Second Wind

Chapter 18: The Fireworks of a Lifetime

Night had arrived.

All was quiet. The Pathfinder were hard at work, with the gang working considerably earlier than usual. Blake's act of blowing up the Citadel of Praise acted as a form of provocation, and because of this, it looked as though the gang was now acting rather defensively so that they could regain their bearings and maybe mend the damage that the vigilante had wreaked.

Lettie was filled with uncertainty and panic, though the latter was something that she could easily mask with her currently deadpan expression. She was inside the Rosedale Park Church, with her team hard at work - her employees were busy cooking the methamphetamines, and her thugs were supervising aforementioned employees, making sure that they were not slacking on the job. She just stood in the middle of the congregation hall, overseeing everything like a scarecrow. Here she was, unsure of what could happen. Maybe Blake might be hiding somewhere amongst her team. Maybe she was about to storm in and kill everyone inside. Maybe she wasn't coming at all...but Lettie's mind was not willing to entertain such an outcome. She knew that such a thought was not work indulging in. She needed to be prepared for the absolute worst, which probably explains her current state of stress, which looked like it was not going to leave any time soon.

In the end, the stresses that ran rampant in her head proved to be too much for her, and as a result, she let out an irritated sigh as she closed her eyes whilst letting out a heavy sigh - she desperately needed to unwind. With that in mind, she walked over to the entrance of the church before unlocking it and walking through them. As soon as she was outside, she closed the door behind her before walking down the short flight of stairs. When she felt her shoes hit the cement sidewalk, she took a deep breath before finally opening her eyes - however, she still looked rather irritated and frustrated. It was at this moment where she began rummaging through her pocket before eventually pulling something out after about a minute or two - a vape stick.

"God dammit, I can't believe I'm back to doing this s**t again..."

This was perhaps an indication that she was trying to stop herself from vaping, implying that she may have been an addict before. The fact that she was basically allowing herself to relapse was genuinely getting on her nerves. When she took a puff from her vape, however, she began coughing profusely as smoke escaped her mouth - in the end, her frustrations just boiled over as she flung the vape stick onto the asphalt in front of her in a fit of rage. She momentarily stared at the stick for a moment before letting out an exasperated huff whilst shaking her head side to side in disappointment.

No amount of smoking was going to help her calm down. She needed to find some other form of help. Something that is not too damaging, perhaps. Just mere moments later, an idea soon came into her head as she pulled out her phone, deciding to call someone. After the number had been dialed, she put the phone on speaker as she heard the phone ring - after a few moments of intermittent ringing, someone would finally pick up, revealing a fatigued voice on the receiving end. It was Matthew.

"God dammit, Lettie...why the hell are you calling me so late in the morning...?! There better be a damn good reason for this..."

"Listen, Matthew...I need some help."

"Ugh, isn't Kata already helping you...? What do you need my help for?"

"This isn't about my job, dammit. It's about...me."

"...what?"

It was safe to say that she had gotten his attention now.

"Alright, what's the problem? I usually don't hear you speak like this. Usually you're tough as nails or something like that."

"Don't test my patience."

"Come on, just calm down! No harm in having just a wee bit of fun! But for real though, what's bothering you? You certainly didn't call me to take the piss. At least, I hope you're not taking the piss, anyway."

"It's this damn vigilante...she's constantly on my back, and she's been more elusive than ever...it's already bad enough that she's blown up one of my main operating spots while murdering everyone inside..."

"Yikes...so that's what happened. I've been hearing a lot of word on the street, but I always thought it was just a bunch of hubba bubba. But damn, I didn't know it actually happened."

"Jeez, I thought I told everyone that nothing leaves this neighborhood..."

"No matter how much you try, there'll always be cracks, Lettie."

"Huh...never thought of it like that."

"You need to stop overthinking, girl. You're gonna hurt that little raisin brain of yours, hehe."

"Psh, how ironic, coming from you."

"Hey, man's gotta be honest, you feel me?"

Lettie could only let out a chuckle in response to Matthew's words, which warranted laughter from him as well as the two quickly regained their composure and carried on with their conversation.

"I just hope that all this is wrapped up soon. I don't really need my headache to worsen here..."

"I'm sure that things will get better in due time. I guess you just need some patience, that's all. I really wouldn't know for sure. That's just how I feel, anyway. Gotta be hopeful, right? Even if what we're doing isn't exactly enjoyable."

"Hmm...I suppose you do have a point."

"See? Everything will be-"

Before Matthew could even finish his sentence, a deafening explosion was suddenly heard on Lettie's end, with the noise being so loud that it momentarily stunned him at that moment as he pulled his phone away from his ear for a brief moment. Upon realizing that something bad had happened, he quickly placed the phone back to his ear once again as he heard the sound of crackling flames on the other end - a noise which filled him with unimaginable worry.

"Lettie?! What's going on over there?! Speak to me!"

Back in Brightmoor, Lettie found herself staring at an eerie glimpse of what could have happened to her - she saw Rosedale Park Church completely blown apart, rubble scattered everywhere. What little remains of the church interior was ablaze, and everything was complete silence. No cries for help, no one trying to get themselves out from the ruin...nothing. The only thing that she could hear were the flames and Matthew's distant calls for her attention from her phone which she had dropped after the building blew up behind her. Here she was, partially laying against the asphalt as she blankly stared at the destruction that had been wreaked from seeemingly nowhere - she looked to have been considerably hurt from the explosion as well, with the rubble flung at her leaving her with a few bruises on her arms and legs. She had a rather nasty gash on her forehead too, just below her scalp. Due to how close she was from the epicenter of the explosion, she was also left with some burns on her forearms and thighs, too.

This whole scenario was just one giant assault on her senses. She did not know what to feel anymore. Was she supposed to feel dazed? In pain? Mentally scarred? It was hard to say...everything around her was ringing loudly. It was so easy to feel disoriented. It was hard to hear Matthew's voice on the phone, which seemed so near, and yet...somehow out of reach. Out of sight. To add insult to injury, she soon heard the sound of thunder resonating in the air - an indication that it was about to rain. She momentarily looked up to the cloudy dark sky, her mind completely blank as the ringing in her ears began to subside at a gradual pace. Once she finally regained her hearing, she soon heard Matthew's clearly panicked voice on her phone as she immediately shifted her attention towards her phone, and in an instant, she promptly pulled herself up, wincing in pain due to the injuries she had received. She quickly picked her slightly damaged phone off the ground before placing it to her ear as she spoke up in a rather defeated tone.

"Matthew..."

"Lettie, what the hell happened?!"

"The church...it's gone..."

"Wha..."

He really could not believe it. And seeing how he told her that everything was going to be okay, this was a very ill-fated incident. Terribly timed too, one would add. Amidst their inability to comprehend what had just happened, Lettie broke the silence that the two shared as she continued speaking to her, but whatever enthusiasm she had was long gone now.

"...I have a feeling that she'll be coming after all of us."

"You're...not the only one who thinks so. I know that when she's done here, she'll be coming after me. Then Kata. Then Hatyaara. This is just a start...a spark to a much bigger fire."

'When she's done here'. What an utterly demotivating quote. It just meant that he knew that the vigilante would be successful in her mission to destroy everything that Lettie had worked for. However, she could not help but feel that he was right in thinking that way - maybe she was going to be successful. Was a 'maybe' even in the cards at this point? Surely this was it.

"...you have to be ready for when she arrives. If she even gets an opportunity to slow you down...she'll take the most extreme measure possible to unwind all your efforts."

"No, wait...I know that you can pull yourself together, Lettie. You have to square up to her and show her who's the boss of this neighborhood. You can't just gi-"

"It's pointless, Matthew. If I tell Fleurie, she won't give me any solace. Any peace. If I meet that vigilante again, she'll have my head. I've seen what she is capable of doing. I don't think anyone can stop her..."

"But...but, Lettie..."

"...I'll call you later."

"Now just hold on a sec-"

Without even letting him finish, she quickly ended the call as she soon felt raindrops occasionally pelting her body and the ground she was standing on - due to the wounds she had received, this also meant that the inevitable stinging sensations that stemmed from the rain hitting her burns and bruises proved to be intensely painful for her, and so, she quickly made her way towards a nearby tree so that she could shelter herself against the impending rain for the time being. As she watched the church flames slowly die out as the rain grew more prevalent, she soon got another phone call as she quickly checked who was calling her.

It was one of her associates.

Fearing for the worst, she accepted the call as she placed it on speakerphone yet again - she was met with an undeniably panicked and terrified voice from a goon who was clearly shaken with grief. In fact, it sounded like they were close to tears.

"Boss...the storage units..."

"Let me guess, they've been blown up..."

"...what happened over there?"

Lettie could only let out a laugh, finding humor in this clearly non-humorous situation as she continued the conversation, though the laugh did leave the goon feeling very uneasy about this whole scenario.

"What do you think?"

"Boss, I really don't know what to tell you...I was on a search party, looking for the vigilante...then we heard an explosion coming from the White Factory. When we went to check the place out, the whole place was up in flames with the building heavily damaged. We only managed to rescue a few survivors, but the drugs and everyone else...they've been lost..."

When Lettie found out that they were rescue some of the people from the factory, her eyes widened as she momentarily held her breath - maybe she could find out what happened from them.

"...the Commission Building. What happened to it?"

"It got blown up too...I got a phone call while I was out on patrol, and when I got the news, that's when the explosion at the White Factory happened..."

"When did the explosion at the factory happen?"

"It happened just minutes ago..."

This was it. The realization finally dawned on her. As she remained silent in order for her to comprehend what she had just learned, the thug momentarily broke her concentration by posing a question to her on the phone.

"...what do we do, boss? There's nothing left...everything is gone...our numbers are scattered and heavily weakened..."

Lettie, realizing that her life was basically doomed at this point, could only tell the thug this:

"...go home. Send everyone back to Foxtown."

"W-What?"

"You heard me. We're done here...there's no reason for us to continue staying in this neighborhood any longer."

"B-But boss...!"

"Don't make me repeat myself..."

When Lettie reaffirmed her order, she was met with silence for a few moments before the call disconnected, indicating that the goon had cut the call. Finding herself alone once again, she stared up at the sky, watching the rain fall down to the asphalt as she thought to herself about everything that had just happened.

"She's one cunning vulture, isn't she..."

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Hours before the Pathfinder's nightly ritual, Blake had been hard at work. She had spent two hours going from Saint Clair Shores and back to Brightmoor in order to execute the plan that she had thought of in her mind. When she returned to the bar, she was carrying a bunch of C-4 explosives that she had stored in the booth of her motorcycle. She had her cat mask off when she entered the building - turns out she had shoved the mask down her pocket with some degree of success. 'Success' was a bit of a stretch, though - most of the mask was still poking out, easily seen and noticed by anyone who wanted to focus on her. When she brought them inside the building, the bartender was left rather flabbergasted as he stared at her with slight confusion on her face while the vigilante set them on the countertop before taking her seat opposite him. At that moment, he immediately enquired about the plastic explosives.

"And these are for...?"

"They've moved their drug making operations at Rosedale Park."

"The church at Evergreen Road? Well, they sure do act quickly."

"Which is why I plan on beating them to the finish line."

She then pointed towards the pile of explosives on the table - it was at this moment where the bartender quickly put two and two together and learned about what the vigilante was planning on doing."

"...so you plan on blowing the church up, huh?"

"Not just the church. I plan on blowing up everything."

"Umm...sorry, but how, exactly?"

"The churches are usually derelict and abandoned, so no one usually goes there...I'll sneak my way in and rig the place with explosives. From there, I'll make sure to set them off at a specific time so that all of buildings explode at the same time. Or somewhere close to that time, it really does not matter."

"Uh...surely they'd notice? I mean, these explosives aren't exactly small, you know."

"I'll be sure to have them hidden. I assure you that they won't be found."

"That's some confidence that you have there, but you still need to find a way to get into the storage units."

"I mean, that's what the disguise is for, no? They still haven't exposed me yet, so things are going well for me so far. I might as well get it all done with as soon as possible while I'm able to. If I don't act now, they'll relocate all of the drugs tomorrow, and I'll have to restart the process of trying to find them all over again, and honestly, I am just not in the mood for that."

The bartender placed a hand to his chin, letting out a hum as he looked at the explosives for a moment before letting out a sigh and shrugging to herself, knowing that he was rather powerless to stop her.

"Frankly, this sounds like a very rash and reckless idea that you've clearly improvised."

"Uh..."

She awkwardly looked side to side, realizing that the bartender had exposed her.

"H-Hey. I did put some thought into it."

"Please don't lie to yourself. You really did not."

"Jeez, you're not the boss of me, ya old geezer!"

"I know. Which is why I cannot stop you. All I can tell you is this - be careful. If this is somehow successful, then who knows what will happen here. Hopefully not anything bad, but there really is only one way to find out."

"Damn, about time you give me some space...you really don't have to look after me like I'm some kid, you know."

"I'm not treating you like a kid, you know. Otherwise I wouldn't be serving you any alcohol in the first place."

"You know that's not what I'm talking about."

In response to Blake's rather frustrated response, he let out a chuckle before giving her a reassuring nod.

"Well, you made it this far. Go ahead and deal that finishing blow."

With the conversation seemingly coming to an end, the vigilante got herself off her chair before picking up the explosives and giving him a determined look as she left him with some parting words.

"Oh, I'll land the finishing blow, alright. I'll make sure that once the deed is done, they won't even try to recover."

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Back in present time, Blake was seen at an open field, atop a hill as she looked out towards the scenery of the neighborhood. Judging by the greenery that surrounded her, it was likely that she was in Eliza Howell Park - the same place where she was thrown into by Lettie when she was first caught in her first attempt at disguising herself. However, the tables looked to have completely turned this time round. The vigilante now had an entire wing of the Pathfinder at her mercy after managing to rig the three buildings with the C-4 explosives. When she noticed the smoke billowing out from the three spots, she merely cracked a smile as she let out a sigh, finally feeling a sense of victory. She did not care about the lives she had taken in her quest to destroy the drug problems that ran rampant in the neighborhood, and to an extent, the entire city. She did not care about who her victims were, their backgrounds, or anything. She only saw them as people that needed to be taken out due to their connections with the Pathfinder, and now, here she was, finally basking in the glory synthesized by her victory.

It also helped that it was raining as well - the cooling feeling of the rainwater was such a relaxing sensation to experience, and while she was completely soaked, it did not matter to her. Nothing else mattered to her at the moment. The disguise that she was still wearing did not matter to her at this point. She momentarily stared down at the cat mask that she had set down on the ground before looking back at the destruction that she had wrought far away. There were very little worries clouding her mind this time round. Back then, her mind was constantly working over time so that she could keep herself safe. So that she could remain undetected and away from human eye. It was already bad enough that her identity had been exposed. She now knew that everyone was after her now. But for the time being, she just chose to unwind, loosen her nerves and remain serene under the rain.

What now mattered was the fact that she was now closer to the collapse of the gang as a whole. It had been a painfully long mission here in Brightmoor, but her goal was finally complete. In due time, the circulation of drugs will eventually cease, and this city will finally be purged of it completely in due time once the drugs are completely exhausted. There is still a long way to go from here, but she did not have to think about that for the time being.

She was focused on the now. She needed this. This was a victory that needed celebration.

With that in mind, she made her way back towards her motorcycle, but not before finally getting rid of her disguise as she took it off, leaving her with the attire that she had always worn since the beginning. Once that was out of the way, she got herself off the hill and out of the park entirely. She planned on heading back to the bar to inform the bartender on what had happened.

It was over. It was, at last, over...