S2 Chapter 47 - I Can Take You Off That Leash

Author's Note ~ For this arc, any FULL sentences done in fully slanted/italicized text will be dialogue spoken by either Ray Ramirez, Zesti Champion, Sam Penningberg, or Ronnie Everst spoken in the present day. If the dialogue doesn't mention who is saying the line, then you can assume it was whoever said the last fully italicized dialogue. With all that said hope you enjoy the arc.

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"There's a lot of places I could begin my tale. But let's skip past all the boring stuff and jump into the fun bits," Ray begins.

A man goes flying through the window of a restaurant, another tries to flee out the front door before a whole wooden table slams into them. Another person, crawling out of the restaurant, looks back in terror as they feel the hands of the beast grab onto their legs. 

"Wait! Spare me!!!" The person tries to pl-

The beast, interrupting the dialogue tag, pulls the person back into the restaurant as his screams echo out. A while later, the beast walks out of the restaurant with his knuckles covered in blood not of his own.

"Let's see….."

The beast is wearing an white unbuttoned shirt, blue recently-ripped jeans, and brown rugged shoes. He's tall for his age, hispanic, slightly muscular, has short black hair, and his piercing amber eyes scare off any would-be opponents that weren't already frightened of him.

"Say," The Beastman, Ray Ramirez pants, "Anyone else wanna ruin my dinner?!"

"Alright, this looks like a good place to start!-."

"What? No, how are you just going to leave out any context?" Penningberg asks.

"Yeah, just tell him the story from the BEGINNING," Zesti remarks.

"That's what I'm doing! But fine, have it your way," Ray laments before deciding to be smart about it, "It was December 16th of 1990 when I-"

"You know what I mean!" Zesti yells.

"Okay okay," Ray sighs.

"What have I gotten myself into?" Ronnie wonders aloud.

THE MIRACLE CLINIC: THE TALE OF THE BEAST

"Aggravated assault, destruction of property, and breach of trust on your duties as an employee. That's barely the tip of the iceberg to the charges we can toss your way kid," a police officer remarks.

Sitting inside the police station on a wheelie chair is Ray Ramirez. His hands are in cuffs but he doesn't seem to mind. He's gotten used to these a long time ago. Several of the people he beat up are also in the station pleading their side of the story while an old man sits in a chair by the entrance.

"You know how many kids you beat up? Just be glad they aren't interested in pursuing charges."

Ray rolls his eyes as he stares at the clock, ticking away each second.

"What, aren't you gonna say anything kid?" The officer questions.

"Throughout my youth, I came to understand one simple fact about the world," Ray remarks.

Ray opens his mouth to speak and utters, "Is self defense a crime? They're the ones who started it."

"Tch, as if!" One of the teens yells, "You ripped out my tooth!"

"Check the footage, I wasn't the one who swung first," Ray insists.

The others look concerned for a moment as the officer pulls up the security camera from the restaurant they fought in, 'Burrito Bistro'. The recording shows the group of teens entering the place and harassing both the owner and an elderly patron in a suit. Ray, who was busy sweeping, said something that got the group's attention. After exchanging some words, the teens began to fight Ray which only then did the beast intervene.

Once the footage ends, the officer glances up toward the group of teens.

"What do you have to say for yourself?"

All of the teens look hesitant while Ray stares at them, already expecting what's to come.

"It doesn't matter if you tell the truth or fight for what you think is right…"

"Hey, don't you know who my dad is?" One of the teens asks, "I'm sure if you did, you'd think differently."

"...the people who come out on top…"

The teen takes out his license and shows it to the officer. The officer stares at the license for a while before lamenting.

"It looks like the footage is corrupted," the officer says, "Right now, it's your word against theirs. So why not you both agree to go your separate ways."

"...are the ones with the most money and power."

"What?! But we just saw the footage!-" Ray tries to argue as he stands up.

Though as he does, he sees the officer reach for his taser, Ray looks around, at the group of teens all smirking at him. Their eyes looking down at him as if he was a mutt being disciplined.

"If you don't have that money or power…"

"Fine," Ray grunts as he sits back down, "But can you get me out of these damn cuffs?"

"Then you're stuck on a leash."

As the officer is taking Ray's handcuffs off of him, all the teens he fought make their way out of the station, relishing in the fact that they got away in the end. Ray goes to walk toward the entrance when he sees the old man sitting by the door.

"One that gets tighter and tighter with each breath you take."

The latino man – despite being well past his prime and has skin more wrinkly than a raisin – has a strong presence to him as he sits near the station's entrance. His head is completely bald save for a few strands of gray hair still clinging on, his left hand gripping onto an old wooden cane, and his amber eyes looking toward Ray with disappointment. He's only wearing a white t-shirt, brown pajama pants, and black slippers.

"You need to stay here any longer?" The old man asks Ray.

"No, let's go home Abuelo," Ray tells the old man.

The old man, Antonio Ramirez, stands up and walks out of the station with his grandson.

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Antonio drives an old beige minivan down the roads he's been down many times before. Neither he nor his grandson speak. The only source of noise in the car comes from the air blowing from the vents.

Eventually, as Antonio reaches a red light, the old man breaks the silence, "Retire from the force after 50 years and you'd think I'd still work there with how often I show up there."

"Listen Abuelo, it's not-"

"Your fault? You don't think I heard what was going on back there?" Antonio grunts, "I may be old but I'm not that old to be deaf."

"Really? Could've fooled me," Ray grumbles as he slouches deeper into the car's beige foam chair.

"I heard that pendejo."

"My grandfather was the one who raised me, it was hard for both of us. What was supposed to be his retirement fund ended up going towards raising me, and by the time I was a sophomore in High School it had been run dry."

"It's gonna take a while for Mister Garcia to repair the damages at the restaurant. You know any jobs I can get that pay as much?" Ray questions.

"I talked with him and he said he's willing to pay you while the restaurant is closed," Antonio remarks, "If I were you, I'd focus on your schoolwork."

"Like school's ever helped me."

"But we made it by the best we could."

"Listen mijo, high school's going to pass you by quicker than you think. The grades you earn, the experiences you have, and the friends you make will define you for a long time," Antonio remarks, "It's not going to last forever, so make sure you use that time you have right now wisely."

"Or at least, tried to."

"What's the fuss all about now?" Ray groans, "I don't need to worry about making 'high school count'. My grades are fine and its gonna be over in just a few years."

"Just trying to give you some advice."

Silence once more returns to the car as Antonio continues to drive the car down the street. Ray looks over to his grandfather before resting his head on his hand and looking forward onto the street.

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"To be honest, school wasn't kind to me either."

The next day at school, Ray is standing in the teacher's lounge of Starlight High while being scolded by his math teacher, Wilsten Jefferson. Jefferson has white skin that's beginning to show wrinkles, balding black hair, and brown eyes. He tosses Ray's previous tests in the boy's face while he sits in his chair.

"You damn brat, do you know how many tests you've failed in my class? Do you think school is some sort of joke?" Wilsten Jefferson yells.

"I always ended up being the student with some of the worst grades, and instead of teaching me, most would use it as a way to ridicule me."

Ray bites his tongue, knowing if he spoke up things would get more heated.

"After all, why would someone care to take a dog off their leash?"

"Fine, fail my class, see if I care," Jefferson remarks as he turns to work on something on his computer, "I was right to not have expected anything from the likes of you. Should've known you were a lost cause by the fact your parents never got to teach you some damn manners-"

Ray, snapping at Jefferson's last remark, raises his hand and goes to bring it down onto the unsuspecting math teacher, however before he can do so, another teacher stops him.

"But, at school there was one exception when it came to the teachers."

Ray stands there looking at the other teacher standing in between him and the unsuspecting Wilsten Jefferson. He has white skin, a clean shaven face, dark black hair, a chiseled jawline, and tired eyes hidden by glasses. 

"And that one exception is a teacher you know all too well."

"Care to step outside for a bit?" the teacher, Aken Amnestor, asks.

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Sitting on the stairs outside Starlight High, Amnestor with one hand on his coffee mug and another on Ray's math tests glances at his answers. Ray sits across from him looking up to the bright blue sky. 

"It looks like most of the answers you got wrong were about sine, cosine, and tangents," Amnestor remarks, "You want to go over them?"

Ray, continuing to look up at the sky, stays silent.

"Mister Ramirez-"

"Yeah yeah sure, and once you magically teach me that I bet you can also teach me how to not fail English, and Chemistry, and your class," Ray scoffs, "Surely you can get through to a 'lost cause' as myself!"

"Ramirez," Amnestor begins to say, "You aren't a lost cause."

Ray glances at Amnestor confused.

Amnestor continues, "If you ask me, it's Jefferson who's the lost cause. Treating someone like an animal that can't learn despite never giving them the proper chance to is a failure of a teacher in my book….just make sure you don't tell him I said that."

"Amnestor…I-"

Ray is at a loss for words, however Amnestor instead writes on a piece of notebook paper and hands it to the young teen. The note reads 'Class 123B, after school every Tuesday'.

"What is this?" Ray asks.

"There's a study group meeting today once school gets out, heard your friend is a part of it," Amnestor says, "You should go if you have the time."

"After getting an opportunity to study more, to improve as a student, from one of the few people who believed in me. I remember that I…"

Ray looks at the note, smiles at his teacher, and responds, "I will!"

"Lied to his face."

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Later that day as school has ended, Ray's running out of the school as fast as he can.

"Really Ray?" Zesti asks.

Ray continues down the street as he makes his way down the street, passing by a park in the process. As he does so, someone walking in the park recognizes Ray.

"Hey, I was in high school! What do you expect? Besides, I had a good reason to do so!" Ray tries to defend his past self.

Reaching his destination, Ray enters the DVD rental store 'Pick The Flick' with a smile on his face.

"Hey! You guys got Episode 3 yet?!" Ray yells in anticipation.

".....this was your 'good reason'?" Sam Penningberg questions.

"No, the DVD isn't out yet," the cashier groans.

"Damn it!" Ray groans, "You sure? Can you check for me new guy?"

"Like I said, it's not out yet."

"Fine….are there any new releases I can rent though?"

"It was a good reason at the time!" Ray yells in protest.

"They didn't even have the DVD," Zesti adds.

The cashier just stares at Ray, and then stares at the wired rack with a huge 'NEW RELEASES' sign on it. The cashier then points at it.

Ray looks at the large 'NEW RELEASES' sign and walks over to it in shame.

As he scours the selection, Ray ends up stuck between whether to pick up the first season of 'Lost', the movie 'Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy', or 'Sharkboy and Lavagirl'.

"Well, as I was trying to make the decision of a lifetime, I ended up crossing paths with someone that had great control over my life," Ray details.

As Ray is searching, the door to the rental shop opens as a figure waltzes on in. He's a man in his mid twenties with luscious brown hair gelled up, green youthful eyes, great looking skin, wearing a nice clean black suit over a well ironed white-button up, and an unlit cigarette in his mouth.

"Ah, I knew my eyes weren't deceiving me," the man laughs as he slings an arm around Ray's shoulder, "Ray, Ray, Ray, I see you're really interested in movies. Huh? Tryna be a movie star?"

"No, I was just trying to watch a movie today," Ray explains, "They have a free return policy if you return a rented movie 24 hours after you bought it."

"Is that so? I guess it looks like you can be good with returning things on time," The man remarks before leaning into Ray's ear and whispering, "Unless it's my money, of course."

"Frankfurt Schulz was his name. He was a local loan shark I ended up getting entangled with. Like I said, money in my household was running dry so I had to make it by the best I could. Garcia paid well, but not enough to pay for both me and my grandfather. Every other place didn't want to hire someone so young who got into fights all the time, so that left me with one choice."

Frankfurt nudges for Ray to leave the rental store and Ray follows. The cashier is too preoccupied not caring to notice before his 3310 phone begins to ring.

"That left me taking a loan from Frankfurt."

The door to the DVD rental shop closes as Frankfurt leads Ray into an alleyway.

"Though before I knew it, the interest accumulated and I had even more money to pay off then I did before."

Ray looks to see in the alleyway are several teens around his age. The same teens he beat up the day prior. 

"What's this about?" Ray asks.

"If I were the one who was stuck on a leash."

"Oh, it's nothing much," Frankfurt smirks, "It's just, these boys here came to me and offered up a generous deal. If you let them vent their frustrations out on you, then they'll pay off some of the interest you've accumulated. Doesn't that sound like a fair deal?"

"He was the one on the other end holding onto it."

"Fair deal? That…," Ray begins to rage before swallowing his pride and accepting, "Sounds good to me."

"Well you heard it straight from the horse's mouth!" Frankfurt laughs as he lights the cigarette in his mouth, "Have at it boys!"

The teens don't hesitate to bring their fists down onto Ray. Ray falls to the ground as he's continually kicked and stomped on, yet he doesn't move an inch. Instead he just looks up at the delightful grin stretched across Frankfurt's face.

Eventually with a kick to the chin and spit being flung onto his body, the group walks away, leaving the bruised Ray Ramirez lying face down in the alleyway. 

"At that moment, I thought the rest of my life was going to be like this. That it'd just be treated like this again and again and again. I couldn't complain too much, I was the one who signed the loan. I was the one to blame for my misfortune. I was a lost cause. To my friends, my abuelo, my teachers, and to myself."

Ray continues lying there, covered in bruises as a figure makes their way into the alleyway.

"But then, something changed."

"Wow, now you sure look like shit," The person remarks.

Ray looks back to see a teen around his age standing in the alleyway, the sunlight from the street casting him in shadows. Though as the teen steps closer and closer to Ray, he realizes something.

It's the cashier from the DVD rental store.

"I met someone who was going to change my life forever."

Except, long gone is the uniform he sloppily had across his torso. Instead, he looks like someone from a completely different world from him.

The teen's skin is pale white, his slightly wavy golden blonde hair has been spiked upward with a low fade on the sides of it, his split tongue hides behind a casual smirk on his face, fancy looking sunglasses with a yellow rim around them obscure his eyes, the burgundy he has on over his simple yet fancy black t-shirt looks like it costs more than the house and car Ray's grandfather owns combined, his black boots shine in a way one could only find if they never been worn before, and the only thing that looks cheap on this extravagant looking teen is a pair of old white cargo pants he has on.

"Who the hell are you?" Ray asks.

"Me? I'm just someone who started my first day at that DVD store….'Choose A Movie' was it?"

"It was 'Pick The Flick'."

"Eh who cares, it's not like I need to work there anymore now that I found you," the teen remarks.

"Me? What is it that you want? If you want me to take out a loan then I'm not interested," Ray grunts as he stands up.

"Oh trust me, I'm not here for something as simple as trying to wring out all the money I can from you," The teen begins to say as he reaches into his jacket's pocket.

The blonde teen pulls out a pair of metal chopsticks from the pocket before he uses them to pull out a business card out from his breast pocket. He then uses the chopsticks to hand Ray the card. Ray takes a look at it.

'Casey Burns. The Enterprise Collection Agency'

"I'm here to strike up a deal," Casey Burns smirks, "One where I can take you off that leash you're stuck to and transform you from a mutt into a proper beast. So what do you say? Interested in getting your fangs back?"

See You Next Chapter!~