.•+*[un mondo completamente nuovo]*+•.

ch.1

"stop! ladro! i'll have your hands for that trophy, topo di strada." hissed the leader behind him, voice drowning out in the crowds, sellers, and albertos own thundering heart-beat.
"all this for a loaf of bread?" he snorted, asking nobody else but himself.
screeching to a screaming, skidded halt, which almost knocked him off his feet and earning a loud "woah!" that knocked out of him, the trip materialised before him magnificently.
"there he is!" called one, before suddenly, there he wasn't. another growled after him, "you won't get away with this so easily!" earning a wheeze.
"you think that was easy?" he asked, giggling.
he slipped away, oddly proud of the scowl that emitted from ercole. "you two, over that way, follow him. we'll find him."
"morning ladies." alberto sing-songed as he glided past his old lady friends, who gave him a knowing look.
"getting into trouble a little early, today, aren't we, alberto?" asked the shorter of the two, while the latter lankier one nodded in approval.
alberto chuckled, pushing away the jabbing and accusatory umbrella, "trouble? no way!" he asked, gripping his tank top with an offended gasp, before scoffing with a pouted lip and a wave of a hand. "you're only in trouble if you get caught."
"gotcha!" roared ercole, attempting to yank the younger boy, failing since he was but a stick against the muscled himbo that was albertos land form.
"i'm in trouble." he quipped, smiling nervously.
the older ladies bonked ercole on the head, whining about where ever their glasses could be. alberto winked at the other sea monsters, who winked back at them before ushering him off as ercole was rushed up by his goons guido and ciccio, tripping them over for good affect with innocent smiles and waves.
alberto nodded thankfully back at them, racing off. let's get out of here.
"gotta keep, one jump ahead of the breadline!
one swing, ahead of the sword,
i steal, only what i can afford~" he tucked in his bread under his armpit, careful of his armpit hair sweating it, "that's everything!" he beamed.
"one jump, ahead of the lawmen.
that's all, and that's no joke.
these guys don't appreciate that i'm broke~"
"riff-raf." growled ercole, rolling his eyes.
"street rat!" called guido and ciccio together.
"scoundrel." ercole hissed.
"take that!" the seller swayed his own bread sword, appearing that they had looped back to the start, alberto swung his own, before dodging.
"just a little snack guys!" alberto called.
"rip him open, take it back, guys!" they sung back.
"i can take a hint, gotta face the facts. you're my only real friend, food."
as he ran with the three behind him, the town around them sang, "who? it's sad alberto's hit the bottom.
he's become a one-man rise in crime."
a particular towny called, louder than the rest, "i'd blame parents, except he hasn't got 'em." triggering alberto.
still, he sang. "gotta eat to live, gotta steal to eat, tell you all about it when i get the time.
one jump, ahead of the slowpokes.
one skip, ahead of my doom!
next time, gonna use a nom del plume."
"there he is."
"one jump, ahead of the hit-man.
one hit, ahead of the flock.
i think i'll take a stroll around the block."
"stop! thief! vandal!" sprung the same seller, causing alberto to nearly drop the food he was fighting for.
"food!"
he caught himself, streaming past ladies in his age range this time. "let's not be too hasty." he winked at them.
"still i think he's rather tasty!"
"gotta eat to live, gotta steal to eat; otherwise, we'd get along." he frowned dramatically as he momentarily stopped and leant on ercoles shoulder, memorising about what could've been if things were different.
"Wrong."  hissed ercole, fists clutching. alberto's eyes shone when he spotted that guido, after slamming into ercoles back with ciccio crashing behind him, had dropped his sword. he picked it up, ha-haing.
guido squealed like a girl, leg recoiling up as he pointed a shaky finger at alberto, ciccio glaring daggers into him. "get him! he's got a sword!"
ercole whirled back, "you idiots! we all have swords!"
as alberto carefully handed the handle of the sword to guidio so the boy wouldn't cut himself swinging it off of him, alberto slipped off after guido took it and, quite politely, thanked him.
"one jump, ahead of the hoof-beats."
"vandal!" guido cried out behind him, voice quivering as if he was actually genuinely betrayed by albertos act.
"one hop, ahead of the hump." alberto shot guido a quick look of apology.
"street rat!" ciccio still wasn't amused.
"one trick, ahead of disaster."
"scoundrel!" ercole yowled like a cat.
"they're quick, but i'm much faster.
here goes, better throw my hand in,
wish me a happy landin'!
all i gotta do is jump!"