Tepmin waited for both of the men to leave before sucking in a cold breath. "Fucking hell that hurt." He shook the hand that had been stabbed flinging blood on the rough wooden floors of the tavern. "I recognized those voices." He thought to himself. He looked over to the bartender. Returning his gaze the bartender winked and then nodded. "Good man that one" Tepmin stood up and looked at his hand which was now dripping to the floor. "can't be having myself leaking when I get home. Guess I'll have to use one." He cycled through his integrations mentally. "Ahh here it is" he focused on one of his souls for but a moment and flexed his hand as it healed under his gaze. " Much better, time to head home." He headed for the door, whistling a popular tune to himself.
The "throes" of drunkenness were shaken from Tepmin's figure as he headed back home. He walked slow, but with purpose. His eyes alert, his body primed for a fight. He knew they couldn't have been that dense. He continued whistling as he walked, his footsteps resounding off the cobblestone beneath him. Every dark corner became a threat. Every alleyway held an enemy. Tepmin closed his eyes and pulled up another integration. His eyes glowed as he looked around, shades of blue and red intermingling between layered greys. It took him a long time to master the sight of X-ray and thermal vision at the same time. He then closed his eyes and let the T3 do it's full work. Sonar to top it off. His whole body working as a conduit. Every step he took sending out waves of sound and reflecting them back off the objects around him. His whistling doing the same allowing and overlap so there was no time delay between sounds. This way he could see in a full 360 around him. His eyes being closed also didn't stop his x-ray thermal vision.
He walked for a few more minutes. "Target acquired." He thought, he bent down to "tie his shoe" not even a moment after a thin needle passed by where his head had just been.
"What!? A fluke?" The assailant thought to himself. He watched the giant of a man bend down right as his needle was about to hit him. " He moved a few meters closer. "No, it was just a coincidence."
Tepmin stood back up and continued walking a few moments later he stopped again this time cracking his neck, the needle passed by his ear this time. His whistling stopped and he smiled wide. A loud laugh belching it's way out from the depths of his diaphragm. "HA HAAAAA, I haven't had a good fight in ages. This is gonna be fun" cracking his knuckles Tepmin turned to his attacker. "It's no use hiding or running, might as well come out now."
"H.. How did you know?" The assailant stammered.
"You mean besides the two weapons you threw at me?" Tepmin grinned and pointed at his closed eyes with his thumbs. "I had a little help." With that he took a fighting stance. His knees bent a little and his legs muscles bulged. He kicked off the ground cracking the cobblestone beneath him. In an instant he disappeared.
"Shit, he's fast." The assailant looked around, the mask covering his face limiting his vision. "To hell with it, he ripped off his mask. Only to be tapped on the shoulder. He turned quickly "h...how d-" his question was cut short as he was sent flying.
Tepmin watched as his attacker looked for him yet he has already reached his backside, he chuckled silently too himself as he silently reached striking distance as the man reached up to pull his mask off. "I think 20 percent should be enough" he thought to himself. The man finished ripping his mask off as he reached his shoulder and tapped it gently. The man turned. "Ahh, it's Jacky boy" he had already been winding his fist back for the strike as the man fully turned around he had already launched his attack striking him full in the face. The sickening sound and feeling of bones crunching permeated around his fist. Jacky boy was launched from the impact point and collided with the nearest building. A gurgle of pain was all he amitted from his mangled face before Tepmin was on him again.
This time Tepmin stood over the man "You would be wise to learn patience like your partner stated, I won't kill you here but let this be a fucking warning, I am no man to be trifled with." The stench of death hovered over the man as Tepmin raised his foot and started to press it down on his windpipe. "You won't be needing your voice for awhile, and I'll know if you blab about who it was that did this. If I even hear whispers about a boy taken from The Grind you'll find my lenience lacking." Tepmin stepped down just hard enough on the mans throat till he heard a gargled whistling from the man as he breathed. "That should do it, now fuck off Jacky boy."
The broken man lay on the ground laboring for each breath, his face partially caved in from the strength behind the fist of the giant man. He had long since walked away leaving Jacky boy to his fate. Each breath was becoming harder and harder, his vision had blurred on his left side, the right one blind since receiving the blow to his face. His jaw hung loosely, and he could feel sticky wetness still dribbling down his jaw to his collarbone. Finally he drifted out of the waking world.
"Your time is not yet come, you have much to do" a voice breached Jacky's mind. "You get but one lifeline from me, fuck up again and you'll end up in a coffin." Jacky boy weakly opened his left eye, his vision blurred but he recognized the familiar shape of his lifelong friend Quinn sitting over him. "You're lucky I had forgotten to pay our tab so I was heading back to the tavern and found you. Not sure who did this, but whoever it was almost had you shake hands with death, be grateful he left you for dead." With that Quinn stood up, patted his hand and left what looked like the hospital room Jacky was being treated in.