The culmination of August was upon Jump City, and many people are now feeling the autumn rush, the smell of warm air, blowing its last at the west coast of the city, with a sign of a cold draft imminent. The sight of traffic coming from the cars heading back to the city, many of which came from summer homes and central states, and, most importantly, the buzz of the population, which seems to be continuously growing louder as the end of summer approaches. By this time, colleges would have their dormitories all filled up, and Jump City University is no short exception. By the eve of the 26th, JCU has already filled out all of their 2,500 dorm rooms, and with a student community of 11,000, the rest of the enrollees would have to make do with apartments, which, by this time, have already been booked by those who were smart enough to do so.

"We've walked all day... Not a single vacancy... so hungry... so thirsty... need beer... need meat... I don't even know why we came here in the first place..."

"Yeah, me too... ugggh..."

"You! You do not get to talk! You brought this mess upon the both of us, you little green brat!"

"I'm sorry, okay?! I'm just as hungry and thirsty and homeless as you are, instead of fighting, we should focus on working together to find a place to sleep!"

"No! YOU did this! YOU screwed up our dorm application by getting up late, YOU fucked up our trip by driving in the wrong direction while I was asleep, and YOU... YOU... YOU! gave my baby away to some unknown mechanic we can't even locate now! So YOU, not US, find a place to sleep!"

"Okay, okay! Jeez, I said I was sorry."

"Whatever. I'm not talking to you till you sort this crapfest we are in right now."

"But V..."

"NOT TALKING TO YOU!"

"Wow..."

As of August 26, 2008, at exactly 9:59 pm, this was where our life has put us. I, Garfield Logan, and my pouting friend Victor Stone, are lost in one of the largest cities in the world. We're both incoming freshmen at JCU and at the moment we couldn't find a home. It was my fault and I know it. As I was drenched in self pity, hunger, thirst, and sorrow, my watch beeped 10pm. Nighttime had begun. As we were walking on the still busy sidewalk, I began to notice the little things about the surroundings. The noisy cars, the various styles of clothes the people were wearing and how it became more revealing as time progresses, the sound of shops closing in for the night, all of this was new to me. I'm pretty sure it was too, for Vic. I can see the fear and discomfort in his eyes, and I knew I was to blame. As we turn to an alley, I noticed the lights grow dimmer, and as we passed a flickering lamppost, the only light source in the area, things just started to go darker and darker.

"Gar?" He whispered.

"I thought you weren't talking to me." I snapped, also feeling a little rotten about what he said earlier.

"I need a joke right now." He replied, rather seriously.

"What?!" I asked, dumbfounded. Why would he need a joke now? Is he serious? He hasn't even laughed at a single one of my jokes! "Why do you need a joke?!" I snapped again.

"Just do it, whisper it to me!" He replied. It was clear he was preparing for something happening very soon and so I looked around, and lo and behold, I realized we were in an alley occupied by a gang. Quickly, I whispered one and then another for good measure to Vic, and then I heard the sound of revving motorcycles in the background. All of a sudden we were ganged up (pun-intended) into a wall by about 12-15 of these thugs, each with their own baseball bat and piercing.

"Easy fellas, we do not want to scare our piggy banks away, don't we?!" A large man asked, making his way to the front of the pile.

"Uh... hey guys..." Vic began, his mouth trembling as he speaks. He tried his best to speak again, but fear consumed him and convinced him to do otherwise. Great. There goes our chance at making them laugh their socks off.

"College kids, I see. Well, lets see if these bags of yours have something of value. If they do, we let you live. If they don't, then... we're just gonna hafta sell yer kidneys instead." He threatened, and almost instantaneously, our bags went from our arms to theirs. It was like watching lions feast on a poor gazelle. Watching them do this made me recall my childhood days in Africa. Oh it was so warm, and windy, and...

"OW!" I flinched, the blow almost knocking me to the ground, had I not awoken from my daydreams earlier. I looked to the culprit, who just gave me a glance, signaling that our escape was free, and that we should make a run for it. I agreed, and after a few more nods, we were ready to bolt out of there. Slowly, I picked up a crushed up can I found on the sidewalk, and threw it to the other direction, hitting a parked car and triggering its alarm.

"RUN!!!!"

And we made a break for it, running with all our might and not stopping till we have not heard a single motorcycle engine within the scope of two blocks. We did not know but somehow, we both knew that after that experience, Victor and I have become best pals again, and everything about that day has been forgiven, and even forgotten. I just know it. I can see the smile in Vic's face after all. I, too felt the sudden urge to smil-Oof!

"Hey, watch it!" An unfamiliar voice shouted.

"Sorry, dude. We were running from gang members who stole our bags and I wasn't looking to where I was going so I bumped you." I replied, still shaken from the collision.

"Hey, don't worry, that's oka- did you say gang members?" He asked, curiosity filling his tone.

"Yeah, it was intense they were like in this alley, and they had motorcycles, and baseball bats and various other stuff." Vic replied for me, doing so while helping both of us get up. It was then that I caught glimpse of this guy. He was tall, although not as tall as Vic, and immediately I noticed his sunglasses. Sunglasses? It's 10 in the evening. Why would someone as serious-looking as this guy be a total goofball and wear sunglasses at night?

"Can you lead me to this alley?" He asked politely.

"Hell no, dude! We have been through hell this entire day, we were lost for a couple of hours, we just got our car and belongings stolen, and most of all, we have no place to live! We are the most unfortunate students in the face of the planet right now. Thank you for your kindness, but we're gonna have to pass on another adventure." Vic replied loudly, his face swelling red and growing stressful by the minute.

"You're students? For real? Dude, I just graduated last year!" He asked a different question this time, giving us a relief. Vic was glad to listen and answer his questions that we were indeed students, freshmen, at that. Vic also told him about our adventures today and our little residential problem. We also introduced ourselves, and so we learned that this guys name is Richard Grayson, a crime studies graduate from JCU. He's a detectives assistant and was just ending his nightly rounds of the city when we bumped into him.

"I'm really sorry, asking about the gangsters, I didn't know what you had endured today and now I have and I'm sorry." He apologized, tapping both of our shoulders.

"Hey, that's okay, dude. It's not your fault." I replied.

"Yeah, it isn't. It was yours, grass stain." He joked, and we all shared a laugh for about a minute or two. Why we laughed at that joke. I don't know. But after that one, it grew silent so I decided to barge in with a new topic.

"Detective's Assistant, huh. That's pretty cool."

"Yeah,I was recruited just last month by the force and they assigned me to this Bruce guy. He's cocky, but he gets the job done. Unlike other officers." He paused for awhile, then began to speak again. "We should probably get going. I still need to report to Bruce for debriefing."

"We?" We asked in unison.

"Yeah, we. You think I'll let you guys sleep on the sidewalk?" He replied, approaching a matte black sedan.

"Are you serious?"

"Normally, I wouldn't trust so easily. But seeing you two here, with no place to sleep just pulls my... heartstrings." He said, looking away. Now it was clear why he wears sunglasses even at night. "Now come on, I have to hurry."

The ride to the police station was quick. Richard told us to stay and wait for him in the car, promising he will be quick. True enough, and within 5 minutes, we were out of there, much to our disbelief.

"Bruce likes to keep the talking short and the action longer. Another thing I admire about him." He spurted. Vic and I sat in the back still basking to the fact on how cool this guy was. After about 10 minutes of cruising an empty highway, we arrived. It was a two story apartment, clean-looking and was sitted on the side of a busy road. It looked perfect to me. Richard was still parking at the back of the house when suddenly, I hear Vic's voice raise into the higher octaves like a crazed fan girl and so I turned to entertain him.

"Dude, what? You nearly scared me!" I ranted, but nowhere as loud as he is being.

"Dude! A meat shop! And a Bar! Side by side!" He said, his voice unable to hide his excitement towards this new location.

"Yeah, yeah." I replied sarcastically, not minding how much this guy is in awe right now. I really hate it when he talks meat. I love animals and therefore hate eating their meat. It's my fault I guess, for being friends with this chocolate covered meat truck.

"You guys ready?" Richard inquired, reemerging from the back of the apartment.

"Yeah" I replied, elbowing Vic.

"Huh, uh, hell yeah! And, um, one question, is that bar's name really Waffles?!" Oy, caramba.

"You betcha. I drink there sometimes, the food there's really good, and there's not much people who come there, so I like it." Richard answered opening the door for us. "C'mon, let's head up. I'm tired!" He added, signaling that today may not be the day for sightseeing, Vic and I both agreed, and so we entered the house and followed him. The ground floor was quaint, it had a receiving area but was empty and dark due to it being nighttime. I saw two doors, but there were probably more, I just couldn't count that fast. We headed up the stairs, which was in the middle of the building, and once there, we headed for the room across the stairs.

Richard was still fiddling with his keys, and so I got a better look at the entire floor. First thing I noticed was the hallway. For some odd reason, it was T-shaped. Another thing I noticed, was there were two more doors towards the end of the hallway. They were situated on both ends, and were equidistant with each other. I wanted to explore more but then suddenly, Richard called us, and we were in his room in no time.

"Here it is, well, uh, mi casa es su casa, and ummm, goodnight! You guys decide where you sleep." He said, and with that he bid us goodbye and into his room. Vic immediately called dibs on the couch and after a few minutes of arguing, I found myself sleeping on the floor of a dark house I didn't even had a chance to explore. However, one thing I know for sure is that I'm safe, and I survived my first day in Jump City.

"Yo grass stain?"

"What?" I hate it when he calls me grass stain.

"Why is the hallway T-shaped?"

"I don't know man... I don't know..."