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Mister let out a sigh of frustration while scanning through some of the files given to him by Sister Agatha, he was starting to think that he was a bit too willing to follow her but brushed it off as his anxiety talking. While this current mission wasn't on the level of sneaking into a secret base and being attacked by a living cartoon armory, tracking down and reporting the activities of a powerful criminal organization that has complete control over the kingdom's underworld wasn't a far step-down. He didn't want to admit it too loudly but what was putting him on edge was that he had to do this alone. While Valerie had her moments, he couldn't lie and say that her confidence and constant innuendos didn't put him at ease. Maybe this attachment came from the fact that she has been the one taking care of all of his injuries, always taking great care to patch him up. But it would be a stretch to call them friends, she was more like a work associate that flirts with him because she's bored.

"Why does it suddenly smell oceany?" Mister cursed as he realized letting his mind and body wander without supervision had gotten him lost again, at least the area was interesting. It seemed to be a ghetto port city of sorts but from what he can see it was a bit too small to be called a city, more like a port business district. Everything seemed to be connected by wooden walkways and Mister could only assume that the hanging jellyfish lanterns were a way to sell the theme they were going for here. Seeing that it would take quite a bit of time to find his way back, he decided that it would be best to get a bite to eat, can't be murdered by mafia members on an empty stomach.

"Have I always been this pessimistic?" Mister knew that things could be a lot worse, he was given a new lease on life from Sister Agatha and all she was having him do was make sure that there was no more suffering for the people here. He had to remind himself that he was given a choice and that this is all for the best if his actions could lead to children like Patrica living normal lives. He shouldn't worry about what might become of him. None of this is about him, but making a kingdom that Sister Agatha can be proud of.

Mister asked around a bit on what is the best place for a good price, while he does get an allowance it wasn't enough for him to be spending on an overpriced meal. It didn't take long before he decided on a place that seemed to be run by some guy called Yu-Wan and word on the port is that he can throw down some grub on a budget. Hearing that noodles seem to be the selling point was a good sign, noodles were the ultimate poor boy food. Reaching the place was as easy as walking for about ten minutes until he reached a circular building. The shape of it reminded him of something but he couldn't place his fingers on it.

Upon entering the seaside establishment Mister could see that this place had a lot of history to it, the markings that decorated the walls along with the lanterns that weren't jellyfish gave this joint a similar feel to that of its neighbors but added it's own identity. While he is currently the only person here from the plates that litter the area, he could deduce that it was most likely because he just missed the lunch rush. While looking around a revelation came to the young man at that moment, one that shook his core and made him question his perceptive abilities.

"This place is decorated and shaped like a fancy noodle bowl!"

The pride he felt in cracking this location's decorative secret was quickly gone, even being the only person here at the moment Mister still felt embarrassed at his outburst. He could just tell that the staff was somewhere in the back rolling their eyes at the idiot that they would be serving.

"You're pretty funny, sir"

Mister jumped and turned the kitchen entrance to be graced with the sight of what could only be described as a cute blue fish girl wearing an apron with a look of amused look on her face. Taking a moment to compose himself from the apron, he can make an educated guess that she works here, probably checking out the jack ass that was dumb enough to yell in the middle of a restaurant.

"Why thank you, normally people just call me funny looking"

This earned him a light yet honest giggle from the woman in front of him, it wasn't hard to tell that she knew he was no comedian, but Mister could only assume that she was continent with how entertaining this whole situation was.

"Well sir, I'm sure you're here for a bite to eat so follow me"

With a nod the young fish woman leads into a nearby empty table, even moving such a short distance he could tell that this place wasn't very big. He could quite easily see most of the tables and from what he could tell she was one of the few staff here, he only knew that someone else was here by the smoke coming from a window near the back. Once Mister took his seat the Waitress placed down a menu and smiled

"My name is Minette and I shall be serving you today Sir!"

"You can call me Mister, what do you think would be good for someone balling on a budget?" She seemed to find his wording worth a light chuckle, which he marked down as a good sign. He ordered a large bowl of shrimp Ramen, as per her recommendation, and the two talked a bit. He explained how he was still fairly new to the kingdom and how he was taking up residency at the church in exchange for doing some odd jobs, he was pretty sure that Sister would want him the details of his work under wraps. Minette Informed him that this place was called Little Innsmouth and that Yu-Wan was not just the owner but the cook as well, also that he came here from the Dragon Empire which is a place he wasn't too familiar with.

However, the thing that did get this attention was when she started talking about a friend of hers that went by the name of Nadia and her act of heroism in this very building. She can also remove her body parts, which he didn't bother to ask her about because he was aware that it would lead to a rabbit hole of questions that most likely wouldn't get answered, but he did take note of this whole skull heart thing she was looking for. He did find out that those thugs were part of the Medici group that he was tasked with locating, unfortunately, her information on the matter was scarce and little more than what he already had. Still, it was nice to have a conversation with someone, he cared for Sister a lot but she wasn't very open to idle chats.

The loud unmistakable sound of shattering glass caught their attention as what Mister quickly identified as tear gas started to fill the building, his eyes darted to the shaking girl beside him and had an idea on what was going on.

"Minette, stay in the back with Mr. Yu-Wan while I handle this," Mister ordered receiving a nodded in return, he was very familiar with this tactic. If he had to guess the Medici's weren't too happy about what happened a few days back and decided to get even, from what he had been told by Valerie, this type of blatant display of power was commonly placed. The names Minette told him, he knew that those members were pretty high ranking, and if his hunch was right, she was their target.

The humming of fans caught his attention as the CO2 gas began to get sucked away into the vents clearing the area for him, the brawler smiled internally as he thanked his new friend. From the dissipating smoke, his adversary appeared and he knew that he was in trouble, he found that there was one telltale sign that an opponent was extremely dangerous around here.

"Shit, she's attractive . . . I think" Mister looked on at the woman in front of him, her face was covered by a black mask from her body was in prime physical form. With her choice of attire making it seem like she must have been on the older side he couldn't spot a wrinkle on any of her exposed skin, oh and her arm was a giant gun which at this point wasn't all that surprising to him. The two stared each other down neither making a move, Mister knew that he was at a disadvantage with her viable ranged options. But he wasn't without any hope, with how small and clustered this place as he had quite a bit of cover and ways to close the gap between them.

"Ladies first?" This seemed to get her attention as the masked woman aimed her weapons and began to fire what Mister quickly identified as slugs, of course, he knew that she was packing more heat than that. He weaved around tables and chairs using the environment so that she can't get a proper sight picture of him, this did help a little but she was a very skilled marksman. With every few misses, she would adjust just enough to get a clear shot forcing Mister to defect the projectile.

This game when on for what felt like forever to Mister until his chance finally came, he heard the heavenly sound of a weapon that needed to be reloaded and instantly dashed towards her closing the distance in no time flat. Once in range, the young man let loose a powerful right hook, but just as he launched the attack his eyes catch onto something odd about his foe that he was able to tell even with her mask.

She was smiling

The masked woman ducked the attack with the greatest of ease, from her gloved hand Mister was able to spot the glimmer of something but react fast enough to avoid it.

"Argh!" He cried out as the weapon jammed itself into his side, lucky he moved at the last moment or she would have gotten a vital area. Seeing that she had gained some leverage, the woman jumped back after the strike and began once again pressing her range advantage on the brawler.

The fight had taken a rather unfavorable turn for Mister, in his haste to close in on his foe the cover granted by the dining area was lost. This forced him to deflect and dodge

the attacks which made it a lot harder to push in on her, the masked woman was aware of that fact and kept constantly pressuring him, she circled attacking in very particular ways to control his movement and limit his options. Knowing that he couldn't afford to give her a clear view of the room Minette was hiding in Mister little more than a sitting duck.

His vision started to blur as the blood loss got to him, and he parried one of her shots only to get pushed back by the force of another. With her fast reloading time, he only had moments to close the gap between them to be held off by her ability to seemingly summon knives from anywhere on her body, and he means anywhere. That isn't to say that he wasn't getting any hits in, but only quick jabs that honestly left him in less than keen positions.

"Focus" He muttered in a desperate attempt to calm his mind and put his body at ease but was having trouble doing so. While he has eased himself in life or death situations many times this one was different, it wasn't just his life on the line but that of an innocent person. The word slavery appears a lot in the documents he has along with the phrase 'a preference for younger woman' when you looked under Lawrence Medici's profile. Even thinking about it made his heartbeat at a hastened pace, he knew that flow state was out of the question.

Mister's legs finally gave out as he fell to a knee, he kept his guard up so that the gloves would do their magic and mitigate the damage but each shot was still excruciating. When he heard the all to the familiar sound of her swift reload he forced himself up and prepared for the next hail of bullets, he could only hope to last out this next round and put everything he had in one final assault. What caught him off guard was when an object flew past his face and slammed against the mask of his opponent causing her to stumble back.

"Don't think that I will allow someone else to fall for my kitchen!"

Turning around he saw the sight of a very large blue fisherman that could only assume was the owner of this establishment, Yu-Wan. This man was bulky as hell and looked to be built like a trunk, his body was covered in thick fish scales. In one of his hands, wielding a kitchen knife that looked like it could very effectively be used in combat, he looked towards Mister and gave a nod before rushing to have his go at the femme fatale. The owner was just as aggressive as one would have guessed but had a certain grace and precision that didn't normally come from someone his size. He seemed to have been watching the battle and avoiding most of the mistakes Mister had made, he refused to allow her to get any space and even used his blades to parry the secret assortment of knives she had. However, it wasn't hard to see that he too was outmatched. No matter how well he stayed on her he was never able to get a clean hit, and while he was able to parry most of the hidden knives there were still times where he would get caught. His scales seemed pretty tough but she was more than skilled enough to strike areas that weren't as protected. Also, he was getting tired, Minette told Mister that Yu-Wan was getting up there in age.

"I have watched your battle, and while you are a great fighter you are young and allow for small details to cloud your mind," Yu-Wan uttered as he was starting to get pushed back, his body was now littered with different stab marks but he wasn't backing down. With space now available, the woman fired off at the master chief who put his arms up to block the incoming attacks, while the hits here were indeed painful, his thick scale was enough to protect him. However, the attacks were forcing him back to Mister's area "Don't dwell on the consequences of defeat!"

Seeming getting bored of all the fighting, the woman seemed to quickly switch up her munitions before taking aim and firing off an arched projectile to come towards the men, Mister's eyes widened as he realized what was coming their way. He summoned whatever strength he had left and tackled the brick wall of a man away for the shot before Yu-Wan could question the young man's actions a loud blast erupted from the point of impact. The force alone makes the already heavily damaged eatery into the aftermath of a war zone. Splintered wood and broken glass littered the establishment, and the walls seemed to have been greatly damaged, putting its structural soundness into question. Off to the side, covered in the broken remains of tables and chairs laid both men.

Mister's eyes were half-open but his body refused to move anymore, while his body wasn't nearly as tough as Yu-Wan's he still had to the protection that his gloves offered him. Still, he was a sitting duck, barely holding onto consciousness, in his burly vision he could only watch as the woman walked to the backroom to retrieve a frightened and struggling Minette. He willed his body to do something but unfortunately wouldn't listen, cries for help were some of the last things he heard before everything faded to black.

I can't thank you all enough for even taking time out to look at this little piece of work I've made, I know that the community is small but every view and follow/fav is inspiring. I'm looking for a beta reader right now for future chapters because grammar isn't my thing. If I can't get one that's fine, I'm gonna keep on trucking. If there's anyone you want to see in this story let me know, thank you all again.

Rest in peace, Chadman Boseman