Making A Living (Foal)

Concrete block structures with bars lining their windows and letter-traps on the doors made up this section of Crash Alley. An outdoor allotment, found in the centrefold of a nest of alleyways, lay abandoned in the dawn. It was a Tuesday and it wouldn't stay abandoned for long. The first vehicle arrived strapped with furniture. A half dozen men piled out and started putting together stalls. By nine o'clock there were three rows of wooden display tables drabbed in curtains for obscurity. Large and frequent awnings gave this small market a sense of seclusion.

The proprietors began moving in. They arrived loaded up with wares of all kinds. Mikey jewellery, knock-off clothing brands, and second-hand electronics. They paid the original six men for permission to take a stall. They walked the gravel pathways and set up shop in their allocated booth for the day. By ten, the event was in full boom. The Crash Alley Market was open for business.

In the furthest corner, in the greatest gloom, sat a dodgy dealer who had paid more than the others. He had reserved this stall where people knew where to find him. He was the black market supplier known on the street as Osseus. And in front of him there was a selection of dozens of mismatched trinkets. His store was themeless, for he would buy anything and sell just as much back. No merchandise was too hot, no request too unsavoury. The convenient middle man.

A skeletal hand sat drumming his desk. Osseus was easy to recognise. He was the only seller in the market who was a living skeleton. He wasn't really one of the undead. It was just a bit of showmanship - he had as much flesh and blood as anyone else - but his metahuman powers allowed him to play the part well. The bigger, meaner men thought twice before they messed with him, even though they shouldn't.

Nikki wandered along the back alleys, usually traveling through these parts of town since it meant few to no crowds and she could usually shift if she wanted or pick up any thing she needed. She was just turning a corner when she saw a weird flea market. "Ok... Now I have seen everything." Nikki looked around her a little to see if there was some one following her or anything, just getting the sense this wasnt something everyone was supposed to kmow about. But her curiousity got the better of her and she walked over to look. She was passing by a stall that seemed to have just about everything and then some, with no actual theme going on. She hadnt even noticed the seller yet.