After their impromptu meal, they drove on and soon reached a part of town that wasn’t in the best of shapes. It was between the borders of Chavley and Cipher, two territories belonging to two different gangs, making it a problematic area. Most of the fighting between the two colour gangs would be in this area, meaning any type of night business would struggle.
The car had eventually stopped outside what looked like a boarded up bar. The windows had hard cardboard covering them up, and spray paint on the outside. It was hard to tell what it was because there were no signs, nor did that establishment have a name or anything. At least the letters that used to be there looked to have been taken off or stolen. The group got out of the car, and were looking left and right to see if there were any signs of trouble and were happy to see that it seemed to be a silent night. Perhaps the gangs were being a bit more cautious due to the rising tensions.
“So what exactly are we doing here?” Innu asked.
Kai walked forward and stood in front of the bar, turning to all the others.
“Don’t you remember asking me about our hideout? At the time, we didn’t have any, but every gang needs a starting place, a place that they can call home and regularly meet up. What you see behind me will be our base from today onwards.
“Right now, it’s all under Mrs DeGrace’s name.” Kai looked in the direction of Marie’s mother when saying this. “We’re just renting it, but soon enough we should be able to buy it. This business now belongs to us, making this our territory! It will be from here that we’ll grow, and today is the day the Howlers become a real gang!
“Welcome to the Howlers base!”
Walking up to the door, Mrs DeGrace pulled a key out of her pocket. It looked like everything had been planned beforehand. The door swung open, letting out a musty smell. Gary immediately covered his nose, and started sneezing a few times.
His nose was far more sensitive compared to the others. Seeing this, the others were even less inclined to go inside, but ignoring everything Kai walked inside. Not wanting to stay out in the cold, the others had no choice but to follow behind.
When entering, they saw that the place had been completely ruined, there was broken glass on the floor and dust everywhere. It was hard to say when was the last time someone had been inside this place. However, at least the actual size of the place was quite large, and there were some things they could use.
There was a large bar area that was surprisingly intact, all it needed were some stools, and alcohol or drinks, then there were multiple pool tables all over the place, eight of them in total.
“Looks like this used to be a pool club.” Innu commented. “Pretty neat, if i say so myself.”
“Well, maybe in the past, right now I’d say this place is a dump.” Marie complained about kicking one of the glass bottles that rolled across the floor. “It will cost a pretty penny to renovate all of it.”
“It might be a dump but you guys need to use your imagination a bit.” Kai smiled. “We have some seed money, and we have hands. With a little work we can clean up this place. Purchase a few things to make it look nice.
“Mrs DeGrace will be the bartender. She has some experience and is quite the beauty to get the older customers in. The deal is that after rent and all expenses get paid the Howlers will get ten percent of all the profits.”
“What about the area?” Gary asked. “You should know that this isn’t exactly the most ideal place.”
Of course Kai knew that, and it was probably exactly why the rent had been so cheap and why the facility had been abandoned in the first place. Whoever owned this dump, would need good protection from the other gangs. Looking at the place there had probably been a few fights, before the last owner gave up.
“For now, the business will only be open during the day. I think it might be best to just use it as a pool club for young university students, or high school students to go to after school. We all go to schools and know people, just invite them along.
“Heck, Austin’s the top dog of his school, so he can just pretty much force them to come here, meaning we would have guaranteed customers. Then later on we can open up the business at night, further expanding our streams of revenue.”
“And when would that be?” Innu asked.
“When, we are confident enough to stop anyone from touching this place. When the name of the Howlers will not only be known among those who go to underground fighting events, but all the other gangs and I don’t mean colour gangs. It might be shabby right now, but don’t worry, this is just the start!” Kai gripped his fist.
It was the first time the others had seen him so passionate about something. Every word he spoke was filled with excitement. This guy’s dream was to rise to the top, and it looked like he would do anything to get his way.
“Everyday bit by bit, we will come here. You and Innu can continue training, and it should be a safe place away from Billy. Marie will be in charge of stocks, handling our money among other things. Think of her like the accountant of our business.”
“Hey!” Austin shouted. “I think you’re forgetting something. I haven’t agreed to anything yet. You remember my deal. This is all great and all, but your plan doesn’t work if you don’t have the strength to back it up… If you can’t even beat me, how can you beat all those out there?”
It was then that Kai looked over to Gary.
“Well Gary, you wanted to rise to the top with me. You want to change your situation, right? To do that, we need Austin. So what’s it going to be?”
Following the conversation, Gary pretty much knew what Kai was asking him to do.
“Austin, don’t you think this is a bit unfair? Gary was in a fight not too long ago, can’t you have your stupid fight tomorrow?” Marie asked.
Looking at him, Gary was debating internally. His Energy was full, his health was full, he was actually in perfect condition to fight austin.
[New quest received]
[A person wishes to test your strength]
[Task: Knock out or make your opponent submit!]
[Reward: ???]