Richard woke up in a dumpster surrounded by trash, and allegedly a circus midget. He groaned and threw himself over the side of the bin and onto the pavement. It was surprisingly comfortable here. He lied down in the filthy alley and surveyed his surroundings.

  From here he couldn't quit make out where he was, but saw a neat looking new store across the way. 'Kids Inc.' Wait.. was that a place that sold children? He had to check that shit out. Richard climbed to his feet and stumbled over to the building, still quite drunk. He must've looked like a hobo, he knew, but he didn't really care. 

  He went into the building, and let out a long, almost exaggerated sigh. There was air conditioning here! He stood by the door groaning in pure bliss until a man, probably a cashier, started swatting at him with a broom.

  "Hey, fucker! I'm not a hobo. You can't treat me like this, I'm an American citizen! Well, maybe not OFFICIALLY, but still! I've got rights!"

 His protests fell on deaf ears, as he was dragged from the store, and threw onto the pavement. He was about to march back into the store when a very large man whistled and got his attention.

  "Richard, the real business is back there, didn't you get the memo?" The burly man said

  "Yes! I was just, uh, testing you! It was a test. You failed. Just take me to the fucking back.."

  Richard was escorted to the back and into a large room where he was almost positive it was a human trafficking ring. Well, at least he was right about the name. He found The_Kid after searching for awhile. Yes. Searching...

  "Man. This is a nice place you got here, can you hook a brother up with some slaves, or some shit?"

  Richard burst out laughing when he watched the confusion on The_Kid's face. He really must look ragged if it took that long to be recognized. Richard took a pocket mirror from his jacket and looked himself over.

  It was a long night, but he didn't think it was that long. He tossed the mirror away at the precise moment Kid recognized him. A look of what could only be described as fondness took over his features then, and he remarked about the variety of slaves here.

  "Alright, so you know me, I'm your average everyday Joe. I'm lookin' for a slave to take off some of the work load, you know? I've got a bunch of bodyguards, but you ever see those fuckers around? Me neither. What do you recommend?"

  Richard walked with The_Kid to a clearly less conspicuous part of the building. He waited patiently for this "Leroy" character to show up, once the little guy called him out. Richard shifted his weight to one foot and leaned on Chu's shoulder. When the big man looked down at him Richard shot him a wink, and the finger guns. 

  Leroy came running out from behind a couple crates and almost scared the tits off Richard. Why would Kid need a midget? Wait.. was this some fuckin' joke. Those damn fight night guys told everyone his secret. Richard scoffed at Kid and pushed off of Chu to stand up straight. 

  "Where'd you hear that I like midgets? Plus, Leroy don't look like the type of midge' to be tamed so easily." 

Strolling up and down the aisles of the kiddie shop, Nikki tried to hide her growing disappointment. She's asked the cab driver take her to a kitty shop, and he's dropped her here. To her dismay, there were no cats to be had. Just kid shit. 

Running her fingers over some plushie toys, something bolts by the aisle she's in. Quietly peeking around the corner, she spots a midget running full tilt boogie for the front door. Screaming like a banshee with her ass on fire, she throws the stuffed dog she's holding and nails the poor little guy in the back of the head, sending him in a sprawling skid across the linoleum floor. 

It's rude, but she can't help it. She starts laughing. A great big whooping laugh that reverberates through the store and catches the attention of those convened in the back room.

Even with important upper structure right in front of her, it was hard to get her laughing under control. She'd nearly forgotten why she was here.

"Hello, Sir! I was just, well I was. Erm. Oh! I was hoping for a pet but not that kind," she says, giggling as the poor midget is manhandled like a sack of potatoes by one of several bodyguards. 

"I could use a handful of those fellas, though," she says, watching as the bodyguard flung the midget over his shoulder. She hadn't been flung like that, it looked fun. Snapping back to reality, she focused on her young boss.

"It would be nice if one was...easy on the eyes? For pretenses, of course.  In case we gotta dress up and look the part for big jobs, you know. I mean, it's okay if he's hit a few branches when he fell outta the ugly tree, just maybe not real scarred up with a face that screams 'criminal'? 

She thought about asking about the going rates for dates, but this wasn't a brothel. 

Or was it? She was pretty confused at this point.

Terra drooled a little. In her haste to swipe at her mouth, she smears her lipstick.

"Uh. Yeah! Heh heh. He'll do nicely. How much?" She asked, then realized she was still staring at the matador, as if propositioning him. Turning to The_Kid , she tried to play it cool, like handsome men came on to her every minute of the day.

"He looks expensive..." she says, attempting to look pensive and thoughtful but actually looking like an idiot with the red smudge on her cheek.

"Well that's mighty generous of you!" She says, leaning over to give The_Kid a quick squeeze. She'd have to figure out a way to repay him for the favor.

As she leads Sanchez towards the doorway, a rotten garbage stench pierces her nostrils. Sanchez hadn't been keeping up with his hygeine, apparently, but you couldn't look a gift horse in the mouth, right?

"First stop, the pharmacy. We need to get you a case of deodorant," she says, covering her nose with one hand and waving goodbye to The_Kid with the other. As the door closes behind them, you can hear Sanchez protesting.

"But Meeeeessss, my allergeeeeeeesss!"

Punk walked into Kids Inc. Some note that his father had left him, refered to someone known only as The_Kid. To date, Punk had had no luck in finding him, but upon stumbling across Kids Inc. in Detroit, he thought that this place was as likely as any to house the man.

He walked through the aisles of clothes, being careful not to knock any from their racks. He was being cautious because he half expected The_Kid to be a play on words. There was no chance Punk's father had hung out with a real child in a jazz hall. He expected this man to be at least seven foot tall, and almost that again wide.

He made his way to the back of the room, and found a counter. No one was there, so he waited, one arm casually inside his jacket resting neatly on his pistol...

Princesa had heard word of a business being run by a kid, which was strange to her. What kind of kid can run a business? Who gave this kid a business license? She had to see this for herself. Stepping out of her office and into the back of the car, they sped off to try and find the place. Her driver looked up at the rear view mirror at Princesa as she widened her eyes at the bright lights of the store.

"Ugh, Miss P, this place doesn't look too safe. Maybe we should just hold off."

Princesa shrugged, her curiosity had peaked just from him saying this.

"Oh come on, Nigel! We have been in worse looking places before. Remember that one ice cream shop? You wanted to go get an ice cream cone and we walked in and the cops had shut the place down because all of the vanilla ice cream was actually just cocaine. Do you know how hard it is for two mobsters to act "cool" around pigs?!"

Nigel hung his head in shame. He had remembered that time. He just wanted a cone.

"I just wanted some Butter Pecan ice cream. Fine! Fine. I'll go in first to check it out."

He gets out of the car, walking slowly to the door, peering inside. This should be safe, he thought, look at all the teddy bears and toy trains! Opening the door, walking inside, Nigel looks around with caution. The place seemed safe and everything seemed....OH BOY, IS THAT ROCK 'EM, SOCK 'EM ROBOTS?!

Princesa could see Nigel run off out of sight in a hurry. This was not good, she thought. This was not good at all. Suddenly, screams came from the building. Pulling her gun, Princesa hops out of the car and hurriedly made her way into the store. Holding her breath, she looked around. The sight before her made her jaw drop.

There was Nigel, standing there with The_Kid playing with the robotic toys. She holstered her gun, sighing with relief.

"Nigel, what in the world is going on here?!"

She looked over at the small boy, whose smile lit up the room even more than the flashing lights.

"And who might you be, boy? Is this your shop?"