I open my eyes onto the grey world I inhabit. The flies are buzzing and I hear a mouse scuffling across the floor. The boys are still sleeping in their "beds" and the look outs are talking amongst one another. I stretch to get the kinds out and hear a few pops as my wresting limbs awaken as well as I check to make sure that my gun is still in my position, which it is, 'good'.

I stand and walk over to my second in command who's looking out of one of the dingy windows onto the awakening streets. He glances back and me and bows his head slightly, respectfully.

"Anything of interest?" I ask him.

"Not much sir, it's pretty quiet."

"Have we heard anything about anyone?"

He grimaces, "No...it has me worried."

"Now Katsuya," I grin softly "haven't you ever heard the saying, no news is good news?"

"Ya ya," he grins and shakes it off, "I know, I just don't like what's happened." I nod in understanding and agreement as I study the world outside the window as well.

A few nights earlier a swat team had raided the Slither territory, killed over half the lackeys, imprisoned the rest, and put the leader on death row. Although the group was smaller than the Tormentors it was still shocking to find that one swat team could over power one of the tops in one night.

About an hour later the rest of my people wake up and begin the day. Shooing away hookers, snagging a bit of food from the local stores that are under our protection, and then walking out to take care of their tasks. Now, this group of people is a large one so there are a lot of jobs for them to do. I always take care to leave a reasonable number of them at base to watch for enemy gangs and people who think they're smart enough to steal from us without getting caught, I like those kinds of people the best. 'They scream the loudest as my knives slide through their flesh, like butter,' I smile. 'I hope someone tries today, I'm bored.'

Then there are the collectors. We cover a lot of down town and so do a lot of outsiders. Most people aren't part of the top 3 and so, are easy money. If they don't pay for protection that's fine with me. I just have them messed with a little, and if that doesn't work, then I start taking their parents or children. Whichever they have, I'm not picky.

After that, there comes the Daddies. I make sure that they treat their girls nice enough two keep them looking right and make sure that none of them start acting out on any of the girls when he's drunk, or something like that. I want my people to be treated right and won't take kindly to hearing that any of them are being messed with without a reasonable cause. 'I'm a decent man.'

Then the dealers. I don't take any myself but I've found that there's a pretty good business opportunity in that area. The crack heads get their fix and my group gets a couple big ones. The money here is what get us all our deadly, fun toys. 'As I hinted before, I like my knives. they create such a beautiful color on the skin and cause people to make the most thrilling noises.'

The rest of the group do a couple different odd jobs here and there but the only people I really pay attention to are my heads. Katsuya's my second and takes care of the small things that occur in the family. He does a pretty good job and only disturbs me when something's serious.

Next are my eyes and ears. Anzu takes to the streets, wearing one of the 'girls' outfits, and keeps an eye out for any police that may be sniffing around. Sugoroku, the oldest of the group, sits near the Dragons in a ratty, moth eaten cloak and plays the part of the old blind guy as he keeps an eye out for any possible trouble that might arise. The last few people are a couple of nut cases but they get their jobs done. Bakura's in charge of the collectors and keeps watches over base with the rest of the home bound. Lastly, Malik keeps an eye on our supply, whether it be food, toys, cash, or whatever we have hanging around. He also takes charge of the lackeys whenever one of the two other tops want a brawl. I like the way he can lash out at people and admire his fighting whenever someone rubs him the wrong way, but I have Katsuya keep an eye on him just in case.

After the day starts and the family goes out to work the day I call the leaders in for a discussion on the recent threat.