The City - PewdieCry

4: Borderline

We had all watched from the HQ building the fireworks that were going off in Cry's direction. Michael had not been very pleased with all the noise they were making, and discouraged our watching, but even he seemed enthralled by the light show being created. Many people did not know what they were, and I happily explained the little bit that I knew about pyrotechnics, and they seemed even more interested in watching after that.

However, the loud noises that erupted the following morning were not of the same procedure.

Sirens whooped throughout the entire building, jerking me from my slumber and making me throw myself onto the floor. I was not a morning person, and usually had my own time to wake up and get ready. Yet I knew what these sirens were for already, and they meant war. These were the sirens that told me to strap my boots on tight, make sure they had no chance of slipping should I need them in battle. They were the sirens to tell me to put all the weapons I had been issued into their proper locations, and to get downstairs as fast as I possibly could to await orders.

Michael stood in a huge crowd of people, many members of the gang simply swarming and slightly beginning to panic. There was shouting, and disorder, and I began to wonder how anyone could keep track of such a disorganized group. Once Michael finally shouted loud enough for the order to be heard, I began to wonder if this was how Cry would lead his group. He seemed childish, sure, but he also seemed to have an air of responsibility and wisdom about him. He was something in between that I couldn't quite put my finger on, and it made me wonder how much of his act was truly an act to be played for an audience.

Then I wondered if it was Cry we were going to fight.

Fear struck me, and I begged mentally to not be sent out but Michael demanded all troops. I couldn't really blame him, for Cry had the biggest gang in the city. One that easily overpowered us, despite the fact that we were the second largest. I wondered what it was about Cry's gang that was so appealing to other people, and despite what Michael preached about its awfulness I had heard at the Grouping that it was of the most benevolence. People were treated fairly there, heard out by the elders and all were respected. It sounded nice, but unfortunately I had made my decision. I couldn't change it, even if I had the option.

Sure enough, the large mass that we traveled in was headed towards the border that we shared with Cry and the Grouping Building. We moved quickly, and once we arrived I found that we were literally up against a group of four scouts from Cry's gang. I frowned, this couldn't be right. Then I noticed the bags of powder that were nearby.

I had quickly learned that weaponry was everything in this city. Those with the greater gun strength had the upper hand, and those who could move the fastest, shoot the quickest, and aim the best were always going to come out on top. Gunpowder was of the utmost importance, and for Cry's gang to be gathering it when it was on neutral territory means that we get cut out of it.

The scouts looked up from their collecting and grew panicked at the sight of a large group. I stepped out to the side a little bit for a better view, and watched as one of the scouts sprinted off. The other three lined up in front of their packages, standing firm and glaring in unison.

"What's that you've got there?" Michael demanded, standing forward. "And why are you so close to our borders?"

"We're in neutral territory. You'll use any length of measurement as an excuse for us being close to your borders," the lead scout sniffed, and stared us all down. He was mighty brave talking to Michael like that, and the general murmur in the rest of the ranks told me I wasn't the only one who thought so.

"You're the second, right? What's your name, Matt?" the man nodded, and Michael laughed. "Well, Matt. I'll have you know that Cry is a pathetic weakling, and so are you. Your words do not make me falter. Now, since we are indeed on neutral ground you'll tell us what you're harboring or we'll attack."

"Its called neutral for a reason, dumbass." Matt retorted icily, causing most of my gang to gape at his courage to snap such words back. "There is no attacking on these grounds, it is forbidden and punishable by the death of a leader publicly during a Grouping. You would know this if you weren't such a sneaky, arrogant bastard." Michael's jaw set, and glared straight through Matt.

"You have exactly ten seconds to tell me what you've collected or we'll kill you and your two friends before anyone could see what happened to you. All we want to do is know what it is." Michael said, his voice growing more and more unstable.

"Sure you want to know what it is." Matt snapped. "You'll want to know, and then if it's worth taking, you'll kill us anyway and take it by force."

"You have exactly five seconds." Michael said, and a few members at the front of the group began raising their weapons.

"You can pry it from my dead fingers." Matt shouted, raising a handgun and aiming it directly at Michael, his finger on the trigger. Before he, or anyone else could fire, another man came into view, knocking Matt and forcing his aim into the sky. Cry was there, and a large group of people that easily outnumbered our own appeared behind him, swarming the area; all holding weapons

"Matt, it's okay." Cry said, patting the man on the shoulders and sending him back towards their HQ. "I'll take it from here." With his mouth in a straight line, he turned back to Michael and my group. He didn't say a word, rather he scanned the ranks of people until his gaze met mine and he held it too long. Just enough for people to become suspicious, and a few turned to look back at me. I felt my face flush; Cry sure as hell wasn't making fitting in over here any easier. "Well, Michael, it seems that our meetings are becoming frequent, a bit more than I'd like actually." I actually missed the arrogance in that man's voice.

"Huh, Cryaotic. Good to see you too. Yah, well, we're going to try and settle this without fighting. We noticed that you are rather close to our border, and collecting what looks to be gunpowder. Mind explaining yourselves?" Michael seemed pretty proud of himself, calling Cry out on this, and his second gave a nod of approval, but Cry simply laughed.

"Get your ego out of the clouds, asshole. We'd never want any of your territory, nor would we bother taking it. Its not as great as you make it out to be, so just shut up." Michael's jaw dropped, and then snapped shut in anger, and a few of Cry's troops were laughing softly at his words. "Secondly, as you all may know, we had a bit of fun with pyrotechnics last night, that's fireworks for dumbasses like you, and we were collecting the ash from it to see if it was useful for anything other than being a bother to what little environment that we have." Cry said, and then turned to the bags. "Here, look for yourself." Cry handed one to Michael, and let him open it and examine the contents. It was too obvious to see that the other bags there were filled with gunpowder, and the one Cry handed over was filled with something else, probably ash. He had anticipated this argument, and was once again one step ahead of Michael, who angrily realized this as well. He threw the bag back at Cry, snorting. There was no point in arguing further, as Cry's group was much larger and he could force us off, and during this whole exchange his eyes had never left my figure.

"Alright, Cryaotic. You win this time. We'll see you around." Michael said stiffly, and I could tell that the words had to be pulled out to sound polite from him. Cry simply nodded as we turned around and headed home. Michael barked at us to keep up, veins popping from his neck and his face flushed red with anger. We had lost this one, and it was at the cost of our ego and pride. I turned around just before rushing off, making eye contact with the masked leader, and it sent me sprinting off, my own face red.

Until we finally turned a corner out of sight, I could still feel Cry's gaze burning into me.

~~~

Ooh, conflict. Things are getting tense now!

Leave a comment about Cry's wonderful personality, and I will see you all on Thursday!

Have yourselves a frantastic week!

~Jay