"You think this makes up for anything?!" The dirty man yelled at the young leader of the Hooligang.

"It should." Billy leveled his gaze, Shorty and Glasses cowering behind him.

The man picked up a toothpick to hold between his teeth. Billy couldn't help but question where the man's money was going. For a loan shark, he was terribly underdressed, a scraggly beanie and ill-shaven face was only the beginning, his clothes filled with holes and caked in dirt. He honestly wasn't even sure he had the right guy.

"This barely pays for half the gambling debts." The man growled; reaching for a blaster that looked like it had been broken for years. Billy kept his face still, but he felt smug, aware that he could beat the man.

"Oh yeah?" He tried to keep his sense of pride out of his voice, "Show me the record books."

The loan shark faltered for a moment before a heavy iron door swung into the dingy alley with one street lamp revealing a strong, fear inducing man, adorned by a pin-stripe suit and gold accessories to spare, even down to the detailing on his blaster. This was the man. The runner of the Cast-Off casino, an ostentatious and dirty Pirate themed multi-roomed monstrosity, and the scamming gang based off of the scamming gambling hall.

"What's taking so long?" He asked in a thick accent.

"I wanna see the books." Billy growled, now attempting to hide a new range of emotions. As well as not trying to pee his pants.

"Why do you need to see the books?"

"This fool doesn't seem to think this is enough money."

"Did you account for interest?"

"A blood price has been previously paid, that counts for more than plenty interest."

"Blood counts for nothing. That is merely punishment." The boss said coolly, a smug grin on his face.

Billy's eyes darted to the man's hand, reaching for his gilded blaster. The dirty pawn was also reaching for his. Billy knew what happened next. He shot the pawn with his Tazerling, doing a barrel roll to grab the money on the table. Glasses and Shorty loaded their blasters, but it was clear by the way they were shaking that Billy was going to do most of the work in this fight. The boss was already advancing out the door, his grin growing even larger.

"You'll pay for that. With that money and your lives!" He laughed confidently.

Billy looked at the blaster and palled. He recognized the cartridge the man was using. The red and black glass cylinders were trademark recognizable by any slinger in Slugterra.

"Why does everything have to be connected to Blakk?" He muttered under his breath. He glanced at Shorty and Glasses, tugging on his ear, their sign for retreat. They all shot Frost Crawlers at the man and took off running.

"It's a temporary fix," Billy breathed when he thought they were safe, "but it's not permanent." He handed them the money, including his share, and began to ride away.

"Wait, you're not staying with us?" Glasses called after him.

"I ain't going to be your third wheel." He chuckled, "Besides, you did kinda throw a wrench in my life." He sighed, he still felt bad for Trixie, but he just couldn't fix everything.

"But they'll be back!" Shorty cried.

Billy handed them the record book he had also snatched during his barrel roll. A move he could accredit to Trixie if she'd ever talk to him again. "You have the money, just not plus interest. The 20% is how much they're charging. I'd say don't pay them at all if I thought we could beat them. Back then we could. But now that they're tied to Blakk, it's not going to happen. They'll probably want an extra 10% too. I don't know the exact numbers, but I can spot you some cash and then we'll just pay them back and be done with it hopefully. I hate doing it, but we don't have another choice. After this is over though, I'm done. I ain't your all-holly protector anymore. I'll help you out this last time. But then it's it."

"Trixie changed you." Shorty glared. "We used to be such a great team."

"No, I've grown up." Billy glared back. "Now do you want my help or not?"

Shorty cast her eyes down, nodding. Billy turned his mecha back around and rode off to his less-than-ivil living space, his simple plan having him more torn and confused than before.