Chapter 69 - It's Over?

"Hey, you got any ideas for this nightclub?" A younger Jerry Pitt remarks.

"We need to call it something cool," a person says, "How about Club Azure?"

Jerry looks at the person who is none other than Reagan Everst, a longtime friend and current co-owner of the nightclub he wants to make.

"That name sounds stupid," Jerry chuckles.

"Not as stupid as your receding hairline," Reagan jokes.

Jerry groans at the reminder causing Reagan to chuckle.

"Fine then, let's call it Club Azure," Jerry remarks.

The two are sitting at a table planning out the final touches to the nightclub Jerry has been working on making for a long time.

"But since you named it, you'll be the founder," Jerry adds.

"That's fine with me," Reagan sighs, "Though isn't it your dream to open a place like this?"

"Yeah but I wouldn't have even gotten the funding if it weren't for your smooth-talking," Jerry chuckles.

"Hey, what can I say? I'm just good at creating miracles," Reagan jokes.

Jerry ponders what Reagan just said. A miracle?

If he was being honest, that's exactly what Reagan gave to him. The chance to actually follow his dreams and open up a nightclub. 

Of course, this happiness wouldn't last. Reagan would pass away in an accident leaving Jerry to run the business by himself and ultimately succumb to the darkness within him.

That would eventually lead to Jerry encountering the man who forced him deeper into that darkness.

He can still remember it like it was yesterday. The utter defeat at the hands of that man, the contract he forced Jerry to sign in his own blood, and they way he showed up and left without a trace. Almost as if he was a phantom.

After that day, now that he had to not only run the nightclub but work under the new MSA, he started to sink lower and lower. But he would always tell himself that it didn't matter how many crimes he committed or how many people he hurt, if he could just get enough power to challenge them, then he'd be able to make this city right again.

No matter the cost.

________________________

"You aren't supposed to move it!" A teenage boy yells.

"I'm sorry I don't know how to deliver first aid!" Another teenage boy yells.

Jerry Pitt awakes in his ruined office to see an interesting sight. Watching over him are two panicked teenagers, Marcus Veridan & Ronnie Everst. They're both trying to find a way to stop the wound Jerry has from getting worse. 

"Well, it's kinda important that we figure out how to!" Marcus yells.

"Yeah, no shit! Now find a first aid kit!" Ronnie yells.

Hearing the two teenagers argue, Jerry can't help but see how despite the resolve Ronnie just showed in their fight, he still at the end of the day is just a kid. Jerry begins to get up as he laughs. Marcus tries to make sure Jerry doesn't make the wound worse.

"Don't worry, it didn't hit anything vital," Jerry remarks as he pulls out the deer horn from his torso, "and if it did then I'm glad there's a hospital nearby."

Confused, Ronnie and Marcus look at each other before Ronnie gets into a fighting stance, "You still haven't learned your lesson?!"

"No, I have," Jerry remarks as he bandages himself up, "Once this night ends, Club Azure will be no more."

"Well, that's a relief even though we kinda figured," Marcus remarks.

Jerry is confused but Marcus explains by showing his phone to Jerry. He looks at it only to see several news articles being recently made.

'Local nightclub Club Azure associated with illegal activity. Sources claim they gave spiked drinks to minors.'

'Club Azure in hot water due to a recent expose from an undercover journalist.'

'Undercover Journalist releases a detailed expose on Club Azure, discussing their ties to gang activity and shady business practices.'

As Jerry looks through the articles all being released, he sees countless leaked documents and photos that were obtained by the infamous investigative journalist only referred to as 'M.M.'. However despite the countless articles, not a single one mentions the nightclub's ties to the Moon Shadow Affiliate.

"How in the-" Jerry begins to say before realizing something and sighing, "She's a clever girl, I'll give her that."

"Yeah well, hope you have fun with all of that," Ronnie remarks as he begins to walk to the door.

Ronnie & Marcus leave the room but as they do so, Tim-Tom enters. The two nod at each other before Tim-Tom looks toward Jerry.

"Hey there…son," Jerry Pitt remarks as he reaches out towards Tim-Tom.

Though Tim-Tom swats his hand away as he turns to leave the room, "I was just checking to see if you dropped dead yet. Seems like you haven't yet, so I'll be on my way."

"Wait son I-" Jerry begins to say.

"Can it Old Man, I'm not looking for an apology from you. I wasn't the one you hurt with all this, and I've grown sick of all the cheap words you spew from your mouth," Tim-Tom remarks, "You weren't the only one suffering y'know, so stop treating her like an excuse."

Jerry is silent as Tim-Tom leaves the room and begins chatting with Ronnie & Marcus. Despite his son's hostile words, Jerry feels that hidden behind that animosity, Tim-Tom still has some sort of sorrow for his old man.

As the trio exit the CEO's room, Ronnie glances over to Tim-Tom and asks, "Hey, you sure you don't want to talk to him?"

"I'm sure we'll get a better chance to talk later," Tim-Tom mentions before joking, "Hopefully a time when we both don't have stab wounds."

The three walk down the hall of the employee's only area to see where McBride is unconscious on the floor and next to him are Alex, Elizabeth, Cameron, & Mesto. Alex, Elizabeth, & Cameron are all wrapped up in several bandages.

"Oh hey, looks like you guys wanted to dress as mummies," Ronnie jokes.

"Oh please," Alex grunts as he rolls his eyes, "We would've been fine if someone didn't try to give us first aid."

"Hey, safety first," Mesto remarks.

"I think we need ice and not bandages," Elizabeth remarks as she pulls out the abundance of bandages off of her head.

The group exits the employee's only area and enters the main stage of the nightclub to see Blanko, Vanessa, Tim, & Tom over at the bar having some water.

After seeing the group, Blanko waves them over while Vanessa nods at them. However as the group starts to walk forward, Cameron stands still. Ronnie, Elizabeth, Alex, & Marcus look back towards Cameron.

"Hey, I'm glad you guys came and helped me but…" Cameron begins to say as he looks towards the ground, "I don't think I should be a member of the club anymore."

"Don't get me wrong, it's been fun but I need to just take a break from everything really," Cameron says.

As he looks down, he waits to hear ridicule and disdain tossed his way, but he doesn't hear anything from his friends. So when he looks up at them, he sees them all standing there with empathetic looks on their faces.

"You guys aren't mad?" Cameron asks.

"Why would we be mad?" Ronnie questions, "This is just a club, you got some stuff to work through right now. It's not like you're saying we aren't friends."

"Besides, when you get better you can totally rejoin the club!" Marcus offers, "If you want to of course."

"And just because you're not a member of the miracle clinic doesn't mean you'll see the last of us," Elizabeth adds, "We're still gonna hang out with you and check up on you."

Hearing those words, Cameron can't help but cry. Not out of fear or sadness, he's had plenty of time these past few days to do that. But he's crying out of joy. Because after such a long time, it feels like he's being truly recognized as not just a friend, but as an equal.

"Say, you guys wanna catch up at Burrito Bistro?" Alex offers.

"I'd love to but I need to head home," Cameron remarks, "I bet my parents are pretty worried sick about me."

Seeing that, Tim-Tom sighs and walks over towards Cameron, "In that case, we'll help take you there!"

Cameron's confused but Tim walks over and adds, "We're The Three Ts! If you need any job done, even driving you home, just give us a call!"

"Are you sure?" Cameron asks.

"Don't worry about it," Tom remarks, "It's the least we can do after not doing anything this whole night."

Cameron accepts their offer and begins to leave with them. But as they do, he turns to look at the rest of the club and waves at them.

"I'll see you guys around!" Cameron yells as he goes up the stairs.

"Take care!" Elizabeth yells.

"Hope you get better soon!" Marcus yells.

"I THINK YOUR LEFT SHOE IS UNTIED!" Alex adds, "Also See Ya!"

"Catch you later, Cameron," Ronnie remarks.

Now that it's just Mesto, the four remaining Miracle Clinic members, & the two east-side companions, their attention turns to Mesto.

"What?" Mesto asks.

"You remember what I just said, let's go get some food at your restaurant!" Alex adds.

"We're closed-" Mesto tries to say.

"We'll make sure to tip you well," Ronnie suggests.

"Well then, I guess we can stay open a bit longer," Mesto admits.

The group all begin to walk up the stairs out of the nightclub, all of them set to put Club Azure behind them for good.

And that would have been the case, Club Azure would have been a distant memory for all of them, if it weren't for one person.

Cal Hound.

For you see, as they all were just chatting, he was regaining his consciousness in the VIP room, and after hearing about the fate of Club Azure he realized something. All of the drugs that he's gotten dependent on, all of the money he's raked in, all of it has just imploded. 

And who did he blame? Cameron. If it weren't for him and his incessant friends, everything would be going well. I mean sure, he did treat Cameron not the best lately but he can't just go back to the way he once was.

He needs to keep his new life.

And if he can't have it, then he'll make sure to do the same for them.

As he gets up and grabs the keys to his car, he recalls something that the group said as they left. That they were heading to Burrito Bistro. So as Cal limps out of the nightclub, he too decides to visit this place so he can get revenge.

Revenge on the ones who took away his new life.

_______________________

At Burrito Bistro, Mesto sets down three sets of tortilla chips with a side of salsa on a set of three tables all pushed together. Sitting at the table is Alex, Ronnie, Elizabeth, Marcus, Blanko, & Vanessa. Over at the front counter is the store owner, Cedro Garcia, who was busy keeping Mesto's children busy.

"Did he leave?" Mesto asks.

"Yeah, it was getting pretty late," Garcia says before turning his attention to the table, "So how come these kids are still up?"

"They wanted to celebrate," Mesto explains.

At the table, all of them are feasting on the tortilla chips, though as they do so Ronnie realizes something.

"Hey I just realized that we're only a few more weeks away from the end of school," Ronnie rejoices.

"Wait really?!" Blanko shouts in excitement.

"No not us," Vanessa explains, "The North gets out of school earlier than us."

"Oh, well that's a load of bullshit," Blanko groans, "Of course, The North Side gets special treatment."

"Hey, you guys get to start school later than us!" Marcus defensively states.

"It's not the same," Vanessa remarks.

As the group is chatting, Alex stands up suddenly.

"You good buddy?" Ronnie asks.

"Yeah, I was just going to get more napkins. And I'm making a goal for myself," Alex declares, "I'm going to train my ass off over this summer. When sophomore year starts I'm gonna be a completely different person."

"That'll be a welcome change," Elizabeth jabs.

"Hey!" Alex yells.

"But I can't let you have all the glory," Elizabeth remarks, "I'm gonna be even more stronger than you next year."

"Who says you were stronger than me?"

"Uh me," Elizabeth remarks.

As Elizabeth & Alex throw jokes and insults at one another, Ronnie can tell that both of them are determined to improve themselves and get stronger than they are today.

That's when Ronnie remembers something. 

He's supposed to be grounded.

He checks the time to see it's 1 AM.

"Fuck, my mom's gonna kill me," Ronnie deflates.

Seeing the time, Vanessa & Blanko also get up.

"We're gonna head out too, we got a bit of a trip to get back to The East Side," Vanessa remarks.

"Alright, I'll catch you guys later!" Marcus says.

Blanko & Vanessa leave, with Blanko grabbing one of the chip baskets before he leaves. As the two begin to walk down the street, Vanessa gets a call and decides to answer it.

Back in the restaurant, Ronnie stretches.

"We should call it a night too," Ronnie remarks.

The others agree and they all stand up. As they begin to walk away, Mesto looks at them curiously.

However none of them notice and when all is said and done, Mesto sighs as he realizes he still isn't going to get any tips from them.

__________________________

As the four members of The Miracle Clinic make their way down the street to their homes, they all joke amongst one another like they would always do. For some reason, what exactly was said always was a blur to them when they looked back. All they remember was Marcus beginning to walk down a street when a car started to drive down it. Marcus didn't think much of it because there were a few stoplights in between him and the car so he kept walking.

Alex & Elizabeth were in their usual banter so they didn't notice. The only person who did was Ronnie Everst. At first, he was going to disregard it too but he stopped when he realized something.

They weren't stopping at any of the red lights, in fact they were speeding up.

As they got closer, Ronnie could recognize their face. It was Cal Hound, someone he saw at the nightclub, and he was headed straight towards Marcus.

Without even thinking, without anyone processing what was happening, Ronnie ran into the road towards Marcus, his hand extending towards him and yelling. 

Marcus turns to look behind him and sees the car driving directly towards him.

That's when it happened.

That's when Cal Hound got his revenge.

As the car crashes into a streetlamp, Alex & Elizabeth look on in horror at what they just witnessed.

And laying on the sidewalk, Marcus too looks in complete shock at what happened to the person who pushed him out of the way.

The person who granted him a miracle back when he needed it most.

And the person who ran out to help his friend without a second thought.

"R-Ronnie?" Marcus asks.

See You Next Chapter!~