We All Fall Down

Chapter 1

The rush of cold air was always exhilarating. It felt good to breathe fresh air, and it was a nice change from the stuffy apartment. He presumed he'd stopped going out on patrols for anything other than the fresh air a long time ago, but it also gave him peace of mind that the area surrounding his apartment was safe. Well, most of the time. There were a few times, like now, where there was some old guy stalking a woman that he'd have to put in place. It wasn't that hard, just shove the man into an alley way and ask the lady if she's ok, then walk her home and continue patrolling. Maybe even beat up the creep if he tries attacking you. Simple enough. The same routine was boring, but it warmed his heart when he realized more women would walk the street he frequented when someone was following them with the knowledge the man would be taken care of. Some women even paid him for it. It was nothing big, but it made people feel safer and he was willing to do anything he needed to. It was nights like these he'd just walk the street back and forth and constantly be helping women. Weekends, of course. Why did it have to be weekends?

"There's a robbery on fourth street. The community center. Three armed men, police have been notified. You have ten minutes." Tommy sighed and apologized to the woman he was walking with, handing her a pocket knife before running towards the community center. Why must people rob the one place with the cheapest food? Hopefully he'd get a discount for his heroism.

"Where's tall bitch? You two know I patrol Chester street on the weekends." Tommy could hear Tubbo sigh through his headphone. They were too broke for proper walkie-talkie ear pieces, but a phone call and headphone works just as well. Most of the time.

"He's like, three blocks away from fourth street. You're one block away. You better be running while you bitch, otherwise they'll get away before you get there." Tommy rolled his eyes and jumped onto a building a bit away from the community center, pulling himself onto the roof and jumping across rooftops the rest of the way there. It wasn't like he couldn't just walk in and kick their asses, but he wanted the extra flare of drama. Besides, how cool is it to jump off a building and knock someone out?

"Do you know what they're armed with?" Tommy looked around and, upon seeing a few people walking the street, decided it'd be better to fight inside the community center. He didn't want them to get caught in the crossfire. Tommy went to the side of the building and opened the emergency window, crawling into the building silently. He was so glad the owner isn't a bitch and appreciates his efforts. He always made sure to give back half the money people stole. The other half went towards food.

"Guns. Not very good ones but be careful. I think they're expecting you." Tommy lurked through the aisles, being as quiet as he could. The bottoms of the shelves were empty, an advantage given to Tommy as he could roll out of the aisle when he needed to, and it'd be much harder for any grown up to follow him quickly. Tommy made his way to the front of the store, watching one man in all black pile money into a plastic bag. Not that big a bag, but the store was non-profit so the lack of cash was reasonable. Any large amount of money spent here was on card, so the majority of the money was incapable of being stolen. They never got the hint to empty the register at the end of the night though. Maybe they think it's better that it's robbed with nobody around. Wasn't there three guys?

"You again?" Tommy whirled around and caught a fist at eye level, using his free hand to punch the thief in the gut. The thief fell and Tommy quickly forced his hands behind his back, pressing his knee against the thief's hands and pulling out his zip ties. What? They're cheap enough. Tommy 'cuffed' the thief's hands together and looked around. The robber at the front seemed to hurry up, and the other one was nowhere in sight.

"D S" Tommy whirled around and punched something hard. He heard something clatter to the floor and looked down to see a gun. Did he really just punch a gun? Tommy looked up at the man in front of him and punched him in the face. The force hurt his hand, but he had more important things to focus on. The man stumbled back and quickly regained his balance.