[3rd POv]
"Bang!"
A deep thunder rumbled in the dark clouds over Gotham City.
A pale flash of lightning suddenly illuminated the city on a rainy night and also cast light on the silhouette of a bat gliding across the sky.
"Claude, here's your paycheck for this month. Take it."
"Thanks, Philip."
"Lloyd, come over here. And remember, try not to cause trouble at parties anymore. Every time, I have to bail you two out of the station."
"Alright, alright, I got it."
"Bridget..."
Philip's gaze swept over the employees and landed on the overly excited Tony, but his heart instinctively ached.
Philip couldn't help but remember that perfectly shot during the chaos and the expensive, high-end chandelier that went down with it.
"To... Tony, why are you so excited?"
"It's because it's payday today!"
"I need to remind you that you already got advanced at the beginning of the month. Don't think I'm going to pay you twice."
"The one at the beginning of the month was money. This one at the end of the month is joy. It's a sense of tradition, Philip."
Philip looked with confusion.
He tried hard to understand Tony's strange logic but couldn't wrap his head around it no matter how long he thought.
In the end, he could only shake his head, "Regardless, your salary has already been—"
Tony stared intently at Philip's mouth, eagerly waiting for him to say those few words.
The feeling of a thousand asset points coming into his account was, without a doubt, pure joy.
"Boom!"
The sudden sound of breaking glass was very loud and sharp.
Tony was startled and instinctively turned his head only to see a glimpse of a dark shadow crashing into the restaurant from the night sky.
Unlike Tony, Philip had lots of experience with fights, which made him more observant of the details.
For instance, he noticed the rapidly flying, bat-shaped projectiles.
"Batman!"
Immediately, Philip felt something bad was about to happen. He was a gangster who had been in Gotham for a long time, and he encountered that bat once before.
After that encounter, Philip was forced to be bedridden for three whole months because of the fight.
After realizing the bat was coming again, Philip remembered how painful it was last time when his bones got broken.
He faintly remembered that the bat's tactic was to turn the whole place into its own home, and it would make everything completely dark.
Thinking about this, Philip couldn't help but look at the fancy new chandelier that had just been installed.
The image of the Batarang flying through the air played vividly in his mind.
Even though his eyes couldn't keep up with the speed of the Batarang, Philip's brain had already instinctively known its trajectory.
However, all he could do was watch in utter despair as the Batarang flew toward the chandelier and let out a hopeless wail from deep within his throat.
"No—!"
"Crash—!"
A series of shattering sounds followed as the massive crystal chandelier came crashing down to the floor, exploding into countless glittering fragments.
Even though it was a little rude to say, Philip's voice made Tony feel like he had been transported on that rainy night a few days ago.
"Batman!"
In the midst of the darkness, Philip's furious shout rang out again, just like before.
"Damn, bastard! I'm gonna kill you! Do you have any idea how long it took to fix that chandelier—"
Batman remained unmoved and calm. He lunged forward and tackled a waiter who had already drawn his gun to the ground.
He swung his fist like a heavy punching bag and hit the waiter's jaw with a strong punch.
The enemy was knocked flat, dizzy, and unable to get up.
After knocking down one enemy with a single punch, Batman flashed like a ghost in the night, silently appearing behind another enemy.
He delivered a sharp strike with the edge of his hand to the back of the neck, and the second enemy also collapsed.
"Boss! Philip, are you okay?!"
Tony called out in the dark, shouting toward Philip with a voice trembling with tears.
"Help! Somebody help! Boss fell down again! Call an ambulance, quick!"
"Shut up!"
Hearing Tony's shouting, Philip suddenly felt dizzy.
"You're okay! That's great, boss..."
Batman had already knocked down seven or eight waiters in the restaurant.
Even though he didn't have any weapons, Batman fought like a tiger in a flock of sheep.
"We should shoot the ceiling to light him up!"
A voice sounded.
However, the next moment, the hands gripping the gun were firmly grabbed.
Batman's one finger pressed against the trigger from behind to prevent any shots while the other hand grabbed his wrist like a pair of strong tiger's pincers and gave a gentle twist.
"Ahhh! It's broken! My hand is broken!"
The intense pain made him curl up in the darkness, trembling with terror as he clutched his broken hand.
Then came the next person.
"Don't come any closer! Stay away, you bastard!"
One of the enemies seemed to have some combat training.
After Batman kicked another man so hard that his ribs broke, this enemy charged forward with a knee strike.
Batman sidestepped smoothly and grabbed his lower leg, straightening it before delivering a brutal elbow smash to the knee.
However, Batman quickly moved to the side and grabbed the man's lower leg. He straightened it before delivering a brutal elbow smash to the knee.
"Crack!"
"My leg! My leg!"
The sharp sound of bones breaking made everyone present shudder in fear.
However, Batman didn't stop.
The crisp snaps of breaking bones, screams of pain, and the heavy thuds of fists colliding with flesh echoed throughout the dark space.
Moreover, the fierce thunder roared ominously outside, making it even scarier.
The fierce wind and icy raindrops shot inside through the shattered window.
No one could tell if their hands were shaking from the freezing air or by fear.
The bullets were shooting everywhere, but none of them hit Batman.
That bat truly resembled some urban legend monster, and no one could clearly see it, no one could catch it.
"What the hell are you doing?!"
Batman didn't answer because words were meaningless.
He needed to make sure everyone was unable to fight before he could ask any questions.
However, Philip's shout wasn't directed at Batman.
"Just say it, just say it! Hurry, or it'll be too late!"
Tony pleaded desperately with him, "Just say you've already paid me my paycheck! I worked hard the whole month!"
...
150 Power Stones = 1 Extra Chapter
250 Power Stones = 1 Extra Chapter
450 Power Stones = 1 Extra Chapter
1000 Power Stones = 2 Extra Chapters
2000 Power Stones = 3 Extra Chapters