15 The Source Of All Evil #15

Gotham's Uptown

South of Crime Alley

I couldn't help but glance at the system as I followed Richard through the dark streets of The Bowery, unable to remove my eyes from the Brawling skill, which had gone by two whole levels over the course of a single day of training.

I honestly didn't know how to feel about it. The increase had come so quickly because of my new perk Eidetic Kinesthesia, or however the second word is pronounced.

You know what? I'll call it Photographic Reflexes from now on. It's seriously giving my evolved brain a headache just mentally trying to pronounce it.

Anyway, I felt complicated about it because it felt too easy. I've been busting my balls for two weeks to increase my brawling skill by two levels, only to get this new perk, and now all my hard work seems worthless. But at the same time, a part of me enjoyed the quick improvement, and my rationality told me it was a good thing.

Pretty complicated right? Now I can finally say I'm a complicated guy with a straight face whenever I'm on a date!

I know I should have been happy about the progress and needed the strength to survive and live better, but a guy can still get depressed over his hard work suddenly losing meaning, you know? It's perfectly reasonable and well within my constitutional rights.

That's right; I know my rights!

But all jokes and brooding aside; a part of me might not like the source of my newly gained strength and abilities, but I wasn't dumb or stubborn enough to not put the, to use. I needed every bit of strength I could get my hands on after all.

"Ouch..." I intoned, unable to continue my mental rambling as I turned to glare at Richard, who just smacked me on the top of my head. "What the hell, can't I brood in peace?" I snapped as Richard took his hand back and gave me a bemused look.

I'm pretty sure Richard must have noticed not only my increased strength but how fast I was learning as well. Luckily he didn't push me for an answer, taking the vague non-answers I gave him without any negative reaction and dropping the subject without complicating matters.

"You're distracted, kid. Keep your eyes open," Richard said, huffing in annoyance as he regarded me with a raised eyebrow while gesturing towards the surroundings.

"Does it matter? I'm following behind you after all," I replied with a shrug, exaggeratedly gesturing to the side. "You wouldn't let anything happen to your precious student, are you?" I added, crossing my arms while sending him a smug look.

"You keep being a smartass and something is gonna happen to you alright, kid," Richard blankly replied, but a faint smile was on his face as he spoke.

"We're here already," Richard stated, gesturing towards the surrounding area. He lost the faint smile and put on a stern expression instead. "Look around. Tell me why we're here," he instructed, crossing his arms and going quiet as he waited for my answer.

"A dark, dingy Gotham street?" I muttered without bothering to look around, and Richard's stern expression turned even more so. "Fine, fine," I said, raising my hands in surrender as I turned to take another look at the surroundings. A proper one this time.

The street looked like any other you would find in Gotham City, dark, fifty, and smelled like a mixture of smog, cat piss, and an assortment of chemicals. The only thing worthy of note was the lack of pedestrians and the two men in heavy clothes standing in front of a restaurant, keeping an eye out on the surroundings.

"The restaurant with two guys in heavy clothes standing in front of it," I replied, gesturing towards the two men. I narrowed my eyes and focused on them, immediately noticing the bulges on their sides; guns.

"They look like lookouts, and they have guns... a gang meeting?" I concluded as I turned to Richard, getting a nod.

"The restaurant is a front for Black Mask's gang," Richard said, gesturing towards the restaurant with his chin, his arms crossed. "They're making a deal of sorts with a member of the Intergang," he casually added, and I felt my eyes widen.

"Nah," I immediately said as I shook my head, cutting Richard off. He tried to stare me down, but there was no way I'd let myself get involved with Black Mask without good reason, not to mention the Intergang, who if I remembered correctly, were working for Darkseid or something.

That's some Superman-level shit, and you don't get involved with Superman-level shit unless you had a death wish or were Superman-level yourself. I was neither of which, by the way, if you didn't know already.

"You don't need to worry about Intergang. The guy inside is a turncoat, and he's acting on his own," Richard said, unmindful of how vehemently I shook my head. "Black Mask might be ruthless, but that's all there is to him," he added. But I was having none of it. I wasn't nearly ready for this level of action.

"There's $15,000 inside that restaurant. You can keep it," Richard concluded, and I suddenly wasn't feeling so reluctant anymore. My expression immediately turned into a calculating one as I began debating the pros and cons.

Cons: a pissed-off black mask and the possibility of getting shot if I didn't play it right.

Pros: $15,000.

Richard looked at my rapidly expression and sighed in exasperation but said nothing.

"Well, why didn't you lead with that?" I asked, sending him a beaming smile, to which he snorted in derision. "I just gotta kick the asses of everyone inside the restaurant, right?" I added, rubbing my hands together.

Huh, I never realized I liked money so much. I guess they don't call it the source of all evil for no reason.

"Just stop talking, kid, before you make me regret taking you as a student," Richard said, shaking his head in disapproval, and that's all I needed to hear as I reached into my hoodie and took out my mask.

"What? If I'm going to fuck with Black Mask, I'd prefer if he didn't know what I looked like," I said with a shrug, gesturing to the side as I started walking towards the restaurant.

[New quest initiated: Enter The Dragon II]

[Enter The Dragon II]

Your teacher wished to see the results of your short but fruitful training, and if that's not enough, there's $15,000 on the line!

Primary Objective: impress your teacher.

Bonus Objective 1: take out all opponents.

Bonus Objective 2: don't get hit.

Rewards:

Primary Objective: +5 skill levels to the Brawling Skill

Bonus Objective 1: ???

Bonus Objective 2: ???

...

[Accept quest now? Yes/No]

'Might as well... accept the quest.'

I raised the hood over my face and stuck to the shadows to avoid getting the two lookouts' attention. A guy wearing a blank gray mask would probably make them suspicious and possibly trigger happy.

I was almost five meters away from the two lookouts when they finally noticed something was wrong, and one of them started pointing at me while saying something to his buddy.

I broke into a sprint, keeping an eye on the nearest lookout as he reached into his side, taking out a gun. I was almost within swinging distance when he retrieved the pistol and took aim.

Looking at the way he held the gun and the hurry he was, I knew he would miss, my evolved brain having already deducted the bullet's trajectory.

The lookout shot and missed, the recoil pushing his hand back, and I was already in his face before he could adjust his aim. I used my momentum and pushed my elbow against his chin, immediately knocking him out.

However, I didn't let him fall. Holding on to the now unconscious lookout, I hid behind his body, using him as a human shield as the second lookout took a gun of his own and took aim, far more calmly than his unconscious friend.

The second lookout hesitated for a second, and that was all the time I needed as I kicked his unconscious body towards him with a kick to the back and used the distraction to lunge at my second target.

The second lookout quickly pushed away his unconscious friend without falling and turned to me with his gun. I was close enough to smack the gun away, which I did. Another punch later, and he was down for the count too.

"What the hell is going on out there?!"

I heard a shout and the sound of rapid footsteps coming from inside the restaurant. I paused for a second, listening to the footsteps, and counted at least three more people inside.

'People with guns...' I mused as I saw the shadow of a person clearly holding a gun through the closed red curtain covering the restaurant's window.

'No element of surprise this time, and the entrance is too tight for any maneuvers...' my eyes darted around the area as I tried to think of a plan of action.

'Alright... this should work... probably...' I took a deep breath as I took both lookouts' guns, and with a heave, I picked up one of them and turned the restaurant's window.

I spun him two times and threw him at the restaurant's window. His body went hurling through the air and hit the window, immediately shattering the glass, sending shards flying everywhere.

I waited until the first gunshot, which luckily missed the guy I'd just sent crashing through the window, and burst through the restaurant's door after kicking it open.

I immediately located the three people standing in the open, a fourth unarmed man taking cover behind a table. Luckily only one of them had a gun, but unfortunately for him, I had one too.

Taking advantage of the gangster's momentary distraction, I took out one of the lookout's guns and threw it at the armed one's head. You heard me right, I had a loaded gun, and I threw it at someone's face.

If you've got a problem with that, take it up with Richard. He's the one who set the no-guns rule as long I was his student.

In any case, I missed, but the sheer ridiculousness of my actions seemed to have stunned the man as he stared at me in disbelief, eyes wide in shock.

I didn't waste the opening and closed the distance, but the man recovered faster than I'd hoped and leveled the guns directly at me.

...

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