Whether they were in or not, I was going on my own. With the epic rifle, I was going to be doing great on the streets. I did not have any cash so it would be pretty hard. A moment passed before Emilio sighed. "I thought Nicolò was the one that was going to go off and get himself killed. I guess I'll stay with you and keep you from dying." I smiled and Nicolò frowned. "Get me in the Devil Crew." he said. Brandon nodded and looked at me. "Wait here. I have to get you guys something." He went to the back of the parlor. "What the hell are you thinking!? What if we get into a fight one day? I can't go easy on you!" I smirked. "Thank you." I told him. "What's so fucking funny." he snapped. "If I have you so confident that we will be enemies one day, that means you think we'll make it." He blushed and said "That's not what I meant asshole! We should stick together." "The two of us are together. You're the odd man out here, Nicolò." Emilio said with a smile. "Shut up!" Nicolò snapped. We all shared a laugh together. Brandon came back with stacks of cash. "Miracle and I decided to give you 10 grand." he said.
It was even split into three and we each took our money. I was going to thank him when a customer came in the parlor. Brandon face palmed. "Miracle's not here. He is a dope on an errand." The customer was pissed off. "That flake! I told him to be ready for me yesterday!" she said. "I can have one of apprentices do it. At least until he returns to finish it." She exhaled dramatically. "One of the small fry? Why can't you do it?" she demanded. "I'm busy with something. I also have someone coming in ten minutes as well." he replied. "Fine!" she said with a roll of her eyes. "He's a good kid. He can do it." Brandon assured her. "Reginaldo!" he called out. A boy my age came stumbling out from the back. He had round glasses and freckles on his face. He also had the same yellow rose on his right shoulder. He smiled at us before a giant yawn caught him off guard. "You called." "Take care of this fine lady until Miracle come back. Use everything we showed you until then." Brandon said sternly. Reginaldo seemed really nervous. "I'll watch for the first ten minutes. Let me finish here first." Brandon said calmly.
Reginaldo nodded and took the woman to the back. Brandon sighed and rubbed his temples. "Miracle is such an idiot sometimes." he said. He then looked at us and put a smile on his face. "I gave you the basics. Don't be a big stranger like some of the others. We actually like knowing you're alive and doing well." We nodded and he gave us one back before a mischievous spark entered his eyes. "I need to make sure he doesn't shit himself. It's his first time after all. Maybe I should pull a prank in the room to scare him." he said in a lewd way. "Nicolò, come by tomorrow around noon and they'll be here. The rest know what you need to do." He then waved and went to the back to attend to the others. We then left the parlor again. I checked the map to see who was around. I had not encountered any of the major factions yet so I could not be sure who owned what. I did see that there were some thug occupied rackets. If we cleared them out, we could take them over if we had the cash. There were also some properties that were simply up for purchase. That was too expensive for a Player just starting out.
Four blocks away was a thug occupied racket. There was no outside security so we would be able to just slip in. I asked if they were ready. "Martino! You are injured. At least let me patch you up." Emilio said as he did so. I went back to full health. The others were at full health as well. We broke in and went in guns blazing. Nicolò had a higher initiative than me so he was going first. There were five guards in there. Emilio was still going last. Since they had guns and all I hoped they would take defensive positions. My party members had less health than the thugs. Nicolò took an instant shot at a thug because he had itchy fingers. He then had his first turn. When he took his two shots they both hit. The thug went down and it was my turn. I took my first shot at the thug furthest away and hit. I then fired again and killed him. Using bigger guns took 2 action points instead of one. I wanted to save my skills for when I really needed it. They then got closer before finding cover. They took their shots at us and some missed. I was shot for 12 points of damage and shot back for 33. Things were doing really well so far.
