Chương 128: Asher, Part 2

It was never anything simple. The five men were variably in fighting shape. Their posture was more focused on menacing than attacking. Legs close together, slouched further forward, they weren't ready to pounce. They thought looking big and scary would be enough to convince me. Going by the name "Harry" and referencing Hidalgo meant that fat bastard put together that someone let the whole egg deal slip, and that he was the one selling them.

Odds were high he was in a lot of trouble after that just because of the fact it meant he held responsibility in a giant crab storming Virginia Beach. That part was obvious. There was another issue, though. It was awfully convenient for some henches working for Hidalgo to just show up right where we were. How did they find us? This wasn't one of the rougher parts of town. Patrols around here were normally very quiet. Someone had to pass along this information. Who? No way of knowing.

But it made me think of a couple other details. Tancred had issues passing over reports to the chief of police that he didn't even consider until I brought it up to him. Hidalgo mentioned at the deal that he and Master Sequoia had a mutual contact capable of getting Motor-Runner out of jail. That was over moving people. People we couldn't find. The others hoped they would be at the same spot as the eggs, but while there were signs of life in a few of the containers, nothing to verify where they were.

That meant there were multiple holding spots, or the ADU were quick to get them. And without breaking up the ground with the roots they used to move around. So they had something for logistics on their side. I theorized that their mutual contact might have been the governor. That could still be true. But maybe it was a different part of the government. Or a different government from the local one. I had no way of knowing. I wanted to get that info out of them.

But first, I had to address something else that I could at least verify was obvious to me.

"They're not leaving without a fight," I muttered to Chris as I turned back towards the pond, tossing peas towards the ducks.

"Keep your voice low, we have to plan."

"I don't think we need much of a plan," he answered, matching the direction of my gaze.

"Those guys look like they're not really experienced in fighting. Just hurting people. You and I have experience in fighting. Self-defense would be clear-cut here if we wait for them to swing first."

"That sounds easy for you because your superpowers wouldn't stand out. Those guys might know I'm strong, but the civilians out here don't. They could put two and two together." He shook his head.

"So don't use your power. Or use only a tiny bit to keep yourself from getting hurt. If you ever want to figure out how to really use it, you're going to need to get used to turning it off, too. Pull yourself entirely out of that super strength mindset. Try focusing on just being a guy. You've been practicing Savate for a little while now, and you've got good instincts. It'll work."

"Harry, I'm fuckin' talkin' to you!" The large man yelled again. I just ignored him to focus on coordinating with Chris.

"I'll try. But we still need to figure out how to deal with them. Five of them, two of us."

"Let me handle the large one," the redhead requested.

"I'll take him and the knife guy."

"Why the big one?"

"If you beat him, he might have an excuse. If I beat him, it's humiliating. Might shame him into talking more." He was thinking about getting information too. Shocked me sometimes how similar our minds were. I then noticed his gaze fixed on the bag of peas. He wasn't reading it. But he was staring at it.

"Some of those guys don't take shame well, might make them worse. You sure?"

"You gotta trust me, Leo," he stated, smacking my knee.

"What, you mad you not gonna take out the big one?" I shook my head.

"Don't get yourself hurt."

"One last time, Harry, get your ass off that bench!" The large one yelled.

"We just wanna talk!"

"Chain guy's getting closer," Chris stated.

"Tancred's gonna be pissed we're not calling it in first, but we can't make our earpieces known."

"We can call it in after. Here it-" The clinking of chains showed up in my ears for only a split second before instead the rush of mass through the air replaced them. In that same flash of a second, I could see Chris lean to his side and his hand whipping up to embed his fingers in the lengths of the chain. The following movement was fast, but so smooth that it still looked slow, as he brought the chain straight down.

A shout of surprise came from the other end of the chain as the man stumbled forward, slamming jaw first onto the top of the bench. Chris shot a glance up at me. I knew what he wanted me to do. Handle this guy so he could clear the bench. No strength… okay. I could do no strength. I grabbed the collar of the chain-wielder's jersey and the waistband of his pants. While standing up off of the bench, I yanked him along with me and sent him sprawling into the dirt.

Without much technique, I went for a soccer kick against his head, causing him to let out a sound best described as a GONK. Didn't even know humans could make that noise naturally. He still seemed alive, however, given his breathing was stable. But the hand clutching his face told me he already gave up. Right. These were thugs. They were probably used to doing all the hitting and not getting hit back.

Even without my strength, my body weight slamming into places like their heads would be enough to put them out for the rest of the day. I turned my gaze back towards Chris, seeing he had already cleared the bench and was sweeping between the knife-wielder and the large man's legs. In a flash of movement, he seemed to thrust his hands into the back of their knees in such a way they both crumpled to a kneel. I had no idea how the Hell he did anything, to be honest. This novel's true home is a different platform.

Support the author by finding it there. Blue tank top with the sledgehammer and the bald shirtless one with the baseball bat were rushing me, however, weapons at the ready. I took my stance. This felt similar to the second memory Foras put me through. Two idiots with weapons both rushing me. There was one notable difference I could read, however. They were staggered in movement. Neither wanted to be the first to get hit. That was fear. I could capitalize on fear.

Bat was on my right, so I did a quick step forward and to my right to look like I was targeting him. That immediately made him adjust his movement, trying to step to my side further. He wanted a flank. That was fine, as in the same motion that put me a step forward, I turned to my right and took a step back. That kept him in my sights while sledgehammer was off to my side. I wanted him to think my guard was down. My thigh began to tense up, ready for the exact moment.

Right when tank top's arm was out of sight, and I knew he was rearing up a swing. I was going to take all the power out of it. I brought my left leg up, bent at the knee. Casney said that meant it was "armed." I then snapped the leg out towards the extended left leg of the sledgehammer wielder. I felt his knee bend in. Tendons giving up from the sudden weight on it. He didn't even recognize the damage being done until he put his weight on it, and he crumpled mid-swing, groaning in pain.

The bat-wielder charged while I was putting my leg back down, thinking that was an opening guard. The moron didn't realize I didn't need my feet for a jab. Jairo had been showing me the basics of a low-weight jab for a while now, and I was able to just flick my right fist at his nose. Didn't even touch him, there was more than enough room for him to comfortably swing at me without getting hit. But the menace of it was enough to force hesitation. That was my in.

Slipping forward, I dug my right heel into the dirt, pushing just my own body weight off as I thrust my left fist forward. The extension from the right jab meant all the whipping force I wanted would be in the left hand. WHAM Knuckle collided with nose, cleanly. I felt some teeth giving way in his gums. Blood flew from his nostrils as he fell to the ground, letting out muffled pain as his hands clasped his mouth.

No knockouts, but these guys would all need medical attention if they didn't want to be crippled for life. Odds were high they did worse to other people, and those guys never got medical aid. But the idea of making them sit in a hospital with handcuffs sticking them to a bed frame was just too satisfying for me to let them have a chance to scamper off. Looking back towards Chris, I could see the knife-wielder was splayed out in the grass, unarmed.

The large man had blood pouring from his nose and mouth, and had just fallen to the ground while Chris stood over him, holding the knife-wielder's weapon. Chris raised the weapon, and I nearly put all my strength into my feet to stop him. I'd risk giving up my identity to stop him from fucking up. Instead, before the synapses could put me into motion, he threw the knife into the dirt, right next to the man's head. The redhead's back and chest heaved with fatigue, fists clenched with white-knuckle grip.

"Hey," I called out. He brought himself back to reality, and he looked back up at me. Face serious, but calmer.

"Told you I could take them," he stated. There was pride in his voice, but nothing on his face. Approaching the large man, I just nodded to Chris before squatting down by the bleeding fool.

"How'd you know where to find me, big guy?" I asked, tapping his head to keep him alert.

"I-" he coughed.

"I ain't tellin' you a fuckin' thing, son."

"My friend here," I started, gesturing to Chris.

"Could've just killed you now. You were at his mercy and he let you live. Don't make him regret it, because he might do something real dumb if that happens." The man looked at me, before back up at Chris. I could see the hamster wheel in his head working its hardest to come up with an answer.

"Look- I-" Was trying to pick the right words. Probably thought if he said the wrong thing, it'd get him in worse trouble.

"-I don't got shit man." I stood up, before planting a boot on his hand, and squatting back down. Tiny bit of strength- No. I put a tiny bit of gravity to put more weight on it. Not enough to break but enough to get him yowling out. Had to try reframing it.

"Motherfuck!" He shrieked.

"We just got a text from him sayin' he heard where you were last seen at! That's all he told us! Swear to God! Get your fuckin' hand off!"

"Thank you. Don't move." Getting up from his hand, I pat Chris on the shoulder and led him away from the group, though I kept my eyes on them. Also kept the now large crowd's eyes off of us. I was lucky none of them decided to play hero and try to intervene.

"You think that's good enough information?" He asked. I nodded.

"Told me everything I needed." I pulled out my phone, tapping away at the screen.

"Are you not gonna call it in?"

"I am. Just not over the earpiece." Pulling up the contact, I tapped the call button. Not even two rings before Tancred answered.

"Did you forget your earpiece again?"

"No, just don't want to use it for calling this in. Got five idiots who tried picking a fight with us. They had interesting information. Get them medical and police, we can talk about it after Chris made dinner," I explained, glancing over at him. That seemed to amuse him.

"Can be done. But your reason better be good." He hung up without any parting words. The police arrived and let us give our statements without issue. No powers were used, so no more slip-ups about forgetting my SIN. After that, we were able to finally drive home, where Chris became a one-man hurricane in that kitchen.

By the time everyone was gathered in the cafeteria, he was already bringing out bowl after bowl of stew, full of all sorts of meats and vegetables, alongside loaves of garlic bread that he kept assuring us were perfect for dipping into the soup. It was a strange contrast, seeing the excitement on his face from putting out food for us all after I saw how it looked when he was ready to eviscerate a man just hours prior. But I said nothing, I knew I didn't exactly make great expressions in those moments either.

I was just less of a smiler. And the food was too good for me to really care at that point. Chris seemed to be the first one to actually make food I liked, given the apple whatevers were just as influential upon me. The big entertainment was seeing Sam and Sam wolfing down their stews and begging for more, constantly. They were like little vacuum cleaners. Everyone found it pretty funny how excited they were over an admittedly pretty good meal.

Tancred, however, was struggling to maintain any sort of positivity with the whole affair, constantly glancing at me, waiting to see if I'd lead him off from the meal at some point. After a while, I did give up halfway into my seconds just so he would stop mugging me for answers. Getting up, I tapped him on the shoulder and went into the hallway. I took a minute to look around and make sure we weren't being watched before speaking.

"Right. So they were targeting me over the undercover op, more specifically me ratting out Hidalgo."

"Makes sense. We might need to do some witness protection for you, then," Tancred nodded.

"But why the secrecy for that?"

"That's not the secret part. Don't you think it's weird they knew where I was? Why not seek me out sooner?"

"Well-""Because I wasn't going out out-of-costume as much. They wouldn't have had an excuse to follow or find me." He hummed.

"True. So you think they had some kind of insider information." I shook my head.

"That's an underestimation. I remember him and Master Sequoia having a mutual friend that could potentially get another criminal out of prison."

"You mentioned that in your report, yeah."

"And remember how you were having issues passing along documentation to Wendy?"

"It's been fine now, but yes. I get where you're going with this. You think-" I shook my head.

"I don't think. I know." I took a deep breath.

"We've got a mole in the building."