Fingers worked diligently at the keyboard; it was all the Boss could hear, echoing in his ears and creating an annoyed atmosphere. Sure, Kinzie was amazing with all this high-tech junk, and she was even better battling the simulation and overriding it slowly, but sometimes the Boss wondered if she ever really relaxed.
When it came down to the surviving members of his crew, she seemed to be the only one who worked nonstop. Pierce read magazines in the lounge and occasionally played pool with Keith. Asha would exercise with the equipment that was available on the bottom floor, when Johnny often practice throwing knives with his daggers on a dart board nearby. Ben worked day and night on the sequel to his book, and Matt could sometimes be found playing on a handheld device or watching Nyteblade.
Speaking of Matt, the hacker had recently talked to him, explaining how the man needed his help with something he had been working on. It annoyed the Boss to know that the kid wouldn't give him anymore information then that, and he felt left in the dark. It was the same lost feeling he got whenever he couldn't understand what Kinzie talked about.
His yellowish eyes scanned the room, watching Kinzie stand and walk confidently back towards her usual spot with her laptop tucked underneath her arm. This was his chance. His tattooed fingers went to his wrist, pressing into the buttons on a small, metal bracelet there. A green, holographic screen popped up, displaying a series of apps. In the upper left was the Map of his simulation. Opposite of it was his Powers menu. In between the two were the Missions he currently had to do.
The Missions icon was selected, and he pulled his lips into a light snarl. There was a list streaming down beneath his side-quests, each mission from members of his crew. Miller's just happened to be the very top of the list. If the Boss continued to lounge around like this, he would be wasting the precious time he could have been using in order to rip Zinyak's fucking head off. A breathy sigh, and his fingers brushed over Miller's quest. He waited for it; waited for the kid to discover his mission was chosen. And he heard it.
"Really?!" The Boss heard Miller's excited cry, and he shook his head swiftly and heaved himself up on his feet. He bee-lined for the chair, stepping up onto the platform and letting the restraints calmly fold over him. The Boss let his eyes drift shut as he let his mind go blank.
When he opened his eyes again, the Boss stood within the simulation. Towering, yet flickering buildings were a better sight than the emptiness of space. The simulated version of Steelport damn near resembled the real version; everything was the same and it gave the Boss a feeling of nostalgia. The Earth was gone and he was left with this phony version. Hands ran through his trimmed, brunette hair, the Boss' eyes flickered when he heard the telltale sound of someone trying to get in contact with him.
"I have a matter that could use your expertise!" Miller's voice exclaimed in a near excited tone. The Boss wanted to rub his temples already. He didn't know whether or not doing this quest for the kid was a good thing.
"What kind of expertise?" The Boss asked in a reluctant tone, brushing imaginary dust off the simulated suit he was wearing.
"I've devised a training simulation wherein a highly trained vigilante has requested our assistance in clearing the city of a long-standing menace!" Matt seemed elated that the Boss had chosen to complete this, and the Boss could just barely hear the bounce in the hacker's tone.
"That sounds pretty vague, Matt-"
"I promise you that it's the finest simulation I've ever crafted!" Matt was quick to interrupt and the Boss wanted to punch the kid for interrupting him. "Meet me at the Three Count!" He piped in, before it went silent in his mind. A deep, hefty breath was released through his lips and, crouching low to the ground, the Boss took off into the air, soaring through the the rooftops as he jumped and glided his way to the old casino he'd taken over years before. Landing in front of the steps to the casino, the Boss rolled his shoulders and walked up to the doors, ignoring the people he scared when he landed.
Pushing open the doors to the casino, the Boss nearly jerked backwards when Matt Miller was there to greet him, standing all but in his face. A smile graced his blue lips, and the Boss took him by the shoulder to push him backwards a bit. "So Matt...what are we-"
"The world's greatest vigilante needs our help in drawing out his arch nemesis-"
"Is this Nyteblade?" The Boss asked bluntly, his pierced brow raising slowly and effectively cutting off Miller's speech. Matt had seemed a little too excited about his work, and the only time the Boss had ever seen him look excited was when he spoke of Nyteblade. The hacker looked shocked about being interrupted so quickly, but the Boss continued to follow after him as Matt led him to the main lounge. Slot machines lined the walls and walkways, and the Boss took in the sight. It's been too long. "Well...you are a Nyteblade fanboy. Wouldn't be shocked."
"P-please!" Matt stuttered in an alarmed tone. "I'm not one of those forum stalking hacks that spit out poorly constructed, badly edited wish fulfillment brimming with canon-breaking-" The Boss let himself blank out after that, content with watching the hacker flush red in embarrassment as he defended himself. A chuckle, and the Boss withdrew his two gold-plated .45 Fletcher Heavy pistols. The two pistols were reloaded and a familiar snarling filled his ears. "H-here they come!"
Zombies. It had to be zombies. The Boss raised the guns and opened fired on the charging creatures. Blood poured from their noses and lips, their eyes were dead and lifeless and their arms were outstretched to grab them. The Boss swiftly kicked a zombie back, shooting it through the head before it could even think of getting up. "These are zombies, Matt."
"Uh...you need to be prepared for anything?" The hacker put in quietly, backing up towards the Boss and keeping the man safe from any zombies that dared to try and sneak up on him. The zombies dropped like flies; bullets pelted through their heads with ease, a practiced and well used technique in murder.
"How long have you been working on this simulation?" The Boss finally asked midst the rotten corpses. Matt glanced back at him and gave a wary smile, unsure if the Boss was going to laugh at him for all of this.
"I...uh...wrote the original short story between Seasons 2 and 3, when it seemed Nyteblade may be retiring so he set about finding the one person who could take his place-"
"Oh Matt...sweet, little Matty..." The Boss shook his head and Matt flushed with something akin to anger.
"Nyteblade has a rich cosmology merely hinted at in the television series! As with many classic genre shows, the universe belongs to as much as the fans as the creators!" His pistol raised, Matt shot a few times into each zombie that ran for him. The Boss was mildly impressed.
"I ain't judging..."
"You're not?" A curious glance to him, and a crooked grin marred the Boss' face.
"No. I am. But I really don't want to have this conversation right now." The Boss disregarded the pout that surfaced on Matt's face, and soon enough the zombies began to dribble away to nothing but corpses on the green floor. Stepping over them, the Boss paused when he heard a familiar voice. A voice of the man he's wanted to punch repeatedly until blood spurted from his perfect nose. Josh Birk...or currently, Nyteblade.
"Good work you two...Especially you, Matt..." Nyteblade's voice was thick over the mic, and the Boss fought not to wince at it. Josh Birk was always far too dramatic when he acted. It usually put off from the true performance. The Boss heard Matt say something, but Nyteblade continued, "The bad news is the Cardinal is not in the Three Count as we originally thought." The Boss couldn't help but let out an annoyed sigh.
"So where is he?" He found himself asking aloud and his tone made Matt frown, if only the slightest. Nyteblade, over the "phone" didn't seem to acknowledge his less than enthusiastic tone.
"Meet me outside the casino. I am on my way." When the line went dead, the Boss nearly jumped out of his skin at the hacker's loud exclamation. It was a miracle to see just how quickly Matt sprinted towards the entrance to the casino, completely forgetting there was a second member of his team. Another deep breath, and the Boss jogged after the nerdy hacker. Around the corner, the Boss paused when he saw the doors get kicked open and a mildly glitching version of Nyteblade came flipping in. The Boss took a step back, but kept his face blank.
"Hello Matt. It's good to see you again." Nyteblade addressed Matt, before turning his gaze on the Boss. "And you must be the protege I've heard so much about." A slight nod and a roll of his eyes was the answer the Boss offered. Nyteblade took it. "The Cardinal is on the move, but I have good intelligence regarding his final destination." The Boss' brow rose. Nyteblade was using large words; words he couldn't ever picture Birk using. "I'll lead you to him. Stay close, but not too much. We don't want to give my nemesis too easy a target." Nyteblade gestured to the duo, before dashing out through the front doors again.
Stepping out through the front doors, the Boss let himself grin devilishly. If there was one thing the Boss loved best about whatever Matt had told him about Nyteblade, it had to be the vehicles. Nyteblade climbed aboard his motorcycle, watching the duo and waiting for them to take their seats in Nyteblade's car. Dashing down the steps, and leaving Matt in his dust, the Boss slid across the hood and leapt through the window into the driver's seat. "Hurry up, Matty!" He called to the hacker. A swallow, and Matt climbed into the passenger's seat.
Nyteblade took off, driving down the street and leaving the Boss pressing deep into the gas pedal. The vehicle jerked sharply, nearly flying out of the parking space after the horribly moving Bloody Cannoness motorcycle. "Dumb asshole..." The Boss cursed quietly through his teeth. "It's like he's trying to crash into everything..." He heard Matt continue to grumble things beneath his own breath and the vehicle settled into an uncomfortable atmosphere. A sigh from Matt.
"So, what do you think?" A quiet question drew the Boss' gaze off the road and towards the bumbling hacker sitting in the passenger's seat. "You have to be having some sort of fun?"
"I do?" A brow raised higher than the other, and Matt appeared to grit his teeth together in an annoyed way.
"At least a little bit?" There came a soft, sort of worried tone in Matt's voice, and this time the Boss offered a crooked grin.
"Killing zombies is never not fun, Matt." A hand was removed from the steering wheel, reaching over to wildly ruffle Matt's dark hair. Matt let out a noise of complaint and all but smacked the Boss' rough hands away. Their conversation continued; the duo followed behind Nyteblade like an obedient dog, chatting about the kid's favorite show. Matt's gaze shifted to the window, a grin stretching across his pale little face. As if on cue, a group of four Bootleggers shot out from the alleyways and damn near rammed into the vehicle that the Boss was driving, and the motorcycle as well. The Boss snarled like a rabid animal, and Matt flinched. He barely registered Nyteblade's call to action.
The Boss jumped from the car before Nyteblade could get off his motorcycle, whipping out his Heavy Pistols once again and aiming at those who dared try to dent this car. "Attacked en route to the main villain, eh? Nicely played. Good escalation of conflict." Matt let out a tiny blubber, and the Boss took it as an excuse to keep going, "So I'm not really up to date on Nyteblade fiction." At those simple words, Matt spouted off like a fire hydrant. Each simulated member of the Cyprian Order was dealt with as Matt spoke, his face practically glowing. Nyteblade climbed back aboard the motorcycle when the members were all dead, and the Boss had to drag Matt back to the car.
The topic of the Cyprian Order changed to love interests with a simple question and the Boss had to keep himself from laughing at just how excited Matt grew with every passing detail. It sort of made the man want to watch the show, just to see if it was as good as Matt made it sound. But all that happiness faded when Matt noticed their surroundings. Nyteblade had stopped just outside of a large gothic church. "Uh...why are we here?" Matt seemed confused, and the Boss knew something was wrong. "Excuse me! Nyteblade! I thought we had to lure out the Cardinal first!" Nyteblade slid off the motorcycle near mechanically, moving up the steps to the Church.
Matt followed, and the Boss behind him, slamming his door shut and stepping after Matt. He kept close; Matt was apart of his crew and he didn't trust how this was going."I've enjoyed your story well enough." Zinyak's voice echoed throughout the simulation, and the Boss tensed like an alarmed animal. "But I thought your ending could use a little work." He wasn't the only one to become enraged.
"What are you doing to my story!" Matt had snapped towards the sky where the projection of Zinyak's voice was loudly. His hands curled into fists, tightening to the point where his knuckles turned white. The Boss snapped at Matt to step away from Nyteblade, but Matt lashed out at him next. "I will not! I won't have some effete alien dictator stomping all over my expanded universe fiction!" Matt went up the steps after Nyteblade, but the man turned to face him; his face held a look resembling betrayal.
"Matt Miller! I thought you were my ally!" Nyteblade's tone was still even, and Matt blubbered something about being his ally. "Now...I find you are actually a pawn of the Cardinal!" The Boss substituted his pistols in favor of his Semi Automatic shotgun, fighting the wince at the loud, over-dramatic tone Nyteblade yelled. He jumped into action when Nyteblade whipped out his own pistol, aiming at Matt and ready to end the poor little hacker's life.
"See? Isn't this much better?" Zinyak chuckled darkly, and the Boss, despite Matt's cries of shock, began to fire at Nyteblade. Members of the Cyprian Order began to show up, rolling out of their red and white Bootleggers and attacking the Boss, trying to distract him from saving Matt from Nyteblade's attack. The Boss kept true, ignoring the way Nyteblade spouted off nonsense and the way Matt brought up his pistol and killed off the Cyprian Order. This allowed the Boss to focus on the crazy man.
After the tenth direct hit from his shotgun, Nyteblade fell and the Boss stood over him with a grim frown. Matt stepped up beside him, both of them ignoring Zinyak's disappointment as Matt's shoulders slumped. As Zinyak's voice ended, Matt looked to the Boss with a frown. "Can we just get out here? I can't stand the way this turned out..." The Boss frowned himself, looking towards the church with a sullen look. He decided to channel his inner Benjamin, and he glanced back to Matt.
"We're not done yet." He growled out, and Matt looked at him with the most befuddled look on his face. When he didn't speak, the president kept speaking, "Not until you get your powers." Matt's brow rose in confusion.
"Powers?" He spoke weakly. Realization dawned on his face next. "Powers?! How would I...! You mean from Nyteblade?" The broken look molded into a weak smile, and the Boss took another deep breath.
"The fight against the creatures of the night and the fellows that turned on him must continue." The Boss clenched his free hand into a fist, putting a determined and vengeful look on his own face. "Don't let Franklin Nyte die in vain." Matt's weak smile morphed into a wide grin; the smile stretched ear to ear, and the Boss suddenly covered his eyes from the bright, illuminating flash that surrounded Matt. His clothing changed; a long purple cape hung from his neck and old, yet techno styled armor covered Matt's frame. "And Matt. If this makes any difference..."
"Yes?" Matt turned to face the Boss, his eyes damn near sparkling with enthusiasm and excitement.
"As the sole living leader of planet Earth, this is probably within my right: I hereby assign you all rights, titles, and licenses, and possible merchandise, to the Nyteblade property." The noise that came from Matt's lips sounded inhuman, and the male seemed frozen in place from the very short speech the Boss spoke."But on one condition..."
"Of course! Anything!"
"Never stop."