Unfortunate Meeting

A Grade Essence.

Hercules.

As far as I can recall, Hercules is a demi-god. And while it is true that I cannot exert a fraction of what Hercules in mythology could, it is still baffling that A Grade essence is a demigod.

So, what is S? A god?

But it is not something that matters for now.

Why?

Because I am trying to test out my power in one way or another.

And what better way to do so then to meet some unpleasant past acquaintances.

"Ayy look who's here."

I immediately heard the voice, reminding myself that I had fucked my life pretty bad in the past.

"Mikey boy!" An unpleasant voice, no matter how many times I have heard them.

"Been a while, Jared."

Jared.

Droppy eyed, short, anorexic and a druggie.

"Forgot about me, aye?"

"Good evening to you too, Shaun."

Shaun.

Tall, always wears shades even when inside, never wears anything except for suits and is a casino owner.

"Never would have gussed that you would appear." Jared said, "Don't tell me that you want a way back in."

His laugh was annoying. Almost made me feel like punching him, but I couldn't.

It would end up lighting a chain of dynamites that would ruin the semi-peaceful life that I barely gotten back.

"No, I just missed the drink at Alvin's."

Quite a lie, but I did like Alvin's.

"Careful now, bud." Shaun reminded, "While it is good to see you, do remember that your freedom was not without a price. He will not like you wriggling around his turf."

I know who he was talking about.

There was only one big bad wolf of the underworld of NYC. And all others were merely his pups.

But something that they did not know was that the man let me go, without bloodshed.

"I have no intention of coming back, I didn't even expect to see you two here." And well, I wasn't lying. There was an entirely different reason why I was here.

"Good, because I see no way for you to leave if you decide to come back again." Jared said in a serious tone that was rare. "But well, since you are just here for a drink, it doesn't matter."

Thankfully, I did not had to drag the discussion further as the duo seemed to not have much interest.

"What bring the two of you here?" I asked, aware that it was not wise to ask questions about their work but still curious as I never saw them at Alvin's before.

"Package delivery."

Two words, and that told me more than I needed to know.

"I see." I shrugged, "Want to share a drink or going back?"

"Going back." Shaun said almost immediately, "But it was good to see you again, kiddo."

Jared laughed, "True. Just try not to appear before us too often, or things might get complicated."

It wasn't like I wanted to meet them today either.

"Well then, let's hope we don't see each other anytime soon." I said, fully meaning it.

"Enjoy the night, young man." Shaun said, striding off the place with Jared.

While surprising, this wasn't a fully unexpected encounter either.

Alvin's was quite the hub of a lot of illegal dealings. Mostly, because the owner is a retired gangster himself that he does not mind such cases.

Only in the nighttime though, in the day the only people you can see around are the innocent civilians.

Not to mention the place has a strict, no fighting policy.

Again, there was an exception though.

And it was the exception that I was here for.

"Boss," I walked to the old owner, "What's the cage like tonight?"

The cage, the very reason I was here for.

He looked at me, "Haven't seen you paying much attention to the cage before tonight."

His words reminded me of why he could run such a double faced business and neither get caught by the police nor end up beheaded by the gangs.

"Interest is often gathered over time." As I said that, he stared at me with an expressionless face.

It is not the over enthusiastic young blood that people should fear, but often these old veterans.

"Today a certain group asked for permission to join." The owner finally revealed as he knew that I was a regular at his place. "They go by the name of the Wrecking Crew."

Wrecking Crew? Never heard of them.

"Judging by your face, I can tell that you have not heard of them." He showed a rare smirk, "And before they came to me, I hadn't either."

"Are they strong?" I asked, gaining a bit of interest in them.

"They are, surprisingly so." He explained, "They are a bunch of strongmen who uses construction tools as weapons. They might look like circus clowns with the getup, but they are not people that should be underestimated."

Strongmen, huh? That was interesting.

"Are they like…" I finally decided to ask the important question, but the owner was a step ahead of me.

"They are freaks." He answered immediately, "They have powers, not the strongest, but definitely powers that humans should not mess with."

The old man was someone whose words I could rely on.

"How… strong are they?"

He raised an eyebrow, "You are taking quite a lot of interest for someone that just recently got into this."

He examined my face, possibly looking for something that might make me appear suspicious.

But well, there wasn't.

"But to answer that question… I would say that they can survive a car crash with little to no injuries."

Quite strong, got it.

But possibly the best ones for this.

"Well… Do you think that you can arr–"

"No." Even before I could finish, he declined. "I know what foolery you are thinking of, but I cannot just send you off to death's bed that easily."

This made me scratch my head, "Really? You know that I can hold my own against stronger opponents, right?"

"This is not a fight between normal humans, son." The man reminded, "I do not want my regular customer to have his skull crushed, even if he had taken part in a few children's fights before."

Children fight…

Quite the way to describe underworld ward, but well, compared to fights between superpowered beings, maybe those were children fights.

"I can promise you that I will not die." I assured, but the man had no intention of listening.

"It is still a no. No matter how prepared you think you are, it is not enough."

This made me sigh, I knew that this wasn't going to be easy. And I also knew that I had to show him for him to believe.

"What if I tell you that I am not the same as what you remember me to be."

This finally made his face change a little, finally an appearance that showed confusion.

"What do you mean?"

He asked, and well I had no choice.

'System, use Hercules' Essence.'

<<Affirmative! >>

<<Host has equipped Hercules' Essence!>>

<<Essence 2 59 Duration Left: Hours Minutes>>

And that was when he was shocked, as the moment the system assured me of the essence usage, I squatted down, looking around to affirm that the crowd wasn't looking at us.

And once I saw that we were alone, I did what I had to do.

Puncture a hole on the floor with a single finger.

"You…" His eyes went wide, finally realizing what I was talking about.

"Yeah," I gave him a smile, "I think I am the same as them."

__________________________________________________________________________

[[A/N: Read 100+ Advanced Chapters (summation of all stories) ahead of WN on Patreon.

25 Advanced Chapters for Marvel on https://www.patreon.com/Greedyfrog

Discord: https://discord.com/invite/2P96N3zurc

P.S. The Wrecking Crew is from the comics, not from She Hulk. The ones shown in She Hulk was an embarrassment, like everything related to that show.]]

A Grade Essence.

Hercules.

As far as I can recall, Hercules is a demi-god. And while it is true that I cannot exert a fraction of what Hercules in mythology could, it is still baffling that A Grade essence is a demigod.

So, what is S? A god?

But it is not something that matters for now.

Why?

Because I am trying to test out my power in one way or another.

And what better way to do so then to meet some unpleasant past acquaintances.

"Ayy look who's here."

I immediately heard the voice, reminding myself that I had fucked my life pretty bad in the past.

"Mikey boy!" An unpleasant voice, no matter how many times I have heard them.

"Been a while, Jared."

Jared.

Droppy eyed, short, anorexic and a druggie.

"Forgot about me, aye?"

"Good evening to you too, Shaun."

Shaun.

Tall, always wears shades even when inside, never wears anything except for suits and is a casino owner.

"Never would have gussed that you would appear." Jared said, "Don't tell me that you want a way back in."

His laugh was annoying. Almost made me feel like punching him, but I couldn't.

It would end up lighting a chain of dynamites that would ruin the semi-peaceful life that I barely gotten back.

"No, I just missed the drink at Alvin's."

Quite a lie, but I did like Alvin's.

"Careful now, bud." Shaun reminded, "While it is good to see you, do remember that your freedom was not without a price. He will not like you wriggling around his turf."

I know who he was talking about.

There was only one big bad wolf of the underworld of NYC. And all others were merely his pups.

But something that they did not know was that the man let me go, without bloodshed.

"I have no intention of coming back, I didn't even expect to see you two here." And well, I wasn't lying. There was an entirely different reason why I was here.

"Good, because I see no way for you to leave if you decide to come back again." Jared said in a serious tone that was rare. "But well, since you are just here for a drink, it doesn't matter."

Thankfully, I did not had to drag the discussion further as the duo seemed to not have much interest.

"What bring the two of you here?" I asked, aware that it was not wise to ask questions about their work but still curious as I never saw them at Alvin's before.

"Package delivery."

Two words, and that told me more than I needed to know.

"I see." I shrugged, "Want to share a drink or going back?"

"Going back." Shaun said almost immediately, "But it was good to see you again, kiddo."

Jared laughed, "True. Just try not to appear before us too often, or things might get complicated."

It wasn't like I wanted to meet them today either.

"Well then, let's hope we don't see each other anytime soon." I said, fully meaning it.

"Enjoy the night, young man." Shaun said, striding off the place with Jared.

While surprising, this wasn't a fully unexpected encounter either.

Alvin's was quite the hub of a lot of illegal dealings. Mostly, because the owner is a retired gangster himself that he does not mind such cases.

Only in the nighttime though, in the day the only people you can see around are the innocent civilians.

Not to mention the place has a strict, no fighting policy.

Again, there was an exception though.

And it was the exception that I was here for.

"Boss," I walked to the old owner, "What's the cage like tonight?"

The cage, the very reason I was here for.

He looked at me, "Haven't seen you paying much attention to the cage before tonight."

His words reminded me of why he could run such a double faced business and neither get caught by the police nor end up beheaded by the gangs.

"Interest is often gathered over time." As I said that, he stared at me with an expressionless face.

It is not the over enthusiastic young blood that people should fear, but often these old veterans.

"Today a certain group asked for permission to join." The owner finally revealed as he knew that I was a regular at his place. "They go by the name of the Wrecking Crew."

Wrecking Crew? Never heard of them.

"Judging by your face, I can tell that you have not heard of them." He showed a rare smirk, "And before they came to me, I hadn't either."

"Are they strong?" I asked, gaining a bit of interest in them.

"They are, surprisingly so." He explained, "They are a bunch of strongmen who uses construction tools as weapons. They might look like circus clowns with the getup, but they are not people that should be underestimated."

Strongmen, huh? That was interesting.

"Are they like…" I finally decided to ask the important question, but the owner was a step ahead of me.

"They are freaks." He answered immediately, "They have powers, not the strongest, but definitely powers that humans should not mess with."

The old man was someone whose words I could rely on.

"How… strong are they?"

He raised an eyebrow, "You are taking quite a lot of interest for someone that just recently got into this."

He examined my face, possibly looking for something that might make me appear suspicious.

But well, there wasn't.

"But to answer that question… I would say that they can survive a car crash with little to no injuries."

Quite strong, got it.

But possibly the best ones for this.

"Well… Do you think that you can arr–"

"No." Even before I could finish, he declined. "I know what foolery you are thinking of, but I cannot just send you off to death's bed that easily."

This made me scratch my head, "Really? You know that I can hold my own against stronger opponents, right?"

"This is not a fight between normal humans, son." The man reminded, "I do not want my regular customer to have his skull crushed, even if he had taken part in a few children's fights before."

Children fight…

Quite the way to describe underworld ward, but well, compared to fights between superpowered beings, maybe those were children fights.

"I can promise you that I will not die." I assured, but the man had no intention of listening.

"It is still a no. No matter how prepared you think you are, it is not enough."

This made me sigh, I knew that this wasn't going to be easy. And I also knew that I had to show him for him to believe.

"What if I tell you that I am not the same as what you remember me to be."

This finally made his face change a little, finally an appearance that showed confusion.

"What do you mean?"

He asked, and well I had no choice.

'System, use Hercules' Essence.'

<<Affirmative! >>

<<Host has equipped Hercules' Essence!>>

<<Essence 2 59 Duration Left: Hours Minutes>>

And that was when he was shocked, as the moment the system assured me of the essence usage, I squatted down, looking around to affirm that the crowd wasn't looking at us.

And once I saw that we were alone, I did what I had to do.

Puncture a hole on the floor with a single finger.

"You…" His eyes went wide, finally realizing what I was talking about.

"Yeah," I gave him a smile, "I think I am the same as them."

__________________________________________________________________________

[[A/N: Read 100+ Advanced Chapters (summation of all stories) ahead of WN on Patreon.

25 Advanced Chapters for Marvel on https://www.patreon.com/Greedyfrog

Discord: https://discord.com/invite/2P96N3zurc

P.S. The Wrecking Crew is from the comics, not from She Hulk. The ones shown in She Hulk was an embarrassment, like everything related to that show.]]