Throne of Thieves

Chapter 6: Brutal Encounter

I whispered to Ray, "Let's sneak in and see what we're dealing with." He seemed to agree as we made our way to the front door. Slowly, I slid it open, and now the voices from inside were clearer. A gruff male voice could be heard speaking loudly in the other room. The place was musty, and the air tasted stale in my mouth. Both of us sneaked around the front of the house until we reached the edge of the room where we heard voices. The man's voice seemed to be barking orders, "The boss wants all of this done by tonight! Move it, people, we gotta peddle this shit." From what I gathered, there seemed to be a couple of guys in one of the rooms, packing goods into bags and boxes, likely drugs. I could guess it was probably the mushrooms we had bought earlier today.

I peered carefully around the corner. A man with blonde hair could be seen looming over three other guys. The man was taller than Ray but a bit weaker-looking; his core wasn't maintained. He had lazy eyes and wore a red and blue beanie on his head. He had a couple of tattoos on his exposed legs and what seemed to be implanted fake teeth. He wore shades inside the house, maybe to intimidate his workers. Overall, I got the feeling he was a real piece of shit; he treated anyone under him like dirt. One of the man's underlings added, "Chase, what do we do about those brats the boss wants dealt with?" Chase responded, "Who cares about some little rats running around? All we gotta do is worry about the drugs; the boss will take care of those little pests one way or another. I mean, hell, the kids aren't even in a gang. Who really cares if they beat up some of our guys? They'll be dealt with eventually."

I nudged Kai and whispered, "We should leave for now." Kai nodded, and we attempted to flee the scene. Right as we were leaving, a goon came in from the entrance, holding a box. He spotted us and froze in place. We froze along with him, time passing by slowly as the man processed what he was seeing. Then, with a booming voice, he yelled out, "Boss! We got intruders outside the room!" This was it. Ray was the first to react; he grabbed his bat and shoved it into the man's stomach. He lay on the ground, the wind knocked out of him, but the damage had been done. Chase appeared behind me, a surprised expression on his face. He laughed a little, "So what did I tell you boys? Problems just solve themselves when I am around." He quickly rushed me and grabbed me by the collar of my shirt, holding me up for everyone to see.

Chase cackled, "These little peasants don't realize they're dealing with a gang that is about to get ranked." I spat out, "What are you talking about?" He spat in my face, "Each gang on this island has a ranking, 1-100. Our gang is ranked 102, so we're the 102nd most powerful gang on this island. You stepped into the big leagues, kiddos, and got your foot caught already." He threw me against a nearby window; my back was hit with a sudden pain. Kai yelled out for me, but I needed to be strong now. He caught me off guard, but letting go of me like that meant he underestimated me. I let him approach me; I pretended to be more hurt than I am. I know what he wants; he wants to make a show of this.

He approached me menacingly, slowly, like an animal hunting its prey. His four goons blocked Ray from getting to me. He laughed at me, "Did you two wannabes really think you had what it takes in the big leagues? It's a dog-eat-dog world, kid. And you two are at the bottom of the food chain." He raised his leg, seeming like he was planning to shatter my leg with his, but unlike him, I know how to protect myself. I waited patiently; just when his leg was about to come down, I positioned my other leg below him, and as soon as he struck, I struck. My foot flew upwards; I had the perfect target in mind - his nuts. I slammed into them hard; immediately, his legs buckled, and he fell over. He yelled out, "Shitttt!" Mercilessly, I stood up, and before anyone could react, I stomped on his face using all my weight.

I broke his nose and knocked him out at the same time; his goons stared at me like deer in headlights. Ray smiled, "Damn, you beat me to it, buddy." He used the handle part to slam into one of the goons' privates from behind, sending him onto his knees. Ray chuckled, "I told you dumbasses last time I would send your balls flying if I saw you again." The other three goons looked at us, and then down at their boss. One of them tried to punch me, "You're just a pip-squeak." I had to be brutal with them, make sure they don't attack us again. I grabbed his punch effortlessly; I had already found the joint as I waited for him to strike me. I punched straight upwards into his joint; I heard a loud snap echo throughout the room. A punch on that specific joint would break the bone. Arms are a lot like buildings; take away the supporting beam, and the whole thing will crumble.

The man yelled loudly as he held his now broken arm; the rest of his crew looked at me in horror. They had probably never seen anyone get their arm broken in such a brutal way; they looked scared. Now, even to us, both of the men backed away. One of them, a more rational-looking one, said, "Woah woah, hey, let us go, kid; we get the hint. We won't mess with you anymore." I looked at them dismissively, "Take your boss and get the hell out of here. If I ever see any of you dumbasses again, I will do more than break your arms." The men screamed like toddlers as they carried their boss up and out of the house, his face still a bloody mess. Ray slapped me on the back, "Jeez, for such a little body, you're quite the fighter, Leo." I shrugged, "I just know how the body works, like I said. Anyways, now that those losers are gone, let's clean this shithole up." I walked away a little embarrassed at Ray's compliment.

That Chase dumbass provided us with a key detail; I had no idea that gangs on Metro Island were ranked. I asked Ray, "Did you know that? That gangs are ranked on Metro Island?" Ray shook his head, "Never heard of that; I wonder where they post their ranks? Can't be a news board, right?" I shook my head, "No, it's probably digital, like some kind of website, I would assume." The Silent Eagles are only 102? That is hard to believe. Does that mean the top ten on the island are the 10 highest ranked? The more we delve into the underworld on this island, the less I understand about my home. Putting that thought aside for now, I turned my attention to the place we just cleared out.

I explained, "We've got to clean this shithole up. The place looks like a drug den. Let's clear out the drugs and make it look more presentable." The place was a one-story building with one open area in the front with no furniture and a wooden door. It had one room on the east side with no beds or furniture. The place was an absolute dump, to put it lightly, but it would do. It was just big enough for what we needed. All we needed to do now was unload our coffee, clean up this place, set up a small area for making the coffee, and we'd be open for business. One of the best parts of this place was that we didn't owe anything on it. All we needed to do was spray it, and we would have claimed ownership of it.

I pulled out a can of black spray paint that Kai had lying around our house for some renovation attempts he was making last spring. I held it up for Ray, "Got any ideas what symbol we should put down? That should be the first thing we do—cover up their marking on the outside with our own." Ray leaned on his bat as he contemplated, "Assuming we call ourselves something, wouldn't that make us a gang?" I looked at him a bit stunned. Huh, I guess I hadn't really considered that. I nodded, "At least for now, yes, I guess you could see us as a gang, although we're only two people." Ray scoffed, "Doesn't matter; what should the gang name be?" I mocked, "You're more into this than you let on. Alright, fine, let's brainstorm, then we can make the symbol."

Ray started, "What about the Daredevils?" I pointed out, "What are you, 5? Come on, man, get serious." He pouted, "Come on, it's cool. What do you got?" I suggested, "Black Diamonds?" I named it after cards; I figured it sounded cool. Ray slapped my back, "Not to point out the obvious, but we're going for a fear factor; that sounds like a knitting club." I sighed, "This is harder than I thought. Fine, how about we compromise?" Ray crossed his arms, "Compromise?" I smiled, "Black Jokers." Ray raised an eyebrow, "Hm, sounds cool, but how is this a compromise?" I explained, "Well, think about it. Daredevil is a person that is reckless and unpredictable. A joker, in terms of cards, is a wildcard, which can be seen as unpredictable. All you have to do after that is take the first part of my suggestion, and you have Black Jokers. Sounds cool, right?" I smiled pridefully. Ray pointed his bat at me, "Good name, boss."

I was taken aback, "Boss?" Ray laughed, "Well, duh, you're the one that always comes up with the plans. All I do is hit people. Plus, short stuff, you've gained my respect." I never expected to be the boss; I figured that would be his thing if we started a gang, that is. I nodded, "Alright, from today onwards, at least until we deal with the Eagles, we are the Black Jokers." I beckoned him to follow me as I made my way outside and approached the Eagles' spray paint. I shook the can hard and began to paint over it. It would take a bit, but I managed to start painting over the Eagle. These were our first steps to gaining our freedom on this Island. Something I had just started to gain pride over. Being the boss felt weird, but it also felt good. I couldn't help but smile at Ray as I realized just how far we had come in such a short time.