Chapter 558 - Mutations (1/2)

With streaks of blonde strands upon a headful of brown shaggy hair, a pale youth smirked smugly and pushed a small pouch into the hands of a tattered-looking beggar. ”Get your head together, Old man. The prices are going up!” The youth snickered and snatched whatever the old beggar had to offer before kicking him down. ”Just go ahead and use it already, the alley's filled with your kind anyway,” the boy chuckled until a soft whisper rang behind him. ”Hello, Matty. Or would you prefer Matthew 'Cuck' William? You were the guy engaged with Paula until angelic Kent swoop her into his bed and made that savory video, weren't you?” Needless to say, the voice shook the boy and he instantly turned, gazing at a youth almost of his height and the top part of his face covered with a dark cloth. Even his eyes were closed off and in the darkness of night, the face staring back at Matt gave him the impression that the party opposite to him could still 'look' at him.

”W-who are you?” Matt stammered, taking a step back with fear flickering in his eyes. The information given out by the newcomer, although extremely private, wasn't a secret. After all, Kent did make a video and the bitch didn't even see it coming that she would get famous with the locals. But to know his real name... that caused Matt to grow cautious. ”Oh, come on? You know me?” Nik took a step forward, his clear voice in fact, quite mature for his age by a little shift of his vocal cords. Heck, he didn't even need to use his [Body Manipulation] to achieve this due to the absolute passive control of his body. ”Now, I just need you to answer me a few simple things,” Nik continued, his hands spread without any violent intentions. ”You see, as a hopeless romantic I am, I... grew a little curious about your classmate. An asian, I believe.” Nik took another step forward and crossed the unconscious beggar. ”In exchange for a bit of information, I will... let you conduct your business in peace. After all, a new shark is in the town, wouldn't want to lose his impression by not selling the quota, right?”

Matt sniffed, his heartbeat accelerated as he grunted, ”I don't want any trouble man. Just leave me be!” His words instantly pulled an amused grin for Nik, making him chuckle, ”You're selling drugs, illegally. I mean, you don't have a doctor's face but the least you can do is get a new haircut. That's already enough trouble so why not pile it. Come on, I am really interested in this girl and with my means restricted... I find it less enjoyable, you know. Getting answers. So help me out and I'll help you, too.” Nik's grin didn't bring any form of comfort to the boy as he shuffled a short knife out of his pocket, thrusting it towards Nik. ”Leave me alone!” he shouted only for Nik to sidestep, grip his forearm and then use his other hand to shove the knife towards Matt's face himself, stopping right in front of his lips.

”And here I thought you wanted a way to get back at Kent. Am I wrong? Or did you really enjoy the video that much?” His words worsened Matt's expression but with the tip of the knife right in front of his face worked wonders and the boy whispered in a shudder. ”How?” He inquired, making Nik's smile wider, ”How about you tell me about the girl? Asian, black hair, a little out of shape. I believe someone does ring a bell, does it not?” Nik inquired to which Matt replied hurriedly. ”I know!” He exclaimed, ”Cindy Moon! She— she lives in Forest Hills! I don't know her whole address, that's all I know!”

”Cindy... Moon? She wouldn't be the smoking hot babe with a devil's horn tattooed to her waist, right?” Nik continued. His inquiry made Matt frown for a moment. ”I-I don't think so...”

”Wow, then you are of no use to me.” Nik shrugged and let go of Matt with a mischievous smile. The action instantly caused the boy to stop Nik in a hurry. ”What about Kent? How can I destroy him?” Matt inquired with a crazy look in his eyes, making Nik snicker, ”Hurt the one's close to him. You do remember he has a father, right? Go get him!”

”H-he—” Matthews stammered, ”He's the guy from the gang for god's sake! Don't screw with me!” he roared as Nik suddenly vanished from Matt's vision. He just disappeared as if he had never existed in the first place but that's when Matt realized that there was another person behind him. Hurriedly looking back, he found a man, once again, with the upper portion of his face covered with his body clothed in a black full-sleeved shirt and dark trousers. Even without waiting for Matt to speak anything, a punch struck him squarely on his jaws, propelling him back and crashing him into the large bins. ”Stay put, the cops are on their way.” The man whispered gruffly. Then, he sniffed and tilted his head. Someone was here just a few seconds ago. He had heard it. A man with a strangely gorgeous scent, a natural one at that, followed by his short interrogation against this youth. He hadn't heard all of it but...

”Where did he go?” The man whispered, confused. The stranger did vanish into thin air without any troubles. A little annoyed, the masked man focused on his senses. His hearing and sense of smell. He could hear the cheers, the shouts, the sirens of police cars, the nearby mugging—

The moment he identified his next target, the man moved to put down the group of youngsters mugging an old couple. The mysterious man did hear the broken shouts— signifying the great distance— of the acclaimed Captain America. The man in blue is busy with a group of gunmen that meant business and it would become the next focus for him.

---

”Saved by the footsteps,” Nik whispered to himself. He now stood a block away on the terrace of the community building. Taking off the cloth covering the top of his face, Nik looked at the time and picked his ringing phone. ”Hello?” He greeted, instantly hearing Anna's voice. ”Where are you? Didn't you say that you will live with us for a few days?”

”Went to get my clothes back,” Nik snickered as he took a step forward. The space around him wrapped for the briefest of a moment as he now found himself stepping onto another building. ”I am on my way back.”

”Junior didn't hurt you, right?”

”Hurt me? Why would he? He was busy with Ms. Honey, so I guess, lucky me.” His words instantly washed Anna with a wave of relief as Nik shifted through space itself once again. He didn't have enough energy to perform such shifts so he didn't mind looking for the girl named Cindy tomorrow. In fact, he could just check up on her during the school hours, if she is alive by then, of course.

”Oh, that's great then. Say hi to Ms. Honey from me the next time you meet her.”

”Alright, I'll see you back at your place. Just give me a few minutes.”

As Anna hanged up, Nik pocketed his phone once again and made shifted down into an alleyway before walking towards the apartment. It merely took him a little over ten minutes before he knocked on the door and was greeted by a grinning Anna. Of course, this time, Nik did hold the handle to his suitcase and leaned down to peck her lips as she snickered. ”Aw~ we look like a married couple!” she hugged him, feeling a little too sweet as Mary's voice called out, ”Get in you two, the food's getting cold!” Smilingly, Nik whispered, ”A couple that also enjoys the comfort of their mother.” His words made Anna snicker as she bit his lips while kissing him, ”Well, with how excited you were yesterday, I have a feeling that the two of us can't do enough any longer. Really, do you have some kind of s.e.x manual?”

”Nah, that's my superpower. Call me... I don't know, S.e.xman?”