Disclaimer: The Warriors are property of Sol Yurick, Walter Hill and Paramount Pictures. Other characters property of Rockstar Games.

Chapter 2

In the City

Times Square

March 23, 1978

9:47 PM

Angel stood on a street corner, scouting the area. It rained earlier that day. The puddles and wet streets were lit by the flickering street lights and huge neon signs above. She spotted a middle age walking stupid enough to be walking by himself. She quietly walked up to him. When she was close to him, she grabbed him from behind and held a knife to his throat. "Gimmie you fucking money!" she yelled into his ear. "Hand it over and you'll walk out of this alive!"

The man trembled as he reached into his coat pocket. Pulled out his wallet and handed to Angel. She opened it and found he only had a measly $7 on him. "Please, don't hurt me," the man said in a quivering voice.

"Shut up!" Angel said as he punched him in the face and ran off.

She ran into a nearby alley and glanced behind her. Thankfully, the cops hadn't spotted her. She decided to take a moment to count all the money she had gotten so far. Since running away from home, she had been shoplifting and mugging people to get by. As she thumbed through the cash, counting it, she heard a voice saying, "Hey, girlie, you got something for us?"

She looked up and saw three white guys and one black guy standing in front of her. One of them wore a white shirt with black stripes running horizontally. The other three were wearing yellow shirts with black stripes. She recognized those colors: Jones Street Boys. A bunch of rich trust fund kids from Bensonhurst who rumbled just for kicks. Angel saw them around a lot whenever she visited Shade. She put the money in her pocket. "No. I'm afraid I don't."

"So I guess we just hallucinated that bread you were holding just now?" one of them said.

"Sorry, not for you."

"Well then, the black guy said, "It looks like we'll just have to take it off you."

"Yeah, the blonde haired JSB said, "Right after we pull a train on you!"

Angel whipped out her knife and took up fighting position. "Don't fuck with me," she said in a threatening tone," Or I'll fucking kill all of you.

The JSB's laughed and closed in on her. "Hey!" a voice called out to them.

The all looked to their right and saw two people standing there. One of them was a white guy with shoulder-length brown hair. The other was a black girl with long, wavy hair. They were both dressed in light blue denim jackets, light blue jeans and black shirts. Those colors belonged to the Alley Cats, the gang that claimed Times Square as their turf. The guy stepped forward. "We don't appreciate no rich pricks wearing the wrong colors armying on out turf. We're gonna give you toys one last chance to leave the lady alone and walk you sorry asses back to Bensonhurst."

"Fuck you!" The guy in the white shirt said. "Let's waste these pricks!"

The Jones Street Boys rushed the two Alley Cats. They both put up a good fight but were clearly outnumbered. Angel considered taking this opportunity to run away. After all, this was a gang matter that didn't involver her. Still, these Alley Cats might have saved her from those JSB's. She tightened the grip on her knife and ran towards the JSB's, tackling one of them. Angel lost grip of her knife ad the two of them rolled across the wet pavement. They stopped rolling with the JSB on top of her who promptly tried to strangle her. Angel punched him in the face, pushed him off her and stood up. The JSB quickly recovered.

"Fucking bitch!" He yelled as he threw a punch at her. Angel dodged it. She landed a punch on his stomach and was about to throw another one when the JSB in the white shirt grabbed her from behind. The JSB she's been fighting punched her in the stomach twice. Angel raised her feel, kicking him in the stomach, grabbed the other JSB's arm and threw him over her shoulder. She stomped him on the stomach three times before he had a chance to get up. The JSB Angel had been fighting ran towards her. She threw a well-timed kick to his stomach and knocked him unconscious with a hard punch to his face.

She turned around and saw the two Alley Cats, watching her as the other two Jones Street Boys lay unconscious at their feet. The woman smiled. "Not bad! You got some skills there."

"Thanks." Angel said putting her hands in her coat pocket, where she made a horrifying discovery. Her money wasn't there. "Oh, shit!" she said as she started frantically searching the ground.

"What's wrong?" the guy asked.

"My money…It must've fallen out during the fight."

The alley was so dark; Angel had trouble seeing the ground. She didn't particularly feel like feeling her way across the ground of some dirty, rodent-infested alley. "Fuck!" she yelled in frustration. "I needed that bread to eat tonight!"

"Relax," the guy said, "Just come with us. I know of a place that'll fix you up something on the house."

Angel wasn't sure. She didn't know these two and wasn't sure if she could trust them. "How do I know you're not gonna jump me?"

"What would be the point?" The woman said. "You got no cash."

That was true. "Okay," Angel said reluctantly, "I'll go with you."

The guy smiled. "Cool! By the way, I'm Blade and this is Viper. Come on."

The three of them walked towards Phil's Diner across the street. From behind, Angel could see the patches on the back Blade and Viper's jackets: A fierce looking black cat with piercing green eyes holding a bloodied dead rat in its mouth. The words "Alley Cats" were printed on the cat's body in big orange letters.

They walked inside. "Yo, Phil!" Blade waved to the mustached man behind the counter.

Phil waved. "Hey, Alley Cats! What's up?"

Blade pointed at Angel. We got a hungry chick here who needs a little dinner. Give her whatever she wants and we'll take the cost out of this week's protection money. What do you say?"

"Sounds good." Phil said handing her a menu.

The three of them sat at a table. Angel ordered a cheeseburger and a Coke. She bit into that cheeseburger like she hadn't eaten in a month. "Damn, girl, you sure are hungry!" Viper said.

"I usually can't afford a meal like this," Angel said through a mouthful. "I'm usually just able to get what I can afford from mugging people and the five finger discount at the grocery store."

"Well, glad we could be of help," Blade said.

"Yeah," Angel said, getting started on her fries. "Why are you helping me?"

Blade seemed surprised. "What do they say about looking a gift horse in the mouth?"

"It's not that I'm ungrateful. It's just..Well, all my life, the only person who's looked out for me in my friend Shade. I've been squatting at this place above the pawn shop and she's been getting me whatever shit she can get her hands on to help me out. I guess I'm just not used to anyone else helping me out."

Blade lit a cigarette. "Yeah, well, I remember what it was like."

"Really?"

"Yeah. Me and Viper here were in the same spot as you, mugging and robbing suckers to get by."

"You two know each other long?"

"We grew up together," Viper said. "He's like a brother to me."

"Anyway," Blade said, "About a year ago, we fell in with the Alley Cats. It's been cool, man. They're like a family to us, you dig?"

Angel stared down at her plate. "Yeah…I dig."

"So," Viper said, "What's your story?'

Angel swallowed a mouthful of burger. "Well, I grew up in Tremont. My dad's been a drunk for as long as I can remember. Had a real temper too. My mom got sick of his shit and left us when I was twelve. After another six years of being his personal punching bag, I split. I wandered around New York here and there and ended up here in Times Square."

Angel was a bit surprised with herself. She had never opened up to anyone except Shade. But there was something about these two. Maybe it was because they saved her life. Maybe it was something else she couldn't put her finger on. But she felt she could trust these two.

"I understand," Blade said. "My home life was rough too. Viper's wasn't much better. We spent more and more time away from home and finally, we just never came back."

"We've always managed to get by," Viper chimed in. Being in the Alley Cats made things a bit easier for us."

The three of them chatted until Angel finished her dinner ten minutes later. They got up and walked out of Phil's. "Hey, Angel," Blade said offering his hand, "Take care of yourself, okay?"

"Yeah," Viper said. "Hopefully, we'll see you again soon.

Angel smiled and shook Blade's hand. "Yeah, thanks for everything. Soldier on."

The three of them waved goodbye and Angel headed back home.

Times Square

10:47 PM

Angel sat in her apartment. The lamp on the ceiling gave it a slightly stale florescent glow. The bed in the corner and a small table and chair which she recovered from a junkyard in Pelham were her only furniture. She flipped on the radio, tuning it to the station all the gangs listened to. She caught the end of some disco song. The DJ's voice came on right after the fadeout.

"Alright, boppers," the DJ said in her smooth, sultry voice, "Here's the latest word from the street. In sports news, the Baseball Furies pitched another perfect game in Riverside when the Electric Eliminators wandered onto the playing field unannounced. The Eliminators might want to think about starting spring training a bit earlier next time. Down in Harlem, the Hurricanes suffered a minor setback when they got blown over by the Boppers. Never underestimate what a crew with slick clothes and smooth moves can do. In the heart of Times Square, the Alley Cats bared their claws at a couple of Jones Street Boys and scratched them off their neon playground. That's all the news for now, boppers. Stay solid and groove to these supreme sounds."

Ted Nugent's "Stranglehold" came on the radio. Angel sat at the table and stared out the window. An Alley Cats tag sprayed on the wall outside caught her attention. A family, Blade said? After considering it for several minutes, she came to a decision. It was worth a shot.