SUN SHORT #1 - Rising Through The Ranks

Just as Vanessa & Blanko were leaving Burrito Bistro, they got a call. A call from Graham Dirt who explained that the top 3 members of Dirty Fang wanted to see them now.

So after taking the train ride back over to the east side, they finally arrived at the meeting. At the top of a building on its penthouse, Vanessa & Blanko step out cautiously onto the balcony. The stained wooden floorboards, the huge pool illuminated by LED lights, and the private bar sure make this place one most would desire to visit.

But it’s the view that makes this place a sight to behold.

Overlooking the city with their backs turned to the two are Dirty Fang’s No. 3; the illustrious Purple, Dirty Fang’s No. 2; the calculative Andy Nibble, and not only Dirty Fang’s No. 1 but the most feared man in Starlight City; Mason Makinsley.

Mason has dark brown skin, dyed red spiky hair, and is wearing a black robe.

Next to three is fellow Dirty Fang member, Graham Dirt, who’s giving Mason a glass of scotch. Mason doesn’t turn around as he takes it.

“So, I heard about what you kids did,” Mason Makinsley remarks.

Graham Dirt walks over to the bar as Andy & Purple turn to look at the two teens. Andy’s still wearing a bucket hat covering his eyes, this time a simple black one, while Purple still has a purple handkerchief covering his mouth and a teardrop tattoo under his eyes.

“Going to The North Side and helping to take out Club Azure, you sure got guts,” Mason Makinsley states as he sips his scotch.

“I’m sorry sir but we were doing a fav-” Blanko begins to say but stops as Mason lifts his hand up.

“No no, you guys aren’t getting scolded,” Mason Makinsley remarks.

Andy Nibble & Purple begin to walk over to the two. Vanessa is prepared for the worst as she notices the two both are holding silver briefcases.

“Instead the both of you,” Mason Makinsley begins to say before turning around, “are being rewarded.”

Vanessa & Blanko look at Makinsley stunned to see that he is wearing black round sunglasses and teal swim trunks. To make their confusion worse, Purple & Andy open up the briefcases revealing what’s inside are several stacks of cash.

Seeing the looks on the two teen’s faces, Makinsley breaks out in a fit of laughter.

Seeing him laughing, Purple rolls his eyes while Andy sighs.

“All of this…is our’s?” Blanko asks, startled.

“Yes, it is, though if you’d like a check let me know and I’ll write you one up,” Makinsley jokes before explaining, “Taking initiative and taking out a thorn in Dirty Fang’s side is something that should be rewarded!”

Blanko doesn’t know what to say but Vanessa does, “All of these are singles?”

“Correct you are,” Mason remarks, “Should be like $400.”

Hearing that Blanko is still extremely excited as he takes the case and goes to give Mason a high five. Mason, seeing this, goes for a fist bump and the two awkwardly look at each other before laughing.

“Now now, it’s late so you kids should go and get some sleep,” Mason remarks as he waves them goodbye.

“Th-thanks,” Vanessa remarks as she & Blanko walk back inside and towards the elevator.

As they leave, Purple groans as he remarks, “You do know that we’re going to have to answer for this.”

“I know,” Mason Makinsley remarks as he takes off his sunglasses, “But it isn’t something we should blame those kids for doing. They don’t really know the full scope of things.”

“And whose fault is that?” Andy remarks.

Despite their hostile words, it’s clear that there’s no real ill will among the three of them.

“Listen you guys all know our philosophy, treat those with us well and those against you coldly,” Makinsley affirms.

Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.

“You know, it’s only a matter of time before the MSA calls to have another meeting between the heads,” Andy states, “Especially since one of the 6 gangs is now out of the picture.”

“Yeah I know,” Makinsley groans, “I guess that’ll be the time to remind all the other gangs why I’m called The Most Feared Man In Starlight City.”

SUN SHORT #2 - Our Manifesto

Li-Wei Zhang and Martin McBride are limping down an alleyway, both are bruised and bloodied. Rain begins to fall as they continue their escape from Club Azure.

“Those damn kids, they ruined everything!” Li-Wei yells, “How did they even find out about all our dealings?!”

“They even managed to get the cops to come in!” Martin grunts.

Though as they are about to enter the street, they hear a laugh behind them. Confused the two turn around and what they see has their eyes widened in shock.

Standing in the alleyway holding a carmine-colored umbrella is Marcy Murphy, she remarks, “You give those kids too much credit.”

“It was you-” Li-Wei begins to say but Marcy just smiles.

“Of course it was, what are you fucking stupid?” Marcy questions as she walks towards them, “Club Azure acted so high and mighty yet here are two of their top members all alone.”

“You think you can beat us up?” McBride asks as he walks over to Marcy.

“Oh I don’t need to, I’ll let them take care of you,” Marcy remarks.

“Them?” McBride remarks.

As Li-Wei & McBride stand there confused, they hear a door slam behind them. The two look to see that on the street, a figure has stepped out of a white van. They’re wearing a carmine-colored hoodie.

“I’m talking about one of our finest,” Marcy remarks as the figure slams their fist into Li-Wei’s face, “A fellow messenger of The Carmine Manifesto.”

The figure then pounces on McBride and begins to beat into them until both McBride & Li-Wei are down on the ground. The figure then drags the two’s bodies into the white van as Marcy gets a call.

“Hello?” Marcy asks as she answers the phone, “Oh they’re going to host another Meeting Between The Heads?”

Marcy contemplates something before responding, “Sure, I guess I can go in your place.”

Marcy hangs up and looks to see that the figure has already put the two into the white van and is now playing with something in their hand.

“Hey, we’re all set, do you need a ride home?” Marcy asks.

The person nods and Marcy gets in the vehicle. As the figure hops in, before they close the door they take another look at the object in their hand.

It’s a beyblade.

SUN SHORT #3 - The Bigger Picture

Walking down the rainy streets of Starlight City is none other than Logan Stewart, the former bartender at Club Azure. As he continues to walk down the street though, he hears a car horn honk.

He turns to see on the street, there's a black limousine waiting for him. Logan enters the back of the limo and sits down. As the limo begins to drive off he looks forward at the person he’s sitting parallel to.

It’s a person wearing a hoodie underneath a green jacket and blue jeans. The person is also holding a glass of apple juice in his hand.

“So, it looks like what you wanted to happen happened,” Logan remarks, “Club Azure is finished.”

The person nods.

“The higher-ups wanted me to work there to check up on how well the business was doing, and as you can tell they clearly aren’t doing so well,” Logan jokes.

The person sits there. Logan pours himself some whiskey as the limousine continues to move forward.

“Though I must say, you really have a roundabout way of doing things, you know that right?” Logan remarks, “Why didn’t you just stop the Club when you first visited? Why did you get those kids involved?”

For the first time in the conversation, the other person speaks. After hearing him, a slight smile appears on his face.

“I guess you’re right, your little stunt just gave them an excuse to do what they’ve been wanting to do for a while,” Logan remarks.

As the limousine continues to drive down the street, Logan finally notices that the person sitting with him has his feet and hands stained in mud, there’s also a small box covered in mud sitting on the floor of the limo.

Putting two and two together Logan smiles, “Oh, you’re pretty clever. Ever since Dirty Fang dug up the fake one, I was wondering when you were going to track down your memento. You’re just full of surprises, aren’t you Phantom?”

SUN SHORT #4 - Live A Little

The front doors to The Everst Family Household open up as both Sally Everst and her brother-in-law Ryan Everst enter the house.

“Thanks for helping me with the car,” Ryan remarks.

“I’m just returning the favor,” Sally quips as she turns on the lights.

Though as the two enter the household, Sally notices that despite being grounded, Ronnie is nowhere to be seen. She looks at the fridge and reads a note left by The Three Ts.

‘Sorry, something urgent came up so we left Ronnie with enough food & water to last him the rest of the night’ the note reads.

Sally grits her teeth while Ryan realizes what’s going on.

“That boy’s going to have a lot to say when he gets home,” Sally utters.

“Oh come on, he’s a teen, they always go out late,” Ryan remarks, “Besides, it’s not like he’s grounded right now or-”

Seeing Sally’s face, Ryan fully realizes the situation and remarks, “Oh.”

Sally gets out her phone and tries to call Ronnie but he doesn’t answer.

“You want me to go and find him?” Ryan suggests.

“No, he’ll have to head home eventually,” Sally sighs.

As the two stand there, Ryan decides to try and change topics, “You know, if you needed some money you could’ve asked me.”

Sally looks at Ryan and sighs, “Look Ryan, is this about me trying to sell my business?”

“All I’m saying is that you don’t need to rely on selling your business to Jerry Pitt of all people.”

“Ryan, I’m not taking your money!” Sally states.

“Come on, the tattoo parlor was your drea-” Ryan begins to say.

“You know why I won’t take your money,” Sally remarks, “and the deal isn’t finalized yet. I can still back out if something were to happen.”

As the two stand there, Ryan gets a notification from his phone, when he checks it he sees an article giving an expose on all of Club Azure’s shady dealings.

“Well, you might want to do that,” Ryan jokes.

Sally checks his phone and after seeing it, she can’t help but laugh. Ryan also laughs for a bit. Whether it was out of awkwardness or the shocking closure to their argument none aren’t quite sure.

As their laughter dies down, Ryan reminisces, “I still remember back then when we went to the arcade and he broke the crane machine.”

“He got so mad he broke the glass,” Sally chuckles.

As Sally thinks back on the times of her youth, she begins to reminisce on all of the times she went out late when she wasn’t supposed to. Sometimes she didn’t get caught but most of the time she did. As she stands there, she figures that Ronnie’s really starting to take after her. And while she is certain that she’ll scold him for this, she figures she’ll let him off easy.

At that moment, she had no way of knowing what state her son was in.

At that moment, she had no way of knowing the shocked looks on all of his friend’s faces as they looked out onto a blood-soaked road.

At that moment, she had no way of knowing that Ronnie wouldn’t be returning home that night.

See You Next Chapter!~