The Nemesis

Frank pulled his hood up so it covered more of his face. He'd been following this group of tourists for a few hours, waiting for them to drop something. Eventually one of them put down their bag to take photos of the large statues that decorated the streets. He casually strolled over to join the group, pretending to listen to the guide. When the group went to move on, he picked up the bag and walked in the other direction. It would be a while before the man noticed his bag was gone, but he wanted to be long gone before then. Stealing like this could land him on a prison station or in the mines of a planet in the Dark System.

Frank walked for about a half an hour, making sure he was nowhere near the tourists or their transport. He slipped into an alley and began going through the bag. There were a few credits, enough for a week of food, as well as camera batteries and some other knick knacks. He took the credits and batteries and stuffed them in his pockets. He put the rest back in the bag and stepped onto the street again. He walked back to where the tourists were and placed the bag at the base of the statue the man had been photographing before. He then simply walked away. He supposed this is why he hadn’t been caught yet. Take the bag, take the money and anything else that he can use, then put the bag back where it came from. The tourists will just think they left it there by accident and the cops will only question those who were around when they found it again. Idiots.

He'd been doing this for a while now. The stealing thing. He learnt how to pickpocket when he was 6. He stole his first transport craft when he was 10. Went to a detention planet for the first time when he was 10 after crashing the stolen transport craft. It was worth it though considering all the people he met on the planet, and all the skills he picked up. The down side was that he got used to having a roof over his head in those months and his return to Hadron was hard to adjust to. Back to living in alleys and any small covered space he could manage. He'd lived like that since he was 3. He thinks. He couldn’t be sure because there's no one to tell him otherwise. He doesn't recall family of any kind even though he obviously had some at some point in time.

Frank was now 16, according to his police record and can't even think of getting a job on Hadron until he turned 18 thanks to the stupid laws. He could move to another planet but that required money which he didn't have. If he managed to even get close to an off world transport it would be a miracle. He sighed and lowered his head. Frank started heading towards the market district. He could sell the batteries for a few credits and get some food, maybe even find a crawl space next to somewhere warm. He felt a drop on his nose, perfect, of course it started raining. He began jogging so that he wouldn't get drenched and then wouldn't need to worry about getting sick again.

Frank reached the markets after he was well and truly drenched. His jacket was heavy with water and his lips were blue with the cold. He slowed to a walk once he reached the stalls. It was hard to navigate around all the traders at the best of times, but the rain meant that everyone was rushing to get somewhere else. He dodged people carrying food and other items you would expect to see in a market. It was as he got deeper into the dense market that the products began to change. Items changed from fresh foods and souvenirs to ration packs and ship parts, still legal of course. Even deeper in the market sold illegal ray guns, stolen property, basically anything illegal could be found. The police hadn't be able to shut it down because by the time they reached that part of the market, all the traders would be gone. Word travelled fast on these circles.

He came to a stop at a small blue tent. Behind a table with various knives and guns sat a large man with orange hair and black eyes.
"Piggy!", Frank greeted.
The man looked up from the knife he was toying with and smiled.
"Frank! Haven't seen you in a while. Keeping out of trouble I trust", he winked at Frank.
"Of course", he replied. "I have some things you may be interested in", he pulled the batteries he stole out his pocket and held them up to Piggy.
Piggy inspected the batteries and mumbled to himself.
"How much do you want for 'em?", he asked Frank.
"20 credits."
"That's expensive."
"They're fully charged. It's worth it", Frank reasoned.
Piggy squinted at the batteries before nodding and handing over 20 credits.

As annoying and stubborn as Piggy was, he was the closest Frank had to a friend. He helped Frank sell the things he stole, helped him when he needed a place to hide from cops and even helped him when he was sick. Most of the time those things came at a price, but it was close enough to a friend for Frank.

Frank pocketed the credits and turned to leave when Piggy called him back.
"Watch your back Frank", he warned.
"I always do Piggy".
"That isn't enough anymore. People have been asking about you, looking for information", Piggy said with a look of worry on his face.
Frank's eyes widened, no one has ever asked about him.
"Who was it?", he asked.
Piggy shrugged, "don't know. They didn't know your name, just had a picture of you and were asking around. They were armed though. I told them I didn't know you but other people might have said something".
Frank nodded and thanked Piggy. If what he was saying was true, then Frank needed to think about moving around more often. But before that, he needed food considering he hadn't eaten in several days.

The rain picked up again as he left the markets, making him run to stay remotely dry. He stopped to lean against the wall of a convenience store catching his breath. Frank tosses his hood off his head, it was heavy with all the rain and making him even more cold. He closed his eyes so he could listen to the sounds of everything around him. The rain hitting the pavement. The hum of the neon signs belonging to different shops. The buzz of a charging gun..... He snapped his eyes open towards the noise and gulped.
"Hey there pretty", said the man pointing a blue ray gun at his head.

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The man with the gun stood unmoving with a smirk plastered in his face. It took Frank a few seconds to notice that there were three other men with ray guns behind the one talking to him. He watched as the other men entered the store and heard shots being fired. Frank completely froze, barely moving his chest as he breathed.
"You aren't gonna give us any trouble now, are you sweetheart?".
The man had a large black hood that covered their eyes. They were a few inches taller than Frank but the gun made them even more intimidating. Frank slowly shook his head so that the man knew he wouldn't do anything to hinder him and his friends.
"Perfect. But I'm afraid I can't just take your word, so I'm gonna have to ask you to step into the store here", he said as he gestured to the shop he and his friends were robbing.
Frank's eyes widened at the man's words. He couldn't expect Frank to just walk in there while the others were shooting. The man, frustrated by Frank's hesitation, stepped forward to jam the barrel of the gun under his chin.
"Now listen here, I don't have a lot of time right now. So if you don't do as I say I will shoot you where you stand. Are we clear?", he snarled.
Frank nodded as much as he could with the gun firmly pressed into his skin.
"Good", he said. "Now move", and he shoved Frank towards the doors.

Frank stumbled for a few steps after being thrown off balance but recovered as he approached the doors. They slid open when he reached them, but he froze when he looked inside. Shelves had been knocked over, their contents covering the floor. Frank couldn't see the shopkeeper but he wasn't sure if that was good or bad. Frank could see two men, one with a green gun taking credits from the register while another with a red gun stood guard. They nodded to the man behind Frank and received a nod in return. The two men smirked at Frank and he gulped, his stomach feeling worse by the second. The man with the blue gun grabbed Frank's shoulder and steered him towards the back room, leaving Frank with no choice but to comply.

As Frank was pushed into the back room, another man came into view. This one had a yellow gun, and Frank decided to call each man by the colour of their gun. Yellow looked up at Frank and sent a questioning look to Blue. After a nod from Blue, Yellow smirked at Frank. Frank was really starting to freak out now.
"Is this it?", asked Blue.
"That's all of it", replied Yellow.
He was crouched over a crate but Frank couldn't see what was inside it.

"Seal it up and empty that one", Blue instructed as he pointed to a large crate a few feet away.
Yellow obliged and sealed the crate he had been looking in before tipping over the other crate. The contents spilled out, sending various food items all over the floor. Frank felt Blue step out from behind him and bolted towards the door. He made it into the front of the store before being grabbed by Red and thrown to the floor. Green stepped out from behind the counter and grabbed one of Frank's arms while Red took the other. He struggled but the men were too strong for him. They dragged him back into the room with Blue and Yellow. The last thing he felt was his head connecting with the bottom of the crate as he was dropped and sealed inside.

Notes

This is a story I've been working on for a while. It wasn't originally written as a fanfic but the characters suit mcr.

Thanks to my friend for proofreading everything

Let me know what you think and if I should put more up on this site!