Chapter 3: Strained


The mob made themselves comfortable with their new home. With time, they found themselves getting adjusted to the environment. Eventually, they were back in their usual business. And for a while, it looked like hope was going up for them.

The Goodfeathers began to thrive, the Godpigeon was under less stress, and new pigeons seemed to wanna join in on what the mob had to offer. This trend would go on for the next 2 to 3 months, as it looked like luck would indeed be on their side in their new home. And for a while, it was. So what could go wrong?

Unfortunately, it was generally the mob being around in general. They were old fashioned and in their twilight years, compared to the other mobs and gangs in the Burbank and Los Angeles areas. And it couldn't have been more obvious when they were desperate enough to go there. Another contributing factor were the overall choices made by those in the mob and the Godpigeon himself.

Soon enough, just like their final years in New York, things went bad. Pigeons got arrested, pigeons got killed, desperation grew, and in no time, the mob found themselves in the same exact position as they did nearly 6 months ago. However, it was even worse than how it was in New York. This was mainly in part of how outdated they looked, combined with what was currently happening. But the worst has yet to come.


One day, the Goodfeathers had just escaped a deal that had gone horribly wrong with the Bluejays. Didn't help that for many weeks now, the situation with the mob started to take a toll on them. And in particular, it looked like Pesto was making things more difficult than they should have been.

"My goodness," said Squit, "Why did they have to snap like that?" "It's Bluejays, you know how they are," said Bobby, "Them birdbrains are quick to get angry when something doesn't go their way." "No matter where you go, they are always the same," added Pesto. Squit sighed, "At least we made it out, because are smart birds."

Pesto turned to Squit and gave him a cold stare. "So what you sayin Squit?" he asked, "I'm some kind smart bird you say?" "What? I just said we are smart birds," replied Squit. "Smart how? Huh?" asked Pesto, looking like he was going to attack, "So I'm some sort of smart bird to you? Like I'm a genius?" "Yeah!" replied Squit, "Not in an insulting way, I mean it genuinely!" There was silence until Pesto screamed out, "THAT'S IT!!!"

He was about to attack Squit until he got shoved by someone so hard, that he fell and dragged across the sidewalk they were on. It was Bobby, with a VERY serious expression. Pesto got up and saw. "W-W-What?!" he exclaimed, "Why did you do that?!" "You know why Pesto," Bobby said, "You goin after Squit for just complimenting is not so funny anymore."

Admittedly, Bobby found it funny when Pesto would get angry at Squit. But now, it wasn't so funny and just came off as just plain petty. It came as a shock to Pesto, since he had been doing it for so long without being told much by Bobby, but it was also different back then. The time for getting angry over petty things was not now. Not with how the mob is falling apart more than it ever has.

"Are you kidding me?!" Pesto exclaimed, "What happened to you?! Why are you lookin after Squit so much?" "Because the time for you to pull stupid crap like this is a bad time!" replied Bobby in frustration, "And with time, this just got old! You know Squit didn't mean any harm with what he said! The only reason I stayed quiet for as long as I did was because I figured you'd start gettin the hint after a while. But no, I guess I really had to say something."

Squit grew nervous as he could see Bobby and Pesto's anger starting to boil. "Look boys, let's just go to the Godpigeon and tell him what happened," he said. "Shut your beak!" yelled Pesto, "Stay the hell out of this Squit, I will have to-" Bobby shoved Pesto, "BACK OFF OF SQUIT, WILL YA?! This is the behavior that is gonna get us killed! With the pace your goin at, your no different than the Bluejays!" "YOU MOTHERFU-" Pesto screamed. But before he could attack Bobby, a bell was heard and the Goodfeathers were hit by a man delivering pizzas on a bike.

The three got up and dusted themselves off. "You know what?" said Pesto, "I'm done with you! I'm done with the both of ya!" He then flew away from Bobby and Squit. "What happened to you Pesto?!" Bobby called, "You never became this close minded!" Pesto didn't respond, he just continued flying away. If relations weren't already starting to get strained, they were definitely strained now.

Bobby sighed, "Come on Squit, let's go tell Godpigeon the bad news." Squit was admittedly about this, but it was what it was. He knew there was nothing that he or Bobby could do to change Pesto's behavior. The two flew off to head on back to base.

Meanwhile, Pesto flew to rooftop and just sat there for a little bit. "Who does Bobby think he is tellin me I should back off of Squit?!" he said to himself, "I'm not the one overreacting, he is! Does Bobby even realize how much he has changed?!" "I don't think he has," said a pigeon, which scared Pesto for a moment when he heard it and looked behind him. It was an older looking pigeon with colors similar to Pesto himself. Another pigeon was next to him, he had similar colors to the Godpigeon, just looked a bit younger.

"If it isn't Brock and Rocky," Pesto said with disappointment, "Ugh, what do you guys want?" "We understand where you are coming from when you talk about Bobby," said Brock, "That pigeon may have lost something with time and became softer, rather than harder. But don't you worry, me and my partner in crime will make things right with what we are about to do!" "We plan on visiting the one and only Don Edison!" added Rocky. Pesto was confused, "Huh? Who's Don Edison?" "You know, Don Edison," said Brock, in which Pesto was still confused, "How about this Pesto; Does Don's Garden Center ring a bell?"

Pesto gasped, "That guy?! Marty said to not rob him specifically!" "I know, but you gotta trust me on this one," Brock explained, "There is absolutely no way he will be able to track us down. You see, we have an ace up our wings on this one." "This will help out the mob and us 3 will gain a ton of respect off of it!" also explained Rocky, "Before you ask, no, we aren't doing it today or tomorrow. It will be at least a week from now, as it will require more planning than what we currently have. But generally, it's up to you if you wanna join in on our fun."

Pesto was unsure how to feel about this. He had hung around with Bobby for quite some time and even Squit too. But given the relations souring, he considered that maybe he'd be better off hanging around with Brock and Rocky. To Pesto, they seemed to be the only ones to understand him.

"Let me hang around with you boys first," he said, "That way so I can get a feel before I make any final decisions."


For some time, Bobby and Squit noticed Pesto hanging around with Brock and Rocky a lot more often. Squit looked disappointed to see that happening. Bobby on the other hand looked incredibly worried. Squit didn't know why he looked so worried, but he assumed it may have been the fact that Pesto was hanging around the wrong perhaps?

Meanwhile, the Godpigeon started to look awful. Often times, he looked sleep deprived and exhausted. It very well could have been due to the stress of what his mob was devolving into. One day though, he ended up having a heart attack during a meeting. Fortunately, he survived, but unfortunately, Godpigeon's health continued to decline and his ability to lead the mob went with it.

One day in the middle of the week, Bobby and Squit were sitting on a pier. "I can't believe this Squit," said Bobby, "First we get bad news from Marty, then our mob turns to shit, then Pesto hangs around with Brock and Rocky, and to top it all off, Godpigeon is practically dyin." "Bobby, we'll get through this," assured Squit, "We always do." "But this is different Squit!" Bobby said, "We have never been in a situation like this before! I don't think the mob is gonna survive for much longer! You can't trust any pigeon to be a Godpigeon! Hell, I can't even trust myself!"

Squit put his wing on Bobby's shoulder, "If things go badIy, I won't let our friendship be tainted. I'll stick around with ya for as long as I can." This sort of helped Bobby be a little more positive, "Thanks Squit. I'll stay friends with you for as long as I can too. I just wish Pesto would come back to us. He's hanging around with the wrong Goodfeathers. Brock and Rocky may be good earners, but their reputation is less than pleasing." "What do you mean?" asked Squit, "What makes their reputation less than pleasing? Is that why you have been looking worried whenever you see Pesto with them?"

Bobby sighed, as he knew he had some explaining to do, "Those two get into things they shouldn't be gettin themselves into. Brock has this thing for living life dangerously, but never cares to think about what he gets himself into doing this. Rocky often follows Brock as he is his partner, though it's clear he's just under his influence. That being said, he's often kissing Brock's ass, knowing everything." His worried expression came back, "Knowing Pesto is hanging around them is alarming, because I know their reputation, I used to be with them before I worked with Pesto. In some cases, they bring the dangerous things back when they're not careful enough. And what makes this worse is the state of the mob. If they do anything stupid, it may very well be the end of the mob."

The two just looked at the ocean, admiring it. Little did Bobby know he couldn't have been more right about this. Pesto was about to be involved in something that would change things forever, and for the worst...

To be continued in the next chapter...

(Chapter 3 published 1/6/24)