"I'm not letting this go! You're nothing but a bully—worse than the thieves themselves!"
Jett Storm lay sprawled on the pavement, glaring up at Ryuuto and Gwen with pure hatred, slapping the asphalt in fury.
"If you've got guts, quit using cheap tricks and fight me straight!" he spat.
"Please, this is basic IQ suppression," Ryuuto said, unbothered. He walked up to Jett with slow, bored steps, then popped the bandit's helmet off with one quick tug. Up close, the blond kid looked even more ridiculous.
"You call yourselves the 'Mopper Bandits'?" Ryuuto scoffed. "More like a street circus. Did you forget what stealing is?"
"Shut up! Don't insult our Mopper crew!" Jett Storm snapped, rage flaring in his eyes.
Before he could do more than fumble, he pulled an elemental gun from under his jacket and fired an electric arc at point-blank range. The beam hissed—then missed as Ryuuto flicked his head out of the way like it was nothing.
"Sneak attack? Lame," Ryuuto said flatly. "Try again when you've got actual aim."
Jett panicked, then hit a little thruster on his boots and rocketed skyward, desperate to escape with whoever still had the stolen swag. He glared back, furious and frantic.
"Running? No chance!" Ryuuto tsked, touching his chin with a grin.
He moved in a blink—High-Speed Movement—and appeared over Jett's head before the bandit could adjust. Gwen fired two webs in sync; they wrapped around Jett's legs like steel. The thief wobbled in midair, eyes wild.
"Time to learn a lesson, you little—" Ryuuto crowed. He launched a spinning airborne kick that cut through the air like a blade.
Leaf Great Whirlwind!
The impact sent Jett tumbling, nose bleeding, like a meteor slamming into asphalt. He hit hard, head rolling into a shallow crater. He didn't twitch after a few convulsions.
"Boss, that kick was sick!" Gwen whooped, bounding over. He scooped Ryuuto up in a triumphant hug, starry-eyed.
"Wanna learn it? I'll teach you," Ryuuto teased.
"Really? Yes—hell yes!" Gwen squealed and clung to him like a lovesick sidekick.
They glanced at the immobilized robbers still stuck to the wall by Gwen's webbing. The gang stared at Jett's crumpled form, horrified and whimpering.
"Don't worry," Ryuuto said with a grin that chilled them colder than any jail cell. "Anyone else want to test the Leaf Great Whirlwind?"
They shook their heads so hard you'd think their skulls would fall off.
[drop! Congratulations to the Host for completing the mission. Reward: 5 life potions, 3 vitality pills!] the system pinged.
"Sweet—easy work," Ryuuto said, fist-clenching as the reward popped into his inventory. He felt the rush, then glanced at the second reward and squinted.
"Shion—what exactly is this 'vitality pill'?" he asked aloud.
[Good question, Master~] Shion's voice chimed in, cheeky and impossibly smug. [It's literally what it says—take one and you get a surge of vitality. Energy so solid you'll feel invincible, like you downed a dozen smoothies and a lightning bolt.]
Ryuuto blinked. Energy that permanent, that useful? He'd been hoping for something flashy—skill packs, character data, anything that screams power. Pills were… disappointing.
"Wait, are you serious?" Ryuuto groaned, deflating. "A pill? After all that—this is what I get?"
[Hey, pills are practical!] Shion trilled. [Plus, you looked cute when you got excited. I'll keep that on file.]
Ryuuto shoved his face in his palm. Of all the system rewards—
He forced a grin for Gwen's benefit. "Alright. We bag the loot, hand it back, call the cops. Then I'm taking a nap. Preferably a heroic nap."
Gwen kissed his cheek. "Your heroic naps are legendary."
As they started gathering the stolen goods, Ryuuto's mind was already working ahead. The city was calm for now, the Mopper Bandits routed and humiliated. But the system's missions were stacking up, and Shion's little tease about rewards had put a small ember under him. He never liked leaving loose ends.
And somewhere beyond the quiet aftermath—something else was approaching. Ryuuto felt it in that prickly way you notice the air before a storm. Good. He liked storms. They made for better stories.