Angel Girl

Chapter 5: Remembering Kameron

On a quiet block in the heart of downtown Salemville, a woman and her two sons walked out of a diner after dinner. As they continued down the sidewalk, a thuggish man emerged from the shadows of a nearby alley and quickly approached the family from behind. Suddenly, the man grabbed the woman and held a gun to her head, which terrified her and her children. "Alright lady, make this nice and simple. Give me your wallet or else," he said, as he cocked the gun. Sensing the fear rising in her sons, the woman tried to suppress her own by putting on a brave face. The robber grew agitated. "Hand it over, or this bullet's going right through your brain!" he threatened. "Okay, okay! But please leave my sons alone." the woman pleaded. Unfortunately, her pleas fell on deaf ears as the thief stared her down with a scowl and cold, malevolent eyes. "You think I care? I got a gun pointed at your head, so why don't you just shut up and give me what I want," he said as he pressed the barrel of the gun firmly against her head.

Just then, a whistle caught the attention of the group. A fully-costumed Ryan stood on the right side of the alley with her arms crossed. "It's best that you leave, little lady, or I'll put a hole in you first," the thug threatened while pointing his gun squarely at her. The young girl rolled her eyes and scoffed: "Men and their guns", while slowly walking towards him. The man fired a warning shot at her feet, causing Ryan to stop her advance. "Last chance, witch. Beat it!" he roared. Ryan looked over at the family, and the terror in their faces caused her blood to boil. She could no longer imagine leaving anyone to fend for themselves in such a predicament, so she resumed her advance on the thief. "I'm warning you, kid. Back the freak off!" he said, but Ryan ignored his threat and kept closing. He fired a shot to her torso, which resulted in nothing more than a flattened bullet falling to the ground at Ryan's feet. The sight of this unnerved the thief and mystified the mother and her sons. "Hmm. Cool," Ryan said, after which she returned her attention to the criminal.

Now intimidated, the thief emptied his gun at Ryan, who withstood the barrage of bullets bouncing off her armor. Now filled with panic, he threw his pistol at her and prepared for a fight. With Ryan now in range, the criminal threw a desperate punch, but Ryan easily dodged it with extreme agility. After eluding another series of punches from the hapless thief, Ryan caught his final two punches in her hands and began slowly crushing his clenched hands as the thug recoiled in agony. Eventually, the sheer force of Ryan's strength snapped the bones in the thief's hands like twigs, causing him to roar in anguish.

To finish him off, Ryan sent the thief flying into a car with a punch, rendering him unconscious and critically injured. With the criminal incapacitated, Ryan approached the frightened family in a friendly manner. "Is everyone okay?" she asked with genuine concern. Instead of offering thanks, the mother grabbed her children and fled from her. "You're welcome!" Ryan yelled, confused by the lady's ungratefulness. After that, she flew away when a crowd of people gathered around the severely injured and unconscious thief.

At the Lawton House, Jordan was in his room working on his drone, making improvements on it. Suddenly, he heard tapping on his bedroom window, then turned to see Ryan hovering just outside. He got up from his work desk to let her in, and she floated into his room and landed on the floor. "So, how was your first day of heroism?" he asked. "Great, fantastic," Ryan sarcastically replied.

Jordan picks up on her sarcasm. "What happened?"

"A lady and her kids were getting mugged, right? I took care of the robber, and what does the family do? They ran off scared like I was the villain!"

"You can't blame them, Ryan. Like I said, they've never seen a superhuman before. Give'em time. They'll come around," Jordan said in a hopeful tone.

"Yeah, right," Ryan quipped.

"Trust me. They'll get used to you. It just takes time," Jordan assured her while smiling, and she smiled back.