A/N:
" " : Dialogue,
' ' : Thought,
"Italicized text" : Telepathy,
[ ] : System.
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Omniscient POV
Nolan had expected Batman and Robin's arrival, as he believed that if he was able to find out about the Berretti and Maroni families' rendezvous, then they could have, or rather, should have as well. He also expected that they would try to take all the men down in one fell swoop, but wanted to avoid meeting them for the time being.
Batman and Robin threw down smoke bombs that obscured the mobsters' vision and irritated their noses and eyes. Nolan would have left the pair to take out the mobsters, but he was on the hunt for Gacha Points. He jumped high into the air, still cloaked in darkness, but not hidden from the eyes of Gotham's Caped Crusader. At the apex of his jump, Nolan jumped again in mid-air, hitting a height of over 50 feet off the ground, directly above the smoke cloud blinding the Maroni men.
With a quick activation of the Ram Rune, he accelerated to the ground and landed with enough force to cause a powerful shockwave that blasted the smoke cloud away and hit the mobsters. Some of them were lifted off the ground by the force, while the others were blasted backwards. The ground beneath Nolan's feet cratered and broke apart, and moving fast enough to cause afterimages, he grabbed multiple stones, coated them in Nen, and threw them with enough force for them to pierce metal at the goons.
Before they had any chance to react, Maroni's men had every one of the joints in their arms and pierced by rocks. Their shouts of confusion very quickly changed into shouts of pain, as they now had holes where their shoulders, wrist bones, elbows, knees, hip joints, and ankles were. Even while they were in this condition, Nolan noticed that he hadn't received any GP, so he began knocking them out, using Domino to speed up the process. It was when they were fully incapacitated that he finally received his GP, however small it was.
Through all of this, Batman and Robin stood by and watched as he quickly dispatched the mobsters, with Batman frowning at Nolan's brutality, while Robin was impressed with how efficiently he took out the goons without killing them. Batman on the other hand, had noticed that the wounds he had dealt to each of the mobsters, while debilitating and crippling, were not fatal. Watching Nolan's combat reminded him of the Berretti men that he came across last night, each of them dismantled with eerie precision. And now, he was faced with someone doing the same, only with worse injuries being inflicted on the criminals.
All of Nolan's actions, from his first jump to the last knockout strike, had only taken the better part of 10 seconds. Batman's head was filled with multiple thoughts running at high speed; 'Who was this person?' 'Who trained them?' 'Why did they come to Gotham?' 'What connection did they have to the attack on Berretti's men from yesterday?'
As for Nolan, he acted like he didn't care that either of the two were there, as he inspected the weapons that the Maroni goons were unable to get a chance to fire. He noticed that they were far more advanced than just any criminal in Gotham could get their hands on, save for someone like Mr. Freeze, but he knew that Victor wouldn't bother with these… *pew*… as they were laser weapons.
He noticed that the weapons were unmarked, but of a make that wasn't similar to any weapons created by Wayne Tech or STAR Labs, meaning that they were very likely alien tech, or just gotten off the black market. Seeing as it was most likely the latter, Nolan's mind soon zeroed in on one possibility. "Intergang. Why would those idiots be trying to get their hands in Gotham?" He said out loud, and Batman, choosing to put aside his suspicions for the time being, stepped forward and inspected the weapons himself, and very soon came to the same conclusion.
"Hey… uh, who are you?" Robin asked, positively curious of this person who seemed to want to be a part of their effort to protect the average Gothamite and take down criminals, albeit with more… lasting damage. "No one important. I've just got a bit of a grudge with Gotham's Crime Families." Nolan responded calmly. "I would have killed these guys, but letting them live when they only want to die… seems to be a more fitting punishment." He said as he stood up, and began walking away.
"Even if you're beating them this badly, it can't be to the point that you'd avoid the GCPD… right?" Robin asked. "After what I've heard tonight? No, I can't trust the cops. Not until the Crime Families are dealt with." Nolan replied, then made a show of reaching into his armor's cloak, when he was really reaching into his inventory, and pulled out the smaller computer he had made, which was only a bit larger than the average smartphone, at least as of the 2020s.
He synced it up to his HUD, then sent Robin the sound bite of the Berretti mobsters' conversation from before he attacked them. Robin was surprised to see the message asking for his permission to accept the file, and looked at Nolan with wide eyes. "The network you're running on is locked down pretty tight, but even then, it's got gaps that only the truly skilled can leverage. Now, you gonna play that or what?" Nolan said, and after receiving a nod from Batman, Robin played the audio file.
Batman and Robin narrowed their eyes upon hearing that the Berretti Family had moles in the GCPD, and clenched their jaws when they heard how Joseph Gilliani, otherwise known as Joey, viewed the people whose lives he was actively driving to ruin. Batman, in particular, normally tries his best to see the best in the worst of Gotham's criminals, as he still sees them as people. They may have been unscrupulous, or have done some downright heinous things, but he still tried to see them as people that could still be redeemed, people who could be put back on the straight and narrow. But even he had to admit that some of the criminals in Gotham were pushing closer to his threshold.
"Well, since you've heard that, I'm sure that you'll try to find out who I am, so I guess I'd better get this out of the way." Nolan said, putting his small computer away in his inventory. "Hey, Dick. If you're gonna hide your identity, maybe get a better mask, or at least make a better alternate persona. Anyone who knows you can easily tell it's you, Grayson. See ya." He said, then vanished in a blur of speed.
Right as he left, Robin, Richard 'Dick' Grayson, moved to talk to him. "Hey, wait. You didn't answer…" By this point, Nolan had disappeared into the night. "… my earlier question." Dick said, then sighed. "I think he had already answered that, Robin." Batman said as he finally noticed the Berretti mobsters that Nolan had placed out of view. He walked up to them and saw their bodies all battered and broken, with little hope of ever returning to some level of normalcy. He saw as they had been arranged to spell one single word: 'NOCTURNE'. He may not yet have a face to identify Gotham's newest vigilante, but he now had a name.
…
Nolan POV
Holy shit! Holy shit!! Holy shit!!! Important things really need to be said three times.
Meeting Batman and Robin face to face was a surreal experience, especially since I'd played as them multiple times in my past life. But while I made sure not to erupt into a fit of fanboying, I almost couldn't stop myself from smiling at the two notifications that popped up while I was there with the pair.
[You have encountered Bruce Wayne {Batman} (Earth-16EW). Reward: 150GP]
[You have encountered Richard 'Dick' Grayson {Robin I} (Earth-16EW). Reward: 90GP]
Adding that to the 9GP I got from taking out 90 of Gotham's mobsters – seriously, taking down these guys is a poor investment – I now had a total of 251GP, enough for two 10x spins and 5 extra 1x spins. And since it's not like I can spend the points anywhere else, I can just use the points outright.
Pulling up the system window, I quickly tap the 10x button, and since I'd already used my first time bonus, it was only 10 Cards this time, still with the butterfly animation.
[Item Card: Blue Rose (Devil May Cry 4)] – Rare
[Standard Card: 200 System XP] – Uncommon
[Item Card: Dingo (Call Of Duty: Black Ops 3)] – Uncommon
[Ability Card : Electrokinesis (inFamous)] – Legendary
[Item Card: Terror Mask (Splatterhouse (2010))] – Rare
[Item Card: Iron Pickaxe (Minecraft)] - Common
[Item Card: Bat (Team Fortress 2)] - Common
[Item Card: Pip-Boy 3000 Mark IV (Fallout 4)] - Uncommon
[Item Card: Nichirin Blade (Demon Slayer: The Hinokami Chronicles)] – Common
[Item Card: Herrera Outlaw GTS (Cyberpunk 2077)] - Uncommon
What the…?! Since when did this thing take XP?! System! Explain yourself!
Of course, I received no real explanation, but I did see a new line in the status page.
[System Level: 0 (0/100)]
[Congratulations! You have discovered a hidden function of the Video Game Gacha System. Reward: 10GP!]
While it was nice to know that I had essentially gotten a free gacha spin, I still hadn't gotten any actual explanation from the system, almost like it was taunting me to use the XP Card. Sighing, I took out the only Standard Card and used it.
[System Level UP!]
[New functions unlocked:
[Specific Gacha Lv.1: You can choose the types of Cards that you receive for a slightly greater price than a regular gacha pull.]
[Daily Free Gacha Lv. 1: You receive one free gacha pull per day. This does not rollover.]
[Increased Probabilities Lv.1: All rarities above Banal receive a slight increase.] ]
[System Level: 1(100/500)]
Huh. That's… actually pretty useful. And it also fully explains the function of the Card with XP. Well played, system. Putting that aside, I pulled out the only Legendary Card that I got in this pull – the Electrokinesis from inFamous.
[Ability Card: Electrokinesis (inFamous)]:
[This grants the Power held by a Conduit to manipulate electricity, as well as any other abilities that are byproducts of this Power. This grants free access to all abilities that can be gained through these Powers, regardless of one's karmic alignment. Due to this being a Conduit's Power, it comes with the same drawbacks as actually being a Conduit of electricity.
Weakness(es):
• Inability to enter bodies of water or be present in a large volume of water, as you will short-circuit.
• Inability to use gunpowder-based weapons, as your electricity ignites the powder upon contact.
• Inability to use vehicles that run on gasoline, as your electricity ignites the fuel upon contact.
• Inability to absorb electricity fired at you from other superpowered beings without them allowing it.
• Electricity stockpile doesn't regenerate, so you must absorb electricity from other sources.]
Whew! Now this… this is a game changer, even with all the weaknesses. And would you look at that? I've got a Weakness Removal Card just sitting in my inventory. If I get all the abilities I think I'm about to get, then Gotham's criminals won't know… Actually, they'll know what hit them, but they won't really be able to do much against it.
I took out the Weakness Removal Card and applied it to the Electrokinesis Card, and just like that, everything in the Weaknesses bar was cleared out. I assimilated the Card, and I almost immediately felt my Nen shift. Since Nen is lifeforce, and I now have the ability to interact with my own bioelectricity, I guess it's not too crazy to see my Conduit powers affecting my electric Nen. As the assimilation finished, I immediately began testing out my new powers.
As the electricity arced around my fingers, I noticed that my Nen aura felt different, almost as if the way it now operated had fundamentally changed. Don't get me wrong, it was still very much life energy. But if I had to describe it, think of the regular way that Nen operates in other people like a flowing river, while mine has now become something close to… a circuit, just without any resistance. That's the most accurate description that I can give to how my Nen is now.
So, wanting to see how it had affected my Nen besides altering it at its roots, I let out a singular Pulse, only to jolt in shock, as the range had wildly increased. What had been just 650 meters ballooned to almost 5 kilometers, very likely a courtesy of Radar Pulse fusing with Pulse, and becoming way better. I was tempted to try out Godspeed, just to see how it had changed, or even to try and remove the singular restriction that I had on my Nen, but I decided against it.
Yeah, as it turns out, Legendary Killua had a considerably different life than canon Killua. Apart from receiving more training, being more skilled and stronger, he also did something that canon Killua would have seen as impossible. He killed Silva, and that was thanks to the Nen restriction he had placed on himself. The Nen restriction was one that essentially weakened his Nen normally – making the gap in power between him and canon Killua far greater than I had initially thought, and instead put him in a massively supercharged state in the event that his heart stopped beating entirely for 90 seconds straight.
It was called Godspeed: Wrath of the Lightning God(カンムル:雷神の怒り), and it got him to be powerful enough to kill the patriarch of the Zoldyck family in a one-on-one fight. So, it wasn't crazy to say that Legendary Killua was relative to Netero or Meruem as of the time of their battle to the death. So, if I add inFamous' Electrokinesis ability to the mix, it's not crazy to say that I'm likely the strongest person in Gotham, if we ignore the absolute bullshit that is magic.
That train of thought was very quickly cut short by a sharp scream. Quickly using En, which as also bolstered by Radar Pulse, I soon found the source and rushed towards it. Upon arriving, I saw a man with a shaven head looming over a woman, who was bleeding from her midsection – clearly from a stab wound, with a bloody knife in his hand. I lightly slapped the guy's side, breaking 5 ribs and smacking him into the wall of the alleyway.
Ignoring the man, I walked closer to the woman, who was still very terrified by what she had just experienced. A dark figure approaching her after taking down her assailant probably wasn't helping, but if I let her be, she'd bleed out and die. "No! No! Stay away from me!" She screamed with tears in her eyes. "Don't worry. You don't have to be scared of me. And it's best that you stop flailing around. You'll aggravate the wound and bleed out faster." I said, this time using my real voice.
Hearing a teenager's voice gave her pause, even as she was huffing and puffing. That guy probably stabbed her diaphragm. "Just calm down. I'll help you out." I said, as I got closer to her, then quickly used Bio Pulse. "There." I said, then turned to the guy I smacked down. He was only wearing a jacket and some pants. He didn't even put on any shoes. And he was laughing like a maniac. As I looked closer at him, I slowly pieced together who he was.
He laughed like getting hurt was pleasure to him. The only thing on him, save for the clothes on his back, was a knife. And his torso and the top of his head were covered in scars that were shaped like tally marks. Amongst all of the people and crazies in Gotham, there was only one person who matched all those descriptions, and that was Victor Zsasz.
[You have encountered Victor Zsasz (Earth-16EW). Reward: 10GP]
"Oh, the pain. It's… glorious." Zsasz said as he stood back up, not caring about his side that was already showing bruising. Wanting to drop him, I fired out my grapnel and sent electricity into it, with the intention of turning the weight into a bludgeon. However, due to the fact that my electric powers had been amplified far beyond what I was used to controlling regularly, I ended sending way more electricity into the grapnel, turning the weight into its blade form, and cutting off his arm.
The woman gasped as Zsasz's arm fell to the ground, while he looked at his empty shoulder, and I decided to just deal with him hands-on. "Hey, lady. It's best that you leave. And don't bother calling the cops. This is the last time anyone's ever gonna see him." I said, then activated Godspeed and took Zsasz and his arm away from the area.
As I quickly bounded through the city, I felt Zsasz spasm uncontrollably as my electricity also ran through his body. Amongst the many criminals that are in Gotham, he is one of the few that I would kill with absolutely no qualms whatsoever. In my opinion, he's one of the few villains that's in the same camp as Joker; being evil for evil's sake, and so, will be given the same treatment as I would give that damn clown when I get my hands on him.
As I eventually passed the outermost limits of Gotham City and ended up above the sea outside Gotham, I threw him high into the air, then activating Precision, I felt my senses get heightened and my environment slow down in my perception. I charged a massive amount of electricity in my hands, then fired out an Arc Lightning, which thanks to the fact that I didn't have the annoyance that was the Karma system of the inFamous games, wasn't colored red. The lightning bolt tore through Zsasz's body, frying and superheating every part of his body while leaving a large hole in his torso.
[You have defeated Victor Zsasz (Earth-16EW). Reward: 25GP]
While I couldn't help take care of the people being smuggled by the Berretti Family, taking a nihilistic serial killer off the streets for good is good enough for me now. Batman won't agree with my methods, but I prefer that guys like Zsasz and Joker are no longer able to harm anyone… at all. It might drive a wedge between me and the rodent-themed hero, but if it's necessary or a net positive, then some villains would have to finally sacrifice themselves for others.
For now, though, I'll settle with taking down the crime families and the few villains that I come across. My beef with the Berrettis is personal though. So, as a small self-imposed mission, I've decided that I'll get rid of all the crime families by the 4th of July. Who knows, maybe by then I'd have gotten powerful enough to tussle with Superman. I can only place my hopes on good RNG.
Chapter End.
Word Count: 3,180
Thanks for reading!