Even in the depths of the gnarly streets of the town, the salty sea-breeze followed and rejuvenated the young blonde. He stopped to take a deep gulp of air, this sure was different from the other towns he had visited. The man had been here a few days already, scouting out the location... The beach, the docks and the lighthouse. He had a keen interest in the Nakamura mansion and the Blue Pegasuses head quarters, but those attractions would have to wait and give way to the more mundane tasks first.

The easiest way to familiarize oneself with a town, especially if one sought a little leeway with their more sneaky endeavors, was to befriend the friendly neighborhood law-enforcement. Victor knew just the guy for this, and so he was on a coveting mission. The young blonde had been watching the detective from afar for quite a while now. Kenji Maki... Eager, helpful and well liked. Victor just needed a way to impress that man and things would fall into place. This was one of the few things, that the boy had learned from his father, unbeknownst to the old man of course.

A can of spray paint rolled towards his feet, clunking against the uneven stone. He picked it up, shaking it a little to see if there was any paint left... There wasn't. He scanned the walls in the alleyway, the bright paint destroying the smooth and even wall. He wasn't too proactive about legal things, but vandalism wasn't something he condoned either... The boy was cursed with an aesthetic sense and few things matched his standards, the town of Hargeon was one of those few. That alone, wouldn't have been enough to motivate his actions, but there was an ulterior motive here. As he hatched his simple plan, a cheshire grin tugged the corner of his lips.

The boy followed the path that the can had taken, towards another alley, closer to the main square. Sure enough, he found the culprits there. He watched them for a bit, they must have been in their mid-teens. Two boys and a girl... One of the boys was a bit bigger than the other, the girl seemed to be watching him with much adoration, her finger nervously poised over the button of her can, her lower lip between her teeth...  Then there was the smaller boy, with a frown etched on his face, he painted with a certain ferocity, like he was trying to out do someone, between his short paused, the tiny guy would throw nervous glances at the girl, as though looking for approval. Victor chortled as the situation became rather apparent. Now he just had to pick his target... Not a very difficult decision.

He walked towards the kids, the boys continued painting inappropriate symbols on the wall, while the girl began outlining a heart. Noticing where they were headed, he just went and stood against the area that they were bound to decorate next. Silently leaned his shoulder against the wall, with his arms folded, facing them he waited.

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Eventually, the trio reached him. The smaller kid sure had a point to prove, he squared his shoulders and waved the can in front of Victor's face. 'Ey! What do you think you're doing? You're in our way!' he said, with as much strength as his tiny little self could muster. Victor looked down at him, with narrowed eyes. 'Am I in your way, or are you in mine.... tough guy?' The blonde responded, completely unfazed. The younger kid looked up quizzically, which caused the larger guy to shove him out of the way. 'Take your smart mouth somewhere else.' the other said, trying to sound older than he was. 'Yeah!' the girl just cheered. 'You... You do that...'

Victor cocked his head and looked at their art, with ease, he stood his ground. 'Your heart doesn't really fit in, does it?' he said, toying with them now. 'Who is it for? This lad here?' he asked, inclining his head towards the smaller of the two, already aware that wasn't the case, but it caused a blush to creep onto the face of the tinier one. 'Or is it the other one?' he said, staring the girl down with his piercing red eyes. This time, the girl tore her gaze away, biting her lower lip harder, it was her turn to redden.

'Beat it man, it is three to one, do you really want to make this ugly?' the larger kid replied again. 'Do you?' Victor responded casually. The smaller one seemed to have recovered from his embarrassment and held up the can he was painting with as a weapon. 'Yeah... We can fight you.' he said. Victor clicked his tongue impatiently... 'Probably not with those, you see, the contents of those cans are highly flammable and I am a fire mage... So, they're basically just ammunition for me.' Victor said shrugging. This piece of information put a damper on things. 'Really?!' the girl exclaimed, the fear in her voice already apparent.

'Prove it!' the smaller one said. Victor tightened his fist and opened it again dramatically... But nothing happened... But the trio flinched, hich made him laugh. 'Are you guys sure? I don't have too much control over it yet...' he said, somewhat honestly. 'I can't promise you all will make it out unscathed, especially with those cans lying around. You wouldn't want anyone getting hurt now, would you?' he said, staring at the girl again. She whimpered 'Guys, I think he is serious...' she said softly and slowly knelt to pick up the sack of spray-paint cans, she dropped her own into it and then rattled it in front of the larger boy... After a tense moment and much hesitation, the bigger boy dropped his can into the sack too. The smallest showed the most reluctance, but the worried look on the girl's face weakened him, he wanted to be good enough for her after all...

The girl offered the sack to Victor, who quickly grabbed it, victoriously. 'Thank you, now beat it.' They didn't scamper away instantly... Both the boys stared at him warily as the grumpily walked away... The girl slunk away swiftly though. They were tough little shits and if they weren't in the middle of the town, Victor would have resorted to demonstrations, more than just these mind games, simply for the kicks, but unfortunately, the odds were stacked against his inclinations.

As the kids walked off, from the corner of his eye, he noticed Detective Kenji making his way towards him. Hook, line and sinker. 'Thank you sir, you did a great service to this town, I was just about to get to those kids, but I was a bit occupied... But I think I can find some way to compensate you...' the man said, reaching into the pocket of his coat Victor was offered a small pouch of jewels, in exchange, he gave the cop the sack of cans, smiling cordially. 'No problem at all...'

It was a good start...

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=Exit=