"What do you two idiots want?" Dylan's dark blue eyes narrowed slightly, his voice and expression calm despite his rising anger.
"Hey, hey, look at this kid, what a foul mouth. Tell me, boy, didn't your mommy teach you to be polite—"
*Pak!*
Before the eel-faced muscleman could finish formulating his question, he felt a strong impact right on his nose. First came the surprise, which made him freeze for an instant, and then the pain and numbness, with tears beginning to form and moisture accumulating in his nasal passages due to the bleeding.
Looking at Dylan, who didn't take advantage of his surprise to launch another attack, and instead stood there with his hands in his pockets, indifferent as if he hadn't been the one who had broken his nose, the eel-faced guy felt a wave of hatred wash over him.
"Fuck! You're dead, you motherfucker!"
*Thud!*
Just as he was about to attack, a thick, firm hand pressed hard on his shoulder, immobilizing him. It was the taller, stronger man.
He was dark-skinned with a half-shaved head and thinning hair, drooping eyes, and a square jaw.
"What are you doing, Mark!? This idiot broke my fucking nose!"
Mark looked at him with a certain regret and anger in his eyes and spoke slowly, not deliberately, but more because of some condition. "First, you're no match for him, and second, and more importantly, the boss wants him intact."
"Fuck it! Damn... Bastard, just you wait until your luck runs out one of these days." Despite looking like he wanted to run out and devour Dylan alive, staring at him with hatred was all the eel-faced guy did as he took a step back.
Seeing how things were unfolding in front of him and hearing the big guy, Mark, speak, Dylan felt his body reset as he gritted his teeth slightly.
Boss. He was the leader of one of New York's smaller gangs known as "The Biceps."
As the name suggests, it's mainly composed of bodybuilding enthusiasts. They are primarily involved in the sale and manufacture of illegal chemicals, mostly anabolic steroids, and loan sharking. In addition to various other illegal and criminal activities.
Before recovering his memories of his past life, Dylan never wanted to get involved with crime in any way. And after recovering his memories, he wanted to even less.
Unfortunately, he ended up getting involved. Not of his own free will; the exact reason involved his shitty father.
Thanks to him, Dylan ended up having to do some jobs for the "Troglodyte." It wasn't an insult; it was literally what the boss of The Biceps liked to call himself and be called.
His father ended up owing the Troglodyte too much, and to avoid being beaten to death, literally, he resorted to "selling" his son. With his father's life threatened, Dylan, who, however insensitive he wanted to be, couldn't simply let him die, ended up agreeing to help them with a few things as long as it didn't involve hurting anyone.
In total, there were five jobs, three of which Dylan served as a getaway driver in robberies of cargo trucks carrying medicines and drugs. He wasn't proud of it, but he didn't really regret it either. Especially since the services were quick and efficient without any physical harm to anyone.
Another job involved breaking into a luxury mansion on Park Avenue and stealing a piece of art, a bronze statue said to be worth one or two million. This was perhaps the easiest, but potentially the most dangerous. The residents were a small mining and coal magnate and his wife.
The easy and dangerous part of the job was related to the same thing, or in this case, person. Since illegally breaking in would be quite risky, and he didn't fully trust his physical abilities to bypass high-level mansion security systems or even the guards, Dylan decided to enter the mansion legally, although it was still "secretly."
All he had to do was seduce the small magnate's forty-something wife, who spent most of her days alone and lonely. Honestly, it wasn't very difficult. After ensuring she was too tired to even open her eyes, Dylan took the piece and left. The wife already seemed accustomed to this type of adventure, so the cameras and guards naturally weren't a problem.
As for the police and such, he naturally wasn't afraid for two reasons. The first and obvious one was that the unfaithful wife would have to explain how she knew it was him! And the second was that the art piece was stolen and illegally obtained by the small magnate. The most dangerous part of it all was being discovered by the small magnate and facing his revenge and anger, but as long as the wife denied knowing anything, it was hardly a problem.
And then there was the fifth and final job, the one that paid off all his father's debts. That job involved fighting.
A gang fight. Firearms were not allowed, and it wasn't simply because of a code of honor or any nonsense, but because the moment firearms were involved, the police would be forced to get actively and fiercely involved.
It was ugly, as all group fights are. Dylan spent two weeks recovering in the hospital because of it, but he was one of the main damage dealers. Earning a certain respect and fear from the other gang members. A bunch of musclemen naturally admire the strong, and Dylan used nothing but his own body while everyone else had iron bars, knives, and brass knuckles!
But Dylan cared little for their respect and admiration. That had been the last job, two months ago.
After that, he completely cut all ties with his father, one of the reasons why he made sure to legally change and use his mother's surname, Volsky, which also made his slight Slavic ancestry more obvious. After giving his father a sum of money from the inheritance his mother had left him and ensuring the old man had left the country to live somewhere in Brazil, Dylan no longer wanted to know of his existence.
As for why Dylan didn't go to the police, well, The Biceps were well known to the local police because of their violence, but until then they hadn't committed any crime against Dylan and his father, plus his father legally owed them a lot of money.
Anyone knows that if he went to the police in this situation, not only his father but he too would have been brutally beaten, possibly to death.
Why didn't he completely ignore his father? He asked himself the same question, but at the end of the day, the bastard was his last family in this world...
"Troglodyte wants to talk." Still that slightly broken and slow voice. Mark looked at Dylan with a slightly mocking gaze. He respected the kid and feared the boss, but the kid also annoyed him by attacking his partner in front of him and annoyed him even more by not being able to teach him a lesson right then and there.
But it was fine, he had no choice but to go with them. He would have his chance to teach the idiot a lesson eventually.
"Oh yeah? It just so happens I have nothing to say."
Dylan started to feel increasingly angry, mainly because by that time, more people were starting to appear on the streets, some heading to the same gym to train. Some waved to Dylan while others didn't even glance his way.
Maybe one or two wanted to ask if everything was alright, but in that area, everyone knew The Biceps, and in fact, the owner of the boxing gym even paid "protection fees."
"Heh, we're not asking, idiot." *Spit.* "You're coming with us whether you like it or not." The eel-faced guy took the opportunity to try and sound threatening. He would have done better if it weren't for the bloody spit in the middle.
"And who decided that?"
Losing patience, Mark grew tired of being "polite," his voice laden, but his speech still slow, he basically growled, "Don't play dumb, kid. You know it wouldn't end just with paying off your old man's debt. Well, maybe it would, but no one told you to do so well! Troglodyte has another job for you, and you. Will. Accept!"
Seeing that Dylan remained impassive, the eel-faced guy wondered what had happened to him, since as far as he knew, by now the kid in front of him would have lost his patience and either resisted or surrendered directly, and wouldn't just stand there staring at the two of them as if they were idiots. The jerk had obviously learned to control his emotions better.
Realizing this, the eel-faced guy decided to play his card; it would definitely make the idiot not only surrender to their will but also regret throwing that punch. "Listen here, you piece of shit, you might consider yourself a genius, but we know how you managed to steal that statue. And if you play hard to get, we won't mind letting that magnate know too! And if you don't know yet, that man is someone even the boss has to kiss the feet of if he sees him!"
Mark frowned upon hearing the last part but remained silent because it was true.
"Oh really? Did you happen to forget who I 'acquired' that statue for?" Dylan scoffed, still holding back. He wasn't the same as before and would never submit like that again. In the worst-case scenario, he would die again; it wouldn't be the first time anyway.
Of course, he would never just wait for death.
"Hah! It might be true that the boss has to act respectfully with that magnate, but we don't need to be afraid of him; now we're part of the forces of—"
"Enough!" Mark glared at his partner; the idiot simply talked too much. One of that man's biggest taboos was anonymity, and he wouldn't allow even the smallest leak!
Looking back at Dylan, his frown deepened; he knew he wouldn't go with them. And that time of day and location weren't ideal for teaching him to be obedient, and the boss needed someone urgently. 'It seems we'll have to find someone else.'
"Are you sure you're going against us, kid? Against the boss? This is your last chance; after this, crying and begging won't help."
"It's not yet clear who will be crying and begging later." Dylan said calmly, his eyes seeming to turn to real ice for an instant.
"Keep playing tough; we'll see how well that does you. Let's go."
Watching the broad, muscular backs of the two men turn the corner, Dylan had only one thought on his mind. 'Power. I need to become powerful, and soon!'
++++++
Greetings, mortals, this is the high-dimensional creature who sent Dylan on his new adventure speaking. This is my first attempt at writing a fanfic and I want to try something a little different from what we normally see out there.
First of all, this fanfic will follow a relatively slow pace at the beginning, compared to most fanfics on this platform. I really want to develop the protagonist, his powers and abilities, friends and enemies, lovers, etc., gradually and logically.
So, if these characteristics do not appeal to you, I suggest you leave this fanfic aside and not waste your precious time. If you continue reading, and I would be immensely grateful if you do, please avoid commenting complaints about the story's pace because you have already been warned!
Anyway, that's it, I'm a complete amateur and I consider my writing quite weak, but I hope to improve, and I hope that at least some of you will still be here when that happens!
Alright, another detail that may or may not matter. This fanfic will follow a unique timeline and realities decided by the almighty me. Much of it will be taken from the MCU, especially major events, but much will also come from other materials, mainly comics, and I might even be including and integrating different realities into this one! So don't be surprised later. At least I hope to maintain coherence and logic since I personally consider that the most important thing!
And finally, there are other fanfics on my profile that I'm releasing, but I won't act as if they were mine. I find that immoral. All of them are translations I'm doing of Chinese fanfics, one from GoT, one from Naruto, and another from Marvel + other movies. Take a look, you might like one of them.
It's night here now, so that's all, and have a great night everyone!!!!!!!
One last thing! This time it's for real! I'm participating in the fanfic Fiesta, so if you think this fanfic has potential, or if you like it, or if you just want to be an amazing person and help a poor soul, please collect and donate your stones and votes! And rate this work too, if it's not too much to ask. I know there are only three chapters so far... But let's all hope for a better tomorrow!!! Okay!? Okay, I'm counting on you!