The 'Wildly Illogical' Collection

The debt was effectively bullshit. If anything, Nicholas was surprised he didn't end up in an unmarked grave.. After all, this wasn't the first time they planned something like this.

When Nicholas was younger, he was already scamming folks out of their money. He wasn't able to trust his deadbeat father to get food on the table and his mother hadn't mentally been on Earth for years.

So it often fell onto Nicholas to take care of getting dinner. And breakfast. And lunch. But his teachers at school noticed something in young Nicholas. He was very good at math. And amazing at talking his way out of situations..

Well okay, they hardly noticed the latter, otherwise they wouldn't let him actually get away with it. It wasn't even lying, after all.. Nothing more but stretched truths. So young Nicholas seemed to be straight on course to become a criminal.

But.. Even then, the conman had aspirations. Plans. Dreams. Why else even go to school? Why else pretend everything is fine at home? Sure, he may have never actually succeeded at them, but he can't say he tried.

Perhaps he would've succeeded, had he not fallen in with the wrong crowd. He was very talented, after all, so there were eyes on him from the worst kind of people. The kind of people you'd rather not have a debt to. The kind of people that put you in their debt without you having a choice in the matter.

And so, a nearly 18 Nicholas was dragged into a casino. Faked ID, classy clothing.. Basically told to just go forth and win as much as he could. But even a younger Nicholas wasn't an idiot.

Younger Nicholas purposely lost some hands at Poker. He ordered drinks that definitely didn't exist. He was playing with the idea that someone would realize there's something up. He planned on getting out of there as soon as he could.

But just as he was approached by security, they were called away. Someone broke into the vault. Nicholas thought he was being clever, ruining their plan by getting the eyes on him, in the hopes to tip off security about the situation.

Instead, he did precisely what they wanted. He was the perfect distraction. But the robbery was still botched. Moments after security ran off, explosions sounded and the entire casino was in a panic.

Shots were fired, and innocent civilians got hit. Nicholas broke into a panic himself, he tried to run out, only to come face to face with one of the gunmen. "Get in the truck, Kestrel." Nicholas stared down the barrel of the pistol, and with his mind in a panic haze, he ran.

And got shot. A non-fatal wound, obviously, but it was the first time Nicholas had ever gotten so hurt. He laid there bleeding for a while, but was saved by paramedics and being shot made everyone think he was just an unlucky bystander. "Are you deaf? I said to get in the damn truck!"

The fake ID also helped him get out of the hospital with no additional questions asked. He was afraid to go home, however. They knew where he lived. Would they go after him or his parents? If anything.. Maybe they thought he was dead? "We can do this the easy way or-"

"I heard you the first time. Your mother never thought you any patience?" Nicholas responded. He had been looking at the stars for a second. "It's a beautiful night, you should look up yourself every now and then." He got in the truck as told. A gun was trained on him at all times as they drove away.

Nicholas' lifestyle of running and conning his way through life had begun at the hands of these assholes. And it seems that he had little choice but to get involved again.