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[h3][b]Pacific Point[/b]- [i]Fensdale Apartment Complex [/i][/h3]
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	Night feel across the city. Draping the street outside the old Fensdale Apartments in a blanket of darkness. The beaten asphalt road and worn concrete sidewalks it overlooked became obscured, almost deformed with the coming of the night. Battered street lamps lining the road cast aged orange light from their dying candescent bulbs. Their illumination was menial, creating little more than small orange ponds of light amongst the dark.
 
	Rain fell across the city. The wetness and saturation hung in the air, giving even the crumbling bricks of the apartment a slick and glossy look in the dim light. Droplets struck the rooftops, ground, and fire escape in light sheets. Their pattering against the various materials unleashed a quiet song into the still city night. 
 
	It was the sound of rain that masked the opening of one of the apartment windows and the squeak of boots on the fire escape. A young boy, no older than thirteen, slide out of the window and closed it behind him. He was shrouded in the darkness of the fire escape but as he approached the railing, the light of the street below illuminated his face.
 
	Garfield “Gum” Ubally Miller Ballsworth’s maroon eyes dilated. The perky feline ears sticking through his mess of blue hair twitched as he picked up the sounds of distant traffic, shouts from nearby apartments, and the occasional gunshot through the drowning fall of water around him. A giddy smile cross his face and though the cloth around his mouth hid it, the long thin blue tail sticking out the back of his pants made his joy clear.
 
	It undulated in excitement, swaying and waving without the boy even realizing what it was doing. 
 
	[color=48D1CC]“This is so awesome!”[/color] Gum said aloud to himself, only barely restraining his voice as he curled his fingers around the railing of the fire escape. It’d been ages since had managed to slip out of the house. Before he’d gotten sick and sprouted his new parts, sneaking out at night had been a breeze. The moment started sporting ears and a tail was when his parents, even his little sister, seemed to watch and listen to his every move.
 
	During the day he couldn’t leave the house without a hat all but glued to his head and his tail wrapped around his waist like a belt. It was suffocating and Gum had waited for a chance to simply be by himself. That night his mother had all but collapsed after returning home from a late shift. His father had passed out on the couch like he typically did and his normally vigilant sister had crashed after Gum had ‘shared’ his stash of overly sugary candy.
 
	[color=48D1CC]“Now that they’re out of my hair I can finally have some fun. Let’s see just what I can do…”[/color]
 
	Throwing his legs over the railing Gum hung from the fire escape. He felt the cool rain pelt his face and looked down. His family lived on the fifth floor of a six story apartment. Being bad at math Gum wasn’t entirely sure how much distance there was between him and the ground, but the queasiness in his stomach made it feel like a lot.
 
	[color=48D1CC][i]“Come on. Can’t chicken out now. All superheroes can do crazy stuff. The only way you’ll find out what you can do is if you try. Just let go, drop to the ground, and…”[/i][/color] Gum hesitated, flicking his eyes back to the pavement below as his heart began to audible beat in his ears. [color=48D1CC]“On second thought maybe dropping from one of the lower-”[/color]
 
	The young cat boy shifted his hands on the railing, only for the wet metal to slip from his grasp. In an instant he was falling, dropping like a stone. His stomach felt like it was worming it’s way into his throat as an invisible hand dragged him towards the cold, hard, unforgiving earth. Adrenaline spiked through his veins and in a panic Gum lashed out.
 
	With blinding speed one of his free hands caught the railing of the fire escape below where he had fallen, his stomach and legs colliding with the side of the fire escape as his descent was stopped. He winced at the impact and breathed heavily, only barely suppressing a shout as he clung to the railing with shaking hands.
 
	It was only when he realized just how easy it was to hang from the railing that his panic died. Glancing down at the levels of the fire escape below him Gum reaffirmed his grip, took a deep breath, and intentionally let go. Like before he fell but this time he was ready and with quick fingers he grabbed the next set of railing with a dull groan of the metal from his wait.
 
	Barely wasting a second Gum threw himself downwards to the next level of the fire escape managing to land on the railing with his feet and kick off. In three quick motions the thirteen year old descended the fire escape and hit the ground beneath the apartment feet first.
 
Breathing heavily Gum looked up, amazed at just how his starting point seemed at the bottom. What would have taken him a minute or two to climb down using the stairs he had cleared in a few seconds. Heart still hammering behind his ribs the young boy threw up his arms and cried out.
 
	[b][color=48D1CC]“YEAH! I REALLY DO HAVE SUPER POWERS!”[/color][/b]
 
	His excitement was short lived was he quickly cupped his mouth, remembering he was supposed to be sneaking out and quickly began to move down the street as lights on the second floor apartment began to come on. Running, boots slapping the wet concrete, Gum threw out his hands and did a cartwheel. He’d never taken gymnastics, but his muscles, the very fibers of his body carried him with a newfound ease he only now recognized. 
 
	Gum ran, pushing himself harder and harder until he cut through the rain and the night like a knife. He moved faster than an olympic athlete, occasionally jumping over parked cars and swinging from hanging street signs, laughing like the little boy he still was. It wasn’t long before his ears began to wildly twitch, picking up shouting, breaking glass, and then a series of rapid gun shots.
 
	[color=48D1CC]“That definitely sounds like a job for uh, well me I guess.”[/color]
 
	Determining the direction of the noise Gum ran, legs, and lungs pumping as he closed distance with what he had heard. From the noises alone the whole thing smelt like a late night robbery in progress. As he approached the young boy expected to see a ransacked jewelry store, or a gas station, or an overturned armored card with fat bags of money spread out across the pavement.
 
	Instead Gum slid to a stop in the poorly lit parking lot, staring at the shattered windows of a large yet unappealing looking store. His eyes flicked up to the large white neon sign that loomed over top of the store front itself.
 
[h2][color=FFFACD][Center]BED, BATH, AND BEYOND. OPEN 24/7.[/center][/color][/h2]
 
	[color=48D1CC]“Oh you've got to be kidding..."[/color]