This is a story inspired by an art chain done by Nekophy and Anger. It's my interpretation of what happened after they left the shop. Hope you guys enjoy, I did plenty of research to try to keep this story as canon as possible.
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"And then he said, 'Well, that couldn't have been me, I was asleep!'," Goth quipped, earning a snort shortly followed by laughter from Palette.
The two skeletons were currently walking down the sidewalk together after coming from a horror movie, which had a less than pleasant outcome, and a trip to a local sweets shop that had resulted in a corny little heart-to-heart but was overall enjoyable.
Now, the pair were walking around, chatting about random things and making jokes. Though part of Palette's mind was still in the conversation back at the shop.
Goth has things he's afraid of as well... knives, huh? But he also said he was afraid of losing me.
He scrunched up his face.
Maybe... Nah.
"-ette? Helloooo, Earth to Palette!" the smaller skeleton called out, waving his left hand in front of the other's face.
The skeleton jumped, pulled from his thoughts, "Sorry, what did you say?"
Goth's single eye light crinkled in concern as he stared at his companion, "Are you alright? You got really quiet. That's not like you... if you're still feeling upset from the movie, we can go-"
The starry-eyed skeleton cut him off with a smile, thumping his fist against his chest, "Nah, I wasn't thinking of that, you don't have to worry about me! I'm already way over that, so let's keep hanging out!"
Goth blinked, giggling at his display as they passed an alley, "Alright, if you're sure. Maybe we can-"
A low voice rumbled, "Well, lookie what we got here..."
Both monsters froze in their tracks as a grizzly bear monster sidled around the corner. The guy was easily two times the pair's height, wearing a red vest, dark blue jeans, and sneakers. The pair didn't doubt that his dark grey fur was hiding plenty of muscle.
He didn't give off a very reassuring aura, either.
Goth looked as if he was going to tell the guy off, but Palette touched his shoulder, giving a slight shake of his head.
A little diplomacy will do the trick, I'm sure of it!
Palette walked up to the monster, pushing down his nerves as he realized just how big they were. "Hi... um... could you move, please? We're trying to get through and... um...," he faltered when his request was met with a glare, "y... you're blocking the sidewalk."
The bear reached into his vest, huffing with an incredulous tone, "Are you really that dense? Do you really not understand what's happening here?" Palette's eye sockets widened as a knife was pulled out and brandished toward him, "This is a mugging. You're not going anywhere until we get what we want."
Palette took a shaky step away as mugger laughed, pointing the weapon over the skeleton's shoulder, "Looks like your buddy there gets the point."
Risking a glance behind him, Palette's soul shuddered in his chest at the sight of his best friend.
The small skeleton's posture was rigid, like he wanted to move but physically couldn't. He was visibly shaking, both arms pressed to his chest in a guarded fashion, the right hand grasping his scarf in a death-grip while his legs looked as if they could barely hold him up. His eye sockets were matching voids as tears began to build up around the edges, but Palette could tell his empty gaze was focused on the knife before them.
He looks absolutely petrified.
Inching backward while keeping the bear in his sights, Palette slowly placed himself in between the mugger and his friend.
Goth won't be able to fight like this. No matter how scary this guy is... even if I don't want to get hurt, I have to protect him.
"Back up," Palette muttered to the smaller skeleton over his left shoulder. He started moving backward himself, relieved to find Goth following his lead. They'd nearly made it to the alley entrance, but the burly monster interrupted.
"Leaving so soon? My friends might not like that much."
Shuffling noises echoed from the alley. Another glance behind them revealed the appearance of three more monsters: a horned blue demon, a thick green snake, and a white rabbit. Two humans were also present, a red-headed spiky-haired one and a brunette one.
Each one had a sinister look to them, placing themselves in a way that cut off any escape.
So this is what the bear meant earlier when he said 'we'...
"Look," Palette gulped, keeping his eye lights on the leader while listening for movement behind him, "we... we don't have that much money... at least... not enough to make this worth your time. Please, just let us go and we can-"
"Well, that's gonna be a problem," The grizzly interrupted, waved the knife a bit with a mock-disappointed frown on his muzzle, "I think you're holding back on us. It looks like you both just need a little convincing!"
Both skeletons tensed as the mugger turned assailant closed the distance, raising his knife before slashing in a downward arc.
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Word Count: 855