The second Kane stepped out of the warehouse, the street changed.
The air felt tight.
Charged.
Like every molecule was waiting for the first spark.
Tico, Brix, Tone, Jito, Dimez, and Mara stayed just behind the doorway while Kane took the front step.
Across the street, Marlo strutted forward with thirty men behind him guns out, chests puffed, loud for no reason.
Fake OGs always need noise.
Marlo pointed at Kane, voice ringing through cheap speakers.
"There he is! The new king of Block 45. The boy who think he bulletproof!"
Kane didn't move.
Didn't blink.
He answered quietly but loud enough for every man to hear:
"Kings don't announce themselves.
Only clowns do."
Gasps erupted in Marlo's crew.
A few of his boys even backed up.
Marlo's jaw ticked.
"You gon' talk tough when you surrounded?"
Kane smirked.
"I ain't tough, Marlo. I'm truthful."
Marlo's face twisted.
"Kill him."
But before his men could raise a gun
CRACK!
Tone sniped the first shooter from the warehouse window.
THUD.
He dropped.
Chaos burst instantly.
Gunfire exploded across the street thunderous, messy, violent. Bullets sparked against metal siding. Windows shattered. Cars alarms wailed all up the block.
Tico dragged Mara behind cover.
"STAY DOWN!"
Brix fired from behind a flipped trash bin.
Jito panicked but shot straight, hitting one of Marlo's men in the leg.
Dimez grabbed a rifle from the floor, rage replacing fear.
Kane moved like smoke in and out of cover, eyes sharp, shots precise. Everything slowed when he aimed.
Like war was a language only he understood.
Marlo screamed from behind a parked SUV.
"HE DEAD YET?! SOMEONE GET HIM!"
Kane heard him.
Kane smiled.
He loved when enemies panicked early.
The Turning Point
Marlo's army pushed forward in a wave.
Kane ran behind a burned-out car.
Tico yelled, "Bro they coming heavy on the left!"
Kane shouted back, "Tone! Cover the left!"
Tone leaned out the window and unleashed controlled bursts forcing Marlo's men to duck back.
But more kept coming.
Brix dragged Jito to safety.
"Watch your corners! Don't shoot blind!"
Marlo's men weren't trained.
They were loud.
Messy.
Overconfident.
But thirty guns are still thirty guns.
Kane felt a bullet graze his shoulder hot, sharp pain.
He didn't flinch.
He switched to his backup pistol and kept firing.
He was calculating routes, positions, timing thinking like a soldier and a chess player.
Then suddenly
BOOM!
A pipe bomb detonated near the side of the warehouse.
The shockwave knocked Tico onto his back.
Mara screamed.
Jito fell and scraped his arm on broken concrete.
Smoke rose.
Debris rained.
The warehouse shook.
Marlo laughed.
"That's right! I got surprises too! You think I came for a fair fight?!"
Kane wiped blood from his eyebrow.
"Of course not. Cowards don't do fair."
He signaled Brix.
"Cover me. I'm moving up."
Brix nodded.
"Go!"
Kane sprinted across the street, bullets slicing the air around him.
Marlo's men aimed
BUT
Tone fired rapid shots from above, taking down two shooters and forcing the rest into hiding.
Kane slid behind a SUV where Marlo was ducking.
Marlo flinched.
"There you are…"
Kane raised his gun.
"I told you this would end tonight."
But before he could fire
A gunshot erupted from behind them.
Kane turned.
His heart stopped.
Tico was kneeling on the ground… clutching his side.
Blood leaking through his fingers.
"KANE!" he yelled.
Kane froze.
Marlo laughed, pointing proudly at the shooter beside him.
"You didn't think I came without a trump card?"
Kane's eyes widened as he recognized the man with the smoking gun.
Short.
Stocky.
Hard-faced.
Vee.
The same coward who walked out of the basement during the oath.
The same one Kane told to leave.
Vee spat on the ground.
"You ain't no king, Kane. You a fool. Marlo paying me double what you ever could."
Dimez screamed from behind the warehouse:
"YOU SNAKE!"
Vee aimed at Kane.
"Say goodnight."
Kane didn't breathe.
He didn't blink.
He didn't panic.
He just whispered:
"Tico. Drop."
Tico flattened instantly.
Kane fired three shots.
POP. POP. POP.
Vee staggered backward
One in the shoulder.
One in the chest.
One in the neck.
He dropped, choking on his own betrayal.
Marlo screamed, "VEE! GET UP!"
But Vee didn't get up.
He would never get up again.
Kane ran to Tico, grabbing him, lifting him behind cover.
"Tico! Tico stay with me!"
Tico laughed painfully.
"No drama bro… it's just a scratch."
But blood kept pouring.
Jito rushed over.
"Kane… we need to patch him!"
Kane pressed his hand to the wound.
Tico winced.
"Kane… listen… go finish Marlo. Don't let him run. Don't let this be for nothing."
Kane looked at him, eyes burning.
"You ain't dying."
Tico smirked weakly.
"Then go make sure he does."
Kane rose slowly.
Jaw clenched.
Fist trembling.
Heart cold.
He stepped away from cover, gun raised.
He wasn't calm anymore.
He wasn't strategic.
He wasn't composed.
He was furious.
Marlo saw him coming.
"Oh you mad now? You think you scary, boy?!"
Kane's voice dropped to a deadly whisper.
"I ain't scary."
He stepped into the open.
"I'm inevitable."
Gunfire erupted again.
But Kane didn't stop.
Not until Marlo was the last one standing.
Not until this war ended.
Not until Block 45 had peace again.