It's the dead of night. The city has already shut off most of its power and people aren't out as before. However not everyone has the luxury of sleep whenever they want and must be out late at night to scrounge.

"Alright, let's see what we got." Meet Bill. A grizzled old man who doesn't have the best position in life. That position being is he's one of many in the city who are of the homeless variety. A sad life when one thinks about it, especially for someone with his previous place earlier in his life but one that he manages to make do. Not glamorous but he as well as his friends get by. His clothing is ragged, dirty, torn in some places but still works for him. A dark green t-shirt, brown cargo pants, combat boots with a long black duster coat covering the majority of his body let flow open. His skin is of a lightly tanned complexion and he has a small scruffy dark grey beard going all around his mouth, under his chin and neck and connecting to his hairline.

He goes up to a large dumpster and flips open the lids before he begins digging around in it. Nothing springs out at him at first…

*Plonk*

"Aaah!" Except an old jack in the box toy that literally springs out at him and makes him tumble into the dumpster full on. After a moment of annoyed mutterings, he grabs the toy and he's about to toss it but suddenly gets an idea. "Hmmm, actually… I'm sure he'll love this." He gently places the toy on the ground and goes back to scrounging around. Several minutes pass by and besides the toy, he found an old tarp still in useable condition and a ton of cans for him to go and recycle to possibly get a little cash. "Not a bad haul." He comments as he walks over to the beat-up shopping cart he uses and places the stuff inside. "Alright, I think its time to g- whoa!" He lightly shouts as something catches his leg. His cart goes rolling down the alleyway a little more but doesn't tip over as he stares down at what made him trip.

His eyes widen as he stares down at not the thing that made him trip but the person. A kid to be exact from what he can tell. Laying on the ground and almost covered by the dumpsters shadow which is why he didn't notice him before until now. "Oh." He moans at the odd place he finds this person and leans down. "Hey. Hey kid, wake up." He tries to shake the kid awake but not matter how rough and much he shakes him, he doesn't stir awake. A closer look at him shows he probably didn't get there to simply rest. He actually looks pretty beat up and not looking so good. In fact he doesn't really look like he's alive. "Ohhhh." Bill moans uneasily at the idea that he found a stiff. That proves false though as he checks his pulse both on his wrist and his neck to find a faint pulse. Weak but its still there. A quick check up of his body shows none of his injuries are anything fatal, leaving Bill confused as to why he's here, all alone. "Hmmmm… hm?" He begins to think but a small glint catches his eye. His eyes widen as he spots something held tightly in his hand.


"I'm telling you, best leave him alone."

"C'mon Bill! You see the size of this rock. It's a little cracked but can you imagine how much we'd be able to feed ourselves on this thing alone?"

"That may be true, but it looks like he's got a real tight grip on that thing."

"Ahhhh, he's knocked out ese. He shouldn't have in the first place. Don't know why you brought him here but I'm not letting this opportunity go. Just needs a little elbow grease and… I… got…"

My finger moves.

My eyes shoot open and my other hand catches something.

"Grah!"

"Whoa whoa whoa!"

Voices shout out in worry and surprise as my hand catches the guys throat. His hands immediately leave Lapis and goes to tear my arm from his throat but he can't. Slowly I begin to sit up from my laying position, the blanket placed over me falling away as I slowly stand up to my full height. My lips pursed back, teeth grit and an almost carnal growl escaping me as I stare at the man that was trying to steal her from me. His feet lift off the ground as I hold him up, anger and hate plastered on my face. "You… will… not… take… her." I manage to say, despite the pain coursing through me but the anger numbs it.

"Hold it there kid." A gruff old man walks up close to me, lightly grabbing my arm holding his friend up. I snarl at him but he doesn't seem put off by it. He holds a calm expression on his face as he has his hand placed on my arm. "No need to get violent there. Carlos here was just being stupid and he's sorry." He turns to the guy I'm holding up. "Isn't that right?"

"Ye…yeah! So… Sor… ry." He manages to choke out despite my crushing grip.

It's weird. Normally I wouldn't give up this easy but this guy, he doesn't show any fear or anger against me and especially to what I'm doing to his friend. Just… keeps that calm, almost hopeful look on his face. My anger slowly begins to dissipate, and I let him go. "Thank you." He tells me with a smile.

"Ghuuuuuu!" The guy I was choking, this Carlos, breathes in a large lungful of air as he clutches his neck.

"There you go. Breathe in. Steady breathes." The old man crouches next to his friend and gently pats his back. The both of them don't really look like in the best of conditions but that isn't really my focus right now.

I… am incredibly confused right now on who these people are and where the hell I am for that matter. I make one thing clear though. "Don't…" I make my voice heard, making them look at me. "Don't… you dare touch her." I firmly tell them, referring to Lapis in my hand. Some of them and other people around look a little confused by my words but the old man nods nonetheless.

"Understood. No ones gonna hurt anyone here. Just ease yourself now. You look about ready to collapse." What the old man says is about true because I now notice my breathing is coming in heavy and ragged. The pain has receded a lot but still remains as a dull buzz through me. Letting out a small groan of pain, I sit back down where I just was laying. It's not a furnished bed but I can't be picky now. Once I steady my breathing, I finally look up and take a long hard look around me. Wherever I am, this place seems to be in a large long back alley way of sorts with buildings covering most of the sides and protection from above comes in the form of an overpass railroad system over our heads behind the buildings. This place is also inhabited by more than just the two in front of me because I see a ton more people here. All in makeshift bedding and sleeping areas with small fires and barrels burning to keep everyone warm, as well as providing light in the limited place we are in, including myself as theirs a small fire set up in front of me, like a campfire with large rocks surrounding it. The train system above is definitely a useable one because a commuter train passes by, the sound the train makes thundering across the clustered area and further making it echo all over the place.

"Nghh." I groan as the rumbling and noise makes my head pound with a massive headache.

"Don't worry. You get used to it." A new voice speaks to me from the side. It came from a woman nearby I didn't notice before. I stare at her warily, same with the other people, while I gently pat myself and much to my annoyance, I have no weapons on me.

"Shit." I quietly curse. Looking at my shoulder where my cracked gem is at, covered by the sleeve of my jacket, my weapons aren't an option either. I'm trying but… I just don't feel anything. Seeing as how I'm not really in a favorable position, best I can do now is gather info. "Who are you? And where am I?" I ask in a neutral tone.

"Fair enough." He says and smiles before sitting on a stack of pallets in front of me. "Names Bill. I'm the impromptu leader of this group you see here." He introduces me and does a small wave to the whole secluded place we are in, meaning all the people here. "I found you a little while ago unconscious near a dumpster. Damn near thought you were dead until I heard you breathing."

The memories of what transpired before that lead me to that particular spot are a bit fuzzy, but I remember what I need for the most part. "Almost." I say under my breath. My left-hand clenches in anger at what I dealt with.

"Hi, I'm Katherine." The lady from before tells me her name. As I look at her, I notice she has long dark hair, brown eyes, and looks to either in her early 30's. Not sure but she has a long coat on over her shirt and pants with her sandals.

"And this guy you almost killed earlier is Carlos." Bill says to the guy I was choking earlier, who's still looking a little pissed at my action earlier as he sits on the ground past the fire. He looks to be of the Mexican type but I can't be too sure in this light, something like that I guess. He has black short hair, a small mustache and wears a green jacket over his dark grey shirt and torn black jeans and tennis shoes. I don't take kindly to his angered look at me so I fix him with my best murderous gaze at him. It works as he subtly recoils and settles down before I retain my neutral façade. "If its not too much, can I- Oh. Hello boy." He suddenly shifts himself into a more happier tone and looks past me. Turning back, as it turns out what he suddenly greets is actually a dog slowly padding up to us. Right off the bat I can tell it's a German Shepard, a slightly smaller one at that so it must not be at its adult life yet. The dog looks a little grimy and dirty but seems to be in high spirits as it walks up to Bill and he greets him back.

"You have a dog?" I can't help but ask.

"Not mine to own. He doesn't have an owner when I first met him so he simply wanders in every now and then." He quickly explains as he gives the dog some scratches around his head. "He's pretty docile so he gets along well with us." He finishes saying and sits back up while the dog lays itself down next to him at his feet. As soon as he places his head on top of his front paws does he notice me and perk up as he stares at me. We stare at each other for a few seconds until he settles down and goes back to resting.

"Hm." I smirk at the dog before looking back at Bill with a neutral expression. "You were going to ask me something?" I remind him before the dog came by.

"Oh right." He remembers before and straightens himself before looking directly at me. "I was going to say, can I ask what your name is?"

"…" I stare at Bill for a few seconds, trying my best to gouge if theirs anything about him I should be worried about. I don't see anything about him that would otherwise speak out ulterior motive. "… Marcus." I simply say my name without much emotion in my voice.

"Hello Marcus." Bill properly greets me with a small smile. "Now I'd like to inquire as to why I had found you unconscious near a dumpster in an alleyway?" He begins to ask but gets a look of realization. "Oh, that reminds me. Here you are Kat." He pulls out something from a cart next to him and hands it over to the woman. "I figured Kyle might like this."

"Ohhh. How wonderful. Yes, I'm sure he'll love this." I don't know who she's talking about but she takes the offered box with a handle and walks off. I guess to go give it to this person.

"I'm glad to hear that. Now, about how you got there…" He leaves his words open for me to fill in the rest.

"It was nothing." I do what I can to keep my origins or exactly how I got there a secret. No reason why I should tell them anything. "Just a fight I lost."

"Dude… you have burns on your body, and you look about ready to die. Seems more than just a fight." Carlos states bluntly. As much as I don't want to have it known, the cool air of the growing cold of night already stings a little to my wounds and I hate it.

"Then you shouldn't get involved with what I did, less it happen to you." I almost threaten them. I can't afford to play favorites or niceties right now. Not when I'm vulnerable and so is her.

"I told you you shouldn't have brought him here." Carlos gets up in a huff and walks away.

Bill doesn't look to see his friend leave, only sigh at his abrupt departure. "He means well, he just doesn't take to new people or strangers all that well."

"And me choking him to death didn't have anything to do with that?" I ask incredulously.

He lets out a small chuckle before sighing again. "Maybe a little. But I'm sure you've already figured it out but we don't really have a lot going for ourselves here." He comments and turns to everyone else here. Taking a look for myself, its not surprise that this place is kind of an impromptu homeless village for these people. Even though their position in life isn't at the best point, I have to admit their means of creating this is kind of spot on. From the tarp and blanket coverings for makeshift roofs despite the railroad tracks above, not to mention a bunch of sheet metal and wooden pieces being used to make their little homes. Various small fires going out to provide warmth for pretty much everyone who could. A lot of people aren't all just a specific type of person. I'm seeing both men and women of all types of ages, from adults to elderly, and much to my surprise, a kid. I see Katherine from earlier next to a little boy that I can't make out all that well, maybe around ten years of age but I can't be too sure. He is sitting close against the building with a bunch of things scattered all around him. He seems to be working on an old Rubik's cube slowly as he begins to turn it around in different directions. When she steps next to him, she places the little box down next to him for him to see. When he does, he freezes in place and looks at it before placing his cube down on a small stand nearby, mid-way from turning his next side. Once he's sure its not going to fall off, he takes the toy and begins to turn the crank. It turns out to be Jack in the box toy and while it 'plonks' with the familiar noise, he doesn't seem surprised and simply resets it before doing it again while Katherine gives him a small hug and walking off. "Not a lot of people care for us you know."

Bill continues speaking, making look back at him. "Yeah?"

"When people see us in the street, more often than not, they'll go ahead and ignore us. Not bothering to lift a finger to help us." He states sadly as he looks into the fire. "Others though…"

I look on confused as he stops talking altogether. 'Wonder what's got him to stop?' As I begin to think as to why, I also note that the dog begins to let out a low growl too. 'And what's got him so angry?'

"WHAT'S UP BITCHEEESSS?!" A loud, boisterous, incredibly annoying voice speaks out over the dreary quiet this place has before.

"…They tend to find us, for reasons." He finishes saying as I turn my head and glance out to the side of my vision to see a small group of guys at the entrance of one of the alleyways. Four of them to be exact. Their dressed plainly enough but their looks, accessories and just how they walk and present themselves just screams completely self-absorbed and full of themselves. Their clothes are clean and look to be high-end in terms of designers and all. One of them has a baseball bat and another one has a camcorder. I'm not liking this at all as they laugh and start filing into the place. They seem to be in their late twenty's but they act like spoiled kids.

"Who are those guys?" I ask quietly at Bill as they seem to start getting into everyone's business.

"Just some misguided young kids looking to get some form of fame. They go around, picking fights and record themselves for whatever reason. Most often they'll find us without homes, seeing us as easier targets." As he explains that, we see them harassing a small group nearby but otherwise not hurting anyone. I still don't like what their doing though. "We can't really fight back."

"Why not?" I ask incredulously. Theirs a lot more of them living here than there are of those jackasses. A couple may get injured but if it means that they won't get harassed anymore then I think it might be worth it.

"Look at us. Look at them." He tells me to do, so I do. Turning back the new arrivals, they seem to be pretty high up on the social ladder from the way their dressed and acting. Looking at the people who live here, in the makeshift place, in tattered clothes, cobbled together homes and old food, I know what he's getting at.

"Oh."

"Exactly." He nods at my realization. "They're kids to some wealthy family's that live and own many parts of the city. If we were to do anything against them, they have to power and position to either throw us in jail or kick us out of here."

"So, you just take it?" I ask.

He gives me a low chuckle as his eyes cast a shadow and looks towards the fire. "Sometimes, fighting isn't the only answer to a problem." I look weirdly at him before I notice some footsteps nearby.

"Hey pops! Long time no see!" The leader of their little group huddles around us as they come up to us. The dog begins to growl at them but a careful hand pet from Bill calms him down from doing anything.

Bill for his part simply sighs in slight irritation but still doesn't look at them. "Hello." He simply offers them a greeting.

"Oh, come on. Why the long face? And who's this?" I flinch as the guy finally looks at me, as do his friends. "A new addition?"

"…Something like that." Bill hesitantly says.

I grit my teeth as for what might happen. At the very least I carefully maneuver Lapis's gem to slip her into my inner jacket. "Hey! What do we have here?"

'Fuck!' I yell in my head as one of them grabs my arm from behind and pulls it up, putting her gem in full view of everyone to see her tightly clenched in my hand. "Whohohoo! Look at the size of that rock?" The leader completely forgets Bill and walks over to me as I forcefully tear my arm out of his friends grip. "Well, now what's someone like you holding onto something like that. That just doesn't seem right." He playfully says to me and as he walks over to me do I get up and begin backing up. I don't get too far though as two of them place their hands on my back, stopping me from going too far. They have sneer smiles on their faces while their fourth friend continues to record us with a camcorder. "Tell you what, how's about you go ahead and give of us that piece and we'll let you go peacefully… for now." He says with a slight chuckle, eliciting a chuckle from his friends as well.

Even at that declaration, and even if what I have in my hand WASN'T the life force of one of my closest friends, I highly doubt they'd do anything to leave these people alone for very long.

Besides, I don't care at this point. "You honestly think I'm going to give her to you? You must be the biggest idiot in the entire world." I bluntly say to him. His almost carefree and happy demeanor turns sour as I insult him.

"You don't wanna do that." I hear Bill say. To me or them, I have no idea.

"What did you say punk?" The leader threatens me as he holds his bat up menacingly, ready to swing it and take my head off.

"You think I'm going to fucking listen to you? You self-entitled spoiled piece of shit." I outright insult him. I have been through enough crap in time living and I am not going to listen to anyone's demands right now when I've gone through hell.

"You-!" The guy angrily can't even finish his sentence as I can see a vein start to appear on his forehead.

"Make it easy on yourself. Just give up the stone and—" The guy to my left tries to pull Lapis from my grip, no doubt impatient, but its not going to be that easy.

*Smack*

Never easy. "Arhhh!" The guy yelps out loudly in pain as I pull my hand from him and follow-up with an elbow straight to his nose faster than he can react. He reflexively pulls back and grabs his face before pulling his hands away and finds he has a bloody nose. I softly growl at him in a threatening manner.

As I stare at the both of them, ready for either one to attack me, they suddenly smile and look past me. Big mistake on their part. "Hraa!" A yell goes out as I duck and step backwards, making the leader completely miss me as his bat goes flying over my head. I turn around as I dodge the attack and as soon as he finishes passing me does he bring his bat up and try to bring it back down on top of me but my leg already comes out and slams right into his chest, sending him flying back into his friend.

As I slowly bring my leg back down, the guys who's nose I broke comes up and tries to punch me but I simply lean back and let his punch miss me. He tries to punch me again and again but he continues to miss repeatedly until after one particular whiffed punch do I retaliate with hard headbutt straight to his face. "Ahhh!" We both yell in pain. He reflexively steps back cradling his face from the hit while I take a few steps back to try to steady myself, my head feeling very very dizzy. 'Damn. I must've been more injured than I thought.' I can barely even make that thought as my mind is completely muddled and hard to focus on. My vision and the rest of my senses are messed up too.

"Come here!" In my moment of trying to steady myself, they were able to get their bearings so two of them are able to grab me on both my arms and pulls me next to a giant metal girder holding the train tracks above up and hold me there while their leader winds up with his bat, ready to try to cave in my chest with a sadistic smile on his face.

"Come on boys. Let's show this guy what happens when someone fucks with us." The leader playfully says and waits for his friend with the camcorder get in close for a shot of my apparent beating.

It doesn't come though as when he comes in close to hit me, my right leg shoots out and hits him in the thigh. Not enough to hurt so much but it does make him grunt at the hit and step back for another hit. This time I kick him straight in the chest, making him fall back to catch his breath. I look at the jackasses holding me before bringing my left leg up and kicking the one on my left in the shin. He shouts in pain and hops on one foot for a second but its enough for me to push him off and make him fall to the ground and freeing my arm. The now unscathed third lackey finally gets injured by me as in my angered state, I bring my hand up, clenched tightly into a fist around Lapis's gem and I deliver a full-on punch straight to his face while at the same time pulling my arm he's holding onto towards me. He grunts loudly as I effectively knock him onto his back as grabs his face.

My new weakened state is even more apparent as that punch alone I feel like I broke my fingers. I cradle my hand in pain but ultimately, I'm happy there hasn't been anymore damage to Lapis. "Fuck." I weakly say.

"You son of a bitch!"

*Smack*

"Aaahh!" I shout as something hard hits my back. Placing my right hand on the girder, I look back to see the leader winding up for another but I duck and bring my left arm up. Again, feels like my arm breaks but that doesn't stop me. Grabbing his right arm holding the bat with my right hand, I wrap my left arm around the bat and his hand before pulling it up, locking his arm harshly and on the verge of breaking before I launch a palm strike to the joint. It doesn't break his arm but it makes him let go of his weapon and for me to take it for my own. A kick to the stomach makes him stagger back and let me hold the bat properly and block one of them trying to punch me from behind. His fist full on strikes the wooden bat and unlike me on a good day, he recoils harshly from the pain before I push him back with the shaft of the weapon before hitting him in the face with just the flat top part of the bat.

As soon as he goes down does the third guy run into me and try to tackle me to the ground. He only succeeds in pushing me along the ground as he holds me at my waist while my feet slide along the ground. He only pushes me a couple feet before I slam the shaft of the bat on his back then the top right where his spine is. He grunts in pain as he lets go and straightens up before launching a punch to my face. At the same time, my bat swings along my left and impacts his shoulder, making him miss me and fall to the ground. With the both of them down, the leader gets back up and comes at me to try to punch me but as he misses me with his right punch, I roll myself along the ride of him until I make it behind him and slam the bat right into the back of his knee, making him yell as he goes down and cradles his leg.

Next all I hear is the steadiness of my labored breathing, as well as the groans of all three of my fighters around me until a foot steps away. Suddenly the bat swings to my right until I am pointing it directly at the fourth and final guy who did nothing to help his friends. My head cranes to the side until I am staring at him, still recording and quietly shaking as I step closer to him, my weapon still held towards him in a threatening manner.

"Drop it." My voice is low and laced with a threatening tone to make sure he know I am not fucking around. He finally takes the camcorder from his face and I can fully see his scared as all hell face before I drop the bat. "Get out of here… and never return."

"Fuck! This guy is crazy!" I hear one of them say behind me before they begin to get up and help each other get the hell away from me. The camera guy even walks over and grabs the leader before hauling his ass away from me. I don't bother to watch as they spout curses and threats at me while they run with their tails tucked between their legs. Once its silent again and I know their gone, I finally let myself relax

"Ahhhh." I hiss in pain. Now I am pretty tired, my body is sore and I still have a dull headache from hits I took and dealt. Still, now that I'm no longer in danger, I look at Lapis's gem and sigh with a smile. "Still safe." I place the gem against my heart for a second before placing her in my pocket. I then slowly pick up the camcorder and check to see if its alright.

"Did you think you were helping beating them up like that? Did you think you were doing a good thing?" I ignore Carlos's angry voice as I examine the item in my hands. It's frame is a little cracked but overall it looks to still be useable. "Do you have any idea what their going to do now?" It takes a little bit of careful effort but I manage to pop open the cartridge containing the memory card that recorded the whole thing. "They're going to go to the police, tell them what happened, make it seem that WE were the ones that attacked them first and they'll either evict us from here or arrest us." Camera held in one hand, I look at the memory card carefully to make sure it stays in good condition. I smile seeing it still perfectly useable. "Did you hear me?! You completely fucked us!"

"Not if you have evidence."

Any retort or argument Carlos was going to have against me is gone as he takes in my words. "What?"

"Evidence. Have enough of it and there would be irrefutable proof of your innocence and how it was just those assholes fault they got into a fight they couldn't stomach and how you all had nothing to do with the fight that just transpired." Once I turn around, its then I notice I seem to have gotten quite a bit of attention from the people living here as some are about while others stare at me. My body's soreness and the dull pain is starting to come back at me harder now so with a slight limp, I walk up to Carlos and give him the camcorder. He takes it with his mouth slightly agape and I walk over to Bill. "Hold onto this then." He nods as he takes the card and keeps it safe.

"And besides, even if they somehow make the argument it was fabricated, the only way they can possibly say its fake is by the use of some sophisticated computer editing, tools and skills used." As soon as I finish saying that, we all delve into a small silence as everyone stares at me. Slowly I turn my head from right to left in a sweeping motion as I carefully examine each and every shack, shed, home or anything that might hold something for the people here. "… Prrrreeeetty sure you guys don't have a computer… or the skills to edit something like that fight." I simply finish saying slowly walk back to where I had found myself sleeping earlier. "No offense." I add as an afterthought before I sit down on the makeshift bedding area. The soreness of my body begins to overtake me and I begin to relax as I lay down. As soon as I pull the covers over me and lay down on my side, I notice that the dog is right next to me staring at me quizzically. "Good dog." I rub and pat his head, making him wag his tail and pant while I lay back into a more comfortable position. Before I know it, I'm out like a light.


"Hey, wake up." A voice wakes Marcus from his slumber. With a bit of drowsiness, his eyes open and inhales deeply. His vision goes blurry for a second from the drowsiness but they refocus well enough to see Bill, Carlos and a couple others around, including the dog still next to him, some of them eating. A quick look at his watch reveals that he has only been asleep for maybe an hour or two, leaving just a few or more hours left until the sun rises to signify its morning. The smell of food slowly jostles him back into fully awake some more and with a grunt, he manages to shift himself into a sitting position. To his relief, the pain has receded from his body into its dull state so now he doesn't feel like dying… as much, anymore. "Here." His senses go on full alert as a hand comes into his vision and reveals a can of peaches with a slightly bent spoon pocking out the top.

His eyes go wide as he stares at the small can of food in front of him, suddenly realizing how hungry he is, before following the hand up its arm until he sees Katherine offering it to him with a smile. He stares in disbelief at her but she simply smiles and gestures to the can a little more. Carefully taking the can in hand, he nods at her. "Thank you."

"It's the least we can do. You were pretty good against those guys." She comments and sits down next him as she eats her own meal.

"Yeah. That was crazy." Another guy comments before turning to Bill. "Although I bet you could have done that too huh Bill?"

The old man in question takes a moment to stop eating before he looks down. "… That was a long time ago fellas." Marcus looks weirdly at him at what he means but a new question stops him from thinking nay further on that.

"So, how's a kid like you learn to fight like that?" Carlos asks. Now the others are curious as to what he might say to explain how he was able to take on three guys at once with one of them using a baseball bat.

Marcus for his part simply lets out a deep sigh and hangs his head a little, careful not to let his food spill but rights himself up soon after, albeit a little bit more depressed. "I've… had to fight. Like a lot. So much." He breathes the last part to himself, slightly in disbelief now that he's had a moment to realize everything he's done up until that moment.

"Like what kind? Those weren't your run of the mill brawler moves. Some of those training and martial arts style." Bill points out.

Marcus doesn't bother to look at the ma, or anyone for that matter, as he continues to look downwards in a sulking state. One hand holding the can and spoon inside it, he lightly rubs his arm with his free hand before sighing. "You wouldn't believe even if I told you." He says darkly. The other look on confused by his words but seeing as he goes back to eating and doesn't look like he wants to elaborate more on the subject, they go ahead and drop it. Silence again greets everyone for awhile until a train passes by overhead, making some of them wince but none more so than Marcus as he grips his head from the small headache. Regardless once its passes, he finishes eating before sitting up and relaxing a little. He looks around the place a bit more, taking it all in a bit more than when he first woke up there. His sights soon lay on the child a little ways away who's working on his toy cube again. "That kid…" He suddenly says, directing his statement to Katherine right next to him. She finishes polishing off her food before she looks at him. "Kyle, right? He's yours, right?"

She nods at him before looking at her kid and sporting a fond smile on her face. "He is. He's mine and I love him with all my heart." She answers sincerely as she stares at her kid who continues to work on the cube.

Marcus nods before glancing at the kid and noticing his unusual behavior. Normally kids would be all hyper and most often full of energy and annoying their parents but this one… is the calmest he's ever seen a child to be. He's so focused on his task right now and seeing the large portion of similarly colored sections, he's getting close to completion. "So why are the two of you here, if you don't mind me asking?" He asks her.

She lets out a sad chuckle before staring into the fire. "Just… a lot of bad decisions… and bad luck." She breathes deeply before explaining. "I was… a pretty reckless and stupid girl when I was younger. Got in trouble a lot, like all the time. My parents didn't like but its how I was. Rebellious all the time. But it really took the cake, really stretched my parents patience with my actions when I… I got pregnant." Marcus keeps his face impassive as she shakes her head and offers a soft chuckle. "Just a one-night stand that ended up with giving me more than I ever saw myself getting." She turns to Kyle but she doesn't have a look of regret, still a look of happiness at her son. "My parent's… they didn't like the idea that I was pregnant so young, especially since the father was shipped off to the military soon after. They wanted… they wanted me to get rid of…"

"You don't have to keep talking if you don't want to." Marcus states, seeing as how its sensitive subject he doesn't want her to tell him if she doesn't want.

"No, its fine. It… gets a little easier every time I talk about it, especially with my friends, and family." She says with a thoughtful look to the others sitting around, who return her smile back along with head nods in agreement.

'Huh. Friends… and family. Even though none of them are related. Yeah… I see that.' His thoughts return to that of his own impromptu family that he has come to know in his time of living. "Right." He mutters the word to himself, having some far-fetched but somewhat close idea to what she's going through. He sighs before looking at her again. "So, what happened next?"

"Yes… my parents wanted me to get an abortion but I just… I couldn't go through with it. The more I thought about it, the idea of… losing my own future child was just… unfathomable to me. I told them I wanted to keep him and I wouldn't budge on the subject. So they kicked me out."

"I'm sorry."

"Thank you. But really, I'm made my peace with the situation and I don't regret my actions at all. We may live here, but we're living, even with his condition."

"Condition?" This gets Marcus's attention. He had an idea that their was something different with the kid but this just confirms.

"Yeah he's autistic." She reveals to him. "He always acted a little differently than what you'd expect from a child and… well the signs kind of point to him being that. Always quiet, doesn't really talk, and sometimes he finds comfort and joy in repeated activities in his own little place." A quick glance to her son and the smiles still isn't gone. "Regardless though, I still love him with all my heart."

Marcus stares at her for a few seconds before he slightly leans back and looks at the kid. He's close to finishing up his cube now and has a ball nearby next to the jack-in-the-box he got recently. "Huh." He mutters before taking some more bites. 'Never met an autistic person before. Even so, if he's content enough to live in this type of environment. Lord knows any other child would most likely be miserable and it'd be hell for the mother to deal with that. At least now he seems alright.' Still, now child should live in these conditions. None of these people should. But what can I do? Certainly nothing right now.

I go to take the last bite of my meal.

*Click*

My body freezes. My spoon just an inch from my open mouth as the feel of metal presses to the back of my head.

"Get… Up."

'Fuck.'


Before anyone thinks of telling me, flame me or whatever on the inclusion of an autistic child, I have some first hand experience with an autistic child and that comes in the form of my brother. I've lived my whole life with my brother being autistic so I have an idea of how it is. Some people can live their whole lives, whole fully normal that you wouldn't think that they would be labeled as such, while others not so much and it can be pretty obvious. My brothers somewhat in the middle where he understands and is smart about a lot of things but my family and I have those moments where its kind of hard for him to communicate what he wants or does to us. Doesn't matter in the least to me though. I love him regardless. Don't know why I'm telling you all this but… I don't know. Guess I just felt like it.

Still, with the ending of the chapter, it looks like Marcus is not out of the woods yet. Originally this chapter was going to be longer with stuff from the next chapter into this one but I noticed it was starting get a little long and I was working on it for too long as it is. So I decided to split it into two basically.

I don't know if you all had heard or not but we have definite date on the new episodes for Steven Universe. A week long set of episodes to be more exact. July 2 is when it starts and after that we'll be subjected to the fallout of one of the biggest reveals in the shows history. Definitely want to see how things are going to fall or come together with the Crystal Gems. Sapphire was pretty angry in the promo when she ran.

Here are the reviews:

Grimlock987: As much as I would like to, that'd be kind of a stretch considering the lack of physical evidence there is. He can make all the possibilities he wants but their really isn't a ton of physical stuff he can find.

FractionOfASecond: Glad you like it.

ChimaTigon: I did. She's pretty.

Cf96 (Ch. 67): Yes, so close. (68): Thank very much.

DatXeno91: I know. I am. I have subjected Marcus and you all to so much.

JustinTheSpider: Yeah, that's something that hasn't been addressed in the show itself but hopefully my assumptions and inferring on the whole 'hybrid gem cracking' is well enough in the lore and how things would actually. Makes sense when you think about it. E3 was pretty awesome. What had got me most excited though was the new 'Marching Fire' update coming to For Honor in October. New Heroes, New faction, New reworks and a new game mode. Man the game is going be something else when that gets put in.

Patriota1993: Your not wrong. In the slew of bullets coming at them do a few actually manage to hit some of their vital areas. The sniper thing was an option too but didn't really fit in well either so I just went with the lucky shots. However their tactics and way of going about in trying to kill Marcus will be explained a little further down the line. I do hope what happened didn't detract from the experience of reading it all though.

Light Seeker 001: Yeah sorry about that. To be honest I did kind of rush in putting the chapter out so I'm not surprised they're were a chunk of errors here and there. Sorry about that.

NJred2000: Well if Marcus were to get a human rival it would have to be someone either very very skilled in close combat with a variety of martial arts and fighting styles to match Marcus's strength and speed. The other option as you said would be the person being pretty damn smart and using whatever tricks or leverage he has against Marcus to get the upperhand against him as opposed to combat since technically, his abilities are literally on the superhuman level. I'll keep the thought.

Guest: You and many other people. She was always on the options I had for a shipping.

I also want everyone to know that since the internet doesn't look like its going to be instantly blocked off to everyone, I'm going back to writing for all my stories again. I'll be starting on Star wars because that one is sorely in need of an update then going from there. Sorry again for basically leaving you all on another cliffhanger, but oh well. I'll do what I can to get the next part to you guys but until then, we'll have to be patient.

Thank you all for your support. Go ahead and fave, follow, review, whatever you want to do. Most of all though, make sure to have fun reading and have a great day everyone.