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Damon Gant was proud of his decision to help the humans. A place where no one acted against the letter of the law. He’d stomped out the worst of the worst for the civilians, literally. It made his patrols easy enough. A duty he wanted to fulfill despite the peace he’d-
“No!”
A scream pulled him from his thoughts. Gant narrowed his eyes and stormed over to the source. The buildings shook with each of his thunderous steps. The shadow of a smirk rested on his face. It had been a while since someone caused a disturbance. He couldn’t stop himself from hoping there might be a little fun to this one.
Gant stood at attention when he reached the scene. A quick scan to gather any information he could. A woman sat on the ground, her terrified eyes were sent his way. He could easily take her stance to be from his own steps, but the young man not far off made him doubt that. He held a purse that clearly didn’t match him. Gant wound up with a full blown smile.
“What’s going on here, ma’am?” He asked as he leaned down for a closer look. He made a point to lean until the buildings audibly groaned. A warning to the criminal in his sights and the rest of the town. They could never forget what it meant to break a law in his city.
“N-nothing, sir!” she squeaked. He frowned when she said that.
“Is that true, young man?”
“Y-yes sir!” he shouted. Gant sighed and shook his head.
“It looks to me like you’re holding this young woman’s purse. She screamed not even a minute ago, still telling me there’s nothing going on?” Gant sighed. It seemed obvious this woman might be trying to protect a petty criminal. He lifted his heel, shifted his foot, and lowered it again slowly. The crunch of metal rang out like music.
“I-I saw a rat, sir!” she screamed. Gant raised a brow at her. “I dropped my purse and the young man was just picking it up for me.”
“A rat?” he said. Gant rubbed his chin in thought.
“Y-yes that’s it! I was just picking it up for her!”
Gant smiled a bit as he stood up straight. A boisterous laugh burst from him, punctuated by the clapping of his hands. As usual, this kind of response shattered windows. The noise and pressure was too much for human made structures. He couldn’t help it when the humans tried to lie to him. It amazed him not a single one caught on that he could smell lies.
When he arrived this city had a seedy underbelly of criminal activity. It was by his own work that they had peaceful lives now. Usually, he’d take any effort to lie to him as an insult. Today he was in a good mood, and appreciated that the two gave him something to laugh about. He put an elbow on one of the buildings and rested his head in his palm.
“Go ahead then, give her back her purse,” Gant said. The young man climbed up to his feet. His whole body was shaking. Gant kept a narrowed gaze as the young man handed the woman her purse.
“Th-thank you,” she said.
“N-no problem,” the young man said.
He stood up straight again, clapped his hands together. “Well, with that settled, we should see to your punishment. Shouldn’t we, young man?”
“Punishment?!” Both of the humans shouted.
Gant smirked. He leaned forward until his shadow had covered the two completely. Slowly, he reached down. The alley the two were in was small. His arm would just barely fit between them. That wasn’t a problem. He forced his arm through, neither of the humans moved. It was a little sad that the would-be criminal didn’t even try to escape.
Just as his fingers reached the young man, he realized what was happening. It was too late to make an escape attempt. Gant pinched the man between two fingers and lifted him from the alley quickly. He had a bit of pride in the way that disoriented the criminals he dealt with. With a small flick of his wrist he dropped the man into his palm and curled his hand into a fist.
“L-lord Gant!” the woman screamed. Gant crouched so he was close enough to see her again. She was shaking, it made sense. She’d been protecting a criminal, even if the crime hadn’t succeeded. “I-it really was-”
“Now ma’am, you wouldn’t want to be caught aiding a criminal would you?” he said. Gant leaned forward. His shadow was all the woman needed to remind her of the power he held.
“I-I… no sir.”
“Good. Don’t worry, clearly this young man just needs to give back a bit.” Gant waved his hand that held the human around a bit. “Do some community service..”
The woman nodded, she understood exactly what he meant. Gant stood up tall and started on his way back to the remnants of the old legal system. It was the best spot for him to stay in the city. No innocent civilian that could be hurt from some mistake he never intended. It even had a cliff with an old apartment building nearby. Another thing he’d repurposed.
Gant dropped the young man in front of the apartment building, took a seat, and cleared his throat. It only took a few seconds for a procession of other humans to walk out of the building. He tilted his chin up slightly as they did. Just enough for his beard to be easy for them to reach.
The term community service wasn’t exactly the best. He served the community so they would serve him. After he felt it was long enough he would, sometimes, let them return to normal law-abiding lives. Plus it was a perfect way to keep an eye on troublemakers. All the humans of his city were aware. No one spoke against it. That had to mean they agreed.
“What’s going on?” he heard the young man ask. Gant waited, someone else knew to explain. This young man was likely from out of town. Came to the city where that old syndicate used to look for kids like him.
“Grab some shears. We have to trim his beard. Lord Gant doesn’t want to look unkempt when he next patrols.”
“I’m not trimming his damn beard! I thought he said community service!”
Gant turned his head down. Narrowed his eyes and sat up tall. He held a single thumb over the young man. He growled, “If you’d rather take a criminal’s punishment, I don’t mind.”
“N-no sir” The young man’s voice was almost so high Gant couldn’t hear it. “I-I’ll do my… my service.”
“Good choice!” Gant laughed as he tilted his head back up and slouched a bit. This was his favorite time of day. Soon enough he’d have a pile of food others brought to offer him. A few civilians would volunteer to shine his shoes too. It was what he deserved.
Damon Gant kept these humans safe from criminals. Used his abilities to help them live safe, fulfilling lives. Put the ne'er do wells to work helping to maintain his beard. The humans should do anything he asked at this point. Maybe even worship the ground he walked on. He was a god that gave them a utopia to live in. One he would continue to maintain until the day he died… he might even look into expanding it. Humans were weak and could use his guidance.