Burst Your Bubble

Farugio became a nervous wreck. He began shaking and sweating profusely. Everything had happened so quick that it left Farugio confused. The only thing that he could make out in that moment was that he was in danger.

Farugio began darting his eyes across the room and found himself surrounded by danger. Farugio turned his head and looked behind him. He saw the two gang leaders had backed off of beating his men and were letting their men finish the job.

"How could you betray me!?" Farugio yelled frantically. The two looked back at Farugio, un-impressed.

"You're too stupid to see why you were betrayed?" Mayr asked. Farugio shifted his gaze back towards Mayr anxiously. "How long did you think you could use your uncle's name to throw your weight around?" Mayr continued.

All Farugio could do was look at Mayr with horror in his eyes. "L-listen." said Farugio nervously, "Let me go and I'll make sure my uncle doesn't do anything to you. I'll even stick to our old agreement. D-do we have a deal?"

Mayr looked at Farugio with disgust. After staring at him for a few seconds, Mayr took a deep sigh, "you really didn't hear a word I just said, did you?"

Farugio looked back at Mayr with a confused expression. "Wha-", Mayr instantly grabbed Farugio by his shirt and threw him against a wall. Farugio hit the wall hard, and as he was sliding down, Mayr grabbed him by his throat, forcing him onto his feet.

As Farugio struggled to breathe, he looked into Mayr's cold eyes. He began to believe that he would not make it out of the room.

"I'm not the one who decides to let you go." said Mayr, "He is." Mayr pointed towards Nesh. Nesh began walking forward with a determined expression on his face. "You were such a tough guy with all your goons." said Nesh, "let's see how tough you are man to man."

Understanding what this meant, Mayr let go of Farugio and backed away. The people in the room cleared a space in the shape of a circle, a space in which the two could fight.

When Mayr let go of Farugio, he coughed a bit because his throat burned from Mayr's grip. Once he calmed down, he looked at Nesh. He saw Nesh's small fram and became confident.

"So if I fight this kid one on one, you'll let me go?" Farugio asked Mayr arrogantly. Mayr took a brief look at Nesh and saw the determination in his eyes. He looked back at Farugio and nodded.

A smug smile appeared on Farugio's face. All he had to do was beat the weakest looking person out of the entire lot, and then he would be free.

The two walked to the centre of the circle. Farugio had a confident smile on his face, but Nesh looked emotionless. "You just made it easy for me." Farugio said as he put his fists up. Nesh simply responded with a glare.

After a few seconds of staring at each other, Farugio charged Nesh. It was a sloppy charge, clearly one without any technique behind it. Over the past few months, Nesh had become quite adept at fighting due to spending his time in the muay thai gym with Mayr.

As soon as Farugio got in range, Nesh threw a hard kick to Farugio's thigh. Farugio grunted in pain and fell to one knee. Before Farugio could understand what happened, he felt immense pain in his stomach. Nesh had kicked him in the gut so hard that he threw up.

As Farugio was about to fall to the floor, Nesh grabbed him by his hair and held him up. Nesh moved his face close to Farugio's and said "Now you know how far you'd get on your own" and immediately punched him on the jaw. The punch was so hard that a few teeth flew out of Farugio's mouth and he was knocked completely unconscious.

The fighting stopped and everyone took a breath. Once the situation calmed down, the people in the room stared at the unconscious bodies of Farugio and his men. After a few seconds, all the people in the room exited through the backdoor.

-

All the people that were in the restaurant had left the premises and were now at a park, about 20 minutes away from the restaurant. Mayr was in discussion with the leaders of the other two gangs while all of the other men were doing their own thing.

The gang leaders were both large in build. About 5 foot 10 with a noticeable amount of muscle. One of them had a military cut, and the other had long hair.

"It felt so good putting that scumbag Farugio in his place." Said the long haired gang leader.

"I appreciate you going along with the plan," Mayr added, "and as promised, I will send a few of my men to teach you our business processes. Once you feel you're ready, you can start making money yourself and kick up 20% of your earnings to me."

"That sounds fair," said the second gang leader, "but are you sure that we'll be safe from his uncle?"

"Since I'm the one who orchestrated this, I'm going to be the main target." said Mayr, "Nesh may also be in their crosshairs, but until they're done with us, they won't come after anyone else."

"But if they get to you, naturally, we're going to be next." said the gang leader with the long hair, "They're an entire criminal organization. How do you plan on beating them?"

"That's for me to worry about," Mayr replied. "all you need to know is that he won't come for you unless he's finished with me, and that, he cannot do."

The two gang leaders sensed the unwavering determination in Mayr's voice. They looked at each other and nodded. "Those words don't seem like white noise coming from the man who overtook the Rampers in such a short period." the leader with the military cut said, "But know this, if we find ourselves cornered, we'll be inclined to look out for our own people, even if that means hunting you down to keep Anthony Mozzo off our backs."

Mayr looked at them, nodded, and stood up. "That should conclude our business regarding the East-Side Mafia." said Mayr. "Good luck in the future." Mayr added as he put his hand out. The two leaders shook Mayr's hand and the three went their separate ways along with their crews.

-

Mayr and his captains were making their way back. They all seemed to be in a good mood. Mayr was walking in front next to Nesh while the others were following behind them. "I'm surprised you got the gangs working under Farugio to go along with your plan." said Kashi, "How did you convince them knowing that Farugio's uncle might go after them?"

"I assured them that I will be the main target and that they'll be safe." replied Mayr. Right after Mayr said this, he stopped in the middle of the street and everyone stopped behind him. Mayr turned around and looked at everyone sternly.

"I'm about to give you guys a new instruction," said Mayr, "and I will tolerate absolutely no deviation from this order."

Everyone looked at Mayr attentively, waiting for the order. "If anyone from Anthony's crew comes to you to get information about me," said Mayr, "DO NOT try and protect me. You are to immediately give them the information that they are looking for so that they don't harm you, and that is an order. Understood?"

After hearing this, the crew became conflicted. There was no way that their loyalty would allow them to sell out the person who had done so much for them. Sensing this hesitancy in his crew, Mayr said "I know how you guys feel about this order. I am grateful for having subordinates who would stick by me no matter what, but know this. By giving them any information on me, you are not putting me in danger."

Once the crew heard this, their expressions changed. They became intrigued by what Mayr was saying. "There is no way we can beat Anthony with our men." Mayr continued, "Anthony has an enterprise, and unlike our previous enemies, he is not afraid to kill. Which is why I will beat him in my own way."