'Hmmmmm...'
Kyle watched from the rooftops at midnight with the bustling streets still as vibrant as ever with numerous adults drunk or heading to nightclubs late at night to live their best lives away.
The young man analysed the situation he was currently in, he knew he had to make waves and send a strong message of the identity he had taken up since his quest had truly begun. There was truly a lot to consider, Kyle even considered giving a rest for the night and heading home.
He knew he shouldn't be up so late but he knew he needed to get moving with the quest and the system. The quest was not going to complete itself after all, however the weight of how he would move forward lingered on his mind now.
Did he continue to go after Justin Henry and his lackeys to cause some issues that may keep some of the minor antagonists busy? The little fishes of the story he had once read.
Or did he go straight for the jugular... The boss, the one who was not to be trifled with, the one who was pulling the strings behind the scenes? One of the main antagonists, the big fish.
The message he had passed onto the thugs would surely cause some disruption to Justin's plans by now, Justin had a lot of connections so maybe messing with one of the bigger fishes would be his best bet.
"Little fish…" he muttered under his breath, his voice barely audible over the distant car horns and music blaring from clubs below.
Kyle adjusted his hockey mask, The little fish always seemed to multiply no matter how many he dealt with. He could drop down there now, confront the thugs running a protection racket on the corner, and tomorrow, another crew would take their place.
They were pests, sure. But pests weren't the real problem.
"Let's put a cat amongst the birds."
----
The speakers boomed loud throughout Victors skyrise apartment that overlooked the beautiful city below. It was a panoramic reminder of the empire that he had built since his younger days.
He sat lazily on a plush leather couch, a glass of amber liquid swirling lazily in his hand as the ice clinked softly against the rim every once and in a while. Laughter rung out around him as the women wore expensive designer dresses and lounged on the handpicked out furniture had purchased alongside the apartment they were in.
The attention, the endless number of whispers of sweet nothings he gave the ladies whenever he decided to give them his attention, something felt amiss, he would always enjoy this before, what had changed?
"You have been very quiet tonight, Victor." A stunning brunette with hazel piercing eyes traced his jawline with a seductive smile plastered across her face. "What changed?" She whispered with a devious glint in her eyes.
"Just enjoying life for what it is." He flashed a cocky smile.
"Why am I not surprised? After all you have everything." She laughed softly.
her words echoed in his head like an accusation. The best of everything? Maybe once it had felt that way, back when he'd clawed his way out of nothing to claim these riches and success as his own.
The same parties, the same faces, the same women who clung to him for the lifestyle he could provide. Wives? Yes, he had wives three of them, scattered across various cities, each with her own luxurious home and her own set of expectations he barely cared to meet anymore.
He stared into his glass, watching the way the liquid caught the light. What the hell was he doing?
His grip on the glass tightened just as the lights in the skyrise apartment flickered, the rhythmic thump of the music cutting out abruptly. The room plunged into an eerie silence.
"What the hell?" Victor muttered, an annoyed expression began to show.
The brunette who'd been tracing his jaw moments before, sat up straighter, her expression changing to that of confusion.
"Victor…" she began. "What's going on?"
Before she could finish, a figure began to emerge from the shadows and stepped into the room.
A flowing robe that seemed to ripple as he moved, the fabric catching the faint light of the room in strange, The mask's lifeless, hollow eyes, unsettling ways. His hair was an unnatural shade of blonde, and beneath it, a stark white hockey mask obscured his face.
Gasps filled the room as the women scrambled back, their heels clicking against the polished floors. The tension in the air was palpable, a suffocating weight that silenced even the bravest attempts at a scream.
Victor, however, didn't move. His eyes narrowed as he studied the intruder, the initial shock giving way to simmering anger.
"You have some real nerve to be showing up uninvited." He spoke as he settled the glass in his hands onto the table in front of him.
"Victor Andrews." The masked man spoke slowly with a distorted voice. "I am here to pass on a message to you." The masked figure spoke coolly, his hands disappearing into the folds of his robe.
Victor rose to his feet, his imposing frame dwarfing the women who now huddled behind the couch.
"And that is?" He glared at the masked figure.
"The past has a way of catching up to you." He replied. Not even moving once as he spoke. "The lies and deceit that you have allowed yourself to do is catching up to you. You kick others down while allowing yourself to rise. That will no longer be the case." He finally said as he stared down Victor.
"You think you can walk into my home, disrupt my night, and spew nonsense around like you know me?" He scoffed venomously, not taking the masked figure's words seriously.
"I know more than you would like me to know."
"You don't know who you're dealing with," he growled, his voice carrying a threat sharper than steel.
Without warning, Victor lunged, his large frame moving with surprising speed for a man his size. He swung a clenched fist directly at the masked figure's head, aiming to crush him with sheer force.
"You rely too much on brute strength, Victor," the figure taunted coolly, his voice still eerily calm. "That won't save you this time."
Victor sneered and clenched his teeth.
'I guess that really got him going.'
The masked figure smirked behind the mask, beneath the surface of the mask, Kyle watched every little movement his opponent made, Victor let out a roared and threw a powerful spinning aimed at Kyle's chest.
Kyle narrowly dodged Victor's kick and returned it with several punches towards Victor's stomach which was met with several grunts that left Victors lips. The older man quickly stepped back, creating some distance between him and the masked figure.
"You bastard..." Victor hissed.
The masked figure didn't respond, his posture still calm, hands disappearing once more into the folds of his robe.
'Those stat points really helped me more than I realize. I could fight for hours and not be tired!'
Internally, Kyle praised the system and thanked it for the stat points he had received previously from the other quests.
This time, Victor didn't rush in blindly. He approached with calculated steps, his fists raised, eyes searching for an opening. Kyle watched his movements, waiting for the correct time to pounce.
'Wait...Wait....NOW!'
He lunged forward, his robe blinding Victor temporarily. Victor barely had time to block as Kyle quickly took the air out of Victors stomach with a punch to the gut before following it up with an uppercut.
Victor staggered back, he knew the punches he had taken to the stomach was definitely going to leave a mark in the morning, He gasped for air, his towering frame hunched slightly from the impact.
'He's strong, but he's sloppy, a little bit of work and this fight would have been much different.'
Victor threw another haymaker, but Kyle caught his wrist mid swing, twisting it sharply. Victor grunted in pain as he was forced to his knees, his arm bent unnaturally. Kyle then followed it up by sweeping his legs out from under him in a single motion which caused the larger man to fall to the ground completely.
Victor scrambled to rise, but Kyle was already on him. With a lightning-fast spin, Kyle delivered a sharp roundhouse kick to Victor's jaw.
Kyle stepped back, not out of mercy but to pass a message along.
"You've spent your whole life stepping on people like they were nothing, this is what happens when the past catches up to you Victor." Kyle spoke, his voice calm with a hint of malice lacing in his throat. "This is what happens when your success is built upon lies and deceit, I guess you will see soon Victor."
Kyle stepped back, leaving Victor lying on the floor, battered and defeated. Without another word, he turned and walked toward the exit, his robe flowing behind him. The fight was over, and the message had been delivered.