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Post by Riley on Dec 13, 2006 20:22:22 GMT -5
A young Riley Bond seemed to find himself very lost at the moment. He'd been looking for a train station or something to curl up at for the night. Instead, he'd discovered the dark side of the city, in the form of Club Underground.
He was cautiously trying to find his way away from there, for he'd been quick to conclude that that Club was definitely somewhere he DIDN'T want to be.
Then, abruptly and without warning, Riley got grabbed on the shoulder by someone who seemed twice his height and three times his size. The guy was also surrounded by several guys the same size. The large man's grip quickly lessened, but only as he threw Riley violently into a dark back-alley, following. The men's eyes were pretty red and it was obviously by how they carried themselves that they were either wasted, stoned, or both.
Riley immediately panicked, his body shaking with fear and he was sore from being thrown so carelessly. His unease threw his powers into auto-pilot.
So, as they guys surrounded Riley, the apparent leader stepped forward, while the others drew out long knives which were all stained with blood.
The 'leader' reached forward and grasped the 12-year-olds neck so firmly that Riley's whole face was beat-red without delay. Almost as quickly, however, the guy felt his own throat constrict, cutting off his airways.
Without a word, he soon had fallen unconscious from the air loss, causing him to drop Riley, but at the same time, his massive body fell forward onto the lanky child, nearly crushing him under his weight.
Riley tried to get the man off of him frantically, but realized that the groupies were all now right about to cut him into little cubic pieces with those long, long knives...
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Post by Nikolai Giguere on Dec 13, 2006 20:38:56 GMT -5
Nikolai rounded the corner en route to Club Metro. He heard some commotion and decided to check it out. When he assessed what was happening, he stuck his hand out and several trash cans flew up and over some of the attackers, while the knives flew out of their hands and started pointing at the attackers who weren't covered by trash cans. He squeezed his fists and the trash cans constricted around the men. He calmly went over to Riley who seemed to be quite scared. He did something he didn't do often: he spoke. "Calm down," he said. His voice was smooth and soothing. "My name is Nikolai." The metal balls in the palm of his hand made a soft tinkling sound.
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Post by Riley on Dec 13, 2006 20:49:13 GMT -5
Riley's eyes were still wide with fear and distrust, his body still shaking uncontrollably. He crawled back away from Nikolai, looking up at him feeling so small, physically but mostly emotionally. For some reason, Riley had a feeling that this guy wasn't out to get him too, but his body wasn't any less tense.
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Post by Nikolai Giguere on Dec 13, 2006 21:00:24 GMT -5
One of the attackers who was pinned against the wall with a knife floating in front of him shouted a few swears. Nikolai shot him a look and said in a seemingly unreal calm voice, "Do you see your friends over there with Garbage Cans crushed around their faces?" He nodded. "Do you want to find yourself in the same predicament?" He shook his head. "Then would you be so kind as to keep your mouth closed?"
He turned to Riley. "There are people like them... and then there are people who want to help you, like me. I can teach you how to protect yourself."
One of the men encased in a trash can started running, but ended up going straight into a wall. Nikolai kept his professional composure and fought the urge to laugh. "I live at a school where you can learn how to protect yourself. All you have to do is say you want to go." He offered a hand to help pull Riley up to his feet.
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Post by Riley on Dec 13, 2006 21:07:59 GMT -5
Riley's face visibly lightened first when Nikolai threatened the guys who'd almost killed him, and then he lightened up even more when the man ended up running into the wall. His eyes finally returned to Nikolai's and finally though hesitently, Riley reached up and took Nik's friendly hand with his own muddy one. "I- I... I'm Riley." he said quietly, his voice trembling as he stood up.
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Post by Nikolai Giguere on Dec 13, 2006 21:22:56 GMT -5
Nikolai smiled. "I can bring you to the school in style." The two metal balls in his hand rose up. Both of them flatened into disks that were thinner than paper. They sat flat upon the concrete. Nikolai stepped onto one and instructed Riley to step on the other. "I'll bring you to the school, but before that, we need to hit Aeropostale... we need to get you some new duds..."
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Post by Riley on Dec 13, 2006 21:36:26 GMT -5
Riley slowly stepped onto the disc, obserivin it uneasily. After a moment though, he managed to grin up at Nikolai. "Thanks..." he replied in the same, small voice. It was one that carried both his accent and told how grateful he really was at the moment. He then glanced down as his baggy, torn, dirty clothes and muttered. "About time too, I'd say..."
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Post by Nikolai Giguere on Dec 13, 2006 21:50:14 GMT -5
"Just stay still. You won't fall off of this thing, though. I've put up magnetic fields around it." The disks slowly rose off the ground and up into the air. Together, they floated along until they found themselves in front of Aeropostale. The disks landed on the ground and the disks became the metal balls again. They were extremely dense, so before Riley could try to pick it up (not that he would be able to) he brought it into his hand. The store was still open so Nikolai hastily opened the door, allowing Riley in first.
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Post by Riley on Dec 13, 2006 22:00:52 GMT -5
Riley's head hung a bit low as he stepped inside. He didn't feel at all like he fit in with the fashionable crowd that was inside.
To prove his point further, one of the female employees inside spotted who'd just entered and pushed past Riley unimportantly, going to Nikolai. "Hey there hotstuff, anything I can help you with today?" she flirted profusely.
Meanwhile, Riley just looked and felt like a little puppy lost in a crowd of strangers.
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Post by Nikolai Giguere on Dec 13, 2006 22:06:20 GMT -5
Nikolai ignored her. He never talked to the women who wanted him. He placed his arm around Riley as he led him to the younger men's department. "I'm going to guess that you're a small tee and size 29-30 jeans? Am I right?" he asked.
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Post by Riley on Dec 13, 2006 22:10:52 GMT -5
The girl scowled in his direction androlling her eyes, walked away in the opposite direction.
Riley stuttered, "I- I'm sorry... I d-don't know..." as a reply. "I haven't bought anything in a long time..." he whispered next, barely loud enough to be audible.
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Post by Nikolai Giguere on Dec 13, 2006 22:15:55 GMT -5
Nikolai nodded. "It's quite alright." Nikolai grabbed a stylish pair of jeans that were the size he guessed and held it to Riley's waist. "Yup... I was right..... okay..." he grabbed several pairs of jeans of that size and showed Riley. "Whaddaya think?"
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Post by Riley on Dec 13, 2006 22:40:26 GMT -5
"Thank you." he repeated, unsure of what else to say. It was also another way of his for sayigng that they seemed perfect. Riley gave a weak smile to show that point.
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Post by Nikolai Giguere on Dec 13, 2006 22:47:47 GMT -5
Nikolai smiled. "Okay, we need to get you some good shirts to match these..." he said as he led Riley to the large section of shirts. He grabbed several that matched the jeans. "Okay... we can check out." He then led Riley to the checkout counter where, as so accurately worded, the sales associate checked Nikolai out. When he hit the total button, it came to well over $175. Nikolai didn't think twice before swiping his credit card. He signed the little computer, got his receipt and picked up the clothes. "Next stop, the school." he said as they got outside and he flattened the balls again.
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Post by Riley on Dec 13, 2006 22:53:20 GMT -5
"You didn't have to do this for me, you know." Riley told Nikolai honestly. "So why did you?" It was the first time he was talking without the constant quiver in his voice. Riley stepped back onto the disc, knowing to this time.
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