I need your wallet

Alex is walking through the crowd and feels a sudden bump behind him.

He looks down, his face annoyed. It was a little girl, with hair messier than his. Uneven bangs with uneven ponytails in the front. A true travesty. Her purple shirt barely fit her, and her pants are stained a dark color. What the stains could be only God knows.

Yet despite that, the girl had a huge grin on her face.

"Sorry about that, I really should watch where I'm going."

She quickly tries to walk away.

Alex grabs her shoulder, the girl jumps. Her face was nervous, clearly suspicious.

"Whoa, what's the rush?"

"I said I was sorry!"

"And I bet you are, but…"

Alex grabs his wallet from the girl.

"I'd feel a lot more forgiving if I had this back."

Alex tries to walk away but the girl tackles him and holds on tightly. With his patience tested, Alex has had enough.

"Could you, I don't know, GET THE HELL OFF ME?!"

"I can't, I need your wallet!"

People began to gather. Although the idea that people were watching them was the last thing on their minds.

"Hell no. I'm not gonna give you my wallet! Take a hike you little troll!"

"I'm not a troll!"

"What about a goblin?"

"W-well you're wearing that stupid piece of armor! It doesn't even cover your stomach! You look stupid!"

Alex is at a loss for words. How dare she? It's not like money grows on trees...

"Look, this is completely strategic. It gives my enemies a target so I know they would be going for it. I'm actually one step ahead."

The girl gives an unconvinced look.

"Ok I had enough, get off."

He shakes her off and she falls on her bum. The girl crouches and looks panicked.

-Oh no! This is the fourth time I screwed up! If I don't bag this guy, then Antonio is gonna let me have it!

While Alex is looking at the map the girl tries to grab his wallet again.

Alex stops and picks her up by the shirt.

"Don't hit me!"

She winces and tries to cover her face. Alex notices how frightened she is. Holding on to her shirt, he could see the shades of blue, purple, and black that were hidden. This girl was beaten severely.

The girl is scared. She is violently trying to free herself. The look in her eyes was nothing how it was mere moments ago. Pure fear. It brought unpleasant memories to Alex.

Alex felt sick. His grip loosened and she fell to the ground.

Panicking, she gets up and runs into the alley. Falling and quickly getting back up.

Alex looked at his hand, images of blood covered it. He tightly gripped it.

He was utterly repulsed with himself.

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The girl is walking down the street,

She begins kicking a can as she walks. She notices a bunch of kids playing tag and stops to watch. She soberly smiles.

"Man, I'm jealous."

A elderly couple at a fish stand see her pass by.

She quickly walks away as the group talks behind her back.

"Oh dear, isn't she one of the kids."

"I just hope she will be all right. I've been seeing less and less of them recently."

The man working the stand slices off the head of a fish.

"If the kids aren't pulling their weight, then we're next!"

"How could you even say that?"

"Well I don't see you doing anything about it. It's easy to get on your high horse when you're not the one who's in danger. Listen here, these kids are our shields. Without them, then "we're" screwed. If you ask me, I think-"

The random couple are pointing behind Steve and a shadow eclipses him.

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The girl is in front of a huge a family entertainment center called "Sci-guys." Apparently there were a ton all over America after the war. The owner wanted to give the kids something to look forward to. It was successful, Lots of kids wanted to go everyday. Nothing like this one.

She held her arms together. Trying to stop her shaking.

Entering the store, she saw the children playing, but they weren't like the ones from earlier. No, these children didn't have the same light in their eyes as the others did. Most of them were keeping to themselves and were barely moving around. The robots that were roaming around keeping the kids company had more life in them. The girl couldn't bare to watch any longer.

She made her way to the counter.

The Cashier looked at her, he had an smile that seemed normal but it creeped her out.

"Um. A shadow comes creeping in the middle of the day."

The cashier's smile fades, he points towards the backdoor behind the counter.

"Alright, head on in, you're late."

She nods and walks behind the counter and the door opens; it's an elevator.

She walks in and the door closes. The floor's goes down a single level.

She steps out and is greeted by the true nature of the store. An underground hideout for the Mafia. There were workers around her age everywhere. When the Mafia moved in, they bought a bunch of children from orphanages and put them to work. "Work," could mean different things. Some were working on drugs while others on stealing, if you were lucky. If not, you got sold to who knows where.

In front of it are two guards who check their high tech phones and scan her. The tracker in her neck beeped in response.

"Your free to go in."

She steps into the next room. This one was a lot brighter with fancy chandeliers. The air was filled with smoke, art, and animal trophies. This was where all the deals and schemes were orchestrated.

The girl begins to start from a slow walk, to a fast walk. Two more guards scan her. Again her tracker beeps. She closes her eyes and takes a deep breath. She opens them, with a unnatural grin, she enters the door.

There sits the leader in a chair, his feet on the table. His skin is black, hair short but well kept. He is wearing a white button up shirt with the top few buttons undone, his chest bulging. His dress pants are a dark blue and his boots snake skin. His sleeves are rolled up and exposes an expensive looking gold watch.

He's smiling as he's on the phone and looking at a picture of himself and his family. The man's demeanor changes from easy going to angry.

"I'm telling you, we'll make the quota."

He gets angrier

"I understand. I'll handle it, guaranteed."

He puts the phone down gently. His hands begin to start smoking, as he reaches for a cigar and lights it with a small explosion.

The girl enters as the man puts away the picture in his desk drawer and demands in an annoyed tone.

"I hope you have good news for me."

The girl looks at the ground in a cold sweat and is extremely nervous.

"Ah sorry ah! Mr. Antonio! I was trying to make quota today but this guy was threatening and-"

Antonio turns around and puts aside the cigar. He looks at the girl with his hands clasped on the table and stares at her with a stern look.

"Please, continue."

"Well like I was saying, this guy that I was trying to tail looked like he was paying attention, so then I started trailing him, quiet as a mouse. And bam! I snatched his wallet!

Antonio rolls his eyes. Antonio gets up out of his chair. He was huge! The man stood over 6'2''. He starts to walk towards her. She slowly stops talking.

"Kid."

"Yes sir?"

Antonio squats down to her level and puts both arms on her shoulders. His tight grip was digging into her. The girl flinches, but she can't move.

"Kid, where is the money?"

She doesn't look him in the eyes.

"I-I don't have it."

Antonio sighs and looks up at the ceiling, he seemed exhausted.

"Christ. Ever since the quota went up, it's been screw up after screw up. What am I going to do with you?

"I can do better! I swear-"

"Oh I know, I should just arrange something with the black market and put you up for auction."

"W-what?"

Antonio gets up and dusts her shoulders off.

"Yeah ever since we have been getting our "businesses" uprooted by the enforcers, things have been rather tight around my end. The boss is constantly hounding me to make quota. So if I sell you and some of the others then I should be able to make my quota."

He turns around to head back to his desk and the girl reaches out to him.

"Wait!"

A sudden fist crashes into Ray's skull. She is suddenly on the ground bleeding. Antonio picks her up by the hair to talk to her face to face. Ray's vision is distorted as she looks at Antonio, she sees a monster.

"Be quiet! Don't make any unnecessary sounds."

He slams his fist into Ray's chest. She vomits and struggles to breathe.

Antonio gets up again and smacks his forehead.

"Shit, I lost my cool again. Taking my anger on a child? How far I've fallen..."

Before Antonio can sit back down in his chair, there is a sudden loud commotion and he stops.

"Christ, what is it now?!"

The door suddenly opens because a guard was kicked through and blown through the window behind Antonio's desk.

Alex suddenly enters. His arms wide

"Boom, baby!"

Alex notices the girl and looks at Antonio. He loses all playfulness and gets dead serious.

"You're the boss, huh?"

Antonio looks at Alex and enters his Soul State.

"And you?"

"No one special."