"Level seven's just over the horizon," Lucian mumbled.
Excitement welled up inside him - he now only needed a little less than 400 EXP to level up.
"That's one more level to invest into Acrobat or Criminal..."
Lucian scaled his way up a particularly narrow alleyway. "True wall-climbing" like Spider-Man does wasn't achievable just yet, but he was at least strong enough to climb up without exerting himself. That is, as long as it was along 'crevices' that he could comfortably span with both arms if there wasn't anything for his fingers to latch onto.
In the future, Lucian could probably pull off some Naruto shit with one of Brawler's class branches, so from level 16 onwards, he would start speccing into that. He figured that basic infiltration skills should be good enough for a while.
While climbing up, Lucian remembered his first non-lethal takedown. With all of these "firsts" that the program had been rewarding him for, he felt the need to ask it something.
'Hey, so, would making my first kill give me an entire level's worth of EXP, like that one time with the guy I knocked out?'
[ That is the case. However, this benefit cuts off past level 15. From then on, the reward for your first kill will be capped at 2,000 EXP. ]
'Using it to skip from 14 to 15, then...'
Speaking on its own to add to Lucian's options, the program elaborated, [ Other activities that reward you with an additional level include defeating your first supervillain, as well as your first superhero. Lethal and non-lethal methods are not differentiated for them. ]
"Level 15 doesn't seem so far anymore," Lucian celebrated.
Finally, he lifted himself over the rooftops' edge with a front-flip.
It was honestly a bit perturbing that he could suddenly do the things he'd been doing lately. That is, apart from his superhuman capabilities.
Stealing, for one. In Lucian's old life, even the thought of picking up anything more than change off the ground was enough to make him look over his shoulder. Now, he was even contemplating ending someone's life just to get stronger.
Granted, he never planned on doing it to someone who didn't deserve it, but still...
'Maybe someone from Arkham... Zsasz?'
Someone like the deranged serial killer would definitely be easy enough for Lucian to handle, physically and mentally. No regrets going all murdery there.
Reaching the other edge of the rooftop that he climbed up on, the sight of the city sprawling before him brought Lucian back to reality. The night air was significantly more pleasant a dozen floors up with a consistent breeze compared to being at ground level, so he found himself getting more hooked on the idea of traversing Gotham city over her rooftops.
"Let's take down a few more thugs to clear our mind, shall we?"
...
With the help of One for All's Justice Sense and Full Cowling's considerable attri-boosts, Lucian ran around the city looking for troublemakers to apprehend. It was effectively EXP grinding since every takedown granted him 50 EXP, and by the end of the night (2 am in this case), he managed to disarm and apprehend eight less-than-upstanding individuals.
He called in every single case of them, of course. That night's 'catch' included muggers, petty thieves, and a group people in a dangerous street brawl with weapons drawn.
Lucian earned 400 EXP from the takedowns alone. Looting all of their cash and some personal effects helped him rack up a total of $77, two pieces of jewelry on top of that, as well as various other items to pawn off to the dealer. Each item earned him diverse EXP values, going from the low single-digits to mid-double digits.
Pleasantly enough, the total EXP from the looted items hit 100 EXP on the dot.
[ Total EXP awarded: 577 ]
[ Congratulations! Your level has risen to 7. ]
[ 3 attribute points have been distributed between your Power, Vitality, and Agility attributes. ]
[ One for All bonus: your Power, Vitality, and Agility attributes all increase by 1. ]
[ You have 1 unallocated level and 5 free attribute points. ]
[ EXP to next level: 1,024 ]
'I almost got shot twice and narrowly avoided getting shanked a few more times, but this is totally worth it,' Lucian mused while appreciating his new information board.
– ৹ – ৹৹◎৹৹ – ৹ –
Host: Lucian Albrecht
Matrix: Quirk User: One for All
Level: 7
Classes: [Brawler - Level 3] ; [Acrobat - Level 3] ; [Criminal - Level 1]
-[ Attributes ]-
Power: 24
Vitality: 24
Agility: 24
Intellect: 16
Mentality: 16
Spirit: 18
Luck: 0
Free Attribute Points:
New class ability unlocked!
Acrobat
[3] Enhanced Flexibility: Your body is unusually flexible. You are able to contort to such degrees where most people of similar stature and constitution to you would normally get injured. You are also able to contort your body at unnatural speeds, like some sort of horror movie freak.
– ৹ – ৹৹◎৹৹ – ৹ –
Lucian couldn't help but grin mischievously with the new ability's description.
It would really help with scaring people.
Almost immediately, he dropped to the floor of the rooftop that he decided to rest at. He fell, obviously, in the Peter Griffin death pose.
After a good minute of giggling childishly, Lucian finally got up and dusted himself off.
'Ah, the shit I could pull... maybe I'll find a class with shapeshifting abilities later? Or take a Matrix at level 100 that would let me do that...'
Apart from gaining a new class ability, Lucian also finally managed to even out his attribute distribution. He planned to put two points into Mentality on his next level and keep raising his physicals the same way he had been doing so far.
After that, it was only a matter of keeping a good ratio of physical to mental.
He would miss out on finally reaching 5% of Full Cowling until his next levelup, but that was something he was willing to trade in exchange for satisfying this moment of OCD.
Besides, having 33 points in all physical attributes was good enough for him, since it was only 3 points off from what he otherwise would've gotten.
◎ ◉ ◎
After a productive night of crimefighting, Lucian turned in to get a literal power nap, as he now needed even less sleep to be "fully charged." He had a feeling that an additional level or two would let him stay awake for more than a day at a time without much consequence.
He spent the following day like usual, watching over the restaurant before the other employees came in; thoroughly cleaning up the place an hour or two before they opened; made deliveries while the sun was up to earn his keep.
One event that did shake up the routine was when Lucian got into a minor scuffle with a particularly rude motorist along the way.
He ended up winning the short fight without attacking even once, and was even let off seeing as the offending party had apparently been day drinking. DUI, assault charge, assaulting a police officer...
Yeah. Needless to say, that individual was fucked.
Apart from that one thing, there was another anomaly during Lucian's work hours. On his way back from his last delivery for the day, a red streak passed right by him, accented by arcs of blue-white electricity.
"What's the Flash doing down here in Gotham?" he wondered, but put it out of his mind for the time being.
If the fastest man alive needed to team up with the dark knight for some reason, or was chasing something or someone that fled into Gotham, Lucian would do his best to avoid it. He might have wanted to get involved in the shenanigans, but that was for future Lucian. As he was now, he was painfully aware that he was nowhere near strong enough to hang around the big hitters.
While Lucian let his mind drift around, the program abruptly made a suggestion. [ There is a possibility that you've been spotted, ]
Something clicked in Lucian's head.
"One for All," he said out loud, and got the impression that the program had nodded sagely at him.
...
Lucian had this feeling that someone would be coming to find and maybe meet him. He'd just gotten off work and immediately dressed up to leave and find a good 'meeting spot.'
"Welp... any minute now," he muttered, crouched over the edge of the tallest building he could scale. He was still in his Jason Vorhees getup, but if he were wearing the suit that he'd been drafting up designs for, along with Blackwhip forming a wing-cape over his back, he'd have definitely looked like a 'proper' comic book vigilante.
'Hmmm... sounds exactly like what a Gargoyle would do, but...' Lucian's eyes narrowed behind his hockey mask. 'I think I might like the sound of Manticore better...'
Getting comfortable on the high-up corner, Lucian simply waited. If his conclusion based on the program's assumption was right, Batman had already found him through some means, and the Flash would soon come.
Eventually, a bright red streak highlighted by bluish-white lightning passed through a major highway from Lucian's vantage point, which rapidly made its way over to him. The red streak never stopped, and even ran up the side of the building he was on.
Based on the time it took to reach Lucian from when he first spotted the streak over the horizon, it must've been moving faster than sound, but it somehow never made any shockwaves or displaced air to any significant degree.
"Hey there!" A lively, happy-sounding man's voice came from off to the side in greeting to Lucian.
"Flash," he acknowledged. "Was it Batman?"
The Flash stopped his leisurely approach, cocking his head. "Wouldn't you like to know?" he said with a smirk.
Lucian shook his head, getting up from his Spider-Man crouch on the corner's edge. "Only he would've noticed my existence this soon. No offense, by the way." He raised a hand disarmingly. "Just, you mainly operate in Central City, right?"
"Nope," the Flash countered, extending the n and popping the p. "That's from a while ago. I work in Keystone City now."
"Oh... right," Lucian mumbled, realizing that this Flash was actually Wally West. Shaking his head, he continued, "Regardless, I just figured my appearance wouldn't exactly be a priority of yours."
"Well, it is now." The Flash chuckled. "I have a hunch. We might be drawing power from the same source. I wanted to offer my help if you needed it."
Sighing, Lucian denied the assumption. "Whatever that is, (not that I don't already know) I don't draw from any external source. It's all me."
Flash cocked his head in question, moving to sit on the waist-high concrete wall that bordered the building's rooftop. "Can you explain?"
"A little," Lucian answered. "Here's the most likely scenario: it's probably just my meta-gene."
'That's basically what a Quirk is, so I'm technically not lying...'
Following that statement, he went on to say, "You and the Bat must've seen me running around with all this, right?"
Lucian let 4% Full Cowling permeate his body. He noticed the Flash's eyes widen slightly as the purple electricity began arcing around him.
"Okay, I see you." Flash put his hands up in the air. "Though, even if we weren't the same, the offer still stands. Batman said he saw you fighting crime. Saw your potential. Even if we don't have the same powers, we can still help you grow into the best version of yourself that you can be."
Lucian huffed in good humor. "I'll consider it."
"Before you go," the Flash called out just as Lucian was about to hop off the building's edge. "I'd consider getting a change in uniform," he joked, and halfheartedly added, "and... maybe stop taking people's stuff...?"
Lucian half-turned. "Yeah, the mask thing's been on my mind since last night. I'll see what I can come up with. As for taking stuff... lmao no," before finally making his way down to ground level.
The Flash could only shrug and sigh helplessly.
Meanwhile, Lucian cringed as he ran.
[ You really said that out loud? ]
◎ ◉ ◎
"So, what do you think?" Flash asked Batman, leaning his elbow on the bat-latter's bat-chair in the bat-cave's bat-office.
[ A/N: Sorry, I just had to get it out of my system. ]
[ Hey, don't steal my speech format! ]
[ A: Shut. ]
[ Muffled screm ]
"I think he's on a good start," Batman answered. He wore his cowl now; it felt more natural when working, even if he wasn't out and about, physically fighting crime.
"He's a little misguided," he continued, "but I believe he has a good enough moral sense to stop with the petty crimes once he gains some stability in his livelihood."
Flash had to ask, "You thinking of offering him a job?" but Batman shook his head.
"I don't want to interfere too much with his life. For now, I'll just watch."
"Hm... if you say so," Flash relented. "Welp, if you need me for anything else, just call. Be there in a flash!"
And so, Wally West was out of the bat-cave, leaving Bruce to snicker to himself at the cheesy humor. The moment the speedster disappeared, the already cold air in the bat-cave chilled even further.
"... he's a little suspicious," Batman muttered darkly. "I'll have Barbara keep an eye on him."