The next day, Mark texted the number saved on the burner that the job was done and got a location a few minutes later. Mark rode his bike, recently stolen, over to the spot where he met #3, Rat-face, and a couple of other guys that were with them.
"Sup, Rat-face. Looking better after I gave you a makeover," 'Caleb' smiled brightly like the black eye and bruises were not his fault.
Rat-face was about to step forward while his face contorted in anger, but #3 stepped forward. Rat-face glared at the larger guy from behind but stopped reaching for his knife.
"You handled the job perfectly. Got rid of the product, didn't lead back to us, and there were no bodies," #3 praised Mark while looking him up and down to see how well he fared, but he couldn't see any bruises or Mark walking weirdly. 'He either made it out unscathed or is good at hiding the pain. Either one is useful.'
"Of course. Bodies lead to more questions. Fire at a dealer's house just makes people think they were careless," Mark shrugged like it was the most natural thing. "Got my bus fare?"
#3 pulled out a 50-dollar bill and held it out for Mark, but when he reached for it, the larger teen pulled back.
"You could take this 50..." #3 started while looking Mark in the eye. "Or you could work for the Ragers. We need guys like you. You can fight, you're smart, and you talk just enough shit for others to take you seriously without stepping over the line."
#3 looked back at Rat-face behind him. "For most people, at least."
"Seems like you guys get what you want, but what do I get?" Mark asked, not sure why he would stay with the Ragers in this town.
"You get a place to plant roots and a group where you can make plenty of money and get power," #3 promised. "Not that cheap kind of power of the rich people in town. Meta-grade power. If you prove yourself enough by working under me."
Mark seemed to think it over for a minute or two before giving his answer. "Fine. But what do I call you? I've been calling you Viking Extra #3 in my head."
"Name's William," William took back the fifty and began walking in the other direction with the rest of the teens following him. Mark shrugged and followed after him too.
'Burn down one person's house and that gets you in a gang. Almost harder to join a cult,' Mark thought as they made their way through town toward this group's safehouse.
Luckily for Mark, in an ironic way, the Ragers were expanding rapidly. He had to help rob stores, break into houses, and get into gang fights. It didn't take long to figure out how the Ragers moved—quick, messy, and always in packs. Mark kept his head low and his punches sharp, making a name for himself without flashing too much spotlight.
Even though Hot Spot was trying his best to stop the gang's rise, he was only one guy and they would send out 3–6 groups at a time to take on multiple objectives. Even if the young hero was trying his best, the Ragers were too much for him to handle alone. But it wasn't just because of their large numbers.
Mark and Rat-face rode with William one night to the parking lot of Tall-Mart around 2 AM. The group waited in the truck until a police cruiser pulled up beside them. Two men stepped out in uniform and stood near the back of their cruiser.
'Well, that's one way to keep patrols off your back—pay them more than the US government.'
"Let's go," William told them while getting out of the car. Mark and Rat-face followed him out and walked behind the cruiser.
'So we have police corruption too. We're gonna have to stay longer to help clean this up if I can't find them all out in one go,' Mark thought while looking at the trunk.
Six M4 assault rifles were lying flat in the trunk with a bag of magazines lying next to them. Each of these was capable of fully automatic fire and meant for military operations, not normal gang violence.
"Just like what we agreed on," Officer Perez looked proudly at the items he got. "Got the 5k?"
"Caleb," William called back.
Mark pulled out the envelope full of cash and passed it over to the other officer, reading off the name Taylor from his vest.
Officer Taylor opened the envelope and counted the cash before looking at Perez and nodding. "All yours, boys."
Mark and Rat-face grabbed the guns and ammo before putting them in the trunk of the car. After everything was loaded up, both sides drove off in opposite directions, leaving only a small wrapper on the ground. And a few minutes later, even that wrapper was gone.
Back at Hot Spot's hideout, Magik appeared with the wrapper from the parking lot in her hand.
"This just got worse," Magik said while tossing the wrapper onto the table. "The gang just got military-grade weapons."
[Police sold us 6 ARs. Military. Unclear target.]
"Shit!" Hot Spot smashed a hole into the wall. "We need to step in!"
"How?" Wonder Girl's voice was stern. She couldn't let Hot Spot ruin the operation. "We only know where Hex's cell is based. As soon as we take them down, we lose the chance to take out the rest of the Ragers."
"So we sit and do nothing?!?!" Hot Spot asked, not understanding what they should do.
"No. We investigate. Potential targets, possible hideouts, others who are corrupt." Wonder Girl saw the bigger picture. "We need to find out whether those weapons were just confiscated from a gang, if the police were the middlemen, or if we have a leak from a military armory. We have a lot to do."
"I'll focus on hideouts. I think I have five hideouts down but not the main one yet," Tempest volunteered before heading out of the safehouse to look around.
"I got the corruption angle," Magik smiled sinisterly. "Seen enough demons that are corrupt that I can literally sniff them out."
"Good. I'll reach out to the Themysciran Embassy to see if they heard anything about an investigation on nearby armories," Wonder Girl announced while pulling out her phone.
Hot Spot watched them all in amazement when they didn't panic but accepted what happened and moved on.
"So this is the difference between Teen Titans and honorary members," Hot Spot whispered to himself.