Filed to story: A Bullied Boy Died: A Mafia King Woke Up In His Body
The squads slowly began moving into the district, positioning aggressively and standing near the targeted businesses. The customers who had initially queued up began to scatter upon seeing the threatening Red Lions members stare at them from a distance. Word spread like wildfire-it was a turf war.
One of the Seven Snakes’ guards confronted them. “Hey! What are you red cunts trying here? You’re fucking scaring them off!”
“I’ll stand wherever the fuck I like. Why? Does your father own these streets? Didn’t know this was your grandfather’s road either. Mind your own business.”
“You better fucking move, or-“
“Or what? Run and hide, like you always did with Ulon? Once a bitch, always a bitch.”
All over the district, confrontations like this were beginning to drive the tension even higher. The Red Lions were provoking the Seven Snakes to attack first. It was all a childish back-and-forth of who attacked first and who was in the right, a game of public perception as a few brave onlookers watched the arguments grow more heated.
In a matter of minutes, it wouldn’t matter who started the fight or waved the biggest stick-only who won. Wrent was about to lean back into his comfortable office chair, waiting for the inevitable victory, when he suddenly heard a loud thud in the training yard before a metal door cracked open with a repeated hammering sound.
The grating metallic sounds pierced the air, prompting Wrent to immediately exit the office to see who was attacking. A lone man was smacking away at the hinges of the armory door with a neon-red arctech hammer, and they soon gave way, sending the door to the ground with a large cloud of dust.
“KYYYYYLLE!” Wrent lunged at him, retrieving his ruby-encrusted sword from its sheath and swinging wildly. However, the arctech shoes Kyle wore glowed yellow and allowed him to move a bit faster than expected, barely dodging the ferocious attacks. Kyle quickly ran into the armory, glancing around at the numerous racks of weapons and armor before spotting the potion crates.
A tingling sensation ran down his spine as he instinctively ducked, a red energy arc slicing through the air where his head had just been. The arc crashed into the potion crates with a loud explosion, sending dark-yellow liquid spiraling into the air.
That’s new.
Kyle glanced behind Wrent to see a pipe connected to a churning fuel pack at his waist and a sword glowing with arcia. “So, you’ve come to your death, then. Were you planning on raiding the armory to steal our equipment?” Wrent grinned, blocking the only exit.
Without a word, Kyle ran deeper inside, much to the surprise of Wrent.
“COME BACK HERE, YOU CUNT!” Wrent yelled as he charged through the armory. Kyle quickly used his hammer to smack the intersections of a few empty armor racks and tossed training weapons to stall Wrent. The well-organized armory started collapsing, the metal shelves and cupboards being overturned.
Wrent’s armor prevented him from moving as fast as Kyle, rendering him unable to keep up. Kyle leapt over him with one swift motion, landing in a roll. As soon as he recovered, he ran straight out the door.
“STOP RIGHT THERE!” Wrent yelled.
Kyle didn’t comply, only showing a small smirk before leaving, which infuriated Wrent even more. Wrent glanced around the room, seeing only an utter mess. No critical equipment was being kept here; all of it had already been distributed to the attacking squads. He tried to figure out Kyle’s objective, since the man was clearly avoiding a fight with him.
The dark-yellow liquid oozing onto the floor suddenly made him realize he had lost the entire stash of potions. The loss of the Stamina Potions weighed on him, but his pride mattered more. How could he have failed to capture the enemies’ leader when he was right there? He ran back to the office and grabbed the radio.
“Cease the attack and converge back on the base-Kyle is fleeing back through our district! Cut him off!”
“Boss, we can’t. We’re right in front of them. If we back off now, our reputation will take a hit!”
“Aren’t they pushovers? Just attack first, knock out a few of them, and then catch the leader!”
The Red Lions squads were now torn between leaving a confrontation they started and capturing Kyle. “Fuck it. If Wrent ordered it, we’ll do it!”
They quickly attacked, but none of the Seven Snakes members were surprised, knowing their plan had succeeded. “Hold as many of them here! Don’t let them cut off our leader!”
Battles erupted in the street, the flickering of the arctech neon signs serving as the backdrop to dozens of men that fought in the streets in a rough melee brawl with fists, gauntlets, knuckle dusters, and pipes. Blood and the twisting of limbs became a common scene all over the cobblestone ground, with fighters wrestling and ganging up on single targets. Everything was fair game.
Much to the surprise of the Red Lions, the Seven Snakes were suddenly much better at fighting. They were able to dodge and parry effectively, to a certain extent. It was not only the effect of the homemade Strength Potions that boosted them. They had undergone training since Kyle had taken over, which was now close to a month for the original members, much like a boot camp.
Any of the Red Lions members who tried to carry out Wrent’s order were instantly intercepted by the Seven Snakes. However, the Red Lions still had the edge in arctech equipment and experience, allowing them to inflict more damage as the battle continued. The fights were brutal, with both sides suffering injuries and broken limbs.
“Boss, they aren’t that weak; we can’t beat them instantly like we expected!”
Wrent cursed and pounded his fist on his office table, cracking it in half. “ARRRGH! SEVEN SNAKES!” He couldn’t leave the base lest Kyle was performing a feint-there were still plenty of high-value resources that Kyle could quickly return to ransack.
The scale of the fights escalated, with exhaustion setting in. But the Seven Snakes were far more tenacious, gritting their teeth as they pushed back against the numerical and equipment disadvantages. “This is nothing compared to our training!”
The next hour was harrowing as the fights dragged on. Wrent impatiently tapped the table, waiting for some good news over the arctech radio. All of a sudden, one of the lights indicating an active connection to a squad dimmed.
Shit… One of the squads had their arctech radio broken?! It has to be Kyle!
With a squad out of contact, it meant that the net he had set up around the Seven Snakes’ district had fallen apart. Wrent’s brow furrowed intensely as he contemplated whether or not he should enter the battle to counter Kyle’s combat ability. However, he instinctively knew that he was now one step behind; entering the battle would be playing right into the enemies’ hand.