One Punch Man: Attitude Adjustment
Chapter 11: The Offer
With the story done, Randal waited to see how the others would react to what he said. He knew the story of how he became a Hero would be hard to believe, so he wouldn't blame any of them for having doubts about what they just heard.
"So he was just...gone?" Jeremy asked, referring to the bald man Randal mentioned.
"Yeah, didn't even hear him leave. I blacked after a little while, don't remember how many days It was before I woke up in the same position you're in." Randal said to Kathy as she laid in her hospital bed.
"But are you really sure one man did all of that? Not that I'm calling you a lair or anything." Mia said, waning to make it clear she wasn't accusing Randal.
"It's not one guy doing it that gets me, it's the fact that there's apparently some S-Class level Hero walking around that nobody knows about." Kathy remarked after listening carefully to Randal's recollection. "How would you know he beat up the Bronze Gargoyle if you weren't even there?"
"When I woke up, I asked the doctors to give me whatever news they could about what happened. They just told me what they saw on the news, but then one of them said that Tennis girl was still recovering just a few rooms down the hall." Randal explained. "They let me ask her happened, and the way she talked about waking up to find the monster in bits was all I needed to know. Tried talking to the cops, but they didn't have anyone that matched the description I gave them. After that, I started thinking finding him wasn't important. I focused on what he said, started training as soon as my body was better. Had to kick a lot of bad habits on the way..." Randal said, his eyes drifting down as he thought of all the work he put in.
"Not all of them I see." Kathy said playfully, pointing at Randal's flask with her good arm.
"Well, something's gotta keep me sane." Randal replied with a grin and a shrug. "And that's...pretty much it. Any questions now that story-times over kids?" He asked sarcastically.
"Just one." Jeremy replied. "If you really hated living like that for so long, why not do something about it before?"
The others looked closely at Randal as he leaned his head back, he rubber his eyes with his finger and thumb as he tried to figure out the best way to explain.
"I didn't always hate the way I was. Honestly, I loved it for a long time." Randal answered, talking like someone who needed to get something off of his chest. "Do any of you remember what life was like before monsters started popping up all the time?"
"Not really, didn't that start happening like like fifteen years ago?" Jeremy asked.
"Yup, and things were a lot different back then. It used to be easy for get away with something illegal and in some parts of town, it was the only way you were gonna get by." Randal explained in a soft, thoughtful tone. "As a kid I'd see these guys in expensive suits, doing whatever hey wanted just because they had enough muscle and cash. Some of them made millions and could get just about anyone on their payroll. When they found somebody who didn't want to play ball, that's when someone like me was sent in with a bat. Guys like that...they were rock-stars to me. They had money, respect and some of the sexiest women I've ever seen. I wanted all of it, so I started doing delivery jobs for them. Eventually, that lead to stealing cars and hijacking delivery trucks to sell the products dirt cheap. Then I got big, started working out a lot and that made the boss decide I was ready for the more dangerous jobs."
"How long did you live like that?" Mia asked.
"Long time...then the boss screwed over to many people and they snitched on him to the feds. Then I bounced from job to job until I started working for a biker gang called the Road Devils." Randal said as he held up the flask to show off the R.D initials. "Stupid name, but they were some of the toughest bastards I ever met. That gig went well for a while, then it all crashed and burned like a Harley running into a semi-truck." Randal said, a grim look flashed on his face for a second.
"Did they get busted too?" Kathy asked, noticing the disturbing look on the old mans face.
"If only..." Randal said while shaking his head. "Every summer, pretty much everyone in the Road Devil's would get together to have a business meeting that always turned into a weekend long party. Four years back they all decide to go up to an old camp way up in the mountains...and it turns out that camp was right next to a monsters nest."
"No way..." Jeremy said, his eyes going wide as he already guess where Randal was going.
"Yeah...it wasn't pretty." Randal replied with a long sigh. "The only reason I didn't end up the same way was because I decided to take a job that paid double while everyone else had their fun. After that, things really started to go downhill...but you already heard about that."
"Did your parents know what you were up to?" Kathy asked out of curiosity.
"Not at first, but eventually word got around. Mom hated the fact her little boy was up to no good, dad just hated the fact I was giving the family a bad name." Randal replied with a hint of grief. "I could've listened to them a million times, but the money was good and I was having a lot of fun nights. One day the cops busted me and some friends making a deal for guns, that's when they finally had enough. I got a letter while I was doing time, it said that they moved to another city and...that they didn't want me to contact them anymore." He said with the last few sounding choked up, but then immediately cleared his throat so the others wouldn't notice.
"So...you haven't heard from them since?" Mia asked, almost crying because of how sad Randal's story was.
"No..." Randal said, his eyes going to the floor.
No one knew what to say to something like that and Randal wasn't in the mood to keep talking. Jeremy scratched the back of his neck awkwardly as the silence hung in the air. It wasn't broken until Mia walked up to Randal and made him look up again by placing a hand on his shoulder.
"Umm, I...I know that you made mistakes." Mia said, trying to be supportive even though she wasn't even sure if he would care. "But I don't think that makes you a bad person." She said sincerely, hoping it would make Randal feel better.
As looked at the real emotion in Mia's eyes, he couldn't help but chuckle a bit. It was a little bit too mushy for his tastes, but he could tell that Mia really was trying to comfort him.
"Thanks Mia, It's nice to know somebody does." Randal replied with a soft smile, patting the hand Mia put on his shoulder.
"Make that two." Kathy remarked with a big grin.
"I'm still on the fence." Jeremy said in a joking way, until he realized Kathy and Mia were glaring at him. "Just kidding...make it three."
Randal wouldn't say it, but it was nice to actually be part of a crew again. It was a much different group then the type of people he used to hang around, but maybe that was a good thing. He also decided it was about time to let Kathy rest, and to leave before anyone else tries to act sappy.
"Well, I'm gonna step out for a while." Randal said as he stood up and cracked his neck. "Need me to stick around and keep watch tonight boss?" He asked Kathy.
"Nah, that's okay. I'm sure Mia's gonna insist to stay with me anyways." Kathy replied with a knowing smirk towards Mia.
"Well...the doctor already told me it was okay." Mia replied with a smirk of her own.
"Then I guess we're having a sleepover!" Kathy said, doing her best impression of an excited high-school girl. "Wanna join in Jeremy? We'll paint each-others toes, Braid hair...maybe even put on an Amai Mask movie!"
"That...actually sounds like fun." Mia said with an embarrassed blush, Amai Mask movies were one of her guilty pleasures.
"Nah, I'm good." Jeremy said, his face showing how much he did not want to do any of that. "I'll go home and have dinner with my folks, have fun with your girl time." He said with a smile before standing up as well.
Randal and Jeremy said goodbye for the night and left the hospital together, it was getting late into the afternoon by the time they left.
"Hey." Jeremy said as he noticed Randal waling away. "My dads are picking me up, want a ride home?"
"Not this time kid, some fresh sounds pretty good right now." Randal said as he looked over his shoulder. "Have a good night." He said before starting to leave again.
"Yeah, you to..." Jeremy said, until he suddenly remembered something. "Oh right, wait! I have something really important to talk about!" Jeremy said as he ran after Randal and grabbed his arm.
"What's up?" Randal asked, hoping there wasn't more bad news after everything that already happened today.
"You know the left side wall of your apartment building? Do you think the landlord would mind if I used it? Since you live around the beach I had some great ideas for something with a tropical vibe, you know?" Jeremy asked, one of the few things that could make him sound excited was when he talked about his latest art project.
"Sleep tight kid..." Randal replied, rolling his eyes with exasperation.
The walk helped Randal clear his head for a while, after getting so much off his mind all he wanted to do was head home and relax for a while. He stopped by a local pizza place to pick up dinner, he rarely bothered to cook anything himself. When Randal got home, he took off his jacket and hung it on the doorknob before walking over to the very small kitchen area of his apartment. He was about to grab the first slice of pizza, but then stopped and smirked when he remembered the giant teddy-bear Kathy gave away looking at him from across the room.
"Cute bear." An amused, British voice said from the living room. "Do you cuddle up with it every night?" He asked with a light chuckle.
Randal's body froze with panic and pure rage. He wasn't just mad that someone was in his apartment, he was annoyed with himself for not hearing them until just now. After taking a few steps to leave the kitchen, Randal looked at the living room and saw a man dressed in all black sitting on the floor across from the couch. There was a bottle of fine scotch on the coffee table and two empty glasses.
"Care for a drink? It's good stuff." The man said as he offered Randal a glass.
"What the hell are you doing here?" Randal said, holding back the urge to beat the man senseless.
"You're right, where are my manners? You can just call me..." The man tried to say.
"I know who you are. What do you want Spade?" Randal asked bitterly.
"Oh, so you do know who I am." Spade said with genuinely pleased smile. "That's handy, because I know you to. "Rowdy" Randy Hogan, The Terror of City-T, the one man army of the Road Devil's!" He said while raising his glass, each epithet was said like it was a grandiose title.
Hearing those nicknames again put a bad taste in Randal's mouth. It took every bit of restraint he had to slowly walk over to the couch and sit across from the man who already knew too much.
"The stories I heard about you mate...I feel like I'm sitting with a celebrity. Haven't done that sort of thing for a while now." Spade said with a carefree smile as he poured drinks for both of them. "Hope you enjoy, this stuff isn't cheap." Spade mentioned before drinking first, to show he wasn't trying to pull anything.
As soon as Randal saw Spade drink, he finished his scotch in one quick swig. Spade laughed as he reached for the bottle again, but his mood dropped as he noticed Randal swipe the bottle off the table. His eyes met with Randal's again, letting him see the very irritable mood the big man was in.
"Just tell me what you want." Randal said coldly as he poured himself another drink and then placed the bottle on the table again.
"Straight to the point, I like it." Spade replied before sipping his drink. "How do you feel about the new job? Think it's suiting you?" He asked with mischievous look in his eye.
"Beats what I was doing before." Randal replied in a very blunt way.
"You sure about that? I gave the Hero thing a try for a while and I got to say...it gets old pretty fast." Spade said, his smile fading again for just a moment. "That's why I want to put your talents to much better use, and I'll be sure to give you a much bigger check while I'm at it."
"Joke's on you, I'm already on somebody's payroll." Randal said with a dry grin after gulping down his scotch again.
"I figured as much, but I'm sure following around a hot little number like that has its perks." Spade said with a smirk that let Randal know exactly what he meant by perks. "But just hear me out, double whatever that trust fund brat was paying you plus a few dozen good men to start-up a crew of your own."
"Don't need a gang, that's for people with...hmm...what do they call it? Delusions of grandeur or something like that?" Randal asked, hoping Spade realized who those words were meant for.
"Fine by me, gotta respect a man who can get the job done on his own." Spade said, sitting in a very relaxed way while he sipped his drink again. "But it won't just be money, I'll make sure there's always liquor on your shelves and a beautiful bird keeping the bed warm. Hell... if you do a really good job I'll make sure there's more than one." He said while smirking at his own joke, fully confident in the offer he was making.
"Don't need your help with that either." Randal replied with a smirk.
"Maybe not, but there's one thing I know you won't have to deal with on my side; judgement." Spade said, his voice sounding somber and his eyes showing a bitter kind of hatred. "The exact same thing happened to me. They love you at first, but then you start to climb up the ranks and get a bit of fame. Now they have to deal with someone digging up your past and worrying about how much bad publicity their little association deals with. Before you know it, the big men in suits decide you're not worth the trouble anymore and throw your sorry ass out the door. "
"That's not the story I heard." Randal said, not hiding how much he enjoyed watching Spade get angry.
"Then you heard a complete load of shit." Spade said, scowling until he finished the last of his scotch. "Marks my words Randy, it's only a matter of time for you. Tell me, have you already had to explain everything to those teammates of yours?" Spade asked, smirking again when he saw the look on Randal's face. "Thought as much, and how long do you think it'll be until their families find out if they don't know already? If I knew my little bundle of joy was around someone like you...I'd be worried to." He said before standing up. "But I think I've made my case, you got any questions before I head out?"
"Just one, why shouldn't I just knock you out right here and now?" Randal asked, standing as well to be face to face with Spade.
"Oh please, do you really think I'd come here without a small army to back me up?" Spade said after an amused sigh.
"I'll take my chances." Randal replied, his fist clenching.
"I bet you would, but do you really think I've only got eyes on this place? Unless of course, you don't mind something happening to those teammates of yours..." Spade replied with a playful grin.
Suddenly, Randal grabbed Spade by the neck and pulled him in until their faces were just a few inches apart. He also felt the tip of a knife poking at his side just under the ribs, but that didn't faze him enough to let go.
"If you even think about it..." Randal growled, holding back the urge to snap Spade's neck.
"Well, well...looks like papa bear wants to protect the new cubs." Spade said, still smirking despite the pressure he felt around his throat. "In that case...you really ought to get you're freaking hands off me."
Randal despised everything about the man standing in front of him. His cloths, his attitude and especially his shit-eating grin. What infuriated him the most was the fact they seemed to think alike. If Randal wanted somebody to submit back in the day, he knew that a few threats towards innocent people were always an option. He almost gave into the temptation, but in the end Randal let of Spade and pushed him away.
"Glad we could have this talk." Spade said as he rubbed his neck. "Keep the bottle, I got plenty more back home." He said while walking to the door, but then stopped as he smelt something very promising. "Oohh, don't mind if I do." Spade said as he took a piece of pizza, not worried about Randal stopping him. "Mmm...that is good. Pepperoni's got a bit of spice to it." He said with his mouth full before walking out the door.
After Spade closed the door, Randal threw the glass he was drinking with against the wall. He didn't care that it shattered and left shards of glass all over the floor. He was far too busy panicking about what to do. His instincts told him to go outside, tackle Spade and beat the smug bastard into a coma but his mind was aware of what could happen if he did.
While Randal struggled with what to do, Spade got into a stretch limousine that was waiting for him outside. The inside was covered with luxury furs and had its own mini bar installed. Spade took what looked like a joint out of his pocket and got it going before making a call with his cellphone.
"Tell Tommy to get ready." He Spade said to Rose over the phone. "Seems like Randy's gonna need a bit more convincing..."