The dashing Clover and the funny Koehler were hanging out in the street drinking. Well, Koehler was drinking moonshine from the bottle while Clover was sipping cold lemonade from a straw. The local policeman who walked the street just gave Koehler a disapproving look. They were both bored with nothing to do. Clover hummed a tune and then stood on her feet. She started swaying to the music. She pulled Koehler up but the brute refused to dance with her. Clover shrugged and sat in defeat. Out of nowhere, an idea came to her and she smiled. She stood up and waved the passerby's to gather around her.

"Okay people, listen up. Let's try to make some money. You see here..." she gestured towards her and Koehler... "We're both bored and he's drunk. I'll tell you a story.... and you will tell us the ending." Before anyone could ask a question, Clover looked at Koehler,
"Koehler.. how much money do you have with you?" Koehler then took out a roll and counted it. "This, plus the money I have stashed in the car. I have more or less 500 thousand."

Clover smiled and nodded. She then took out a wad from her pocket and counted it. "Oh see, I have that much money in my pocket and inside the bag in your car."
She then addressed the crowd. "1 million to the story teller who can make best ending to our story!"

Everyone got excited and waited for what Clover would say next.
"So here goes! Come closer everyone, grab a box, a bottle of spirit, whatever, just listen and then I'll give you the chance to give us your ending."

Koehler was amused listening to Clover tell the story. He got really into it and even got a little scared when he heard he was missing, even though he was right there. He put his hand up to signal Clover to stop, and she did. Koehler figured this was a good point to end the beginning of the story. He turned to the gathered crowd and cleared his throat.

"It's now your turn! Continue this story and make up an ending for it. Winner gets one million dollars! You all have 7 days to think of your ending. This will end on July 26 at 23:59. The winner will be picked by Oblivion, Clover, and myself. Go!"

King leans up against the wall jotting down the story as he heard it, stopping at the end he looks up at CloverLuxille and Koehler and says

"Interesting story, i am always up for a challenge and i quite enjoyed the story thank you"

King starts thinking of how he will finish it while walking down the street

Clover opens another bottle and hands it to Koehler. She smiles at KingAlucard and thanks him.

"I'm glad you liked the story good sir. I can't wait to see what ending it would have. Right Koehler?"

Koehler answers with a grunt then continiues drinking.

"Let me take a couple of guys and we will get Koehler back"

Oblivion stared at Clover pondering it for a moment and then says

"take jake and johnson with you and do not return without him" He pointed to two of his bodyguards

"yes sir i will not fail you" Clover said telling the two bodyguards to come with her, Clover tried and tried to remember what happened last night it was all so fuzzy, she decided to get a drink at her bar Stinky's 

"hey bartender get me and my buddies a drink over her" she said taking the shot and putting down the glass noticing blood on the corner of the bar she checks it out and finds a small trail leading out of the bar she starts to follow it a few blocks down the road it leads under a door to an abandoned warehouse, she looks behind her at the bodyguards

"Be prepared this might be where Koehler is" she says pulling out her gun she proceeds to creak the door open and sneaks in getting behind a few boxes looking over them she sees Koehler tied up with a man in front of him

"You better hope your boss pays up or your a dead man" says the man

Clover points her gun at the man ready to shoot, but then a man grabs her throwing her up against the crates behind them knocking the gun out of Clover's hand, she starts to punch the assailant with her free hand, Jake rushes over and tackles the man to the ground putting his gun to the assailant's temple and pulling the trigger blood splashes on Jake's suit as he gets up instantly pointing his gun to the next target, Clover grabs her gun and gets to her feet rushing in like a bat out of hell shooting left and right as men come from all sides, they clip Clover in her left arm as she jumps over a crate shooting the man standing over Koehler in the knees making him fall on them, the bodyguards clean up the rest of the punks

"any last words dirt bag?" says Clover pointing the gun at the mans head

"Who...who are you?" He says coughing up some blood

"Clover...CloverLuxille" she says shooting the man in the head, quickly she runs over and unties Koehler from his ropes and puts his arm over her carrying him out of the warehouse and back to the hq, finally they arrive after what seems like an hour, Jake opens the door to the hq and they walk in seeing Oblivion sitting in his chair waiting finally he says

"I see you had a lot of trouble bringing him back" he says standing up and walking over to them he motions for his bodyguards to take Koehler to his room to get some rest, then looks back at Clover "i am sorry i doubted you Clover, i will never do that to you again"

"I woke up one day tied to a chair..."

It was all a blur. The thoughts of trying to find out where the hell Koehler had gone, what all happened the previous night, and if there was even a chance of saving her associate before the big boss started wacking everyone in the room. Clover squints her eyes to look deeper at the note as if some untold meaning might be unraveled just by staring at the text long enough.

"Well," Oblivion began, his eyes a light shade of pink from this clearly stressful situation "Where the fuck is he?"

"I don't.. I don't know!" Clover stuttered, trying to find the words that might make the boss-man happy if only for a second.

There was a flash of light, then stars, and the stinging pain of impact resting on Clover's right cheekbone. The throbbing began almost immediately. Oblivion stood up, the back of his hand now showing the puckering of skin where he had struck her.

"You know there's an important meeting today. Some of the smaller crews around town want to mitigate any conflict with expansion. We were supposed to be there an hour ago but instead I'm here dealing with this shit." His right hand quickly lifted up, abiding his temper with a slight massage of the bridge of his nose.

"I'll find Koehler, Boss. I promise. You just gotta let me outta' here and give me some time. I think we were drugged." Clover sputtered, her mouth still a bit numb from the strike. The taste of iron slightly tinged at the edge of her tongue.

"Damn right you will."


After being released from her restraints, Clover decided to take some action and go back to Stinky's, the last place she remembered being at the previous evening. Her head throbbed as fervently as the jackhammers pounding away at the cement on the street corner where the bar resides. After awhile, the thoughts started coming back. Everything was steeped in sepia and cut in places they shouldn't have been. She vividly remembers that something was off. They weren't just drunk - Hell, Koehler could hold his own in a drinking contest without a fuss. It took him a whole damn bottle of whiskey before he even felt a buzz. Something was definitely wrong.

"Hey, Vigo." She meekly said to the bartender as she walked inside Stinky's. Her eyes wandered around the place, hoping to take in any clues about what happened.

"Do you remember at all what happened the other night with Koehler and I? I think we had a bit much to drink.. I can't remember anything"

"Yeah, you guys took off pretty quick after you had a few drinks. I remember one guy actually takin' you a few drinks as a sign of good faith. Musta' been one of those fellas from Stevie's crew." Vigo said confidently, washing away some grime from one of the high-ball glasses sitting on his counter top.

"Y'think they might have slipped something in our drinks?" Clover scoffed, attempting to make a joke out of the very serious situation.

"Dunno. I don't think they would've. I thought there was supposed to be somethin' goin' on to keep the trouble outta' town." He responded, placing the now clean highball glass back on the rack over his left shoulder.

"Right. Right. Thanks, Vee." With that, Clover decided that there was nothing more to be learned at the bar and began to walk. Her thoughts raced as she began to turn the corner, running adjacent with where 'Stevie's Crew' usually hung out - At the Ball N' Chain bakery on 5th. It was then that she understood what was really going on. She didn't have the time to call in for backup; she had to move fast and make as little of a scene as possible if she wanted to save Koehler.


The door opened briefly, a bell plastered on the inside of the door chimed to alert whoever was working behind the counter that there was infact a customer. This large, meaty-handed irishman stepped out from behind the back, his hands steeped in what looks like a deep crimson red dye. His eyes were as cold as ice, his unwavering gaze leaving a chill that ran up and down her spine like a rat trapped in a pipeline. She grit her teeth to keep her gaze.

"Hey there, I was wondering if I could get a pastry from you guys. I've heard nothing but good things about your baking and wanted to take a look for myself." she stated, raising the corner of her lips into a smirk that seemed to smoulder in the heart of the man standing before her. His face flushed a deep red, deeper than the color on his hands, and revealed he had a soft spot for the ladies.
 

"U-uh, y-yeah. Sure. We got plenty of pastries! Anything under the glass is available and freshly made! If ya' wanna take a look, you can always come 'round the back and see how it's done." He grinned, as if a position as a baker would get him some tail. Clover decided to work her charm and get a little deeper into this mystery.

"I'd love to see what you've got back there, big boy."

The Irishman immediately opened the side bar to allow her entry into the back, his eyes glazed over with affection. He spun around to allow her to visit the backroom. Within, there were many instruments working and churning filling the room with a slight hum that couldn't be ignored. Clover's eyes immediately caught a bottle of what looked like pills sitting on the lofty shelf above the churning bread. She only caught enough to understand that these were the drugs slipped inside their drink; Barbiturates. Just enough to fog the mind and heighten the sense of security.

The Irishman turned his back to tend to the mix churning in the metallic machine, staring deeply into the milky-white contents as if trying to scry his future. Little did he know that it would be his last. Clover removed a straight-razor from her sleeve that she had tucked in before entering the establishment. With a quick pull of her arm the man's neck opened up revealing the crimson life blood that once pumped just underneath his tender flesh. She had no problems with doing what must be done. The red stood out vibrantly against the white clothes and apron he had been wearing. Clover pushed the hunched over figure into the machine, head-first to make it look like an accident. She walked away right when the grinding and snapping started.

After stepping through the next threshold the smell of iron covered the sickly-sweet aroma of glaze and dough. A trail had been left on the floor, leading into one of the maintenance rooms on the right side of the hall. She took a few measured paces towards it before removing her trusty M1911 from her purse. Clover rested her finger on the trigger and pulled the door open with the barrel leading the charge. Inside, a figure sat slumped over, arms pulled back behind what looked like the seat.

"Koehler?" Clover mumbled. Her heart stopped when he didn't say anything for a few seconds. Then he grumbled and arose from his unconscious state.

"Ugh.. wh-what the fuck happened?" Koehler groaned, attempting to reach his face before realizing that his hands were tied down.

"You were taken and ransomed. But.. I found you. There's no leverage anymore. Let's get the fuck ou-" Clover began before a thick fist ran across the back of her head. She crumpled onto the floor.

"You ain't goin' nowhere." A baritone bellowed through the doorway. Koehler got a good look at him as he stepped over Clover.  This ugly mook took the cake when it came to bad looks. His nose twisted off slightly to his right where it had been broken multiple times. His eyes were unevenly spaced and a large scar ran across his right brow to the corner of his left lip. It put his face into a permanent scowl that resonated pure evil. The man's eyes were black as night and gave little information to his true intentions. Some might say the eyes are the windows to the soul... this man clearly had none.

Koehler was prepared. The man stepped up to him as if to strike him when Koehler's hands shot out from behind the chair. In one hand a thin piece of metal wire and the other a sharp piece of glass. Koehler swiped across the man's eyes with the glass and shoved the metal wire deep into his temple. The man started to scream in shock before going limp as the wire pierced through the thin skin of the temporal lobe. His dead eyes were even more so as Koehler removed the barb from his head. His body dropped like a sack of bricks.

Clover awoke again a few hours later, spotting Koehler's rugged cuts and bruises from his beating and his hands doused in blood.

"I'm.. alive?" she croaked

"You're damn right you are. But these fucks ain't." Koehler grunted, turning his Thompson on the row of crewmen that had orchestrated this attack. The night lit up with the flash of gunfire as these men were peppered with lead. Bits of their faces tore off as the rounds shredded through them like swiss cheese. Koehler wasn't alone in this act - Beside him was the boss Oblivion himself and some other associates that wanted payback for the disturbance. What looked like the rest of the crew was lined up before them in one of the alleys in North Side. This would be their grave. Blood painted the walls like an avant-garde display of debauchery and devilry. It was at this moment Clover realized what the storms above Chicago were brewing... War.
 

Oblivion, after making his usual round through the South Side of Chicago, and before returning back to his office for drinks and paperwork, noticed Koehler and CloverLuxille excitedly discussing something. Curiosity getting the best if him, he approached them to hear of their grand plan.

After being completely filled in, he decided to give his opinion.

I love this idea. I'll tell you what, I like it so much, that I'm going to throw in an additional 2 million dollars to the victor! I look forward to seeing and judging what everyone puts forth!

"Some exciting endings don't you agree Koehler?" Clover asked Koehler who was still stunned with the powerful endings. Then they were surprised to see Oblivion. The boss man added more money to the pot.

"There you go folks, 3 million for the best ending. I know some of you have a story to tell." Clover hollers to the people gathered around them.

"It's 3 Million dollars!"

Oblivion walks out of his HQ and bangs a spoon on his flask. He gathers everyone's attention and begins speaking.

"Good evening, everyone. As you might realize, the competition had very little people entering, and thus not many choices. While this is saddening, we have all agreed on a winner; Matteo_Bonesse. His ending was fantastic, dramatic, and very fitting to the scenario. Very well done. Your prize will be with you shortly. I'd also like to thank our only other entrant, KingAlucard, for his entry. It was very much appreciated."

Oblivion tips his hat and heads back inside his HQ to organize the funds transfer.

Koehler finishes his drink while Clover picks up his bottles. It was nice that some people joined their story telling. And it was a great experience listening to them.

"Congratulations Matteo_Bonesse! That was a great one! And thank you for sharing your story too KingAlucard! Hope to talk to you guys soon."

And with that, Clover joins Oblivion back to the Renacer's HQ.