What you have to understand about gang politics in the Undercity is that it’s less like actual gangs and more like primitive kingdoms. There is no system of government down here, and depending on who you’re ruled by, your life can change drastically.
So, what happens when a bunch of spies from other kingdoms see that the ruler they're spying on has been deposed by a mad woman? They leave to spread the news to their king.
Supposedly, in the past, they could have just used ‘wireless digital messages’, but mana scrambles any radio signal beyond recognition, so it was necessary to go to an operator station if you wanted to deliver messages electronically. Stations have human operators who can be threatened, extorted, and all sorts of fun things, so they are not considered secure. Plus, they're expensive as fuck.
Furies Disciples, the name of the gang that Omar was ninety percent sure Joy didn’t know, was a mid-sized gang, large sure, but there were larger. Much larger.
Where they ruled ten percent, two sectors, of the East Quadrant, three other major gangs ruled the remaining ninety. The Red Kings, Forsaken’s Reign, and Rorke’s Riders.
The Furies held a substantial amount of territory in the middle of three other very large gangs, with easy access to vantage points to the other territories, it was a no-brainer they would want to steal it. The only thing stopping them from taking it was each other. With all that in mind, what was she trying to accomplish?
Trying to figure that out has been the least time-consuming part of Omar’s past week. Between the ‘change in management’, as Joy likes to call it, and dozens of members fleeing in fear, a shockingly small amount given the display she put on, and generally just running the entire gang, he had his hands full.
So the increase in lessons, that joy sprung on him out of nowhere, was taxing his already incredibly taxed mind. He didn’t complain, though. He couldn’t. Not when he still drew breath, which is more than his brother could say.
Omar did not let a day go by without thinking about him. His brother, his twin light in this hellhole, gone that fast. They weren’t actually related, not by blood at least, but they had been together since childhood. Omar felt like he should be raging against the magical chains that he bound himself to Joy with, but he just felt alone. Rage had always been his brother’s thing anyway.
So, he worked. Worked himself to the bone, and he would continue to until he reunited with Alex in whatever hell people down here went to. That was Omar’s life now, and no matter what, he was going to stick to it. Not that he had much of a choice, but giving purpose to suffering you already have to endure makes it easier.
Then, while on one of his routine patrols through the base, he gets a distress call. They have found Joy murdered, mangled beyond recognition.
What.
The man who supposedly did it is claiming the territory for himself. He’s obviously a splinter of a larger gang trying to capture their territory, as for which, based on the bandana over his upper right arm, very conspicuously concealing a tattoo, it was the Red Kings. On initiation, they got a tattoo on the upper right arm. Could he really not even be bothered to wear a short-sleeved shirt?
Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
Out of everything Omar could be feeling, he was mostly just confused.
What was Joy planning now?
After all, his bindings were still in place.
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Joy silently stalked through the Red Kings’ territory, wearing the assassin garb of the woman who ‘killed’ her. Luckily for her, they shared a similar build, and the costume she wore concealed most distinguishing features, including her voice. If they hadn’t, she would have had to have waited until she could get an agent in one of the gangs, so this was truly a stroke of fortune.
The transition from her territory to the Red Kings’ was gradual at first, with things gradually getting more dilapidated, but the rate of broken buildings and somehow more miserable people increased quickly.
The management of the Red Kings’ was obviously poor, with the area she was walking through somehow even worse than most. The people here were dirty and gaunt, and that may be common in most places, but the people here were downright skeletal. How did they even get revenue or work from these people?
The buildings in this area weren’t the sprawling ‘earthscrapers’ of the central quadrant, but short, squat, earthen huts, like they had torn down the already shitty buildings and decided to live in the ruins. She thought she had it bad in the Central Quadrant, how did people even survive like this?
She glanced to her right and saw a family huddled in one of the mentioned huts, crowded together and eating a soup that was mostly watered-down broth. And yet, they looked… well not happy, but it was clear that they took comfort in each other. Faint smiles brightened their skeletal features as they spoke.
Somehow, even down here, people had more than her. A swell of bitter envy rose in her chest before she forced herself to look away and move on.
On the horizon she could see the Red Kings’ headquarters, one of the few nice, for the Undercity, buildings in sight. It only stretched a few stories into the air, drab and gray. The only change they made to the standard buildings down here is changing the neon lights adorning it to red.
Making it to the Red Kings’ HQ was easy, but getting in to see their leader was going to be the hard part… she had thought. It was actually disturbing how bad these people were at the whole ‘being a gang’ thing.
Well, Joy supposed, I guess they're alright at being a gang, it’s the ‘everything else’ part they fuck up.
She just… walked inside the HQ and there he was. The most wanted man in seven sectors.
She made herself known by dropping stealth and walking in.
“Ah, Gina, how did it go?”
Through the suit's voice modulation, she spoke, “The target is dead.”
“As expected, she was all talk. I don’t know what had our spies so worried! Your payment will arrive tomorrow, and thanks to you, it will arrive unharmed.” He said with a “charming” smile, then continued, “You're dismissed.”
Just one more step, and then she could kill him.
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Omar really wished that Joy could have discussed whatever plan she had with him because right now he was in a really tough spot. The splinter that arrived a few days ago was panicking on the radio, and the look in his eyes promised that something bad was coming. The problem was, obviously, he had no fucking clue what was going on.
Omar liked to think that he was a pretty smart guy, but if Joy thought that he could figure out what was going on with such sparse information, then she was overestimating him to an insane degree.
Why would she fake her own death after putting on that act? It seems like getting splinter of the Red Kings was intentional, but she couldn’t have known that it was that specific gang that would come here, could she? Assuming she couldn’t, why would she want any puppet leader to come here?
Let's think about this, there are only a few avenues I can imagine her going from here. Well, there are high tensions between the factions, but our little slice of heaven prevents them from going all out, and they keep each other from capturing it, so now that one of them has it they have the advantage in any confrontation.
If it was that simple, why fake her death at all? Why not just hand it over? What is her goal? Knowing her personality, probably total domination or something, that or total destruction. How would I accomplish that, assuming I had the strength and stealth of her?
Oh. Fuck.
She was going to kick-start a gang war of epic proportions. A war for the entire East Quadrant.
Hasn’t she only in charge for two weeks?