Last Hit

The dark clouds of Gotham loomed closely towards the high-rise buildings. The clutters of tall buildings blocked the little sunlight that reached the city. Even though it was noon, the gloomy atmosphere devoured the remaining sunlight. This was just an average day for the residents of crime capital.

By the United States Postal Service, two people in two different situations passed. One wearing scantily clothing while the other had a construction helmet on his head. They looked at each other and the woman clenched her purse. Even then she still steeled herself to walk past him.

The recent rise in murder cases hadn't stopped the red-light district workers and the blue-collar businessmen. After all, 'I wouldn't be unlucky enough to be affected by it' right? Even if they were wrong, they couldn't afford not showing up to work. Rent was expensive and the economy wasn't getting any better. Even though every hustle they made would be unrewarding and their lives will stay boring and unsavory, no one wants to become homeless.

They had seen for themselves how unforgiving the streets were for homeless people. No matter how unhappy they were working their mind-numbing jobs, they never wanted to experience the coldness Gotham gave at night.

As they say, 'if hypothermia won't kill you, the people will'.

As people from all walks of life passed the Postal Service, they never thought they would be examined by a predator. A youth wearing a smiling mask watched people come and go. From children rushing to send their penpals to depressed parents sending their military family members letters.

Although he saw them - stood inches away from them, they never realized it. It was as if he was never there. He periodically roamed the hallways leaving a random gust of wind.

The Postal Service was the gathering ground for a diverse set of people. Price found it the best place to hunt for bounties. One after another, Price found a plethora of different bounties at different prices from this location. One by one he followed them out. One by one he turned in their bounties.

Before leaving Gotham, Price decided to do one more hit. Luckily for him, he didn't have to wait for long before he saw a high value target.

'Scruffy beard. Sunken cheeks. Pale skin. What could it be?' Price thought seriously.

The man who wore thick clothing was worth 2,000 credits. There is a small majority of humans that even pass 1,000 credits much less the sum of 2,000 credits! Therefore, Price thought the being in front of him wasn't human. He tried using his deductive reasoning and knowledge of the strange to determine the state of the entity in front of him.

'Vampire? No, a little too plain for that. Maybe vampire victim...' Price thought before chuckling in his head. 'I've got one hundred twenty five Magic Missile Cards and a couple hundred more in different types of Magic Cards, I think I'll take the hit.'

Even as Price said that, he went through his arsenal one more time. He brought out the Fireball Cards and Lightning Spear Cards as well. He also changed out the lead bullets on his revolver [Loud Lullaby] to silver bullets.

The main difference between a lead bullet and a silver bullet is that lead has a 20% higher density. Other than a little change in power, Price's combat abilities wouldn't be stunted. Plus, on the off chance his target was a vampire, its effect on Price's combat ability would soar.

'Let's hope Hollywood didn't exaggerate too much.' Price thought as he tailed behind the pasty looking man.

Slowly and methodically Price followed the target. From the random turns to the hasty shifts, it became more difficult by the second to continue tracking his target. He came to a point where he had to shift to a different extension of 『Hunter Phase』.

『Hound Phase Activated - Neuroreceptors heighten, auditory cortex heighten, heartbeat and blood flow limit, activate dark vision, activate seventh sense | Extension of Hunter Phase』

With his new found sensations, Price was able to follow his target from five blocks back. This decreased the chances of him getting caught prematurely and also calms the target. As long as he couldn't lose him, this distance was advantageous to him.

The two quickly went through the boroughs of Gotham in less than five minutes. The speed at which they crossed roads went past the limit of a human being. This was normal for Price since he had been modifying his body over the years but it was definitely abnormal for normal humans. With this piece of evidence, Price concluded that his target was definitely not a human being.

After walking for ten minutes, the pale looking man entered a shady building.

'My Alibi huh?'

From what he heard around Gotham is that My Alibi was an underground bar for failed supervillains and small time crooks. What would a target worth 2,000 credits be doing in such an underwhelming building?

Nonetheless, Price scaled the building. His invisibility still hadn't been dispelled due to him just tracking. Therefore, not only was Price invisible, his heartbeat was also almost impossible to notice.

Although Price didn't have the red-outline that came with 『Prowler Phase』, his seventh sense allowed for perception of everything inside the bar.

Inside the bar, the pasty, thin, and sick looking man took a seat on the stool. His arrival invoked contempt from the regulars at the bar. This may have been due to the likeliness of him being an undercover cop.

Nonetheless, they just stared then ignored his presence. As long as he didn't try to approach them, they wouldn't interfere with him. They were after all, just small time crooks and failed supervillains.

The pale man looked around the bar periodically and then frowned. It seemed like he couldn't find what he was looking for. However, just before he could get up, he smelled something sweet. He cranked his head in the direction of the smell.

In front of him, two crooks were roughing around and one 'accidently' broke the beer bottle in his hand resulting in bleeding. This was naturally due to Price's interference. The regulars in the bar didn't give it a second look. The pasty man did however try to control his urges.

He stood up and left the bar with haste arousing the attention of some small time crooks. They looked at each other and cursed. This was obviously an undercover cop. He walked in, sat down for a few minutes without ordering anything. He probably heard some information he needed and left.

They got up as well and went out the door. The bartenders there looked at each other then sighed. It looks like another murder was going to be committed and the cops would be on their case for it.

They trailed the pasty guy for two alley ways before losing sight of him. The guy with the scar going down his neck cursed furiously.

"Those godd*mned cops don't know what's good for them!"

His team members agreed quickly. They used to be part of a known gang in Gotham before an undercover cop went and rattled their operations out. What's worse was the fact that they introduced the undercover cop to the gang. This made it hard for them to join other gangs because of this.

"D*mn right!" The scarred man said when they agreed with him. "He got lucky we lost sight of him."

As they were turning around, they heard a sickly voice, "I do not think luck is the appropriate choice of words."

The group of criminals quickly turned around and got their guns out. They relaxed a little when they saw who it was.

"You a cop huh?" The scarred man yelled as he approached the pale man. "You know what we do to cops around here?"

The pasty man smiled, "I'm interested. What do you do to cops around these parts?"

The men looked at each other and smiled. 'This guy thinks he's superman or something.'

They thought this due to the expensive and proper clothing he wore and the way he worded his sentences. People like them were the ones who were the most in denial when things don't go their way. They also thought that pasty man could have something going for him but the alcohol in their blood hindered their judgement.

"Let me show you." The scarred man said as he pressed the trigger.

PEW

The men started laughing. The pasty man's brain would've exploded from that distance. They followed the trail of the bullet and saw it was stuck on the asphalt. Even in their drunkenness they knew the messed up.

The men looked around in efforts to find where the pasty man was. One man in particular was pointing his gun randomly and shooting.

"Godd*mn it! Someone hold Stanley before he pops one in us." The scarred man said.

Two members rushed to apprehend the gun from their friend. They struggled the gun out of his hands and turned around in time to see the four other men they came with on the floor bleeding!

"AHHH!" One of them yelled while he fell on the floor.

Price, who was on the rooftop, thought it was time he made a move. Through the five or so men that the vampire killed, he had an understanding of what he was getting himself into.