It was past midnight when the Outliers gathered in front of the winery. A full moon shone down on them, in addition to the street lights that illuminate the area. Above them, a few stars whose luminescence pierced through the pollution of Vim sparkled. In front of them were a concourse of men about the same size as their group, flying their own colors. Young Blood immediately recognized the outfits as that of the Seraphs. Standing in front of them was a man wearing the Seraph outfit along with a green hat made out of dragon scales. He was about the same height and looked to be the same age as Iron. His eyes were bright blue and appeared to be wearing a golden grill in his mouth.
“I-I-I-Iron you f-f-f-f-fuck!” the man cursed.
Iron stepped forward and replied “How are ya C-c-c-c- Cotton?”
The Outliers laughed at Iron mocking the other gang leader. This made the Seraphs behind Cotton yell and curse at them.
“You attacked my boys! Y-you’re gonna pay Iron!” Cotton screamed over the noise.
“Oh is that what this is about? You know it’s your own fault. You tagged our turf right? What’d you think was gonna happen?”
“T-t-t-that’s not what my boys said. Said you Outliers started shit first.”
West walked past his fellow gang members, getting right next to Young Blood.
“Looks like their whole outfit consists of liars. Young Blood, use your legs once shit goes down. I want them to hurt.” he whispered into Young Blood’s ear.
The boy nodded.
“Big Mike! Are they telling the truth?” Iron asked.
“Hell no!” Big Mike shouted back.
“Well there you have it. Your boys started shit first, now get the fuck outta our territory if you don’t want to end up in the hospital” Iron told the multitude in front of him.
The Seraphs began to laugh, taking out weapons. They wielded knives, chains, and brass knuckles. Cotton cracked his knuckles and said “Y-y-you Outliers need to learn a lesson. We Seraphs don’t let n-n-nobody fuck with us! You think you’re tough Iron? I’m about to prove to everyone you and your boys ain’t shit!”
Iron began to chuckle, causing all of the Outliers to join in. Even though the group in front of them emanated nothing but hostility, they looked like a joke.
“Ok Cotton. Let’s see what you got.” Iron beckoned, as his demeanor became serious.
Around Iron’s body air began to swirl, causing his hair to rise into the air and nearby dust to float up. His body began to percolate a light grey aura, letting everyone know he wasn’t playing around anymore. Iron had access to a strength very few people had, the strength to use aura and magic. The former was known as the strength from within. It enhanced people’s physical properties, such as making them faster, stronger, and able to take blows that would kill any normal person. All people had some amount of aura for it is an extension of one’s life energy, but only the very strong could summon so much that it became visible to the naked eye. The latter was known as the strength from without. It allowed one to manipulate the world around them for magic came from the environment itself. Magic allowed people to summon spirits, cast elemental spells, or any other myriad of techniques that defy comprehension. Most people are either attuned to magic or aura but there are those who can use both, albeit favoring one over the other. This was the case for Iron. He could summon aura and had an affinity for wind magic.
“Come on! I thought you wanted to fight!” Iron screamed.
Cotton and a few of the Seraphs stepped back, slightly frightened. Cotton shook his head, as if ashamed he was scared by Iron.
“Hey here’s your brick back!” Feral suddenly yelled, throwing the brick at the crowd.
It zoomed across the gap between the two gangs, hitting a Seraph in the head, shattering on impact.
“Outliers! Mayhem!” Iron ordered.
Since the Seraphs wouldn’t charge, the Outliers did. They ran to the Seraphs like a giant red wave. They crashed into them, attacking anything that wore green. In the bedlam was Iron, slowly walking forward, knocking people out with a single swing as if he were swatting flies. Young Blood, who appeared to be the smallest out of everyone, was running from Seraph to Seraph, knocking people down with punches. One big Seraph tried to kick him, but he dodged and countered with a sidekick to ribcage. Young Blood could feel the bone shatter on impact. The Seraph coughed up blood, falling to the ground like a tree that's been chopped down.
“Not bad pipsqueak!” he heard Lunkhead say to his right.
He looked, seeing that Lunkhead was holding one Seraph by the neck, lifting him into the air while two more Seraphs tried to attack him. Their punches landed but Lunkhead didn’t react, instead he slammed the choking Seraph into the ground and proceeded to punch the other two, making their teeth fly through the air. Young Blood went back to fighting the other Seraphs, eventually punching and kicking his way towards Feral and West who were fighting side by side.
Feral had put a Seraph into a full nelson, allowing West to smash a dirty bottle on his head. Young Blood joined them, knocking down two Seraphs that sought to attack them from behind.
“Hey Young Blood! Team combo, let’s go!” Feral exclaimed, grabbing a nearby Seraph by the head. He pushed their head down, allowing Young Blood to uppercut the Seraph in the face. The blow sent them into the air, landing with a thud.
“Woooo! There we go Young Blood!” Feral cheered.
Suddenly Feral got punched in the face by a nearby Seraph. West and Young Blood quickly beat the attacker.
“Stay focused dumbass!” West insulted, helping Feral get up.
“Yeah yeah”
“Young Blood, we’re fine here. Go protect the others.” West ordered, pointing across the battlefield.
Young Blood nodded, running away. He went to the Outliers that were struggling, saving them from the Seraphs that grouped up on them. As he did so he found Rockafella, who was surrounded by 5 Seraphs armed with chains. Rockafella locked eyes with one who charged him first, dodging their swing. He then put him out of commission by chopping him in the throat.
Another charged, meeting the same fate. Young Blood joined in, jumping up behind one and kicking him in the side of the head, knocking him out. The two remaining Seraphs whirled around, surprised they lost another one. They split up, one running to Young Blood, the other to Rockafella.
The one that came to Young Blood screamed, swinging his chain like a wildman. The boy stepped back, keeping his distance. Eventually the Seraph tired himself out, lowering his weapon. In the very instant he did so, Young Blood kicked him square in gut, making him roll across the floor, making other Seraphs trip and fall. Meanwhile, Rockafella had locked eyes with his opponent, not blinking. The Seraph didn’t know it but Rockafella was using his magical ability, precognition. By locking eyes with his opponent, Rockafella could see every action his opponent was about to perform. However if he loses eye contact, the ability stops.
“Come on four eyes!” the Seraph yelled, throwing punches with the chain wrapped around his right fist.
Rockafella dodged each punch, waiting for an opening. After the Seraph threw a straight, Rockafella stepped in, flipping him onto the ground.
“Haven’t you heard never to hit a guy with glasses? Besides, they’re quite useful. They protect your eyes from attacks such as this.” Rockafella said, jamming his fingers into the Seraph’s eyes.
The Seraph screamed but was then knocked out by Rockafella punching his head into the ground.
“And that’s why I’m Chief Lieutenant,” Rockafella added, satisfied with how he handled things.
Young Blood regroupd with him, wanting to make sure he didn’t need anymore help.
“Thanks for the help Young Blood. I think we’re about done here”
Young Blood looked around, and noticed that most of the Seraphs had been defeated. Only Cotton remained, his legs trembling before Iron.
“What happened Cotton? I thought we weren’t shit? What does that make you?” Iron questioned, his body still emanating a vast amount of power.
Cotton stepped back, wanting to run away while he still had a chance. Even more wind began to swirl around Iron.
“You’re a leader aren’t you? Don’t you know what that entails? It means you fight. Even if the odds are against you. Even if you know you’re about to die. You fight because people look up to you. You’re not just a person, you’re a symbol. Live up to it. Come on Cotton, fight for your boys.”
Cotton didn't respond, just fell to his knees.
“P-p-please let me go. W-w-w-we won’t fuck with the Outliers anymore. I-I’m sorry.”
“Pathetic.”
The air that had swirled around Iron transferred to his wooden sword, making the weapon look like a small thin tornado. He raised the weapon and bashed it against Cotton’s head, sending his body across the ground like a rock skipping across a lake. He eventually crashed into the abandoned building across the winery. With that the rumble was over. The Outliers were surrounded by dozens of unconscious and bruised bodies. They regrouped around Iron, wondering what to do next.
“Ok boys we’re done here! Rockafella, have everyone clean up this place. Lunkhead, Young Blood, and West, come with me. We’re wrecking their hideout.”
“Alright you heard the War Chief! Everybody clean up, and get all the money you can from these guys. They’re paying for that window” Rockafella yelled to the group.
Everyone did as told, with the ones named by Iron walking with him, away from the scene.
“We kicked their asses and now we’re gonna destroy their place? Ain’t we going overboard?” West questioned.
“Nah these pussies need to be taught a lesson they’ll never forget.” Lunkhead answered.
“We gotta do this. It’ll be huge for our rep. We do this and no one else will fuck with the Outliers” Iron added.
Young Blood walked alongside the group, feeling indifferent. Whatever Iron wanted to do, he wanted to do. He didn’t care about concepts like rep and what not. They walked through the night streets, having nothing to fear because they were the people others were scared of encountering late at night. The streets were empty, give or take the drunks passed out on the roads. They walked until they made it to a turnaround where a cable car was. Even though it was about 1 am, the car’s bright red and yellow colors were clearly visible as they reflected the moon’s light. The four Outliers got on, refusing to sit down as the cable car began to make its way through the 7th ward. There were a few other passengers onboard, who looked askance at the four gang members covered in other people’s blood.
“So where’s the Seraph hideout anyway?” West inquired.
“They call an abandoned rec center on 34th street home. We’ll be there soon. West, I’ll need you to scout the place. Lunkhead and Young Blood, bust some heads.” Iron planned out.
“Want me to tag the place?”
“Definitely. People will know who was responsible.”
Seeing that they were about to pass 34th street, the four Outliers jumped off the cable car. They were in enemy territory now, ready to cause some chaos.
