Chapter 114 - Breakup

Chapter 114: Chapter 114 - Breakup

A dozen sleazy-suited gangsters surged forward simultaneously, brandishing iron pipes, heavy batons, brass knuckles, and switchblades.

"Hope you can keep up, hero!" Ripley barked, as a nervously wild grin broke across her face.

"I should honestly just ditch your dumbass! But that won’t stop Mr. Insecure from coming after me! Screw it, bring it on!"

A thick-necked gangster swung a lead pipe in a brutal horizontal arc aimed straight for Vincent’s temple. Seeing it coming, he ducked under the whistling iron and snapped a heavy left hook into his ribs, followed by a crushing right straight to the point of his jaw.

THWACK!!!

"NGAH!!!!" The thug’s eyes rolled into the back of his head as his body folded like a lawn chair into the ground.

Another man lunged at him from the side with a dagger, "Die, you little shit!"

Vincent grabbed the man’s stabbing wrist mid-dodge, twisted it down to force him to drop the knife, and drove a crushing knee straight into the guy’s chest.

As the man gasped for air, Vincent drove a sharp elbow across his cheekbone, sending him spinning into the snow.

Beside him, Ripley threw herself headfirst into the brawl with reckless glee.

"Come get some, you limp dicks!"

A tall thug lunged for her throat, but Ripley barely managed to duck under his arms, slashed her blade across his sleeve, and delivered a winding kick straight to his balls.

"AARGH!!! Y-YOU BIT–"

"Can it!" She delivered a rising knee to his face.

THWACK!!!

A second gangster grabbed her wrist from behind and knocked the knife from her hand while pinning her down.

"Why don’t you be a good little girl and go stand by Dex’s side!"

"Make me!"

Reaching down with her free hand, she snatched an empty alcohol bottle up from the curb and swung it backward over her shoulder straight into his face.

CRASH!

"AHHH!!!"

"Hahaha! Fucking idiot!"

Amber glass and blood exploded everywhere. The thug shrieked, clutching his nose, while Ripley let out an hysterical laugh. She spun around and drove the heel of her boot straight between the next guy’s legs, thoroughly thriving in the chaos.

"He’s just one guy! Surround him!" a scarred man yelled, charging Vincent with a pair of brass knuckles.

Three men rushed him at once. The scarred man threw a wild haymaker, which Vincent blocked it with his forearm. He then slid his foot behind the man’s ankle, and drove a solid right cross right into his nose.

The scarred thug stumbled back, wiping blood from his face as he glared in disbelief. "What the fuck are you made of?!"

"Just meat and bones, man!"

Vincent ducked under a second guy’s baton strike and landed a double-jab to his sternum before sweeping his legs out from under him with a low kick, taking him and the third guy who was charging in.

Two massive men flanked Ripley from behind. One caught her in a tight rear-choke, while the second landed a heavy punch to her stomach, knocking the air from her lungs.

"NGACK–! *Cough!*"

THUD!

Ripley fell to her knees, pinned against the cold asphalt with blood dripping from her lip as the thugs held her arms behind her back.

Dexter walked up to her with a bitter scowl. "Look at you... hanging around trash and acting like a street dog. Do you know how many times I called you? Listen, just come back to the car, Ripley. We can talk things out."

Ripley raised her head and flashed him a fierce glare of hatred. She gathered a mouthful of crimson spit and spat it straight onto Dexter’s shoe.

"Fuck you, Dex! You should’ve never tried to force me! We are fucking done!"

Anger snapped. Dexter’s composure broke and his face twisted in ugly rage.

"You know what?! I don’t give a shit anymore! Beat her black and blue and throw her in the back of the van!" Dex screamed as he headed back to his SUV.

Seeing the thugs raise their boots to stomp on her–

Vincent tore through the remaining three men standing in his way – dropping one with a swift left hook and driving a vicious front kick into the other guy’s chest that sent him and his buddy crashing into a parked sedan.

In three long strides, he reached the two guys pinning Ripley.

He grabbed the guy pinning her down the back of his collar, yanked him backward, and drove a heavy right fist square into his face. Quickly turning around, he caught the second thug’s raised wrist, twisted his arm back, and delivered a brutal side-kick to his ribs.

With them gone, he pulled Ripley backward out of the danger zone.

Despite the heavy bruises on her body and the blood trickling from her lip, Ripley looked up at him with manic amusement as she grinned through her red teeth.

"Nice timing, hero!" she wheezed, wiping her chin.

SCREECH!!!!!!

Suddenly, the violent screech of tires resounded through the street.

Driven by blind, enraged panic, a rogue gangster who had just recovered from Vincent’s beating jumped into the driver’s seat of the SUV, slammed the pedal to the floor, and aimed the vehicle straight toward Ripley and Vincent.

"WHAT THE FUCK?! STOP! YOU IDIOT, STOP!" Dexter screamed at the driver, waving his arms frantically.

The driver ignored him, his eyes wide with rage as the SUV roared toward them at 45 miles per hour.

As Ripley turned her head, the sheer, sudden proximity of the speeding van left her frozen in place.

Right before impact–

"WATCH OUT–!"

Vincent lunged forward, wrapping both arms tightly around her and twisting his body to take the collision.

BANG!!!

CRASH! SHATTER!

The two were launched and sent flying straight through the floor-to-ceiling glass storefront of the convenience store.

They burst through the plate-glass window in a shower of crystalline shards, tumbling across display racks, flying chip bags, and magazine stands before slamming into the steel shelving units in the back room.

Outside, Dexter and his remaining men stood in wide-eyed, paralyzed horror.

"Holy shit... we just committed manslaughter..." one thug stammered.

"GET IN THE VANS! MOVE! NOW!" Dexter shrieked in terror.

The men all scrambled into their SUVs, slammed the doors shut and sped off, leaving a trail of burning rubber behind.

Inside the ruined convenience store, silence fell over the debris.

Ripley opened her eyes, coughing against the dust and powdered glass, fully expecting to see the broken body of a dying man beneath her.

Instead, Vincent looked at her casually among the mangled metal shelves.

He rolled his shoulders and cracked his neck with a light groan.

"That was crazy... You alright?"

Ripley stared at him in speechless shock. Surprisingly, she had no injuries.

Of course, what she didn’t know was that at the exact second of impact, Vincent had channeled a subtle wave of divine healing power into her body – repairing her bruised ribs, sealing her internal tears, and neutralizing any potential concussions.

As she lay across his chest, she stared into his calm green eyes before a breathtakingly wild smirk broke across her bloody face.

"You’re a fucking monster..."

"Hey! Hey! What happened here?!"

The Indian cashier came sprinting out from the back storage room holding a wooden broom like a club. Upon seeing his shattered storefront, destroyed inventory, crushed racks, and ruined livelihood, his face turned pale as he shrieked in utter despair.

"MY STORE! MY INVENTORY! MY BOSS IS GOING TO EXECUTE ME!"

Vincent stood up, pulling Ripley to her feet. Feeling a genuine pang of responsibility for the damage, he rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly. "Hey, man... I’m really sorry about this. I can help you sweep up the mess–"

"SWEEPING?! WHAT IS SWEEPING GOING TO DO?! THE FRONT GLASS IS GONE! ARE YOU GOING TO PAY FOR ALL THIS?!"

"Uhmm..."

"Relax, Baljeet." Rippley waved her hand dismissingly. "Dex’s crew drove through the glass. They’ll pay every cent of damage and repairs. I’ll see to it."

Baljeet paused, his raging eyes blinking. "...They will? Okay... okay, good. You better see to it, Ms. Ripley."

Vincent thumbed him up. "Cool."

He turned around to walk out through the broken frame–

"Now hold on there!"

Bang!

Ripley snatched him by his jacket collar, shoving him backward against a soda vending machine. She leaned into his space and searched his eyes with intense scrutiny.

"Just who and what the hell are you, new guy?"

Vincent didn’t flinch. He brushed her hand off his collar, reached up with his thumb, and gently wiped a streak of dried blood from her cheek. "What do you mean? I’m just a student."

Ripley opened her mouth to snap back when suddenly–

WEE-WOO! WEE-WOO! WEE-WOO!

In the distance, the faint wail of police sirens echoed through the street.

Ripley whirled around and glaring at Baljeet. "You called 911?!"

Baljeet held up his hands defensively. "I panicked when the glass broke! You cannot blame me!"

Clicking her tongue in annoyance, she grabbed Vincent by his wrist and dragged him toward the rear exit. "Come on. I’m not answering questions from beat cops."

They pushed open the back door and stepped into the quiet lot behind the shop.

In a single, lightning-fast motion of fluid street pickpocketing, her fingers dipped into his jacket pocket, pulled out his smartphone, unlocked the screen with expert speed, and handed it back to him.

Vincent looked at his phone, then looked at her, raising an eyebrow. "Really?"

Ripley scoffed, adjusting her leather jacket. "You should probably consider putting a password on your phone, Winters. And honestly... it’s pretty sad that you only have two contacts besides ’Dada’ and ’Kathy’."

’Dafuq?!’

When he checked his screen, he noticed she had added her own number to his contact list under the name Ripley????.

"Expect a message from me later. You better read it." Ripley gave him a wink.

Without waiting for a reply, she scrambled up a stack of metal trash dumpsters with agile grace, vaulted over the brick wall, and vanished.

Vincent let out a tired sigh, pocketing his phone. "Crazy girl..."

Hearing the police cruisers pulling up to the front street, Vincent tapped a subtle pulse of divine power. He jumped over the wall and ran the opposite way into the shadows of the alley, slipping past the responding officers and heading straight home.

A few minutes later, he pushed open the front door of the Winters residence. He carefully brushed the dust and snow off his jacket and stepped into the warm hallway.

Dusty was sitting on the living room couch, holding a newspaper. He looked up and narrowed his eyes. However, he didn’t ask questions or scold him – he simply offered a subtle nod, and returned to his reading.

Walking upstairs, the second his foot touched the top landing, a blur of motion lunged out from an open door.

Katherine wrapped her arms and legs around him like a clingy koala and buried her face into his neck.

"V! You’re back!"

Vincent caught her smoothly, laughing as he carried her down the hall.

Throughout the rest of the evening, she refused to leave his side. She insisted on sitting in the chair right next to him, placing extra food onto his plate, and pouting dramatically whenever he stood up to walk away. She didn’t have an ulterior motive – she simply wanted to be around her big brother to make up for lost time.

Vincent accepted her affection, thoroughly enjoying spoiling his sister. However, when bedtime arrived, he had to enter a gruesome five-minute negotiation to convince her to sleep in her own bedroom instead of piling together for a second night in a row.

"I’m expecting a... very important phone call later, Kathy! Go to your room!" Vincent laughed, gently pushing her past her doorway.

"Fine... but don’t blame me for being extra clingy tomorrow!" Katherine pouted angrily before closing her door.

Late that night, the house was silent.

Vincent lay flat on his back in his bedroom, staring up at the ceiling as moonlight filtered through the blinds.

BZZZZT.

His phone vibrated on his nightstand.

’Finally...’

Vincent reached over, picking up the device. It was a text notification from Ripley ????.

Attached to the message was a GPS map pin.

Ripley: Got word that Dex’s crew are stashing their illegal cash pool at an abandoned meatpacking warehouse on 9th Street tonight.

Ripley: I’m sitting on the roof opposite watching them. Want to join the fun? I’m hitting the place and robbing them blind with or without your help. Going in 30 minutes.

Vincent stared at the glowing screen in disbelief.

"What the hell is this crazy girl thinking...? She’s going to get herself killed..."

Realising he couldn’t just let her walk into a meat grinder, for the guilt would weigh heavily on his mind, Vincent swung his legs off the bed.

He unlatched his window and stepped out onto the ledge into the night air. His eyes flashed with a surge of divine blue light as he prepared to leap into the sky.