The young punk lifted Alistair by the collar and stared into his eyes with a cold, hard look. "Eh? I didn't hear you." He said in a condescending tone.
Alistair simply looked back at the young man with a confused look. "I had stated that I did not have any cash funds upon my person with which to present to you." This was said in a very calm demeanor, as if he hadn't even noticed that the thug was getting ready to rough him up. This particular thug, and two others that stood nearby, had approached Alistair just a moment ago and demanded that he owed them "twenty dollars for the protection of this neighborhood against monsters that might come out of the forbidden forest." Of course, Alistair calmly stated the truth that he did not, at this time, carry such money on himself. In addition, he inquired in a very polite manner as to the legitimacy of this request. After all, he had never once witnessed a monster from the forbidden forest make its way to the city at all, let alone the residential area they were currently standing in.
Of course, the reply to Alistair's sincere inquiry was simply "you don't see them because we're doing our job!" Alistair decided not to argue the point, and a third party might even infer that Alistair actually believed this claim, as ridiculous as it was. Regardless, the young man simply did not have the cash on him that these thugs demanded. Thus, we come to our current situation.
"Come on Nick, just shove the retard down and take his wallet. Gotta have somethin' on him." Said one of the thug's cohorts. The three of them honestly didn't look any older than Alistair. They hadn't shown any sign of powers yet, but Alistair assumed they probably were capable of something.
"Shut up, Mark. I won't let this guy think he can move into our neighborhood and not have to pay like everyone else!" Nick, the kid holding up Alistair, said.
"If you so desire, you may take a look for yourself, milord." Alistair reached into his back pants' pocket and pulled out a black leather leather. Nick gave a strange look before snatching the wallet and shoving the young man to the ground. Alistair landed with a thud and smacked his head against the wall of the house. "D'oh!" He rubbed the back of his head with a frown.
"Wh-what the hell!? Coupons for free carpet and rug cleaning!? A ticket from a local arcade!?" Nick gawked at Alistair and threw the wallet back at him, after removing the only thing of value: a credit card.
"Woah man, not sure if we should take that. Paper trail and all." Said the only kid whose name hadn't been mentioned yet.
"Whatever. Little punk won't even have the balls to tell the police I bet. Next time he'll have our fee." Nick spit on the ground, barely missing Alistair, and walked off. His two goons followed them, the one named Mark laughing like some sort of hyena.
Alistair stood and stretched. "Nina will perhaps consider ending my life if it becomes evident I have lost that item..." He frowned, although he seemed unconcerned with the actual act of being mugged. The young man walked out from the small alley that the gang had dragged him into. He saw the three of them walking down the road, talking and laughing about who-knows-what. He had noticed that a few curious faces had peeked out to see what was happening earlier, but apparently they were too afraid to do anything. Apparently the rumors he had heard about a gang controlling this small neighborhood was true.
But why was it no one was doing anything about it? There had to be a legitimate reason.
He thought for a moment, then continued to observe as the trio walked out of view. Then, he followed them. For a good twenty minutes he nonchalantly followed them through the side streets of the residential area. They didn't do much of anything besides looking tough, as if on some sort of patrol. Anyone that happened to walk nearby them seemed to move out of the way as quickly as possible, and were as polite as possible when contact was inevitable.
At one point, Alistair ducked behind some trash cans parked at the end of a driveway. It must have been trash day. He heard a rustling in one of the cans and looked at it curiously. Just as he was about to forget about it, he heard it again. This time, he moved his hand over to the lid while blinking. Slowly, he lifted the lid of the metal trash can. And, just at that moment, he heard a loud "Mrow! and a cat jumped out of said trash can and planted itself right upon his face, scratching him ferociously. Alistair began flailing wildly with the angry cat upon his face, desperately attempting to pull it off.
One of the gang members nearby turned towards the trash cans as if he had heard something, but Alistair managed to calm himself and the cat enough to be able to hide again without being noticed. He gently placed the cat on the ground, the fresh scratches painfully obvious, and smiled at the feline. The cat just glared at him and walked away with an extremely poofy tail.
Alistair simply looked back at the young man with a confused look. "I had stated that I did not have any cash funds upon my person with which to present to you." This was said in a very calm demeanor, as if he hadn't even noticed that the thug was getting ready to rough him up. This particular thug, and two others that stood nearby, had approached Alistair just a moment ago and demanded that he owed them "twenty dollars for the protection of this neighborhood against monsters that might come out of the forbidden forest." Of course, Alistair calmly stated the truth that he did not, at this time, carry such money on himself. In addition, he inquired in a very polite manner as to the legitimacy of this request. After all, he had never once witnessed a monster from the forbidden forest make its way to the city at all, let alone the residential area they were currently standing in.
Of course, the reply to Alistair's sincere inquiry was simply "you don't see them because we're doing our job!" Alistair decided not to argue the point, and a third party might even infer that Alistair actually believed this claim, as ridiculous as it was. Regardless, the young man simply did not have the cash on him that these thugs demanded. Thus, we come to our current situation.
"Come on Nick, just shove the retard down and take his wallet. Gotta have somethin' on him." Said one of the thug's cohorts. The three of them honestly didn't look any older than Alistair. They hadn't shown any sign of powers yet, but Alistair assumed they probably were capable of something.
"Shut up, Mark. I won't let this guy think he can move into our neighborhood and not have to pay like everyone else!" Nick, the kid holding up Alistair, said.
"If you so desire, you may take a look for yourself, milord." Alistair reached into his back pants' pocket and pulled out a black leather leather. Nick gave a strange look before snatching the wallet and shoving the young man to the ground. Alistair landed with a thud and smacked his head against the wall of the house. "D'oh!" He rubbed the back of his head with a frown.
"Wh-what the hell!? Coupons for free carpet and rug cleaning!? A ticket from a local arcade!?" Nick gawked at Alistair and threw the wallet back at him, after removing the only thing of value: a credit card.
"Woah man, not sure if we should take that. Paper trail and all." Said the only kid whose name hadn't been mentioned yet.
"Whatever. Little punk won't even have the balls to tell the police I bet. Next time he'll have our fee." Nick spit on the ground, barely missing Alistair, and walked off. His two goons followed them, the one named Mark laughing like some sort of hyena.
Alistair stood and stretched. "Nina will perhaps consider ending my life if it becomes evident I have lost that item..." He frowned, although he seemed unconcerned with the actual act of being mugged. The young man walked out from the small alley that the gang had dragged him into. He saw the three of them walking down the road, talking and laughing about who-knows-what. He had noticed that a few curious faces had peeked out to see what was happening earlier, but apparently they were too afraid to do anything. Apparently the rumors he had heard about a gang controlling this small neighborhood was true.
But why was it no one was doing anything about it? There had to be a legitimate reason.
He thought for a moment, then continued to observe as the trio walked out of view. Then, he followed them. For a good twenty minutes he nonchalantly followed them through the side streets of the residential area. They didn't do much of anything besides looking tough, as if on some sort of patrol. Anyone that happened to walk nearby them seemed to move out of the way as quickly as possible, and were as polite as possible when contact was inevitable.
At one point, Alistair ducked behind some trash cans parked at the end of a driveway. It must have been trash day. He heard a rustling in one of the cans and looked at it curiously. Just as he was about to forget about it, he heard it again. This time, he moved his hand over to the lid while blinking. Slowly, he lifted the lid of the metal trash can. And, just at that moment, he heard a loud "Mrow! and a cat jumped out of said trash can and planted itself right upon his face, scratching him ferociously. Alistair began flailing wildly with the angry cat upon his face, desperately attempting to pull it off.
One of the gang members nearby turned towards the trash cans as if he had heard something, but Alistair managed to calm himself and the cat enough to be able to hide again without being noticed. He gently placed the cat on the ground, the fresh scratches painfully obvious, and smiled at the feline. The cat just glared at him and walked away with an extremely poofy tail.