It was a warm sunny day.

  The birds were singing, the people were bustling, merchants and their buyers were haggling while the sailors were already drunk. It was a peaceful day in Hazen. It seemed as if the chaos and mystery of the dead Lorcas and their destroyed base were a thing of the past. After all, it had been a few days since that day and nothing major had happened yet. The citizens had moved on. The only ones who were still on high alert were the guards.

  On top of a rooftop, two children were hanging out, chilling, smoking drags of devil lettuce joints.

  “Inhale … PAAAAH … Cough Cough Cough … This is good stuff, where do you get them, Paulie?” The boy who was smoking his first devil lettuce ever and acting like he was a serial smoker was Brett.

  “Just grabbed them from Lorca’s stockpile.” The boy who was nameless was now Paulie, given the name by Regulus a few days ago.

  “By yourself?” asked Brett. Ever since they met with Regulus and the Molrrets, the street urchins had traversed the sewer a lot, and they found many hidden stockpiles strewn all over the sewer, guarded by undead.

  “Nah, with Regulus.” Paulie answered casually, while taking a drag from the joint. Unlike Brett, he had experience smoking them before. “I asked Regulus to find me a Lorca’s stash, then had him take care of the zombies for me. All I did was find the devil lettuce.”

  “Devil lettuce …” Brett finally figured out the name of the drug that he had been smoking. “He he, first we take out their hideout, then we steal their drugs — we’re a real gang now.” Brett said proudly.

  “We? More like Regulus. Regulus did most of it.” interjected Paulie, trying to get Brett from his high horse.

  “Well … we contributed.” Brett said meekly. “And Regulus is now one of us. So his achievement is the gang’s achievement.”

  “Heh.” Paulie could only laugh. Brett, the kid who was always complaining about how other members were not doing much for the gang, was now taking credits for other people's work. “Sure Brett, sure.”

  Brett realized that Paulie was kind of playing him off. And Brett did not like it that much because he wanted Paulie’s acknowledgement, for he was one of the oldest members of the group. “Wait a minute … Paulie, since when do you have a name? You never have a name for the longest time.”

  “Eeeh, Regulus gave me the name. He gave it to me when we stole this thing.” Paulie said while taking another drag off the joint. He was smoking so much his joint was almost out.

  “Huh, why did you never have a name before? And why Paulie?” Brett had so many questions. Paulie never bothered getting a name before, even though the other members wanted to name him. If anything, he considered Paulie’s behavior weird. So many of the nameless children wanted to be given a name by the older kids they respected. Paulie was the exception for the longest time. Until Regulus named him … and why Paulie?

  “Well you see my dear Brett. I have a good reason to not have a name until now.” Paulie puffed out his devil lettuce smoke, making rings that floated in the sky. “You see … whenever John wants something done, he always goes: ‘D’aka do this’ or ‘Cooper do that’ or ‘Brett do this and that’. But he can’t really do that to me, since I don’t have a name.” Paulie explained with a big grin on his face. The kid was a professional slacker.

  “Yezus, Paulie.” Brett, and everyone on the urchins knew that Paulie was a slacker, but somehow he always contributed and got the job done … whenever you could assign him work. “So why you let Regulus name you? Are you scared of him?”

  “Eeeeh. Not really … It’s just …” Paulie was reminded of his conversation with Regulus.

  **********

  “You no want Paulie?” Regulus said with the saddest looking eyes in his face.

  “Me yes Paulie.” The nameless boy said, accepting his fate as a new Paulie.

  ************

  “... hard to say no to him.” Paulie explained, with a sigh.

  “So you’re afraid of him.” Teased Brett.

  “Yeah sure.” However it was not effective on Paulie.

  Brett was pouting, he never felt like he was able to take control of the conversation whenever he was with Paulie. He took another drag off the joint and had a coughing fit, making Paulie laughed at him like crazy.

  “Fuck you Paulie … Cough Cough … aaah … So … why Paulie?”

  Paulie had an inkling on why Regulus named him Paulie. He just did not know how to explain it. “... uhhhm… let’s just say — it’s a good thing he didn’t name me Omar.”

  “Omar? But why-” before Brett could finish his question, Paulie shushed him. Not wanting to explain any further.

  The two boys were smoking in silence after the shush, with an occasional coughing from Brett. Not being able to enjoy the silence like Paulie, Brett opened his mouth again.

  “So, do you think we gonna go on a war with the rest of Lorca gang?” Asked Brett, knowing the fact that Lorca was still alive and that there was rumour on the street that the remaining members of the Lorca were gearing for war.

  “Probably not.” Paulie also knew about the rumour, but he was unbothered by it.

  “But why? We’re the one who killed most of them. Wouldn’t they want to fight us?”

  Paulie lit up a new joint and took a drag from it before answering Brett’s question, “They don’t know it’s us who did it. For all they know, it was Rex who was responsible. Burning people is kinda his signature.”

  “Eh, I don’t know how to feel about this. Rex gang taking our credits feel wrong.” Paulie smirked hearing Brett said that. Brett was truly a brat.

  “It’s a good thing Brett. If they knew it’s us who did it, the whole criminal underworld of Hazen will be coming for us. Even if we got Regulus … “ Paulie took another drag, “A lot of us gonna die.”

  Brett took a deep gulp. It finally clicked to him that the only strong one in the gang was Regulus, not all of them. “I … I’m sure John will think of something if it ever comes to that.” Said Brett in a panic.

  Paulie did not immediately answer Brett. He was silent for a while, thinking about John. He noticed that John had been quite listless these past few days, and it worried him. “Don’t rely on John too much Brett. He’s a kid too just like us. He can only handle so much.”

  Paulie went back to being silent. Brett wanted to talk more, but he realized that the mood just turned heavy, just like how most of the gang members had been recently. So he decided to embrace the silence and smoked his devil lettuce.

  Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.

  It was a peaceful warm sunny day.

  A fit of cough and a barrel of laughter could be heard on the rooftop of Hazen.

  **********

  Tap tap tap. Tap tap tap.

  Various footsteps could be heard rushing through the dead of night. Going through the now empty alleyways and streets of Hazen. Hooded figures, all armed to the teeth, moving around, climbing buildings and positioning themselves in advantageous positions. All the citizens who saw them hid inside their homes and closed their windows.

  “Boss, we’re in position.” Bald Head reported to his boss, Lorca, who was watching his men surround a building from on top of a rooftop.

  “Good. And the undead?”

  “Carven sent 10 Ghouls and 30 zombies. We spread them all over.” Carven had sent enough undead to match the entire size of Rex’s gang. Lorca wished he sent more, but now they at least outnumbered Rex two to one. Equipped with weapons and supplies provided by Gano, Lorca was sure of his victory.

  “Good. Get the men to burn the building. Rex burned our hideout. We burn his.” Bald Head nodded, and gave a hand signal to one of their men. Soon, all of Lorca’s men signaled each other and prepared fire bottles and torches. All of them were ready to throw those as soon as Lorca gave the go ahead …

  “BURN THEM” Lorca roared.

  Crsssh Crsssh Crssh

  His men threw the fire bottles and torches at Rex’s hideout. Instantly setting the building on fire. Lorca did not expect the fire to kill most of Rex’s men, but he expected them to ran out of the building — and once they did, his men were ready to ambush them.

  All of them were now armed with pistols and crossbows, aiming at the door and windows. The ghouls and zombies were positioned in front of them, acting as meat shields and melee vanguard as soon as the first volley was fired.

  …

  The building was burning fiercely.

  …

  Lorca's men were nervous, waiting for the first of Rex’s men to came out running.

  …

  But no one was coming out. Not even a scream nor panicked voices could be heard from inside the building.

  “What the hell?” Everyone was confused. There was no one coming out at all. The building was burning and almost at its last legs. Whoever was inside should have been dying by now, yet nobody was running for their life — did they get the wrong information? Did they attack an empty building instead?

  Some of the men who were posted in front of the building started to walk towards it. Curious and wanting to check if there was life inside of it.

  Big Mistake.

  VROOOOSH

  A jet of flame shot out from the front of the building, destroying the front structure and burning the entirety of Lorca’s front line, men and zombies alike.

  “AAAAAAGH”

  BRAAAAK

  The sound of burning men and crumbling building filled the street. All of Lorca’s men, including Lorca, were surprised by the jet of flame. They knew who was the source of that flame.

  A figure came out of the wreckage of the building. He strolled casually with arms covered in flame. Rex was inside the building. “Took you long enough. I fell asleep waiting for all of you.”

  “KILL HIM” Lorca roared as soon as he saw Rex in the open. His men that were initially shocked, regained their composure. They aimed their weapons at Rex and fired. Some of the shots missed, while some of them hit him dead on.

  Cling Prak Clang

  Rex was still standing, taking most of the shots head on. He was unharmed, unbothered. He was an Imperial Knight. Covering oneself in [Iron Body] and defensive spells were standard combat procedures. For a knight of Rex’s level, his [Iron Body] could take on a cannon fire point blank … and Lorca had no cannon with him.

  “Yaaawn … That’s it? Crossbow and pistol? You did not bring any mages or cannon with you? Were you seriously trying to kill me, Lorca?”

  Using [Kingspeak] Rex taunted Lorca — and Lorca took the bait. “I don’t need those to kill you REX!!!” He pulled out his dual axes and covered them in [Aura]. He was about to jump and strike Rex with them — but someone tugged at his tail before he could leap from the building, “What?”

  Sliing

  Pain. Lorca felt a tinge of pain from his tail. For a Leonid like him, their tail was important to control their balance. Added to the fact that he was about to jump, Lorca was now losing his balance, barely hanging on the ledge of the building.

  ‘Who?’

  Lorca managed glance on who was behind him. A red-haired boy, with a blade in his right hand and his tail in his left. The boy had the most evil smile on his face, “Bye”, before he kicked Lorca, sending him falling off the rooftop.

  BRAAK

  Lorca managed to cover his back with [Iron Body], but the impact of the fall shook his brain, concussing him.

  BRAAK

  And a body fell on top of him, unable to prepare for it, Lorca failed to cover his body in [Iron Body] and took the brunt of the damage. The impact made him cough blood.

  ‘What hit me?’

  That’s when he realized — it was Bald Head that fell on top of him. The boy managed to throw Bald Head off the building directly on top of him, instantly killing Bald Head and now incapacitating Lorca.

  Tap Tap

  Rex was now standing on top of Lorca. His burning hand, aimed at him. “What a disappointment Lorca.” This was it. Lorca would be burned to death.

  “Wait, Rex.” The red-haired boy stopped Rex. In the time it took for Rex to walked there, he was already climbing down the building. “Don’t burn him. Carven wanted his body, remember.”

  Carven? Why did the boy mention Carven’s name? Acting like they were on the same side.

  Lorca used all his strength to look around him — His men, being slaughtered by Carven’s undeads and Rex’s men who came out of nowhere.

  He had been betrayed by Carven, possibly by Gano too.

  “YOU FU-” Lorca was about to curse at the world, before he was stopped by a blade that was plunged into his throat. The red-haired boy had stabbed him in the neck, he even twisted the blade around, putting Lorca in more pain and choking him with his own blood. “Alright, this should do it. He should be dead in a few seconds while his body still in pristine condition … ish.”

  Rex sighed at the sight around him. Lorca died so easily while his men, slaughtered without putting up a fight. It’s been awhile since he had a battle, and it was over after one move. What a disappointment.

  “You don’t seem too happy Rex.” asked the red haired boy, who was currently sitting on top of Bald Head’s and Lorca’s bodies, spinning his blade in glee.

  “I just … expected more. You know. A Leonid was supposed to be a tough fight, and you finished him so easily.”

  “Lorca was always all bark and no bite. If you want a tough fight, we could go and fight Carven and Gano after this.” Rex liked that suggestion. Maybe it was time to take out Carven and Gano and finally be the ruler of this God-forsaken city. “Thats a -”

  “- a bad idea.” Rex was cut off by a man. He was a man in his late twenties, brown hair, brown eyes, wearing padded armor typical of a mercenary. His name was Evan. Rex’s lieutenant, his previous right-hand man before the red-haired boy joined the gang. “Aaaw, you’re no fun, Evan.” The red-haired boy said jokingly, enough to made Rex chuckled.

  “Don’t you aww me. You and Rex will be fine, but if we take them on — all of us would be dead.” Complained Evan.

  “Yes, mom. We’re not going to fight Gano and Carven, mom.” Said Rex, this time the boy was the one who was laughing. Evan was exasperated, he hated how in sync these two psychopaths were. No one would be surprised if they were related. “So … what’s our next move? The guards would be on our asses after this.”

  “Who cares about the guards. We could just burn them all along with the entire city.” Suggested the red-haired boy, half-serious. “I like that.” said Rex, also half-serious.

  “NO! We don’t burn cities. Especially not the one we sleep in.” Evan said, like a mother telling their rowdy children not to be naughty. Both Rex and the boy booed at him. Eventually, the boy suggested something else, “Or, we could just accept Gano’s offer. Lay low for a while and work for him in other cities while the heat dies down.”

  Evan nodded, he liked this idea, but this time it was Rex who vehemently rejected the idea. “No. I am not working under anyone ever again. Either we go with another plan or we burn the whole city.”

  Rex no longer wanted to work under someone else, especially after he worked hard under Tiberio — only for the prince to be defeated by Kaisar and Rex to be fired from his position as an Imperial knight for his role in the Butchery of Bastards. Due to his infamy and Kaisar being in power, no noble houses wanted to hire him as a knight, effectively ending his career and forcing him to be nothing more than a street scum.

  Evan understood where Rex was coming from, so all he could do was hope for the red-haired boy to come up with something sensible. “I guess our only option is to burn the city.” But the boy was a miniaturized version of Rex.

  Rex grinned, he casted [Blazing Fist], allowing fire to cover both his arms. “No no no. We don’t. Red!!! Come up with something else,” protested Evan.

  The boy laughed, he had a lot of fun teasing the ever-sensible Evan. Even Rex was in on the joke, only Evan was not. The boy leapt off from his cadavers chair, then he snapped his fingers, “Carven. Do your job.” The boy said to one of the ghouls, who was standing beside them for this whole conversation.

  As soon as he said that, the zombies all approached Rex’s gang members, including Evan. The gang members were on guard, expecting the zombies to lunge at them. Instead they were just extending their hands, expecting the gang members to hand them something.

  “Alright boys, hand over your weapons to the zombies.” Said the boy while clapping, expecting them to just follow his order. However, the gang members looked at him like he was crazy. These were the zombies that just betrayed Lorca and his men — Now he wanted to arm them!? With their own weapons!?

  The boy sighed, knowing why they were hesitant but also annoyed that he had to explain shit. “Just hand the weapons over. We’re not gonna betray you. If we kill you, who’s gonna do the annoying dirty work?”

  The men were still hesitant, even Evan, but he decided to trust the boy. Evan was the first to hand in his weapon — once they saw him do it, the others followed. After all, Evan was the closest thing to normal in their gang’s higher up.

  Once they received the weapons, the zombies walked into the still-burning building, entering it, ignoring the flame that was burning them. Evan and the rest of the gang looked at the sight, dumbfounded.

  “What they’re doing?” Evan asked the boy, not understanding the purpose of it. “Getting burned. This way, the guards will think that most of us died in the fight. They won’t believe that Rex died, but at least they would think that we’re no longer a big threat since we lose a lot of our members. This should allow us to lay low without getting hunted.”

  Evan and the members were amazed by the boy's ingenuity, even Rex looked at the boy warily. “So, what’s our next move, boy?” he asked the boy, testing him. “Just lay low?”

  “For now, yes. We’ll take up on Gano’s offer and hide in his various safehouses.”

  “I thought I said I’m not working under anybody.” There was a hint of annoyance and anger in Rex’s voice. Evan and the men were a bit scared, but not the boy. He was calm as ever.

  “You won’t be working under anybody, Rex. You’ll just stay in Gano’s house, drinking his wine and fucking his girls. We lackeys will be the ones doing Gano’s chores.” explained the boy.

  Rex calmed down a bit. They were still technically working under Gano, but at least he did not have to lift a finger nor was he responsible to Gano. “Fine, boy. But my patience is thin. I’m not going to be happy drinking and fucking Gano’s stuff forever.”

  “Sure, boss.” The boy saluted Rex, playing around without fearing Rex at all. “We’re only doing this until we can confirm something that is bothering me.”

  “And that is?” Evan and Rex were puzzled, it was unlike the boy to be bothered by anything. “It’s about the kid Gano told us about …” the boy said with a serious look on his face.

  “... It’s about Regulus.”