Edge's Story ~fin~

[Dud]

Small but very important chapter.

Enjoy.. even though it is kinda sad. 

---

August 2, 1979
12:19 am

I was sat with Mouse, Snake and Petey as Snake told us just what had happened.
“The call came in from the Riffs,” He said. “They’ve found a body up in Pelham. Some clique who got lost on their way to the Riffs’ gambling club found him in a back alley; throat slit from ear-to-ear. They reported it in to the Riffs, who got on to us almost right away. We know who did it.”
“Go on.” I said, my face distorting into a mix of anger, sadness and hatred at whoever did this.
“The Turnbulls.”
“Those lousy skinhead fuc-” Petey started, slamming his right fist into his left palm.
“How do we know?” I interrupted.
“Well, they did a pretty bad job of it,” Snake explained. “Jer had the time to write ‘AC’ on his vest in his blood before he died.”
I closed my eyes as the other guys muttered curses and tried to imagine what Jer had been through. Walking around, coming across a group of ACs just as they had missed the Warriors. Maybe he tried to run, but there would’ve been too many. They would’ve caught him in a heartbeat. I just hoped they didn’t mess with him before they slit his throat. And they being slumped against the wall; dipping his finger into the beads of blood appearing on his neck and writing the two letters on his vest. He wanted us to get them, that’s for sure.
“How did he end up in Pelham?” I thought out loud.
“He must’ve got on the train and got off at the wrong stop or something.” Snake shrugged.
“Maybe he was running from the pigs?”
“I better go tell Jerry.” I shook my head.

[Dud]

Think this chapter is worthy of a violinist playing sad music too. 

---

August 8, 1979
9:20 am

Little Jer’s funeral came pretty quickly after that. He was buried on an unusually cold morning. The Jers had no parents; they had died when they were younger, so only a few distant aunts, uncles and cousins turned up. A few of Little Jer’s old school friends came too, meaning the total turnout was just below 20. However, that all changed when we turned up. A few guys didn’t feel like attending, so we left them back at the hangout, but just under 200 Saracens turned up. 40 guys in a line; five lines deep.  With me at the front, the Saracens stood in a respectful silence with their heads bowed throughout the whole service. They remained in the respectful silence until the service finished and everyone else left. I turned to my soldiers.
“Thank you,” I said with a nod. “You’ve done our fallen brother proud today. I too am proud of you.”
The guys slowly drifted away from the back, and I thought I was alone, before Petey appeared by my side. We looked at Big Jer stood above his brother’s tombstone for a while from a distance, before heading over. I stood on one side whilst Petey took the other.
“Thank you Edge,” Jerry said, wiping his eyes. “Thanks for coming, and thank you for having the Saracens turn out.”
“It’s okay, Jer, most of them felt it was their duty to come anyway.”
I looked at the tombstone, which read:

Andrew “Little Jer” Bowen;
March 19, 1962 - July 13, 1979.

“17,” I said quietly. “Damn, that’s no age.”
“He had only just finished High School when we joined up with you.”
“I’m sorry Jerry,” I shook my head. “I shouldn’t have let him in.”
“No, I shouldn’t have let him in,” He said. “I just wanted him to be close to me, after what happened to our parents... we only had each other.”
“Yeah, I know.” I nodded.
“It just annoys me that a few of you guys were down with the Turnbulls only a week ago. If I had known, I would’ve come down and murdered every sumbitch I saw down there.” Jerry let off an angry sigh.
“Look, I know you’ll want to get back at those ACs; I do too,” I said. “But you’ve gotta hang on for a little while. I’m in the middle of sorting out something big; something that could knock the ACs off the map permanently.”
Jer looked a little reluctant but nodded.
“I’ll catch you later.” I said to Jerry, before turning and walking off.
“Take care of yourself.” I heard Petey say, before he ran to catch up to me.
“So go on,” He said to me. “What’s this big thing?”
“We gonna talk to the Warriors again.” I said with a smirk.

[Dud]

There we go, moving back onto some action-packed chapters. Less violinists and more cool guys. 

...

---

August 16, 1979
11:17 pm

The plan had been set in place for several days now. Six teams of 20 Saracens, lead by two of my most-trusted lieutenants, and five teams of Warriors, were to make their separate ways up to Gun Hill and march up to the Turnbulls’ hangout, wasting every AC they saw on the way. The 11 teams would meet up and bombard the hangout with Molotov cocktails, before wasting anyone who came out. Me and Jer were bossing the main team, which included Murphy, the guy who was in the fight against the Punks, as well as a number of people I recognised: Lenses, a guy who couldn’t read anything more than five feet away but could knock out most people in a punch, and Woody, a tall guy who usually wasn’t seen without a 2x4. Tonight though, I wouldn’t let anyone get packed before we got to Gun Hill - there was too much a risk that they would get picked up by pigs.
“You ready for this?” I said to Jer.
“Yeah.” He replied with a look that said ‘I don’t care what these pricks throw at me tonight; I’m going to come out the winner.’
I nodded, and soon after the train pulled to a stop at Gun Hill station. We all climbed off the train and I told everyone to branch out into small groups until the second team - led by Mouse and Clemo - got here. I took a seat next to a group of three other soldiers and looked around at them. I recognised Lenses and Woody almost instantly, but it took a second longer the third guy.
“Hey,” I said, breaking into a little smile. “You’re Nate, right?”
“That’s right.” The black guy nodded.
Nate was our new tagger; he had been learning the ropes from Little Jer whilst I was in prison, and apparently the two had become quite close.
“Guess you’re pretty pumped up for this?” I said.
He nodded, but said nothing. Our small group fell into silence.
Around 15 minutes later a train pulled up and off came 20 more Saracens, led by Mouse and Clemo. My two lieutenants came over to me, and I told them the plan:
“Okay, four more of our groups to come,” I said. “They all know where the hangout is, but we’re gonna have a bit of a warm-up exercise before they get here.”
“Where are the Warriors?” Mouse asked, a little worry seemingly creeping into his voice.
I didn’t reply, but nodded at another train pulling up. Swan and the Warrior wearing the cowboy hat I had met last month climbed off first, followed by 20 Warriors.  Swan and his partner came over to join our threesome, and Swan nodded at me. I returned the nod before continuing with the plan.
“Right, so it’s gonna be a while before the rest of the teams get here,” I said. “So I figured we’ll take this 60 and go look for the Turnbulls’ bus. We’ll find it, lead it into a dead-end street, and then Molotov it.”
“Sounds good.” Mouse said, as the other guys all nodded.
“Got some Molotovs ready?” I asked Swan.
“Yeah, we’ve got a guy in every group that has enough for five or six cocktails.” He nodded.
“Good,” I returned the nod. “Now let’s get going.”
We turned and headed out of the station, as everyone followed with question. Swan left the cowboy Warrior in charge of his team and came to join me and Jer at the front of everyone.
“Right,” I said to him, without breaking my stride or even turning my head towards him. “Get down that street there, Fenton Avenue. Take your Warriors, and Jer, take half of our Saracens. Get down there and get ready with the Molotovs.”
Swan and Jer both nodded and soon I was walking down the street with only 10 soldiers. Woody and Lenses were behind me, as was Murphy. I took a look down the long street and saw a truck quite far away. The figures leaning out of it told me that it was the Turnbulls’ bus, so I turned to the guys.
“Get ready to run,” I explained to them. “Just follow me, and you’ll be fine.”
A few nervous nods came from the guys, just as a drop of water dripped on me. The rain began slowly, as I warily watched the bus. It began closer, and eventually a simultaneous roar went up from the 30-odd Turnbulls on the bus. It was time to move.

[Dud]

Well, here's my next chapter. If you notice any glaring mistakes, it's because I kinda rushed this tonight. All my previous chapters have been written quite a while before they were posted, but now I'm going to be writing a chapter and then posting it almost instantly; so don't be surprised if I missed out posting a chapter every few days.

Anyway, enjoy. 

---

August 16, 1979
11:56 pm

I turned to run, and the rest of the guys followed me. I eventually found Fenton Avenue and ran down it, stopping at the dead end. The bus followed shortly after and a whoosh could be heard as a half-dozen Molotov cocktails were simultaneously thrown in through the open windows. They all exploded as flames jumped out of the windows and began licking at the Saracens and Warriors surrounding the bus. The Turnbulls clawed at each other in an attempt to get out of the burning bus. A giant boom then followed as the flames reached the bus’ fuel tank. Everyone around the bus was sent back a few yards by the explosion, and a few were even knocked to the floor.
The Turnbulls then began climbing out of the windows, their flesh burning. Most of them were making inhumane noises and although some of them lunged at the surrounding Saracens and Warriors, none of them got that far; most just collapsed on the floor and breathed in the last few smoky breaths of their pathetic lives. One of them got to me and grabbed hold of me, but I just pushed him away and dropped him in one punch; the Turnbull ending up in a bloody mess on the floor, most of his skin burnt off. A few other Saracens and Warriors had to do the same as me, but nothing more happened. Swan appeared at my side.
“Time to move?” He asked.
“Yeah,” I nodded, before turning to the group. “Right, we’re heading up to the hangout now, make sure you get packed on the way.”
A few mumbled agreements and nods came my way, and I nodded, satisfied.
“Theo,” I yelled to the half-caste guy who was carrying our Molotovs. “Get down the front here.”
It took us around 20 minutes to get to the hangout. When we arrived, we met up with the rest of our groups, and I hissed at everyone for silence, before lining up 50 guys with Molotovs. On my count of three we all simultaneously threw them up and the place was alight instantly. The windows of the hangout blew out under the pressure of the flames and shards of glass fell onto us like red-hot rain. Pretty soon the door burst open and the Turnbulls began rushing out, around a third of them on fire. All 220 packed guys readied themselves as the Turnbulls quickly got themselves prepared at the base of their hangout. An uneasy stand-off then took place; I figured there was around 150 Turnbulls squaring off against us; we must’ve burned around 60 or 70 to death already.
“We’ve both lost a young solider because of you,” I yelled across to them over the rain, which had been a light drizzle beforehand, began to get heavier. “Well we’ve had enough; it ends tonight!”
Nothing more was said, the two sides rushed into each other; the fight was on!

[Dud]

Bleh, sorry to do this just before a huge fight, but I guess it has to be done. Gonna put this story on temporary hiatus just until I get the time you write out five or six chapters; I hate typing out the chapters and posting them on the same day, it puts me under pressure.

Anyway, I hope you're enjoying this thus far, and be assured, it'll be back within a week or two. 

[BaseballFury100]

this is great. i can't wait for the new chapters

[the lady warrior]

ITS BRILLIANT.i love it it's got so much action and passion and realistic gang-life in it, i will also be starting mine tommorow about 8-ish at nite so a hope you'll like it.like you i normally jot my story on paper and then write it up but sometimes i just write it instantily so yeah thumbs up from me dud!!

[Dud]

Thank you both, lady warrior and Baseball; your comments really do mean a lot and are appreciated. 

Only just got back from a school trip the other day and to be honest, I've not made much progress on the story since I put it on hiatus, but seeing as people have taken the time to comment, I'm gonna see if I can get the time to write some more stuff and get it posted.

Oh, and 100th post. Woop. 

[Baby Bear]

I skimmed through the last two chapters of your story. It seems good. A tip that you would want to use is seperate your paragraphs so it won't be all jumbled up.

EXAMPLE:

The plan had been set in place for several days now. Six teams of 20 Saracens, lead by two of my most-trusted lieutenants, and five teams of Warriors, were to make their separate ways up to Gun Hill and march up to the Turnbulls’ hangout, wasting every AC they saw on the way. The 11 teams would meet up and bombard the hangout with Molotov cocktails, before wasting anyone who came out. Me and Jer were bossing the main team, which included Murphy, the guy who was in the fight against the Punks, as well as a number of people I recognised: Lenses, a guy who couldn’t read anything more than five feet away but could knock out most people in a punch, and Woody, a tall guy who usually wasn’t seen without a 2x4. Tonight though, I wouldn’t let anyone get packed before we got to Gun Hill - there was too much a risk that they would get picked up by pigs.

“You ready for this?” I said to Jer.

“Yeah.” He replied with a look that said ‘I don’t care what these pricks throw at me tonight; I’m going to come out the winner.

I nodded, and soon after the train pulled to a stop at Gun Hill station. We all climbed off the train and I told everyone to branch out into small groups until the second team - led by Mouse and Clemo - got here. I took a seat next to a group of three other soldiers and looked around at them. I recognised Lenses and Woody almost instantly, but it took a second longer the third guy.

“Hey,” I said, breaking into a little smile. “You’re Nate, right?”

I took a piece from your story. See how it is seperated? Do just that to your next chapters. It'll make it easier to read. When I started writing I did the same thing as in jumbling up all my paragraphs. So that's advice for you.

[Dud]

Thanks a lot, Baby Bear. I do enjoy people giving me positive comments, but I also do enjoy people giving me advice and tips on where I can improve my story.

I actually never thought about using separate paragraphs; I separate my speech and sometimes do a little indent for a new line, but I can totally see how much better it makes it look. Thanks! 

[Dud]

Alright, nothing new has been posted in almost two weeks now, so I guess the thing I never wanted to happen has happened.

Sorry, but I just can't find the time nor the motivation to continue this any more. It was fun when I started writing it, but now it just seems to me like a chore, and any other writer will tell you that if that's how you're feeling then there's no point continuing. Plus, last year of high school means I'm getting a lot of stuff to do. Maybe I'll pick this up again sometime, but right now, I wouldn't be able to continue writing with the quality or quantity I have been writing this story with.

• nazzac
• the lady warrior
• The Swan
• Scott Ward
• BaseballFury100
• Baby Bear

Those are the six people who commented on the story. I thank all six of you for your comments, and I also thank everyone who read the story but didn't comment; almost 450 views, I think that is quite the achievement. Thank you. 

[the lady warrior]

aww thats a shame cos i loved this fan-fic but i geuss if it was borin you,still i just want you to know dud it is an amazing piece of work and i defo loved it!! like i always say:"you gotta do,what you gotta do". peace out bopper's until next time adios.

[Dud]

Oh my, it's back. 

Yep, last night I actually found some inspiration, sat down and wrote out a coupla' chapters. Not sure how often I am going to be posting, and I've also lost my laptop with all my notes and older chapters on, but rest assured, Edge's Story is back, baby.

---

August 17, 1979
12:24 am

As my soldiers charged forward, I stood still for a moment and reached into my jean pockets, before pulling out a set of knuckledusters from each. I placed a set on each hand before joining the fray. I quickly dropped the first Turnbull I saw with a swift right to the nose. A second soon followed him on the ground after I punched him in the gut to double him over, before delivering a strong knee to the face. I continued battling through the crowd, as the rest of my Saracens and the Warriors did the same. We were high on emotion and cleaning house. I grabbed another Turnbull by his shirt and went to headbutt him, but was grabbed from behind myself. I took a hard shot to the neck and fell forward onto one knee. My face then met a huge boot, and I had to grab a Warrior to make sure I didn't fall down. He labelled a nearby AC before turning and giving me a hand up. I was dizzy, but I shook it off and continued through the large group, before I found myself at the back of it. I allowed a smile to momentarily cross my face as I noticed both the Saracens and Warriors had sandwiched the Turnbulls and the alliance was getting through the ACs quicker than a bottle of Miller Lite.

Jerry then found himself next to me. “It’s no good,” He said through gritted teeth. “These are just pawns; no way can we find the guys who did my brother.”

I nodded in agreement, before yelling out “Swan!”

“It’s okay, we’ve got ‘em.” He replied, without even looking up at me.

“Let’s move.” I said to Jerry, before grabbing some nearby Saracens and leading them into the now-destroyed hangout. In hindsight, I should’ve taken some more experienced guys with me, but caught in the heat of battle I just took Woody and some guy who introduced himself as Chip. The four of us looked around, but we couldn’t find anyone.

“Man, where is every-” Chip began to say, but was cut off when a knife flew across the room and slammed into his neck. Chip frowned, before falling forward onto his knees. The three of us rushed to his aid and gently laid him down back-first on the floor. We collectively looked up at the doorway where an AC stood with a smirk on his face. Woody said nothing, but pulled the knife out of Chip’s neck and rushed after the guy. Blood spurted from the deep cut in his neck as Jerry and I looked at each other helplessly.

“Well, looks like another Saracen has fallen to the mighty Bulls.” A loud voice boomed as a large shadow loomed above me, Jerry and Chip. I clenched my fist and turned quickly with the intent of laying out this prick, but I stopped mid-swing as I saw the guy I was about to hit. The Turnbulls had always been said to never have a boss, but I think I had just come face-to-face with him. I was by no means a small guy, and Jerry was even bigger, but this guy dwarfed both of us. Looking up at the guy I estimated he must’ve been at least 7-foot-tall, maybe more.

“Who are you?” I muttered, my fist still in mid-air.

The giant chuckled before answering. “Why, I’m the leader of this pathetic clique. Yep, everyone thinks that the Bulls run themselves, but it’s really me calling the shots. In fact, the only person who knew about me was Cyrus, but of course...” The guy stopped mid-sentence and made a gun using his fingers, before mimicking the action of a gun being fired. “So who am I graced by tonight? Edge and...” His eyes settled on Jerry.

“My name’s Big Jer,” Jerry stood up and puffed his chest out to look bigger. “Because of you my little brother is dead.”

“Look, nothing more needs to be said,” I interrupted; my adrenaline was starting to wear thin and I knew I needed it to fight well. “You took someone dear to us, so we’re here to return the favour.”

With that I lashed out at him. It was a right hook hard enough to knock most men out, but this guy barely even wobbled, he just stepped forward and hit me with an uppercut so hard I flew several feet into a pile of cardboard boxes. The hard punch had also cut my air supply, and for a moment I panicked, thinking I was going to choke to death. However, I managed to calm myself down and gulp down plenty of breaths. I slowly got to my feet- just in time to see the giant block one of Jer’s shots, before literally picking Jerry up and throwing him to the side. Nobody – and I mean nobody – had ever manhandled Jer like that. I rushed over to the guy and delivered a running kick to his sternum; it had no effect. I followed it up with a bunch of hard right and left hands, but the guy just stood there as though nothing was happening. Eventually he fought back, giving me a hard backhand slap that almost knocked me unconscious, before hitting me with a hard left hook which again knocked me to the floor. The giant then went to stamp on my head, but I rolled out of the way and he just caught my shoulder. It hurt like hell. I estimated this guy to be around 300lbs, and all of that had just come crashing down on my shoulder. He again went to stamp on my head, but I again rolled out the way and this time his foot came crashing down on a bottle, shattering it and making me flinch away from the shards of glass that erupted from it. The guy began showing signs of frustration and now straddled me, but before he could lay into me with those ham-sized fists Jerry appeared behind him with a length of rope in his hands. Jer tossed the rope around the giant’s neck and began pulling back, trying to choke this beast. However, this guy’s neck was bigger than most people’s chest, and he looked like he was going to break free soon. I was still dazed from all the hard shots I had taken, but managed to reach to my side and bring up the broken bottle. I sat up and plunged the broken bottle into the guy’s neck. I kept pushing and pushing until the bottle met the guy’s spinal cord and could go no further, before releasing my grip on the bottle and standing up. Jer came round and stood beside me, and although most people would have been dead at this point, the guy still managed to look at Jerry, smirk, and utter four words:

“It was worth it.”

Jerry stepped forward and lashed out at the giant, laying him out on the floor with a right hand. I didn’t even know if he was dead at this point or not, but quite frankly, I didn’t even care. I gave Jerry a pat on the shoulder and a weary look, before leading him towards the exit. We stopped however, as we noticed the fight had ended. Pigs were rounding up the last of the soldiers involved, and it hurt me inside to see a number of Saracens getting lead into flashing vans and cars.

“C’mon, we don’t stand a chance.” Jer sighed, knowing that I would want to go after my men.

I nodded in reply. “Well, you bowed out of a good one, man,” I looked over at Chip. “Can’t take him, cops would pick us up in a second.” Jerry nodded, before the two of us headed out of the back exit and then on towards the subway station.

[Dud]

Well, that chapter turned out to be quite long. 

Anyway, here's the next chapter. I know I haven't posted in a few days, and that's probably the way it's going to be from now on. Instead of pressuring myself into getting a new chapter up every day, I'll probably put a new one up every 3 or 4 days to allow myself more time to write them up.

Oh, and it's occured to me that there's not much left in this story. There's gonna be quite a few more chapters, but I'm starting to outline how this story's gonna end.

Aaaanyway, enough about what's going to happen, time for the aftermath of the big fight. Enjoy. 

---

August 17, 1979
12:56 pm

Something I seemed to have gleamed across in this story is Mouse’s girlfriend. Well, back before the Little Jer incident; back before the meeting; hell, back before I got released from jail, Mouse landed himself a chick. Now, seeing as Mouse was leader when he met her, she was allowed to hang out with the crew often. Even when I came back, I figured there was no harm in her hanging around. However, she wasn’t really into the whole gang lifestyle and wasn’t really at the hangout often. I never really paid much attention to her; I got on with her fine, we just stayed out of each other’s way. Little did I know she was gonna cause the loss of one of my closest friends.

“Hey,” Mouse walked into the hangout the night after the big fight wearing civilian clothes, his vest and his necklace slung over his shoulder.

“Hey man,” I nodded at him. “What’s up?”

“Listen, Edge, I think this is as far as I go with the Saracens. Last night I almost got wasted so many times, and I nearly got busted when the pigs arrived. I just can’t do it man. Sarah’s pregnant.” Sarah was his girlfriend, and he said it with a proud smile; I know he’d make a great father.

“Well, congratulations.” I said slowly, not knowing what else to say.

“Y’see, Sarah hasn’t seen much of NYC, and I haven’t really seen much of it either; at least, I haven’t seen much of it wearing civilian clothes. Me and her are gonna check this city out and then maybe settle down ready for the kid. I’m sorry man, you know I’d love to carry on running with you guys, but I really want this to work.”

“It’s okay Mouse, I understand,” I extended my hand for a shake. “If you’re ever in the neighbourhood, stop by and catch up with us, and good luck with whatever you choose to do.” Mouse waived the handshake and instead locked me in a large embrace.

“Gonna miss you man.” He said in my ear.

“Same man,” I replied. “And I know you’ll make a great father.” We held the embrace for a few moments before letting go. He handed me his vest and necklace, before turning and walking off into the distance. I had given everyone who had been there last night the day off, so we were of limited capacity today. However, a few people had still chosen to come in, and Snakefingers was one of those.

“So does that mean...” He appeared at the side of me, his eyes on Mouse’s white vest.

“Yep, you’re the new Warchief,” I replied with a small smile. “Don’t think this’ll fit you though.”

“My God...” Snake muttered, looking past me and at the door Mouse had just left out of. Stumbling into the hangout was Woody, covered in blood and clutching a blood-stained knife in his right hand. Snake rushed to him and Woody collapsed in his arms. Snake helped him over to a couch as a few other guys ran over to help.

After falling onto the couch, Woody muttered “I got him,” and smiled before his head fell back and he fell into unconsciousness. 

“Snake, you’re in charge, get this soldier cleaned up,” I said to my new second-in-command, before heading up the stairs to the roof. I didn’t want to desert Woody, but I had something thinking to do. I sat down and thought about all the soldiers I had lost recently. Jerry had said his goodbyes last night after we arrived back in Bensonhurst, so that meant I had lost the two Jers, Mouse, Chip, and at least 20 more last night. The only problem was that I didn’t know who I had lost last night; for all I knew, Snake and I could’ve been the only people still standing that had been to the meeting.

I hoped that wasn’t the case, but I also hoped that the Turnbulls would be the last thing we had to worry about for a while.

[Dud]

Time for another chapter methinks. Not got much to say about this one, except it pretty much sets up my next (and final) storyline. Also, the chapter above was my thirtieth, and I'm very pleased it has managed to come this far. Anyway, enjoy. 

---

August 24, 1979
2:56 pm

When the dust had settled and everyone had reported back in for duty, the only notable people we had lost we had were Wilson, the guy who was involved in that fight with the Punks not long ago, and of course, Chip. Now, we hadn’t recovered any of the bodies, so we just held a minute’s silence a few days after the fight to honour those who had either been wasted or busted avenging our brother Little Jer. I was sat with Snakefingers, Petey and Arson, who had become the top three guys after me with the loss of Mouse and Big Jer.

“Y’know something?” Snakefingers mused. “We never did get those Gladiators back for attacking us with the JSBs.”

“Goddamn, you’re right,” I muttered. “What’ve you got in mind?”

“We can’t afford another war like last week.” Petey shook his head.

“I know,” Snakefingers nodded. “I was thinking a small Warparty could go down and just mess everything up.”

“Y’know, that’s not such a bad idea,” I agreed. “Kinda like what we did to the Orphans a few months back.”

“Well I’ll be damned,” Arson smirked. “Give this guy a white vest and he starts making sense.” Snake flicked him the bird playfully as I stood up.

“Okay, guess I better pull together a team,” I announced. “Who wants to come with? I want a few of us more experienced guys to stay back here, I ain’t taking chances anymore.”

“I’ll come,” Arson stood up and nodded.

“Solid,” I replied. “You guys happy sitting this one out?”

“Sure,” Snake replied, as Petey nodded.

I then went off and found myself a team. I decided to take Nate, just because I wanted Canarsie painted with our colours. I also took Daz because I didn’t know my way around Canarsie and he did. I also took Lance and Jackson for the muscle, and finished the team off with Lenses and Theo, just because they needed a bit of experience.

I led the team out of the hangout and on towards the subway station, nodding to Skipper and Clemo, who were on lookout duty. We waited patiently for the train until the one headed to Canarsie pulled up. We quickly walked in and grabbed a seat each.

“So what made these Gladiators side with the JSBs against us?” Daz asked as the train set off.

“I dunno,” I shook my head. “But it’s a decision they’re gonna regret in a few hours.”