The Matters of Power

Chapter 31- The Eastside Gang [6]

It surprised me to know that someone else was here other than us, since my Sixth Sense View didn't pick up anyone else. Yet why was Pot of all people here as if he was expecting us, or someone else? He's still wearing that two-piece suit and vest from last time; except he has sunglasses on instead. "Wait a minute," Carl whispers to me, "isn't that Pot, that mysterious fella we met before Winter Break?" I nod, fully aware of that colorful event. I thought it would have been the one and only time I would have met him, but I don't know what business he has with us now. Why can't I figure out his thoughts at all? "Good day to you, gentlemen. I hope you haven't forgotten about me since our last... meeting. Anyway, what are you all doing here, eh?" We thought he was expecting an answer from us, but he interrupts us before we can say anything. "Ya know what? Never mind, it was a rhetorical question. You're here for the so-called hideout o the Eastside Gang, aren't ya? Hate to break it to you chamacos, but y'all got the short end of the stick." Carl is just as surprised as I am, "Wha- how do you know about that?" "It's easy, really." He just shrugs emotionless, "Y'all didn't exactly did some skilled spy stuff with your digital print and planning. But that's beside the point." He rummages through his pockets and pulls out a black envelope. "Since Quarter and Swift Cross aren't here like I planned, I'll extend the offer to the both of you. What I need you to do... is to try to knock me down in a fight." I didn't expect him to be so straightforward with his offer, but there's more to this. "Wait, what do you mean by that? Why do we need to fight you?" "I'm going to be frank, the hideout where Quarter and his buddies are going to raid isn't gonna give them much information about the Eastside Gang. And in this envelope is some critical information that my... boss is willing to give to ya on the condition that you show me you're strong enough to earn it."

It doesn't look like he'd be willing to give us the envelope as a measure of his good will. Carl looks conflicted by the offer and moves in towards me in a huddle. "Marcus, I'm not sure about this, it could be a ploy to waste our time here and there couldn't be anything in the envelope to begin with." I look towards the envelope and try to use my powers to see that there is something stuffed in there to begin with. "No," I reply, "There's definitely something in there, I just know. Think about it, if he already knew of us being here, would that mean he saw the hideout already? But what is his boss trying to do, giving us something like this?" He seems convinced, but he clearly is just as confused as I am with this. "Alright then," Carl straightens up and approaches Pot, "we'll take up on your offer." "Took your sweet time, eh?" Pot tucks the envelope inside his vest, "So I guess that means that the right ear-piercing fella is fighting me?" Something clicked inside my head, and I pull Carl away. "Hey! What gives, Marcus?" "Carl, I think I should fight this time instead of you. It's clear that he is crazy strong, and I don't think you have much of a chance if we don't know him." He looks angry and starts to argue with me, "Well then what makes you look like a better chance against him, huh?!" "Because what would Payton think if she knew that you were fighting again and showed massive injuries?! Do you think you should make your relationship worse right now?" For the first time in a long time, I hear myself raise my voice slightly higher than I would like, and to a friend no less. I feel so ashamed to yell at a friend like Carl, but I really don't want him to go on a bad path again with Payton. After recovering from the initial shock and understanding, he backs down and lets me take over his spot.

I face Pot, now looking impatient to fight. "So, I guess you're going in his place, Marcus? Bueno, I'm curious to see how you'll do against me. Just so we're clear," He adopts a defensive stance, "I won't be trying to attack you as much, just enough to protect myself from going down. Oh, and if you try to be a sneak and take the envelope beforehand, I won't hesitate to RUTHLESSLY put both you and 'Carl' on the ground. Estamos bien?" With those haunting words in mind, I nod in agreement and ready myself to use my powers to help me in this fight. I slowly shuffle towards him and doesn't seem to react much to my movement, probably waiting for me to give the first strike. I quickly direct a punch towards his chest, but he dodges faster than I thought, and grabs hold of my arm. He tries to counter with his shoulder, but I block with my other hand until he sweeps my legs and I'm unable to dodge in time, collapsing onto the ground in a soft thud. I lay there in shock at what had just happened, where my own powers and ability had been overwhelmed for the first time since I fought using them. "Oye, I don't know what you're thinking about," Pot snaps me out of my shock, "but I don't think taking a nap is gonna do much to me..." I quickly get up from the ground and concentrate again, aware that I have to adapt to fight him, who is clearly good at fighting. I deliver a series of quick jabs and punches to see him block them all with little effort or recoil. Seeing an opening, I swing a kick to his sides, and he grabs ahold of it just in time, but I take the chance to pull him closer and punch him in his gut. Pot looks surprised by that but pushes me back to recover a bit. I give him no time to recover as I rush towards him and try to wear him down with more punches, though he doesn't seem tired in the slightest. When I try to deliver an uppercut through his blocks, he suddenly pushes out his arms to throw me off balance from my attack and tries to sweep my feet again. I jump out of the way in good time but then Pot gets dangerously close to my face and before I can react, he pushes out his hand forward in a motion that sends me flying back more feet than I thought. What the Hell was that move that he did, and how could a simple palm push do so much damage that my insides feel the pain of a thousand boots?

"Ya like that one, chico?" He observes his hand, "I got quite a few tricks up my sleeve, but I won't use them all now... not yet anyway." Who does he work for that he can use such a move like that? Never mind that, I still have to get that envelope for Quarter and Carl, no matter how much beatings I get from Pot. With that in mind, I null the pain away from my current worries and continue to fight Pot. Despite not knowing anything about him, I can tell from my attacks that he is sturdy enough to deal with my heavy-handed punches and is quicker on his feet that my body is almost trying to keep up in terms of agility and reflexes. I try a flurry of punches and manage to stagger him in his defense, taking the opportunity to do a jumping roundhouse kick to his head. To my surprise, he didn't measure the exact area to block and my kick smashes through his sunglasses, loud shattering sounds probably indicating that those sunglasses were either expensive or fragile. He covers his eyes for some reason and tries to swing his free arm close to me, but I dodge under it, using momentum to circle around and ready my hand to deliver a punch that'll knock him down. Instead, I find myself using my palm and end up repeating the move that Pot had used against me and send him straight towards the wall without touching the ground. It looks like I won this fight against Pot and learned an interesting move with it as well. Carl looks amazed and actually cheers for me silently, giving me a strong pat on the back. "Nice, man! I wouldn't have stood a chance against him, I'm glad I got you with me." We look back towards Pot to see him slowly rising from the ground, chuckling to himself and dusting dust of his suit. "Haha, oh QUE FELICIDAD! Oh, sorry about that. Although I still feel just as healthy, that's the first time in a long while I've been knocked down. I guess I can say that you won the offer, Marcus. Here." He tosses me the black envelope and I catch in my hands. To my surprise, I look at Pot's eyes to see that they're almost black and can barely see his pupil. Is that why he wears sunglasses? "Alright, my work here's done. Hope y'all do a better job than that guy you're going after. Adios."

As he turns to leave the storage unit, I shout out to him. "Pot!" He turns to face me. "Who is your boss? Why is he trying to help us?" He smiles, " That's not for me to say. The... boss will show himself when he feels like it. Even then, I wouldn't say he's trying to help, it's more like 'convenient liquidation'. Anyway, I've said more than necessary, see ya." Just like that, he leaves out of sight and with a car starting in the distance to mean that he actually left. I look down to the black envelope in my hand, grasping it tightly that he wasn't lying. "So... should we open it now?" Carl looks at it curiously, almost ready to snatch it from my hand and open it himself. I nod and rip open a side of the envelope to see what's in it...

*The next day, after school...*

"So, are we ABSOLUTELY sure that this was the thing inside the envelope?" Carl double-checks the letter once again to reassure Yan. "Yeah, like I told you. There's no denying it, this is THE thing that Pot gave Marcus yesterday. It even had a business card and a security keycard, so we know who the leader of the Eastside gang is." It was shocking to me as well when I saw the evidence as well when I opened it with him, but I don't know how Yan, much less Quarter, was going to respond to it. He's been leaning on the wall listening in on our findings and hasn't said a word. Yan is ecstatic but also concerned by it, "I have too many questions that is probably never going to be answered right now. We have the info now, so we have to take the initiative while we have it and stop them once and for all." He looks towards Quarter. "Boss, what do you think? I say we only got a good shot at this."

He grunts and steps away from the wall, straightening his shirt collar. "Get everyone who ain't busy on the call. We're taking 'em down from all angles, and we're going straight for the heart."

With those words, we all understand that this is a fight we're gonna have to be ready for. Ready to raid the model agency office that I have visited a while back.