Makos heard the crowd talking. "What happened here?" An authoritative man's voice demanded.
"A little boy attacked the holiday shops." Another man's voice answered.
"A boy?" The first voice asked. "I doubt a small child could have done so much damage. Now, tell me, who is responsible for this mess?"
"It's true." A third voice, that of a woman, said. "I was walking by the shield maker's tent. There was one boy who starting shouting and attacking the other children with a toy shield. Then this happened."
"That isn't much of an explanation." The first voice said. "How does children playing end up in disaster?"
"That's just it," The woman explained, "I don't know that he was a child afterall. No normal child can break things by waving his hands at them!"
"Waving his hands?" The first voice spoke. "I'm still confused."
The woman replied. "The child must be a demon in disguise. See that?" A pause in speaking was interrupted by more mumbling from the crowd. "The demon boy jumped out of this tree and waved his hands at the top of this building and all of a sudden it broke off and nearly fell on an old woman."
"I'm fine." The voice of a very old woman said. "No need to worry about me. I dodged it at the last second. I used to be an acrobat in the circus, you see."
Makos felt horrible. He hadn't realized that someone almost got hit by what he'd done, let alone an old woman. The idea of her doing flips and cartwheels made a laugh burst through his nose. He promptly clapped his hands over his nose to hide the noise.
"Yes, very well." The first voice said. "It appears this is another of several pranks gone wrong this week."
"Pranks?" The woman said incredulously. "Explain how a prank did that."
"Mm. Yes. They are getting worse, but rest assured, this is no work of a demon. This is simply the result of gang wars."
Several people gasped.
"Gangs, here?" One man asked.
"Unfortunately, yes." The authoritative man answered. "The criminal factions of Untwine City have been seeking to spread their influence. That is bad enough on its own, I assure you, but where two or more gangs have their eye on the same town, things can get a little.. rowdy."
Makos began to feel relieved. He didn't know much about gangs, but he knew everyone was going to blame the entire incident on someone else. He would be off the hook and on his way in no time.
"But what about the boy?" One voice demanded.
Makos's heart stopped.
The crowds continued their discussion without him.
"What about him?" The first man asked.
"What do we do about him? He could be working for one of the gangs."
That was it. Makos had been targeted. The people were going to find him and lock him up. Before he could think it over any more, he rolled onto his feet and scurried away into the bushes as silently as he could manage. When he reached the path that crossed through the park, he took off at a full run.
"Hmpf." The man snorted. "I suppose it is possibly the lad was coerced into helping. If he was serving as a distraction, he may know more about which gangs we are dealing with here. This is the first sign of their turf wars reaching our town. If we act fast, we may be able to stop it before any faction gains a foothold here."
"Then let's help the poor boy. He is probably very frightened." The woman said.
"Indeed. Everyone, form up. We need as many eyes out for the boy as we can manage." The authoritative voice mustered. "We shall use tightly-knit group tactics to scan the streets and locate this child. If you recognize him, shout after him to stop as loudly as you can."
Makos' mind reeled at the last thing he had heard. They thought he was working for criminals. He was an outlaw now. He would be forced to live his life outside of society. He would never be able to play with his friends again. He would have to learn to cook rats and sleep in trees. He probably only had maybe three days tops to gather supplies before people began to see through any of the disguises he would use.
Thinking it best to disguise himself sooner than later, he pulled his handkerchief out and tied it over the bottom half of his face. Nobody would recognize him, he was sure of it. At least it would buy him a little time.
A loud shouting made him stop in his tracks and turn around to see what was the matter. At the end of the path behind him, he say a large mob shaking fist and screaming, "Stop! Stop!" He looked about, but couldn't see anyone else around for them to be shouting at. The realization hit. They were after him already.
He acted on the first thought to enter his mind. He ran off the path and into the forest. It was thick with evergreens, and they kept scratching at his arms as he pushed through them. He didn't pay attention to where he was going. He just knew he had to keep running.
After what seemed like an hour or two, Makos began to get tired. His feet began to drag. the sky hadn't gotten any darker, but he was sure it must be getting close to night. He kept trudging along through the trees, but his foot hooked around a gnarled root and he fell on his face.
Tears began to well up in his eyes and he started lifting himself up from the pine needle-covered ground. "I wish I never got these stupid powers!" He shouted.
"Me neither." A deep, grumbling voice said.
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