The mood was well tense as we all sat in the van in total silence. After the call from yesterday we immediately all went home with Ryan saying that we need to think of a plan. As soon as I got home I immediately went to the shed and started some tinkering. I restocked all my previous items and even fixed the Thunder bat. I didn't have any resources to make anything new but I think I'll be good for tomorrow.
After I was done with restocking my arsenal I decided to check out the new weapons I got from the train ride last night. At first everything looked pretty simple but with developer creations the simpler the look the more advanced, amen. When I got a look at the inner workings of one of the maces I had to cut open with one of my claws. Everything was compact, evenly connected together as it was all connected to a blood red gem.
I sat back in my chair as I looked at the tech in front of me and realized one thing: it was gonna take me a while to do anything with this. I needed resources and people willing to get me those resources without asking any questions. Maybe Whale shark can give me resources instead of money? So I stored away back into my inventory and went to my room. I got into my swivel chair and pulled out my notebook and started drawing some blueprints.
I started drawing up ways of mixing all that tech I found into the gear I already made. Mix a couple of those maces with the thunder back to amp its strength along with giving the ability to still hit someone if I miss due to the shockwaves. Maybe I could combine the commander's gauntlets with my kinetic ones, potentially adding kinetic blast or repulsive shields. Maybe I could make myself a full set of armor using the ones I have in my inventory, maybe even make some gauntlet mounted rail guns.
Hundreds of ideas flowed through my mind as with every new idea I filed a new page in my notebook but eventually I stopped as I closed my notebook. I started to think about the mess that I had no part in getting myself into. I was going to steal some tech from Forge, a high tech gang with a lot of power as they went to war with one of the local gangs in the city because the actor who played Jaws wants me to and if I don’t he’ll kill everyone I love.
I should be enjoying my summer like any regular teenager staying up all night playing games, hanging out with friends thinking about what to do after high school, not fighting for your life, getting involved with criminal activity, fighting heroes and killing someone. God I still remember it vividly, the smell of copper in the air, my hands soaked in blood and that……that bloody mess in front of me. I killed a person and I made it hurt. I remember her screaming, I could remember her bones breaking and flesh tearing as I I I…………No she………she was a monster she did inhuman things and was gonna ruin those kids life I……I didn’t kill a person, I killed a monster, not a person just a monster.
Crack!, I felt the arms of my chair snap as my hands were squeezing into fists so tightly that my hands were bleeding. My hands shook as I opened up my palms and saw the scarlet coating as flashes of what I did ran through my mind. Sweet blood, god why do I have the urge to just consume it? Maybe I should call up Nosferatu, I heard she had a similar problem and maybe ask her to make me another hoodie too.
I quickly clean my hands as I plop down on my bed as I summon the commander's magnum into my hands. The massive foot long hand cannon felt light in my hand as I could tell this gun was more advanced than anything else I’ve seen before. As I looked over the gun I noticed a carving on the barrel Chaos. Well at least I got a name for the gun but I wonder.
I look at the gun once again until I find a second trigger below the first one as I open up my winder point the gun outside and pull it as the red line on the gun changes to blue. I pull it again as it changes to green then yellow then black as after a couple more pulls of the trigger I get back to that scarlet red. Each color is most likely a different ammo type. I don't know why the commander didn’t use this really that much, guess she is a more hands one type girl.
I store chaos back into my inventory as I walk over to my console and get ready to beat that fucking tree dragon in dark fates. After several hours of getting my ass beat by a fucking tree and nearly breaking my controller I see sunlight start to poke through my window as my phone vibrates.
I check my phone and see I got a text message from Ryan and it simply says hey I think I got a plan or well at least parts of one so come over here we're gonna spend most of the day preparing for tonight so get here as soon as possible. This is gonna be a long day, I just got a feeling that that's gonna be the case.
Oh yeah I forgot something. I think my healing factor should have worked its magic. I take off my shirt, sit down and slowly unwrap the bandages on my body. After a couple minutes I fully unwrap myself from the bandages. I slowly lift up my arms now covered in multiple new scars. Small scars litter my arms more so on my right arm, the one I used to punch that train car. I turned to my right shoulder and there was a large bite scar where she bit into my shoulder. Finally there were two large burn scars in the shape of handprints on my side.
Jesus once again I gotta marvel how I got so many scars so quickly after getting my powers. I swear by the end of this year I’m gonna be just one big scar but it does remind me, It reminds me that I’m still human. I still have limits and I can be pushed to those limits and unlike fiction I can’t break my limits without any trouble over and over. This is real life and even if you can heal better than most people in this world if you get hurt enough there will be consequences.
Even if my senses got stronger after pushing them to the limit my body doesn't work that way. Even If I look healed internally I still need more time to recover but sadly I probably won’t get that time. If I move too fast for too long, lift something too heavy or punch something with too much force I can worsen my body or even cause permanent damage.
That goes more for my right so I’m gonna have to use my left arm much more. I stare at the back of my right hand just staring at the jagged scars on my knuckles that lead down my hand and up my forearm. Welp time to stop thinking top myself and get ready to commit crimes once again but first I need a shower I stink. I get into the shower and quickly clean myself with the purifying soap and shampoo. I definitely need a haircut in the future, my hair now reaches half way down my neck.
I dried off and quickly changed into a pair of gray pants and a shirt along with that black hoodie with a skull on it. After I went downstairs as I could still hear Mary sleeping so I wrote a note on the kitchen counter saying I had to help my friends out with something.
I got into my truck and turned on the radio as I started driving to the hotel. Once again it was a bright sunny day and guess dad was still wrong about the weather. Eventually I got to the hotel and parked into the front and quickly walked in.
The same receptionist from yesterday sits there with a smile. I quickly walked past him and got into the elevator as I clicked the button for the penthouse. “I hope things go well for you and your friends Richard” The receptionist gives me one last smile as the door closes, I don’t like him.
I rapidly tapped my foot against the metal floor as the elevator music started playing until I finally reached the penthouse. The doors opened up as I saw everyone sitting down in the living room.
Aiden was flipping through different tv channels.
Martin was typing rapidly on his laptop.
Markus was eating a banana.
Sam was doing some push ups.
Blake was hanging of the side of the couch,
And Ryan was looking at his phone in detail.
As soon as I stepped into the room Ryan looked up and smiled “Finally here Richard we got stuff to discuss”.
“Ok” I walked over and sat next to him.
“Morning” Mark said as he ate the banana peel, gross.
“Morning Richard” Blake said as she sounded tired.
“What they said” Sam sounded done with everything.
Aiden and Martin didn’t greet me and were too engrossed in what they were doing as Ryan stood up and clapped his hands to get everyone's attention “ok now that we're all here it's time to discuss what we're doing tonight”.
“And when you mean discusses you mean try to come up with a plan steal from a gang not be killed” Martin finally spoke up
“Yep” well at least he’s honest.
“So what's the plan oh so amazing leader” Sam said with a mocking tone as she hopped onto her feet.
“First thank you and second I got a simple one” We all sat in silence ready to hear Ryan ‘amazing’ plan.
“From the Research are new Aquatic boss gave us, I was able to learn the location of where the piece of tech we are stealing is located near the border of the middle district and lower district and the gang war is going to be pretty far away so if we trip any alarms or anything like that will have time to leave before forge can send anyone” Still hard to believe we’re going to steal tech from Forge.
“Along with that since forge sent a small group most of their forces will be sent to help with the gang war meaning will be dealing with a small group guarding the tech and with our good friend Richard with his super senses he can help figure out how many guards there are and where they are” Let's hope that's the only thing I gotta do.
“But the tech we're going after is hidden behind a Tungsten door so there is no breaking into it but the mechanism is pretty advanced that a USB won’t do but I got a guy who can hook me up with something that can so that means Martin will be joining us this time”.
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“What?” Martin finally looked up from his laptop.
“You heard me you, me, Sam, Markus and Richard will be heading into the action this time and like always Blake and Aiden stay behind like always to act as the getaway driver and healer respectively”.
“Aw man, I'm always the getaway driver” Aiden pouted.
“Well it's because you're the best driver here, better than any of us so be proud” Blake beamed as Aiden smiled a bit.
“So yeah will heading out tonight since that's when the Forge group leave their base”
“So what do we do until then since we got like the whole day to kill till then” Aiden said as stopped watching the tv and was now playing with Markus rubix cube and was doing kinda bad, just say he’s an idiot.
“Oh well we relaxed until then I already ordered some stuff we might need so kick back and relax” Ryan gave us all a thumbs up before leaving the room.
We did as Ryan said and sat back and relaxed, all of us going to different parts of the living room. Marcus went to swim in the pool and when I mean swim I mean just sit at the bottom. Aiden and Martin started talking about what type of food we were gonna get after the job was over. Finally Me, Blake and Sam sat on the couch. Blake sat in between us as Sam was watching some superhero movie starring beatdown some four armed muscle head from Lazarus city. Blake was reading a comic about the reimagining of Beowulf's origin story. Well it took place in modern day and had Beowulf be a nerdy teenager. Blake was constantly switching her attention from the comic and the movie as occasionally Me and Sam looked away from the movie to read with Blake.
After a couple hours Ryan came back with two heavy bags and that same cocky grin on his face. Before we could speak he opened the bags and started pulling out the contents. The first thing he pulled out was a set of smoke and gas grenades “for quick getaways”. Then he pulled out a couple bullet proof vests and biker armor and tossed one to everyone but me and Markus “for everyone who isn’t super fast, durable or can heal”. He then tossed Blake, Aiden and Marten stun batons “for self defense or if you really don’t like someone and don’t worry I got you something to Sam”. Sam gets tossed a set of spike silver brass knuckles with a square handle and trigger. When she grip the trigger the brass knuckles sparks with electricity Sam expression turned manic as the look in her eyes foretold immense violence, the crazier the better.
Finally Ryan pulled out a silver disk with a bright blue circle in the middle ”and this little beauty is the key to this whole operation so be careful with her”. He then threw at Marten who nearly dropped it as he fumbled to catch it. “Now we wait until it starts to get dark then we head out” We all gave thumbs up as Ryan flopped onto the couch.
The silence returned as we all went back to just enjoying the time we have before we gotta rob Forge. Eventually the sun finally started to clock out and the sunlight slowly retreated under the night sky. “Welp everyone it's time to get ready and head out because that tech ain’t gonna still itself” Ryan announced as he jumped onto his feet. Everyone started grabbing the gear Ryan gave them, putting the biker gear and bullet proof vests on along with holstering the grenades and stun battens.
“Wait! before we go gotta get something real quick so give me a sec” we all stop as Blake made her announcement and then ran to her room.
“Do you know what she is getting?” I asked Sam as she shrugged.
“Ok I got it!” Blake ran out with a box and dropped it on the table.
“Ok I decided since we still need to hide our identities and The red eye gang isn’t the most serious name I decided to a bit of updating” Blake then pulled out even masks and hoodies.
“I think the scarlet beholders is a much cooler name!” She had the biggest smile on her face as she handed each of us a hoodie and mask.
The hoodies were the same but what was drawn on them was much different. The eye painted on the chest was now a blood red color and much more detailed looking more like an actual eye and it was much larger too. There was another eye on the back and the sleeves had smaller eyes running up them until they stopped at the shoulders.
The masks were made out of a much tougher material this time but each one had a unique design on them.
Ryan's had a large toothy grin on it with a couple golden teeth along fox whiskers drawn on the side and Fox ears drawn on the top.
Aiden and Martin mask both had one side blank but the other side was one half of a comedy mask Aiden having the smiling side while Martin had the frowning side.
Sam's mask was pretty simple, only having a scarlet red handprint on it but she seemed happy with it.
Markus’s mask seemed to be covered in scarlet cracks and generally looked like it was broken over and over and glued back together each time.
Blakes had a small smile on it and The medical cross on the forehead.
Finally mine had a toothy maw on it similar to that of a crocodile or a shark and unlike the others it didn’t have eye holes but instead two little red dots.
“Sorry Richard I forgot to add eye holes on that last one but I poot dots where you can poke them out” Blake looked at the ground as I quickly replaced my hoodie with the one Blake gave me and put the mask on as with a bit of tuning with the dials I could see perfectly through the mask. I gave a thumbs up with everyone quickly following my actions and put on the new attire Blake gave us.
“Ok now that we're ready it's time for the Scarlet Beholders to do a bit of thievery” Blake had the biggest smile as we went to leave.
“Wait, maybe we should take off the mask and hoodies until we actually get to the place we need to go?” Aiden spoke up.
“Oh yeah” Ryan said as we quickly took off the masks and hoodies.
We left the hotel with the receptionist waving us off as we got to the truck and we quickly drove to the location Whale Shark gave us. After thirty minutes it was completely dark as we stopped in front of a three storey brick building with black tinted windows.
“Ok everyone ready” Ryan asks as he puts on his mask.
“Nope” we all answered as we put on our hoodies and masks.
“Me either but I know we're gonna do this and we are gonna do this really well so let's go!” Ryan cheered as he opened the back of the van as Me Markus, Martin, Sam and Ryan got out and stood in front of the building ready to complete this job.
Before any of us even took a step towards the building Markus lifted up a hand “cameras”. I gave a quick look as my night vision kicked in and I could see dozens of tiny spheres surrounding the area. “Good eye Mark but hey Richy got anything in your bag of tricks that can take care of this” Ryan said.
“Don’t call me that” Ryan lifted up his hands in defense as I started thinking. Best bet cameras are waterproof and electricity proof most of Forges gear is. Another thing is I can’t use the magnum since it’s too loud and even my kinetic amp ball bearing’s won’t fully destroy them. After another second of thinking I did remember a trick I haven’t used in a bit since me and Mary fought that behemoth, and got your ass kicked.
I pushed my mask up just enough to reveal my mouth as I took a deep breath and I felt the rocks form in my throat. They bounce constantly in my throat causing a rapid tapping sensation as I condense them into a singular rock and I open my mouth. A spike shot from my throat and smashed into a camera completely destroying it as with a thought it ricochet to the next camera destroying it. The spike softly glowed with a yellow aura as I controlled how fast it moved and where it would go when it ricochet as the rock shattered after destroying the last camera.
“Now Richy I want you to use those amazing senses of yours to see how many goons were gonna be dealing with” I could feel him smirking under his mask as I pulled mask down and tuned my senses as I stared at the building. What I saw inside was not that much there was a living quarters, an empty armory and what seemed to be a meeting room but I eventually found something interesting on the second floor. There was a solid square room I couldn’t see through, probably lined with led and two guards stood in front of it. They wore black body suits with a scale pattern on it and covered in small plates on it covering the shoulders, legs, spine, arms, knees, chest and stomach. They wore black helmets with a medieval knight design and glowing orange lenses. The one on the left was pretty short, only five eight but was covered in all sorts of weapons and the much taller one on the right Had what seemed to be a large square shaped battle axe with orange glowing edges and was around the same height as mark.
“There’s only two guys in the whole place but there guardian the only room that I can’t see through that room most likely the one where the device is”
“My best bet since they left those two in this place by themselves guardian, something important there only is two options: either they're extremely over confident in their ability to stay hidden or they left some of their evolved members to guard the place while the grunts go to the gang war” Markus replied as Whale shark was right this guy is smart.
“Well they just look like regular grunts so there not any of the known roaster of evolved in Forge” I replied
“That's not good since we don’t know these fucks powers so were pretty much in the dark with what these guys can do” Sam spoke up as I could see a glint of worry in her eyes and tone.
“Welp will just do what we always do and wing it. It's never failed us before” Ryan said with too much confidence.
“You just jinx us” Martin said with an annoyed undertone as Ryan shrugged.
“Hwy since we're gonna be fighting evolved you two take these” I quickly summoned my kinetic gauntlets and chaos handing the former to Sam and the Latter to Ryan.
I point to Sam “When you put those on, tap your finger on the circle, turn it off and hold one finger on it to amplify your striking strength and hold down with two fingers to weaken it. tap with three fingers to activate the kinetic shields and yes they absorb kinetic energy and you can use it.” Sam immediately put them on and then put her new brass knuckles over them.
I point to Ryan “It’s a powerful Magnum and has some kick when you fire so be careful but it doesn't use bullets so don't worry about counting your shits it’s also pretty strong and accurate and that second trigger let’s switch what you're firing. I know Orange is explosive but I don’t know what the rest do so be careful.” He nods as he holsters the chaos.
“hey why don’t I ge”
I cut off Martin before he could finish “Martin, do you know how to fight?”
“True”
Sam spoke up “Ok now that we're all ready let’s sneak in through the second floor throw in a smoke bomb and try to take them both out before either of them can use their powers and wreck our shit. If we can’t try to take away their weapons so there forced to use their powers and we can see what they can do and try to damage their helmets so it’s harder for them to see” We all nodded as Sam pulled out a grappling hook and threw it to the second floor window and quickly climb up.
I turned my feet into steel as I jumped into the Sam as I quickly turned my fingers into claws and dug them into the wall next to her. She goes to open the window but I stop her as I turn a dial in my head and look at the window seal as I see electricity flow through the window seal.
I gently dug one of my claws into the window seals and cut corner to corner as I pulled my claw out and gently pushed the glass forward. It fell backwards but I stored it into my Inventory before it could shatter against the ground. Sam slid through the window and I did the same after a couple seconds both Ryan and Aiden quickly got in.
I heard a crack outside as Markus jumped from the concrete and latched onto the window seal squeezing through into the room. Sam took her grappling hook as I gave a quick glance around the room around us. It was the living quarters and I could see rows of bunk beds. Ryan kneeled down and lifted one finger to his mouth as he slowly moved towards a door on the far right of the room.
We followed after him as he gently opened the door and slowly moved it open without a creek. When The door fully opened up we walked into a large open room. I could see burn marks and bullet holes covering the area. I guess this area might have been a testing room or maybe people tried sneaking in before who knows.
Ryan started slowly walking towards a double door that led to the room where the two guards were in. He pulled out what seemed to be a flash bang as Sam took a deep breath and Markus clench his fists but before we could enact our plan we got interrupted.
“Hey I’m gonna take a piss” the voice was raspy like someone who damage their lungs
“Gotcha just don’t fall in the toilet” The second voice was a lot deeper.
“Oh screw you” I heard steps start approaching the double door as Everyone started quickly moving back.
The door quickly opened as the Smaller guard walked out but before he could react to any of us Sam rushed forward and struck him in the throat. As the guard started to choke she spun around and slammed her foot into the side of his causing him to stumble. Finally she grabbed by the shoulder and chest and threw him at Markus who punched him in the chest launching him through the double doors as I heard a crash.
Everything was silent for a couple seconds as tension slowly built up but I started to hear popping? After a couple seconds the popping stopped and several BANGS Came afterwards. I felt my perception slow down as I rushed forward and grabbed Sam as I leaped away from the door as a hail of bullets tore through it. I winced as I felt pain flow down my legs as I landed on the grown as Sam had a mix of annoyance and worry in her eyes “fuck we got a duplicator” she muttered.
I quickly put her on her feet as my perception returned to normal as The small guard walked through the door. Then another identical guard walked through then another and then another and more kept walking through until a crowd of them filled half the room. Eventually the tall guard walked in with one more Small guard.
The Tall guard spoke up “I told you there would be people stupid enough to come and try and rob us”
His little buddy replied “yeah yeah I know I’ll give you the twenty bucks after we're done killing them”
“Nice” He lifted up a fist as the little guard gave him a fist bump.
The Tall guard readied his axe and The little guard and his clones all pulled out different weapons from guns to knives to brass knuckles; one even had a flintlock. Also for simplicity Sake the I’ll call the clone guy crowd because he can make a crowd and the The tall guy Executioner because he has a big axe anyways time to fight for my life again.
Crowd and his copies Started and Executioner started to rush forward as I remembered something: we don't have to beat these guys or we just have to stall them as Martin Hacks into the door and grabs the device. So I took a deep breath as cold built up in my throat pulled my mask up a bit and fired a blast of cold. Half of the clones got frozen as Crowd spawned a group of clones to take the blast for him and the executioner. I then fired a fireball and knocked them all to the ground, shattering the Frozen clones and burning the couple non frozen ones to ash as Crowd and Executioner knocked to the ground.
I yelled at Markus “get Martin into the room so he can hack the door and get the tech, will try to stall these guys!” Markus nodded as he grabbed Martin in a football carry and before Martin could complain he rushed toward the entrance to the next room. Crowd spawn in several clones to pull him and Executioner up as Markus rushes past them. Executioner tried to slash Markus legs but he jumped over the axe as he rushed into the next room.
“I’ll kill the big guy and then can you take care of these guys?” Executioner asked crowd as he jumped to his feet.
“Don’t worry I got these guys just make sure those fucks don’t steel the tech or were all fucked” Executioner nodded as he and several of crowds clones rushed into the room after Markus.
“Welp time to kill you guys, I hope you have good weapons” Crowd grinned as his clones rapidly formed a crowd around us.
Me, Same and Ryan went back to back as Ryan pulled out chaos already aiming. Sam slammed her fists together as The kinetic gauntlets glowed with purple energy and her brass knuckles spark with electricity. I summoned a pair of those scarlet maces as I grip them tightly in my hands. I took a deep breath as I felt everything slow down, My heart started to beat faster adrenaline pump through my veins and finally the crowd rushed towards, lets fucking go.