~1995~

[~POW~ The scene opened up with a furios hit. A young Slash Tannon took a knee and grasped his face. The wet, hard cement felt like hell to his bloody knee. The dirt was swirling down his hairy legs along with the blood and sweat. Slash looked up, a tear dropped from his eye which blended in with the rain that was trickling down his face. His head left his small, yet rough, aged by experience, bare hands.]

[His face was so...Young. His dark eyes were the sorriest, most sad sight you could ever come across in your life. A small, barely notable patch of dark, tangled peach fuzz was coming from his chin. His eye lye blackened by the powerful blow he just endured. The camera goes to what he can see.]

[A small group of guys were in his view. The group was small but the guys... Were not. Their size varied from six foot to about six, five. They stood tall and strong. Slash kneeled small and out numbered.*

'Just give it up.' one kid remarked.

'A necklace isn't worth what you're going to get if you don't give it to us.' another one shouted.

[But still there call were unheard. Slash stood to his feet. Fists clenched, eyes glaring. He leaned back, and gave it everything he got and dropped one of the biggest guys, but like a pack of dogs on a three legged cat they jumped upon the young Slash Tannon. Painful minutes passed, which to Slash felt like eternity...]

[The kids stood back to their feet. One with an older, yet shiney gold necklace with a cross pendant on it, dangling from his right, clenched fist. Slash's face was swollen, black, and bloody. His fist touched the ground and he brought himself up to his knees.]

'Stay down kid.' One of them exclaimed.

[But he didn't listen, he hoisted himself to his feet, and after a quick stumbling session he managed to stand up straight, and walk to the group. He stood there, breathing heavy, and losing quite a bit of blood.]

'Never...' Slash cried out and with malice in his heart cocked his fist back. It was clenched so tight the knuckles, which were later reported to be broke, turned ghost white, but as soon as he put the fist back, it dropped. In a helpless notion his eyes rolled to the back of his head, and then his lids touched gently together, and he dropped to his knee.

[The kids looked on, ashamed more than anything. The biggest guy which Slash clocked shoved the gold chain into his pocket. They stood there for a minute...]

'You should have just gave it to me kid...' he exclaimed.

'Yea ese' it woulda' been much easier.' Another kid answered.

'I don't know why the chain was that important anyways. Is it worth this? Is it?' Grabbing the young Slash by the chin and making his expressionless bloody face look up towards his own.

'Maybe you've learned your lesson, you don't mess with the demons.'

[With that Slash's eye lids pried apart, and he let out an almost girlish scream as he lunged forward with a left hand. The kid hit the concrete hard. Slash jumped to his feet, and the other guys instead of rushing him, stood there. Three of them faced off against him. In what seemed to be a stare down.]

'My chain...' Slash said.

[The kids looked at him like he was insane. They began to walk away.]

'Get back here.' Slash cried.

[To no avail the kids kept walking away. Slash repeated those words, but the kids just kept walking. Slash, now enraged more than ever. The blood bubbled from his nose as he took powerful steps towards them. His heart pounding, and his stomache in knot. He sped up, and gripped the kids shoulder tightly with his left hand.]

[The kid turned and socked him in the face with a hard right hook. Slash again went down, but this time an 'onlooker' came from the side. He was an elder man. His beard was long, and his head shaved close like ghandi.]

'The kid's chain...' The man said as he puts his hand out.

[The kids looked at the man like he was just as insane as Slash. The difference was that this man didn't look like the type of insane you'd like to mess with. The bigger guy cleared his throat, but didn't speak a word. He continued walking.]

[The man swiftly followed...Minutes passed....]

[Slash was on his knees again, his face buried in his hands, tears were falling from his hands. The rain had stopped. Fog was now filling the streets and all you could hear was the hard sobs of Slash Tannon...]

[A hand grazed his shoulder. Although distraught he popped to his feet, and spun around, he let a wild swing in the air, but it collided in mid air with an open hand in which he grabbed Slash's wrist. It was the old man. He was standing there, one hand placed on his own back, and the other holding Slash's wrist.]

'They look broken...' The man said.

'I don't care.' Slash stubbornly said.

[His fingers were purple, bloody, and almost mangled out of place. The man looked over his fingers, and then circled him looking at the rest of him. His torn clothes hung low like rags on a homeless person...]

'Come with me.' The man said as he began to walk away.

'No.' Slash replied.

[The man didn't stop. He kept his pace, and kept going. As he came to a corner, he didn't even look back to see if Slash was following. Slash stood there for a minute, at first baffled, but then his painful body grew weak, and his brain became curious.]

[He dashed off towards the area where the man was. He turned the corner and stopped dead in his tracks. The man stood there....]

'Mmm Hmm.' was all the man spoke as he kept walking.

[Slash kept following but his eyes were becoming tired. They were swollen, and barely visible. The man finally went into a back alley. Slash was hesitant, but finally came around. Down the alley were a few guys gathered around a weak fire that was ablaze in a rusty burning barrel.]

[The man opened an old, solid steal door. He walked in and left it open waiting for Slash. Slash's hands grabbed ahold of the cold, steal knob. He leaned on the door as he went into the place, and closed the door behind him. Inside what he found was the last thing he expected.]

[His eyes gazed forward, and in his sights he saw a decent size room. It was about sixty feet by fifty feet, and the ceiling was high. In the middle of the room sat a boxing ring. Not a professional boxing ring like you'd see on ESPN, but an old boxing ring. Where the ropes were acctually made of just that, and the posts were metal rods that stuck up high. They were rather rusty, but Slash had never seen such a sight, and to him they were 'cool'.]

'Is it important.' The man said startling Slash.

'What?' Slash replied.

'Heh, if you don't know, never mind.' The man said.

[But Slash was anxious to know what he was talking about.*

'No, what?' Slash said. His voice barely audible.

[The man walked to a back room. Slash decided to look around while he wasn't around. He went over to the ring, and ran his fingers gently over the ropes. He pulled on them, but they were so tight he couldn't move them. He walked around the ring, and stopped by a small, black, three legged table.]

[In his hand he took the pair of maroon gloves that lay there next to eachother. They were old and weak. So worn out the one had tape covering a small half inch whole that let the stuffing out.]

'Your size?' The man said making Slash jump again.

'I don't know.' Replied Slash.

[The man stepped towards Slash. He had an old metal first aid kit. He sat down by the table and set the kit down on the table. He unfastened the metal, semi rusty buckles on it. He pulled out a small roll of medical tape.]

'Hand.' The man said.

[Slash extended his arm. The man looked over it again closely, and that let out a little chuckle.]

'What's so funny?' Slash asked.

[The man didn't answer as he taped the kunckles tightly. Probably something that isn't reccomended by the medical professionists, but it was something that some of the old school boxers did.]

'You've got heart.' The man said.

[Slash didn't know how to reply. Infact he really didn't know what he meant.]

'So, is it important?' The man asked again.

[Still puzzled Slash replied the only way he could.]

'Is what so important?' He replied again.

[The man stood to his feet again.]

'Guess not...' The man said as he began to stand up.

[Slash, sick of being toyed with grabbed the mans arm harshly, and pulled him back to his seat in a quick movement. The man sat silent, as did Slash. Dead silence went through the room. Finally Slash released the mans arm. The man reached into his pocket, and pulled his hand out seconds later. He put his arm out. From his fist fell the chain with the cross. The cross dangled freely in the air... Slash snatched it up rather quickly.]

'What's it's meaning?' The man asked.

[Slash's eyes met his. A small tear dropped from Slash's right eye. The tear flowed down his face, and fell to the table.]

To be continued...

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