Sept 9th - Taking a Walk

[Alex Maurell]

At first taking a walk through downtown Maldon didn't seem like a bad idea. Getting to know the area better would probably benefit him in the future. However, even being an unknown to the populace here, he couldn't help but feel a sense of tension. Perhaps it was the fact that the school had faced a protest early on or his own paranoia seeping into his perception of an otherwise calm environment. Probably the second one, maybe he should find somewhere to eat...

(open)

[Narrator]

Just as he's pondering getting some food there's a loud smash and some yelling from one of the shops not far up ahead. Here and there people stop to turn their heads at the racket.

[Alex Maurell]

He hesitated a moment, one part wanting to see, the other wanting to run away. Against his better instincts he rushed toward where the racket was happening.

[Narrator]

There"s another crash of glass and someone stumbling from the door of a jewelry store. Through the display windows Alex can see somebody hunched over one of the display cases, grabbing handfuls of jewelry. The man's clothes appear torn in places and he seems to have jagged bones showing through. The, presumably, owner of the store frantically looks over her shoulder as she flees from the store, slowing down a little when she notices she's not being chased by the monster. "Somebody do something!" she yells at the people staring at the scene.

[Alex Maurell]

Holy shit...

He looks around, he's going to need material if he's going to face this guy. A nearby trashcan with have to do, just enough material for a dog construct with Mary's consciousness placed inside, if a little bit hollowed out on the inside. He never had a crowd to witness him work but there was no time to run and hide. Turning toward the crowd, "Someone call the cops, I'll...I'll try to hold him here."

Oh this is a bad idea. He can hear Mary chuckling, at least she's eager for a fight.

Alex finds himself rushing inside to face the other mutant, "Hey! I would put that back if I were you!" Beside him the dog is snarling.

[Narrator]

The guy turns around, hands still clutching precious necklaces. His face scrunches up as if he has to concentrate just to make words come out of his mouth. "No. Gonna take what I deserve cause no one can stop me." he grunts. He turns his back on Alex again to smash another display case to loot.

[Alex Maurell]

"I don't want to hurt you man. How about we talk? Why do you think you deserve this stuff? What did the store owner do to you?" Diplomacy first, thief or not, this guy had reasons for doing this. Maybe he could get this to end peacefully.

[Narrator]

"Go away!" the man growls and turns around, swinging his arm at Alex in a horizontal arc.

[Alex Maurell]

Alex just barely ducks out of the way while the dog construct leaps into action, launching forward to grasp it's fangs on the man's shoulder. "I warned you!" He sincerely hopes someone called the cops.

[Narrator]

The man smashes through a vertical display case, showering Alex with broken glass while Mary pounces and sinks her fangs into the brute's shoulder. The man screams and whirls around trying to rid himself of the dog, crushing more displays as he throws himself against one of the walls. Finally he manages to get a good hold of the dog and pulls her off of himself, tearing several gouges into his shoulder and screaming as he throws Mary across the room.

[Alex Maurell]

Alex covers his head, protecting himself from the majority of the broken glasses, wincing as the pain Mary feels is partially transferred to him. Still, when she hits the wall he can feel fractures growing in her bones. She won't last long at this rate. He backs up till he can grasps something heavy enough to throw and do some damage, throwing the vase at the man's heads.

[Narrator]

The brute grunts as the vase shatters against his head. He doesn't seem to like that, narrowing his eyes at Alex and charging at him with wild abandon.

[Alex Maurell]

Alex dodges out of the way at the last second. Mary is up again, limping but snarling and she charges at the man, going for the man's throat this time.

[Narrator]

Thankfully the man doesn't seem at all used to his lumbering frame and not nearly graceful enough to follow Alex when he dodges. Instead he slams right through the front of the shop, stumbles and falls down on the sidewalk outside. Mary has no problem jumping on the man's back and closing her jaw around his throat. The man struggles for a moment, but the growling seems to reach some primal part of him that tells him he'd better stop. The crowd of onlookers seems to have taken a collective step back and sirens can be heard in the distance.

[Alex Maurell]

Alex steps out after his construct and the man, surprised to find the dog has the man pinned. "Thank god..."he breathes, grateful to hear sirens in the distance. For now he lets Mary hold the man down, growling with her fang close to clamping down should he fight.

[Narrator]

While he waits he can almost watch as the man's stature seems to shrink, the bony protrusions falling away until Mary is keeping her jaws around the neck of a regular, almost a little out-of-shape man who looks just about ready to pass out. Eventually the police arrives and takes him into custody without much trouble.

The owner of the store is just kind of staring at the wreckage for a while until she comes to wrap her mind around what happened. Seeing most of her merchandise still scattered throughout the broken glass and showcases seems to help. "Th-thank you so much." she turns to Alex. "If you hadn't been there..."

A couple of onlookers seem to mumble a couple less-than-nice things along the lines of "...wouldn't have happened in the first place without them around..." but they seem to be in the minority.

[Alex Maurell]

"It's no problem ma'am. I was just doing what I could." He glances over at Mary who sits beside his feet, tongue lolling out and panting. "I just wish there'd been less damage...Do you need help cleaning up?" It only seemed like the right thing to do after all the damage that's been done. Plus, well it might settle in some minds that mutants aren't inherently bad.

[Narrator]

"No! No... I think I'll just close up for the day. I need a drink... Thank you, though."

[Alex Maurell]

"Oh, I guess I'll be on my way then. Best of luck with everything." He turned to leave, Mary on his heel. Perhaps he should just go back to campus, the crowds murmuring was making him nervous.