Ethereal Madness

Chapter 24- Struggles Of A Hero

I grabbed the shirt collar of the blonde boy, who, despite looking like he just came out of a car accident, grinned from ear to ear. Seeing his squad deceased on the floor, I was a little off-put. After all, he's in the worst position possible. What could he be smiling about?

"You look confused," he chuckled.

I must've made a face because he chuckled. "His gang's down. What the heck could he be smiling on about?" He paused and tapped my forehead. "That's what's going on in your head, right?"

What, is he on? He tryna play mind games? Or is he actually just cuckoo?

He put up hands. "I'm not crazy, promise." His sickening grin made me wanna throw him into a wall, yet I almost feel like that's what he wants. "You don't really need to knock me out, do you?" He continued. He gazed over at his allies. "You already beat up my peeps. Not like I can do much to you even if I tried."

"What are you planning?" At this point, he was just as suspicious as Quese, if not more.

"Me?" He thought about it for a second before returning to his goofy smile. "I just wanna have fun."

I frowned. No way this actually a gang leader. Gotta be a joke or somethin'. He's way too...carefree.

"Just lemme go," he said.

"Mmm." I thought about what I was supposed to do. My gut is telling me knock him on his butt, but I really don't want to attack a defenseless person. Just feels wrong. I sighed and slowly released him.

"Thank you! I won't forget this." He beamed. He didn't hesitate to run away. My arm tried to grab his collar and I had to smack it down with my other hand. I really hope I didn't just make a mistake. I shook my head. At least with no distractions, I can hunt down Quese. I don't know how many gangs he's brought with him, but I've already taken down three. I stared at my gauntlets, which were still glowing a strong crimson red. I guess I should say we took down three.

Ami didn't do anything, she responded.

"Hah, please. I'd be dead without you."

R-really?

One hundred percent. Between us, you're the true superhero.

Then what's Ami's hero name?

Hero name, huh? Hmm. How about, Ami, destroyer of Evil!

Hearing her innocent, childlike giggle, I couldn't help but smile. Being a demon trapped inside a demon, sometimes I forget she's just a kid. A very special kid, but a kid nonetheless.

Alright, according to the girls, everyone was going to city hall. There I should be able to end it.

Compared to the the outer areas of the city, leading up to city hall was almost spotless in comparison. Sure there were no peeps out, but there wasn't anything stupid like random gang violence, or god forbid, a burning building with a child inside. I'm not complaining or nothing, but like, shouldn't there be some destruction? Not my business right now. I gotta focus on the objective.

Deep into the city, I was almost at the place when I heard voices around the corner. I stuck my head out a little to peak, and, like I thought, it was for sure a large group of people, a good chunk of them I recognized from earlier today.

You're going to fight? Ami asked.

Not yet. Want to get a feel of the situation.

Strangely enough, within the gang were three people separated from everyone else that I don't recall seeing before.

"Where are the other groups?" A short guy with messy black hair crossed his arms. "How long we gonna have to wait for those retards?"

"Umm, they shoulda been here already," the girl next to him was staring intently at the walkie in her hand. "At the very least, the Vixens shoulda been here by now."