Marston woke from his slumber, finally feeling back to his best after the tiresome events of the previous weekend. Things had moved quickly since then, New York was unrecognisable, Detroit had exchanged hands and Philadelphia had a new face at the helm. Marston got dressed, washed his face, combed his hair back with his fingers, then placed his hat on his head before leaving his safehouse in Brooklyn.

The streets were busy, business was picking up again since spacey had set up headquarters in Queens, and NancyDowns had been given the nod to start her enterprise in the Bronx. Marston hopped on his horse and headed into town, greeting passers by as he trotted past. Some people looked confused seeing him there, and there seemed to be a lot of gossip, where people had filled in the blanks. Marston was never one to leave his people in the dark, so he headed into the centre of town to find an old soapbox to stand on…

“These events began for me a month ago… I had just boarded my plane to South America, as I had important business to discuss down there with the suppliers to my smuggling operations. As the plane moved into position on the runway a flight attendant handed me a letter and apologised for not giving it to me at the entrance of the airport as she had been instructed.”

Don Marston, if you are reading this please turn around now and do not board that flight. A situation has arisen and your skills are now required in Detroit. Please meet me no later than 11:45 on the 3rd, at your ranch, and bring your best shooting iron. It has been decided by the heads of New York and Philadelphia that Godfather Polio’s operations here are now surplus to requirement. I know this is short notice, but I hope this letter finds you in good time. Regards, the Stiffmeister.

“As I went to stand from my seat I was flung back into it as the plane had already hit takeoff speed. The journey was a long one, and made even longer by the worry that my brothers-in-arms in Philadelphia could be dying on a battlefield without me. Eventually we landed, I didn’t wait around, my business could wait. Wave a little cash around in South America and you can get whatever you need, so I quickly found myself a private flight back to Detroit.”

“The next part of the story, I’ve already told…”

Marston clambered down the steps of the private plane and lit up a small cigar as he walked towards the small terminal on the airfield. He was already very familiar with Motor City, he frequently visited to ensure his business operations there were running smoothly, so he could sense immediately that it wasn’t business as usual.

As he left the airport he could see in the distance smoke billowing from a building in central Bricktown and he wondered if it was anything to do with why he had been summoned. A smart looking car with a driver was waiting for him across the road, beckoning him to enter. Marston wasn’t a fan of cars, but there wasn’t room for his horse on the plane so it was either this or a very long walk. As he approached the back window wound down and a familiar grinning face emerged…

“Hey there fucker! Hurry up and get in the car before my driver dies a virgin!”

The driver made a face as if he had heard the same line several times already that day, as Marston climbed in the vehicle next to his boss.

“Let’s go shitbreak, straight to Deadshot’s baby!”

The driver rolled his eyes, as he got back into the car and drove off towards the range.

They arrived at Deadshot’s Den to the sound of loud gunfire, and Marston stepped out of the car and headed in to see who was making such a racket.

It seemed many of the big players from Philadelphia were inside, at the nearest lane Alucard could be seen effortlessly dismembering a wooden target, Marston shielded his eyes from the sun reflecting from the golden barrel and nodded to him in approval as the last silver bullet in his magazine split the target in half.

As he headed further inside he saw Wednesday Addams, she was staring down-range with the most menacing unwavering look you could ever imagine from a young woman. She didn’t appear to be holding a weapon, and Marston wondered if she was attempting to destroy the target with the sheer power of her intense stare. He looked away and continued on to where quiet was honing her skills, but then heard a splintering explosion as the target fell to pieces. He continued on wondering whether Wednesday had some form of telekinetic powers, or if Alucard had engaged in some cross-lane shooting.

He shook his head and continued onward with his task at hand, and approached the woman who had summoned him. While a long barrelled rifle with a scope was her usual weapon of choice, quiet seemed equally adept with a revolver. Pointing one down range she fired all six rounds, drawing a perfect perforated circle of bullet holes where the target’s open mouth would be. She then turned and saw Marston admiring her handy work and shot him a quick smile before snatching a dagger from her boot and flinging it directly into the centre of the circle, tearing a hole straight through the target.

“Marston!!! Glad you could finally join us!”

Marston felt a sense of relief seeing her in such a good mood, as he had been wondering if he had been called in for a warning about his appallingly risky dicing habits, but it appeared that wasn’t the case this time…

“You, sir, I come to you with an offer that you can't refuse…” She began, then led him away to his office.

Some hours later after some lengthy discussions and few drinks, quiet and her entourage left the city. Marston emerged from his office, he left the range and looked over at Bricktown and began to consider the tasks he had ahead. Business had to resume there, and Marston had been chosen to run it, but the Outlaws wasn’t a solo operation. Marston set off back to Philadelphia to find an old acquaintance.

"I mentioned the offer and discussions, however, the details of those were not disclosed before now... As we entered my office Godmother quiet locked the door behind us. Now I can't fully recall what was said, so I'm paraphrasing here"

Marston clears his throat and reads from a scrap where he'd tried to write down what he remembered...

"Marston, I come to you with an offer that you can't refuse... well, you totally can refuse it, but I'd prefer you didn't... I'd like to send you to Detroit to become the Godfather Chairman. I don't want to think I would have to convince you, although I understand you're very busy at the moment, so I'm hoping that would be the only reason you might have to decline my offer but just in case, I'll explain myself."

quiet cleared her throat and began speaking louder as if she was wanted people outside the room to hear exactly what she was saying, and began uncrumpling a piece of paper from her pocket.

"As you're aware, Detroit has been through it's fair share of leaders recently, none of which have survived particularly long, but what's different with me sending you there is I am actually going to give you a seat at the table. One right next to me, the best seat in the house. In case you're wondering why you, there's an easy answer for that... You're the most competent man I have available, need I say more? I will even financially support you to ease the burden of establishing yourself so far away from home. I cannot stress enough that you are in no way expendable and I would and will die for you if that ever became a bridge I'd have to cross."

She handed Marston a piece of paper and nodded at him to read it as she finished her speech

"With all that said, New York would like to send Tenkai to establish a crew over in Corktown, an individual who I see you having no problems with. This way, both cities have someone capable and competent to ensure Detroit returns to it's full former glory. I've spoken about this in great length with Don Stiffler as well, and he has given his full blessing for this to proceed. So what will it be?"

I nodded my head as I finished reading the note, as I tried to piece together the bigger picture. I handed back the note which quiet then took and burnt with a candle into my fireplace.

Please read carefully John, and do not repeat any of what is written here until you need to. I have grown tired of this way of life and I plan to retire to the old country. This is a decision that I have come to, along with Alucard who will be departing with me. I am very aware that I have a responsibility to all of the people of Philadelphia and their future safety, but with this being said, I believe my retirement would leave them in immediate danger. Unfortunately, I believe our alliance with the city of New York is bound solely due to my personal friendship with influential figures there, and with me out of the picture they would eventually set their sights upon acquiring and expanding their operations into Philadelphia. I cannot allow this to happen and feel obligated to ensure it doesn't. I have told some people I am sending you to Detroit to die, but this is not the case, I need you to be located centrally as the battle ahead is likely to be fought across the six cities, and the lie I have told is to avoid suspicion. This is purely a tactical move, I do not wish for you to leave our city, and I want you to be an instrumental part of it's future after I depart. I already know your answer, because you are a loyal soldier through and through, but you need to let the people on the other side of that door know.

"I am hugely flattered by this offer, and will begin making the necessary preparations to undertake this task immediately. Thank you for bestowing this great honour upon me and my family!"

quiet smiled in appreciation of his performance, Marston tipped his hat and winked, then they both headed out of the office to celebrate with the others.

Marston took a swig of whiskey from his hip flask, his throat was drying up and there was still more to tell...

"From that point forward my primary aim was establishing the Outlaws in Detroit, and ensuring they were ready for battle. Did I believe New York would destroy Philadelphia without quiet and Alucard at the helm? Honestly, I have no idea whatsoever! The only people that could possibly know the answer to that question are now dead. There were lots of great people in New York, many there that I interacted with and feel I would have enjoyed working alongside, there were also others that were quiet and perhaps dangerous. Everything quiet warned of could have been an accurate prophecy of the future, it could also have been total nonsense. The one and only line I can assure you she got right for certain was... I am a loyal soldier, through and through."

"The day of battle approached, with my brother Balls we had prepared ourselves and Bricktown for the battle ahead. We gathered along with all of the families of Philadelphia, Chicago, Los Angeles and Las Vegas to receive our orders for the impending battle. New York had established themselves as the biggest of the six-cities, it looked like an audacious task ahead, and simply too big to accomplish without heavy losses. As the hitmen received their targets from Alucard, godmother quiet pulled me to one side.

quiet: I have a feeling Alucard isn't going to retire as he told me he would...

Marston: Ahh I see, I have no problems working with him...

quiet: *shakes her head*

Marston: However, if you're not happy with that...

Marston: *taps his revolver*

quiet: I would be pretty salty if that were the case.

Marston: *salutes, then leaves*

"In my time in Philadelphia I cannot pretend I didn't hear bad things about Alucard, but personally I'd only been been treated and spoken to with respect from the man. However, it seemed there were many that were critical of his actions and behaviour, but I was surprised to have this conversation with quiet who was allied with him for such a long time. I put this to the back of my mind, as I had a task in hand, to see this battle through and lead the Outlaws to victory"

"I won't go into intricate details of who shot who, but at 07:09 on the twenty-seventh of May, twenty hitmen all simultaneously fired their shots and sixteen of them hit true. With my revolver still smoking I rode away from the scene of the hit I had carried out, and headed to one of my safe houses in Detroit. Upon my arrival I was greeted with some terrible news, quiet had been shot down mistakenly by the man she had tasked with her protection. It seemed very strange to me that the only casualty was the leader of the entire operation, I wondered if after seeing the battle was going to be won, she had faked her death to ensure her retirement remained a permanent one."

"There was no time to dwell, I set my thoughts back to the task in hand and led the Outlaws into battle. After hours of fierce fighting the battle was over. During the battle the allied forces of Bricktown, Philadelphia, Chicago, Los Angeles and Las Vegas lost the following men: Dynamite-Dan, Books, Hayley-, El_mencho, CharlesVane, Malcon-Tucker, Craved & KingRy. The men and women of the City of New York and the district of Corktown, Detroit were fully eradicated."

"I was surprised that the losses on our side were not significantly higher, and hadn't planned for an aftermath with quite so many survivors. I headed back to the safety of Detroit, as the battle had taken a lot out of me. I planned to meet with the other city leaders in the coming days to discuss the future, but at that moment, all I could do was stumble into my home and collapse on the floor to sleep... My mind was racing, my dreams were vivid, I saw the faces of the fallen disfigured by bullet holes, I saw my departed godmother scowling at me, she screamed..."

"WAAAAAKKKKKKEEEE UUUUUPPPPPP!!!"

"As I regained consciousness I saw men leaping into action, Outlaws loading their pistols, and I was pulled to my feet by a comrade. I was quickly informed that Alucard and N-13 had taken up arms against their fellow Philadelphians. It was exactly as quiet had warned me and I knew what I had to do, I jumped straight on my horse and galloped to the location where Mufasa and Premeir had just been killed in cold blood. But to my surprise I found a third body, Alucard was laying lifeless in the dirt. The shooter, with his gun still smoking tipped his hat to me, and strolled away away into the sunset. To the old country, to the bliss of retirement Gimp-Pimp walked away from this life."

"N-13 was still at large, and Skorpeon also took the opportunity to target members of The Dog Years in a personal vendetta against Stiffler. Another shooter was also identified. Upon seeing the news of the deaths of Philadelphia's men, Honesty- mistakenly assumed that Philadelphia was under attack from the other cities, so also carried out shootings based on this incorrect assumption."

"Again, the combined forces of Bricktown, Philadelphia, Chicago, Los Angeles and Las Vegas collaborated to eradicate these assailants, and all those who swore loyalty to Alucard. The remaining members of Undead Alliance were gunned down, Silvio__Dante was gunned down, Honesty- was gunned down, and eventually so were N-13 and Skorpeon. This was not before they had inflicted heavy losses, and the following men and women were killed in their sleep: BlakeOakfield, WednesdayAddams, Chucky, Vito_Genovese, Spades, Nagatchi, StifflersMom, Jalissa and Till_Lindemann."

Marston again brandished his hipflask, but this time after unscrewing the cap he turned it upside down until all of the contents had drained onto the floor.

"TO THE FALLEN!"

"The next day the remaining city heads held a meeting to decide the future of the six cities, and the conclusion of this is what you see here on the map today, each district occupied"

"I believe that's everything covered, but if anyone has any questions I'll stick around to answer them"

Marston steps down from the soapbox, then heads back over to his horse where he refills his hip flask using a bottle of whiskey he retrieves from its saddlebag...

Upon seeing the news of the deaths of Philadelphia's men, Honesty- mistakenly assumed that Philadelphia was under attack from the other cities, so also carried out shootings based on this incorrect assumption.

It's comforting in a way to know that one of the primary takeaways from this terrible event is that Honesty is still not very smart