He walked out of his HQ carrying a couple of empty Dr Pepper crates, flipped 'em over and built a small but dinky looking podium from where he wanted to say a few words. He climbed up gingerly so as not to break his newly constructed podium, and looked at the people wandering the streets of New York.

People of the cities, I've come to you today to talk about shoes. Apparently, Deimne was in such a hurry to leave his old HQ that he left all of his shoes in what is now my closet. I was unpacking a couple of days ago and got to the closet, I opened it up and there they were...shoes.  And lots of them. I really didn't know guys wore so many shoes. And not to mention the three pairs of pumps. But I'll let Deimne explain those. Far be it for me to talk about why the Godfather of New York likes to wear ladies shoes. But back to the point. Being a guy, I figured I could get by with two, maybe three pairs of shoes. A black pair, a brown pair, and a pair of sneakers for when GingerAle has me running around.

But Deimne - that guy must have had a hundred pairs of shoes. And that's not even talking about the pumps I described earlier, or what can only be described as bitch boots. But anyway, I thought I'd come out here to talk about shoes, and to get some opinions of others.

See, while I was looking through all Deimne's shoes (thought I'd keep a couple of pairs since Deimne seems to have some good taste), I noticed that Deimne has big feet. The shoes looked enormous.

I was afraid I'd put them on and look like I was walking around with clown feet. I thought about getting a red honking nose to complete the look, but thought that would just be silly. I looked and I looked at the shoes, and wondered if my feet would ever fit in those shoes that Deimne left behind.

I realized later that ThomasRourke left quite a few pairs of shoes behind too, and wondered if Deimne had the same problem - wondering whether his feet would ever fit into the shoes left behind by the bigger-than-life Godfather who ran the city before our beloved Deimne.

So, I figured I'd do what I do in all aspects of my life. I'd put on an extra pair of socks, tie the shoes tight, and get to work on making sure I didn't look stupid in Deimne's shoes.

So, just in case you were wondering what I've been doing with my time lately, there you go. I've been trying on shoes.

Panda listens to the newly authed Boss' speech, laughing slightly.

Well sir, if the past tells us anything, both you and Deimne do indeed have big shoes to fill. I am quite sure you are both capable of the task. All that can ever be asked out of you is effort and commitment. You both obviously have that. I can't wait to see what you guys do with New York in the future.

Good luck WillHayes.

Panda walks off, a smile on his face.

I know a guy in New Orleans who runs a great line of insoles...

Crazy Nine listens to Will's talk about endless amounts of shoes for an endless amount of time. CN wonders if it would be any sort of acceptable solution to just walk barefoot but then he remembered the one time he woke up one morning and kicked the bed's leg and thought that it would have hurt much less had he been wearing shoes.

Ultimately he is also relieved he has no shoes other than his own to worry about even though he's positive Will will have no issues at all filling all those shoes that were left behind.

Crazy Nine also remembered the saying that people with big feet are well endowed. He wonder if the reverse was true. He had heard the stories of Will's legendary girth so he should have no problem at all fitting nicely into those shoes.

Will nodded to Cato and voiced his appreciation.

Thanks Cato.  I think a set of insoles just might help.

He stood and listened to Crazy Nine and determined that this was a man who made perfect sense. 

Definitely true Crazy.  Despite your name, you are a man of great intelligence and completely sane. 

Having tried on a couple pairs of shoes, and a pair of pumps, I think with a couple pairs of socks, some insoles, and some hard work, I may just be able to fit into these shoes after all.

Why, thank you Mr. Hayes. You honor me with such compliment. I have a thought, maybe it's a wild one. If you have so many pairs of shoes, why don't you organize a fashion show?

Starshine looked at Will with a mixture of amusement and appreciation. She understood how it felt to wonder how she would ever fit into the shoes of those above her. Her expression changed though when Will mentioned a pair of boots and realized that when she had moved out of Deimne's HQ, she had left them behind. Horrified she ran off pell mell down to Will's new HQ to retrieve her boots.

you do have some big shoes to fill...lets see how well you do

ohh..looks like your doin quite well..the extra socks are helping..maybe you should try some tissue paper too..make it easier to fill out the shoes haha

attaches clothes pin to nose

Well perhaps those corns will help fill those shoe's in a little. I mean really good sir, this is a street trancing about with no shoes on. Besides I have it on good authority (GingerAle) that it is NOT the shoe's that make you look like a clown or the big honking red nose. But instead it is the knickers made from picnic table cloth you swear were in a fashion magazine in France. Although I must say I hear they are all the rage in the Big Top...

~HF~

Shakes his head.

Don't mock my knickers.  Ginger made these for me herself.  And they're fabulous. 

Takes off the boots and flings them to Star.

Fine Star, you want these back?  After they've been on my feet?  Are you sure?  Well, here you go.

Crazy Nine manages to avoid the first boot thanks to his reflexes since Starshine was standing right behind him.

Unfortunately, he could see the second one coming and the heel got him right in the back of his ear, leaving him dizzy.

walks in and see's crazy on the floor and runs away

Crazy Nine cusses under his breath that John wouldn't help him up, specially when he was still a little dizzy to walk.

Mux wanders into the street and notices Mr. Hayes talking to people on top of a bunch of Dr. Pepper crates. He listens in for a bit, and responds.

As demonstrated here, our world is very dynamic. It changes, or evolves, and with each of these adaptions, our "shoes" get a little bigger. I suppose it's nice to see someone hitting that issue head-on. Plus, by coming out here and talking about it, you've made for yourself a humble path to walk out the plan you have for your family. Congratulations, and good luck, Will.

Mux departs.