DUKE'S DEAL IV (Ch. 76)
The month end arrives in a flash, Vin and Jhon saunter towards Dealer's HQ, Darwin and Scarface we're quickly informed of their arrival wastes no time in stepping out, behind him are a sea of his subordinates, Vin and Jhon pause at the seen when a loud voice bellows from behind them,
"HEYYY!!!" Duke roars, behind him are the boys, all poised and ready for a fight,
"It seems they couldn't meet up, we'll be wipping Dealers off the face of the earth today" Vin states,
"See, i told you they couldn't do it" Jhon smiles swinging the batton in his grasp leaisurely,
"As of this moment, Dealers are hereby disbanded" Vin declares,
"Fuck you!" Duke sneers lunging forward only halting momentarily when several carton boxes come flying towards him, the four boxes land before him with a heavy thud, and when Duke rips them open each holds half a million Credits,
"Huh?, Why all the drama if you had the money?" Jhon questions turning to Darwin, towards that question Darwin grins,
"To stall you" he replies and on que several black cars all of the same brand pull up, exiting the car at the head is the middle aged man who'd captured them several months ago, and exiting behind him is a man Darwin hadn't had the opportunity of meeting, the head of Black Bane gang, the man looked into his forties but well groomed non the less, he surveyed the situation with experienced eyes before speaking,
"Are they responsible?" He questions in an almost bored time, his subordinate affirms his question,
"I've heard word you two have wiped out majority of the gangs in Jhevo, and though i'm aware this is a trap, it's not one with being cautious of, get Corinth out here while my boys take out the trash" he states, Vin ignores him while shooting Darwin a question,
"What is this?",
"Assistance, their existence affects our operations" Darwin replies,
"Very well" Vin replies unfazed by the forming entrapment with he and Jhon as the center, Darwin an Co watch with keen eyes, the Black Bane members erupt into action Vin wastes no time with the flies, in a flash here's through the sea of bodies, the gang leader catches Vin punch with a heavy groan, he hops back giving space and more importantly time for his trembling hands to settle,
(This kid!), Vin presses using sheer technique and superior strength to press him back,
(If the Dealers leader really wanted he could've wiped then out she's ago, here's more than capable enough to destroy a Shifter at the Breath Control advancement) Vin mules taking the fight as a leisure experience, a few seconds later and he's more than bored by the dreary fight, he cocks his fist back before sinking to a lower stance and driving his fist knuckles first into his opponents liver all within a second, droping him to the ground stunned a few ribs broken and immobile as his body's shock reflect takes hold,
"We'll be back in a month" he states calmly, as Jhon hums a pleasant tune picking the boxes as he heads towards one of the Black Banes cars, "by the way, how exactly did you get the money?" He questions, Darwin grins before shooting a snark reply,
"I thought you didn't care", Vin holds silence as Darwin continues, "i used the shops on our street as collateral to get a lone from well, them" he gestures dismissively towards the Black Bane members,
"Then you got us to fight them, ultimately ensuring you don't have to pay back, seeing that you have a knack for making money, i'm appointing you as Dealers head" Vin concludes,
"No no, it was all the boss's idea" he states gesturing towards Scarface, the latter scowls suspicious of Darwin's play,
(What the hell is he planning?, There's no way he has any form of loyalty to me),
"Spare me the bullshit kid, just become head and save me future stress" Vin replies,
"I can do it sir, i served under Corinth for years, i can definitely lead this crew" Scarface states,
"Yeah...." Vin replies causing Scarface's face to light up in delight, "No" he concludes, "you're leader" he says turning to Darwin, "i'll be back in a month" he concludes.
Several hours later Vin and Jhon make their way back to Xander, there they head directly towards the more rural areas, before then is an older complex of buildings, in a particular room they step into is a middle aged man in a singlet and a light stubble, more noticeable is the absence of an arm, severed from the center of the bicep, seated on the floor before him are two teens, one a tall teen with silver dyed hair the other short with moppy black hair,
"Boss, we're back" Jhon sings,
"How did things go?" The boss questions,
"Good, we've established a crew in the west" Vin replies,
"Watch over them for a bit, i don't want any surprises" he replies,
"How are things with the south?" Vin inquires,
"Going they've come up with a name, MERCHANTS" he states,
"Ethan, how about you?" he turns,
"My job isn't about crews, it's to facilitate and maintain a beneficial relationship with anything relating to murim" Ethan responds, "don't worry about it Vin, Mr Hide an i have quite the plan of action" he grins.
HALF A MONTH LATER
With half a month having flown past and the numbers looking, unsatisfactory, Darwin stares at his calculations pondering deeply on his next course of action,
"Have the girls start door to door sales if they have to, let it be know that whoever doesn't meet their quota get's no food" he states,
"Sir what if they run?" His subordinates inquires,
"Have one of the trusted members precide over a stall, even if they do run, they'll be back, or replaced, they've got nowhere left to go" he replies,
"Sir what about the sympathisers?, A lot of our members believe in the way Corinth ran things" the subordinates inquires,
"And a lot more didn't" he states, (Corinths mistake was inducting member who didn't believe in his ideology, he believed he could always keep them inline with strength, even if he retired he planed on his mere existence being deterrent enough, but with Vin and Jhon emergence, things have changed, theres no oe strong enough to incite rebellion, nevertheless, untill my goal are achieved and i'm done with this crew, i'll have to keep things in check), "get me a list of those who still 'sympathize' with Corinths cause, then call a meeting",
"Sir i really don't know is they'll listen, even if there are more people on our side those on Corinth and Dukes are still a sizeable chunk of our members" the subordinate replies,
"Duke?, Did you say Duke?!!" He growls before laying his fist into the teens jaw, Darwin picks up a bat Lying on the table before walking up to the floored youth an beating him senseless despite his cries, his loud cries draws the attention of several members who stare aghast by the sight before them,
"Clean this shit up" Darwin states throwing the bloody bat aside as he makes his exit, he takes a seat at the head of the long hall table, diagonal to him is scarface, the only other person present, the two dine as they converse,
"I heard about your decision, it definitely was the right thing to do" he states when a loud bang ensues, stepping out from whatever is left of the entrance is Corinth with aface full of rage, his injuries are clearly yet to heal woth different parts of his body still carrying patches of purple despite the many months, Darwin surveys him observantly weighing which approach would be best,
(It's best to shelf the thought of combat, even in his current state i can't beat him, this must be the result of chaotic 'Force' forcing it's way into his body, even then, it won't take much longer for him to heal),
"How dare you!" He growls, "return their money an give them food or..."
"Or what" Darwin interjects, "this is the only way those girls can survive, if Dealers get disbanded then our replacement will do worse, your old so there's no time to plan a comeback, Duke is gone but even he can't stop those two" he states,
"I knew you were ambitious, i didn't know you we're a monster" Corinth replies,
"Judging from how things turned out, it's clear you've never really had a good eye for people" Darwin scoffs,
"At least i got one right" he replies smiling ruefully,
"Who, Duke?, The one who ran away Just because of daddy's shadow?" He mocks, "you know, if you had been just a bit less partial maybe i would've taken your side" he states, Corinth chuckles before shooting a reply,
"Don't, i was never partial, what i was searching for was a leader, someone like me, he fit the bill, don't blame your inferiority complex on me or the poor kid, Darwin, that's your cross to bear" he concludes before turning away and making his exit.