Outsiders Pt. 04

"No," Ben said.

"Oh, come on," Raven said. "It'll be fun!"

"Yeah," Krista said, "you'll just love seeing the look of regret on her face. Trust me on that!"

"No," Ben said.

"Why not," Lisa asked.

Ben shifted uneasily in his seat and said, "Because she killed herself before she graduated high school." The table was silent after that and the diner echoed with the sounds of Ritchie wetly kissing the waitress and sucking on her neck while she laughed.

"Was she the one that," Lisa asked and trailed off. Ben nodded yes.

"Was he the father," Raven asked.

"Yes," Ben said. "Though, if you ask him, she had been sleeping around with everyone in sight and her baby wasn't his." He took a sip of his drink.

"Well, had she," Raven asked.

Ben looked at her in disbelief before heatedly whispering, "No, of course she hadn't been the one that was trying to sleep with the whole town! He was! What's the matter with you?!" Raven hung her face and blushed in shame.

Out front, Ritchie was trying to get the waitress to blow off work and come "hang" with him because the diner was empty. She retorted by waving her arm in their general direction. "They can get their shit from the kitchen on their own," Ritchie yelled at them. When the waitress said something quietly to him, he started walking to Ben's table. "What?! Don't they got legs that work?! Can't they talk?!"

Ben rolled his eyes and said, "Lisa, slide over my lap so I'm sitting where I can stand up!" Lisa slid over to change places with him.

"Hey," Ritchie yelled. "You there!" The chef came out of the kitchen with his hands raised to try and reason with the young man, but Ritchie cut him off by yelling, "You shut the fuck up, Al!" Al, the owner and head chef of the city's premier eatery, backed up without so much as a word.

Ritchie walked around the counter and stopped dead in his tracks. His jaw went slack for a few moments before his face broke into a wide smile. "Well, I'll be damned! If it isn't Ben Kidder, in the flesh!" Ritchie gestured at Ben's booth. "And what the fuck have we here?" He walked over, eating the girls up with his eyes. "Hello, hello, hello! Who might you be, my lovely ladies?"

Lisa and Raven kept their eyes on Ben, but Krista raised hers to Ritchie and said, "Go away."

Ritchie opened his mouth and put his hand on his chest in an offended manner and said, "That is so rude and mean! We don't know each other, so I'll forgive you. Now, allow me to introduce myself! I'm Ritchie Falco and I'm the go-to man for fun in these here parts! Ain't that right, Ben?"

Ritchie smacked his ham sized fist against Ban's shoulder, making the whole bench he was sitting on shake. "Now, you girls seem to be running in some wrong circles," he said. "Hanging with the wrong crowd." He nodded at Ben and flashed a sleazy, self assured smile. "Why don't you come along with me and I'll show you what it's all about."

"Hey," the waitress said from behind him. Ritchie's smile vanished in an instant and he raised a finger at her in warning, without even bothering to look back at her. The girl wilted and shut up. Her demeanor went from insulted to worried in a heartbeat.

"Now, where was I," Ritchie said, after a moment of silence. His smile reappeared. "Ah, yes, you lovely ladies were about to come with me and stop hanging around with this loser."

"Go away, Ritchie," Ben said, sounding weary. "No one wants to talk to you."

Ritchie shook a finger at Ben and menacingly said, "You just shut your fucking piehole, Kidder, or I might have to shut it for you." His smile brightened again. "You know, like the last time you mouthed off to me. Did he tell you about that? I'm guessing he didn't. I'm guessing you fine, young ladies don't know how I made him cry for his mommy."

"Go away," Lisa firmly said. "None of us want to have anything to do with you."

Ritchie barked out an ugly laugh and said, "I guess I'm gonna have to teach you some manners! You might be a pretty, little, wetback whore, but your mouth-"

Ben stood up in a flash, making Ritchie back away on reflex. He looked surprized for an instant and then stepped up to Ben to look down at him. "Oooh, boy's got guts." He smiled and winked at Ben. "Or maybe it's the girls that made you grow a pair?"

"Go away," Ben calmly said.

Ritchie held up a finger to Ben's face and said, "I don't much appreciate you ordering me around." He spread his massive arms. "This is a free country, you know!"

"I am done with repeating myself," Ben said.

"Didn't your mommy and daddy teach you any manners," Ritchie mock-asked. "It looks to me that they hadn't." He pointed one arm towards the girls and put the other over his chest in a wounded gesture. "All I'm trying to do here is talk to these nice, young ladies and you're getting in everybody's way." He reached out to run his fingers through Krista's hair. She shied away from his hand and Ben shoved him backwards with all his might.

"Oh, that does it," Ritchie said, his tone level and deadly. "I'm gonna teach you the last, motherfucking lesson of your life." He finally banished every trace of his smile from his face. "And then I'm gonna have me some fun with them gals you got sitting behind you. And do you know what I'm gonna do after that? I'm gonna go to your house, beat up your wimp of a father and then your mom and me are gonna have ourselves some one on one time, cause she's-"

Ritchie's breath exploded out of his lungs as Ben slammed a fist into his solar plexus with all his might in a blind rage. He followed that up with a series of open handed strikes to Ritchie's head, disorienting the brute and forcing him to step backwards and raise his hands to protect his head. With the six foot nine inch tall behemoth's head protected and out of range, Ben focused on lower targets. He jabbed his knuckles with all his might against Ritchie's lower ribs, making him writhe in agony.

Ben was beyond reason and restraint. The years of insults and being pushed around exploded in his head, overwhelming him.

Ritchie swung his meaty arm in a wild sweep to drive his assailant away and Ben barely dodged it in time. Ritchie jabbed with his right at Ben's face and Ben caught his hand with both of his. Ritchie's other hand grabbed at one of Ben's wrists and the two of them were locked in a struggle. Ben had counted on his enhanced strength to prevail in this fight, but he realized that Ritchie was just as strong as he was. And Ben was much smaller than Ritchie, making him easier to move.

Ritchie's waitress girfriend shrieked, "Get 'im, Ritchie! Show the little fucker who's boss!"

Ritchie roared and pushed back at Ben, slamming him into the wall and knocking the wind out of him. He picked Ben up by the neck and lifted him high to slam him down on the table the girls were still sitting at. The table split apart under the strike and Ben was driven to the floor. Lisa and Raven grunted as the splintering wood struck them painfully across their knees. Krista slid out of the way on time and was standing now. The impact dazed Ben and he barely hung on to consciousness as all thoughts of avenging himself against Ritchie vanished. He wasn't sure what was going on anymore, but there were black dots dancing along the edges of his vision.

"I'm gonna fuckin' kill you," Ritchie roared in Ben's ear, giving him a guideline back to reality. He picked him up from the ruins of the table and slammed him against the wall. Two quick strikes of his huge fists slammed Ben's head against the wall and gave him an invitation to enter a comatose state.

Ben was seriously considering accepting the invitation when Ritchie suddenly roared and dropped him. Ben's legs kept him upright on reflex and he blinked his vision clear when he heard a familiar, female voice cry out in agony. Ritchie was rubbing the side of his knee with one hand and holding Krista aloft with his other around her neck. Raven and Lisa extricated themselves from the ruins of their booth's table and jumped up to beat their tiny fists against the colossus and scream at him to let Krista go.

Ritchie stood up straight and roared, "I'm gonna fuckin' kill you and then rape your corpse, you fucking cunt!" He lifted his fist to smash Krista's face in.

The sight of imminent danger to Krista instantly cleared Ben's mind and flooded his veins with enough adrenaline to fight on. Ben grabbed Ritchie's fist with one hand and slammed his other into Ritchie's eyes with two fingers extended. Ritchie let out an impossibly high-pitched scream and dropped Krista. He put both his palms against the upper half of his face as he screamed in agony. "I'm gonna fuckin' kill you, Kidder! You're dead! You're all dead! You hear me? Dead!"

Raven and Lisa dragged Krista away from the man that was blindly flailing around with his massive limbs, destroying furniture in his attempts to strike Ben again.

A crash of breaking glass was heard from the counter and Ben and the girls turned to see the waitress advancing Ben's way with a broken bottle. Ben squared off against her with a grim expression and she changed her mind. She turned towards the girls that stood up straight and advanced on her. She backed up until she hit the counter and then dropped the bottle and held her hands up in surrender.

Meanwhile, Ritchie was roaring in rage and still swinging his fists around. Ben waited until he turned his back to him and then rushed in to pound away at the man's kidneys. Instead of collapsing in shock, Ritchie howled in pain and spun to deliver a backhanded swing that caught Ben on the shoulder and slammed him to the ground. Ritchie's wild spin toppled him over as well and he smashed his head against the edge of a table before smashing it against the floor, as well. The table wobbled and then fell atop him.

Ben stood up with his fists en garde. Ritchie wasn't moving. He lay still on the cold, checkered tiles. Ben tentatively kicked Ritchie's foot. Ritchie made no move. Ben took a cautious step closer and kicked Ritchie in the ribs. When Ritchie didn't react, Ben's heart sank. He picked up the ruined table and tossed it away. Ritchie's face looked as vacant as ever. Ben knelt over him and pressed three fingers against the side of his neck, trying to feel a pulse, despite not knowing how to do that. When Ben put his finger under Ritchie's nose, he felt his breath and nearly collapsed in relief. Ritchie was alive, if not awake.

"Is he dead," Al asked from behind the counter. Ben looked up and shook his head no, not trusting his voice at the moment. The fight and the adrenaline rush left him shaking all over. "Well, he better not be. That's bad for business."

"So is letting an asshole harrass your customers," Krista said, venomously. "Why didn't you call the cops as soon as you saw him come in?"

"I did," Al replied, sounding a little scared of Krista.

As if on cue, the sheriff's Cavalier pulled up in front of the diner. Krista and the girls huddled around Ben. "What now," Raven whispered.

Ben looked past her and saw a young deputy get out of the car and put his wide brimmed hat on. "That's Pryzbylewski," Ben said. "Don't worry, I got this." Ben straightened up and walked around the counter. He sent each of his girls the order to help him sell the story that Ritchie had attacked him and then tripped and fell down to crack his head all on his own.

The deputy slowly sauntered through the door and said, "What's the emergency, Al?"

"Ritchie," Al said and pointed behind the counter.

The deputy unhooked his gun holster and yelled out, "Ritchie! Show yourself!"

"I'm afraid he isn't able to do that at this moment, deputy Pryzbylewski," Ben said.

The deputy took off his sunglasses and squinted as he looked Ben up and down. "Kidder," he asked. Ben nodded. "I thought you weren't coming back here this summer."

"I'm just here for the weekend," Ben said.

"Uh-huh," the deputy said. "And would you mind telling me why exactly mister Falco wouldn't be answering me?"

"Because he fell over and knocked himself unconscious," Ben said.

The deputy looked surprized and just stared at Ben for a few moments. "Bull," he said at last.

"It's true, officer," Raven said, in a distressed voice. "That young man over there just walked in here and started to make a ruckus. He wanted to drag me away and violate me. When Ben told him to leave us all alone, he attacked him and beat him to the ground. After that, he tripped and fell over and hit his head and... well, there he is, lying over there, unconscious."

The deputy couldn't quite stop himself from staring at Raven's ample assets. Even though she was dressed conservatively, her beauty couldn't be obscured. Between Raven's good looks and Ben's silver tongue, the deputy quickly agreed that everyone but Ritchie was completely blameless in the matter. Al backed up the story and even the waitress, that had been sitting with Krista in the corner, whispering, suddenly spoke up in support of Ben's story.

The deputy at last managed to tear himself away from Raven just long enough to walk over to where Ritchie was lying unconscious. There was a small pool of blood next to Ritchie's head and the deputy grabbed his radio and called for the paramedics to come quick. "What the hell happened here," he asked right after he called it in.

Ben rolled his eyes and repeated the whole story for the deputy while they waited for the ambulance to arrive. Ben and the deputy had to both help the fire department's paramedics put Ritchie's considerable bulk on the gurney. They rushed him into their ambulance vehicle and drove off with sirens blaring and lights flashing.

"Alright," the deputy said, still huffing from the effort of lifting Ritchie, "I'm gonna need sworn statements from each and every one of you!"

"No, you don't, deputy," Ben said. "A fine gentleman such as yourself does not need nor want to keep these distressed ladies here for even a second longer than necessary." Raven, Lisa and Krista affected sad, little smiles and pleaded with the deputy with their big eyes.

"Well," the deputy said and hesitated. "Alright. You ladies can go, I guess." The girls thanked him and he scratched his beard before turning around after them and saying, "But I'm gonna need a way to get in touch with you so you can come to the station later and give your statements there." He took off his hat and shrugged apologetically. "It's the law. You have to do it. I promise you it won't hurt."

The girls looked at Ben who nodded for them to leave. They shuffled out the doors and the deputy turned to Al. "Now, Al. Tell me what happened here, in your own words!"

Ben heard a siren approaching and turned around to look out the front window. The girls ran back in and pointed out the window. Before they could say anything, the ambulance drove across Al's parking lot and smashed into the sheriff's Cavalier.

"What in the hell," the deputy said.

The siren noise stopped and the ambulance rocked for a few seconds before the rear door opened and the first paramedic went flying out to fall down on the asphalt. He quickly rolled, got up and ran away. Ritchie exited the ambulance van next, holding the struggling second paramedic aloft with one arm. He punched the paramedic with his free hand and the man went as slack as a rag doll in his grip. He dropped him and bellowed, "I'm gonna kill you, Kidder!" He wiped his hands over his eyes repeatedly and looked around. He felt his way towards the sheriff's car and opened the front door. He reached in, felt around and finally pulled out the shotgun from its mount.

"Quick," Al shouted, "this way!" He ran into his kitchen. The waitress followed him at once and Ben gave his girls the nod to follow as well.

"Ben," Raven said.

"Go," he said.

Ritchie pumped the shotgun, ejecting a shell, and fired it into the air. The girls screamed and ran into the kitchen.

"Deputy," Ben calmly said, "would you like to do something about the crazed man wielding your service weapon out there?"

The deputy looked over at Ben, licked his upper lip nervously twice and then feebly said, "Yes. Sure. Sure I would." He picked up his radio to call for help. Before he could say anything, Ritchie shot at the diner, shattering its front window into a million pieces. The deputy and Ben took cover behind the counter. The deputy crouched behind the keg of soda and Ben hid behind the ice cream chest.

"I'm gonna fucking kill all ya cunts in there," Ritchie screamed. Ben could tell he was getting closer to the door. He reached for his material focus and realized too late that his utility belt was back at the house, in his bag. Without the material foci, he couldn't cast half his spells, including all the ones he could use to defuse this situation inconspicuously. His only recourse was to use his Silent Spell and Still Spell feats to discreetly cast the spell of Baleful Polymorph upon Ritchie and claim that he dropped his gun and clothes and ran away.

Ritchie screamed, "Ya hear me?! I'm gonna kill all y'all in there, motherfuckers!" Ben winced. Ritchie was almost at the door.

Ben was just about to start casting when the deputy jumped up, pointed his gun at Ritchie and said, "Drop it, Ritchie!"

Ritchie, still partly blinded by Ben nearly poking his eyes out, fired wildly at the sound of the deputy's voice, hitting the counter right next to him. Deputy Pryzbylewski fired his gun four times. Ben heard the sound of a shotgun falling to the floor, quickly followed by the thud of a body dropping and he peeked out from behind the counter. Ritchie was lying motionless in the doorway. Blood was slowly spreading from four holes in the front of his shirt.

Ben looked up at the dazed deputy. A siren was heard outside, coming closer. The deputy slowly lowered his gun and holstered it. The sheriff drove up to the diner in his jeep and got out, brandishing his shotgun. "It's alright, sheriff," the deputy called out. "I got 'im!"

Ben sent his girls the order to go to the soccer field they passed earlier and to sit on one of the nearby benches and wait for him there. The sheriff and his deputy took Ben's statement and let him go before calling the county coroner to come pick up the deceased. Ben walked up the street to where the girls were waiting for him.

As much as Ben had hated Ritchie for all that the bully had ever done, seeing his lifeless corpse still made him sick to his stomach. He slowly walked up to the girls and they rushed to ask him what happened and if he was alright. He sat down on the bench and told them what had happened. When he burried his face in his hands, the girls repeatedly told him that Ritchie had every intention of doing them wrong and that he hadn't made Ritchie grab the shotgun and start shooting the place up.

Ben was only half listening to them. Now that Ritchie was dead, he couldn't help but wonder how he could have handled the situation differently. "Maybe," he thought, "if I had quipped that he was a dickless, impotent freak, instead of swinging at him when he mentioned my mother, maybe he'd still be alive. Oh, I should have tried to just ignore him until he got bored and went away."

The girls' attempts to cheer him up and provide him with some perspective continued for a while before his mother phoned him. She gave him the all clear to return home with his colleagues and he stood up to robotically lead the girls back to his house. All he wanted to do was curl up in bed and cry.

As soon as he set foot in the house, his mother asked, "Ben, darling, what's wrong? You're as white as a sheet!"

Ben walked in and sat mutely on the living room couch. The girls told his concerned parents what had happened. His mother gasped and cried out at hearing every other sentence, while his father was more subdued in his reactions. Krista made a point out of stressing that Ben had gotten the three of them out to safety and how brave and chivalrous he had been.