TMNT Swags and Punks

Chapter Two

Swift played with his snake bites, his tongue sliding over them easily as he chuckled at a joke he'd told three days ago.  It was the stupidest thing he'd said, something he didn't quite remember how to recite to its fullest, but he laughed anyway.  Alone.  He looked up at the empty street and smiled.  "That was a pretty good one? Wasn't it?"  He asked himself, a hint of sadness on his voice.

Taking a left turn and heading down an alleyway instead, he wondered if he'd find anyone at all on these empty streets, deserted and dark.

Nowadays people were more afraid to be in a gang than to be hunted by said-gang.  With the turf wars, more and more people dying every single day, and bosses simply moving on and hiring more people, being in a gang began to be a dream people no longer wished to live.  Something he wished he'd had a chance to reject... and that was now an option no longer available.

He splashed in a puddle.  "Yeah, it was definitely funny.  I mean, everyone did laugh."  He lied to himself, chuckling once more.  He took a moment to listen to the distant cars behind him, the splash of puddles following close behind them.  He kept listening, the distance growing before he shivered.  His hoodie was at the stage where it began to stick to him for dear life, the rain freezing as his breath created a cloud every time he breathed.  Rain sucked, the weather sucked, everything sucked.

"Maybe not the funniest though..."  He continued.  "There are definitely funnier jokes out there..."  He paused and thought for a moment.  "Haha, get this one."  He monologued.  "Get this.  You'll love it... Here, here... *inhale* My life..."  He giggled, wiping a tear from his eye as it slipped down his cheek.  He didn't know if the tear was from sadness or from chuckling at the joke itself.

"Another?  Jeez, y'all are too generous.  Here, here, I have another.  No need to worry."  He waved a hand, smiling as he imagined a crowd of onlookers, his brother amongst them.  "Okay, okay.  So... get this..."  The sound of distant voices made him pause for a moment, his eyes squinting to the end of the alleyway.  "I could have sworn that wasn't in my head..."

He moved cautiously down the narrow path, slipping a katana into his hand as he made his way over to the voices.  He could tell one was more dominant than the other, the second hardly audible.  "Potential recruits?"  He asked himself.  "Potential recruits.  Potential recruits and I win."  He decided to singsong, smiling.  "Now father won't want me dead, now the city won't want my head."  He did a little dance as the end of the alleyway grew nearer and nearer.

When he finally arrived, Swift eyed the two individuals in turn.  He watched and watched before a frown slipped onto his lips as he eyed the chaos unfold before him.  He could have sworn this was his job... what he'd come for...

"Listen, Pretty boy."  The bigger of the two said.  "If you don't give me a good reason for you being here soon, boss'll have a fun time beating it out of you.  You hear me?"  The threat was clear, and it made the other one squirm.

Swift wondered what the hell they were going on about, eyeing the knife to the smaller one's neck as it gleamed with droplets from the rain.  It really did begin to concern him when he finally saw the blood that trickled from a deepening wound, concern him when he saw the smaller struggle but fail to do anything about his assaulter.  His head shook, eyes flitting to the exit.

Swift kneeled a little bit, deciding to wait a while longer, wondering if he should really interfere.  Of course, Swift did things like this most of the time.  He left people bruised, broken... dead... but it never made him feel good.  Never gave him as much glory as it did this man.  He was just doing what he had to... doing what he had to to get by in a cruel world that would rather have him dead.