Eridan's POV.

I walked down the street bored as fuck and with no real purpose. Maybe to score a meal from some poor sap, but that wasn't a main priority. At least not at the moment, anyway, I was very familiar with these streets; my pace was slow and calm. As to not arise any suspicion, my hands were stuck deep into my pockets. A sudden sent in the wind caught my nose, I didn't know why but it was alluring and potent. Yet it seemed like a waste not to track it down. A small smirk spread across my face as I made my way down the street fallowing the sent nonchalantly. As I approached the source, I noticed that it was in one of the lower part of town. I didn't normally venture out the far from the upper-class area, but the smell couldn't be ignored. My eyes easily pierce through the almost pitch black alleyway. There stood a few, foul smelling thugs, they were crowded round a significantly smaller human; he looked pissed and annoyed by the whole situation. I stepped a bit closer, making sure not to make a sound and sticking to the shadows. One of the men, he looked like he could be the leader, approached the kid and pushed him back a bit. He threw up his hands in a kind of 'come at me' type motion. The boy glared up at him, but didn't push back, merely yelling a few insults and choice words.

"Oh come on kid, we know that you are friends with Makara. Why don't you tell us where he is?" The leader type said as he stepped closer, placing his hand on the wall behind the boy and leaning in, giving a shit-eating grim. The kid backed away a bit, but was trapped from all sides. That made my blood boil, there were all cowards, this guy was much smaller than them and they all had to gang up on him at once just to feel powerful. Pitiful, disgusting human scum, I stepped even closer. Still out of rang of their sight and unnoticed. The boy growled under his breath and glared up at the thugs, not showing any fear. I had to admit this kid wasn't half bad from what I had seen and he looked pretty damn cute.

"It's none of your damn business where he is, so kindly fuck off." The boy retaliated, his arms crossed over his chest. The leader looked at the rest of the gang with a huge shifty grin, and then suddenly slammed the boy against the wall; his hands gripped his shirt tightly, his face inches from the other. The leaders grinned turned into a sick smirk. The boy made a small noise in pain, and looked a bit dizzy because of his head hitting the wall. This made my stomach turn; I knew where this was heading. I would normally never metal in human affairs, but this pissed me off to no end.

"So kid, are you going to tell me where he is or am I going to have to beat it out of you?" the leader asked, his voice was a low mincing hiss. The smaller boy flinched slightly, but that was just fuel to the fire. The asshole only moved closer and grabbed the kid's face, forcing him to look up. "Awe, what's wrong kid? You scared? I didn't think the friend of one of the most infamous drug dealer could be so weak." The man purred darkly and that was the last straw. I walked up quickly; I could now make out details of the boy. He was short, maybe a little bit taller than 5 '1, he had messy black hair and extremely pale skin. Yet what really caught my eye, was his eyes, they were a bright candy red. He had simple clothes, a black turtle neck, that was two sizes too big, and simple grey pants. The whole group turned to me, all of the, except the kid against the wall, glared at me. "Who the fuck are you, step off. This ain't any of your business!" The man holding the boy down glare at me, motioning with his head for two of the three cronies to attack.

"wwell I just don't see how fair it is to have four assholes beat up on one kid" I said with a shrug, stepping even closer, the two men walking up to me as well. Their shoulders were wide and they looked pretty heavy set. These guys couldn't be older than 24 or 25 years old. One quickly swung at me aiming at my stomach, I sided stepped at an inhuman speed. I smirked up at his confused face. The other eyed me and ran, his fist high in the air, and his eyes shown intent to kill. I just allowed him to get close enough for me to grab his hand; he froze and tried with all his strength to pull his hand out of my grip. I smirked wider at him, showing off my sharp, shark-like teeth. His eyes widen with confusion and fear, he began to panic and my grip tightened, hearing a loud crunch as his hand broke in my own. The man screamed out in pain and struggled harder, by this point the leader had ordered the other one to attack as well. I made quick work of them, easily punching one guy in the face and breaking his raw, and then I whorled around and elbowed the other man in the throat, crushing is wind pipe. As he struggled to breathe through his crushed throat, I kicked him towards the leader and the boy

By this point I knew I no longer looked completely human, not with the smell of mortal blood in the air. My eyes were a glowing violet and my dagger like teeth were shown off by my black lips curling into a sick grin. I'm not going to lie; I was enjoying myself with these fights. The man looked at me with a mixture of shock, confusion and terror. Took a step closer and he gulped and pushed the boy further against the wall with one hand, and with the other he pulled out a small blade, holding the gleaming steel to the boy's neck.

"D-don't come any closer or the kid's dead!" The man yelled desperately at me. My eyes stared back broadly at him and then trailed over to the smaller boy. The boy was shaking and biting his lip, trying not to make a sound, he was petrified. He tilted his head back away from the blade, trying to make sure it made very little contact with his flesh. I didn't know why, but I had a strong urge to protect this kid and seeing him like this made me want to lose it.

"Let him go and I wwill let you and your remaining henchmen livve" I growled at the man, making sure my teeth shown through, I wasn't completely transformed and so the man didn't know true feat yet. But if he didn't release the kid soon he would. The man looked around at his fallen gang members and shook violently, realizing that if he didn't do as I say he was going to die. He brought the knife away from the boy's throat and glared at me. Shit, I already knew what he was thinking, but before I could get him, he had already stabbed the boy in the gut. The kid screamed out in pain and doubled over, his hands clenching the wound. I didn't even think twice, instinct took over and I grabbed the man by the throat. Without even a seconds hesitation, my hand was squeezing tighter and tighter, the man was flailing and clawing at my arms. I simply laughed at him, and brought my face inches from his, sick grin spared widely across my face. I watched the life leave his eyes, and then through the limp body to the ground.

"Hey kid?" I said as I turned back to him, he was lying on the ground, still clinching the wound. I stepped closer and he flinched, desperately trying to wiggle away. Not that I blamed him, I did just kill two people in front of him. Pulse my inhuman attributes. I knelt down beside him and gently grabbed his shoulder, trying my best not to hurt him and show him that I meant him no harm. "Let me see the wwound, I can help" I said softly, my eyes no longer illuminated and my teeth hidden behind my lips. The boy slowly looked up at me, still shaking pretty damn bad, and tuned over onto his back. It was pretty deep and was gushing crimson. Yet it looked like it was reparable. I sighed and picked the kid up slowly, knowing no other way to move him. He was too weak to try and move away anymore.

"wwhat's your name?" I asked, trying to get him to stay awake, his eyes were drooping badly and I knew he was going to pass out soon. I started to walk back to my place, not sure if the hospital would be the best option in this part of town, hell he would probably wake up without a liver.

"Kar…. Karkat…. Vantas….. " Karkat mumbled before going limp. I sighed and quickened my pace further, I needed to bandage this kid up and fast.