Chapter 51 Posturing, The Right Way. (1/2)

Laz stopped just before he set his foot on the fire escape. As he thought about it, he realized that maybe he shouldn't just pop out and start swinging. After all, considering his size and face, he definitely wasn't going to look scary in the slightest. Luckily, he learned one very important lesson from Tony. When your going to do commit a crime, don't let them see your face.

He quickly slipped his mask on from out of his backpack and slid the backpack aside. He had almost forgotten he was carrying it since the recent changes he had been going through made it's weight practically unnoticeable.

As he took a minute to adjust it, he couldn't help but wondering how he would look at the moment. He wasn't exactly dressed up like a hired thug as he was wearing faded jeans and an old Journey tee shirt his dad had left in the apartment he was now living in. It didn't exactly scream intimidation.

Depending on what he was going to get paid, Laz felt he should probably get some new clothes. He probably would need to dress the part if anyone was going to take him seriously.

In the time it took for Laz to slide the mask on and ponder his fashion sense, Kennedy had been surrounded by the three wannabe mobsters. They looked like they walked out of a bad 50's Noir movie and smelled like they were competing in who could wear the most body spray without gassing themselves to death. Kennedy couldn't help but take a step back and cover her mouth. She couldn't help but feel nauseated by these over dressed assholes.

”Hey little girl, did you forget what we told you?” The slightly shorter and somewhat balding man in the lead asked while looking at Kennedy with a rather twisted smile.

”Well, if it isn't Angelo. No, I didn't forget, I just don't give a shit about you and your two jerking buddies here,” Kennedy replied while taking a few more steps back. She couldn't help but wonder why anyone would want to smell that strongly.

”Hey boss! This little thing has quite the mouth on her huh?” said the rather large and roundish guy on Angelo's left.

”Yeah boss. It would be a shame to let such an active mouth go to waste. How's about we take a little interest before chasing her out of town, huh?” Added the tall and slightly muscular man on Angelo's right while sporting a evil glint in his eye.

Angelo thought about it for a second before looking straight at Kennedy.

”Well, what do you say little thing? How's about giving me and my guys a bit of service before you get the fuck out of here? I might even throw in a couple of bucks if i'm really satisfied.”

Kennedy wasn't exactly dressed like a teenager at the moment and these guys probably thought she was quite a bit older than 16, but they probably wouldn't have cared either way. For guys like this, they got what they wanted, especially because they were part of a rather large gang in the nearby city.

Kennedy had been backing up out of reflex as the guys were getting closer and closer. Although she could have just ran, her still normal instincts were taking hold despite her trying to calm herself down. She couldn't help but wonder where her backup was since it seemed like he was taking his sweet time before handling these guys.

As the guys were almost within touching distance of Kennedy, they suddenly heard an impact and felt the ground shake slightly, followed by the cracking of pavement. Laz had just jumped from the top of the building and landed in a half kneeling position with his palm smacking down, causing his stance to have a tripod-like support.

'Are you fricking kidding me?' was Kennedy's only thought. 'He could have just jumped down normally after having come down slowly, but no. This little kid decided to pull off a superhero landing.'

Although she was a bit angry at his delay and posturing, she couldn't help but laugh quietly as well. Despite the stupidity of it, it was actually kind of cute. Too many people care way too much about their image.

'No matter how strong he is, he has to be hurting a hell of a lot right now.'

And Kennedy was right. As Laz was squatting in the center of the circle of cracked payment, he wanted nothing more than to scream out.

'Fuck, fuck, fuckity fuck...' Laz couldn't help but swear in his head while he gritted his teeth and endured. That was definitely one of the dumbest things he had done, even if it had seemed like a good idea at the time. He was trying to make an impression to scare the guys, or to impress Kennedy. He wasn't exactly sure which.