"You again." Jorgen glared at the protester.

"The fuck do you mean you again?" The rebellious bruised gang member scowled, "You're literally visiting me in the infirmary, how are you surprised to see me?"

"I'm not, I just really grew to hate your mug."

"...Tch, that's fair." The guy leaned his head back in bed, "I don't really consider you my leader either, so I guess it evens out."

"Fess Closeway, I looked into your background a bit after the incident." Jorgen read from a sheet of paper he had printed, "A good natured extroverted and charismatic leader who sadly often bites off more than he can chew."

"Where'd you get that description from?"

"Your lackeys. The ones that peeled your face off the ground after I knocked you out and carried you over to here."

"Oh."

As Jorgen explained this, Fess' Eyes looked distant. He knew that a harsh punishment was most probably awaiting him after threatening to stab not only a fellow gang member, but also the general. Still, Fess was reasonable with how to handle it.

"They just got coaxed into listening to my whims. Don't punish them for being present." He sighed, "As for me, I assume exile is a safe bet."

"You really thought we would punish your allies simply for siding with you?" Jorgen groaned, "If that's how it worked, then we'd have to punish half the people in that crowd as well."

"Ah, I guess." He sighed, "But I went against you, said stuff you didn't like."

"Just cause I don't like them doesn't mean they're not true." Jorgen spoke honestly, "We only do eat good food when a holiday rolls around, no one's denying that."

"The boys told me about it after I woke up." He shook his head, "About earning our stay, and being free to work for more outside of the gang. Shit, I guess that's a valid counterpoint you guys made, but I'm still scared."

"Scared of what? You're not gonna die of malnutrition anytime soon." Jorgen raised an Eyebrow, "We feed you enough."

"No, not that." He shook his head, "I'm afraid of not dividing."

Fess then explained his own reasoning behind wanting to separate ARA into smaller chunks. The points he gave mirrored Maxwells quite well, and some were even brand new ones, like the fact that the generals don't have time to go to a faraway sector in case of an emergency.

"If something happened in Melgam, it'd be far too late by the time you guys come there from Bilgam." He continued, "But if you appoint leaders to every sector, then..."

"Then every leader would be able to act." Jorgen nodded, "But one thing both you and Max fail to realize is HOW they'll act."

"How? What do you mean by that?"

"Say there's a fight between two gang members." Jorgen explained, "Maxwell would try to talk them into a peaceful resolution. Aaron would turn the attention over to himself and thus diffuse the situation that way, and I would just beat both of gang members up."

"Yeah, I know..." Fess rubbed his sore forehead a bit, "So are you saying some ways of dealing with the issue are worse than others?"

"No, all three of these methods work, but it's important to note that they are different." Jorgen elaborated, "In the current ARA, if you mess up, you are at the mercy of the general that exacts the punishment. But if we do as you wish and separate the generals—My partition of ARA will only expect a punishment to mean beatings, whilst Maxwell's will only expect words of disappointment."

"And general Aaron's?"

"That man's partition will be lucky if they come out with their assholes intact once we leave them alone with him." Jorgen said worriedly.

Fess laughed. He didn't expect a humorous response from someone as serious and uptight as Jorgen, and the dry delivery coupled with the unwavering serious stare only made him crack up more.

"You're laughing because you don't understand what I mean fully." Jorgen shook his head, "I used punishment as an example, but you need to look past that. It's a fact that different schools teach different curriculums, be the differences small or large between them. If we do go ahead and decentralize ARA just for short term ease of leading, then I wholeheartedly believe we'll face long term issues."

"But with this many people, how can you expect to keep everyone happy and satisfied?" Fess asked, "It just makes no sense. You're trying to encompass everyone in a singular ARA, but a single person or group just cannot deal with this many individual people."

"Hm, indeed fights and protests have been popping up more and more as time went on." Jorgen agreed, "And in most cases, we just chalked it up as absorbed gang members being petty, but it seems recently even our oldest members have been showing unease with our current system."

"So, what do you plan on doing?" Fess asked.

"...Not a clue." Jorgen reclined.

"Eh?"

"Don't act so surprised, you said so yourself—No one can take care of this many people." He shook his head, "If those kids were still here..."

"Kids?"

"The first generation ARA generals." Jorgen explained to him, "A rowdy bunch of kids who managed to somehow make two giant enemies make amends and work together all those years ago. They had good heads on their shoulders, and a heart of gold each, but I guess that's why they all left."

"A bunch of kids made the country's biggest gang organization?" Fess seemed skeptical.

"Well, I say kids, but they're only a couple years younger than us generals." Jorgen shrugged, "They're old as shit now. Or at least, what's left of them..."

Fess probably couldn't care less about this story that weighed heavily on Jorgen's heart, but it's not like he could just get up from his bed and walk out of the room. Obliging to listen purely out of curiosity's sake, Fess had quieted down to listen. Now was the time, Jorgen thought, it was time to reminisce.

If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

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"Let's see, I don't even remember where to start." Jorgen recalled, "Oh yeah, it all began when I was sitting in my office as one of the five generals of Bilgam Brothers."

"Oh yeah, that old gang." Fess smirked, "My dad told me stories about them. Said they were a bunch of nobodies I shouldn't get involved with."

"And yet here you are." Jorgen sighed, "So, there I was, sitting peacefully in my chair when Max brought four kids in. Said they wanted to join cause they got picked on by our rival gang, The Blue Lions."

"How young we talking?" Fess clicked his tongue, "You said they were only a few years younger than you."

"Oh they were tykes. 14 or 15 at best. Some might even say fresh out the womb." Jorgen explained, "But they had something in them. A resolve to beat The Blue Lions above all else. They weren't necessarily sneaky with hiding their ulterior motives, but in gangdom, everyone works for their own interest, so we let them join if they were willing to help us crush TBL."

"And did they deliver?"

"Fuck no."

"Eh? Then why hype them up like that?!"

"Because they did more than that." Jorgen continued, "They helped fix our base from the inside, and helped destroy TBL's in the same way. Before long, for the first time in our history, The Blue Lions and BilBros decided to join forces."

"Wait, you didn't destroy them?" Fess asked, "Tch, lame."

"You're not listening, I see." Jorgen groaned, "We did destroy them, by making them our allies. Together we were unstoppable, and we learned that this was the best way to take over an entire country's underground dealings."

"Huh." Fess paused for a sec, "So where'd they go? They all croaked?"

"One half did, the other got scarred and left." Jorgen heaved a long sigh, "Cecily and Carter were siblings, Lune and Cecily were married, and Ed was just there."

"You've got quite the high opinion of this Ed guy I see." Fess sighed, "So who died?"

"You remember when Nelly's Day is, right?" Jorgen asked.

"Yeah, how could I forget the last time my stomach ate something tasty?" Fess grunted, "April 25th."

"Do you know why we celebrate it?"

"Yeah, some girl named Nelly died on that day or something."

"Either you heard wrong or weren't paying attention when someone told you, but Nelly's still alive." Jorgen sighed, "On that day, Carter ran headfirst into the burning building she could be heard wailing from and saved her in exchange for his own life. He was the first to go among the four kids."

"Ah, shame. Don't be a hero, I guess."

"On the contrary, he was the catalyst that helped ARA grow as smoothly as it did." Jorgen hissed, "We do not celebrate his death, but the life of a young and innocent girl unfortunately caught in our crossfire. Lune and Cecily, who were newly coupled at the time, took responsibility for her and adopted her. She is currently around their age when all this happened, I think."

"And Ed was just there, I imagine." Fess asked.

"Yeah, he kinda didn't do anything to my knowledge."

They chuckled, both mocking a guy that was currently sitting happily in his home. Though he didn't know why, Ed suddenly sneezed because of that.

"So then who's the other one that died?" Fess asked, "You said there were two."

"Lune did, back during the Carmen War." Jorgen slumped forward, "His death meant nothing. He saved no one with it, and was simply led to it by our blind faith in him to somehow magically stop it without bloodshed."

"Poor guy, but it was kinda deserved if that's the case." Fess shrugged, "Shouldn't have tried to stop a war with peace, you idiots. Same reason you can't lead a single gang the size of a country without separating it."

"Separation breeds war." Jorgen got a bit fussy, "If BilBros and TBL remained separate, we would still be fighting amongst ourselves in our small little gangs! But they taught us that a fight among the same side is infighting, and a fight between opposite sides is a war! Do you know how much easier it is to deal with infighting than it is to stop a war!? You should, cause you just got stopped!"

"...Geez, fine. You didn't have to shout." Fess sighed, "Even still, what's your plan then? Try to keep everyone under your guys' rule until it falls apart in your hands?"

"If need be, but that will not happen." Jorgen smiled, "Because as long as we are teaching new recruits about that day, Nelly's Day, about the stories of all four of those kids... As long as we do that much, you all can learn the importance of avoiding division like the plague."

"And what if I still separate?" Fess smirked, "What if I choose to make my own gang and destroy you?"

Before he could even finish the sentence, Jorgen had lifted him right out of his bed by the collar. Flashing his holstered AFP around his belt as he did that, Jorgen let out a victorious roar.

"You can certainly try, but there isn't a ragtag group of idiots that can hope to crush ARA!" He smiled, "For as long as I'm alive, we'll make sure to keep it as one, just how those four wished!"

"Ghack! Let go, I was just joking!" Fess hastily spoke before he got dropped down on his bed again, "Geez, you actually had a gun...?"

"Only upper echelons are allowed to carry one, albeit in a concealed fashion." Jorgen smirked, "Unless you've got one of your own, you won't be able to do shit against ARA, so I suggest you start earning promotions."

"Heh, got it, general." Fess laughed, "I've been thoroughly educated, but you better watch out for the future."

"I can't wait."