"He's here!"
Faint voices could be recognized in the distance. The sound of footsteps approaching filled one's ears.
"Damn Jay! You're a sore sight for eyes!"
A heavy cough escaped the figure's lips, "Sure took your sweet time. I was ready to die among the trash here."
"I can't believe you managed to take down the Heavy Thorns! You have no idea what Hearth's face looked like when she saw the trail you left."
"Hey!", a voice objected. By the context it can be assumed it came from the one named Hearth.
"Alright stop inflating my ego. I might have won, but here I am in some alleyway licking my wounds.", Jay chided.
"But a victor you remain. Get on your feet man, we gotta get you some proper care.", someone reached out and lifted Jay to his feet.
Jay jerked his head in the direction of his coat, "Do me a favor and get my coat, along with the one under it."
"Someone else is here?"
The jacket was lifted off the young boy, revealing a bruised and broken person. The one who lifted the jacket flinched, "He's in worse shape than you, damn what happened?"
Hearth came over to check, a flicker of pity spawned in her eyes, "A young kid too. Shit, who would do this to someone?"
Jay struggled to remain standing, instead he relied on the support of the first one who spoke, "Can you take him? I don't want to leave him about."
"I doubt we can do that. Who knows who did this to the kid? We can't go and shelter him, it would risk angering another gang.", Hearth warned.
"I'm not going to let my comrade in death be left alone. Bring him along already will you? I'll take care of whatever the consequences might be."
"Fine.", Hearth lifted up the young boy with ease, "Damn! He's skin and bones too. Shouldn't be this lightweight."
"Left to die he was. Let's get going."
With the injured being escorted from the alleyway the young boy fell asleep in Hearth's arms. Despite him being in no good position, this was the best sleep he has had in years.
With him asleep, we shall shift our focus to Jay.
Being hoisted by his arm he leaned on his comrade. His wounds caked in old blood turned to scab. Clothes almost torn apart. His leather jacket clung to his shoulders after his comrade placed it there. Although it was worn and torn, it provided a bit of protection from the bite of the lukewarm wind.
The one helping Jay spoke in amazement, "I still can't get over how you managed to take on the Heavy Thorns. Their territory is now forfeit, and the Top Dog is swamped with organizing all of that."
"Ah damn, he's going to be pissed isn't he?"
"Oh you bet! But you're going to be someone to be feared. The bane of the Heavy Thorns!"
"Horrible cred man."
"The fame is something else though."
"Rumor already get out?"
"Of course."
Jay formed a complicated expression, "Shouldn't have come to this. Now the Heavy Thorns are wiped."
"You say that as if you're not the reason."
"That's not it Cole, I only went there to deal with the rat group who tried to siphon funds from out territory. Went to teach a lesson, spread word about that. Seems Heavy Thorn had other plans."
"What? I thought you just went and decided to take them out."
"And willingly put myself in that much danger? Damn man! Who the hell do you think I am? I mean look at me!"
"Yeah I see that. My bad."
Jay shook his head aghast, "Turns out they were under orders from the leaders, Heavy Thorn had plans to start pushing into our territory."
"That would mean war! Are they insane?! We can't be gathering the attention of the Districts!"
"You're telling me. They had me surrounded, planned to send me as a declaration to hand over territory. Wrong fuckin' person to try and do that with."
"No telling! Thanks to you we might've avoided a war. Shit, the Top Dog is gonna need to hear this."
"He'll call for me later no doubt. Lucky he'll even be able to. Otherwise I would be a corpse on his doorstep."
"So then who's the kid?"
"After I managed to escape the aftermath I crawled into some alleyway. Kid was just lying there, didn't speak a peep. I barely heard him breathe. Damn near sure he already passed on. Figured no one oughta die alone, so I stuck around. Case I was next."
"Guess he got lucky."
Although luck was quick to run out. For another injured person stepped in their path. Jay grit his teeth, "Not lookin' too good are we?"
"Shut the fuck up. You damn Street Dogs. Think I'm gonna let my Heavy Thorns fall apart with no retribution? At the very least I'm gonna take the head of you."
"You? Please, even with the entirety of that pathetic posse you called a gang you couldn't put me an inch into the grave."
"Sharp talk coming from someone who can barely fucking stand."
"We're the dogs here, how the hell you managing to bark louder than us?
"I'm gonna kill you!"
Cole took a step back, "Shit! What do we do?"
"I got it, y'all step back 'kay?"
Jay freed himself from Cole's support. Managing to stand purely on his bones he stared the figure in the eyes, "You're about to find out why your posse got wiped by me alone."
"Enough bullshit, I won't rest until your tongue becomes an ashtray."
In this world where everyone in the world has an ability, how do you calculate strength? Skill? Talent?
That's where Cred comes in. Without easy access to the usage of things that oversimplify power, such as skill stats, or a ranking system, for those who live on the streets the only thing that matters is their cred. If their ability on paper sounds weak, then you could drastically underestimate an enemy. If someone with an impractical ability becomes a known threat, then you know not to mess with them. That's Cred, that's how you scale someone.
Jay was someone who only recently entered the stage. So with no Cred, he still took down a street gang alone. Heavy Thorn had no Cred to weigh against him, so they presumed him to be weak. However Jay was someone with an ability specifically suited for combat.
Opening his hand to make a palm he folded his thumb inward. A weak blue light formed in his palm and extended into an energy blade. He winced and silently commented, "Too tired to make a good one."
[Photon Saber: Upon folding your thumb a saber of light extends from your fingertips. The strength and length of the saber depends on the user's condition and will.]
The leader of Heavy Thorns lifted a metal pipe from the ground, "It lacks the luster from before, I suppose that just makes things easier."
"Hah, I just don't need to put in the effort."
[Semi-Immortal Pipe: Whenever the user picks up a pipe any damage it receives is delayed. This effects only the pipe's durability. If at any point the user drops the pipe, the damage it was supposed to receive triggers all at once.]
The two injured fighters stepped towards each other. Both lacked the energy to charge, and their wounds prevented them from exerting themselves. The Heavy Thorns leader swung the pipe towards Jay's jaw. Clashing against the pipe with his Photon Saber the two pushed against each other. Reeling back they clashed heads, foreheads turning red as they pushed.
"Lacking the strength you showed before Street Dog!"
"You lack the confidence you had then Heavy Thorn!"
"Rrrgah!", the leader of Heavy Thorns pushed Jay away. Raising the pipe above his head he swung down with both his arms and all his might. Raising his Photon Saber to block Jay struggled to keep his footing.
Crrck-
Jay's Photon Saber shattered upon receiving the blow. Jerking to the side Jay managed to avoid a strike directly to his head, but the pipe slammed into his shoulder. A sickening crack could be heard, and Jay hollered in pain.
"Jay!", Hearth shouted.
Grabbing the pipe with the opposite arm Jay fought to rip it out of the leader of Heavy Thorns' hand. His single arm could not compete with two. So instead he stepped closer, "Damned Heavy Thorn. No matter if you put me down here you lost everything already. This is nothing but petty revenge."
"Damned straight! It will do me no good, but it will feel great!"
"Good fucking luck!"
With the hand of his broken shoulder he created a palm and folded his thumb. A Photon Saber shot out and stabbed into the leader of Heavy Thorns. He winced heavily and dropped the pipe. Grabbing at the Photon Saber he swore, "You can kill me here, but the Street Dogs will wipe. There's no fucking doubt in my mind. This one instance is far from enough you hear me?!"
"Yeah sure, piss off."
Pulling his Photon Saber free Jay stumbled back. The leader of Heavy Thorns grabbed at his wound and stumbled away, a trail of blood dripped to follow. Once the leader was out of sight Jay crumpled to the ground, "I'm beat. Cole can you please?"
"Y-Yeah! Of course!", Cole responded while rushing over to help Jay to his feet.
With this final and sad battle the Heavy Thorns were wiped as a street gang. Along with it, Jay's Cred skyrocketed.