Professor X walks down a dim lit alleyway as he reads his least favorite section of the newspaper, the obituaries.

"What does it all mean?" He asks himself.  "Day after day young kids that are just learning to rob an old lady of her purse and a few peppermints are being shot by some of the higher ranked guidos of our society." "It could've been me." He thinks to himself. "It could've been me." The thought echoes inside of his mind as he continues reading the paper. "People have been dying all around me for the past several days. All because some young punk-ass mafioso want to train their .45s. It's bullshit." If he could, he would bring a stop to the killings himself. But X is not the police, he is not a vigilante, he is a gangster, and gangsters protect their own, not the general public. Professor X balls up the newspaper and throws it away as he walks into the local cafe to get a piece of apple pie.

I think it is amazing that a young gangster such as yourself knows the reasoning behind every murder that takes place in Cosa Nostra...

"All because some young punk-ass mafioso want to train their .45s"

Actually, you obviously DON'T know the reason behind all the killings, but you sure seem to think you do. Almost all of the dead people in the obits are dead for a good reason. Maybe they went against their Bosses' orders. Maybe they offended the gods. Maybe they went into a long-term coma and never came out. Maybe they disrespected a made man. Maybe they were making money on the patch of one of the established families without being affiliated to to Cosa Nostra, and without paying tribute to the Boss of the city.

It's very rare that someone is killed for the arbitrary reason you suggest. I would also advise you to refer to those above you with more respect than "punk-ass". If I thought you were referring to me when you said that, you would be dead right now. However, you don't seem like someone who is insane, and you would have to be insane to be referring to me in that way.

I know why the higher ranked ones are killed. But why are the ones that aren't even apart of a family like we are killed. They are just trying to make a name for themselves like we did when we first started in this business.

You answered your own question. They are not part of a family. We are in a business that profits by controlling all of the crime on our turf. If someone comes into our territory and tries to knock over stores that are paying us "protection money", or tries to compete with us, then they are not welcome on our turf. The only way someone outside the family could get away with this is if they are under the protection of another established mafia family. The guys you are referring to are not being protected by another mafia family. Therefore, if they have had enough time (at least 48 hours) to find a family, and they are still trying to schmooze in on our profits without paying tribute to the Boss, then they need to be taken care of.

The ones that are under 48 hours are the ones that I am refferring to. They have been dying like flies.

The last one under 48 hours old was killed three days ago. I hardly call that "dying like flies". Anyhow, that's not the point. To answer your question, I think most of the time when these gangsters are killed, it is either an honest mistake or by someone who is too stupid to read and follow their Bosses' rules. In the case of the latter, it is a good thing that the killers are found and put out of their misery. These fools...you have to cap them quick before they have time to reproduce their genes.

Well at least you follow your bosses orders. But imagine if you had been shot in the 48 hours leading up to you being introduced into this thing of ours....

Yes, how tragic that would be. Having lost almost nothing, I would send my son into the world to pick up right where I left off. Or...I could have avoided that ending altogether by finding a family before I was even 24 hours old, like our ancestors had to do many years ago to avoid being killed. From what I understand, there are people waiting right on the docks these days to take you in the moment you get off the boat, so there really should not be a problem.

You're right, I remember when I first came, I was being greeted by all types of people within the first few minutes.

Professor-X, a lot of the -48's you see in the cometary are low people on our streets. I'm not in anyway referring to their Rank Status, what I mean is with a name such as Megaballs and sending mail to Female Crew Leaders with a message saying, "I slap you in the face, you've been served." He deserved exactly what he got. A slug between the eyes.

There are reasons for everything we do, some may not make it to the Public and in turn half the population is on the street asking what happened or yelling for someone's head. There is always a reason, we just don't always know it.

That is a perfectly good reason to give someone cement shoes, but there has to be some other reasons that the -48 are killed though right?

I find a lot of Thugs, or Gangsters are killed due to Ignorance. They come to this world and think its exciting to be a mobster. Do they take time to investigate how to do things properly? Do they show initiative and research our Bible that's been around for as long as I can remember? Chances are good that they haven't.

Then that must be why we're alive, and they're dead. However, some people choose to wack others for the hell of it. Take me for example, someone just tried to shoot me for no damn reason.

laughs, while passing by

They should be dead already and thrown on that list, in the paper you just threw down.

picks paper up and hands it to X

Yeah, Professor. I don't have much experience in killing, but I do know one thing. Disrespect is the easy way to be killed. As HydroPhonic said, they are ignorant. They come in thinking they'll take everything by storm, when, in truth, someone could shoot them and they wouldn't be missed.

Consider this. You are in a family, and some gangster comes up and either shoots at you or your boss. You'd be mad, right? I'd be pissed the fuck off, and only the boss could stop me from blowing his brains out.

(Although, I'd be tempted to stop if the RHM or LHM asked)

X stares blankly at the paper

X yells to Marley, "You're right! Thanks for the advice!"

You're right Anthony, that pisses me the fuck off! They're fucking dead man...

Jono stops to the sound of a familiar voice. After listening a little while he walks upto Professor-X, pats him on the back and talks softly to him

Hallo my friend. Come have a chat with me in private. We've some business to take care of. You can come talk to your new friends when we're done.

Jono nods Professor-X towards the car waiting and follows him in.