Payne waved at his Mother as he entered the flower shop that doubled as their home with a limp, spots on his body showing signs of bruising. His face had the worst of it though, and his Mom took notice rather quickly, “Oh… Payne… What happened out there?” To which he responded with a shrug, “Ah… Not much Mom, some punks were harassing Miss Alvado. I got the message through though, I think.”

“You didn’t hit them did you?” His Mother responded with that ‘scolding’ tone, to which Payne groaned in response, “Oh, c’mon Ma. You know me better than that. I just let them beat up on me until they realized they were in the wrong.” He set the bag he was carrying on the counter, “I do wonder sometimes if this is the right way to go about things though.”

“It’s what your Father would’ve wanted, dear.”

-An hour prior-

Payne walked down one of the many decrepit streets of Old Town, a bag of groceries in his right hand. It was starting to get late, which meant the gangs and criminals would start coming out soon enough. He shoved his free hand into his jacket pocket and took in the sunset, one of the few things that Old Town had to offer.

“Boss said you ain’t paid yet, hag.” A nasally voice spoke somewhere nearby, along with the clank of metal hitting the cement.

The gangs were beginning to become more and more prominent in this section of the city, and Payne knew that all too well. He looked towards the direction of the voice, and saw one of his elderly neighbors being harassed by three younger men. No more than teenagers. It was a shame that their lives lead to this, but Payne couldn’t really blame them. Most kids don’t have the best upbringing here, and that leads to a downward spiral.

He started his walk over to the group of people, “Yo, kids. Knock it off, yeah? Miss Alvado has never missed a payment to your joke of a gang, get lost.” Usually his size alone was enough to get most people to scurry off, but these kids were cocky and had a variety of weapons, “Oh yeah? What are you gonna do about it, hot shit?”

What a lame insult.

Payne set the bag off to the side, and walked closer to the group, “Nothing. But I’m gonna stand here and wait til’ you guys get the hell out of here.” He turned to the elderly woman, “Go ahead and go inside, I’ll give you a knock when these guys are gone.” To which she promptly obliged, going back inside her house with a small click of the lock moments afterward.

“What you just gonna block our way? We’ll beat you down asshole! Get ‘im!” The leader of the group came first, swinging his metal bat straight for Paynes midsection. It elicited nothing but a small grunt from Payne. While on the outside it seemed like they had done no damage, it was far from true. He was just good at keeping a neutral expression, but he was in immense pain from the blow, “That all you got?”

The leader stepped back in awe, “U-Uh…” The other two didn’t stop however, and Payne got a fist full of brass knuckles to the face shortly followed after by a wooden bat to the leg. He contorted his face a bit in pain, but inhaled deeply and gritted his teeth. Why was this fair? Were these kids seriously going to learn a lesson from this?

Payne looked down at the closest one and grabbed them by collar, immediately headbutting him right on the nose and throwing him backward. Sorry Dad, but sometimes rules are meant to be broken. He looked at the other two, who were unsure what to do at this point, “Run back to your boss, tell them she’s under my protection now. Got a problem with that?”

The two shook their head quickly and began to scurry off, shortly followed after by the third who was caressing his now bleeding nose.

As soon as they turned the corner, Payne allowed himself to fall to the ground holding his hurt leg. It was almost certain they at least cracked a bone, and putting weight on it sent searing pain through his body. He leaned back and took a deep breath, knocking on the door behind him, “You’re clear, Miss.”

A small familiar click and the door opened back up, followed by a gasp of surprise, “Oh, Payne… Are you alright?” He dismissed the question with a wave, “Just peachy." He said with a slightly exasperated tone, "They shouldn’t be bothering you anymore. If they do, give me a call.”

“Thank you… I already paid them this month, they’ll never stop being greedy. Is there any way I could repay you?”

Payne chuckled, “That’s the way things work around here, unfortunately.” He thought for a moment, looking down at his leg and back up to Miss Alvado.

“A bottle of something strong would be great.”