After flying high into the sky above Krapton, Lapis gazed down at the drab, neon-lit town and isolated the northwest corner as the ideal place to perform thanks to it's surplus of open-air flea markets attracting pedestrians by the droves, as well as all the low-rent apartment buildings that looked as if they were sculpted from pure rust. It was far from happy given the fact that at least three brawls were unfolding around the place before her eyes, but at least she was guaranteed a large audience for better or for worse.
'Well, here goes nothing. Really, really hope I'm a hit with the locals...'
Lapis descended from the cloudy sky and landed right in front of a surprisingly well-kept slaughterhouse whose gleaming silver walls made it one of the few buildings in town to lack any rust whatsoever. She reached into the sky, and made a clutching motion with her hand before swiping it downwards which in turn snatched a mass of gray droplets right out of the sky. She merged some of the droplets into a bucket shape before solidifying them into an icy mass, and set it near her feet so people could deposit their tips. As for the other droplets, she merged them into an amorphous mass of dreary water and swirled it around her body in a spectacularly eye-catching fashion. Or at least, she thought so: the passerby didn't seem to care and what few did seem to take notice simply shrugged or whispered an "Eh," before walking off.
'Huh. You'd think this kind of thing would be an attention grabber...' Lapis shrugged. 'Then again, I'm hardly going all out with the theatrics over here...'
Refocusing her efforts, Lapis crossed her arms in front of her chest and took a deep breath before stretching them out towards the sky. This time, an enormous stream of water crashed down and merged with the smaller stream currently orbiting Lapis. She took this enormous stream, and with a series of wild motions managed to turn it into an enormous dome-like web with watery strands intersecting every which way that enveloped everything within a three-foot radius. Lapis clutched her arms to her chest and breathed deeply once again, before gently exhaling through her nose and calmly spreading her arms outward. The watery web came to life, with the streams of water churning gently before enormous watery shapes began traversing the "web." She modeled them all off of the sea life she loved so much on Earth, taking great care to recreate their movements such as having schools of fish calmly follow the currents, dolphins and whales breaching the surface, sharks chasing down octopi and seals with the fury of a raging storm...
"Heh. That's kinda neat."
Two female Hopkoblins walking hand in hand stopped by, with one of them depositing several credits in Lapis' bucket. They walked off, but not before the more generous of the pair gave a friendly salute. Lapis' spirits lifted considerably, a feeling that only intensified when an elderly male and several children stopped and marveled at her show. The man hurried his brood along, but also slipped a few more credits in the bucket.
"What a delightful show, missy. Keep it up!"
"Thanks!" Lapis chirped, smiling slightly as more and more people hanging around the markets began to take interest. It wasn't by any means a large number, yet still fairly respectable: in the span of three minutes there were six deposits ranging from a single woman, to what she only assumed were three Kazkani men judging by their identical wardrobe, one boy, a family of four, and two more Kazkani men. Despite their reputation as insufferable criminals the first group were civil as they tipped Lapis, but the fatter, sweatier of this current duo made Lapis feel... deeply uncomfortable thanks to the lustful look in his surprisingly tiny, piggy little eyes as well as the way he licked his lips with a slimy grey tongue.Still, he and his buddy were charitable so she was willing to tolerate his presence... until he decided to linger around. And kept lingering. And kept on lingering.
And then he spoke.
"I'll pay you double if you show me your feet!"
Lapis stared blankly at the slobbering runt before flicking him away with an enormous water hand, grinning as he sailed over the rooftops of the nearby apartments screaming his head off while his buddy shook his head disdainfully.
"Serves ya right."
The remaining Kazkani walked off to go find his friend, and Lapis snickered to herself as as she carefully kept her artificial aquarium afloat with a single hand while bending over to check up on her earnings so far. And to her annoyance, she was pulling in a lot less dough than she thought: she had multiple coins, yes, but they all added up to a measly 21 credits, with most of them being 1 credit coins. The rest was a useless mass of cheaply built toys, candy, and a dead rodent laying on his back with all six of his little paws sticking right up into the air.
"You've got to be kidding me! What am I supposed to do with... this?!"
Lapis picked up the rodent with two fingers, cringing as it lifelessly dangled above the bucket... until it's yellow eyes suddenly snapped open, and it belted out a horrific ear-grinding scream. Lapis screamed as well and flung it as far away as she could manage while her aquatic display collapsed onto the ground. The creature scampered away until a little Hopkoblin boy scooped it up... a boy she recognized as one of the people tipping her for her performance.
"HEY! WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU?!"
"Eat it, Bluey!" the kid jeered before stretching his mouth out with his fingers and waggling his tongue at her. He scampered away on all fours while his pet rodent perched on top of his head, cackling as Lapis began to shape a blob of water into a perfect sphere.
"How about you eat THIS, you little brat?!"
Lapis lobbed the ball at him, and came nowhere close to hitting him. The kid skittered off cackling obnoxiously into the night, and Lapis sprouted wings in order to give chase... before dissipating them with a frustrated growl. She could chase and teach the boy a lesson in manners, sure. But wouldn't she be better off just continuing with her performance? There was no money in beating up a kid, and as Lapis was telling herself:
'Quiet life, Lapis. Quiet life. Don't get tangled up in any pointless drama...'
"Yeah, you better run..." Lapis muttered under her breath before walking back to her "stage" on the streets and reshaping a new giant blob of water. But before she could recreate her makeshift aquarium, she had something of an epiphany: her earlier performance didn't really bring in a lot of money, just pitifully small amounts of credits and junk. Maybe it was time to shift gears...
'Hmm... what to do though? What would be attention-grabbing enough to finally impress these guys?'
"AUGH?! What's IN this stuff?!"
Distracted by the sound of angry spitting, Lapis turned towards the source of the noise which was an irate Hopkoblin at one of the markets, a juice stand. A stand that must have offered some truly horrible juice, given the way the man splashed it out into the street. It wasn't anything worth paying attention to, but Lapis found herself hyperfixated on the juice, which splashed out onto the street in a thin, yet powerful jet that was beginning to bring a similar series of watery jets to mind. Watery jets that danced around in time to music back on Empire City...
'HA! I know EXACTLY what to do!'
Taking a moment to silently thank Steven for showing her the Vellagio Fountains, Lapis focused on the soaked pavement and with a gentle breath, took hold of a ribbon of water stretching twelve feet long and allowed it to gently snake it's way past her feet and stretch out behind her. She allowed more water to feed into the ribbon and once it was nice and fat, she allowed it to burst into a series of self-sustaining fountains that stood rigid for a few seconds, then began dancing in the wind. And Lapis danced along, her movements as fluid and graceful as the water while she recited one of the many Earth songs that played during those fountain shows, a song that was a huge hit with Steven.
"I can't help it if I make a scene, stepping out of my hot pink limousine,"
"I'm turning heads and I'm stopping traffic, when I pose they scream and when I joke they laugh,"
"I've got a pair of eyes that they're getting lost in!
"They're hypnotized by my- AGH!"
"HEY, SHUT UP!"
Once again, Lapis' watery constructs collapsed as she felt something suddenly strike her in the face. Lapis staggered backwards, holding her throbbing cheek while she stared at the offender, a merchant with a handful of thick-skinned gray fruits.
"Wh-WHAT WAS THAT FOR?!" Lapis screamed as the merchant flung another fruit. Lapis dodged, and the merchant grit her teeth.
"That was for being obnoxious, ya moron!" the merchant snarled, "Who taught you to sing, a dying Felit?!"
"You've overstayed your welcome, lady! So BEAT IT, why don'tcha?!" A surly little man added, as the merchant began throwing more and more fruit. Lapis dodged them all before catching one with an enormous watery hand protruding from her Gem. Absolutely fed up with trying to appeal to a crowd that didn't care for her performances, Lapis growled in frustration as she flung the fruit with enough force to floor the aggressive merchant.
"Fine! You want me to leave, I'LL LEAVE!"
With an irate snarl, Lapis kicked her bucket over and spilled money and trash all over the ground before storming off into an alley that led to another part of town, angry thoughts brewing in her head as she stomped past grotesque insects and sickly Hopkoblins dressed in rags.
'What is WRONG with this stupid planet?! Why is everyone so hateful and hostile?! I wasn't hurting anyone! I just needed some money, that's it! All they had to do was pay me, and I'd be off this dump that much sooner!'
And right when she thought about money, she had the mental image of kicking over her donation bucket and for a brief second, she felt a crushing sense of shame. It wasn't a lot but at least she had money before stupidly throwing it away. And by now, some opportunistic pedestrian had probably pocketed it for themselves leaving her back where she started.
'So what?' Lapis thought defiantly, 'It's not like it was much to begin with. I may as well have had no credits at all...'
But as minuscule as it was, money was money. And that was a fact Lapis couldn't ignore, causing her aloof facade to crumble down. With a defeated sigh, she stopped and slumped against a wall before burying her face into a hand.
'Those freaks are going to take my ship away. They're gonna take it away and there's nothing I can do to stop them. Three days isn't enough time to make three thousand credits! Hurley and I, we're just wasting our time...'
Feeling utterly defeated, Lapis trudged back over to the Rainbow Reef. She wasn't sure exactly what she was going to do, but she had a feeling it would involve a lot of head-resting and upset grumbling...
"Ah, Hurley! Any luck with your job hunt?"
Wiping sweat from his fuzzy brow as he made his way inside the Rainbow Reef, Hurley glumly pressed his lips together when confronted by Rolo's question.
"Well... I've had more lucrative days to say the least," he sighed.
"Real shame, that. I'd love to help you guys with your financial woes, but I got my own debts to pay, mon!"
"Oh, no need to apologize, Rolo! Last thing you want is to shortchange scum like the Kazkanis on "collection day"..." Hurley turned to the table seated the furthest from the kitchens and saw Lapis sitting at the table, slumped over in defeat as she rested with her head on her arms. "Oh hey, looks like Blue made it back!"
"Yup, came back hours ago, she did!" Rolo announced, which caught Hurley's by surprise.
"Hours ago? But we agreed not to come back here until just now!"
"She didn't wanna talk, but I'm pree-tty sure her job hunt went about as well as yours. Which is to say-" Rolo made a brief raspberry for emphasis.
"Can't say I'm surprised..."
Hurley left Rolo and approached Lapis' table. He took the seat opposite of her and leaned forward. "Hey, Blue. According to Rolo back there, you seem to have quit your job hunt a few hours early. Is everything okay?"
"Nah, everything's fine," Lapis replied snidely. "I love being yelled at and attacked by the people I'm trying to entertain. You?"
"Well, in between having a gun pulled on me, being chased down several alleyways by some lunatic's pet Obsidian Hound, slipping and falling into a puddle of vomit, and not getting a single job offer? Can't say today's been kind to me either."
"Ha, see?! See! I knew it!" Lapis laughed with bitter triumph, "I just knew trying to earn money would be a waste of time! Seriously Hurley, this place sucks! The locals are hateful and so freaking stingy that when they pay you, they don't even bother using money half the time!"
"I'm sorry to hear that... but hey! At least you got paid, even if it was just a little bit!" Hurley replied, balling up an encouraging fist and slightly pumping it into the air, "How much did you make?"
"I don't remember, and I don't care," Lapis scoffed. "It's gone now."
"Gone?! Oh no, you weren't mugged, were you?"
Lapis appreciated Hurley's concern, but it did little, if anything to lift her spirits. "No, I just left it behind."
"Aw, Blue!" Hurley cried out in exasperation, "What were you thinking?!"
"Oh come on, what are you so worked up about?!" Lapis snapped, instantly on the attack, "I barely breached twenty credits, and in case you forgot how to count, I need 3000 to get that stupid ship back!"
"Indeed, which is why you should've kept the money!" Hurley argued, "Even if it's just a little bit, every credit helps!"
"Helps with what?!" Lapis shot back, "Look how tonight turned out: I barely got any money, and you look like you haven't gotten any! Face it Hurley, this whole thing is just a stupid waste of time!"
Despite Lapis' defeatism, Hurley was undeterred and pressed the attack. "So... are you saying that you don't want your ship back?"
"Wha- What kind of question is that?!" Lapis spat, edgy and shaky as she shrunk back into her seat, "Of course I want it back! But if I'm getting this kind of reception, then what's the point?!"
"Well, did you try looking for other sources of revenue? Did you ask around about landscaping jobs like we talked about?"
"No..." Lapis answered meekly, suddenly overwhelmed by a powerful feeling of shame.
"Did you go near the docks? I bet your powers could really help out with work on the waterfront!"
"Not really..."
"Well, then how do you know that asking for work is a waste of time?" Hurley asked, his question piercing Lapis' caustic, snide armor, "Sure, it may not get you anywhere, but... well, that's it: maybe. If you don't even try to make money, then you're definitely not going to save your ship!"
And there it was again, that familiar mix of embarrassment and shame. Lapis' will to argue crumbled, and she shifted her gaze down to the table. Whether she liked it or not, Hurley had a point.
"Look Blue, I understand where you're coming from: ever since we crossed paths you've really come across as someone who's... tired. Just plain sick and tired of life throwing hardship after hardship at you! And it's gotta be demoralizing thinking that you've escaped whatever was hassling you back home, only to end up in this mess. But unfortunately, life loves sucker punching you at the darnedest times! And no matter how much it rattles you, you've got to be willing to stand your ground and slug it right back!"
Hurley threw a punch at the air to emphasize his point, and the powerful gust generated by the force of his swing got Lapis' attention. The reality of her situation had crashed down on her: she was about to get her ship taken away... and up until now, she was perfectly willing to just sit there and take it. The shame of it all made her sick to her stomach, and yet despite the fact that he had no reason to be nice to her? Hurley's voice still had that jolly gentleness to it, and his eyes were every bit as kind as they were when he originally offered to share fuel with her. This man must have had an infinite amount of patience, and yet she felt guilty about testing it all the same.
"Y-You're right. You're absolutely right." Lapis rested her head in her hands, and propped her elbows up on the table. "I'm sorry about the attitude, it's just... I really don't think we're gonna be able to pay the Kazkanis back before the money's due!"
"Well lucky for us, we haven't exhausted all our options yet: you've still got the docks to check out, I've still got my old stuff to sell... and us much as I'd hate to be a burden to her? I've got a friend from way back who might be able to loan us some money! She's got a heck of a busy life though, so I really hope she's available..."
That was somewhat reassuring, but just not enough in Lapis' eyes. And Hurley was quick to pick up on it, and after a deep sigh he threw out one final safety net.
"And if push comes to shove and we're still looking at financial woes... I'm perfectly willing to take a loan from Val Kazkani to save your ship."
"Wait, really?!" Lapis exclaimed, finally sitting up straight, "I thought you hated that guy?!"
"Oh believe me, I do," Hurley corrected, "The thought of fattening his overbloated wallet makes me sick, and people like him are more than happy to keep debtors under their thumb so they can keep squeezing money out of them... but if it ends up helping someone in need, who am I to complain?"
Hurley leaned forward and gave Lapis' hair what felt like it's tenth friendly ruffling of the day. "Trust me, Blue: I know how important that ship and it's contents are to you, and I'm not about to let you walk away empty handed. That's a promise."
It was safe to say that by now, Lapis' anger and anxieties had been quashed. Granted, she didn't let her guard down completely since for all she knew, life could throw another curveball. Still, she was able to breathe a bit easier and put on half a smile.
"Thanks Hurley."
"You're always welcome, Blue!"
The big fuzzy alien yawned and rubbed a bit of sleep from his eye. "Alright, it's getting close to the twilight hour and I'm beat. It's best we pick this back up tomorrow, so for now why don't we get some sleep?"
"Sleep? Thanks, but I don't need it." Lapis replied gently.
"I don't know about that, Blue," Hurley argued gently, but firmly, "You've been under a lot of stress as of late! You've been moody and testy, which are surefire signs of sleep deprivation!"
"No, I mean I SERIOUSLY don't need sleep," Lapis clarified, "Us Gems never sleep at all!"
"That food coma you slipped into says otherwise!"
Lapis went navy in the face and crossed her arms, unable to do more than purse her lips since she couldn't really come up with a good defense.
"But seriously, I know what you meant! You're not the first Gem I've met, you know!" Hurley exclaimed with a chuckle, "And I still think it's a good idea to get some shut eye! I mean, everyone else is winding down for the night! Most businesses are closed by now, most people are either headed home or already in bed... if you're staying up because you want to squeeze in some extra work, I'm afraid you won't get the results you're expecting!"
Since Hurley wouldn't budge on his stance, Lapis relented. It really wasn't anything worth getting worked up about, and since they still had plenty of options at their disposal, she figured that she could take a break from making money. Especially since it wasn't like she tried too hard to begin with...
"I guess I'll try it out," Lapis said before pressing an important question, "But where are we going to sleep, anyway?"
"The Dynamo, of course!" Hurley cheerfully replied, "She's got a few beds you can pull out from the walls, and they're mighty comfy!"
'And probably disgusting.'
Lapis dry heaved just thinking back to the horrific landfill Hurley called a ship. Luckily for her though, Rolo swooped over to their table and came to her rescue.
"Hey Hurley, if it's room and board you're looking for, you can crash at my place!" the cheerful seadweller suggested. While she had no idea what his standard for living was, it was bound to be better than the Dynamo and Lapis eagerly jumped on board.
"Oh yeah, I'd love to!" she exclaimed, getting a cry of "Oh my!" out of Rolo as she jumped up and enthusiastically grabbed him by his shoulders. And thankfully, Hurley seemed to be on board with this arrangement.
"Hmm... not gonna lie, that sounds pretty tempting! Are you sure you're okay with it, though?"
"Trust me pal, it gets mighty lonely back home! I can use all the company I can get, yeah?"
"Well then, I guess that settles it!" said Hurley, who got up from his chair and popped his back as he stretched, "Alright Blue, I believe Rolo's apartment is... in the warehouse district, right?"
"Yep, right on the waterfront!" Rolo confirmed with a cheerful nod as Hurley laughed triumphantly, glad his memory hadn't failed him.
"Thanks! But yeah, like I was going to say, how about you follow Rolo back to his place? I'll catch up, but first I'll need to swing by the hangar and grab a few things from my ship: toiletries, some clean clothes..."
'He has clean clothes?' Lapis fought back the urge to laugh as Hurley continued.
"And after that, I'll place a call with my friend and catch up with you guys! Is that okay?"
"Sounds like a plan." Lapis said, while Rolo chimed in with a cheerful "Ya!"
"Alright then, I'll be seeing you guys later on tonight. Stay safe!"
Hurley left the restaurant, and Rolo stepped back towards the kitchen. He fiddled with a control panel, and the lights of the Rainbow Reef began to slowly shut off.
"Alright miss, just give me a minute to close up shop and we'll be good to go!"
"Alright boys, you've had all night to look for him. What's the status on the kid?!"
"No sign of him in the warehouse district!"
"Didn't catch him in the marketplace either."
"Searched several rows of apartments, came back emptyhanded."
Val Kazkani growled with fury as he kicked a prowling Felit into the sky, and if he were to look at it as it soared, he would have seen Tadd Spadeclaw observing him and a small gathering of mobsters from the roof of an adjacent building. Having just woken up from a miserable night's sleep on a forgotten moldy mattress underneath a makeshift canopy, Tadd was absolutely groggy. Yawning loudly, he stretched and rubbed the sleep out of his eyes as he listened to Val's ensuing tantrum.
"You've gotta be kidding me, where the hell did he go?! This ain't exactly a big town, ya know!"
"You don't think he left, do you?" a mobster asked, only for Jowls to scoff at his query.
"You idiot, where could he possibly go? The ocean's a deathtrap, and the land around this town's so flat, someone would've seen him leaving!"
"He could've gone underground!" Another postulated, only to be mocked just as fast.
"If he did, we would have found a hole!" Jowls growled, "And if we did... heh, no way would a Tunnelkin slave outdig one of these bad boys."
Jowls heartily patted the back of one of the two terrifying creatures that were standing at her sides: Obsidian Hounds, apex predators of Dizmol's "forested" areas. They weren't quite reptilian or mammalian, but a nightmarish mix of both with jet black skin, milky white eyes, incredibly broad and muscular bodies built to withstand ridiculous punishment, well-developed forelegs that could grasp prey and dig through soil with ease, and huge crocodilian jaws backed up by a terrifying bite force that made escape impossible if they sunk their fangs into you. Named Gambino and Scarface respectively, Jowls' prized pets were vicious and cruel, hardened by Jowls' rather... aggressive methods of training during their puppyhood which made them the perfect weapons to deploy against people the Kazkanis needed to teach a lesson to.They were also good at keeping people in line, as Tadd could attest: there were a number of times he was chased around the Sinner's Den and the Kazkani mansion by the bloodthirsty beasts when Jowls assumed he was slacking off. The memories of them throwing him to the ground and looming over him, drooling all over his face while growling and flashing those terrible sabreteeth at him sent a shiver down Tadd's spine, and he couldn't help but hold his breath out of fear of them hearing him.
"Anyway, that brat'll turn up. No need to worry..."
Despite Jowls' reassuring words, Val couldn't help but grit his teeth and ball up his fists in defiance. "I wouldn't worry if it weren't for that old Queasian over in the Rainbow Reef! He KNOWS what he really is! What if he sneaks him offworld or something?! I spent good money on that kid, and if it ends up going to waste-"
"If he does, then I'll feed him to the boys. Simple as that." Jowls stated proudly, causing Tadd to wince. He had accidentally stumbled upon a feeding session of theirs once. It was messy. And loud. The poor man wouldn't stop screaming...
"But if it'll make you feel better," Jowls added, "I'll take some of the guys and do one last sweep around town before heading back home for breakfast. How's that sound?"
Val contemplatively stroked his chin, then shrugged. "Better, I guess. But I swear, if it turns out he skipped town last night..." Val went red in the face and sputtered incoherently before groaning in defeat. "Aw, I don't know what I'll do! Just FIND him, okay?!"
"We will, boss!" a froggy faced Kazkani swore, "I promise!"
"Good! Now if ya don't mind, I'm heading back home! Su's makin' us steak and eggs this morning, and I call dibs on the first serving!"
Val stepped into a sleek black hovercar before speeding off, leaving the more imposing Jowls in charge of this little group of crooks and lowlives. And in the spirit of her hounds, Jowls was quick to bark orders.
"Alright you miserable lowlives! I want each of you to go back to your little portion of the city and do another sweep. And make sure this one is thorough: I'll be covering this area, Warts will search the commercial district... oh, you know the rest! So HOP TO IT!"
She snapped her fingers and each mobster jumped straight into action with cries of "Yes ma'am!", aside from Warts who favored a more personal "You got it, ma!"
"Good! As for you two," she addressed Scarface and Gambino, who stared curiously up at her, "The streets are yours for the day. If you even THINK you've got a trace of the brat, give us a holler and pin him down! But don't kill him, unless you want to get turned into a sofa!"
The hounds growled in affirmation, and sprinted off with frightening speed. And with that, the entire group dispersed leaving Tadd a shivering mess on his rooftop hiding place.
'Geez, this isn't good: even after staying up all night to find me, they aren't giving up! They're going to find me before I know it...'
Tadd cursed himself for his impulsiveness, wishing that he had just stayed with the Kazkanis and just endured the finger-breaking session Val wanted him to watch. At least he'd have a roof over his head, food in his belly, and wouldn't have to worry about getting horribly sick in the rainy, filthy streets of Krapton. That, and he knew that if, or rather when he got caught, the punishment would be worse than anything he could possibly imagine-
'No! Snap out of it, Tadd!' the boy scolded, 'You CAN escape the Kazkanis! You... you just have to hope you can actually find a stranger who'd be willing to take you offworld. A stranger who WON'T sell you out for some quick credits while they're at it...'
Suddenly, Tadd could hear the sound of someone banging metal from the building to the right of Tadd's hiding place, followed by Jowls growling "HEY! Get out here, I need to talk to you real quick!"
'Oh no.'
Tadd's heart thundered as he heard the sound of automatic doors sliding open, followed by a male Hopkoblin's nasally cry of fear as he was met with the sight of that hideous, saggy-faced behemoth leering down at him.
"Sorry to bother you, sir," she growled in a tone that suggested that she wasn't sorry in the slightest, "But you haven't seen a Tunnelkin, have you? He's small, wears nothing but rags..."
"Hmm... you know, now that you mention it..."
Tadd's heart skipped a beat, and his breathing briefly ceased.
"I think I saw this weird looking guy with HUGE claws scaling the neighboring apartment last night! I figured he was either a handyman checking out a gas leak or some brat kid messing around and didn't pay too much attention to him. I dunno if he's the guy you're looking for or if he's still hanging around there, but he definitely looked kinda like a tunnelkin."
"Well that's a helpful lead all the same, so thank you! Trust me when I say that you'll be generously rewarded in the near future..."
'You've gotta be kidding! Someone noticed me?!'
Tadd couldn't believe it: despite his running away being a spur-of-the-moment decision, he still took some time to plan out a strategy to avoid detection. He stuck to the shadows and rooftops, kept his head down, covered his face with a small plastic container laying in the street...
'And I got exposed by my dumb stupid claws... DANG IT! I've gotta move, fast!'
It would only be a matter of seconds before Jowls forced herself into the building and made her way to the rooftop, so Tadd acted fast. He ran towards the edge of the building and leaped off the roof before turning back around and punching a powerful clawed hand through the rusted wall. He safely slid down, but underestimated how loud the sound of his claw scraping against metal would be. He cringed as that horrible metallic shrieking alerted his presence to practically everyone in town. And when he reached the ground in the back alley, his worst fears were realized when he was met with the sight of the heavily scarred Obsidian Hound slowly approaching Tadd from the far alleyway. His teeth were bared and a furious growl thundered through his chest as he sized up his prey with those horrible cloudy eyes.
'No... please...'
Scarface stopped halfway down the alley, tensed up, and did as Jowls commanded and hollered for her... Or rather, screamed for her. That was the only way to describe that eerie, throaty cry that sounded as if it came from the depths of hell itself. Tadd in turn screamed as he bolted out into the streets and ran for his life, his heart pounding as he heard the sound of the monster's footfalls catching up to him.
"HELP!" He screamed, no longer caring about stealth now that his cover was blown, "SOMEBODY, HELP ME!"
His cries mostly fell on deaf ears, as the town's populace was either still asleep, afraid of intervening, or just plain jaded by all the gang violence that happened around them. But he hollered and screamed again and again, pleading to whatever higher power was listening for help. Because right now, his safety was in their hands...
