Excitement was brewing inside Austin, ever since he had become an Altered there were next to no challenges for him, and fighting against Midwak was quite an extreme jump, so if he wanted to improve himself, he needed more situations like this.
“Maybe it's time I crank this up just a little bit more!” Austin said, he clenched his fist, harder than he had done the times before. The veins down his forearm could be seen, as well as on top of his hands.
It wasn't a normal sight at all, and seeing how a regular punch had taken out Killer, Vlad was worried what would happen if that was to hit the shadow fighter.
“Wait! Vlad shouted, getting up off the ground.
Ausitn had already thrown his punch and rather than retreating, the shadow fighter went forward.
‘With people like this, who can’t get knocked down by my strength, then I just have to use their own strength against them and throw in a counter!’
It was a dangerous move, because they were moving in as well, if they got hit they would take twice the damage, but if the counter puncher managed to get a hit in, it should hurt twice as much as well.
When the shadow fighter threw out their fist, they could see a smile on Austin's face despite him missing.
‘What is he up to?’ the shadow fighter was confused, and surprisingly from the right, they could see someone entering right in the middle of the two of them.
Using all the strength she could, the Shadow fighter had to pull back, she ducked onto the ground and rolled out of the way, while there was a displeased look on Austin's face, as he looked at Vlad who had intervened.
“Hey look, the two of you shouldn't be fighting each other.” Vlad tried to explain. “Both of you are trying to do the right thing, my friend here, Big Mask, he wasn't attacking me, he was the one protecting me from these guys.”
The shadow fighter was assessing the situation a bit more, she had originally thought that the ones on the floor were part of a group with Big Mask, but now that she looked closer, for one there was Killer, who they had given a beat down in the past before.
‘Crap, did I rush into this situation, now that I think about it. Who else would have beaten all these guys up, it wouldn’t have been the glasses kid… I just saw the situation that I see too much these days and rushed forward.’
“Please.” Vlad said. “The last thing I want is for you two to fight.”
Vlad turned around to look at Austin, and in that brief moment when he went to look, the shadow fighter had disappeared running off into the distance.
“Damn it, and there goes my only fun in this city.” Austin said.
Looking at the situation around him, he had another idea that had come to mind though. Heading over to Killer who was coming to, and holding onto his bloody mouth. Austin grabbed him by his shirt and lifted him off the ground.
“I bet it hurts a bit for you to speak, and if you don’t want to have trouble eating, then I suggest you answer my questions.” Austin said.
Killer immediately nodded, he didn’t want to ever feel a punch like that again. It wasn't as if Killer had never lost any fights before, but he had never been so afraid, even when dealing with other gang members.
“Alright, so I assume you know about this Phantom Brawl?” Austin asked.
Killer nodded up and down a few times.
“Good, then I want to find a way to take part in it, think… is there any way someone like me can get some introduction of some sort?” Austin asked.
Killer was silent for a bit, and in order to make him think quicker, Austin just started to move his other hand, he didn’t make a fist but any movement shook Killer to his very core.
“Today!” Killer shouted a bit unclearly as blood came out from his mouth. “Today, there is an underground fight. I was meant to take part… It was practice for the Phantom Brawl. The gang… that is supporting me, linked to our school will be there.
“If you go in my place, and do a good job, then I’m sure that they will invite you.”
It looked like there was no reason for Vlad to go meet Carvey after all, as he had his in now.
“Good, it looks like me and you have a date tonight.” Austin smiled.
——
That morning, Gary had received a message from Kai. Informing him that the purchase of the factory didn’t go well. Even more so, a warning was sent out, that it was probably best that Gary didn’t try and cause trouble with the local gangs, not unless he wanted to find out who they were connected to.
At this point and time, it would be too much for their gang to handle.
‘I didn’t just want to purchase the factory for the beast crystals, but I also wanted to help out Earny and the others, give them a better life… but I should listen to Kai. I can still stay here for a while, and eat the crystals I do get, making myself stronger than I was before.’
The work started the same as the night before, with them busy mining away, hitting the rocks. Gary was still focused on getting what beast crystals he could. Placing some still in the container so things wouldn't look too suspicious.
At the moment, he was working with Elijah, who was next to Earny, and a topic that Gary was very interested in, came up.
“So… about the guys we are working for, who exactly are they, and why are we doing this mindless task.” Elijah asked.
It was time, since Elijah knew he wasn’t going to get anything from Gary, it was time for him to continue his job, as a member of the White Rose, and search for the black liquid.
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