"He cannot get away with it."
Information spread throughout the city. The hundreds of made-men were delivered the news of the boss' death. With that, it was open season.
Down the Las Vegas strip, war was declared upon the unknown assassin.
…
It's no good. I really shouldn't.
He could easily summon [Hanging] and fly away. Yet, he could not.
Or rather, he wouldn't. As the hordes of people surrounded him, Riley hid his smile behind his motorcycle helmet.
I need the practice anyways. Sink or swim.
They drew their guns, to which he darted away. Not exactly "dodging" the supersonic bullets, but rather avoiding them before they were fired. Evading, he rushed into a nightclub, stepping out onto the lit-up floor, which flashed an array of colors, he saw his pursuers all rush through the same entrance.
This is a learning experience—what can I take note of?
Entering a building through the main entrance, it would likely cause at least a few servants to follow through. In which case, [Crashing] could be used overhead, to kill them.
Got it. But I'll hold off for now.
As they flooded inside, they raised their guns, quickly spotting Riley in the crowd due to his helmet. Riley summoned [Hanging], turning some of the barrels upwards as they fired, causing them to shoot at an overhead light. Glass fell, causing a panic as people registered the gunfire and began to exit the main floor.
"What the fuck is that!?" One of them shouted, seeing the floating noose, but Riley leapt towards them. Landing, Riley put his knee to the ground, dropping his stance and moving forwards, performing a double-leg-takedown he'd drilled earlier in the day, easily slamming the member onto the ground.
Ending up on top, Riley summoned [Shooting] and pointed it at their head, pulling the trigger and instantly killing them. But, as he focused on one person, he was shot by others, forcing him to leap back and take cover behind a pillar.
Shit. Well, in the real situation, I'd probably have multiple [Methods] active at once. No, what if I'm using some to clear civilians out of the area?
Then, next time, I should probably keep my eyes on the other opponents—I already have one on the ground, and I don't think I'll miss my shot. Or, I could use [Bleeding].
Riley checked the cylinder of [Shooting], finding just one shot left.
Son of a gun. I do need ammunition for this.
The whizzing of gunfire went past his head, as the pillar he was behind received continuous fire.
Swapping out [Shooting] for [Hanging], he sent the noose as fast as he could send it; at one-thousand miles an hour, the rope whipped a man and tore the flesh off his bones.
The man collapsed, screaming horribly in agony, forcing Riley to use [Bleeding]. Sprinting as fast as he could, Riley blitzed towards him, slicing his head in two and ending his life instantly.
The overwhelming sea of blood continued to spray, and Riley saw the multitudes of men facing him. Using [Hanging], he wrapped around the man and used the overpowering effects of [Bleeding], using the man's red mist as a smokescreen of sorts, blinding them and allowing him to get behind.
Now, practicing a leg kick once more, he turned his hips and used [Falling], unleashing an ultra-fast kick which broke the limbs off with its force, akin to a shotgun blast.
Riley summoned [Bleeding], seeing one of the last men currently training his gun at him. He fired, and Riley attempted to split the bullet in two, but his reaction time wasn't fast enough, leading to it hitting him in the shoulder. Then, taking Frank's advice, he began to throw the knife.
[Bleeding] took the form of a standard kitchen knife, and thus Riley didn't have any special advantages when it came to throwing. His throw ended up hitting the man with the handle, which was still fast enough to break bone, causing the man to grunt.
Riley regained [Bleeding], throwing it once more. Again and again, he used the final man as a target, eventually landing with a blade straight through the chest. Blood sprayed profusely, nearly hitting Riley as he leapt to the side, teleporting the knife back over to his hand before continuing to aim for a second shot.
Switching grips, Riley threw the knife handle-first, and had better rotation control. With his extreme speed, the knife managed to go in once more, striking the man in the head and killing him instantly.
Standing in the bloody nightclub, Riley took a breather. Tired moreso mentally than physically, he crouched down before being shot at from behind. Turning around, he leapt into the air, using [Falling] and performing a downwards kick.
Turning his body in midair, he slammed the force of his shin into the man's body, obliterating him and wreaking havoc to the ground, smashing the glass and shattering it.
He got up, looking down and wiping the sweat from his forehead.
With that, I get the downwards momentum of naturally falling, as well as the extra force from twisting my hips downwards. Impractical for anyone but me, I'd imagine.
Sighing, he looked around, awaiting new opponents. To which, a man entered through the front entrance, glaring at Riley. Noticeably, he was different.
An all-black suit, lengthy, straight black hair and pale skin, he didn't panic upon seeing the heaps of blood. Rather, instead, he took off his coat and set it down on a table before stepping out into the middle of the pit, bright lights flashing on his face as rave music blared.
"So you've come, Riley Woods."
Surprised, Riley used his sixth sense.
"I see. So you're a servant."
"I am."
The servant cracked his knuckles, putting his hands up in a boxing stance. "I'll kill you, and return to my comfortable life. That's all there is to it."
Riley woods smirked under the helmet, taking it off and tossing it away. Licking his teeth, he entered a more grappling-oriented stance, his hands relaxed, open, yet still guarding his body.
"Enemy of the World, Riley Woods."
"...That's too silly for me to consider."
Riley instantly used his Bloodlust, attacking the man's psyche. For just a split second, the man smelled rusted iron bars and human anatomy mutilated.
This moment in time was taken advantage of, with Riley kicking off the ground, exploding towards him. Caught off guard, the man quickly snapped back to reality, before—
A detonation. Fleetingly detonated, [Crashing] knocked him off balance, with Riley getting in range, using [Falling] on his leg and smashing his leg into the man's upper knee and lower thigh—completely knocking it off balance.
It'd been bent, and the man grunted in pain, not accustomed to it. Indeed, despite his years of experience fighting in the streets prior to Ghira's call, it had been a long time since he'd felt such extreme pain.
As he tried to walk backwards, his leg gave out, the sharpness of the pain causing him to instinctively grit his teeth. His left leg had been utterly debilitated. Yet, even still, he had to—
—Another.
Following up with another leg kick, combined with [Falling], it shut down the leg, making it worthless to support him. Now fighting with only one leg—
"Shit, what're you—!?"
Riley shot a double leg, using his shoulders to drive upwards before slamming him down, using [Falling] on himself to slam him even harder. Ending up in the man's guard, Riley used [Hanging] to wrap around the servant's left wrist, pinning it to the floor.
Performing an Americana, Riley ripped the shoulder out of joint with a nasty crunch, forcing the boxer to scream in pain. Just to be safe, Riley repeated the process with the man's other arm, tearing his other shoulder up, rendering a leg and two arms worthless.
Looking down on his opponent, Riley began to snicker, finding it legitimately kind of hilarious.
"Woah… Wow, I really do feel like one of those BJJ guys. Y'know, the ones that say, 'dude I'll take you to the ground and drown you bro,' y'know? Oh my gosh, it feels strange being able to just, well, rip people's joints out of place—not with strength, but with technique… it feels like assassination arts, y'know?"
Riley summoned [Bleeding], raising it in reverse grip into the air.
"—I'll make sure I don't have to deal with you in one month."
Trying to penetrate the servant through the head, the man was forcibly healed by Ghira, who healed his shoulders back in place. Showing clear favoritism, Ghira didn't allow Riley to end the fight too easily, thus allowing the servant to block with his arms.
"Tch…!"
Clicking his tongue loudly, Riley pushed harder downwards. Not able to use [Falling] due to having sent [Methods] to protect Nina and Joey, he remained caught in a struggle.
"You, how'd you even get here!? You come here for vacation?!"
Having talked with his partners during his first class at BJJ, Riley was unexpectedly talkative, whilst trying to murder the servant.
"Tch, I work with the mafia here, you bastard…!"
"Is… that…"
Riley removed one arm, pressing down with all his body weight upon the knife before smashing his palm down onto the butt of the handle. Repeatedly using more force to push the knife down deeper, Riley plunged the knife into the man's heart, spraying his blood overwhelmingly so—killing him.
Riley got to his feet, breathing heavily before putting his helmet back on. Picking up the man's coat, he took off his white cape, putting the black overcoat on his shoulders.
I've gotten my white blanket stained red tonight. This should at least prevent it from getting worse, and make it seem less suspicious to Nina and Joey.
Walking out of the nightclub and onto the street, Riley left the bloody blanket on the ground, tossing it into a dumpster before walking around.
On the breezy night, his overcoat remained fixed to his body via [Hanging], which Riley wrapped around his neck and torso, allowing easy flight if necessary.
Is there anything else I need to learn? I practiced my kicks, my grappling, how to boost my martial arts with my abilities, and even basic strategies. I don't think I need anything else. Actually, I do need ammo.
Walking into a gun-store not too far off from the Vegas Strip, Riley sent [Hanging] to grab a pillow case from a hotel room.
Of course, it was awkward, as the gun-store clerk looked at him as he waited around with a broken motorcycle helmet, loosely replying to all of his questions.
Once Riley received the pillow case, he sent [Hanging] to strangle the man to unconsciousness whilst he stole the ammunition. Filling it up, he hurriedly had [Hanging] wrap around his neck and torso, walking down the street with the ammunition.
His location was sent widely across the made-men of the crime family, with several cars stopping just next to him and getting out, armed with dracos and uzi's.
Riley swapped out [Hanging] for [Crashing], hiding behind the car as the windows and such shattered from the guns. He yawned, getting sleepy from the rigorous mental strain before finally hearing silence.
He got rid of [Crashing], summoning [Bleeding] and bursting towards the armed men. In the work of what felt to be nigh-instantaneous due to the sheer speed, the men were eliminated.
Their heads sliced open, preventing even the final ten-fifteen seconds of life from beheading, which Riley would consider "painful," it was a rapid succession of instantaneous death after instantaneous death.
Slinging the pillow-case over his back, Riley continued to walk.
—
There was gunfire from inside the casino. Taking advantage of the multiple floors, they hid around the railing within the middle of the casino, armed with assault rifles and shotguns, trying to shoot him as soon as he stepped foot inside.
To which, Riley flew in through a window from above, using the elevator to go down the floors. Reaching the second story, he calmly walked out, summoning [Bleeding] and simply cutting them all down.
Quickly moving from person to person, lethal blows were struck, killing twenty men in less than ten seconds.
—
A restaurant was taken hostage by over thirty made-men, drawing Riley's attention. As they actively watched the front and back exits, Riley flew up to the roof, summoning [Crashing] and detonating it, leaping through the hole and using the influx of dust to eliminate them all.
—
Walking down the streets, he was attacked further, taking out dozens at a time.
—
More.
—
More. More.
—
More. More. More.
—
It was an overwhelming sea of darkness and blood.
Across the entirety of the Vegas Strip, ranging from casino to nightclub to street to hotel to restaurant—it was a bloodbath. Even the police were unable to fully stop it, as the pride of the crime family wouldn't allow anyone to back down from the man who openly killed their boss, driving them to declare open war upon the one-man-army.
—By midnight, all three-hundred-fifty-two members of the Harrington crime family, were killed.
Riley entered a hotel room he'd broken into, going to the bathroom and looking into the mirror. Watching his hands, stained with wet and dry blood, he saw his white, fuzzy unicorn helmet stained in its entirety with blood.
He finished washing his hands, before picking up the bloody pillow-case and leaving the hotel room. He flew out the window to Nina and Joey, tracking down [Hanging] and greeting them with a soft, gentle wave.
"Wiley! Why did you make us wait fow so… pe-yew, you stink!"
Plugging his nose, Joey turned away. Upon Nina smelling Riley, whose white outfit was stained dark red, she too turned her nose away, disgusted by the overwhelming scent of death.
"...Sorry, sorry. I ended up being attacked… a lot. But it's fine now. C'mon, let's get going."
Summoning [Crashing] and letting the two sit inside, Riley laid on the hood, tied down using [Hanging] as it took off and flew through the night sky, leaving Las Vegas and returning to his home city.
…
"You killed a lot of people."
Stating it as a fact rather than a question, there was absolutely no doubt in Nina's mind. It was common sense, and she trusted that.
"...I did."
Walking out of the bathroom in sweatpants, Riley's wet hair, which he'd dried quite roughly, stuck up and appeared even messier than usual. Leaning on a door frame, he tried to scan her face.
It was beautiful, no doubt. But still, he wasn't that good in the way of deciphering faces.
Well, I can tell she's upset, at least. My vocabulary probably isn't big enough to put a touch on the emotion, though. Maybe… dis… disgruntled? Sad?
Gently biting his lower lip with just two teeth, he saw her get up from the couch, walking over to him. Meeting him eye-to-eye, she scanned his face in response.
"I can tell you're upset by it," she said, to which he felt a blow to his ego. He'd figured he was better at hiding things than that.
Though, if it's her, I'm fine with losing.
"Yet, even if you're upset by it, I want to know why. Why you went through with it to begin with. I… I don't know who you killed, or why. I want to know."
"...Gang members, who attacked me first. It started off as just, well, me saving someone and fighting crime. But then, things got messy. I killed the boss, the others came after me. They used hostages, waved guns against innocent people, and I wouldn't accept that."
"...And that's the only reason?"
"And because I enjoyed killing them. I used them attacking me as an excuse, but I know my heart better than most—maybe not you, though. But I know the truth of it all."
He had done it because he liked it.
However, upon realizing the logical conclusion of that statement, his heart sank deeper into his chest.
That's right. It's no longer just because of the urge, is it? Even without that, I'd still enjoy killing.
Ideologically a pacifist, yet his flesh—both his guilty pleasures and compulsion—took pleasure in hurting others. Perhaps it was because he grew up weak, and revelled in his strength. Perhaps it was because he felt like their deaths were justified due to their actions and lifestyle. Or perhaps he just thought it was cool.
Regardless, he took pleasure in killing. Not just because of his urge, but because it had become pleasurable.
"...You enjoyed it?"
His heart sank deeper.
"That's right. I know it's wrong, I know I shouldn't do it—yet I do it anyways. Not even because of the urge, or the compulsion, it's just… Well, I guess you could say it's just fun."
Smiling at her, forcing a laugh out from his throat, Riley shook his head and hung it low, looking down at the ground.
"I don't… I don't look at corpses the same way I used to. Instead of vomiting, I stare blank-faced. Instead of clawing at myself to stop, I carry on. Nina, you're smart. You're smarter and kinder, so… please, tell me. Am I evil for that? Is all of this worthless, because it's a horrible person preaching hope while walking in darkness?"
He didn't cry. He was far beyond that by this point.
Looking at her softly, he genuinely asked for an answer. Without wanting to be spared in her answer, he wanted utmost honesty.
"You…"
—Are evil.
—Are not evil.
Cultivating the immediate answers stirring within her chest; the answers which called him evil, the answers which wished to comfort and say he's not evil, she sorted through them, and came to a conclusion.
"You're not a good person, Riley."
"...Right. Yeah, no, you're—"
"—But that doesn't mean you're evil, and that doesn't mean what you're doing is worthless."
Riley was left silent, as he looked into her eyes for elaboration.
"It's really hard to be a perfectly good person. I think it's impossible. But at school, when that man came and hurt a lot of people… you were there, fighting him. You're not a perfectly good person, but you still try. And I think, as long as you don't get fully comfortable with killing, and you still struggle against it, then you're not fully evil. Whether or not what you're doing is worth something or worth nothing… Well, I don't particularly care. If you're helping people, then I think it's worth something. But, even if it isn't worth anything, —I'm still here with you."
His heart rose in his chest, and it accelerated. Like a drum, he heard it in his ears as he looked down, affirmatively nodding his head.
"Okay. Alright. Alright."
His face was a light pink, and he turned away, going back to his room and laying down. To which, she followed, opening up his door.
"I'm staying in your room for the night, since Joey was too tired from the ride and passed out on the couch."
"H-huh? Just take him to his room."
"And wake him up?"
"...Fine."
Not like I'm complaining.
Nina climbed into bed next to him, and Riley turned his back to her, hugging his pillow and clutching it in fright.
Whatever. I just wanna go to bed.
"Uh, goodnight."
"Goodnight, Riley."