowing that there was little that could be done at the moment, she could only let out a defeated sigh before turning around and heading back to the church so that she could continue overseeing everything.

This situation was getting difficult for her...but little did she know, it was only going to get worse.