New York, Central Park, 23rd of October, 2024.
In the central park, amidst the falling leaves, this is where a young man's action entertained the wrong God.
====
[3rd Pov]
Sitting on a cold metal bench was an intimidating yet young man named Raymond, leaning back with a conflicted expression, his face roughed and his eyes stared forward while he vaped with his watermelon flavored electric smoker.
"One more week before that b@stard comes back... and after that... I guess I'll pack my bags." he mumbles before briefly turning his head to spit out blood and saliva.
Even vaping in the park didn't keep his mind from the subject, it wasn't enough. His problems keep bothering him, one in particular to him is that no college would accept him, and he can't do anything about it.
So to take off his mind from it, he switched to another method of zoning out, he put his cheap vape away and pulled out his phone;
He began scrolling to find a manga to read while hunched over, and his face close to the screen as ever.
Ray is quite a mashup of different traits but the most apparent ones that people usually pictures him as a bad and scary person,
But in truth, he's not a bad guy, he's just troubled, misunderstood, emotional even, and intimidating for someone his age but now the downside of his age topped it all of.
Frowning while scrolling through Shonen Jump, he remembered the times his mom had scolded him and how his dad was never to disappoint with harsh words.
It doesn't seem to be that bad, others probably had or have it worse than him,
But unfortunately, it did took a toll on Ray's mentality, this often lead to doubt himself, lose control over his emotions, start fights occasionally, and even hate himself for making those bad choices he recently had decided in his life,
Like a washed up old man reminiscing countless regrets, Ray sighed once more, finally deciding to just re-read his favorite manga.
"So far; a Native who's a bad guy, stole a sword, attacked two nords and lied to the chief to instigate a conflict against Thorfinn and the rest of the European settlers—" He was in the middle of moving to the next chapter but then his cell signal suddenly went 'No Service', cutting him off from the internet and halting him from loading in the pages for the next chapter.
Usually he would have cursed loudly and throw a small tantrum like briefly stomping his feet, kicking the pavement or aggressively start punching the air out of anger,
But this time he doesn't want to move too much after his scuffle, so he just huffed and stayed quiet instead. Slumping back; dropping his hands onto his lap, leaning back, facing the sky as if he admitted defeat and cursed "F*ck my life..."
"I know I'm no good guy but I just want to forget my mistakes and problems, I just don't know what to do with my life anymore, I'd do anything to have it easy. God! Give me a something to work with..." He gulps, swallowing back and holding his tears of frustration.
"Would you really do though? even if it's doing something dangerous?" a mysterious voice inquired.
Ray was for a moment frozen but soon after he jumped off, shifting off to the side, "Christ!"
He then immediately acted fast and grabbed the armrest and the backrest of the metal bench to stop himself from hitting his head on it and avoid slipping off the bench.
"Where did you come from, and why scare me like that!? That's f*cked up man." Ray quips his head at the person who surprised him, his voice cracks at the end.
It was some random guy, older and taller than him with light brown skin, wearing a light coat over a suit from a combination of black and brown, the person held a suitcase on their lap.
"My apologies, it wasn't my intention to surprise you. I just want to make myself known, and I wanted to follow up and ask you." the stranger, who apologized with clarification, then followed his words by handing a business card to Ray, who accepted it with a raised eyebrow.
"What the? 'Garret, a W.G.D. of Fate Inc. ; "We make dreams come true, for a price"' is this some kind of prank TV show?" Ray pulled his head back in disbelief after reading such weird nonsense, he looked around for any odd cameras pointing his way,
Gary shortly giggles at the situation, understanding why Ray thought of that.
"I can assure you Sir Raymond that this is not what you think it is-" Gary paused as he waiting for Ray to focus on his words, which he did eventually after a moment of looking around,
"Really? If you're not lying at all then..." Ray quickly responded as he was about to stand up,
"-I would recommend that you should listen to what I would say. Give me a chance, you should hear me out." Gary continues from where he left off, adding another detail "There's also a hefty amount of payment~"
Ray sat down immediately and had a serious his expression on, crossing his arms and furrowing his brows, looking like a scary looking young gangster "Okay, I'll listen to what you say."
Gary smiled, contempt with his response, he repeated "I asked you if you would really do anything to get an easier life, I would like it if you answer my question."
Ray raised a brow and sneered "That's it?... Well, heck yeah I'll do anything, but maybe not something... Inappropriate or anything jeopardizing to my identity for the rest of my life."
"Well I can assure you that my offer doesn't have to make you do something as bad as that, not really."
Ray had ignored the last part, focusing more on the "Offer?"
"Yes, I would like to offer you a chance for you to get that easy life you wanted... Obviously I wouldn't come empty handed without proof."
Gary placed down the suitcase on his lap before opening and turning it towards Ray, in it was hundreds of 100 dollar bills banded to 10,000 in stacks of cash
"That's a total of 500 thousand dollars, that's only a quarter of the money."
"Wha- why?" Ray was almost speechless,
"It's obvious isn't it? Money is one of the many ways to make your life easy, of course taxes will be handled by us so that you won't have to pay the government a million dollars, meaning you'll still have your 2 mil even when you are 19." Gary nodded and explained more, and let Ray process the situation,
"How'd you know my- Wel- I accept, What do I have to do?" Ray finally stopped stuttering and responded with a determined expression that settled to a determined one,
"Well~ first off, you have to survive 50 hours in Gotham City, keeping the case from anyone's hands, easy enough, right?." Gary bluntly told in a straight forward explanation with little details.
He took Ray's hand before putting a watch with an already set timer for 50 hours on his wrist.
Ray's eyes widened, he was still processing the information, he was in shock from the absurdity and level of bull$h*t that he had heard.
"... What?! Survive for 50 hours!!? and what's up with mentioning Gotham City? That's not even a real place! Don't play with me-"
"I can assure you Mister Raymond, it is very much real. I'll give you a rundown, basically every low and high level thugs and criminals in Gotham will be informed of your situation; that you are holding a briefcase full of money and also within it, a file filled up with every criminal activity along with evidence of all the crime families in that city, all further details and rules of this 50 hour challenge will be inside the suitcase."
Gary smiled mischievously and pats Ray's shoulder, all around around them, their surroundings suddenly begin to swirl before changing into a different place,
They were now in a different park with a gloomy vibe. Ray could see the spanning cloudy sky, he felt the colder atmosphere even though it was still a few hours into midday, and his ears was immediately bombarded with loud sounds of clutters, people talking, and cars honking all in stark contrasr to the previous location.
"Oh! Almost forgot, always have protection." Gary grinned as he pulls out a Glock along with its holster before putting it on Ray's lap.
Ray was shocked, all of this was too much to take in, jumping off the bench, dropping the gun and looking around in panic.
"What the f*ck!! Wha–This is real?! Where are we!? What did you—" His words stopped as he looked back see that no one was there.
"Where did he go..." Ray finally lowered his tone as he noticed that people started looking at him weirdly and stepping away from him,
"Sh*t... I messed up, what did I just got myself into?" He asked himself only to trail his sight back on the briefcase, he realized that he was also at fault here. "Oh right... Isn't this what I wanted?..."
Ray stayed silent for a moment, he wanted something like this to happen, he even hoped desperately a few minutes ago for it. But this wasn't the way he exactly imagined it would be.
*Beep, Beep. ×3
What brought him back to his full senses was the beeping sound of the watch that signaled the start of this challenge.
[49h:59m:52s] the watch flashed in red numbers and letters,
Ray only sighed looking at it. After a quick facepalm he picked up and attached the gun holster on his belt with the gun inside, he starts walking off to somewhere less crowded, gripping the briefcase' handle tightly.
Ray wasn't quite sure what to do, but he knows where's a safe place to start at, GCPD, or somewhere near it.
So He walked, took a taxi and began his search for a motel.
Dc Universe, Earth, USA, New Jersey, Gotham City.
====
[Ray's Pov]
It's been a couple of hours since I arrived in this world, I used some of the money inside the briefcase to get 5 hour taxi ride to a place that was near the GCPD, of course I had to walk and find a motel, trying to be as discreet as possible, paying the nose hooked crack head on the front desk, getting inside the room as fast as I can.
[41h,08m,12s] the watch showed, which made me nervous, nothing really bad happened that's directed towards me, it's like the calm before the storm, and I shudder a little bit out of fear for what's about to happen soon.
Looking at the briefcase at the end of bed, I hesitated before opening it up again, I looked at a peice of paper with the rules written on it,
[Rules and Notes:
1.The briefcase must be within in 6 meter radius near you at all timr.
2.You can use any method to last 50 hours, even using the money inside the briefcase. (The money used in the challenge will be compensated for after the mission.)
3.The briefcase must be in your hands when the timer hits zero.
4.Do not let the criminals get take the case far from the range limit for 10 minutes unless you want to lose. Your Choice ¯\(= u = )/¯
5.And the folders must never leave the case at all during the time. Unless you want to quit immediately ¯\( = 3 =)—\$$
6.The criminals will be informed of the folders when you're 10 hours into the challenge.
7.Every 10 hours into challenge, you'll start to receive bonus quests that is your decision if you want to do, their purpose are to provide you items to help you survive.
Good luck, don't die <( ¡© v –)-👍🏼]
"That motherf*cker... I wouldn't even risk it." I said, gritting my teeth with a twitch to my reluctant expression. I don't want to go around doing side quests, that's just stupid.
Anyways, this isn't as bad as I thought, it could be worse.
*BANG! BANG!
I flinched from the sound of distant gunfire and glanced at the windows, hearing ambulance and police sirens afterwards.
After closing the briefcase, I look at the windows and the barricaded door with the drawer, I feel anxious that someone could see the briefcase at any given moment.
I sat down on the stained recliner, looked at my room and finally realized "It really looks like shit... But it's what I get paying 200 dollars for two nights," I held back a bit when I glanced the molding-stained mattress on the floor,
"I'll happily chose sleeping on this recliner for tonight." Carrying on, I could only see two routes of passage, the fire escape and the door to the hall, unless I count jumping from the window an option.
Roaming my hands on both sides of the cushioned seat, I feel around for a lever to recline this smelly thing which I did soon find, and leaning back made things more calmer for me to think a bit.
"I don't like it but I may need to use this soon... and it's heavier than I thought." of course I was talking about the compact and easy carry on Glock-26, pulling it out of it's OWB holster, I observed it closely,
"Gen5 or Gen4? Hmm..." I wondered what generation this was while I practiced aiming, pulling the trigger and holding it with one hand, without loading the gun, I avoid using any of the bullets obviously,
[*Beep, Beep 4×] a beeping sound pulled me out of my thoughts, I turned my left wrist to see that it's now past 10 hours, "F*ck, shits about to get tough now."
I tried to breathe deeply but it's not calming me at all, I just sighed then dragged my hand down my face, after that I sniffed my armpits again "Okay, I could do a soapless shower, scrubbing might help it get off."
I reluctantly got up my seat and headed to the bathroom, I immediately removed my clothes and accessories like the gun and watch on the sink, I then shout "F*cking hell!" when I felt the freezing cold water blast down on me from the shower head.
====
[3rd Pov]
Meanwhile (A/N: Insert SpongeBob bubble transition)
Right in the middle Gotham, tucked in between the dark buildings lay an entrance leading to one of the biggest underground establishments in the city, the Iceberg Lounge,
Amongst all the crowd of criminals and ladies of the night, there was an elevated seating area, high profiled politicians sat amongst criminal, gang bosses and as they clink glasses of expensive alcohol together with chatting in mind,
Their bustling joys were quickly interrupted as one of them– a bald, scarred and thick eyebrow with a brown suit, stood up immediately with phone in hand, he had received long strings of messages and after reading a few he immediately ran off from the table and pushed through the crowd, running up a flight of stairs and hurriedly asking the guards to let him enter a room, his expression panicked.
Barging through the door, he spoke immediately to short stature, suit wearing man who was beating a generic looking street gang, leader with a metal bat, "Boss! Boss! I have bad news!"
"Wallace! How many times do I have to tell you, no one will randomly enter my office while I'm busy anymore, 'less you want to join little Ricky here on the floor!!" The man who was the boss responding and retorting in a ticked off high gruffy voice with an italian new york accent, is none other than the Penguin himself.
(A/N: this version is older and has more scars)
"Sorry boss, but I got news that someone has evidence on us all–"
Penguin huffed and whipped his head at Wallace , "Then snuff them out! it's probably just something not worth it, there's no way I didn't leave a loose ends this time since the Bat came back, you know that." he said.
"No boss! My sources say it's true, someone finally broke into all records here in Gotham for our locations, stunts, operations, properties, bank accounts, 'n evidences and the GCPD was the most recent one hacked, they also say that it's not just us but every big shot crime families has got their sh*t digged up just like ours, my sources say all of the claims and evidence are on a folder." Wallace hurriedly spoke,
the Penguin asked, his expression confused and not convinced, "Hmm... Where is this folder? In a file? In those f*cking USB drivers or something?"
"No, Boss, it's all in real folders inside a briefcase full of money of 500k in cash" Wallace revealed, making Penguin and a few criminals in the room raise their brows, with the latter only raising a little out of surprise and confusion.
"What in the name of— Wallace, what stupid wh*ck are you giving me? Why are these 'detrimental' evidences in a briefcase full of money?! This better not be a f*cking lie!." Penguin threw the metal bat at him,
Wallace took it to the stomach with pained grunts, it forced him to kneel down, he calmly accepted it and checked his phone, reading for a moment before repeating the words of the message.
"My sources is from our informant in the GCPD and that intel Detective guy from up north, Boss. They said;
'The whistler who had the briefcase was going to use the money to get out of Gotham and head to DC, Washington to start a trial with the CIA backing him up using a few connections and bribes. but fortunately news came that the guy was killed and mugged by a white kid named Ray around Robinson Park. Go tell your boss we need more time to get more details on the situation.'
that's what they said boss."
"Tch..." Oswald Cobblepot was really in deep thought, he finally decided something, that this is moment to get rid of the trash using that folder while gaining some benefits, "How far did word of this travel already?"
"By now it's got heard by everyone like us, Boss." Wallace replied, standing up with hands behind his back,
Penguin's expression darkened at the thought of his enemies like Falcone and newly rising Black Mask getting that folder before him, "D*mmit! Use whatever way we got to get that case, get every b*stard in our street on this, tell 'em whoever catch it gets a half a million and more! I want that briefcase in my hands, fast!" Gritting his teeth, he instructed with a slight undertone of anger in his voice.
"And make sure to tell those Squealing Pigs in Gotham Police to stop spreading word about this, I don't need the Bat coming at me soon." He added in a low voice, but everyone in the room heard it well before heading into action.
All while, In a motel, near the GCPD headquarters, inside a room, a young man is shivering, trying to sleep on an uncomfortable recliner.
====
[40h:53m:53s remain until the completion of Ray's challenge]
[Bonus Quests:
1.Kill a thug or criminal for extra 10 grand. (Optional, 40h:53m:53s. left to complete ques.)
2.Defeat a criminal in hand to hand combat. (12h:27m:06s. left)
Quests will appear every ten hours except on the 50th hour, a total of four quests.]
USA, New Jersey, Gotham City.
====
[Ray's Pov]
"it's so fricking cold... It feels like I'm in a slow freezing.. Freezer!" I murmured through my shivering, it's really cold here, like 'New_York,_Late_October,_Middle _of_the_night,_on_the_park'—type shit, that's what I woke up to.
All I can do is clench my fist underneath my hoodie, I stiffen a bit and shift curling my feet back to me with me leaning back on a pillow with the suitcase underneath it, and it's uncomfortable.
Pulling out my phone, I checked that it's [04h:00m], I pulled back my hoodie's sleeve a little to check the watch, it glows [34h:14m:03s], with all that information I started retracing my steps, I recounted that I went to sleep after the cold shower, the watch was at [40h,20m,50s] give or take, more or less, since I'm not too sure.
"Seven.... Or Six hours of rest... That's enough for me." I muttered, getting up from the recliner and lightly stretch.
Looking around I immediately saw that the window was slightly ajar, "That's why it's cold..." and I was right the wind outside was fucking breezing in like a strong fan.
The window in this place was old fashioned, like doors, the hinges somehow collapsed inwards with force— after a brief realization, I felt nervous.
After closing the windows, then I check to feel if my gun was on me, I stand corrected, it was on the coffee table, I could clearly see it thanks to the light shining through the window from the street lamps, it's practically illuminating the whole place like a flashlight from a phone in the middle of the room.
I scanned the room and saw many possible places of someone hiding, there was an undeniable hushed wheezing from the bathroom.
Slowly pacing to my gun, putting it the recliner, I walked slowly towards the before opening it, confronting a spike nose peirced guy, "You—!" I barely spoke any words when the guy immediately threw a punch at my face!
'I didn't fought in high school without learning a thing or two!'
So with my eyes still closed, using my general common sense, I immediately tackled and pushed him to the toilet, he replied with a pained grunt.
Taking advantage of the moment, I punched straight into his face but I hissed, feeling his jagged piercings stab into my fist, they were bleeding from two fingers.
Ignoring the pain, I delivered a punch to the side of his face this time. Grabbing his shirt's collar, I pulled him of the toilet, throwing him around to the floor outside,
The pain from the metal points jabbing my fingers sucked but I think I hurt him more since I saw the peircing falling off a little, "What were you doing here? Who sent you? Answer me!"
He was groaning and holding his nose "You...Urgh... You rented the room for two nights with $200! No one's got that money around here!... Argh... I thought you were a some kid from a well of family!"
"How did you get in here? The door was barricade and there's no ladder out—"
"I climbed from the floor below your room!... Urgh, f*ck! My nose... Why'd you hit me that hard!!"
"It was a moment of panic! I just did it instantly without thinkin– Wait! Why are you blaming me? You broke in!"
"I own the damn motel!"
"The f*ck do I care?! You tried to steal from me!!"
He slowly lifted his head to look at me, "The word was 'tried'! I didn't stole sh*t, you're broke af!!"
"You Mothaf*cker..." Gritting in irritation and a bit out of breath, I immediately kicked his chin, he wasn't unconscious but I'm pretty sure I gave him a good hit that'll keep him down for a while.
When I catched my breath and looked down at him on the ground, I realize that he might drag this problem with the police if I stay here any longer.
Hurriedly putting on my shoes and getting the suitcase from under pillow, along with the gun,
Clipping the holster to my belt, I slid the gun in, pushed the dresser off the door, just enough for me to go through and leave the room.
"The challenge should've been easy if it weren't for him, I wouldn't even have to do anything..."
My plan was simply hiding out until the end of the timer but it seems like no one can hide from this city's greed and corruption.
Exiting the motel, the sun was already starting to rise, I quickly pull up my hood to cover my face,
Swiftly crossing the street, I entered a thrift store that looked like it was already rundown, fortunately they were still some people going here for butt cheap clothes.
"Coat? duffle bag or backpack?... maybe a mask even, I guess?" I muttered to myself as I walk through clothes hanged on poles and string, they were wrinkled and some were stained but overall they don't look that bad.
Settling for a bleach stained dark jean jacket I put over my hoodie, and of course I also had to get two more pair of socks that I wore on top of my current ones, 'Forget about comfortability, I don't want to freeze my toes tonight!'
Slamming a hundred dollar bill on the desk of the reception, I quickly ran out of the store, hoping the girl at the front wouldn't complain or call the cops on me.
Settling down on a bus stop, I pulled down my hood and leaned back to rest, even closing my eyes for a bit while I clutched the case to my chest,
But unfortunately my moment of peace didn't last long, *BANG! *SHATTER! Out of fear, since I heard the shot near me and the glass wall of the bus stop break from behind me, I quickly ducked and jumped to the side of the street.
Turning my eyes to the side, I saw a group of minorities in Baseball Jerseys on a convertible aiming their guns and pointing at me, one seem to be looking at me with his phone facing me.
"Miguel, you sure that's the fool?"
"Yep, that's looks like him from image, look at the suitcase it's the same!!" the guy on the passenger seat showed them the cctv image on his phone.
"What are you waiting for? Shoot that gringo bastard! Get him!" the one behind the wheel yelled, turning the wheel at me before driving at full speed,
Fortunately the others pointed and held their guns at me with one hand so that they can hold on and not fall off the side, you can already guess how their aim is.
Quickly getting up and grabbing the case, I ran along the side walk as fast as I can, hoping they won't shoot recklessly if people was on the sidewalk as well.
Putting most of my strength into running, I pulled out my glock, then hurriedly turned a corner where I immediately shot fire from behind my back the moment when I saw them follow, and they began returning bullets,
*BANG!
People screaming and panicked, moved away from the sound of the gunfires, while these pursuer(s) of mine swirved up the curbside of the road, thankfully their ride was lowered, so it got stuck but nevertheless they didn't stop shooting.
*BANG! BANG! ×3
Hearing the police sirens, I decided to head into a small neighborhood alleyway with a few stalls opening,
Those guys didn't think twice and left the car to chase after me, pushing through people and one even shot up in the air for people to move aside and duck away.
"Persistent b*tches!" I gritted my teeth, my breath heavy and fast while cold sweat ran down my back, running for my life with one arm tightly wrapped around the case and a gun clenched on the other hand,
Glancing back, I quickly saw them raise their guns again, so instantly I aimed my pistol and shot twice at them before they could even pull their triggers.
I saw one of them getting hit on the thigh, the rest quickly duck and moved away for a bit, this gave me enough time to increase my pace further. Seeing the end of the alley, I felt relieved until a cop car pulled up, two cops got out and raised their guns,
"GCPD! Freeze!" a policewoman yelled alongside her partner, albeit a little bit slower.
I was really thinking to stopping on my tracks but I felt a bullet whizz pass my head, flying by and hitting the cop car, it was from the ones chasing after me, and at that moment I realized what will come next,
The cops flinched and hid behind the car, one of them pressed their radios on their shoulders, "Shots Fired! Shots Fired! We're returning immediate fire! I repeat, we're going to return fire!" She reported.
And as I jumped to the side, rolling on the ground before skimmering beside the hood of the police car, I faintly heard the buzzing respond from the other side of the radio, "Permission to return fire, clear—*Bzzt!"
"We got the green light, Open Fire!" She told her partner, and they rained bullets, exchanging shots after shots with the guys that chased after me, while both sides hid behind improvised cover.
*BANG! BANG! ×15
As I was trying to get my bearings while gripping the case to my side tightly, I heard tires screeching nearby, turning my gaze onto the other side, away from the shootout, I saw a white van pull up
Guys in dark clothes and tattoos came out of the van, holding UZIs and among them was the infamous Black Mask, "Kill all of them, and bring me that suitcase!!" he yelled, the last part was literally a loud spitting scream.
"What in the Duck Sucking, Cluck F*cking mess did I just got my @$$ into?!" I cursed with a exasperated voice, admittedly this has got to be the most unluckiest day of my life.
====
[31h:53m:07s. remaining until the completion of Ray's challenge.]
[Bonus Quests:
1.Kill a thug or criminal for extra 10 grand. (Optional, 31h:53m:07s. left to complete quest.)
2.Defeat a criminal in hand to hand combat. (—–—)
Quests will appear every ten hours except on the 50th hour, a total of four quests.]
USA, New Jersey, Gotham City.
====
[3rd Pov]
'All of this is because of these folders in the suitcase!' Ray huffed, he was helping the policewoman walk oit of the alley, she was bleeding really badly from her side, from three bullet wounds as a matter of fact, all in the same general spot,
"Stop right— Urgh. I can't walk any longer, leave me there on the side walk." she pats me his shoulder,
Letting her down near the street, where hopefully someone helps her, "I'm sorry." Ray apologized before leaning down quickly, grabbing her metal cuffs from her belt and then darting off, away from the scene.
After running for a good distance, going through twist and turns in between streets and alleys, Ray finally slowed down and sat down on a crate next to a dumpster, "I shouldn't have accepted doing this... Can't even believe I shot at people, willingly this time."
Ray just leaned back on the metal garbage disposal, curling up and rethinking if what he'd done was right, his hand clenched the suitcase and the gun, his thoughts drifting back to home, moments like these reminded him to never be ungrateful about what he has, a saying his mother tells him,
She also ran along the lines of telling him to get a job and get out of her house, this thought made Ray smile, his eyes held shut.
"God... What do I do now" He exhaled, his thoughts went over the conflict that he had occurred a few minutes ago:
==[Flasshback]==
[Ray's Pov]
It all happened under a minute —maybe, I don't know for sure— Black Mask ordered his men to fire, resulting in one of the two cops riddled with bullets all over, and I just quickly rolled to the side, away from the crossfire.
The gang that chased after me had notice the new arrivals, and they immediately aimed and shot at them, this immediately started another large exchange of shots,
A few stray bullets hit the remaining cop, the policewoman crawled to me for help, but I had waited for the shooters to pause and reload as fast as they could.
Taking the chance, I quickly helped the policewoman and helped her jog away while ducking to not be seen, fortunately we weren't noticed and we left the scene behind.
Everything else followed suit from there; I dropped her off on the sidewalk, took her police cuffs, and came here.
==[Flashback End]==
(A/N: It's still on Ray's Pov)
Finally calming myself down, enough to think properly, I immediately thought of doing something that might get me killed, [31h:04m:34s] the timer glowed.
After scooting back into the corner, I opened the case in my hands and inside, on top of the folders and paper list of rules, there was a different peice of paper, it's new.
[Bonus Quests:
1.Kill thugs and criminals for extra 10 grand. (Optional, Always Active)
2.Defeat a criminal in hand to hand combat. (Completed! Claim Reward?)
Quests will appear every ten hours except on the 50th hour, a total of four quests.]
"What? Since when did I— is this a glitch or... Wait, was it the motel owner?" that was surprising, kind of, but surprising nonetheless since I didn't even knew that this quest existed.
Purely guessing on memories, I think this quest was actually the 40th receding hour– mark on the timer, and I must have completed it accidentally.
"Now, how the frick do I claim reward on this? It's on a peice of paper!" grumbling in short frustration, a few ideas formed, I looked left and right before finally saying the cringe line "Claim Rewardu~!"
(A/N: Stereotypical-y Racist.)
I expected glowing particles or some sort of chest but never expected something effed up; a moment of silence before I heard a guy screaming, I looked at the general direction and saw a guy in white armor fall from the sky in high speed and splatter head first on the ground in front of me!
*CRACK! SPLATTER!
"What the f*ck!!" that scared me, it also made me real nervous about something, why? Because the things he was holding was a glowing sword that was perfectly fine from the fall.
"Is this my reward?! A sword— HOLY SH*T! IS THAT'S THE DARK SABER!!"
After a quick turmoil of emotions, ranging from short panic to anxious excitement, I finally realized that the person was a storm trooper, their armor and blasters seemed to be really damaged and likely unusable anymore.
Looking back inside the case, I saw the paper had changed fonts on a paragraph.
[Bonus Quests:
1.Kill thugs and criminals for extra 10 grand. (Optional)
2.Defeat a criminal in combat. (Completed. Claimed)
Quests will appear every ten hours except on the 50th hour, a total of four quests.]
Expressing slight discomfort, I think that this is probably how I would receive his rewards from here on the challenge, hopefully not all the time though.
Hopping of from the crate I carefully approached the Light Saber, "I hope this won't affect canon plots on the show..." I frowned, I really liked the show, and I hoped for the story to do well, 'Though I never watched the spin-off sequel; Book of Boba fett'
Standing on the tip of my shoe while walking on blood and gore, towards the light saber, grabbing the handle before lifting it up, I was kind of shocked because it weighs a third of a pound.
"It has no weight from the saber, just the handle... Huh, that's convenient." I smirked, thinking that this might make things easier.
Sighing in relief, I finally figured which actual switch turns off the saber, pocketing it, truthfully I just used my belt to hold on, I moved to somewhere else, a secluded place to hide out.
=================
[3rd Pov]
"Did you found him yet?" came from a gruff voice of a young man with an electronic filter, they stood among two others on top of a building.
"Of course I did, who wouldn't notice a someone causing Crime Families to start turf wars just to find him?" a female voice filters through the earpiece.
"You guys sure we shouldn't inform Bruce about this?" A mature yet edged voice of another young man intervened, his gloved hand massage his temples.
"Come on Dick, just count this as our reunion celebration! Plus, us three are enough to handle this situation." a young child like voice quips at them.
"But it's his patrol area! why can't we let Batwoman and her team handle this for him instead of us." the same mature voice retorts back.
"I'll handle the explaining when he finds out, I am staying back to provide support at the cave anyway." the female interrupts through the comms, looking at them in the light of the screen,
"Thanks Babs!", "Thanks Barbara!" the masked young man and young teen simultaneously replied.
"Fine, maybe this will be best handled by us... Let's go Robins." the matured young man voice reluctantly agrees to them.
"Hey! I'm not an ignorant Robin anymore!" Redhood knocks on his helm, his hand around his grappling hook gun clenched in annoyance but he still had a smile on his face.
"I feel like the insult of the argument now." Robin (Damian Wayne) muttered, his sword clanking as he straps it on his belt.
"I didn't mean to... Let's just get this over with! I have new members to teach back at the tower." Nightwing sighed as he jumps off the building.
"Okay team, the suspect is heading to the neighborhood near old Grant Park! I'd hurry up if I was there, some nasty people also seems to be after him, and they're not that far." Oracle (Barbara Gordon) informs them through the intercom.
"Finally, some warm up on the way!" Robin smirks as he jumped off fast, following after Nightwing alongside Redhood.
*FWOOSH!
"I hate jumping buildings..." Redhood murmured as he grapple-hooked from one platform to the next.
==================
[Ray's Pov]
Walking quickly through the crosswalk before the intersection while sweating a lot under my clothes, I started to complain about something "Okay... Where the hell do I find a map? I'm practically an alien here! How is there no type C chargers or even outlets in this day and age, my phone is dead and now I'm all sweaty as hell—"
*CRASH! SCREECH! SHATTER!
The loud surprised sounds made me flinched and fear for the worst, turning towards the crash in the intersection, I saw some people on motorbikes holding metal bats and pipes, looking around.
One of them saw me yelled "Oii!", immediately they all turned to me, but more specifically the briefcase in my hands, they reved and started maneuvering to me through the traffic.
Sighing, I put my gun back into it's holster, and threw the briefcase over the fence of the park before carefully yet quickly climbing it, "Why's the city out for me!!"
====
[29h:12m:30s, remaining until the completion of Ray's challenge.]
[Bonus Quests:
1.Kill a thug or criminal. (Optional, 29h:12m:30s. left to complete quest.)
2.Defeat a criminal in hand to hand combat. (Completed, Rewards Claimed)
3.Kill an infamous/famous person in that world (06h:34m:11s, left to complete quest)
Quests will appear every ten hours except on the 50th hour, a total of four quests.]
USA, New Jersey, Gotham City, Grant Park.
Ray is getting chased by money hungry maniacs on motorcross bikes. :-P
====
[Ray's Pov]
*RUSTLE! THUD!
"Ouch! What the heck?!" I got out of the bush quickly, it was thorn bushes, "Why?!" I didn't though of it for long before hearing the bikers head to the entrance of the park, a few meters away from me.
Looking around, I quickly found anf grabbed the case, pulling out the light saber from my belt, I quickly ran through the park. 'Well... Barely.'
The bikers immediately caught up to me, one of them swooped in fast and swung their pipe, hitting the back of my head.
Tumbling down forward, I clutched the case to my chest while I shortly rolled. I slowly stood up, groaning in pain, I felt blood on the back of my head drip down my face as I hunched.
I don't know why but it pissed me off, 'Why can't things go my way for once... All these—' "–Motherf*ckers do... IS PISS ME OFF!!"
I picked up the light saber with my left hand and tightly held it while I kept the case clutched to my chest, standing upright, I turned on the Darksaber,
*Fwish, Humm it blazed and hummed with eerily dark glow, that seemed to make the bikers confused momentarily.
"Come at me you son of a gun..." my words came out in mutters but the one who had hit me, circled back to come for seconds from behind me,
Hearing the engine, I turned on my heels and swung, though I was aimlessly swinging, it did chop off their arm and hit the motor's back. It skids and swivel to the side and fell, the person who attacked me was there screaming in pain, clutching their hand while hissing periodically on the ground, whining like the dog they are.
"Serves... You right" huffing my breath, I closed an eye that was covered by sweat and drops of blood.
Dragging this out will only give me a quick exhaustion. So in blinding desperation of getting out, I ran off opposite from where they stood still, though eventually they noticed and chased after me.
My speed was that of a drunkard with stunning speed yet lack of any proper balance, tilting side to side as I plant my feet to push forth while I lean forward to steer myself.
Blood slowly flows down my chin and either way, dripped on my hoodie or on the ground.
"This... Sucks..." when the words left my mouth, I tripped and fell, I wasn't even sure that I would be able to stand up anymore. 'I'm going to die...'
I was sure of it, my blood keep gushing from my wound. My vision on the ground was covered as blood, "What was I thinking?.... Someone like me... Achieving something this... Impossible for me...."
Barely speaking those words, I wouldn't mind that this is my end, I was blinded by money that I never realized what my death seeking stupidity brought me to my death, '... and to think that I smiled after doing it... Dad was right, I've gone stupid, crazily desperate for money...'
"... F*ck my life..." Muttering those words, I then saw one of them walk to me, took the stuff from my weak hands before riding away and leaving me alone for the rest to finish off,
I heard them circling all around my like I was prey for their pleasure to kill, then came the muffled sounds, revving and... grunts? 'No... Maybe they're laughing or bickering how to kill me—... Can't tell anymore, I want to give-' I unknowingly instantly fell unconscious.
====
[3rd Pov]
A fight had broken out, but it was more like a one sided beat down, where the opposetions were flung from their bikes.
"Guys, he's bleeding a lot!" Jason quickly informed his partners while using his bullets taking down two bikers with practiced eases.
Dick threw his batons, it returned back to his hands in one quick pulling motion of a thin wire, then he casted quick glance on the unconscious Ray.
"Robin, take care of these guys for me, I need to deal with the suspect." He says before bolting to Ray, he pulls out a plastic pouch of liquids and opens it all together, mixing it all, applying the substance, dripping on Rays head wound.
The liquid hardened like wax, holding the blood from gushing out of the wound, it emitted warm heat as well.
"Barbara, we've got the suspect but he needs dire medical attention. We'll be at one of Jason's stash house, send a transport vehicle there with the necessary items." Nightwing reported, quickly carrying Ray on his shoulder to the location.
With a final yelp and grunt, the last remaining biker fell face first on the ground after having a shuriken puncture and caught the front tire. Just like that, both Redhood and Robin followed after Nightwing through the dark alleys and staircases, finally reaching their destination in under a few minutes.
Huffing a bit, Nightwing puts Ray down on a metal table after pushing off junk on top of it.
"Hey! Those were bombs man. I may have left the place for a long time but that doesn't mean stuff here cost dogsh*t." Redhood huffed and jabs Nightwing on the side to push past him and picked up the stuff on the floor.
Robin just sighed and asked something to Oracle, "Hey, Barbara. You got something on this guy yet?" he feels like there's more to this than gang and crime families chasing the guy. It felt more the person has some information, something deeper going on about this situation.
"Actually... When I scanned his face from the cameras, DNA from multiple places, and checked it out on citizen and personal files of all different governments' servers and databases, there's not a single trace or mention of this guy at all, he's like a ghost." Barbara responded, revealing a surprising information.
Robin sighed, "I wouldn't call him a ghost of sorts... But still it's fascinating that there's nothing on him." he looked back at both of his brothers, "You guys heatd that right?"
"Yeah, that's really weird," Redhood says while he removes his helmet, putting it down on one of the workbenches, "so who's going to wake him up? I'm really curious about what he has to say, we've got nothing on this guy."
Nightwing drags his hand down his face and exhaling loudly, thinking for a bit he looks down at Ray's wrist, "Huh... Since when does people running away need timers for?" he examines the timer as it ticks down.
Jason nods, he's really getting suspicious about this whole thing, "Things are getting pretty big and weird. Babs, you still got nothing on this guy?" he asked directly through the earpiece and comms.
"Ooh! I got something; apparently, word around the underworld of Gotham sayings that this guy of ours stabbed someone and stole a briefcase that's supposedly filled with all sorts of dirt on all gangs, extremists groups, secret cults, and criminal families. This report was submitted by a huge number of police officers from the GCPD, private investigators, and detectives, also there's some few citizens who even claimed to witness it." Oracle summed back to the three of them,
"But the weird thing is, there's no corpse sent to the investigate of this said person who was stabbed. Another thing that's odd is that there's hardly even any effort put into further investigating this crime, it's like they just stopped midway so it's enough to hold up as a filed report crime."
"So they did this intentionally to wrack up the bi guys in the criminal underworld?" Nightwing chimed in as he inspects the timer on Ray's wrist.
The three boy wonders listened and racked their brains to think about this.
Robin was the first to speak, "I really don't want to jump into any wild conclusions just yet— no matter how logical it is, but I think that there's someone who offered to make this guy go through this mess willingly, like some big people is at play and they're using this guy as eather a pawn or a source of sick entertainment."
Nightwing nods along with Jason, a little earlier though, "That's something... Possible, but it's Gotham and anything could be one thing or the other."
*Screech! Beep, Beep!
"Maybe we could get the answers when our suspect of wakes up. Dick, your medical supplies have arrived outside the safehouse." Oracle notified, disabling her control over the bat-themed armored truck.
====
[27h:47m:50s, remaining until the completion of Ray's challenge.]
[Bonus Quests:
1.Kill a thug or criminal. (Optional, 27h:47m:50s. left to complete quest.)
2.Defeat a criminal in hand to hand combat. (Completed, Rewards Claimed)
3.Kill an infamous/famous person (04h:37m:09s, left to complete quest)
Quests will appear every ten hours except on the 50th hour, a total of four quests.]