John never understood why his Dad would leave him with his Nana every Saturday night. John was only five when his Dad stumbled in the door Sunday morning. He always waited at the door for his Dad. Dad saw his son standing there, filled with hope in his blue eyes. Dad picked him up and held his boy close. "John, Dad might have to go away for awhile." he said as he held back tears. John looked at him with a confused look. "Do know that your Dad loves you, son."

The door was then forced open and Dad ushered John to hide in a nearby closet. A grumpy looking short man and three other men who varied in size. The taller of the four grabbed Dad as the short grump pulled out a knife. "We don't like debts in our casino, Egbert. How about a couple fingers, an eye, and a couple organs to settle this?" he asked in a gruff voice as he went to go after his eye first. John sniffled as he watched this go on. The shortest looked over at the closet and walked over. He opened the door and dragged John out. Before anything could happen to Dad, John struggled to get away. The men looked at each other before the one with the knife asked "That your kid?" Dad nodded quickly as the knife was taken away.

The man sighed and shook his head. "I can't hurt a man who has such a young kid. I may like the kill, but I can't possibly do anything to a man with a kid to take care of." he said. The shortest piped up right then.
"Kid's got a lot of fight in him. Maybe instead, we can take him?"

John gasped and struggled more. "No! I want to stay with my Dad!" He cried out. The man with the knife thought it over before saying "A kid is worth the whole debt. We're taking him. Nice doing business with you, and stay the hell out of my casino." The tallest dropped Dad like a sack of bricks before grabbing John and carrying him out. "DAD!" John cried out as he was taken into a black oldsmobile. Dad watched helplessly as his son was taken away. Tears filled his eyes as he fell to his knees. "I'm so sorry I brought this upon you, son..." he said weakly.

When John was brought to the manor where the crew lived. The man with the knife dragged John by his arm to a room. He was annoyed by the complaining by the child. The man brought him to a room where a woman dressed in vibrant colors was waiting. "You had a gi- OH!" she said before going over to John. She swatted the man away before picking John up carefully. "Are you alright?" she asked softly. John nodded with tears in his eyes. She looked at the man before asking "Slick, did you take this boy from his home?"
"I had to. Debts to collect, and you did want a kid. I thought of you when I saw him. And I want my lil lady to be happy as peaches."
"Honestly, we could've gone to an adoption place for a child. But I guess what's done is done. Have a name?"
"Ace. We're calling him Ace, because he'll be in this Crew too."
"SLICK! You can't just inlist a small child into the Midnight Crew!"
"We can prepare him, dearest. Your loving nature and a little bit of training... There won't be a more polite killing machine." The man named Slick smiled at the end. The woman rolled her eyes.
"At least give him time to get used to his settings. I'll give him the first lesson. The history lesson. You and the other three can be in the group too, but you're not allowed to have weapons. If I find a single weapon on ANY of you, you're getting the short end of the stick, Slick." she said which Slick grumbled and nodded.

The woman then brought John to the kitchen where she started making a homemade blueberry pie for him. She smiled at him and said "I'm Ms. Paint. Feel free to call me that or Momma Paint." John sniffled a bit as he asked:
"Will I ever see my Dad again?" Ms. Paint frowned.
"Oh, dearie. I'm afraid not." She wanted to be truthful with him. There wasn't any sugarcoating this. John then started crying. Ms. Paint then started cradling him and caring for him.

The boy grew up under Ms. Paint and Slick's care. The others were good caretakers as well. As John grew, he slowly forgot his last name. He soon grew into the name Ace John. When he was twelve, he killed his first person. It wasn't planned. Clubs and Droogs were trying to get information out of a man and weren't getting anything. John then asked if he could try. John got satisfactory information out of the man. Then Droogs told him that the man had to die now. John didn't hesitate in killing him.

John, now nineteen, was officially branded into the Midnight Crew by the tattoo on his upper arm he got for his eighteenth birthday. A for Ace. No leaving now... Or ever. They made that clear. The only way you leave is death. John sat in his room, doing something he started trying to not stop since he got here. Remembering his Dad's face. He had long since forgotten most of his features. The only thing that stands out is his nose and the silly fedora. He smoked a pipe too, right? He wasn't sure anymore... Ms. Paint joined him in his room. She worried about the boy. He took to the life well, but it seemed too well. The Felt had been on the move recently. Slick had been raging about them being copy cats. They had a young man who was also a rising star in the ranks. Slick decided to show the Felt that their boy is better. He gathered the Crew, before saying "John... Kill that sorry son of a bitch."