A Victorian Tale Part 17

Chapter 17 (ImFanci) As Luthor’s six henchmen started towards Clark, Diana, Bruce, Hope and Mercy, another half dozen of Luthor’s men seemingly appeared out of nowhere, each brandishing cutlasses. The outnumbered group still showed no fear or hesitation - just more determination. “It looks like this will take a little longer to defeat Luthor than I expected,” quipped Diana. Her statement earned her small grins from the group, and a sudden onslaught from the now enraged henchmen. This battle spread the group throughout the grand foyer. An annoyed Olsen stepped forward, but Luthor held him back, “No need to engage yourself right now.” Luthor stood confidently with his arms crossed as he was thrilled to finally see his plans come to fruition. The men with the cutlasses went straight to Bruce and Diana. The others with the clubs and knives approached Clark, Hope and Mercy. In their eyes, the women were easy targets – especially the wounded one. Clark used one of his single-shot pistols to shoot one of the on-coming men in the leg, merely disabling but not killing him. Instinct told him that he would need the other pistol a little bit later. Dropping the now useless pistol and holstering the other, it was up to his strength and skills in hand to hand fighting to defeat the other armed attackers. Hope was engaged in a dance with a greasy looking man who wielded a knife. She was confident that the skills she learned in wielding knives would see to her success. Mercy, though still in pain, was also skilled with using her left hand and had enough strength to defend herself with the cane against a bearded man with a club. If she was lucky, she would be able to crack his skull with the cane. Diana charged at the two men approaching her while Bruce stood his ground. “Diana, wait!” Bruce called out, and watched as she raised her rapier against two opposing cutlasses. With the rest of the men surrounding him, Bruce skillfully used his saber against the other cutlasses. Diana made quick work of disarming her two attackers, and injuring both enough that they could barely hold themselves up. With the rapier, she had stabbed one of the men’s fighting arm and left thigh. She had also cut the other man’s stomach deeply enough that even though the bleeding was mainly artificial, he was too shocked seeing his own blood all over his body to continue fighting her. Shaking her head, she looked around to see who she could assist. Bruce appeared to be handling his opponents very well by himself. He was proving how skilled he was with a blade as he had only one opponent left while the others lay dead. Clark was also handling himself rather well. He had somehow lost his glasses amidst the fighting. Diana noticed the unconscious men around him as he was fighting only one now. Hope was wiping her bloody dagger on the shirt of the man she just killed. She looked up to see Mercy was about to collapse just after her opponent fell lifelessly to the floor. She rushed to catch her sister in an embrace. After a quick, wordless hug, Hope moved to Mercy’s left side and lifter her arm to support her as they walked together to a more safe location. Suddenly, Mercy’s cry stopped them in their tracks. Her head was tilted back as her face was contorted with excruciating pain as Hope saw the end of a cutlass protrude from right below her chest. She turned her head back to see Olsen holding the cutlass and maliciously smiling at her. He slowly pulled the cutlass out to extend Mercy’s torture and raised it to let Hope see that she was next to die. But the blade never touched Hope. Instead, Olsen crumpled to the floor as Diana pulled the rapier from his side. Diana’s aim was true, and Olsen lay dying on the floor, spitting out blood as he stupidly muttered, “I wasn’t…supposed…to die…” Hope quickly glanced at Diana in gratitude. Then, she turned her attention towards her dying sister. She cradled Mercy on the floor as she wept. Diana could only watch helplessly until she remembered who was responsible for all this. All but two of Luthor’s men remained standing. One was still engaged in a sword fight with Lord Wayne while the other was involved in a fist fight with Inspector Kent. Much to Luthor’s dismay and anger, his men were bested by his enemies. It doesn’t matter, he thought. I still have a weapon worthy of taking out the remaining survivors before they realize what struck them. Luthor saw Ms. Prince marching towards him with the bloody rapier in her hand and an unwavering glare directed at him. “Wembley, hand me my revolver,” Luthor demanded. “I’m going to take care of all of them myself once and for all.” Clark had just finished knocking out his last opponent. He turned to see Diana was heading towards Luthor. Hearing the cocking of a pistol, he looked in Luthor’s direction. Clark raced towards Diana as he pulled out his other pistol and aimed it at Luthor. But he was too late. Luthor pulled the trigger just as Clark fired his pistol. Clark’s bullet found its way straight to Luthor’s chest. A shocked Luthor looked at his bleeding chest, and collapsed to the ground. His cowardly servant, Wembley, ran off, seeing that his employer no longer needed his services. The bullet from Luthor’s revolver had struck Clark as he had tried to use his body to shield Diana from it, causing him to fall to his knees. The pain to his side was unlike any other he had experienced. His whole body suddenly hurt. He must have gone deaf but could have sworn he heard Diana call out his name. Perhaps he did hear her correctly as he felt her arms around him, and he collapsed against her on the ground. He did not realize that she was whispering scathing remarks about his lack of sensibility while calling him different names of endearment. When his hearing came back, Clark looked up at Diana and asked, “Are you alright?” “Agh! You’re the one whose been shot,” cried Diana. “Diana, are you alright?” he repeated weakly. “Yes, I’m fine, Clark. You didn’t have to use yourself as a shield for me. You’re not made of steel, you know,” Diana said. “If it meant that no harm came to you, I’d do it again,” Clark professed. “I would die for you.” Those were his last words to Diana before he succumbed to the welcoming darkness that would temporarily take away the pain that coursed through him. Tears streamed down Diana’s lovely face as she continued to hold him. She looked up in surprise as she felt a presence over her. “Bruce…” Her fiancé had seen and heard the entire exchange. He bent down and gently touched her chin. “We’ll get him to the hospital, and I’ll make sure he gets the finest doctors to treat him,” Bruce promised. Diana could only nod in acknowledgement as she helped Bruce with the unconscious Inspector.