This, isn’t supposed to be this easy is it? How can Eugene already be at 100%? I mean, don’t get me wrong, this makes things easier, but I can’t help but to worry about his mental state. This can’t possibly be normal, humans don’t usually be willing to die for someone after a few hours of meeting.

After thinking about it for a while, I shrug and accept it. It wouldn’t be fun if he was sane anyway. I notice Eugene has a couple bruises on him but other than that, he’s completely fine. When I look over PJ, he seems to have been bored waiting for me to finish. It doesn’t seem he had any problems with his opponent at all. Good, he needs to be strong and it seems Eugene has a lot more confidence in himself.

My crew walk up beside me without a word as I crouch in front of the knocked out Soldier. I can’t help but to have pride swell up inside me. I’ve never experienced anything like this in my old life but I can already tell you this is the most fun I’ve had in a long time. Not only that, but my crew seems so badass right now. All 3 of us won our battles, an overwhelming victory.

I grab the guy by the hair and lifts his face from the ground. I begin slapping him around until he wakes up. Confused at first, I can see he has no idea what’s going in. His eyes widen abruptly in realisation. It seems he finally remembers what happened. I have a couple questions to ask him.

My eyes go cold as I place my remaining hand on his neck, squeezing slightly. I don’t have the time for the “I won’t tell you anything!” cliche. No, that’s not right, I’ve literally been reborn, I have too much time on my hands. I simply don’t have the necessary patience required to go through with it.

I almost laugh as I see the fear emerge from his eyes but restrain myself. That would ruin my image. I feel my gangs eyes on me, watching my every move, but don’t say anything. Not even Eugene speaks up. Good, I would lose face if they spoke out against me in front of the enemy.

“I will ask any question I please and you will answer truthfully without fail. This isn’t a movie, I will not torture you if you do not answer…” he looks relieved...fool. “I will simply kill you, I have no patience for your games. We are in an dark alley, no one will find your body but the homeless, and they would not care much about you. If you think I’m kidding~” I smile and my voice takes a humorous tone as I start slowly squeezing.

“NO NO! I BELIEVE YOU! I”LL TELL YOU ANYTHING! PLEASE!” he screams. I smile and loosen my grip.

I’m taking over the world. Not for the good of the people or to help the needy, but because I want to. I am not the good guy, I am not the hero, nor do I want to be. I’ve been debating my bad guy persona and I think I finally have it. I’m thinking a mix of the Joker with my own little twist of personal craziness.

“So my good friend!” I laugh out with a smile that says we’re old buddies. I can practically hear his thoughts of me being crazy. “Who sent you after me?” That wasn’t very nice you know? I’ll have to go pay my proper respects to whoever has forced such a good pal of mine like you to a death sentence.”

“I-It was James! James Jones! He’s my Capo and 1 of 6 of the Viper gang. It was overheard that a freshman was trying to start a gang and take over the school. All the other gangs thought it was a joke, no freshman has ever tried to compete in the Battle of Gangs after all. James hardly believed it either but sent me to make sure that the rumors were just rumors and to make sure you wouldn’t try anything stupid.”

“Hm, tell me about this "Battle of the Gangs" and all who will participate. In fact just tell me how things work in this school in general.” I tell him. Honestly, I don’t know much about it. Last time I didn’t involve myself in it and wasn’t affected by it. I didn’t care who ruled the school or not. It didn’t concern me, but now it does, and knowledge is power.

“Well, every year has a gang associated with it. Normally, once a gang is formed, it has to beat the main gang of their year to become the main gang themselves. That doesn’t really happen a lot though. To be officially defeated, the Don of said gang has to publically announce his defeat in front of the school. Depending on your standing of strongest gang and weakest gang also depends on how your grade is treated. The weakest gangs year will be treated like trash while the strongest will be treated like nobles. It’s the Don’s job to protect its citizens, although you can just not, but those not loved by the general people don’t really last long as Dons.”

“Why not?” I ask.

“Well, there are more citizens then there are people in gangs. So if your citizens really hate you, you could have an uprising on your hands. Other gangs will be more likely to pop up and the chance of you being dethroned increases largely.”

“Hm, interesting, a weakling is weak, but many weakling are strong. Quantity is a quality all in itself after all. Please, continue.” I add, letting go of his throat. He visibly relaxes.

“Well a gang usually has 1 Don > a Underboss > a Consigliere > 6 Capo’s > some Soldiers, like me > and Associates.” he takes a deep breath. Looks like he’s going to be explaining a lot.

“The Boss, or Capo Famiglia, makes all the important decisions, much like a CEO of a company would. Although each mob boss may run his outfit in a different way, they have one thing in common: they are greatly respected and widely feared by their subordinates. All of the men in his outfit pay him a tribute, so he is also usually an extremely wealthy man. He is usually called the Godfather, or more commonly, the word "Don" may proceed his first or last name.

The Underboss, or Capo Bastone, is second-in-command in the hierarchy of the crime family. His level of authority varies from family to family, but he is ready to stand in for the boss at any given moment. The Underboss can easily find himself at the helm of the family so, for the most part, they are usually groomed for an eventual takeover, particularly if the boss’s health is failing or if it looks like he’s headed for a stay in the joint. A family may have two underbosses. An example of this was boss Carlo Gambino, who had Paul "Big Paul" Castelano and Aniello "Mr. Neil" Dellacroce as underboss at the same time. However, one underboss is far more common.

The Consigliere, or Chief Advisor, is not officially part of the hierarchy of the gangs, but he plays one of the most important roles in a crime family. He is the close trusted friend and confidant of the family boss. The function of the consigliere is a throwback to medieval times, when a monarch placed his trust in an advisor whom he could summon for strategic information and sound advice. The Consigliere is meant to offer unbiased information based on what he sees as best for the family. He’s not supposed to factor emotional concerns, such as retaliation and blood feuds, into his decisions. He is chosen solely for his abilities and the amount of knowledge he possesses. Generally, only the boss and underboss have more authority than the Consigliere.

The Capo, or Caporegime, is the captain or lieutenant of a division. He heads a crew of soldiers and reports directly to a Boss or Underboss, who hands down the instructions. He ranks much higher in the hierarchy. He is also in charge of handling most money.

The lowest-ranking members of the hierarchy of the gangs are the soldiers, the grunts of the organization who do the majority of the “dirty work.” It’s the place where the weaklings start off: running errands, making deliveries, picking up cash, and generally sticking out their neck in the hope of making a name for themselves by demonstrating their loyalty to the gang.

Associates are not actual members of the gang but rather anyone who teams up with them. There are also the newcomers who have yet to be made, called Cugines, and they play a minor role in the operation of the gang. Associates are also fair game on the streets, they are not protected by the gang. Anybody can be an associate.

As you can see, although we call ourselves gangs, we present ourselves in a Mafia format. I don't really know why, but it was that way when I was a freshman.” he shrugs and catches his breath from that info dump.

“Now, usually when a gang graduates from their current grade, they become the main gang for the next grade they go to, but it's different for freshman for obvious reasons. They have to fight amongst themselves first to be a main gang unlike us. Also, just because a gang is in a higher grade, doesn't mean that they will be a stronger gang. Even some sophomore gangs have become the strongest before, but never freshman.” he clears his throat.

“The battles will start on September 6. The 2nd years will have the Vipers, the 3rd years will have the Wolves, and the 4th years will have the Angels. That is, if they don’t get replaced in the month before the battle, as I said though, that doesn’t happen a lot. This month is really just peacetime for the upper grades. It’s used to gather their troops and plan. For you though, it’s going to be filled with defending your spot as the main gang. No one is allowed to attack within that month of peace. If they do, all gangs will come after them and they will be eliminated. After that, wars will begin. You have to balance who you go to war with, after all, another gang can declare war on you while you're already fighting someone else. Usually the upper years have a treaty to get rid of the 2nd years first so they can focus on themselves.”

“Well what were you planning on doing about that?” I ask curious but he just shrugs.

“I don’t know, it’s only the first day and I’m just a Soldier. Anyway, that all the essentials.” he states. I smile and laugh as I place a hand on his shoulder.

“Really buddy, what about all your Capo’s, Underboss, and Leaders names? Huh?”

“Oh….forgot about that.” he responds and I chuckle.

“Sure you did. Now, go on, give me their names.” I order. He sighs and reluctantly gives me the names of his superiors. I also tell him to give me addresses of abandoned houses or warehouses. After being confused, he tells me that too. I pat him on the back in thanks then crack him right in the jaw, knocking him out again. I turn around to face my crew, smile on my face.

“Welp, let’s go find our new base shall we?”