Wasn't I Supposed To Be The Side Character?

Big Boss sighed in relief seeing the pair in front of him sort through the mountainous piles of paper stacking them into set piles. Will was already contemplating over some of the printouts having glanced over the short summary prints for each file. Each of the men in the room gave a short prayer in thanks to whoever thought this far ahead and made summaries for them. Most of the gang were quite illiterate leaving a lot of work and pressure to these three. And so Will was already tapping at some of the files as he stroked his chin deep in thought.

"What do you think?" Big Boss asked, hoping this kid could at least rub off some of his smarts onto him and the rest of his group, it was much like rubbing a good luck charm except it had a bad habit of biting people when it felt the need. Will was still lost in thought as he looked at the piles that were distinctly placed along the floor, the sheer amount of them made it hard to wander around the office.

"I'll be honest, I didn't expect you would have dipped your fingers in so many pies" Will commented, but Big Boss wasn't sure if he should take as a compliment or an insult. The child for some reason left him unsure and stupid everytime he interacted with him.

"But the good news is that you chose some of the right ones with. It's much like using an assault rifle with a rabbit" Will continued as he pulled a couple files out from the neat stacks. Big Boss was nodding interested in hearing the insights of a young genius and ignored whatever bad mouthing he had about him.

"The building industry has always been a good cover for keeping cash clean but better yet it can make money buy itself. Investing in these small companies and real estate will mean we can earn a fortune without much effort." Will continued as E and Big Boss listened, acting much like new students. Will was tempted to lend them his school uniform to finish the picture. Maybe it was unfair advantage having knowledge decades ahead and along with it being stable usually gave him a good chance to take a bite out of this metaphorical pie.

"Next gambling. High reward but high risk. It would be best if we establish a legal gambling company as even with the money being earned to feed the whole gang the coppers would be breathing down our necks the whole time" Will said while pointing out the pile. Big Boss couldn't agree more but they simply didn't have a lawyer they could trust let alone people who were good at these things. He already had an accountant that came with the gambling but it meant he had to fork out so much extra cash just to let him do the work and keep quiet about it.

"Anything else?" Big Boss said trying to keep his serious demeanor around this child. Will thought over the question. An idea came to him but he knew it was a bit unusual but it was something worth a try.

"I noticed that some of the boys were doing protection money partly" Will stated, but he left the statement hanging the air. Big Boss wasn't sure what he was implying but could only wait as the silence slowly became awkward.

"It would be best if we didn't do that anymore." Will said but Big Boss immediately jumped out of his chair infuriated. It truly was wrong for him to trust this newcomer. Having a child involved didn't help anything, they would put ideals first over earnings. And that led made him furious.

"You better explain yourself before I kick you out of here myself!!!" as soon as those words slipped out from Big Boss he immediately regretted it. How could he kick this kid out himself? He had already massacred a whole gang with his b.a.r.e hands. It left Big Boss with a feeling of dread at stepping on the tiger's tail and he could only now hope the kid would behave. Will smiled wickedly.

"Protection money is an easy way to earn cash, but the problem is everyone hates you in the meantime. There's no loyalty, only fear" Will elaborated leaving Big Boss without words to argue. It was hard to ignore the fact that most people hated any gangs and it was more bullying them into submission. But no one would voluntarily give them money if they could. But if he was swimming in mind net already he wouldn't need to piss more people off than necessary.

Will gave a sharp clap for attention, bringing E and Big Boss to look at the boy standing with full confidence.

"Which just means that we need to change how we go about it" Will continued and slowly explained his plan to the two. Big Boss was definitely enlightened but he still had one concern.

"But will the boys co-operate?" Big Boss mumbled aloud. Will smiled and shook his head.

"They don't have a choice in the matter" Will gleefully said, Big Boss looked in at the child that was conquering his small part of the world.

"Then it will be done" Big Boss gave a smile and put his hand out, Will raised his and they clasped them in a handshake sealing the deal.

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A dirty cloth was used to wipe away the filth at the edge of the bar. A number of patrons were still hanging around sipping at pints of beer in their hands lazing about in the seedy pub. Since it was the middle of the day there were only a few regulars, mostly those who had not much to do or those who could only drink away their worries. Which always made it more obvious when someone new came in. Pushing open the pub doors a small kid walked through, if it wasn't beside the fact a child wandered in made it weird he was surrounded by two men suited up with open splayed shirts that had a few splotches and heavy wrinkles.  The child spotted the man at the bar who was cleaning and came over. 

"Is the manager in?" The child asked as the patrons were looking bemused at this strange kid. The pair of men behind weren't too far behind, and hovered at a distance. But it didn't seem like they were protecting him in fact the two men looked terrified as the kid was going about his business. 

"Hey kid, maybe you walked into the wrong place but this isn't your playground. What I say goes." the bartender said flipping his tablecloth on his shoulder and waving the child away. But the kid gave him an evil grin that felt like he was freezing on the inside. The kid turned to the two men beside and nodded with his head. The two men immediately went to the man's side and picked him up by the arms and carried him out of sight towards the kitchen.

"Sorry to disturb your drinking we'll be back in a moment" the child said and disappeared where the three men went to disappearing in the back of the pub and into the kitchen. The patrons looked for a moment before realising it wasn't their problem and went back to their daily drinking. If the owner died they would just drink somewhere else.

The bartender was roughly thrown into a chair sitting in the kitche, sweating under the gaze of the two men as the kid approached.

"Ahhh, it's hard to be taken seriously when people think you're just a kid sometimes" the kid said giving his head a shake. Seeing it was a bad area the bartender was used to this kind of shake down. But it was new seeing such a young child playing rough house with a.d.u.l.ts.

"How much money?" The bartender asked and trembled a little but he still put on a brave face in front of these probable gangsters. 

"Haha, well that's a nice offer but I'll do one better for you" the child said as he waved one of the men to bring a chair over. At this point the bartender was confused as the child took a seat like he was the boss around the grunts. The look of fear in the eyes of what he assumed were this boy's guards confused the bartender.

"I believe I have a business proposal that would benefit us both." The child said as he swung his legs to be cross legged looking much like a small and ruthless businessman.

"I don't see how a little kid like you could do shit around here" the bartender complained and the two men hesitated looking at the man as if he was crazy. But it only elicited a chuckle out of the child.

"My name is Will and I'm here representing the Brokers gang" the kid said watching the man intensely. The bartender swallowed under the gaze but since he couldn't feel any hostility it seemed he wasn't in any danger just yet.

"The Brokers ain't been doing so well. Heard that the coppers are gonna close em up anyday now" the bartender replied not wanting to associate with the kid.

"Well I am giving an offer that you won't be able to refuse" he said with a smile. 

Why was this kid radiating such an evil vibe?

"Well we wish to give protection since it's so close…" Will started but the bartender interrupted immediately with a hmph. A vein popped on Will's forehead and feeling a little pissed he jumped out of his seat and grabbed the man by his head.

"I'm making it worth your while. If you can't see that then there's no point dealing with you" Will threatened pulling hard on the bartenders hair. The bartender paled under the strength the young boy had almost lifting him out of his own seat.

"Ok, ok, I'll listen." the bartender said in a panic putting his hands up in surrender. Will felt happy about it and decided to drop the issue, letting go of the man and going back to his seat.

"The Brokers gang is officially giving you protection but we will send our boys as bouncers for this place. Though it might be a bit higher fees than normal bouncers we guarantee to have far more people ready to pile on if things get messy and protect you. We can even get the other gangs out of your hair so you won't have to worry about taking money from you or robberies." Will explained his proposal.

"I don't understand." The bartender said still confused at what the boy was offering. Wasn't this just employment but forcing a customer to buy? And Will could only shake his head and smile.

"I want you to employ them" pointing at the two men behind him. The realisation hit him hard and the bartender was surprised at the smart kid. But he was still suspicious.

"What will it be like, will you be taking protection fees still? Not much point of paying if you'll steal anyway" the bartender said with a sneer.

"No, they'll be like normal bouncers. We have already gone through a few pubs in the area and we plan to start as a security agency. Hence the fees are actually quite low for our actual price just for your benefit. Plus you'll get round the clock protection unlike those thugs that just take your money. The bartender rubbed his chin as he thought it over. But he could only accept this, being bullied into employing people was definitely a first for him.

"Well we don't have much choice if you are pushing in on territory. But most of the areas around here are pretty split so you've got your work cut out for you if you want to deal with those gangs" the bartender gave a small amount of advice as he shook Wills hand to seal the verbal agreement.

"That's for me to worry over, you should be fine if we're involved from now on" and Will gave the pair of men behind him a nod and stayed behind. Will went out of the bar and saw a dark green sedan waiting at the front and so Will  hopped in without any worries. Big Boss was sitting eagerly awaiting to hear how it went.

"Well?" Big Boss asked. Will had a big smile and Big Boss felt relief. It was good they managed to get success for themselves. It was such a minute change on how they handled it but it meant that there would be less people chasing him down or being able to get him through the police.

"God it's painful but we could actually cover a lot more territory like this. And best of all we could make people happier though it does feel strange" For Big Boss protection wrackets was common but he never thought he could replace it with actual employment for the boys. It seemed such a simple change but it was hard to think that way, he knew he was too set in his ways and the fresh blood that came in was just what they needed and at such an opportune time too.

"It's the start of something big. But this is just the first step" Will said as he looked out the car window. Big Boss was curious but know he was along for the ride and was enjoying what he saw. 

"There's going to be a need for some more people as well soon" Will mentioned looking at Big Boss. The driver had already started the car and were driving then back to the hideout.

"We can't exactly recruit openly for that" Big Boss said as he scratched his head. He knew getting in was always word of mouth when it came to gangs. Otherwise the risk of betrayal was just to great. Will felt he didn't need to answer the obvious as spending time with these a.d.u.l.ts was giving him a headache. He wanted to lessen the need for him to kill but at the moment he felt a distinct urge to go on a rampage. But that was what he hated the most, carnage with no purpose or reason. It truly hurt his inner businessman. But he knew being pent up was much worse as he might lash out at the wrong time.

"Drop me off here, I've lost the mood to work anymore more. Take care of the rest for me and we'll be seeing a lot of the boys better off plus more money coming in. Send the ones we've visited so far a contract to sign and we should be good" Will gave his family back instructions as he pushed the door open and jumped out onto the street. Slamming the door after him, Will walked on the pavement leaving Big Boss alone with his driver.

"Boss what do you wanna do about Wild Tiger?" The driver turned and asked. The nickname had pretty much been agreed on without any asking. It was truly too apt for this wild child.

"Follow the instructions so far. I may be shameless but it'll keep the money rolling in". And for the love of God make sure not to piss him off. Big boss said. The driver nodded and continued driving while Will was left on the sidewalk. Kicking a couple pieces of rubbish as he went Will was left to his thoughts. Although it was the middle of the day, the streets were quite empty with litter blowing in the breeze. Those who should be working were inside and those that were lazing about would be inside as well, or at the arcade nearby. That's all he could think of at the moment as many thoughts flitted and passed through his mind. Passing an alleyway Will heard a couple grunts and a yelp catching his attention.

Peering into the alleyway he could see two men had ganged up on a young woman, her purse was being open and one of the men had their hand in searching for anything valuable.

"Oi, s.l.u.t. Where's the cash? We know you saw some of those old men to get some quick cash" the man holding her down said giving a slap across her face, facng her as her hair became dishevelled under the Vice like grip of the man.

"Don't break the s.l.u.t. If Tony finds out he'll beat you till your teeth fall out" the man said grabbing the purse and succeeded in finding her wallet. After pulling out a few green bills they started grinning and surrounded the woman who had slumped on the ground at this point.

"For all that effort you should give us something for our time" one of the men said as he grasped the woman's chin, kissing her forcefully as her eyes watered. At this moment his partner was waiting on his turn but was still leering at the woman being roughed up and taken advantage of. It was then he felt the back of his neck being clenched giving him a cold shiver of fright but it was too late. He felt the world go sideways as his body collapsed on the floor, twitching at his surprised death.

The man trying to assault the girl stopped hearing the sound of his partner collapsing on the ground. Turning around he saw a child staring at him fiercely. The child's gaze seemed like it was starved and hungry but under the murderous glare it wasn't for food, he was most certain it wasn't food.

"Oi, little brat f.u.c.k off and find your parents" the man said yelling out at the child but he distinctly felt fear confronting this strange kid. The deathly vibes reminded him of the many killers that used in the gang to eliminate people that caused trouble. Will looked at the woman calmly.

"Keep your eyes closed and don't open them" Will said. The woman was already terrified to death and nodded in compliance squeezing her eyes tightly shut. A second later she felt the man's grip on her arm disappear and the howls of someone in deep pain. The distinct sound of tearing and grunts told her her potential r.a.p.er was being beaten to a bloody pulp. Finally after it was quiet she opened her eyes and gasped in horror, her hand quickly went to covering her mouth to silence any screams she could utter.

The alley was empty now save for the two corpses of the men that were lying motionless. The one who had been grabbed earlier was already missing several limbs as they were scattered around the garbage on the laneway, while he was partner had his head twisted around and broken. Holding in her urge to vomit she picked up her purse and ran out of the alleyway as if the devil himself was chasing her.