"There... there..." One of the kidnapped girls stuttered as she pointed her finger at one of the Russian gangsters. Her body was trembling, and her eyes were wide with horror.
"I told you to shut up. If you keep pointing your finger at me, I will break it off and this is not a warning." The Russian growled with anger.
But the girl just shook her head a little and muttered, "No... Behind..."
As she said that, the Russian realized that she was not pointing at him but at something behind him.
He turned around but before he could even react, a punch landed on his face, knocking him to the ground like a ragdoll.
All the other Russian gangsters were surprised by the entry of an unknown man, but they moved quickly.
One of them shouted something in Russian and rushed towards Tristain with his fist heading at his face.
Not the smartest fella.
After a punch from Tristain the gangster was sent colliding with a steel container and blood started streaming down from his head.
Another gangster rushed at him with a knife, though unfortunately for him the shiv shattered when it came into contact with his armor's shields.
After a hit to his throat he dropped to the ground, choking.
*Bang* *Bang*
Two of the remaining Gangsters shot at him with pistols as Tristain stared blankly as the bullets bounced off his armor's shields.
He loved his armor.
The men stared at him with open mouths as he blurred and they were sent flying with twisted limbs, unconscious.
"Good job me." He muttered as he relaxed.
He looked at the kidnapped girls who looked to be in shock. From being kidnapped to seeing a man in black armor fight their kidnappers.
Tristain walked to them and took off his helmet.
"Are you alright, hurt anywhere?"
"…" they were speechless.
"I'm fine…"
"I think my leg is broken."
Tristain nodded as he put his helmet back on, "If you're fine just leave, and you, I will take you to the hospital."
He scooped her up into his arms as he walked away.
"Thank you…" both women spoke.
A system prompt appeared Infront of him:
[Heroic act: Civilian rescue (Minimal)]
[Trait: mind fortress]
///////////
A week quickly went by after the fight in the docks.
After taking the woman to the hospital, the police had handled the rest of the case and the whole dock was sealed for further investigation. Due to this, The Russians had taken a bit of a hit and had to reconsider their operations.
As it was Tristain who had stopped the trafficking, his name had also become a bit famous in Hell's kitchen.
It wasn't to the point that everyone in Hell's kitchen knew his name, but the gangs had already become aware that there was someone who was trying to stop them.
In the past week, Tristain had gone out every night to fight crime.
Although he hadn't fought the Russian gang again, there were quite a bit of small-time criminals he came across.
He had already stopped an ATM robbery, assault and other crimes that he came across.
"I need to get even stronger" Tristain muttered and opened his status as he walked towards Chikara dojo.
[Tristain Mercer]
[Race:]
*Human*
[Traits:]
*Superior physique (+)*
*Quick learner*
*Adaptive*
*Gene lock*
*Mind fortress
[Skills:]
*Bullet time*
- Host's superior perception allows the ability to perceive the world slower than normal
Tristain had decided to go to the Chikara dojo to train, even if it was the weekend, no other student would most likely be there.
So, he could peacefully do some training.
If he had any luck, Colleen would even give him a special lesson, and he would be able to grow closer to her. As she was going to be an ally to Iron Fist in the future, it was in his best interest to have a good relationship with her.
"Mark."
However, when he reached the front of the dojo, he found someone familiar standing there.
It was Markus, the guy Tristain would often spar with during his lessons.
"Tristain, why are you here on the weekend?" He asked, surprised to see Tristain.
"I can ask the same of you. You don't even take training seriously. What are you doing here?"
As far as he knows, Markus was the type to take everything lazily. Even during the lessons, he would always joke around in an attempt to be goofy.
"Hey, I do take it seriously." Markus retorted back but that just made Tristain more curious.
"Say that to someone who doesn't know you. You never took martial arts seriously. Hell, the reason you are even continuing with it is because you have a crush on Elena and nothing more."
"…" Markus went silent for a while after hearing that as Tristain kept staring at him. As the seconds passed by, Tristain grew too tired of just staring at him, sighing and deciding to push more.
"Markus, what is going on?"
"Nothing is going on. I just didn't have anything to do, so I came here."
"I am pretty sure it's not just that."
Tristain didn't know if it was because he had become more sensitive or it was just his intuition, but he was sure that there was something wrong with Markus.
Unable to give up on his suspicion and curiosity, he and Markus went to a nearby coffee shop.
He didn't seem too fond of it, but he wasn't able to do anything before his persistent attitude. After getting two cups of coffee, they started talking.
"What's wrong mate?" Tristain asked, stirring up his coffee.
"Nothing." Markus frowned, "Even if there is something going on, why would I tell you? We are not even friends."
"Ah, but we were so friendly to each other when I was beating your ass in training." Tristain grinned but Markus didn't seem to take it too well. Shaking his head a little, he went back to the main subject, "You can tell me because maybe I could help you out."
His words got a reaction from Markus as he fumed, "Help me? No one can help me–"
Markus stopped, but he had already said what he wanted to hide from the start.
"So, I was right. There's something you need help with."
"I'm not telling you anything more. Don't try to get into my issues, Tristain." Markus frowned.
"I know we are not really close, Mark. But you can trust me, I might be able to help you." Tristain pushed a little. "At the very least, I can hear you out. You seem to have a lot on your mind and it's always good to talk it out."
Markus didn't talk for a while as he pondered over Tristain's words.
Tristain had drunk more than half of his coffee when Markus answered, albeit hesitantly.
"It's about my older brother. He is charged... for murder."