A few days has passed,
"You can find me in the club, bottle full of bub."
"Mommy, I want ice cream."
"Meow."
"Fuck, my father's gonna kill me." The words were accompanied by the sound of a broken-down car.
"Bro... I just remembered the project deadline is tomorrow." With that news, a group of male friends erupted into panic.
"Multiple groups have been hit by some asshole with powers. He's been stealing money and destroying weapons. One of our bases got hit too."
Mark had been listening from the top of a building, dressed in a full hoodie, a face mask, a hat, and gloves. He was looking for more groups to hit. This was his job after school or on weekends.
He had been clearing organized crime bases of operation, whether small or large. All of them had money, and at the same time, he was doing a good deed by stopping them. It was a win-win situation for him. But despite his efforts, organized crime in the area still existed only because he didn't have enough time.
The only reason he could pull this off was because he had been bored with nothing else to do. So he had practiced his eyesight and hearing. Both skills could help him in a fight or in situations like this.
"Don't we have a superhuman on standby?"
"He got knocked out too."
Hearing just that was enough. Mark had already located the two people having the conversation. He flew straight to the location and, without warning, began knocking them out one by one. All they could see was a blur before they or their comrades hit the ground.
"Easy work." Mark nodded as he began crushing every weapon in sight, whether hidden or out in the open.
Then he searched for the money. He found it easily since they rarely hid it well, or they just kept it in a vault. Using the bag he carried, he stuffed all the cash inside.
With that done, Mark left without making a sound. The two bags slung over his shoulders, he left the area with ease and headed to the same forest. He dug into the ground and buried the money underground.
Mark looked up at the sky. He still had time. So he began searching for another group to hit. As he used his ears to listen, something else caught his attention.
"A—" A kid was yelling before being cut off by someone's hand.
Mark flew toward the location. He found a man putting a child to sleep and carrying him toward a black van parked on the other side of the alleyway.
Mark dropped down in front of the man. Before the man could react, Mark snatched the kid away and set him down at a safe distance. The man turned around, shocked that the child had been taken. But before he could do anything, Mark appeared in front of him, choking him to the ground and covering his mouth. He proceeded to break the man's right hand.
"Tell me who you work for."
The man's eyes didn't waver at all. He stared directly into Mark's eyes and tried to attack with his left hand. Because of that, Mark broke the bones in the man's right hand even further, causing him to thrash around in pain.
Then the person waiting in the van finally came out. They were shocked to see a guy in a black hoodie pinning their man to the ground. They quickly drew their guns, but Mark heard them coming. He let go of the first man and handled the other two.
He rushed the one on his left, breaking the hand holding the gun in half. Then he kicked the man's knee so hard it snapped in two. The third guy didn't get the chance to react. Mark grabbed him by the wrist and shoulder.
"Try to make a move, and I'll turn you into a paraplegic athlete," Mark threatened, tightening his grip.
The man gritted through the pain and swallowed hard. "What do you want?"
"Bring me to your boss," Mark said.
. . . .
In an abandoned warehouse on the outskirts of the city, a few remnants of a robot army stood idle. Among them, the Mauler Twins were making sure the device Mark had requested was functioning properly.
The device resembled a blue watch, just as Mark had specified. He wanted it to look ordinary so it wouldn't draw attention when he wore it.
Mauler Two strapped the device onto his wrist and began testing the gravity increaser. He opened the watch interface and input a gravity setting of 1.01 times Earth's normal gravity. Instantly, the increased weight made it harder for him to move. He reached out and touched a nearby object to see if the gravity effect transferred, but it didn't.
"It works perfectly," Mauler Two said, resetting the gravity back to normal.
"What about the call function?" Mauler One asked.
"Yeah, the function he asked us to add at the last minute." Mauler Two nodded and waited for Mauler One to call.
Mauler One input the number into his burner phone and pressed call. The call connected to the watch. Mauler Two accepted it and spoke with a smirk.
"You are not the original. I am."
"Oh, shut up. You know perfectly well I'm the original."
But both of them were smiling. This was their first project in months that had made them serious money. Mauler Two hung up the call, removed the device, and placed it back on its stand.
"We should call him and let him know it's finished," Mauler One suggested. Originally, they had planned to hold onto it for a few more days. "I'm sure he has more tech for us to make. He seems very rich for his age."
"I agree. Call him," Mauler Two said, removing the goggles from his eyes.
Mauler One dialed Mark's number and waited. After a few seconds, the call connected to Mark's BlackBerry, a phone he had bought with stolen criminal money. But before they could hear Mark's voice, they heard someone else screaming for mercy.
"Please, don't do this! Have mercy!"
Mark, on his end, put his index finger to his lips and shushed the man. He spoke into the phone. "Is the device finished?"
The Mauler Twins heard the other man's voice and felt a slight chill crawl up their spines. Whoever was on the other end sounded genuinely terrified of whatever Mark was doing.
"Yes," Mauler One said. He didn't question what Mark was up to. That was Mark's business, not theirs.
"Great. I'll pick it up tomorrow. Where should I meet you?" Mark paused. "Give me one second."
"Sure," Mauler Two answered, standing next to Mauler One.
Mark approached the crime boss lying on the floor. The man's hands and legs were broken. Mark picked him up by the neck and lifted him into the air. The crime boss swallowed hard and pleaded with Mark.
"Please, I'll give you anything. I heard you like money. I can give you more."
"I don't care about your money anymore. You sell people," Mark said, his tone dripping with disgust. "I'd love to drown you and make you suffer more, but you should just go to hell. It does exist, for your information. Have fun down there."
Mark snapped the man's neck and let the body drop. He muttered to himself, noticing the tears in his hoodie from knife attacks. "I really need a suit. This just doesn't work anymore."
He looked down at his hands after killing the man. Unfortunately, he didn't feel bad or guilty. The only thing he felt was satisfaction. He had just dismantled one of the human trafficking rings in the city.
Mark put the phone back to his ear as he walked out of the room, passing by people who were still conscious but paralyzed for life.
"Where should we meet?" Mark's tone shifted back to something casual.
"Meet us at the usual spot," Mauler One said, expecting more from Mark.
"Alright," Mark said with a smile.