Chapter Five: Daniel's First Fight
A week had passed since Daniel's transfer. He was now eating at a neighborhood restaurant in the famed Hell's Kitchen — some french fries, a cup of Pepsi, and a few crunchy, delicious fried chicken thighs. Daniel had made up his mind: he would start his own side quest tonight. During this week Daniel had found a job at a game company again, albeit for a much lower wage — of course, because he was now in 2007, not 2025 as before he transferred, and also because the Marvel world didn't care about video games as much as his original world had.
Since his special key had worked to open his apartment door when he transferred, it had also activated some of his other possessions, like his ID card — though the card itself was dated 2025; so he went, like any ordinary person, to request that the card be updated, and with a bit of extra money the issue was settled. Hell's Kitchen had its own peculiarities too; he didn't want to be picked up by the police for something that wasn't his fault — his transfer to this world.
But he had also shown a skill and experience gained from his past life; in fact, he was promoted at his job after only one week. The only thing Daniel missed now was a kind-hearted manager who could be conned into giving him time off; though Daniel knew deep down that his previous manager had known about his scheme and allowed it because Daniel had already made up for the missed days.
Daniel verified the information he had about this world and learned that mutants had begun to appear after the world war that had frozen Captain America. From what he knew and from the information he had gathered, mutants could be classified into four groups: first, the Mutant school led by the old Professor Charles Xavier, who could communicate with others' minds; second, the Brotherhood of Mutants led by Magneto, who could manipulate metals — they were well hidden from the government. Third were those who lived alone in hiding or small covert gangs; and finally — which Daniel had not expected to exist — some mutants were with the army. Daniel was very surprised by this; it was somewhat strange, for the government had been one of the fiercest opponents of mutants, yet here it had formed a testing unit to see whether they could coexist with the army or not. He understood, however, that they had taken them because they wanted them to fight in place of other soldiers.
Tony Stark, moreover, still hadn't become Iron Man or been kidnapped; Daniel expected this might happen about a year from now. But what mattered most to him now was that Daredevil was already fighting gangs, and The Punisher and some other heroes he had heard of were active — heroes who, by his memories, shouldn't exist yet... but he accepted it: this world was different.
Daniel bought a fabric mask that looked nearly like black leather so he could deal with gang members more comfortably. He chose Hell's Kitchen because it was arguably the craziest neighborhood, full of various gangs. Daniel also didn't yet know how to fight the corrupt police under Fisk's control — he was weak and not ready — so he chose Hell's Kitchen to encounter the blind man who fought more skillfully than an entire squad — Daredevil — and the madman The Punisher; they were the most famous heroes here, and Daniel wanted to see them after all.
Finally, before he started his night, Daniel asked Luna: "Luna, what about Vi's passive? How will it appear?"
[Luna: Vi's white shield will appear as per the conditions you know. If you hit your enemy with one of your abilities, a white shield will appear around you that temporarily protects you from attacks, and the shield will also break according to the attack's strength.]
Daniel finished his meal and left after paying the bill, deliberately entering an abandoned alley in Hell's Kitchen. He didn't have Daredevil's habit of staying on the rooftops and listening until he knew where the criminals were; no — Daniel had to go look for them himself, and he'd be lucky if he found someone he could handle. He wasn't stupid enough to challenge a whole gang armed with plenty of firearms.
As he walked with the mask on, moving quietly through the alleys, he heard some laughing. Daniel tracked the sound and peered around a wall: there were indeed two men. After a brief thought, Daniel decided to fight them. Of course he was hesitant — this was the first time he'd fight that kind of person; people who might actually kill you! — but they looked weak, and they had no protective gear or firearms — the weapons they usually flaunted. (They seemed like low-level thugs from a larger gang.)
Just as he was about to move, a man behind him holding a large bladed weapon shouted to the two: "Jack, John, you idiots, come see — I found a sneaky rat!"
As soon as Daniel was revealed his heart tightened, then he thought fast: (I have to take this one down before the others come.)
Then two large, brilliant metal gauntlets appeared around Daniel's hands, connected to each other by a device on the upper part of his back. The man was shocked by the transformation, but Daniel gave him no time and attacked quickly. The men tried to back away as he rushed them, swinging the blade wildly, but Daniel blocked it with his armored hand and then struck the man hard in the face, following with two more blows to the face — as Daniel had expected, they were weak and had no real fighting skills; the man collapsed into a deep sleep.
Daniel looked toward the corner where the other two would appear and braced himself while preparing Vi's Q. The two men appeared quickly and Daniel lunged at one of them and attacked; the man hadn't expected it, so the blow hit his chest, sending him backward onto the ground, some of his rib bones already fractured. The second man was also surprised — Daniel was beside him in an instant, and something white materialized around him — the man attacked with his blade, but Daniel didn't bother to block; as he had expected, the white shield protected him from the strike. Daniel struck him as well, hitting him in the side and opening his defenses; Daniel then pummeled him in the face until the third man fell into a deep sleep. The white shield also vanished from him; its activation time had been about three seconds, and Daniel noticed the shield had become more transparent after the previous strike and was close to breaking.
Daniel's body trembled and his hands shook, even though he hadn't received a single hit — it was his first time. The trembling was half anxiety and half excitement: he had fought three criminals and won. He also noticed his attacks hadn't been fast or very good; all he had done was use the gauntlets as a shield and he hadn't been able to evade any blows. (His body still felt heavy.)
Daniel looked at the second man who had taken the hardest blow; he was the only one awake, and Daniel feared his power might have permanently harmed or even killed the man if he had struck him in the face. The fellow's condition was already miserable from what he drank every day, so Daniel had targeted his chest from the start. In a rough voice Daniel told him, "You, you need to stop this and find another job; I hate hurting others, as you know."
The strange man looked at him — and the strangest thing about him was the gauntlets on Daniel's hands — and said in a weak voice from the previous blows that were hurting him more and more: "Yeah, yeah, I will." Daniel then said, "Take care of your friends, okay." The man nodded in response: "Yes."
Daniel returned the way he had come, and as soon as he was out of the man's sight he hid his gauntlets and everything on him, then ran at full speed back to the main road.
He removed his mask before leaving the alleys; walking down the street he glanced at his screen and noticed he had gained two gems already and about forty-two gold coins. But he wondered about a few things: first, the forty-two must have come as fourteen gold from each person — that was good — but what about the two gems he had received? Wasn't he supposed to get three gems?
He asked Luna about this; she replied: [The side quest is: defeat a gang member, and when you defeated the first one the quest ended and no longer exists for you to claim another reward. The second gem is because you fought three people at once and the three of them together are stronger than you; fighting stronger opponents grants you extra rewards.]
Then Daniel asked, (How many gems must I pay to get Vi's perks without transforming into it?) Luna said: [Only three gems.] (Only? I feel like that's robbery, and you tell me it's the best system... ha.)
[........]