Dante finished what remained of his drink, then crushed the can and tossed it behind him. In the meantime, the teenagers seemed to come to a conclusion. Well, one would argue they only reacted to one of them being knocked to the floor, not considering any of the stuff they were just told.
"You Motherfucker..."
The first of them to move was the blond guy with the stubble. He pushed the girl whose company he was enjoying, got up from the coach, and walked to the front with hurried steps.
According to the reports, his name was Kevin Heywood. He was only a year or two younger than Dante, which made him the leader of the group by default. Seeing him take the lead, the others got a boost of confidence and prepared themselves.
"Think before you act," Dante said. "Are you sure you wanna do this?"
With his rage reaching a critical point, Kevin dashed forward and raised his fist. Going by his speed and form, the guy clearly had his fair share of fights. His fist shot forward, aimed straight at Dante’s face, but then it slammed into something hard.
Dante blocked the coming fist with his left hand. It was a good punch, with quite a bit of force behind it, but it was nothing compared to the stuff Dante was used to. Watching the look on his face warp, Dante clasped his fingers around the blond one’s fist and shifted his body, pulling him down. At the same time, his right hand clenched and shot up.
The impact sounded through the square, followed by a weak groan. Keven’s body bent, his feet rising off the floor. It wasn’t just a punch he took to the gut. It felt more like a sledgehammer swung at full force, the impact from its strike reverberating through his body, shaking his organs, and banishing strength out of him.
Still holding his hand, Dante pulled back and prepared for a second strike, this one directed at the blond guy’s face, but then he paused, his fist still raised in the air.
Kevin fell to the ground and curled up much like Derick. Dante stared at him for a second, then lowered his fist and fixed it with a look, his expression darkening.
’I... I almost killed this guy...’
[Is that not the goal?] Volcan asked. [You gave them a warning, and they chose to fight.]
’By accident...’ heaving a long sigh, Dante pursed shook his head. ’I meant I almost killed him by accident.’
Waking up this morning, the first thing Dante noticed was that his hands were much heavier than before. His fingers were a little sluggish, too, which made him wonder if the injuries he suffered the night before had yet to fully heal. Giving it some thought, he soon figured out that the cause was the upgrade his simple implant went through the day before.
Long story short, the metal bones in his hands had been reinforced with 600 grams of lab-grown diamonds, 300 grams for each. Dante had no idea how Volcan had done it, but apparently the simple implant had been reconstructed and infused with the crystallized carbon from the diamonds, removing all the impurities from the old metallic alloy and reinforcing it far beyond its original state.
It was clear that the results were superb even before he tried them out, but after delivering those two punches, it became clear that he had underestimated that 1 point overall increase in both strength and durability. If he had punched the blonde one’s face just now, he likely would’ve cracked his skull, or worse.
"YOU FUCKING BASTARD!!!"
Another kid came running at him, this one armed with a metal pipe. Dante stepped aside and shifted his body, letting the pipe swing past him and strike the ground. Same as his friend, Dante punched him in the gut and watched him fall to the ground.
Looking down at his hand once more, Dante pressed his lips into a line.
[Dante, two of the females are attempting to record you.] Volcan interrupted his thought. [Should I overheat their NIMs?]
’Again with that?’ He shook his head, a little exasperated. ’Just delete the footage and shut them down.’
Heaving another sigh, Dante turned to the two in question and pierced them with a glare. Thanks to his resident AI having marked them with a red screen, he was able to tell which ones had the brilliant idea of gathering evidence against him. He saw them stiffen under his gaze, then they went ghastly pale as their NIMs and OAMs shut down. Volcan mustn’t have spared the other two as well, seeing as they were equally as terrified.
"The girls will leave," Dante said, his voice thick with authority. "Now."
The command shook them out of their daze. They directed terrified looks to him, then turned around, grabbed their stuff, and scurried away, not sparing a single glance at their male friends.
A faint groan caught Dante’s attention and he turned to see Kevin’s trembling body as he pushed himself up.
"You should’ve stayed down."
"I’m... I’m gonna... kill you..."
"No." Leisurely stepping toward him, Dante raised his right hand. "That’s what I’m gonna do."
The blond kid tried to raise his fist again, but a palm connected with his face and he fell once more, this time not even twitching. The slap didn’t even make the usual sound; instead, it felt blunt and heavy.
Only two of the five boys remained standing, and one of them was already backing away. Seeing that he was about to run, Dante reached into the inside of his jacket and equipped his gun, pulled it out, and fired. The bullet struck the floor right at the boy’s foot, forcing him to a sudden stop after which he fell on his butt.
"I said the girls could leave. Are you a girl?"
If they weren’t terrified before, they were now. Dante was hoping they would come at him all at once, allowing him to knock them out and prevent any from escaping. Now he was forced to take his gun out, something he would’ve liked to avoid.
He pointed it at the one who tried to run then at the second one who was still petrified. Thinking for a moment, he waved it slightly, motioning for them to come closer.
"Alright, get over here. Help your buddies sit up."