"Come back here you thieving brat!!" the man yelled.
Dave kept running down the empty streets hoping to blend in with the darkness of the night.
The man fumbled around the inner pocket of his tailcoat with his hands as he kept chasing the kid. Suddenly, he pulls out a brass revolver and aims at the kid.
"Now I'll show you what happens when a little smogger like you tries to get to the upper city!"
Bang bang
Dave turned his head and looked behind. People would always say that he had very keen eyesight, however Dave always knew he had something more than that; his amber eyes seemed to light up as time around him slowed down. He could see it all: He saw the aristocrat in a tailcoat and a half-top hat, standing there with a brass revolver in his hand; he saw the various pipes and steam exhausts around him; he saw the railings and the gigantic cliff that stood behind them; he saw two bullets flying towards him. Dave ducked, dodging the first bullet while also grabbing a nearby pipe and directly blocking the second bullet with it.
Dave chuckled seeing the wide-eyed man, better luck next time, I guess. Dave turned his head again, his escape now almost certain when his running abruptly came to a halt as he slammed into an unknown object. Looking up to inspect the object, Dave saw two men standing there, each wearing a pair of black boots, navy trousers leading to a double-breasted coat and a stovepipe hat. Brass details like a gun holster on the belt around the trousers and a badge on the left side of the men's chest reading: "Bridge City Police Department".
"Officers!! I'm so glad you happened to be here; this little thieving brat stole my wallet!"
One of the police men looked down at Dave, he had a moustache and a pipe on the side of his mouth.
"We can't even enjoy a smoke break around here!"
"He must be a smogger," The second officer remarked, "Look at his clothes, it's all rugs and his face is all dirty with coal."
Dave looked around to find a new escape but just when he was about to act, he saw the gloved fist of the officer, punching him straight to the face and throwing him down to the ground.
The three men towered above the child and started punching, kicking and spitting on him.
"That's what you get you little smogger thief!"
"You should've thought twice before interrupting our smoke break!"
"Another smogger trash to be thrown away!"
Dave screamed and cried as he did his best to protect himself while taking the beating but to no avail. He was used to this life. Being born in the lower sections of Bridge city, below the smog, meant that he could never escape poverty. He'd live down there where the sunlight doesn't reach, work at the coal mines and die of lung disease just like his father, either that or getting stabbed on the streets one day for a simple piece of bread.
Occasionally riding the lift and going to Bridge city was his only way of being helpful to his mother and brother. Being just thirteen years old and very malnourished he couldn't even hold a pickaxe, so he had to resort to stealing. As such, situations like this were always a possibility. Dave couldn't even count how many times he received beatings like this. He only hoped that he wouldn't break anything. His family couldn't even afford simple medicine, let alone hospital bills.
"I've always hated you Bridge city people, you always looked down at the poor," A voice echoed, "Still... Beating down a kid, you actually managed to piss me off"
The men stopped beating Dave momentarily and looked up towards where the voice was coming from.
There he stood, under a flickering streetlamp, a tall figure wearing a black trench coat. Beneath his trench coat, an intricate clockwork mechanism could be seen, seemingly sticking out of his left chest; it had various small pipes coming out of it and back into the man's body. He held a small brass pocket watch in his left hand and a weathered umbrella in his right hand. He had a gas mask and a pair of brass goggles on, making his face completely indistinguishable. Only his blonde hair could be seen.
"A Smog Raider!!"
The police men panicked and immediately pulled out their revolvers and aimed them at the figure.
Dave took a good look at the mysterious man as he was instantly overcome with a great sense of fear. A Smog Raider?!? He's a member of that ruthless group of pirates. What is he doing here? I already got unlucky enough to stumble upon the police but why this... I just wanted to get us some more food...
Click, Tic Toc Tic Toc...
The Smog Raider started a timer on his pocket watch. Suddenly, the clockwork mechanism on his chest started moving around, the gears shifting and the pipes pumping out steam almost like a mechanical heart that started beating for the first time. The man's eyes glowed behind his goggles as he rushed towards Dave and the rest.
"Fire!!" Shouted one of the police men.
Bang Bang Bang...
The sound of gunshots echoed around the empty neighborhood. Through the smell of gunpowder in the air, the Smog Raider ran straight ahead sticking his umbrella up front and opening it. The weathered umbrella was suddenly engulfed in a mysterious aura. The man started rapidly spinning his umbrella clockwise towards the incoming bullets but just when they made contact with it, they were shuttered. Sparks flied around as the police men kept shooting.
Bang Bang Bang...
The Smog Raider closed the distance between himself and the three men. He first grabbed the police man with the mustache; he retracted his umbrella and stabbed him from behind straight through the heart, killing him in an instant. The other police man kept shooting after a short reload but the Smog Raider used the dead body as a shield to protect himself from the gunshots. He grabbed the revolver that was about to fall off from the hand of the dead police man and pointed it at the other one while still using the body as a cover.
Bang
The bullet went straight between the police man's eyes killing him and spraying blood on the aristocrat who was shocked from everything that has been going on.
"Oh my god, please don't hurt me," The aristocrat tried to bargain, "I have money, I'm rich, I can give you everything but please, let me live"
The Smog Raider took the umbrella out of the body and swung it in the air to get rid of all the blood. He looked at the scared aristocrat and started walking towards him. The closer he got, the further back the aristocrat went. He had already dropped his gun a while ago because of the shock; he was unarmed. He kept walking backwards trying to reason with the pirate in front of him until he reached the very edge of the pavement. There stood the railing that separated the Bridge city from the great cliff: the "Abyss".
"Please I beg you!" The aristocrat cried out.
"Got to hell, you scum." With a very calm demeanor, the Smog Raider kicked the aristocrat on the chest, pushing him off the railing and into the Abyss.
The aristocrat screamed as he was falling, but his screams soon disappeared just like him, never to be seen again.
Click
The Smog Raider closed his pocket watch and put it back into his pocket. The clockwork mechanism on his chest stopped, and the glow of his eyes behind his goggles faded away as well. He looked down at Dave who was too stunned to even flinch; he was covered in bruises and blood from the earlier beating.
"Are you ok kid?"
Dave nodded, still afraid to talk to the man.
"That's good," The raider paused, "Your eyes, they are special."
How does he know about my eyes?
The Smog Raider looked at Dave before taking his goggles off. His deep blue eyes started glowing as he said. "Use them carefully, this power isn't something to be proud of but something to be afraid of."
The pirate climbed the railing and opened his weathered umbrella. He took one last look at Dave before jumping off the cliff. Dave rushed towards the railing to see what happened when the man suddenly flied upwards, using his umbrella like a hot air balloon. Dave watched as the man kept going higher and eventually reaching the upper section of Bridge city and disappearing into the night.