Gary had been ready to go on his own in the worst case scenario. He wouldn’t have blamed any of them, since what they were about to do was crazy for any normal teenager, yet not a single member of the Howlers hesitated. They were all willing to go along with their leader’s decision, and go rescue one of their own.
In the short amount of time that the group had spent together, they had formed a bond that couldn’t be explained with just words. On top of that, they all seriously wanted to punish those who had destroyed the pool club.
‘If anything, now is the perfect time… I’m sure the grey colour gang should still be suffering from the fight they had with the black colour gang and Underdogs. There shouldn’t be as many of them active as they were before.’ Gary thought.
Now knowing who their target was, Kai began making some calls to find out where exactly they needed to go. However, in case he couldn’t come through, Gary already had a pretty good idea where the grey colour gang hangout was.
That time, he had followed Gil’s scent to an abandoned warehouse. There he had watched his former schoolmate go through some type of initiation, and the leader was there as well. He was sure of it, that if they needed answers, that was the place to go to.
‘Still, it might mean we’ll be going up against the entire grey colour gang if they’re at their hideout, but Marie could be with them… who knows what they’re doing with her? She could end up getting hurt just like Amy… or Mum. … If it comes to it, I’ll have to use everything.’
“You guys prepare yourselves, I need to get something first.” Gary excused himself, as he headed to the back, which had a staircase leading underneath the pool club. The group had used the cellar to store supplies and equipment. The high schooler could see that the door had been destroyed, so he wasn’t very surprised to find their supplies stolen and most of the equipment destroyed.
‘How much damage did they cause?’ Gary wondered, yet he was thinking about who had been affected the most by this, and it was clearly Kai, Marie and her mother. Even when typing on his phone, calling whoever he needed to, his upperclassman had practically pushed his thumbs into the piece of technology.
Walking through the cellar, Gary eventually found what he was looking for, as it had been left lying on the floor. It was Kai’s gift for telling him the truth. It wasn’t really anything special, which was why the grey colour gang members hadn’t bothered taking it. Bending down, he picked up the item, and he thought back to the conversation with Kai that day.
———
“As you know, the leader is the most important figure in any gang.” Kai said after leading Gary down to the cellar. “You’ve heard of the Kings, I assume?”
“Of course.” Gary answered. Even before he had done any ‘research’ into gangs, that had been a name, all of them would know. The Kings were a different thing entirely. They were beyond untouchable by their local government, more so working hand in hand with them.
“Since you were part of the Underdogs, I’m sure you already know that as grand as they might sound, they are pretty much just the biggest gang leader of the Tier-1 cities. However, how many of them do you actually know by name, and I don’t just mean what gang they belong to?” Kai questioned, yet after naming two of them, Gary was already scratching his head.
“Exactly!” Kai pointed out with a slight grin. “Aside from those two who act a bit more flashy and whose faces are already well known, the others make sure to hide their identities. The ‘unknown’ is always scarier than anything you can put your finger on.
“Rumours of their exploits continue to spread, allowing their names to strike even more fear. I thought it wouldn’t hurt if we start doing the same, even if we are only small-time right now. I’ve prepared this for now, and I think it’s important you use it. Now that I know what you are, even more so.
“I’m sure you would like to continue a normal school life, with your family and friends being none the wiser about this part of your life, right? This should make it easier for you to live that double life.”
“Thank you.” Gary said, yet at the time he had left the gift in the cellar, and not just because he was worried Amy might find it and start asking questions. He truly did want to separate the two lives that he had, but perhaps in the future the line between the two would come closer and closer.
——
Gary wiped the dust off the item, before he placed it on top of his face. It fit surprisingly well.
It was a mask to hide who he was. A hand-crafted accessory which covered the top half of his face, from his forehand to the tip of his nose. It had been painted black, with a few details that were in a golden trim, matching the Howlers’ gang colours. There were stylish claw marks on either side, coming towards the face. It was the same on the top of the forehead as well.
‘Kai… this should be the perfect time to use it. You gave this to me… so I didn’t have to hide from others. I will use this well.’ Gary thought as he stood back up.
He soon changed into his clothing, the black and gold blazer and black trousers underneath, with a white shirt still from school. Walking up the stairs, he could see the others were ready as well, and even Austin had changed into this uniform.
The others were surprised at suddenly seeing their leader come out in a mask. It was obvious that Innu was holding it in to ask what was up with that, but due to the tension in the room, none of them commented on it.
“Did you get the information?” Gary asked.
Kai looked at his phone one more time, shaking his head.
“I found out that there were a few people that saw the grey colours come to this area, and I know where their hideout is, but we can’t be sure that Marie is there.”
“Let’s go there, anyway.” Gary replied. “Even if she won’t be there, we should be able to find someone who might lead us to her.”
“Wait, you want us to take on the whole grey colour gang? With just the five of us? ” Innu questioned. He wasn’t afraid of anyone in a one on one fight. The teenager had also seen the strength of his fellow gang members, so he wouldn’t have minded fighting off a larger force, but this… this just seemed suicidal.
Colour gangs had hundreds of members. Their hideouts would naturally have at least a few dozen members, no matter the time. They would practically be walking into the den of the lion.
“I called for help, but it might take them a while.” Austin said as reassurance. “I’ll share my location with them, as soon as we get there.”
“We will go there first.” Gary insisted. “We don’t know what they’ve done to her, or what they still plan on doing to her. Whatever it is, it can’t be good, and I don’t want her to be scared.”
The others nodded and left the establishment. The sun hadn’t quite gone down yet, and it wasn’t dark enough for the colour gangs to wander the streets, but it didn’t matter. Since the pool club was between the two areas, the grey colour base wasn’t too far away.
Walking the streets they hardly ran into any trouble due to what time it was, but as they got to the docks where the abandoned warehouse was located, there was a fence that went around the entire place.
Standing in front, four grey colour members could be seen acting as some type of guard, and Gary had received a message.
[New Quest received]
[When you mess with the bull, you get the horns!]
[Your enemies have abducted someone close to you.
Show them the consequences of going against you!]
[Quest reward: 30 Exp per defeated person]
“Hey, what the hell are you kids doing here?!” A tall, lean man walked towards them. “This is the grey colour gang area, do you guys have some type of meeting?” He asked again, frowning at all the kids in front of him.
“What’s with that stupid mask? Does he think he’s some kind of superhero?” Another one laughed as he pointed at Gary.
“Charging Heart, activate.” The high schooler mumbled to himself.
“Hey, what did you say?!” The man leant forward and went to grab the masked teenager by the collar. As he reached out, Gary clenched his fist and threw it out as hard and as fast as he could. Blood gushed out of the man’s nose as his head flew back, his body dropping to the floor.
“Where is she?!” Gary shouted, his fist now covered in blood.