A sigh could be heard.
Top Dog finished drinking a bottle of alcohol and tossed it aside. Rubbing his forehead he vividly remembered the fight against Twin Fang. Inspecting his arm that was burnt he gently massaged his wrist. Not a sign of the burns were anywhere, not even a scar. It was like there wasn't any damage in the first place.
He could still remember the blinding pain, it was enough to make anyone pass out. Top Dog was almost not an exception. Still, he managed to hold on. With another sigh he leaned back in his chair, "Stupid."
The day had passed already. Top Dog usually slept during daylight hours unless something urgent happened. Now that night was approaching again he was awake and reflecting. He had overexerted himself last night. It clearly had started to affect him.
Top Dog wasn't able to completely remain in peace however. His door swung open and Troy walked in with a grim expression, "Rumor has it someone's trying to replace Twin Fang already."
Tensing up at the anger Top Dog emanated Troy awaited his command. Top Dog didn't leave his relaxed position and instead asked, "Who is it?"
"Sunset, some small time gang apparently. Already took the Bell building shortly after we left."
"So I guess I'm being looked down upon eh? How many?"
"Eight. . ."
"Eight?!", Top Dog burst in a fit of laughter, "I really am being looked down upon!"
Troy's fists clenched behind his back, "Let me handle it."
"Why?"
"It's just eight people. I had already planned on taking care of it, but considering you wanted to handle it last time I was unsure. So I've come to ask permission."
Top Dog's posture seemed to relax, "Fine. I want them wiped."
"Of course Boss."
Troy lowered his head and left the building, gently closing the door behind him. A slow but relieved exhale of air flowed through his nose. Closing his eyes he appreciated Top Dog's steady mind. It seems he was aware of his own limits too. When he opened his eyes, a terrifying look lie in their depths.
Stepping onto the asphalt he began to make the trip to the Bell building. A few Street Dogs called out, "Troy! Where you going?"
"Handling some business."
"Need some hands?"
"No, I'll handle it alone."
The Street Dogs felt like Troy was off today and didn't insist. Backing off they instead continued to chat, occasionally stealing a glance towards Troy. His pace grew steady, his posture becoming terrifying.
Troy, known as the second in command, was the most trusted person under Top Dog's command. When things went awry, Top Dog called for him first. A person worthy of respect, and confident in his strength as well. Troy was a medium built man with brown skin. His hair was set in a dread topknot. Dressed in the typical outfit of the Street Dogs' leather jacket, a pair of jeans, an ordinary black tee, and a pair of sneakers. Despite being the second in command, Troy lacked the domineering figure of Top Dog.
Yet no one in the Street Dogs questioned his command. The trust Top Dog placed in Troy was certainly undeniable. In fact Top Dog handled only the more important things. The real backbone of the Street Dogs lie in Troy's steady leadership. Without him it wouldn't be an exaggeration to say the Street Dogs would fail in managing the Barberry District.
A reliable figure, and one that was heavily respected. Excluding his phenomenal leadership, his combat ability wasn't anything to scoff at either. Although his ability was deemed an Impractical, his utilization of it made him scary. Someone who performed to the peak of his ability no matter what.
Troy held no qualms in being second in charge. Rather he was pleased to follow someone as powerful as Top Dog. Although he didn't wish to be a leader, everyone knew that if anything happened to Top Dog, he would rapidly take that spot. Despite this Troy had no thoughts of abusing this position, nor accelerating a promotion.
Hands in pockets he approached the Bell building. Walking up to the stairs he couldn't help but scoff. The door had already been repaired. For an abandoned building, this only meant a gang took it over. Seems part of the rumors are true at the very least.
The rumor regarding Sunset spread quickly due to the already buzzing talk about Top Dog's actions. When people caught wind about Sunset, they naturally spoke about it. It didn't take long at all for it to reach the ears of the Street Dogs, especially considering their enforcement of the area.
Troy was furious upon hearing that the Street Dogs message meant nothing to these people. He almost immediately wanted to show up and take them down himself, but a more rational voice spoke to him preventing these rash actions. He quickly assessed the situation and believed there was a chance they were being used. However according to Top Dog this didn't matter. After all he just needed to scare people into hiding for a week.
So tossing aside speculation Troy instead chose the same action as Top Dog. Act first, think later. Reaching the door he aimed to kick it down, but the door was rather sturdy and he decided against it. He didn't have the same monstrous strength as Top Dog after all. Instead he tried to simply open it, to his surprise this worked just fine.
Waltzing in he glanced about. There was a large chance everyone was inside, it had only been a day after all. They would need more time to properly finish cleaning this place up. Especially after the damage Top Dog did to the third floor. The first floor was empty. Rooms were obviously tidied up but lacked any new signs of people.
Ascending the stairs Troy checked the second and third floors, but found nobody. Pondering the situation, he decided that they were most likely out. Gangs of sizes smaller than ten were usually made with friends. It wasn't until a gang started to earn Rep that people would try to join. Considering he couldn't go back without results. . .
Troy moved back to the bottom floor and moved a chair to the center. Facing the door he sat in this chair and relaxed. Patiently awaiting the return of Sunset. From an outside look, it seemed he was lounging about. However in his mind Troy was currently having several mental images. It was very difficult to predict attacks in this world where any ability can exist, but granted a large majority didn't have an ability suited for combat you could make some rough estimates.
Yes, Impracticals. A title borderline becoming a slur aimed to those with abilities with no real use. Those who couldn't participate in society with them, and forced to take the route of an average human being instead. To an Impractical there was very few options. They could persist and train their ability to be of some use somehow, although this was a very rare occurrence. There was the option of biting their tongue and enduring life as a normal person, after all the casual group of a society was its backbone, this came with numerous taunts from those who were more fortunate however. Additionally, for the very lucky, their ability could evolve beyond its current capabilities.
Evolution of an ability. . . to be frank this is beyond rare. There is currently a recorded ten events of an ability evolving beyond what it was capable of originally. Two of the people in this list rapidly ascended in the hero organization, three became villains but were faced with an unfortunate end, and the rest had a mediocre evolution to where they could only become higher standing members of society. So despite the fact that evolution of an ability was rare, there wasn't a guarantee it would turn out well. However, this is only for direct evolution.
There was another option, this I like to call expansion. Sometimes an ability can be broad in its usage, but the wielder can only perform certain niches with it. Overtime, and through intense training, they can expand the usage of their ability and grow beyond the title of Impractical. Usually abilities had very vague descriptions, and thus could technically be limitless.
For instance. . . there's a popular figure among the companies that deal with heavy cargo. Let me see. . .
Oh?
Yes I found it. Here you go.
[Hat Trick: The user is able to swap something with the position of their last worn hat.]
See? It's pretty vague isn't it? However someone was able to train this ability to swap up to 40 tons. Due to how dangerous it became this person was place under careful watch. Yet companies hire him to move cargo over vast distances instantly. He lives a very carefree life!
Hm, I wonder why this hasn't been ranked yet then. . . I'll put in a request.
Oh! I got distracted. Let's see- ah yes. Track didn't have to wait too long, for Sunset walked into their newfound homebase, but were startled to see someone relaxing. Immediately someone shouted, "Who the hell are you?"
Track casually stood to his feet, the leather jacket becoming clearer to see. One member stepped back, "That's. . . that's the Street Dogs!"
"You all have some nerve. Top Dog is furious, to think you all were nothing but opportunists. Rats trying to salvage what they can."
"Wait! We're really not trying to become anything grand like a District! It's just eight of us!"
"So you say. Yet currently where are we?"
"That's. . . a bit unreasonable! You know how tough the competition is!"
"But you directly disrespected the message the Street Dogs sent. I can't let this go."
"D-Damn! Fine then! We won't let you take this from us when we're already this far!!"
"Today Sunset shall wipe."
Troy's fingers danced in the air, gently moving his hand into a fist he rapidly drew it back like pulling the cord of a chainsaw. Wind moved in a vortex and the leading member of Sunset was pulled forward. Stumbling forward the leader tripped and was met with Troy's fist. Blood began to flow from their nose as they fell back.
Remaining steady and calm Troy taunted them, "Standing around stupidly?"
Infuriated and ashamed the Sunset gang charged forth to take on Troy!