It was nearing mid day, Jean could be found sitting on a bucket, both feet up on top of a box with a crudely written sign saying "Try your Luck". The sun had began to leave a slight tan in his skin but thanks to a cowboy hat he had "found" his head was nice and cool. Jean was leaned back against a wall, hat tipped over his face. Though it would look like he was sleeping jean was ever vigilante, looking for his next mark..for his next mark could mean another meal.

The crowd in the area seemed to be in the upper-middle class, he eyed each group carefully for marks Not enough, looking to a group of young girls shopping. fake watch, pertaining to the man in a suit on his cell phone, There we are..this might work, as a gentlemen walked by. As a young alpha male approached, his over priced car he exited accompanied by loud foreign techno music blazing out of the windows. Almost too easy he thought as he scanned the mark, Overpriced clothing, going into a high end jewelry store which only takes cash, He looked over to the gentlemen as he neared the entrance to the store jean was sitting in front of, "Care to try you luck mon ami? Only one dollar wins 200, bet you cant find the ball" he would say without raising his head in his french accent. The young male looks over to the large stack of cash jean had raised up in his right hand. This caught the young mans attention, the male already had sized up jean due to his accent "Hmph..lets see what you got French" as he placed the stack of cash in his t-shirt pocket

Jean smirked Im going to enjoy taking your money he thought and began to place the cups on the table, a large marble ball in his left hand, 3 cups stacked in his right all neatly stacked from right to left. He would then show the ball and place it under the center cup. "Money on the table first" to which the young man obliged, slamming it hard on the table "Lets see what you got" he said chuckling as he watched "That money is as good as mine, I went all state last year, nothing gets past me" Jean shrugged his shoulders and began the mix around, he was moving them very quickly but to jean this was child's play. Twirling the cups around at a high speed had began to draw a small crowd. The balls location was still very visible but so the plan came to be. Jean had dropped a ball to the ground, a very obvious drop which echoed. The young male enraged would lean over the box and grab jean by the collar pinning him to the wall. "You trying to scam me frenchie?" Jean would play coy "No sir, here take the money you won" to which the young male released jean "Damn right, you're lucky I don't end you right here...hmph I told you nothing gets passed me!" as he aggressively grabs his winnings walks into the store.

To the crowd this would be how the so called game had ended but in jeans eyes, it was a different world. Jean had intentionally dropped another ball from his pocket to lure then man in and the Pièce de résistance would be the stack of bills in the young mans front pocket which jean had lifted in the blink of an eye and stashed in his own pocket. The young male had played right into his trap and jean was all the richer for it. The young speedster would pick up his bucket and quickly move to another corner before the brute would notice and placed shop at another store, taking his same watching seat over the moving crowd now...whose next he thought with a smirk as counted his spoils "1,2,3 thousand" as he stuffed it into his pocket and hung his sign "Try your luck" he yelled with a smirk on his face

It was incredible what a few weeks of work could get you. Since he had settled in at the x-mansion Alex had found himself a job. Then over the course of a few weeks had been able to earn his first paycheck. The job in question was nothing glamorous. Working in a deli in the high end of town cutting up meat, wrapping and packaging it, and cleaning the place afterward. He didn't handle cash or work with customers, the boss didn't trust him with that just yet.

Part of him wondered if it was because of him being a mutant, the question had come up during the interview, but honestly he didn't really care. He had a whole lot of cash to put away before he started spending it. Okay maybe he'd spend a little, kid's gotta eat after all.

Stepping out into the street from a convenience store, bag of snacks in hand, Alex started making his way home. He was careful to keep the cash in his front pocket of his jacket, wanting have his hand on or near it at all times than have it possibly stolen. It was looking to be a rather inconsequential day, that is, until something caught his eye.

A man yelling, "Try your luck", sitting at what looked like a spot the ball sort of game. Usually he'd avoid such things. No way he'd risk loosing what little he had over a potential con. But then again...He did have a little extra this time around and really what could it hurt.

A quick cross, across the the street and he met the game man at the corner. "I'm game. What's the cost?"he asked curiously. He could stand to loose a buck or two at a little game.