"Holy shit. . ."
Twin Fang was disbanded. The leader lost their will to continue after facing Top Dog. Not willing to risk it they broke contact and the gang fell apart. As the sun rose word about Top Dog spread throughout the Annatto District. Several gangs grew wary and unsure upon hearing these rumors. Moreover an upcoming gang such as Twin Fang was disbanded overnight? It only gave substance to the rumors.
Ounce walked through the Bell building and found it deserted. Seeing the damaged third floor he couldn't help but feel his heartbeat accelerate. Scorch marks littered the floor, walls were damaged with a few broken. What furniture remained turned to splinters and junk. Ounce couldn't stop his hands from shaking, an adrenaline rush overcoming him.
He had caused this. Well more specifically he was a direct influence on this. If he hadn't mentioned Twin Fang, would they still be around? Just because he told Top Dog of Twin Fang they got wiped? It was almost unbelievable.
Resting on a chair that was bent out of proportion Ounce fell into a fit of laughter, "Serves them fucking right!! Thinking you can look down on others because we can't become Districts?? Neither can you! You complete idiots!"
With a satisfied smile Ounce moved to leave the Bell building. Walking to the broken exit he was startled to see a group walk inside, "Since Twin Fang is gone, why not just take this place over?"
Their gazes landed on Ounce. Immediately the tension spiked as one spoke, "Seems like someone is trying to claim it first."
Ounce was startled, he didn't think that a gang would try to claim this building so soon. After all it was still hot with conflict, it was a risky choice. This does bring to light a smaller scale of conflict. Since I started the story of a gang becoming a District, you aren't aware of what the smaller gangs deal with. Remember when I said you aren't an official gang without owning a building? Or was it claiming a building?
Regardless, there are only so many buildings that are abandoned. So to really claim your Rep as a gang, you either needed to buy, rent, or claim a building. With a limited set of choices, those gangs who desire to become a Street needed to find a building first. Thus there were a lot of small scale conflicts over who gets to claim the building. It was a such a hotblooded market that many gangs were willing to risk their necks to claim a building like the Bell one. Especially since a District wiped the gang who claimed it.
A misunderstanding quickly sprouted out of control. Desperation to prove themselves led this group to believe that this golden opportunity—one that they believed to be an opportunity I mean—was about to be taken from under their noses. Hostility was apparent, and Ounce couldn't get a word out to defend himself before the group leapt forth. Raising his hands in defense was about the extent of what Ounce could do.
"This building is owned by the Sunset Gang! You think you can take it?!"
Ounce opened his mouth but a foot immediately kicked him preventing any words from escaping. Blood pooled from his mouth and bruises began to form. Ounce wasn't a spectacular fighter. Just barely managing to scrape himself up to a Street. In the face of sheer number he didn't stand a chance. Losing track of how many blows he received he could only hold on. Eventually the Sunset gang figured it was enough and threw him from the building, "Don't you dare show your face around these parts!"
Ounce could barely push himself up. His body lurched and he spat out a mouthful of blood. Coughing heavily he managed to spit out a few venomous words, "Fucking bastards!! I won't let you do this to me! You fucked with Grey Night!"
Dragging himself to his feet almost made him fall over. Pulling himself forward he pushed on despite his injuries back to his homebase. A furious expression remained plastered on his face with every agonizing step. Each second the pain blossomed through his body was another birth of anger. Revenge becoming the one thing to focus on, Ounce carried himself down the Streets on sheer spite.
"Ounce! What the hell happened?!"
A member of his gang came over and immediately supported the injured Ounce. Sputtering words in response Ounce answered, "Some bitch ass startup posse decided to jump me. Seems they thought I wanted the Bell building."
"Are they stupid? Don't they know we're the Grey Night gang?"
"Clearly fucking not! Gather up the boys, I want those bastards on the asphalt!"
"I'm on it!"
Ounce was put on a bench to recover and he sighed. His body still had a significant amount of pain coursing through, but he was too furious to pay attention to it. Rapidly his gang appeared and reported to him. Upon seeing their leader beaten so badly they grew angry at the foolish people who would do that. Ounce wasn't going to give a speech or anything. Waving his hand he sent them off, "They're at the old Bell building! Kick their asses and drag them to the asphalt for daring to mess with Grey Night!!"
"Yes Boss!", they shouted in unison.
Marching off the gang rapidly approached the Bell building and noticed the group clearing it out. Sunset noticed Grey Night's approach and immediately turned hostile, "This is Sunset territory! Screw off!"
"You dared to beat our leader?! We came to teach you a lesson!"
To these gangs the Tension dance was a formality ignored. After exchanging a few words a brawl immediately started. Blows and abilities flew across and blood splattered across the asphalt. Although gangs like Districts, or those who were close to becoming one, had a lot of numbers. The average Street level gang had roughly 10 to 20 total members. You didn't actually need too many to manage a Street after all. Collecting protection fees came once a month, and the Streets only had so many buildings. Grey Night was on the smaller side, totaling only 12 total members. One of which was already beaten.
The brawl didn't last very long, nor had anything noticeable. In a mere ten minutes Grey Night returned to their homebase to report. Ounce frowned upon their arrival, there was a significant amount of wounds on their bodies. Sign of a hard fought battle, but one Ounce was positive they won.
The second in command lowered their head, "Sorry Boss! We lost!"
"You did great-", Ounce frowned, that didn't sound right, "Wait what?"
"We. . . we lost! Sunset has some strong abilities we didn't account for! It was no wonder they managed to beat someone as great as you!", the second in command try to slip past with a bit of flattery but ultimately failed.
"You lost?! Those Sunset bastards!! They think they can get away with this?!"
Ounce was so angry he clenched his fists. However the stress on his muscles only made pain blossom again, which further infuriated him. Unable to maintain a steady expression he roared, "You morons! How could you lose?! There was about eight of them! You had the numbers!"
"We're sorry Boss!"
"Dammit!! Get out of my face. I need time to think."
Grey Night anxiously looked among themselves before slowly leaving Ounce's vision. Ounce shook with anger for a while. Nonsense spouting from his lips. A lot of it could be summed up with 'Sunset will wipe'.
"Those bastards think they can just beat up my Grey Night?! Idiots are gonna end up like Twin Fang. . . !"
An idea sparked in Ounce's head. Like a lighter sparking into a flame. Just like Twin Fang! The Street Dogs were taking down anyone who was spouting nonsense about being a District. Lucky gangs got away with just a beating, as long as they swore to not make a move towards being the District. More stubborn ones were faced with a wipe.
Ounce started to chuckle to himself. A path of revenge never seemed so clearer. It didn't matter if it was by his own hands or not. All that mattered was that Sunset got what was coming to them! All he needed to do was spread some rumors around and eventually the Street Dogs would catch them and handle the issue.
It made so much sense! Why hadn't he thought of it like this before? So easy!
Ounce lifted himself off the bench and began to move. The earlier it started the better. Once the rumor spiraled out of control it would be too late for Sunset to prevent the inevitable. So he dragged his feet one after the other and began to move. Weaponizing rumors was easy in this city. Start small with a bit of talking, and eventually it will snowball. Ounce knew exactly where to begin. With his fresh wounds he could make an believable story.
Another rumor would start too, although this one was much smaller. A rumor of a bloodied person cackling to themselves while walking down the Street. This did not gain much traction.